Andromache's Entreaty and Hector's Sorrowful Resolve — Homer, Iliad Book 6 (lines 403–465), Greek & English

403

Ἀστυάνακτʼ· οἶος γὰρ ἐρύετο Ἴλιον Ἕκτωρ.

Astyanax; for Hector alone defended Ilios.

ἤτοι ὃ μὲν μείδησεν ἰδὼν ἐς παῖδα σιωπῇ·

Verily he smiled in silence as he looked upon his child;

405

Ἀνδρομάχη δέ οἱ ἄγχι παρίστατο δάκρυ χέουσα,

but Andromache stood close by his side weeping,

ἔν τʼ ἄρα οἱ φῦ χειρὶ¹ ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζε·

and she clung to his hand, and spoke to him, and called him by name, saying:

δαιμόνιε φθίσει σε τὸ σὸν μένος, οὐδʼ ἐλεαίρεις

“Dear husband, your own courage will destroy you, nor have you pity on

παῖδά τε νηπίαχον καὶ ἔμʼ ἄμμορον, ἣ τάχα χήρη

your infant child and my unhappy self, who soon shall be

σεῦ ἔσομαι· τάχα γάρ σε κατακτανέουσιν Ἀχαιοὶ

your widow; for soon will the Achaeans slay you,

410

πάντες ἐφορμηθέντες· ἐμοὶ δέ κε κέρδιον εἴη

all setting upon you; and for me it would be better

σεῦ ἀφαμαρτούσῃ χθόνα δύμεναι·² οὐ γὰρ ἔτʼ ἄλλη

to go down into the earth, if I lose you; for no other

ἔσται θαλπωρὴ ἐπεὶ ἂν σύ γε πότμον ἐπίσπῃς

comfort shall be mine when you have met your fate,

ἀλλʼ ἄχεʼ· οὐδέ μοι ἔστι πατὴρ καὶ πότνια μήτηρ.

but only grief; nor have I father or honored mother.

ἤτοι γὰρ πατέρʼ ἁμὸν ἀπέκτανε δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς,

For my father was slain by noble Achilles,

415

ἐκ δὲ πόλιν πέρσεν Κιλίκων εὖ ναιετάουσαν

and he utterly laid waste the well-peopled city of the Cilicians,

Θήβην ὑψίπυλον· κατὰ δʼ ἔκτανεν Ἠετίωνα,

even high-gated Thebe; and he slew Eëtion,

οὐδέ μιν ἐξενάριξε, σεβάσσατο γὰρ τό γε θυμῷ,

yet he despoiled him not, for he had awe of that in his heart,

ἀλλʼ ἄρα μιν κατέκηε σὺν ἔντεσι δαιδαλέοισιν

but he burned him in his richly dight armor,

ἠδʼ ἐπὶ σῆμʼ ἔχεεν· περὶ δὲ πτελέας ἐφύτευσαν

and heaped over him a barrow; and all about it elms were planted by

420

νύμφαι ὀρεστιάδες κοῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο.

the mountain nymphs, daughters of Zeus who bears the aegis.

οἳ δέ μοι ἑπτὰ κασίγνητοι ἔσαν ἐν μεγάροισιν

And the seven brothers that were mine in our halls,

οἳ μὲν πάντες ἰῷ κίον ἤματι Ἄϊδος εἴσω·

they all on the same day went down into the house of Hades;

πάντας γὰρ κατέπεφνε ποδάρκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεὺς

for all of them did fleet-footed noble Achilles slay

βουσὶν ἐπʼ εἰλιπόδεσσι καὶ ἀργεννῇς ὀΐεσσι.

amid their shambling kine and white-fleeced sheep.

425

μητέρα δʼ, ἣ βασίλευεν ὑπὸ Πλάκῳ ὑληέσσῃ,

And my mother, who was queen beneath wooded Placus,

τὴν ἐπεὶ ἂρ δεῦρʼ ἤγαγʼ ἅμʼ ἄλλοισι κτεάτεσσιν,

her, when he had brought her hither with the rest of the spoil,

ἂψ ὅ γε τὴν ἀπέλυσε³ λαβὼν ἀπερείσιʼ ἄποινα,

he set free again, when he had taken ransom past counting;

πατρὸς δʼ ἐν μεγάροισι βάλʼ Ἄρτεμις ἰοχέαιρα.

but in her father’s halls Artemis the archer smote her.

Ἕκτορ ἀτὰρ σύ μοί ἐσσι πατὴρ καὶ πότνια μήτηρ

Hector, nay, you are to me father and honored mother

430

ἠδὲ κασίγνητος, σὺ δέ μοι θαλερὸς παρακοίτης·

and brother, and you are my strong husband.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε νῦν ἐλέαιρε καὶ αὐτοῦ μίμνʼ ἐπὶ πύργῳ,

But come now, have pity, and remain here on the tower,

μὴ παῖδʼ ὀρφανικὸν θήῃς χήρην τε γυναῖκα·

make not your child an orphan and your wife a widow.

λαὸν δὲ στῆσον παρʼ ἐρινεόν, ἔνθα μάλιστα

And post your host by the wild fig tree, where the city

ἀμβατός ἐστι πόλις καὶ ἐπίδρομον ἔπλετο τεῖχος.

is easiest to scale, and the wall is most open to assault.

435

τρὶς γὰρ τῇ γʼ ἐλθόντες ἐπειρήσανθʼ οἱ ἄριστοι

For thrice at that point did their bravest make onset and try it,

ἀμφʼ Αἴαντε δύω καὶ ἀγακλυτὸν Ἰδομενῆα

they that are about the two Aiantes and far-famed Idomeneus,

ἠδʼ ἀμφʼ Ἀτρεΐδας καὶ Τυδέος ἄλκιμον υἱόν·

and about the sons of Atreus and the valiant son of Tydeus;

ἤ πού τίς σφιν ἔνισπε θεοπροπίων ἐῢ εἰδώς,

either some one well skilled in soothsaying told them,

ἤ νυ καὶ αὐτῶν θυμὸς ἐποτρύνει καὶ ἀνώγει.

or their own heart drives them on and bids them.”

440

τὴν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε μέγας κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ·

To her then made answer great Hector of the flashing helm:

ἦ καὶ ἐμοὶ τάδε πάντα μέλει γύναι· ἀλλὰ μάλʼ αἰνῶς

“I too, my wife, have all these things in mind; but I feel dread

αἰδέομαι Τρῶας καὶ Τρῳάδας ἑλκεσιπέπλους,

shame before the Trojans, and the Trojan women with trailing robes,

αἴ κε κακὸς ὣς νόσφιν ἀλυσκάζω πολέμοιο·

if like a coward I shrink aside from the war.

οὐδέ με θυμὸς ἄνωγεν, ἐπεὶ μάθον ἔμμεναι ἐσθλὸς

Nor does my own heart suffer me, since I have learned to be valiant

445

αἰεὶ καὶ πρώτοισι μετὰ Τρώεσσι μάχεσθαι

always and to fight among the foremost Trojans,

ἀρνύμενος πατρός τε μέγα κλέος ἠδʼ ἐμὸν αὐτοῦ.

striving to win my father’s great glory and my own.

εὖ γὰρ ἐγὼ τόδε οἶδα κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θυμόν·

For well I know this in my mind and heart:

ἔσσεται ἦμαρ ὅτʼ ἄν ποτʼ ὀλώλῃ Ἴλιος ἱρὴ

the day shall come when sacred Ilios shall perish,

καὶ Πρίαμος καὶ λαὸς ἐϋμμελίω Πριάμοιο.

and Priam, and the people of Priam of the goodly ashen spear.

450

ἀλλʼ οὔ μοι Τρώων τόσσον μέλει ἄλγος ὀπίσσω,

Yet not so much does the grief of the Trojans hereafter touch me,

οὔτʼ αὐτῆς Ἑκάβης οὔτε Πριάμοιο ἄνακτος

nor Hecabe’s own, nor king Priam’s,

οὔτε κασιγνήτων, οἵ κεν πολέες τε καὶ ἐσθλοὶ

nor my brothers’, who many and brave

ἐν κονίῃσι πέσοιεν ὑπʼ ἀνδράσι δυσμενέεσσιν,

shall fall in the dust beneath the hands of their foemen,

ὅσσον σεῦ, ὅτε κέν τις Ἀχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων

as does your grief, when some bronze-clad Achaean

455

δακρυόεσσαν ἄγηται ἐλεύθερον ἦμαρ ἀπούρας·

shall lead you away weeping, tearing from you the day of freedom.

καί κεν ἐν Ἄργει ἐοῦσα πρὸς ἄλλης ἱστὸν ὑφαίνοις,

Then in Argos you shall weave the web at another’s bidding,

καί κεν ὕδωρ φορέοις Μεσσηΐδος ἢ Ὑπερείης

and carry water from Messëis or Hypereia,

πόλλʼ ἀεκαζομένη, κρατερὴ δʼ ἐπικείσετʼ ἀνάγκη·

sore against your will, and strong necessity shall lie upon you.

καί ποτέ τις εἴπῃσιν ἰδὼν κατὰ δάκρυ χέουσαν·

And some one shall say as he looks at you weeping:

460

Ἕκτορος ἥδε γυνὴ ὃς ἀριστεύεσκε μάχεσθαι

‘This is the wife of Hector, who was ever the bravest in battle

Τρώων ἱπποδάμων ὅτε Ἴλιον ἀμφεμάχοντο.

of the horse-taming Trojans, when they fought about Ilios.’

ὥς ποτέ τις ἐρέει· σοὶ δʼ αὖ νέον ἔσσεται ἄλγος

So shall some one say hereafter; and to you there shall be fresh grief

χήτεϊ τοιοῦδʼ ἀνδρὸς ἀμύνειν δούλιον ἦμαρ.⁴

in lack of such a husband to ward off the day of bondage.

ἀλλά με τεθνηῶτα χυτὴ κατὰ γαῖα καλύπτοι

But may the heaped-up earth cover me deep in death,

465

πρίν γέ τι σῆς τε βοῆς σοῦ θʼ ἑλκηθμοῖο πυθέσθαι.

before I hear your crying or the sound of your carrying away.”

Syntax notes4 items

6.406ἔν τʼ ἄρα οἱ φῦ χειρὶ
ἔν ... φῦ is a tmesis of the aorist ἐνέφυ (from ἐμφύω, meaning intransitively "clung to" or "grew onto"). οἱ is the dative of interest ("his"), and χειρί is the dative of instrument/place ("hand").
6.411σεῦ ἀφαμαρτούσῃ χθόνα δύμεναι
ἀφαμαρτούσῃ is the feminine dative singular aorist participle of ἀφαμαρτάνω ("having missed/lost"), agreeing with the preceding dative of interest ἐμοί ("for me"). σεῦ is the genitive of separation with the participle. δύμεναι is the Homeric infinitive (equivalent to Attic δῦναι) acting as the subject of the impersonal κέρδιον εἴη ("it would be better").
6.425μητέρα δʼ ... τὴν ἐπεὶ ἂρ δεῦρʼ ἤγαγʼ ... ἂψ ὅ γε τὴν ἀπέλυσε
The phrase-initial μητέρα ("mother") is an anacoluthon caused by the insertion of the relative and temporal clauses. The grammatical core of the main sentence is ὅ γε τὴν ἀπέλυσε ("he released her"), where μητέρα, placed at the start as a topic, is picked up again in the accusative by the demonstrative pronoun τὴν after the subordinate clauses.
6.463χήτεϊ τοιοῦδʼ ἀνδρὸς ἀμύνειν δούλιον ἦμαρ
ἀμύνειν is an infinitive of purpose or result (epexegesis) modifying the noun χήτεϊ ("lack") or the phrase τοιοῦδʼ ἀνδρός ("such a husband"), completing the meaning: "the lack of such a husband to ward off the day of slavery."

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-23)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.403-6.465