- Source
- Homer. Homeri Opera, Volumes 1-2. Monro, D. B. (David Binning), editor; Allen, Thomas W. (Thomas William), editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908-1920.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.211-8.282
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Pushed to the brink by Hector and the Trojans, the Achaeans are revitalized by Agamemnon's prayer and a favorable eagle omen sent by Zeus. Led by Diomedes' charge and Teucer's deadly archery protected by Ajax's shield, the Achaeans successfully launch a fierce counterattack.
ἡμέας τοὺς ἄλλους,1 ἐπεὶ ἦ πολὺ φέρτερός ἐστιν.
”even all the rest of us; for he is by far the stronger.”
ὣς οἳ μὲν τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγόρευον·
Thus they spoke such things to one another;
τῶν δʼ ὅσον ἐκ νηῶν ἀπὸ πύργου τάφρος ἔεργε2
Meanwhile, all the space that the trench enclosed, from the ships to the wall,
πλῆθεν ὁμῶς ἵππων τε καὶ ἀνδρῶν ἀσπιστάων
was filled alike with horses and shield-bearing men
εἰλομένων· εἴλει δὲ θοῷ ἀτάλαντος Ἄρηϊ
penned in; and he penned them, equal to swift Ares,
Ἕκτωρ Πριαμίδης, ὅτε οἱ Ζεὺς κῦδος ἔδωκε.
Hector, son of Priam, when Zeus gave him glory.
καί νύ κʼ ἐνέπρησεν πυρὶ κηλέῳ νῆας ἐΐσας,
And now he would have burned the well-balanced ships with blazing fire,
εἰ μὴ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκʼ3 Ἀγαμέμνονι πότνια Ἥρη
had not queenly Hera put it in the mind of Agamemnon
αὐτῷ ποιπνύσαντι θοῶς ὀτρῦναι Ἀχαιούς.
himself to bestir himself and swiftly urge on the Achaeans.
βῆ δʼ ἰέναι παρά τε κλισίας καὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν
And he went along by the huts and the ships of the Achaeans,
πορφύρεον μέγα φᾶρος ἔχων ἐν χειρὶ παχείῃ,
holding in his stout hand a great purple cloak,
στῆ δʼ ἐπʼ Ὀδυσσῆος μεγακήτεϊ νηῒ μελαίνῃ,
and he took his stand upon the black ship of Odysseus, huge of hull,
ἥ ῥʼ ἐν μεσσάτῳ ἔσκε γεγωνέμεν ἀμφοτέρωσε,
which was in the midst so that a voice could be heard in both directions,
ἠμὲν ἐπʼ Αἴαντος κλισίας Τελαμωνιάδαο
both to the huts of Ajax, son of Telamon,
ἠδʼ ἐπʼ Ἀχιλλῆος, τοί ῥʼ ἔσχατα νῆας ἐΐσας
and to those of Achilles; for they had drawn up their well-balanced ships at the very ends,
εἴρυσαν, ἠνορέῃ πίσυνοι καὶ κάρτεϊ χειρῶν·
trusting in their manhood and the strength of their hands.
ἤϋσεν δὲ διαπρύσιον Δαναοῖσι γεγωνώς·
And he shouted aloud, making his voice heard clearly by the Danaans:
αἰδὼς Ἀργεῖοι, κάκʼ ἐλέγχεα, εἶδος ἀγητοί·
”Shame, Argives, base objects of reproach, admirable in form only!
πῇ ἔβαν εὐχωλαί, ὅτε δὴ φάμεν εἶναι ἄριστοι,
Where are those boastings gone, when we said we were the bravest,
ἃς ὁπότʼ ἐν Λήμνῳ κενεαυχέες ἠγοράασθε,
which you uttered with vain boasting once in Lemnos,
ἔσθοντες κρέα πολλὰ βοῶν ὀρθοκραιράων
while eating much flesh of straight-horned oxen
πίνοντες κρητῆρας ἐπιστεφέας οἴνοιο,
and drinking from mixing-bowls filled high with wine,
Τρώων ἄνθʼ ἑκατόν τε διηκοσίων τε ἕκαστος
that each man of you would stand in battle against a hundred or two hundred
στήσεσθʼ4 ἐν πολέμῳ· νῦν δʼ οὐδʼ ἑνὸς ἄξιοί εἰμεν
of the Trojans? But now we are not worth even a single one,
Ἕκτορος, ὃς τάχα νῆας ἐνιπρήσει πυρὶ κηλέῳ.
not Hector, who will soon burn our ships with blazing fire.
Ζεῦ πάτερ, ἦ ῥά τινʼ ἤδη ὑπερμενέων βασιλήων
Father Zeus, did you ever yet blind one of the mighty kings
τῇδʼ ἄτῃ ἄασας καί μιν μέγα κῦδος ἀπηύρας;
with such ruin as this, and rob him of great glory?
οὐ μὲν δή ποτέ φημι τεὸν περικαλλέα βωμὸν
And yet I declare that I never passed by your beautiful altar
νηῒ πολυκλήϊδι παρελθέμεν ἐνθάδε ἔρρων,
in my many-bench ship, as I came here to my ruin,
ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ πᾶσι βοῶν δημὸν καὶ μηρίʼ ἔκηα
but on all of them I burned the fat of oxen and thigh pieces,
ἱέμενος Τροίην εὐτείχεον ἐξαλαπάξαι.
striving to sack well-walled Troy.
ἀλλὰ Ζεῦ τόδε πέρ μοι ἐπικρήηνον ἐέλδωρ·
But, O Zeus, fulfill at least this prayer for me:
αὐτοὺς δή περ ἔασον ὑπεκφυγέειν καὶ ἀλύξαι,
suffer us ourselves to flee and escape,
μηδʼ οὕτω Τρώεσσιν ἔα δάμνασθαι Ἀχαιούς.
and let not the Achaeans be thus subdued by the Trojans.”
ὣς φάτο, τὸν δὲ πατὴρ ὀλοφύρατο δάκρυ χέοντα,
Thus he spoke, and the father pitied him as he wept,
νεῦσε δέ οἱ λαὸν σόον ἔμμεναι οὐδʼ ἀπολέσθαι.
and nodded assent that his people should be safe and not perish.
αὐτίκα δʼ αἰετὸν ἧκε τελειότατον πετεηνῶν,
And straightway he sent an eagle, most sure of omen among winged birds,
νεβρὸν ἔχοντʼ ὀνύχεσσι τέκος ἐλάφοιο ταχείης·
holding in his talons a fawn, the young of a swift hind;
πὰρ δὲ Διὸς βωμῷ περικαλλέϊ κάββαλε νεβρόν,
and beside the beautiful altar of Zeus he let fall the fawn,
ἔνθα πανομφαίῳ Ζηνὶ ῥέζεσκον Ἀχαιοί.
where the Achaeans were wont to sacrifice to Zeus of all voices.
οἳ δʼ ὡς οὖν εἴδονθʼ ὅ τʼ ἄρʼ ἐκ Διὸς ἤλυθεν ὄρνις,
And when they saw that the bird had come from Zeus,
μᾶλλον ἐπὶ Τρώεσσι θόρον, μνήσαντο δὲ χάρμης.
they sprang the more upon the Trojans, and remembered battle-lust.
ἔνθʼ οὔ τις πρότερος Δαναῶν πολλῶν περ ἐόντων
Then no one of the Danaans, many though they were,
εὔξατο Τυδεΐδαο πάρος σχέμεν ὠκέας ἵππους
could boast that he had guided his swift horses before the son of Tydeus,
τάφρου τʼ ἐξελάσαι καὶ ἐναντίβιον μαχέσασθαι,
and driven them across the trench and fought face to face;
ἀλλὰ πολὺ πρῶτος Τρώων ἕλεν ἄνδρα κορυστὴν
but he was by far the first to slay a helmeted warrior of the Trojans,
Φραδμονίδην Ἀγέλαον· ὃ μὲν φύγαδʼ ἔτραπεν ἵππους·
Agelaus, son of Phradmon; he indeed was turning his horses to flight,
τῷ δὲ μεταστρεφθέντι μεταφρένῳ ἐν δόρυ πῆξεν
but as he turned, Diomedes fixed the spear in his back
ὤμων μεσσηγύς, διὰ δὲ στήθεσφιν ἔλασσεν·
between the shoulders, and drove it through his chest;
ἤριπε δʼ ἐξ ὀχέων, ἀράβησε δὲ τεύχεʼ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ.
and he fell from his chariot, and his armor clattered upon him.
τὸν δὲ μετʼ Ἀτρεΐδαι Ἀγαμέμνων καὶ Μενέλαος,
And after him came the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus,
τοῖσι δʼ ἐπʼ Αἴαντες θοῦριν ἐπιειμένοι ἀλκήν,
and after them the Ajaxes, clothed in furious valor,
τοῖσι δʼ ἐπʼ Ἰδομενεὺς καὶ ὀπάων Ἰδομενῆος
and after them Idomeneus and Idomeneus’ companion,
Μηριόνης ἀτάλαντος Ἐνυαλίῳ ἀνδρειφόντῃ,
Meriones, peer of Enyalius, slayer of men,
τοῖσι δʼ ἐπʼ Εὐρύπυλος Εὐαίμονος ἀγλαὸς υἱός·
and after them Eurypylus, the glorious son of Evaemon;
Τεῦκρος δʼ εἴνατος ἦλθε παλίντονα τόξα τιταίνων,
and Teucer came as the ninth, stretching his recurved bow,
στῆ δʼ ἄρʼ ὑπʼ Αἴαντος σάκεϊ Τελαμωνιάδαο.
and took his stand under the shield of Ajax, son of Telamon.
ἔνθʼ Αἴας μὲν ὑπεξέφερεν σάκος· αὐτὰρ ὅ γʼ ἥρως
There Ajax would slide his shield aside; and the hero Teucer,
παπτήνας, ἐπεὶ ἄρ τινʼ ὀϊστεύσας ἐν ὁμίλῳ
looking warily around, when he had shot someone in the throng
βεβλήκοι, ὃ μὲν αὖθι πεσὼν ἀπὸ θυμὸν ὄλεσσεν,
and hit him, that man would fall where he stood and lose his life,
αὐτὰρ ὃ αὖτις ἰὼν πάϊς ὣς ὑπὸ μητέρα δύσκεν
while Teucer would go back again, like a child to his mother,
εἰς Αἴανθʼ· ὃ δέ μιν σάκεϊ κρύπτασκε φαεινῷ.
and shelter behind Ajax; and Ajax would hide him with his shining shield.
ἔνθα τίνα πρῶτον Τρώων ἕλε Τεῦκρος ἀμύμων;
Whom then first of the Trojans did peerless Teucer slay?
Ὀρσίλοχον μὲν πρῶτα καὶ Ὄρμενον ἠδʼ Ὀφελέστην
Orsilochus first, and Ormenus, and Ophelestes,
Δαίτορά τε Χρομίον τε καὶ ἀντίθεον Λυκοφόντην
and Dator, and Chromius, and godlike Lycophontes,
καὶ Πολυαιμονίδην Ἀμοπάονα καὶ Μελάνιππον,
and Amopaon, son of Polyaemon, and Melanippus;
πάντας ἐπασσυτέρους πέλασε χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ.
all these, one after another, he brought down to the bounteous earth.
τὸν δὲ ἰδὼν γήθησεν ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων
And Agamemnon, king of men, rejoiced as he saw him
τόξου ἄπο κρατεροῦ Τρώων ὀλέκοντα φάλαγγας·
destroying the phalanxes of the Trojans with his strong bow,
στῆ δὲ παρʼ αὐτὸν ἰὼν καί μιν πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπε·
and he went and stood beside him, and spoke to him, saying:
Τεῦκρε φίλη κεφαλή, Τελαμώνιε κοίρανε λαῶν
”Teucer, dear head, son of Telamon, lord of the people,
βάλλʼ οὕτως, αἴ κέν τι φόως Δαναοῖσι γένηαι
shoot on in this way, if you may become a light of salvation to the Danaans,
- 8.211ἡμέας τοὺς ἄλλους
This accusative functions as the subject of the infinitive μάχεσθαι in the previous line (210). While the main clause has a first-person singular subject, this phrase expands it to "all the rest of us," hence appearing in the accusative of the accusative-and-infinitive construction.
- 8.213τῶν δʼ ὅσον ἐκ νηῶν ἀπὸ πύργου τάφρος ἔεργε
A structurally complex clause where ὅσον (as much space as) is the subject of the main verb πλῆθεν (was filled). τῶν is a partitive genitive referring to the Achaeans or their belongings near the ships, meaning "all the space of theirs which the trench enclosed, away from the wall."
- 8.217καί νύ κʼ ἐνέπρησεν πυρὶ κηλέῳ νῆας ἐΐσας, εἰ μὴ ... θῆκʼ
A classic contrary-to-fact conditional sentence in past time, using the past indicative (ἐνέπρησεν and θῆκε) with the particle κέ. It expresses an unfulfilled event in the past: "he would have burned... if Hera had not put..."
- 8.233ἕκαστος … στήσεσθʼ
Although the subject ἕκαστος is singular, the verb is in the second-person plural στήσεσθε (στήσεσθʼ). This is an example of construction according to sense (synesis), where the verb agrees with the plural concept implied ("each of you").