weapons and ashes arrive at each man's house.
§437ὁ χρυσαμοιβὸς δ᾽ Ἄρης σωμάτων §438καὶ ταλαντοῦχος ἐν μάχῃ δορὸς §440πυρωθὲν ἐξ Ἰλίου §441φίλοισι πέμπει βραχὺ §442ψῆγμα δυσδάκρυτον ἀν- §443τήνορος σποδοῦ γεμί- §444ζων λέβητας εὐθέτους.
And Ares, the money-changer of bodies and holder of the scales in the battle of the spear, sends from Ilium, burned in fire, to their loved ones, a small, heavy dust that brings tears, filling with the ash that replaces a man well-ordered urns.
§445στένουσι δ᾽ εὖ λέγοντες ἄν- §446δρα τὸν μὲν ὡς μάχης ἴδρις, §447τὸν δ᾽ ἐν φοναῖς καλῶς πεσόντ᾽ §448ἀλλοτρίας διαὶ γυναι- §449κός: τὰ δὲ σῖγά τις βαΰ-
And they lament, praising the man, one indeed as skilled in battle, and another as having fallen nobly in the slaughter, "for the sake of another's wife"; and someone else mutters in silence.
And a grudging pain creeps upon the prosecuting Atreidae.
§452οἱ δ᾽ αὐτοῦ περὶ τεῖχος §453θήκας Ἰλιάδος γᾶς §454εὔμορφοι κατέχουσιν: ἐ- §455χθρὰ δ᾽ ἔχοντας ἔκρυψεν.
And others there around the wall hold tombs in the Trojan land, in their beautiful forms; and the hostile land has hidden those who hold it.
And the heavy talk of the citizens is with wrath; it pays the debt of a decree ratified by the people.
And my anxious care waits to hear something shrouded in night.
For of those who have slain many, the gods are not unwatchful.
κελαι- §463ναὶ δ᾽ Ἐρινύες χρόνῳ §464τυχηρὸν ὄντ᾽ ἄνευ δίκας §465παλιντυχεῖ τριβᾷ βίου §466τιθεῖσ᾽ ἀμαυρόν, ἐν δ᾽ ἀί- §467στοις τελέθοντος οὔτις ἀλ-
And the black Erinyes in time reduce the one who is fortunate without justice by a reverse wear of life to obscurity, and among the vanished there is no help.
And to be spoken of excessively well is dangerous; for a thunderbolt is cast from Zeus upon his eyes.
§471κρίνω δ᾽ ἄφθονον ὄλβον: §472μήτ᾽ εἴην πτολιπόρθης §473μήτ᾽ οὖν αὐτὸς ἁλοὺς ὑπ᾽ ἄλ- §474λων βίον κατίδοιμι.
And I judge ungrudged prosperity; may I not be a sacker of cities, nor yet may I myself, captured by others, see my life.
§475πυρὸς δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ εὐαγγέλου §476πόλιν διήκει θοὰ §477βάξις: εἰ δ᾽ ἐτήτυμος, §478τίς οἶδεν, ἤ τι θεῖόν ἐστί πῃ ψύθος. —
And by the fire that brings good tidings a swift rumor has gone through the city; but whether it is true, who knows, or if it is somehow a divine lie.
§479τίς ὧδε παιδνὸς ἢ φρενῶν κεκομμένος, §480φλογὸς παραγγέλμασιν §481νέοις πυρωθέντα καρδίαν ἔπειτ᾽ §482ἀλλαγᾷ λόγου καμεῖν; —
Who is so childish or knocked out of his senses, as to have his heart set on fire by the sudden messages of a flame, and then to be pained by a change of report?
It is fitting for the rule of a woman to agree to a favor before it has appeared.
§485πιθανὸς ἄγαν ὁ θῆλυς ὅρος ἐπινέμεται §486ταχύπορος: ἀλλὰ ταχύμορον §487γυναικογήρυτον ὄλλυται κλέος. —
Too persuasive, the female boundary spreads swiftly; but with swift death a rumor cried by a woman perishes.
§488τάχ᾽ εἰσόμεσθα λαμπάδων φαεσφόρων §490φρυκτωριῶν τε καὶ πυρὸς παραλλαγάς, §491εἴτ᾽ οὖν ἀληθεῖς εἶτ᾽ ὀνειράτων δίκην §492τερπνὸν τόδ᾽ ἐλθὸν φῶς ἐφήλωσεν φρένας.
Soon we shall know of the light-bearing torches, the beacon-watches and the transmissions of fire, whether they are true or whether like dreams this delightful light that came has beguiled our minds.
§493κήρυκ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ἀκτῆς τόνδ᾽ ὁρῶ κατάσκιον §494κλάδοις ἐλαίας: μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι κάσις §495πηλοῦ ξύνουρος διψία κόνις τάδε, §496ὡς οὔτ᾽ ἄναυδος οὔτε σοι δαίων φλόγα §497ὕλης ὀρείας σημανεῖ καπνῷ πυρός, §498ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τὸ χαίρειν μᾶλλον ἐκβάξει λέγων: §499τὸν ἀντίον δὲ τοῖσδ᾽ ἀποστέργω λόγον: §500εὖ γὰρ πρὸς εὖ φανεῖσι προσθήκη πέλοι. —
I see this herald coming from the shore, shaded with branches of olive; and his sister, the thirsty dust, neighbor of the mud, testifies to me of this, that neither voiceless nor by lighting for you a flame of mountain wood will he make sign with smoke of fire, but either he will speak out joy more clearly, —and the opposite report to this I reject; for may addition be made to what has appeared well.
Whoever prays otherwise for this city, may he himself reap the error of his mind.
§503ἰὼ πατρῷον οὖδας Ἀργείας χθονός, §504δεκάτῳ σε φέγγει τῷδ᾽ ἀφικόμην ἔτους, §505πολλῶν ῥαγεισῶν ἐλπίδων μιᾶς τυχών.
Oh, fatherland soil of the Argive land, in this tenth light of the year I have reached you, having attained one hope of many that were broken.
For I never boasted that in this Argive land dying I should have my share of a dearest tomb.
§508νῦν χαῖρε μὲν χθών, χαῖρε δ᾽ ἡλίου φάος, §509ὕπατός τε χώρας Ζεύς, ὁ Πύθιός τ᾽ ἄναξ, §510τόξοις ἰάπτων μηκέτ᾽ εἰς ἡμᾶς βέλη: §511ἅλις παρὰ Σκάμανδρον ἦσθ᾽ ἀνάρσιος: §512νῦν δ᾽ αὖτε σωτὴρ ἴσθι καὶ παιώνιος, §513ἄναξ Ἄπολλον.
Now hail, land, and hail, light of the sun, and Zeus, supreme of the land, and the Pythian lord, no longer shooting arrows at us with his bow; enough by the Scamander you were hostile, but now in turn be savior and healer, lord Apollo.
τούς τ᾽ ἀγωνίους θεοὺς §514πάντας προσαυδῶ, τόν τ᾽ ἐμὸν τιμάορον §515Ἑρμῆν, φίλον κήρυκα, κηρύκων σέβας, §516ἥρως τε τοὺς πέμψαντας, εὐμενεῖς πάλιν §517στρατὸν δέχεσθαι τὸν λελειμμένον δορός.
And the gods of assembly all I address, and my helper Hermes, beloved herald, worship of heralds, and the heroes who sent us, to receive again with favor the army left from the spear.
§518ἰὼ μέλαθρα βασιλέων, φίλαι στέγαι, §519σεμνοί τε θᾶκοι, δαίμονές τ᾽ ἀντήλιοι, §520εἴ που πάλαι, φαιδροῖσι τοισίδ᾽ ὄμμασι §521δέξασθε κόσμῳ βασιλέα πολλῷ χρόνῳ.
Oh, halls of kings, beloved roofs, and solemn seats, and sun-facing gods, if ever of old, with these bright eyes receive in order the king after a long time.
For he has come bringing you light in the night and common to all these, King Agamemnon.
§524ἀλλ᾽ εὖ νιν ἀσπάσασθε, καὶ γὰρ οὖν πρέπει, §525Τροίαν κατασκάψαντα τοῦ δικηφόρου §526Διὸς μακέλλῃ, τῇ κατείργασται πέδον.
But welcome him well, for indeed it is fitting, since he has dug down Troy with the justice-bearing mattock of Zeus, with which the ground has been worked.
And the altars are destroyed and the shrines of the gods, and the seed of the whole land is utterly destroyed.
§529τοιόνδε Τροίᾳ περιβαλὼν ζευκτήριον §530ἄναξ Ἀτρείδης πρέσβυς εὐδαίμων ἀνὴρ §531ἥκει, τίεσθαι δ᾽ ἀξιώτατος βροτῶν §532τῶν νῦν: Πάρις γὰρ οὔτε συντελὴς πόλις §533ἐξεύχεται τὸ δρᾶμα τοῦ πάθους πλέον.
Having cast such a yoke upon Troy, the elder king, son of Atreus, a happy man, has come, most worthy to be honored of mortals of those now; for neither Paris nor his associated city boasts that their deed was greater than their suffering.