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Aelius Aristides · Embassy Speech to Achilles §437

Hector's Mockery and the Plea to Relinquish Wrath

Passage 7 of 7 · Greek

Summary

The embassy urges Achilles to return to battle by revealing that Hector is mocking their discord and claiming Achilles is hiding behind his wrath out of fear. Invoking the virtue of his ancestor Aeacus, they plead with him to join them in a libation and discard his anger.

§437οὐκ ἔλαττον φρονεῖ νῦν;
he not now think no less humbly than anyone else?
ἡγεῖσθαι δὲ χρὴ λόγῳ μὲν ἀκούειν ταῦτα παρʼ ἡμῶν, τῇ δὲ ἀληθείᾳ καὶ τοῖς γιγνομένοις Ἕκτορα πρεσβεύειν καὶ διαλέγεσθαί σοι· ὃς τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ὅσα ὑβρίζει καὶ προπηλακίζει τί τις ἂν λέγοι;
And we must consider that, while in word you hear these things from us, in truth and in what is happening, Hector is sending an embassy and speaking to you; of whom, as to all his other insults and outrages, why should anyone speak?
σὲ δὲ ἀπειλεῖ καθεύδοντα λήψεσθαι.
But he threatens to capture you while you are asleep.
πάντως δὲ οὐδὲ τὸν Δάρδανον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ πρόγονον οὐδὲν εἶναι χείρω τοῦ Αἰακοῦ τοῦ σοῦ, σέ τε σκήπτεσθαι τὴν μῆνιν, τὸ δʼ ἀληθὲς αὐτὸν ὀρρωδεῖν.
And he declares in every way that his own ancestor Dardanus is in no way inferior to your Aeacus, and that you make a pretext of your wrath, but in truth you dread him.
ἃ πῶς ἀνεκτὰ ἀκούειν ἐμοί;
How are these things bearable for me to hear?
τίς ὑπὲρ σοῦ τούτων λήψεται δίκην;
Who will extract vengeance for these things on your behalf?
οὐκ ἀναστήσει πρὸς θεῶν;
Will you not stand up, by the gods?
οὐ δυσχερανεῖς ὅτι μὴ πάλαι, οὐχ ὅσον τοῦ χρόνου προεῖται ζημίαν θήσει;
Will you not be vexed that you did not do so long ago, and will you not reckon all the time that has been lost as a forfeit?
οὐκ εἰ δεῖ καὶ τῆς κόρης ἕνεκα ὀργισθῆναι, εἰς τοὺς Τρῶας ἀφήσεις τὸν θυμὸν τοὺς ἁπάντων τούτων αἰτίους;
Even if you must be angry for the sake of the girl, will you not let loose your wrath upon the Trojans, who are the causes of all these things?
εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι μηδὲν παρεκίνησαν ἐξ ἀρχῆς, τί τῶν πάντων ἂν ἢ μεῖζον ἢ ἔλαττον ἐνταυθοῖ συνέβη δυσχερές;
For if they had made no trouble from the beginning, what difficulty, great or small, would have occurred here in all these matters?
ἐνθυμοῦ δὲ ὅτι Πηλεὺς μέσος Αἰακοῦ καὶ σοῦ, Αἰακοῦ ἐκείνου, εἰς ὅν ποτʼ ἦλθε τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων πράγματα.
And bear in mind that Peleus is between Aeacus and you—that famous Aeacus, to whom once the affairs of the Greeks came.
σοὶ δὲ ὑπάρχει καὶ τοῦτο ὡς κάλλιστα· μιμούμενος γὰρ τὴν τοῦ προγόνου γνώμην ὑπεραίρεις τῷ σχήματι.
And this also belongs to you in the finest way; for by imitating the mind of your ancestor, you surpass him in outward form.
ὁ μὲν γὰρ εὐξάμενος ὤνησε, σὺ δʼ ἔργῳ βοηθήσας ἐκπλήσεις τὰς ἁπάντων εὐχάς.
For he, by praying, brought help, but you, by assisting in deed, will fulfill the prayers of everyone.
κἀκεῖνα ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις λογίζου, ἔξιμεν δὴ αὐτίκα μάλα ἐκ τῆς σκηνῆς, ποίοις ποσὶν, ὦ πρὸς τοῦ Διὸς, εἰ μὴ σοὶ ταῦτα συνδόξειε;
And consider also those things in addition to these: we are indeed going out of the tent right now; with what feet, by Zeus, if these things should not seem good to you?
τίνας λόγους ἐροῦμεν ἀπελθόντες, ἢ ποίας ἀποκρίσεις ἀποκρινούμεθα;
What words shall we speak when we have departed, or what answers shall we return?
καραδοκοῦσι δὲ δή που πάντες, εἰ ἄσμενοι περιχυθέντες ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν πεύσονται.
For surely all are waiting in suspense, to see if they, crowding around us with joy, will learn from one side and another.
τί χρὴ πρὸς αὐτοὺς λέγειν;
What must we say to them?
ἀπόκριναι·
Answer us.
σπεῖσον μεθʼ ἡμῶν τῷ Διὶ τῷ σωτῆρι, μὴ τὴν τελευταίαν τοῦ νῦν εἶναι, ἀλλʼ αἰσχυνθεὶς τήν τε χρείαν τὴν κοινὴν καὶ τοὺς πρέσβεις ἡμᾶς καὶ τῆς πρεσβείας τὴν ὥραν, νύκτα ταύτην, ἢ καὶ ἄστρα ταυτὶ καὶ θεοὺς καὶ ἥρωας τοὺς κοινοὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἐκδὺς τὴν ὀργὴν ὥσπερ νόσον φάνηθι τοῖς βαρβάροις ἅμα τῷ ἡλίῳ.
Pour a libation with us to Zeus the Savior, so that this may not be the last of the present things, but showing respect for the common need, and us the ambassadors, and the hour of the embassy—this night—and indeed these stars, and the gods and common heroes of the Greeks, strip off your anger like a disease and appear to the barbarians together with the sun.

Notes

  1. §437οὐκ ἔλαττον φρονεῖ νῦν — Taking the genitive tíνος at the end of the previous chunk as a genitive of comparison modifying ἔλαττον, meaning 'no less humbly than anyone else'.
  2. §437Ἕκτορα πρεσβεύειν — Ἕκτορα is the accusative subject of the infinitives πρεσβεύειν and διαλέγεσθαι in the indirect discourse introduced by ἡγεῖσθαι χρή.
  3. §437σέ τε σκήπτεσθαι τὴν μῆνιν — This is an infinitive clause expressing Hector's assertion. σέ is the subject of σκήπτεσθαι and the omitted subject of ὀρρωδεῖν, while αὐτὸν in the latter clause refers to Hector as the accusative object.
  4. §437ὅτι μὴ πάλαι — Dependent on δυσχερανεῖς, with an ellipse of the verb like ἀνέστης ('that you did not stand up long ago').
  5. §437μὴ τὴν τελευταίαν τοῦ νῦν εἶναι — An infinitive clause of purpose or result accompanying σπεῖσον. τὴν τελευταίαν implies the feminine noun σπονδήν (libation). τοῦ νῦν is genitive, meaning 'of the present state of affairs' or 'lest it be the last libation of the present'.

Cite this passage

Aelius Aristides, Embassy Speech to Achilles §437. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0284.tlg052.humanitext-grc2:437

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