Homer ILIAD : Rhapsody 18

Page 5

"O son, why weepest thou, and what sorrow has come upon thy mind? Speak out, nor conceal it. Those things indeed are fulfilled for thee from Jove, as thou didst formerly pray, lifting up thy hands—that all the sons of the Greeks, wanting thee, should, be collected at the ships, and suffer disgraceful deeds."

But her swift-footed Achilles addressed, deeply groaning:

"Mother mine, these things indeed the Olympian king hath accomplished for me; but what pleasure is there in them to me, since Patroclus, my dear companion, is dead, whom I honoured beyond all my companions, equally with my own head? Him have I lost; and Hector, having slain him, has stripped off his mighty armour, a wonder to be seen, beautiful; which the other gods gave to Peleus, splendid gifts, on that day when they laid thee in the bed of a mortal man. Would that thou hadst dwelt there among the immortal marine inhabitants, and that Peleus had wedded a mortal spouse. But now [thou hast been wedded, to the end] that immeasurable grief may be upon thy mind for thy son slain, whom thou shalt not again receive, having returned home. Since even my mind urges me not to live nor have intercourse with men, unless Hector first lose his life, smitten by my spear, and pay the penalty for the slaughter[575] of Patroclus, the son of Menoetius."

[Footnote 575: [Greek: Eloria] is the more usual form, but [Greek: elora] is recognized by Hesychius. "If correct," Kennedy says, "it may be explained by the existence of [Greek: eloron] from [Greek: elor] (Hesych. t. i. p. 1186, from Il. v. 488), signifying the price of slaughter, by the same analogy as [Greek: threpiron] (iv. 478) the price of nutrition."]

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