Iliad 66. 55 (63) “Soft-hearted Menelaus, why do you care thus for the men?

Has then so great kindness been done you in your house by Trojans? Of them let not one escape sheer destruction and the might of our hands,

nay, not the man-child whom his mother bears in her womb; let not even him escape, [60] but let all perish together out of Ilios, unmourned and

unmarked.” So spoke the warrior, and turned his brother's mind, for

he counseled aright; (rough justice, fitting too)

aisima - fateful

Diomedes to Glaucus [130] (150)Nay, for even the son of Dryas, mighty Lycurgus, lived not long, seeing that he strove with heavenly gods — he that on a time drove down over the sacred mount of Nysa the nursing mothers of mad Dionysus; and they all let fall to the ground their wands, smitten with an ox-goad by man-slaying Lycurgus. [135] But Dionysus fled, and plunged beneath the wave of the sea, and Thetis received him in her bosom, filled with dread, for mighty terror got hold of him at the man's threats. Then against Lycurgus did the gods that live at ease get angry, and the son of Cronos made him blind; [140] and he lived not for long, seeing that he was hated of all the immortal gods. So would not I be minded to fight against the blessed gods.

Lycurgus kills his wife and son.

(178) There is a city Ephyra (Corinth) in the heart of Argos, pasture-land of horses, and there dwelt Sisyphus that was craftiest of men, Sisyphus, son of Aeolus; and he begat a son Glaucus; [155] and Glaucus begat peerless Bellerophon.

[215] (256) “Verily now you are a friend (xenos) of my father's house from of old: for goodly Oeneus on a time entertained peerless Bellerophon in his halls, and kept him twenty days; and moreover they gave one to the other fair gifts of friendship. Oeneus gave a belt bright with scarlet, [220] and Bellerophon a double cup of gold which I left in my palace as I came here.

Oeneus BellerephonTydeus and Meleager (bk. 9) HippolochusDiomedes Glaucus

Book 6 Glaucus begat peerless Bellerophon. To him the gods granted beauty and lovely manliness; but Proetus in his heart devised against him evil, and drove him, seeing he was mightier far, from the land of the Argives; for Zeus had made them subject to his sceptre. [160] Now the wife of Proetus, fair Anteia, lusted madly for Bellerophon, to lie with him in secret love, but could in no wise prevail upon wise-hearted Bellerophon, for that his heart was upright. So she made a tale of lies, and spoke to king Proetus: “Either die yourself, Proetus, or slay Bellerophon, [165] seeing he was minded to lie with me in love against my will.”

So she spoke, and wrath got hold of the king to hear that word. To slay him he avoided, for his soul had awe of that; but he sent him to Lycia, and gave him baneful tokens, engraving in a folded tablet many signs and deadly, [170] and bade him show these to his own wife's father, that he might be slain. So he went his way to Lycia under the blameless escort of the gods.

(207) And when he was come to Lycia and the stream of Xanthus, then with a ready heart did the king of wide Lycia do him honour: for nine days' space he showed him hospitality, and slew nine oxen. However, when the tenth rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, [175] then at length he questioned him and asked to see whatever token he carried from his daughter's husband, Proetus.

But when he had received from him the evil token of his daughter's husband, first he bade him slay the raging Chimaera. [180] She was of divine stock, not of men, in the fore part a lion, in the hinder a serpent, and in the midst a goat, breathing forth in terrible wise the might of blazing fire. And Bellerophon slew her, trusting in the signs of the gods.

Next fought he with the glorious Solymi, [185] and this, said he was the mightest

battle of warriors that ever he entered; and thirdly he slew the Amazons, women the

peers of men. And against him, as he journeyed back therefrom, the king wove

another cunning wile; he chose out of wide Lycia the bravest men and set an ambush; but these returned not home in any wise, [190] for peerless Bellerophon slew them

one and all.

Hector and Helen(420) But come now, enter in, and sit upon this chair, [355] my brother, since above all others has trouble encompassed thy heart because of me, a bitch, and the folly of Alexander; on whom Zeus has brought an evil doom, that even in days to come we may be a song for men that are yet to be.

Hector and Andromache (471)She now met him, and with her came a handmaid bearing in her bosom [400] the tender boy, a mere babe, the well-loved son of Hector, like to a fair star. Him Hector was wont to call Scamandrius, but other men Astyanax; for only Hector guarded Ilios. Then Hector smiled, as he glanced at his boy in silence, [405] but Andromache came close to his side weeping, and clasped his hand and spake to him.

(509)Hector, you are to me father and queenly mother, [430] you are brother, and you are my robust husband. Come now, have pity, and

remain here on the wall, lest you make your child an orphan and your wife a widow.

(568) Zeus and you other gods, grant that this my child may likewise prove, even as I, pre-eminent amid the Trojans, and as valiant in might, and that he rule mightily over Ilios. And some day may some man say

of him as he comes back from war,‘He is better far than his father’; [480] and may he bear the blood-stained spoils of the enemy he has

slain, and may his mother's heart wax glad.” So saying, he laid his child in his dear wife's arms, and she took him

to her fragrant bosom, smiling through her tears; and her husband was touched with pity at sight of her, [485] and he stroked her with his hand,

and spoke to her, saying: “Dear wife, in no way, I beg you, grieve overmuch at heart; no man before my fate shall send me forth to Hades;

only his doom, I think, has no man ever escaped, be he coward or valiant, when once he has been born.

Iliad 9Nestor to Agamemnon: (130) You yielded to your great-hearted emotion (thumos), [110] and upon a man most mighty, whom the very immortals honoured, you put dishonour; for you took away and keep his prize (geras).

Agamemnon: (173) Three daughters have I in my well built hall, [145] Chrysothemis, and Laodice, and Iphianassa;. . . (189) Let him yield — only Hades is not to be soothed, neither overcome, so that he is most hated by mortals of all gods. [160] And let him submit himself to me, seeing I am more kingly, and I claim to be his elder in years.

The Embassy to Achilles(267) But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, Aias nodded to

Phoenix; but goodly Odysseus was aware of it, and filling a cup with wine he pledged Achilles: [225]

Odysseus:(315) Yet stop even now, [260] and put from yourself your bitter wrath. To you Agamemnon offers worthy gifts, so you will cease from your anger.

Achilles: (383) There is small thanks, it seems, for warring against the enemy ever without respite. Like portion has he that hangs back, and if one fights his best, and in one honour are held both the coward and the brave; [320] death comes alike to the idle man and to him that works a lot. Neither have I any profit since I suffered woes at heart, ever staking my life in fight.

(409) But why must the Argives wage war against the Trojans? Why has he gathered and led his host here, this son of Atreus? Was it not for fair-haired Helen's sake? [340] Do they then alone of mortal men love their wives, these sons of Atreus? No, for whoever is a true man and sound of mind, loves his own and cherishes her, even as I too loved her with all my heart, though she was but the captive of my spear. But now, since he has taken from my arms my prize and has deceived me, [345] let him not tempt me that know him well; he shall not persuade me.

(488) For in my eyes not of like worth with life is even all that wealth that men say Ilium possessed, the well-peopled citadel, of old in time of peace or ever the sons of the Achaeans came, — no, nor all that the marble threshold of the Archer [405] Phoebus Apollo encloses in rocky Pytho.

(497) [410] For my mother the goddess, silver-footed Thetis, tells me that twofold fates are bearing me toward the doom of death: if I abide here and war about the city of the Trojans, then lost is my home-return, but my renown (kleos) shall be imperishable; but if I return home to my dear native land, [415] lost then is my glorious renown, yet shall my life long endure, neither shall the doom of death come soon upon me.

The Autobiography of Phoenix:(542) In the day when first I left Hellas, the home of fair women, fleeing from strife with my father Amyntor, son of Ormenus; for he waxed grievously anger against me by reason of his fair-haired concubine, [450] whom himself he ever cherished, and scorned his wife, my mother. So she besought me by my knees continually, to have sex with that other first myself, that the old man might be hateful in her eyes. I obeyed her and did the deed, but my father was aware of it right away and cursed me mightily, and invoked the dire Erinyes [455] that never should there sit upon his knees a dear child begotten of me; and the gods fulfilled his curse, even Zeus of the nether world and dread Persephone. Then I took counsel to slay him with the sharp sword, but one of the immortals withheld my anger, bringing to my mind [460] the voice of the people and the many revilings of men, to the end that I should not be called a patricide amid the Achaeans.

The Calydonian Boar Hunt(646) Myself I bear in mind this deed of old days and not of yesterday, how it was; and I will tell it among you that are all my friends. The Curetes on a time were fighting and the Aetolians staunch in battle [530] around the city of Calydon, and were slaying one another, the Aetolians defending lovely Calydon and the Curetes primed to waste it utterly in war. For upon their folk had Artemis of the golden throne sent a plague in wrath because Oeneus did not offer her the first-fruits of the harvest in his rich orchard land; [535] whereas the other gods feasted on hecatombs, and it was to the daughter of great Zeus alone that he offered nothing, whether perhaps he forgot, or marked it not; and he was greatly blinded in heart. Thereat the Archer-goddess, the child of Zeus, waxed wroth and sent against him a fierce wild boar, white of tusk, [540] that wrought much evil, wasting the orchard land of Oeneus; many a tall tree did he uproot and cast upon the ground, aye, root and apple blossom therewith.

(662) But the boar did Meleager, son of Oeneus, slay, when he had gathered out of many cities huntsmen [545] and hounds.

(545) For not by only a few men could the boar have been slain, so huge was he; and many a man set he upon the grievous pyre. But about his body the goddess brought to pass much clamour and shouting concerning his head and shaggy hide, between the Curetes and the great-souled Aetolians. [550] Now so long as Meleager, dear to Ares, warred, so long went it ill with the Curetes, nor might they abide without their wall, even though they were very many. But when wrath (cholos) entered into Meleager, wrath that makes the heart to swell in the breasts also of others, even though they be wise, [555] he then, angry at heart against his dear mother Althaea, abode beside his wedded wife, the fair Cleopatra, . . . [565] By her side lay Meleager nursing his bitter anger, wroth because of his mother's curses; for she prayed instantly to the gods, being grieved for her brother's slaying; and furthermore instantly beat with her hands upon the all-nurturing earth, calling upon Hades and dread Persephone, [570] the while she knelt and made the folds of her bosom wet with tears, that they should bring death upon her son; and the Erinys that walk in darkness heard her from Erebus, even she of the ungentle heart.

(700) Now soon was the din of the foemen risen about their gates, and the noise of the battering of walls, and to Meleager the elders [575] of the Aetolians made prayer, sending to him the best of the priests of the gods, that he should come forth and help them, and they promised him a mighty gift; they bade him, where the plain of lovely Calydon was fattest, there choose a fair tract of fifty acres, the half of it vine land, [580] and the half clear plough-land, to be cut from out the plain. And earnestly the old horseman Oeneus besought him, standing upon the threshold of his high-roofed chamber, and shaking the jointed doors, in prayer to his son, and earnestly too did his sisters and his honoured mother beseech him [585] — but he denied them yet more — and earnestly his companions that were truest and dearest to him of all; yet not even so could they persuade the heart in his breast, until at the last his chamber was being hotly battered, and the Curetes were mounting upon the walls and firing the great city. [590] Then verily his fair-girdled wife besought Meleager with wailing, and told him all the woes that come on men whose city is taken; the men are slain and the city is wasted by fire, and their children and low-girdled women are led captive of strangers. [595] Then was his spirit stirred, as he heard the evil tale, and he went his way and did on his body his gleaming armour. Thus did he ward from the Aetolians the day of evil, yielding to his own spirit; and to him thereafter they paid not the gifts, many and gracious; yet even so did he ward from them evil.

Achilles:(740) In no wise have I need of this honour: honoured have I been, I deem, by the apportionment (aisê) of Zeus, which shall be mine amid the beaked ships so long as the breath [610] remains in my breast and my knees are quick.

Ajax:(772) A man accepts recompense from the slayer of his brother, or for his dead son; and the slayer remains in his own land for the paying of a great price, [635] and the kinsman's heart and proud spirit are restrained by the taking of recompense.