Homer, Iliad VI 72-115

Hector’s brother Helenus urges him and Aeneas to stop the Trojan rout. Hector is then to withdraw to Troy and tell Hecabe to arrange formal prayers to Athena in her temple. The troops rally and Hector leaves for Troy. (Kirk)

The passage repays careful attention. We might begin by looking at Helenos. Though he is a seer, we are not told whether a vision has prompted what he says to Aeneas and Hector. He offers what looks like some sound advice in the face of the imminent threat from the Greeks: get moving and hold the city. But as we have said, the idea of sending your best fighter off the field at this critical moment might seem questionable, so he opens with detailed battlefield tactics, always an acceptably heroic discourse. [read full essay]

72: ὄτρυνε μένος καὶ θυμὸν: “aroused the force and heart.” Nestor’s speech had the desired effect. ὄτρυνε: = ὄτρῡνε, unuagmented aorist (versus imperfect with short υ).

73-74: ἔνθα: “at that point,” “then.” κεν … εἰσανέβησαν, εἰ μὴ … εἶπε: “would have gone up to, if … had not spoken (as follows),” introducing the speech of Helenus, past contrary-to-fact condition (Goodell 649). ἀναλκείῃσι δαμέντες: “vanquished by their lack of courage,” Ionic dat. pl. > ἀν-άλκεια (Monro 102). δαμέντες: aor. pass. ptc. > δαμνάω (= δάμνημι = δαμάζω).

75: παραστὰς: nom. sg. aor. act. ptc. > παρα-ίστημι

77: ὔμμι: dat. pl. of the 2nd pl. personal pronoun > ὑμεῖς (Monro 102). πόνος: struggle, war effort.

78: ἐγκέκλιται: “rests on you,” literally “is leaned on you” + dat., pf. pass. > ἐγ-κλίνω.

79: πᾶσαν ἐπ᾽ ἰθύν: “in every attempt,” literally “in every going straight-on.” ἐστε: 2nd pl. pres. > εἰμί. μάχεσθαι … φρονέειν: explanatory (epexegetical) infinitives, equivalent to acc. of respect, which qualifies ἄριστοι (Goodell 565).

80–81: στῆτ᾽ αὐτοῦ: “hold your ground.” στῆτε: 2nd pl. 2nd aor. imperative > ἵστημι. αὐτοῦ: “here,” “in this very place,” adverb > αὐτός (Goodell 228.b). λαὸν ἐρυκάκετε ... πάντῃ ἐποιχόμενοι: “go everywhere and keep the army back.” ἐρυκάκετε: reduplicated aor. imperative > ἐρύκω.

81–82: πρὶν αὖτ᾽ ἐν χερσὶ γυναικῶν / φεύγοντας πεσέειν: “before they fall in flight back into the womenfolk’s arms,” πρίν + uncontracted 2nd aor. inf. > πίπτω (Goodell 568, Monro 85.2). αὖτ’: “again,” = αὖτε, which usually introduces a shift in focus, though it also often functions as a continuative (Monro 337). δηΐοισι: “for the enemy,” dat. pl. of interest. γενέσθαι: inf. > γίγνομαι, following πρίν.

83: ἐπεί κε ... ἐποτρύνητον: “when you have roused.” ἐπεί κε = ἐπειδάν. ἐποτρύνητον: 2nd person dual aor. subjunctive > ἐπ-οτρύνω. The subjunctive is future in sense.

84: ἡμεῖς μὲν: in contrast with ἀτὰρ σὺ in 86. αὖθι: = αὐτόθι, “on the spot, here.”

85: καὶ μάλα τειρόμενοί περ: “even though (we are) extremely worn out,” καὶ … περ = καίπερ, “although,” introducing a concessive ptc. ἀναγκαίη: = ἀνάγκη.

86: πόλινδε: “to the city”; the suffix -δὲ indicates place to which. μετέρχεο: “go” = μετ-έρχε(σ)ο, 2nd sg. pres. imperative. εἰπὲ: “tell,” 2nd sg. aor. imperative (not to be confused with εἶπε, 3rd sg. aor. indic.).

87–98: Helenus’ plan to get Hecabe to organize a prayer and sacrifice to Athena is given in a long and elaborate sentence whose essential structure is: ἣ δὲ ξυνάγουσα … θεῖναι … καί οἱ ὑποσχέσθαι … ἱερευσέμεν, αἴ κ᾽ ἐλεήσῃ … ὥς κεν Τυδέος υἱὸν ἀπόσχῃ. “Let her gather … and place … and promise … to sacrifice to her, in case she might pity ... so that she might keep back the son of Tydeus (Diomedes).”

87–93: ἥ δὲ … θεῖναι καί … ὑποσχέσθαι: “let this one … place and promise”; θεῖναι and ὑποσχέσθαι are aorist infinitives used as 3rd pers. imperative. Αn imperatival infin. of the 3rd pers. with an expressed subject in the nom. is unusual (Graziosi-Haubold).

87: σῇ καὶ ἐμῇ: Helenus is Hector’s brother and has the same mother. ξυνάγουσα: fem. pres. act. ptc. > συν-άγω.

88: νηὸν: “to the temple,” = ναόν, Attic νεών, acc. place to which, without a preposition (Goodell 533). 

89: κληῗδι: “with a key,” dat. of means (Goodell 526.a)

90: πέπλον: object of θεῖναι. ὅς οἱ δοκέει … εἶναι: “which seems to her (Hecuba) to be.”

91: οἱ … αὐτῇ: = ἑαυτῇ.

93 οἱ: “to her” (Athena), = αὐτῇ. δυοκαίδεκα βοῦς: twelve is a favorite epic choice for a substantial number; a prize is worth 12 oxen at 23.703, 12 horses are among the recompense offered by Agamemnon to Achilles at 9.123 etc., Neleus had twelve sons (11.692), twelve victims and twelfth dawns are common enough, and so on (Kirk).

94: ἤνῑς ἠκέστας: this phrase describing the sacrifical oxen emphasizes their high quality as victims. It probably means “one year old and not knowing the goad” (acc. plural), but this is uncertain. ἱερευσέμεν: fut. inf. with ὑποσχέσθαι (Goodell 570.a). αἴ κε ἐλεήσῃ: “in the hope that she will take pity,” further explained by Τυδέος υἱὸν ἀπόσχῃ in line 96. In Homeric Greek, conditional clauses with verb in the subjunctive can express a purpose (Monro 293).

96: ὥς κεν … ἀπόσχῃ: “so that Athena…,” purpose clause with ὡς + ἄν/κέ and 3rd sg. aor. subj. > ἀπ-έχω. Final clauses with ὡς, unlike ἵνα, include the particle ἄν/κέ with the subjunctive. ἱρῆς: modifies fem. sg. Ἰλίου.

97: ἄγριον … φόβοιο: in apposition to υἱὸν. In Homer, φόβοιο almost exclusively refers to panicked flight.

98: ὃν δὴ: “the very one whom.” δὴ lends exactness and emphasis to the relative pronoun, which is acc. subject in indirect discourse. φημι: “I claim,” he is making an assertion.

99: οὐδε Ἀχιλῆα: “not even Achilles.” ποθ᾽: = ποτὲ, elision before aspiration. ὧδέ γ’: “in this way,” γε is here emphatic (“even”) rather than restrictive (“at least”); it is the equivalent to using italics, underlining, or saying the preceding word emphatically. ἐδείδιμεν: 1st pl. plpf. with impf. sense > δείδω.

100: φασι: 3rd pl. present > φημί. θεᾶς: “from a goddess,” gen. sg. of source with ἐκ- of ἐξέμμεναι. ἐξέμμεναι: “descends from” + gen., = ἐξεῖναι, pres. inf. (Goodell 509.a). ὅδε: Diomedes. The deictic pronoun presents Diomedes as dangerously near (Graziosi-Haubold).

101: τίς: “anyone,” = τις before enclitic οἱ. οἱ: = αὐτῷ, Diomedes, dat. sg. object of a compound verb. μένος: “in strenght,” acc. of respect, qualifying ἰσοφαρίζειν.

102: ἔφαθ’: = ἔφατο, 3rd sg. impf. mid. > φημί, mid. with no difference in meaning from the active (Stoevesandt). οὔ τι: “not at all,” τι is adverbial acc (Goodell 540).

104: ὀξέα δοῦρα: Hector carries two spears, as is typical for Trojan heroes. Such is the depiction of Achilles and Ajax playing a board game on an Athenian two-handled amphora from the Archaic period (about 525–520 B.C.) by the Andokides Painter, to be seen in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. κατὰ στρατὸν: “through the army.” ᾤχετο: impf. > οἴχομαι.

105: μαχέσασθαι: “to fight,” aor. inf. of purpose (Goodell 565.a).

106: ἐλελίχθησαν: “they turned around,” “they rallied,” 3rd pl. aor. pass. The verb is best analyzed as an aorist of ἑλίσσω, “turn around,” though it is identical with the corresponding aorist of ἐλελίζω, “shake” (Graziosi-Haubold). ἐναντίοι: governs a genitive when used with a hostile sense (“facing”). ἔσταν: = ἔστησαν, 3rd pl. aor. > ἵστημι.

107: φόνοιο: “from slaughter,” gen. of separation with λῆξαν (Goodell 509.a).

108: φάν(το): “they said that,” “they thought that,” unaugmented 3rd pl. mid. impf. > φημί. τιν’ ἀθανάτων: “one of the gods,” = τιν(α) ἀθανάτων, acc. subject of κατελθέμεν, “had come down,” in the next line. This explains the retreat of the Achaeans. ἀστερόεντος: in Homer, the sky is starry even in broad daylight.

109: ἀλεξήσοντα: “to assist,” future ptc. expressing purpose, often translated as an infinitive. κατελθέμεν: aor. inf. > κατ-έρχομαι. ἐλέλιχθεν: “were rallied,” “were turned (to the enemy),” = ἐλελίχθησαν, aor. pass. > ἐλελίζω. ὡς: “thus,” “so boldly,” referring back to 6.108.

110: = 66. ἐκέκλετο: reduplicated aor. > κέλομαι. μακρὸν: “loudly,” “greatly,” adverbial cognate acc. adj. (Goodell 536.b). ἀΰσας: nom. sg. aor. ptc. > αὔω.

111: Τρῶες … φίλοι: vocative direct address.

112: ἀνέρες: = ἄνδρες, alternative nom. pl. predicate > ἀνήρ. ἔστε: 2nd pl. pres. imperative > εἰμί. μνήσασθε: aor. imper. > μιμνήσκω + gen. (Goodell 511.b).

113: ὄφρα ἂν … βείω … εἴπω: “while I go ... and tell,” “long enough for me to go and tell,” temporal clause with sense of purpose (Monro 287, who discusses this passage). βείω: 1st sg. aor. subj. > βαίνω. προτὶ = προς. γέρουσιν … βουλευτῇ … ἡμετέρῃς ἀλόχοισι: dat. pl. indirect objectσ of εἴπω. In the event he ends up speaking to the women, but not the council of elders.

114: εἴπω: “tell,” governs two infinitives, ἀρήσασθαι and ὑποσχέσθαι.

115: δαίμοσιν: “to the gods,” dat. pl. ὑποσχέσθαι: aor. inf. > ὑπ-ισχνέομαι. ἑκατόμβας: a general expression for the δυοκαίδεκα βοῦς of 6.93.