Homer, Iliad XXII 177-223

Athena objects to rescuing a man fated to die, and Zeus retracts the suggestion. Athena travels quickly to the battelfield. The poet compares Hector's inability to elude Achilles to that of a deer running from a hunting dog, and a man pursued in a dream. As Hector and Achilles pass the springs for the fourth time Zeus weighs both men's fates in a balance and Hector's sinks towards Hades. Athena urges Achilles to rest while she persuades Hector to stand and fight.

Athena’s exuberantly malicious treatment of Hector, whose selflessness and devotion have cost him so much, is hard to contemplate, precisely because we know that she cannot care about anything for long. [read full essay]

177: τὸν δ᾽: Zeus.

178: οἷον ἔειπες: “what sort of thing you speak of!” an exclamatory use of the indirect interrogative, which may be used in independent clasuses to express surprise. Compare this to Hera's words at the death of Sarpedon, 16.441–2.

179: πεπρωμένον αἴσῃ: “destined by fate,” i.e. to die. "Fated," is a common meaning of the pf. pass. > πόρω (“to give”). 

180: ἐξαναλῦσαι: “deliver from” + gen., aor. act. inf.

181: ἔρδ’: “do (it),” i.e. “go ahead,” = ἔρδ(ε), 2nd sg. imper. τοι: = σοι. dat. sg. ἐπαινέομεν: uncontracted 1st pl. fut.

183: θάρσει: = θάρσε-ε. 2nd sg. pres. imperative. οὔ νυ τι: “not at all,” adverbial acc.

183–184: θυμῷ / πρόφρονι: “with a sincere mind,” “in earnest,” “seriously,” dat. of manner equivalent to adverb. τοι: = σοι.

185: ἔρξον ὅπῃ δή τοι νόος ἔπλετο: “act in the way in which your mind is set” (de Jong). ἔρξον: aor. act. imper. > ἔρδω. δή: “precisely,” “exactly.” τοι: = σοι, “your,” the dative of the personal pronoun is often used in place of a possessive (Monro 143.1). ἔπλετο: “turned out to be,” “is.” μὴ δ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἐρώει: “don’t rest any longer,” i.e., don’t hesitate. ἐρωέω means to draw back or rest from, leave, quit (war, drinking, etc.), normally with a genitive object (see LSJ s.v. ἐρωέω  I.2).

186: εἰπὼν ὄτρυνε: “by speaking such words he encouraged,” coincident use of the aorist participle, which means that the main verb and the participle describe the same action or different aspects of the same action (de Jong). μεμαυῖαν: "eager," fem. acc. sg. ptc. > μέμονα, reduplicated perfect with present sense. πάρος: “already.”

187: βῆ ἀΐξασα: “she went darting,” coincident participle (see line 186), with unaugmented root aor. > βαίνω and fem. sg. aor. ptc. > ἀΐσσω. κατ᾽: “down from,” + gen. place from which.

188: ἔφεπ᾽: = ἔφεπε, “kept following after,” 3rd sg. iterative impf. κλονέων ἔφεπ᾽: “kept in hand as he drove him on”: the phrase would naturally be used of an attack on a body of men: cp. 11.496 (Monro).

189: ὡς δ᾽ὅτε: “just as when,” introducing the third simile of the hunt (see 22.162). ὄρεσφι: “in the mountains” see 22.139. δίηται: subjunctive, either thematic aor. or athematic pres. > δίω. As often, the subjunctive appears in similes where the main action occurs repeatedly and indefinitely (Monro 289.2.a).

190: ὄρσας: nom. sg. aor. ptc. > ὄρνυμι. διά … διὰ: “through,” + acc. (Att. + gen.).

191: τὸν δ᾽: “this one,” i.e. the dog, the direct obj. in the subordinate clause is put into the main clause, in an instance of grammatical prolepsis (“him, even if the fawn manages to hide from (him)” (de Jong). εἴ πέρ: “even if,” concessive. τε … τ᾽: “both … and.” λάθῃσι: 3rd sg. aor. > λανθάνω.

192: ἀλλά: “yet.” ὄφρά κεν εὕρῃ: “until he finds it,” 3rd sg. aor. subj. > εὑρίσκω. The basic sense is temporal, but ὄφρά κεν also conveys purpose (Monro 287.1.b).

193: ὣς: “so,” closing the simile from 189. λῆθε: unaugmented epic impf. > λήθω (= λανθάνω).

194–195: “whenever he set about to make a dash straight for the Dardanian gate (to get) under (the protection of) its well-built towers” (de Jong). ὁρμήσειε: “set out for (+ gen.),” 3rd sg. aor. opt. in subordinate clause of repeated past action (ἄν + subj. in primary sequence) (Goodell 627, fn. 2). πυλάων Δαρδανιάων: gen. obj. of ὁρμήσειε (or ἀΐξασθαι, see 195 below) (Monro 151.c).

195: ἀΐξασθαι: “to dart,” either closely construed with ὁρμήσειε (“set out to dart”), or explanatory (epexegetical) infinitive of purpose (“set out for the gates, to dart beneath”). ὑπὸ: “to beneath,” + acc. place to which (Monro 283).

196: εἴ … ἀλάλκοιεν: “in the hope that they might defend.” In Homeric Greek conditional clauses with the optative may have the sense of a purpose clause. The difference from regular purpose clauses is that the subject hopes to achieve something, here with optative in secondary sequence in attraction to ὁρμήσειε (de Jong; see Monro 314). οἷ: “from him.” βελέεσσι: uncontracted dat. pl. of means (Goodell 526.a).

197: προπάροιθεν: “beforehand,” temporal, though a blended temporal and local force (“before and in front of”) is possible. ἀποστρέψασκε: “kept driving back.” -σκ- indicates iterative impf. (Monro 48–9). παραφθὰς: “getting ahead of,” both in time and place, nom. sg. aor. ptc. > παραφθάνω. 

198: ποτὶ πτόλιος: “on the city side,” an exceptional use of ποτὶ + gen. While Hector runs along the wagon track, Achilles runs nearer to the city and hence debars him from reaching the walls and gate (de Jong).  

199: ὣς δ᾽: “just as,” beginning a simile. This is the only Homeric simile to refer to dreaming. While Aristarchus athetized (proposed for deletion) these lines as “shabby,” they are among the most haunting in the Homeric epics (and imitated to great effect by Vergil at Aeneid 12.908–14) (de Jong). δύναται: “(one) is able,” understand τις.

200: ὃ … ὃ: “this one … that one,” demonstrative pronouns.  

201: ὣς: “so,” closing the simile from 199–200. ὃ … ὃς: “this one … that one” both with δύνατο.

202: κεν … ὑπεξέφυγεν … εἰ μή … ἤντετο: “could have escaped, if … were not drawing near,” a mixed contrary-to-fact condition (εἰ + impf. ind, ἄν/κε + aor. indic.) (Goodell 649). At this climactic point the singer gives up his usual reticence and steps forward qua narrator by inserting a rhetorical question, which adds pathos to the situation, as Hector is assisted by a god only temporarily (de Jong).

203: οἱ: “him,” dat. object of ἤντετ’ ἐγγύθεν. πύματόν τε καὶ ὕστατον: “for the last and final time,” i.e. “for the very last time,” both adverbial acc. (de Jong; see Goodell 540).

204: ὅς: “who,” i.e. Apollo, relative. οἱ: “his,” Hector’s. The dative of the personal pronoun is often used in place of a possessive (Monro 143.1). ἐπῶρσε: 3rd sg. aor. > ἐπόρνυμι.

205: λαοῖσιν: “to his people,” i.e. the Achaians. ἀνένευε: impf. > ἀνανεύω, Greeks indicated a negative by raising the chin. καρήατι: dat. sg. of means > κάρη. Achilles was between Hector and the walls, and the Greek army might therefore have attacked Hector on the other side, had not Achilles signed for them not to do so. This is mentioned as another reason why Hector escaped as he did: hence there should not be a full stop at the end of line 204 (Monro).

206: ἔα: = ἔαε, 3rd sg. impf. > ἐάω + inf. ἱέμεναι: “throw,” pres. inf. > ἵημι (Monro 85.2).

207: μή … ἄροιτο: “lest … win,” negative clause of purpose governing opt. (aor. opt. > ἄρνυμι) in secondary sequence after impf. ἔα (Monro 303.1). ὃ δὲ: “and he,” Achilles. ἔλθοι: continuing the negative purpose clause, with aor. opt. > ἔρχομαι in secondary sequence.

208: ὅτε δὴ: “just when.” δὴ implies exactness. τὸ τέταρτον: “the fourth time,” adv. acc. (Goodell 540).

209–212: these lines are a repetition of 8.69–72, except that Hector and Achilles are put for the Greeks and Trojans. The passage was known in later times as the ψυχοστασία, or “weighing of the souls” (Monro).

209: πατὴρ: Zeus

210: ἐν δ᾽: “and on them (the scales).” κῆρε θανάτοιο: “death-fates,” dual acc. κῆρε governing genitive.  

211: τὴν μὲν … τὴν δ’: “one fate … another fate,” specifying each of the two κῆρε above. 

212: ἕλκε δὲ μέσσα λαβών: “(Zeus) took the middle of the scales and raised them.” ἕλκω means not only “drag horizontally,” but also “draw up or down” (de Jong).

213: ᾤχετο εἰς Ἀΐδαο: “and tipped in the direction of the house of Hades,” impf. > οἴχομαι, εἰς + gen. meaning “to the house of” (Goodell 507.a). The heavier fate was the doomed one (Benner).

214: Πηλεΐωνα: “the son of Peleus,” i.e. Achilles, acc. of direction without preposition.

215: λίπεν: unaugmented aor. > λείπω. ἱσταμένη: pres. mid. ptc. > ἵστημι.

216: νῦν δὴ: “at this very moment,” “just now.” Διῒ: “to Zeus,” specifying dat. sg. with vocative φίλε (Goodell 527.b). ἔολπα: “I am confident,” intensive perfect > ἔλπω (Monro 61). νῷι: “that we,” dual 1st pl. acc. pronoun, acc. subj. of οἴσεσθαι (fut. dep. mid. inf. > φέρω).

217: Ἀχαιοῖσι: “for the Achaeans,” best taken as a dative of interest, in view of Achilles later words to the Greeks, “we have won,” though a dative of reference (“in the eyes of the Achaeans”) is also possible (de Jong).

218: δῃώσαντε: “killing,” dual nom. aor. act. ptc. περ ἐόντα: “though being,” concessive pres. ptc. > εἰμί, governed by Ἕκτορα and introducing acc. predicate ἄατον: “despite his insatiable lust for battle.”

219: οὔ … ἔτι γ᾽: “no longer,” “at any rate,” or “at least,” γε is restrictive and emphatic. οἱ … ἔστι: “is it possible for him,” impersonal ἔστι (= ἔξεστι) + dat. of reference (Goodell 523), with 3rd sg. personal pronoun (Monro 99). πεφυγμένον … γενέσθαι: lit. “become escaped,” i.e. “escape,” perfect periphrastic infinitive (pf. mid. ptc. + aor. inf. γίγνομαι), governed by οἱ … ἔστι, with ptc. πεφυγμένον shifting from dat. to acc., as often in Homer. The perfect periphrastic construction adds a note of finality (de Jong). See 6.488 for another example. ἄμμε: acc. 1st pl. personal pronoun, Att. ἡμᾶς.

220: οὐδ᾽εἴ: “not even if.” κεν … πάθοι: “would suffer,” potential aor. opt. > πάσχω. πολλὰ: “many troubles,” “many things.” μάλα πολλὰ πάθοι: “should give himself ever so much trouble” (Benner).

221: προπροκυλινδόμενος: “groveling before” + gen., i.e., coming as a suppliant making requests. 

222: στῆθι: “stop!” “stand still!” aor. act. imper. > ἵστημι. ἄμπνυε: “get your breath,” aor. imper. > ἀνα-πνέω, with apocope and assimilation. τοι: = σοι, dat. with adj. ἐναντί-βιον.

223: πεπιθήσω: “I will persuade him,” 1st sg. reduplicated future > πείθω, derived from repuplicated aor. step πεπιθ-. The reduplication may imply a causative force (“make him obey”) (de Jong).