Ἕκτορ μή μοι μίμνε φίλον τέκος ἀνέρα τοῦτον

οἶος ἄνευθ᾽ ἄλλων, ἵνα μὴ τάχα πότμον ἐπίσπῃς

Πηλεΐωνι δαμείς, ἐπεὶ ἦ πολὺ φέρτερός ἐστι40

σχέτλιος: αἴθε θεοῖσι φίλος τοσσόνδε γένοιτο

ὅσσον ἐμοί: τάχα κέν ἑ κύνες καὶ γῦπες ἔδοιεν

κείμενον: ἦ κέ μοι αἰνὸν ἀπὸ πραπίδων ἄχος ἔλθοι:

ὅς μ᾽ υἱῶν πολλῶν τε καὶ ἐσθλῶν εὖνιν ἔθηκε

κτείνων καὶ περνὰς νήσων ἔπι τηλεδαπάων.45

καὶ γὰρ νῦν δύο παῖδε Λυκάονα καὶ Πολύδωρον

οὐ δύναμαι ἰδέειν Τρώων εἰς ἄστυ ἀλέντων,

τούς μοι Λαοθόη τέκετο κρείουσα γυναικῶν.

ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μὲν ζώουσι μετὰ στρατῷ, ἦ τ᾽ ἂν ἔπειτα

χαλκοῦ τε χρυσοῦ τ᾽ ἀπολυσόμεθ᾽, ἔστι γὰρ ἔνδον:50

πολλὰ γὰρ ὤπασε παιδὶ γέρων ὀνομάκλυτος Ἄλτης.

εἰ δ᾽ ἤδη τεθνᾶσι καὶ εἰν Ἀΐδαο δόμοισιν,

ἄλγος ἐμῷ θυμῷ καὶ μητέρι τοὶ τεκόμεσθα:

λαοῖσιν δ᾽ ἄλλοισι μινυνθαδιώτερον ἄλγος

ἔσσεται, ἢν μὴ καὶ σὺ θάνῃς Ἀχιλῆϊ δαμασθείς.55

ἀλλ᾽ εἰσέρχεο τεῖχος ἐμὸν τέκος, ὄφρα σαώσῃς

Τρῶας καὶ Τρῳάς, μὴ δὲ μέγα κῦδος ὀρέξῃς

Πηλεΐδῃ, αὐτὸς δὲ φίλης αἰῶνος ἀμερθῇς.

πρὸς δ᾽ ἐμὲ τὸν δύστηνον ἔτι φρονέοντ᾽ ἐλέησον

δύσμορον, ὅν ῥα πατὴρ Κρονίδης ἐπὶ γήραος οὐδῷ60

αἴσῃ ἐν ἀργαλέῃ φθίσει κακὰ πόλλ᾽ ἐπιδόντα

υἷάς τ᾽ ὀλλυμένους ἑλκηθείσας τε θύγατρας,

καὶ θαλάμους κεραϊζομένους, καὶ νήπια τέκνα

βαλλόμενα προτὶ γαίῃ ἐν αἰνῇ δηϊοτῆτι,

ἑλκομένας τε νυοὺς ὀλοῇς ὑπὸ χερσὶν Ἀχαιῶν.65

αὐτὸν δ᾽ ἂν πύματόν με κύνες πρώτῃσι θύρῃσιν

ὠμησταὶ ἐρύουσιν, ἐπεί κέ τις ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ

τύψας ἠὲ βαλὼν ῥεθέων ἐκ θυμὸν ἕληται,

οὓς τρέφον ἐν μεγάροισι τραπεζῆας θυραωρούς,

οἵ κ᾽ ἐμὸν αἷμα πιόντες ἀλύσσοντες περὶ θυμῷ70

κείσοντ᾽ ἐν προθύροισι. νέῳ δέ τε πάντ᾽ ἐπέοικεν

ἄρηϊ κταμένῳ δεδαϊγμένῳ ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ

κεῖσθαι: πάντα δὲ καλὰ θανόντι περ ὅττι φανήῃ:

ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ πολιόν τε κάρη πολιόν τε γένειον

αἰδῶ τ᾽ αἰσχύνωσι κύνες κταμένοιο γέροντος,75

τοῦτο δὴ οἴκτιστον πέλεται δειλοῖσι βροτοῖσιν.

    Seeing his son below on the plain, Priam begs Hector to come inside the walls.

    Here, as often in this episode, the painful exchange between Hector and Andromache in Book 6 echoes in our ears. Like Andromache, Priam hopes to keep Hector close by appealing to his sense of responsibility to those who depend on him.

    read full essay

    Achilles has left them both bereft of family, killing or selling into slavery those they love. Priam begs him not to wait οἶος ἄνευθ᾽ ἄλλων, “alone, apart from the others” (39). Do not, in other words, value heroic excellence, which separates you from other mortals and eventually kills you, over the people who love you. He might well have used Andromache’s words, φθίσει σε τὸ σὸν μένος, “your own strength will destroy you” (6.407).

    Priam ends his appeal by envisioning, as Andromache does, the grim aftermath of Hector’s death, his sons killed, daughters dragged off into slavery, the royal palace destroyed, grandchildren flung to the ground. Last, and most shocking, is his vision of his own death, killed by some enemy soldier, then torn apart by his own dogs, pets he used to feed dinner scraps now driven wild by the taste of his blood. Like a cinematic tracking shot, his dark vision pulls us past the threshold of the dining room, with its slavering dogs, the ever-tightening focus finally settling on the withered genitals of his own naked body.

    The pathetic picture of Priam’s mutilated corpse draws power from various sources. The specter of dogs and birds feasting the dead bodies of warriors appears in the poem’s opening lines (1.4–5) and hovers constantly over the battle scenes. If a man’s corpse is left unburied, his psyche, “soul,” is doomed to wander forever, denied its final rest in Hades, consigned to anonymous oblivion (23.70–74). The treatment of a warrior’s dead body becomes a major theme in the poem beginning with the death of Sarpedon, continuing through the battle over the corpse of Patroclus, and building to a crescendo in Achilles’ abuse of Hector’s body. To this dismal motif Priam’s vision of his own body’s fate adds special, intimate horrors. His description of his own dogs eating his flesh, with its vision of the dog’s affection for their master swept away by a feeding frenzy, is more disturbing than an enemy savaging his victim. These are not wild dogs, but pampered pets, eating the hand that fed them.

     

    38: μήμίμνε: “don’t wait for” + acc. neg. imperative; the verb is transitive. μοι: so-called ethical dative, which gives expression to the speaker’s involvement. Its force is captured by “please” (de Jong). φίλον τέκος: vocative. ἀνέρα: acc. sg. > ἀνήρ, Att. ἄνδρα.

    39: ἵνα μὴ ἐπίσπῃς: “so that you may not meet,” negative purpose clause, 2nd sg. aor. subj. > ἐφ-έπω (Goodell 642.a).

    40: Πηλεΐωνι: dat. of agent. δαμείς: nom. sg. aor. passive ptc. > δαμνάω (= δάμνημι = δαμάζω). πολὺ: “by far,” “far.”

    41: σχέτλιος: “hard,” “relentless one,” said of Hector. Most commentators refer it to Achilles, both here and in line 86, where it is similarly used. But σχέτλιος is especially a word of friendly complaint: Achilles uses it of Patroclus (18.13), Diomedes of Nestor (10.164), etc. (Monro). αἴθεγένοιτο: “would that…,” opt. of wish introduced by αἴθε (= εἴθε), aor. opt. > γίγνομαι. θεοῖσι φίλος τοσσόνδεὅσσον ἐμοί: “may he become so very dear to the gods as he is to me,” i.e. so little, correlative adjectives, adverbial accusatives of extent modifying φίλος (de Jong).

    42: ἐμοί: supply φίλος. : “him,” = αὐτόν, 3rd sg. acc. personal pronoun (Monro 99). κένἔδοιεν: “would eat,” potential opt. elaborating on the wish in the previous line.

    43: κείμενον: “lying (dead),” pres. dep. mid. ptc. μοι: either dat. of reference (“grief would be gone for me from the heart”) or dat. possession (“grief would be gone from my heart”) (de Jong). The dative of the personal pronoun is often used in place of a possessive (Monro 143.1). κέἔλθοι: “would go,” i.e. “depart,” not “arrive,” potential opt. > ἔρχομαι.

    44: ὅς: “he,” “this man,” Achilles, demonstrative pronoun (see 22.1). ἔθηκε: “made (x) (y)” aor. > τίθημι + double acc. (Goodell 534).

    45: νήσων ἔπι: “upon islands,” = ἐπὶ νήσων.

    46: παῖδε: dual acc.

    47: ἰδέειν: aor. inf. > εἶδον (which supplies the aorist of ὁράω), artificially lengthened to fit the meter (Goodell 391). Τρώων: “among the Trojans,” partitive genitive (Monro).  ἀλέντων: “being hemmed in,” gen. absolute, aor. pass. ptc. > εἴλω.

    48: τούς: “whom,” relative. μοι: dat. of interest (Goodell 523). τέκετο: unaugmented aor. mid. > τίκτω.

    49: μετὰ στρατῷ: i.e., in the hands of the Greeks. ἦ τ᾽: “certainly, undoubtedly, indeed.” But ἄν introduces an element of doubt. τε underlines the close connection between protasis and apodosis but is left untranslated (de Jong).

    50: ἂνἀπολυσόμεθα: “we will perhaps ransom,” either fut. mid. indicative (Monro 326) or aor. prospective subjunctive with short thematic vowel (Att. ἀπολυσώμεθα) (Monro 275.a). χαλκοῦχρυσοῦ: gen. of price (Goodell 513). ἔστι: “it is…,” i.e. the gold and bronze.

    51: πολλὰ: “many (gifts),” a large dowry. ὤπασε: “gave with” (Monro). παιδὶ: “his daughter” Laothoe, fem. dat. indirect object.

    52: εἰ δ᾽: “but if,” compare εἰ μὲν in line 49. τεθνᾶσι: “have died,” “are dead,” 3rd pl. pf. > θνήσκω. εἰν Ἀΐδαο δόμοισιν: supply εἰσί. εἰν: = ἐν. Ἀΐδαο: gen. sg.

    53: ἐμῷ θυμῷ καὶ μητέρι: datives of interest (Goodell 523). τοὶ: “who,” relative. τεκόμεσθα: “bore” > τίκτω. The aor. mid. is used in pl. of both parents.

    54: λαοῖσιν: dat. of interest (Goodell 523).

    55: ἔσσεται: = ἔσται, fut. dep. mid. > εἰμί. ἢνθάνῃς: future-more-vivid condition (ἢν/ἐάν + aor. subj., fut. indic.). θάνῃς: 2nd sg. aor. subj. > θνήσκω. δαμασθείς: nom. sg. aor. pass. ptc. > δαμνάω (= δάμνημι = δαμάζω), here with dat. of agent (see line 40).

    56: εἰσέρχεο: = εἰσέρχε(σ)ο, 2nd sg. imperative. ὄφρα σαώσῃς: “so that…,” ὄφρα + aor. subj. > σαόω (= σῴζω) without κεν/ἄν in pure purpose clause (Monro 287.1.b).

    57: Τρῶας καὶ Τρῳάς: 3rd decl. masc. and 1st decl. fem. adj. μὴ ... ὀρέξῃς: “you should not offer,” “do not grant,” prohibitive subjunctive (μή + 2nd sg. aor. subj. > ὀρέγω).

    58: φίλης αἰῶνος: “of your dear life,” “from your dear life,” gen. of separation with ἀμερθῇς. ἀμερθῇς: “you should not be bereft of,” supply μὴ, another prohibitive subj., aor. pass subj. > ἀμέρδω.

    59: πρὸς δ’: “and in addition,” “and besides,” adverbial. ἐμἐ τὸν δύστηνον: “me, this wretched man.” φρονέοντα: “while I still have my senses,” an emphatic variant for “while I am still alive” (de Jong); “alive and therefore knowing what evils are impending” (Monro). ἐλέησον: aor. act. imper. > ἐλεέω.

    60: ὅν: “whom,” relative. ἐπὶ γήραος οὐδῷ: not “at the threshold of old age” (i.e. entering old age), but “at the threshold (between life and death), which is formed by old age,” a defining genitive (de Jong; see Monro 147).

    60–61: πατὴρ Κρονίδηςαἴσῃ ἐν ἀργαλέῃ φθίσει: “(whom) father Zeus will destroy with a cruel fate.” ἐν expresses the circumstances under which something happens (de Jong).

    61: κακὰ: “evils,” object of ἐπιδόντα. The accusatives of line 62 and following are in apposition to κακὰ. ἐπιδόντα: acc. sg. aor. ptc. > ἐπ- + εἶδον (see 22.25).

    62: ἑλκηθείσας: “dragged away,” aor. pass. ptc. > ἑλκέω (= ἕλκω).

    64: βαλλόμενα: pres. pass. ptc. > βάλλω. προτὶ: “against,” “near” + dat., = πρός (Monro 206).

    65: ὀλοῇς: modifies χερσὶν, fem. dat. pl. > χείρ. ὑπὸ: “under (the power of)” + dat. (Monro 204.3).

    66: αὐτὸνμε: “me myself,” intensive pronoun. πρώτῃσι θύρῃσιν: “just outside the door,” cp. 8.411 (Monro).

    66–67: ἂνἐρύουσιν: “(perhaps) will drag,” fut. indicative + ἂν, which has a conditional force (see lines 49–50) (Monro 326).

    67: ἐπεὶ κέ τιςἕληται: “when someone takes,” subjunctive + κε/ἄν in a general temporal clause (kindred with a future-more-vivid condition) (Monro 296), aor. mid. subj. > αἱρέω.

    68: τύψας, βαλὼν: nom. sg. aor. act. ptc. > τύπτω and βάλλω. Priam imagines death by sword thrust or spear cast. ῥεθέων ἐκ: = ἐκ ῥεθέων, “from my limbs.”

    69: οὓς: “which,” dogs. τραπεζῆας: “eating from the table,” domesticated (Monro).

    70: οἵ: “these,” demonstrative (22.1). πιόντες: aor. ptc. > πίνω. περὶ θυμῷ: “very much in their heart,” περί is adverbial; “to the fullness of their hearts,” cp. 21.65 (Monro).

    71: νέῳ: “for a young man,” dat. interest (Goodell 523). τε: epic τε in generalizing statement (Monro 332.b). πάντ᾽ ἐπέοικεν: “everything looks well,” neuter plural subject of singular verb.

    72: ἄρηϊ: “in war,” dat. means or, if personified, dat. of agent “by Ares.” κταμένῳ: “killed,” aor. mid. ptc. with pass. sense > κτείνω, predicative after κεῖσθαι (“to lie killed”). δεδαϊγμένῳ: pf. pass. ptc. > δαίζω, also predicative after κεῖσθαι. ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ: dat. of means.

    73: κεῖσθαι: “to lie (dead),” epexegetical infinitive explaining πάντα in line 71 (Monro 242). πάνταὅττι φανήῃ: “Everything of him is beautiful even though he is dead, whatever part of his body is visible” (de Jong); “whatever may present itself, befall him in the sight of men” (Monro).  πάντα: subject, supply ἐστί. θανόντι περ: “though dead,” dat. aor. ptc. > θνήσκω. περ suggests the ptc. is concessive. ὅττι: singular in number with plural antecedent πάντα, in a distributive construction (“everything … whatever individual part”).

    74: κάρη: neut. sg., modified by πολιόν.

    75: αἰδῶ: “nakedness,” i.e., the shameful parts, acc. sg. αἰσχύνωσι: “defile” by eating. κταμένοιο γέροντος: “an old man being killed,” aor. mid. ptc., which in Homer still may have a passive meaning (de Jong).

    76: τοῦτο δὴ: “this very thing,” i.e. the death of an old man. πέλεται: “turns out to be,” “is.” οἴκτιστον: “the most pitiable thing,” closing off the speech with a repetition of its key idea.

    μίμνω: to stay, stand fast, remain

     

    φίλος –η –ον: friend; loved, beloved, dear

     

    τέκος -εος τό: a child

     

    ἄνευθε: without; far away (+gen)

     

    τάχα: quickly, presently; perhaps

     

    πότμος: fate, death

     

    ἐφέπω, aor. subj. ἐπίσπῃ: to meet; πότμον ἐπισπεῖν, meet one's fate, fulfill one's destiny

     

    Πηλεΐων: son of Peleus40

     

    δαμάζω: to overpower, tame, conquer, subdue

     

    φέρτατος: bravest, best

     

    σχέτλιος: persistent, stubborn, headstrong, implacable, harsh, cruel

     

    εἴθε: would that!

     

    τοσόσδε –ήδε –όνδε: so strong, so able

     

    οἱ (enclitic, dat. 3rd pers. pron.): (to) him, (to) her

     

    κύων κυνός ὁ or ἡ: a dog

     

    γύψ γυπός ὁ: a vulture

     

    ἔδω: to eat

     

    αἰνός –ή –όν: dread, dire, grim

     

    πραπίδες: diaphragm; mind, heart

     

    ἄχος –εος τό: grief, sadness

     

    ἐσθλός –ή –όν: good, decent, honorable, noble, generous; capable, able; (of things) good, useful; (of words) wise, sensible

     

    εὖνις: deprived, bereft

     

    κτείνω, aor. subj. κτείνῃς, aor. (ἔ)κτανε(ν) and ἔκτα, aor. mid. as pass. κτάμενος: to slay, kill45

     

    πέρνημι, pres. partic. περνάς, pass. περνάμενα: to export for sale, to sell

     

    τηλεδαπός: remote, distant

     

    Λυκάων: Lycaon, son of Priam and Laothoe

     

    Πολύδωρος: Polydorus, youngest son of Priam by Laothoe, who was slain by Achilles.

     

    Τρῶες: Trojans

     

    ἄστυ ἄστεος τό: a city, town

     

    εἴλω, aor. pass. ἄλεν, subj. εἰλέωσι: to hold back, detain

     

    Λαοθόη: Laothoe, daughter of Altes and mother of Lycaon and Polydorus by Priam.

     

    κρείων -οντος ὁ: a ruler, lord, master; κρείουσα, queen

     

    ζῶ: to live

     

    χρυσός –οῦ ὁ: gold50

     

    ἀπολύω, aor. ἀπέλυσε: to release, set free

     

    ἔνδον: in, within, in the house, at home

     

    ὀπάζω, aor. ὤπασαν: to grant, follow, press hard upon

     

    γέρων –οντος ὁ: an old man

     

    ὀνομάκλυτος: of famous name

     

    Ἄλτης: king of the Leleges, father of Laothoe

     

    ᾍδης, gen. Ἀίδεω and Ἄϊδος, dat. Ἄϊδι, Ἀϊδωνῆι: Hades, god of the unseen lower world. His realm is the home of the dead, and in the Iliad it is beneath the earth, while in the Odyssey Odysseus sails to it, across Oceanus, and finds in it a faint, ghostly imitation of life on earth.

     

    δόμος -ου, ὁ: a house, home

     

    ἄλγος –εος τό: pain

     

    λαός –οῦ ὁ: the people

     

    μινυνθάδιος: short-lived; Comparative μινυνθαδιώτερον, of shorter duration

     

    Ἀχιλλεύς -έως or -ῆος ὁ: Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis, leader of the Myrmidons and Hellenes in Thessaly, the mightiest warrior before Troy, and the principal hero of the Iliad.55

     

    εἰσέρχομαι εἰσελεύσομαι εἰσῆλθον εἰσελήλυθα: to go in

     

    ὄφρα: in order that; as long as, until

     

    Τρώϊος: Trojan

     

    κῦδος -εος τό: glory, renown

     

    ὀρέγω: to reach, stretch, stretch out

     

    Πηλεΐδης: son of Peleus

     

    αἰών –ῶνος ὁ ἡ: life, lifetime

     

    ἀμέρδω, aor. inf. ἀμέρσαι, aor. pass. subj. ἀμερθῇς: to deprive, rob

     

    δύστηνος: wretched, unhappy, unfortunate

     

    ἐλεέω, aor. ἐλέησε: to pity, take pity

     

    δύσμορος: unfortunate, unhappy60

     

    ἄρα, ῥά (enclit.), ἄρ, ῥ᾿: so, then, as you know, you know, it seems. Very often it marks an action as natural, or reminds of something recently said. It also marks transitions.

     

    Κρονίδης and Κρονίων –ωνος ὁ: son of Cronus, Zeus

     

    γῆρας –αως τό: old age

     

    οὐδός: a threshold

     

    αἶσα: share, lot, allotted portion, term of life; κατὰ αἶσαν, as is due

     

    ἀργᾰλέος -α, -ον: painful, troublous, grievous

     

    φθίνω, fut. φθίσει, plpf. ἐφθίατο: to waste away, perish, die; (fut.) destroy, kill

     

    ἐφοράω, 2nd aor. partic. ἐπιδόντα, fut. mid. ἐπιόψομαι: to behold; select

     

    ὄλλυμι, fut. ὀλεῖται, ὀλέσεις, aor. ὤλεσα, ὀλέσ(σ)ῃς, ὄλοντο, οὐλόμενος, perf. ὀλώλῃ: to ruin, destroy, kill, lose; mid. and perf. to be destroyed, perish, die

     

    ἑλκέω: to drag off, tear asunder

     

    θάλαμος: women's apartment, chamber (esp. of married people), storeroom

     

    κεραΐζω, pres. partic. κεραΐζων, pass. κεραϊζομένους, fut. inf. κεραϊξέμεν: ravage, plunder, despoil, destroy

     

    νήπιος -α -ον: infant, childish

     

    γαῖα –ας ἡ: a land, country

     

    δηιοτής –ῆτος ἡ: war, battle, conflict

     

    ἕλκω: to draw, drag65

     

    νυός ἡ: a daughter-in-law

     

    ὀλοός: destroying, destructive, fatal, deadly, murderous

     

    Ἀχαιός: Achaian

     

    πύματος: uttermost, last; adv. πύματον, in the end, at last

     

    θύρη: door

     

    ὠμηστής: eating raw flesh, ravenous

     

    ἐρύω: to drag, pull, tear; draw up, raise, balance

     

    χαλκός –οῦ ὁ: bronze

     

    τύπτω, aor. partic. τύψας, 2nd aor. partic. τυπείς: to beat, strike, smite

     

    ῥέθος –εος τό: a limb

     

    μέγαρον –ου τό: large room, main hall (in the center) of the house; pl. dwelling, house, palace.

     

    τραπεζεύς: of the table, fed at the table

     

    θυραωρός: door-watching, guardians of the door

     

    ἀλύσσω: to be frenzied70

     

    πρόθυρον: the front-door, the door leading from the αὐλή

     

    ἐπέοικε: it is seemly, is suitable, is becoming

     

    Ἄρης: Ares, son of Zeus and Hera, God of war and is on the side of the Trojans.

     

    δαΐζω, aor. inf. δαΐξαι, impf. pass. ἐδαΐζετο, perf. partic. δεδαϊγμένος: to divide, tear, rend, pierce

     

    πολιός: gray, hoary

     

    κάρη κρατός τό: head

     

    γένειον: the chin

     

    αἰδώς αἰδοῦς ἡ: a sense of shame, shame, modesty, self-respect, nakedness75

     

    αἰσχύνω: to disgrace, bring shame upon

     

    οἰκτρός: pitiable

     

    πέλω and πέλομαι, aor. as pres. ἔπλεο, ἔπλετο: to be

     

    δειλός –ή –όν: cowardly, fearful; wretched

     

    βροτός –οῦ ὁ: a mortal man

     

    article nav
    Previous
    Next

    Suggested Citation

    Thomas Van Nortwick and Geoffrey Steadman, Homer: Iliad 6 and 22. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2018. ISBN: 978-1-947822-11-5.https://dcc.dickinson.edu/homer-iliad/homer-iliad-xxii-38-76