"ὣς ἐφάμην, ὁ δέ μ᾽ αὐτίκ᾽ ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπε·
‘μὴ δή μοι θάνατόν γε παραύδα, φαίδιμ᾽ Ὀδυσσεῦ.
βουλοίμην κ᾽ ἐπάρουρος ἐὼν θητευέμεν ἄλλῳ,
ἀνδρὶ παρ᾽ ἀκλήρῳ, ᾧ μὴ βίοτος πολὺς εἴη,490
ἢ πᾶσιν νεκύεσσι καταφθιμένοισιν ἀνάσσειν.
ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε μοι τοῦ παιδὸς ἀγαυοῦ μῦθον ἐνίσπες,
ἢ ἕπετ᾽ ἐς πόλεμον πρόμος ἔμμεναι, ἦε καὶ οὐκί.
εἰπὲ δέ μοι Πηλῆος ἀμύμονος, εἴ τι πέπυσσαι,
ἢ ἔτ᾽ ἔχει τιμὴν πολέσιν μετὰ Μυρμιδόνεσσιν,495
ἦ μιν ἀτιμάζουσιν ἀν᾽ Ἑλλάδα τε Φθίην τε,
οὕνεκά μιν κατὰ γῆρας ἔχει χεῖράς τε πόδας τε.
οὐ γὰρ ἐγὼν ἐπαρωγὸς ὑπ᾽ αὐγὰς ἠελίοιο,
τοῖος ἐών, οἷός ποτ᾽ ἐνὶ Τροίῃ εὐρείῃ
πέφνον λαὸν ἄριστον, ἀμύνων Ἀργείοισιν·500
εἰ τοιόσδ᾽ ἔλθοιμι μίνυνθά περ ἐς πατέρος δῶ·
τῷ κέ τεῳ στύξαιμι μένος καὶ χεῖρας ἀάπτους,
οἳ κεῖνον βιόωνται ἐέργουσίν τ᾽ ἀπὸ τιμῆς.’
ὣς ἔφατ᾽, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ μιν ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπον·
‘ἦ τοι μὲν Πηλῆος ἀμύμονος οὔ τι πέπυσμαι,505
αὐτάρ τοι παιδός γε Νεοπτολέμοιο φίλοιο
πᾶσαν ἀληθείην μυθήσομαι, ὥς με κελεύεις·
αὐτὸς γάρ μιν ἐγὼ κοίλης ἐπὶ νηὸς ἐίσης
ἤγαγον ἐκ Σκύρου μετ᾽ ἐυκνήμιδας Ἀχαιούς.
ἦ τοι ὅτ᾽ ἀμφὶ πόλιν Τροίην φραζοίμεθα βουλάς,510
αἰεὶ πρῶτος ἔβαζε καὶ οὐχ ἡμάρτανε μύθων·
Νέστωρ ἀντίθεος καὶ ἐγὼ νικάσκομεν οἴω.
αὐτὰρ ὅτ᾽ ἐν πεδίῳ Τρώων μαρναίμεθ᾽ Ἀχαιοί,
οὔ ποτ᾽ ἐνὶ πληθυῖ μένεν ἀνδρῶν οὐδ᾽ ἐν ὁμίλῳ,
ἀλλὰ πολὺ προθέεσκε τὸ ὃν μένος οὐδενὶ εἴκων,515
πολλοὺς δ᾽ ἄνδρας ἔπεφνεν ἐν αἰνῇ δηιοτῆτι.
πάντας δ᾽ οὐκ ἂν ἐγὼ μυθήσομαι οὐδ᾽ ὀνομήνω,
ὅσσον λαὸν ἔπεφνεν ἀμύνων Ἀργείοισιν,
ἀλλ᾽ οἷον τὸν Τηλεφίδην κατενήρατο χαλκῷ,
ἥρω᾽ Εὐρύπυλον, πολλοὶ δ᾽ ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν ἑταῖροι520
Κήτειοι κτείνοντο γυναίων εἵνεκα δώρων.
κεῖνον δὴ κάλλιστον ἴδον μετὰ Μέμνονα δῖον.
αὐτὰρ ὅτ᾽ εἰς ἵππον κατεβαίνομεν, ὃν κάμ᾽ Ἐπειός,
Ἀργείων οἱ ἄριστοι, ἐμοὶ δ᾽ ἐπὶ πάντα τέταλτο,
ἠμὲν ἀνακλῖναι πυκινὸν λόχον ἠδ᾽ ἐπιθεῖναι,525
ἔνθ᾽ ἄλλοι Δαναῶν ἡγήτορες ἠδὲ μέδοντες
δάκρυά τ᾽ ὠμόργνυντο τρέμον θ᾽ ὑπὸ γυῖα ἑκάστου·
κεῖνον δ᾽ οὔ ποτε πάμπαν ἐγὼν ἴδον ὀφθαλμοῖσιν
οὔτ᾽ ὠχρήσαντα χρόα κάλλιμον οὔτε παρειῶν
δάκρυ ὀμορξάμενον· ὁ δέ γε μάλα πόλλ᾽ ἱκέτευεν530
ἱππόθεν ἐξέμεναι, ξίφεος δ᾽ ἐπεμαίετο κώπην
καὶ δόρυ χαλκοβαρές, κακὰ δὲ Τρώεσσι μενοίνα.
ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ Πριάμοιο πόλιν διεπέρσαμεν αἰπήν,
μοῖραν καὶ γέρας ἐσθλὸν ἔχων ἐπὶ νηὸς ἔβαινεν
ἀσκηθής, οὔτ᾽ ἂρ βεβλημένος ὀξέι χαλκῷ535
οὔτ᾽ αὐτοσχεδίην οὐτασμένος, οἷά τε πολλὰ
γίγνεται ἐν πολέμῳ: ἐπιμὶξ δέ τε μαίνεται Ἄρης.’
notes
Odysseus meets the ghost of Achilles, who asks about his father Peleus and his son Neoptolemus. Odysseus says he knows nothing of the former, then praises the latter for his bravery.
Achilles’s reply is characteristically blunt:
read full essay
"μὴ δή μοι θάνατόν γε παραύδα, φαίδιμ᾽ Ὀδυσσεῦ.
βουλοίμην κ᾽ ἐπάρουρος ἐὼν θητευέμεν ἄλλῳ,
ἀνδρὶ παρ᾽ ἀκλήρῳ, ᾧ μὴ βίοτος πολὺς εἴη,
ἢ πᾶσιν νεκύεσσι καταφθιμένοισιν ἀνάσσειν."
"Don’t console me for being dead, shining Odysseus.
I would rather follow a plow, a serf for another man,
who is allotted no land and has little to live on,
than to rule as king over all the wasted dead."
Odyssey 11.488–91
This is another man entirely than the one in the Iliad who chooses glory over a long life, who strives always to have the highest status, willing to let his fellow Greek warriors die in his absence rather than back down to Agamemnon. Now, he yearns for life at any cost. The Achilles of the Iliad values his τιμή, the honor given him by others that certifies his status among his peers, above all else. Now, he would gladly sink to the lowest rung on the social ladder, that of a day laborer working for a tenant farmer who owns no land. (A slave, though owned by another, is at least a part of a household.)
That Achilles would rather not be dead is hardly surprising—wouldn’t we all?—but the pointed rhetoric of his speech prompts further thought about the fit between a hero and the story he inhabits. Like the bitter reflections of Agamemnon, Achilles’s words here signal the dominant message of this katabasis, the superiority of Odysseus’s particular kind of heroism. He, not his former comrades, not even the great Achilles, is the hero this story needs. We are accustomed to describing famous characters in the Homeric epics as if their attitudes and behavior were consistent across both works: Achilles is always passionate in pursuit of what he thinks he deserves, regardless of the effects of his actions on himself and others; Odysseus exemplifies intelligent caution and self-restraint, in the service of manipulating others. But in fact, the portraits of both heroes in their respective poems reflect the interplay of those traits with the dominant rhetoric of each epic. The form of the story influences how characters, even the most famous ones, behave in it.
Achilles in the underworld reflects this interplay, valorizing with his speech the dominant values of the poem. Likewise, the version of Odysseus we find in the Iliad is not the man we’ve been prompted to admire in the Odyssey as he plots his homecoming. He is noted for his speech-making (Il.3.204-24) and takes part in a secret night raid in Book 10, but elsewhere he is honored for the same martial qualities as his fellow warriors. Faced with the prospect of imminent death at the hands of the Trojans, he ponders:
"ὤ μοι ἐγὼ τί πάθω; μέγα μὲν κακὸν αἴ κε φέβωμαι
πληθὺν ταρβήσας: τὸ δὲ ῥίγιον αἴ κεν ἁλώω
μοῦνος: τοὺς δ᾽ ἄλλους Δαναοὺς ἐφόβησε Κρονίων.
ἀλλὰ τί ἤ μοι ταῦτα φίλος διελέξατο θυμός;
οἶδα γὰρ ὅττι κακοὶ μὲν ἀποίχονται πολέμοιο,
ὃς δέ κ᾽ ἀριστεύῃσι μάχῃ ἔνι τὸν δὲ μάλα χρεὼ.
ἑστάμεναι κρατερῶς, ἤ τ᾽ ἔβλητ᾽ ἤ τ᾽ ἔβαλ᾽ ἄλλον."
"Alas, what will happen to me? A great evil if I should flee
in fear of the enemy throng; but worse still if I am taken
alone. The son of Kronos has routed the rest of the Danaans.
But why does my heart within me debate these things?
For I know that cowards run from the fighting,
but he who would win honor in battle must
stand his ground strongly, whether he be struck or strike down another."
Iliad 11.404–11
This monologue is one of four in the Iliad that follow the same basic pattern (see also Il. 17.91–105; 21.553–570; 22.99–130). A soldier faces the prospect of imminent death on the battlefield at the hands of the Trojans. He pauses to weigh his options: Should he run and live to fight another day, or stand and fight, preferring an honorable death to the shame of being branded a coward? The common language in all four speeches is the opening exclamation, ὤ μοι ἐγὼ(ν), and the phrase ἀλλὰ τί ἤ μοι ταῦτα φίλος διελέξατο θυμός, when the speaker breaks off his rumination and resolves to either run or stand firm. The most famous by far of the four is the last, Hector’s monologue before the walls of Troy, as Achilles bears down on him relentlessly across the plain. Those anguished reflections could be taken as a supreme example of the warrior’s code in the Iliad, as far from the cautious calculations of Odysseus in the Odyssey as can be imagined.
Like Agamemnon, Achilles turns away from painful reflection about his powerlessness by asking about his son and father, both emblems of his masculine power. Their survival guarantees the continuation of his kleos. Thinking about Peleus leads him, however, to dark thoughts about his father’s own possible powerlessness before the attacks of his enemies. Is the old man still honored in Thessaly, or is he suffering because his son is not there to protect him? These gloomy thoughts recall verses from Achilles’s great speech to Priam in Iliad 24:
"ὣς μὲν καὶ Πηλῆϊ θεοὶ δόσαν ἀγλαὰ δῶρα
ἐκ γενετῆς: πάντας γὰρ ἐπ᾽ ἀνθρώπους ἐκέκαστο
ὄλβῳ τε πλούτῳ τε, ἄνασσε δὲ Μυρμιδόνεσσι,
καί οἱ θνητῷ ἐόντι θεὰν ποίησαν ἄκοιτιν.
ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ καὶ τῷ θῆκε θεὸς κακόν, ὅττί οἱ οὔ τι
παίδων ἐν μεγάροισι γονὴ γένετο κρειόντων,
ἀλλ᾽ ἕνα παῖδα τέκεν παναώριον: οὐδέ νυ τόν γε
γηράσκοντα κομίζω, ἐπεὶ μάλα τηλόθι πάτρης
ἧμαι ἐνὶ Τροίῃ, σέ τε κήδων ἠδὲ σὰ τέκνα."
"So the gods gave splendid gifts also to Peleus
from his birth, for he stood out among all men
in wealth and good fortune, and ruled over the Myrmidons,
and the gods gave him a divine wife, though was mortal.
But they also put evil upon him, because no
generation of strong children was born to him in his halls,
only one child, doomed to an untimely death. And I do not
care for him as he grows old, since far away from my fatherland
I sit in Troy, troubling you and your children."
Iliad 24.534–42
In the Iliad, Achilles’s concern for Peleus is evidence of his movement toward accepting his own mortality, the goal he must reach to be made whole on the poem’s terms. He has been led to thinking about his father by Priam, who urges him to see the parallels between himself and Peleus, two old men who have lost the protection of their sons, and thus show compassion toward him. The context in the Odyssey is different. Achilles’s worry is part of his sorrow over losing his own power, and compassion for others carries little weight in his lament.
Odysseus has no news of Peleus but delivers a lengthy encomium to Achilles’s son Neoptolemus. Handsome, brave, and a ruthlessly effective killer of Trojans, he was the best speaker among the Greeks after Nestor and Odysseus himself. The praise ends with an anecdote about the Trojan horse, as Odysseus recalls how Neoptolemus agitated to be released from the horse’s belly, so he could kill more Trojans. What goes unsaid is that the success of that gambit depended on Odysseus restraining Neoptolemus’s impetuous urges. There, as everywhere in the Odyssey, self-control is the key to victory, not unrestrained emotion. Odysseus, not Achilles.
Further Reading
Clay, J. 1983. The Wrath of Athena: Gods and Men in the Odyssey, 96–112. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Edwards, A.T. 1985. Achilles in the Odyssey. Beitrage zur klassischen Philologie 171.
Pache, C.O. 2000. “War Games: Odysseus at Troy.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 100, 15–23.
488 μοι θάνατόν γε παραύδα: imperat. >παραυδάω, "to speak consoling words to (dative of person) concerning (accusative of respect)." See Cunliffe παραυδάω 2.
489 βουλοίμην κ᾽: potential optative (with ἄν/κε) used as an optative of wish (Smyth 1827).
489 θητευέμεν: infin.
489 ἄλλῳ: dative of interest.
490 παρ(ά): “for,” with dative.
490 ᾧ … εἴη: dative of possession in a conditional relative clause.
490 βίοτος: “sustenance," rather than simply "life."
491 καταφθιμένοισι: “perished” (pleonastic with νεκύεσσι).
491 ἀνάσσειν: takes a dative object.
492 παιδὸς: i.e., Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles.
492 ἐνίσπες: aor. sing. imperat. > ἐνέπω.
493 ἕπετ(αι): supply μοι as the dative object.
493 ἔμμεναι: = εἶναι, infinitive of result (Smyth 2011a).
494 Πηλῆος ἀμύμονος: partitive gen., after τι (“something of…”).
494 πέπυσσαι: 2nd pf. mid. > πυνθάνομαι.
495 πολέσιν: = πολλοῖς.
496 ἀν(ά): “throughout.”
497 οὕνεκα: “since.”
497 κατὰ … ἔχει: tmesis > κατέχω.
499 τοῖος ἐὼν οἷός: “such as I was…”
500 πέφνον: “slew,” > *φένω (LSJ θείνω II).
500 Ἀργείοισιν: dative with ἀμύνων (“giving protection to,” “defending”).
501 τοιόσδ(ε): "as such a man," in apposition with the first person subject of the verb ἔλθοιμι.
501 εἰ … ἔλθοιμι, κε … στύξαιμι: future less vivid conditional.
501 μίνυνθά περ: “even for a little while.”
501 δῶ: = δῶμα.
502 τῷ: “then,” “under those circumstances.”
502 τεῳ: “to anyone,” = τινι, indefinite pronoun.
502 στύξαιμι μένος καὶ χείρας ἀάπτους: "I would make my strength and invincible hands hateful ..." The verb στυγέω in the sigmatic aorist, as here, means "to make (accusative) hateful to (dative)."
503 οἳ: plural relative pronoun with singular antecedent τεῳ (Smyth 2502b).
505 answering line 494.
508 ἐΐσης: “balanced.”
510 ὅτ´ … φραζοίμεθα βουλάς: “whenever we took counsel,” general temporal clause.
512 νικάσκομεν: “used to surpass,” unaugmented iterative impf.
512 οἴω: “alone,” dual > οἶος.
513 ὅτ᾽ … μαρναίμεθ᾽: general temporal clause.
514 μένεν: unaugmented impf.
515 προθέεσκε: “would run forward,” unaugmented iterative impf.
515 τὸ ὃν: “his.”
517 οὐκ ἂν ἐγὼ μυθήσομαι οὐδ᾽ ὀνομήνω: in Homer, ἄν (or κεν) + subj. is occasionally used in place of the future indicative in independent sentence (Monro 326; Smyth 1813). Compare with line 328.
519 οἷον: “how,” indirect question.
520 κτείνοντο: unaugmented impf. pass.
521 γυναίων εἵνεκα δώρων: according to some ancient sources, Priam sent gifts to Eurypylus’s mother to bribe her into sending her son to fight at Troy.
522 μετ(ά): “after,” “second only to.”
522 Μέμνονα: Memon was an Ethiopian king who fought on the side of the Trojans.
523 ἵππον: i.e., the wooden horse.
523 κάμ(ε): “labored over,” = ἔκαμε, unaugmented 3rd sing. aor. > κάμνω.
524 ἐμοὶ δ᾽ ἐπι … ἐτέταλτο: “had been assigned to me.”
524 ἐπι … ἐτέταλτο: tmesis, 3rd sing. plupf. pass. > ἐπιτέλλω.
524 πάντ᾽: πάντα, neuter plural nominative subject of the singular verb ἐπιτέλλω.
525 ἀνακλῖναι … ἐπιθεῖναι: either “to open … to close” (the usual meaning of the verbs, typically with reference to a door), or (following Cunliffe) “to delay … to set in motion” the ambush (λόχον, the actual object of the infinitives). The infinitives explain πάντα in 524. Stanford says this line has long been suspected of being "an inept interpolation" of Iliad 5.751. The meaning seems to be that Odysseus's job is to open and close the door of the wooden horse, thereby initiating the ambush.
527 τρέμον: = ἔτρεμον, unaugmented 3rd pl. impf. The subject is γυῖα.
527 ὑπὸ … ἑκάστου: “beneath each man.”
529 χρόα κάλλιμον: accusative of respect.
529 παρειῶν: “from his cheeks,” genitive of separation.
530 μάλα πόλλ(ά): “very often.”
530 ἱκέτευεν: “was begging.”
531 ἐξέμεναι: "to go out from," infin. > ἔξειμι.
531 ἐπεμαίετο κώπην: “kept touching the hilt.”
535 βεβλημένος: “struck,” pf. pass. ptc. > βάλλω.
536 αὐτοσχεδίην: “in hand-to-hand (combat),” accusative of respect.
536 οἷά τε πολλὰ: “such as often…” The τε is the untranslatable epic τε (Smyth 2970).
537 τε: the "gnomic τε" marking a generalizing or proverbial statement (Monro 332).
vocabulary
ἀμείβω ἀμείψω ἤμειψα ἤμειφα ἤμειμμαι ἠμείφθην: to respond, answer; to exchange; (mid.) to take turns, alternate; to change, place, pass
προσεῖπον (aor. 2 of προσαγορεύω and προσφωνέω); Εp. προσέειπον: to speak to one, address, accost
παραυδάω παραυδήσω παρηύδησα παρηύδηκα παρηύδημαι παρηυδήθην: to address so as to console
φαίδιμος –ον: shining
Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey
ἐπάρουρος –ον: attached to the soil
θητεύω θητεύσω ἐθήτευσα: to be a serf
ἄκληρος –ον: without much land, poor 490
βίοτος –ου ὁ: life, sustenance, livelihood
νέκυς –υος τό: dead body, corpse
καταφθίω καταφθίσω κατέφθισα κατέφθικα κατέφθιμαι: to ruin, destroy; (pass.) to perish, die
ἀνάσσω ἀνάξω ἤναξα: to be king, lord, or master of, rule over, reign
ἄγε: come! come on! well!
ἀγαυός –ή –όν: illustrious, noble
μῦθος –ου ὁ: spoken thing, speech, plan, story
ἐνέπω ἐνισπήσω/ἐνίψω ἔνισπον ––– ––– –––: to tell, tell of, relate, describe
πρόμος –ου ὁ: the foremost man
Πηλεύς –έως ὁ: Peleus, son of Aeacus
ἀμύμων –ον: blameless, noble, excellent
Μυρμιδόνες –ων οἱ: Myrmidons 495
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
ἀτιμάζω ἀτιμάσω ἠτίμασα ἠτίμακα ἠτίμασμαι ἠτιμάσθην: to fail to honor, dishonor
Ἕλλας –αδος ἡ: Greece
Φθία –ας ἡ: Phthia in Thessaly, the home of Achilles
οὕνεκα: on account of which, wherefore
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
γῆρας –ως τό: old age
ἐπαρωγός –οῦ ὁ: a helper, aider
αὐγή –ῆς ἡ: the light of the sun, sunlight
τοῖος –α –ον: quality, such, such-like
Τροίη –ης ἡ: Troy
εὐρύς –εῖα –ύ: broad
φένω ––– ἔπεφνον: to strike, wound; slay 500
ἀμύνω ἀμυνῶ ἤμυνα ἤμυκα ἤμυμαι ἠμύνηθην: to ward off, avert; to defend (+ dat. or gen.)
Ἀργεῖος –η –ον: Argive, of or from Argos (Greece)
μίνυνθα: a little, very little; a little while
δῶμα –ατος τό: house (often in plural)
τῷ: then, in that case; for this reason, thus
στυγέω στυγήσω ἔστυγον σεστύγηκα σεστύγημαι ἐστυγήθην: hate
μένος –ους τό: might
ἄαπτος –ον: not to be touched, resistless, invincible
βιάω βιώσομαι ἐβίωσα/ἐβίων βεβίωκα βεβίωμαι ἐβιώθην: to constrain
ἔργω/εἴργω εἴρξω εἶρξα –– εἶργμαι εἴρχθην: to keep away from
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
ἀμείβω ἀμείψω ἤμειψα ἤμειφα ἤμειμμαι ἠμείφθην: to respond, answer; to exchange; (mid.) to take turns, alternate; to change, place, pass
προσεῖπον (aor. 2 of προσαγορεύω and προσφωνέω); Εp. προσέειπον: to speak to one, address, accost
τοι: let me tell you, surely 505
Πηλεύς –έως ὁ: Peleus, son of Aeacus
ἀμύμων –ον: blameless, noble, excellent
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet
Νεοπτόλεμος –ου ὁ: Neoptolemus, ‘new-warrior’
μυθέομαι μυθήσομαι μεμύθημαι ἐμυθήθην: speak or talk of, describe, explain, relate
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
κοῖλος –η –ον: hollow
ἔισος –η –ον: alike, equal
Σκῦρος –ου ἡ: Scyros, an island northwest of Chios
ἐϋκνήμις –ιδος: having lovely greaves
Ἀχαιός –ά –όν: Achaean, Greek
τοι: let me tell you, surely 510
Τροίη –ης ἡ: Troy
βάζω βάξω ἔβαξα: to speak, say
μῦθος –ου ὁ: spoken thing, speech, plan, story
Νέστωρ –ορος ὁ: Nestor, the aged king of Pylos, son of Neleus and Chloris
ἀντίθεος –η –ον: godlike
οἶος –α –ον: alone
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet
πεδίον –ου τό: plain
Τρώς Τρωός ὁ: Trojan
μάρναμαι – – – – –: fight; contend, wrangle
χαλκός –οῦ ὁ: bronze, copper, weapon
πληθύς –ύος ἡ: fullness, a throng, a crowd
ὅμιλος –ου ὁ: crowd
προθέω προθεύσομαι ––– ––– ––– –––: run forward 515
ἑός ἑή ἑόν: his, her, own
μένος –ους τό: might
εἴκω εἴκξω εἶξα ––– ––– –––: to yield (+ dat.)
φένω ––– ἔπεφνον: to strike, wound; slay
αἰνός –ή –όν: dread, grim
δηιοτής –ῆτος ἡ: battle-strife, battle, death
μυθέομαι μυθήσομαι μεμύθημαι ἐμυθήθην: speak or talk of, describe, explain, relate
ὀνομαίνω οὐνομανῶ ὠνόμηνα: to name
φένω ––– ἔπεφνον: to strike, wound; slay
ἀμύνω ἀμυνῶ ἤμυνα ἤμυκα ἤμυμαι ἠμύνηθην: to ward off, avert; to defend (+ dat. or gen.)
Ἀργεῖος –η –ον: Argive, of or from Argos (Greece)
Τηλεφίδης –ου ὁ: Telephides, son of Telephus, Eurypylus
κατεναίρομαι κατεναροῦμαι κατενηράμην ––– κατενῆρμαι κατενήρθην: to kill, slay, murder
χαλκός –οῦ ὁ: bronze, copper, weapon
ἥρως ἥρωος ὁ: hero, warrior 520
Εὐρύπυλος –ου ὁ: Eurypylus, son of Euaemon
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion
Κήτειοι –ων οἱ: Cetei, a people of Mysia
κτείνω κτενῶ ἔκτεινα ἀπέκτονα ––– –––: kill
γύναιος –α –ον: made to a woman
δῶρον –ου τό: gift
Μέμνων –ονος ὁ: Memnon
δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet
καταβαίνω καταβήσομαι κατέβην καταβέβηκα ––– –––: step down, go down
κάμνω καμοῦμαι ἔκαμον κεκήμακα ––– –––: to build, make, produce; to toil, suffer; (mid.) to become exhausted, become worn out; (aor. plur. partic.) those who have been worn out, to be dead
Ἐπειός –οῦ ὁ: Epeius, builder of the wooden horse; an Epeian
Ἀργεῖος –η –ον: Argive, of or from Argos (Greece)
ἐπιτέλλω ἐπέτειλα: to enjoin, lay command or order upon, charge, impose
ἠμέν: both.. (and), as well.. (as) 525
ἀνακλίνω ἀνακλινῶ ἀνέκλινα ἀνακέκλικα ἀνακέκλιμαι ἀνεκλίθην: to lean
πυκ(ι)νός –ή –όν: thick, bushy, dense; prudent, wise, smart, shrewd
λόχος –ου ὁ: an ambush
ἠδέ: and
ἐπιτίθημι ἐπιθήσω ἐπέθηκα ἐπιτέθηκα ––– ἐπετέθην: to lay/put upon, set up, apply oneself
Δαναοί –ῶν οἱ: the Danaans
ἡγήτωρ –ορος ὁ: a leader, commander, chief
ἠδέ: and
μέδων –οντος ὁ: a guardian, lord
δάκρυον –ου τό: a tear
ὀμόργνυμι ὀμόρξω ὤμορξα: to wipe
τρέμω ––– ––– τετρέμηκα ––– –––: to tremble
γυῖον –ου τό: only pl., joints
πάμπαν: quite, wholly, altogether
ὠχράω ὠχρήσω ὤχρησα: to turn pale
χρώς χρωτός ὁ: the surface of the body, the skin
κάλλιμος –ον: beautiful
παρειά –ᾶς ἡ: the cheek
δάκρυον –ου τό: a tear 530
ὀμόργνυμι ὀμόρξω ὤμορξα: to wipe
ἱκετεύω ἱκετεύσω ἱκέτευσα ἱκέτευκα: to approach as a suppliant; to beg
ἱππόθεν: forth from the horse
ἔξειμι: to go out
ξίφος –ους τό: sword
ἐπιμαίομαι ἐπιμάσσομαι ἐπεμασσάμην: to seek (by hand), feel for, palpate, touch
κώπη –ης ἡ: hilt, handle
δόρυ δόρατος τό: spear; timber, beam (of a ship)
χαλκοβαρής –ές: heavy with bronze
Τρώς Τρωός ὁ: Trojan
μενοινάω ––– μενοίνησα ––– ––– –––: to desire eagerly, to be bent on
Πρίαμος –ου ὁ: Priam
διαπέρθω διαπέρσω διέπερσα/διέπραθον: to destroy utterly, sack, lay waste
αἰπός –ή –όν: high, lofty
μοῖρα –ας ἡ: part, portion, lot, fate
γέρας –ως τό: prize, privilege, sovereignty
ἐσθλός –ή –όν: good
ἀσκηθής –ές: unhurt, unharmed, unscathed 535
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
χαλκός –οῦ ὁ: bronze, copper, weapon
αὐτοσχέδιος [–α] –ον: hand to hand
οὐτάζω οὐτάσω οὔτησα: to wound
ἐπιμίξ: in confusion, indiscriminately
μαίνομαι ἔμηνα μέμηνα ἐμάνην: to rage, be mad
Ἄρης –εως ὁ: Ares