Iliad I, lines 163-171

Last week, we left off in the middle of Achilles' response to Agamemnon. Here is the rest of the response:

163      True, my reward never equals yours whenever the Argives

            capture and ransack a well-manned outpost of Troy for its treasures;

            yet it is my hands bearing the brunt of the violent combat.

            Oh, but when it comes time for dividing the plunder among us,

            yours is the greater reward by far; while exhausted from fighting,

            I come back to the ships with a small, but precious, trinket.

169      Now I return to Phthia—we’re much better off if we go back

            home in our curved-beaked ships; and I do not intend to continue

            here in dishonor, amassing your wealth and winning your spoils.”

Iliad I, lines 148-162

These are the next batch of lines I was able to complete; I hate to split up Achilles' response to Agamemnon, but the rest will have to come next week. Enjoy.

            Nimble-footed Achilles responded in kind with a dark glance:

            “O what insolence cloaks you, your mind so greedy for profit!

            How can the Greeks, any one of them, readily follow your orders,

151      whether to go on a voyage, or battle your enemies boldly?

            I didn’t come here to battle because of the Trojan spearmen—

            I have no quarrel with them, for they’ve never done me damage.

            They’ve never driven my cattle away, nor stolen my horses;

            nor have they come into Phthia, where heroes are nursed by the rich soil,

            ever to ruin my crops; for there’s much in the distance between us—

157      shadowy mountains loom, and the bellowing ocean surges.

            You, though, we followed, O mighty impudence—earning your favor,

            winning your honor, and Menelaus’s, back from the Trojans—

            dog-faced ingrate!  And what do you care?  Or have you forgotten?

            Now after all that we’ve done, you threaten to take my warprize,

            all that I’ve worked so hard for, my gift from the sons of Achaea. 

Iliad I, lines 130-147

            Then, in response to him, Lord Agamemnon addressed the assembly:

            “No, no, no—as brave as you are, O godlike Achilles,

            do not deceive me: you cannot mislead me, you cannot persuade me.

133      What do you want?  Would you keep a prize for yourself, while I’m left

            sitting without one?  And are you ordering me to concede her?

            No—if the great-hearted Argives will give me a prize for my efforts,

            as I see fit for a worthy replacement, then so it shall be; but,

            if they do not, then I’ll have to go out myself and take one—

            your prize perhaps, or possibly Ajax’ or that of Odysseus,

139      stolen away.  But whoever I come to will not be happy.

            Still, nevermind it for now; we can all reconsider it later.

            Come, let us heave a swift black ship to the brilliant ocean,

            gather some oarsmen, and carry a sacrifice onto the vessel,

            bringing aboard Chryseis as well, with her beautiful cheekbones.

            And, let a sensible captain assume the command of the ship’s crew,

145      whether it’s Ajax, Idomeneus, or if it’s brilliant Odysseus,

            or even you, son of Peleus, most terrifying of all men—

            you could perform the rites, and appease the archer for us.”

Iliad I, lines 121-129

I'm posting this week's selection early, because I'll be out of town on Sunday for personal reasons. Please enjoy this snippet, and we'll be back on schedule next week:

121      Brilliant Achilles, fast on his feet, replied to Atrides:

            “Glorious son of Atreus, greedy for spoils above all men,

            how will the great-hearted Argives give you another reward now?

            We know of no shared hoard of our treasures laid up in some stockpile—

            what we have plundered from cities has all been divided among us;

            it’s a disgrace to the men, if you make them return what they’ve gotten.

127      Send the girl back to the god for the moment, and then the Achaeans,

            three, maybe four times over, will pay you back on the day Zeus

            gives us the strong-walled city of Troy to be sacked and plundered.”

Ads are a no-go

So I tried letting Google put ads on my blog. What could it hurt, right? Once they were activated, though, all I saw were large pictures screaming at me to vote in online polls about politics. Completely changed the feeling of my website. Suffice it to say, after about a day-long trial period, I've taken them down. No thank you. Please continue to enjoy my work, now ad-free once again.