HOMER'S ILIAD, BOOK I.

Chryses seeks vengeance from Apollo against the Danaans.

The old man went far away and prayed to King Apollo, whom fair-haired Leto bore: Hear me, lord of the silver bow, who stands over Chrysa and sacred Cilla, and rules powerfully over Tenedos, Smintheus. If ever I roofed a temple pleasant to you, or if ever I burned the rich thighs of bulls and goats for you, fulfill this desire for me: let the Danaans pay for my tears with your arrows.

Apollo sends a plague into the army of the Greeks.

So he spoke in prayer, and Phoebus Apollo heard him. He descended from the peaks of Olympus with an angry heart, holding his bow and his covered quiver on his shoulders. The arrows rattled on the shoulders of the enraged god as he moved, and he went like the night. Then he sat apart from the ships and let fly an arrow. A terrible clangor came from the silver bow. He attacked the mules first, and the swift dogs. Then, shooting a sharp-tipped bolt at the men themselves, he struck; and the funeral pyres of the dead were constantly burning. For nine days the god’s missiles ranged throughout the army; on the tenth, Achilles called the people to an assembly. For the white-armed goddess Juno had put this in his mind, for she worried about the Danaans, seeing them dying. When they were gathered and had come together, swift-footed Achilles stood up and spoke among them:

The assembly of the Achaeans.

Atreus' son, now I suspect that we, driven back, will return home, if we even escape death, if war and plague together defeat the Achaeans. But come, let us ask some seer or priest, or even a dream-interpreter (for a dream is also from Jupiter), who might say why Phoebus Apollo is so angry. Whether he finds fault with a vow or a hecatomb. Perhaps he might want, after receiving the savor of lambs and perfect goats, to ward off the plague from us.

The words of Calchas.

Having said this, he sat down; and Calchas, son of Thestor, by far the best of the augurs, stood up among them. He knew things that were, that would be, and that had been before, and he led the ships of the Achaeans into Ilium through his prophecy, which Phoebus Apollo had granted him. He, intending them well, addressed them and spoke: O Achilles, you tell me, dear to Jupiter, to speak of the wrath of Apollo, the far-shooting king. Therefore I will speak; but you must agree and swear to me that you will willingly assist me with words and hands. For I believe I will anger a man who has great power over all the Argives, and whom the Achaeans obey. For a king is stronger when he is angry at an inferior man, even if he swallows his anger for the day, he still holds a grudge in his breast afterward until he carries it out. Tell me if you will keep me safe.

Achilles promises to protect Calchas.

Swift-footed Achilles answered him: Speak the prophecy you know with great courage. For I swear by Apollo, dear to Jupiter, to whom you, Calchas, pray when you reveal prophecies to the Danaans, that no man, while I live and look upon the earth, will lay heavy hands upon you by the hollow ships, of all the...

Chryses seeks vengeance from Apollo against the Danaans.

The old man went far away and prayed to King Apollo, whom fair-haired Leto bore: Hear me, lord of the silver bow, who stands over Chrysa and sacred Cilla, and rules powerfully over Tenedos, Smintheus. If ever I roofed a temple pleasant to you, or if ever I burned the rich thighs of bulls and goats for you, fulfill this desire for me: let the Danaans pay for my tears with your arrows.

Apollo sends a plague into the army of the Greeks.

So he spoke in prayer, and Phoebus Apollo heard him. He descended from the peaks of Olympus with an angry heart, holding his bow and his covered quiver on his shoulders. The arrows rattled on the shoulders of the enraged god as he moved, and he went like the night. Then he sat apart from the ships and let fly an arrow. A terrible clangor came from the silver bow. He attacked the mules first, and the swift dogs. Then, shooting a sharp-tipped bolt at the men themselves, he struck; and the funeral pyres of the dead were constantly burning. For nine days the god’s missiles ranged throughout the army; on the tenth, Achilles called the people to an assembly. For the white-armed goddess Juno had put this in his mind, for she worried about the Danaans, seeing them dying. When they were gathered and had come together, swift-footed Achilles stood up and spoke among them:

The assembly of the Achaeans.

Atreus' son, now I suspect that we, driven back, will return home, if we even escape death, if war and plague together defeat the Achaeans. But come, let us ask some seer or priest, or even a dream-interpreter (for a dream is also from Jupiter), who might say why Phoebus Apollo is so angry. Whether he finds fault with a vow or a hecatomb. Perhaps he might want, after receiving the savor of lambs and perfect goats, to ward off the plague from us.

The words of Calchas.

Having said this, he sat down; and Calchas, son of Thestor, by far the best of the augurs, stood up among them. He knew things that were, that would be, and that had been before, and he led the ships of the Achaeans into Ilium through his prophecy, which Phoebus Apollo had granted him. He, intending them well, addressed them and spoke: O Achilles, you tell me, dear to Jupiter, to speak of the wrath of Apollo, the far-shooting king. Therefore I will speak; but you must agree and swear to me that you will willingly assist me with words and hands. For I believe I will anger a man who has great power over all the Argives, and whom the Achaeans obey. For a king is stronger when he is angry at an inferior man, even if he swallows his anger for the day, he still holds a grudge in his breast afterward until he carries it out. Tell me if you will keep me safe.

Achilles promises to protect Calchas.

Swift-footed Achilles answered him: Speak the prophecy you know with great courage. For I swear by Apollo, dear to Jupiter, to whom you, Calchas, pray when you reveal prophecies to the Danaans, that no man, while I live and look upon the earth, will lay heavy hands upon you by the hollow ships, of all...