Homer Iliad 10.86

A. T. Murray (Translator)

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Iliad. Homer. A. T. Murray (Translator). London. 1924-1925.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Iliad (English) (Homer. The Iliad, Volume 1-2. Murray, A. T. (Augustus Taber), translator. London: William Heinmann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1924-1925.)

Editions (1)
Ἰλιάς Perseus (Homer. Homeri Opera, Volumes 1-2. Monro, D. B. (David Binning), editor; Allen, Thomas W. (Thomas William), editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908-1920.) — 10.86 focus
Translations (8)
Iliad Perseus (Homer. The Iliad of Homer, rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Butler, Samuel, 1835-1902, translator. London: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1898.) — 10.115 focus
English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 10.86 focus
And lord of men Agamemnon answered, “Nestor, son of Neleus, honor to the Achaean name, it is I, Agamemnon, son of Atreus, on whom Zeus has laid labor [ ponos] and sorrow so long as there is breath [90] in my body and my limbs carry me. I am thus abroad because sleep sits not upon my eyelids, but my heart is big with war and with the jeopardy of the Achaeans. I am in great fear for the Danaans. I am at sea, and without sure counsel; my heart beats as though it would leap [95] out of my body, and my shining limbs fail me. If then you can do anything—for you too cannot sleep—let us go the round of the watch, and see whether they are drowsy with toil and sleeping to the neglect of their duty. [100]The enemy is encamped hard and we know not but he may attack us by night.”
English (William Cullen Bryant, 1870) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1870)) — 10.86 focus
Then answered Agamemnon, king of men: -
"Ο Nestor, son of Neleus, whom the Greeks
100
All glory in! thou certainly wilt know
Atrides Agamemnon, whom the will
Of Jove hath visited with hardships great
Beyond what others bear, to last while breath
Is in my lungs, and while my knees can move.
105
I wander thus abroad because sweet sleep
Comes not to close my eyelids, and the war
And slaughter of the Greeks distress me sore.
For them I greatly fear, my heart is faint,
My mind confounded. In my breast the heart
110
Pants, and my limbs all tremble. If thou wilt, -
For, as I see, thou also dost not sleep, -
Come with me to the guards, that we may know
Whether, o'ercome by toil and weariness,
They give themselves to slumber and forget
115
Their watch. The foe is near us in his camp,
And how know we that even now by night
He plans not, to attack us in our tents?"
Then Nestor, the Gerenian knight, replied: -
"Atrides Agamemnon, glorious king
120
Of men, almighty Jove will not perform
For Hector all that Hector plans and hopes;
And heavier cares, I think, will yet be his
When once Achilles' wrath is turned away.
Yet willingly I join thee. Let us call
125
The other chiefs, - Ulysses, Diomed,
Both mighty spearmen; Ajax, swift of foot;
And the brave son of Phyleus. It were well
To send and bid the mightier Ajax come,
And King Idomeneus, for farthest off
130
The ships of both are stationed. I shall chide
Thy brother Menelaus- though he be
Honored and dear, and though it please thee not-
For sleeping, while he leaves such toils as these
To thee alone. He should be here among
135
The chiefs, exhorting them to valiant deeds;
For now the hour of bitter need is come."
Again spake Agamemnon, king of men: -
"At other times, old chief, I would have begged
That thou shouldst blame him: he is oft remiss,
140
And late to act; but not because of sloth,
Or want of spirit, - but he looks to me
And waits for my example. Yet to-night
He rose before me, sought me, and is sent
To call the chiefs whom thou hast named; and now
145
Let us go on, and meet them where they wait,
Among the guards and just before the gates, -
For I appointed that the trysting-place."
English (Alexander Pope, 1720, ed. Watson, 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Alexander Pope, 1720, ed. Watson, 1857)) — 10.86 focus
'O son of Neleus!' (thus the king rejoin'd)
'Pride of the Greeks, and glory of thy kind!
95
'Lo here the wretched Agamemnon stands,
'Th' unhappy general of the Grecian bands;
'Whom Jove decrees with daily cares to bend,
'And woes, that only with his life shall end!
'Scarce can my knees these trembling limbs sustain,
100
'And scarce my heart support its load of pain.
'No taste of sleep these heavy eyes have known,
'Confus'd, and sad, I wander thus alone,
'With fears distracted, with no fix'd design;
'And all my people's miseries are mine.
105
'If aught of use thy waking thought suggest,
'(Since cares, like mine, deprive thy soul of rest,)
'Impart thy counsel, and assist thy friend:
'Now let us jointly to the trench descend,
'At every gate the fainting guard excite,
110
'Tir'd with the toils of day, and watch of night:
'Else may the sudden foe our works invade,
'So near, and favour'd by the gloomy shade.'
English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 10.86 focus
English (George Chapman, 1611, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1611, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 10.86 focus
English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 10.86 focus
English (F. W. Newman, 1856) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (F. W. Newman, 1856)) — 10 focus

New Alexandria Commentaries

Casey Dué

καμάτω ἁδηκότες

The meaning of ἁδηκότες can be easily gleaned from context, but its derivation is disputed. This formula appears four times in this book (here, 10.312, 10.399, and 10.471), but with the exception of Odyssey 12.281 nowhere else in the Iliad or Odyssey. (See also Homeric Hymn to Apollo 460.) Here is another instance of a formula closely tied to the night that has been seen by previous commentators and scholars as evidence of the book’s unusual style. We have argued that Iliad 10 is essentially our only surviving extended narration of a night raid, and this accident of transmission makes these formulas seem more unusual than would otherwise be the case. If we examine the use of καμάτῳ ἁδηκότες in this book more closely, we can see why this formula would have been particularly useful for a poet composing a night raid, and for one composing this episode in particular.

We have already observed that the necessity of staying awake is part of the hardship that characterizes ambush warfare. This necessity, as it happens, is likewise an important component of keeping a night watch. Because on this night the Trojans are encamped nearby—which we have seen is a cause of great anxiety for the Achaeans—the importance of the night watch is heightened. It is vital that the Achaean watches not fail in their duty; they must not fall asleep.

In 10.312, Hektor proposes that someone find out if the Achaeans are keeping a proper night watch, or if in fact they are too worn out by the toil of battle to do so (καμάτῳ ἁδηκότες αἰνῷ). In 10.399, Dolon repeats Hektor’s words to Odysseus virtually word for word, as so often happens in Homer when messages and information are relayed. In 10.420–422, Dolon reveals that the allies of the Trojans are not keeping night watches, and are instead leaving security to the Trojans, who have wives and children to protect. And so, in 10.471, we find that Rhesos and his men have done what the Achaeans must not do: they have fallen asleep, overcome by exhaustion (οἱ δ’ εὗδον καμάτῳ ἁδηκότες). In Odyssey 12.281, Odysseus attempts to force his men to sail through the night, past the island of the sun god (where Teiresias had foretold disaster). The men refuse, saying that they are too worn out to do so (καμάτῳ ἀδηκότας ἠδὲ καὶ ὕπνῳ). It seems clear that this formula occurs naturally when the hardship of staying awake is added to the weariness of a day’s toil, whether it be a day spent fighting in the polemos, or, in the case of the Odyssey, a day spent rowing at sea. (Cf. the simile at Iliad 7.4–7, which compares the relief that the Trojan soldiers feel when Hektor and Paris return to the battlefield to that experienced by sailors who, when their limbs are giving out from the toil of rowing [καμάτῳ δ’ ὑπὸ γυῖα λέλυνται], hope for and receive a favorable wind.) It is not necessary to see these instances in Book 10 as idiosyncratic in their concentration, the work of a particular poet with his own personal and/or Odyssean style, as Danek and Hainsworth have most recently explained them. (See Danek 1988:84–86

and Hainsworth 1993 ad loc.) Rather, they are yet another example of the way that formulas and traditional themes go hand in hand.

source

μάχεσθαι

With the use of this verb ‘to fight’, we can see that the anxiety is so great among the Achaeans that they fear large-scale attack, and not just a spying mission or an ambush. The fact that they have put seven hundred men on guard duty also reflects their concern that the Trojans will make an all-out assault at night. During the intense battle that occurs the following day, Agamemnon also wonders if the Trojans will stop fighting when night falls (Iliad 14.78–79).

source

Γερήνιος ἱππότα Νέστωρ

See Frame 2009 for an in-depth exploration of the epic tradition about Nestor and how it is encapsulated in the phrase hippota Nestor. That Frame could write a work of nearly 800 pages on the implications of this phrase in the epic tradition reveals just how much meaning can be encapsulated in a single epithet. (See also above on 10.3.) Of gerēnios Frame writes (2009:600n189):

In his separate epic traditions Nestor was a young man; only when Nestor was added to the saga of Troy was the figure of the old man created (cf. Cantieni 1942:87). The idea that at Troy Nestor operates among the third generation of heroes during his own lifetime is meant, I think, to establish a sharp divide between the aged Nestor (who is new) and the young Nestor (who is old); a middle-aged Nestor does not exist in epic as far as we know. It was perhaps to distinguish the old hero at Troy from the young hero in Pylos that the hippóta Néstōr of ancient Pylian fame became Gerḗnios hippóta Néstōr at Troy, if Gerḗnios, derived from géras, “privilege of the old,” simply means “old,” as forcefully argued by Bader 1980:55–56: note in particular Iliad 4.325, where Nestor, referring to his role as counselor and speaker (i.e. to his Homeric role in essence) says τὸ γὰρ γέρας ἐστὶ γερόντων, “for that is the privilege of the old”; a full and convincing morphological analysis of the derivation of Gerḗnios from géras has now been offered by Timothy Barnes in an unpublished paper delivered at the 2008 annual meeting of the American Philological Association.

The theory that gerēnios relates to the privileges of old age is strengthened by a notice in the Townley scholia to Iliad 16.196 that “some” have Γερήνιος ἱππότα Φοίνιξ in place of γέρων ἱππηλάτα Φοίνιξ. (Otherwise, the phrase is used exclusively of Nestor.)

source

Ἀτρείδη κύδιστε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγάμεμνον

On Nestor’s address of Agamemnon, see on 10.144 below.

source

Leaf suggests that these lines “are at least somewhat out of place” because Achilles has just refused to return. This statement follows his argument that it is obvious that Iliad 10 “forms no essential part of the story of the Iliad” (Leaf 1900:423). Hainsworth (1993, ad loc.) similarly remarks, “The open condition, implying the possibility of Akhilleus reentering the fray, is unexpected when such a change of heart has just been ruled out of court. A remote condition … would certainly be more appropriate.” Petegorsky states, “Nestor’s reference to Achilles is curious; for it has the effect of conceding to Achilles the role of the hero who will put a stop to Hector, at the very moment when we would expect him to be suggesting an alternative” (1982:203). But, Petegorsky argues, Achilles’ refusal has in effect made the situation revert to what it was before the Embassy, and this deference to Achilles as the only way to stop Hektor in fact shows how much the Doloneia takes part in the Iliadic tradition, both thematically and in its narrative momentum towards Achilles’ eventual return (1982:177–185). The alternative strategy adopted in Iliad 10, one focused on mētis, spying, and ambush, will not change the Iliad’s traditional course of events, but will highlight through contrast the need for Achilles’ strength to save the Achaeans.

source

ἠμὲν Τυδέιδην δουρὶ κλυτὸν ἠδ’ Ὀδυσῆα

This line shows that, as we would expect, Diomedes and Odysseus are closely linked in the formulaic diction. For more on Odysseus and Diomedes as a fighting pair, see below on 10.243.

source

Αἴαντα ταχὺν

The swift Ajax is the son of Oileus, as we see also in Iliad 14.520–522: Ὀϊλῆος ταχὺς υἱός· οὐ γάρ οἵ τις ὁμοῖος ἐπισπέσθαι ποσὶν ἦεν/ἀνδρῶν τρεσσάντων, ὅτε τε Ζεὺς ἐν φόβον ὄρσῃ (“the swift son of Oileus—there is no one like him for following on foot when men are retreating in flight, whenever Zeus sets a rout in motion”). In 10.112–113, Nestor is referring to Ajax the son of Telamon, whose ships are on the far end of the line (see Iliad 11.7–9). In 10.175–176 Nestor tells Diomedes to go wake up the son of Oileus, but the mission itself is not described in our text, nor is the mission of Menelaos to Telamonian Ajax (see above on 10.53).

source

πονέεσθαι

There is a cluster of three occurrences of this verb: here, in 10.117, and in Agamemnon’s response in 10.121. It is also used in 10.70, and the noun from which it is derived, πόνος, appears at 10.89, 10.164, 10.245, and 10.279. These words are also used for the hardships of (daytime) battle, but see our essay “Poetics of Ambush” for a discussion of the associations that “hard labor” has with ambush fighting.

source

πολλάκι γὰρ μεθίει

Douglas Frame (2009:214–216) demonstrates that “giving way,” especially in deference to his brother, is a traditional characteristic of Menelaos. In addition to here, the verb μεθίημι is used of Menelaos in two other places: at Odyssey 4.372 and most tellingly at Iliad 23.434, where Menelaos gives way to Antilokhos in the chariot race. Frame connects that event in particular with Menelaos’ nostos, in which he displays hesitancy, lack of incitement, and a lack of noos. These same qualities will make him a poor choice for the spying mission: Agamemnon seems to know this, as we see in his fear that Diomedes will choose Menelaos based on status alone (see 10.237–240). As we have noted elsewhere (see 10.31), Menelaos is portrayed as a successful ambusher in the Odyssey, but that portrayal seems quite separate from his relationship with his brother, whom, as we have seen earlier on this night, he looks to for direction, even as he is the first to voice the idea of the spying mission.

source
Douglas Frame

analysis of Menelaus’ characterization as a follower in his relationship with Agamemnon (though here with an example where Menelaus suggests the plan first, although seeking Agamemnon’s advice)

source

analysis of Menelaus’ characterization as a follower in his relationship with Agamemnon, here in particular the use of the verb methiēmi of him in this line and in I.23.434-435

source
Gregory Nagy

There is a pronounced shift in mood in Rhapsody 10. Unlike the narratives in the rest of the Iliad, this narrative focuses on how heroes behave at nighttime, as distinct from daytime. What dominates now is a poetics of ambush, which is a different kind of warfare. And a prime exponent of such poetics is the wolfish figure of Dolon. My comments here on Rhapsody 10 are mere supplements to the extensive commentary of Dué and Ebbott 2010.

draft js image errorDolon. Detail from an Attic red-figure lekythos (460 BCE). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

source

Commentary

Commentary (Casey Dué and Mary Ebbott, 2010) (OCR draft) (Commentary (Casey Dué and Mary Ebbott, 2010)) focus

98. mvp-comment-34-1 10.98 καμάτω ἁδηκότες The meaning of ἁδηκότες can be easily gleaned from context, but its derivation is disputed. This formula appears four times in this book (here, 10.312, 10.399, and 10.471), but with the exception of Odyssey 12.281 nowhere else in the Iliad or Odyssey. (See also Homeric Hymn to Apollo 460.) Here is another instance of a formula closely tied to the night that has been seen by previous commentators and scholars as evidence of the book’s unusual style. We have argued that Iliad 10 is essentially our only surviving extended narration of a night raid, and this accident of transmission makes these formulas seem more unusual than would otherwise be the case. If we examine the use of καμάτῳ ἁδηκότες in this book more closely, we can see why this formula would have been particularly useful for a poet composing a night raid, and for one composing this episode in particular.

98. mvp-comment-34-2 We have already observed that the necessity of staying awake is part of the hardship that characterizes ambush warfare. This necessity, as it happens, is likewise an important component of keeping a night watch. Because on this night the Trojans are encamped nearby—which we have seen is a cause of great anxiety for the Achaeans—the importance of the night watch is heightened. It is vital that the Achaean watches not fail in their duty; they must not fall asleep.

98. mvp-comment-34-3 In 10.312, Hektor proposes that someone find out if the Achaeans are keeping a proper night watch, or if in fact they are too worn out by the toil of battle to do so ( καμάτῳ ἁδηκότες αἰνῷ). In 10.399, Dolon repeats Hektor’s words to Odysseus virtually word for word, as so often happens in Homer when messages and information are relayed. In 10.420–422, Dolon reveals that the allies of the Trojans are not keeping night watches, and are instead leaving security to the Trojans, who have wives and children to protect. And so, in 10.471, we find that Rhesos and his men have done what the Achaeans must not do: they have fallen asleep, overcome by exhaustion ( οἱ δ’ εὗδον καμάτῳ ἁδηκότες). In Odyssey 12.281, Odysseus attempts to force his men to sail through the night, past the island of the sun god (where Teiresias had foretold disaster). The men refuse, saying that they are too worn out to do so ( καμάτῳ ἀδηκότας ἠδὲ καὶ ὕπνῳ). It seems clear that this formula occurs naturally when the hardship of staying awake is added to the weariness of a day’s toil, whether it be a day spent fighting in the polemos, or, in the case of the Odyssey, a day spent rowing at sea. (Cf. the simile at Iliad 7.4–7, which compares the relief that the Trojan soldiers feel when Hektor and Paris return to the battlefield to that experienced by sailors who, when their limbs are giving out from the toil of rowing [ καμάτῳ δ’ ὑπὸ γυῖα λέλυνται], hope for and receive a favorable wind.) It is not necessary to see these instances in Book 10 as idiosyncratic in their concentration, the work of a particular poet with his own personal and/or Odyssean style, as Danek and Hainsworth have most recently explained them. (See Danek 1988:84–86 and Hainsworth 1993 ad loc.) Rather, they are yet another example of the way that formulas and traditional themes go hand in hand.

101. mvp-comment-35-1 10.101 μάχεσθαι With the use of this verb ‘to fight’, we can see that the anxiety is so great among the Achaeans that they fear large-scale attack, and not just a spying mission or an ambush. The fact that they have put seven hundred men on guard duty also reflects their concern that the Trojans will make an all-out assault at night. During the intense battle that occurs the following day, Agamemnon also wonders if the Trojans will stop fighting when night falls ( Iliad 14.78–79).

102. mvp-comment-36-1 10.102 Γερήνιος ἱππότα Νέστωρ See Frame 2009 for an in-depth exploration of the epic tradition about Nestor and how it is encapsulated in the phrase hippota Nestor. That Frame could write a work of nearly 800 pages on the implications of this phrase in the epic tradition reveals just how much meaning can be encapsulated in a single epithet. (See also above on 10.3.) Of gerēnios Frame writes (2009:600n189):

In his separate epic traditions Nestor was a young man; only when Nestor was added to the saga of Troy was the figure of the old man created (cf. Cantieni 1942:87). The idea that at Troy Nestor operates among the third generation of heroes during his own lifetime is meant, I think, to establish a sharp divide between the aged Nestor (who is new) and the young Nestor (who is old); a middle-aged Nestor does not exist in epic as far as we know. It was perhaps to distinguish the old hero at Troy from the young hero in Pylos that the hippóta Néstōr of ancient Pylian fame became Gerḗnios hippóta Néstōr at Troy, if Gerḗnios, derived from géras, “privilege of the old,” simply means “old,” as forcefully argued by Bader 1980:55–56: note in particular Iliad 4.325, where Nestor, referring to his role as counselor and speaker (i.e. to his Homeric role in essence) says τὸ γὰρ γέρας ἐστὶ γερόντων, “for that is the privilege of the old”; a full and convincing morphological analysis of the derivation of Gerḗnios from géras has now been offered by Timothy Barnes in an unpublished paper delivered at the 2008 annual meeting of the American Philological Association.
The theory that gerēnios relates to the privileges of old age is strengthened by a notice in the Townley scholia to Iliad 16.196 that “some” have Γερήνιος ἱππότα Φοίνιξ in place of γέρων ἱππηλάτα Φοίνιξ. (Otherwise, the phrase is used exclusively of Nestor.)

103. mvp-comment-37-1 10.103 Ἀτρείδη κύδιστε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγάμεμνον On Nestor’s address of Agamemnon, see on 10.144 below.

104-107. mvp-comment-38-1 10.104–107 Leaf suggests that these lines “are at least somewhat out of place” because Achilles has just refused to return. This statement follows his argument that it is obvious that Iliad 10 “forms no essential part of the story of the Iliad” (Leaf 1900:423). Hainsworth (1993, ad loc.) similarly remarks, “The open condition, implying the possibility of Akhilleus reentering the fray, is unexpected when such a change of heart has just been ruled out of court. A remote condition … would certainly be more appropriate.” Petegorsky states, “Nestor’s reference to Achilles is curious; for it has the effect of conceding to Achilles the role of the hero who will put a stop to Hector, at the very moment when we would expect him to be suggesting an alternative” (1982:203). But, Petegorsky argues, Achilles’ refusal has in effect made the situation revert to what it was before the Embassy, and this deference to Achilles as the only way to stop Hektor in fact shows how much the Doloneia takes part in the Iliadic tradition, both thematically and in its narrative momentum towards Achilles’ eventual return (1982:177–185). The alternative strategy adopted in Iliad 10, one focused on mētis, spying, and ambush, will not change the Iliad’s traditional course of events, but will highlight through contrast the need for Achilles’ strength to save the Achaeans.

109. mvp-comment-39-1 10.109 ἠμὲν Τυδέιδην δουρὶ κλυτὸν ἠδ’ Ὀδυσῆα This line shows that, as we would expect, Diomedes and Odysseus are closely linked in the formulaic diction. For more on Odysseus and Diomedes as a fighting pair, see below on 10.243.

110-113. mvp-comment-40-1 10.110–113 Αἴαντα ταχὺν The swift Ajax is the son of Oileus, as we see also in Iliad 14.520–522: Ὀϊλῆος ταχὺς υἱός· οὐ γάρ οἵ τις ὁμοῖος ἐπισπέσθαι ποσὶν ἦεν/ἀνδρῶν τρεσσάντων, ὅτε τε Ζεὺς ἐν φόβον ὄρσῃ (“the swift son of Oileus—there is no one like him for following on foot when men are retreating in flight, whenever Zeus sets a rout in motion”). In 10.112–113, Nestor is referring to Ajax the son of Telamon, whose ships are on the far end of the line (see Iliad 11.7–9). In 10.175–176 Nestor tells Diomedes to go wake up the son of Oileus, but the mission itself is not described in our text, nor is the mission of Menelaos to Telamonian Ajax (see above on 10.53).

116. mvp-comment-41-1 10.116 πονέεσθαι There is a cluster of three occurrences of this verb: here, in 10.117, and in Agamemnon’s response in 10.121. It is also used in 10.70, and the noun from which it is derived, πόνος, appears at 10.89, 10.164, 10.245, and 10.279. These words are also used for the hardships of (daytime) battle, but see our essay “Poetics of Ambush” for a discussion of the associations that “hard labor” has with ambush fighting.

121. mvp-comment-42-1 10.121 πολλάκι γὰρ μεθίει Douglas Frame (2009:214–216) demonstrates that “giving way,” especially in deference to his brother, is a traditional characteristic of Menelaos. In addition to here, the verb μεθίημι is used of Menelaos in two other places: at Odyssey 4.372 and most tellingly at Iliad 23.434, where Menelaos gives way to Antilokhos in the chariot race. Frame connects that event in particular with Menelaos’ nostos, in which he displays hesitancy, lack of incitement, and a lack of noos. These same qualities will make him a poor choice for the spying mission: Agamemnon seems to know this, as we see in his fear that Diomedes will choose Menelaos based on status alone (see 10.237–240). As we have noted elsewhere (see 10.31), Menelaos is portrayed as a successful ambusher in the Odyssey, but that portrayal seems quite separate from his relationship with his brother, whom, as we have seen earlier on this night, he looks to for direction, even as he is the first to voice the idea of the spying mission.