Homer Iliad 9.1

ed. David B. Monro, ed. Thomas W. Allen

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Iliad. Homer. ed. David B. Monro, ed. Thomas W. Allen. Oxford. 1908-1920.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Ἰλιάς (Greek) (Homer. Homeri Opera, Volumes 1-2. Monro, D. B. (David Binning), editor; Allen, Thomas W. (Thomas William), editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908-1920.)

Translations (9)
Iliad Perseus (Homer. The Iliad, Volume 1-2. Murray, A. T. (Augustus Taber), translator. London: William Heinmann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1924-1925.) — 9.1 focus
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.) — 9.1 focus
English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 9.1 focus
Thus did the Trojans watch. But Panic, comrade of bloodstained Rout, had taken fast hold of the Achaeans and their princes were all of them in despair. As when the two winds [5] that blow from Thrace—the north and the northwest—spring up of a sudden and rouse the fury of the sea [ pontos]—in a moment the dark waves rear up their heads and scatter their sea-wrack in all directions—even thus troubled were the hearts of the Achaeans.
English (William Cullen Bryant, 1870) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1870)) — 9.1 focus
THE Trojans thus kept watch; while through the night
1
The power of Flight, companion of cold Fear,
Wrought on the Greeks, and all their bravest men
Were bowed beneath a sorrow hard to bear.
As when two winds upturn the fishy deep, -
5
The north wind and the west, that suddenly
Blow from the Thracian coast; the black waves rise
At once, and fling the sea-weed to the shore, —
Thus were the Achaians troubled in their hearts.
Atrides, deeply grieving, walked the camp,
10
And bade the clear-voiced heralds call by name
To council all the chiefs, but not aloud.
The king himself among the foremost gave
The summons. Sadly that assembly took
Their seats; and Agamemnon in the midst
15
Rose, shedding tears, -as down a lofty rock,
Darkening its face, a fountain's waters flow, -
And, deeply sighing, thus addressed the Greeks:-
"O friends! the chiefs and princes of the Greeks!
Saturnian Jove hath in an evil snare
20
Most cruelly entangled me. He gave
His promise once that I should overthrow
This strong-walled Ilium, and return; but now
He meditates a fraud, and sends me back
To Argos without glory, and with loss
25
Of many warriors. Thus doth it seem good
Doubtless to Jove Almighty, who hath cast
The towers of many a city down to earth,
And will cast others down, - his might excels
All other might. But let us now obey,
30
As I shall counsel you, and in our ships
Haste to our own dear country; for I see
That Troy with its broad streets can ne'er be ours."
He spake; and all were silent. Silent long
Remained the sorrow-stricken sons of Greece,
35
Till Diomed, the brave in battle, spake: -
"First of the chiefs I speak, to disapprove,
Atrides, thy rash purpose: 't is my right
In council; nor, O king, be thou displeased.
Thou first among the Greeks hast taunted me
40
With lack of valor, calling me unapt
For war and weak of arm. The young and old
Have heard the taunt. One of two gifts the son
Of wily Saturn hath bestowed on thee:
High rank and rule o'er all the rest he gave,
45
But gave thee not the nobler quality
Of fortitude. Dost thou then truly deem
The Greeks unapt for war and weak of arm,
As thou hast said? Thou longest to return:
Go, then; the way is open; by the sea
50
The barks that brought thee from Mycenæ lie,
A numerous fleet. Yet others will remain
Long-haired Achaians-till we overthrow
The city. Should they also pine for home,
Then let them flee, with all their ships; while I
55
With Sthenelus fight on until we make
An end of Troy, - for with the gods we came."
English (Alexander Pope, 1720, ed. Watson, 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Alexander Pope, 1720, ed. Watson, 1857)) — 9.1 focus
THUS joyful Troy maintain'd the watch of night;
1
While Fear, pale comrade of inglorious flight,
And heaven-bred horror, on the Grecian part,
Sat on each face, and sadden'd every heart.
As from its cloudy dungeon issuing forth,
5
A double tempest of the west and north
Swells o'er the sea, from Thracia's frozen shore,
Heaps waves on waves, and bids th' Ægean roar;
This way and that the boiling deeps are toss'd;
Such various passions urg'd the troubled host.
10
Great Agamemnon griev'd above the rest;
Superior sorrows swell'd his royal breast;
Himself his orders to the heralds bears,
To bid to council all the Grecian peers,
But bid in whispers: 1 these surround their chief,
15
In solemn sadness and majestic grief.
The king amidst the mournful circle rose;
Down his wan cheek a briny torrent flows:
So silent fountains, from a rock's tall head,
In sable streams soft-trickling waters shed.
20
With more than vulgar grief he stood oppress'd;
Words, mix'd with sighs, thus bursting from his breast:
English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 9.1 focus
English (George Chapman, 1611, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1611, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 9.1 focus
English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 9.1 focus
English (F. W. Newman, 1856) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (F. W. Newman, 1856)) — 9 focus

New Alexandria Commentaries

Douglas Frame

analysis of this passage and I.09.009-078 (assemblies of the Trojans and of the Achaeans, respectively) as an instance of “Zielinski’s law”

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example of laos as referring to one’s own even with ōlese

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Gregory Nagy

The beginning of Rhapsody 9 picks up where Rhapsody 8 ended. There is a brief reference at I.09.001 to the ending of Rhapsody 8. Then, in the rest of the verse at I.09.001 and continuing into I.09.002–003 there is a transition into the narrative as it now resumes. A fitting term for this sort of transition is rhapsodic sequencing. Here as elsewhere, the transition of the narrative from one rhapsody to the next shows that each one of the 24 rhapsodies of the Iliad—and each one of the 24 rhapsodies of the Odyssey—is a distinct unit of performance. In the classical period of Athens, as we see in Plato’s Ion, professional performers of Homeric rhapsodies were known as rhapsōidoi ‘rhapsodes’. The term rhapsōidiā, translated in this comment as ‘rhapsody’, originates from the traditions of rhapsōidoi ‘rhapsodes’ who performed poetry in competitive relay with other rhapsodes. Accordingly, the rhapsōidiai ‘rhapsodies’ of Homeric poetry can be seen as units of relay performance.

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The Master Narrator now approaches what can surely be seen as the highest point so far in the narrative arc of the Homeric Iliad. Achilles has not spoken since Rhapsody 1. Now, in Rhapsody 9, he will speak again. And what he says will define what can and cannot happen in the rest of the Iliad.

draft js image errorThe embassy to Achilles, featuring Phoenix and Odysseus in front of Achilles. Attic red-figure hydra, circa 480 BCE. Public domain image via Wikimedia Commons.

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The name Phúza, which is a personification of phúza ‘running away out of fear’ is described here at I.09.02 as the hetaírē ‘companion’ of Phóbos, which is a personification of phóbos ‘turning and running out of fear’. The immediate context is that the Trojans are now winning while the Achaeans are losing, I.09.1–2. The verse-final feminine form hetaírē, a morphologically leveled replacement of the older feminine form hétairă, likewise meaning ‘companion’, occurs only here in the Iliad. In this case, the morphological leveling can be explained as a replacement of the alternation -́i̯ă-/-i̯ā́- by way of non-alternating -i̯ā́-. In the Odyssey as well, feminine hetaírē occurs only once, O.17.271. Elsewhere in the Homeric tradition, feminine hetaírē occurs only in Homeric Hymn to Hermes 31 and 478. In all three of these other occurrences as well, hetaírē is verse-final. The application of hetaírē to Phúza here at I.09.02 is comparable to the application of the vocalically rhyming form krataiḗ to Moîra, personification of moîra in the sense of ‘fate, destiny’. This form krataiḗ, which is likewise verse-final, is found nine times in the Iliad but not once in the Odyssey. For the occurrences, see the comment on I.05.083. As in the case of hetaírē, this feminine form krataiḗ can be explained as a morphologically leveled replacement of an older feminine form, to be reconstructed as krataí-u̯i-ă* and meaning ‘whose power [u̯i-] has the upper-hand [krátos]’. In this case as well, the morphological leveling involves a replacement of the alternation -́i̯ă-/-i̯ā́- by way of non-alternating -i̯ā́*-.

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As the Achaeans are being routed by the Trojans, I.09.1–2, they are afflicted with penthos ‘grief’. Whenever the Achaeans are losing and the Trojans are winning, they suffer penthos or, to say it by way of this noun’s synonym, akhos.

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As an epithet describing the noun pontos ‘crossing [of the sea]’, the adjective ikhthuoeis ‘fish-swarming’ signals danger. At O.14.135 and O.24.291, for example, the fear is expressed that Odysseus in his travels at sea could have died by falling overboard, and then the ikhthues ‘fish’ in the pontos ‘crossing [of the sea]’ would have devoured him.

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The penthos ‘grief’ felt by the losing Achaeans is now compared, by way of a simile, to a seastorm brought by the North Wind and the West Wind personified respectively as Boreas and Zephyros, I.09.005: these winds come suddenly and violently from the direction of Thrace, blowing across the narrow strait of the Hellespont. See the comment on I.07.063–064. As the narrative of the Iliad advances, such a violent seastorm will become a fitting synonym also for the danger facing the Achaeans as their fortunes in war start giving way to the overwhelming momentum of the Trojan offensive led by Hector.

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After the intervening simile, at I.09.004–008, of the storm at sea, the penthos ‘grief’ felt by the Achaeans at I.09.003 is described further: this grief, it is said at I.09.008, is felt by them inside their collective ‘heart’, as expressed by thūmos. But then, at I.09.009, the penthos ‘grief’ of I.09.003 is now reconfigured as the akhos ‘grief’ felt by the leader of the Achaeans, Agamemnon, in his individuated ‘heart’, as expressed this time by ētor, which is a partial synonym of thūmos. In this ring-composition, the penthos ‘grief’ of verse 3 comes full circle with the synonym akhos ‘grief’ of verse 9, but the circle has in the meantime rotated the perspective from a collective to an individuated ‘heart’.

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Leonard Muellner

analysis of Phoenix’ speech to Achilles and atē leading to mēnis

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Richard Martin

Diomedes is the exception that proves the interpretation of the meaning of muthos for Homeric heroes. Demonstrably inexperienced, needing tutorials by Nestor to make a proper self-presentation in the assembly (9.31-49), he is represented even on the level of discourse genres as one who has not yet mastered the repertoire of commanding, flyting, and feats of memory. His assembly speeches are introduced as "late" interjections (7.399, 9.31, 9.696), a trait never noted with older heroes. He seems to bungle his first such speech by using the tactics of neikos speeches when he really just wants to dissent from what Agamemnon is saying: "Son of Atreus, I will fight first with you, mindless as you are, as tradition has it (hē themis estin), in the speaking assembly (agorē)" (9.31-33). There are hints that he is learning the tradition—note the rather clumsy gnomic utterance, for example, which he enthusiastically trots out to impress Nestor when he volunteers: "Two going together, the one notes before the other how there may be gain. One alone may notice, but his attention is shorter and his cunning intelligence thin" (10.224-26) (Martin 1993:124-25).

For Diomedes' education in flyting and the turning point of the Glaukos encounter, see the comment on Iliad 6.119-236.

References

Martin, R. P. 1993. The Language of Heroes: Speech and Performance in the Iliad. Ithaca.

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