Apollodorus, Epitome, ed. Sir James George Frazer, 4

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

[1]
Achilles did not go forth to the war, because he was angry on account of Briseis, the daughter of Chryses the priest.¹ Therefore the barbarians took heart of grace and sallied out of the city. And Alexander fought a single combat with Menelaus; and when Alexander got the worst of it, Aphrodite carried him off.² And Pandarus, by shooting an arrow at Menelaus, broke the truce.³

[2]
Diomedes, doing doughty deeds, wounded Aphrodite when she came to the help of Aeneas;⁴ and encountering Glaucus, he recalled the friendship of their fathers and exchanged arms.⁵ And Hector having challenged the bravest to single combat, many came forward, but the lot fell on Ajax, and he did doughty deeds; but night coming on, the heralds parted them.⁶

[3]
The Greeks made a wall and a ditch to protect the roadstead,⁷ and a battle taking place in the plain, the Trojans chased the Greeks within the wall.⁸ But the Greeks sent Ulysses, Phoenix, and Ajax as ambassadors to Achilles, begging him to fight for them, and promising Briseis and other gifts.⁹

[4] And night coming on, they sent Ulysses and Diomedes as spies; and these killed Dolon, son of Eumelus, and Rhesus, the Thracian ( who had arrived the day before as an ally of the Trojans, and having not yet engaged in the battle was encamped at some distance from the Trojan force and apart from Hector); they also slew the twelve men that were sleeping around him, and drove the horses to the ships.¹⁰

[5] But by day a fierce fight took place; Agamemnon and Diomedes, Ulysses, Eurypylus, and Machaon were wounded, the Greeks were put to flight¹¹ Hector made a breach in the wall and entered¹² and, Ajax having retreated, he set fire to the ships.¹³

[6]
But when Achilles saw the ship of Protesilaus burning, he sent out Patroclus with the Myrmidons, after arming him with his own arms and giving him the horses. Seeing him the Trojans thought that he was Achilles and turned to flee. And having chased them within the wall, he killed many, amongst them Sarpedon, son of Zeus, and was himself killed by Hector, after being first wounded by Euphorbus.¹⁴

[7] And a fierce fight taking place for the corpse, Ajax with difficulty, by performing feats of valor, rescued the body.¹⁵ And Achilles laid aside his anger and recovered Briseis. And a suit of armour having been brought him from Hephaestus, he donned the armour¹⁶ and went forth to the war, and chased the Trojans in a crowd to the Scamander, and there killed many, and amongst them Asteropaeus, son of Pelegon, son of the river Axius; and the river rushed at him in fury. But Hephaestus dried up the streams of the river, after chasing them with a mighty flame.¹⁷ And Achilles slew Hector in single combat, and fastening his ankles to his chariot dragged him to the ships.¹⁸ And having buried Patroclus, he celebrated games in his honor, at which Diomedes was victorious in the chariot race, Epeus in boxing, and Ajax and Ulysses in wrestling.¹⁹ And after the games Priam came to Achilles and ransomed the body of Hector, and buried it.²⁰

Epitome. Apollodorus. ed. Sir James George Frazer. Cambridge, MA. 1921.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Epitome (English) (Apollodorus. The Library, Vol 1-2. Frazer, James George, Sir, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1921)

Editions (1)

Ἐπιτομὴ Perseus (Apollodorus. The Library, Vol. 1-2. Frazer, James George, Sir, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1921) — 4 focus

[1] Ἀχιλλεὺς δὲ μηνίων ἐπὶ τὸν πόλεμον οὐκ ἐξῄει διὰ Βρισηίδα τῆς θυγατρὸς Χρύσου τοῦ ἱερέως. διὸ θαρσήσαντες οἱ βάρβαροι ἐκ τῆς πόλεως προῆλθον. καὶ μονομαχεῖ Ἀλέξανδρος πρὸς Μενέλαον, Ἀλέξανδρον δὲ ἡττώμενον ἁρπάζει Ἀφροδίτη. Πάνδαρος δὲ τοξεύσας Μενέλαον τοὺς ὅρκους ἔλυσεν.

[2] E ὅτι Διομήδης ἀριστεύων Ἀφροδίτην Αἰνείᾳ βοηθοῦσαν τιτρώσκει, καὶ Γλαύκῳ συστάς, ὑπομνησθεὶς πατρῴας φιλίας, ἀλλάσσει τὰ ὅπλα. ES προκαλουμένου δὲ Ἕκτορος τὸν ἄριστον εἰς μονομαχίαν, πολλῶν ἐλθόντων Αἴας κληρωσάμενος ἀριστεύει· νυκτὸς δὲ ἐπιγενομένης κήρυκες διαλύουσιν αὐτούς.

[3] S οἱ δὲ Ἕλληνες πρὸς τοῦ ναυστάθμου τεῖχος ποιοῦνται καὶ τάφρον, καὶ γενομένης μάχης ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ οἱ Τρῶες τοὺς Ἕλληνας εἰς τὸ τεῖχος διώκουσιν· οἱ δὲ πέμπουσι πρὸς Ἀχιλλέα πρέσβεις Ὀδυσσέα καὶ Φοίνικα καὶ Αἴαντα, συμμαχεῖν ἀξιοῦντες καὶ Βρισηίδα καὶ ἄλλα δῶρα ὑπισχνούμενοι.

[4] νυκτὸς δὲ ἐπιγενομένης κατασκόπους πέμπουσιν Ὀδυσσέα καὶ Διομήδην· οἱ δὲ ἀναιροῦσι Δόλωνα τὸν Εὐμήλου καὶ Ῥῆσον τὸν Θρᾷκα (ὃς πρὸ μιᾶς ἡμέρας παραγενόμενος Τρωσὶ σύμμαχος οὐ συμβαλὼν ἀπωτέρω τῆς Τρωικῆς δυνάμεως χωρὶς Ἕκτορος ἐστρατοπέδευσε) τούς τε περὶ αὐτὸν δώδεκα κοιμωμένους κτείνουσι καὶ τοὺς ἵππους ἐπὶ τὰς ναῦς ἄγουσι.

[5] μεθʼ ἡμέραν δὲ ἰσχυρᾶς μάχης γενομένης, τρωθέντων Ἀγαμέμνονος καὶ Διομήδους Ὀδυσσέως Εὐρυπύλου Μαχάονος καὶ τροπῆς τῶν Ἑλλήνων γενομένης, Ἕκτωρ ῥήξας τὸ τεῖχος εἰσέρχεται καὶ ἀναχωρήσαντος Αἴαντος πῦρ ἐμβάλλει ταῖς ναυσίν.

[6] ὡς δὲ εἶδεν Ἀχιλλεὺς τὴν Πρωτεσιλάου ναῦν καιομένην, ἐκπέμπει Πάτροκλον καθοπλίσας τοῖς ἰδίοις ὅπλοις μετὰ τῶν Μυρμιδόνων, δοὺς αὐτῷ τοὺς ἵππους. ἰδόντες δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ Τρῶες καὶ νομίσαντες Ἀχιλλέα εἶναι εἰς φυγὴν τρέπονται. καταδιώξας δὲ αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ τεῖχος πολλοὺς ἀναιρεῖ, ἐν οἷς καὶ Σαρπηδόνα τὸν Διός, καὶ ὑφʼ Ἕκτορος ἀναιρεῖται, τρωθεὶς πρότερον ὑπὸ Εὐφόρβου.

[7] μάχης δὲ ἰσχυρᾶς γενομένης περὶ τοῦ νεκροῦ, μόλις Αἴας ἀριστεύσας σώζει τὸ σῶμα. Ἀχιλλεὺς δὲ τὴν ὀργὴν ἀποθέμενος καὶ τὴν Βρισηίδα κομίζεται. καὶ πανοπλίας αὐτῷ κομισθείσης παρὰ Ἡφαίστου, καθοπλισάμενος ἐπὶ τὸν πόλεμον ἐξέρχεται, καὶ συνδιώκει τοὺς Τρῶας ἐπὶ τὸν Σκάμανδρον, κἀκεῖ πολλοὺς μὲν ἄλλους ἀναιρεῖ, κτείνει δὲ καὶ Ἀστεροπαῖον τὸν Πηλεγόνος τοῦ Ἀξιοῦ ποταμοῦ· καὶ αὐτῷ λάβρος ὁ ποταμὸς ἐφορμᾷ. καὶ τούτου μὲν ὁ Ἥφαιστος τὰ ῥεῖθρα ἀναξηραίνει πολλῇ φλογὶ διώξας, ὁ δʼ Ἀχιλλεὺς Ἕκτορα ἐκ μονομαχίας ἀναιρεῖ καὶ ἐξάψας αὐτοῦ τὰ σφυρὰ ἐκ τοῦ ἅρματος σύρων ἐπὶ τὰς ναῦς παραγίνεται. καὶ θάψας Πάτροκλον ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ἀγῶνα τίθησιν, ἐν ᾧ νικᾷ ἵπποις Διομήδης, Ἐπειὸς πυγμῇ, Αἴας καὶ Ὀδυσσεὺς πάλῃ. μετὰ δὲ τὸν ἀγῶνα παραγενόμενος Πρίαμος πρὸς Ἀχιλλέα λυτροῦται τὸ Ἕκτορος σῶμα καὶ θάπτει.

Notes on the current edition

Epitome

1. Compare Hom. Il. 1.1ff. From this point Apollodorus follows the incidents of the Trojan war as related by Homer.

2. Compare Hom. Il. 3.15-382 .

3. Compare Hom. Il. 4.85ff.

4. Compare Hom. Il. 5.1-417 .

5. Compare Hom. Il. 6.119-236 .

6. Compare Hom. Il. 7.66-312 .

7. Compare Hom. Il. 7.436-441 .

8. Compare Hom. Il. 8.53-565 .

9. The embassy of Ulysses, Phoenix, and Ajax to Achilles is the subject of the ninth book of the Iliad. Hom. Il. 9 . Libanius composed an imaginary reply to the speech of Ulysses ( Libanius, Declam. v., vol. v. pp. 303-360, ed. R. Foerster ).

10. These events are narrated in the tenth book of the Iliad . Hom. Il. 10 . They form the subject of Euripides's tragedy Rhesus, the only extant Greek drama of which the plot is derived from the action of the Iliad .

11. These events are told in the eleventh book of the Iliad , ( Hom. Il. 11 ).

12. Compare Hom. Il. 12.436ff.

13. Compare Hom. Il. 15.716ff.

14. These events are narrated in the sixteenth book of the Iliad , ( Hom. Il. 16 ).

15. These events are the subject of the seventeenth book of the Iliad , ( Hom. Il. 17 ).

16. These events are narrated in the eighteenth ( Hom. Il. 18 ) and nineteenth ( Hom. Il. 19 ) books of the Iliad .

17. These events are related in the twentieth ( Hom. Il. 20 ) and twenty-first ( Hom. Il. 21 ) books of the Iliad . As to the slaying of Asteropaeus by Achilles, see Hom. Il. 21.139-204 . As to the combat of Achilles with the river Scamander, and the drying up of the streams of the river by the fire-god Hephaestus, see Hom. Il. 21.211-382 . The whole passage affords a striking example of the way in which the Greeks conceived rivers as personal beings, endowed with human shape, human voice, and human passions. Incidentally ( Hom. Il. 21.130-132 ) we hear of sacrifices of bulls and horses to a river, the horses being thrown alive into the stream.

18. The combat of Achilles with Hector, and the death of Hector, form the subject of the twenty-second book of the Iliad , ( Hom. Il. 22 ).

19. The burial of Patroclus and the funeral games celebrated in his honour, are described in the twenty-third book of the Iliad , ( Hom. Il. 23 ).

20. These events are narrated in the twenty-fourth book of the Iliad , ( Hom. Il. 24 ).

Apollodorus Epitome 4

ed. Sir James George Frazer

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers