The Iliad

1) '''Take me alive, son of Atreus, and accept A worthy ransom from the treasure stored In my father's palace, bronze, gold, wrought iron. My father would lavish it all on you if he heard I was still alive among the Achaean ships.'

The speech had its intended effect. Menelaus was about to hand him over To be led back to the ships, but Agamemnon Came running over to call him on it:

'Going soft, Menelaus? What does this man Mean to you? Have the Trojans ever shown you Any hospitality? Not one of them Escapes sheer death at our hands, not even The boy who is still in his mother's womb. Every Trojan dies, unmourned and unmarked.'''

2) ''His shout split the air: 'Move, Trojans! Let's tear down this Greek fence And make a bonfire out of their ships!'

They heard him, all right, and swarmed Right up the wall, climbing to its pickets With spears in their hands, while Hector Scooped up a stone that lay by the gates, A massive boulder tapering to a point. It would take two men to heave it onto a cart#- More than two as men are now#-but Hector Handled it easily alone. Zeus Lightened it for him, so that the stone Was no more to Hector than the fleece Of a ram is to a shepherd who carries it Easily in his free hand. This was how Hector carried it up to the gates, A set of heavy double doors, solidly built And bolted shut by interlocked inner bars. Standing close to these towering doors, Hector Spread his feet to get his weight behind the throw And smashed the stone right into the middle. The hinges broke off, and the stone's momentum Carried it through, exploding the doors And sending splintered wood in every direction. Hector jumped through, a spear in each hand.

His face was like sudden night, And a dark gold light played about the armor That encased his zealous bones. No one Could have stopped him, except the gods, In his immortal leap through the ruined gate, And his eyes glowed with fire. Wheeling around In the throng, Hector called to his Trojans, Who needed no persuasion, to scale the wall. Those who couldn't swarmed through the gate. And the Greeks? In rout to their hollow ships, With a noise like the damned stampeded into hell.''

1) ''Thus Telemachus. And Pallas Athena
Touched the suitors' minds with hysteria.
They couldn't stop laughing, and as they laughed
It

seemed to them that their jaws were not theirs,
And the meat that they ate was dabbled with blood.
Tears filled their eyes, and their hearts

raced.
Then the seer Theoclymenus spoke among them:
'Wretches, what wicked thing is this that you suffer?
You are shrouded in night from

top to toe,
Lamentation flares, your cheeks melt with tears,
And the walls of the house are spattered with blood.
The porch and the court

are crowded with ghosts
Streaming down to the undergloom. The sun is gone
From heaven, and an evil mist spreads over the land.'''

2)

''Odysseus picked up
The arrow from the table and laid it upon
The bridge of the bow, and, still in his chair,
Drew the bowstring and the

notched arrow back.
He took aim and let fly, and the bronze-tipped arrow
Passed clean through the holes of all twelve axeheads
From first to

last. And he said to Telemachus:
'Well, Telemachus, the guest in your hall
Has not disgraced you. I did not miss my target,
Nor did I take

all day in stringing the bow.
I still have my strength, and I'm not as the suitors
Make me out to be in their taunts and jeers.
But now it

is time to cook these men's supper,
While it is still light outside, and after that,
We'll need some entertainment#-music and song#-
The

finishing touches for a perfect banquet.'

He spoke, and lowered his eyebrows. Telemachus,
The true son of godlike Odysseus, slung

on
His sharp sword, seized his spear, and gleaming in bronze
Took his place by his father's side.''

1) '''Take me alive, son of Atreus, and accept
A worthy ransom from the treasure stored
In my father's palace, bronze, gold, wrought iron.
My father would lavish it all on you if he heard
I was still alive among the Achaean ships.'

The speech had its intended effect.
Menelaus was about to hand him over
To be led back to the ships, but Agamemnon
Came running over to call him on it:

'Going soft, Menelaus? What does this man
Mean to you? Have the Trojans ever shown you
Any hospitality? Not one of them
Escapes sheer death at our hands, not even
The boy who is still in his mother's womb.
Every Trojan dies, unmourned and unmarked.'''

2) ''His shout split the air: 'Move, Trojans!
Let's tear down this Greek fence
And make a bonfire out of their ships!'

They heard him, all right, and swarmed
Right up the wall, climbing to its pickets
With spears in their hands, while Hector
Scooped up a stone that lay by the gates,
A massive boulder tapering to a point.
It would take two men to heave it onto a cart#-
More than two as men are now#-but Hector
Handled it easily alone. Zeus
Lightened it for him, so that the stone
Was no more to Hector than the fleece
Of a ram is to a shepherd who carries it
Easily in his free hand. This was how
Hector carried it up to the gates,
A set of heavy double doors, solidly built
And bolted shut by interlocked inner bars.
Standing close to these towering doors, Hector
Spread his feet to get his weight behind the throw
And smashed the stone right into the middle.
The hinges broke off, and the stone's momentum
Carried it through, exploding the doors
And sending splintered wood in every direction.
Hector jumped through, a spear in each hand.

His face was like sudden night,
And a dark gold light played about the armor
That encased his zealous bones. No one
Could have stopped him, except the gods,
In his immortal leap through the ruined gate,
And his eyes glowed with fire. Wheeling around
In the throng, Hector called to his Trojans,
Who needed no persuasion, to scale the wall.
Those who couldn't swarmed through the gate.
And the Greeks? In rout to their hollow ships,
With a noise like the damned stampeded into hell.''