The Iliad — Chapter 9

"The steersmen who the vessels' rudders hold,The very stewards who served the daily bread"—

"Great son of Atreus, what hath been the gainTo thee or me, since heart-consuming strifeHath fiercely raged between us, for a girl—Who would to heaven had died by Dian's shaftsThat day when from Lyrnessus' captured townI bore her off, so had not many a GreekBitten the bloody dust, by hostile hands

Subdued, while I in anger stood aloof.Great was the gain to Troy; but Greece, methinks,Will long retain the memory of our feud.Yet pass we that; and though our hearts be sore,Still let us school our angry spirits down.My wrath I here abjure." (D.)

"For none throughout the day till set of sun,Fasting from food, may bear the toils of war;His spirit may be eager for the fray,Yet are his limbs by slow degrees weighed down."

"Then ceased for ever, by the Furies tied,His fateful voice. Th' intrepid chief repliedWith unabated rage—'So let it be!Portents and prodigies are lost on me;I know my fate; to die, to see no moreMy much-loved parents and my native shore;Enough—when Heaven ordains, I sink in night;Now perish Troy!' he said, and rushed to right."

"Thou too, my friend, must die—why vainly wail?Dead is Patroclus too, thy better far—Me too thou seest, how stalwart, tall, and fair,Of noble sire and goddess-mother born,Yet must I yield to death and stubborn fate,Whene'er, at morn or noon or eve, the spearOr arrow from the bow may reach my life." (D.)

"Jove as his sport the dreadful scene descries,And views contending gods with careless eyes." (P.)