Chapter 16, The Trojan War
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♠ Homer, Iliad 22.356-60
“Verily I know thee well, and forbode what shall be, neither was it to be that I should persuade thee; of a truth the heart in thy breast is of iron. Bethink thee now lest haply I bring the wrath of the gods upon thee on the day when Paris and Phoebus Apollo shall slay thee, [360] valorous though thou art, at the Scaean gate.” Greek Text
♠ Homer, Iliad 19.408-17
“Aye verily, yet for this time will we save thee, mighty Achilles, albeit the day of doom is nigh thee, nor shall we be the cause thereof, [410] but a mighty god and overpowering Fate. For it was not through sloth or slackness of ours that the Trojans availed to strip the harness from the shoulders of Patroclus, but one, far the best of gods, even he that fair-haired Leto bare, slew him amid the foremost fighters and gave glory to Hector. [415] But for us twain, we could run swift as the blast of the West Wind, which, men say, is of all winds the fleetest; nay, it is thine own self that art fated to be slain in fight by a god and a mortal.” Greek Text
♠ Homer, Iliad 21.276-78
but only my dear mother, that beguiled me with false words, saying that beneath the wall of the mail-clad Trojans I should perish by the swift missiles of Apollo. Greek Text
♠ Aithiopis – Poetae Epici Graeci 1, p. 69, ed. A. Bernabé. Leipzig 1987.
♠ Pindar, Paian 6.75-86 – Pindarus 2, p. 28, ed. B. Snell and H. Maehler. Leipzig 1975.
♠ Homer, Iliad 16.698-711
Then would the sons of the Achaeans have taken high-gated Troy by the hands of Patroclus, for around and before him he raged with his spear, [700] had not Phoebus Apollo taken his stand upon the well-builded wall thinking thoughts of bane for him, but bearing aid to the Trojans. Thrice did Patroclus set foot upon a corner of the high wall, and thrice did Apollo fling him back, thrusting against the bright shield with his immortal hands. [705] But when for the fourth time he rushed on like a god, then with a terrible cry Apollo spake to him winged words: “Give back, Zeus-born Patroclus. It is not fated, I tell thee, that by thy spear the city of the lordly Trojans shall be laid waste, nay, nor by that of Achilles, who is better far than thou.” [710] So spake he, and Patroclus gave ground a great space backward, avoiding the wrath of Apollo that smiteth afar. Greek Text
♠ Homer, Iliad 20.290-308
and the son of Peleus in close combat would with his sword have robbed Aeneas of life, had not Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, been quick to see. And forthwith he spake among the immortal gods, saying: “Now look you, verily have I grief for great-hearted Aeneas, who anon shall go down to the house of Hades, [295] slain by the son of Peleus, for that he listened to the bidding of Apollo that smiteth afar—fool that he was! nor will the god in any wise ward from him woeful destruction. But wherefore should he, a guiltless man, suffer woes vainly by reason of sorrows that are not his own?—whereas he ever giveth acceptable gifts to the gods that hold broad heaven. [300] Nay, come, let us head him forth from out of death, lest the son of Cronos be anywise wroth, if so be Achilles slay him; for it is ordained unto him to escape, that the race of Dardanus perish not without seed and be seen no more—of Dardanus whom the son of Cronos loved above all the children born to him [305] from mortal women. For at length hath the son of Cronos come to hate the race of Priam; and now verily shall the mighty Aeneas be king among the Trojans, and his sons’ sons that shall be born in days to come.”” Greek Text
♠ Aischylos fr 350 R – Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta 3, pp. 416-18, ed. S. L. Radt. Göttingen 1985.
♠ Sophokles, Philoktetes 334-35
Neoptolemus
Dead—not by a mortal hand, but by a god’s. [335] He was brought down, as men say, by the arrow of Phoebus. Greek Text
♠ Euripides, Hekabe 387-88
it was I that bore Paris, whose fatal shaft laid low the son of Thetis. Greek Text
♠ Euripides, Andromache 655
For Paris, who slew your son Achilles Greek Text
♠ Vergil, Aeneid 6.56-58
Phoebus, who ever for the woes of Troy
Hadst pitying eyes! who gavest deadly aim
To Paris when his Dardan shaft he hurled
On great Achilles! Latin Text
♠ Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.596-606
Veiled in a cloud, he found the Trojan host
and, there, while bloody strife went on, he saw
the hero Paris shoot at intervals
his arrows at the nameless host of Greeks.
Revealing his divinity, he said:
“Why spend your arrows on the common men
if you would serve your people, take good aim
at great Achilles and at last avenge
your hapless brothers whom he gave to death.”
He pointed out Achilles—laying low
the Trojan warriors with his mighty spear.
On him he turned the Trojan’s willing bow
and guided with his hand the fatal shaft. Latin Text
♠ Statius, Achilleis 1.133-34
Latin Text and English Translation
♠ Statius, Achilleis 1.268-70
Latin Text and English Translation
♠ Statius, Achilleis 1.480-81
Latin Text and English Translation
Edited by Elena Bianchelli, Retired Senior Lecturer of Classical Languages and Culture, Univ. of Georgia, February 2023
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