Chapter 16, The Trojan War
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♠ Apollodoros, Epitome 5.5
The death of Achilles filled the army with dismay, and they buried him with Patroclus in the White Isle, mixing the bones of the two together. It is said that after death Achilles consorts with Medea in the Isles of the Blest. And they held games in his honor, at which Eumelus won the chariot-race, Diomedes the footrace, Ajax the quoit match, and Teucer the competition in archery. Greek Text
♠ Ibykos 291 PMG – Poetae Melici Graeci, p. 151 ed. D. L. Page. Oxford 1962.
Schol. Ap. Rhod. iv 814-15, p.293 W.
Ibykos was the first to say that Achilleus, after arriving in the Elysian plain, married Medeia.; after him, Simonides said the same.
♠ Simonides 558 PMG – Poetae Melici Graeci, p. 290 ed. D. L. Page. Oxford 1962.
See above for translation
♠ Pindar, Olympian 2.79-80
and Achilles who was brought there by his mother, when she had [80] persuaded the heart of Zeus with her prayers. Greek Text
♠ Pindar, Nemean 4.49-50
and Achilles holds the shining island in the Euxine sea. Greek Text
♠ Lesches, Ilias Mikra (Little Iliad) fr 32 [dubium] PEG – Poetae Epici Graeci 1, pp. 85-86, ed. A. Bernabé. Leipzig 1987.
♠ Aischylos, Hoplôn Krisis (Judgment of Arms) fr 175 R – Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta 3, p. 289, ed. S. L. Radt. Göttingen 1985.
( to Odysseus) but Sisyphos came closer to Antikleia,
therefore to your mother, I say, who begot you (Transl. E. Bianchelli)
♠ Aischylos, Hoplôn Krisis (Judgment of Arms) fr 174 R – Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta 3, p. 289, ed. S. L. Radt. Göttingen 1985.
(to Thetis) leader of fifty Nereides girls (Transl. E. Bianchelli)
♠ Aischylos, Threissai fr 83 R – Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta 3, p. 206, ed. S. L. Radt. Göttingen 1985.
♠ Pindar, Nemean 7.23-30
there is a certain solemnity in his lies and winged artfulness, and the heart of the mass of men is blind. For if [25] they had been able to see the truth, then mighty Aias, in anger over the arms, would never have planted in his chest the smooth sword—Aias, who was the most powerful in battle, except for Achilles, and whom the breath of the unswerving Zephyr conveyed in swift ships, to bring back the wife of golden-haired Menelaus [30] from the city of Ilus. Greek Text
♠ Pindar, Nemean 8.21-32
Words are a dainty morsel for the envious; and envy always clings to the noble, and has no quarrel with worse men. Envy devoured the son of Telamon, throwing him onto his own sword. A man who was not gifted in speech, but brave in his heart, is held down by oblivion [25] under deadly strife; and the greatest prize of honor has been offered to the shifty lie. For in a secret vote the Danaans favored Odysseus; and Aias, robbed of the golden armor, wrestled with death. Truly, they did not tear equal wounds in the warm flesh of the enemy when they were driven back [30] under the man-protecting spear, at one time around the newly-slain corpse of Achilles, and on destructive days spent on other toils. Greek Text
♠ Pindar, Isthmian 4
Thanks to the gods, I have countless paths opening on every side; Melissus, at the Isthmian games you revealed abundant resources for celebrating in song the excellence of your family, in which the sons of Cleonymus flourish perpetually, [5] with a god’s favor, as they progress towards the mortal end of life. But a changeable wind sweeps down and drives all men at different times. These men truly are spoken of as honored in Thebes from the beginning; they have good relations with the neighboring towns, and are bereft of loud arrogance. And as for the memorials that fly through all the world, [10] memorials of boundless fame for living and dead men, they have attained all of these in full. Through their manly deeds they reached from home to touch the farthest limit, the pillars of Heracles— do not pursue excellence any farther than that! And they became breeders of horses [15] and were pleasing to bronze-clad Ares. But on a single day the rough storm of war robbed their blessed hearth of four men. Now, after the wintry gloom of the changing months, the ground has blossomed as if with crimson roses by the will of the gods. The shaker of the earth who dwells at Onchestus [20] and at the sea-bridge before the walls of Corinth, by offering to that family this marvellous song, wakes from her bed their ancient fame for glorious deeds. Continue Reading Greek Text
♠ Sophokles, Aias
Athena
Always, son of Laertes, have I observed you on the prowl to snatch some means of attack against your enemies. So now at the tent of Ajax by the ships where he has his post at the camp’s outer edge, I watch you [5] for a long time as you hunt and scan his newly pressed tracks, in order to see whether he is inside or away. Your course leads you well to your goal, like that of a keen-scenting Laconian hound. For the man has just now gone in, [10] with sweat dripping from his head and from his hands that have killed with the sword. There is no further need for you to peer inside these doors. Rather tell me what your goal is that you have shown such eagerness for, so that you may learn from her who holds the knowledge. Continue Reading Greek Text
Edited by Elena Bianchelli, Retired Senior Lecturer of Classical Languages and Culture, Univ. of Georgia, February 2023
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