HOMER'S ILIAD COMPLETE

Rhapsody 20

Literally Translated, with Explanatory Notes, by Theodore Alois Buckley

Homer Bilingual Anthology  Studies  Homer in Print

Page 7

"Why, O Aeneas, coming through so great a length of crowd, dost thou stand against me? Does then thy soul urge thee to fight with me, hoping that thou wilt govern the horse-breaking Trojans in the place[650] of Priam? Yet even if thou shalt slay me, not thus will Priam place this reward in thy hand: for he has sons; and he is himself steady, nor inconstant. Or, if thou slayest me, have the Trojans cut off for thee an enclosure[651] of soil surpassing others, suited to vines and the plough, that thou mayest cultivate it? Still I hope thou wilt effect it with difficulty. For I think I have at some other time put thee to flight with my spear. Dost thou not remember when I impetuously drove thee, when alone, from the oxen, with rapid feet, down the Idaean mountains? Then indeed thou didst never turn round while flying, but didst escape thence into Lyrnessus; but I wasted it, having attacked it with the aid of Minerva and father Jove. The women also I led away captives, having taken away their day of freedom; but Jove and the other gods preserved thee. However, I do not think they will protect thee now, as thou castest in thy mind; but I exhort thee, retiring, to go into the crowd, nor stand against me, before thou suffer some evil; but [it is] a fool [who] knows a thing [only] when it is done."

[Footnote 650: [Greek: agti..... basileias] is Gaza's correct paraphrase.]

[Footnote 651: Cf 194.]

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Homer's Complete ILIAD & ODYSSEY Contents

Homer Bilingual Anthology ||| Elpenor's Free Greek Lessons
A Commentary on the ODYSSEY ||| Interlinear ILIAD

Reference address : https://ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-Greece/homer/iliad-20.asp?pg=7