sorrow that the men were perishing. And when the assembly met and now was full, Stood swift Achilles in the midst and said:—
“To me it seems, Atrides, that ’twere well, Since now our aim is baffled, to return Homeward, if death o’ertake us not; for war And pestilence at once destroy the Greeks. But let us first consult some seer or priest, Or dream-interpreter—for even dreams Are sent by Jove—and ask him by what cause Phoebus Apollo has been angered thus; If by neglected vows or hecatombs, And whether savor of fat bulls and goats May move the god to stay the pestilence.”
He spake, and took again his seat; and next Rose Calchas, son of Thestor, and the chief Of augurs, one to whom were known things past And present and to come. He, through the art Of divination, which Apollo gave, Had guided Iliumward the ships of Greece. With words well ordered courteously he spake:—
“Achilles, loved of Jove, thou biddest me Explain the wrath of Phoebus, monarch-god, Who sends afar his arrows. Willingly Will I make known the cause; but covenant thou, And swear to stand prepared, by word and hand, To bring me succor. For my mind misgives That he who rules the Argives, and to whom The Achaian race are subject, will be wroth. A sovereign is too strong for humbler men, And though he keep his choler down awhile, It rankles, till he sate it, in his heart. And now consider: wilt thou hold me safe?”
Achilles, the swift-footed, answered thus:— “Fear nothing, but speak boldly out whate’er Thou knowest, and declare the will of Heaven. For by Apollo, dear to Jove, whom thou, Calchas, dost pray to, when thou givest forth The sacred oracles to men of Greece, No man, while yet I live, and see the light Of day, shall lay a violent hand on thee Among our roomy ships; no man of all The Grecian armies, though thou name the name Of Agamemnon, whose high boast it is To stand in power and rank above them all.”