“Thy health, Achilles! Princely feasts like this Attend us both in Agamemnon’s tent And here—for here is all that makes a feast Complete; yet now is not the time to think Of pleasant banquets, for our thoughts are turned— O Jove-born warrior!—to a fearful time Of slaughter, and the fate of our good ships— Whether we save them harmless, or the foe Destroy them, if thou put not on thy might. For now the haughty Trojans, and the troops Who come from far to aid them, pitch their camp Close to our fleet and wall, and all around Kindle their many fires, and boast that we No longer have the power to drive them back From our black galleys. Jupiter, the son Of Saturn, shows them favorable signs With lightnings from above; and, terrible In aspect and in valor, Hector makes Sad havoc, trusting in the aid of Jove, And neither reverences gods nor men— Such rage possesses him. He prays that soon The morn may rise, that he may hew the prows From all our ships and give them to the flames, And slay the Greeks, bewildered with the smoke. For me, I greatly fear the gods will grant That he fulfil his threat, and that our doom Will be to perish on the Trojan coast, And far away from Argos, famed for steeds. Rise, then, though late—rise with a resolute mind, And from the hard-pressed sons of Greece drive back The assailing Trojans. Thou wilt else lament Hereafter, when the evil shall be done And shall admit no cure. Bethink thee well How from the Greeks thou mayst avert the day Of their destruction. O my friend, when first He sent thee forth to Agamemnon’s help From Phthia’s coast, thy father Peleus said:—
“ ‘My child, from Juno and Minerva comes The gift of valor, if they choose to give. But curb thou the high spirit in thy breast, For gentle ways are best, and keep aloof From sharp contentions, that the old and young Among the Greeks may honor thee the more.’
“Such was the old man’s charge, forgotten now. Yield, then, and lay thy wrath aside. Large gifts Doth Agamemnon offer, to appease Thy wounded spirit. Hear me, if thou wilt, Recount what gifts the monarch