“O warrior-son of Atreus, sleepest thou? Tamer of steeds! It ill becomes a chief, Who has the charge of nations and sustains Such mighty cares, to sleep the livelong night. Give earnest heed to me, for I am come A messenger from Jove, who, though far off, Takes part in thy concerns and pities thee. He bids thee arm, with all the array of war, The long-haired Greeks, for now the hour is come Which gives into thy hands the city of Troy With all its spacious streets. The powers that dwell In the celestial mansions are no more At variance; Juno’s prayers have moved them all, And o’er the Trojans hangs a fearful doom, Decreed by Jove. Bear what I say in mind, And when thy sleep departs forget it not.”
He spake, and, disappearing, left the king Musing on things that never were to be; For on that very day he thought to take The city of Priam. Fool! who little knew What Jupiter designed should come to pass, And little thought by his own act to bring Great woe and grief on Greeks and Trojans both In hard-fought battles. From his sleep he woke, The heavenly voice still sounding in his ears, And sat upright, and put his tunic on, Soft, fair, and new, and over that he cast His ample cloak, and round his shapely feet Laced the becoming sandals. Next, he hung Upon his shoulders and his side the sword With silver studs, and took into his hand The ancestral sceptre, old, but undecayed, And with it turned his footsteps toward the fleet Of the Achaian warriors brazen-mailed.
Now Dawn, the goddess, climbed the Olympian height, Foretelling Day to Jupiter and all The immortal gods, when Agamemnon bade The shrill-voiced heralds call the long-haired Greeks Together; they proclaimed his will, and straight The warriors came in throngs. But first he bade A council of large-minded elders meet On Pylian Nestor’s royal barque, and there Laid his well-pondered thought before them:—
“My friends, give ear: a Vision from above Came to me sleeping in the balmy night; Most like to noble Nestor was its look, Its face, its stature, and its garb. It stood Beside me at my head, and thus it spake:—