heralds strove to hush The noisy crowd to silence, that at length The heaven-descended monarchs might be heard.
And when the crowd was seated and had paused From clamor, Agamemnon rose. He held The sceptre; Vulcan’s skill had fashioned it, And Vulcan gave it to Saturnian Jove, And Jove bestowed it on his messenger, The Argus-queller Hermes. He in turn Gave it to Pelops, great in horsemanship; And Pelops passed the gift to Atreus next, The people’s shepherd. Atreus, when he died, Bequeathed it to Thyestes, rich in flocks; And last, Thyestes left it to be borne By Agamemnon, symbol of his rule O’er many isles and all the Argive realm. Leaning on this, he spake these wingèd words:—
“Friends, Grecian heroes, ministers of Mars, Saturnian Jove hath in an evil net Entangled me most cruelly. He gave His promise and his nod, that, having razed Troy with her strong defences, I should see My home again; but now he meditates To wrong me, and commands me to return, With lessened glory and much people lost, To Argos. Thus hath it seemed good to Jove The mighty, who hath overthrown the towers Of many a city, and will yet o’erthrow. The ages yet to come will hear with shame That such a mighty army of the Greeks Have waged a fruitless war, and fought in vain A foe less numerous; yet no end appears To this long strife. Should Greeks and Trojans make A treaty, faithfully to number each, And should the Trojans count their citizens, And we the Greeks, disposed in rows of tens, Should call the Trojans singly to pour out The wine for us, full many a company Of ten would lack its cup-bearer; so far, I judge, the sons of Greece outnumber those Who dwell in Troy. But they have yet allies From many a city, men who wield the spear, Withstanding my attempt to overthrow That populous town. Nine years of mighty Jove Have passed already, and the planks that form Our barques are mouldering, and the cables drop In pieces, and our wives within their homes, With their young children, sit expecting us; Yet is the enterprise for which we came Still unperformed. Now let us all obey The