excellent Antilochus, and Ajax, all drew near— Ajax for form and stature eminent O’er all the Greeks save Peleus’ faultless son. Then did the soul of fleet Aeacides Know me, and thus in winged words he said:—
“ ‘Ulysses! what hath moved thee to attempt This greatest of thy labors? How is it That thou hast found the courage to descend To Hades, where the dead, the bodiless forms Of those whose work is done on earth, abide?’
“He spake; I answered: ‘Greatest of the Greeks! Achilles, son of Peleus! ’Twas to hear The counsel of Tiresias that I came, If haply he might tell me by what means To reach my rugged Ithaca again; For yet have I not trod my native coast, Nor even have drawn nigh to Greece. I meet Misfortunes everywhere. But as for thee, Achilles, no man lived before thy time, Nor will hereafter live, more fortunate Than thou—for while alive we honored thee As if thou wert a god, and now again In these abodes thou rulest o’er the dead; Therefore, Achilles, shouldst thou not be sad.’