BOOK IX.

15 of stern Achilles on his foe pursued Thrice fugitive about Troy wall;

Achilles was the son of Peleus, king of Thessaly, and of Thetis, goddess of the sea. His education was entrusted to the centaur Chiron, who taught him the art of war and of music: he was taught eloquence by Phoenix. Vulcan, at the entreaties of Thetis, made him a strong armour which was proof against all weapons. Agamemnon deprived him of his favourite mistress Briseis, who had fallen to his lot in the division of the booty of Lyrnesse.

The following is an extract from Homer's Iliad.
Trust the powers above,

Nor think proud Hector's hopes confirmed by
Jove:

How ill agree the views of vain mankind,
And the wise counsels of eternal mind?
Audacious Hector, if the gods ordain
That great Achilles rise and rage again,
What toils attend thee and what woes remain ?
A place there was, yet undefiled with gore,
The spot where Hector stopp'd his rage before,
When night descending from the vengeful hand,
Repriev'd the relics of the Grecian band:

(The plain beside with mangled corps were spread,
And all his progress mark'd by heaps of dead):
There sat the mournful kings: when Neleus' son
The council op'ing, in these words begun.
Lives there a man who singly dares to go

To yonder camp, or seize some straggling foe?
Or, favour'd by the night, approach so near,
Their speech, their counsels and designs to hear?
Tydides spoke :-The man you seek is here:
Thro' yon black camps to bend my dang'rous way,
Some god within commands, and I obey.
Nor less bold Hector, and the sons of Troy
On high designs the wakeful hours employ;
Th' assembled peers their lofty chief inclos'd,
Who thus the counsels of his breast propos'd
What glorious man, for high attempts prepar'd,
Dares greatly venture for a rich reward?
Of yonder fleet a bold discov'ry make,

What watch they keep, and what resolves they take?

His be the chariot that shall please him most,
Of all the plunder of the vanquish'd host;
His the fair steed that shall the rest excel,
And his the glory to have serv'd us well.
A youth there was, among the tribes of Troy,
Dolan his name, Eumedes only boy,
Not bless'd by nature with the charms of face,
But swift of foot and matchless in the race.
Hector, (he said) my courage bids me meet
This high achievement, and explore the fleet:
But first exalt thy sceptre to the skies,
And swear to grant me the demanded prize:
That bear Pelides thro' the ranks of war.

.

Encouraged thus, no idle scout I go,
Fulfil thy wish, their whole intentions know.
The chief then heav'd the golden sceptre high,
Attesting thus the monarch of the sky.
Be witness thou, immortal Lord of all,
By none but Dolon shall the prize be borne,
And him alone th' immortal steeds adorn.
Thus Hector swore: the gods were called in vain;
But the rash youth prepares to scour the plain.

Dolan's rashness throws him into the power of the enemy; he is killed. Hector is struck to the ground by a stone from the hand of Ajax; but recovers Several actions succeed, till the Trojans are obliged to give way. Hector is again reinspired, and the fortune of the fight is turned. Hector kills Patroclus, the friend of Achilles : the Trojans fly before Achilles; they retire into the city: Hector stays to oppose Achilles. As when some heroes' fun'rals are decreed, In grateful honour of the mighty dead; The panting coursers quickly turn the goal, And with them turns the rais'd spectators' soul. Thus three times round the Trojan wall they fly: The gazing gods lean forward from the sky. The silence Hector broke ;

His dreadful plumage nodded as he spoke:
Enough, O son of Peleus, Troy has view'd
Her walls thrice circled and her chief pursued.
But now some god within me bids me try,
Thine or my fate; I kill thee or I die.
Detested as thou art, and ought to be,

Nor oath nor pact Achilles plights with thee.

He spoke, and lanc'd his jav'lin at the foe;
But Hector shunn'd the meditated blow:
Minerva watch'd it falling on the land:
Then drew, and gave to great Achilles' hand,
Unseen of Hector, who, elate with joy,

Now shakes his lance and braves the dread of Troy.
Hector beheld his jav'lin fall in vain,

Nor other lance, nor other hope remain:

In vain ; for no Deiphobus was there.
All comfortless he stands; then with a sigh:
Tis so, heaven wills it and my hour is nigh:
Fierce, at the word, his weighty sword he drew,
And all collected, on Achilles flew,

So Jove's bold bird, high balanc'd in the air,
Stoops from the clouds to truss the quivʼring hare,
Nor less Achilles his fierce soul prepares,
Before his breast the flaming shield he bears,
Refulgent orb! above his fourfold cone
The gilded horse-hair sparkled in the sun,
Nodding at every step, (Vulcanian frame!)
And as he mov'd his figure seem'd on flame.
In his right hand he waves the weapon round,
Eyes the whole man and meditates the wound:
Prone on the field the bleeding warriour lies,
While thus triumphing stern Achilles cries.

The fates suppress'd his labʼring breath,
And his eyes stiffen'd at the hand of death:
To the dark realm the spirit wings its way,
(The manly body left a load of clay)
High o'er the slain the great Achilles stands,
Begirt with heroes and surrounding bands.
Meanwhile, ye sons of Greece, in triumph bring
The corpse of Hector, and your Pœans sing,

16

1

Be this the song, slow moving tow'rd the shore,
Hector is dead and Ilion is no more.

Then his fell soul a thought of vengeance bred,
(Unworthy of himself and of the dead)
The nervous ancles bor'd, his feet he bound
With thongs inserted thro' the double wound;
These fix'd, up high behind the rolling wain,
His graceful head was trail'd along the plain.
or rage

Of Turnus for Lavinia disespous'd,
Now, Erato! thy poet's mind inspire,
And fill his soul with thy celestial fire,
Relate what Latium was; her ancient kings:
Declare the past and present state of things,
When first the Trojan fleet Ausonia sought,
And how the rivals loved, and how they fought.
These are my theme: and how the war began,
And how concluded by the godlike man ;
Latinus, old and mild, had long possess'd
The Latin sceptre and his people bless'd;
His father Faunus; a Laurentian dame,
His mother, Marcia was her name.
But Faunus came from Picus: Picus drew
His birth from Saturn, if records be true.
Thus king Latinus, in the third degree,
Had Saturn author of his family.

But this old peaceful prince, as heaven decreed,
Was bless'd with no male issue to succeed;

His sons, in blooming youth, were snatch'd by

fate:

One only daughter heir'd the royal state.

Among the crow'd, but far above the rest,

Young Turnus to the beauteous maid address'd.