CHAPTER X

THE EMBASSY TO ACHILLES

While the Trojans watched with good hope, the Greeks were filled with fear. And King Agamemnon was troubled beyond all others. He bade the heralds call every man to the assembly. Gloomily they sat, and when the King rose up to speak, his tears dropped down, as the waters drop down a steep cliff-side from some spring which the sunshine toucheth not. Thus he spake: "O friends, lords and leaders of the Greeks, verily Zeus dealeth ill with me. Once he promised that I should take the city of Troy and so return home; but now he hath deceived me, bidding me go back dishonoured, having lost much people. Therefore let us flee with our ships to the land of our fathers, for Troy we may not take."

Long time the chiefs kept silence, for they were out of heart; but at the last rose Diomed, and spake: "Be not wroth, O King, if I contend with this thy madness. Thou hast called me laggard and coward; whether I be so indeed the Greeks know well, both young and old. But to thee Zeus hath given lordship and the power of the sceptre above thy fellows; but courage he hath not given, and courage is best of all. Now if thine heart be bent upon return, go thou; the way is nigh, and thy ships are by the sea; but all the other Greeks will abide till they have taken Troy. Yea, and if these also will go, then we two, I and Sthenelus, will abide and fight till we make an end of the city, for it was the gods that sent us hither."

Then Nestor spake: "Thou art brave in war, son of Tydeus, and excellent in council above thy fellows. But now let us take our meal; and let sentinels watch along the trench. And do thou, son of Atreus, make a feast for thy chiefs, as is meet. And him who counsels thee most wisely thou must follow. Sorely do we need wise counsel, seeing that the enemy have so many fires near our ships. Verily this night will save our army or destroy."

So King Agamemnon called the chiefs to a feast; and when the feast was ended Nestor rose up and spake: "Evil was the day, O King, when thou didst send and take the damsel Briseis from the tent of Achilles. Let us therefore take thought how we may best appease him with noble gifts and pleasant words."

Then said King Agamemnon: "These are true words that thou hast spoken, old man. Truly I did as a fool that day, and I deny it not. For he that is loved of Zeus is of more worth than whole armies of men; and verily Zeus loveth this man, seeing that he putteth the Greeks to flight that he may do him honour. But even as I wronged him in my folly, so will I make amends, and give a recompense beyond all telling. And now I will declare before you all the gifts that I will give: a huge treasure of gold and bronze, and twelve stout horses, that have won prizes in the race by fleetness of foot. And seven women will I give him, skilled in excellent handiwork, fairer than all women. These will I give him, and with them the damsel Briseis, even as I took her from him. And if the gods shall grant us to destroy the great city of Priam, then let him come when we divide the spoil, and choose for himself twenty women of Troy, the fairest there be after Helen. And if he come again to the land of Greece, then shall he be my son, and he shall choose in marriage which one of my daughters he will. Yea, and I will give with her seven fair cities, with pasture-lands and vineyards, wherein dwell men that have many flocks and herds, who will honour him with gifts even as men honour a god, and will fulfil his commands. All this will I give him, if so be that he will cease from his anger."

To him Nestor made answer: "No man may think lightly of the gifts that thou givest to great Achilles. Come, therefore, let us choose men, that they may go with all speed to his tent. Let Phœnix, who is beloved of Zeus, lead the way; and let Ajax the Greater and Ulysses go with him, and two heralds also."

Phœ'-nix.

So the heralds went by the shore of the sea; and, as they went, they made prayer to the god that shakes the earth that they might turn the heart of Achilles. And when they came to the ships of the Myrmidons, they found the King taking his pleasure with a harp. There he sat, delighting his soul with music, and sang the deeds of heroes of old time. And Patroclus sat opposite him in silence, waiting till he should cease from his singing. Then the two chiefs came forward, Ulysses leading the way, and stood before the face of Achilles; and Achilles leapt up in much amaze, holding the harp in his hand. And Patroclus rose also from his seat when he saw the twain. Then said Achilles, fleet of foot, "Welcome ye are, and right dear to me, for all my anger."

So spake Achilles, and led them forward; and he bade them sit on seats that were covered with coverlets of purple. Then said he to Patroclus, "Bring forth the biggest bowl, and mix for each man a cup, for I have not dearer friends than these that are come beneath my roof this day.

And the chiefs stretched forth their hands to the meat that lay ready before them. And when they had done with the desire for food and drink, Ajax nodded to Phœnix that he should speak; but Ulysses perceived it, and was beforehand with him, and filled a cup with wine, and pledged Achilles, and spake: "Hail, Achilles! No lack have we had of feasting before in the tent of King Agamemnon and now in thine; but it is not of feasting that we think this day; for we behold sore destruction close at hand, and are afraid. Verily, we are in doubt whether or no we may save our ships, unless thou wilt gird on thy might again. For indeed this day the men of Troy and their allies come near to the ships to burn them with fire. And Zeus shows them favourable signs. As for Hector, he rages furiously, trusting in Zeus, and vows that he will burn the ships with fire, and make havoc of the Greeks while they are dazed with the smoke of the burning. Sorely do I fear in my heart lest the god fulfil his threats, and doom us to perish here in Troy, far from the plains of Argos. Up, therefore, if thou art minded even now to save the Greeks! Delay not, lest thou repent hereafter, for there is no remedy for that which is done. Cease from thy anger. Verily, Agamemnon offereth thee worldly gifts, a huge treasure of gold and bronze, and twelve stout horses that have won much wealth for Agamemnon by fleetness of foot, and seven women, skilful in handiwork, and fairer than all their kind; and Briseis herself he will restore to thee, even as he took her from thee. All these things will he give; and if we take the great city of Priam, twenty daughters of Troy, fairest of women, after Helen. And when we shall go back to Greece, thou shalt have his daughter to wife, her whom thou shalt choose, and with her seven cities, lying all of them near to the sea, a land of vineyards and cornfields, whose folk shall pay thee tribute and honour. But if thou yet hate from thy heart Agamemnon and his gifts, then I pray thee have pity upon the Greeks, who will honour thee even as men honour a god. Hector, too, thou mayest slay, for he will come near thee in his madness, for he deems that there is not a man of all the Greeks that can stand against him."

To him Achilles, fleet of foot, made answer: "Son of Laertes, plain shall be my speech; for I would not have you sit before me, seeking to coax me, one man this way and another another. Why must the Greeks make war against the sons of Troy? Why did the sons of Atreus gather this host together, and lead them to this land? Was it not for fair-haired Helen's sake? Tell me, then, do the sons of Atreus alone of all men love their wives? Nay, but whosoever is good and sound of heart loveth his wife and cherisheth her, even as I loved mine, though I won her by my spear. He took her from me, and deceived me; let him not make trial of me again, for I know him well, and he shall not prevail with me. Let him take counsel now with thee, Ulysses, and with the other princes of the host, how he may keep from the ships the devouring fire. Many things hath he done without my help, building a wall and digging a ditch about it, both wide and deep, and setting stakes in the ditch; yet for all this can he not keep Hector from the ships. And yet, when I fought in the host of the Greeks, this Hector dared not set his army in array far from the walls, but scarce came to the Scæan gates and the fig tree. Once did he await me there to do battle, man against man, and scarce escaped my spear. But now, seeing that I have no mind to fight with him, I will do sacrifice to-morrow to Zeus and all the gods, and I will store my ships and launch them on the sea. Yea, to-morrow, right early in the morning, thou shalt see them, if thou wilt, sailing along the Hellespont, and my men toiling eagerly at the oar; and if the god that shaketh the earth grants me a fair journey, on the third morning shall I come to the fair land of Phthia. There is all the wealth that I left behind me when I came to Troy; and hence I shall carry with me yet more of gold and bronze and iron, and fair women slaves, my portion of the spoil. King Agamemnon shall not deceive me again with lying speech. And as for his gifts, I scorn them; though he give me tenfold, yea, twentyfold, all that he now hath promised. Yea, verily, though he give me gifts as the sand of the sea for multitude, he shall not persuade me, till he shall have endured bitterness of soul like mine. And his daughter I will not wed--no, not though she be as fair as golden Aphrodite, and match Athene of the flashing eyes in skill of handiwork. Let him choose him from among the Greeks some kinglier son-in-law than I, and for me, if the gods bring me safe to my home, Peleus shall choose a wife. For all the wealth that was stored in the city of Troy, in the days of peace, before the Greeks came thither, and all the treasure that is laid up in the temple of Apollo the Archer that is in the city of Delphi--all this I count as nothing in comparison with life. For a man may take cattle and sheep for spoil, and he may buy treasure and horses; but the life of a man, when it hath once passed from out his lips, he may not win back by spoiling or by buying. And to me my mother, even Thetis, the goddess of the silver foot, hath unfolded my doom. A double doom it is. If I abide in this land and fight against the city of Troy, then shall I return no more to my native country, but my name shall live for ever; but if I go back to my home, then my fame shall be taken from me, but I shall live long and see not the grave. Therefore I go, and verily I counsel you all to go, for Troy ye never shall take as ye desire, seeing that Zeus, who seeth all things before, holdeth over it his hand, and her sons are a valiant folk. And now go your way; carry back this answer to the princes of the Greeks. But let the old man Phœnix abide with me in my tent to-night, that he may sail in my ship on the morrow. Verily he shall sail, if he will; but I will not take him by force."

Phthi'-a. Pe'-leus.

Thus spake Achilles. And the chiefs sat still and held their peace, marvelling at his speech, so vehement was he. But at the last the old man Phœnix made answer. With many tears he spake, for he was sore afraid lest the ships of the Greeks should perish: "If indeed thou art minded to depart, and carest not to save the ships from devouring fire, how can I endure to be left alone by thee? For the old man Peleus made me thy teacher, both of words and of deeds. With no man but me wouldst thou go unto the feast, or take thy meat in the hall; but I set thee upon my knees, and cut the savoury morsel for thee from the dish, and put the wine-cup to thy lips. Many a tunic hast thou stained for me, sputtering forth the wine upon it. Much have I suffered, and much toiled for thee; for child of mine own I had not, and thou wast to me as a son, Achilles, to cherish me in my need."

Then Achilles nodded to Patroclus, that he should spread a couch for the old man Phœnix, that so the other twain might depart without delay. Then said Ajax, the son of Telamon: "Let us depart, Ulysses. I trow that we shall accomplish naught this day. Let us, therefore, take back the tidings, evil though they be, to them that wait for us."

Then said Achilles: "My heart swells with wrath, when I remember how the son of Atreus shamed me before all the people, as though I was some stranger nothing worth. Go and take my message. I will not arise to the battle till Hector shall come as he slays the Greeks even to the tents of the Myrmidons, and shall encircle their ships with fire. But when he shall come to my tent and to my ships, then I ween shall he be stayed, for all that he is eager for battle."

Then Ajax and Ulysses departed, and told the message of Achilles to King Agamemnon.