All 50 Uses of
Agamemnon
in
The Iliad by Homer - (translated by: Edward)
- THE CONTENTION OF ACHILLES AND AGAMEMNON.†
Chpt 1.1 *
- In the war of Troy, the Greeks having sacked some of the neighbouring towns, and taken from thence two beautiful captives, Chryseis and Briseis, allotted the first to Agamemnon, and the last to Achilles.†
Chpt 1.1
- The priest being refused, and insolently dismissed by Agamemnon, entreats for vengeance from his god, who inflicts a pestilence on the Greeks.†
Chpt 1.1
- BOOK I.
Of Peleus' son, Achilles, sing, O Muse,
The vengeance, deep and deadly; whence to Greece
Unnumbered ills arose; which many a soul
Of mighty warriors to the viewless shades
Untimely sent; they on the battle plain
Unburied lay, a prey to rav'ning dogs,
And carrion birds; but so had Jove decreed,
From that sad day when first in wordy war,
The mighty Agamemnon, King of men,
Confronted stood by Peleus' godlike son.†Chpt 1.1
- Him answer'd thus Achilles, swift of foot:
"Speak boldly out whate'er thine art can tell;
For by Apollo's self I swear, whom thou,
O Calchas, serv'st, and who thy words inspires,
That, while I live, and see the light of Heav'n,
Not one of all the Greeks shall dare on thee,
Beside our ships, injurious hands to lay:
No, not if Agamemnon's self were he,
Who 'mid our warriors boasts the foremost place."†Chpt 1.1
- Embolden'd thus, th' unerring prophet spoke:
"Not for neglected hecatombs or pray'rs,
But for his priest, whom Agamemnon scorn'd,
Nor took his ransom, nor his child restor'd;
On his account the Far-destroyer sends
This scourge of pestilence, and yet will send;
Nor shall we cease his heavy hand to feel,
Till to her sire we give the bright-ey'd girl,
Unbought, unransom'd, and to Chrysa's shore
A solemn hecatomb despatch; this done,
The God, appeas'd, his anger may remit."†Chpt 1.1
- This said, he sat; and Atreus' godlike son,
The mighty monarch, Agamemnon, rose,
His dark soul fill'd with fury, and his eyes
Flashing like flames of fire; on Calchas first
A with'ring glance he cast, and thus he spoke;
"Prophet of ill!†Chpt 1.1
- To whom the monarch Agamemnon thus:
"Think not, Achilles, valiant though thou art
In fight, and godlike, to defraud me thus;
Thou shalt not so persuade me, nor o'erreach.†Chpt 1.1
- Whom answer'd Agamemnon, King of men:
"Fly then, if such thy mind!†Chpt 1.1
- To whom the monarch, Agamemnon, thus:
"O father, full of wisdom are thy words;
But this proud chief o'er all would domineer;
O'er all he seeks to rule, o'er all to reign,
To all to dictate; which I will not bear.†Chpt 1.1
- since thy son
To early death by destiny is doom'd,
I might have hop'd the Thunderer on high,
Olympian Jove, with honour would have crown'd
My little space; but now disgrace is mine;
Since Agamemnon, the wide-ruling King,
Hath wrested from me, and still holds, my prize.†Chpt 1.1
- He, mightier than his father, took his seat
By Saturn's side, in pride of conscious strength:
Fear seiz'd on all the Gods, nor did they dare
To bind their King: of this remind him now,
And clasp his knees, and supplicate his aid
For Troy's brave warriors, that the routed Greeks
Back to their ships with slaughter may be driv'n;
That all may taste the folly of their King,
And Agamemnon's haughty self may mourn
The slight on Grecia's bravest warrior cast.†Chpt 1.1
- Her to the altar straight Ulysses led,
The wise in counsel; in her father's hand
He plac'd the maiden, and address'd him thus:
"Chryses, from Agamemnon, King of men,
To thee I come, thy daughter to restore;
And to thy God, upon the Greeks' behalf,
To offer sacrifice, if haply so
We may appease his wrath, who now incens'd
With grievous suff'ring visits all our host."†Chpt 1.1
- Avenge my hapless son,
Of mortals shortest-liv'd, insulted now
By mighty Agamemnon, King of men,
And plunder'd of his lawful spoils of war.†Chpt 1.1
- Jupiter, in pursuance of the request of Thetis, sends a deceitful vision to Agamemnon, persuading him to lead the army to battle in order to make the Greeks sensible of their want of Achilles.†
Chpt 1.1
- Thus as he mus'd, the wisest course appear'd
By a deluding vision to mislead
The son of Atreus; and with winged words
Thus to a phantom form he gave command:
"Hie thee, deluding Vision, to the camp
And ships of Greece, to Agamemnon's tent;
There, changing nought, as I command thee, speak.†Chpt 1.2
- He said: the Vision heard, and straight obey'd:
Swiftly he sped, and reached the Grecian ships,
And sought the son of Atreus; him he found
Within his tent, wrapped in ambrosial sleep;
Above his head he stood, like Neleus' son,
Nestor, whom Agamemnon rev'renc'd most
Of all the Elders; in his likeness cloth'd
Thus spoke the heav'nly Vision; "Sleep'st thou, son
Of Atreus, valiant warrior, horseman bold?†Chpt 1.2
- But first, of all the Elders, by the side
Of Nestor's ship, the aged Pylian chief,
A secret conclave Agamemnon call'd;
And, prudent, thus the chosen few address'd:
"Hear me, my friends!†Chpt 1.2
- At length they all were seated, and awhile
Their clamours sank to silence; then uprose
The monarch Agamemnon, in his hand
His royal staff, the work of Vulcan's art;
Which Vulcan to the son of Saturn gave;
To Hermes he, the heav'nly messenger;
Hermes to Pelops, matchless charioteer;
Pelops to Atreus; Atreus at his death
Bequeath'd it to Thyestes, wealthy Lord
Of num'rous herds; to Agamemnon last
Thyestes left it; token of his sway
O'er all the Argive coast, and neighbouring isles.†Chpt 1.2
- At length they all were seated, and awhile
Their clamours sank to silence; then uprose
The monarch Agamemnon, in his hand
His royal staff, the work of Vulcan's art;
Which Vulcan to the son of Saturn gave;
To Hermes he, the heav'nly messenger;
Hermes to Pelops, matchless charioteer;
Pelops to Atreus; Atreus at his death
Bequeath'd it to Thyestes, wealthy Lord
Of num'rous herds; to Agamemnon last
Thyestes left it; token of his sway
O'er all the Argive coast, and neighbouring isles.†Chpt 1.2
- Against Achilles and Ulysses most
His hate was turn'd; on them his venom pour'd;
Anon, at Agamemnon's self he launch'd
His loud-tongued ribaldry; 'gainst him he knew
Incensed the public mind; and bawling loud, [1]
With scurril words, he thus address'd the King:
"What more, thou son of Atreus, would'st thou have?†Chpt 1.2
- On Agamemnon, leader of the host,
With words like these Thersites pour'd his hate;
But straight Ulysses at his side appear'd,
And spoke, with scornful glance, in stern rebuke:
"Thou babbling fool, Thersites, prompt of speech,
Restrain thy tongue, nor singly thus presume
The Kings to slander; thou, the meanest far
Of all that with the Atridae came to Troy.†Chpt 1.2
- Be well advis'd thyself, and others lead
By wholesome counsel; for the words I speak
Are not to be despis'd; by tribes and clans,
O Agamemnon!†Chpt 1.2
- To whom the monarch Agamemnon thus:
"Father, in council, of the sons of Greece,
None can compare with thee; and would to Jove
To Pallas, and Apollo, at my side
I had but ten such counsellors as thee!†Chpt 1.2
- Around the ox they stood, and on his head
The salt cake sprinkled; then amid them all
The monarch Agamemnon pray'd aloud:
"Most great, most glorious Jove!†Chpt 1.2
- The rage of thirst and hunger satisfied,
Gerenian Nestor thus his speech began:
"Most mighty Agamemnon, King of men,
Great Atreus' son, no longer let us pause,
The work delaying which the pow'rs of Heav'n
Have trusted to our hands; do thou forthwith
Bid that the heralds proclamation make,
And summon through the camp the brass-clad Greeks;
While, in a body, through the wide-spread ranks
We pass, and stimulate their warlike zeal."†Chpt 1.2
- He said; and Agamemnon, King of men,
Obedient to his counsel, gave command
That to the war the clear-voic'd heralds call
The long-hair'd Greeks: they gave the word, and straight
From ev'ry quarter throng'd the eager crowd.†Chpt 1.2
- And as experienced goat-herds, when their flocks
Are mingled in the pasture, portion out
Their sev'ral charges, so the chiefs array'd
Their squadrons for the fight; while in the midst
The mighty monarch Agamemnon mov'd:
His eye, and lofty brow, the counterpart
Of Jove, the Lord of thunder; in his girth
Another Mars, with Neptune's ample chest.†Chpt 1.2
- Who in Mycenae's well-built fortress dwelt,
And wealthy Corinth, and Cleone fair,
Orneia, and divine Araethure,
And Sicyon, where Adrastus reign'd of old,
And Gonoessa's promontory steep,
And Hyperesia, and Pellene's rock;
In AEgium, and the scatter'd towns that he
Along the beach, and wide-spread Helice;
Of these a hundred ships obey'd the rule
Of mighty Agamemnon, Atreus' son.†Chpt 1.2
- The ships, wherewith they crossed the dark-blue sea,
Were giv'n by Agamemnon, King of men,
The son of Atreus; for th' Arcadian youth
Had ne'er to maritime pursuits been train'd.†Chpt 1.2
- For with Achilles, and the steeds that bore
The matchless son of Peleus, none might vie:
But 'mid his beaked ocean-going ships
He lay, with Agamemnon, Atreus' son,
Indignant; while his troops upon the beach
With quoits and jav'lins whil'd away the day,
And feats of archery; their steeds the while
The lotus-grass and marsh-grown parsley cropp'd,
Each standing near their car; the well-wrought cars
Lay all unheeded in the warriors' tents;
They, inly pining for their godlike chief,
Roam'd listless up and down, nor join'd the fray.†Chpt 1.2
- Agamemnon, on the part of the Grecians, demands the restoration of Helen, and the performance of the articles.†
Chpt 1.2
- At him the long-haired Grecians bent their bows,
Prompt to assail with arrows and with stones;
But loud the monarch Agamemnon's voice
Was heard; "Hold, Argives, hold!†Chpt 1.3
- Two heralds to the city Hector sent
To bring the lambs, and aged Priam call;
While Agamemnon to the hollow ships,
Their lamb to bring, in haste Talthybius sent:
He heard, and straight the monarch's voice obey'd.†Chpt 1.3
- But to thy question; I will tell thee true;
Yon chief is Agamemnon, Atreus' son,
Wide-reigning, mighty monarch, ruler good,
And valiant warrior; in my husband's name,
Lost as I am, I call'd him brother once.†Chpt 1.3
- Uprose then Agamemnon, King of men,
Uprose the sage Ulysses; to the front
The heralds brought the off'rings to the Gods,
And in the flagon mix'd the wine, and pour'd
The hallowing water on the monarchs' hands.†Chpt 1.3
- He said, and led her to the nuptial couch;
Her Lord she follow'd; and while there reclin'd
Upon the richly-inlaid couch they lay,
Atrides, like a lion baffled, rush'd
Amid the crowd, if haply he might find
The godlike Paris; but not one of all
The Trojans and their brave allies could aid
The warlike Menelaus in his search;
Not that, for love, would any one that knew
Have screen'd him from his anger, for they all
Abhorr'd him as the shade of death: then thus
Outspoke great Agamemnon, King of men:
"Hear me, ye Trojans, Dardans, and Allies!†Chpt 1.3
- Agamemnon is distinguished in all the parts
of a good general; he reviews the troops, and exhorts the leaders, some
by praises, and others by reproofs.†Chpt 1.3
- Great Agamemnon shudder'd as he saw
The crimson drops out-welling from the wound;
Shudder'd the warlike Menelaus' self;
But when not buried in his flesh he saw
The barb and sinew, back his spirit came.†Chpt 1.4
- Then deeply groaning, Agamemnon spoke,
As Menelaus by the hand he held,
And with him groan'd his comrades: "Brother dear,
I wrought thy death when late, on compact sworn,
I sent thee forth alone for Greece to fight;
Wounded by Trojans, who their plighted faith
Have trodden under foot; but not in vain
Are solemn cov'nants and the blood of lambs,
The treaty wine outpoured, and hand-plight given,
Wherein men place their trust; if not at once,
Yet soon or late will Jove assert their claim;
And heavy penalties the perjured pay
With their own blood, their children's, and their wives'.†Chpt 1.4
- Thy work undone; and with insulting scorn
Some vaunting Trojan, leaping on the tomb
Of noble Menelaus, thus shall say:
'On all his foes may Agamemnon so
His wrath accomplish, who hath hither led
Of Greeks a mighty army, all in vain;
And bootless home with empty ships hath gone,
And valiant Menelaus left behind;'
Thus when men speak, gape, earth, and hide my shame.†Chpt 1.4
- To whom the monarch Agamemnon thus:
"Dear Menelaus, may thy words be true!†Chpt 1.4
- In Agamemnon then no trace was seen
Of laggard sloth, no shrinking from the fight,
But full of ardour to the field he rush'd.†Chpt 1.4
- As thus the King the serried ranks review'd,
He came where thronging round their skilful chief
Idomeneus, the warlike bands of Crete
Were arming for the fight; Idomeneus,
Of courage stubborn as the forest boar,
The foremost ranks array'd; Meriones
The rearmost squadrons had in charge; with joy
The monarch Agamemnon saw, and thus
With accents bland Idomeneus address'd:
"Idomeneus, above all other Greeks,
In battle and elsewhere, I honour thee;
And in the banquet, where the noblest mix
The ruddy wine for chiefs alone reserved,
Though others drink their share, yet by thy side
Thy cup, like mine, still new replenished stands
To drink at pleasure.†Chpt 1.4
- He said, and Agamemnon went his way
Rejoicing; through the crowd he pass'd, and came
Where stood th' Ajaces; them, in act to arm,
Amid a cloud of infantry he found;
And as a goat-herd from his watch-tow'r crag
Beholds a cloud advancing o'er the sea,
By Zephyr's breath impell'd; as from afar
He gazes, black as pitch, it sweeps along
O'er the dark ocean's face, and with it brings
A hurricane of rain; he, shudd'ring, sees,
And drives his flock beneath the shelt'ring cave:
So thick and dark, about th' Ajaces stirr'd,
Impatient for the war, the stalwart youths,
Black masses, bristling close with spear and shield.†Chpt 1.4
- Well pleas'd, the monarch Agamemnon saw,
And thus address'd them: "Valiant chiefs, to you,
The leaders of the brass-clad Greeks, I give
('Twere needless and unseemly) no commands;
For well ye understand your troops to rouse
To deeds of dauntless courage; would to Jove,
To Pallas and Apollo, that such mind
As is in you, in all the camp were found;
Then soon should Priam's lofty city fall,
Tak'n and destroy'd by our victorious hands."†Chpt 1.4
- Thus he, experienc'd in the wars of old;
Well pleas'd, the monarch Agamemnon saw,
And thus address'd him; "Would to Heav'n, old man,
That, as thy spirit, such too were thy strength
And vigour of thy limbs; but now old age,
The common lot of mortals, weighs thee down;
Would I could see some others in thy place,
And thou couldst still be numbered with the young!"†Chpt 1.4
- He said; and Agamemnon went his way,
Rejoicing: to Menestheus next he came,
The son of Peteus, charioteer renown'd;
Him found he, circled by th' Athenian bands,
The raisers of the war-cry; close beside
The sage Ulysses stood, around him rang'd,
Not unrenown'd, the Cephalonian troops:
The sound of battle had not reach'd their ears;
For but of late the Greek and Trojan hosts
Were set in motion; they expecting stood,
Till other Grecian columns should advance,
Assail the Trojans, and renew the war.†Chpt 1.4
- To whom thus Diomed, with stern regard:
"Father, be silent; hearken to my words:
I blame not Agamemnon, King of men,
Who thus to battle stirs the well-greav'd Greeks:
His will the glory be if we o'ercome
The valiant Trojans, and their city take;
Great too his loss if they o'er us prevail:
Then come, let us too for the fight prepare."†Chpt 1.4
- The Greeks drove back the Trojan host; the chiefs
Slew each his victim; Agamemnon first,
The mighty monarch, from his chariot hurl'd
Hodius, the sturdy Halizonian chief,
Him, as he turn'd, between the shoulder-blades
The jav'lin struck, and through his chest was driv'n;
Thund'ring he fell, and loud his armour rang.†Chpt 1.5
Definition:
Greek mythology: the king who lead the Greeks against Troy in the Trojan War