"And I said, ‘Achilles, son
of Peleus, foremost champion of the Achaeans, I came to consult
Teiresias, and see if he could advise me about my return home to
Ithaca, for I have never yet been able to get near the Achaean land,
nor to set foot in my own country, but have been in trouble all the
time. As for you, Achilles, no one was ever yet so fortunate as you
have been, nor ever will be, for you were adored by all us Argives as
long as you were alive, and now that you are here you are a great
prince among the dead. Do not, therefore, take it so much to heart
even if you are dead.’
"‘Say not a word,’ he
answered, ‘in death's favor; I would rather be a paid
servant in a poor man's house and be above ground than king of
kings among the dead. But give me news about son; is he gone to the
wars and will he be a great warrior, or is this not so? Tell me also
if you have heard anything about my father Peleus - does he still
rule among the Myrmidons, or do they show him no respect throughout
Hellas and Phthia now that he is old and his limbs fail him? Could I
but stand by his side, in the light of day, with the same strength
that I had when I killed the bravest of our foes upon the plain of
Troy - could I but be as I then was and go even for a short time to
my father's house, any one who tried to do him violence or
supersede him would soon feel my strength and invincible
hands.’
"‘I have heard
nothing,’ I answered, ‘of Peleus, but I can tell you the
truth [alêtheia] about your son Neoptolemos, for
I took him in my own ship from Skyros with the Achaeans. In our
councils of war before Troy he was always first to speak, and his
judgment was unerring. Nestor and I were the only two who could
surpass him; and when it came to fighting on the plain of Troy, he
would never remain with the body of his men, but would dash on far in
front, foremost of them all in valor. Many a man did he kill in
battle - I cannot name every single one of those whom he slew while
fighting on the side of the Argives, but will only say how he killed
that valiant hero Eurypylos son of Telephus, who was the handsomest
man I ever saw except Memnon; many others also of the Ceteians fell
around him by reason of a woman's bribes. Moreover, when all the
bravest of the Argives went inside the horse that Epeios had made,
and it was left to me to settle when we should either open the door
of our ambuscade, or close it, though all the other leaders and chief
men among the Danaans were drying their eyes and quaking in every
limb, I never once saw him turn pale nor wipe a tear from his cheek;
he was all the time urging me to break out from the horse - grasping
the handle of his sword and his bronze-shod spear, and breathing fury
against the foe. Yet when we had sacked the city of Priam he got his
handsome share of the prize wealth and went on board (such is the
fortune of war) without a wound upon him, neither from a thrown spear
nor in close combat, for the rage of Ares is a matter of great
chance.’
"When I had told him this, the
ghost [psukhê] of Achilles strode off across a
meadow full of asphodel, exulting over what I had said concerning the
prowess of his son.
Homer. The Odyssey. Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Samuel Butler. Based on public domain edition, revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. A. C. Fifield, London. 1900 (?).
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