[11,80] οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐδύνατο πάντα τἀληθῆ ἀποκρύψασθαι· ἐν οἷς φησι τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα ἐκκλησίαν συναγαγεῖν τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ὡς ἀπάξοντα τὸ στράτευμα, δῆλον ὅτι τοῦ πλήθους χαλεπῶς φέροντος καὶ ἀπιέναι βουλομένου, καὶ τὸν ὄχλον ὁρμῆσαι πρὸς τὰς ναῦς· τὸν δὲ Νέστορα καὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα κατασχεῖν μόλις μαντείαν τινὰ προβαλλομένους καὶ ὀλίγον εἶναι χρόνον φάσκοντας, ὃν ἐδέοντο αὐτῶν ὑπομεῖναι. (81) τὸν δὲ μάντιν τούτων Ἀγαμέμνων ἐν τοῖς ἄνω ἔπεσί φησι μηδὲν πώποτε ἀληθὲς μαντεύεσθαι. μέχρι μὲν οὖν τούτων ἐφεξῆς οὐ πάνυ φαίνεται τῶν ἀνθρώπων καταφρονῶν Ὅμηρος, ἀλλὰ τρόπον τινὰ ἔχεσθαι τἀληθοῦς, εἰ μή γε τὰ περὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν {οὐκ αὐτὸς ὡς γενόμενα διηγούμενος, ἀλλ´ Ἕκτορα ποιήσας ὀνειδίζοντα Ἀλεξάνδρῳ καὶ Ἑλένην ὀδυρομένην πρὸς Πρίαμον, καὶ αὐτὸν Ἀλέξανδρον μεμνημένον ἐν τῇ συνουσίᾳ τῇ πρὸς τὴν Ἑλένην, ὃ πάντων σαφέστατα ἔδει ῥηθῆναι καὶ μετὰ πλείστης σπουδῆς· ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν μονομαχίαν.} (82) {οὐ γὰρ δυνάμενος εἰπεῖν ὡς ἀπέκτεινε τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ὁ Μενέλαος, κενὰς αὐτῷ χαρίζεται χάριτας καὶ νίκην γελοίαν, ὡς τοῦ ξίφους καταχθέντος. οὐ γὰρ ἦν τῷ τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου χρήσασθαι, τοσοῦτόν γε κρείττονα ὄντα, ὡς ἕλκειν αὐτὸν εἰς τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς ζῶντα μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων, (83) ἀλλ´ ἀπάγχειν ἔδει τῷ ἱμάντι; ψευδὴς δὲ καὶ ἡ τοῦ Αἴαντος καὶ τοῦ Ἕκτορος μονομαχία καὶ πάνυ εὐήθης ἡ διάλυσις, πάλιν ἐκεῖ τοῦ Αἴαντος νικῶντος, πέρας δὲ οὐδέν, καὶ δῶρα δόντων ἀλλήλοις ὥσπερ φίλων.} μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἤδη τἀληθῆ λέγει, τὴν τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἧτταν καὶ τροπὴν καὶ τὰς τοῦ Ἕκτορος ἀριστείας καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀπολλυμένων, ὥσπερ ὑπέσχετο ἐρεῖν, (84) τρόπον τινὰ ἄκων καὶ ἀναφέρων εἰς τιμὴν τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως. {καίτοι θεοφιλῆ γ´ εἶναι τὴν πόλιν φησὶ καὶ Δία ἄντικρυς πεποίηκε λέγοντα πασῶν τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον πόλεων τὸ Ἴλιον μάλιστα ἀγαπῆσαι καὶ τὸν Πρίαμον καὶ τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ. ἔπειτα ὀστράκου μεταπεσόντος, φασί, τοσοῦτον μετέβαλεν ὥστε οἴκτιστα ἀνελεῖν τὴν ἁπασῶν προσφιλεστάτην δι´ ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς ἁμαρτίαν, εἴπερ ἥμαρτεν.} ὅμως δὲ οὐχ οἷός τέ ἐστιν ἀποκρύψαι τὰ τοῦ Ἕκτορος ἔργα νικῶντος καὶ διώκοντος μέχρι τῶν νεῶν, ὁτὲ μὲν Ἄρει παραβάλλων αὐτόν, ὁτὲ δὲ φλογὶ λέγων τὴν ἀλκὴν ὅμοιον εἶναι, καὶ πάντων αὐτὸν ἐκπεπληγμένων τῶν ἀρίστων, μηδενὸς δὲ ἁπλῶς ὑπομένοντος αὐτόν, τοῦ τε Ἀπόλλωνος αὐτῷ παρισταμένου καὶ τοῦ Διὸς ἄνωθεν ἐπισημαίνοντος ἀνέμῳ καὶ βροντῇ

[11,80] since he could not hide all the facts. For example, he tells how Agamemnon called an assembly of the Greeks as though intending to withdraw his army, undoubtedly because the troops were dissatisfied and wished to go home ; how, too, the mob rushed to the ships, and Nestor and Odysseus barely managed to restrain them by invoking an old prophecy and declaring that their patience was required but a little while longer. Yet in an earlier passage Agamemnon affirms that the seer who made this prophecy was never a true prophet. "So far in the order of events Homer evidently does not treat his readers so cavalierly, but adheres to the truth fairly well except in regard to the abduction ; this he does not relate in his own person as having taken place, but depicts Hector as upbraiding Paris, Helen as lamenting to Priam, and Paris himself as alluding to it in his interview with Helen, although this fact should have been presented with especial clearness and the greatest care. A further exception is the account of the single combat. For since Homer cannot say that Menelaus slew Paris, he favours him with an empty honour and with a victory that is ridiculous by saying that his sword broke. Pray was it impossible for him to use Paris' sword—when he was at any rate strong enough to drag him alive to the Achaeans, armour and all— but did he have to choke him with the strap of his heimet? The single combat between Ajax and Hector is also a pure fabrication, and its ending is very absurd. Here again Ajax conquers, but there is no finality, and the two make gifts to one another as if they were friends ! "But immediately after this Homer gives the true account, telling of the defeat and rout of the Achaeans, Hector's mighty deeds, and the numbers of the slain, as he had promised to do, and yet with a certain reluctance and a desire to enhance Achilles' glory. Still he calls the city `beloved of the gods,' and has Zeus say frankly that of all the cities beneath the sun he had loved Ilium best, and Priam and his people. Yet afterwards when the shell fell other side up, as the expression is, he made such a complete volte-face as to destroy that most beloved of cities most miserably on account of one man's crime, if crime there was. However, Homer cannot ignore the story of Hector's exploits when he routed and pursued the enemy even to the ships, and all the bravest were terror-stricken at the sight of him. Now he compares him to Ares, and again he says that his strength is like that of fire and not a single one dares to confront him, while Apollo stands at his side and Zeus front above signals his approval with wind and thunder.