[11,110] οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑπέμεινεν οἶμαι
πάλαι τεθνηκότα τὸν Ἀχιλλέα ποιεῖν πάλιν ἀναιρούμενον, οὐδὲ
νικῶντας τοὺς ἡττηθέντας καὶ φεύγοντας, οὐδὲ τὴν κρατήσασαν
πόλιν, ταύτην πορθουμένην. οἱ δὲ ὕστερον ἅτε ἐξηπατημένοι καὶ
τοῦ ψεύδους ἰσχύοντος ἤδη θαρροῦντες ἔγραφον. τὰ δὲ πράγματα
οὕτως ἔσχεν.
(111) Ἀχιλλέως τελευτήσαντος ὑπὸ Ἕκτορος ἐν τῇ βοηθείᾳ τῶν νεῶν,
οἱ μὲν Τρῶες, ὥσπερ καὶ πρότερον, ἐπηυλίσθησαν ἐγγὺς τῶν νεῶν,
ὡς φυλάξοντες τοὺς Ἀχαιούς· ὑπώπτευον γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἀποδράσεσθαι
τῆς νυκτός· ὁ δὲ Ἕκτωρ ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν παρά τε τοὺς
γονέας καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα, χαίρων τοῖς πεπραγμένοις, ἐπὶ τοῦ στρατεύματος
καταλιπὼν Πάριν.
(112) ὁ δ´ αὐτός τε καὶ τῶν Τρώων τὸ πλῆθος ἐκάθευδεν,
ὡς εἰκὸς ἦν κεκοπωμένους καὶ μηδὲν προσδεχομένους κακόν,
ἔτι δὲ παντελοῦς εὐπραγίας οὔσης. ἐν τούτῳ δὴ
Ἀγαμέμνων μετὰ Νέστορος καὶ Ὀδυσσέως καὶ Διομήδους βουλευ–
σάμενος σιωπῇ καθείλκυσαν τῶν νεῶν τὰς πολλάς, ὁρῶντες ὅτι
καὶ τῇ προτεραίᾳ μικροῦ διεφθάρησαν, ὡς μηδὲ φυγὴν ἔτι εἶναι,
καὶ μέρος οὐκ ὀλίγον ἦν ἐμπεπρησμένον αὐτῶν, ἀλλ´ οὐ μία ναῦς
ἡ Πρωτεσιλάου· ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσαντες ἀπέπλευσαν εἰς τὴν Χερρόνησον, τῶν
αἰχμαλώτων πολλὰ καταλιπόντες καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οὐκ
ὀλίγα κτημάτων.
(113) ἅμα δὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ φανεροῦ γενομένου τοῦ πράγματος,
ὁ μὲν Ἕκτωρ ἠγανάκτει καὶ βαρέως ἔφερε καὶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον
ἐλοιδόρει· τοὺς γὰρ πολεμίους αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ἀφεῖναι·
τὰς δὲ σκηνὰς ἐνέπρησαν οἱ Τρῶες καὶ διήρπαζον τὰ καταλειφθέντα.
τοῖς δὲ Ἀχαιοῖς ἐν τῷ ἀσφαλεῖ βουλευομένοις· οὐ γὰρ εἶχον οἱ
περὶ τὸν Ἕκτορα ναυτικὸν ἕτοιμον, ὥστε διαβαίνειν ἐπ´ αὐτούς·
ἐδόκει μὲν ἀπιέναι πᾶσι, πολλοῦ πλήθους ἀπολωλότος καὶ τῶν
ἀρίστων ἀνδρῶν· κίνδυνος δὲ ἦν μὴ ναῦς ποιησάμενοι παραχρῆμα
ἐπιπλεύσωσιν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα.
(114) διὰ τοῦτο οὖν ἀναγκαῖον ἦν μένειν ὥσπερ κατ´ ἀρχὰς λῃστεύοντας,
εἴ πως τῷ Πάριδι κάμνοντι διαλλάξειαν αὑτοὺς
καὶ πρὸς φιλίαν πράξαντες ἀπελθεῖν. ὡς δὲ
ἔκριναν ταῦτα, καὶ ἐποίουν πέραν μένοντες. κἀνταῦθα τοῖς Τρωσὶν
ἐπῆλθον ἐκ μὲν Αἰθιοπίας Μέμνων, αἱ δὲ Ἀμαζόνες ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου
βοηθοὶ καὶ ἄλλο πλῆθος ἐπικούρων, ὡς εὐτυχοῦντας ἐπυνθάνοντο
τὸν Πρίαμον καὶ τὸν Ἕκτορα καὶ τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς ὅσον οὔπω διεφθαρμένους
πάντας, οἱ μέν τινες κατ´ εὔνοιαν, οἱ δὲ καὶ φόβῳ τῆς
δυνάμεως· οὐ γὰρ τοῖς ἡττημένοις οὐδὲ τοῖς κακῶς πράττουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς νικῶσι
καὶ τοῖς περιγενομένοις ἁπάντων
πάντες ἐθέλουσι βοηθεῖν.
| [11,110] Homer, methinks, did not have the heart to depict
Achilles, who had long been dead, as being slain
again, or the defeated and routed as victorious, or
this conquering city as being sacked. Then later
writers, because they were deceived and the falsehood
was now generally accepted, henceforth wrote
without misgiving. But the actual course of events
was as I have given it.
(111) " Now when Achilles, in his defence of the ships,
had been slain by Hector, the Trojans, just as they
had done before, bivouacked hard by the ships in
order to keep watch on the Achaeans, who they
suspected would flee during the night. But Hector,
rejoicing in his success, withdrew into the city to be
with his parents and wife, leaving Paris behind in
command of the forces. He with the host of the
Trojans lay down to rest, as was natural, since they
were exhausted and suspected no evil and, moreover,
had been completely successful. But meanwhile,
after Agamemnon had taken counsel with
Nestor, Odysseus, and Diomede, they quietly
launched the majority of the ships, realizing that
on the preceding day they had come near being
destroyed, so that even flight would not again be
possible ; and in flet a considerable part of the
fleet had fallen prey to the flames, not merely the
one ship of Protesilaus. Having launched their
ships, therefore, they sailed off to the Chersonese,
leaving behind many of their prisoners and a good
deal of their other property.
(113) " In the morning when the fact became evident,
Hector was filled with angry indignation and upbraided
Paris for letting the enemy escape out of
his hands. The Trojans then burned the huts and
plundered what had been left behind, while the
Achaeans, after taking counsel from their position
of safety—for Hector and his people had no fleet at
hand in which to cross over to attack them—unanimously
decided to withdraw, since they had lost
many of their people and their bravest warriors.
There was the danger, however, that the Trojans
might build themselves ships and sait at once against
Greece. They were therefore obliged to remain and
live by plundering as at first, in the hope of making
peace with Paris when he became wearied, and
departing after establishing friendly relations. They
did as they had decided and remained across the water.
" At this juncture Memnon came from Ethiopia
to aid the Trojans, and the Amazons from Pontus,
as well as other allies in great numbers when they
learned that Priam and Hector were successful and
that the Achaeans now were all but utterly destroyed.
Some came out of friendship, others fearing the
power of Troy, since it is not those who have rnet
with defeat or are in sore straits but those who
have conquered and overcome all their enemies that
everyone is eager to help.
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