User:Jon Awbrey/Truth In Literature

TIL. Truth In Literature

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IDS -- Truth In Literature

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TIL.  Truth In Literature

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TIL.  Note 1

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| Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face?
|
| No, Cassius, for the eye sees not itself
| But by reflection, by some other things.
|
|'Tis just;
| And it is very much lamented, Brutus,
| That you have no such mirrors as will turn
| Your hidden worthiness into your eye,
| That you might see your shadow.  ...
|
| Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius,
| That you would have me seek into myself
| For that which is not in me?
|
| Therefor, good Brutus, be prepared to hear.
| And since you know you cannot see yourself
| So well as by reflection, I, your glass,
| Will modestly discover to yourself
| That of yourself which you yet know not of.
|
| William Shakespeare, 'Julius Caesar', 1.2.53-72

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TIL.  Note 2

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|"The N.I.C.E. marks the beginning of a new era -- the 'really' scientific era.
| Up to now, everything has been haphazard.  This is going to put science itself
| on a scientific basis.  There are to be forty interlocking committees sitting
| every day and they've got a wonderful gadget -- I was shown the model last time
| I was in town -- by which the findings of each committee print themselves off
| in their own little compartment on the Analytical Notice-Board every half hour.
| Then, that report slides itself into the right position where it's connected up
| by little arrows with all the relevant parts of the other reports.  A glance at
| the Board shows you the policy of the whole Institute actually taking shape under
| your own eyes.  There'll be a staff of at least twenty experts at the top of the
| building working this Notice-Board in a room rather like the Tube control rooms.
| It's a marvellous gadget.  The different kinds of business all come out in the
| Board in different coloured lights.  It must have cost half a million.  They
| call it a Pragmatometer."
|
| C.S. Lewis, 'That Hideous Strength', 1943

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TIL.  Note 3

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| All this did not in the least influence his sociological convictions.
| Even if he had been free from Belbury and wholly unambitious, it
| could not have done so, for his education had had the curious
| effect of making things that he read and wrote more real to
| him than things he saw.  Statistics about agricultural
| labourers were the substance;  any real ditcher,
| ploughman, or farmer's boy, was the shadow.
| Though he had never noticed it himself,
| he had a great reluctance, in his work,
| ever to use such words as "man" or "woman".
| He preferred to write about "vocational groups",
| "elements", "classes", and "populations":  for, in
| his own way, he believed as firmly as any mystic in
| the superior reality of the things that are not seen.
|
| C.S. Lewis, 'That Hideous Strength', 1943

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TIL.  Note 4

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| She says she drinks no other drink but tears,
| Brewed with her sorrow, mashed upon her cheeks.
| Speechless complainer, I will learn thy thought;
| In thy dumb action will I be as perfect
| As begging hermits in their holy prayers.
| Thou shalt not sigh, nor hold thy stumps to heaven,
| Nor wink, nor nod, nor kneel, nor make a sign,
| But I of these will wrest an alphabet,
| And by still practice learn to know thy meaning.
|
| William Shakespeare, 'Titus Andronicus', 3.2.36-45

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TIL.  Note 5

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| Then something happened which completely altered his state of mind.
| The creature, which was still steaming and shaking itself on the back
| and had obviously not seen him, opened its mouth and began to make noises.
| This in itself was not remarkable;  but a lifetime of linguistic study
| assured Ransom almost at once that these were articulate noises.  The
| creature was 'talking'.  It had a language.  If you are not yourself
| a philologist, I am afraid you must take on trust the prodigious
| emotional consequences of this realization in Ransom's mind.
| A new world he had already seen -- but a new, an extra-terrestrial,
| a non-human language was a different matter.  Somehow he had not thought
| of this in connection with the 'sorns';  now, it flashed upon him like a
| revelation.  The love of knowledge is a kind of madness.  In the fraction
| of a second which it took Ransom to decide that the creature was really
| talking, and while he still knew that he might be facing instant death,
| his imagination had leaped over every fear and hope and probability of
| his situation to follow the dazzling project of making a Malacandrian
| grammar.  'An Introduction to the Malacandrian language' -- 'The Lunar
| verb' -- 'A Concise Martian-English Dictionary' ... the titles flitted
| through his mind.  And what might one not discover from the speech of
| a non-human race?  The very form of language itself, the principle
| behind all possible languages, might fall into his hands.
| Unconsciously he raised himself on his elbow and stared at
| the black beast.  It became silent.  The huge bullet head
| swung round and lustrous amber eyes fixed him.  There was no
| wind on the lake or in the wood.  Minute after minute in utter
| silence the representatives of two so far-divided species stared
| each into the other's face.
|
| C.S. Lewis, 'Out of the Silent Planet',
| Scribner Paperback, Simon & Schuster,
| New York, NY, 1996.  p. 55.

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TIL.  Note 6

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|"Now money, when it moves into a new tribe,
| very quickly creates an image of the food,
| craft, and work there:  it gathers around
| them, molds to them, stays away from the
| places where none are to be found, and
| clots near the positions where much
| wealth occurs.  Yet, like a mirror
| image, it is reversed just as surely
| as the writing on a piece of paper is
| reversed when you read its reflection on
| a boy's belly.  For both in time and space,
| where money is, food, work, and craft are not:
| where money is, food, work, and craft either
| will shortly be, or in the recent past were.
| But the actual place where the coin sits is
| a place where wealth may just have passed
| from or may soon pass into, but where it
| cannot be now -- by the whole purpose
| of money as an exchange object."
|
| Samuel R. Delany,
|"The Tale of Old Venn",
| in 'Tales of Nevèrÿon',
| Wesleyan University Press,
| Hanover, NH, 1993.  p. 93.

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TIL.  Note 7

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|"When money came among the Rulvyn, something very strange happened:
| Before money came, a woman with strength, skills, or goods could
| exchange them directly with another woman for whatever she needed.
| She who did the most work and did it the best was the most powerful
| woman.  Now, the same woman had to go to someone with money, frequently
| a man, exchange her goods for money, and then exchange the money for what
| she needed.  But if there was no money available, all her strength and skill
| and goods gave her no power at all -- and she might as well not have had them."
|
| Samuel R. Delany,
|"The Tale of Old Venn",
| in 'Tales of Nevèrÿon',
| Wesleyan University Press,
| Hanover, NH, 1993.  p. 93.

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TIL.  Note 8

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|"Among the Rulvyn before money, a strong woman married
| a prestigious hunter;  then another strong woman would
| join them in marriage -- frequently her friend -- and the
| family would grow.  Now that money has come, a prestigious
| hunter must first amass money -- for what woman would marry
| a man in such a system who did 'not' have money -- and then
| go looking for good, strong workers to marry ... for that is
| the only way 'he' can amass more money.  The woman are unhappy,
| for now the men 'make' them work, pit them against each other,
| blatantly and subtly chide them with the work of their cowives.
| In the Rulvyn before money, the prestige granted the hunter was
| a compensation for his 'lack' of social power.  Now that money
| has come, prestige has become a sign 'of' social power, as surely
| as the double stroke I make on the clay jar means that it contains
| forked ginger roots.  And are the men happy?  The Rulvyn men are
| strong, beautiful, proud, and their concerns were the concerns of
| hunters, the concerns of prestige.  But since they have taken over
| the handling of money -- with great diligence and responsibility,
| I might add, for they 'are' proud men -- now, even though the
| women still do all the work, the men are suddenly responsible
| for the livelihood of all their wives -- rather than several
| wives sharing the responsibility for the care and feeding of
| a single hunter.  The simple job of supplying their wives
| with a tri-weekly piece of prestigious food has become
| much more complex.  And another sad truth is simply
| that the temperament needed to be a good handler
| of money is frequently the very opposite of the
| temperament needed to be a good hunter.  When
| I went up into the hills last to talk to my
| Rulvyn friends, I found that since money has
| come, the young women are afraid of the men.
| The women 'want' good hunters;  but because
| they understand real power, they know that
| they must have good money masters."
|
| Samuel R. Delany,
|"The Tale of Old Venn",
| in 'Tales of Nevèrÿon',
| Wesleyan University Press,
| Hanover, NH, 1993.  pp. 93-94.

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TIL.  Note 9

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| Ladies of dread aspect, since your seat is the first in this land at which I
| have bent my knee, show yourselves not ungracious to Phoebus or to myself;
| who, when he proclaimed that doom of many woes, spoke to me of this rest
| after long years:  on reaching my goal in a land where I should find
| a seat of the Awful Goddesses and a shelter for foreigners, there
| I should close my weary life, with profit, through my having
| fixed my abode there, for those who received me, but ruin
| for those who sent me forth, who drove me away.  And he
| went on to warn me that signs of these things would
| come, in earthquake, or in thunder, or in the
| lightning of Zeus.  Now I perceive that in
| this journey some trusty omen from you has
| surely led me home to this grove;  never
| otherwise could I have met with you,
| first of all, in my wanderings --
| I, in my sobriety, with you
| who touch no wine, -- or
| taken this august seat
| not shaped by men.
| Then, goddesses,
| according to
| the word of
| Apollo,
| give me
| at last
| some way
| to accomplish
| and close my course --
| unless, perhaps, I seem too
| lowly, enslaved as I am evermore
| to woes the sorest on the earth.  Hear,
| sweet daughters of primeval Darkness!  Hear,
| you that are called the city of great Pallas, Athens,
| given most honor of all cities!  Pity this poor ghost of
| the man Oedipus!  For in truth it is the former living body
| no more.
|
| Sophocles, 'Oedipus @ Colonus', (ed. Sir Richard Jebb).
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Soph.+OC+75

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TIL.  Note 10

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| I will go when I have performed the errand for which I came, fearless of your frown:
| you can never destroy me.  I tell you:  the man whom you have been seeking this long
| while, uttering threats and proclaiming a search into the murder of Laius, is here,
| ostensibly an alien sojourner, but soon to be found a native of Thebes;  nor will
| he enjoy his fortune.  A blind man, though now he sees, a beggar, though now rich,
| he will make his way to a foreign land, feeling the ground before him with his staff.
| And he will be discovered to be at once brother and father of the children with whom
| he consorts;  son and husband of the woman who bore him;  heir to his father's bed,
| shedder of his father's blood.  So go in and evaluate this, and if you find that
| I am wrong, say then that I have no wit in prophecy.
|
| Sophocles, 'Oedipus Tyrannus', (ed. Sir Richard Jebb).
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Soph.+OT+447

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TIL.  Note 11

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| Then again the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, took other counsel.  On the daughter
| of Icarius she shed sweet sleep, and she leaned back and slept there on her couch,
| and all her joints were relaxed.  And meanwhile the fair goddess was giving her
| immortal gifts, that the Achaeans might marvel at her.  With balm she first made
| fair her beautiful face, with balm ambrosial, such as that wherewith Cytherea,
| of the fair crown, anoints herself when she goes into the lovely dance of the
| Graces;  and she made her taller, too, and statelier to behold, and made her
| whiter than new-sawn ivory.  Now when she had done this the fair goddess
| departed, and the white-armed handmaids came forth from the chamber and
| drew near with sound of talking.  Then sweet sleep released Penelope,
| and she rubbed her cheeks with her hands, and said:
|
|"Ah, in my utter wretchedness soft slumber enfolded me.
| Would that pure Artemis would even now give so soft
| a death, that I might no more waste my life away
| with sorrow at heart, longing for the manifold
| excellence of my dear husband, for that he
| was pre-eminent among the Achaeans."
|
| Homer, 'Odyssey'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Od.+18.169

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TIL.  Note 12

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| Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him, and said:  "I see, I give heed;
| this thou biddest one with understanding.  Come, let us go, and be thou
| my guide all the way.  But give me a staff to lean upon, if thou hast
| one cut anywhere, for verily ye said that the way was treacherous."
|
| He spoke, and flung about his shoulders his miserable wallet,
| full of holes, slung by a twisted cord, and Eumaeus gave him
| a staff to his liking.  So they two set forth, and the dogs
| and the herdsmen stayed behind to guard the farmstead;  but
| the swineherd led his master to the city in the likeness of
| a woeful and aged beggar, leaning on a staff;  and miserable
| was the raiment that he wore about his body.
|
| Homer, 'Odyssey'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Od.+17.166

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TIL.  Note 13

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| Suddenly then the baying hounds caught sight of Odysseus, and
| rushed upon him with loud barking, but Odysseus sat down in his
| cunning, and the staff fell from his hand.  Then even in his own
| farmstead would he have suffered cruel hurt, but the swineherd with
| swift steps followed after them, and hastened through the gateway, and
| the hide fell from his hand.  He called aloud to the dogs, and drove them
| this way and that with a shower of stones, and spoke to his master, and said:
|
|"Old man, verily the dogs were like to have torn thee to pieces all of a sudden,
| and on me thou wouldest have shed reproach.  Aye, and the gods have given me
| other griefs and sorrow.  It is for a godlike master that I mourn and grieve,
| as I abide here, and rear fat swine for other men to eat, while he haply in
| want of food wanders over the land and city of men of strange speech, if
| indeed he still lives and sees the light of the sun.  But come with me,
| let us go to the hut, old man, that when thou hast satisfied thy heart
| with food and wine, thou too mayest tell whence thou art, and all the
| woes thou hast endured."
|
| Homer, 'Odyssey'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Od.+14.1

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TIL.  Note 14

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| Then Odysseus of many wiles answered her:  "Why then, I pray thee,
| didst thou not tell him, thou whose mind knows all things?  Nay,
| was it haply that he too might suffer woes, wandering over the
| unresting sea, and that others might devour his substance?"
|
| Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him:  "Nay verily,
| not for him be thy heart overmuch troubled.  It was I that guided him,
| that he might win good report by going thither, and he has no toil, but
| sits in peace in the palace of the son of Atreus, and good cheer past
| telling is before him.  Truly young men in a black ship lie in wait
| for him, eager to slay him before he comes to his native land, but
| methinks this shall not be.  Ere that shall the earth cover many
| a one of the wooers that devour thy substance."
|
| So saying, Athena touched him with her wand.  She withered the fair flesh
| on his supple limbs, and destroyed the flaxen hair from off his head, and
| about all his limbs she put the skin of an aged old man.  And she dimmed
| his two eyes that were before so beautiful, and clothed him in other
| raiment, a vile ragged cloak and a tunic, tattered garments and foul,
| begrimed with filthy smoke.  And about him she cast the great skin
| of a swift hind, stripped of the hair, and she gave him a staff,
| and a miserable wallet, full of holes, slung by a twisted cord.
|
| Homer, 'Odyssey'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Od.+13.416

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TIL.  Note 15

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| So he spoke, and they all praised his words, and bade send the stranger
| on his way, since he had spoken fittingly.  Then the mighty Alcinous spoke
| to the herald, saying:  "Pontonous, mix the bowl, and serve out wine to all
| in the hall, in order that, when we have made prayer to father Zeus, we may
| send forth the stranger to his own native land."
|
| So he spoke, and Pontonous mixed the honey hearted wine and served out to all,
| coming up to each in turn;  and they poured libations to the blessed gods, who
| hold broad heaven, from where they sat.  But goodly Odysseus arose, and placed
| in the hand of Arete the two-handled cup, and spoke, and addressed her with
| winged words:
|
|"Fare thee well, O queen, throughout all the years, till old age and death come,
| which are the lot of mortals.  As for me, I go my way, but do thou in this house
| have joy of thy children and thy people and Alcinous the king."
|
| So the goodly Odysseus spake and passed over the threshold.  And with him
| the mighty Alcinous sent forth a herald to lead him to the swift ship and
| the shore of the sea.  And Arete sent with him slave women, one bearing a
| newly washed cloak and a tunic, and another again she bade follow to bear
| the strong chest, and yet another bore bread and red wine.
|
| But when they had come down to the ship and to the sea, straightway the lordly youths
| that were his escort took these things, and stowed them in the hollow ship, even all
| the food and drink.  Then for Odysseus they spread a rug and a linen sheet on the
| deck of the hollow ship at the stern, that he might sleep soundly;  and he too
| went aboard, and laid him down in silence.  Then they sat down on the benches,
| each in order, and loosed the hawser from the pierced stone.  And as soon as
| they leaned back, and tossed the brine with their oarblades, sweet sleep
| fell upon his eyelids, an unawakening sleep, most sweet, and most like
| to death.  And as on a plain four yoked stallions spring forward all
| together beneath the strokes of the lash, and leaping on high swiftly
| accomplish their way, even so the stern of that ship leapt on high, and
| in her wake the dark wave of the loud-sounding sea foamed mightily, and
| she sped safely and surely on her way;  not even the circling hawk, the
| swiftest of winged things, could have kept pace with her.  Thus she sped on
| swiftly and clove the waves of the sea, bearing a man the peer of the gods in
| counsel, one who in time past had suffered many griefs at heart in passing through
| wars of men and the grievous waves;  but now he slept in peace, forgetful of all that
| he had suffered.
|
| Homer, 'Odyssey'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Od.+13.47

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TIL.  Note 16

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|"There then I saw Minos, the glorious son of Zeus, golden sceptre in hand,
| giving judgment to the dead from his seat, while they sat and stood about
| the king through the wide-gated house of Hades, and asked of him judgment.
|
|"And after him I marked huge Orion driving together over the field of asphodel
| wild beasts which he himself had slain on the lonely hills, and in his hands
| he held a club all of bronze, ever unbroken.
|
|"And I saw Tityos, son of glorious Gaea, lying on the ground.  Over nine roods
| he stretched, and two vultures sat, one on either side, and tore his liver,
| plunging their beaks into his bowels, nor could he beat them off with his
| hands.  For he had offered violence to Leto, the glorious wife of Zeus,
| as she went toward Pytho through Panopeus with its lovely lawns.
|
|"Aye, and I saw Tantalus in violent torment, standing in a pool, and the water
| came nigh unto his chin.  He seemed as one athirst, but could not take and drink;
| for as often as that old man stooped down, eager to drink, so often would the water
| be swallowed up and vanish away, and at his feet the black earth would appear, for
| some god made all dry.  And trees, high and leafy, let stream their fruits above
| his head, pears, and pomegranates, and apple trees with their bright fruit, and
| sweet figs, and luxuriant olives.  But as often as that old man would reach out
| toward these, to clutch them with his hands, the wind would toss them to the
| shadowy clouds.
|
|"Aye, and I saw Sisyphus in violent torment, seeking to raise a monstrous stone
| with both his hands.  Verily he would brace himself with hands and feet, and
| thrust the stone toward the crest of a hill, but as often as he was about to
| heave it over the top, the weight would turn it back, and then down again to
| the plain would come rolling the ruthless stone.  But he would strain again
| and thrust it back, and the sweat flowed down from his limbs, and dust rose
| up from his head.
|
|"And after him I marked the mighty Heracles -- his phantom;
| for he himself among the immortal gods takes his joy in the
| feast, and has to wife Hebe, of the fair ankles, daughter of
| great Zeus and of Here, of the golden sandals.  About him rose
| a clamor from the dead, as of birds flying everywhere in terror;
| and he like dark night, with his bow bare and with arrow on the
| string, glared about him terribly, like one in act to shoot.
| Awful was the belt about his breast, a baldric of gold, whereon
| wondrous things were fashioned, bears and wild boars, and lions
| with flashing eyes, and conflicts, and battles, and murders, and
| slayings of men.  May he never have designed, or hereafter design
| such another, even he who stored up in his craft the device of that
| belt.  He in turn knew me when his eyes beheld me, and weeping spoke
| to me winged words:
|
|"'Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
| ah, wretched man, dost thou, too, drag out an evil lot such
| as I once bore beneath the rays of the sun?  I was the son
| of Zeus, son of Cronos, but I had woe beyond measure;  for
| to a man far worse than I was I made subject, and he laid
| on me hard labours.  Yea, he once sent me hither to fetch
| the hound of Hades, for he could devise for me no other
| task mightier than this.  The hound I carried off and
| led forth from the house of Hades;  and Hermes was
| my guide, and flashing-eyed Athena.'
|
|"So saying, he went his way again into the house of Hades, but I abode there
| steadfastly, in the hope that some other haply might still come forth of
| the warrior heroes who died in the days of old.  And I should have seen
| yet others of the men of former time, whom I was fain to behold, even
| Theseus and Peirithous, glorious children of the gods, but ere that
| the myriad tribes of the dead came thronging up with a wondrous cry,
| and pale fear seized me, lest august Persephone might send forth
| upon me from out the house of Hades the head of the Gorgon,
| that awful monster.
|
|"Straightway then I went to the ship and bade my comrades themselves to embark,
| and to loose the stern cables.  So they went on board quickly and sat down upon
| the benches.  And the ship was borne down the stream Oceanus by the swelling flood,
| first with our rowing, and afterwards the wind was fair."
|
| Homer, 'Odyssey'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Od.+11.567
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Od.+11.601

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TIL.  Note 17

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|"The first to come was the spirit of my comrade Elpenor.  Not yet had he been buried
| beneath the broad-wayed earth, for we had left his corpse behind us in the hall of
| Circe, unwept and unburied, since another task was then urging us on.  When I saw
| him I wept, and my heart had compassion on him;  and I spoke and addressed him
| with winged words:
|
|"'Elpenor, how didst thou come beneath the murky darkness?
| Thou coming on foot hast out-stripped me in my black ship.'
|
|"So I spoke, and with a groan he answered me and said:
|'Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many
| devices, an evil doom of some god was my undoing,
| and measureless wine.  When I had lain down to
| sleep in the house of Circe I did not think to
| go to the long ladder that I might come down
| again, but fell headlong from the roof, and
| my neck was broken away from the spine and
| my spirit went down to the house of Hades.
| Now I beseech thee by those whom we left
| behind, who are not present with us, by
| thy wife and thy father who reared thee
| when a babe, and by Telemachus whom thou
| didst leave an only son in thy halls;  for
| I know that as thou goest hence from the house
| of Hades thou wilt touch at the Aeaean isle with
| thy well-built ship. There, then, O prince, I bid
| thee remember me.  Leave me not behind thee unwept
| and unburied as thou goest thence, and turn not
| away from me, lest haply I bring the wrath of
| the gods upon thee.  Nay, burn me with my
| armour, all that is mine, and heap up
| a mound for me on the shore of the
| grey sea, in memory of an unhappy
| man, that men yet to be may learn
| of me.  Fulfil this my prayer, and
| fix upon the mound my oar wherewith
| I rowed in life when I was among my
| comrades.'
|
|"So he spoke, and I made answer and said:
|'All this, unhappy man, will I perform and do.'
|
|"Thus we two sat and held sad converse one with the other,
| I on one side holding my sword over the blood, while on
| the other side the phantom of my comrade spoke at large.
|
|"Then there came up the spirit of my dead mother, Anticleia,
| the daughter of great-hearted Autolycus, whom I had left alive
| when I departed for sacred Ilios.  At sight of her I wept, and my
| heart had compassion on her, but even so I would not suffer her to
| come near the blood, for all my great sorrow, until I had enquired
| of Teiresias.
|
|"Then there came up the spirit of the Theban Teiresias, bearing his golden staff
| in his hand, and he knew me and spoke to me:  'Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus,
| Odysseus of many devices, what now, hapless man?  Why hast thou left the light
| of the sun and come hither to behold the dead and a region where is no joy?
| Nay, give place from the pit and draw back thy sharp sword, that I may
| drink of the blood and tell thee sooth.'"
|
| Homer, 'Odyssey'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Od.+11.51

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 18

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

|"So he spoke, and again I handed him the flaming wine.
| Thrice I brought and gave it him, and thrice he drained
| it in his folly.  But when the wine had stolen about the
| wits of the Cyclops, then I spoke to him with gentle words:
|
|"'Cyclops, thou askest me of my glorious name,
| and I will tell it thee;  and do thou give me
| a stranger's gift, even as thou didst promise.
| Noman is my name, Noman do they call me -- my
| mother and my father, and all my comrades as
| well.'
|
|"So I spoke, and he straightway answered me
| with pitiless heart:  'Noman will I eat last
| among his comrades, and the others before him;
| this shall be thy gift.'
|
|"He spoke, and reeling fell upon his back,
| and lay there with his thick neck bent aslant,
| and sleep, that conquers all, laid hold on him.
| And from his gullet came forth wine and bits of
| human flesh, and he vomited in his drunken sleep.
| Then verily I thrust in the stake under the deep
| ashes until it should grow hot, and heartened all
| my comrades with cheering words, that I might see
| no man flinch through fear.  But when presently
| that stake of olive-wood was about to catch fire,
| green though it was, and began to glow terribly,
| then verily I drew nigh, bringing the stake from
| the fire, and my comrades stood round me and a
| god breathed into us great courage.  They took
| the stake of olive-wood, sharp at the point,
| and thrust it into his eye, while I, throwing
| my weight upon it from above, whirled it round,
| as when a man bores a ship's timber with a drill,
| while those below keep it spinning with the thong,
| which they lay hold of by either end, and the drill
| runs around unceasingly.  Even so we took the fiery-
| pointed stake and whirled it around in his eye, and
| the blood flowed around the heated thing.  And his
| eyelids wholly and his brows round about did the
| flame singe as the eyeball burned, and its roots
| crackled in the fire.  And as when a smith dips
| a great axe or an adze in cold water amid loud
| hissing to temper it -- for therefrom comes
| the strength of iron -- even so did his eye
| hiss round the stake of olive-wood.  Terribly
| then did he cry aloud, and the rock rang around;
| and we, seized with terror, shrank back, while he
| wrenched from his eye the stake, all befouled with
| blood, and flung it from him, wildly waving his arms.
| Then he called aloud to the Cyclopes, who dwelt round
| about him in caves among the windy heights, and they
| heard his cry and came thronging from every side, and
| standing around the cave asked him what ailed him:
|
|"'What so sore distress is thine, Polyphemus, that
| thou criest out thus through the immortal night,
| and makest us sleepless?  Can it be that some
| mortal man is driving off thy flocks against
| thy will, or slaying thee thyself by guile
| or by might?'
|
|"Then from out the cave the mighty Polyphemus
| answered them:  'My friends, it is Noman that
| is slaying me by guile and not by force.'"
|
| Homer, 'Odyssey'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Od.+9.360

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 19

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| So saying he sat down, and among them rose Mentor, who was a comrade
| of noble Odysseus.  To him, on departing with his ships, Odysseus had
| given all his house in charge, that it should obey the old man and that
| he should keep all things safe.  He with good intent addressed their
| assembly, and spoke among them:
|
|"Hearken now to me, men of Ithaca, to the word that I shall say.
| Never henceforth let sceptred king with a ready heart be kind and
| gentle, nor let him heed righteousness in his heart, but let him ever
| be harsh and work unrighteousness, seeing that no one remembers divine
| Odysseus of the people whose lord he was;  yet gentle was he as a father.
| But of a truth I begrudge not the proud wooers that they work deeds of
| violence in the evil contrivings of their minds, for it is at the hazard
| of their own lives that they violently devour the house of Odysseus, who,
| they say, will no more return.  Nay, rather it is with the rest of the
| folk that I am wroth, that ye all sit thus in silence, and utter no word
| of rebuke to make the wooers cease, though ye are many and they but few."
|
| Homer, 'Odyssey'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Od.+2.224

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 20

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| Soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, up from his bed arose the
| dear son of Odysseus and put on his clothing.  About his shoulder he slung
| his sharp sword, and beneath his shining feet bound his fair sandals, and
| went forth from his chamber like a god to look upon.  Straightway he bade
| the clear-voiced heralds to summon to the assembly the long-haired Achaeans.
| And the heralds made the summons, and the Achaeans assembled full quickly.
| Now when they were assembled and met together, Telemachus went his way to
| the place of assembly, holding in his hand a spear of bronze -- not alone,
| for along with him two swift hounds followed;  and wondrous was the grace
| that Athena shed upon him, and all the people marvelled at him as he came.
| But he sat down in his father's seat, and the elders gave place.
|
| Then among them the lord Aegyptius was the first to speak, a man bowed with age
| and wise with wisdom untold.  Now he spoke, because his dear son had gone in the
| hollow ships to Ilius, famed for its horses, in the company of godlike Odysseus,
| even the warrior Antiphus.  But him the savage Cyclops had slain in his hollow
| cave, and made of him his latest meal.  Three others there were;  one, Eurynomus,
| consorted with the wooers, and two ever kept their father's farm.  Yet, even so,
| he could not forget that other, mourning and sorrowing;  and weeping for him he
| addressed the assembly, and spoke among them:
|
|"Hearken now to me, men of Ithaca, to the word that I shall say.
| Never have we held assembly or session since the day when goodly
| Odysseus departed in the hollow ships.  And now who has called us
| together?  On whom has such need come either of the young men or of
| those who are older?  Has he heard some tidings of the army's return,
| which he might tell us plainly, seeing that he has first learned of it
| himself?  Or is there some other public matter on which he is to speak
| and address us?  A good man he seems in my eyes, a blessed man.  May Zeus
| fulfil unto him himself some good, even whatsoever he desires in his heart."
|
| So he spoke, and the dear son of Odysseus rejoiced at the word of omen;
| nor did he thereafter remain seated, but was fain to speak.  So he took
| his stand in the midst of the assembly, and the staff was placed in his
| hands by the herald Peisenor, wise in counsel.
|
| Homer, 'Odyssey'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Od.+2.1

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 21

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| So saying the bright goddess led her on.  Then she made her to sit on
| a silver-studded chair, a beautiful chair, richly-wrought, and beneath
| was a footstool for the feet;  and she called to Hephaestus, the famed
| craftsman, and spake to him, saying:  "Hephaestus, come forth hither;
| Thetis hath need of thee."  And the famous god of the two strong arms
| answered her:  "Verily then a dread and honoured goddess is within my
| halls, even she that saved me when pain was come upon me after I had
| fallen afar through the will of my shameless mother, that was fain
| to hide me away by reason of my lameness.  Then had I suffered woes
| in heart, had not Eurynome and Thetis received me into their bosom --
| Eurynome, daughter of backward-flowing Oceanus.  With them then
| for nine years' space I forged much cunning handiwork, brooches,
| and spiral arm-bands, and rosettes and necklaces, within their
| hollow cave;  and round about me flowed, murmuring with foam,
| the stream of Oceanus, a flood unspeakable.  Neither did any
| other know thereof, either of gods or of mortal men, but
| Thetis knew and Eurynome, even they that saved me.  And
| now is Thetis come to my house;  wherefore it verily
| behoveth me to pay unto fair-tressed Thetis the full
| price for the saving of my life.  But do thou set
| before her fair entertainment, while I put aside
| my bellows and all my tools."
|
| He spake, and from the anvil rose, a huge, panting bulk,
| halting the while, but beneath him his slender legs moved
| nimbly.  The bellows he set away from the fire, and gathered
| all the tools wherewith he wrought into a silver chest;  and
| with a sponge wiped he his face and his two hands withal, and
| his mighty neck and shaggy breast, and put upon him a tunic,
| and grasped a stout staff, and went forth halting;  but there
| moved swiftly to support their lord handmaidens wrought of gold
| in the semblance of living maids.  In them is understanding in
| their hearts, and in them speech and strength, and they know
| cunning handiwork by gift of the immortal gods.  These busily
| moved to support their lord, and he, limping nigh to where
| Thetis was, sat him down upon a shining chair;  and he
| clasped her by the hand, and spake, and addressed her:
|
|"Wherefore, long-robed Thetis, art thou come to our house,
| an honoured guest and a welcome?  Heretofore thou hast
| not been wont to come.  Speak what is in thy mind;
| my heart bids me fulfill it, if fulfill it I can,
| and it is a thing that hath fulfillment."
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+18.388

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 22

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| But when the Argives saw Hector withdrawing, they leapt yet the more upon
| the Trojans, and bethought them of battle.  Then far the first did swift
| Aias, son of Oïleus, leap upon Satnius and wound him with a thrust of
| his sharp spear, even the son of Enops, whom a peerless Naiad nymph
| conceived to Enops, as he tended his herds by the banks of Satnioeis.
| To him did the son of Oïleus, famed for his spear, draw nigh, and
| smite him upon the flank;  and he fell backward, and about him
| Trojans and Danaans joined in fierce conflict.  To him then
| came Polydamas, wielder of the spear, to bear him aid, even
| the son of Panthous, and he cast and smote upon the right
| shoulder Prothoënor, son of Areïlycus, and through the
| shoulder the mighty spear held its way;  and he fell
| in the dust and clutched the ground with his palm.
| And Polydamas exulted over him in terrible wise,
| and cried aloud:  "Hah, methinks, yet again
| from the strong hand of the great-souled
| son of Panthous hath the spear leapt not
| in vain.  Nay, one of the Argives hath
| got it in his flesh, and leaning
| thereon for a staff;  methinks,
| will he go down into the
| house of Hades."
|
| So spake he, but upon the Argives came sorrow by reason of his exulting,
| and beyond all did he stir the soul of Aias, wise of heart, the son of
| Telamon, for closest to him did the man fall.  Swiftly then he cast
| with his bright spear at the other, even as he was drawing back.
| And Polydamas himself escaped black fate, springing to one side;
| but Archelochus, son of Antenor, received the spear;  for to
| him the gods purposed death.  Him the spear smote at the
| joining of head and neck on the topmost joint of the
| spine, and it shore off both the sinews.  And far
| sooner did his head and mouth and nose reach the
| earth as he fell, than his legs and knees.
| Then Aias in his turn called aloud to
| peerless Polydamas:  "Bethink thee,
| Polydamas, and tell me in good
| sooth, was not this man worthy
| to be slain in requital for
| Prothoënor?  No mean man
| seemeth he to me, nor
| of mean descent, but
| a brother of Antenor,
| tamer of horses, or
| haply a son;  for
| he is most like
| to him in build."
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+14.440

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 23

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows Odysseus
| of many wiles addressed him:  "Son of Atreus, what a word
| hath escaped the barrier of thy teeth!  Doomed man that
| thou art, would that thou wert in command of some other,
| inglorious army, and not king over us, to whom Zeus hath
| given, from youth right up to age, to wind the skein of
| grievous wars till we perish, every man of us.  Art thou
| in truth thus eager to leave behind thee the broad-wayed
| city of the Trojans, for the sake of which we endure many
| grievous woes?  Be silent, lest some other of the Achaeans
| hear this word, that no man should in any wise suffer to pass
| through his mouth at all, no man who hath understanding in his
| heart to utter things that are right, and who is a sceptred king
| to whom hosts so many yield obedience as are the Argives among whom
| thou art lord.  But now have I altogether scorn of thy wits, that thou
| speakest thus, seeing thou biddest us, when war and battle are afoot,
| draw down our well-benched ships to the sea, that so even more than
| before the Trojans may have their desire, they that be victors even
| now, and that on us utter destruction may fall.  For the Achaeans
| will not maintain their fight once the ships are drawn down to
| the sea, but will ever be looking away, and will withdraw them
| from battle.  Then will thy counsel prove our bane, thou leader
| of hosts."
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+14.64

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 24

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| So they spake in prayer and Pallas Athene heard them.
| But when they had prayed to the daughter of great Zeus,
| they went their way like two lions through the black night,
| amid the slaughter, amid the corpses, through the arms and
| the black blood.
|
| Nay, nor did Hector suffer the lordly Trojans to sleep, but he called together
| all the noblest, as many as were leaders and rulers of the Trojans;  and when
| he had called them together he contrived a cunning plan, and said:  "Who is
| there now that would promise me this deed and bring it to pass for a great
| gift?  Verily his reward shall be sure.  For I will give him a chariot and
| two horses with high arched necks, even those that be the best at the swift
| ships of the Achaeans, to the man whosoever will dare -- and for himself win
| glory withal -- to go close to the swift-faring ships, and spy out whether
| the swift ships be guarded as of old, or whether by now our foes, subdued
| beneath our hands, are planning flight among themselves and have no mind
| to watch the night through, being fordone with dread weariness."
|
| So spake he and they all became hushed in silence.  Now there was among the
| Trojans one Dolon, the son of Eumedes the godlike herald, a man rich in gold,
| rich in bronze, that was ill-favoured to look upon, but withal swift of foot;
| and he was the only brother among five sisters.  He then spake a word to the
| Trojans and to Hector:  "Hector, my heart and proud spirit urge me to go close
| to the swift-faring ships and spy out all.  But come, I pray thee, lift up thy
| staff and swear to me that verily thou wilt give me the horses and the chariot,
| richly dight with bronze, even them that bear the peerless son of Peleus.  And
| to thee shall I prove no vain scout, neither one to deceive thy hopes.  For I
| will go straight on to the camp, even until I come to the ship of Agamemnon,
| where, I ween, the chieftains will be holding council, whether to flee or
| to fight."
|
| So spake he, and Hector took the staff in his hands, and sware to him, saying:
|"Now be my witness Zeus himself, the loud-thundering lord of Hera, that on those
| horses no other man of the Trojans shall mount, but it is thou, I declare, that
| shalt have glory in them continually."
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+10.295

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 25

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| Thus kept the Trojans watch, but the Achaeans were holden of wondrous Panic,
| the handmaid of numbing fear and with grief intolerable were all the noblest
| stricken.  Even as two winds stir up the teeming deep, the North Wind and the
| West Wind that blow from Thrace, coming suddenly, and forthwith the dark wave
| reareth itself in crests and casteth much tangle out along the sea;  even so
| were the hearts of the Achaeans rent within their breasts.
|
| But the son of Atreus, stricken to the heart with sore grief, went this way and that,
| bidding the clear-voiced heralds summon every man by name to the place of gathering,
| but not to shout aloud;  and himself he toiled amid the foremost.  So they sat in
| the place of gathering, sore troubled, and Agamemnon stood up weeping even as a
| fountain of dark water that down over the face of a beetling cliff poureth its
| dusky stream;  even so with deep groaning spake he amid the Argives, saying:
|"My friends, leaders and rulers of the Argives, great Zeus, son of Cronos,
| hath ensnared me in grievous blindness of heart, cruel god! seeing that
| of old he promised me, and bowed his head thereto, that not until I had
| sacked well-walled Ilios should I get me home;  but now hath he planned
| cruel deceit, and biddeth me return inglorious to Argos, when I have lost
| much people.  So, I ween, must be the good pleasure of Zeus supreme in might,
| who hath laid low the heads of many cities, yea, and shall lay low;  for his
| power is above all.  Nay, come, even as I shall bid let us all obey:  let us
| flee with our ships to our dear native land;  for no more is there hope that
| we shall take broad-wayed Troy."
|
| So spake he, and they all became hushed in silence.  Long time were they silent
| in their grief, the sons of the Achaeans, but at length there spake among them
| Diomedes, good at the war-cry:  "Son of Atreus, with thee first will I contend
| in thy folly, where it is meet, O king, even in the place of gathering:  and
| be not thou anywise wroth thereat.  My valour didst thou revile at the first
| amid the Danaans, and saidst that I was no man of war but a weakling;  and
| all this know the Achaeans both young and old.  But as for thee, the son
| of crooked-counselling Cronos hath endowed thee in divided wise:  with
| the sceptre hath he granted thee to be honoured above all, but valour
| he gave thee not, wherein is the greatest might.  Strange king, dost
| thou indeed deem that the sons of the Achaeans are thus unwarlike
| and weaklings as thou sayest?  Nay, if thine own heart is eager
| to return, get thee gone;  before thee lies the way, and thy
| ships stand beside the sea, all the many ships that followed
| thee from Mycenae.  Howbeit the other long-haired Achaeans
| will abide here until we have laid waste Troy.  Nay, let
| them also flee in their ships to their dear native land;
| yet will we twain, Sthenelus and I, fight on, until we
| win the goal of Ilios;  for with the aid of heaven are
| we come."
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+9.1

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 26

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| So spake he, and they all became hushed in silence.
| But at length there spake among them Diomedes, good
| at the war-cry:  "Let no man now accept the treasure
| from Alexander, nay, nor Helen;  known is it, even
| to him who hath no wit at all, that now the cords
| of destruction are made fast upon the Trojans."
|
| So spake he, and all the sons of the Achaeans shouted aloud,
| applauding the saying of Diomedes, tamer of horses.  Then to
| Idaeus spake lord Agamemnon:  "Idaeus, verily of thyself thou
| hearest the word of the Achaeans, how they make answer to thee;
| and mine own pleasure is even as theirs.  But as touching the
| dead I in no wise grudge that ye burn them;  for to dead
| corpses should no man grudge, when once they are dead,
| the speedy consolation of fire.  But to our oaths let
| Zeus be witness, the loud-thundering lord of Hera."
|
| So saying, he lifted up his staff before the face of all the gods,
| and Idaeus went his way back to sacred Ilios.  Now they were sitting
| in assembly, Trojans and Dardanians alike, all gathered in one body
| waiting until Idaeus should come;  and he came and stood in their
| midst and declared his message.  Then they made them ready with
| all speed for either task, some to bring the dead, and others
| to seek for wood.  And the Argives over against them hasted
| from the benched ships, some to bring the dead and others
| to seek for wood.
|
| The sun was now just striking on the fields, as he rose from softly-gliding,
| deep-flowing Oceanus, and climbed the heavens, when the two hosts met together.
| Then was it a hard task to know each man again;  howbeit with water they washed
| from them the clotted blood, and lifted them upon the waggons, shedding hot tears
| the while.  But great Priam would not suffer his folk to wail aloud;  so in silence
| they heaped the corpses upon the pyre, their hearts sore stricken;  and when they
| had burned them with fire they went their way to sacred Ilios.  And in like manner
| over against them the well-greaved Achaeans heaped the corpses upon the pyre,
| their hearts sore stricken, and when they had burned them with fire they
| went their way to the hollow ships.
|
| Now when dawn was not yet, but night was still 'twixt light and dark, then
| was there gathered about the pyre the chosen host of the Achaeans, and they
| made about it a single barrow, rearing it from the plain for all alike;  and
| thereby they built a wall and a lofty rampart, a defence for their ships and
| for themselves.  And therein they made gates, close-fastening, that through
| them might be a way for the driving of chariots.  And without they dug a
| deep ditch hard by, wide and great, and therein they planted stakes.
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+7.398

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 27

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| He spake, and poised his far-shadowing spear, and hurled it;
| and he smote Aias' dread shield of sevenfold bull's-hide upon
| the outermost bronze, the eighth layer that was thereon.  Through
| six folds shore the stubborn bronze, but in the seventh hide it was
| stayed.  Then in turn Zeus-born Aias hurled his far-shadowing spear,
| and smote upon the son of Priam's shield, that was well balanced upon
| every side.  Through the bright shield went the mighty spear, and through
| the corselet, richly dight, did it force its way;  and straight on beside
| his flank the spear shore through his tunic;  but he bent aside, and escaped
| black fate.  Then the twain both at one moment drew forth with their hands
| their long spears, and fell to, in semblance like ravening lions or wild
| boars, whose is no weakling strength.  Then the son of Priam smote full
| upon the shield of Aias with a thrust of his spear, howbeit the bronze
| brake not through, for its point was turned;  but Aias leapt upon him
| and pierced his buckler, and clean through went the spear and made him
| reel in his onset;  even to his neck it made its way, and gashed it, and
| the dark blood welled up.  Yet not even so did Hector of the flashing-helm
| cease from fight, but giving ground he seized with stout hand a stone that
| lay upon the plain, black and jagged and great;  therewith he smote Aias'
| dread shield of sevenfold bull's-hide full upon the boss;  and the bronze
| rang about it.  Then Aias in turn lifted on high a far greater stone, and
| swung and hurled it, putting into the cast measureless strength;  and he
| burst the buckler inwards with the cast of the rock that was like unto a
| mill-stone, and beat down Hector's knees;  so he stretched upon his back,
| gathered together under his shield;  howbeit Apollo straightway raised him up.
| And now had they been smiting with their swords in close fight, but that the
| heralds, messengers of Zeus and men, came, one from the Trojans and one from
| the brazen-coated Achaeans, even Talthybius and Idaeus, men of prudence both.
| Between the two they held forth their staves, and the herald Idaeus, skilled
| in prudent counsel, spake, saying:  "Fight ye no more, dear sons, neither do
| battle;  both ye twain are loved of Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, and both are
| spearmen;  that verily know we all.  Moreover night is now upon us, and
| it is well to yield obedience to night's behest."
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+7.244

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 28

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| To him the gods granted beauty and lovely manliness;  but Proetus in his heart
| devised against him evil, and drave him, seeing he was mightier far, from the
| land of the Argives;  for Zeus had made them subject to his sceptre.  Now the
| wife of Proetus, fair Anteia, lusted madly for Bellerophon, to lie with him
| in secret love, but could in no wise prevail upon wise-hearted Bellerophon,
| for that his heart was upright.  So she made a tale of lies, and spake to
| king Proetus:  "Either die thyself, Proetus, or slay Bellerophon, seeing
| he was minded to lie with me in love against my will."  So she spake,
| and wrath gat hold upon the king to hear that word.  To slay him he
| forbare, for his soul had awe of that;  but he sent him to Lycia,
| and gave him baneful tokens, graving in a folded tablet many
| signs and deadly, and bade him show these to his own wife's
| father, that he might be slain.  So he went his way to
| Lycia under the blameless escort of the gods.  And when
| he was come to Lycia and the stream of Xanthus, then with
| a ready heart did the king of wide Lycia do him honour:  for
| nine days' space he shewed him entertainment, and slew nine oxen.
| Howbeit when the tenth rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, then at length he
| questioned him and asked to see whatever token he bare from his daughter's
| husband, Proetus.  But when he had received from him the evil token of his
| daughter's husband, first he bade him slay the raging Chimaera.  She was of
| divine stock, not of men, in the fore part a lion, in the hinder a serpent,
| and in the midst a goat, breathing forth in terrible wise the might of
| blazing fire.  And Bellerophon slew her, trusting in the signs of the
| gods.  Next fought he with the glorious Solymi, and this, said he
| was the mightest battle of warriors that ever he entered;  and
| thirdly he slew the Amazons, women the peers of men.  And
| against him, as he journeyed back therefrom, the king
| wove another cunning wile;  he chose out of wide
| Lycia the bravest men and set an ambush;
| but these returned not home in any
| wise, for peerless Bellerophon
| slew them one and all.
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+6.156

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 29

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| But Athene, daughter of Zeus that beareth the aegis, let fall upon
| her father's floor her soft robe, richly broidered, that herself had
| wrought and her hands had fashioned, and put on her the tunic of Zeus,
| the cloud-gatherer, and arrayed her in armour for tearful war.  About her
| shoulders she flung the tasselled aegis, fraught with terror, all about which
| Rout is set as a crown, and therein is Strife, therein Valour, and therein Onset,
| that maketh the blood run cold, and therein is the head of the dread monster, the
| Gorgon, dread and awful, a portent of Zeus that beareth the aegis.  And upon her
| head she set the helmet with two horns and with bosses four, wrought of gold,
| and fitted with the men-at-arms of an hundred cities.  Then she stepped upon
| the flaming car and grasped her spear, heavy and huge and strong, wherewith
| she vanquisheth the ranks of men -- of warriors with whom she is wroth, she,
| the daughter of the mighty sire.  And Hera swiftly touched the horses with
| the lash, and self-bidden groaned upon their hinges the gates of heaven
| which the Hours had in their keeping, to whom are entrusted great
| heaven and Olympus, whether to throw open the thick cloud or
| shut it to.  There through the gate they drave their horses
| patient of the goad;  and they found the son of Cronos as
| he sat apart from the other gods on the topmost peak of
| many-ridged Olympus.  Then the goddess, white-armed Hera,
| stayed the horses, and made question of Zeus most high,
| the son of Cronos, and spake to him:  "Father Zeus, hast
| thou no indignation with Ares for these violent deeds, that
| he hath destroyed so great and so goodly a host of the Achaeans
| recklessly and in no seemly wise to my sorrow;  while at their ease
| Cypris and Apollo of the silver bow take their joy, having set on this
| madman that regardeth not any law?  Father Zeus, wilt thou in any wise be
| wroth with me if I smite Ares in sorry fashion and drive him out of the battle?"
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+5.711

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 30

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| So spake Athene, and persuaded his heart in his folly.  Straightway he
| uncovered his polished bow of the horn of a wild ibex, that himself on
| a time had smitten beneath the breast as it came forth from a rock, he
| lying in wait the while in a place of ambush, and had struck it in the
| chest, so that it fell backward in a cleft of the rock.  From its head
| the horns grew to a length of sixteen palms;  these the worker in horn
| had wrought and fitted together, and smoothed all with care, and set
| thereon a tip of gold.  This bow he bent, leaning it against the
| ground, and laid it carefully down;  and his goodly comrades
| held their shields before him, lest the warrior sons of the
| Achaeans should leap to their feet or ever Menelaus, the
| warlike son of Atreus, was smitten.  Then opened he the
| lid of his quiver, and took forth an arrow, a feathered
| arrow that had never been shot, freighted with dark pains;
| and forthwith he fitted the bitter arrow to the string, and
| made a vow to Apollo, the wolf-born god, famed for his bow, that
| he would sacrifice a glorious hecatomb of firstling lambs, when he
| should come to his home, the city of sacred Zeleia.  And he drew the
| bow, clutching at once the notched arrow and the string of ox's sinew:
| the string he brought to his breast and to the bow the iron arrow-head.
| But when he had drawn the great bow into a round, the bow twanged and
| the string sang aloud, and the keen arrow leapt, eager to wing its
| way amid the throng.
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+4.85

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 31

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| So spake Odysseus, and with his staff smote his back and shoulders;  and Thersites
| cowered down, and a big tear fell from him, and a bloody weal rose up on his back
| beneath the staff of gold.  Then he sate him down, and fear came upon him, and
| stung by pain with helpless looks he wiped away the tear.  But the Achaeans,
| sore vexed at heart though they were, broke into a merry laugh at him, and
| thus would one speak with a glance at his neighbour:  "Out upon it! verily
| hath Odysseus ere now wrought good deeds without number as leader in good
| counsel and setting battle in army, but now is this deed far the best that
| he hath wrought among the Argives, seeing he hath made this scurrilous babbler
| to cease from his prating.  Never again, I ween, will his proud spirit henceforth
| set him on to rail at kings with words of reviling."
|
| So spake the multitude;  but up rose Odysseus, sacker of cities,
| the sceptre in his hand, and by his side flashing-eyed Athene,
| in the likeness of a herald, bade the host keep silence, that
| the sons of the Achaeans, both the nearest and the farthest,
| might hear his words, and lay to heart his counsel.  He with
| good intent addressed their gathering and spake among them:
|
|"Son of Atreus, now verily are the Achaeans minded to make thee, O king,
| the most despised among all mortal men, nor will they fulfill the promise
| that they made to thee, while faring hitherward from Argos, the pasture-land
| of horses, that not until thou hadst sacked well-walled Ilios shouldest thou
| get thee home.  For like little children or widow women do they wail each to
| the other in longing to return home.  Verily there is toil enough to make
| a man return disheartened.  For he that abideth but one single month far
| from his wife in his benched ship hath vexation of heart, even he whom
| winter blasts and surging seas keep afar;  but for us is the ninth year
| at its turn, while we abide here;  wherefore I count it not shame that the
| Achaeans have vexation of heart beside their beaked ships;  yet even so it is
| a shameful thing to tarry long, and return empty.  Endure, my friends, and abide
| for a time, that we may know whether the prophecies of Calchas be true, or no."
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+2.265

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 32

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| Whomsoever he met that was a chieftain or man of note, to his side
| would he come and with gentle words seek to restrain him, saying:
|
|"Good Sir, it beseems not to seek to affright thee as if thou were
| a coward, but do thou thyself sit thee down, and make the rest of
| thy people to sit.  For thou knowest not yet clearly what is the
| mind of the son of Atreus;  now he does but make trial, whereas
| soon he will smite the sons of the Achaeans.  Did we not all
| hear what he spake in the council?  Beware lest waxing wroth
| he work mischief to the sons of the Achaeans.  Proud is the
| heart of kings, fostered of heaven;  for their honour is
| from Zeus, and Zeus, god of counsel, loveth them."
|
| But whatsoever man of the people he saw, and found brawling,
| him would he smite with his staff;  and chide with words,
| saying:
|
|"Fellow, sit thou still, and hearken to the words of others that are
| better men than thou;  whereas thou art unwarlike and a weakling,
| neither to be counted in war nor in counsel.  In no wise shall
| we Achaeans all be kings here.  No good thing is a multitude
| of lords;  let there be one lord, one king, to whom the son
| of crooked-counselling Cronos hath vouchsafed the sceptre
| and judgments, that he may take counsel for his people."
|
| Thus masterfully did he range through the host,
| and they hasted back to the place of gathering
| from their ships and huts with noise, as when
| a wave of the loud-resounding sea thundereth
| on the long beach, and the deep roareth.
|
| Now the others sate them down and were stayed in their places, only there
| still kept chattering on Thersites of measureless speech, whose mind was
| full of great store of disorderly words, wherewith to utter revilings
| against the kings, idly, and in no orderly wise, but whatsoever he
| deemed would raise a laugh among the Argives.  Evil-favoured was
| he beyond all men that came to Ilios:  he was bandy-legged and
| lame in the one foot, and his two shoulders were rounded,
| stooping together over his chest, and above them his
| head was warped, and a scant stubble grew thereon.
| Hateful was he to Achilles above all, and to
| Odysseus, for it was they twain that he
| was wont to revile;  but now again with
| shrill cries he uttered abuse against
| goodly Agamemnon.  With him were the
| Achaeans exceeding wroth, and had
| indignation in their hearts.
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+2.188

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 33

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| So spoke the Dream, and departed, and left him there, pondering in his heart
| on things that were not to be brought to pass.  For in sooth he deemed that he
| should take the city of Priam that very day, fool that he was! seeing he knew not
| what deeds Zeus was purposing, who was yet to bring woes and groanings on Trojans
| alike and Danaans throughout the course of stubborn fights.  Then he awoke from
| sleep, and the divine voice was ringing in his ears.  He sat upright and did on
| his soft tunic, fair and glistering, and about him cast his great cloak, and
| beneath his shining feet he bound his fair sandals, and about his shoulders
| flung his silver-studded sword;  and he grasped the sceptre of his fathers,
| imperishable ever, and therewith took his way along the ships of the
| brazen-coated Achaeans.
|
| Now the goddess Dawn went up to high Olympus, to announce the light to Zeus
| and the other immortals, but Agamemnon bade the clear-voiced heralds summon
| to the place of gathering the long-haired Achaeans.  And they made summons,
| and the men gathered full quickly.
|
| But the king first made the council of the great-souled elders to
| sit down beside the ship of Nestor, the king Pylos-born.  And when
| he had called them together, he contrived a cunning plan, and said:
|
|"Hearken, my friends, a Dream from heaven came to me in my sleep through
| the ambrosial night, and most like was it to goodly Nestor, in form and
| in stature and in build.  It took its stand above my head, and spake to
| me, saying:  'Thou sleepest, son of wise-hearted Atreus, the tamer of
| horses.  To sleep the whole night through beseemeth not a man that is
| a counsellor, to whom a host is entrusted, and upon whom rest so many
| cares.  But now, hearken thou quickly unto me, for I am a messenger to
| thee from Zeus, who, far away though he be, hath exceeding care for thee
| and pity.  He biddeth thee arm the long-haired Achaeans with all speed,
| since now thou mayest take the broad-wayed city of the Trojans.  For the
| immortals that have homes upon Olympus are no longer divided in counsel,
| since Hera hath bent the minds of all by her supplication, and over the
| Trojans hang woes by the will of Zeus.  But do thou keep this in thy heart.'
| So spake he, and was flown away, and sweet sleep let me go.  Nay, come now,
| if in any wise we may, let us arm the sons of the Achaeans;  but first will
| I make trial of them in speech, as is right, and will bid them flee with their
| benched ships;  but do you from this side and from that bespeak them, and strive
| to hold them back."
|
| So saying, he sate him down, and among them
| uprose Nestor, that was king of sandy Pylos.
| He with good intent addressed their gathering
| and spake among them:
|
|"My friends, leaders and rulers of the Argives, were it any other
| of the Achaeans that told us this dream we might deem it a false
| thing, and turn away therefrom the more;  but now hath he seen
| it who declares himself to be far the mightiest of the Achaeans.
| Nay, come then, if in any wise we may arm the sons of the Achaeans."
|
| He spake, and led the way forth from the council, and the other sceptred kings
| rose up thereat and obeyed the shepherd of the host;  and the people the while
| were hastening on.  Even as the tribes of thronging bees go forth from some
| hollow rock, ever coming on afresh, and in clusters over the flowers of
| spring fly in throngs, some here, some there;  even so from the ships
| and huts before the low sea-beach marched forth in companies their
| many tribes to the place of gathering.  And in their midst blazed
| forth Rumour, messenger of Zeus, urging them to go;  and they
| were gathered.  And the place of gathering was in a turmoil,
| and the earth groaned beneath them, as the people sate them
| down, and a din arose.  Nine heralds with shouting sought
| to restrain them, if so be they might refrain from uproar
| and give ear to the kings, nurtured of Zeus.  Hardly at
| the last were the people made to sit, and were stayed in
| their places, ceasing from their clamour.  Then among them
| lord Agamemnon uprose, bearing in his hands the sceptre which
| Hephaestus had wrought with toil.  Hephaestus gave it to king Zeus,
| son of Cronos, and Zeus gave it to the messenger Argeïphontes;  and
| Hermes, the lord, gave it to Pelops, driver of horses, and Pelops
| in turn gave it to Atreus, shepherd of the host;  and Atreus at
| his death left it to Thyestes, rich in flocks, and Thyestes
| again left it to Agamemnon to bear, that so he might be
| lord of many isles and of all Argos.
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+2.35
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+2.76

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 34

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| So spoke the son of Peleus, and down to the earth
| he dashed the staff studded with golden nails, and
| himself sat down, while over against him the son of
| Atreus continued to vent his wrath.  Then among them
| arose Nestor, sweet of speech, the clear-voiced orator
| of the Pylians, from whose tongue flowed speech sweeter
| than honey.  Two generations of mortal men had passed
| away in his lifetime, who had been born and reared
| with him before in sacred Pylos, and he was king
| among the third.  He with good intent addressed
| the gathering and spoke among them:
|
|"Comrades, great grief has come upon the land of Achaea.  Truly would Priam
| and the sons of Priam rejoice, and the rest of the Trojans would be most
| glad at heart, were they to hear all this of you two quarrelling, you
| who are chief among the Danaans in counsel and chief in war.  Listen
| to me, for you are both younger than I.  In earlier times I moved
| among men more warlike than you, and never did they despise me.
| Such warriors have I never since seen, nor shall I see, as
| Peirithous was and Dryas, shepherd of the people, and
| Caeneus and Exadius and godlike Polyphemus, and
| Theseus, son of Aegeus, a man like the immortals.
| Mightiest were these of men reared upon the earth;
| mightiest were they, and with the mightiest they fought,
| the mountain-dwelling centaurs, and they destroyed them terribly.
| With these men I had fellowship, when I came from Pylos, from a distant
| land far away;  for they themselves called me.  And I fought on my own;
| with those men could no one fight of the mortals now upon the earth.
| Yes, and they listened to my counsel, and obeyed my words.  So also
| should you obey, since to obey is better.  Neither do you, mighty
| though you are, take away the girl, but let her be, as the sons of
| the Achaeans first gave her to him as a prize;  nor do you, son of
| Peleus, be minded to strive with a king, might against might, for it
| is no common honour that is the portion of a sceptre-holding king, to
| whom Zeus gives glory.  If you are a stronger fighter, and a goddess
| mother bore you, yet he is the mightier, since he is king over more.
| Son of Atreus, check your rage.  Indeed, I beg you to let go your
| anger against Achilles, who is for all the Achaeans a mighty
| bulwark in evil war."
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+1.245

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 35

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| But the son of Peleus again addressed with violent words
| the son of Atreus, and in no way ceased from his wrath:
|
|"Heavy with wine, with the face of a dog but the heart of a deer,
| never have you had courage to arm for battle along with your people,
| or go forth to an ambush with the chiefs of the Achaeans.  That seems
| to you even as death.  Indeed it is far better throughout the wide camp
| of the Achaeans to deprive of his prize whoever speaks contrary to you.
| People-devouring king, since you rule over nobodies;  else, son of Atreus,
| this would be your last piece of insolence.  But I will speak out to you,
| and will swear thereto a mighty oath:  by this staff, that shall never more
| put forth leaves or shoots since first it left its stump among the mountains,
| nor shall it again grow green, for the bronze has stripped it on all sides of
| leaves and bark, and now the sons of the Achaeans carry it in their hands when
| they act as judges, those who guard the ordinances that come from Zeus;  and this
| shall be for you a mighty oath.  Surely some day a longing for Achilles will come
| upon the sons of the Achaeans one and all, and on that day you will not be able to
| help them at all, for all your grief, when many shall fall dying before man-slaying
| Hector.  But you will gnaw the heart within you, in anger that you did no honour to
| the best of the Achaeans."
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+1.206

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

TIL.  Note 36

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

| The wrath sing, goddess, of Peleus' son, Achilles,
| that destructive wrath which brought countless woes
| upon the Achaeans, and sent forth to Hades many valiant
| souls of heroes, and made them themselves spoil for dogs
| and every bird;  thus the plan of Zeus came to fulfillment,
| from the time when first they parted in strife Atreus' son,
| king of men, and brilliant Achilles.
|
| Who then of the gods was it that brought these two together to contend?
| The son of Leto and Zeus;  for he in anger against the king roused
| throughout the host an evil pestilence, and the people began to
| perish, because upon the priest Chryses the son of Atreus had
| wrought dishonour.  For he had come to the swift ships of the
| Achaeans to free his daughter, bearing ransom past counting;
| and in his hands he held the wreaths of Apollo who strikes
| from afar, on a staff of gold;  and he implored all the
| Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus, the
| marshallers of the people:  "Sons of Atreus, and
| other well-greaved Achaeans, to you may the gods
| who have homes upon Olympus grant that you sack
| the city of Priam, and return safe to your homes;
| but my dear child release to me, and accept the
| ransom out of reverence for the son of Zeus,
| Apollo who strikes from afar."
|
| Then all the rest of the Achaeans shouted assent, to reverence the priest
| and accept the glorious ransom, yet the thing did not please the heart of
| Agamemnon, son of Atreus, but he sent him away harshly, and laid upon him
| a stern command:  "Let me not find you, old man, by the hollow ships,
| either tarrying now or coming back later, lest your staff and the
| wreath of the god not protect you.  Her I will not set free.
| Sooner shall old age come upon her in our house, in Argos,
| far from her native land, as she walks to and fro before
| the loom and serves my bed.  But go, do not anger me,
| that you may return the safer."
|
| Homer, 'Iliad'
|
| http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+1.1

o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~o

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21. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001570.html
22. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001571.html
23. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001572.html
24. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001573.html
25. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001574.html
26. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001580.html
27. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001581.html
28. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001585.html
29. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001595.html
30. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001605.html
31. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001614.html
32. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001618.html
33. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001625.html
34. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001654.html
35. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001655.html
36. http://stderr.org/pipermail/arisbe/2003-February/001656.html