NORTH.

These (thoughts) he revolved while tarrying: but near to him came Achilles,

Equal to the helm-shaking warrior Mars,

Over his right shoulder brandishing the Pelian spear

Terrible: and around him shone the brass like to the flash

Of blazing fire, or of the rising sun.

Hector, therefore, when he saw (him), trembling seized, nor dared he

There remain, but left the gates, and flying went.

The son of Peleus, to his swift feet trusting, rushed after,

Like as a falcon on the mountains, the swiftest of birds,

Darts easily on a trembling dove :

But it flies aslant; and he near-at-hand shrill screaming,

Rushes frequently, and his appetite impels him to take her :

Thus eagerly indeed did he (Achilles) flee on him directly: trembling, fled Hector

Under the walls of the Trojans, and plied his agile limbs.

But they past the prospect-mount and the wind-exposed fig-tree,
Out-from-beneath the wall along the chariot road rushed on:
To the beautiful-flowing fountains they came, where springs
Two (in number) up-rise from the gyrating Scamander.
The one with tepid waters flows, and around a smoke
Arises from it, as from flaming fire.

But the other in summer even out-rushes, like to hail
Or cold snow, or crystallized water (Κρυσταλλω.)
There near-by them are broad washing tanks,
Beautiful, of-stone, where their gorgeous robes,

The Trojan dames, and their daughters fair, were-wont-to-wash

Erst in time of peace, ere the sons of the Greeks had come.

The moment Homer's imagination re-creates Achilles, he re-appears terrible, and more terrible, his figure and his aspect sublimed by more transcendent imagery, borrowed from the great phenomena of earth and heaven. Stars, comets, moon, and sun-and no objects less glorious -are made to aggrandize the hero of the Iliad; and yet the same images are always, in something mighty, when applied to him, new; as, indeed, to the eye of a poet, they are always new, even in themselvesno two sunrises, or sunsets, being identical to the vision of a "Maker." The Apparition that puts Hector to flight, is the most insupportable of all; and, though seen from afar, felt, on its close approach, sudden as supernatural. More deadly is he, thus opposed, Mars to mortal, than when the whole army fled before him;there is intenser concentration of terror in his armour, "like lightning, or like flame, or like the sun ascending." Had Hector not fled, Homer had nodded when broad awake. The Prince of Troy would not have fled from Ajax, the son of Telamon, nor from Diomed, who, when Achilles lay in his wrath among his ships, was thought equal to Achilles, nor from Agamemnon, king of men. But there was one, in presence of whose spear no hero might abide-before whom the river gods themselves quailed, " and hid themselves among their reedy banks;" and at close of that combat, in which he shone brightest even in the midst of the celestials, it was inevitable in nature, that even the defender of his country should be appalled. For he was not goddess-born; bright indeed were the arms he wore -once worn by Achilles-but what were they to the Vulcanian panoply, at whose sound, as Thetis let them fall at her son's feet, fear "bowed the astonished souls" of the Myr

midons? It would have been most
unnatural for man of woman born
not to fly. Then, how absorbed
is all that might have been in
any way degrading in the emotion
inspired by the Destroyer! Most
mournful but magnificent picture!
King and queen shrieking in their
old age, about to be utterly desolate,
from the doomed city walls that
quake to the dreadful voice of that
Invincible! All the power within
silent; and the gods themselves
looking down, and descending to
decide the final issue of the ten years'
strife-for Troy was to fall with
Hector, and Ilion to be shorn of her
towery diadem. As for Achilles,
he saw not-heard not Priam and
Hecuba-he cared not in his passion
even for the gods. His eyes were
all on Hector.

"The son of Peleus, as he ran, his brows
Shaking, forbade the Grecians to dismiss
A dart at Hector, lest a meaner hand
Should pierce him, and USURP THE FORE-

MOST PRAISE,"

So blent into one in his fiery spirit were Revenge and the Love of Glory.

Apollo still strove to save his be loved prince; but now, balancing his golden scales, Jove placed in each a lot-one Achilles, and one consigning Hector to the shades.

"Seized by the central hold, he poised the
beam;
Down went the fatal day of Hector, down
To Hades, and Apollo left his side."

The blue-eyed Pallas exultingly cried to Achilles that he should return, "crowned with great glory, to the fleet of Greece," for that not even could the King of radiant shafts himself now save the life of Hector, not even were Apollo to roll himself in supplication at the feet of the Thunderer. By her deceived, Hector turns and faces Achilles. The heroes

seem to our ears to speak well-thus - in our Greek-resembling English

Thee no more, son of Peleus, shall I fly as before:

Thrice around Priam's mighty city have I fled, nor ever durst I

Await thy onset;-but now doth my spirit impel me

To withstand thee-slay I, or be slain.

But come now, call we the gods (to testify), for they the best
Witnesses and guardians of covenants shall be.

Not savagely will I dishonour thee, if to me Jupiter

Vouchsafe a steady-fought-victory (καμμονίην), and I shall take away thy life:
But when I shall have despoil'd thee of thy illustrious arms, Achilles,

Thy corse to the Greeks will I restore: do thou so likewise."

Him eyeing sternly, the swift-footed Achilles address'd

"Hector, thou never-to-be-forgotten one, speak not to me of covenants.

As between lions and men there are no faithful covenants,

Nor have wolves and lambs a same-thinking disposition,

But perpetually are plotting evil to each other;

In like manner it cannot be that I and thou can have friendship, nor between us

Can covenants exist, until one of us prostrate

Shall satisfy with his blood Mars, the indefatigable warrior.

Call to mind (thy) every-kind of valour: much now it behoves thee

To be a combatant, and a doughty warrior.

There is no escape for thee more; thee forthwith Pallas Minerva

By my spear subdues: now at once shalt thou expiate all

The agonies of my companions-whom with the spear in thy fury thou did'st slay."

The combat-though we know it must be fatal to Hector-is not felt to be altogether hopeless on his part, because of the uplifting of our spirits by the return of his heroism to its former high pitch, and because of the love and admiration with which we regard his character, that has sustained no loss from his god-driven flight thrice round the towers of the city which his valour was unavailing to save. There is now glory accumulated on glory around each illustrious crest. Hector's has not been “shorn of its beams" by any disgrace. His flight is more than forgiven; and we admire him more now than when he

set fire to the fleet. It has been said that Homer was partial to Hector. So are all men. But believe us when we say, that his favourite was Achilles. He in all things was the greater spirit. From whom would he have fled? Not from Mars and Bellona. One qualm of fear would have destroyed that transcendent ideal of unconquerable will. But he was invulnerable. Would that in our boyhood we had never been confounded by that lie! He was of all the heroes who fought before Troy the sole Doom'd Man, yet never knew he fear within the perpetual shadows of death. But again behold Achilles!

NORTH.

Achilles too rush'd forward, and his soul he fill'd with anger
Savage, and his breast his shield o'er-spread,

Beautiful, Dædalean: with his shining helm he nodded
Four-coned, waved were the beautiful hairs

Of-gold, which in profusion Vulcan around the crest had placed.
Such as when among the stars at the milking-time of night comes forth the star
Hesperus,* which is placed in the firmament the brightest star;
In like manner beam'd (the light) from the well-pointed spear which Achilles
Brandish'd in his right-hand, planning evil to the noble Hector,

Looking-into his beautiful body, where it might yield (to the spear-point) most easily:

CHAPMAN.

So fell in Hector; and at him Achilles; his mind's fare

Was fierce and mighty; his shield cast a sun-like radiance;

Helm nodded; and his four plumes shook; and when he raised his lance,

Up Hesperus rose 'mongst th' evening stars! His bright and sparkling eyes

Look't through the body of his foe, &c.

L

Refulgent orb! Above his fourfold cone
The gilded horse-hair sparkled in the sun,
Nodding at every step: (Vulcanian frame!)
And as he moved his figure seem'd on flame.
As radiant Hesper shines with keener light,
Far-beaming o'er the silver host of night,
When all the starry train enblaze the sphere:
So shone the point of great Achilles' spear.
In his right hand he waves the weapon round,
Eyes the whole man, and meditates the wound.

COWPER.

Achilles opposite, with fellest ire,
Full-fraught came on; his shield, with various art
Divine portray'd, o'erspread his ample chest,
And on his radiant crest terrific waved,
By Vulcan spun, his crest of bushy gold.
Bright as, among the stars, the star of all
Most splendid, Hesperus, at midnight moves,
So in the right hand of Achilles beam'd
His brandish'd spear, while, meditating woe
To Hector, he explored his noble form,
Seeking where he was vulnerable most.

SOTHEBY.

Thus Hector rush'd, and as he onward flew,
The Son of Peleus gloried at the view:
Before his breast, with outstretch'd arm upraised,
The shield that brightly in its horror blazed:
And, while his heart boil'd with o'erflowing ire,
Rush'd like the fierceness of consuming fire.
On as th' avenger in his terror trod,
His casque, four-coned, the wonder of the God,
In restless motion round about him roll'd
The fulness of its hairs that blazed with gold.
As Hesper's star, the brightest of the bright,
Outshines heaven's radiant host at dead of night:
Thus, vibrated aloft, the Pelian lance
Shot from its sharpen'd point the lightning glance,
While stern Achilles keenly eyed the foe,
And paused upon the meditated blow.

All the versions are very nobleChapman's the most so-then perhaps Sotheby's, which is more liberal than usual, but splendid;-but take your choice of the four, heroic reader of Homer. Such combat soon comes to a close. The "ashen beam"

is driven through his throat-but it takes not from Hector-now lying in the dust-the power of utterance. You must be contented with the colloquy in prose-perhaps it may be felt more touching so than in " numerous verse."

NORTH.

In the dust, therefore, he fell, and over him gloried the illustrious Achilles,-
"Once wert thou wont to think, Hector, when despoiling-the-slain Patroclus,
That thou should'st be safe, and nought stood'st in awe of me when absent.
Fool! I, his avenger, mightier far (than thou) apart,

At the hollow ships was left behind

And have unnerved thy limbs: thee, indeed, the dogs and birds of prey
Shall tear unseemly, him shall the Greeks bury-with-due-funeral rites."
Him, the waving-plume-helm'd Hector exhausted, addressed :-
"By thy life, by thy knees, and by thy parents-thee I supplicate;
Let not the dogs of the Greeks at the hollow ships tear-and-devour me
Brass in abundance, and gold, do thou receive

As gifts, which my father and my venerable mother will give thee;
But send home my body, that of a funeral pyre, me,
When dead, the Trojans and Trojan matrons may make a partaker."
Tim, eyeing sternly, the swift-footed Achilles, addressed!-

'Dog, me supplicate-not-embracing-my-knees, by my knees, nor by my parents. Vould that my rage and fury would by any means permit me

To chop and devour thy raw flesh, for what thou hast done to me.

No-not even if ten or twenty-fold-equally-great ransoms

Were they to bring hither and place (in the balance), and promise others besides :
No, were he even to counterpoise thy body with gold,

Priam, the son of Dardanus; - not even thus should thy venerable mother,
Having placed thee on thy bier, lament him whom she bore ;
But dogs, and birds of prey, shall thoroughly devour thee."
Him, the waving-plume-helm'd Hector dying, addressed :-
"Knowing thee well, I foresaw, indeed, that never should I
Persuade thee; assuredly within thee is a spirit of steel.

Beware now, lest towards thee I become the subject-of-anger to the gods
On that day, when Paris and Phœbus Apollo, thee,

Brave though thou be, shall destroy in the Scæan gate."
Him, while thus speaking, the completion of death veil'd;
And his spirit flying from his limbs to Ades descended,-
Its fate bewailing in having left the robustness and vigour of youth.
Him also, when dead, the illustrious Achilles address'd:-

"Die! fate will I then receive whenever

Jove may wish to bring it about, and the other immortal gods."
He said, and from the corpse he drew the brazen spear,

And placed it apart; and from his (Hector's) shoulders forced away his armour,
Blood-stained; around him hastened the other sons of the Greeks,

Who gazed-with-wonder on the size and the grand form

Of Hector: nor did any approach without-inflicting-a-wound (on the corpse);
And each, as he looked to his neighbour, thus spoke :-
"Ha! ha! assuredly much more gentle in being handled

Is Hector, than when he fired the fleet with glowing flames."

Thus, indeed, spoke each; and, standing near, inflicted wounds.

This is tragical-for it is surcharged with pity and terror. We weep for the dying Hero, whose last words betray the anguish of nature, for his own miserable fate even beyond the sable flood, -for the wretchedness of his father and mother, in vain longing for his corpse, which is out of the reach of ransom. There is no savage spirit of revenge in the prophecy that expires on his lips ;it is almost a passionless prediction of death to one who feared not death -an enunciation of the will of heaven about to be executed by a god. It adds to the greatness of Achilles; for he was not to fall by the unaided arrow of such a person as Paris, but to receive the winged fate from Phœbus Apollo; and what moral sublimity in the answer of "the dreadless angel!"

"Die Thou the first! when Jove and

Heaven ordain

I follow thee, he said, and stripp'd the slain."

And what must we say of the behaviour of the common soldiers? Eustathius tells us that Homer introduces them wounding the dead body of Hector, in order to mitigate the cruelties which Achilles exercises upon it; for if every common soldier takes a pride in giving him a wound, what insults may we not expect from

the inexorable inflamed Achilles? Pope, whose notes are almost all good, confesses himself unable to vindicate Homer in giving us such an idea of his countrymen; for what they say over Hector's body is a mean insult, and the stabs they give it are cowardly and barbarous. We cannot deny the truth of Pope's remark. But vulgar souls-and there were many such, doubtless, who fought at Troy as well as at Waterloo -are subject to strange fits of vulgar passion; and their own mean nature will at times suddenly ooze out, repressed, for the most part, by the glorious deeds, looks, and words of the Heroes. They misunderstood the character and conduct of Achilles. They beheld him triumphing, exulting, insulting, over Hector. But they knew not, neither could they conceive, the trouble of his soul-to them the flashings of his eyes were a mystery-they comprehended not, even in his agonies, his own sublime submission to the decrees of heaven. See

ing how, "with visage all inflamed,"
Achilles
incensed stood," they
caught the contagion of his ire-but
the fever falling into baser blood, it
boiled up in unworthy outrage; they
grew sarcastic, and they stabbed,
and lo! Hector lies beneath ther
brutalities,
"Smear'd with gore, and ghastly pal!"