Odyssey 8.499-520 Trojan horse

主題: 巨大的木馬

吟唱詩人，是說故事，也唱歌，在《奧德賽》第八卷，宮廷吟唱詩人Demodocus吟唱三個故事：Achilles和Agamemnon爭執、Hephaestus抓住Ares、和木馬屠城的故事。第499-520行，記載著Demodocus受到神啟，開始吟唱，故事從希臘人縱火燒毀他們的營寨，眾人和Odysseus一起藏在木馬。此刻特洛伊人已將木馬拖進衛城廣場(ἀγορῇ)，他們討論該如何處置木馬，有三種主要方法: 第一，用銅劍刺穿中空的木馬；第二，把木馬推到懸岩下；第三，把它是做寶貴之物，把留下來，取悅神明。最後決議第三方案，也註定

國破城亡命運。

   大家還不知道現場聽故事的客人就是Odysseus，但是看到Odysseus淚流滿面，就請吟唱詩人就此打住。國王這才開始問Odysseus究竟是誰。

   《伊里亞特》只寫到Hector的葬禮，史詩沒有直接寫木馬屠城的故事，這裡是間接用故事中的故事，點出這一段著名的木馬屠城記。

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0135%3Abook%3D8%3Acard%3D469

ὣς φάθ᾽, ὁ δ᾽ ὁρμηθεὶς θεοῦ ἤρχετο, φαῖνε δ᾽ ἀοιδήν,

ἔνθεν ἑλὼν ὡς οἱ μὲν ἐυσσέλμων ἐπὶ νηῶν

βάντες ἀπέπλειον, πῦρ ἐν κλισίῃσι βαλόντες,

Ἀργεῖοι, τοὶ δ᾽ ἤδη ἀγακλυτὸν ἀμφ᾽ Ὀδυσῆα

ἥατ᾽ ἐνὶ Τρώων ἀγορῇ κεκαλυμμένοι ἵππῳ:

αὐτοὶ γάρ μιν Τρῶες ἐς ἀκρόπολιν ἐρύσαντο.

ὣς ὁ μὲν ἑστήκει, τοὶ δ᾽ ἄκριτα πόλλ᾽ ἀγόρευον

ἥμενοι ἀμφ᾽ αὐτόν: τρίχα δέ σφισιν ἥνδανε βουλή,

ἠὲ διαπλῆξαι κοῖλον δόρυ νηλέι χαλκῷ,

ἢ κατὰ πετράων βαλέειν ἐρύσαντας ἐπ᾽ ἄκρης,

ἢ ἐάαν μέγ᾽ ἄγαλμα θεῶν θελκτήριον εἶναι,

τῇ περ δὴ καὶ ἔπειτα τελευτήσεσθαι ἔμελλεν:

αἶσα γὰρ ἦν ἀπολέσθαι, ἐπὴν πόλις ἀμφικαλύψῃ

δουράτεον μέγαν ἵππον, ὅθ᾽ ἥατο πάντες ἄριστοι

Ἀργείων Τρώεσσι φόνον καὶ κῆρα φέροντες.

ἤειδεν δ᾽ ὡς ἄστυ διέπραθον υἷες Ἀχαιῶν

ἱππόθεν ἐκχύμενοι, κοῖλον λόχον ἐκπρολιπόντες.

ἄλλον δ᾽ ἄλλῃ ἄειδε πόλιν κεραϊζέμεν αἰπήν,

αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσῆα προτὶ δώματα Δηιφόβοιο

βήμεναι, ἠύτ᾽ Ἄρηα σὺν ἀντιθέῳ Μενελάῳ.

κεῖθι δὴ αἰνότατον πόλεμον φάτο τολμήσαντα

νικῆσαι καὶ ἔπειτα διὰ μεγάθυμον Ἀθήνην.  (Odyssey 8. 499-520)

字彙:

ἀοιδή: song

εὔσελμος: well-benched

ἀποπλέω: sail away, sail off

ἀγορά: assembly

καλύπτω: cover

ἵππος: horse

διαπλήσσω: break in pieces, split

κοῖλος: hollow

δόρυ: stem, tree, wood

χαλκός: copper

πέτρα: rock

ἄγαλμα: glory, delight, honour

ἱππόθεν forth from the horse

 

http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odyssey8.htm

Odysseus spoke. And the minstrel, inspired by god,

began to sing to them, taking up the story   

at the point where Argives, having burned their huts

and gone on board their well-oared ships, were sailing off,   

while those warriors led by glorious Odysseus

were at Troy’s meeting ground, hidden in the horse.

Trojans had dragged the horse all by themselves

inside their citadel. It stood there, while Trojans

sat and talked around it, confused what they should do.

There were three different options people favoured—

to split the hollow wood apart with pitiless bronze,

or drag it to the heights and throw it from the rocks,

or let it stay there as a great offering to the gods,

something to assuage their anger. And that, indeed,

is what they finally did, for it was their fate

to be wiped out once they had within their city walls

a gigantic wooden horse in which lay hidden

all the finest Argives, bringing into Troy

death and destruction. Then Demodocus sang

how Achaea’s sons left their hollow hiding place,

poured from the horse, and then destroyed the city.

He sang about the various ways those warriors

laid waste that lofty city and how Odysseus,

like Ares, god of war, and godlike Menelaus    

went to the home of Deïphobus, where, he said,

Odysseus battled in the most horrendous fight,

from which he then emerged at last victorious,

thanks to assistance from Athena’s mighty heart. 

下面圖片與資料出處:  http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/month/mar2009.html

Continuation: the wooden horse of Troy (folio Q8v)

下面圖片與資料出處: http://www.humanitiesprogram.com/2010/06/trojan-horse.html

When the Trojans looked out from the city walls the next morning, they saw that the Greeks were gone. They came out of the city walls and went down to the shore where the Greek camp had stood, and there they found the wooden horse with a garland of flowers draped over its neck, just like an animal ready to be sacrificed to the gods.