主題: Patroclus之死
Iliad 16. 777-867
第777行起，原本希臘人還佔上風，搶Cebriones的屍體。時間點，太陽西下耕牛下軛時(Iliad 16.779)，是一天三分之二的時間，通常指傍晚，Patroclus大展身手，每一次出手都殺九人，連續三次，但第四次出手時，Apollo出現，奪走Patroclus的戰袍，鋼盔落入Hector手中，長矛粉碎；瞬間Patroclus頭昏腦脹，往後退，Hector當機立斷，拿起大刀砍Patroclus的腹部。史詩用的比喻是: 兇猛的獅子總算戰勝不知疲憊的野豬，這兩頭兇猛的野獸搶甚麼? 水。獅子和野豬的高下早已分曉，水是有限的，非全力以赴，難以奪得。
臨死之前， Patroclus還是嗆聲，預告Hector會死在Achilles的手下。Hector最後還用腳踹Patroclus 的屍體，此刻Automedon 騎快馬運走屍體。這些神馬大有來頭，是眾神送給Peleus，作為他和Thetis結婚的賀禮。
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Ἕκτωρ δ᾽ ὡς εἶδεν Πατροκλῆα
μεγάθυμον
ἂψ ἀναχαζόμενον βεβλημένον ὀξέϊ
χαλκῷ,
ἀγχίμολόν ῥά οἱ ἦλθε κατὰ
στίχας, οὖτα δὲ δουρὶ
νείατον ἐς κενεῶνα, διὰ πρὸ
δὲ χαλκὸν ἔλασσε:
δούπησεν δὲ πεσών, μέγα δ᾽ ἤκαχε
λαὸν Ἀχαιῶν:
ὡς δ᾽ ὅτε σῦν ἀκάμαντα λέων
ἐβιήσατο χάρμῃ,
ὥ τ᾽ ὄρεος κορυφῇσι μέγα
φρονέοντε μάχεσθον
πίδακος ἀμφ᾽ ὀλίγης: ἐθέλουσι
δὲ πιέμεν ἄμφω:
πολλὰ δέ τ᾽ ἀσθμαίνοντα
λέων ἐδάμασσε βίηφιν:
ὣς πολέας πεφνόντα
Μενοιτίου ἄλκιμον υἱὸν
Ἕκτωρ Πριαμίδης σχεδὸν ἔγχεϊ
θυμὸν ἀπηύρα,
καί οἱ ἐπευχόμενος ἔπεα
πτερόεντα προσηύδα:
Πάτροκλ᾽ ἦ που ἔφησθα πόλιν
κεραϊξέμεν ἁμήν,
Τρωϊάδας δὲ γυναῖκας ἐλεύθερον
ἦμαρ ἀπούρας
ἄξειν ἐν νήεσσι φίλην ἐς
πατρίδα γαῖαν
νήπιε: τάων δὲ πρόσθ᾽ Ἕκτορος
ὠκέες ἵπποι
ποσσὶν ὀρωρέχαται
πολεμίζειν: ἔγχεϊ δ᾽ αὐτὸς
Τρωσὶ φιλοπτολέμοισι
μεταπρέπω, ὅ σφιν ἀμύνω
ἦμαρ ἀναγκαῖον: σὲ δέ τ᾽ ἐνθάδε
γῦπες ἔδονται.
ἆ δείλ᾽, οὐδέ τοι ἐσθλὸς ἐὼν
χραίσμησεν Ἀχιλλεύς,
ὅς πού τοι μάλα πολλὰ μένων
ἐπετέλλετ᾽ ἰόντι:
μή μοι πρὶν ἰέναι
Πατρόκλεες ἱπποκέλευθε
νῆας ἔπι γλαφυρὰς πρὶν Ἕκτορος
ἀνδροφόνοιο
αἱματόεντα χιτῶνα περὶ
στήθεσσι δαΐξαι.
ὥς πού σε προσέφη, σοὶ δὲ
φρένας ἄφρονι πεῖθε. (Iliad 16. 818-842)
But when Hector noticed
brave Patroclus going back,
wounded by sharp bronze, he
moved up through the ranks,
stood close to Patroclus
and struck him with his spear,
low in the stomach, driving
the bronze straight through.
Patroclus fell with a
crash, and Achaea’s army
was filled with anguish.
Just as a lion overcomes
a tireless wild boar in
combat, when both beasts
fight bravely in the
mountains over a small spring
where they both want to
drink, and the lion’s strength
brings down the panting
boar—that’s how Hector,
moving close in with his
spear, destroyed the life
of Menoetius’ noble son,
who’d killed so many men.
Then Hector spoke winged
words of triumph over him:
“Patroclus, you thought you’d raze our city,
robbing our women of their
life of freedom,
taking them in ships to
your dear native land.
You fool! In front of them,
Hector’s horses,
swift of foot, came out to
fight. With the spear
I’m the very best
war-loving Trojan,
and I’ve saved them from
their fatal day.
Now vultures will eat you
here. You poor wretch,
even Achilles, for all his
courage,
was no use to you. Though
he stayed behind,
he must have given you
strict orders as you left,
‘Don’t return to me, horseman Patroclus,
at the hollow ships, until
you’ve slashed blood
all over man-killing
Hector’s tunic
from his own chest.’
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以下圖片與資料出處: http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/automedon-with-the-horses-of-achilles-31014
Automedon with the Horses of Achilles
Regnault’s painting illustrates a story from Homer’s Iliad. Automedon,
chariot driver for the Greek warrior Achilles, restrains the horses Xanthos
(behind) and Balios, two beasts who could predict the future. As Regnault
wrote, “the horses, aware that their master link is taking them into combat,
and that this combat will be the last and will cost him his life, struggle and
wrest with the groom who has come to take them from their pasture. One of them,
chestnut brown, rises like a great dark phantom, outlining himself against the
sky. I wanted to give the picture a foretaste of disaster.”
Inscription
Lower left: H. Regnault / Rome. / 1868
Provenance
By 1872, acquired in France by Levi Parsons Morton (b. 1824 - d. 1920),
New York [see note 1]; March 1, 1882, Morton sale, George A. Leavitt and Co.,
New York, lot 157, to Samuel A. Coale, St. Louis, MO [see note 2]; 1890, sold
by Coale to the MFA for $1000. (Accession Date: June 17, 1890) NOTES: [1] The
painting was executed in Rome in 1867/1868 and sent by the artist to Paris.
Notes in the curatorial file indicate that Morton acquired it in France, where
he served as U.S. Minister, though how and when is not known. It was first
published as being in his possession by Henri Cazalès, "Henri Regnault: sa
vie et son oeuvre" (Paris, 1872), p. 141. [2] In 1883, Coale exhibited the
painting at William and Everett Gallery, Boston. It was on loan to the MFA from
1884 until 1890, during which time funds were raised for its purchase. See
Walter Muir Whitehill, "Museum of Fine Arts Boston: A Centennial
History" (Cambridge, MA, 1970), vol. 1, pp. 78–81.
