Iliad
23. 1-61
主題: 該不該吃東西?
第23卷非常有名，是古代喪禮儀式的紀錄，此外也記載各種體育競技。一開場，希臘大軍一起哭泣，Achilles的引導下。大家騎馬遶行屍體三次，然後，宰羊宰豬，為大家準備豐盛的喪禮晚宴。
這時Achilles前往Agamemnon的住處，Agamemnon要士兵架三角鼎，準備火堆，燒熱水給Achilles洗去身上的污血，但是Achilles拒絕，並且發誓在Patroclus 喪禮完成之前，絕不讓洗澡水把他的頭髮沾溼，也且他要剪下一綹頭髮，獻給Patroclus。
此外，Achilles認為此刻悲痛，若不是因為需要，不應該吃晚餐。
就他看來，因為Patroclus之死，甚麼事都該暫停，只有戰爭與報仇之事不可停。
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αὐτὰρ τόν γε ἄνακτα ποδώκεα
Πηλεΐωνα
εἰς Ἀγαμέμνονα δῖον ἄγον
βασιλῆες Ἀχαιῶν
σπουδῇ παρπεπιθόντες ἑταίρου
χωόμενον κῆρ.
οἳ δ᾽ ὅτε δὴ κλισίην Ἀγαμέμνονος
ἷξον ἰόντες,
αὐτίκα κηρύκεσσι
λιγυφθόγγοισι κέλευσαν
ἀμφὶ πυρὶ στῆσαι τρίποδα
μέγαν, εἰ πεπίθοιεν
Πηλεΐδην λούσασθαι ἄπο
βρότον αἱματόεντα.
αὐτὰρ ὅ γ᾽ ἠρνεῖτο στερεῶς,
ἐπὶ δ᾽ ὅρκον ὄμοσσεν:
‘οὐ μὰ Ζῆν᾽, ὅς τίς τε θεῶν
ὕπατος καὶ ἄριστος,
οὐ θέμις ἐστὶ λοετρὰ
καρήατος ἆσσον ἱκέσθαι
πρίν γ᾽ ἐνὶ Πάτροκλον
θέμεναι πυρὶ σῆμά τε χεῦαι
κείρασθαί τε κόμην, ἐπεὶ οὔ
μ᾽ ἔτι δεύτερον ὧδε
ἵξετ᾽ ἄχος κραδίην ὄφρα ζωοῖσι
μετείω.
ἀλλ᾽ ἤτοι νῦν μὲν στυγερῇ
πειθώμεθα δαιτί:
ἠῶθεν δ᾽ ὄτρυνον ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν
Ἀγάμεμνον
ὕλην τ᾽ ἀξέμεναι παρά τε
σχεῖν ὅσσ᾽ ἐπιεικὲς
νεκρὸν ἔχοντα νέεσθαι ὑπὸ
ζόφον ἠερόεντα,
ὄφρ᾽ ἤτοι τοῦτον μὲν ἐπιφλέγῃ
ἀκάματον πῦρ
θᾶσσον ἀπ᾽ ὀφθαλμῶν, λαοὶ δ᾽
ἐπὶ ἔργα τράπωνται. (Iliad
23:35-53)
Then Achaean leaders led
the swift-footed prince,
son of Peleus, to lord
Agamemnon.
They had trouble convincing
him to go there—
his heart was still so
angry for his comrade.
Reaching Agamemnon’s hut, they
issued orders
for clear-voiced heralds to
heat up a large cauldron,
to see if they could
persuade Peleus’ son to wash,
to rinse off the spattered
blood. In his stubbornness,
he refused to do that, swearing
this oath:
“By Zeus,
highest and most excellent
of all gods,
it’s not right that water
touch my head,
until I’ve laid Patroclus
on his fire,
piled up a burial mound,
and shaved my hair,
since such grief will never
reach my heart
a second time, not while I
still remain
among the living. But for
the moment,
let’s agree to dine, though
I hate to eat.
In the morning, Agamemnon,
king of men,
you must urge men to gather
wood, arrange
all things required for a
man who’s died,
as he goes below to murky
darkness,
so tireless fires can
cremate him quickly
and remove him from our
sight. Then soldiers
can resume their duties.”
_____________
λουτρόν bath, bathing-place
κόμη hair of the head
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- Boar hunting and funeral games. Francois Vase. The top scene shows Atalanta and Meleager hunting the boar that terrorized Calydon in Aetolia. The lower frieze shows the galloping chariots of the funeral games of Patroclus at Troy with the prizes depicted among them. By Cleitias / Kleitias, ca. 570 B.C. Florence, Museo Archeologico, 4209.
