20180201 Iliad 24. 411-421

ὦ τέκος, ἦ ῥ᾽ ἀγαθὸν καὶ ἐναίσιμα δῶρα διδοῦναι

ἀθανάτοις, ἐπεὶ οὔ ποτ᾽ ἐμὸς πάϊς, εἴ ποτ᾽ ἔην γε,

λήθετ᾽ ἐνὶ μεγάροισι θεῶν οἳ Ὄλυμπον ἔχουσι:

τώ οἱ ἀπεμνήσαντο καὶ ἐν θανάτοιό περ αἴσῃ.

My Child, a good thing truly is it to give to the immortals such as are due them; far never did my son—if ever in fact he was—forget in our halls the gods hold Olympus; so they have rememnbered this for him, even though he is in the doom of death.

慢慢讀荷馬史詩《伊里亞德》最後一卷，聆聽人與人之間的對話、觀察天地神之奧妙、以及思考生與死的意義。老國王Priam在喪子之痛的悲傷情緒中，堅持諸般應盡禮儀，得到神祗幫助，Hermes扮成年輕人安慰與鼓勵Priam，當Priam知道長子Hector之屍首仍完好，感謝眾神之眷顧—看顧兒子之生死。

若只在意失去的，擔心沒有擁有的，就會放不下生死；但是若是感謝遇到的每一件事、珍惜現在擁有的一切，就不會害怕失去。

欣賞這位特洛伊老國王的雍容大度、修養與智慧。

下面圖文出處:　 http://www.towntopics.com/nov1605/art.html

VERY HUMAN ARM: Priam kissing the hand that killed his son in Joseph Wencker's "Priam at the Feet of Achilles," which can be seen at the Princeton Art Museum's current exhibition, "The Legacy of Homer: Four Centuries of Art from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris." Presented in collaboration with the Dahesh Museum of Art in New York City, the show will run through January 15, 2006. It was organized by École curator Emmanuel Schwartz and coordinated at Princeton by Betsy Rosasco, research curator of later Western art.

20180130 Iliad 24. 411-421

20180130  Iliad 24. 411-421

 ‘ὦ γέρον οὔ πω τόν γε κύνες φάγον οὐδ᾽ οἰωνοί,

ἀλλ᾽ ἔτι κεῖνος κεῖται Ἀχιλλῆος παρὰ νηῒ

αὔτως ἐν κλισίῃσι: δυωδεκάτη δέ οἱ ἠὼς

κειμένῳ, οὐδέ τί οἱ χρὼς σήπεται, οὐδέ μιν εὐλαὶ

ἔσθουσ᾽, αἵ ῥά τε φῶτας ἀρηϊφάτους κατέδουσιν.

ἦ μέν μιν περὶ σῆμα ἑοῦ ἑτάροιο φίλοιο

ἕλκει ἀκηδέστως ἠὼς ὅτε δῖα φανήῃ,

οὐδέ μιν αἰσχύνει: θηοῖό κεν αὐτὸς ἐπελθὼν

οἷον ἐερσήεις κεῖται, περὶ δ᾽ αἷμα νένιπται,

οὐδέ ποθι μιαρός: σὺν δ᾽ ἕλκεα πάντα μέμυκεν

ὅσσ᾽ ἐτύπη: πολέες γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ χαλκὸν ἔλασσαν.

Old sir, not yet have dogs and birds devoured him, but he still lies there beside the ship of Achilles among the huts as he was at the first; and this is now the twelfth day that he lies there, yet his flesh decays not at all, nor do worms coonsume it, such as feed on men slain in battle. To be sure Achilles drags him ruthlessly about the mound of his dear comrades, but he mars him not; you would yoursled marvel, were you to come and see how dew-fresh he lies, and is washed clean of blood, not is he anywhere stained; and all the wounds are closed with which he was struck, for many there were who drove the bronze into his flesh.

老人家問眼前的這位帥哥—其實是Hermes假扮的—唯一的問題，也是他此刻出現在敵營的目的: Hector的屍體狀況。Hermes既然是神，地上發生的事都倆若指掌，提供十分完善資訊：

時間—Hector死後第十二天。

地點—在Achilles營帳旁邊。

狀況—完好如初。沒成被野狗或是飛鳥吃掉，身體也沒被蟲蛀蝕。

細節—儘管每天白天Achilles拖著Hecot屍體示威，但是Hector沒被解體、也沒變形。身上的血已經洗乾淨、被無數銅製兵器擊傷的傷口也都癒合。

這是神蹟? 還是因為當時天氣狀況，屍體歷經12天都不會發臭或腐爛? 還是古代有特殊方法保存屍體?

下面圖文出處:　 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector#/media/File:Hector_brought_back_to_Troy.jpg　

Hector brought back to Troy, from a Roman sarcophagus of c. 180–200 AD

20180127  Iliad 24. 372-377

τὸν δ᾽ ἠμείβετ᾽ ἔπειτα γέρων Πρίαμος θεοειδής:

‘οὕτω πῃ τάδε γ᾽ ἐστὶ φίλον τέκος ὡς ἀγορεύεις.

ἀλλ᾽ ἔτι τις καὶ ἐμεῖο θεῶν ὑπερέσχεθε χεῖρα,

ὅς μοι τοιόνδ᾽ ἧκεν ὁδοιπόρον ἀντιβολῆσαι

αἴσιον, οἷος δὴ σὺ δέμας καὶ εἶδος ἀγητός,

πέπνυσαί τε νόῳ, μακάρων δ᾽ ἔξεσσι τοκήων.

Then the old man, godlike Priam, answered him: Just so, dear son, are all these things as you say. But still some god has stretched out his hand even over me, since he has sent a wayfarer such as you to meet me, a good omen, so wondrous in form and beauty, and you are wised in understanding; happy parents are they from who you are sprung.

《伊里亞德》提到的老人(γέρων) Priam，也有神的光燁 (θεοειδής)，儘管內心無比恐懼，為了摯愛的長子，仍隻身夜奔敵營。此時，Hermes佯裝一位美男子，親切地陪伴與鼓勵Priam。Priam把這位「旅伴」(ὁδοιπόρος a wayfarer, traveller)當成此刻的貴人，是神的出手相助，感謝這位俊美、有禮、善解人意的旅伴，並祝福他的家人。

Priam是多麼佩服的典範，即使在患難中仍不抱怨，心存感激，敬天，並善待他人。

μάκαρ blessed, happy

下面圖文出處: http://www.maicar.com/GML/000Iconography/Hermes/slides/8235detail.html

Priam | 8235 (detail): Priam (right); the other perhaps Achilles’ attendant or Hermes. Red-figured cup. Athens c. 480 BC. British Museum, London.

20180125 Iliad 24. 359-361

ὣς φάτο, σὺν δὲ γέροντι νόος χύτο, δείδιε δ᾽ αἰνῶς,

ὀρθαὶ δὲ τρίχες ἔσταν ἐνὶ γναμπτοῖσι μέλεσσι,

στῆ δὲ ταφών:

So he spoke, and the old man’s mind was thrown into confusion, and he was dreadfully afraid, and straight up stood the hair on his pliant limbs, and he stood in a daze.

《伊里亞德》提到的老人(γέροντι)通常是指Priam，為了長子Hector的屍首，老人夜奔敵營，實在是了不起。但是，老人的內心恐懼、焦慮，甚至心智昏亂，這裡描述老人家嚇到頭髮(τρίχες)豎起，腿(μέλεσσι)發軟，整個人呆掉。

但是，不會因為害怕就畏縮不前進。

下面圖文出處: https://www.ebts.org/2014/01/boxwood-in-classical-times-the-greeks-by-mark-v-braimbridge/

Silver cup showing Priam imploring Achilles to return the body of Hector (Photo: Courtesy National Museum, Copenhagen)

20180121 Iliad 24. 275-280

ἐκ θαλάμου δὲ φέροντες ἐϋξέστης ἐπ᾽ ἀπήνης

νήεον Ἑκτορέης κεφαλῆς ἀπερείσι᾽ ἄποινα,

ζεῦξαν δ᾽ ἡμιόνους κρατερώνυχας ἐντεσιεργούς,

τούς ῥά ποτε Πριάμῳ Μυσοὶ δόσαν ἀγλαὰ δῶρα.

ἵππους δὲ Πριάμῳ ὕπαγον ζυγόν, οὓς ὃ γεραιὸς

αὐτὸς ἔχων ἀτίταλλεν ἐϋξέστῃ ἐπὶ φάτνῃ.

Then they brought out from the treasure chamber and heaped on the polished wagon the countless ransom for Hector’s head, and yoked the strong-hoofed mules that toil in harness, which once the Mysians had given to Priam, a glorious gift. And for Priam they led beneath the yoke horses that the old king kept for his own and reared the polished stall.

備好騾車，又從庫房拿出數不完的寶藏當贖金 (ἄποινα)，推放在車裡。這裡強調這部騾車整理的極佳(ἐϋξέστης)，ἀπήνης通常指四輪的車。還使用十分特別的馬具，據說是小亞細亞Mysia人送的禮物。

從上述的文字，老國王還另外其一匹好馬。

下面圖文出處: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46216/46216-h/46216-h.htm#Page_30

書名是: Carriages & Coaches: Their History & Their Evolution

Assyrian Chariot

(From Smith’s “Concise History of English Carriages”)

20180120 Iliad 24. 265-270

ὣς ἔφαθ᾽, οἳ δ᾽ ἄρα πατρὸς ὑποδείσαντες ὁμοκλὴν

ἐκ μὲν ἄμαξαν ἄειραν ἐΰτροχον ἡμιονείην

καλὴν πρωτοπαγέα, πείρινθα δὲ δῆσαν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῆς,

κὰδ δ᾽ ἀπὸ πασσαλόφι ζυγὸν ᾕρεον ἡμιόνειον

πύξινον ὀμφαλόεν εὖ οἰήκεσσιν ἀρηρός:

ἐκ δ᾽ ἔφερον ζυγόδεσμον ἅμα ζυγῷ ἐννεάπηχυ.

So he spoke, and they, seized with fear of their father’s rebuke, brought out the light-running mule wagon, fair and newly made, and bound on it the wicker box; and down from its peg they took the mule yoke, a boxwood yoke with a knob on it, well fitted with guiding rings; and they brought out the yoke band of nine cubits, and with it the yoke.

Priam的小孩阻止父親不成，立即幫父親準備「騾車」(ἡμιονείην)，這一部騾車是新制的、也很美觀，用這部騾車運用贖金與禮物給Achilles，才顯得氣派與誠意。荷馬史詩出現「騾車」三次左右 (Od. 6.72, Iliad 24.189，Iliad 24.266)，也說明古希臘已經使用騾當交通運輸工具。

   這一段詳細記載這部「騾車」(ἡμιονείην)的設備：有一個柳條箱(πείρινθα)，應該是用來裝物品。此外有車軛(ζυγὸν)，以木樁(πασσαλόφι)固定；此外在軛的上面有把手(ὀμφαλόεν)，捆著長9單位(ἐννεάπηχυ)長的軛帶。

下圖與文字出處: http://mulography.co.uk/?p=1017

Mules pulling a cisium.

20180118 Iliad 24. 228-235

ὤ μοι ἐγὼ πανάποτμος, ἐπεὶ τέκον υἷας ἀρίστους

Τροίῃ ἐν εὐρείῃ, τῶν δ᾽ οὔ τινά φημι λελεῖφθαι,

Μήστορά τ᾽ ἀντίθεον καὶ Τρωΐλον ἱππιοχάρμην

Ἕκτορά θ᾽, ὃς θεὸς ἔσκε μετ᾽ ἀνδράσιν, οὐδὲ ἐῴκει

ἀνδρός γε θνητοῦ πάϊς ἔμμεναι ἀλλὰ θεοῖο.

Woe is me, who am completely ill-fated, since I begot sons the best in the broad land of Troy, yet of them I say that not one is left, not god-like Mestor, not Troilus the warrior charioteer, not Hector who was a god among men, nor did he seem the son of a mortal man, but of a god.

特洛伊國王悲痛自己的小孩的離世，這裡提到其中的三位: Mestor，Troilus, 和Hector。Mestor被形容成: “not god-like” (ἀντίθεον)，和Hector是對比的，顯然Hector卓越非凡，彷彿神降世人間。

  我思考，一個人散發「神」的氣質，是史詩中的美學觀，那種生命的特質與光芒是神聖的、超凡的。

圖片出處http://www.grethexis.com/achilles-stunning-encounter-priam-king-troy/