Iliad by Homer - Join iZDOT

Homer’s Iliad
on the spits, roasting them sufficiently, and then drawing them off.
When they had done all this and had prepared the feast, they ate it,
and every man had his full and equal share, so that all were
satisfied, and King Agamemnon gave Ajax some slices cut
lengthways down the loin, as a mark of special honour. As soon as
they had had enough to cat and drink, old Nestor whose counsel
was ever truest began to speak; with all sincerity and goodwill,
therefore, he addressed them thus:-
“Son of Atreus, and other chieftains, inasmuch as many of the
Achaeans are now dead, whose blood Mars has shed by the banks
of the Scamander, and their souls have gone down to the house of
Hades, it will be well when morning comes that we should cease
fighting; we will then wheel our dead together with oxen and
mules and burn them not far from the ships, that when we sail
hence we may take the bones of our comrades home to their
children. Hard by the funeral pyre we will build a barrow that shall
be raised from the plain for all in common; near this let us set
about building a high wall, to shelter ourselves and our ships, and
let it have well-made gates that there may be a way through them
for our chariots. Close outside we will dig a deep trench all round
it to keep off both horse and foot, that the Trojan chieftains may not
bear hard upon us.”
Thus he spoke, and the princess shouted in applause. Meanwhile
the Trojans held a council, angry and full of discord, on the
acropolis by the gates of King Priam’s palace; and wise Antenor
spoke. “Hear me he said, “Trojans, Dardanians, and allies, that I
may speak even as I am minded. Let us give up Argive Helen and
her wealth to the sons of Atreus, for we are now fighting in
136