Iliad by Homer - Join iZDOT

Homer’s Iliad
Achilles grasp his double cup, drawing wine from a mixing-bowl
of gold, and calling upon the spirit of dead Patroclus as he poured
it upon the ground until the earth was drenched. As a father
mourns when he is burning the bones of his bridegroom son whose
death has wrung the hearts of his parents, even so did Achilles
mourn while burning the body of his comrade, pacing round the
bier with piteous groaning and lamentation.
At length as the Morning Star was beginning to herald the light
which saffron-mantled Dawn was soon to suffuse over the sea, the
flames fell and the fire began to die. The winds then went home
beyond the Thracian sea, which roared and boiled as they swept
over it. The son of Peleus now turned away from the pyre and lay
down, overcome with toil, till he fell into a sweet slumber.
Presently they who were about the son of Atreus drew near in a
body, and roused him with the noise and tramp of their coming. He
sat upright and said, “Son of Atreus, and all other princes of the
Achaeans, first pour red wine everywhere upon the fire and
quench it; let us then gather the bones of Patroclus son of
Menoetius, singling them out with care; they are easily found, for
they lie in the middle of the pyre, while all else, both men and
horses, has been thrown in a heap and burned at the outer edge.
We will lay the bones in a golden urn, in two layers of fat, against
the time when I shall myself go down into the house of Hades. As
for the barrow, labour not to raise a great one now, but such as is
reasonable. Afterwards, let those Achaeans who may be left at the
ships when I am gone, build it both broad and high.”
Thus he spoke and they obeyed the word of the son of Peleus. First
they poured red wine upon the thick layer of ashes and quenched
450