Cómo empieza Homero

Achilles’ baneful wrath resound, O Goddess, that impos’d
Infinite sorrows on the Greeks, and many brave souls los’d.
From breasts heroic; sent them far to that invisible cave
That no light comforts; and their limbs to dogs and vultures gave;
To all which Jove’s will gave effect; from whom first strife begun
Betwixt Atrides, king of men, and Thetis’ godlike son.
What god gave Eris their command, and op’d that fighting vein?
Jove’s and Latona’s son: who fir’d against the king of men,
For contumély shown his priest, infectious sickness sent
To plague the army, and to death by troops the soldiers went.
Occasion’d thus: Chryses, the priest, came to the fleet to buy,
For presents of unvalu’d price, his daughter’s liberty;
The golden sceptre and the crown of Phœbus in his hands
Proposing; and made suit to all, but most to the commands
Of both th’ Atrides, who most rul’d. “Great Atreus’ sons,” said he,
“And all ye well-greav’d Greeks, the gods, whose habitations be
In heav’nly houses, grace your pow’rs with Priam’s razéd town,
And grant ye happy conduct home! To win which wish’d renown

Achilles’ wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber’d, heavenly goddess, sing!
That wrath which hurl’d to Pluto’s gloomy reign
The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain;
Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore,
Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore.[41]
Since great Achilles and Atrides strove,
Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove![42]
Declare, O Muse! in what ill-fated hour[43]
Sprung the fierce strife, from what offended power
Latona’s son a dire contagion spread,[44]
And heap’d the camp with mountains of the dead;
The king of men his reverent priest defied,[45]
And for the king’s offence the people died.
For Chryses sought with costly gifts to gain
His captive daughter from the victor’s chain.
Suppliant the venerable father stands;
Apollo’s awful ensigns grace his hands:

Achilles sing, O Goddess! Peleus’ son;
His wrath pernicious, who ten thousand woes
Caused to Achaia’s host, sent many a soul
Illustrious into Ades premature,
And Heroes gave (so stood the will of Jove)5
To dogs and to all ravening fowls a prey,
When fierce dispute had separated once
The noble Chief Achilles from the son
Of Atreus, Agamemnon, King of men.
Who them to strife impell’d? What power divine?10
Latona’s son and Jove’s.[1] For he, incensed
Against the King, a foul contagion raised
In all the host, and multitudes destroy’d,
For that the son of Atreus had his priest
Dishonored, Chryses. To the fleet he came15
Bearing rich ransom glorious to redeem
His daughter, and his hands charged with the wreath
And golden sceptre[2] of the God shaft-arm’d.

Cantami, o Diva, del Pelíde Achille
L’ira funesta che infiniti addusse
Lutti agli Achei, molte anzi tempo all’Orco
Generose travolse alme d’eroi,
E di cani e d’augelli orrido pasto
Lor salme abbandonò (così di Giove
L’alto consiglio s’adempía), da quando
Primamente disgiunse aspra contesa
Il re de’ prodi Atride e il divo Achille.
E qual de’ numi inimicolli? Il figlio
Di Latona e di Giove. Irato al Sire
Destò quel Dio nel campo un feral morbo,
E la gente pería: colpa d’Atride
Che fece a Crise sacerdote oltraggio.
Degli Achivi era Crise alle veloci
Prore venuto a riscattar la figlia
Con molto prezzo. In man le bende avea,
E l’aureo scettro dell’arciero Apollo:

Chante, déesse, du Pèlèiade Akhilleus la colère désastreuse, qui
de maux infinis accabla les Akhaiens, et précipita chez Aidès tant
de fortes âmes de héros, livrés eux-mêmes en pâture aux chiens et
à tous les oiseaux carnassiers. Et le dessein de Zeus
s'accomplissait ainsi, depuis qu'une querelle avait divisé
l'Atréide, roi des hommes, et le divin Akhilleus.
Qui d'entre les dieux les jeta dans cette dissension? Le fils de
Zeus et de Lètô. Irrité contre le roi, il suscita dans l'armée un
mal mortel, et les peuples périssaient, parce que l'Atréide avait
couvert d'opprobre Khrysès le sacrificateur.
Et celui-ci était venu vers les nefs rapides des Akhaiens pour
racheter sa fille; et, portant le prix infini de
l'affranchissement, et, dans ses mains, les bandelettes de
l'Archer Apollôn, suspendues au sceptre d'or, il conjura tous les
Akhaiens, et surtout les deux Atréides, princes des peuples:
-- Atréides, et vous, anciens aux belles knèmides, que les dieux

Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that
 brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did
 it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a
 prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Jove
 fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men,
 and great Achilles, first fell out with one another.
 And which of the gods was it that set them on to quarrel? It was
 the son of Jove and Leto; for he was angry with the king and sent
 a pestilence upon the host to plague the people, because the son
 of Atreus had dishonoured Chryses his priest. Now Chryses had
 come to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and had
 brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the
 sceptre of Apollo wreathed with a suppliant’s wreath, and he
 besought the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus,
 who were their chiefs.
 “Sons of Atreus,” he cried, “and all other Achaeans, may the gods
 who dwell in Olympus grant you to sack the city of Priam, and to
 reach your homes in safety; but free my daughter, and accept a

The man, O Muse, inform, that many a way[1]
Wound with his wisdom to his wished stay;
That wander’d wondrous far, when he the town
Of sacred Troy had sack’d and shiver’d down;
The cities of a world of nations,
With all their manners, minds, and fashions,
He saw and knew; at sea felt many woes,
Much care sustain’d, to save from overthrows
Himself and friends in their retreat for home;
But so their fates he could not overcome,
Though much he thirsted it. O men unwise,
They perish’d by their own impieties!
That in their hunger’s rapine would not shun
The oxen of the lofty-going Sun,

The man for wisdom’s various arts renown’d,
Long exercised in woes, O Muse! resound;
Who, when his arms had wrought the destined fall
Of sacred Troy, and razed her heaven-built wall,
Wandering from clime to clime, observant stray’d,
Their manners noted, and their states survey’d,
On stormy seas unnumber’d toils he bore,
Safe with his friends to gain his natal shore:
Vain toils! their impious folly dared to prey
On herds devoted to the god of day;
The god vindictive doom’d them never more
(Ah, men unbless’d!) to touch that natal shore.
Oh, snatch some portion of these acts from fate,
Celestial Muse! and to our world relate.

Muse make the man thy theme, for shrewdness famed
 And genius versatile, who far and wide
 A Wand'rer, after Ilium overthrown,
 Discover'd various cities, and the mind
 And manners learn'd of men, in lands remote.
 He num'rous woes on Ocean toss'd, endured,
 Anxious to save himself, and to conduct
 His followers to their home; yet all his care
 Preserved them not; they perish'd self-destroy'd
 By their own fault; infatuate! who devoured 10
 The oxen of the all-o'erseeing Sun,
 And, punish'd for that crime, return'd no more.
 Daughter divine of Jove, these things record,
 As it may please thee, even in our ears.

Musa, quell’uom di moltiforme ingegno
Dimmi, che molto errò, poich’ebbe a terra
Gittate d’Iliòn le sacre torri;
Che città vide molte, e delle genti
L’indol conobbe; che sovr’esso il mare
Molti dentro del cor sofferse affanni,
Mentre a guardar la cara vita intende,
E i suoi compagni a ricondur: ma indarno
Ricondur desiava i suoi compagni,
Che delle colpe lor tutti periro.
Stolti! che osaro vïolare i sacri
Al Sole Iperïon candidi buoi
Con empio dente, ed irritaro il Nume,
Che del ritorno il dì lor non addusse.

Dis-moi, Muse, cet homme subtil qui erra si longtemps, après qu'il
eut renversé la citadelle sacrée de Troiè. Et il vit les cités de
peuples nombreux, et il connut leur esprit; et, dans son coeur, il
endura beaucoup de maux, sur la mer, pour sa propre vie et le
retour de ses compagnons Mais il ne les sauva point, contre son
désir; et ils périrent par leur impiété, les insensés! ayant mangé
les boeufs de Hèlios Hypérionade. Et ce dernier leur ravit l'heure
du retour. Dis-moi une partie de ces choses, Déesse, fille de
Zeus. Tous ceux qui avaient évité la noire mort, échappés de la
guerre et de la mer, étaient rentrés dans leurs demeures; mais
Odysseus restait seul, loin de son pays et de sa femme, et la
vénérable Nymphe Kalypsô, la très-noble déesse, le retenait dans
ses grottes creuses, le désirant pour mari. Et quand le temps
vint, après le déroulement des années, où les Dieux voulurent

Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide
after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit,
and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was
acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his
own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could
not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in
eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them
from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, oh
daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.
So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely
home except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his
wife and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him
into a large cave and wanted to marry him. But as years went by, there
came a time when the gods settled that he should go back to Ithaca;

Tell me, Muse, of that man, so ready at need, who wandered far and
wide, after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy, and many were the
men whose towns he saw and whose mind he learnt, yea, and many the woes
he suffered in his heart upon the deep, striving to win his own life
and the return of his company. Nay, but even so he saved not his
company, though he desired it sore. For through the blindness of their
own hearts they perished, fools, who devoured the oxen of Helios
Hyperion: but the god took from them their day of returning. Of these
things, goddess, daughter of Zeus, whencesoever thou hast heard
thereof, declare thou even unto us.
Now all the rest, as many as fled from sheer destruction, were at home,
and had escaped both war and sea, but Odysseus only, craving for his
wife and for his homeward path, the lady nymph Calypso held, that fair
goddess, in her hollow caves, longing to have him for her lord. But