Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE ILIAD: BOOK 16. THE DEATH OF PATROCLUS, by HOMER


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THE ILIAD: BOOK 16. THE DEATH OF PATROCLUS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: But hector, when he saw great-heart patroclus
Last Line: The gods gave peleus as a glorious gift.
Subject(s): Mythology - Classical; Trojan War


BUT Hector, when he saw great-heart Patroclus
Retiring wounded by the pointed bronze,
Came near him through the ranks, and plunged a spear
Into his groin, and ran the head clean through.
Thundering he fell, and on the Achaean host
Brought huge dismay. And as a lion in fight
O'ercomes a strenuous boar, when both of them
Fight in their pride upon the mountain peaks
Over a scanty water whereat both
Are bent on drinking, and the panting boar
Is mastered by the lion in his strength;
So from Menoetius' valiant son, when he
Had slaughtered many, Hector, Priam's son,
Took life away, with a close thrust of spear.
And boasting over him spoke winged words:
'Patroclus, thou didst think to sack my city,
And rob the Trojan dames of freedom's day,
And bear them off in ships to thine own land.
Fool! for in front of them the galloping steeds
Of Hector strain to war, and I myself
Am the best spear among the fighting Trojans
To keep from them the day of servitude.
But thee, the vultures shall devour thee here,
O luckless man! Achilles in his valour
Avails thee not, who, when thou camest and he
Remained behind, must have adjured thee straitly:
"Come not, Patroclus, master of the horse,
Back to the hollow ships, I bid thee, till
Thou gash the bloody tunic on the breast
Of murderous Hector." So, for sure, said he,
And he beguiled thee in thy foolishness.'

Then feebly, knight Patroclus, didst thou say:
'Now boast thy biggest, Hector, for to thee
Have Zeus Cronion and Apollo given
The triumph, and have slain me without effort,
For they it was who took my armour from me.
But if a score of men like thee had met me,
Here should they all have perished by my spear.
No! deadly Fate and Leto's son have killed me,
And then, of men, Euphorbus; in my slaying
Thou art but third. And one thing more have I
To say, and do thou lay it to thy heart.
I say thou hast not long to live thyself,
But death and potent fate stand close beside thee,
And thou art doomed to be subdued before
Achilles, matchless son of AEacus.'
The end of death enclosed him as he spoke,
And fleeting from his limbs his spirit was gone
To Hades' house, bewailing what befell it
And leaving manliness and youth behind.
Dead as he was to him said glorious Hector:
'Patroclus, why dost thou presage to me
A sudden end? who knows but that Achilles,
The son of fine-haired Thetis, may not first
Be stricken by my spear and lose his life?'

So saying upon the dead he set his foot,
And pulled the point of bronze out of the wound,
And thrust him backward from the spear. Anon
Taking the spear he chased Automedon
The godlike squire of swift AEacides,
For he was keen to smite him; but away
Those swift immortal horses bore him, which
The gods gave Peleus as a glorious gift.





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