Death in the Iliad - 4

Book 4

Antilochus (A) kills Echepolus (T) (spear in the head) (4.529)

Agenor (T) kills Elephenor (A) (spear in the side) (4.543)

• The bold Antilochus the slaughter led,
• The first who struck a valiant Trojan dead:
• At great Echepolus the lance arrives,
• Razed his high crest, and through his helmet drives;
• Warm’d in the brain the brazen weapon lies,
• And shades eternal settle o’er his eyes.
• So sinks a tower, that long assaults had stood
• Of force and fire, its walls besmear’d with blood.
• Him, the bold leader of the Abantian throng,
• Seized to despoil, and dragg’d the corpse along:
• But while he strove to tug the inserted dart,
• Agenor’s javelin reach’d the hero’s heart.
• His flank, unguarded by his ample shield,
• Admits the lance: he falls, and spurns the field;
• The nerves, unbraced, support his limbs no more;
• The soul comes floating in a tide of gore.
• Trojans and Greeks now gather round the slain;
• The war renews, the warriors bleed again:
• As o’er their prey rapacious wolves engage,
• Man dies on man, and all is blood and rage.

Wilster (6. 457-472):

• Først Antilochos vog en tapper og malmklædt Troer,
• Djerv blandt Forstridshelte, Thalysios’ Søn Echepolos.
• Først hans haaromflagrede Hjelm i Spolen han ramte,
• Spydet i Panden ham foer, heelt ind gjennem Benet sig trængte
• Kobberets stingende Od, og Mulm omhylled hans Øine;
• Brat han faldt, som et styrtende Taarn, i den hidsige Kampfærd
• Flux den Faldne ved Fødderne greb den Helt Elephenor,
• Chalkodons Søn, som var Drot for Abanternes modige Skare;
• Ivrig han slæbte ham bort fra Spydenes Ram, for hans Rustning
• Strax af Krop ham at drage, dog kort blev denne hans Idræt.
• Just som han Dødningen slæbte, den Helt Agenor det mærked,
• Og i hans Side, som blottet for Skjold stak frem, da han Kropp
• Bøied, han jog ham det kobberne Spær, og gav ham sin Helsot.
• Saa forliste han Livet; en gruelig Dyst om den Faldne
• Mellem Achaier og Troer sig reiste paastand, og som Ulve
• Foer mod hinanden de løs, og Mand slog Mand saa han tumled.

Due:

• Først fik Antilochos dræbt en hjelmbuskbærende Troer ,
• en af de bedste i fronten, Thalysios’ søn Echepólos .
• Lige i næserodsværnet på hjelmen med hestehårsfane
• drev han ham lansen i panden så bronzen gik tværs gennem brasken,
• ind så hans hjerne brast. Og sort blev det da for hans øjne,
• og han faldt om i den hidsige strid som et tårn når det ramler.
• Chalkodons søn, den kry Elefénor , Abanternes fyrste,
• greb ham i foden og haled ham bort fra lansernes svirren
• da han var opsat på i en fart at få skrællet den faldne
• både for våben og værn. Men det blev et kortvarigt tiltag:
• For som han slæbte med liget og bøjed sig frem, kom hans flanke
• ud under skjoldet; det så den stolte Agenor og jog ham
• bronzeodslansen i livet og lammede alle hans lemmer.

Johnston:

• Antilochus was the first to kill a man—
• a well-armed Trojan warrior, Echepolus,
• son of Thalysius, a courageous man,
• who fought in the front ranks. He hit his helmet crest,
• topped with horsehair plumes, spearing his forehead.
• The bronze point smashed straight through the frontal bone.
• Darkness hid his eyes and he collapsed, like a tower,
• falling down into that frenzied battle. As he fell,
• powerful Elephenor, son of Chalcodon,
• courageous leader of the Abantes, seized his feet,
• and started pulling him beyond the range of weapons,
• eager to strip him of his armour quickly.
• But Elephenor’s attempt did not go on for long.
• Great-hearted Agenor saw him drag the dead man.
• He stabbed Elephenor with his bronze spear,
• right in his exposed side, where his shield left him
• vulnerable as he bent down. His limbs gave way,
• as his spirit left him. Over his dead body,
• Trojans and Achaeans kept fighting grimly on,
• attacking like wolves, man whirling against man.

Det var første omgang og spørgsmålet melder sig: oversættelse vs. gendigtning? Gendigtning absolut, til enhver tid fristes jeg til at sige, hvis man vil have oversættelse kan man jo bare læse originalen i stedet, ikke? Pope er i særklasse.

His flank, unguarded by his ample shield,
Admits the lance: he falls, and spurns the field;
The nerves, unbraced, support his limbs no more;
The soul comes floating in a tide of gore.

I rest my case.

Og videre ...

Telamonian Ajax (A) kills Simoeisius (T) (speared in the nipple) (4.549)

• In blooming youth fair Simoisius fell,
• Sent by great Ajax to the shades of hell;
• Fair Simoisius, whom his mother bore
• Amid the flocks on silver Simois’ shore:
• The nymph descending from the hills of Ide,
• To seek her parents on his flowery side,
• Brought forth the babe, their common care and joy,
• And thence from Simois named the lovely boy.
• Short was his date! by dreadful Ajax slain,
• He falls, and renders all their cares in vain!
• So falls a poplar, that in watery ground
• Raised high the head, with stately branches crown’d,
• (Fell’d by some artist with his shining steel,
• To shape the circle of the bending wheel,)
• Cut down it lies, tall, smooth, and largely spread,
• With all its beauteous honours on its head
• There, left a subject to the wind and rain,
• And scorch’d by suns, it withers on the plain
• Thus pierced by Ajax, Simoisius lies
• Stretch’d on the shore, and thus neglected dies.

Wilster (6. 473-489):

• Aias den Telamonide nu først Simoeisios dræbte,
• Manden Anthemions blomstrende Søn; ved Simois’ Bredder
• Havde hans Moder ham født, da hjem hun vandred fra Ida,
• Hvor hun var fulgt med Forældrene hen at besee deres Hjorder;
• Derfor de havde ham kaldt Simoeisios; sine Forældre
• Lønned han ei for sin Barndoms Tugt, thi stakket hans Livstid
• Blev, der han faldt betvungen med Spyd af den modige Aias.
• Just som han vandrende kom, traf Telamons Søn ham i høire
• Bryst ved Vorten, og tvers gjennem Skuldren den kobberne Spydsod
• Gik, og i Støvet til Jord han styrtede plat som en Poppel,
• Som paa en stor siidliggende Eng opvoxed i Mosen,
• Glat om Barken, men Grenene skjød i Veiret om Toppen,
• Og med det blinkende Jern Vogntømreren fælder dens Stamme,
• Fælger at krumme deraf til Hjul for en prunkende Vognkarm,
• Strakt den ligger ved Bredden af Flod for at tørres i Luften;
• Saa Simoeisios faldt, Anthemions Søn, for den ædle
• Aias,

Antiphus (T) kills Leucus (A) (speared in the groin) (4.569)

Odysseus (A) kills Democoön (T) (spear through the head) (4.579)

• At Ajax, Antiphus his javelin threw;
• The pointed lance with erring fury flew,
• And Leucus, loved by wise Ulysses, slew.
• He drops the corpse of Simoisius slain,
• And sinks a breathless carcase on the plain.
• This saw Ulysses, and with grief enraged,
• Strode where the foremost of the foes engaged;
• Arm’d with his spear, he meditates the wound,
• In act to throw; but cautious look’d around,
• Struck at his sight the Trojans backward drew,
• And trembling heard the javelin as it flew.
• A chief stood nigh, who from Abydos came,
• Old Priam’s son, Democoon was his name.
• The weapon entered close above his ear,
• Cold through his temples glides the whizzing spear;(1)
• With piercing shrieks the youth resigns his breath,
• His eye-balls darken with the shades of death;
• Ponderous he falls; his clanging arms resound,
• And his broad buckler rings against the ground.

Wilster (6. 488-504):

• Saa Simoeisios faldt, Anthemions Søn, for den ædle
• Aias, men flux mod denne sit skærpede Spyd gjennem Stimlen
• Antiphos slynged, Kong Priamos’ Søn med det brogede Pandser;
• Rigtignok feiled han Aias, men Leukos, Odysses’s bolde
• Svend, i Lysken han traf, da han Dødningen slæbte tilside;
• Ned over denne han styrted, og Liget af Hænderne faldt ham.
• Høist forbittret i Hu ved hans Fald blev Drotten Odysseus;
• Rustet med skinnende Malm han gjennem de forreste Rækker
• Skred, og trædende nær han slynged sin glimtende Landse,
• Stirrende trindt omkring; flux Troerne vege tilbage,
• Da med sit Spær han sigted, og ei han kasted et Glipkast,
• Thi Kong Priamos’ Slegfredsøn Demokoon traf han,
• Som fra Abydos var kommen, hvor hurtige Heste man fostred;
• Høist forbittret i Hu for sin Svend Odysses ham stødte
• Spydet i Tindingen ind, saa den kobberne Od af den anden
• Tinding kom farende ud, og Mulm omhylled hans Øine,
• Brat han faldt saa det drøned, og Pladerne klirred om Manden.

Peirous (T) kills Diores (A) (hit with a rock, then speared in the gut) (4.598)

• Apollo thus from Ilion’s lofty towers,
• Array’d in terrors, roused the Trojan powers:
• While war’s fierce goddess fires the Grecian foe,
• And shouts and thunders in the fields below.
• Then great Diores fell, by doom divine,
• In vain his valour and illustrious line.
• A broken rock the force of Pyrus threw,
• (Who from cold Ænus led the Thracian crew,)
• Full on his ankle dropp’d the ponderous stone,
• Burst the strong nerves, and crash’d the solid bone.
• Supine he tumbles on the crimson sands,
• Before his helpless friends, and native bands,
• And spreads for aid his unavailing hands.
• The foe rush’d furious as he pants for breath,
• And through his navel drove the pointed death:
• His gushing entrails smoked upon the ground,
• And the warm life came issuing from the wound.

Thoas (A) kills Peirous (T) (spear in the chest, sword in the gut) (4.608)

• His lance bold Thoas at the conqueror sent,
• Deep in his breast above the pap it went,
• Amid the lungs was fix’d the winged wood,
• And quivering in his heaving bosom stood:
• Till from the dying chief, approaching near,
• The Ætolian warrior tugg’d his weighty spear:
• Then sudden waved his flaming falchion round,
• And gash’d his belly with a ghastly wound;
• The corpse now breathless on the bloody plain,
• To spoil his arms the victor strove in vain;
• The Thracian bands against the victor press’d,
• A grove of lances glitter’d at his breast.
• Stern Thoas, glaring with revengeful eyes,
• In sullen fury slowly quits the prize.
• Thus fell two heroes; one the pride of Thrace,
• And one the leader of the Epeian race;
• Death’s sable shade at once o’ercast their eyes,
• In dust the vanquish’d and the victor lies.
• With copious slaughter all the fields are red,
• And heap’d with growing mountains of the dead.