τὸν δὲ βαρὺ. στενάχων προσέφης πατρόκλεες ἱππεῦ.
ὦ ἀχιλεῦ, πηλῆος υἱὲ μέγα φέρτατ' ἀχαιῶν
μὴ νεμέσα. τοῖον γὰρ ἄχος βεβίηκεν ἀχαιούς:
οἱ μὲν γὰρ δὴ πάντες ὅσοι πάρος ἦσαν ἄριστοι.
ἐν νηυσὶν κέαται βεβλημένοι οὐτάμενοί τε.
βέβληται, μὲν ὁ τυδείδης κρατερὸς Διομήδης.
οὔτασται δ' ὀδυσεὺς δουρὶκλυτὸς ἠδ' ἀγαμέμνων:
βέβληται δὲ καὶ εὐρύπυλος κατὰ μηρὸν ὀϊστῶι:
τοὺς μέν τ' ἰ+ητροὶ πολυφάρμακοι ἀμφιπένονται
ἕλκε' ἀκειάμενοι, σὺ δ' ἀμήχανος ἔπλευ ἀχιλλεῦ.
μὴ ἐμέ γ' οὖν οῦτός γε λάβοι χόλος ὃν σὺ φυλάσσεις.
αἰναρέτη. τί, σευ, ἄλλος ὀνήσεται ὀψίγονός περ,
αἴ κε μὴ ἀργείοισιν ἀεικέα λοιγὸν ἀμύνηις:
νηλεές. οὐκ ἄρα σοί γε πατὴρ ἦν ἱππότα πηλεὺς
οὐδὲ θέτις μήτηρ. γλαυκὴ δέ σ' ἔτικτε θάλασσα:
πέτραι τ' ἠλίβατοι: ὅτι τοι νόος ἐστιν ἀπηνής:
εἰ δέ τινα φρεσὶ. σῆισι θεοπροπίην ἀλεείνεις,
καί τινά τοι παρ ζηνὸς ἐπέφραδε πότνια μηρ [μήτηρ].
ἂλλ' ἐμέ περ πρόες ὦχ'. ἃμα δ' ἄλλον λαὸν όπασσον
μυρμιδόνων. ἤν πού τι φόως δαναοῖσι γένωμαι.
δὸς δέ μοι ὤμοιϊν τὰ σὰ τεύχεα θωρηχθῆναι
αἴ κ έμε σοὶ ἴ+σκοντες ἀπόσχωνται πολέμοιο
τρῶες. ἀναπνεύσωσι δ' ἀρήϊοι υἷες ἀχαιῶν
τειρόμενοι. ὀλίγη δέ τ' ἀνάπνευσις πολεμοιο:
ῥεῖα δέ κ' ἀκμῆτες, κεκμηότας ἄνδρας. ἀϋτῆι
ὤσαιμεν προτὶ ἄστυ νεῶν ἄπο καὶ κλισιάων:
Then with a heavy groan, didst thou make answer, O knight Patroclus: "O Achilles, son of Peleus, far the mightiest of the Achaeans, be not wroth; so great a sorrow hath overmastered the Achaeans. For verily all they that aforetime were bravest, lie among the ships smitten by darts or wounded with spear-thrusts. Smitten is the son of Tydeus, mighty Diomedes, wounded with spear-thrust is Odysseus, famed for his spear, and Agamemnon, and smitten, too, is Eurypylus with an arrow in the thigh. About these the leeches, skilled in many simples, are busied, seeking to heal their wounds; but with thee may no man deal, Achilles. Never upon me let such wrath lay hold, as that thou dost cherish, O thou whose valour is but a bane! Wherein shall any other even yet to be born have profit of thee, if thou ward not off shameful ruin from the Argives? Pitiless one, thy father, meseems, was not the knight Peleus, nor was Thetis thy mother, but the grey sea bare thee, and the beetling cliffs, for that thy heart is unbending. But if in thy mind thou art shunning some oracle, and thy queenly mother hath declared to thee aught from Zeus, yet me at least send thou forth speedily, and with me let the rest of the host of the Myrmidons follow, if so be I may prove a light of deliverance to the Danaans. And grant me to buckle upon my shoulders that armour of thine, in hope that the Trojans may take me for thee, and so desist from war, and the warlike sons of the Achaeans may take breath, wearied as they are; for scant is the breathing-space in battle. And lightly might we that are unwearied drive men that are wearied with the battle back to the city from the ships and the huts."
