τῶν δὲ καὶ ἀργύφεον πλῆτο σπέος. αἳ δ' ἅμα πᾶσαι
στήθεα πεπλήγοντο. Θέτις δ' ἐξῆρχε γόοιο:
κλῦτε κασίγνηται Νηρηΐδες: ὄφρ' εὖ, πᾶσαι
εἴδετ' ἀκούουσαι ὅσ' ἐμῷ ἔνι κήδεα θυμῷ:
ῴ μοι ἐγὼ δειλή. ῴ μοι δυσαριστοτόκεια:
ἥ τ' ἐπεὶ ὰρ τέκον υἱὸν ἀμύμονά τε κρατερόν τε.
ἔξοχον ἡρώων. ὁ δ`' ἀνέδραμεν έρνεϊ ἶ̈σος.
τὸν μὲν ἐγὼ θρέψασα. φυτὸν ὡς γουνῷ ἁλῳῆς.
νηυσὶν ἐπιπροέηκα κορωνίσιν Ί̈λιον εἴσω
Τρωσὶ μαχησόμενον. τὸν δ' οὐχ ὑποδέξομαι αὖτις
οἴκαδε νοστήσαντα. δόμον Πηλήϊον εἴσω:
ὄφρα δέ μοι ζώει καὶ ὁρᾷ φάος ἠελίοιο.
ἄχνυται. οὐδέ τι οἱ δύναμαι χραισμῆσαι ἰ̈οῦσα:
ἂλλ' εῖμ'. ὄφρα ΐδοιμι φίλον τέκος. ἠδ' ἐπακούσω.
ὅττί μιν ΐκετο πένθος. ἀπὸ πτολέμοιο μένοντα:
τερπόμενοι: δοιὼ δὲ κυβιστητῆρε κατ' αὐτοὺς
With these the bright cave was filled, and they all alike beat their breasts, and Thetis was leader in their lamenting: "Listen, sister Nereids, that one and all ye may hear and know all the sorrows that are in my heart. Ah, woe is me unhappy, woe is me that bare to my sorrow the best of men, for after I had borne a son peerless and stalwart, pre-eminent among warriors, and he shot up like a sapling; then when I had reared him as a tree in a rich orchard plot, I sent him forth in the beaked ships to Ilios to war with the Trojans; but never again shall I welcome him back to his home, to the house of Peleus. And while yet he liveth, and beholdeth the light of the sun, he hath sorrow, neither can I anywise help him, though I go to him. Howbeit go I will, that I may behold my dear child, and hear what grief has come upon him while yet he abideth aloof from the war."
