δόρπον ἔπειθ' εἵλοντο κατὰ στρατόν: αὐτὰρ Ἀχαιοὶ
παννύχιοι Πάτροκλον ἀνεστενάχοντο γοῶντες:
τοῖσι δὲ Πηλείδης αδινοῦ ἐξῆρχε γόοιο:
χεῖρας ἒπ' ἀνδροφόνους θέμενος στήθεσσιν ἑταίρου:
πυκνὰ μάλα στενάχων. ὥς τε λὶς ἠϋγένειος:
ᾧ ῥά θ' ὑπὸ σκύμνους ἐλαφηβόλος ἁρπάσῃ ἀνὴρ
ὕλης ἐκ πυκινῆς. ὃ δέ τ' ἄχνυται ὕστερος ἐλθὼν:
πολλὰ δέ τ' ἄγκε' ἐπῆλθε μὲτ' ἀνέρος ΐχνι' ἐρευνῶν
εἴ ποθεν ἐξεύροι. μάλα γὰρ δριμὺς χόλος αἱρεῖ.
ὣς ὃ βαρὺ στενάχων μετεφώνεε Μυρμιδόνεσσιν:
ῶ πόποι. ῆ ρ' ἅλιον ἔπος ἔκβαλον ἤματι κείνῳ
θαρσύνων ἥρωα Μενοίτιον ἐν μεγάροισι:
φῆν δέ οἱ εἰς Ὀπόεντα. περικλυτὸν υἱὸν ἀπάξειν
Ἴ̈λιον ἐκπέρσαντα: λαχόντά τε ληΐδος αῖσαν:
ἂλλ' οὐ Ζεὺς ἄνδρεσσι, νοήματα πάντα τελευτᾷ:
ἄμφω γὰρ πέπρωται ὁμοίην γαῖαν ἐρεῦσαι
αὐτοῦ ἐνι Τροίῃ. ἐπεὶ οὐδ' ἐμὲ νοστήσαντα
δέξεται ἐν μεγάροισι γέρων ἱππηλάτα Πηλεὺς.
οὐδὲ Θέτις μήτηρ. ἂλλ' αὐτοῦ γαῖα καθέξει:
νῦν δ' ἐπεὶ οὖν Πάτροκλε, σεῦ ὕστερος εἶμ' ὑπὸ γαῖαν.
οὔ σε πρὶν κτεριῶ πρίν γ' Ἕκτορος ἐνθάδ' ἐνεῖκαι
τεύχεα καὶ κεφαλὴν μεγαθύμου σεῖο φονῆος:
δώδεκα δὲ προπάροιθε πυρῆς ἀποδειροτομήσω
Τρώων ἀγλαὰ τέκνα σέθεν κταμένοιο χολωθείς:
τόφρα δέ μοι παρὰ νηυσὶ κορωνίσι κείσεαι αύτως:
ἀμφὶ δέ σε Τρῳαὶ καὶ Δαρδανίδες βαθύκολποι
κλαύσονται νύκτάς τε καὶ ἤματα δακρυχέουσαι,
τὰς αὐτοὶ καμόμεσθα: βίῃφί τε δουρί τε μακρῷ
πιείρᾱς πέρθοντε πόλεις μερόπων ἀνθρώπων:
τερπόμενοι: δοιὼ δὲ κυβιστητῆρε κατ' αὐτοὺς
But the Achaeans the whole night through made moan in lamentation for Patroclus. And among them the son of Peleus began the vehement lamentation, laying his man-slaying hands upon the breast of his comrade and uttering many a groan, even as a bearded lion whose whelps some hunter of stags hath snatched away from out the thick wood; and the lion coming back thereafter grieveth sore, and through many a glen he rangeth on the track of the footsteps of the man, if so be he may anywhere find him; for anger exceeding grim layeth hold of him. Even so with heavy groaning spake Achilles among the Myrmidons: "Out upon it! Vain in sooth was the word I uttered on that day, when I sought to hearten the warrior Menoetius in our halls; and said that when I had sacked Ilios I would bring back to him unto Opoeis his glorious son with the share of the spoil that should fall to his lot. But lo, Zeus fulfilleth not for men all their purposes; for both of us twain are fated to redden the selfsame earth with our blood here in the land of Troy; since neither shall I come back to be welcomed of the old knight Peleus in his halls, nor of my mother Thetis, but even here shall the earth hold me fast. But now, Patroclus, seeing I shall after thee pass beneath the earth, I will not give thee burial till I have brought hither the armour and the head of Hector, the slayer of thee, the great-souled; and of twelve glorious sons of the Trojans will I cut the throats before thy pyre in my wrath at thy slaying. Until then beside the beaked ships shalt thou lie, even as thou art, and round about thee shall deep-bosomed Trojan and Dardanian women make lament night and day with shedding of tears, even they that we twain got us through toil by our might and our long spears, when we wasted rich cities of mortal men."
