1.12
Iliad 1.12 · The priest at the ships1.12The priest at the ships
Chryses comes to the Achaean camp with ransom, carrying the emblems of his god.
· · ·
γὰρ1
gàr
For
ὃ2
hò
he
ἦλθε3
êlthe
had come
ἐπὶ4
epì
to
θοὰς5
thoàs
swift
νῆας6
nêas
ships
Ἀχαιῶν7
Achaiôn
of the Achaeans
λυσόμενός8
lysómenós
to freeto buy back
τε9
te
—
θύγατρα10
thýgatra
his daughter
, τʼ11
t’
and
φέρων12
phérōn
bringing
ἀπερείσιʼ13
apereísi’
boundless
ἄποινα14
ápoina
ransom
, ἔχων15
échōn
holding
ἐν16
en
in
χερσὶν17
chersìn
his hands
στέμματʼ18
stémmat’
the ribbonsthe woolen fillets
ἑκηβόλου19
hekēbólou
far-shootingwho strikes from afar
Ἀπόλλωνος20
Apóllōnos
of Apollo
ἀνὰ21
anà
on a
χρυσέῳ22
chryséōi
golden
σκήπτρῳ23
skḗptrōi
staff
, καὶ24
kaì
and
λίσσετο25
lísseto
he begged
πάντας26
pántas
all
Ἀχαιούς27
Achaioús
the Achaeans
, δὲ28
dè
but
μάλιστα29
málista
most of all
δύω30
dýō
the two
Ἀτρεΐδα31
Atreí̈da
sons of Atreus
, κοσμήτορε32
kosmḗtore
marshalsthe two who array
λαῶν33
laôn
of the people
: For he had come to the swift ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and bringing boundless ransom, holding in his hands the ribbons of far-shooting Apollo on a golden staff, and he begged all the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus, marshals of the people:
For he had come to the swift ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and bringing boundless ransom, holding in his hands the ribbons of far-shooting Apollo on a golden staff, and he begged all the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus, marshals of the people:
Interpretation
For he had come to the swift ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and bringing boundless ransom, holding in his hands the ribbons of far-shooting Apollo on a golden staff, and he begged all the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus, marshals of the people:
Everything about this man sounds of gold. He is Chrysēs, from the town of Chrysē; his daughter is Chryseïs; his staff is chryseos, golden. He comes the right way, as a suppliant: the woolen ribbons of Apollo wound on his staff mark him as the god’s and as a man who may not be harmed.
Apoina, ransom, is the price of a person. The Iliad starts with a father bringing ransom for his child and being driven off. It ends, in Book 24, with another father, Priam, bringing ransom for his son’s body to Achilles, and this time it is accepted. Homer begins the war poem with the scene he will finish it on.
1.17
Iliad 1.17 · The ransom offered1.17The ransom offered
Chryses speaks to the whole army, and to its two commanders.
· · ·
Sons of Atreus and you other well-greaved Achaeans, may the gods who have homes on Olympus grant you to sack the city of Priam and to come home safely; but release my dear child to me, and accept this ransom, in awe of the son of Zeus, far-shooting Apollo.