Hear me, god of the silver bow, who stand guard over Chryse and holy Cilla and rule over Tenedos in might, Smintheus, if ever I roofed over a pleasing temple for you, or if ever I burned up for you fat thigh-pieces of bulls and goats, fulfill this wish for me: may the Danaans pay for my tears with your arrows.

Greek prayer has a shape, and this is the classic example of it. First the names and the places, so the god knows he is the one being called: silver bow, Chryse, Cilla, Tenedos, Smintheus. Then the claim, “if ever I”: the temple roof, the burned thighs of bulls and goats. Then the request. It is an exchange between partners who keep accounts. Smintheus is a cult title of Apollo in this region. Strabo (13.1.48) says sminthoi was a local word for mice and that mice were honored at Apollo’s temple at Chrysa. Mice and plague go together, and the god of the mice is the one Chryses calls on to strike the camp. The last line is the whole prayer in five words: tiseian Danaoi ema dakrua soisi belessin, “let the Danaans pay for my tears with your arrows.”