1.43
Iliad 1.43 · Like the night1.43Like the night
Apollo hears, and comes down from Olympus.
· · ·
ὣς1
hṑs
So
ἔφατʼ2
éphat’
he spoke
εὐχόμενος3
euchómenos
praying
, δʼ4
d’
and
Φοῖβος5
Phoîbos
Phoebusthe Bright One
Ἀπόλλων6
Apóllōn
Apollo
ἔκλυε7
éklye
heard
τοῦ8
toû
him
, δὲ9
dè
and
βῆ10
bê
he went
κατʼ11
kat’
down from
καρήνων12
karḗnōn
the peaks
Οὐλύμποιο13
Oulýmpoio
of Olympus
, χωόμενος14
chōómenos
angry
κῆρ15
kêr
at heart
, ἔχων16
échōn
with
τόξʼ17
tóx’
his bow
ὤμοισιν18
ṓmoisin
on his shoulders
τε19
te
and
ἀμφηρεφέα20
amphērephéa
his covered
φαρέτρην21
pharétrēn
quiver
; δʼ22
d’
and
ἄρʼ23
ár’
—
ὀϊστοὶ24
oïstoì
the arrows
ἔκλαγξαν25
éklanxan
clanged
ἐπʼ26
ep’
on
ὤμων27
ṓmōn
the shoulders
χωομένοιο28
chōoménoio
of the angry god
αὐτοῦ29
autoû
as he
κινηθέντος30
kinēthéntos
moved
; δʼ31
d’
and
ὃ32
hò
he
ἤϊε33
ḗïe
came
ἐοικώς34
eoikṓs
like
νυκτὶ35
nyktì
the night
. So he spoke, praying, and Phoebus Apollo heard him, and he went down from the peaks of Olympus, angry at heart, with his bow on his shoulders and his covered quiver; and the arrows clanged on the shoulders of the angry god as he moved; and he came like the night.
So he spoke, praying, and Phoebus Apollo heard him, and he went down from the peaks of Olympus, angry at heart, with his bow on his shoulders and his covered quiver; and the arrows clanged on the shoulders of the angry god as he moved; and he came like the night.
Interpretation
So he spoke, praying, and Phoebus Apollo heard him, and he went down from the peaks of Olympus, angry at heart, with his bow on his shoulders and his covered quiver; and the arrows clanged on the shoulders of the angry god as he moved; and he came like the night.
The answer is immediate: “he spoke, and Phoebus Apollo heard him.” No council of the gods, no delay. The god simply gets up and goes, and Homer lets us hear him rather than see him. The arrows rattle in the quiver, eklanxan, a word that sounds like what it says.
Then the half-line that readers have admired for centuries: ho d’ ēie nykti eoikōs, “and he came like the night.” No face, no shining armor. The god of light arrives as darkness coming down a mountain.
1.48
Iliad 1.48 · The plague1.48The plague
Nine days of arrows: first the animals, then the men.
· · ·
Then he sat down apart from the ships and let fly an arrow among them; and a terrible twang came from the silver bow. First he went after the mules and the swift dogs, but then, letting loose a sharp dart at the men themselves, he shot; and the pyres of the dead burned thick, without end.