Excerpt from The Iliad of Homer: The First Three Books, Faithfully Translated Into English Hexameters, According to the Style and Manner of the Original Ransom to give for his daughter; and choice were the gifts he presented Chaplets he brought in his hands from the fane of Apollo selected, And the sceptre of burnish'd gold; to his aid he implored the Achaeans, But the Atrides chiefly, the rulers elect of the people. 0 ye Atrides, and all other brave confederate warriors, To you may the gods be propitious, and all successful your efforts Yon proud city to capture, and prosperous be your return home. But for my own lost child, for my daughter reject not a ransom, And as in piety bound respect far-darting Apollo. He said; and the warlike chiefs appear'd to be all of the same mind, That grace should be shown to the priest, and his ransoming gifts be accepted; Not so the King Agamemnon, but he the prerogative claiming, Sternly the priest dismiss'd, and a threatening speech superadded Let me not find you again, old man, nor hear of your coming If here loitering found, whether now or hereafter returning, Neither the chaplets nor sceptre you bring may avail to protect you. The maiden I let not go, nor abandon my right to my captive; Here in my tent she remains, in my palace at Argos hereafter, The loom her employment by day, and at night to my bed to attend me. But go, seek not delay, and no further provoke me to anger. He said and with fear and confusion the priest from his presence retreated; Silent he went and alone to the shore of the loud-flowing ocean, There in the conflict lost of grief, despair, and resentment, He thus pray' d to Apollo, J ove's own son by Latona God of the silver bow, who especially Chrysa protectest, Also in Cilla adored, and who over Tenedos reignest. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.