lamenting miserably, and around thee they put immortal garments. And all the nine Muses, responding with a beautiful voice, lamented: there thou wouldst have perceived not one of the Grecians tearless; for so did the tuneful Muse excite them. There we mourned thee seventeen nights and days equally, both immortal gods and mortal men; but on the eighteenth day we committed thee to the fire, and around thee slew many very fat sheep and curved-horned oxen. And thou wast burnt in the clothing of the gods, and in much ointment, and in sweet honey; and many Grecian heroes clashed with their arms around the pile of you burning, both infantry and cavalry: and much clamour arose. But when the flame of Vulcan had at length consumed thee, in the morning we collected thy white bones, O Achilles, in pure wine and ointment: and thy mother gave us a golden vessel: and she said it was the gift of Bacchus, and the work of illustrious Vulcan. In this were laid thy white bones, O illustrious Achilles, and those of dead Patroclus, son of Menætius, mixed together; but separately those of Antilochus: whom we honoured chief of all thy other companions, at least after dead Patroclus. And then we, the sacred army of the warrior Grecians, heaped up a large and noble tomb around them, on a projecting shore, in the wide Hellespont:[1] so that it might be seen far off from the sea by those men, who are now born, and who shall be hereafter. But thy mother, having entreated the gods, proposed very beautiful contests in the middle of a ring to the chieftains of the Grecians. Already hast thou met with the burial of many heroes, when, a king having perished, young men are girded and prepared for the contests; but on beholding those, thou wouldst have most marvelled in thy mind, what very beautiful contests the goddess, silver-footed Thetis, made for thee; for thou wast very dear to the gods. So thou hast not even when dead lost thy name, but for thee there will ever be excellent fame, O Achilles, amongst all men; but what pleasure was this for me, when I had brought the war to a close? For on my return Jove devised miserable destruction for me under the hands of Ægisthus and my pernicious wife."
Thus they spoke such things to one another. But the
- ↑ viz. on the promontory of Sigeum. See Cicero pro Archia.
