Quotes from Homer

O Thestorides, of the many things hidden from the knowledge of man, nothing is more unintelligible than the human heart." 8

If something rude of any kind was said, let the winds take it.

If a man is cruel by nature, cruel in action, the mortal world will call down curses on his head while he is alive, and all will mock his memory after death. But then if a man is kind by nature, kind in action, his guests will carry his fame across the earth and people all will praise him from the heart.

But if he is truly Odysseus, home at last, make no mistake: we two will know each other, even better — we two have secret signs, known to us both but hidden from the world.

The spearhead sliced right through to the flesh, And when Diomedes pulled it out, Ares yelled, so loud you would have thought Ten thousand warriors had shouted at once, And the sound reverberated in the guts of Greeks and Trojans, As if Diomedes had struck not a god in armor But a bronze gong nine miles high.

C?ntã, zeiÈ›ã, mânia ce-aprinse pe-Ahil Peleianul, Patima crudã ce-Aheilor mii de amaruri aduse; Suflete multe viteze trimise pe lumea cealaltã, Trupul fãcându-le hranã la câini È™i la feluri de pãsãri ?i împlinitã fu voia lui Zeus, de când Agamemnon, Craiul nãscut din Atreu, È™i dumnezeiescul Ahile S-au dezbinat dupã cearta ce fuse-ntre dânÈ™ii iscatã.

he took a cable which had been service on a blue-bowed ship, made one end fast to a high column in the portico, and threw the other over the round-house, high up, so that their feet would not touch the ground. As when long-winged thrushes or doves get entangled in a snare . . . so the women's heads were held fast in a row, with nooses round their necks, to bring them to the most pitiable end. For a little while their feet twitched, but not for very long.

Whene'er, by Jove's decree, our conquering powers Shall humble to the dust her lofty towers.

And so the Trojans buried Hector, breaker of horses.

Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns, driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy.

Then thus incensed, the Paphian queen replies: Obey the power from whom thy glories rise: Should Venus leave thee, every charm must fly, Fade from thy cheek, and languish in thy eye. Cease to provoke me, lest I make thee more The world's aversion, than their love before; Now the bright prize for which mankind engage, Than, the sad victim, of the public rage. At this, the fairest of her sex obey'd, And

Goddess, ...do not be angry with me about this. I am quite aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or so beautiful as yourself. She is only a woman, whereas you are an immortal. Nevertheless, I want to get home, and can think of nothing else.

Ah my friend, if you and I could escape this fray and live forever, never a trace of age, immortal, I would never fight on the front lines again or command you in the field where men win fame. But now, as it is, the fates of death await us, thousands poised to strike, and not a man alive can flee them or escape – so in we go for attack! Give our enemy glory or win it for ourselves!

We men are wretched things

As a bull roars when feeding in the field, so roared the goodly door touched by the key and open flew before her.

See in the mind's eye wind blowing chaff on ancient threshing floors when men with fans toss up the trodden sheaves, and yellow-haired Demeter, puff by puff, divides the chaff and grain: how all day long in bleaching sun strawpiles grow white: so white grew those Akhaian figures in the dustcloud churned to the brazen sky by horses' hooves as chariots intermingled, as the drivers turned and turned—carrying their hands high and forward gallantly despite fatigue.

And now to one side Gorgythion drooped his head and heavy helmet; He let it fall over like the bloom of a garden poppy, heavy with seed and the rains of spring.

With that the dream departed, leaving him there, his heart racing with hopes that would not come to pass. He thought he would take the city of Priam then, that very day, the fool.

men, we know least, and talk most. Homer, Socrates, and Shakespere have, perhaps, contributed

I am going to stand against him now, though his hands are like flame, though his hands are like flame, and his heart like the shining of iron.

Do thou restrain the haughty spirit in thy breast, for better far is gentle courtesy.

A man dies still if he has done nothing, as one who has done much.

Pherae. He was Ortilochus' son, whose father was Alpheus, and there they spent the night. [490] Diocles offered them the hospitality he owed to strangers who stayed there as his guests. As soon as rose-fingered early Dawn appeared, they hitched their horses, climbed in the splendid chariot, and set off from the echoing portico

Words as empty as the wind are best left unsaid