uport, pp. 142, sqq.]

[Footnote 797: Catullus, lxii. 25: "Teque adeo eximie taedis
felicibus aucte Thessaliae columen Peleu, quoi Juppiter ipse, Ipse
suos divum genitor concessit amores."]

But him Priam, the godlike old man, then, answered:

"Do not at all place me on a seat, O Jove-nurtured, whilst Hector lies
unburied in thy tents; but redeem him as soon as possible, that I may
behold him with mine eyes; and do thou receive the many ransoms which we
bring thee; and mayest thou enjoy them, and reach thy father-land, since
thou hast suffered me in the first place to live, and to behold the
light of the sun."

But him swift-footed Achilles, sternly regarding, then addressed:

"Do not irritate me further, old man, for I also myself meditate
ransoming Hector to thee; for the mother who bore me, the daughter of
the marine old man, came as a messenger from Jove to me. And I perceive
thee also, O Priam, in my mind, nor do thou deceive me, that some one of
the gods has led thee to the swift ships of the Greeks; for a mortal
would not have dared to come into the camp, not even in very blooming
youth, for he could not have escaped the guards, nor indeed pushed back
the bars of our gates. Wherefore do not move my mind more to sorrows,
lest I leave thee not unharmed, old man, in my tents, though being a
suppliant, and violate the commands of Jove."

Thus he spoke; but the old man feared, and obeyed. But the son of Peleus
leaped forth, like a lion, from the door of the house, not alone; for
two attendants accompanied him, the hero Automedon, and Alcimus, whom
Achilles honoured most of his companions next after the deceased
Patroclus. These then unharnessed the horses and mules from the yoke,
and led in the clear-voiced herald of the old man, and placed him upon a
seat. They also took down from the well-polished car the countless
ransoms of Hector's head. But they left two cloaks and a well-woven
tunic, in order that, having covered the body, he might give it to be
borne home. But having called his female attendants, he ordered them to
wash and anoint all round, taking it apart, that Priam might not see his
son; lest, seeing his son, he might not restrain the wrath in his
grieving heart, and might arouse the soul of Achilles, and he might slay
him, and violate the commands of Jove. But when the servants had washed
and anointed it with oil, they then threw over him a beautiful cloak,
and a tunic; then Achilles himsel