The Iliad Phoenix Quotes

"Welcome! Look, dear friends have come our way –
I must be sorely needed now – my dearest friends
in all the Achaean armies, even in my anger."
So Prince Achilles hailed and led them in,
sat them down on settles with purple carpets.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 237-241. Achilles welcomes the embassy of Odysseus, Great Ajax and Phoenix to his tent. They are there on behalf of Agamemnon to try to heal the quarrel between him and Achilles and to offer him gifts. Despite his anger at Agamemnon, Achilles is still on friendly terms with the king’s ambassadors.

But now, Achilles, beat down your mounting fury!
It’s wrong to have such an iron, ruthless heart.
Even the gods themselves can bend and change,
and theirs is the greater power, honor, strength.
Even the gods, I say, with incense, soothing vows,
with full cups poured and the deep smoky savor
men can bring them round, begging for pardon
when one oversteps the mark, does something wrong.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 601-608. Phoenix, a member of the embassy send by Agamemnon to persuade Achilles to return to battle, tells the Greek warrior to temper his rage. He accuses him of having an iron and ruthless heart, pointing out that even the gods when they do wrong can bend and change.

We do have Prayers, you know, Prayers for forgiveness,
daughters of mighty Zeus…and they limp and halt,
they’re all wrinkled, drawn, they squint to the side,
can’t look you in the eyes, and always bent on duty,
trudging after Ruin, maddening, blinding Ruin.
But Ruin is strong and swift –
She outstrips them all by far, stealing a march,
leaping over the whole wide earth to bring mankind to grief.
And the Prayers trail after, trying to heal the wounds.
And then, if a man reveres these daughters of Zeus
as they draw near him, they will help him greatly
and listen to his appeals. But if one denies them,
turns them away, stiff-necked and harsh – off they go
to the son of Cronus, Zeus, and pray that Ruin
will strike the man down, crazed and blinded
until he’s paid the price.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 609-624. The charioteer Phoenix pleads with Achilles to relent on his vow not to fight for the Achaeans against the Trojans until Agamemnon has assuaged his honor. He asks him not to dishonor Prayers for forgiveness when they come to his door, warning him that Prayers are the daughters of Zeus. If a man denies those daughters, they will go to Zeus and ask him to send Ruin to that man to punish him, he tells Achilles.

How his spirit leapt when he heard those horrors –
and buckling his gleaming armor round his body,
out he rushed to war.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 723-725. The Myrmidon warrior Phoenix tells Achilles the story of the great Aetolian warrior prince Meleager, that foreshadows Achilles’s return to battle. During the Aetolians war with the Curetes, Meleager left the battle to stay in bed with his wife Cleopatra. Eventually Cleopatra prevailed on him to rush back to war by "recounting all the griefs that fall to people whose city’s seized and plundered – the men slaughtered, citadel burned to rubble, enemies dragging the children, raping the sashed and lovely women." Achilles will also rush back to war when the grief falls close to home with the killing of his closest friend Patroclus by Hector.

And the first one she roused was Atreus’ son
powerful Menelaus – he stood right at hand –
she took the build and tireless voice of Phoenix:
"Yours is the shame, Atrides. You will hang your head
if under the walls of Troy the dogs in all their frenzy
drag and maul the proud Achilles’ steadfast friend.
Hold on, full force – spur all our men to battle."

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 17, lines 630-636. When Patroclus is killed in battle, Menelaus has to decide whether to leave his body and fall back, or fight to protect the body. Goddess Athena takes Phoenix’s form and meets Menelaus to convince him to save Patroclus’s body from the Trojans and continue fighting to preserve his honor.
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