Antilochus

“ So spake he, and swift-footed, goodly Achilles smiled, having joy in Antilochus, for that he was his dear comrade; and he made answer, and spake to him winged words: "Antilochus, if thou wilt have men give to Eumelus some other thing from out my house as a further prize, even this will I do. I will give him the corselet that I took from Asteropaeus; of bronze is it, and thereon is set in circles a casting of bright tin, and it shall be to him a thing of great worth." ”

“ The absence of any such savage threat as Antilochus hurled at his slow-paced steeds in the chariot-race marks his innate gentleness of soul. He urged only the nobler motives for exertion appropriate to conscious intelligence. Trust in equine sympathy is, indeed, widespread in legend and romance. Even the cruel Mezentius, wounded and doomed, made a final appeal to the pride and valour of his faithful Rhœbus ”

“ But the son of Atreus feared, and shouted to Antilochus:
"Antilochus, rashly art thou driving thy horses; but check thy steeds—for the road is narrow, and thou wilt soon drive past in a wider—lest thou damage both [of us] , running foul of [my] chariot." Thus he spoke; but Antilochus drove even much faster, urging [them] on with the lash, like unto one not hearing. As far as is the cast of a quoit, hurled from the shoulder, which a vigorous youth has thrown, making experiments of his youthful strength ”

“ Stay awhile, and thou canst pass me if thou wilt, where the way is broader; but now thou wilt hurt thy chariot and mine." But Antilochus drave the more furiously, making as though he heard not. And for the space of a quoit's throw the chariots were abreast, but then Menelaus held back, fearing lest they should clash together. But he cried to Antilochus: "Was there ever man so evil-minded as thou? Yet shalt thou not win this prize unless thou shalt forswear thyself that thou hast dealt fairly." And to his horses cried: "Speed ye! Stand not still ”

“ And fourth Antilochus made ready his fair-maned horses, he the peerless son of Nestor, the king high of heart, the son of Neleus; and bred at Pylos were the swift-footed horses that drew his car. And his father drew nigh and gave counsel to him for his profit—a wise man to one that himself had knowledge. "Antilochus, for all thou art young, yet have Zeus and Poseidon loved thee and taught thee all manner of horsemanship; wherefore to teach thee is no great need, for thou knowest well how to wheel about the turning-post ”

“ With him was his son Antilochus, the quondam suitor of fair Helen, a warrior worthy of such a sire.
And there was Idomeneus, the stalwart chief who ruled the hundred cities of Crete, and was the sworn friend of Menelaus. And there was Philoctetes, the cunning archer, carrying the great bow which had been given him for his last sad act of friendship to his master, Heracles. And there was Diomede, of the loud war-cry, wearing the skin of a great fiery lion round his shoulders, and marshalling the warriors who had come with him from Argos, and Tiryns of the mighty walls. ”

“ So Menelaus went and found Antilochus on the left of the battle, and said to him: "I have ill news for thee. Thou seest that the men of Troy have the victory to-day. And also Patroclus lies dead. Run, therefore, to Achilles, and tell him, if haply he may save the body; but as for the arms, Hector has them already." ”

“ And as soon as he stepped on board, the sailors loosed the moorings, and set the sail; and a brisk wind bore them swiftly back towards Ithaca.
But Nestor spoke to the young men about him, "Bring out my finest horses, and yoke them forthwith to my lightest car. They shall carry Odysseus on his journey across the plain to Pherae; and my son Antilochus shall bear him company, and be my messenger to the Messenian king."
Soon the car was ready. The young men took their places; and Antilochus touching the restive horses with his whip, they sped across the dusty plain. ”

“ And him yellow-haired Menelaus, chiding, addressed:
"O Antilochus, no other mortal is more pernicious than thou. Avaunt! for we Greeks untruly said that thou wast prudent. Yet not even thus shalt thou bear away the prize without an oath." [34] Thus saying, he cheered on his steeds, and spoke to them:
"Be not kept back, nor stand, grieving in your hearts: sooner will the feet and knees grow weary to them than to you; for they are both deprived of vigor." ”

“ Fourth came Antilochus, son of Nestor of Pylos, and after him Meriones.
Then said Nestor, the old man, to Antilochus: "My son, the gods have given thee skill in driving, wherefore there is small need to teach thee. But thy horses are not swift as those with whom thou contendest, and I fear much that thou wilt suffer defeat. Yet may counsel avail much, by which others also, as woodmen and pilots, excel. For one man, trusting in his chariot and his horses, that they are good, suffereth them to stray over the plain ”

“ And wonders at the rashness of his foe.
“Hold, stay your steeds—What madness thus to ride
This narrow way! take larger field (he cried) ,
Or both must fall.”—Atrides cried in vain;
He flies more fast, and throws up all the rein.
Far as an able arm the disk can send,
When youthful rivals their full force extend,
So far, Antilochus! thy chariot flew
Before the king: he, cautious, backward drew
His horse compell’d; foreboding in his fears
The rattling ruin of the clashing cars,
The floundering coursers rolling on the plain,
And conquest lost through frantic haste to gain. ”

“ Antilochus was first to slay a warrior of the Trojans in full armour, a goodly man amid the foremost fighters, Echepolus, son of Thalysius. Him was he first to smite upon the horn of his helmet with crest of horse-hair, and into his forehead drave the spear, and the point of bronze passed within the bone ”

“ And left the urn Ulysses’ rich reward.
Then, grasping by the horn the mighty beast,
The baffled hero thus the Greeks address’d:
“Accursed fate! the conquest I forego;
A mortal I, a goddess was my foe;
She urged her favourite on the rapid way,
And Pallas, not Ulysses, won the day.”
Thus sourly wail’d he, sputtering dirt and gore;
A burst of laughter echoed through the shore.
Antilochus, more humorous than the rest,
Takes the last prize, and takes it with a jest:
“Why with our wiser elders should we strive?
The gods still love them, and they always thrive. ”

“ To gain the vict’ry, in the dust be roll’d.
Then thus, reproachful, to Antilochus:
“Antilochus, thou most perverse of men!
Beshrew thy heart! we Greeks are much deceiv’d
Who give thee fame for wisdom! yet e’en now
Thou shalt not gain, but on thine oath, the prize.”
He said, and to his horses call’d aloud:
“Slack not your speed, nor, as defeated, mourn;
Their legs and feet will sooner tire than yours,
For both are past the vigour of their youth.” ”

“ Then Antilochus bare away the last prize, smiling the while, and spake among the Argives, saying: "Among you all that know it well, will I declare, my friends, that even to this day the immortals shew honour to older men. For Aias is but a little older than I, whereas Odysseus is of an earlier generation and of earlier men—a green old age is his, men say—yet hard were he for any other Achaean to contend with in running, save only for Achilles." ”

“ Antilochus, (38) in that he died for his father, obtained so great a glory that, in the judgment of Hellas, to him alone belongs the title "philopator," "who loved his father." (39)
(38) Antilochus, son of Nestor, slain by Memnon. "Od." iv. 186 foll.; Pind. "Pyth." vi. 28; Philostr. "Her." iv.; "Icon." ii. 281. (39) Lit. "to be alone proclaimed Philopator among the Hellenes." Cf. Plat. "Laws," 730 D, "He shall be proclaimed the great and perfect citizen, and bear away the palm of virtue" ”

“ It is “Memnon the god-like, the goodliest man in the host,” the “son of the Day-dawn light,” by whom Antilochus was slain. But the story is told by post-Homeric writers. Dictys Cretensis says, that Memnon came with an army of Ethiopians and Indians from Caucasus to Troy, that he slew Antilochus, when that hero tried to rescue his father the aged Nestor, and that he was himself slain by Achilles. ”

“ Of men that have shame more are saved than are slain; but from them that flee springeth neither glory nor any avail."
[565] So spake he, and they even of themselves were eager to ward off the foe, but they laid up his word in their hearts, and fenced in the ships with a hedge of bronze; and against them Zeus urged on the Trojans. Then Menelaus, good at the war-cry, exhorted Antilochus: "Antilochus, none other of the Achaeans is younger than thou, nor swifter of foot, nor valiant as thou art in fight; I would thou mightest leap forth, and smite some man of the Trojans." ”

“ Then, panting, he fell from the well-made chariot-seat, and Antilochus, the son of magnanimous Nestor, drove away the horses from the Trojans to the well-armed Greeks. But Deïphobus, enraged on account of Asius, drew very near to Idomeneus, and hurled with his shining spear. Idomeneus, however, having perceived it opposite, avoided the brazen spear, for he was concealed behind his shield equal on all sides, which he bore, constructed of the hides of bulls, and glittering brass, fitted with two handles. ”

“ Then Achilles said never a word, but fell on the floor of his hut, and threw black ashes on his yellow hair, till Antilochus seized his hands, fearing that he would cut his own throat with his dagger, for very sorrow. His mother, Thetis, arose from the sea to comfort him, but he said that he desired to die if he could not slay Hector, who had slain his friend. Then Thetis told him that he could not fight without armour, and now he had none; but she would go to the God of armour-making and bring from him such a shield and helmet and breastplate as had never been seen by men. ”

“ But from this race I stand apart, and they also; for he that drave them is dead, whom they loved; therefore they stand grieving sore, and their manes droop to the ground." Then stood up five chiefs; first of all, Eumelus, and next to him Diomed, having horses of Troy, which he took from Æneas; and third, Menelaus, driving his horse Whitefoot, and a mare, Flash-of-Fire. Fourth came Antilochus, son of Nestor, and after him Meriones. ”

“ Æneas, bold though he was, drew back on seeing the two heroes side by side in front of him, so they drew the bodies of Crethon and Orsilochus to the ranks of the Achæans and committed the two poor fellows into the hands of their comrades. They then turned back and fought in the front ranks.
576They killed Pylæmenes peer of Mars, leader of the Paphlagonian warriors. Menelaus struck him on the collar-bone, as he was standing on his chariot, while Antilochus hit his charioteer and squire Mydon, the son of Atymnius, who was turning his horses in flight. ”

“ Angerbode, giant prophetess, mother of Fenris, Hela and the Midgard Serpent
Anglesey, a Northern British island, refuge of Druids fleeing from Romans
Antæus, giant wrestler of Libya, killed by Hercules, who, finding him stronger when thrown to the earth, lifted him into the air and strangled him
Antea, wife of jealous Proetus
Antenor, descendants of, in Italy
Anteros, deity avenging unrequited love, brother of Eros (Cupid)
Anthor, a Greek
Antigone, daughter of Ædipus, Greek ideal of filial and sisterly fidelity
Antilochus, son of Nestor
Antiope, Amazonian queen. ”

“ The cowardly Antiochus it was who stabbed him as he sprang from his sleep, encumbered and disabled by his night-clothes. Not a Roman has escaped with his life.
Antiochus is proclaimed king, and the streets of the city have resounded with the shouts of this deluded people, crying, 'long live Antiochus!' He has been borne in tumult to the great portico of the temple of the Sun, where, with the ceremonies prescribed for the occasion, he has been crowned king of Palmyra and of the East. ”

“ His kingdom on the contrary was weak, and tributary to the Romans, and he did not enlarge it. The horn was a King of fierce countenance, and destroyed wonderfully, and prospered and practised; that is, he prospered in his practises against the holy people: but Antiochus was frighted out of Egypt by a mere message of the Romans, and afterwards routed and baffled by the Jews. The horn was mighty by another's power, Antiochus acted by his own. The horn stood up against the Prince of the Host of heaven, the Prince of Princes ”

“ The moment Antipholus of Syracuse had left the house, he was met by a goldsmith, who mistaking him, as Adriana had done, for Antipholus of Ephesus, gave him a gold chain, calling him by his name; and when Antipholus would have refused the chain, saying it did not belong to him, the goldsmith replied he made it by his own orders; and went away, leaving the chain in the hands of Antipholus, who ordered his man Dromio to get his things on board a ship, not choosing to stay in a place any longer, where he met with such strange adventures that he surely thought himself bewitched. ”

“ The pass, however, will not protect Antiochus, nor will the heights which the Aetolians have seized protect them. Sufficient caution and foresight have been exercised to prevent your having anything to fight against but the actual enemy. You must bear in mind that you are not fighting only for the freedom of Greece, though it will be a splendid record to deliver out of the hands of the Aetolians and Antiochus the country which you formerly rescued from Philip. Nor will it be only the spoil in the enemy's camp that will fall to you as a prize ”