Note (return) — BOOK THE FIRST.

“Hail, heralds, messengers of Jove, 43 and also of men, come near, for ye are not blamable to me in the least, but Agamemnon, who has sent you on account of the maid Brisëis. However, come, noble Patroclus, lead forth the maid, and give her to them to conduct; but let these be witnesses [of the insult offered me], both before the blessed gods, and before mortal men, and before the merciless king. But if ever again there shall be need of me to avert unseemly destruction from the rest, [appeal to me shall be in vain], 44 for surely he rages with an infatuated mind, nor knows at all how to view the future and the past, in order that the Greeks may fight in safety at their ships.”