And seek our native land, if so he will: For not by force will I remove him hence.” He said; they all, confounded by his words, In silence heard; so sternly did he speak. At length, in tears, the aged Phoenix spoke, For greatly fear’d he for the ships of Greece: “If, great Achilles, on returning home Thy mind is set, nor canst thou be induc’d To save the ships from fire, so fierce thy wrath; How then, dear boy, can I remain behind, Alone? whom with thee aged Peleus sent, That day when he in Agamemnon’s cause From Phthia sent thee, inexperienc’d yet In all the duties of confed’rate war, And sage debate, on which attends renown. Me then he sent, instructor of thy youth, To prompt thy language, and thine acts to guide. So not from thee, dear boy, can I consent To part, though Heav’n should undertake my age To prompt thy language, and thine acts to guide. So not from thee, dear boy, can I consent To part, though Heav’n should undertake my age To wipe away, and vig’rous youth restore, Such as I boasted, when from Greece I fled Before my angry sire, Amyntor, son Of Ormenus; a fair-hair’d concubine Cause of the quarrel; her my father lov’d, And by her love estrang’d, despis’d his wife, My mother; oft she pray’d me to seduce, To vex th’ old man, my father’s concubine; I yielded; he, suspecting, on my head A curse invok’d, and on the Furies call’d His curse to witness, that upon his knees No child, by me begotten, e’er should sit: His curse the Gods have heard, and ratified, Th’ infernal King, and awful Proserpine. Then would I fain have slain him with the sword, Had not some God my rising fury quell’d, And set before my mind the public voice, The odium I should have to bear ’mid Greeks, If branded with the name of patricide. But longer in my angry father’s house To dwell, my spirit brook’d not, though my friends And kinsmen all besought me to remain; And many a goodly sheep, and many a steer They slew, and many swine, with fat o’erlaid, They sing’d, and roasted o’er the burning coals; And drank in many a cup the old man’s wine. Nine nights they kept me in continual watch, By turns relieving guards. The fires meanwhile Burnt constant: one beneath the porch that fac’d The well-fenc’d court; one in the vestibule Before my chamber door. The tenth dark night My chamber’s closely-fitting doors I broke, And lightly vaulted o’er the court-yard fence, By guards alike and servant maids unmark’d. Through all the breadth of Hellas then I fled, Until at length to Phthia’s fruitful soil, Mother of flocks, to Peleus’ realm I came, Who kindly welcom’d me, and with such love As to his only son, his well-belov’d, A father shows, his gen’rous gifts bestow’d. He gave me wealth, he gave me ample rule; And on the bounds of Phthia bade me dwell, And o’er the Dolopes hold sov’reign sway. Thee too, Achilles, rival of the Gods, Such, as thou art I made thee; from my soul I lov’d thee; nor wouldst thou with others go Or to the meal, or in the house be fed,