Atrides! glorious sovereign! King of men! Thou art my first and last, proem and close,115 For thou art mighty, and to thee are given From Jove the sceptre and the laws in charge, For the advancement of the general good. Hence, in peculiar, both to speak and hear Become thy duty, and the best advice,120 By whomsoever offer’d, to adopt And to perform, for thou art judge alone. I will promulge the counsel which to me Seems wisest; such, that other Grecian none Shall give thee better; neither is it new,125 But I have ever held it since the day When, most illustrious! thou wast pleased to take By force the maid Briseïs from the tent Of the enraged Achilles; not, in truth, By my advice, who did dissuade thee much;130 But thou, complying with thy princely wrath, Hast shamed a Hero whom themselves the Gods Delight to honor, and his prize detain’st. Yet even now contrive we, although late, By lenient gifts liberal, and by speech135 Conciliatory, to assuage his ire. Then answer’d Agamemnon, King of men. Old Chief! there is no falsehood in thy charge; I have offended, and confess the wrong. The warrior is alone a host, whom Jove140 Loves as he loves Achilles, for whose sake He hath Achaia’s thousands thus subdued. But if the impulse of a wayward mind Obeying, I have err’d, behold me, now, Prepared to soothe him with atonement large145 Of gifts inestimable, which by name I will propound in presence of you all. Seven tripods, never sullied yet with fire; Of gold ten talents; twenty cauldrons bright; Twelve coursers, strong, victorious in the race;150 No man possessing prizes such as mine Which they have won for me, shall feel the want Of acquisitions splendid or of gold. Seven virtuous female captives will I give Expert in arts domestic, Lesbians all,155 Whom, when himself took Lesbos, I received My chosen portion, passing womankind In perfect loveliness of face and form. These will I give, and will with these resign Her whom I took, Briseïs, with an oath160 Most solemn, that unconscious as she was Of my embraces, such I yield her his. All these I give him now; and if at length The Gods vouchsafe to us to overturn Priam’s great city, let him heap his ships165 With gold and brass, entering and choosing first When we shall share the spoil. Let him beside Choose twenty from among the maids of Troy, Helen except, loveliest of all their sex. And if once more, the rich milk-flowing land170 We reach of Argos, he shall there become My son-in-law, and shall enjoy like state With him whom I in all abundance rear, My only son Orestes. At my home I have three daughters; let him thence conduct175 To Phthia, her whom he shall most approve. Chrysothemis shall be his bride, or else Laodice; or if she please him more, Iphianassa; and from him I ask No dower;[5] myself will such a dower bestow180 As never father on his child before. Seven fair well-peopled cities I will give Cardamyle and Enope, and rich In herbage, Hira; Pheræ stately-built,