1. The speech ended and the people dispersed
With grim faces, stiffness gone for now.

2. Then he lowered his head as tears streamed down
As grief intensified, he said with resolve:

3. “If you refuse confrontation and defiance
And meeting the army of enemies,

4. Asking for refuge my son the ransomed one
How can I show patience for your loss?

5. For war were you created when he who
Exalted himself aimed his feet in pride

6. With my care, I made you a valiant man
An eloquent speaker of weightiest words

7. While still ignorant of malicious slander
Where the courage of the courageous appears

8. And likewise ignorant council member
Among us where the wise elder is exalted

9. No longer will I remain far from you
If the Lord gave me back my youth again

10. And erased my old age so I became as the day
I sailed from Aeolian Gythium by force

11. The day when in rage Amyntor
Struck down my father and my leader

12. Fleeing I came searching for a livelihood
Though my mother objected strongly

13. She pointed to a place, hating the old man
If she saw me in hatred, hoping I’d excel

14. And in my childhood she poured herself upon my knees
I obeyed desire and fulfilled her wish

15. Then my father saw me with the cursed harlot
Crying out, grabbing his knees, distraught

16. No youth has ever treated his father so ill
He prayed, calling on the Furies of Hell

17. And the flame of Ruin, doom of the mighty
My anger drove me to strike him down

18. With a sword cleaving belly and back
But some of the eternal gods

19. Restrained my rage from iron heart
Fearing it would be said among my people

20. That was his father's murderer in later days
Yet I disdained to stay there long

21. Trapped in a castle with my father in torment
But the servants and family begged

22. That I not leave the palace
Slaying oxen for the gods and opening

23. Jars of the old man's wine to pour full cups
And keeping constant guard around me nine nights

24. If one slept another was alert
At my chamber door and the house door

25. All night long they didn't extinguish the embers
But on the tenth day at morning light

26. With twilight shrouding in darkness
I pushed against the doors of my chamber

27. Though shut, I burst them open
And right away I broke through the house door

28. Unseen by the watchful eyes
Seeking escape in the dark night

29. Continuing onward, Aetolia’s enemy
I met King Peleus, kind and gentle

30. And I came down to him as a noble guest
And he greeted me, as a lord of great wealth does,

31. My advanced age producing a son long awaited
Granting me possessions and numerous people

32. And I became leader of the Dolopians
Thus you know the extent of my affection

33. And with my effort you attained your stature
You would take no food but from my hand

34. Sitting on my knees before me
I would cut the meat with care and give it to you

35. And pour the wine with my own hand
And how much you would spew it out from your mouth

36. Soaking my clothes, playing and laughing
And how I endured weariness in my spirit

37. And how much hardship I took on, compelled
Knowing the arbiters of fate denied me

38. The joy of children, I cast you as my son
To drive away the shame, child of my wanderings

39. So listen, restrain your anger, don't nurse hatred
The hearts of lords yield to gentleness

40. To them belong peak of virtues and might of arms, so gentleness is best
If one stands humble before them, pleading

41. Offerings, vows, and wine will intercede
The daughters of Ruin, Prayers for Relief of Affliction

42. Run swiftly to transgressions when committed
For a transgression already trodden beforehand

43. Increases in impact and mobility
Ravaging the land where it unleashes fury

44. Following after it, they heal the condition
So he who shows respect when they reach him

45. From him they will deflect harm
But woe to him who stubbornly resists!

46. To Ruin they will return seeking redemption
Seeking from him a transgression to unleash

47. Greater calamity and bitterer sorrow
So revere them, Achilles, respectfully

48. As all exalted lords revere them
Surely if Atreus had not sent rich gifts

49. Fine things stored up to bestow later
Or hesitated to recall what will be given

50. After this, or persisted adamantly hostile
I would not have aided the people, no matter how

51. Severely the misery struck them, compelled
But now he has given and will give more

52. Sending whom you desire
The best of the captains have come to you, so yield

53. And now take my advice to heart
For from former heroes has reached us

54. When anger swelled in the hearts of men
That between obtaining gifts and petitioning

55. They would yield, though proud before
Let me tell you of something that happened long ago

56. Hear it as it occurred, painful though it was
When the Curetes revolted against Oechalia

57. And war—its calamity intensified—
Beneath the walls of Calydon they joined battle

58. And strife erupted in their midst
The Curetes advanced desiring conquest

59. The Aetolians retreated fearing betrayal
That trouble Artemis provoked, angering

60. Oeneus and battle exploded forth
When he neglected to offer first fruits

61. For the goddess, forgetting his duty
Though hundreds of offerings for all the gods

62. He omitted her, whether forgetfully or deliberately
So with fury she ravaged the fields

63. Of Oeneus, spreading destruction
Uprooting stock, branch, buds and blooms

64. Laying waste to trees, stem and flower
Then Meleager son of Oeneus met her

65. Fighting after gathering fighters
Archers from neighboring lands

66. With hounds to startle the beasts
Handsome was he, not easily withstood

67. In sparse arms and light equipment
They killed her after killing many

68. And the conflict openly flared from there
With feud they demanded his head and skin

69. What Artemis in her hatred desired
Long had Meleager prevailed

70. While the Aetolians won victory and triumph
Even multiplying in number the enemies

71. Couldn’t breach the walls by any measure
Only fury tangled the mind

72. With schemes, embittering his heart
His mother Althaea provoked him to anger

73. And defiance by killing her brother
And his fair wife, Cleopatra

74. Argued with him, rejecting discord
Her mother was Marpessa of the heights

75. Daughter of the formidable Evenus
And her father was Idas, greatest of heroes

76. In that age, exalted above all the land
Even on Apollo when he

77. Targeted Marpessa, launching an arrow
Her parents then called her

78. Alcyone because of what had occurred
When Marpessa was abducted by Phoebus

79. As before by Alcyone, stolen away
Weeping, she clutched her daughter tightly

80. Naming her, pleading in lament
Meleager blazed with anger after

81. The fire of his wrath kindled
Since Althaea, for killing her brother

82. Cursed and insulted and scolded him
Striking the ground fiercely with her hands

83. Then calling down rage upon her knees
And Erinys and Ruin invoking

84. To inflict on her son a most bitter anguish
In the gloom of darkness the prayers

85. Reached the feared Underworld
Then the Fiend burst through the walls, slaughtering

86. And slaughter filled the gates, gore overflowing
To Meleager the old men of the land

87. Sent seers to soothe his indignation
And his enemy offered fifty plowed fields

88. Wherever he wished and expensive wine
And aged noble Oeneus, his father

89. Knelt at his gate beseeching him
And his sisters, Althaea herself, and companions

90. Family and kin, as he grew more aloof
He lingered until war raged at his gate

91. The wall breached, fire erupting within
Then his wife, the matron, appeared before him

92. Asking gently for mercy from him
Showing how many woes plagued the city

93. Subjugated by the slanderer’s scorn
Burning homes and slaughtering people

94. Capturing the helpless and children, imprisoning
He was shaken and relented, accepting compensation

95. Doubtful but defiant while the enemy resisted
And for this he attained no rich gifts

96. But had he persisted hostile, refusing
Arise! Don’t be so stubborn

97. But had he persisted hostile, refusing
Accept the gifts, come with us

98. Exalted, at the abode of the most blessed lord
When you come seeking peace

99. For engaging the embattled enemy ranks
They will not treat you as they did before

100. If you annihilate the foe on land and sea”
So the old men appealed and the seers reasoned

101. And his sisters and mother herself implored
And his father at his gate knelt

102. And companions, family and kin persisted
Until at his gate war raged

103. The walls breached, within fires erupting
Then again his wife, the lady, appeared

104. Asking him gently again for mercy
Crying, striking the ground fiercely with her hands