“Anger be now your song, immortal one,
Akhilleus' anger, doomed and ruinous,
that caused the Akhaians loss on bitter loss
and crowded brave souls into the undergloom,
leaving so many dead men—carrion
for dogs and birds; and the will of Zeus was done.
Begin it when the two men first contending
broke with one another—the Lord Marshal
Agamémnon, Atreus' son, and Prince Akhilleus.
Among the gods, who brought this quarrel on?
The son of Zeus by Lêto. Agamémnon
angered him, so he made a burning wind
of plague rise in the army: rank and file
sickened and died for the ill their chief had done
in despising a man of prayer.”
opening lines
The Iliad (1974)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Robert Fitzgerald 3
American poet, critic and translator 1910–1985Related quotes

“Zeus, first cause, prime mover; for what thing without Zeus is done among mortals?”
Source: Oresteia (458 BC), Agamemnon, line 1485

Religion.
Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Reflections (1750), Political Thoughts and Reflections

“If any one is angry with you, meet his anger by returning benefits for it: a quarrel which is only taken up on one side falls to the ground: it takes two men to fight.”
Irascetur aliquis: tu contra beneficiis prouoca; cadit statim simultas ab altera parte deserta; nisi paria non pugnant.
De Ira (On Anger): Book 2, cap. 34, line 5.
Moral Essays

Source: The Boy Crisis (2018), pp. 260

“Supported the belief that he was the Greek gos Zeus's son.”
Source: Alexander the Great, 1973, p.214