Whole hosts may hail him with deserved acclaim,
And say, This chief transcends his father’s fame.’”
The grief of the venerable Priam upon learning of the death of his favorite son, Hector, at the hands of Achilles, and his journey to the Grecian camp to beg of Achilles the body of Hector for burial, are portrayed with equal force (Iliad, xxiv.). The Trojan monarch, prostrating himself before the warrior,
“Embraced his knees, and bathed his hands in tears;
Those direful hands his kisses pressed, imbrued
E’en with the best, the dearest of his blood.”
In the course of his entreaty, which completely softens Achilles, the suppliant says:
“Think of thy father, and this face behold!
See him in me, as helpless and as old!
Though not so wretched: there he yields to me,