WEBVTT
00:00:03.610 --> 00:00:18.530
Episode 10 – The Pity of Achilles
00:00:18.530 --> 00:00:36.360
[Opening music]
00:00:36.360 --> 00:00:40.430
Imagine old Priam,
00:00:40.430 --> 00:00:43.890
the white-bearded father of Troy.
00:00:43.890 --> 00:00:46.720
Imagine Priam, king of Troy,
00:00:46.720 --> 00:00:50.720
sitting on his golden throne like a statue.
00:00:50.720 --> 00:00:53.770
For two days he had not eaten.
00:00:53.770 --> 00:00:54.840
He had not drunk.
00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:56.500
He had not spoken.
00:00:56.500 --> 00:01:00.280
The only movement was the movement of tears,
00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:05.220
trickling down his cheeks and his beard and his neck.
00:01:05.220 --> 00:01:11.280
And then at last he opened his mouth and he said,
00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:17.350
“Achilles cannot be altogether a godless man.
00:01:17.350 --> 00:01:20.310
And surely he loves his own father,
00:01:20.310 --> 00:01:22.630
old Peleus?
00:01:22.630 --> 00:01:29.820
I will go to him myself and I will beg him to return the body of our son, Hector.
00:01:29.820 --> 00:01:32.670
I will beg him, in the name of his father,
00:01:32.670 --> 00:01:35.340
to return the body of our son.
00:01:35.340 --> 00:01:42.210
And I will offer him Hector’s weight in sparkling, yellow gold.”
00:01:42.210 --> 00:01:46.900
And Queen Hecuba buried her face in her hands and she said,
00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:49.880
“The old man has gone mad!
00:01:49.880 --> 00:01:52.530
The mighty gods have addled his wits.
00:01:52.530 --> 00:01:54.000
That savage beast,
00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:55.110
that wild animal,
00:01:55.110 --> 00:01:57.410
will tear him limb from limb,
00:01:57.410 --> 00:02:00.690
just as he has destroyed our own son!”
00:02:00.690 --> 00:02:03.810
But Priam took no notice of her.
00:02:03.810 --> 00:02:05.810
He got up to his feet.
00:02:05.810 --> 00:02:09.450
He made his way to the treasure house of the palace.
00:02:09.450 --> 00:02:15.950
He lifted the lids of chests and coffers and he took out gold:
00:02:15.950 --> 00:02:17.990
arm rings, radiant;
00:02:17.990 --> 00:02:19.900
shields, shining;
00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:22.050
burnished battle vests;
00:02:22.050 --> 00:02:24.460
decorated drinking vessels;
00:02:24.460 --> 00:02:26.200
golden goblets.
00:02:26.200 --> 00:02:29.900
He piled gold upon gold upon gold.
00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:33.530
And Paris followed him and Paris said, “Father,
00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:36.300
you cannot go to the Greek camp alone.
00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:38.620
At least take me with you!”
00:02:38.620 --> 00:02:40.280
And Priam said, “No,
00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:41.580
I go alone.”
00:02:41.580 --> 00:02:44.000
“Then take somebody with you!”
00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:45.180
And Priam said,
00:02:45.180 --> 00:02:46.350
“Very well.
00:02:46.350 --> 00:02:50.140
I will take little Polyxena with me.”
00:02:50.140 --> 00:02:55.280
Now Polyxena was the youngest of all the children of Priam and Hecuba,
00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:58.340
a beautiful young woman.
00:02:58.340 --> 00:03:08.580
And so it was that night a cart was harnessed to two horses and the cart was filled with gold.
00:03:08.580 --> 00:03:10.830
And Priam and Polyxena,
00:03:10.830 --> 00:03:16.980
with black cloaks over their shoulders and black hoods drawn down over their faces,
00:03:16.980 --> 00:03:19.810
climbed up onto the seat of the cart.
00:03:19.810 --> 00:03:31.500
And they shook the reins and the great bronze gates of the city were opened and they made their way across the plain towards the Greek camp.
00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:35.810
There was a full moon shining in the sky
00:03:35.810 --> 00:03:38.100
and, as they journeyed across the plain,
00:03:38.100 --> 00:03:48.570
they passed churned earth and splintered trees and shattered chariots and dead horses,
00:03:48.570 --> 00:03:50.640
swollen with decay,
00:03:50.640 --> 00:03:54.760
their hooves pointing up towards the stars.
00:03:54.760 --> 00:03:57.860
They passed the bodies of foot soldiers,
00:03:57.860 --> 00:04:06.930
some still sticky with gore and some no more than tatters of skin clinging to bleached bones.
00:04:06.930 --> 00:04:13.310
And everywhere the scuttling of rats and the fighting of dogs over carrion.
00:04:13.310 --> 00:04:19.710
And everything black and grey and silver in the moonlight.
00:04:19.710 --> 00:04:22.460
And, when they reached the gates of the palisade,
00:04:22.460 --> 00:04:28.770
some god must have been watching over them because the gates were open and the sentinels were asleep.
00:04:28.770 --> 00:04:32.520
And they made their way across the Greek camp,
00:04:32.520 --> 00:04:39.460
the great curled prows of the ships dark against the silver sky above their heads.
00:04:39.460 --> 00:04:42.410
And at last they came to the seashore,
00:04:42.410 --> 00:04:45.340
where the waves suck and drag.
00:04:45.340 --> 00:04:49.640
And there was the hut of Achilles.
00:04:49.640 --> 00:04:56.940
And old Priam clambered down from the seat of the cart and Polyxena stayed with the gold.
00:04:56.940 --> 00:05:03.620
But the old king made his way across and he lifted the latch of the door and he pushed it open.
00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:05.530
And there was Achilles,
00:05:05.530 --> 00:05:10.220
sitting alone, staring at the ground.
00:05:10.220 --> 00:05:12.370
And old Priam ran across.
00:05:12.370 --> 00:05:15.560
He threw himself down at Achilles’ feet.
00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:18.990
He curled his left arm over Achilles’ knees.
00:05:18.990 --> 00:05:25.560
He kissed the man-slaying hands that had so recently been the death of his own son.
00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:28.020
And he said,
00:05:28.020 --> 00:05:33.150
“It is a father’s joy to hear his son returning home,
00:05:33.150 --> 00:05:39.860
to hear the sound of the doors swinging open and then the stamping of earth from sandals.
00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:45.990
And then perhaps he hears the sound of a satchel or a shield being thrown onto the ground.
00:05:45.990 --> 00:05:49.210
And then he hears maybe a snatch of song,
00:05:49.210 --> 00:05:58.530
and he sees his own son come striding into his hall and pouring himself a cup of wine and drinking and wiping the froth from his lips.
00:05:58.530 --> 00:06:00.430
Achilles,
00:06:00.430 --> 00:06:02.880
even now as I am speaking,
00:06:02.880 --> 00:06:05.480
your father, old Peleus,
00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:07.980
will be dreaming of your return.
00:06:07.980 --> 00:06:10.970
He will be longing for your return,
00:06:10.970 --> 00:06:15.160
a return that I will never see.
00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:18.810
At least give me the body of Hector.
00:06:18.810 --> 00:06:27.840
I will pay for it with his weight in sparkling, yellow gold.”
00:06:27.840 --> 00:06:34.270
And it seemed to Achilles that he saw his own father before him.
00:06:34.270 --> 00:06:40.930
For years he’d cursed this Priam as the bullish father of a brutal brood.
00:06:40.930 --> 00:06:47.260
But now he saw white hair, white beard –
00:06:47.260 --> 00:06:52.240
an old man, scarred with care, trembling hand –
00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:56.320
a father who’d lost a son.
00:06:56.320 --> 00:06:59.600
And Achilles’ eyes filled with tears.
00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:06.520
He put his hands on the old man’s shoulders and the two men wept together as though they were family,
00:07:06.520 --> 00:07:10.590
as though their sorrows were the same.
00:07:10.590 --> 00:07:13.900
When his tears could no more come,
00:07:13.900 --> 00:07:16.720
Achilles said,
00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:19.030
“How much you’ve suffered!
00:07:19.030 --> 00:07:22.050
Such pain would crush my spirit.
00:07:22.050 --> 00:07:27.930
And you must have a heart of iron to walk among your mortal foes.
00:07:27.930 --> 00:07:31.440
How blessed we seemed when we were born,
00:07:31.440 --> 00:07:34.010
I and your son, Hector,
00:07:34.010 --> 00:07:38.080
both of us born the sons of kings.
00:07:38.080 --> 00:07:42.770
But both of us had been cursed by the gods.
00:07:42.770 --> 00:07:50.300
For my father too will soon discover he has outlived his son.
00:07:50.300 --> 00:07:53.000
I grant your wish.
00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:55.610
You’ll have his body and more.
00:07:55.610 --> 00:07:58.160
For however long you need to grieve him,
00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:01.800
to mourn his passing with proper honours,
00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:05.140
I’ll hold back the Greek armies.
00:08:05.140 --> 00:08:06.680
I’ll wait,
00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:12.310
I’ll watch for grieving smoke.”
00:08:12.310 --> 00:08:16.290
And Achilles ordered that a weighing scales,
00:08:16.290 --> 00:08:18.170
an enormous weighing scales,
00:08:18.170 --> 00:08:20.120
be built outside his hut,
00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:24.550
each pan large enough to take the body of a grown man.
00:08:24.550 --> 00:08:29.220
And then, wrapped in a woollen shroud,
00:08:29.220 --> 00:08:33.960
the corpse of Hector was laid at their feet.
00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:40.960
And old Priam dropped to his knees and he began to fold back the layers of wool.
00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:42.650
And, as he did so,
00:08:42.650 --> 00:08:46.080
golden Apollo took pity on him
00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:48.900
and, with one movement of his hands,
00:08:48.900 --> 00:08:53.010
he undid all the damage that had been done,
00:08:53.010 --> 00:08:57.340
so that, when Priam folded back the last layer of wool,
00:08:57.340 --> 00:09:01.240
there was Hector’s face in all of its beauty,
00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:03.220
as though he was asleep.
00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:06.320
And the old king kissed his son.
00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.750
He kissed the forehead and the cheeks,
00:09:08.750 --> 00:09:13.000
and his tears splashed down onto Hector’s face.
00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:18.830
And then the body was lifted and it was laid onto one of the pans of the scales.
00:09:18.830 --> 00:09:23.240
And Polyxena began to unload gold from the cart.
00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:27.750
She piled gold upon gold upon gold upon gold.
00:09:27.750 --> 00:09:29.820
But, when the cart was empty,
00:09:29.820 --> 00:09:33.410
the body of Hector was still heavier.
00:09:33.410 --> 00:09:38.640
And so she unclasped the necklace from her throat and she threw it into the pan.
00:09:38.640 --> 00:09:43.460
She pulled bracelets and bangles from her wrists and she threw them onto the pan.
00:09:43.460 --> 00:09:46.380
She pulled the rings from her fingers.
00:09:46.380 --> 00:09:49.900
And Achilles sat and he watched her,
00:09:49.900 --> 00:09:55.400
and as he watched her he fell in love with Polyxena.
00:09:55.400 --> 00:10:02.400
And the last ring that she pulled from her finger and threw into the pan lifted the body of Hector.
00:10:02.400 --> 00:10:06.410
The scales balanced perfectly.
00:10:06.410 --> 00:10:12.340
And the body was taken and it was laid tenderly in the cart.
00:10:12.340 --> 00:10:13.440
And Achilles said,
00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:15.730
“Old man! Princess!
00:10:15.730 --> 00:10:19.170
Come and eat with me before you go!”
00:10:19.170 --> 00:10:25.310
And so it was that old Priam and Polyxena sat down at a table with Achilles.
00:10:25.310 --> 00:10:29.100
And meat and bread and wine were served.
00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:34.890
And Achilles broke the white bread with his own hands and he offered it to them.
00:10:34.890 --> 00:10:37.580
And, when they had finished eating,
00:10:37.580 --> 00:10:44.090
Achilles reached across and he took Priam’s hand and he kissed it.
00:10:44.090 --> 00:10:46.000
And he said, “Old man,
00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:57.030
we mortals are wretched things and the gods who know no care have woven sorrow into the pattern of our lives.”
00:10:57.030 --> 00:11:01.260
And then he reached across and he took Polyxena’s hand and he kissed it.
00:11:01.260 --> 00:11:06.100
And, as he kissed it, he pressed onto her finger that ring,
00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:12.730
that golden ring in the shape of a curved arrow whose sharp tip touches its feathered tail.
00:11:12.730 --> 00:11:15.220
And Polyxena looked at the ring.
00:11:15.220 --> 00:11:27.890
And then she and her father got up to their feet and they climbed onto the seat of the cart and they shook the reins and they made their way across the plain and back to the city of Troy.
00:11:27.890 --> 00:11:34.280
And for ten days there were funeral games in honour of Hector.
00:11:34.280 --> 00:11:36.610
And then, on the eleventh day,
00:11:36.610 --> 00:11:43.570
a pyre was built outside the city walls and the body of Hector was laid on the pyre.
00:11:43.570 --> 00:11:51.620
And all that day the heat of the fire’s heart consumed the house of bone.
00:11:51.620 --> 00:11:55.380
And, when all had been reduced to white ash,
00:11:55.380 --> 00:12:05.610
Paris gathered the charred bones of his brother and he wrapped them in a crimson cloth and they were put into a golden casket.
00:12:05.610 --> 00:12:13.550
And earth was piled over the casket and stones over the earth and earth over the stones.
00:12:13.550 --> 00:12:18.540
And then the people of Troy returned to the city,
00:12:18.540 --> 00:12:21.840
all but Andromache.
00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:25.220
She knelt beside her husband’s grave
00:12:25.220 --> 00:12:28.210
and she said, “Sweet Hector,
00:12:28.210 --> 00:12:37.520
I could not even hold your hand when you died.”
00:12:37.520 --> 00:13:33.010
[Closing music]