Achilles answered Phoenix with affection but did not yield. He needed no honor from Agamemnon; Zeus's share would honor him while breath stayed in his chest.
Phoenix should not trouble his heart by weeping for Agamemnon, lest he become hateful to Achilles. Stay with me, he said, and rule half my honor. These men can take the answer back; you sleep here, and at dawn we will decide whether to sail or remain.
He nodded quietly to Patroclus to spread a bed for Phoenix, so the others would think of leaving. Then Aias, son of Telamon, spoke to Odysseus: they should go, because the word would not be accomplished.
Achilles had made his great heart savage, cruel over one girl, though the embassy offered seven and many other gifts. A man accepts blood-price even for a murdered brother or son, and the killer remains among his people after paying. But Achilles kept a pitiless spirit over a single prize.
Aias reminded him that they had come under his roof as friends, chosen from all the Achaeans. Achilles answered that Aias had spoken much to his heart, yet rage still rose in him when he remembered how Agamemnon treated him like a dishonored wanderer.
He would not think of bloody war until Hector reached the Myrmidon ships and shelters and burned the ships with fire. There, by his own ship, Achilles thought he would stop Hector though Hector was eager for battle.
They poured libations and went back along the ships, Odysseus leading. Patroclus told the serving women to spread a firm bed for Phoenix with fleeces, rugs, and linen. The old man lay there waiting for Dawn. Achilles slept in the inner room with a woman from Lesbos beside him, and Patroclus lay opposite with lovely Iphis.
The embassy reached Agamemnon's shelter, and the Achaeans rose with cups to greet them. Agamemnon asked Odysseus first whether Achilles would save the ships from fire or still refused. Odysseus reported every word: Achilles rejected the gifts, meant to sail at dawn, and advised the others to go home, since Zeus protected Troy. Phoenix would stay and might leave with him.
Silence held the listeners until Diomedes spoke. Agamemnon should not have begged Achilles with gifts; the man was proud already and now had been made prouder.
Let him stay or go as his heart and the gods drove him. The rest must eat and sleep; at dawn Agamemnon should marshal horsemen and infantry and fight in the front. The Argives shouted approval, poured to the gods, and went each to his shelter for sleep.