It stood there above his head and spoke to him softly:

‘You are sleeping, Achilles; you have forgotten me now.

You were always attentive to me when I was alive,

but now I am dead, you neglect me. Bury me quickly,

so I can pass through the gates of Hades. The spirits—

the phantoms of those who have died—are keeping me out;

they won't allow me to cross the river and join them.‘

and he stood over his head, and addressed him:

"Sleepest thou, O Achilles, and art thou forgetful of me? Thou didst not indeed neglect me when alive, but [now that I am] dead. Bury me, that I may as soon as possible pass the gates of Hades. The spirits, the images of the deceased, drive me far away, nor by any means permit me to be mingled with them beyond the river; but thus I do wander round the ample-gated dwelling of Hades."