[Vocabulary] Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring / Of woes unnumbered,

[sitifan]

Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumbered, heavenly goddess sing. (Iliad, translated by Alexander Pope)
https://libquotes.com/alexander-pope/quote/lbx1h3l

Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. (Iliad, translated by Samuel Butler) http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.1.i.html

What does "spring" mean in the quoted sentence?
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/spring


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[GoesStation]

The source of uncountable woes.