Iliad, The - Homer

Iliad, The
Author: Homer


BOOK I


Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that
brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did
it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a
prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Jove
fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men,
and great Achilles, first fell out with one another.

And which of the gods was it that set them on to quarrel? It was
the son of Jove and Leto; for he was angry with the king and sent
a pestilence upon the host to plague the people, because the son
of Atreus had dishonoured Chryses his priest. Now Chryses had
come to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and had
brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the
sceptre of Apollo wreathed with a suppliant's wreath, and he
besought the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus,
who were their chiefs.

"Sons of Atreus," he cried, "and all other Achaeans, may the gods
who dwell in Olympus grant you to sack the city of Priam, and to
reach your homes in safety; but free my daughter, and accept a
ransom for her, in reverence to Apollo, son of Jove."

On this the rest of the Achaeans with one voice were for
respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered; but
not so Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly
away. "Old man," said he, "let me not find you tarrying about our
ships, nor yet coming hereafter. Your sceptre of the god and your
wreath shall profit you nothing. I will not free her. She shall
grow old in my house at Argos far from her own home, busying
herself with her loom and visiting my couch; so go, and do not
provoke me or it shall be the worse for you."

The old man feared him and obeyed. Not a word he spoke, but went
by the shore of the sounding sea and prayed apart to King Apollo
whom lovely Leto had borne. "Hear me," he cried, "O god of the
silver bow, that protectest Chryse and holy Cilla and rulest
Tenedos with thy might, hear me oh thou of Sminthe. If I have
ever decked your temple with garlands, or burned your thigh-bones
in fat of bulls or goats, grant my prayer, and let your arrows
avenge these my tears upon the Danaans."

Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. He came down
furious from the summits of Olympus, with his bow and his quiver
upon his shoulder, and the arrows rattled on his back with the
rage that trembled within him. He sat himself down away from the
ships with a face as dark as night, and his silver bow rang death
as he shot his arrow in the midst of them. First he smote their
mules and their hounds, but presently he aimed his shafts at the
people themselves, and all day long the pyres of the dead were
burning.

For nine whole days he shot his arrows among the people, but upon
the tenth day Achilles called them in assembly--moved thereto by
Juno, who saw the Achaeans in their death-throes and had
compassion upon them. Then, when they were got together, he rose
and spoke among them.

"Son of Atreus," said he, "I deem that we should now turn roving
home if we would escape destruction, for we are being cut down by
war and pestilence at once. Let us ask some priest or prophet, or
some reader of dreams (for dreams, too, are of Jove) who can tell
us why Phoebus Apollo is so angry, and say whether it is for some
vow that we have broken, or hecatomb that we have not offered,
and whether he will accept the savour of lambs and goats without
blemish, so as to take away the plague from us."

With these words he sat down, and Calchas son of Thestor, wisest
of augurs, who knew things past present and to come, rose to
speak. He it was who had guided the Achaeans with their fleet to
Ilius, through the prophesyings with which Phoebus Apollo had
inspired him. With all sincerity and goodwill he addressed them
thus:--

"Achilles, loved of heaven, you bid me tell you about the anger
of King Apollo, I will therefore do so; but consider first and
swear that you will stand by me heartily in word and deed, for I
know that I shall offend one who rules the Argives with might, to
whom all the Achaeans are in subjection. A plain man cannot stand
against the anger of a king, who if he swallow his displeasure
now, will yet nurse revenge till he has wreaked it. Consider,
therefore, whether or no you will protect me."

And Achilles answered, "Fear not, but speak as it is borne in
upon you from heaven, for by Apollo, Calchas, to whom you pray,
and whose oracles you reveal to us, not a Danaan at our ships
shall lay his hand upon you, while I yet live to look upon the
face of the earth--no, not though you name Agamemnon himself, who
is by far the foremost of the Achaeans."

Thereon the seer spoke boldly. "The god," he said, "is angry
neither about vow nor hecatomb, but for his priest's sake, whom
Agamemnon has dishonoured, in that he would not free his daughter
nor take a ransom for her; therefore has he sent these evils upon
us, and will yet send others. He will not deliver the Danaans
from this pestilence till Agamemnon has restored the girl without
fee or ransom to her father, and has sent a holy hecatomb to
Chryse. Thus we may perhaps appease him."

With these words he sat down, and Agamemnon rose in anger. His
heart was black with rage, and his eyes flashed fire as he
scowled on Calchas and said, "Seer of evil, you never yet
prophesied smooth things concerning me, but have ever loved to
foretell that which was evil. You have brought me neither comfort
nor performance; and now you come seeing among Danaans, and
saying that Apollo has plagued us because I would not take a
ransom for this girl, the daughter of Chryses. I have set my
heart on keeping her in my own house, for I love her better even
than my own wife Clytemnestra, whose peer she is alike in form
and feature, in understanding and accomplishments. Still I will
give her up if I must, for I would have the people live, not die;
but you must find me a prize instead, or I alone among the
Argives shall be without one. This is not well; for you behold,
all of you, that my prize is to go elsewhither."

And Achilles answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, covetous beyond
all mankind, how shall the Achaeans find you another prize? We
have no common store from which to take one. Those we took from
the cities have been awarded; we cannot disallow the awards that
have been made already. Give this girl, therefore, to the god,
and if ever Jove grants us to sack the city of Troy we will
requite you three and fourfold."

Then Agamemnon said, "Achilles, valiant though you be, you shall
not thus outwit me. You shall not overreach and you shall not
persuade me. Are you to keep your own prize, while I sit tamely
under my loss and give up the girl at your bidding? Let the
Achaeans find me a prize in fair exchange to my liking, or I will
come and take your own, or that of Ajax or of Ulysses; and he to
whomsoever I may come shall rue my coming. But of this we will
take thought hereafter; for the present, let us draw a ship into
the sea, and find a crew for her expressly; let us put a hecatomb
on board, and let us send Chryseis also; further, let some chief
man among us be in command, either Ajax, or Idomeneus, or
yourself, son of Peleus, mighty warrior that you are, that we may
offer sacrifice and appease the the anger of the god."

Achilles scowled at him and answered, "You are steeped in
insolence and lust of gain. With what heart can any of the
Achaeans do your bidding, either on foray or in open fighting? I
came not warring here for any ill the Trojans had done me. I have
no quarrel with them. They have not raided my cattle nor my
horses, nor cut down my harvests on the rich plains of Phthia;
for between me and them there is a great space, both mountain and
sounding sea. We have followed you, Sir Insolence! for your
pleasure, not ours--to gain satisfaction from the Trojans for
your shameless self and for Menelaus. You forget this, and
threaten to rob me of the prize for which I have toiled, and
which the sons of the Achaeans have given me. Never when the
Achaeans sack any rich city of the Trojans do I receive so good a
prize as you do, though it is my hands that do the better part of
the fighting. When the sharing comes, your share is far the
largest, and I, forsooth, must go back to my ships, take what I
can get and be thankful, when my labour of fighting is done. Now,
therefore, I shall go back to Phthia; it will be much better for
me to return home with my ships, for I will not stay here
dishonoured to gather gold and substance for you."

And Agamemnon answered, "Fly if you will, I shall make you no
prayers to stay you. I have others here who will do me honour,
and above all Jove, the lord of counsel. There is no king here so
hateful to me as you are, for you are ever quarrelsome and ill-
affected. What though you be brave? Was it not heaven that made
you so? Go home, then, with your ships and comrades to lord it
over the Myrmidons. I care neither for you nor for your anger;
and thus will I do: since Phoebus Apollo is taking Chryseis from
me, I shall send her with my ship and my followers, but I shall
come to your tent and take your own prize Briseis, that you may
learn how much stronger I am than you are, and that another may
fear to set himself up as equal or comparable with me."

The son of Peleus was furious, and his heart within his shaggy
breast was divided whether to draw his sword, push the others
aside, and kill the son of Atreus, or to restrain himself and
check his anger. While he was thus in two minds, and was drawing
his mighty sword from its scabbard, Minerva came down from heaven
(for Juno had sent her in the love she bore to them both), and
seized the son of Peleus by his yellow hair, visible to him
alone, for of the others no man could see her. Achilles turned in
amaze, and by the fire that flashed from her eyes at once knew
that she was Minerva. "Why are you here," said he, "daughter of
aegis-bearing Jove? To see the pride of Agamemnon, son of Atreus?
Let me tell you--and it shall surely be--he shall pay for this
insolence with his life."

And Minerva said, "I come from heaven, if you will hear me, to
bid you stay your anger. Juno has sent me, who cares for both of
you alike. Cease, then, this brawling, and do not draw your
sword; rail at him if you will, and your railing will not be
vain, for I tell you--and it shall surely be--that you shall
hereafter receive gifts three times as splendid by reason of this
present insult. Hold, therefore, and obey."

"Goddess," answered Achilles, "however angry a man may be, he
must do as you two command him. This will be best, for the gods
ever hear the prayers of him who has obeyed them."

He stayed his hand on the silver hilt of his sword, and thrust it
back into the scabbard as Minerva bade him. Then she went back to
Olympus among the other gods, and to the house of aegis-bearing
Jove.

But the son of Peleus again began railing at the son of Atreus,
for he was still in a rage. "Wine-bibber," he cried, "with the
face of a dog and the heart of a hind, you never dare to go out
with the host in fight, nor yet with our chosen men in ambuscade.
You shun this as you do death itself. You had rather go round and
rob his prizes from any man who contradicts you. You devour your
people, for you are king over a feeble folk; otherwise, son of
Atreus, henceforward you would insult no man. Therefore I say,
and swear it with a great oath--nay, by this my sceptre which
shalt sprout neither leaf nor shoot, nor bud anew from the day on
which it left its parent stem upon the mountains--for the axe
stripped it of leaf and bark, and now the sons of the Achaeans
bear it as judges and guardians of the decrees of heaven--so
surely and solemnly do I swear that hereafter they shall look
fondly for Achilles and shall not find him. In the day of your
distress, when your men fall dying by the murderous hand of
Hector, you shall not know how to help them, and shall rend your
heart with rage for the hour when you offered insult to the
bravest of the Achaeans."

With this the son of Peleus dashed his gold-bestudded sceptre on
the ground and took his seat, while the son of Atreus was
beginning fiercely from his place upon the other side. Then
uprose smooth-tongued Nestor, the facile speaker of the Pylians,
and the words fell from his lips sweeter than honey. Two
generations of men born and bred in Pylos had passed away under
his rule, and he was now reigning over the third. With all
sincerity and goodwill, therefore, he addressed them thus:--

"Of a truth," he said, "a great sorrow has befallen the Achaean
land. Surely Priam with his sons would rejoice, and the Trojans
be glad at heart if they could hear this quarrel between you two,
who are so excellent in fight and counsel. I am older than either
of you; therefore be guided by me. Moreover I have been the
familiar friend of men even greater than you are, and they did
not disregard my counsels. Never again can I behold such men as
Pirithous and Dryas shepherd of his people, or as Caeneus,
Exadius, godlike Polyphemus, and Theseus son of Aegeus, peer of
the immortals. These were the mightiest men ever born upon this
earth: mightiest were they, and when they fought the fiercest
tribes of mountain savages they utterly overthrew them. I came
from distant Pylos, and went about among them, for they would
have me come, and I fought as it was in me to do. Not a man now
living could withstand them, but they heard my words, and were
persuaded by them. So be it also with yourselves, for this is the
more excellent way. Therefore, Agamemnon, though you be strong,
take not this girl away, for the sons of the Achaeans have
already given her to Achilles; and you, Achilles, strive not
further with the king, for no man who by the grace of Jove wields
a sceptre has like honour with Agamemnon. You are strong, and
have a goddess for your mother; but Agamemnon is stronger than
you, for he has more people under him. Son of Atreus, check your
anger, I implore you; end this quarrel with Achilles, who in the
day of battle is a tower of strength to the Achaeans."

And Agamemnon answered, "Sir, all that you have said is true, but
this fellow must needs become our lord and master: he must be
lord of all, king of all, and captain of all, and this shall
hardly be. Granted that the gods have made him a great warrior,
have they also given him the right to speak with railing?"

Achilles interrupted him. "I should be a mean coward," he cried,
"were I to give in to you in all things. Order other people
about, not me, for I shall obey no longer. Furthermore I say--and
lay my saying to your heart--I shall fight neither you nor any
man about this girl, for those that take were those also that
gave. But of all else that is at my ship you shall carry away
nothing by force. Try, that others may see; if you do, my spear
shall be reddened with your blood."

When they had quarrelled thus angrily, they rose, and broke up
the assembly at the ships of the Achaeans. The son of Peleus went
back to his tents and ships with the son of Menoetius and his
company, while Agamemnon drew a vessel into the water and chose a
crew of twenty oarsmen. He escorted Chryseis on board and sent
moreover a hecatomb for the god. And Ulysses went as captain.

These, then, went on board and sailed their ways over the sea.
But the son of Atreus bade the people purify themselves; so they
purified themselves and cast their filth into the sea. Then they
offered hecatombs of bulls and goats without blemish on the
sea-shore, and the smoke with the savour of their sacrifice rose
curling up towards heaven.

Thus did they busy themselves throughout the host. But Agamemnon
did not forget the threat that he had made Achilles, and called
his trusty messengers and squires Talthybius and Eurybates. "Go,"
said he, "to the tent of Achilles, son of Peleus; take Briseis by
the hand and bring her hither; if he will not give her I shall
come with others and take her--which will press him harder."

He charged them straightly further and dismissed them, whereon
they went their way sorrowfully by the seaside, till they came to
the tents and ships of the Myrmidons. They found Achilles sitting
by his tent and his ships, and ill-pleased he was when he beheld
them. They stood fearfully and reverently before him, and never a
word did they speak, but he knew them and said, "Welcome,
heralds, messengers of gods and men; draw near; my quarrel is not
with you but with Agamemnon who has sent you for the girl
Briseis. Therefore, Patroclus, bring her and give her to them,
but let them be witnesses by the blessed gods, by mortal men, and
by the fierceness of Agamemnon's anger, that if ever again there
be need of me to save the people from ruin, they shall seek and
they shall not find. Agamemnon is mad with rage and knows not how
to look before and after that the Achaeans may fight by their
ships in safety."

Patroclus did as his dear comrade had bidden him. He brought
Briseis from the tent and gave her over to the heralds, who took
her with them to the ships of the Achaeans--and the woman was
loth to go. Then Achilles went all alone by the side of the hoar
sea, weeping and looking out upon the boundless waste of waters.
He raised his hands in prayer to his immortal mother, "Mother,"
he cried, "you bore me doomed to live but for a little season;
surely Jove, who thunders from Olympus, might have made that
little glorious. It is not so. Agamemnon, son of Atreus, has done
me dishonour, and has robbed me of my prize by force."

As he spoke he wept aloud, and his mother heard him where she was
sitting in the depths of the sea hard by the old man her father.
Forthwith she rose as it were a grey mist out of the waves, sat
down before him as he stood weeping, caressed him with her hand,
and said, "My son, why are you weeping? What is it that grieves
you? Keep it not from me, but tell me, that we may know it
together."

Achilles drew a deep sigh and said, "You know it; why tell you
what you know well already? We went to Thebe the strong city of
Eetion, sacked it, and brought hither the spoil. The sons of the
Achaeans shared it duly among themselves, and chose lovely
Chryseis as the meed of Agamemnon; but Chryses, priest of Apollo,
came to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and
brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the
sceptre of Apollo, wreathed with a suppliant's wreath, and he
besought the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus who
were their chiefs.

"On this the rest of the Achaeans with one voice were for
respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered; but
not so Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly
away. So he went back in anger, and Apollo, who loved him dearly,
heard his prayer. Then the god sent a deadly dart upon the
Argives, and the people died thick on one another, for the arrows
went everywhither among the wide host of the Achaeans. At last a
seer in the fulness of his knowledge declared to us the oracles
of Apollo, and I was myself first to say that we should appease
him. Whereon the son of Atreus rose in anger, and threatened that
which he has since done. The Achaeans are now taking the girl in
a ship to Chryse, and sending gifts of sacrifice to the god; but
the heralds have just taken from my tent the daughter of Briseus,
whom the Achaeans had awarded to myself.

"Help your brave son, therefore, if you are able. Go to Olympus,
and if you have ever done him service in word or deed, implore
the aid of Jove. Ofttimes in my father's house have I heard you
glory in that you alone of the immortals saved the son of Saturn
from ruin, when the others, with Juno, Neptune, and Pallas
Minerva would have put him in bonds. It was you, goddess, who
delivered him by calling to Olympus the hundred-handed monster
whom gods call Briareus, but men Aegaeon, for he is stronger even
than his father; when therefore he took his seat all-glorious
beside the son of Saturn, the other gods were afraid, and did not
bind him. Go, then, to him, remind him of all this, clasp his
knees, and bid him give succour to the Trojans. Let the Achaeans
be hemmed in at the sterns of their ships, and perish on the
sea-shore, that they may reap what joy they may of their king,
and that Agamemnon may rue his blindness in offering insult to
the foremost of the Achaeans."

Thetis wept and answered, "My son, woe is me that I should have
borne or suckled you. Would indeed that you had lived your span
free from all sorrow at your ships, for it is all too brief;
alas, that you should be at once short of life and long of sorrow
above your peers: woe, therefore, was the hour in which I bore
you; nevertheless I will go to the snowy heights of Olympus, and
tell this tale to Jove, if he will hear our prayer: meanwhile
stay where you are with your ships, nurse your anger against the
Achaeans, and hold aloof from fight. For Jove went yesterday to
Oceanus, to a feast among the Ethiopians, and the other gods went
with him. He will return to Olympus twelve days hence; I will
then go to his mansion paved with bronze and will beseech him;
nor do I doubt that I shall be able to persuade him."

On this she left him, still furious at the loss of her that had
been taken from him. Meanwhile Ulysses reached Chryse with the
hecatomb. When they had come inside the harbour they furled the
sails and laid them in the ship's hold; they slackened the
forestays, lowered the mast into its place, and rowed the ship to
the place where they would have her lie; there they cast out
their mooring-stones and made fast the hawsers. They then got out
upon the sea-shore and landed the hecatomb for Apollo; Chryseis
also left the ship, and Ulysses led her to the altar to deliver
her into the hands of her father. "Chryses," said he, "King
Agamemnon has sent me to bring you back your child, and to offer
sacrifice to Apollo on behalf of the Danaans, that we may
propitiate the god, who has now brought sorrow upon the Argives."

So saying he gave the girl over to her father, who received her
gladly, and they ranged the holy hecatomb all orderly round the
altar of the god. They washed their hands and took up the
barley-meal to sprinkle over the victims, while Chryses lifted up
his hands and prayed aloud on their behalf. "Hear me," he cried,
"O god of the silver bow, that protectest Chryse and holy Cilla,
and rulest Tenedos with thy might. Even as thou didst hear me
aforetime when I prayed, and didst press hardly upon the
Achaeans, so hear me yet again, and stay this fearful pestilence
from the Danaans."

Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. When they had done
praying and sprinkling the barley-meal, they drew back the heads
of the victims and killed and flayed them. They cut out the
thigh-bones, wrapped them round in two layers of fat, set some
pieces of raw meat on the top of them, and then Chryses laid them
on the wood fire and poured wine over them, while the young men
stood near him with five-pronged spits in their hands. When the
thigh-bones were burned and they had tasted the inward meats,
they cut the rest up small, put the pieces upon the spits,
roasted them till they were done, and drew them off: then, when
they had finished their work and the feast was ready, they ate
it, and every man had his full share, so that all were satisfied.
As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, pages filled the
mixing-bowl with wine and water and handed it round, after giving
every man his drink-offering.

Thus all day long the young men worshipped the god with song,
hymning him and chaunting the joyous paean, and the god took
pleasure in their voices; but when the sun went down, and it came
on dark, they laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables
of the ship, and when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn,
appeared they again set sail for the host of the Achaeans. Apollo
sent them a fair wind, so they raised their mast and hoisted
their white sails aloft. As the sail bellied with the wind the
ship flew through the deep blue water, and the foam hissed
against her bows as she sped onward. When they reached the
wide-stretching host of the Achaeans, they drew the vessel
ashore, high and dry upon the sands, set her strong props beneath
her, and went their ways to their own tents and ships.

But Achilles abode at his ships and nursed his anger. He went not
to the honourable assembly, and sallied not forth to fight, but
gnawed at his own heart, pining for battle and the war-cry.

Now after twelve days the immortal gods came back in a body to
Olympus, and Jove led the way. Thetis was not unmindful of the
charge her son had laid upon her, so she rose from under the sea
and went through great heaven with early morning to Olympus,
where she found the mighty son of Saturn sitting all alone upon
its topmost ridges. She sat herself down before him, and with her
left hand seized his knees, while with her right she caught him
under the chin, and besought him, saying:--

"Father Jove, if I ever did you service in word or deed among the
immortals, hear my prayer, and do honour to my son, whose life is
to be cut short so early. King Agamemnon has dishonoured him by
taking his prize and keeping her. Honour him then yourself,
Olympian lord of counsel, and grant victory to the Trojans, till
the Achaeans give my son his due and load him with riches in
requital."

Jove sat for a while silent, and without a word, but Thetis still
kept firm hold of his knees, and besought him a second time.
"Incline your head," said she, "and promise me surely, or else
deny me--for you have nothing to fear--that I may learn how
greatly you disdain me."

At this Jove was much troubled and answered, "I shall have
trouble if you set me quarrelling with Juno, for she will provoke
me with her taunting speeches; even now she is always railing at
me before the other gods and accusing me of giving aid to the
Trojans. Go back now, lest she should find out. I will consider
the matter, and will bring it about as you wish. See, I incline
my head that you may believe me. This is the most solemn promise
that I can give to any god. I never recall my word, or deceive,
or fail to do what I say, when I have nodded my head."

As he spoke the son of Saturn bowed his dark brows, and the
ambrosial locks swayed on his immortal head, till vast Olympus
reeled.

When the pair had thus laid their plans, they parted--Jove to his
house, while the goddess quitted the splendour of Olympus, and
plunged into the depths of the sea. The gods rose from their
seats, before the coming of their sire. Not one of them dared to
remain sitting, but all stood up as he came among them. There,
then, he took his seat. But Juno, when she saw him, knew that he
and the old merman's daughter, silver-footed Thetis, had been
hatching mischief, so she at once began to upbraid him.
"Trickster," she cried, "which of the gods have you been taking
into your counsels now? You are always settling matters in secret
behind my back, and have never yet told me, if you could help it,
one word of your intentions."

"Juno," replied the sire of gods and men, "you must not expect to
be informed of all my counsels. You are my wife, but you would
find it hard to understand them. When it is proper for you to
hear, there is no one, god or man, who will be told sooner, but
when I mean to keep a matter to myself, you must not pry nor ask
questions."

"Dread son of Saturn," answered Juno, "what are you talking
about? I? Pry and ask questions? Never. I let you have your own
way in everything. Still, I have a strong misgiving that the old
merman's daughter Thetis has been talking you over, for she was
with you and had hold of your knees this self-same morning. I
believe, therefore, that you have been promising her to give
glory to Achilles, and to kill much people at the ships of the
Achaeans."

"Wife," said Jove, "I can do nothing but you suspect me and find
it out. You will take nothing by it, for I shall only dislike you
the more, and it will go harder with you. Granted that it is as
you say; I mean to have it so; sit down and hold your tongue as I
bid you for if I once begin to lay my hands about you, though all
heaven were on your side it would profit you nothing."

On this Juno was frightened, so she curbed her stubborn will and
sat down in silence. But the heavenly beings were disquieted
throughout the house of Jove, till the cunning workman Vulcan
began to try and pacify his mother Juno. "It will be
intolerable," said he, "if you two fall to wrangling and setting
heaven in an uproar about a pack of mortals. If such ill counsels
are to prevail, we shall have no pleasure at our banquet. Let me
then advise my mother--and she must herself know that it will be
better--to make friends with my dear father Jove, lest he again
scold her and disturb our feast. If the Olympian Thunderer wants
to hurl us all from our seats, he can do so, for he is far the
strongest, so give him fair words, and he will then soon be in a
good humour with us."

As he spoke, he took a double cup of nectar, and placed it in his
mother's hand. "Cheer up, my dear mother," said he, "and make the
best of it. I love you dearly, and should be very sorry to see
you get a thrashing; however grieved I might be, I could not help,
for there is no standing against Jove. Once before when I was
trying to help you, he caught me by the foot and flung me from
the heavenly threshold. All day long from morn till eve, was I
falling, till at sunset I came to ground in the island of Lemnos,
and there I lay, with very little life left in me, till the
Sintians came and tended me."

Juno smiled at this, and as she smiled she took the cup from her
son's hands. Then Vulcan drew sweet nectar from the mixing-bowl,
and served it round among the gods, going from left to right; and
the blessed gods laughed out a loud applause as they saw him
bustling about the heavenly mansion.

Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun they
feasted, and every one had his full share, so that all were
satisfied. Apollo struck his lyre, and the Muses lifted up their
sweet voices, calling and answering one another. But when the
sun's glorious light had faded, they went home to bed, each in
his own abode, which lame Vulcan with his consummate skill had
fashioned for them. So Jove, the Olympian Lord of Thunder, hied
him to the bed in which he always slept; and when he had got on
to it he went to sleep, with Juno of the golden throne by his
side.

BOOK II


Now the other gods and the armed warriors on the plain slept
soundly, but Jove was wakeful, for he was thinking how to do
honour to Achilles, and destroyed much people at the ships of the
Achaeans. In the end he deemed it would be best to send a lying
dream to King Agamemnon; so he called one to him and said to it,
"Lying Dream, go to the ships of the Achaeans, into the tent of
Agamemnon, and say to him word for word as I now bid you. Tell
him to get the Achaeans instantly under arms, for he shall take
Troy. There are no longer divided counsels among the gods; Juno
has brought them to her own mind, and woe betides the Trojans."

The dream went when it had heard its message, and soon reached
the ships of the Achaeans. It sought Agamemnon son of Atreus and
found him in his tent, wrapped in a profound slumber. It hovered
over his head in the likeness of Nestor, son of Neleus, whom
Agamemnon honoured above all his councillors, and said:--

"You are sleeping, son of Atreus; one who has the welfare of his
host and so much other care upon his shoulders should dock his
sleep. Hear me at once, for I come as a messenger from Jove, who,
though he be not near, yet takes thought for you and pities you.
He bids you get the Achaeans instantly under arms, for you shall
take Troy. There are no longer divided counsels among the gods;
Juno has brought them over to her own mind, and woe betides the
Trojans at the hands of Jove. Remember this, and when you wake
see that it does not escape you."

The dream then left him, and he thought of things that were,
surely not to be accomplished. He thought that on that same day
he was to take the city of Priam, but he little knew what was in
the mind of Jove, who had many another hard-fought fight in store
alike for Danaans and Trojans. Then presently he woke, with the
divine message still ringing in his ears; so he sat upright, and
put on his soft shirt so fair and new, and over this his heavy
cloak. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet, and slung his
silver-studded sword about his shoulders; then he took the
imperishable staff of his father, and sallied forth to the ships
of the Achaeans.

The goddess Dawn now wended her way to vast Olympus that she
might herald day to Jove and to the other immortals, and
Agamemnon sent the criers round to call the people in assembly;
so they called them and the people gathered thereon. But first he
summoned a meeting of the elders at the ship of Nestor king of
Pylos, and when they were assembled he laid a cunning counsel
before them.

"My friends," said he, "I have had a dream from heaven in the
dead of night, and its face and figure resembled none but
Nestor's. It hovered over my head and said, 'You are sleeping,
son of Atreus; one who has the welfare of his host and so much
other care upon his shoulders should dock his sleep. Hear me at
once, for I am a messenger from Jove, who, though he be not near,
yet takes thought for you and pities you. He bids you get the
Achaeans instantly under arms, for you shall take Troy. There are
no longer divided counsels among the gods; Juno has brought them
over to her own mind, and woe betides the Trojans at the hands of
Jove. Remember this.' The dream then vanished and I awoke. Let us
now, therefore, arm the sons of the Achaeans. But it will be well
that I should first sound them, and to this end I will tell them
to fly with their ships; but do you others go about among the
host and prevent their doing so."

He then sat down, and Nestor the prince of Pylos with all
sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus: "My friends," said
he, "princes and councillors of the Argives, if any other man of
the Achaeans had told us of this dream we should have declared it
false, and would have had nothing to do with it. But he who has
seen it is the foremost man among us; we must therefore set about
getting the people under arms."

With this he led the way from the assembly, and the other
sceptred kings rose with him in obedience to the word of
Agamemnon; but the people pressed forward to hear. They swarmed
like bees that sally from some hollow cave and flit in countless
throng among the spring flowers, bunched in knots and clusters;
even so did the mighty multitude pour from ships and tents to the
assembly, and range themselves upon the wide-watered shore, while
among them ran Wildfire Rumour, messenger of Jove, urging them
ever to the fore. Thus they gathered in a pell-mell of mad
confusion, and the earth groaned under the tramp of men as the
people sought their places. Nine heralds went crying about among
them to stay their tumult and bid them listen to the kings, till
at last they were got into their several places and ceased their
clamour. Then King Agamemnon rose, holding his sceptre. This was
the work of Vulcan, who gave it to Jove the son of Saturn. Jove
gave it to Mercury, slayer of Argus, guide and guardian. King
Mercury gave it to Pelops, the mighty charioteer, and Pelops to
Atreus, shepherd of his people. Atreus, when he died, left it to
Thyestes, rich in flocks, and Thyestes in his turn left it to be
borne by Agamemnon, that he might be lord of all Argos and of the
isles. Leaning, then, on his sceptre, he addressed the Argives.

"My friends," he said, "heroes, servants of Mars, the hand of
heaven has been laid heavily upon me. Cruel Jove gave me his
solemn promise that I should sack the city of Priam before
returning, but he has played me false, and is now bidding me go
ingloriously back to Argos with the loss of much people. Such is
the will of Jove, who has laid many a proud city in the dust, as
he will yet lay others, for his power is above all. It will be a
sorry tale hereafter that an Achaean host, at once so great and
valiant, battled in vain against men fewer in number than
themselves; but as yet the end is not in sight. Think that the
Achaeans and Trojans have sworn to a solemn covenant, and that
they have each been numbered--the Trojans by the roll of their
householders, and we by companies of ten; think further that each
of our companies desired to have a Trojan householder to pour out
their wine; we are so greatly more in number that full many a
company would have to go without its cup-bearer. But they have in
the town allies from other places, and it is these that hinder me
from being able to sack the rich city of Ilius. Nine of Jove's
years are gone; the timbers of our ships have rotted; their
tackling is sound no longer. Our wives and little ones at home
look anxiously for our coming, but the work that we came hither
to do has not been done. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say:
let us sail back to our own land, for we shall not take Troy."

With these words he moved the hearts of the multitude, so many of
them as knew not the cunning counsel of Agamemnon. They surged to
and fro like the waves of the Icarian Sea, when the east and
south winds break from heaven's clouds to lash them; or as when
the west wind sweeps over a field of corn and the ears bow
beneath the blast, even so were they swayed as they flew with
loud cries towards the ships, and the dust from under their feet
rose heavenward. They cheered each other on to draw the ships
into the sea; they cleared the channels in front of them; they
began taking away the stays from underneath them, and the welkin
rang with their glad cries, so eager were they to return.

Then surely the Argives would have returned after a fashion that
was not fated. But Juno said to Minerva, "Alas, daughter of
aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable, shall the Argives fly home to
their own land over the broad sea, and leave Priam and the
Trojans the glory of still keeping Helen, for whose sake so many
of the Achaeans have died at Troy, far from their homes? Go about
at once among the host, and speak fairly to them, man by man,
that they draw not their ships into the sea."

Minerva was not slack to do her bidding. Down she darted from the
topmost summits of Olympus, and in a moment she was at the ships
of the Achaeans. There she found Ulysses, peer of Jove in
counsel, standing alone. He had not as yet laid a hand upon his
ship, for he was grieved and sorry; so she went close up to him
and said, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, are you going to fling
yourselves into your ships and be off home to your own land in
this way? Will you leave Priam and the Trojans the glory of still
keeping Helen, for whose sake so many of the Achaeans have died
at Troy, far from their homes? Go about at once among the host,
and speak fairly to them, man by man, that they draw not their
ships into the sea."

Ulysses knew the voice as that of the goddess: he flung his cloak
from him and set off to run. His servant Eurybates, a man of
Ithaca, who waited on him, took charge of the cloak, whereon
Ulysses went straight up to Agamemnon and received from him his
ancestral, imperishable staff. With this he went about among the
ships of the Achaeans.

Whenever he met a king or chieftain, he stood by him and spoke
him fairly. "Sir," said he, "this flight is cowardly and
unworthy. Stand to your post, and bid your people also keep their
places. You do not yet know the full mind of Agamemnon; he was
sounding us, and ere long will visit the Achaeans with his
displeasure. We were not all of us at the council to hear what he
then said; see to it lest he be angry and do us a mischief; for
the pride of kings is great, and the hand of Jove is with them."

But when he came across any common man who was making a noise, he
struck him with his staff and rebuked him, saying, "Sirrah, hold
your peace, and listen to better men than yourself. You are a
coward and no soldier; you are nobody either in fight or council;
we cannot all be kings; it is not well that there should be many
masters; one man must be supreme--one king to whom the son of
scheming Saturn has given the sceptre of sovereignty over you
all."

Thus masterfully did he go about among the host, and the people
hurried back to the council from their tents and ships with a
sound as the thunder of surf when it comes crashing down upon the
shore, and all the sea is in an uproar.

The rest now took their seats and kept to their own several
places, but Thersites still went on wagging his unbridled
tongue--a man of many words, and those unseemly; a monger of
sedition, a railer against all who were in authority, who cared
not what he said, so that he might set the Achaeans in a laugh.
He was the ugliest man of all those that came before
Troy--bandy-legged, lame of one foot, with his two shoulders
rounded and hunched over his chest. His head ran up to a point,
but there was little hair on the top of it. Achilles and Ulysses
hated him worst of all, for it was with them that he was most
wont to wrangle; now, however, with a shrill squeaky voice he
began heaping his abuse on Agamemnon. The Achaeans were angry and
disgusted, yet none the less he kept on brawling and bawling at
the son of Atreus.

"Agamemnon," he cried, "what ails you now, and what more do you
want? Your tents are filled with bronze and with fair women, for
whenever we take a town we give you the pick of them. Would you
have yet more gold, which some Trojan is to give you as a ransom
for his son, when I or another Achaean has taken him prisoner? or
is it some young girl to hide and lie with? It is not well that
you, the ruler of the Achaeans, should bring them into such
misery. Weakling cowards, women rather than men, let us sail
home, and leave this fellow here at Troy to stew in his own meeds
of honour, and discover whether we were of any service to him or
no. Achilles is a much better man than he is, and see how he has
treated him--robbing him of his prize and keeping it himself.
Achilles takes it meekly and shows no fight; if he did, son of
Atreus, you would never again insult him."

Thus railed Thersites, but Ulysses at once went up to him and
rebuked him sternly. "Check your glib tongue, Thersites," said
be, "and babble not a word further. Chide not with princes when
you have none to back you. There is no viler creature come before
Troy with the sons of Atreus. Drop this chatter about kings, and
neither revile them nor keep harping about going home. We do not
yet know how things are going to be, nor whether the Achaeans are
to return with good success or evil. How dare you gibe at
Agamemnon because the Danaans have awarded him so many prizes? I
tell you, therefore--and it shall surely be--that if I again
catch you talking such nonsense, I will either forfeit my own
head and be no more called father of Telemachus, or I will take
you, strip you stark naked, and whip you out of the assembly till
you go blubbering back to the ships."

On this he beat him with his staff about the back and shoulders
till he dropped and fell a-weeping. The golden sceptre raised a
bloody weal on his back, so he sat down frightened and in pain,
looking foolish as he wiped the tears from his eyes. The people
were sorry for him, yet they laughed heartily, and one would turn
to his neighbour saying, "Ulysses has done many a good thing ere
now in fight and council, but he never did the Argives a better
turn than when he stopped this fellow's mouth from prating
further. He will give the kings no more of his insolence."

Thus said the people. Then Ulysses rose, sceptre in hand, and
Minerva in the likeness of a herald bade the people be still,
that those who were far off might hear him and consider his
council. He therefore with all sincerity and goodwill addressed
them thus:--

"King Agamemnon, the Achaeans are for making you a by-word among
all mankind. They forget the promise they made you when they set
out from Argos, that you should not return till you had sacked
the town of Troy, and, like children or widowed women, they
murmur and would set off homeward. True it is that they have had
toil enough to be disheartened. A man chafes at having to stay
away from his wife even for a single month, when he is on
shipboard, at the mercy of wind and sea, but it is now nine long
years that we have been kept here; I cannot, therefore, blame the
Achaeans if they turn restive; still we shall be shamed if we go
home empty after so long a stay--therefore, my friends, be
patient yet a little longer that we may learn whether the
prophesyings of Calchas were false or true.

"All who have not since perished must remember as though it were
yesterday or the day before, how the ships of the Achaeans were
detained in Aulis when we were on our way hither to make war on
Priam and the Trojans. We were ranged round about a fountain
offering hecatombs to the gods upon their holy altars, and there
was a fine plane-tree from beneath which there welled a stream of
pure water. Then we saw a prodigy; for Jove sent a fearful
serpent out of the ground, with blood-red stains upon its back,
and it darted from under the altar on to the plane-tree. Now
there was a brood of young sparrows, quite small, upon the
topmost bough, peeping out from under the leaves, eight in all,
and their mother that hatched them made nine. The serpent ate the
poor cheeping things, while the old bird flew about lamenting her
little ones; but the serpent threw his coils about her and caught
her by the wing as she was screaming. Then, when he had eaten
both the sparrow and her young, the god who had sent him made him
become a sign; for the son of scheming Saturn turned him into
stone, and we stood there wondering at that which had come to
pass. Seeing, then, that such a fearful portent had broken in
upon our hecatombs, Calchas forthwith declared to us the oracles
of heaven. 'Why, Achaeans,' said he, 'are you thus speechless?
Jove has sent us this sign, long in coming, and long ere it be
fulfilled, though its fame shall last for ever. As the serpent
ate the eight fledglings and the sparrow that hatched them, which
makes nine, so shall we fight nine years at Troy, but in the
tenth shall take the town.' This was what he said, and now it is
all coming true. Stay here, therefore, all of you, till we take
the city of Priam."

On this the Argives raised a shout, till the ships rang again
with the uproar. Nestor, knight of Gerene, then addressed them.
"Shame on you," he cried, "to stay talking here like children,
when you should fight like men. Where are our covenants now, and
where the oaths that we have taken? Shall our counsels be flung
into the fire, with our drink-offerings and the right hands of
fellowship wherein we have put our trust? We waste our time in
words, and for all our talking here shall be no further forward.
Stand, therefore, son of Atreus, by your own steadfast purpose;
lead the Argives on to battle, and leave this handful of men to
rot, who scheme, and scheme in vain, to get back to Argos ere
they have learned whether Jove be true or a liar. For the mighty
son of Saturn surely promised that we should succeed, when we
Argives set sail to bring death and destruction upon the Trojans.
He showed us favourable signs by flashing his lightning on our
right hands; therefore let none make haste to go till he has
first lain with the wife of some Trojan, and avenged the toil and
sorrow that he has suffered for the sake of Helen. Nevertheless,
if any man is in such haste to be at home again, let him lay his
hand to his ship that he may meet his doom in the sight of all.
But, O king, consider and give ear to my counsel, for the word
that I say may not be neglected lightly. Divide your men,
Agamemnon, into their several tribes and clans, that clans and
tribes may stand by and help one another. If you do this, and if
the Achaeans obey you, you will find out who, both chiefs and
peoples, are brave, and who are cowards; for they will vie
against the other. Thus you shall also learn whether it is
through the counsel of heaven or the cowardice of man that you
shall fail to take the town."

And Agamemnon answered, "Nestor, you have again outdone the sons
of the Achaeans in counsel. Would, by Father Jove, Minerva, and
Apollo, that I had among them ten more such councillors, for the
city of King Priam would then soon fall beneath our hands, and we
should sack it. But the son of Saturn afflicts me with bootless
wranglings and strife. Achilles and I are quarrelling about this
girl, in which matter I was the first to offend; if we can be of
one mind again, the Trojans will not stave off destruction for a
day. Now, therefore, get your morning meal, that our hosts join
in fight. Whet well your spears; see well to the ordering of your
shields; give good feeds to your horses, and look your chariots
carefully over, that we may do battle the livelong day; for we
shall have no rest, not for a moment, till night falls to part
us. The bands that bear your shields shall be wet with the sweat
upon your shoulders, your hands shall weary upon your spears,
your horses shall steam in front of your chariots, and if I see
any man shirking the fight, or trying to keep out of it at the
ships, there shall be no help for him, but he shall be a prey to
dogs and vultures."

Thus he spoke, and the Achaeans roared applause. As when the
waves run high before the blast of the south wind and break on
some lofty headland, dashing against it and buffeting it without
ceasing, as the storms from every quarter drive them, even so did
the Achaeans rise and hurry in all directions to their ships.
There they lighted their fires at their tents and got dinner,
offering sacrifice every man to one or other of the gods, and
praying each one of them that he might live to come out of the
fight. Agamemnon, king of men, sacrificed a fat five-year-old
bull to the mighty son of Saturn, and invited the princes and
elders of his host. First he asked Nestor and King Idomeneus,
then the two Ajaxes and the son of Tydeus, and sixthly Ulysses,
peer of gods in counsel; but Menelaus came of his own accord, for
he knew how busy his brother then was. They stood round the bull
with the barley-meal in their hands, and Agamemnon prayed,
saying, "Jove, most glorious, supreme, that dwellest in heaven,
and ridest upon the storm-cloud, grant that the sun may not go
down, nor the night fall, till the palace of Priam is laid low,
and its gates are consumed with fire. Grant that my sword may
pierce the shirt of Hector about his heart, and that full many of
his comrades may bite the dust as they fall dying round him."

Thus he prayed, but the son of Saturn would not fulfil his
prayer. He accepted the sacrifice, yet none the less increased
their toil continually. When they had done praying and sprinkling
the barley-meal upon the victim, they drew back its head, killed
it, and then flayed it. They cut out the thigh-bones, wrapped
them round in two layers of fat, and set pieces of raw meat on
the top of them. These they burned upon the split logs of
firewood, but they spitted the inward meats, and held them in the
flames to cook. When the thigh-bones were burned, and they had
tasted the inward meats, they cut the rest up small, put the
pieces upon spits, roasted them till they were done, and drew
them off; then, when they had finished their work and the feast
was ready, they ate it, and every man had his full share, so that
all were satisfied. As soon as they had had enough to eat and
drink, Nestor, knight of Gerene, began to speak. "King
Agamemnon," said he, "let us not stay talking here, nor be slack
in the work that heaven has put into our hands. Let the heralds
summon the people to gather at their several ships; we will then
go about among the host, that we may begin fighting at once."

Thus did he speak, and Agamemnon heeded his words. He at once
sent the criers round to call the people in assembly. So they
called them, and the people gathered thereon. The chiefs about
the son of Atreus chose their men and marshalled them, while
Minerva went among them holding her priceless aegis that knows
neither age nor death. From it there waved a hundred tassels of
pure gold, all deftly woven, and each one of them worth a hundred
oxen. With this she darted furiously everywhere among the hosts
of the Achaeans, urging them forward, and putting courage into
the heart of each, so that he might fight and do battle without
ceasing. Thus war became sweeter in their eyes even than
returning home in their ships. As when some great forest fire is
raging upon a mountain top and its light is seen afar, even so as
they marched the gleam of their armour flashed up into the
firmament of heaven.

They were like great flocks of geese, or cranes, or swans on the
plain about the waters of Cayster, that wing their way hither and
thither, glorying in the pride of flight, and crying as they
settle till the fen is alive with their screaming. Even thus did
their tribes pour from ships and tents on to the plain of the
Scamander, and the ground rang as brass under the feet of men and
horses. They stood as thick upon the flower-bespangled field as
leaves that bloom in summer.

As countless swarms of flies buzz around a herdsman's homestead
in the time of spring when the pails are drenched with milk, even
so did the Achaeans swarm on to the plain to charge the Trojans
and destroy them.

The chiefs disposed their men this way and that before the fight
began, drafting them out as easily as goatherds draft their
flocks when they have got mixed while feeding; and among them
went King Agamemnon, with a head and face like Jove the lord of
thunder, a waist like Mars, and a chest like that of Neptune. As
some great bull that lords it over the herds upon the plain, even
so did Jove make the son of Atreus stand peerless among the
multitude of heroes.

And now, O Muses, dwellers in the mansions of Olympus, tell me--
for you are goddesses and are in all places so that you see all
things, while we know nothing but by report--who were the chiefs
and princes of the Danaans? As for the common soldiers, they were
so that I could not name every single one of them though I had
ten tongues, and though my voice failed not and my heart were of
bronze within me, unless you, O Olympian Muses, daughters of
aegis-bearing Jove, were to recount them to me. Nevertheless, I
will tell the captains of the ships and all the fleet together.

Peneleos, Leitus, Arcesilaus, Prothoenor, and Clonius were
captains of the Boeotians. These were they that dwelt in Hyria
and rocky Aulis, and who held Schoenus, Scolus, and the highlands
of Eteonus, with Thespeia, Graia, and the fair city of
Mycalessus. They also held Harma, Eilesium, and Erythrae; and
they had Eleon, Hyle, and Peteon; Ocalea and the strong fortress
of Medeon; Copae, Eutresis, and Thisbe the haunt of doves;
Coronea, and the pastures of Haliartus; Plataea and Glisas; the
fortress of Thebes the less; holy Onchestus with its famous grove
of Neptune; Arne rich in vineyards; Midea, sacred Nisa, and
Anthedon upon the sea. From these there came fifty ships, and in
each there were a hundred and twenty young men of the Boeotians.

Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, sons of Mars, led the people that dwelt
in Aspledon and Orchomenus the realm of Minyas. Astyoche a noble
maiden bore them in the house of Actor son of Azeus; for she had
gone with Mars secretly into an upper chamber, and he had lain
with her. With these there came thirty ships.

The Phoceans were led by Schedius and Epistrophus, sons of mighty
Iphitus the son of Naubolus. These were they that held
Cyparissus, rocky Pytho, holy Crisa, Daulis, and Panopeus; they
also that dwelt in Anemorea and Hyampolis, and about the waters
of the river Cephissus, and Lilaea by the springs of the
Cephissus; with their chieftains came forty ships, and they
marshalled the forces of the Phoceans, which were stationed next
to the Boeotians, on their left.

Ajax, the fleet son of Oileus, commanded the Locrians. He was not
so great, nor nearly so great, as Ajax the son of Telamon. He was
a little man, and his breastplate was made of linen, but in use
of the spear he excelled all the Hellenes and the Achaeans.
These dwelt in Cynus, Opous, Calliarus, Bessa, Scarphe, fair
Augeae, Tarphe, and Thronium about the river Boagrius. With him
there came forty ships of the Locrians who dwell beyond Euboea.

The fierce Abantes held Euboea with its cities, Chalcis, Eretria,
Histiaea rich in vines, Cerinthus upon the sea, and the
rock-perched town of Dium; with them were also the men of
Carystus and Styra; Elephenor of the race of Mars was in command
of these; he was son of Chalcodon, and chief over all the
Abantes. With him they came, fleet of foot and wearing their hair
long behind, brave warriors, who would ever strive to tear open
the corslets of their foes with their long ashen spears. Of these
there came fifty ships.

And they that held the strong city of Athens, the people of great
Erechtheus, who was born of the soil itself, but Jove's daughter,
Minerva, fostered him, and established him at Athens in her own
rich sanctuary. There, year by year, the Athenian youths worship
him with sacrifices of bulls and rams. These were commanded by
Menestheus, son of Peteos. No man living could equal him in the
marshalling of chariots and foot soldiers. Nestor could alone
rival him, for he was older. With him there came fifty ships.

Ajax brought twelve ships from Salamis, and stationed them
alongside those of the Athenians.

The men of Argos, again, and those who held the walls of Tiryns,
with Hermione, and Asine upon the gulf; Troezene, Eionae, and the
vineyard lands of Epidaurus; the Achaean youths, moreover, who
came from Aegina and Mases; these were led by Diomed of the loud
battle-cry, and Sthenelus son of famed Capaneus. With them in
command was Euryalus, son of king Mecisteus, son of Talaus; but
Diomed was chief over them all. With these there came eighty
ships.

Those who held the strong city of Mycenae, rich Corinth and
Cleonae; Orneae, Araethyrea, and Licyon, where Adrastus reigned
of old; Hyperesia, high Gonoessa, and Pellene; Aegium and all the
coast-land round about Helice; these sent a hundred ships under
the command of King Agamemnon, son of Atreus. His force was far
both finest and most numerous, and in their midst was the king
himself, all glorious in his armour of gleaming bronze--foremost
among the heroes, for he was the greatest king, and had most men
under him.

And those that dwelt in Lacedaemon, lying low among the hills,
Pharis, Sparta, with Messe the haunt of doves; Bryseae, Augeae,
Amyclae, and Helos upon the sea; Laas, moreover, and Oetylus;
these were led by Menelaus of the loud battle-cry, brother to
Agamemnon, and of them there were sixty ships, drawn up apart
from the others. Among them went Menelaus himself, strong in
zeal, urging his men to fight; for he longed to avenge the toil
and sorrow that he had suffered for the sake of Helen.

The men of Pylos and Arene, and Thryum where is the ford of the
river Alpheus; strong Aipy, Cyparisseis, and Amphigenea; Pteleum,
Helos, and Dorium, where the Muses met Thamyris, and stilled his
minstrelsy for ever. He was returning from Oechalia, where
Eurytus lived and reigned, and boasted that he would surpass even
the Muses, daughters of aegis-bearing Jove, if they should sing
against him; whereon they were angry, and maimed him. They robbed
him of his divine power of song, and thenceforth he could strike
the lyre no more. These were commanded by Nestor, knight of
Gerene, and with him there came ninety ships.

And those that held Arcadia, under the high mountain of Cyllene,
near the tomb of Aepytus, where the people fight hand to hand;
the men of Pheneus also, and Orchomenus rich in flocks; of
Rhipae, Stratie, and bleak Enispe; of Tegea and fair Mantinea; of
Stymphelus and Parrhasia; of these King Agapenor son of Ancaeus
was commander, and they had sixty ships. Many Arcadians, good
soldiers, came in each one of them, but Agamemnon found them the
ships in which to cross the sea, for they were not a people that
occupied their business upon the waters.

The men, moreover, of Buprasium and of Elis, so much of it as is
enclosed between Hyrmine, Myrsinus upon the sea-shore, the rock
Olene and Alesium. These had four leaders, and each of them had
ten ships, with many Epeans on board. Their captains were
Amphimachus and Thalpius--the one, son of Cteatus, and the other,
of Eurytus--both of the race of Actor. The two others were
Diores, son of Amarynces, and Polyxenus, son of King Agasthenes,
son of Augeas.

And those of Dulichium with the sacred Echinean islands, who
dwelt beyond the sea off Elis; these were led by Meges, peer of
Mars, and the son of valiant Phyleus, dear to Jove, who
quarrelled with his father, and went to settle in Dulichium. With
him there came forty ships.

Ulysses led the brave Cephallenians, who held Ithaca, Neritum
with its forests, Crocylea, rugged Aegilips, Samos and Zacynthus,
with the mainland also that was over against the islands. These
were led by Ulysses, peer of Jove in counsel, and with him there
came twelve ships.

Thoas, son of Andraemon, commanded the Aetolians, who dwelt in
Pleuron, Olenus, Pylene, Chalcis by the sea, and rocky Calydon,
for the great king Oeneus had now no sons living, and was himself
dead, as was also golden-haired Meleager, who had been set over
the Aetolians to be their king. And with Thoas there came forty
ships.

The famous spearsman Idomeneus led the Cretans, who held Cnossus,
and the well-walled city of Gortys; Lyctus also, Miletus and
Lycastus that lies upon the chalk; the populous towns of Phaestus
and Rhytium, with the other peoples that dwelt in the hundred
cities of Crete. All these were led by Idomeneus, and by
Meriones, peer of murderous Mars. And with these there came
eighty ships.

Tlepolemus, son of Hercules, a man both brave and large of
stature, brought nine ships of lordly warriors from Rhodes. These
dwelt in Rhodes which is divided among the three cities of
Lindus, Ielysus, and Cameirus, that lies upon the chalk. These
were commanded by Tlepolemus, son of Hercules by Astyochea, whom
he had carried off from Ephyra, on the river Selleis, after
sacking many cities of valiant warriors. When Tlepolemus grew up,
he killed his father's uncle Licymnius, who had been a famous
warrior in his time, but was then grown old. On this he built
himself a fleet, gathered a great following, and fled beyond the
sea, for he was menaced by the other sons and grandsons of
Hercules. After a voyage, during which he suffered great
hardship, he came to Rhodes, where the people divided into three
communities, according to their tribes, and were dearly loved by
Jove, the lord of gods and men; wherefore the son of Saturn
showered down great riches upon them.

And Nireus brought three ships from Syme--Nireus, who was the
handsomest man that came up under Ilius of all the Danaans after
the son of Peleus--but he was a man of no substance, and had but
a small following.

And those that held Nisyrus, Crapathus, and Casus, with Cos, the
city of Eurypylus, and the Calydnian islands, these were
commanded by Pheidippus and Antiphus, two sons of King Thessalus
the son of Hercules. And with them there came thirty ships.

Those again who held Pelasgic Argos, Alos, Alope, and Trachis;
and those of Phthia and Hellas the land of fair women, who were
called Myrmidons, Hellenes, and Achaeans; these had fifty ships,
over which Achilles was in command. But they now took no part in
the war, inasmuch as there was no one to marshal them; for
Achilles stayed by his ships, furious about the loss of the girl
Briseis, whom he had taken from Lyrnessus at his own great peril,
when he had sacked Lyrnessus and Thebe, and had overthrown Mynes
and Epistrophus, sons of king Evenor, son of Selepus. For her
sake Achilles was still grieving, but ere long he was again to
join them.

And those that held Phylace and the flowery meadows of Pyrasus,
sanctuary of Ceres; Iton, the mother of sheep; Antrum upon the
sea, and Pteleum that lies upon the grass lands. Of these brave
Protesilaus had been captain while he was yet alive, but he was
now lying under the earth. He had left a wife behind him in
Phylace to tear her cheeks in sorrow, and his house was only half
finished, for he was slain by a Dardanian warrior while leaping
foremost of the Achaeans upon the soil of Troy. Still, though his
people mourned their chieftain, they were not without a leader,
for Podarces, of the race of Mars, marshalled them; he was son of
Iphiclus, rich in sheep, who was the son of Phylacus, and he was
own brother to Protesilaus, only younger, Protesilaus being at
once the elder and the more valiant. So the people were not
without a leader, though they mourned him whom they had lost.
With him there came forty ships.

And those that held Pherae by the Boebean lake, with Boebe,
Glaphyrae, and the populous city of Iolcus, these with their
eleven ships were led by Eumelus, son of Admetus, whom Alcestis
bore to him, loveliest of the daughters of Pelias.

And those that held Methone and Thaumacia, with Meliboea and
rugged Olizon, these were led by the skilful archer Philoctetes,
and they had seven ships, each with fifty oarsmen all of them
good archers; but Philoctetes was lying in great pain in the
Island of Lemnos, where the sons of the Achaeans left him, for he
had been bitten by a poisonous water snake. There he lay sick and
sorry, and full soon did the Argives come to miss him. But his
people, though they felt his loss were not leaderless, for Medon,
the bastard son of Oileus by Rhene, set them in array.

Those, again, of Tricca and the stony region of Ithome, and they
that held Oechalia, the city of Oechalian Eurytus, these were
commanded by the two sons of Aesculapius, skilled in the art of
healing, Podalirius and Machaon. And with them there came thirty
ships.

The men, moreover, of Ormenius, and by the fountain of Hypereia,
with those that held Asterius, and the white crests of Titanus,
these were led by Eurypylus, the son of Euaemon, and with them
there came forty ships.

Those that held Argissa and Gyrtone, Orthe, Elone, and the white
city of Oloosson, of these brave Polypoetes was leader. He was
son of Pirithous, who was son of Jove himself, for Hippodameia
bore him to Pirithous on the day when he took his revenge on the
shaggy mountain savages and drove them from Mt. Pelion to the
Aithices. But Polypoetes was not sole in command, for with him
was Leonteus, of the race of Mars, who was son of Coronus, the
son of Caeneus. And with these there came forty ships.

Guneus brought two and twenty ships from Cyphus, and he was
followed by the Enienes and the valiant Peraebi, who dwelt about
wintry Dodona, and held the lands round the lovely river
Titaresius, which sends its waters into the Peneus. They do not
mingle with the silver eddies of the Peneus, but flow on the top
of them like oil; for the Titaresius is a branch of dread Orcus
and of the river Styx.

Of the Magnetes, Prothous son of Tenthredon was commander. They
were they that dwelt about the river Peneus and Mt. Pelion.
Prothous, fleet of foot, was their leader, and with him there
came forty ships.

Such were the chiefs and princes of the Danaans. Who, then, O
Muse, was the foremost, whether man or horse, among those that
followed after the sons of Atreus?

Of the horses, those of the son of Pheres were by far the finest.
They were driven by Eumelus, and were as fleet as birds. They
were of the same age and colour, and perfectly matched in height.
Apollo, of the silver bow, had bred them in Perea--both of them
mares, and terrible as Mars in battle. Of the men, Ajax, son of
Telamon, was much the foremost so long as Achilles' anger lasted,
for Achilles excelled him greatly and he had also better horses;
but Achilles was now holding aloof at his ships by reason of his
quarrel with Agamemnon, and his people passed their time upon the
sea shore, throwing discs or aiming with spears at a mark, and in
archery. Their horses stood each by his own chariot, champing
lotus and wild celery. The chariots were housed under cover, but
their owners, for lack of leadership, wandered hither and thither
about the host and went not forth to fight.

Thus marched the host like a consuming fire, and the earth
groaned beneath them when the lord of thunder is angry and lashes
the land about Typhoeus among the Arimi, where they say Typhoeus
lies. Even so did the earth groan beneath them as they sped over
the plain.

And now Iris, fleet as the wind, was sent by Jove to tell the bad
news among the Trojans. They were gathered in assembly, old and
young, at Priam's gates, and Iris came close up to Priam,
speaking with the voice of Priam's son Polites, who, being fleet
of foot, was stationed as watchman for the Trojans on the tomb of
old Aesyetes, to look out for any sally of the Achaeans. In his
likeness Iris spoke, saying, "Old man, you talk idly, as in time
of peace, while war is at hand. I have been in many a battle, but
never yet saw such a host as is now advancing. They are crossing
the plain to attack the city as thick as leaves or as the sands
of the sea. Hector, I charge you above all others, do as I say.
There are many allies dispersed about the city of Priam from
distant places and speaking divers tongues. Therefore, let each
chief give orders to his own people, setting them severally in
array and leading them forth to battle."

Thus she spoke, but Hector knew that it was the goddess, and at
once broke up the assembly. The men flew to arms; all the gates
were opened, and the people thronged through them, horse and
foot, with the tramp as of a great multitude.

Now there is a high mound before the city, rising by itself upon
the plain. Men call it Batieia, but the gods know that it is the
tomb of lithe Myrine. Here the Trojans and their allies divided
their forces.

Priam's son, great Hector of the gleaming helmet, commanded the
Trojans, and with him were arrayed by far the greater number and
most valiant of those who were longing for the fray.

The Dardanians were led by brave Aeneas, whom Venus bore to
Anchises, when she, goddess though she was, had lain with him
upon the mountain slopes of Ida. He was not alone, for with him
were the two sons of Antenor, Archilochus and Acamas, both
skilled in all the arts of war.

They that dwelt in Telea under the lowest spurs of Mt. Ida, men
of substance, who drink the limpid waters of the Aesepus, and are
of Trojan blood--these were led by Pandarus son of Lycaon, whom
Apollo had taught to use the bow.

They that held Adresteia and the land of Apaesus, with Pityeia,
and the high mountain of Tereia--these were led by Adrestus and
Amphius, whose breastplate was of linen. These were the sons of
Merops of Percote, who excelled in all kinds of divination. He
told them not to take part in the war, but they gave him no heed,
for fate lured them to destruction.

They that dwelt about Percote and Practius, with Sestos, Abydos,
and Arisbe--these were led by Asius, son of Hyrtacus, a brave
commander--Asius, the son of Hyrtacus, whom his powerful dark bay
steeds, of the breed that comes from the river Selleis, had
brought from Arisbe.

Hippothous led the tribes of Pelasgian spearsmen, who dwelt in
fertile Larissa--Hippothous, and Pylaeus of the race of Mars, two
sons of the Pelasgian Lethus, son of Teutamus.

Acamas and the warrior Peirous commanded the Thracians and those
that came from beyond the mighty stream of the Hellespont.

Euphemus, son of Troezenus, the son of Ceos, was captain of the
Ciconian spearsmen.

Pyraechmes led the Paeonian archers from distant Amydon, by the
broad waters of the river Axius, the fairest that flow upon the
earth.

The Paphlagonians were commanded by stout-hearted Pylaemanes from
Enetae, where the mules run wild in herds. These were they that
held Cytorus and the country round Sesamus, with the cities by
the river Parthenius, Cromna, Aegialus, and lofty Erithini.

Odius and Epistrophus were captains over the Halizoni from
distant Alybe, where there are mines of silver.

Chromis, and Ennomus the augur, led the Mysians, but his skill in
augury availed not to save him from destruction, for he fell by
the hand of the fleet descendant of Aeacus in the river, where he
slew others also of the Trojans.

Phorcys, again, and noble Ascanius led the Phrygians from the far
country of Ascania, and both were eager for the fray.

Mesthles and Antiphus commanded the Meonians, sons of Talaemenes,
born to him of the Gygaean lake. These led the Meonians, who
dwelt under Mt. Tmolus.

Nastes led the Carians, men of a strange speech. These held
Miletus and the wooded mountain of Phthires, with the water of
the river Maeander and the lofty crests of Mt. Mycale. These were
commanded by Nastes and Amphimachus, the brave sons of Nomion. He
came into the fight with gold about him, like a girl; fool that
he was, his gold was of no avail to save him, for he fell in the
river by the hand of the fleet descendant of Aeacus, and Achilles
bore away his gold.

Sarpedon and Glaucus led the Lycians from their distant land, by
the eddying waters of the Xanthus.

BOOK III


When the companies were thus arrayed, each under its own captain,
the Trojans advanced as a flight of wild fowl or cranes that
scream overhead when rain and winter drive them over the flowing
waters of Oceanus to bring death and destruction on the Pygmies,
and they wrangle in the air as they fly; but the Achaeans marched
silently, in high heart, and minded to stand by one another.

As when the south wind spreads a curtain of mist upon the
mountain tops, bad for shepherds but better than night for
thieves, and a man can see no further than he can throw a stone,
even so rose the dust from under their feet as they made all
speed over the plain.

When they were close up with one another, Alexandrus came forward
as champion on the Trojan side. On his shoulders he bore the skin
of a panther, his bow, and his sword, and he brandished two
spears shod with bronze as a challenge to the bravest of the
Achaeans to meet him in single fight. Menelaus saw him thus
stride out before the ranks, and was glad as a hungry lion that
lights on the carcase of some goat or horned stag, and devours it
there and then, though dogs and youths set upon him. Even thus
was Menelaus glad when his eyes caught sight of Alexandrus, for
he deemed that now he should be revenged. He sprang, therefore,
from his chariot, clad in his suit of armour.

Alexandrus quailed as he saw Menelaus come forward, and shrank in
fear of his life under cover of his men. As one who starts back
affrighted, trembling and pale, when he comes suddenly upon a
serpent in some mountain glade, even so did Alexandrus plunge
into the throng of Trojan warriors, terror-stricken at the sight
of the son of Atreus.

Then Hector upbraided him. "Paris," said he, "evil-hearted Paris,
fair to see, but woman-mad, and false of tongue, would that you
had never been born, or that you had died unwed. Better so, than
live to be disgraced and looked askance at. Will not the Achaeans
mock at us and say that we have sent one to champion us who is
fair to see but who has neither wit nor courage? Did you not,
such as you are, get your following together and sail beyond the
seas? Did you not from your a far country carry off a lovely
woman wedded among a people of warriors--to bring sorrow upon
your father, your city, and your whole country, but joy to your
enemies, and hang-dog shamefacedness to yourself? And now can you
not dare face Menelaus and learn what manner of man he is whose
wife you have stolen? Where indeed would be your lyre and your
love-tricks, your comely locks and your fair favour, when you
were lying in the dust before him? The Trojans are a weak-kneed
people, or ere this you would have had a shirt of stones for the
wrongs you have done them."

And Alexandrus answered, "Hector, your rebuke is just. You are
hard as the axe which a shipwright wields at his work, and
cleaves the timber to his liking. As the axe in his hand, so keen
is the edge of your scorn. Still, taunt me not with the gifts
that golden Venus has given me; they are precious; let not a man
disdain them, for the gods give them where they are minded, and
none can have them for the asking. If you would have me do battle
with Menelaus, bid the Trojans and Achaeans take their seats,
while he and I fight in their midst for Helen and all her wealth.
Let him who shall be victorious and prove to be the better man
take the woman and all she has, to bear them to his home, but let
the rest swear to a solemn covenant of peace whereby you Trojans
shall stay here in Troy, while the others go home to Argos and
the land of the Achaeans."

When Hector heard this he was glad, and went about among the
Trojan ranks holding his spear by the middle to keep them back,
and they all sat down at his bidding: but the Achaeans still
aimed at him with stones and arrows, till Agamemnon shouted to
them saying, "Hold, Argives, shoot not, sons of the Achaeans;
Hector desires to speak."

They ceased taking aim and were still, whereon Hector spoke.
"Hear from my mouth," said he, "Trojans and Achaeans, the saying
of Alexandrus, through whom this quarrel has come about. He bids
the Trojans and Achaeans lay their armour upon the ground, while
he and Menelaus fight in the midst of you for Helen and all her
wealth. Let him who shall be victorious and prove to be the
better man take the woman and all she has, to bear them to his
own home, but let the rest swear to a solemn covenant of peace."

Thus he spoke, and they all held their peace, till Menelaus of
the loud battle-cry addressed them. "And now," he said, "hear me
too, for it is I who am the most aggrieved. I deem that the
parting of Achaeans and Trojans is at hand, as well it may be,
seeing how much have suffered for my quarrel with Alexandrus and
the wrong he did me. Let him who shall die, die, and let the
others fight no more. Bring, then, two lambs, a white ram and a
black ewe, for Earth and Sun, and we will bring a third for Jove.
Moreover, you shall bid Priam come, that he may swear to the
covenant himself; for his sons are high-handed and ill to trust,
and the oaths of Jove must not be transgressed or taken in vain.
Young men's minds are light as air, but when an old man comes he
looks before and after, deeming that which shall be fairest upon
both sides."

The Trojans and Achaeans were glad when they heard this, for they
thought that they should now have rest. They backed their
chariots toward the ranks, got out of them, and put off their
armour, laying it down upon the ground; and the hosts were near
to one another with a little space between them. Hector sent two
messengers to the city to bring the lambs and to bid Priam come,
while Agamemnon told Talthybius to fetch the other lamb from the
ships, and he did as Agamemnon had said.

Meanwhile Iris went to Helen in the form of her sister-in-law,
wife of the son of Antenor, for Helicaon, son of Antenor, had
married Laodice, the fairest of Priam's daughters. She found her
in her own room, working at a great web of purple linen, on which
she was embroidering the battles between Trojans and Achaeans,
that Mars had made them fight for her sake. Iris then came close
up to her and said, "Come hither, child, and see the strange
doings of the Trojans and Achaeans. Till now they have been
warring upon the plain, mad with lust of battle, but now they
have left off fighting, and are leaning upon their shields,
sitting still with their spears planted beside them. Alexandrus
and Menelaus are going to fight about yourself, and you are to be
the wife of him who is the victor."

Thus spoke the goddess, and Helen's heart yearned after her
former husband, her city, and her parents. She threw a white
mantle over her head, and hurried from her room, weeping as she
went, not alone, but attended by two of her handmaids, Aethrae,
daughter of Pittheus, and Clymene. And straightway they were at
the Scaean gates.

The two sages, Ucalegon and Antenor, elders of the people, were
seated by the Scaean gates, with Priam, Panthous, Thymoetes,
Lampus, Clytius, and Hiketaon of the race of Mars. These were too
old to fight, but they were fluent orators, and sat on the tower
like cicales that chirrup delicately from the boughs of some high
tree in a wood. When they saw Helen coming towards the tower,
they said softly to one another, "Small wonder that Trojans and
Achaeans should endure so much and so long, for the sake of a
woman so marvellously and divinely lovely. Still, fair though she
be, let them take her and go, or she will breed sorrow for us and
for our children after us."

But Priam bade her draw nigh. "My child," said he, "take your
seat in front of me that you may see your former husband, your
kinsmen and your friends. I lay no blame upon you, it is the
gods, not you who are to blame. It is they that have brought
about this terrible war with the Achaeans. Tell me, then, who is
yonder huge hero so great and goodly? I have seen men taller by a
head, but none so comely and so royal. Surely he must be a king."

"Sir," answered Helen, "father of my husband, dear and reverend
in my eyes, would that I had chosen death rather than to have
come here with your son, far from my bridal chamber, my friends,
my darling daughter, and all the companions of my girlhood. But
it was not to be, and my lot is one of tears and sorrow. As for
your question, the hero of whom you ask is Agamemnon, son of
Atreus, a good king and a brave soldier, brother-in-law as surely
as that he lives, to my abhorred and miserable self."

The old man marvelled at him and said, "Happy son of Atreus,
child of good fortune. I see that the Achaeans are subject to you
in great multitudes. When I was in Phrygia I saw much horsemen,
the people of Otreus and of Mygdon, who were camping upon the
banks of the river Sangarius; I was their ally, and with them
when the Amazons, peers of men, came up against them, but even
they were not so many as the Achaeans."

The old man next looked upon Ulysses; "Tell me," he said, "who is
that other, shorter by a head than Agamemnon, but broader across
the chest and shoulders? His armour is laid upon the ground, and
he stalks in front of the ranks as it were some great woolly ram
ordering his ewes."

And Helen answered, "He is Ulysses, a man of great craft, son of
Laertes. He was born in rugged Ithaca, and excels in all manner
of stratagems and subtle cunning."

On this Antenor said, "Madam, you have spoken truly. Ulysses once
came here as envoy about yourself, and Menelaus with him. I
received them in my own house, and therefore know both of them by
sight and conversation. When they stood up in presence of the
assembled Trojans, Menelaus was the broader shouldered, but when
both were seated Ulysses had the more royal presence. After a
time they delivered their message, and the speech of Menelaus ran
trippingly on the tongue; he did not say much, for he was a man
of few words, but he spoke very clearly and to the point, though
he was the younger man of the two; Ulysses, on the other hand,
when he rose to speak, was at first silent and kept his eyes
fixed upon the ground. There was no play nor graceful movement of
his sceptre; he kept it straight and stiff like a man unpractised
in oratory--one might have taken him for a mere churl or
simpleton; but when he raised his voice, and the words came
driving from his deep chest like winter snow before the wind,
then there was none to touch him, and no man thought further of
what he looked like."

Priam then caught sight of Ajax and asked, "Who is that great and
goodly warrior whose head and broad shoulders tower above the
rest of the Argives?"

"That," answered Helen, "is huge Ajax, bulwark of the Achaeans,
and on the other side of him, among the Cretans, stands Idomeneus
looking like a god, and with the captains of the Cretans round
him. Often did Menelaus receive him as a guest in our house when
he came visiting us from Crete. I see, moreover, many other
Achaeans whose names I could tell you, but there are two whom I
can nowhere find, Castor, breaker of horses, and Pollux the
mighty boxer; they are children of my mother, and own brothers to
myself. Either they have not left Lacedaemon, or else, though
they have brought their ships, they will not show themselves in
battle for the shame and disgrace that I have brought upon them."

She knew not that both these heroes were already lying under the
earth in their own land of Lacedaemon.

Meanwhile the heralds were bringing the holy oath-offerings
through the city--two lambs and a goatskin of wine, the gift of
earth; and Idaeus brought the mixing bowl and the cups of gold.
He went up to Priam and said, "Son of Laomedon, the princes of
the Trojans and Achaeans bid you come down on to the plain and
swear to a solemn covenant. Alexandrus and Menelaus are to fight
for Helen in single combat, that she and all her wealth may go
with him who is the victor. We are to swear to a solemn covenant
of peace whereby we others shall dwell here in Troy, while the
Achaeans return to Argos and the land of the Achaeans."

The old man trembled as he heard, but bade his followers yoke the
horses, and they made all haste to do so. He mounted the chariot,
gathered the reins in his hand, and Antenor took his seat beside
him; they then drove through the Scaean gates on to the plain.
When they reached the ranks of the Trojans and Achaeans they left
the chariot, and with measured pace advanced into the space
between the hosts.

Agamemnon and Ulysses both rose to meet them. The attendants
brought on the oath-offerings and mixed the wine in the
mixing-bowls; they poured water over the hands of the chieftains,
and the son of Atreus drew the dagger that hung by his sword, and
cut wool from the lambs' heads; this the men-servants gave about
among the Trojan and Achaean princes, and the son of Atreus
lifted up his hands in prayer. "Father Jove," he cried, "that
rulest in Ida, most glorious in power, and thou oh Sun, that
seest and givest ear to all things, Earth and Rivers, and ye who
in the realms below chastise the soul of him that has broken his
oath, witness these rites and guard them, that they be not vain.
If Alexandrus kills Menelaus, let him keep Helen and all her
wealth, while we sail home with our ships; but if Menelaus kills
Alexandrus, let the Trojans give back Helen and all that she has;
let them moreover pay such fine to the Achaeans as shall be
agreed upon, in testimony among those that shall be born
hereafter. And if Priam and his sons refuse such fine when
Alexandrus has fallen, then will I stay here and fight on till I
have got satisfaction."

As he spoke he drew his knife across the throats of the victims,
and laid them down gasping and dying upon the ground, for the
knife had reft them of their strength. Then they poured wine from
the mixing-bowl into the cups, and prayed to the everlasting
gods, saying, Trojans and Achaeans among one another, "Jove, most
great and glorious, and ye other everlasting gods, grant that the
brains of them who shall first sin against their oaths--of them
and their children--may be shed upon the ground even as this
wine, and let their wives become the slaves of strangers."

Thus they prayed, but not as yet would Jove grant them their
prayer. Then Priam, descendant of Dardanus, spoke, saying, "Hear
me, Trojans and Achaeans, I will now go back to the wind-beaten
city of Ilius: I dare not with my own eyes witness this fight
between my son and Menelaus, for Jove and the other immortals
alone know which shall fall."

On this he laid the two lambs on his chariot and took his seat.
He gathered the reins in his hand, and Antenor sat beside him;
the two then went back to Ilius. Hector and Ulysses measured the
ground, and cast lots from a helmet of bronze to see which should
take aim first. Meanwhile the two hosts lifted up their hands and
prayed saying, "Father Jove, that rulest from Ida, most glorious
in power, grant that he who first brought about this war between
us may die, and enter the house of Hades, while we others remain
at peace and abide by our oaths."

Great Hector now turned his head aside while he shook the helmet,
and the lot of Paris flew out first. The others took their
several stations, each by his horses and the place where his arms
were lying, while Alexandrus, husband of lovely Helen, put on his
goodly armour. First he greaved his legs with greaves of good
make and fitted with ancle-clasps of silver; after this he donned
the cuirass of his brother Lycaon, and fitted it to his own body;
he hung his silver-studded sword of bronze about his shoulders,
and then his mighty shield. On his comely head he set his helmet,
well-wrought, with a crest of horse-hair that nodded menacingly
above it, and he grasped a redoubtable spear that suited his
hands. In like fashion Menelaus also put on his armour.

When they had thus armed, each amid his own people, they strode
fierce of aspect into the open space, and both Trojans and
Achaeans were struck with awe as they beheld them. They stood
near one another on the measured ground, brandishing their
spears, and each furious against the other. Alexandrus aimed
first, and struck the round shield of the son of Atreus, but the
spear did not pierce it, for the shield turned its point.
Menelaus next took aim, praying to Father Jove as he did so.
"King Jove," he said, "grant me revenge on Alexandrus who has
wronged me; subdue him under my hand that in ages yet to come a
man may shrink from doing ill deeds in the house of his host."

He poised his spear as he spoke, and hurled it at the shield of
Alexandrus. Through shield and cuirass it went, and tore the
shirt by his flank, but Alexandrus swerved aside, and thus saved
his life. Then the son of Atreus drew his sword, and drove at the
projecting part of his helmet, but the sword fell shivered in
three or four pieces from his hand, and he cried, looking towards
Heaven, "Father Jove, of all gods thou art the most despiteful; I
made sure of my revenge, but the sword has broken in my hand, my
spear has been hurled in vain, and I have not killed him."

With this he flew at Alexandrus, caught him by the horsehair
plume of his helmet, and began dragging him towards the Achaeans.
The strap of the helmet that went under his chin was choking him,
and Menelaus would have dragged him off to his own great glory
had not Jove's daughter Venus been quick to mark and to break the
strap of oxhide, so that the empty helmet came away in his hand.
This he flung to his comrades among the Achaeans, and was again
springing upon Alexandrus to run him through with a spear, but
Venus snatched him up in a moment (as a god can do), hid him
under a cloud of darkness, and conveyed him to his own
bedchamber.

Then she went to call Helen, and found her on a high tower with
the Trojan women crowding round her. She took the form of an old
woman who used to dress wool for her when she was still in
Lacedaemon, and of whom she was very fond. Thus disguised she
plucked her by perfumed robe and said, "Come hither; Alexandrus
says you are to go to the house; he is on his bed in his own
room, radiant with beauty and dressed in gorgeous apparel. No one
would think he had just come from fighting, but rather that he
was going to a dance, or had done dancing and was sitting down."

With these words she moved the heart of Helen to anger. When she
marked the beautiful neck of the goddess, her lovely bosom, and
sparkling eyes, she marvelled at her and said, "Goddess, why do
you thus beguile me? Are you going to send me afield still
further to some man whom you have taken up in Phrygia or fair
Meonia? Menelaus has just vanquished Alexandrus, and is to take
my hateful self back with him. You are come here to betray me. Go
sit with Alexandrus yourself; henceforth be goddess no longer;
never let your feet carry you back to Olympus; worry about him
and look after him till he make you his wife, or, for the matter
of that, his slave--but me? I shall not go; I can garnish his bed
no longer; I should be a by-word among all the women of Troy.
Besides, I have trouble on my mind."

Venus was very angry, and said, "Bold hussy, do not provoke me;
if you do, I shall leave you to your fate and hate you as much as
I have loved you. I will stir up fierce hatred between Trojans
and Achaeans, and you shall come to a bad end."

At this Helen was frightened. She wrapped her mantle about her
and went in silence, following the goddess and unnoticed by the
Trojan women.

When they came to the house of Alexandrus the maid-servants set
about their work, but Helen went into her own room, and the
laughter-loving goddess took a seat and set it for her facing
Alexandrus. On this Helen, daughter of aegis-bearing Jove, sat
down, and with eyes askance began to upbraid her husband.

"So you are come from the fight," said she; "would that you had
fallen rather by the hand of that brave man who was my husband.
You used to brag that you were a better man with hands and spear
than Menelaus. Go, then, and challenge him again--but I should
advise you not to do so, for if you are foolish enough to meet
him in single combat, you will soon fall by his spear."

And Paris answered, "Wife, do not vex me with your reproaches.
This time, with the help of Minerva, Menelaus has vanquished me;
another time I may myself be victor, for I too have gods that
will stand by me. Come, let us lie down together and make
friends. Never yet was I so passionately enamoured of you as at
this moment--not even when I first carried you off from
Lacedaemon and sailed away with you--not even when I had converse
with you upon the couch of love in the island of Cranae was I so
enthralled by desire of you as now." On this he led her towards
the bed, and his wife went with him.

Thus they laid themselves on the bed together; but the son of
Atreus strode among the throng, looking everywhere for
Alexandrus, and no man, neither of the Trojans nor of the allies,
could find him. If they had seen him they were in no mind to hide
him, for they all of them hated him as they did death itself.
Then Agamemnon, king of men, spoke, saying, "Hear me, Trojans,
Dardanians, and allies. The victory has been with Menelaus;
therefore give back Helen with all her wealth, and pay such fine
as shall be agreed upon, in testimony among them that shall be
born hereafter."

Thus spoke the son of Atreus, and the Achaeans shouted in
applause.

BOOK IV


Now the gods were sitting with Jove in council upon the golden
floor while Hebe went round pouring out nectar for them to drink,
and as they pledged one another in their cups of gold they looked
down upon the town of Troy. The son of Saturn then began to tease
Juno, talking at her so as to provoke her. "Menelaus," said he,
"has two good friends among the goddesses, Juno of Argos, and
Minerva of Alalcomene, but they only sit still and look on, while
Venus keeps ever by Alexandrus' side to defend him in any danger;
indeed she has just rescued him when he made sure that it was all
over with him--for the victory really did lie with Menelaus. We
must consider what we shall do about all this; shall we set them
fighting anew or make peace between them? If you will agree to
this last Menelaus can take back Helen and the city of Priam may
remain still inhabited."

Minerva and Juno muttered their discontent as they sat side by
side hatching mischief for the Trojans. Minerva scowled at her
father, for she was in a furious passion with him, and said
nothing, but Juno could not contain herself. "Dread son of
Saturn," said she, "what, pray, is the meaning of all this? Is my
trouble, then, to go for nothing, and the sweat that I have
sweated, to say nothing of my horses, while getting the people
together against Priam and his children? Do as you will, but we
other gods shall not all of us approve your counsel."

Jove was angry and answered, "My dear, what harm have Priam and
his sons done you that you are so hotly bent on sacking the city
of Ilius? Will nothing do for you but you must within their walls
and eat Priam raw, with his sons and all the other Trojans to
boot? Have it your own way then; for I would not have this matter
become a bone of contention between us. I say further, and lay my
saying to your heart, if ever I want to sack a city belonging to
friends of yours, you must not try to stop me; you will have to
let me do it, for I am giving in to you sorely against my will.
Of all inhabited cities under the sun and stars of heaven, there
was none that I so much respected as Ilius with Priam and his
whole people. Equitable feasts were never wanting about my altar,
nor the savour of burning fat, which is honour due to ourselves."

"My own three favourite cities," answered Juno, "are Argos,
Sparta, and Mycenae. Sack them whenever you may be displeased
with them. I shall not defend them and I shall not care. Even if
I did, and tried to stay you, I should take nothing by it, for
you are much stronger than I am, but I will not have my own work
wasted. I too am a god and of the same race with yourself. I am
Saturn's eldest daughter, and am honourable not on this ground
only, but also because I am your wife, and you are king over the
gods. Let it be a case, then, of give-and-take between us, and
the rest of the gods will follow our lead. Tell Minerva to go and
take part in the fight at once, and let her contrive that the
Trojans shall be the first to break their oaths and set upon the
Achaeans."

The sire of gods and men heeded her words, and said to Minerva,
"Go at once into the Trojan and Achaean hosts, and contrive that
the Trojans shall be the first to break their oaths and set upon
the Achaeans."

This was what Minerva was already eager to do, so down she darted
from the topmost summits of Olympus. She shot through the sky as
some brilliant meteor which the son of scheming Saturn has sent
as a sign to mariners or to some great army, and a fiery train of
light follows in its wake. The Trojans and Achaeans were struck
with awe as they beheld, and one would turn to his neighbour,
saying, "Either we shall again have war and din of combat, or
Jove the lord of battle will now make peace between us."

Thus did they converse. Then Minerva took the form of Laodocus,
son of Antenor, and went through the ranks of the Trojans to find
Pandarus, the redoubtable son of Lycaon. She found him standing
among the stalwart heroes who had followed him from the banks of
the Aesopus, so she went close up to him and said, "Brave son of
Lycaon, will you do as I tell you? If you dare send an arrow at
Menelaus you will win honour and thanks from all the Trojans, and
especially from prince Alexandrus--he would be the first to
requite you very handsomely if he could see Menelaus mount his
funeral pyre, slain by an arrow from your hand. Take your home
aim then, and pray to Lycian Apollo, the famous archer; vow that
when you get home to your strong city of Zelea you will offer a
hecatomb of firstling lambs in his honour."

His fool's heart was persuaded, and he took his bow from its
case. This bow was made from the horns of a wild ibex which he
had killed as it was bounding from a rock; he had stalked it, and
it had fallen as the arrow struck it to the heart. Its horns were
sixteen palms long, and a worker in horn had made them into a
bow, smoothing them well down, and giving them tips of gold. When
Pandarus had strung his bow he laid it carefully on the ground,
and his brave followers held their shields before him lest the
Achaeans should set upon him before he had shot Menelaus. Then he
opened the lid of his quiver and took out a winged arrow that had
not yet been shot, fraught with the pangs of death. He laid the
arrow on the string and prayed to Lycian Apollo, the famous
archer, vowing that when he got home to his strong city of Zelea
he would offer a hecatomb of firstling lambs in his honour. He
laid the notch of the arrow on the oxhide bowstring, and drew
both notch and string to his breast till the arrow-head was near
the bow; then when the bow was arched into a half-circle he let
fly, and the bow twanged, and the string sang as the arrow flew
gladly on over the heads of the throng.

But the blessed gods did not forget thee, O Menelaus, and Jove's
daughter, driver of the spoil, was the first to stand before thee
and ward off the piercing arrow. She turned it from his skin as a
mother whisks a fly from off her child when it is sleeping
sweetly; she guided it to the part where the golden buckles of
the belt that passed over his double cuirass were fastened, so
the arrow struck the belt that went tightly round him. It went
right through this and through the cuirass of cunning
workmanship; it also pierced the belt beneath it, which he wore
next his skin to keep out darts or arrows; it was this that
served him in the best stead, nevertheless the arrow went through
it and grazed the top of the skin, so that blood began flowing
from the wound.

As when some woman of Meonia or Caria strains purple dye on to a
piece of ivory that is to be the cheek-piece of a horse, and is
to be laid up in a treasure house--many a knight is fain to bear
it, but the king keeps it as an ornament of which both horse and
driver may be proud--even so, O Menelaus, were your shapely
thighs and your legs down to your fair ancles stained with blood.

When King Agamemnon saw the blood flowing from the wound he was
afraid, and so was brave Menelaus himself till he saw that the
barbs of the arrow and the thread that bound the arrow-head to
the shaft were still outside the wound. Then he took heart, but
Agamemnon heaved a deep sigh as he held Menelaus's hand in his
own, and his comrades made moan in concert. "Dear brother," he
cried, "I have been the death of you in pledging this covenant
and letting you come forward as our champion. The Trojans have
trampled on their oaths and have wounded you; nevertheless the
oath, the blood of lambs, the drink-offerings and the right hands
of fellowship in which we have put our trust shall not be vain.
If he that rules Olympus fulfil it not here and now, he will yet
fulfil it hereafter, and they shall pay dearly with their lives
and with their wives and children. The day will surely come when
mighty Ilius shall be laid low, with Priam and Priam's people,
when the son of Saturn from his high throne shall overshadow them
with his awful aegis in punishment of their present treachery.
This shall surely be; but how, Menelaus, shall I mourn you, if it
be your lot now to die? I should return to Argos as a by-word,
for the Achaeans will at once go home. We shall leave Priam and
the Trojans the glory of still keeping Helen, and the earth will
rot your bones as you lie here at Troy with your purpose not
fulfilled. Then shall some braggart Trojan leap upon your tomb
and say, 'Ever thus may Agamemnon wreak his vengeance; he brought
his army in vain; he is gone home to his own land with empty
ships, and has left Menelaus behind him.' Thus will one of them
say, and may the earth then swallow me."

But Menelaus reassured him and said, "Take heart, and do not
alarm the people; the arrow has not struck me in a mortal part,
for my outer belt of burnished metal first stayed it, and under
this my cuirass and the belt of mail which the bronze-smiths made
me."

And Agamemnon answered, "I trust, dear Menelaus, that it may be
even so, but the surgeon shall examine your wound and lay herbs
upon it to relieve your pain."

He then said to Talthybius, "Talthybius, tell Machaon, son to the
great physician, Aesculapius, to come and see Menelaus
immediately. Some Trojan or Lycian archer has wounded him with an
arrow to our dismay, and to his own great glory."

Talthybius did as he was told, and went about the host trying to
find Machaon. Presently he found standing amid the brave warriors
who had followed him from Tricca; thereon he went up to him and
said, "Son of Aesculapius, King Agamemnon says you are to come
and see Menelaus immediately. Some Trojan or Lycian archer has
wounded him with an arrow to our dismay and to his own great
glory."

Thus did he speak, and Machaon was moved to go. They passed
through the spreading host of the Achaeans and went on till they
came to the place where Menelaus had been wounded and was lying
with the chieftains gathered in a circle round him. Machaon
passed into the middle of the ring and at once drew the arrow
from the belt, bending its barbs back through the force with
which he pulled it out. He undid the burnished belt, and beneath
this the cuirass and the belt of mail which the bronze-smiths had
made; then, when he had seen the wound, he wiped away the blood
and applied some soothing drugs which Chiron had given to
Aesculapius out of the good will he bore him.

While they were thus busy about Menelaus, the Trojans came
forward against them, for they had put on their armour, and now
renewed the fight.

You would not have then found Agamemnon asleep nor cowardly and
unwilling to fight, but eager rather for the fray. He left his
chariot rich with bronze and his panting steeds in charge of
Eurymedon, son of Ptolemaeus the son of Peiraeus, and bade him
hold them in readiness against the time his limbs should weary of
going about and giving orders to so many, for he went among the
ranks on foot. When he saw men hasting to the front he stood by
them and cheered them on. "Argives," said he, "slacken not one
whit in your onset; father Jove will be no helper of liars; the
Trojans have been the first to break their oaths and to attack
us; therefore they shall be devoured of vultures; we shall take
their city and carry off their wives and children in our ships."

But he angrily rebuked those whom he saw shirking and disinclined
to fight. "Argives," he cried, "cowardly miserable creatures,
have you no shame to stand here like frightened fawns who, when
they can no longer scud over the plain, huddle together, but show
no fight? You are as dazed and spiritless as deer. Would you wait
till the Trojans reach the sterns of our ships as they lie on the
shore, to see whether the son of Saturn will hold his hand over
you to protect you?"

Thus did he go about giving his orders among the ranks. Passing
through the crowd, he came presently on the Cretans, arming round
Idomeneus, who was at their head, fierce as a wild boar, while
Meriones was bringing up the battalions that were in the rear.
Agamemnon was glad when he saw him, and spoke him fairly.
"Idomeneus," said he, "I treat you with greater distinction than
I do any others of the Achaeans, whether in war or in other
things, or at table. When the princes are mixing my choicest
wines in the mixing-bowls, they have each of them a fixed
allowance, but your cup is kept always full like my own, that you
may drink whenever you are minded. Go, therefore, into battle,
and show yourself the man you have been always proud to be."

Idomeneus answered, "I will be a trusty comrade, as I promised
you from the first I would be. Urge on the other Achaeans, that
we may join battle at once, for the Trojans have trampled upon
their covenants. Death and destruction shall be theirs, seeing
they have been the first to break their oaths and to attack us."

The son of Atreus went on, glad at heart, till he came upon the
two Ajaxes arming themselves amid a host of foot-soldiers. As
when a goat-herd from some high post watches a storm drive over
the deep before the west wind--black as pitch is the offing and a
mighty whirlwind draws towards him, so that he is afraid and
drives his flock into a cave--even thus did the ranks of stalwart
youths move in a dark mass to battle under the Ajaxes, horrid
with shield and spear. Glad was King Agamemnon when he saw them.
"No need," he cried, "to give orders to such leaders of the
Argives as you are, for of your own selves you spur your men on
to fight with might and main. Would, by father Jove, Minerva, and
Apollo that all were so minded as you are, for the city of Priam
would then soon fall beneath our hands, and we should sack it."

With this he left them and went onward to Nestor, the facile
speaker of the Pylians, who was marshalling his men and urging
them on, in company with Pelagon, Alastor, Chromius, Haemon, and
Bias shepherd of his people. He placed his knights with their
chariots and horses in the front rank, while the foot-soldiers,
brave men and many, whom he could trust, were in the rear. The
cowards he drove into the middle, that they might fight whether
they would or no. He gave his orders to the knights first,
bidding them hold their horses well in hand, so as to avoid
confusion. "Let no man," he said, "relying on his strength or
horsemanship, get before the others and engage singly with the
Trojans, nor yet let him lag behind or you will weaken your
attack; but let each when he meets an enemy's chariot throw his
spear from his own; this be much the best; this is how the men of
old took towns and strongholds; in this wise were they minded."

Thus did the old man charge them, for he had been in many a
fight, and King Agamemnon was glad. "I wish," he said to him,
"that your limbs were as supple and your strength as sure as your
judgment is; but age, the common enemy of mankind, has laid his
hand upon you; would that it had fallen upon some other, and that
you were still young."

And Nestor, knight of Gerene, answered, "Son of Atreus, I too
would gladly be the man I was when I slew mighty Ereuthalion; but
the gods will not give us everything at one and the same time. I
was then young, and now I am old; still I can go with my knights
and give them that counsel which old men have a right to give.
The wielding of the spear I leave to those who are younger and
stronger than myself."

Agamemnon went his way rejoicing, and presently found Menestheus,
son of Peteos, tarrying in his place, and with him were the
Athenians loud of tongue in battle. Near him also tarried cunning
Ulysses, with his sturdy Cephallenians round him; they had not
yet heard the battle-cry, for the ranks of Trojans and Achaeans
had only just begun to move, so they were standing still, waiting
for some other columns of the Achaeans to attack the Trojans and
begin the fighting. When he saw this Agamemnon rebuked them and
said, "Son of Peteos, and you other, steeped in cunning, heart of
guile, why stand you here cowering and waiting on others? You two
should be of all men foremost when there is hard fighting to be
done, for you are ever foremost to accept my invitation when we
councillors of the Achaeans are holding feast. You are glad
enough then to take your fill of roast meats and to drink wine as
long as you please, whereas now you would not care though you saw
ten columns of Achaeans engage the enemy in front of you."

Ulysses glared at him and answered, "Son of Atreus, what are you
talking about? How can you say that we are slack? When the
Achaeans are in full fight with the Trojans, you shall see, if
you care to do so, that the father of Telemachus will join battle
with the foremost of them. You are talking idly."

When Agamemnon saw that Ulysses was angry, he smiled pleasantly
at him and withdrew his words. "Ulysses," said he, "noble son of
Laertes, excellent in all good counsel, I have neither fault to
find nor orders to give you, for I know your heart is right, and
that you and I are of a mind. Enough; I will make you amends for
what I have said, and if any ill has now been spoken may the gods
bring it to nothing."

He then left them and went on to others. Presently he saw the son
of Tydeus, noble Diomed, standing by his chariot and horses, with
Sthenelus the son of Capaneus beside him; whereon he began to
upbraid him. "Son of Tydeus," he said, "why stand you cowering
here upon the brink of battle? Tydeus did not shrink thus, but
was ever ahead of his men when leading them on against the foe--
so, at least, say they that saw him in battle, for I never set
eyes upon him myself. They say that there was no man like him. He
came once to Mycenae, not as an enemy but as a guest, in company
with Polynices to recruit his forces, for they were levying war
against the strong city of Thebes, and prayed our people for a
body of picked men to help them. The men of Mycenae were willing
to let them have one, but Jove dissuaded them by showing them
unfavourable omens. Tydeus, therefore, and Polynices went their
way. When they had got as far the deep-meadowed and rush-grown
banks of the Aesopus, the Achaeans sent Tydeus as their envoy,
and he found the Cadmeans gathered in great numbers to a banquet
in the house of Eteocles. Stranger though he was, he knew no fear
on finding himself single-handed among so many, but challenged
them to contests of all kinds, and in each one of them was at
once victorious, so mightily did Minerva help him. The Cadmeans
were incensed at his success, and set a force of fifty youths
with two captains--the godlike hero Maeon, son of Haemon, and
Polyphontes, son of Autophonus--at their head, to lie in wait for
him on his return journey; but Tydeus slew every man of them,
save only Maeon, whom he let go in obedience to heaven's omens.
Such was Tydeus of Aetolia. His son can talk more glibly, but he
cannot fight as his father did."

Diomed made no answer, for he was shamed by the rebuke of
Agamemnon; but the son of Capaneus took up his words and said,
"Son of Atreus, tell no lies, for you can speak truth if you
will. We boast ourselves as even better men than our fathers; we
took seven-gated Thebes, though the wall was stronger and our men
were fewer in number, for we trusted in the omens of the gods and
in the help of Jove, whereas they perished through their own
sheer folly; hold not, then, our fathers in like honour with us."

Diomed looked sternly at him and said, "Hold your peace, my
friend, as I bid you. It is not amiss that Agamemnon should urge
the Achaeans forward, for the glory will be his if we take the
city, and his the shame if we are vanquished. Therefore let us
acquit ourselves with valour."

As he spoke he sprang from his chariot, and his armour rang so
fiercely about his body that even a brave man might well have
been scared to hear it.

As when some mighty wave that thunders on the beach when the west
wind has lashed it into fury--it has reared its head afar and now
comes crashing down on the shore; it bows its arching crest high
over the jagged rocks and spews its salt foam in all
directions--even so did the serried phalanxes of the Danaans
march steadfastly to battle. The chiefs gave orders each to his
own people, but the men said never a word; no man would think it,
for huge as the host was, it seemed as though there was not a
tongue among them, so silent were they in their obedience; and as
they marched the armour about their bodies glistened in the sun.
But the clamour of the Trojan ranks was as that of many thousand
ewes that stand waiting to be milked in the yards of some rich
flockmaster, and bleat incessantly in answer to the bleating of
their lambs; for they had not one speech nor language, but their
tongues were diverse, and they came from many different places.
These were inspired of Mars, but the others by Minerva--and with
them came Panic, Rout, and Strife whose fury never tires, sister
and friend of murderous Mars, who, from being at first but low in
stature, grows till she uprears her head to heaven, though her
feet are still on earth. She it was that went about among them
and flung down discord to the waxing of sorrow with even hand
between them.

When they were got together in one place shield clashed with
shield and spear with spear in the rage of battle. The bossed
shields beat one upon another, and there was a tramp as of a
great multitude--death-cry and shout of triumph of slain and
slayers, and the earth ran red with blood. As torrents swollen
with rain course madly down their deep channels till the angry
floods meet in some gorge, and the shepherd on the hillside hears
their roaring from afar--even such was the toil and uproar of the
hosts as they joined in battle.

First Antilochus slew an armed warrior of the Trojans, Echepolus,
son of Thalysius, fighting in the foremost ranks. He struck at
the projecting part of his helmet and drove the spear into his
brow; the point of bronze pierced the bone, and darkness veiled
his eyes; headlong as a tower he fell amid the press of the
fight, and as he dropped King Elephenor, son of Chalcodon and
captain of the proud Abantes began dragging him out of reach of
the darts that were falling around him, in haste to strip him of
his armour. But his purpose was not for long; Agenor saw him
haling the body away, and smote him in the side with his
bronze-shod spear--for as he stooped his side was left
unprotected by his shield--and thus he perished. Then the fight
between Trojans and Achaeans grew furious over his body, and they
flew upon each other like wolves, man and man crushing one upon
the other.

Forthwith Ajax, son of Telamon, slew the fair youth Simoeisius,
son of Anthemion, whom his mother bore by the banks of the
Simois, as she was coming down from Mt. Ida, where she had been
with her parents to see their flocks. Therefore he was named
Simoeisius, but he did not live to pay his parents for his
rearing, for he was cut off untimely by the spear of mighty Ajax,
who struck him in the breast by the right nipple as he was coming
on among the foremost fighters; the spear went right through his
shoulder, and he fell as a poplar that has grown straight and
tall in a meadow by some mere, and its top is thick with
branches. Then the wheelwright lays his axe to its roots that he
may fashion a felloe for the wheel of some goodly chariot, and it
lies seasoning by the waterside. In such wise did Ajax fell to
earth Simoeisius, son of Anthemion. Thereon Antiphus of the
gleaming corslet, son of Priam, hurled a spear at Ajax from amid
the crowd and missed him, but he hit Leucus, the brave comrade of
Ulysses, in the groin, as he was dragging the body of Simoeisius
over to the other side; so he fell upon the body and loosed his
hold upon it. Ulysses was furious when he saw Leucus slain, and
strode in full armour through the front ranks till he was quite
close; then he glared round about him and took aim, and the
Trojans fell back as he did so. His dart was not sped in vain,
for it struck Democoon, the bastard son of Priam, who had come to
him from Abydos, where he had charge of his father's mares.
Ulysses, infuriated by the death of his comrade, hit him with his
spear on one temple, and the bronze point came through on the
other side of his forehead. Thereon darkness veiled his eyes, and
his armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the
ground. Hector, and they that were in front, then gave round
while the Argives raised a shout and drew off the dead, pressing
further forward as they did so. But Apollo looked down from
Pergamus and called aloud to the Trojans, for he was displeased.
"Trojans," he cried, "rush on the foe, and do not let yourselves
be thus beaten by the Argives. Their skins are not stone nor iron
that when hit them you do them no harm. Moreover, Achilles, the
son of lovely Thetis, is not fighting, but is nursing his anger
at the ships."

Thus spoke the mighty god, crying to them from the city, while
Jove's redoubtable daughter, the Trito-born, went about among the
host of the Achaeans, and urged them forward whenever she beheld
them slackening.

Then fate fell upon Diores, son of Amarynceus, for he was struck
by a jagged stone near the ancle of his right leg. He that hurled
it was Peirous, son of Imbrasus, captain of the Thracians, who
had come from Aenus; the bones and both the tendons were crushed
by the pitiless stone. He fell to the ground on his back, and in
his death throes stretched out his hands towards his comrades.
But Peirous, who had wounded him, sprang on him and thrust a
spear into his belly, so that his bowels came gushing out upon
the ground, and darkness veiled his eyes. As he was leaving the
body, Thoas of Aetolia struck him in the chest near the nipple,
and the point fixed itself in his lungs. Thoas came close up to
him, pulled the spear out of his chest, and then drawing his
sword, smote him in the middle of the belly so that he died; but
he did not strip him of his armour, for his Thracian comrades,
men who wear their hair in a tuft at the top of their heads,
stood round the body and kept him off with their long spears for
all his great stature and valour; so he was driven back. Thus the
two corpses lay stretched on earth near to one another, the one
captain of the Thracians and the other of the Epeans; and many
another fell round them.

And now no man would have made light of the fighting if he could
have gone about among it scatheless and unwounded, with Minerva
leading him by the hand, and protecting him from the storm of
spears and arrows. For many Trojans and Achaeans on that day lay
stretched side by side face downwards upon the earth.

BOOK V


Then Pallas Minerva put valour into the heart of Diomed, son of
Tydeus, that he might excel all the other Argives, and cover
himself with glory. She made a stream of fire flare from his
shield and helmet like the star that shines most brilliantly in
summer after its bath in the waters of Oceanus--even such a fire
did she kindle upon his head and shoulders as she bade him speed
into the thickest hurly-burly of the fight.

Now there was a certain rich and honourable man among the
Trojans, priest of Vulcan, and his name was Dares. He had two
sons, Phegeus and Idaeus, both of them skilled in all the arts of
war. These two came forward from the main body of Trojans, and
set upon Diomed, he being on foot, while they fought from their
chariot. When they were close up to one another, Phegeus took aim
first, but his spear went over Diomed's left shoulder without
hitting him. Diomed then threw, and his spear sped not in vain,
for it hit Phegeus on the breast near the nipple, and he fell
from his chariot. Idaeus did not dare to bestride his brother's
body, but sprang from the chariot and took to flight, or he would
have shared his brother's fate; whereon Vulcan saved him by
wrapping him in a cloud of darkness, that his old father might
not be utterly overwhelmed with grief; but the son of Tydeus
drove off with the horses, and bade his followers take them to
the ships. The Trojans were scared when they saw the two sons of
Dares, one of them in fright and the other lying dead by his
chariot. Minerva, therefore, took Mars by the hand and said,
"Mars, Mars, bane of men, bloodstained stormer of cities, may we
not now leave the Trojans and Achaeans to fight it out, and see
to which of the two Jove will vouchsafe the victory? Let us go
away, and thus avoid his anger."

So saying, she drew Mars out of the battle, and set him down upon
the steep banks of the Scamander. Upon this the Danaans drove the
Trojans back, and each one of their chieftains killed his man.
First King Agamemnon flung mighty Odius, captain of the Halizoni,
from his chariot. The spear of Agamemnon caught him on the broad
of his back, just as he was turning in flight; it struck him
between the shoulders and went right through his chest, and his
armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground.

Then Idomeneus killed Phaesus, son of Borus the Meonian, who had
come from Varne. Mighty Idomeneus speared him on the right
shoulder as he was mounting his chariot, and the darkness of
death enshrouded him as he fell heavily from the car.

The squires of Idomeneus spoiled him of his armour, while
Menelaus, son of Atreus, killed Scamandrius the son of Strophius,
a mighty huntsman and keen lover of the chase. Diana herself had
taught him how to kill every kind of wild creature that is bred
in mountain forests, but neither she nor his famed skill in
archery could now save him, for the spear of Menelaus struck him
in the back as he was flying; it struck him between the shoulders
and went right through his chest, so that he fell headlong and
his armour rang rattling round him.

Meriones then killed Phereclus the son of Tecton, who was the son
of Hermon, a man whose hand was skilled in all manner of cunning
workmanship, for Pallas Minerva had dearly loved him. He it was
that made the ships for Alexandrus, which were the beginning of
all mischief, and brought evil alike both on the Trojans and on
Alexandrus himself; for he heeded not the decrees of heaven.
Meriones overtook him as he was flying, and struck him on the
right buttock. The point of the spear went through the bone into
the bladder, and death came upon him as he cried aloud and fell
forward on his knees.

Meges, moreover, slew Pedaeus, son of Antenor, who, though he was
a bastard, had been brought up by Theano as one of her own
children, for the love she bore her husband. The son of Phyleus
got close up to him and drove a spear into the nape of his neck:
it went under his tongue all among his teeth, so he bit the cold
bronze, and fell dead in the dust.

And Eurypylus, son of Euaemon, killed Hypsenor, the son of noble
Dolopion, who had been made priest of the river Scamander, and
was honoured among the people as though he were a god. Eurypylus
gave him chase as he was flying before him, smote him with his
sword upon the arm, and lopped his strong hand from off it. The
bloody hand fell to the ground, and the shades of death, with
fate that no man can withstand, came over his eyes.

Thus furiously did the battle rage between them. As for the son
of Tydeus, you could not say whether he was more among the
Achaeans or the Trojans. He rushed across the plain like a winter
torrent that has burst its barrier in full flood; no dykes, no
walls of fruitful vineyards can embank it when it is swollen with
rain from heaven, but in a moment it comes tearing onward, and
lays many a field waste that many a strong man's hand has
reclaimed--even so were the dense phalanxes of the Trojans driven
in rout by the son of Tydeus, and many though they were, they
dared not abide his onslaught.

Now when the son of Lycaon saw him scouring the plain and driving
the Trojans pell-mell before him, he aimed an arrow and hit the
front part of his cuirass near the shoulder: the arrow went right
through the metal and pierced the flesh, so that the cuirass was
covered with blood. On this the son of Lycaon shouted in triumph,
"Knights Trojans, come on; the bravest of the Achaeans is
wounded, and he will not hold out much longer if King Apollo was
indeed with me when I sped from Lycia hither."

Thus did he vaunt; but his arrow had not killed Diomed, who
withdrew and made for the chariot and horses of Sthenelus, the
son of Capaneus. "Dear son of Capaneus," said he, "come down from
your chariot, and draw the arrow out of my shoulder."

Sthenelus sprang from his chariot, and drew the arrow from the
wound, whereon the blood came spouting out through the hole that
had been made in his shirt. Then Diomed prayed, saying, "Hear me,
daughter of aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable, if ever you loved my
father well and stood by him in the thick of a fight, do the like
now by me; grant me to come within a spear's throw of that man
and kill him. He has been too quick for me and has wounded me;
and now he is boasting that I shall not see the light of the sun
much longer."

Thus he prayed, and Pallas Minerva heard him; she made his limbs
supple and quickened his hands and his feet. Then she went up
close to him and said, "Fear not, Diomed, to do battle with the
Trojans, for I have set in your heart the spirit of your knightly
father Tydeus. Moreover, I have withdrawn the veil from your
eyes, that you know gods and men apart. If, then, any other god
comes here and offers you battle, do not fight him; but should
Jove's daughter Venus come, strike her with your spear and wound
her."

When she had said this Minerva went away, and the son of Tydeus
again took his place among the foremost fighters, three times
more fierce even than he had been before. He was like a lion that
some mountain shepherd has wounded, but not killed, as he is
springing over the wall of a sheep-yard to attack the sheep. The
shepherd has roused the brute to fury but cannot defend his
flock, so he takes shelter under cover of the buildings, while
the sheep, panic-stricken on being deserted, are smothered in
heaps one on top of the other, and the angry lion leaps out over
the sheep-yard wall. Even thus did Diomed go furiously about
among the Trojans.

He killed Astynous, and Hypeiron shepherd of his people, the one
with a thrust of his spear, which struck him above the nipple,
the other with a sword-cut on the collar-bone, that severed his
shoulder from his neck and back. He let both of them lie, and
went in pursuit of Abas and Polyidus, sons of the old reader of
dreams Eurydamas: they never came back for him to read them any
more dreams, for mighty Diomed made an end of them. He then gave
chase to Xanthus and Thoon, the two sons of Phaenops, both of
them very dear to him, for he was now worn out with age, and
begat no more sons to inherit his possessions. But Diomed took
both their lives and left their father sorrowing bitterly, for he
nevermore saw them come home from battle alive, and his kinsmen
divided his wealth among themselves.

Then he came upon two sons of Priam, Echemmon and Chromius, as
they were both in one chariot. He sprang upon them as a lion
fastens on the neck of some cow or heifer when the herd is
feeding in a coppice. For all their vain struggles he flung them
both from their chariot and stripped the armour from their
bodies. Then he gave their horses to his comrades to take them
back to the ships.

When Aeneas saw him thus making havoc among the ranks, he went
through the fight amid the rain of spears to see if he could find
Pandarus. When he had found the brave son of Lycaon he said,
"Pandarus, where is now your bow, your winged arrows, and your
renown as an archer, in respect of which no man here can rival
you nor is there any in Lycia that can beat you? Lift then your
hands to Jove and send an arrow at this fellow who is going so
masterfully about, and has done such deadly work among the
Trojans. He has killed many a brave man--unless indeed he is some
god who is angry with the Trojans about their sacrifices, and and
has set his hand against them in his displeasure."

And the son of Lycaon answered, "Aeneas, I take him for none
other than the son of Tydeus. I know him by his shield, the visor
of his helmet, and by his horses. It is possible that he may be a
god, but if he is the man I say he is, he is not making all this
havoc without heaven's help, but has some god by his side who is
shrouded in a cloud of darkness, and who turned my arrow aside
when it had hit him. I have taken aim at him already and hit him
on the right shoulder; my arrow went through the breastpiece of
his cuirass; and I made sure I should send him hurrying to the
world below, but it seems that I have not killed him. There must
be a god who is angry with me. Moreover I have neither horse nor
chariot. In my father's stables there are eleven excellent
chariots, fresh from the builder, quite new, with cloths spread
over them; and by each of them there stand a pair of horses,
champing barley and rye; my old father Lycaon urged me again and
again when I was at home and on the point of starting, to take
chariots and horses with me that I might lead the Trojans in
battle, but I would not listen to him; it would have been much
better if I had done so, but I was thinking about the horses,
which had been used to eat their fill, and I was afraid that in
such a great gathering of men they might be ill-fed, so I left
them at home and came on foot to Ilius armed only with my bow and
arrows. These it seems, are of no use, for I have already hit two
chieftains, the sons of Atreus and of Tydeus, and though I drew
blood surely enough, I have only made them still more furious. I
did ill to take my bow down from its peg on the day I led my band
of Trojans to Ilius in Hector's service, and if ever I get home
again to set eyes on my native place, my wife, and the greatness
of my house, may some one cut my head off then and there if I do
not break the bow and set it on a hot fire--such pranks as it
plays me."

Aeneas answered, "Say no more. Things will not mend till we two
go against this man with chariot and horses and bring him to a
trial of arms. Mount my chariot, and note how cleverly the horses
of Tros can speed hither and thither over the plain in pursuit or
flight. If Jove again vouchsafes glory to the son of Tydeus they
will carry us safely back to the city. Take hold, then, of the
whip and reins while I stand upon the car to fight, or else do
you wait this man's onset while I look after the horses."

"Aeneas," replied the son of Lycaon, "take the reins and drive;
if we have to fly before the son of Tydeus the horses will go
better for their own driver. If they miss the sound of your voice
when they expect it they may be frightened, and refuse to take us
out of the fight. The son of Tydeus will then kill both of us and
take the horses. Therefore drive them yourself and I will be
ready for him with my spear."

They then mounted the chariot and drove full-speed towards the
son of Tydeus. Sthenelus, son of Capaneus, saw them coming and
said to Diomed, "Diomed, son of Tydeus, man after my own heart, I
see two heroes speeding towards you, both of them men of might
the one a skilful archer, Pandarus son of Lycaon, the other,
Aeneas, whose sire is Anchises, while his mother is Venus. Mount
the chariot and let us retreat. Do not, I pray you, press so
furiously forward, or you may get killed."

Diomed looked angrily at him and answered: "Talk not of flight,
for I shall not listen to you: I am of a race that knows neither
flight nor fear, and my limbs are as yet unwearied. I am in no
mind to mount, but will go against them even as I am; Pallas
Minerva bids me be afraid of no man, and even though one of them
escape, their steeds shall not take both back again. I say
further, and lay my saying to your heart--if Minerva sees fit to
vouchsafe me the glory of killing both, stay your horses here and
make the reins fast to the rim of the chariot; then be sure you
spring Aeneas' horses and drive them from the Trojan to the
Achaean ranks. They are of the stock that great Jove gave to Tros
in payment for his son Ganymede, and are the finest that live and
move under the sun. King Anchises stole the blood by putting his
mares to them without Laomedon's knowledge, and they bore him six
foals. Four are still in his stables, but he gave the other two
to Aeneas. We shall win great glory if we can take them."

Thus did they converse, but the other two had now driven close up
to them, and the son of Lycaon spoke first. "Great and mighty
son," said he, "of noble Tydeus, my arrow failed to lay you low,
so I will now try with my spear."

He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it from him. It struck
the shield of the son of Tydeus; the bronze point pierced it and
passed on till it reached the breastplate. Thereon the son of
Lycaon shouted out and said, "You are hit clean through the
belly; you will not stand out for long, and the glory of the
fight is mine."

But Diomed all undismayed made answer, "You have missed, not hit,
and before you two see the end of this matter one or other of you
shall glut tough-shielded Mars with his blood."

With this he hurled his spear, and Minerva guided it on to
Pandarus's nose near the eye. It went crashing in among his white
teeth; the bronze point cut through the root of his tongue,
coming out under his chin, and his glistening armour rang
rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. The horses
started aside for fear, and he was reft of life and strength.

Aeneas sprang from his chariot armed with shield and spear,
fearing lest the Achaeans should carry off the body. He bestrode
it as a lion in the pride of strength, with shield and spear
before him and a cry of battle on his lips resolute to kill the
first that should dare face him. But the son of Tydeus caught up
a mighty stone, so huge and great that as men now are it would
take two to lift it; nevertheless he bore it aloft with ease
unaided, and with this he struck Aeneas on the groin where the
hip turns in the joint that is called the "cup-bone." The stone
crushed this joint, and broke both the sinews, while its jagged
edges tore away all the flesh. The hero fell on his knees, and
propped himself with his hand resting on the ground till the
darkness of night fell upon his eyes. And now Aeneas, king of
men, would have perished then and there, had not his mother,
Jove's daughter Venus, who had conceived him by Anchises when he
was herding cattle, been quick to mark, and thrown her two white
arms about the body of her dear son. She protected him by
covering him with a fold of her own fair garment, lest some
Danaan should drive a spear into his breast and kill him.

Thus, then, did she bear her dear son out of the fight. But the
son of Capaneus was not unmindful of the orders that Diomed had
given him. He made his own horses fast, away from the
hurly-burly, by binding the reins to the rim of the chariot. Then
he sprang upon Aeneas's horses and drove them from the Trojan to
the Achaean ranks. When he had so done he gave them over to his
chosen comrade Deipylus, whom he valued above all others as the
one who was most like-minded with himself, to take them on to the
ships. He then remounted his own chariot, seized the reins, and
drove with all speed in search of the son of Tydeus.

Now the son of Tydeus was in pursuit of the Cyprian goddess,
spear in hand, for he knew her to be feeble and not one of those
goddesses that can lord it among men in battle like Minerva or
Enyo the waster of cities, and when at last after a long chase he
caught her up, he flew at her and thrust his spear into the flesh
of her delicate hand. The point tore through the ambrosial robe
which the Graces had woven for her, and pierced the skin between
her wrist and the palm of her hand, so that the immortal blood,
or ichor, that flows in the veins of the blessed gods, came
pouring from the wound; for the gods do not eat bread nor drink
wine, hence they have no blood such as ours, and are immortal.
Venus screamed aloud, and let her son fall, but Phoebus Apollo
caught him in his arms, and hid him in a cloud of darkness, lest
some Danaan should drive a spear into his breast and kill him;
and Diomed shouted out as he left her, "Daughter of Jove, leave
war and battle alone, can you not be contented with beguiling
silly women? If you meddle with fighting you will get what will
make you shudder at the very name of war."

The goddess went dazed and discomfited away, and Iris, fleet as
the wind, drew her from the throng, in pain and with her fair
skin all besmirched. She found fierce Mars waiting on the left of
the battle, with his spear and his two fleet steeds resting on a
cloud; whereon she fell on her knees before her brother and
implored him to let her have his horses. "Dear brother," she
cried, "save me, and give me your horses to take me to Olympus
where the gods dwell. I am badly wounded by a mortal, the son of
Tydeus, who would now fight even with father Jove."

Thus she spoke, and Mars gave her his gold-bedizened steeds. She
mounted the chariot sick and sorry at heart, while Iris sat
beside her and took the reins in her hand. She lashed her horses
on and they flew forward nothing loth, till in a trice they were
at high Olympus, where the gods have their dwelling. There she
stayed them, unloosed them from the chariot, and gave them their
ambrosial forage; but Venus flung herself on to the lap of her
mother Dione, who threw her arms about her and caressed her,
saying, "Which of the heavenly beings has been treating you in
this way, as though you had been doing something wrong in the
face of day?"

And laughter-loving Venus answered, "Proud Diomed, the son of
Tydeus, wounded me because I was bearing my dear son Aeneas, whom
I love best of all mankind, out of the fight. The war is no
longer one between Trojans and Achaeans, for the Danaans have now
taken to fighting with the immortals."

"Bear it, my child," replied Dione, "and make the best of it. We
dwellers in Olympus have to put up with much at the hands of men,
and we lay much suffering on one another. Mars had to suffer when
Otus and Ephialtes, children of Aloeus, bound him in cruel bonds,
so that he lay thirteen months imprisoned in a vessel of bronze.
Mars would have then perished had not fair Eeriboea, stepmother
to the sons of Aloeus, told Mercury, who stole him away when he
was already well-nigh worn out by the severity of his bondage.
Juno, again, suffered when the mighty son of Amphitryon wounded
her on the right breast with a three-barbed arrow, and nothing
could assuage her pain. So, also, did huge Hades, when this same
man, the son of aegis-bearing Jove, hit him with an arrow even at
the gates of hell, and hurt him badly. Thereon Hades went to the
house of Jove on great Olympus, angry and full of pain; and the
arrow in his brawny shoulder caused him great anguish till Paeeon
healed him by spreading soothing herbs on the wound, for Hades
was not of mortal mould. Daring, head-strong, evildoer who recked
not of his sin in shooting the gods that dwell in Olympus. And
now Minerva has egged this son of Tydeus on against yourself,
fool that he is for not reflecting that no man who fights with
gods will live long or hear his children prattling about his
knees when he returns from battle. Let, then, the son of Tydeus
see that he does not have to fight with one who is stronger than
you are. Then shall his brave wife Aegialeia, daughter of
Adrestus, rouse her whole house from sleep, wailing for the loss
of her wedded lord, Diomed the bravest of the Achaeans."

So saying, she wiped the ichor from the wrist of her daughter
with both hands, whereon the pain left her, and her hand was
healed. But Minerva and Juno, who were looking on, began to taunt
Jove with their mocking talk, and Minerva was first to speak.
"Father Jove," said she, "do not be angry with me, but I think
the Cyprian must have been persuading some one of the Achaean
women to go with the Trojans of whom she is so very fond, and
while caressing one or other of them she must have torn her
delicate hand with the gold pin of the woman's brooch."

The sire of gods and men smiled, and called golden Venus to his
side. "My child," said he, "it has not been given you to be a
warrior. Attend, henceforth, to your own delightful matrimonial
duties, and leave all this fighting to Mars and to Minerva."

Thus did they converse. But Diomed sprang upon Aeneas, though he
knew him to be in the very arms of Apollo. Not one whit did he
fear the mighty god, so set was he on killing Aeneas and
stripping him of his armour. Thrice did he spring forward with
might and main to slay him, and thrice did Apollo beat back his
gleaming shield. When he was coming on for the fourth time, as
though he were a god, Apollo shouted to him with an awful voice
and said, "Take heed, son of Tydeus, and draw off; think not to
match yourself against gods, for men that walk the earth cannot
hold their own with the immortals."

The son of Tydeus then gave way for a little space, to avoid the
anger of the god, while Apollo took Aeneas out of the crowd and
set him in sacred Pergamus, where his temple stood. There, within
the mighty sanctuary, Latona and Diana healed him and made him
glorious to behold, while Apollo of the silver bow fashioned a
wraith in the likeness of Aeneas, and armed as he was. Round this
the Trojans and Achaeans hacked at the bucklers about one
another's breasts, hewing each other's round shields and light
hide-covered targets. Then Phoebus Apollo said to Mars, "Mars,
Mars, bane of men, blood-stained stormer of cities, can you not
go to this man, the son of Tydeus, who would now fight even with
father Jove, and draw him out of the battle? He first went up to
the Cyprian and wounded her in the hand near her wrist, and
afterwards sprang upon me too, as though he were a god."

He then took his seat on the top of Pergamus, while murderous
Mars went about among the ranks of the Trojans, cheering them on,
in the likeness of fleet Acamas chief of the Thracians. "Sons of
Priam," said he, "how long will you let your people be thus
slaughtered by the Achaeans? Would you wait till they are at the
walls of Troy? Aeneas the son of Anchises has fallen, he whom we
held in as high honour as Hector himself. Help me, then, to
rescue our brave comrade from the stress of the fight."

With these words he put heart and soul into them all. Then
Sarpedon rebuked Hector very sternly. "Hector," said he, "where
is your prowess now? You used to say that though you had neither
people nor allies you could hold the town alone with your
brothers and brothers-in-law. I see not one of them here; they
cower as hounds before a lion; it is we, your allies, who bear
the brunt of the battle. I have come from afar, even from Lycia
and the banks of the river Xanthus, where I have left my wife, my
infant son, and much wealth to tempt whoever is needy;
nevertheless, I head my Lycian soldiers and stand my ground
against any who would fight me though I have nothing here for the
Achaeans to plunder, while you look on, without even bidding your
men stand firm in defence of their wives. See that you fall not
into the hands of your foes as men caught in the meshes of a net,
and they sack your fair city forthwith. Keep this before your
mind night and day, and beseech the captains of your allies to
hold on without flinching, and thus put away their reproaches
from you."

So spoke Sarpedon, and Hector smarted under his words. He sprang
from his chariot clad in his suit of armour, and went about among
the host brandishing his two spears, exhorting the men to fight
and raising the terrible cry of battle. Then they rallied and
again faced the Achaeans, but the Argives stood compact and firm,
and were not driven back. As the breezes sport with the chaff
upon some goodly threshing-floor, when men are winnowing--while
yellow Ceres blows with the wind to sift the chaff from the
grain, and the chaff-heaps grow whiter and whiter--even so did
the Achaeans whiten in the dust which the horses' hoofs raised to
the firmament of heaven, as their drivers turned them back to
battle, and they bore down with might upon the foe. Fierce Mars,
to help the Trojans, covered them in a veil of darkness, and went
about everywhere among them, inasmuch as Phoebus Apollo had told
him that when he saw Pallas, Minerva leave the fray he was to put
courage into the hearts of the Trojans--for it was she who was
helping the Danaans. Then Apollo sent Aeneas forth from his rich
sanctuary, and filled his heart with valour, whereon he took his
place among his comrades, who were overjoyed at seeing him alive,
sound, and of a good courage; but they could not ask him how it
had all happened, for they were too busy with the turmoil raised
by Mars and by Strife, who raged insatiably in their midst.

The two Ajaxes, Ulysses and Diomed, cheered the Danaans on,
fearless of the fury and onset of the Trojans. They stood as
still as clouds which the son of Saturn has spread upon the
mountain tops when there is no air and fierce Boreas sleeps with
the other boisterous winds whose shrill blasts scatter the clouds
in all directions--even so did the Danaans stand firm and
unflinching against the Trojans. The son of Atreus went about
among them and exhorted them. "My friends," said he, "quit
yourselves like brave men, and shun dishonour in one another's
eyes amid the stress of battle. They that shun dishonour more
often live than get killed, but they that fly save neither life
nor name."

As he spoke he hurled his spear and hit one of those who were in
the front rank, the comrade of Aeneas, Deicoon son of Pergasus,
whom the Trojans held in no less honour than the sons of Priam,
for he was ever quick to place himself among the foremost. The
spear of King Agamemnon struck his shield and went right through
it, for the shield stayed it not. It drove through his belt into
the lower part of his belly, and his armour rang rattling round
him as he fell heavily to the ground.

Then Aeneas killed two champions of the Danaans, Crethon and
Orsilochus. Their father was a rich man who lived in the strong
city of Phere and was descended from the river Alpheus, whose
broad stream flows through the land of the Pylians. The river
begat Orsilochus, who ruled over much people and was father to
Diocles, who in his turn begat twin sons, Crethon and Orsilochus,
well skilled in all the arts of war. These, when they grew up,
went to Ilius with the Argive fleet in the cause of Menelaus and
Agamemnon sons of Atreus, and there they both of them fell. As
two lions whom their dam has reared in the depths of some
mountain forest to plunder homesteads and carry off sheep and
cattle till they get killed by the hand of man, so were these two
vanquished by Aeneas, and fell like high pine-trees to the
ground.

Brave Menelaus pitied them in their fall, and made his way to the
front, clad in gleaming bronze and brandishing his spear, for
Mars egged him on to do so with intent that he should be killed
by Aeneas; but Antilochus the son of Nestor saw him and sprang
forward, fearing that the king might come to harm and thus bring
all their labour to nothing; when, therefore Aeneas and Menelaus
were setting their hands and spears against one another eager to
do battle, Antilochus placed himself by the side of Menelaus.
Aeneas, bold though he was, drew back on seeing the two heroes
side by side in front of him, so they drew the bodies of Crethon
and Orsilochus to the ranks of the Achaeans and committed the two
poor fellows into the hands of their comrades. They then turned
back and fought in the front ranks.

They killed Pylaemenes peer of Mars, leader of the Paphlagonian
warriors. Menelaus struck him on the collar-bone as he was
standing on his chariot, while Antilochus hit his charioteer and
squire Mydon, the son of Atymnius, who was turning his horses in
flight. He hit him with a stone upon the elbow, and the reins,
enriched with white ivory, fell from his hands into the dust.
Antilochus rushed towards him and struck him on the temples with
his sword, whereon he fell head first from the chariot to the
ground. There he stood for a while with his head and shoulders
buried deep in the dust--for he had fallen on sandy soil till his
horses kicked him and laid him flat on the ground, as Antilochus
lashed them and drove them off to the host of the Achaeans.

But Hector marked them from across the ranks, and with a loud cry
rushed towards them, followed by the strong battalions of the
Trojans. Mars and dread Enyo led them on, she fraught with
ruthless turmoil of battle, while Mars wielded a monstrous spear,
and went about, now in front of Hector and now behind him.

Diomed shook with passion as he saw them. As a man crossing a
wide plain is dismayed to find himself on the brink of some great
river rolling swiftly to the sea--he sees its boiling waters and
starts back in fear--even so did the son of Tydeus give ground.
Then he said to his men, "My friends, how can we wonder that
Hector wields the spear so well? Some god is ever by his side to
protect him, and now Mars is with him in the likeness of mortal
man. Keep your faces therefore towards the Trojans, but give
ground backwards, for we dare not fight with gods."

As he spoke the Trojans drew close up, and Hector killed two men,
both in one chariot, Menesthes and Anchialus, heroes well versed
in war. Ajax son of Telamon pitied them in their fall; he came
close up and hurled his spear, hitting Amphius the son of
Selagus, a man of great wealth who lived in Paesus and owned much
corn-growing land, but his lot had led him to come to the aid of
Priam and his sons. Ajax struck him in the belt; the spear
pierced the lower part of his belly, and he fell heavily to the
ground. Then Ajax ran towards him to strip him of his armour, but
the Trojans rained spears upon him, many of which fell upon his
shield. He planted his heel upon the body and drew out his spear,
but the darts pressed so heavily upon him that he could not strip
the goodly armour from his shoulders. The Trojan chieftains,
moreover, many and valiant, came about him with their spears, so
that he dared not stay; great, brave and valiant though he was,
they drove him from them and he was beaten back.

Thus, then, did the battle rage between them. Presently the
strong hand of fate impelled Tlepolemus, the son of Hercules, a
man both brave and of great stature, to fight Sarpedon; so the
two, son and grandson of great Jove, drew near to one another,
and Tlepolemus spoke first. "Sarpedon," said he, "councillor of
the Lycians, why should you come skulking here you who are a man
of peace? They lie who call you son of aegis-bearing Jove, for
you are little like those who were of old his children. Far other
was Hercules, my own brave and lion-hearted father, who came here
for the horses of Laomedon, and though he had six ships only, and
few men to follow him, sacked the city of Ilius and made a
wilderness of her highways. You are a coward, and your people are
falling from you. For all your strength, and all your coming from
Lycia, you will be no help to the Trojans but will pass the gates
of Hades vanquished by my hand."

And Sarpedon, captain of the Lycians, answered, "Tlepolemus, your
father overthrew Ilius by reason of Laomedon's folly in refusing
payment to one who had served him well. He would not give your
father the horses which he had come so far to fetch. As for
yourself, you shall meet death by my spear. You shall yield glory
to myself, and your soul to Hades of the noble steeds."

Thus spoke Sarpedon, and Tlepolemus upraised his spear. They
threw at the same moment, and Sarpedon struck his foe in the
middle of his throat; the spear went right through, and the
darkness of death fell upon his eyes. Tlepolemus's spear struck
Sarpedon on the left thigh with such force that it tore through
the flesh and grazed the bone, but his father as yet warded off
destruction from him.

His comrades bore Sarpedon out of the fight, in great pain by the
weight of the spear that was dragging from his wound. They were
in such haste and stress as they bore him that no one thought of
drawing the spear from his thigh so as to let him walk uprightly.
Meanwhile the Achaeans carried off the body of Tlepolemus,
whereon Ulysses was moved to pity, and panted for the fray as he
beheld them. He doubted whether to pursue the son of Jove, or to
make slaughter of the Lycian rank and file; it was not decreed,
however, that he should slay the son of Jove; Minerva, therefore,
turned him against the main body of the Lycians. He killed
Coeranus, Alastor, Chromius, Alcandrus, Halius, Noemon, and
Prytanis, and would have slain yet more, had not great Hector
marked him, and sped to the front of the fight clad in his suit
of mail, filling the Danaans with terror. Sarpedon was glad when
he saw him coming, and besought him, saying, "Son of Priam, let
me not be here to fall into the hands of the Danaans. Help me,
and since I may not return home to gladden the hearts of my wife
and of my infant son, let me die within the walls of your city."

Hector made him no answer, but rushed onward to fall at once upon
the Achaeans and kill many among them. His comrades then bore
Sarpedon away and laid him beneath Jove's spreading oak tree.
Pelagon, his friend and comrade, drew the spear out of his thigh,
but Sarpedon fainted and a mist came over his eyes. Presently he
came to himself again, for the breath of the north wind as it
played upon him gave him new life, and brought him out of the
deep swoon into which he had fallen.

Meanwhile the Argives were neither driven towards their ships by
Mars and Hector, nor yet did they attack them; when they knew
that Mars was with the Trojans they retreated, but kept their
faces still turned towards the foe. Who, then, was first and who
last to be slain by Mars and Hector? They were valiant Teuthras,
and Orestes the renowned charioteer, Trechus the Aetolian
warrior, Oenomaus, Helenus the son of Oenops, and Oresbius of the
gleaming girdle, who was possessed of great wealth, and dwelt by
the Cephisian lake with the other Boeotians who lived near him,
owners of a fertile country.

Now when the goddess Juno saw the Argives thus falling, she said
to Minerva, "Alas, daughter of aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable,
the promise we made Menelaus that he should not return till he
had sacked the city of Ilius will be of no effect if we let Mars
rage thus furiously. Let us go into the fray at once."

Minerva did not gainsay her. Thereon the august goddess, daughter
of great Saturn, began to harness her gold-bedizened steeds. Hebe
with all speed fitted on the eight-spoked wheels of bronze that
were on either side of the iron axle-tree. The felloes of the
wheels were of gold, imperishable, and over these there was a
tire of bronze, wondrous to behold. The naves of the wheels were
silver, turning round the axle upon either side. The car itself
was made with plaited bands of gold and silver, and it had a
double top-rail running all round it. From the body of the car
there went a pole of silver, on to the end of which she bound the
golden yoke, with the bands of gold that were to go under the
necks of the horses Then Juno put her steeds under the yoke,
eager for battle and the war-cry.

Meanwhile Minerva flung her richly embroidered vesture, made with
her own hands, on to her father's threshold, and donned the shirt
of Jove, arming herself for battle. She threw her tasselled aegis
about her shoulders, wreathed round with Rout as with a fringe,
and on it were Strife, and Strength, and Panic whose blood runs
cold; moreover there was the head of the dread monster Gorgon,
grim and awful to behold, portent of aegis-bearing Jove. On her
head she set her helmet of gold, with four plumes, and coming to
a peak both in front and behind--decked with the emblems of a
hundred cities; then she stepped into her flaming chariot and
grasped the spear, so stout and sturdy and strong, with which she
quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her. Juno lashed
the horses on, and the gates of heaven bellowed as they flew open
of their own accord--gates over which the Hours preside, in whose
hands are Heaven and Olympus, either to open the dense cloud that
hides them, or to close it. Through these the goddesses drove
their obedient steeds, and found the son of Saturn sitting all
alone on the topmost ridges of Olympus. There Juno stayed her
horses, and spoke to Jove the son of Saturn, lord of all. "Father
Jove," said she, "are you not angry with Mars for these high
doings? how great and goodly a host of the Achaeans he has
destroyed to my great grief, and without either right or reason,
while the Cyprian and Apollo are enjoying it all at their ease
and setting this unrighteous madman on to do further mischief. I
hope, Father Jove, that you will not be angry if I hit Mars hard,
and chase him out of the battle."

And Jove answered, "Set Minerva on to him, for she punishes him
more often than any one else does."

Juno did as he had said. She lashed her horses, and they flew
forward nothing loth midway betwixt earth and sky. As far as a
man can see when he looks out upon the sea from some high beacon,
so far can the loud-neighing horses of the gods spring at a
single bound. When they reached Troy and the place where its two
flowing streams Simois and Scamander meet, there Juno stayed them
and took them from the chariot. She hid them in a thick cloud,
and Simois made ambrosia spring up for them to eat; the two
goddesses then went on, flying like turtledoves in their
eagerness to help the Argives. When they came to the part where
the bravest and most in number were gathered about mighty Diomed,
fighting like lions or wild boars of great strength and
endurance, there Juno stood still and raised a shout like that of
brazen-voiced Stentor, whose cry was as loud as that of fifty men
together. "Argives," she cried; "shame on cowardly creatures,
brave in semblance only; as long as Achilles was fighting, if his
spear was so deadly that the Trojans dared not show themselves
outside the Dardanian gates, but now they sally far from the city
and fight even at your ships."

With these words she put heart and soul into them all, while
Minerva sprang to the side of the son of Tydeus, whom she found
near his chariot and horses, cooling the wound that Pandarus had
given him. For the sweat caused by the hand that bore the weight
of his shield irritated the hurt: his arm was weary with pain,
and he was lifting up the strap to wipe away the blood. The
goddess laid her hand on the yoke of his horses and said, "The
son of Tydeus is not such another as his father. Tydeus was a
little man, but he could fight, and rushed madly into the fray
even when I told him not to do so. When he went all unattended as
envoy to the city of Thebes among the Cadmeans, I bade him feast
in their houses and be at peace; but with that high spirit which
was ever present with him, he challenged the youth of the
Cadmeans, and at once beat them in all that he attempted, so
mightily did I help him. I stand by you too to protect you, and I
bid you be instant in fighting the Trojans; but either you are
tired out, or you are afraid and out of heart, and in that case I
say that you are no true son of Tydeus the son of Oeneus."

Diomed answered, "I know you, goddess, daughter of aegis-bearing
Jove, and will hide nothing from you. I am not afraid nor out of
heart, nor is there any slackness in me. I am only following your
own instructions; you told me not to fight any of the blessed
gods; but if Jove's daughter Venus came into battle I was to
wound her with my spear. Therefore I am retreating, and bidding
the other Argives gather in this place, for I know that Mars is
now lording it in the field."

"Diomed, son of Tydeus," replied Minerva, "man after my own
heart, fear neither Mars nor any other of the immortals, for I
will befriend you. Nay, drive straight at Mars, and smite him in
close combat; fear not this raging madman, villain incarnate,
first on one side and then on the other. But now he was holding
talk with Juno and myself, saying he would help the Argives and
attack the Trojans; nevertheless he is with the Trojans, and has
forgotten the Argives."

With this she caught hold of Sthenelus and lifted him off the
chariot on to the ground. In a second he was on the ground,
whereupon the goddess mounted the car and placed herself by the
side of Diomed. The oaken axle groaned aloud under the burden of
the awful goddess and the hero; Pallas Minerva took the whip and
reins, and drove straight at Mars. He was in the act of stripping
huge Periphas, son of Ochesius and bravest of the Aetolians.
Bloody Mars was stripping him of his armour, and Minerva donned
the helmet of Hades, that he might not see her; when, therefore,
he saw Diomed, he made straight for him and let Periphas lie
where he had fallen. As soon as they were at close quarters he
let fly with his bronze spear over the reins and yoke, thinking
to take Diomed's life, but Minerva caught the spear in her hand
and made it fly harmlessly over the chariot. Diomed then threw,
and Pallas Minerva drove the spear into the pit of Mars's stomach
where his under-girdle went round him. There Diomed wounded him,
tearing his fair flesh and then drawing his spear out again. Mars
roared as loudly as nine or ten thousand men in the thick of a
fight, and the Achaeans and Trojans were struck with panic, so
terrible was the cry he raised.

As a dark cloud in the sky when it comes on to blow after heat,
even so did Diomed son of Tydeus see Mars ascend into the broad
heavens. With all speed he reached high Olympus, home of the
gods, and in great pain sat down beside Jove the son of Saturn.
He showed Jove the immortal blood that was flowing from his
wound, and spoke piteously, saying, "Father Jove, are you not
angered by such doings? We gods are continually suffering in the
most cruel manner at one another's hands while helping mortals;
and we all owe you a grudge for having begotten that mad
termagant of a daughter, who is always committing outrage of some
kind. We other gods must all do as you bid us, but her you
neither scold nor punish; you encourage her because the pestilent
creature is your daughter. See how she has been inciting proud
Diomed to vent his rage on the immortal gods. First he went up to
the Cyprian and wounded her in the hand near her wrist, and then
he sprang upon me too as though he were a god. Had I not run for
it I must either have lain there for long enough in torments
among the ghastly corpes, or have been eaten alive with spears
till I had no more strength left in me."

Jove looked angrily at him and said, "Do not come whining here,
Sir Facing-both-ways. I hate you worst of all the gods in
Olympus, for you are ever fighting and making mischief. You have
the intolerable and stubborn spirit of your mother Juno: it is
all I can do to manage her, and it is her doing that you are now
in this plight: still, I cannot let you remain longer in such
great pain; you are my own offspring, and it was by me that your
mother conceived you; if, however, you had been the son of any
other god, you are so destructive that by this time you should
have been lying lower than the Titans."

He then bade Paeeon heal him, whereon Paeeon spread pain-killing
herbs upon his wound and cured him, for he was not of mortal
mould. As the juice of the fig-tree curdles milk, and thickens it
in a moment though it is liquid, even so instantly did Paeeon
cure fierce Mars. Then Hebe washed him, and clothed him in goodly
raiment, and he took his seat by his father Jove all glorious to
behold.

But Juno of Argos and Minerva of Alalcomene, now that they had
put a stop to the murderous doings of Mars, went back again to
the house of Jove.

BOOK VI


THE fight between Trojans and Achaeans was now left to rage as it
would, and the tide of war surged hither and thither over the
plain as they aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another
between the streams of Simois and Xanthus.

First, Ajax son of Telamon, tower of strength to the Achaeans,
broke a phalanx of the Trojans, and came to the assistance of his
comrades by killing Acamas son of Eussorus, the best man among
the Thracians, being both brave and of great stature. The spear
struck the projecting peak of his helmet: its bronze point then
went through his forehead into the brain, and darkness veiled his
eyes.

Then Diomed killed Axylus son of Teuthranus, a rich man who lived
in the strong city of Arisbe, and was beloved by all men; for he
had a house by the roadside, and entertained every one who
passed; howbeit not one of his guests stood before him to save
his life, and Diomed killed both him and his squire Calesius, who
was then his charioteer--so the pair passed beneath the earth.

Euryalus killed Dresus and Opheltius, and then went in pursuit of
Aesepus and Pedasus, whom the naiad nymph Abarbarea had borne to
noble Bucolion. Bucolion was eldest son to Laomedon, but he was a
bastard. While tending his sheep he had converse with the nymph,
and she conceived twin sons; these the son of Mecisteus now slew,
and he stripped the armour from their shoulders. Polypoetes then
killed Astyalus, Ulysses Pidytes of Percote, and Teucer Aretaon.
Ablerus fell by the spear of Nestor's son Antilochus, and
Agamemnon, king of men, killed Elatus who dwelt in Pedasus by the
banks of the river Satnioeis. Leitus killed Phylacus as he was
flying, and Eurypylus slew Melanthus.

Then Menelaus of the loud war-cry took Adrestus alive, for his
horses ran into a tamarisk bush, as they were flying wildly over
the plain, and broke the pole from the car; they went on towards
the city along with the others in full flight, but Adrestus
rolled out, and fell in the dust flat on his face by the wheel of
his chariot; Menelaus came up to him spear in hand, but Adrestus
caught him by the knees begging for his life. "Take me alive," he
cried, "son of Atreus, and you shall have a full ransom for me:
my father is rich and has much treasure of gold, bronze, and
wrought iron laid by in his house. From this store he will give
you a large ransom should he hear of my being alive and at the
ships of the Achaeans."

Thus did he plead, and Menelaus was for yielding and giving him
to a squire to take to the ships of the Achaeans, but Agamemnon
came running up to him and rebuked him. "My good Menelaus," said
he, "this is no time for giving quarter. Has, then, your house
fared so well at the hands of the Trojans? Let us not spare a
single one of them--not even the child unborn and in its mother's
womb; let not a man of them be left alive, but let all in Ilius
perish, unheeded and forgotten."

Thus did he speak, and his brother was persuaded by him, for his
words were just. Menelaus, therefore, thrust Adrestus from him,
whereon King Agamemnon struck him in the flank, and he fell: then
the son of Atreus planted his foot upon his breast to draw his
spear from the body.

Meanwhile Nestor shouted to the Argives, saying, "My friends,
Danaan warriors, servants of Mars, let no man lag that he may
spoil the dead, and bring back much booty to the ships. Let us
kill as many as we can; the bodies will lie upon the plain, and
you can despoil them later at your leisure."

With these words he put heart and soul into them all. And now the
Trojans would have been routed and driven back into Ilius, had
not Priam's son Helenus, wisest of augurs, said to Hector and
Aeneas, "Hector and Aeneas, you two are the mainstays of the
Trojans and Lycians, for you are foremost at all times, alike in
fight and counsel; hold your ground here, and go about among the
host to rally them in front of the gates, or they will fling
themselves into the arms of their wives, to the great joy of our
foes. Then, when you have put heart into all our companies, we
will stand firm here and fight the Danaans however hard they
press us, for there is nothing else to be done. Meanwhile do you,
Hector, go to the city and tell our mother what is happening.
Tell her to bid the matrons gather at the temple of Minerva in
the acropolis; let her then take her key and open the doors of
the sacred building; there, upon the knees of Minerva, let her
lay the largest, fairest robe she has in her house--the one she
sets most store by; let her, moreover, promise to sacrifice
twelve yearling heifers that have never yet felt the goad, in the
temple of the goddess, if she will take pity on the town, with
the wives and little ones of the Trojans, and keep the son of
Tydeus from falling on the goodly city of Ilius; for he fights
with fury and fills men's souls with panic. I hold him mightiest
of them all; we did not fear even their great champion Achilles,
son of a goddess though he be, as we do this man: his rage is
beyond all bounds, and there is none can vie with him in prowess"

Hector did as his brother bade him. He sprang from his chariot,
and went about everywhere among the host, brandishing his spears,
urging the men on to fight, and raising the dread cry of battle.
Thereon they rallied and again faced the Achaeans, who gave
ground and ceased their murderous onset, for they deemed that
some one of the immortals had come down from starry heaven to
help the Trojans, so strangely had they rallied. And Hector
shouted to the Trojans, "Trojans and allies, be men, my friends,
and fight with might and main, while I go to Ilius and tell the
old men of our council and our wives to pray to the gods and vow
hecatombs in their honour."

With this he went his way, and the black rim of hide that went
round his shield beat against his neck and his ancles.

Then Glaucus son of Hippolochus, and the son of Tydeus went into
the open space between the hosts to fight in single combat. When
they were close up to one another Diomed of the loud war-cry was
the first to speak. "Who, my good sir," said he, "who are you
among men? I have never seen you in battle until now, but you are
daring beyond all others if you abide my onset. Woe to those
fathers whose sons face my might. If, however, you are one of the
immortals and have come down from heaven, I will not fight you;
for even valiant Lycurgus, son of Dryas, did not live long when
he took to fighting with the gods. He it was that drove the
nursing women who were in charge of frenzied Bacchus through the
land of Nysa, and they flung their thyrsi on the ground as
murderous Lycurgus beat them with his oxgoad. Bacchus himself
plunged terror-stricken into the sea, and Thetis took him to her
bosom to comfort him, for he was scared by the fury with which
the man reviled him. Thereon the gods who live at ease were angry
with Lycurgus and the son of Saturn struck him blind, nor did he
live much longer after he had become hateful to the immortals.
Therefore I will not fight with the blessed gods; but if you are
of them that eat the fruit of the ground, draw near and meet your
doom."

And the son of Hippolochus answered, son of Tydeus, why ask me of
my lineage? Men come and go as leaves year by year upon the
trees. Those of autumn the wind sheds upon the ground, but when
spring returns the forest buds forth with fresh vines. Even so is
it with the generations of mankind, the new spring up as the old
are passing away. If, then, you would learn my descent, it is one
that is well known to many. There is a city in the heart of
Argos, pasture land of horses, called Ephyra, where Sisyphus
lived, who was the craftiest of all mankind. He was the son of
Aeolus, and had a son named Glaucus, who was father to
Bellerophon, whom heaven endowed with the most surpassing
comeliness and beauty. But Proetus devised his ruin, and being
stronger than he, drove him from the land of the Argives, over
which Jove had made him ruler. For Antea, wife of Proetus, lusted
after him, and would have had him lie with her in secret; but
Bellerophon was an honourable man and would not, so she told lies
about him to Proteus. 'Proetus,' said she, 'kill Bellerophon or
die, for he would have had converse with me against my will.' The
king was angered, but shrank from killing Bellerophon, so he sent
him to Lycia with lying letters of introduction, written on a
folded tablet, and containing much ill against the bearer. He
bade Bellerophon show these letters to his father-in-law, to the
end that he might thus perish; Bellerophon therefore went to
Lycia, and the gods convoyed him safely.

"When he reached the river Xanthus, which is in Lycia, the king
received him with all goodwill, feasted him nine days, and killed
nine heifers in his honour, but when rosy-fingered morning
appeared upon the tenth day, he questioned him and desired to see
the letter from his son-in-law Proetus. When he had received the
wicked letter he first commanded Bellerophon to kill that savage
monster, the Chimaera, who was not a human being, but a goddess,
for she had the head of a lion and the tail of a serpent, while
her body was that of a goat, and she breathed forth flames of
fire; but Bellerophon slew her, for he was guided by signs from
heaven. He next fought the far-famed Solymi, and this, he said,
was the hardest of all his battles. Thirdly, he killed the
Amazons, women who were the peers of men, and as he was returning
thence the king devised yet another plan for his destruction; he
picked the bravest warriors in all Lycia, and placed them in
ambuscade, but not a man ever came back, for Bellerophon killed
every one of them. Then the king knew that he must be the valiant
offspring of a god, so he kept him in Lycia, gave him his
daughter in marriage, and made him of equal honour in the kingdom
with himself; and the Lycians gave him a piece of land, the best
in all the country, fair with vineyards and tilled fields, to
have and to hold.

"The king's daughter bore Bellerophon three children, Isander,
Hippolochus, and Laodameia. Jove, the lord of counsel, lay with
Laodameia, and she bore him noble Sarpedon; but when Bellerophon
came to be hated by all the gods, he wandered all desolate and
dismayed upon the Alean plain, gnawing at his own heart, and
shunning the path of man. Mars, insatiate of battle, killed his
son Isander while he was fighting the Solymi; his daughter was
killed by Diana of the golden reins, for she was angered with
her; but Hippolochus was father to myself, and when he sent me to
Troy he urged me again and again to fight ever among the foremost
and outvie my peers, so as not to shame the blood of my fathers
who were the noblest in Ephyra and in all Lycia. This, then, is
the descent I claim."

Thus did he speak, and the heart of Diomed was glad. He planted
his spear in the ground, and spoke to him with friendly words.
"Then," he said, "you are an old friend of my father's house.
Great Oeneus once entertained Bellerophon for twenty days, and
the two exchanged presents. Oeneus gave a belt rich with purple,
and Bellerophon a double cup, which I left at home when I set out
for Troy. I do not remember Tydeus, for he was taken from us
while I was yet a child, when the army of the Achaeans was cut to
pieces before Thebes. Henceforth, however, I must be your host in
middle Argos, and you mine in Lycia, if I should ever go there;
let us avoid one another's spears even during a general
engagement; there are many noble Trojans and allies whom I can
kill, if I overtake them and heaven delivers them into my hand;
so again with yourself, there are many Achaeans whose lives you
may take if you can; we two, then, will exchange armour, that all
present may know of the old ties that subsist between us."

With these words they sprang from their chariots, grasped one
another's hands, and plighted friendship. But the son of Saturn
made Glaucus take leave of his wits, for he exchanged golden
armour for bronze, the worth of a hundred head of cattle for the
worth of nine.

Now when Hector reached the Scaean gates and the oak tree, the
wives and daughters of the Trojans came running towards him to
ask after their sons, brothers, kinsmen, and husbands: he told
them to set about praying to the gods, and many were made
sorrowful as they heard him.

Presently he reached the splendid palace of King Priam, adorned
with colonnades of hewn stone. In it there were fifty
bedchambers--all of hewn stone--built near one another, where the
sons of Priam slept, each with his wedded wife. Opposite these,
on the other side the courtyard, there were twelve upper rooms
also of hewn stone for Priam's daughters, built near one another,
where his sons-in-law slept with their wives. When Hector got
there, his fond mother came up to him with Laodice the fairest of
her daughters. She took his hand within her own and said, "My
son, why have you left the battle to come hither? Are the
Achaeans, woe betide them, pressing you hard about the city that
you have thought fit to come and uplift your hands to Jove from
the citadel? Wait till I can bring you wine that you may make
offering to Jove and to the other immortals, and may then drink
and be refreshed. Wine gives a man fresh strength when he is
wearied, as you now are with fighting on behalf of your kinsmen."

And Hector answered, "Honoured mother, bring no wine, lest you
unman me and I forget my strength. I dare not make a
drink-offering to Jove with unwashed hands; one who is
bespattered with blood and filth may not pray to the son of
Saturn. Get the matrons together, and go with offerings to the
temple of Minerva driver of the spoil; there, upon the knees of
Minerva, lay the largest and fairest robe you have in your
house--the one you set most store by; promise, moreover, to
sacrifice twelve yearling heifers that have never yet felt the
goad, in the temple of the goddess if she will take pity on the
town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans, and keep the
son of Tydeus from off the goodly city of Ilius, for he fights
with fury, and fills men's souls with panic. Go, then, to the
temple of Minerva, while I seek Paris and exhort him, if he will
hear my words. Would that the earth might open her jaws and
swallow him, for Jove bred him to be the bane of the Trojans, and
of Priam and Priam's sons. Could I but see him go down into the
house of Hades, my heart would forget its heaviness."

His mother went into the house and called her waiting-women who
gathered the matrons throughout the city. She then went down into
her fragrant store-room, where her embroidered robes were kept,
the work of Sidonian women, whom Alexandrus had brought over from
Sidon when he sailed the seas upon that voyage during which he
carried off Helen. Hecuba took out the largest robe, and the one
that was most beautifully enriched with embroidery, as an
offering to Minerva: it glittered like a star, and lay at the
very bottom of the chest. With this she went on her way and many
matrons with her.

When they reached the temple of Minerva, lovely Theano, daughter
of Cisseus and wife of Antenor, opened the doors, for the Trojans
had made her priestess of Minerva. The women lifted up their
hands to the goddess with a loud cry, and Theano took the robe to
lay it upon the knees of Minerva, praying the while to the
daughter of great Jove. "Holy Minerva," she cried, "protectress
of our city, mighty goddess, break the spear of Diomed and lay
him low before the Scaean gates. Do this, and we will sacrifice
twelve heifers that have never yet known the goad, in your
temple, if you will have pity upon the town, with the wives and
little ones of the Trojans." Thus she prayed, but Pallas Minerva
granted not her prayer.

While they were thus praying to the daughter of great Jove,
Hector went to the fair house of Alexandrus, which he had built
for him by the foremost builders in the land. They had built him
his house, storehouse, and courtyard near those of Priam and
Hector on the acropolis. Here Hector entered, with a spear eleven
cubits long in his hand; the bronze point gleamed in front of
him, and was fastened to the shaft of the spear by a ring of
gold. He found Alexandrus within the house, busied about his
armour, his shield and cuirass, and handling his curved bow;
there, too, sat Argive Helen with her women, setting them their
several tasks; and as Hector saw him he rebuked him with words of
scorn. "Sir," said he, "you do ill to nurse this rancour; the
people perish fighting round this our town; you would yourself
chide one whom you saw shirking his part in the combat. Up then,
or ere long the city will be in a blaze."

And Alexandrus answered, "Hector, your rebuke is just; listen
therefore, and believe me when I tell you that I am not here so
much through rancour or ill-will towards the Trojans, as from a
desire to indulge my grief. My wife was even now gently urging me
to battle, and I hold it better that I should go, for victory is
ever fickle. Wait, then, while I put on my armour, or go first
and I will follow. I shall be sure to overtake you."

Hector made no answer, but Helen tried to soothe him. "Brother,"
said she, "to my abhorred and sinful self, would that a whirlwind
had caught me up on the day my mother brought me forth, and had
borne me to some mountain or to the waves of the roaring sea that
should have swept me away ere this mischief had come about. But,
since the gods have devised these evils, would, at any rate, that
I had been wife to a better man--to one who could smart under
dishonour and men's evil speeches. This fellow was never yet to
be depended upon, nor never will be, and he will surely reap what
he has sown. Still, brother, come in and rest upon this seat, for
it is you who bear the brunt of that toil that has been caused by
my hateful self and by the sin of Alexandrus--both of whom Jove
has doomed to be a theme of song among those that shall be born
hereafter."

And Hector answered, "Bid me not be seated, Helen, for all the
goodwill you bear me. I cannot stay. I am in haste to help the
Trojans, who miss me greatly when I am not among them; but urge
your husband, and of his own self also let him make haste to
overtake me before I am out of the city. I must go home to see my
household, my wife and my little son, for I know not whether I
shall ever again return to them, or whether the gods will cause
me to fill by the hands of the Achaeans."

Then Hector left her, and forthwith was at his own house. He did
not find Andromache, for she was on the wall with her child and
one of her maids, weeping bitterly. Seeing, then, that she was
not within, he stood on the threshold of the women's rooms and
said, "Women, tell me, and tell me true, where did Andromache go
when she left the house? Was it to my sisters, or to my brothers'
wives? or is she at the temple of Minerva where the other women
are propitiating the awful goddess?"

His good housekeeper answered, "Hector, since you bid me tell you
truly, she did not go to your sisters nor to your brothers'
wives, nor yet to the temple of Minerva, where the other women
are propitiating the awful goddess, but she is on the high wall
of Ilius, for she had heard the Trojans were being hard pressed,
and that the Achaeans were in great force: she went to the wall
in frenzied haste, and the nurse went with her carrying the
child."

Hector hurried from the house when she had done speaking, and
went down the streets by the same way that he had come. When he
had gone through the city and had reached the Scaean gates
through which he would go out on to the plain, his wife came
running towards him, Andromache, daughter of great Eetion who
ruled in Thebe under the wooded slopes of Mt. Placus, and was
king of the Cilicians. His daughter had married Hector, and now
came to meet him with a nurse who carried his little child in her
bosom--a mere babe. Hector's darling son, and lovely as a star.
Hector had named him Scamandrius, but the people called him
Astyanax, for his father stood alone as chief guardian of Ilius.
Hector smiled as he looked upon the boy, but he did not speak,
and Andromache stood by him weeping and taking his hand in her
own. "Dear husband," said she, "your valour will bring you to
destruction; think on your infant son, and on my hapless self who
ere long shall be your widow--for the Achaeans will set upon you
in a body and kill you. It would be better for me, should I lose
you, to lie dead and buried, for I shall have nothing left to
comfort me when you are gone, save only sorrow. I have neither
father nor mother now. Achilles slew my father when he sacked
Thebe the goodly city of the Cilicians. He slew him, but did not
for very shame despoil him; when he had burned him in his
wondrous armour, he raised a barrow over his ashes and the
mountain nymphs, daughters of aegis-bearing Jove, planted a grove
of elms about his tomb. I had seven brothers in my father's
house, but on the same day they all went within the house of
Hades. Achilles killed them as they were with their sheep and
cattle. My mother--her who had been queen of all the land under
Mt. Placus--he brought hither with the spoil, and freed her for a
great sum, but the archer-queen Diana took her in the house of
your father. Nay--Hector--you who to me are father, mother,
brother, and dear husband--have mercy upon me; stay here upon
this wall; make not your child fatherless, and your wife a widow;
as for the host, place them near the fig-tree, where the city can
be best scaled, and the wall is weakest. Thrice have the bravest
of them come thither and assailed it, under the two Ajaxes,
Idomeneus, the sons of Atreus, and the brave son of Tydeus,
either of their own bidding, or because some soothsayer had told
them."

And Hector answered, "Wife, I too have thought upon all this, but
with what face should I look upon the Trojans, men or women, if I
shirked battle like a coward? I cannot do so: I know nothing save
to fight bravely in the forefront of the Trojan host and win
renown alike for my father and myself. Well do I know that the
day will surely come when mighty Ilius shall be destroyed with
Priam and Priam's people, but I grieve for none of these--not
even for Hecuba, nor King Priam, nor for my brothers many and
brave who may fall in the dust before their foes--for none of
these do I grieve as for yourself when the day shall come on
which some one of the Achaeans shall rob you for ever of your
freedom, and bear you weeping away. It may be that you will have
to ply the loom in Argos at the bidding of a mistress, or to
fetch water from the springs Messeis or Hypereia, treated
brutally by some cruel task-master; then will one say who sees
you weeping, 'She was wife to Hector, the bravest warrior among
the Trojans during the war before Ilius.' On this your tears will
break forth anew for him who would have put away the day of
captivity from you. May I lie dead under the barrow that is
heaped over my body ere I hear your cry as they carry you into
bondage."

He stretched his arms towards his child, but the boy cried and
nestled in his nurse's bosom, scared at the sight of his father's
armour, and at the horse-hair plume that nodded fiercely from his
helmet. His father and mother laughed to see him, but Hector took
the helmet from his head and laid it all gleaming upon the
ground. Then he took his darling child, kissed him, and dandled
him in his arms, praying over him the while to Jove and to all
the gods. "Jove," he cried, "grant that this my child may be even
as myself, chief among the Trojans; let him be not less excellent
in strength, and let him rule Ilius with his might. Then may one
say of him as he comes from battle, 'The son is far better than
the father.' May he bring back the blood-stained spoils of him
whom he has laid low, and let his mother's heart be glad.'"

With this he laid the child again in the arms of his wife, who
took him to her own soft bosom, smiling through her tears. As her
husband watched her his heart yearned towards her and he caressed
her fondly, saying, "My own wife, do not take these things too
bitterly to heart. No one can hurry me down to Hades before my
time, but if a man's hour is come, be he brave or be he coward,
there is no escape for him when he has once been born. Go, then,
within the house, and busy yourself with your daily duties, your
loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for war is
man's matter, and mine above all others of them that have been
born in Ilius."

He took his plumed helmet from the ground, and his wife went back
again to her house, weeping bitterly and often looking back
towards him. When she reached her home she found her maidens
within, and bade them all join in her lament; so they mourned
Hector in his own house though he was yet alive, for they deemed
that they should never see him return safe from battle, and from
the furious hands of the Achaeans.

Paris did not remain long in his house. He donned his goodly
armour overlaid with bronze, and hasted through the city as fast
as his feet could take him. As a horse, stabled and fed, breaks
loose and gallops gloriously over the plain to the place where he
is wont to bathe in the fair-flowing river--he holds his head
high, and his mane streams upon his shoulders as he exults in his
strength and flies like the wind to the haunts and feeding ground
of the mares--even so went forth Paris from high Pergamus,
gleaming like sunlight in his armour, and he laughed aloud as he
sped swiftly on his way. Forthwith he came upon his brother
Hector, who was then turning away from the place where he had
held converse with his wife, and he was himself the first to
speak. "Sir," said he, "I fear that I have kept you waiting when
you are in haste, and have not come as quickly as you bade me."

"My good brother," answered Hector, "you fight bravely, and no
man with any justice can make light of your doings in battle. But
you are careless and wilfully remiss. It grieves me to the heart
to hear the ill that the Trojans speak about you, for they have
suffered much on your account. Let us be going, and we will make
things right hereafter, should Jove vouchsafe us to set the cup
of our deliverance before ever-living gods of heaven in our own
homes, when we have chased the Achaeans from Troy."

BOOK VII


WITH these words Hector passed through the gates, and his brother
Alexandrus with him, both eager for the fray. As when heaven
sends a breeze to sailors who have long looked for one in vain,
and have laboured at their oars till they are faint with toil,
even so welcome was the sight of these two heroes to the Trojans.

Thereon Alexandrus killed Menesthius the son of Areithous; he
lived in Arne, and was son of Areithous the Mace-man, and of
Phylomedusa. Hector threw a spear at Eioneus and struck him dead
with a wound in the neck under the bronze rim of his helmet.
Glaucus, moreover, son of Hippolochus, captain of the Lycians, in
hard hand-to-hand fight smote Iphinous son of Dexius on the
shoulder, as he was springing on to his chariot behind his fleet
mares; so he fell to earth from the car, and there was no life
left in him.

When, therefore, Minerva saw these men making havoc of the
Argives, she darted down to Ilius from the summits of Olympus,
and Apollo, who was looking on from Pergamus, went out to meet
her; for he wanted the Trojans to be victorious. The pair met by
the oak tree, and King Apollo son of Jove was first to speak.
"What would you have", said he, "daughter of great Jove, that
your proud spirit has sent you hither from Olympus? Have you no
pity upon the Trojans, and would you incline the scales of
victory in favour of the Danaans? Let me persuade you--for it
will be better thus--stay the combat for to-day, but let them
renew the fight hereafter till they compass the doom of Ilius,
since you goddesses have made up your minds to destroy the city."

And Minerva answered, "So be it, Far-Darter; it was in this mind
that I came down from Olympus to the Trojans and Achaeans. Tell
me, then, how do you propose to end this present fighting?"

Apollo, son of Jove, replied, "Let us incite great Hector to
challenge some one of the Danaans in single combat; on this the
Achaeans will be shamed into finding a man who will fight him."

Minerva assented, and Helenus son of Priam divined the counsel of
the gods; he therefore went up to Hector and said, "Hector son of
Priam, peer of gods in counsel, I am your brother, let me then
persuade you. Bid the other Trojans and Achaeans all of them take
their seats, and challenge the best man among the Achaeans to
meet you in single combat. I have heard the voice of the
ever-living gods, and the hour of your doom is not yet come."

Hector was glad when he heard this saying, and went in among the
Trojans, grasping his spear by the middle to hold them back, and
they all sat down. Agamemnon also bade the Achaeans be seated.
But Minerva and Apollo, in the likeness of vultures, perched on
father Jove's high oak tree, proud of their men; and the ranks
sat close ranged together, bristling with shield and helmet and
spear. As when the rising west wind furs the face of the sea and
the waters grow dark beneath it, so sat the companies of Trojans
and Achaeans upon the plain. And Hector spoke thus:--

"Hear me, Trojans and Achaeans, that I may speak even as I am
minded; Jove on his high throne has brought our oaths and
covenants to nothing, and foreshadows ill for both of us, till
you either take the towers of Troy, or are yourselves vanquished
at your ships. The princes of the Achaeans are here present in
the midst of you; let him, then, that will fight me stand forward
as your champion against Hector. Thus I say, and may Jove be
witness between us. If your champion slay me, let him strip me of
my armour and take it to your ships, but let him send my body
home that the Trojans and their wives may give me my dues of fire
when I am dead. In like manner, if Apollo vouchsafe me glory and
I slay your champion, I will strip him of his armour and take it
to the city of Ilius, where I will hang it in the temple of
Apollo, but I will give up his body, that the Achaeans may bury
him at their ships, and the build him a mound by the wide waters
of the Hellespont. Then will one say hereafter as he sails his
ship over the sea, 'This is the monument of one who died long
since a champion who was slain by mighty Hector.' Thus will one
say, and my fame shall not be lost."

Thus did he speak, but they all held their peace, ashamed to
decline the challenge, yet fearing to accept it, till at last
Menelaus rose and rebuked them, for he was angry. "Alas," he
cried, "vain braggarts, women forsooth not men, double-dyed
indeed will be the stain upon us if no man of the Danaans will
now face Hector. May you be turned every man of you into earth
and water as you sit spiritless and inglorious in your places. I
will myself go out against this man, but the upshot of the fight
will be from on high in the hands of the immortal gods."

With these words he put on his armour; and then, O Menelaus, your
life would have come to an end at the hands of hands of Hector,
for he was far better the man, had not the princes of the
Achaeans sprung upon you and checked you. King Agamemnon caught
him by the right hand and said, "Menelaus, you are mad; a truce
to this folly. Be patient in spite of passion, do not think of
fighting a man so much stronger than yourself as Hector son of
Priam, who is feared by many another as well as you. Even
Achilles, who is far more doughty than you are, shrank from
meeting him in battle. Sit down your own people, and the Achaeans
will send some other champion to fight Hector; fearless and fond
of battle though he be, I ween his knees will bend gladly under
him if he comes out alive from the hurly-burly of this fight."

With these words of reasonable counsel he persuaded his brother,
whereon his squires gladly stripped the armour from off his
shoulders. Then Nestor rose and spoke, "Of a truth," said he,
"the Achaean land is fallen upon evil times. The old knight
Peleus, counsellor and orator among the Myrmidons, loved when I
was in his house to question me concerning the race and lineage
of all the Argives. How would it not grieve him could he hear of
them as now quailing before Hector? Many a time would he lift his
hands in prayer that his soul might leave his body and go down
within the house of Hades. Would, by father Jove, Minerva, and
Apollo, that I were still young and strong as when the Pylians
and Arcadians were gathered in fight by the rapid river Celadon
under the walls of Pheia, and round about the waters of the river
Iardanus. The godlike hero Ereuthalion stood forward as their
champion, with the armour of King Areithous upon his shoulders--
Areithous whom men and women had surnamed 'the Mace-man,' because
he fought neither with bow nor spear, but broke the battalions of
the foe with his iron mace. Lycurgus killed him, not in fair
fight, but by entrapping him in a narrow way where his mace
served him in no stead; for Lycurgus was too quick for him and
speared him through the middle, so he fell to earth on his back.
Lycurgus then spoiled him of the armour which Mars had given him,
and bore it in battle thenceforward; but when he grew old and
stayed at home, he gave it to his faithful squire Ereuthalion,
who in this same armour challenged the foremost men among us. The
others quaked and quailed, but my high spirit bade me fight him
though none other would venture; I was the youngest man of them
all; but when I fought him Minerva vouchsafed me victory. He was
the biggest and strongest man that ever I killed, and covered
much ground as he lay sprawling upon the earth. Would that I were
still young and strong as I then was, for the son of Priam would
then soon find one who would face him. But you, foremost among
the whole host though you be, have none of you any stomach for
fighting Hector."

Thus did the old man rebuke them, and forthwith nine men started
to their feet. Foremost of all uprose King Agamemnon, and after
him brave Diomed the son of Tydeus. Next were the two Ajaxes, men
clothed in valour as with a garment, and then Idomeneus, and
Meriones his brother in arms. After these Eurypylus son of
Euaemon, Thoas the son of Andraemon, and Ulysses also rose. Then
Nestor knight of Gerene again spoke, saying: "Cast lots among you
to see who shall be chosen. If he come alive out of this fight he
will have done good service alike to his own soul and to the
Achaeans."

Thus he spoke, and when each of them had marked his lot, and had
thrown it into the helmet of Agamemnon son of Atreus, the people
lifted their hands in prayer, and thus would one of them say as
he looked into the vault of heaven, "Father Jove, grant that the
lot fall on Ajax, or on the son of Tydeus, or upon the king of
rich Mycene himself."

As they were speaking, Nestor knight of Gerene shook the helmet,
and from it there fell the very lot which they wanted--the lot of
Ajax. The herald bore it about and showed it to all the
chieftains of the Achaeans, going from left to right; but they
none of them owned it. When, however, in due course he reached
the man who had written upon it and had put it into the helmet,
brave Ajax held out his hand, and the herald gave him the lot.
When Ajax saw his mark he knew it and was glad; he threw it to
the ground and said, "My friends, the lot is mine, and I rejoice,
for I shall vanquish Hector. I will put on my armour; meanwhile,
pray to King Jove in silence among yourselves that the Trojans
may not hear you--or aloud if you will, for we fear no man. None
shall overcome me, neither by force nor cunning, for I was born
and bred in Salamis, and can hold my own in all things."

With this they fell praying to King Jove the son of Saturn, and
thus would one of them say as he looked into the vault of heaven,
"Father Jove that rulest from Ida, most glorious in power,
vouchsafe victory to Ajax, and let him win great glory: but if
you wish well to Hector also and would protect him, grant to each
of them equal fame and prowess."

Thus they prayed, and Ajax armed himself in his suit of gleaming
bronze. When he was in full array he sprang forward as monstrous
Mars when he takes part among men whom Jove has set fighting with
one another--even so did huge Ajax, bulwark of the Achaeans,
spring forward with a grim smile on his face as he brandished his
long spear and strode onward. The Argives were elated as they
beheld him, but the Trojans trembled in every limb, and the heart
even of Hector beat quickly, but he could not now retreat and
withdraw into the ranks behind him, for he had been the
challenger. Ajax came up bearing his shield in front of him like
a wall--a shield of bronze with seven folds of oxhide--the work
of Tychius, who lived in Hyle and was by far the best worker in
leather. He had made it with the hides of seven full-fed bulls,
and over these he had set an eighth layer of bronze. Holding this
shield before him, Ajax son of Telamon came close up to Hector,
and menaced him saying, "Hector, you shall now learn, man to man,
what kind of champions the Danaans have among them even besides
lion-hearted Achilles cleaver of the ranks of men. He now abides
at the ships in anger with Agamemnon shepherd of his people, but
there are many of us who are well able to face you; therefore
begin the fight."

And Hector answered, "Noble Ajax, son of Telamon, captain of the
host, treat me not as though I were some puny boy or woman that
cannot fight. I have been long used to the blood and butcheries
of battle. I am quick to turn my leathern shield either to right
or left, for this I deem the main thing in battle. I can charge
among the chariots and horsemen, and in hand to hand fighting can
delight the heart of Mars; howbeit I would not take such a man as
you are off his guard--but I will smite you openly if I can."

He poised his spear as he spoke, and hurled it from him. It
struck the sevenfold shield in its outermost layer--the eighth,
which was of bronze--and went through six of the layers but in
the seventh hide it stayed. Then Ajax threw in his turn, and
struck the round shield of the son of Priam. The terrible spear
went through his gleaming shield, and pressed onward through his
cuirass of cunning workmanship; it pierced the shirt against his
side, but he swerved and thus saved his life. They then each of
them drew out the spear from his shield, and fell on one another
like savage lions or wild boars of great strength and endurance:
the son of Priam struck the middle of Ajax's shield, but the
bronze did not break, and the point of his dart was turned. Ajax
then sprang forward and pierced the shield of Hector; the spear
went through it and staggered him as he was springing forward to
attack; it gashed his neck and the blood came pouring from the
wound, but even so Hector did not cease fighting; he gave ground,
and with his brawny hand seized a stone, rugged and huge, that
was lying upon the plain; with this he struck the shield of Ajax
on the boss that was in its middle, so that the bronze rang
again. But Ajax in turn caught up a far larger stone, swung it
aloft, and hurled it with prodigious force. This millstone of a
rock broke Hector's shield inwards and threw him down on his back
with the shield crushing him under it, but Apollo raised him at
once. Thereon they would have hacked at one another in close
combat with their swords, had not heralds, messengers of gods and
men, come forward, one from the Trojans and the other from the
Achaeans--Talthybius and Idaeus both of them honourable men;
these parted them with their staves, and the good herald Idaeus
said, "My sons, fight no longer, you are both of you valiant, and
both are dear to Jove; we know this; but night is now falling,
and the behests of night may not be well gainsaid."

Ajax son of Telamon answered, "Idaeus, bid Hector say so, for it
was he that challenged our princes. Let him speak first and I
will accept his saying."

Then Hector said, "Ajax, heaven has vouchsafed you stature and
strength, and judgement; and in wielding the spear you excel all
others of the Achaeans. Let us for this day cease fighting;
hereafter we will fight anew till heaven decide between us, and
give victory to one or to the other; night is now falling, and
the behests of night may not be well gainsaid. Gladden, then, the
hearts of the Achaeans at your ships, and more especially those
of your own followers and clansmen, while I, in the great city of
King Priam, bring comfort to the Trojans and their women, who vie
with one another in their prayers on my behalf. Let us, moreover,
exchange presents that it may be said among the Achaeans and
Trojans, 'They fought with might and main, but were reconciled
and parted in friendship.'"

On this he gave Ajax a silver-studded sword with its sheath and
leathern baldric, and in return Ajax gave him a girdle dyed with
purple. Thus they parted, the one going to the host of the
Achaeans, and the other to that of the Trojans, who rejoiced when
they saw their hero come to them safe and unharmed from the
strong hands of mighty Ajax. They led him, therefore, to the city
as one that had been saved beyond their hopes. On the other side
the Achaeans brought Ajax elated with victory to Agamemnon.

When they reached the quarters of the son of Atreus, Agamemnon
sacrificed for them a five-year-old bull in honour of Jove the
son of Saturn. They flayed the carcass, made it ready, and
divided it into joints; these they cut carefully up into smaller
pieces, putting them on the spits, roasting them sufficiently,
and then drawing them off. When they had done all this and had
prepared the feast, they ate it, and every man had his full and
equal share, so that all were satisfied, and King Agamemnon gave
Ajax some slices cut lengthways down the loin, as a mark of
special honour. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink,
old Nestor whose counsel was ever truest began to speak; with all
sincerity and goodwill, therefore, he addressed them thus:--

"Son of Atreus, and other chieftains, inasmuch as many of the
Achaeans are now dead, whose blood Mars has shed by the banks of
the Scamander, and their souls have gone down to the house of
Hades, it will be well when morning comes that we should cease
fighting; we will then wheel our dead together with oxen and
mules and burn them not far from the ships, that when we sail
hence we may take the bones of our comrades home to their
children. Hard by the funeral pyre we will build a barrow that
shall be raised from the plain for all in common; near this let
us set about building a high wall, to shelter ourselves and our
ships, and let it have well-made gates that there may be a way
through them for our chariots. Close outside we will dig a deep
trench all round it to keep off both horse and foot, that the
Trojan chieftains may not bear hard upon us."

Thus he spoke, and the princess shouted in applause. Meanwhile
the Trojans held a council, angry and full of discord, on the
acropolis by the gates of King Priam's palace; and wise Antenor
spoke. "Hear me," he said, "Trojans, Dardanians, and allies, that
I may speak even as I am minded. Let us give up Argive Helen and
her wealth to the sons of Atreus, for we are now fighting in
violation of our solemn covenants, and shall not prosper till we
have done as I say."

He then sat down and Alexandrus husband of lovely Helen rose to
speak. "Antenor," said he, "your words are not to my liking; you
can find a better saying than this if you will; if, however, you
have spoken in good earnest, then indeed has heaven robbed you of
your reason. I will speak plainly, and hereby notify to the
Trojans that I will not give up the woman; but the wealth that I
brought home with her from Argos I will restore, and will add yet
further of my own."

On this, when Paris had spoken and taken his seat, Priam of the
race of Dardanus, peer of gods in council, rose and with all
sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus: "Hear me, Trojans,
Dardanians, and allies, that I may speak even as I am minded. Get
your suppers now as hitherto throughout the city, but keep your
watches and be wakeful. At daybreak let Idaeus go to the ships,
and tell Agamemnon and Menelaus sons of Atreus the saying of
Alexandrus through whom this quarrel has come about; and let him
also be instant with them that they now cease fighting till we
burn our dead; hereafter we will fight anew, till heaven decide
between us and give victory to one or to the other."

Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. They took
supper in their companies and at daybreak Idaeus went his way to
the ships. He found the Danaans, servants of Mars, in council at
the stern of Agamemnon's ship, and took his place in the midst of
them. "Son of Atreus," he said, "and princes of the Achaean host,
Priam and the other noble Trojans have sent me to tell you the
saying of Alexandrus through whom this quarrel has come about, if
so be that you may find it acceptable. All the treasure he took
with him in his ships to Troy--would that he had sooner
perished--he will restore, and will add yet further of his own,
but he will not give up the wedded wife of Menelaus, though the
Trojans would have him do so. Priam bade me inquire further if
you will cease fighting till we burn our dead; hereafter we will
fight anew, till heaven decide between us and give victory to one
or to the other."

They all held their peace, but presently Diomed of the loud
war-cry spoke, saying, "Let there be no taking, neither treasure,
nor yet Helen, for even a child may see that the doom of the
Trojans is at hand."

The sons of the Achaeans shouted applause at the words that
Diomed had spoken, and thereon King Agamemnon said to Idaeus,
"Idaeus, you have heard the answer the Achaeans make you-and I
with them. But as concerning the dead, I give you leave to burn
them, for when men are once dead there should be no grudging them
the rites of fire. Let Jove the mighty husband of Juno be witness
to this covenant."

As he spoke he upheld his sceptre in the sight of all the gods,
and Idaeus went back to the strong city of Ilius. The Trojans and
Dardanians were gathered in council waiting his return; when he
came, he stood in their midst and delivered his message. As soon
as they heard it they set about their twofold labour, some to
gather the corpses, and others to bring in wood. The Argives on
their part also hastened from their ships, some to gather the
corpses, and others to bring in wood.

The sun was beginning to beat upon the fields, fresh risen into
the vault of heaven from the slow still currents of deep Oceanus,
when the two armies met. They could hardly recognise their dead,
but they washed the clotted gore from off them, shed tears over
them, and lifted them upon their waggons. Priam had forbidden the
Trojans to wail aloud, so they heaped their dead sadly and
silently upon the pyre, and having burned them went back to the
city of Ilius. The Achaeans in like manner heaped their dead
sadly and silently on the pyre, and having burned them went back
to their ships.

Now in the twilight when it was not yet dawn, chosen bands of the
Achaeans were gathered round the pyre and built one barrow that
was raised in common for all, and hard by this they built a high
wall to shelter themselves and their ships; they gave it strong
gates that there might be a way through them for their chariots,
and close outside it they dug a trench deep and wide, and they
planted it within with stakes.

Thus did the Achaeans toil, and the gods, seated by the side of
Jove the lord of lightning, marvelled at their great work; but
Neptune, lord of the earthquake, spoke, saying, "Father Jove,
what mortal in the whole world will again take the gods into his
counsel? See you not how the Achaeans have built a wall about
their ships and driven a trench all round it, without offering
hecatombs to the gods? The fame of this wall will reach as far as
dawn itself, and men will no longer think anything of the one
which Phoebus Apollo and myself built with so much labour for
Laomedon."

Jove was displeased and answered, "What, O shaker of the earth,
are you talking about? A god less powerful than yourself might be
alarmed at what they are doing, but your fame reaches as far as
dawn itself. Surely when the Achaeans have gone home with their
ships, you can shatter their wall and fling it into the sea; you
can cover the beach with sand again, and the great wall of the
Achaeans will then be utterly effaced."

Thus did they converse, and by sunset the work of the Achaeans
was completed; they then slaughtered oxen at their tents and got
their supper. Many ships had come with wine from Lemnos, sent by
Euneus the son of Jason, born to him by Hypsipyle. The son of
Jason freighted them with ten thousand measures of wine, which he
sent specially to the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus.
From this supply the Achaeans bought their wine, some with
bronze, some with iron, some with hides, some with whole heifers,
and some again with captives. They spread a goodly banquet and
feasted the whole night through, as also did the Trojans and
their allies in the city. But all the time Jove boded them ill
and roared with his portentous thunder. Pale fear got hold upon
them, and they spilled the wine from their cups on to the ground,
nor did any dare drink till he had made offerings to the most
mighty son of Saturn. Then they laid themselves down to rest and
enjoyed the boon of sleep.

BOOK VIII


NOW when Morning, clad in her robe of saffron, had begun to
suffuse light over the earth, Jove called the gods in council on
the topmost crest of serrated Olympus. Then he spoke and all the
other gods gave ear. "Hear me," said he, "gods and goddesses,
that I may speak even as I am minded. Let none of you neither
goddess nor god try to cross me, but obey me every one of you
that I may bring this matter to an end. If I see anyone acting
apart and helping either Trojans or Danaans, he shall be beaten
inordinately ere he come back again to Olympus; or I will hurl
him down into dark Tartarus far into the deepest pit under the
earth, where the gates are iron and the floor bronze, as far
beneath Hades as heaven is high above the earth, that you may
learn how much the mightiest I am among you. Try me and find out
for yourselves. Hangs me a golden chain from heaven, and lay hold
of it all of you, gods and goddesses together--tug as you will,
you will not drag Jove the supreme counsellor from heaven to
earth; but were I to pull at it myself I should draw you up with
earth and sea into the bargain, then would I bind the chain about
some pinnacle of Olympus and leave you all dangling in the mid
firmament. So far am I above all others either of gods or men."

They were frightened and all of them of held their peace, for he
had spoken masterfully; but at last Minerva answered, "Father,
son of Saturn, king of kings, we all know that your might is not
to be gainsaid, but we are also sorry for the Danaan warriors,
who are perishing and coming to a bad end. We will, however,
since you so bid us, refrain from actual fighting, but we will
make serviceable suggestions to the Argives that they may not all
of them perish in your displeasure."

Jove smiled at her and answered, "Take heart, my child,
Trito-born; I am not really in earnest, and I wish to be kind to
you."

With this he yoked his fleet horses, with hoofs of bronze and
manes of glittering gold. He girded himself also with gold about
the body, seized his gold whip and took his seat in his chariot.
Thereon he lashed his horses and they flew forward nothing loth
midway twixt earth and starry heaven. After a while he reached
many-fountained Ida, mother of wild beasts, and Gargarus, where
are his grove and fragrant altar. There the father of gods and
men stayed his horses, took them from the chariot, and hid them
in a thick cloud; then he took his seat all glorious upon the
topmost crests, looking down upon the city of Troy and the ships
of the Achaeans.

The Achaeans took their morning meal hastily at the ships, and
afterwards put on their armour. The Trojans on the other hand
likewise armed themselves throughout the city, fewer in numbers
but nevertheless eager perforce to do battle for their wives and
children. All the gates were flung wide open, and horse and foot
sallied forth with the tramp as of a great multitude.

When they were got together in one place, shield clashed with
shield, and spear with spear, in the conflict of mail-clad men.
Mighty was the din as the bossed shields pressed hard on one
another--death--cry and shout of triumph of slain and slayers,
and the earth ran red with blood.

Now so long as the day waxed and it was still morning their
weapons beat against one another, and the people fell, but when
the sun had reached mid-heaven, the sire of all balanced his
golden scales, and put two fates of death within them, one for
the Trojans and the other for the Achaeans. He took the balance
by the middle, and when he lifted it up the day of the Achaeans
sank; the death-fraught scale of the Achaeans settled down upon
the ground, while that of the Trojans rose heavenwards. Then he
thundered aloud from Ida, and sent the glare of his lightning
upon the Achaeans; when they saw this, pale fear fell upon them
and they were sore afraid.

Idomeneus dared not stay nor yet Agamemnon, nor did the two
Ajaxes, servants of Mars, hold their ground. Nestor knight of
Gerene alone stood firm, bulwark of the Achaeans, not of his own
will, but one of his horses was disabled. Alexandrus husband of
lovely Helen had hit it with an arrow just on the top of its head
where the mane begins to grow away from the skull, a very deadly
place. The horse bounded in his anguish as the arrow pierced his
brain, and his struggles threw others into confusion. The old man
instantly began cutting the traces with his sword, but Hector's
fleet horses bore down upon him through the rout with their bold
charioteer, even Hector himself, and the old man would have
perished there and then had not Diomed been quick to mark, and
with a loud cry called Ulysses to help him.

"Ulysses," he cried, "noble son of Laertes where are you flying
to, with your back turned like a coward? See that you are not
struck with a spear between the shoulders. Stay here and help me
to defend Nestor from this man's furious onset."

Ulysses would not give ear, but sped onward to the ships of the
Achaeans, and the son of Tydeus flinging himself alone into the
thick of the fight took his stand before the horses of the son of
Neleus. "Sir," said he, "these young warriors are pressing you
hard, your force is spent, and age is heavy upon you, your squire
is naught, and your horses are slow to move. Mount my chariot and
see what the horses of Tros can do--how cleverly they can scud
hither and thither over the plain either in flight or in pursuit.
I took them from the hero Aeneas. Let our squires attend to your
own steeds, but let us drive mine straight at the Trojans, that
Hector may learn how furiously I too can wield my spear."

Nestor knight of Gerene hearkened to his words. Thereon the
doughty squires, Sthenelus and kind-hearted Eurymedon, saw to
Nestor's horses, while the two both mounted Diomed's chariot.
Nestor took the reins in his hands and lashed the horses on; they
were soon close up with Hector, and the son of Tydeus aimed a
spear at him as he was charging full speed towards them. He
missed him, but struck his charioteer and squire Eniopeus son of
noble Thebaeus in the breast by the nipple while the reins were
in his hands, so that he died there and then, and the horses
swerved as he fell headlong from the chariot. Hector was greatly
grieved at the loss of his charioteer, but let him lie for all
his sorrow, while he went in quest of another driver; nor did his
steeds have to go long without one, for he presently found brave
Archeptolemus the son of Iphitus, and made him get up behind the
horses, giving the reins into his hand.

All had then been lost and no help for it, for they would have
been penned up in Ilius like sheep, had not the sire of gods and
men been quick to mark, and hurled a fiery flaming thunderbolt
which fell just in front of Diomed's horses with a flare of
burning brimstone. The horses were frightened and tried to back
beneath the car, while the reins dropped from Nestor's hands.
Then he was afraid and said to Diomed, "Son of Tydeus, turn your
horses in flight; see you not that the hand of Jove is against
you? To-day he vouchsafes victory to Hector; to-morrow, if it so
please him, he will again grant it to ourselves; no man, however
brave, may thwart the purpose of Jove, for he is far stronger
than any."

Diomed answered, "All that you have said is true; there is a
grief however which pierces me to the very heart, for Hector will
talk among the Trojans and say, 'The son of Tydeus fled before me
to the ships.' This is the vaunt he will make, and may earth then
swallow me."

"Son of Tydeus," replied Nestor, "what mean you? Though Hector
say that you are a coward the Trojans and Dardanians will not
believe him, nor yet the wives of the mighty warriors whom you
have laid low."

So saying he turned the horses back through the thick of the
battle, and with a cry that rent the air the Trojans and Hector
rained their darts after them. Hector shouted to him and said,
"Son of Tydeus, the Danaans have done you honour hitherto as
regards your place at table, the meals they give you, and the
filling of your cup with wine. Henceforth they will despise you,
for you are become no better than a woman. Be off, girl and
coward that you are, you shall not scale our walls through any
flinching upon my part; neither shall you carry off our wives in
your ships, for I shall kill you with my own hand."

The son of Tydeus was in two minds whether or no to turn his
horses round again and fight him. Thrice did he doubt, and thrice
did Jove thunder from the heights of Ida in token to the Trojans
that he would turn the battle in their favour. Hector then
shouted to them and said, "Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanians,
lovers of close fighting, be men, my friends, and fight with
might and with main; I see that Jove is minded to vouchsafe
victory and great glory to myself, while he will deal destruction
upon the Danaans. Fools, for having thought of building this weak
and worthless wall. It shall not stay my fury; my horses will
spring lightly over their trench, and when I am at their ships
forget not to bring me fire that I may burn them, while I
slaughter the Argives who will be all dazed and bewildered by the
smoke."

Then he cried to his horses, "Xanthus and Podargus, and you
Aethon and goodly Lampus, pay me for your keep now and for all
the honey-sweet corn with which Andromache daughter of great
Eetion has fed you, and for she has mixed wine and water for you
to drink whenever you would, before doing so even for me who am
her own husband. Haste in pursuit, that we may take the shield of
Nestor, the fame of which ascends to heaven, for it is of solid
gold, arm-rods and all, and that we may strip from the shoulders
of Diomed. the cuirass which Vulcan made him. Could we take these
two things, the Achaeans would set sail in their ships this
self-same night."

Thus did he vaunt, but Queen Juno made high Olympus quake as she
shook with rage upon her throne. Then said she to the mighty god
of Neptune, "What now, wide ruling lord of the earthquake? Can
you find no compassion in your heart for the dying Danaans, who
bring you many a welcome offering to Helice and to Aegae? Wish
them well then. If all of us who are with the Danaans were to
drive the Trojans back and keep Jove from helping them, he would
have to sit there sulking alone on Ida."

King Neptune was greatly troubled and answered, "Juno, rash of
tongue, what are you talking about? We other gods must not set
ourselves against Jove, for he is far stronger than we are."

Thus did they converse; but the whole space enclosed by the
ditch, from the ships even to the wall, was filled with horses
and warriors, who were pent up there by Hector son of Priam, now
that the hand of Jove was with him. He would even have set fire
to the ships and burned them, had not Queen Juno put it into the
mind of Agamemnon, to bestir himself and to encourage the
Achaeans. To this end he went round the ships and tents carrying
a great purple cloak, and took his stand by the huge black hull
of Ulysses' ship, which was middlemost of all; it was from this
place that his voice would carry farthest, on the one hand
towards the tents of Ajax son of Telamon, and on the other
towards those of Achilles--for these two heroes, well assured of
their own strength, had valorously drawn up their ships at the
two ends of the line. From this spot then, with a voice that
could be heard afar, he shouted to the Danaans, saying, "Argives,
shame on you cowardly creatures, brave in semblance only; where
are now our vaunts that we should prove victorious--the vaunts we
made so vaingloriously in Lemnos, when we ate the flesh of horned
cattle and filled our mixing-bowls to the brim? You vowed that
you would each of you stand against a hundred or two hundred men,
and now you prove no match even for one--for Hector, who will be
ere long setting our ships in a blaze. Father Jove, did you ever
so ruin a great king and rob him so utterly of his greatness?
Yet, when to my sorrow I was coming hither, I never let my ship
pass your altars without offering the fat and thigh-bones of
heifers upon every one of them, so eager was I to sack the city
of Troy. Vouchsafe me then this prayer--suffer us to escape at
any rate with our lives, and let not the Achaeans be so utterly
vanquished by the Trojans."

Thus did he pray, and father Jove pitying his tears vouchsafed
him that his people should live, not die; forthwith he sent them
an eagle, most unfailingly portentous of all birds, with a young
fawn in its talons; the eagle dropped the fawn by the altar on
which the Achaeans sacrificed to Jove the lord of omens; when,
therefore, the people saw that the bird had come from Jove, they
sprang more fiercely upon the Trojans and fought more boldly.

There was no man of all the many Danaans who could then boast
that he had driven his horses over the trench and gone forth to
fight sooner than the son of Tydeus; long before any one else
could do so he slew an armed warrior of the Trojans, Agelaus the
son of Phradmon. He had turned his horses in flight, but the
spear struck him in the back midway between his shoulders and
went right through his chest, and his armour rang rattling round
him as he fell forward from his chariot.

After him came Agamemnon and Menelaus, sons of Atreus, the two
Ajaxes clothed in valour as with a garment, Idomeneus and his
companion in arms Meriones, peer of murderous Mars, and Eurypylus
the brave son of Euaemon. Ninth came Teucer with his bow, and
took his place under cover of the shield of Ajax son of Telamon.
When Ajax lifted his shield Teucer would peer round, and when he
had hit any one in the throng, the man would fall dead; then
Teucer would hie back to Ajax as a child to its mother, and again
duck down under his shield.

Which of the Trojans did brave Teucer first kill? Orsilochus, and
then Ormenus and Ophelestes, Daetor, Chromius, and godlike
Lycophontes, Amopaon son of Polyaemon, and Melanippus. these in
turn did he lay low upon the earth, and King Agamemnon was glad
when he saw him making havoc of the Trojans with his mighty bow.
He went up to him and said, "Teucer, man after my own heart, son
of Telamon, captain among the host, shoot on, and be at once the
saving of the Danaans and the glory of your father Telamon, who
brought you up and took care of you in his own house when you
were a child, bastard though you were. Cover him with glory
though he is far off; I will promise and I will assuredly
perform; if aegis-bearing Jove and Minerva grant me to sack the
city of Ilius, you shall have the next best meed of honour after
my own--a tripod, or two horses with their chariot, or a woman
who shall go up into your bed."

And Teucer answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, you need not urge
me; from the moment we began to drive them back to Ilius, I have
never ceased so far as in me lies to look out for men whom I can
shoot and kill; I have shot eight barbed shafts, and all of them
have been buried in the flesh of warlike youths, but this mad dog
I cannot hit."

As he spoke he aimed another arrow straight at Hector, for he was
bent on hitting him; nevertheless he missed him, and the arrow
hit Priam's brave son Gorgythion in the breast. His mother, fair
Castianeira, lovely as a goddess, had been married from Aesyme,
and now he bowed his head as a garden poppy in full bloom when it
is weighed down by showers in spring--even thus heavy bowed his
head beneath the weight of his helmet.

Again he aimed at Hector, for he was longing to hit him, and
again his arrow missed, for Apollo turned it aside; but he hit
Hector's brave charioteer Archeptolemus in the breast, by the
nipple, as he was driving furiously into the fight. The horses
swerved aside as he fell headlong from the chariot, and there was
no life left in him. Hector was greatly grieved at the loss of
his charioteer, but for all his sorrow he let him lie where he
fell, and bade his brother Cebriones, who was hard by, take the
reins. Cebriones did as he had said. Hector thereon with a loud
cry sprang from his chariot to the ground, and seizing a great
stone made straight for Teucer with intent kill him. Teucer had
just taken an arrow from his quiver and had laid it upon the
bow-string, but Hector struck him with the jagged stone as he was
taking aim and drawing the string to his shoulder; he hit him
just where the collar-bone divides the neck from the chest, a
very deadly place, and broke the sinew of his arm so that his
wrist was less, and the bow dropped from his hand as he fell
forward on his knees. Ajax saw that his brother had fallen, and
running towards him bestrode him and sheltered him with his
shield. Meanwhile his two trusty squires, Mecisteus son of
Echius, and Alastor, came up and bore him to the ships groaning
in his great pain.

Jove now again put heart into the Trojans, and they drove the
Achaeans to their deep trench with Hector in all his glory at
their head. As a hound grips a wild boar or lion in flank or
buttock when he gives him chase, and watches warily for his
wheeling, even so did Hector follow close upon the Achaeans, ever
killing the hindmost as they rushed panic-stricken onwards. When
they had fled through the set stakes and trench and many Achaeans
had been laid low at the hands of the Trojans, they halted at
their ships, calling upon one another and praying every man
instantly as they lifted up their hands to the gods; but Hector
wheeled his horses this way and that, his eyes glaring like those
of Gorgo or murderous Mars.

Juno when she saw them had pity upon them, and at once said to
Minerva, "Alas, child of aegis-bearing Jove, shall you and I take
no more thought for the dying Danaans, though it be the last time
we ever do so? See how they perish and come to a bad end before
the onset of but a single man. Hector the son of Priam rages with
intolerable fury, and has already done great mischief."

Minerva answered, "Would, indeed, this fellow might die in his
own land, and fall by the hands of the Achaeans; but my father
Jove is mad with spleen, ever foiling me, ever headstrong and
unjust. He forgets how often I saved his son when he was worn out
by the labours Eurystheus had laid on him. He would weep till his
cry came up to heaven, and then Jove would send me down to help
him; if I had had the sense to foresee all this, when Eurystheus
sent him to the house of Hades, to fetch the hell-hound from
Erebus, he would never have come back alive out of the deep
waters of the river Styx. And now Jove hates me, while he lets
Thetis have her way because she kissed his knees and took hold of
his beard, when she was begging him to do honour to Achilles. I
shall know what to do next time he begins calling me his
grey-eyed darling. Get our horses ready, while I go within the
house of aegis-bearing Jove and put on my armour; we shall then
find out whether Priam's son Hector will be glad to meet us in
the highways of battle, or whether the Trojans will glut hounds
and vultures with the fat of their flesh as they be dead by the
ships of the Achaeans."

Thus did she speak and white-armed Juno, daughter of great
Saturn, obeyed her words; she set about harnessing her
gold-bedizened steeds, while Minerva daughter of aegis-bearing
Jove flung her richly vesture, made with her own hands, on to the
threshold of her father, and donned the shirt of Jove, arming
herself for battle. Then she stepped into her flaming chariot,
and grasped the spear so stout and sturdy and strong with which
she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her. Juno
lashed her horses, and the gates of heaven bellowed as they flew
open of their own accord--gates over which the Hours preside, in
whose hands are heaven and Olympus, either to open the dense
cloud that hides them or to close it. Through these the goddesses
drove their obedient steeds.

But father Jove when he saw them from Ida was very angry, and
sent winged Iris with a message to them. "Go," said he, "fleet
Iris, turn them back, and see that they do not come near me, for
if we come to fighting there will be mischief. This is what I
say, and this is what I mean to do. I will lame their horses for
them; I will hurl them from their chariot, and will break it in
pieces. It will take them all ten years to heal the wounds my
lightning shall inflict upon them; my grey-eyed daughter will
then learn what quarrelling with her father means. I am less
surprised and angry with Juno, for whatever I say she always
contradicts me."

With this Iris went her way, fleet as the wind, from the heights
of Ida to the lofty summits of Olympus. She met the goddesses at
the outer gates of its many valleys and gave them her message.
"What," said she, "are you about? Are you mad? The son of Saturn
forbids going. This is what he says, and this is he means to do,
he will lame your horses for you, he will hurl you from your
chariot, and will break it in pieces. It will take you all ten
years to heal the wounds his lightning will inflict upon you,
that you may learn, grey-eyed goddess, what quarrelling with your
father means. He is less hurt and angry with Juno, for whatever
he says she always contradicts him but you, bold hussy, will you
really dare to raise your huge spear in defiance of Jove?"

With this she left them, and Juno said to Minerva, "Of a truth,
child of aegis-bearing Jove, I am not for fighting men's battles
further in defiance of Jove. Let them live or die as luck will
have it, and let Jove mete out his judgements upon the Trojans
and Danaans according to his own pleasure."

She turned her steeds; the Hours presently unyoked them, made
them fast to their ambrosial mangers, and leaned the chariot
against the end wall of the courtyard. The two goddesses then sat
down upon their golden thrones, amid the company of the other
gods; but they were very angry.

Presently father Jove drove his chariot to Olympus, and entered
the assembly of gods. The mighty lord of the earthquake unyoked
his horses for him, set the car upon its stand, and threw a cloth
over it. Jove then sat down upon his golden throne and Olympus
reeled beneath him. Minerva and Juno sat alone, apart from Jove,
and neither spoke nor asked him questions, but Jove knew what
they meant, and said, "Minerva and Juno, why are you so angry?
Are you fatigued with killing so many of your dear friends the
Trojans? Be this as it may, such is the might of my hands that
all the gods in Olympus cannot turn me; you were both of you
trembling all over ere ever you saw the fight and its terrible
doings. I tell you therefore-and it would have surely been--I
should have struck you with lighting, and your chariots would
never have brought you back again to Olympus."

Minerva and Juno groaned in spirit as they sat side by side and
brooded mischief for the Trojans. Minerva sat silent without a
word, for she was in a furious passion and bitterly incensed
against her father; but Juno could not contain herself and said,
"What, dread son of Saturn, are you talking about? We know how
great your power is, nevertheless we have compassion upon the
Danaan warriors who are perishing and coming to a bad end. We
will, however, since you so bid us, refrain from actual fighting,
but we will make serviceable suggestions to the Argives, that
they may not all of them perish in your displeasure."

And Jove answered, "To-morrow morning, Juno, if you choose to do
so, you will see the son of Saturn destroying large numbers of
the Argives, for fierce Hector shall not cease fighting till he
has roused the son of Peleus when they are fighting in dire
straits at their ships' sterns about the body of Patroclus. Like
it or no, this is how it is decreed; for aught I care, you may go
to the lowest depths beneath earth and sea, where Iapetus and
Saturn dwell in lone Tartarus with neither ray of light nor
breath of wind to cheer them. You may go on and on till you get
there, and I shall not care one whit for your displeasure; you
are the greatest vixen living."

Juno made him no answer. The sun's glorious orb now sank into
Oceanus and drew down night over the land. Sorry indeed were the
Trojans when light failed them, but welcome and thrice prayed for
did darkness fall upon the Achaeans.

Then Hector led the Trojans back from the ships, and held a
council on the open space near the river, where there was a spot
clear of corpses. They left their chariots and sat down on the
ground to hear the speech he made them. He grasped a spear eleven
cubits long, the bronze point of which gleamed in front of it,
while the ring round the spear-head was of gold. Spear in hand he
spoke. "Hear me," said he, "Trojans, Dardanians, and allies. I
deemed but now that I should destroy the ships and all the
Achaeans with them ere I went back to Ilius, but darkness came on
too soon. It was this alone that saved them and their ships upon
the seashore. Now, therefore, let us obey the behests of night,
and prepare our suppers. Take your horses out of their chariots
and give them their feeds of corn; then make speed to bring sheep
and cattle from the city; bring wine also and corn for your
horses and gather much wood, that from dark till dawn we may burn
watchfires whose flare may reach to heaven. For the Achaeans may
try to fly beyond the sea by night, and they must not embark
scatheless and unmolested; many a man among them must take a dart
with him to nurse at home, hit with spear or arrow as he is
leaping on board his ship, that others may fear to bring war and
weeping upon the Trojans. Moreover let the heralds tell it about
the city that the growing youths and grey-bearded men are to camp
upon its heaven-built walls. Let the women each of them light a
great fire in her house, and let watch be safely kept lest the
town be entered by surprise while the host is outside. See to it,
brave Trojans, as I have said, and let this suffice for the
moment; at daybreak I will instruct you further. I pray in hope
to Jove and to the gods that we may then drive those fate-sped
hounds from our land, for 'tis the fates that have borne them and
their ships hither. This night, therefore, let us keep watch, but
with early morning let us put on our armour and rouse fierce war
at the ships of the Achaeans; I shall then know whether brave
Diomed the son of Tydeus will drive me back from the ships to the
wall, or whether I shall myself slay him and carry off his
bloodstained spoils. To-morrow let him show his mettle, abide my
spear if he dare. I ween that at break of day, he shall be among
the first to fall and many another of his comrades round him.
Would that I were as sure of being immortal and never growing
old, and of being worshipped like Minerva and Apollo, as I am
that this day will bring evil to the Argives."

Thus spoke Hector and the Trojans shouted applause. They took
their sweating steeds from under the yoke, and made them fast
each by his own chariot. They made haste to bring sheep and
cattle from the city, they brought wine also and corn from their
houses and gathered much wood. They then offered unblemished
hecatombs to the immortals, and the wind carried the sweet savour
of sacrifice to heaven--but the blessed gods partook not thereof,
for they bitterly hated Ilius with Priam and Priam's people. Thus
high in hope they sat through the livelong night by the highways
of war, and many a watchfire did they kindle. As when the stars
shine clear, and the moon is bright--there is not a breath of
air, not a peak nor glade nor jutting headland but it stands out
in the ineffable radiance that breaks from the serene of heaven;
the stars can all of them be told and the heart of the shepherd
is glad--even thus shone the watchfires of the Trojans before
Ilius midway between the ships and the river Xanthus. A thousand
camp-fires gleamed upon the plain, and in the glow of each there
sat fifty men, while the horses, champing oats and corn beside
their chariots, waited till dawn should come.

BOOK IX


THUS did the Trojans watch. But Panic, comrade of blood-stained
Rout, had taken fast hold of the Achaeans, and their princes were
all of them in despair. As when the two winds that blow from
Thrace--the north and the northwest--spring up of a sudden and
rouse the fury of the main--in a moment the dark waves uprear
their heads and scatter their sea-wrack in all directions--even
thus troubled were the hearts of the Achaeans.

The son of Atreus in dismay bade the heralds call the people to a
council man by man, but not to cry the matter aloud; he made
haste also himself to call them, and they sat sorry at heart in
their assembly. Agamemnon shed tears as it were a running stream
or cataract on the side of some sheer cliff; and thus, with many
a heavy sigh he spoke to the Achaeans. "My friends," said he,
"princes and councillors Of the Argives, the hand of heaven has
been laid heavily upon me. Cruel Jove gave me his solemn promise
that I should sack the city of Troy before returning, but he has
played me false, and is now bidding me go ingloriously back to
Argos with the loss of much people. Such is the will of Jove, who
has laid many a proud city in the dust as he will yet lay others,
for his power is above all. Now, therefore, let us all do as I
say and sail back to our own country, for we shall not take
Troy."

Thus he spoke, and the sons of the Achaeans for a long while sat
sorrowful there, but they all held their peace, till at last
Diomed of the loud battle-cry made answer saying, "Son of Atreus,
I will chide your folly, as is my right in council. Be not then
aggrieved that I should do so. In the first place you attacked me
before all the Danaans and said that I was a coward and no
soldier. The Argives young and old know that you did so. But the
son of scheming Saturn endowed you by halves only. He gave you
honour as the chief ruler over us, but valour, which is the
highest both right and might he did not give you. Sir, think you
that the sons of the Achaeans are indeed as unwarlike and
cowardly as you say they are? If your own mind is set upon going
home--go--the way is open to you; the many ships that followed
you from Mycene stand ranged upon the seashore; but the rest of
us stay here till we have sacked Troy. Nay though these too
should turn homeward with their ships, Sthenelus and myself will
still fight on till we reach the goal of Ilius, for heaven was
with us when we came."

The sons of the Achaeans shouted applause at the words of Diomed,
and presently Nestor rose to speak. "Son of Tydeus," said he, "in
war your prowess is beyond question, and in council you excel all
who are of your own years; no one of the Achaeans can make light
of what you say nor gainsay it, but you have not yet come to the
end of the whole matter. You are still young--you might be the
youngest of my own children--still you have spoken wisely and
have counselled the chief of the Achaeans not without discretion;
nevertheless I am older than you and I will tell you everything;
therefore let no man, not even King Agamemnon, disregard my
saying, for he that foments civil discord is a clanless,
hearthless outlaw.

"Now, however, let us obey the behests of night and get our
suppers, but let the sentinels every man of them camp by the
trench that is without the wall. I am giving these instructions
to the young men; when they have been attended to, do you, son of
Atreus, give your orders, for you are the most royal among us
all. Prepare a feast for your councillors; it is right and
reasonable that you should do so; there is abundance of wine in
your tents, which the ships of the Achaeans bring from Thrace
daily. You have everything at your disposal wherewith to
entertain guests, and you have many subjects. When many are got
together, you can be guided by him whose counsel is wisest--and
sorely do we need shrewd and prudent counsel, for the foe has lit
his watchfires hard by our ships. Who can be other than dismayed?
This night will either be the ruin of our host, or save it."

Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. The
sentinels went out in their armour under command of Nestor's son
Thrasymedes, a captain of the host, and of the bold warriors
Ascalaphus and Ialmenus: there were also Meriones, Aphareus and
Deipyrus, and the son of Creion, noble Lycomedes. There were
seven captains of the sentinels, and with each there went a
hundred youths armed with long spears: they took their places
midway between the trench and the wall, and when they had done so
they lit their fires and got every man his supper.

The son of Atreus then bade many councillors of the Achaeans to
his quarters prepared a great feast in their honour. They laid
their hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon
as they had enough to eat and drink, old Nestor, whose counsel
was ever truest, was the first to lay his mind before them. He,
therefore, with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus.

"With yourself, most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon,
will I both begin my speech and end it, for you are king over
much people. Jove, moreover, has vouchsafed you to wield the
sceptre and to uphold righteousness, that you may take thought
for your people under you; therefore it behooves you above all
others both to speak and to give ear, and to out the counsel of
another who shall have been minded to speak wisely. All turns on
you and on your commands, therefore I will say what I think will
be best. No man will be of a truer mind than that which has been
mine from the hour when you, sir, angered Achilles by taking the
girl Briseis from his tent against my judgment. I urged you not
to do so, but you yielded to your own pride, and dishonoured a
hero whom heaven itself had honoured--for you still hold the
prize that had been awarded to him. Now, however, let us think
how we may appease him, both with presents and fair speeches that
may conciliate him."

And King Agamemnon answered, "Sir, you have reproved my folly
justly. I was wrong. I own it. One whom heaven befriends is in
himself a host, and Jove has shown that he befriends this man by
destroying much people of the Achaeans. I was blinded with
passion and yielded to my worser mind; therefore I will make
amends, and will give him great gifts by way of atonement. I will
tell them in the presence of you all. I will give him seven
tripods that have never yet been on the fire, and ten talents of
gold. I will give him twenty iron cauldrons and twelve strong
horses that have won races and carried off prizes. Rich, indeed,
both in land and gold is he that has as many prizes as my horses
have won me. I will give him seven excellent workwomen, Lesbians,
whom I chose for myself when he took Lesbos--all of surpassing
beauty. I will give him these, and with them her whom I erewhile
took from him, the daughter of Briseus; and I swear a great oath
that I never went up into her couch, nor have been with her after
the manner of men and women.

"All these things will I give him now, and if hereafter the gods
vouchsafe me to sack the city of Priam, let him come when we
Achaeans are dividing the spoil, and load his ship with gold and
bronze to his liking; furthermore let him take twenty Trojan
women, the loveliest after Helen herself. Then, when we reach
Achaean Argos, wealthiest of all lands, he shall be my son-in-law
and I will show him like honour with my own dear son Orestes, who
is being nurtured in all abundance. I have three daughters,
Chrysothemis, Laodice, and lphianassa, let him take the one of
his choice, freely and without gifts of wooing, to the house of
Peleus; I will add such dower to boot as no man ever yet gave his
daughter, and will give him seven well established cities,
Cardamyle, Enope, and Hire, where there is grass; holy Pherae and
the rich meadows of Anthea; Aepea also, and the vine-clad slopes
of Pedasus, all near the sea, and on the borders of sandy Pylos.
The men that dwell there are rich in cattle and sheep; they will
honour him with gifts as though he were a god, and be obedient to
his comfortable ordinances. All this will I do if he will now
forgo his anger. Let him then yield; it is only Hades who is
utterly ruthless and unyielding--and hence he is of all gods the
one most hateful to mankind. Moreover I am older and more royal
than himself. Therefore, let him now obey me."

Then Nestor answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men,
Agamemnon. The gifts you offer are no small ones, let us then
send chosen messengers, who may go to the tent of Achilles son of
Peleus without delay. Let those go whom I shall name. Let
Phoenix, dear to Jove, lead the way; let Ajax and Ulysses follow,
and let the heralds Odius and Eurybates go with them. Now bring
water for our hands, and bid all keep silence while we pray to
Jove the son of Saturn, if so be that he may have mercy upon us."

Thus did he speak, and his saying pleased them well.
Men-servants poured water over the hands of the guests, while
pages filled the mixing-bowls with wine and water, and handed it
round after giving every man his drink-offering; then, when they
had made their offerings, and had drunk each as much as he was
minded, the envoys set out from the tent of Agamemnon son of
Atreus; and Nestor, looking first to one and then to another, but
most especially at Ulysses, was instant with them that they
should prevail with the noble son of Peleus.

They went their way by the shore of the sounding sea, and prayed
earnestly to earth-encircling Neptune that the high spirit of the
son of Aeacus might incline favourably towards them. When they
reached the ships and tents of the Myrmidons, they found Achilles
playing on a lyre, fair, of cunning workmanship, and its
cross-bar was of silver. It was part of the spoils which he had
taken when he sacked the city of Eetion, and he was now diverting
himself with it and singing the feats of heroes. He was alone
with Patroclus, who sat opposite to him and said nothing, waiting
till he should cease singing. Ulysses and Ajax now came in--
Ulysses leading the way--and stood before him. Achilles sprang
from his seat with the lyre still in his hand, and Patroclus,
when he saw the strangers, rose also. Achilles then greeted them
saying, "All hail and welcome--you must come upon some great
matter, you, who for all my anger are still dearest to me of the
Achaeans."

With this he led them forward, and bade them sit on seats covered
with purple rugs; then he said to Patroclus who was close by him,
"Son of Menoetius, set a larger bowl upon the table, mix less
water with the wine, and give every man his cup, for these are
very dear friends, who are now under my roof."

Patroclus did as his comrade bade him; he set the chopping-block
in front of the fire, and on it he laid the loin of a sheep, the
loin also of a goat, and the chine of a fat hog. Automedon held
the meat while Achilles chopped it; he then sliced the pieces and
put them on spits while the son of Menoetius made the fire burn
high. When the flame had died down, he spread the embers, laid
the spits on top of them, lifting them up and setting them upon
the spit-racks; and he sprinkled them with salt. When the meat
was roasted, he set it on platters, and handed bread round the
table in fair baskets, while Achilles dealt them their portions.
Then Achilles took his seat facing Ulysses against the opposite
wall, and bade his comrade Patroclus offer sacrifice to the gods;
so he cast the offerings into the fire, and they laid their hands
upon the good things that were before them. As soon as they had
had enough to eat and drink, Ajax made a sign to Phoenix, and
when he saw this, Ulysses filled his cup with wine and pledged
Achilles.

"Hail," said he, "Achilles, we have had no scant of good cheer,
neither in the tent of Agamemnon, nor yet here; there has been
plenty to eat and drink, but our thought turns upon no such
matter. Sir, we are in the face of great disaster, and without
your help know not whether we shall save our fleet or lose it.
The Trojans and their allies have camped hard by our ships and by
the wall; they have lit watchfires throughout their host and deem
that nothing can now prevent them from falling on our fleet.
Jove, moreover, has sent his lightnings on their right; Hector,
in all his glory, rages like a maniac; confident that Jove is
with him he fears neither god nor man, but is gone raving mad,
and prays for the approach of day. He vows that he will hew the
high sterns of our ships in pieces, set fire to their hulls, and
make havoc of the Achaeans while they are dazed and smothered in
smoke; I much fear that heaven will make good his boasting, and
it will prove our lot to perish at Troy far from our home in
Argos. Up, then, and late though it be, save the sons of the
Achaeans who faint before the fury of the Trojans. You will
repent bitterly hereafter if you do not, for when the harm is
done there will be no curing it; consider ere it be too late, and
save the Danaans from destruction.

"My good friend, when your father Peleus sent you from Phthia to
Agamemnon, did he not charge you saying, 'Son, Minerva and Juno
will make you strong if they choose, but check your high temper,
for the better part is in goodwill. Eschew vain quarrelling, and
the Achaeans old and young will respect you more for doing so.'
These were his words, but you have forgotten them. Even now,
however, be appeased, and put away your anger from you. Agamemnon
will make you great amends if you will forgive him; listen, and I
will tell you what he has said in his tent that he will give you.
He will give you seven tripods that have never yet been on the
fire, and ten talents of gold; twenty iron cauldrons, and twelve
strong horses that have won races and carried off prizes. Rich
indeed both in land and gold is he who has as many prizes as
these horses have won for Agamemnon. Moreover he will give you
seven excellent workwomen, Lesbians, whom he chose for himself,
when you took Lesbos--all of surpassing beauty. He will give you
these, and with them her whom he erewhile took from you, the
daughter of Briseus, and he will swear a great oath, he has never
gone up into her couch nor been with her after the manner of men
and women. All these things will he give you now down, and if
hereafter the gods vouchsafe him to sack the city of Priam, you
can come when we Achaeans are dividing the spoil, and load your
ship with gold and bronze to your liking. You can take twenty
Trojan women, the loveliest after Helen herself. Then, when we
reach Achaean Argos, wealthiest of all lands, you shall be his
son-in-law, and he will show you like honour with his own dear
son Orestes, who is being nurtured in all abundance. Agamemnon
has three daughters, Chrysothemis, Laodice, and Iphianassa; you
may take the one of your choice, freely and without gifts of
wooing, to the house of Peleus; he will add such dower to boot as
no man ever yet gave his daughter, and will give you seven
well-established cities, Cardamyle, Enope, and Hire where there
is grass; holy Pheras and the rich meadows of Anthea; Aepea also,
and the vine-clad slopes of Pedasus, all near the sea, and on the
borders of sandy Pylos. The men that dwell there are rich in
cattle and sheep; they will honour you with gifts as though were
a god, and be obedient to your comfortable ordinances. All this
will he do if you will now forgo your anger. Moreover, though you
hate both him and his gifts with all your heart, yet pity the
rest of the Achaeans who are being harassed in all their host;
they will honour you as a god, and you will earn great glory at
their hands. You might even kill Hector; he will come within your
reach, for he is infatuated, and declares that not a Danaan whom
the ships have brought can hold his own against him."

Achilles answered, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, I should give
you formal notice plainly and in all fixity of purpose that there
be no more of this cajoling, from whatsoever quarter it may come.
Him do I hate even as the gates of hell who says one thing while
he hides another in his heart; therefore I will say what I mean.
I will be appeased neither by Agamemnon son of Atreus nor by any
other of the Danaans, for I see that I have no thanks for all my
fighting. He that fights fares no better than he that does not;
coward and hero are held in equal honour, and death deals like
measure to him who works and him who is idle. I have taken
nothing by all my hardships--with my life ever in my hand; as a
bird when she has found a morsel takes it to her nestlings, and
herself fares hardly, even so many a long night have I been
wakeful, and many a bloody battle have I waged by day against
those who were fighting for their women. With my ships I have
taken twelve cities, and eleven round about Troy have I stormed
with my men by land; I took great store of wealth from every one
of them, but I gave all up to Agamemnon son of Atreus. He stayed
where he was by his ships, yet of what came to him he gave
little, and kept much himself.

"Nevertheless he did distribute some meeds of honour among the
chieftains and kings, and these have them still; from me alone of
the Achaeans did he take the woman in whom I delighted--let him
keep her and sleep with her. Why, pray, must the Argives needs
fight the Trojans? What made the son of Atreus gather the host
and bring them? Was it not for the sake of Helen? Are the sons of
Atreus the only men in the world who love their wives? Any man of
common right feeling will love and cherish her who is his own, as
I this woman, with my whole heart, though she was but a fruitling
of my spear. Agamemnon has taken her from me; he has played me
false; I know him; let him tempt me no further, for he shall not
move me. Let him look to you, Ulysses, and to the other princes
to save his ships from burning. He has done much without me
already. He has built a wall; he has dug a trench deep and wide
all round it, and he has planted it within with stakes; but even
so he stays not the murderous might of Hector. So long as I
fought the Achaeans Hector suffered not the battle range far from
the city walls; he would come to the Scaean gates and to the oak
tree, but no further. Once he stayed to meet me and hardly did he
escape my onset: now, however, since I am in no mood to fight
him, I will to-morrow offer sacrifice to Jove and to all the
gods; I will draw my ships into the water and then victual them
duly; to-morrow morning, if you care to look, you will see my
ships on the Hellespont, and my men rowing out to sea with might
and main. If great Neptune vouchsafes me a fair passage, in three
days I shall be in Phthia. I have much there that I left behind
me when I came here to my sorrow, and I shall bring back still
further store of gold, of red copper, of fair women, and of iron,
my share of the spoils that we have taken; but one prize, he who
gave has insolently taken away. Tell him all as I now bid you,
and tell him in public that the Achaeans may hate him and beware
of him should he think that he can yet dupe others for his
effrontery never fails him.

"As for me, hound that he is, he dares not look me in the face.
I will take no counsel with him, and will undertake nothing in
common with him. He has wronged me and deceived me enough, he
shall not cozen me further; let him go his own way, for Jove has
robbed him of his reason. I loathe his presents, and for himself
care not one straw. He may offer me ten or even twenty times what
he has now done, nay--not though it be all that he has in the
world, both now or ever shall have; he may promise me the wealth
of Orchomenus or of Egyptian Thebes, which is the richest city in
the whole world, for it has a hundred gates through each of which
two hundred men may drive at once with their chariots and horses;
he may offer me gifts as the sands of the sea or the dust of the
plain in multitude, but even so he shall not move me till I have
been revenged in full for the bitter wrong he has done me. I will
not marry his daughter; she may be fair as Venus, and skilful as
Minerva, but I will have none of her: let another take her, who
may be a good match for her and who rules a larger kingdom. If
the gods spare me to return home, Peleus will find me a wife;
there are Achaean women in Hellas and Phthia, daughters of kings
that have cities under them; of these I can take whom I will and
marry her. Many a time was I minded when at home in Phthia to woo
and wed a woman who would make me a suitable wife, and to enjoy
the riches of my old father Peleus. My life is more to me than
all the wealth of Ilius while it was yet at peace before the
Achaeans went there, or than all the treasure that lies on the
stone floor of Apollo's temple beneath the cliffs of Pytho.
Cattle and sheep are to be had for harrying, and a man buy both
tripods and horses if he wants them, but when his life has once
left him it can neither be bought nor harried back again.

"My mother Thetis tells me that there are two ways in which I may
meet my end. If I stay here and fight, I shall not return alive
but my name will live for ever: whereas if I go home my name will
die, but it will be long ere death shall take me. To the rest of
you, then, I say, 'Go home, for you will not take Ilius.' Jove
has held his hand over her to protect her, and her people have
taken heart. Go, therefore, as in duty bound, and tell the
princes of the Achaeans the message that I have sent them; tell
them to find some other plan for the saving of their ships and
people, for so long as my displeasure lasts the one that they
have now hit upon may not be. As for Phoenix, let him sleep here
that he may sail with me in the morning if he so will. But I
will not take him by force."

They all held their peace, dismayed at the sternness with which
he had denied them, till presently the old knight Phoenix in his
great fear for the ships of the Achaeans, burst into tears and
said, "Noble Achilles, if you are now minded to return, and in
the fierceness of your anger will do nothing to save the ships
from burning, how, my son, can I remain here without you? Your
father Peleus bade me go with you when he sent you as a mere lad
from Phthia to Agamemnon. You knew nothing neither of war nor of
the arts whereby men make their mark in council, and he sent me
with you to train you in all excellence of speech and action.
Therefore, my son, I will not stay here without you--no, not
though heaven itself vouchsafe to strip my years from off me, and
make me young as I was when I first left Hellas the land of fair
women. I was then flying the anger of father Amyntor, son of
Ormenus, who was furious with me in the matter of his concubine,
of whom he was enamoured to the wronging of his wife my mother.
My mother, therefore, prayed me without ceasing to lie with the
woman myself, that so she hate my father, and in the course of
time I yielded. But my father soon came to know, and cursed me
bitterly, calling the dread Erinyes to witness. He prayed that no
son of mine might ever sit upon knees--and the gods, Jove of the
world below and awful Proserpine, fulfilled his curse. I took
counsel to kill him, but some god stayed my rashness and bade me
think on men's evil tongues and how I should be branded as the
murderer of my father; nevertheless I could not bear to stay in
my father's house with him so bitter a against me. My cousins and
clansmen came about me, and pressed me sorely to remain; many a
sheep and many an ox did they slaughter, and many a fat hog did
they set down to roast before the fire; many a jar, too, did they
broach of my father's wine. Nine whole nights did they set a
guard over me taking it in turns to watch, and they kept a fire
always burning, both in the cloister of the outer court and in
the inner court at the doors of the room wherein I lay; but when
the darkness of the tenth night came, I broke through the closed
doors of my room, and climbed the wall of the outer court after
passing quickly and unperceived through the men on guard and the
women servants. I then fled through Hellas till I came to fertile
Phthia, mother of sheep, and to King Peleus, who made me welcome
and treated me as a father treats an only son who will be heir to
all his wealth. He made me rich and set me over much people,
establishing me on the borders of Phthia where I was chief ruler
over the Dolopians.

"It was I, Achilles, who had the making of you; I loved you with
all my heart: for you would eat neither at home nor when you had
gone out elsewhere, till I had first set you upon my knees, cut
up the dainty morsel that you were to eat, and held the wine-cup
to your lips. Many a time have you slobbered your wine in baby
helplessness over my shirt; I had infinite trouble with you, but
I knew that heaven had vouchsafed me no offspring of my own, and
I made a son of you, Achilles, that in my hour of need you might
protect me. Now, therefore, I say battle with your pride and beat
it; cherish not your anger for ever; the might and majesty of
heaven are more than ours, but even heaven may be appeased; and
if a man has sinned he prays the gods, and reconciles them to
himself by his piteous cries and by frankincense, with
drink-offerings and the savour of burnt sacrifice. For prayers
are as daughters to great Jove; halt, wrinkled, with eyes
askance, they follow in the footsteps of sin, who, being fierce
and fleet of foot, leaves them far behind him, and ever baneful
to mankind outstrips them even to the ends of the world; but
nevertheless the prayers come hobbling and healing after. If a
man has pity upon these daughters of Jove when they draw near
him, they will bless him and hear him too when he is praying; but
if he deny them and will not listen to them, they go to Jove the
son of Saturn and pray that he may presently fall into sin--to
his ruing bitterly hereafter. Therefore, Achilles, give these
daughters of Jove due reverence, and bow before them as all good
men will bow. Were not the son of Atreus offering you gifts and
promising others later--if he were still furious and implacable--
I am not he that would bid you throw off your anger and help the
Achaeans, no matter how great their need; but he is giving much
now, and more hereafter; he has sent his captains to urge his
suit, and has chosen those who of all the Argives are most
acceptable to you; make not then their words and their coming to
be of none effect. Your anger has been righteous so far. We have
heard in song how heroes of old time quarrelled when they were
roused to fury, but still they could be won by gifts, and fair
words could soothe them.

"I have an old story in my mind--a very old one--but you are all
friends and I will tell it. The Curetes and the Aetolians were
fighting and killing one another round Calydon--the Aetolians
defending the city and the Curetes trying to destroy it. For
Diana of the golden throne was angry and did them hurt because
Oeneus had not offered her his harvest first-fruits. The other
gods had all been feasted with hecatombs, but to the daughter of
great Jove alone he had made no sacrifice. He had forgotten her,
or somehow or other it had escaped him, and this was a grievous
sin. Thereon the archer goddess in her displeasure sent a
prodigious creature against him--a savage wild boar with great
white tusks that did much harm to his orchard lands, uprooting
apple-trees in full bloom and throwing them to the ground. But
Meleager son of Oeneus got huntsmen and hounds from many cities
and killed it--for it was so monstrous that not a few were
needed, and many a man did it stretch upon his funeral pyre. On
this the goddess set the Curetes and the Aetolians fighting
furiously about the head and skin of the boar.

"So long as Meleager was in the field things went badly with the
Curetes, and for all their numbers they could not hold their
ground under the city walls; but in the course of time Meleager
was angered as even a wise man will sometimes be. He was incensed
with his mother Althaea, and therefore stayed at home with his
wedded wife fair Cleopatra, who was daughter of Marpessa daughter
of Euenus, and of Ides the man then living. He it was who took
his bow and faced King Apollo himself for fair Marpessa's sake;
her father and mother then named her Alcyone, because her mother
had mourned with the plaintive strains of the halcyon-bird when
Phoebus Apollo had carried her off. Meleager, then, stayed at
home with Cleopatra, nursing the anger which he felt by reason of
his mother's curses. His mother, grieving for the death of her
brother, prayed the gods, and beat the earth with her hands,
calling upon Hades and on awful Proserpine; she went down upon
her knees and her bosom was wet with tears as she prayed that
they would kill her son--and Erinys that walks in darkness and
knows no ruth heard her from Erebus.

"Then was heard the din of battle about the gates of Calydon, and
the dull thump of the battering against their walls. Thereon the
elders of the Aetolians besought Meleager; they sent the chiefest
of their priests, and begged him to come out and help them,
promising him a great reward. They bade him choose fifty
plough-gates, the most fertile in the plain of Calydon, the
one-half vineyard and the other open plough-land. The old warrior
Oeneus implored him, standing at the threshold of his room and
beating the doors in supplication. His sisters and his mother
herself besought him sore, but he the more refused them; those of
his comrades who were nearest and dearest to him also prayed him,
but they could not move him till the foe was battering at the
very doors of his chamber, and the Curetes had scaled the walls
and were setting fire to the city. Then at last his sorrowing
wife detailed the horrors that befall those whose city is taken;
she reminded him how the men are slain, and the city is given
over to the flames, while the women and children are carried into
captivity; when he heard all this, his heart was touched, and he
donned his armour to go forth. Thus of his own inward motion he
saved the city of the Aetolians; but they now gave him nothing of
those rich rewards that they had offered earlier, and though he
saved the city he took nothing by it. Be not then, my son, thus
minded; let not heaven lure you into any such course. When the
ships are burning it will be a harder matter to save them. Take
the gifts, and go, for the Achaeans will then honour you as a
god; whereas if you fight without taking them, you may beat the
battle back, but you will not be held in like honour."

And Achilles answered, "Phoenix, old friend and father, I have no
need of such honour. I have honour from Jove himself, which will
abide with me at my ships while I have breath in my body, and my
limbs are strong. I say further--and lay my saying to your
heart--vex me no more with this weeping and lamentation, all in
the cause of the son of Atreus. Love him so well, and you may
lose the love I bear you. You ought to help me rather in
troubling those that trouble me; be king as much as I am, and
share like honour with myself; the others shall take my answer;
stay here yourself and sleep comfortably in your bed; at daybreak
we will consider whether to remain or go."

On this she nodded quietly to Patroclus as a sign that he was to
prepare a bed for Phoenix, and that the others should take their
leave. Ajax son of Telamon then said, "Ulysses, noble son of
Laertes, let us be gone, for I see that our journey is vain. We
must now take our answer, unwelcome though it be, to the Danaans
who are waiting to receive it. Achilles is savage and
remorseless; he is cruel, and cares nothing for the love his
comrades lavished upon him more than on all the others. He is
implacable--and yet if a man's brother or son has been slain he
will accept a fine by way of amends from him that killed him, and
the wrong-doer having paid in full remains in peace among his own
people; but as for you, Achilles, the gods have put a wicked
unforgiving spirit in your heart, and this, all about one single
girl, whereas we now offer you the seven best we have, and much
else into the bargain. Be then of a more gracious mind, respect
the hospitality of your own roof. We are with you as messengers
from the host of the Danaans, and would fain he held nearest and
dearest to yourself of all the Achaeans."

"Ajax," replied Achilles, "noble son of Telamon, you have spoken
much to my liking, but my blood boils when I think it all over,
and remember how the son of Atreus treated me with contumely as
though I were some vile tramp, and that too in the presence of
the Argives. Go, then, and deliver your message; say that I will
have no concern with fighting till Hector, son of noble Priam,
reaches the tents of the Myrmidons in his murderous course, and
flings fire upon their ships. For all his lust of battle, I take
it he will be held in check when he is at my own tent and ship."

On this they took every man his double cup, made their
drink-offerings, and went back to the ships, Ulysses leading the
way. But Patroclus told his men and the maid-servants to make
ready a comfortable bed for Phoenix; they therefore did so with
sheepskins, a rug, and a sheet of fine linen. The old man then
laid himself down and waited till morning came. But Achilles
slept in an inner room, and beside him the daughter of Phorbas
lovely Diomede, whom he had carried off from Lesbos. Patroclus
lay on the other side of the room, and with him fair Iphis whom
Achilles had given him when he took Scyros the city of Enyeus.

When the envoys reached the tents of the son of Atreus, the
Achaeans rose, pledged them in cups of gold, and began to
question them. King Agamemnon was the first to do so. "Tell me,
Ulysses," said he, "will he save the ships from burning, or did
be refuse, and is he still furious?"

Ulysses answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men,
Agamemnon, Achilles will not be calmed, but is more fiercely
angry than ever, and spurns both you and your gifts. He bids you
take counsel with the Achaeans to save the ships and host as you
best may; as for himself, he said that at daybreak he should draw
his ships into the water. He said further that he should advise
every one to sail home likewise, for that you will not reach the
goal of Ilius. 'Jove,' he said, 'has laid his hand over the city
to protect it, and the people have taken heart.' This is what he
said, and the others who were with me can tell you the same
story--Ajax and the two heralds, men, both of them, who may be
trusted. The old man Phoenix stayed where he was to sleep, for so
Achilles would have it, that he might go home with him in the
morning if he so would; but he will not take him by force."

They all held their peace, sitting for a long time silent and
dejected, by reason of the sternness with which Achilles had
refused them, till presently Diomed said, "Most noble son of
Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, you ought not to have sued the
son of Peleus nor offered him gifts. He is proud enough as it is,
and you have encouraged him in his pride still further. Let him
stay or go as he will. He will fight later when he is in the
humour, and heaven puts it in his mind to do so. Now, therefore,
let us all do as I say; we have eaten and drunk our fill, let us
then take our rest, for in rest there is both strength and stay.
But when fair rosy-fingered morn appears, forthwith bring out
your host and your horsemen in front of the ships, urging them
on, and yourself fighting among the foremost."

Thus he spoke, and the other chieftains approved his words. They
then made their drink-offerings and went every man to his own
tent, where they laid down to rest and enjoyed the boon of sleep.

BOOK X


NOW the other princes of the Achaeans slept soundly the whole
night through, but Agamemnon son of Atreus was troubled, so that
he could get no rest. As when fair Juno's lord flashes his
lightning in token of great rain or hail or snow when the
snow-flakes whiten the ground, or again as a sign that he will
open the wide jaws of hungry war, even so did Agamemnon heave
many a heavy sigh, for his soul trembled within him. When he
looked upon the plain of Troy he marvelled at the many watchfires
burning in front of Ilius, and at the sound of pipes and flutes
and of the hum of men, but when presently he turned towards the
ships and hosts of the Achaeans, he tore his hair by handfuls
before Jove on high, and groaned aloud for the very disquietness
of his soul. In the end he deemed it best to go at once to Nestor
son of Neleus, and see if between them they could find any way of
the Achaeans from destruction. He therefore rose, put on his
shirt, bound his sandals about his comely feet, flung the skin of
a huge tawny lion over his shoulders--a skin that reached his
feet--and took his spear in his hand.

Neither could Menelaus sleep, for he, too, boded ill for the
Argives who for his sake had sailed from far over the seas to
fight the Trojans. He covered his broad back with the skin of a
spotted panther, put a casque of bronze upon his head, and took
his spear in his brawny hand. Then he went to rouse his brother,
who was by far the most powerful of the Achaeans, and was
honoured by the people as though he were a god. He found him by
the stern of his ship already putting his goodly array about his
shoulders, and right glad was he that his brother had come.

Menelaus spoke first. "Why," said he, "my dear brother, are you
thus arming? Are you going to send any of our comrades to exploit
the Trojans? I greatly fear that no one will do you this service,
and spy upon the enemy alone in the dead of night. It will be a
deed of great daring."

And King Agamemnon answered, "Menelaus, we both of us need shrewd
counsel to save the Argives and our ships, for Jove has changed
his mind, and inclines towards Hector's sacrifices rather than
ours. I never saw nor heard tell of any man as having wrought
such ruin in one day as Hector has now wrought against the sons
of the Achaeans--and that too of his own unaided self, for he is
son neither to god nor goddess. The Argives will rue it long and
deeply. Run, therefore, with all speed by the line of the ships,
and call Ajax and Idomeneus. Meanwhile I will go to Nestor, and
bid him rise and go about among the companies of our sentinels to
give them their instructions; they will listen to him sooner than
to any man, for his own son, and Meriones brother in arms to
Idomeneus, are captains over them. It was to them more
particularly that we gave this charge."

Menelaus replied, "How do I take your meaning? Am I to stay with
them and wait your coming, or shall I return here as soon as I
have given your orders?" "Wait," answered King Agamemnon, "for
there are so many paths about the camp that we might miss one
another. Call every man on your way, and bid him be stirring;
name him by his lineage and by his father's name, give each all
titular observance, and stand not too much upon your own dignity;
we must take our full share of toil, for at our birth Jove laid
this heavy burden upon us."

With these instructions he sent his brother on his way, and went
on to Nestor shepherd of his people. He found him sleeping in his
tent hard by his own ship; his goodly armour lay beside him--his
shield, his two spears and his helmet; beside him also lay the
gleaming girdle with which the old man girded himself when he
armed to lead his people into battle--for his age stayed him not.
He raised himself on his elbow and looked up at Agamemnon. "Who
is it," said he, "that goes thus about the host and the ships
alone and in the dead of night, when men are sleeping? Are you
looking for one of your mules or for some comrade? Do not stand
there and say nothing, but speak. What is your business?"

And Agamemnon answered, "Nestor, son of Neleus, honour to the
Achaean name, it is I, Agamemnon son of Atreus, on whom Jove has
laid labour and sorrow so long as there is breath in my body and
my limbs carry me. I am thus abroad because sleep sits not upon
my eyelids, but my heart is big with war and with the jeopardy of
the Achaeans. I am in great fear for the Danaans. I am at sea,
and without sure counsel; my heart beats as though it would leap
out of my body, and my limbs fail me. If then you can do
anything--for you too cannot sleep--let us go the round of the
watch, and see whether they are drowsy with toil and sleeping to
the neglect of their duty. The enemy is encamped hard and we know
not but he may attack us by night."

Nestor replied, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men,
Agamemnon, Jove will not do all for Hector that Hector thinks he
will; he will have troubles yet in plenty if Achilles will lay
aside his anger. I will go with you, and we will rouse others,
either the son of Tydeus, or Ulysses, or fleet Ajax and the
valiant son of Phyleus. Some one had also better go and call Ajax
and King Idomeneus, for their ships are not near at hand but the
farthest of all. I cannot however refrain from blaming Menelaus,
much as I love him and respect him--and I will say so plainly,
even at the risk of offending you--for sleeping and leaving all
this trouble to yourself. He ought to be going about imploring
aid from all the princes of the Achaeans, for we are in extreme
danger."

And Agamemnon answered, "Sir, you may sometimes blame him justly,
for he is often remiss and unwilling to exert himself--not
indeed from sloth, nor yet heedlessness, but because he looks to
me and expects me to take the lead. On this occasion, however, he
was awake before I was, and came to me of his own accord. I have
already sent him to call the very men whom you have named. And
now let us be going. We shall find them with the watch outside
the gates, for it was there I said that we would meet them."

"In that case," answered Nestor, "the Argives will not blame him
nor disobey his orders when he urges them to fight or gives them
instructions."

With this he put on his shirt, and bound his sandals about his
comely feet. He buckled on his purple coat, of two thicknesses,
large, and of a rough shaggy texture, grasped his redoubtable
bronze-shod spear, and wended his way along the line of the
Achaean ships. First he called loudly to Ulysses peer of gods in
counsel and woke him, for he was soon roused by the sound of the
battle-cry. He came outside his tent and said, "Why do you go
thus alone about the host, and along the line of the ships in the
stillness of the night? What is it that you find so urgent?" And
Nestor knight of Gerene answered, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes,
take it not amiss, for the Achaeans are in great straits. Come
with me and let us wake some other, who may advise well with us
whether we shall fight or fly."

On this Ulysses went at once into his tent, put his shield about
his shoulders and came out with them. First they went to Diomed
son of Tydeus, and found him outside his tent clad in his armour
with his comrades sleeping round him and using their shields as
pillows; as for their spears, they stood upright on the spikes of
their butts that were driven into the ground, and the burnished
bronze flashed afar like the lightning of father Jove. The hero
was sleeping upon the skin of an ox, with a piece of fine carpet
under his head; Nestor went up to him and stirred him with his
heel to rouse him, upbraiding him and urging him to bestir
himself. "Wake up," he exclaimed, "son of Tydeus. How can you
sleep on in this way? Can you not see that the Trojans are
encamped on the brow of the plain hard by our ships, with but a
little space between us and them?"

On these words Diomed leaped up instantly and said, "Old man,
your heart is of iron; you rest not one moment from your labours.
Are there no younger men among the Achaeans who could go about to
rouse the princes? There is no tiring you."

And Nestor knight of Gerene made answer, "My son, all that you
have said is true. I have good sons, and also much people who
might call the chieftains, but the Achaeans are in the gravest
danger; life and death are balanced as it were on the edge of a
razor. Go then, for you are younger than I, and of your courtesy
rouse Ajax and the fleet son of Phyleus."

Diomed threw the skin of a great tawny lion about his shoulders--
a skin that reached his feet--and grasped his spear. When he had
roused the heroes, he brought them back with him; they then went
the round of those who were on guard, and found the captains not
sleeping at their posts but wakeful and sitting with their arms
about them. As sheep dogs that watch their flocks when they are
yarded, and hear a wild beast coming through the mountain forest
towards them--forthwith there is a hue and cry of dogs and men,
and slumber is broken--even so was sleep chased from the eyes of
the Achaeans as they kept the watches of the wicked night, for
they turned constantly towards the plain whenever they heard any
stir among the Trojans. The old man was glad bade them be of good
cheer. "Watch on, my children," said he, "and let not sleep get
hold upon you, lest our enemies triumph over us."

With this he passed the trench, and with him the other chiefs of
the Achaeans who had been called to the council. Meriones and the
brave son of Nestor went also, for the princes bade them. When
they were beyond the trench that was dug round the wall they held
their meeting on the open ground where there was a space clear of
corpses, for it was here that when night fell Hector had turned
back from his onslaught on the Argives. They sat down, therefore,
and held debate with one another.

Nestor spoke first. "My friends," said he, "is there any man bold
enough to venture the Trojans, and cut off some straggler, or us
news of what the enemy mean to do whether they will stay here by
the ships away from the city, or whether, now that they have
worsted the Achaeans, they will retire within their walls. If he
could learn all this and come back safely here, his fame would be
high as heaven in the mouths of all men, and he would be rewarded
richly; for the chiefs from all our ships would each of them give
him a black ewe with her lamb--which is a present of surpassing
value--and he would be asked as a guest to all feasts and
clan-gatherings."

They all held their peace, but Diomed of the loud war-cry spoke
saying, "Nestor, gladly will I visit the host of the Trojans over
against us, but if another will go with me I shall do so in
greater confidence and comfort. When two men are together, one of
them may see some opportunity which the other has not caught
sight of; if a man is alone he is less full of resource, and his
wit is weaker."

On this several offered to go with Diomed. The two Ajaxes,
servants of Mars, Meriones, and the son of Nestor all wanted to
go, so did Menelaus son of Atreus; Ulysses also wished to go
among the host of the Trojans, for he was ever full of daring,
and thereon Agamemnon king of men spoke thus: "Diomed," said he,
"son of Tydeus, man after my own heart, choose your comrade for
yourself--take the best man of those that have offered, for many
would now go with you. Do not through delicacy reject the better
man, and take the worst out of respect for his lineage, because
he is of more royal blood."

He said this because he feared for Menelaus. Diomed answered, "If
you bid me take the man of my own choice, how in that case can I
fail to think of Ulysses, than whom there is no man more eager to
face all kinds of danger--and Pallas Minerva loves him well? If
he were to go with me we should pass safely through fire itself,
for he is quick to see and understand."

"Son of Tydeus," replied Ulysses, "say neither good nor ill about
me, for you are among Argives who know me well. Let us be going,
for the night wanes and dawn is at hand. The stars have gone
forward, two-thirds of the night are already spent, and the third
is alone left us."

They then put on their armour. Brave Thrasymedes provided the son
of Tydeus with a sword and a shield (for he had left his own at
his ship) and on his head he set a helmet of bull's hide without
either peak or crest; it is called a skull-cap and is a common
headgear. Meriones found a bow and quiver for Ulysses, and on his
head he set a leathern helmet that was lined with a strong
plaiting of leathern thongs, while on the outside it was thickly
studded with boar's teeth, well and skilfully set into it; next
the head there was an inner lining of felt. This helmet had been
stolen by Autolycus out of Eleon when he broke into the house of
Amyntor son of Ormenus. He gave it to Amphidamas of Cythera to
take to Scandea, and Amphidamas gave it as a guest-gift to Molus,
who gave it to his son Meriones; and now it was set upon the head
of Ulysses.

When the pair had armed, they set out, and left the other
chieftains behind them. Pallas Minerva sent them a heron by the
wayside upon their right hands; they could not see it for the
darkness, but they heard its cry. Ulysses was glad when he heard
it and prayed to Minerva: "Hear me," he cried, "daughter of
aegis-bearing Jove, you who spy out all my ways and who are with
me in all my hardships; befriend me in this mine hour, and grant
that we may return to the ships covered with glory after having
achieved some mighty exploit that shall bring sorrow to the
Trojans."

Then Diomed of the loud war-cry also prayed: "Hear me too," said
he, "daughter of Jove, unweariable; be with me even as you were
with my noble father Tydeus when he went to Thebes as envoy sent
by the Achaeans. He left the Achaeans by the banks of the river
Aesopus, and went to the city bearing a message of peace to the
Cadmeians; on his return thence, with your help, goddess, he did
great deeds of daring, for you were his ready helper. Even so
guide me and guard me now, and in return I will offer you in
sacrifice a broad-browed heifer of a year old, unbroken, and
never yet brought by man under the yoke. I will gild her horns
and will offer her up to you in sacrifice."

Thus they prayed, and Pallas Minerva heard their prayer. When
they had done praying to the daughter of great Jove, they went
their way like two lions prowling by night amid the armour and
blood-stained bodies of them that had fallen.

Neither again did Hector let the Trojans sleep; for he too called
the princes and councillors of the Trojans that he might set his
counsel before them. "Is there one," said he, "who for a great
reward will do me the service of which I will tell you? He shall
be well paid if he will. I will give him a chariot and a couple
of horses, the fleetest that can be found at the ships of the
Achaeans, if he will dare this thing; and he will win infinite
honour to boot; he must go to the ships and find out whether they
are still guarded as heretofore, or whether now that we have
beaten them the Achaeans design to fly, and through sheer
exhaustion are neglecting to keep their watches."

They all held their peace; but there was among the Trojans a
certain man named Dolon, son of Eumedes, the famous herald--a man
rich in gold and bronze. He was ill-favoured, but a good runner,
and was an only son among five sisters. He it was that now
addressed the Trojans. "I, Hector," said he, "Will to the ships
and will exploit them. But first hold up your sceptre and swear
that you will give me the chariot, bedight with bronze, and the
horses that now carry the noble son of Peleus. I will make you a
good scout, and will not fail you. I will go through the host
from one end to the other till I come to the ship of Agamemnon,
where I take it the princes of the Achaeans are now consulting
whether they shall fight or fly."

When he had done speaking Hector held up his sceptre, and swore
him his oath saying, "May Jove the thundering husband of Juno
bear witness that no other Trojan but yourself shall mount those
steeds, and that you shall have your will with them for ever."

The oath he swore was bootless, but it made Dolon more keen on
going. He hung his bow over his shoulder, and as an overall he
wore the skin of a grey wolf, while on his head he set a cap of
ferret skin. Then he took a pointed javelin, and left the camp
for the ships, but he was not to return with any news for Hector.
When he had left the horses and the troops behind him, he made
all speed on his way, but Ulysses perceived his coming and said
to Diomed, "Diomed, here is some one from the camp; I am not sure
whether he is a spy, or whether it is some thief who would
plunder the bodies of the dead; let him get a little past us, we
can then spring upon him and take him. If, however, he is too
quick for us, go after him with your spear and hem him in towards
the ships away from the Trojan camp, to prevent his getting back
to the town."

With this they turned out of their way and lay down among the
corpses. Dolon suspected nothing and soon passed them, but when
he had got about as far as the distance by which a mule-plowed
furrow exceeds one that has been ploughed by oxen (for mules can
plow fallow land quicker than oxen) they ran after him, and when
he heard their footsteps he stood still, for he made sure they
were friends from the Trojan camp come by Hector's orders to bid
him return; when, however, they were only a spear's cast, or less
away form him, he saw that they were enemies as fast as his legs
could take him. The others gave chase at once, and as a couple of
well-trained hounds press forward after a doe or hare that runs
screaming in front of them, even so did the son of Tydeus and
Ulysses pursue Dolon and cut him off from his own people. But
when he had fled so far towards the ships that he would soon have
fallen in with the outposts, Minerva infused fresh strength into
the son of Tydeus for fear some other of the Achaeans might have
the glory of being first to hit him, and he might himself be only
second; he therefore sprang forward with his spear and said,
"Stand, or I shall throw my spear, and in that case I shall soon
make an end of you."

He threw as he spoke, but missed his aim on purpose. The dart
flew over the man's right shoulder, and then stuck in the ground.
He stood stock still, trembling and in great fear; his teeth
chattered, and he turned pale with fear. The two came breathless
up to him and seized his hands, whereon he began to weep and
said, "Take me alive; I will ransom myself; we have great store
of gold, bronze, and wrought iron, and from this my father will
satisfy you with a very large ransom, should he hear of my being
alive at the ships of the Achaeans."

"Fear not," replied Ulysses, "let no thought of death be in your
mind; but tell me, and tell me true, why are you thus going about
alone in the dead of night away from your camp and towards the
ships, while other men are sleeping? Is it to plunder the bodies
of the slain, or did Hector send you to spy out what was going on
at the ships? Or did you come here of your own mere notion?"

Dolon answered, his limbs trembling beneath him: "Hector, with
his vain flattering promises, lured me from my better judgement.
He said he would give me the horses of the noble son of Peleus
and his bronze-bedizened chariot; he bade me go through the
darkness of the flying night, get close to the enemy, and find
out whether the ships are still guarded as heretofore, or
whether, now that we have beaten them, the Achaeans design to
fly, and through sheer exhaustion are neglecting to keep their
watches."

Ulysses smiled at him and answered, "You had indeed set your
heart upon a great reward, but the horses of the descendant of
Aeacus are hardly to be kept in hand or driven by any other
mortal man than Achilles himself, whose mother was an immortal.
But tell me, and tell me true, where did you leave Hector when
you started? Where lies his armour and his horses? How, too, are
the watches and sleeping-ground of the Trojans ordered? What are
their plans? Will they stay here by the ships and away from the
city, or now that they have worsted the Achaeans, will they
retire within their walls?"

And Dolon answered, "I will tell you truly all. Hector and the
other councillors are now holding conference by the monument of
great Ilus, away from the general tumult; as for the guards about
which you ask me, there is no chosen watch to keep guard over the
host. The Trojans have their watchfires, for they are bound to
have them; they, therefore, are awake and keep each other to
their duty as sentinels; but the allies who have come from other
places are asleep and leave it to the Trojans to keep guard, for
their wives and children are not here."

Ulysses then said, "Now tell me; are they sleeping among the
Trojan troops, or do they lie apart? Explain this that I may
understand it."

"I will tell you truly all," replied Dolon. "To the seaward lie
the Carians, the Paeonian bowmen, the Leleges, the Cauconians,
and the noble Pelasgi. The Lysians and proud Mysians, with the
Phrygians and Meonians, have their place on the side towards
Thymbra; but why ask about an this? If you want to find your way
into the host of the Trojans, there are the Thracians, who have
lately come here and lie apart from the others at the far end of
the camp; and they have Rhesus son of Eioneus for their king. His
horses are the finest and strongest that I have ever seen, they
are whiter than snow and fleeter than any wind that blows. His
chariot is bedight with silver and gold, and he has brought his
marvellous golden armour, of the rarest workmanship--too splendid
for any mortal man to carry, and meet only for the gods. Now,
therefore, take me to the ships or bind me securely here, until
you come back and have proved my words whether they be false or
true."

Diomed looked sternly at him and answered, "Think not, Dolon, for
all the good information you have given us, that you shall escape
now you are in our hands, for if we ransom you or let you go, you
will come some second time to the ships of the Achaeans either as
a spy or as an open enemy, but if I kill you and an end of you,
you will give no more trouble."

On this Dolon would have caught him by the beard to beseech him
further, but Diomed struck him in the middle of his neck with his
sword and cut through both sinews so that his head fell rolling
in the dust while he was yet speaking. They took the ferret-skin
cap from his head, and also the wolf-skin, the bow, and his long
spear. Ulysses hung them up aloft in honour of Minerva the
goddess of plunder, and prayed saying, "Accept these, goddess,
for we give them to you in preference to all the gods in Olympus:
therefore speed us still further towards the horses and
sleeping-ground of the Thracians."

With these words he took the spoils and set them upon a tamarisk
tree, and they marked the place by pulling up reeds and gathering
boughs of tamarisk that they might not miss it as they came back
through the' flying hours of darkness. The two then went onwards
amid the fallen armour and the blood, and came presently to the
company of Thracian soldiers, who were sleeping, tired out with
their day's toil; their goodly armour was lying on the ground
beside them all orderly in three rows, and each man had his yoke
of horses beside him. Rhesus was sleeping in the middle, and hard
by him his horses were made fast to the topmost rim of his
chariot. Ulysses from some way off saw him and said, "This,
Diomed, is the man, and these are the horses about which Dolon
whom we killed told us. Do your very utmost; dally not about your
armour, but loose the horses at once--or else kill the men
yourself, while I see to the horses."

Thereon Minerva put courage into the heart of Diomed, and he
smote them right and left. They made a hideous groaning as they
were being hacked about, and the earth was red with their blood.
As a lion springs furiously upon a flock of sheep or goats when
he finds without their shepherd, so did the son of Tydeus set
upon the Thracian soldiers till he had killed twelve. As he
killed them Ulysses came and drew them aside by their feet one by
one, that the horses might go forward freely without being
frightened as they passed over the dead bodies, for they were not
yet used to them. When the son of Tydeus came to the king, he
killed him too (which made thirteen), as he was breathing hard,
for by the counsel of Minerva an evil dream, the seed of Oeneus,
hovered that night over his head. Meanwhile Ulysses untied the
horses, made them fast one to another and drove them off,
striking them with his bow, for he had forgotten to take the whip
from the chariot. Then he whistled as a sign to Diomed.

But Diomed stayed where he was, thinking what other daring deed
he might accomplish. He was doubting whether to take the chariot
in which the king's armour was lying, and draw it out by the
pole, or to lift the armour out and carry it off; or whether
again, he should not kill some more Thracians. While he was thus
hesitating Minerva came up to him and said, "Get back, Diomed, to
the ships or you may be driven thither, should some other god
rouse the Trojans."

Diomed knew that it was the goddess, and at once sprang upon the
horses. Ulysses beat them with his bow and they flew onward to
the ships of the Achaeans.

But Apollo kept no blind look-out when he saw Minerva with the
son of Tydeus. He was angry with her, and coming to the host of
the Trojans he roused Hippocoon, a counsellor of the Thracians
and a noble kinsman of Rhesus. He started up out of his sleep and
saw that the horses were no longer in their place, and that the
men were gasping in their death-agony; on this he groaned aloud,
and called upon his friend by name. Then the whole Trojan camp
was in an uproar as the people kept hurrying together, and they
marvelled at the deeds of the heroes who had now got away towards
the ships.

When they reached the place where they had killed Hector's scout,
Ulysses stayed his horses, and the son of Tydeus, leaping to the
ground, placed the blood-stained spoils in the hands of Ulysses
and remounted: then he lashed the horses onwards, and they flew
forward nothing loth towards the ships as though of their own
free will. Nestor was first to hear the tramp of their feet. "My
friends," said he, "princes and counsellors of the Argives, shall
I guess right or wrong?--but I must say what I think: there is a
sound in my ears as of the tramp of horses. I hope it may Diomed
and Ulysses driving in horses from the Trojans, but I much fear
that the bravest of the Argives may have come to some harm at
their hands."

He had hardly done speaking when the two men came in and
dismounted, whereon the others shook hands right gladly with them
and congratulated them. Nestor knight of Gerene was first to
question them. "Tell me," said he, "renowned Ulysses, how did you
two come by these horses? Did you steal in among the Trojan
forces, or did some god meet you and give them to you? They are
like sunbeams. I am well conversant with the Trojans, for old
warrior though I am I never hold back by the ships, but I never
yet saw or heard of such horses as these are. Surely some god
must have met you and given them to you, for you are both of you
dear to Jove, and to Jove's daughter Minerva."

And Ulysses answered, "Nestor son of Neleus, honour to the
Achaean name, heaven, if it so will, can give us even better
horses than these, for the gods are far mightier than we are.
These horses, however, about which you ask me, are freshly come
from Thrace. Diomed killed their king with the twelve bravest of
his companions. Hard by the ships we took a thirteenth man--a
scout whom Hector and the other Trojans had sent as a spy upon
our ships."

He laughed as he spoke and drove the horses over the ditch, while
the other Achaeans followed him gladly. When they reached the
strongly built quarters of the son of Tydeus, they tied the
horses with thongs of leather to the manger, where the steeds of
Diomed stood eating their sweet corn, but Ulysses hung the
blood-stained spoils of Dolon at the stern of his ship, that they
might prepare a sacred offering to Minerva. As for themselves,
they went into the sea and washed the sweat from their bodies,
and from their necks and thighs. When the sea-water had taken all
the sweat from off them, and had refreshed them, they went into
the baths and washed themselves. After they had so done and had
anointed themselves with oil, they sat down to table, and drawing
from a full mixing-bowl, made a drink-offering of wine to
Minerva.

BOOK XI


AND now as Dawn rose from her couch beside Tithonus, harbinger of
light alike to mortals and immortals, Jove sent fierce Discord
with the ensign of war in her hands to the ships of the Achaeans.
She took her stand by the huge black hull of Ulysses' ship which
was middlemost of all, so that her voice might carry farthest on
either side, on the one hand towards the tents of Ajax son of
Telamon, and on the other towards those of Achilles--for these
two heroes, well-assured of their own strength, had valorously
drawn up their ships at the two ends of the line. There she took
her stand, and raised a cry both loud and shrill that filled the
Achaeans with courage, giving them heart to fight resolutely and
with all their might, so that they had rather stay there and do
battle than go home in their ships.

The son of Atreus shouted aloud and bade the Argives gird
themselves for battle while he put on his armour. First he girded
his goodly greaves about his legs, making them fast with ankle-
clasps of silver; and about his chest he set the breastplate
which Cinyras had once given him as a guest-gift. It had been
noised abroad as far as Cyprus that the Achaeans were about to
sail for Troy, and therefore he gave it to the king. It had ten
courses of dark cyanus, twelve of gold, and ten of tin. There
were serpents of cyanus that reared themselves up towards the
neck, three upon either side, like the rainbows which the son of
Saturn has set in heaven as a sign to mortal men. About his
shoulders he threw his sword, studded with bosses of gold; and
the scabbard was of silver with a chain of gold wherewith to hang
it. He took moreover the richly-dight shield that covered his
body when he was in battle--fair to see, with ten circles of
bronze running all round it. On the body of the shield there were
twenty bosses of white tin, with another of dark cyanus in the
middle: this last was made to show a Gorgon's head, fierce and
grim, with Rout and Panic on either side. The band for the arm to
go through was of silver, on which there was a writhing snake of
cyanus with three heads that sprang from a single neck, and went
in and out among one another. On his head Agamemnon set a helmet,
with a peak before and behind, and four plumes of horse-hair that
nodded menacingly above it; then he grasped two redoubtable
bronze-shod spears, and the gleam of his armour shot from him as
a flame into the firmament, while Juno and Minerva thundered in
honour of the king of rich Mycene.

Every man now left his horses in charge of his charioteer to hold
them in readiness by the trench, while he went into battle on
foot clad in full armour, and a mighty uproar rose on high into
the dawning. The chiefs were armed and at the trench before the
horses got there, but these came up presently. The son of Saturn
sent a portent of evil sound about their host, and the dew fell
red with blood, for he was about to send many a brave man
hurrying down to Hades.

The Trojans, on the other side upon the rising slope of the
plain, were gathered round great Hector, noble Polydamas, Aeneas
who was honoured by the Trojans like an immortal, and the three
sons of Antenor, Polybus, Agenor, and young Acamas beauteous as a
god. Hector's round shield showed in the front rank, and as some
baneful star that shines for a moment through a rent in the
clouds and is again hidden beneath them; even so was Hector now
seen in the front ranks and now again in the hindermost, and his
bronze armour gleamed like the lightning of aegis-bearing Jove.

And now as a band of reapers mow swathes of wheat or barley upon
a rich man's land, and the sheaves fall thick before them, even
so did the Trojans and Achaeans fall upon one another; they were
in no mood for yielding but fought like wolves, and neither side
got the better of the other. Discord was glad as she beheld them,
for she was the only god that went among them; the others were
not there, but stayed quietly each in his own home among the
dells and valleys of Olympus. All of them blamed the son of
Saturn for wanting to give victory to the Trojans, but father
Jove heeded them not: he held aloof from all, and sat apart in
his all-glorious majesty, looking down upon the city of the
Trojans, the ships of the Achaeans, the gleam of bronze, and
alike upon the slayers and on the slain.

Now so long as the day waxed and it was still morning, their
darts rained thick on one another and the people perished, but as
the hour drew nigh when a woodman working in some mountain forest
will get his midday meal--for he has felled till his hands are
weary; he is tired out, and must now have food--then the Danaans
with a cry that rang through all their ranks, broke the
battalions of the enemy. Agamemnon led them on, and slew first
Bienor, a leader of his people, and afterwards his comrade and
charioteer Oileus, who sprang from his chariot and was coming
full towards him; but Agamemnon struck him on the forehead with
his spear; his bronze visor was of no avail against the weapon,
which pierced both bronze and bone, so that his brains were
battered in and he was killed in full fight.

Agamemnon stripped their shirts from off them and left them with
their breasts all bare to lie where they had fallen. He then went
on to kill Isus and Antiphus two sons of Priam, the one a
bastard, the other born in wedlock; they were in the same
chariot--the bastard driving, while noble Antiphus fought beside
him. Achilles had once taken both of them prisoners in the glades
of Ida, and had bound them with fresh withes as they were
shepherding, but he had taken a ransom for them; now, however,
Agamemnon son of Atreus smote Isus in the chest above the nipple
with his spear, while he struck Antiphus hard by the ear and
threw him from his chariot. Forthwith he stripped their goodly
armour from off them and recognized them, for he had already seen
them at ships when Achilles brought them in from Ida. As a lion
fastens on the fawns of a hind and crushes them in his great
jaws, robbing them of their tender life while he on his way back
to his lair--the hind can do nothing for them even though she be
close by, for she is in an agony of fear, and flies through the
thick forest, sweating, and at her utmost speed before the mighty
monster--so, no man of the Trojans could help Isus and Antiphus,
for they were themselves flying panic before the Argives.

Then King Agamemnon took the two sons of Antimachus, Pisander and
brave Hippolochus. It was Antimachus who had been foremost in
preventing Helen's being restored to Menelaus, for he was largely
bribed by Alexandrus; and now Agamemnon took his two sons, both
in the same chariot, trying to bring their horses to a stand--for
they had lost hold of the reins and the horses were mad with
fear. The son of Atreus sprang upon them like a lion, and the
pair besought him from their chariot. "Take us alive," they
cried, "son of Atreus, and you shall receive a great ransom for
us. Our father Antimachus has great store of gold, bronze, and
wrought iron, and from this he will satisfy you with a very large
ransom should he hear of our being alive at the ships of the
Achaeans."

With such piteous words and tears did they beseech the king, but
they heard no pitiful answer in return. "If," said Agamemnon,
"you are sons of Antimachus, who once at a council of Trojans
proposed that Menelaus and Ulysses, who had come to you as
envoys, should be killed and not suffered to return, you shall
now pay for the foul iniquity of your father."

As he spoke he felled Pisander from his chariot to the earth,
smiting him on the chest with his spear, so that he lay face
uppermost upon the ground. Hippolochus fled, but him too did
Agamemnon smite; he cut off his hands and his head--which he sent
rolling in among the crowd as though it were a ball. There he let
them both lie, and wherever the ranks were thickest thither he
flew, while the other Achaeans followed. Foot soldiers drove the
foot soldiers of the foe in rout before them, and slew them;
horsemen did the like by horsemen, and the thundering tramp of
the horses raised a cloud of dust from off the plain. King
Agamemnon followed after, ever slaying them and cheering on the
Achaeans. As when some mighty forest is all ablaze--the eddying
gusts whirl fire in all directions till the thickets shrivel and
are consumed before the blast of the flame--even so fell the
heads of the flying Trojans before Agamemnon son of Atreus, and
many a noble pair of steeds drew an empty chariot along the
highways of war, for lack of drivers who were lying on the plain,
more useful now to vultures than to their wives.

Jove drew Hector away from the darts and dust, with the carnage
and din of battle; but the son of Atreus sped onwards, calling
out lustily to the Danaans. They flew on by the tomb of old Ilus,
son of Dardanus, in the middle of the plain, and past the place
of the wild fig-tree making always for the city--the son of
Atreus still shouting, and with hands all bedrabbled in gore; but
when they had reached the Scaean gates and the oak tree, there
they halted and waited for the others to come up. Meanwhile the
Trojans kept on flying over the middle of the plain like a herd
of cows maddened with fright when a lion has attacked them in the
dead of night--he springs on one of them, seizes her neck in the
grip of his strong teeth and then laps up her blood and gorges
himself upon her entrails--even so did King Agamemnon son of
Atreus pursue the foe, ever slaughtering the hindmost as they
fled pell-mell before him. Many a man was flung headlong from his
chariot by the hand of the son of Atreus, for he wielded his
spear with fury.

But when he was just about to reach the high wall and the city,
the father of gods and men came down from heaven and took his
seat, thunderbolt in hand, upon the crest of many-fountained Ida.
He then told Iris of the golden wings to carry a message for him.
"Go," said he, "fleet Iris, and speak thus to Hector--say that so
long as he sees Agamemnon heading his men and making havoc of the
Trojan ranks, he is to keep aloof and bid the others bear the
brunt of the battle, but when Agamemnon is wounded either by
spear or arrow, and takes to his chariot, then will I vouchsafe
him strength to slay till he reach the ships and night falls at
the going down of the sun."

Iris hearkened and obeyed. Down she went to strong Ilius from the
crests of Ida, and found Hector son of Priam standing by his
chariot and horses. Then she said, "Hector son of Priam, peer of
gods in counsel, father Jove has sent me to bear you this
message--so long as you see Agamemnon heading his men and making
havoc of the Trojan ranks, you are to keep aloof and bid the
others bear the brunt of the battle, but when Agamemnon is
wounded either by spear or arrow, and takes to his chariot, then
will Jove vouchsafe you strength to slay till you reach the
ships, and till night falls at the going down of the sun."

When she had thus spoken Iris left him, and Hector sprang full
armed from his chariot to the ground, brandishing his spear as he
went about everywhere among the host, cheering his men on to
fight, and stirring the dread strife of battle. The Trojans then
wheeled round, and again met the Achaeans, while the Argives on
their part strengthened their battalions. The battle was now in
array and they stood face to face with one another, Agamemnon
ever pressing forward in his eagerness to be ahead of all others.

Tell me now ye Muses that dwell in the mansions of Olympus, who,
whether of the Trojans or of their allies, was first to face
Agamemnon? It was Iphidamas son of Antenor, a man both brave and
of great stature, who was brought up in fertile Thrace, the
mother of sheep. Cisses, his mother's father, brought him up in
his own house when he was a child--Cisses, father to fair Theano.
When he reached manhood, Cisses would have kept him there, and
was for giving him his daughter in marriage, but as soon as he
had married he set out to fight the Achaeans with twelve ships
that followed him: these he had left at Percote and had come on
by land to Ilius. He it was that now met Agamemnon son of Atreus.
When they were close up with one another, the son of Atreus
missed his aim, and Iphidamas hit him on the girdle below the
cuirass and then flung himself upon him, trusting to his strength
of arm; the girdle, however, was not pierced, nor nearly so, for
the point of the spear struck against the silver and was turned
aside as though it had been lead: King Agamemnon caught it from
his hand, and drew it towards him with the fury of a lion; he
then drew his sword, and killed Iphidamas by striking him on the
neck. So there the poor fellow lay, sleeping a sleep as it were
of bronze, killed in the defence of his fellow-citizens, far from
his wedded wife, of whom he had had no joy though he had given
much for her: he had given a hundred-head of cattle down, and had
promised later on to give a thousand sheep and goats mixed, from
the countless flocks of which he was possessed. Agamemnon son of
Atreus then despoiled him, and carried off his armour into the
host of the Achaeans.

When noble Coon, Antenor's eldest son, saw this, sore indeed were
his eyes at the sight of his fallen brother. Unseen by Agamemnon
he got beside him, spear in hand, and wounded him in the middle
of his arm below the elbow, the point of the spear going right
through the arm. Agamemnon was convulsed with pain, but still not
even for this did he leave off struggling and fighting, but
grasped his spear that flew as fleet as the wind, and sprang upon
Coon who was trying to drag off the body of his brother--his
father's son--by the foot, and was crying for help to all the
bravest of his comrades; but Agamemnon struck him with a
bronze-shod spear and killed him as he was dragging the dead body
through the press of men under cover of his shield: he then cut
off his head, standing over the body of Iphidamas. Thus did the
sons of Antenor meet their fate at the hands of the son of
Atreus, and go down into the house of Hades.

As long as the blood still welled warm from his wound Agamemnon
went about attacking the ranks of the enemy with spear and sword
and with great handfuls of stone, but when the blood had ceased
to flow and the wound grew dry, the pain became great. As the
sharp pangs which the Eilithuiae, goddesses of childbirth,
daughters of Juno and dispensers of cruel pain, send upon a woman
when she is in labour--even so sharp were the pangs of the son of
Atreus. He sprang on to his chariot, and bade his charioteer
drive to the ships, for he was in great agony. With a loud clear
voice he shouted to the Danaans, "My friends, princes and
counsellors of the Argives, defend the ships yourselves, for Jove
has not suffered me to fight the whole day through against the
Trojans."

With this the charioteer turned his horses towards the ships, and
they flew forward nothing loth. Their chests were white with foam
and their bellies with dust, as they drew the wounded king out of
the battle.

When Hector saw Agamemnon quit the field, he shouted to the
Trojans and Lycians saying, "Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanian
warriors, be men, my friends, and acquit yourselves in battle
bravely; their best man has left them, and Jove has vouchsafed me
a great triumph; charge the foe with your chariots that you may
win still greater glory."

With these words he put heart and soul into them all, and as a
huntsman hounds his dogs on against a lion or wild boar, even so
did Hector, peer of Mars, hound the proud Trojans on against the
Achaeans. Full of hope he plunged in among the foremost, and fell
on the fight like some fierce tempest that swoops down upon the
sea, and lashes its deep blue waters into fury.

What, then is the full tale of those whom Hector son of Priam
killed in the hour of triumph which Jove then vouchsafed him?
First Asaeus, Autonous, and Opites; Dolops son of Clytius,
Opheltius and Agelaus; Aesymnus, Orus and Hipponous steadfast in
battle; these chieftains of the Achaeans did Hector slay, and
then he fell upon the rank and file. As when the west wind
hustles the clouds of the white south and beats them down with
the fierceness of its fury--the waves of the sea roll high, and
the spray is flung aloft in the rage of the wandering wind--even
so thick were the heads of them that fell by the hand of Hector.

All had then been lost and no help for it, and the Achaeans would
have fled pell-mell to their ships, had not Ulysses cried out to
Diomed, "Son of Tydeus, what has happened to us that we thus
forget our prowess? Come, my good fellow, stand by my side and
help me, we shall be shamed for ever if Hector takes the ships."

And Diomed answered, "Come what may, I will stand firm; but we
shall have scant joy of it, for Jove is minded to give victory to
the Trojans rather than to us."

With these words he struck Thymbraeus from his chariot to the
ground, smiting him in the left breast with his spear, while
Ulysses killed Molion who was his squire. These they let lie, now
that they had stopped their fighting; the two heroes then went on
playing havoc with the foe, like two wild boars that turn in fury
and rend the hounds that hunt them. Thus did they turn upon the
Trojans and slay them, and the Achaeans were thankful to have
breathing time in their flight from Hector.

They then took two princes with their chariot, the two sons of
Merops of Percote, who excelled all others in the arts of
divination. He had forbidden his sons to go to the war, but they
would not obey him, for fate lured them to their fall. Diomed son
of Tydeus slew them both and stripped them of their armour, while
Ulysses killed Hippodamus and Hypeirochus.

And now the son of Saturn as he looked down from Ida ordained
that neither side should have the advantage, and they kept on
killing one another. The son of Tydeus speared Agastrophus son of
Paeon in the hip-joint with his spear. His chariot was not at
hand for him to fly with, so blindly confident had he been. His
squire was in charge of it at some distance and he was fighting
on foot among the foremost until he lost his life. Hector soon
marked the havoc Diomed and Ulysses were making, and bore down
upon them with a loud cry, followed by the Trojan ranks; brave
Diomed was dismayed when he saw them, and said to Ulysses who was
beside him, "Great Hector is bearing down upon us and we shall be
undone; let us stand firm and wait his onset."

He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it, nor did he miss
his mark. He had aimed at Hector's head near the top of his
helmet, but bronze was turned by bronze, and Hector was
untouched, for the spear was stayed by the visored helm made with
three plates of metal, which Phoebus Apollo had given him. Hector
sprang back with a great bound under cover of the ranks; he fell
on his knees and propped himself with his brawny hand leaning on
the ground, for darkness had fallen on his eyes. The son of
Tydeus having thrown his spear dashed in among the foremost
fighters, to the place where he had seen it strike the ground;
meanwhile Hector recovered himself and springing back into his
chariot mingled with the crowd, by which means he saved his life.
But Diomed made at him with his spear and said, "Dog, you have
again got away though death was close on your heels. Phoebus
Apollo, to whom I ween you pray ere you go into battle, has again
saved you, nevertheless I will meet you and make an end of you
hereafter, if there is any god who will stand by me too and be my
helper. For the present I must pursue those I can lay hands on."

As he spoke he began stripping the spoils from the son of Paeon,
but Alexandrus husband of lovely Helen aimed an arrow at him,
leaning against a pillar of the monument which men had raised to
Ilus son of Dardanus, a ruler in days of old. Diomed had taken
the cuirass from off the breast of Agastrophus, his heavy helmet
also, and the shield from off his shoulders, when Paris drew his
bow and let fly an arrow that sped not from his hand in vain, but
pierced the flat of Diomed's right foot, going right through it
and fixing itself in the ground. Thereon Paris with a hearty
laugh sprang forward from his hiding-place, and taunted him
saying, "You are wounded--my arrow has not been shot in vain;
would that it had hit you in the belly and killed you, for thus
the Trojans, who fear you as goats fear a lion, would have had a
truce from evil."

Diomed all undaunted answered, "Archer, you who without your bow
are nothing, slanderer and seducer, if you were to be tried in
single combat fighting in full armour, your bow and your arrows
would serve you in little stead. Vain is your boast in that you
have scratched the sole of my foot. I care no more than if a girl
or some silly boy had hit me. A worthless coward can inflict but
a light wound; when I wound a man though I but graze his skin it
is another matter, for my weapon will lay him low. His wife will
tear her cheeks for grief and his children will be fatherless:
there will he rot, reddening the earth with his blood, and
vultures, not women, will gather round him."

Thus he spoke, but Ulysses came up and stood over him. Under this
cover he sat down to draw the arrow from his foot, and sharp was
the pain he suffered as he did so. Then he sprang on to his
chariot and bade the charioteer drive him to the ships, for he
was sick at heart.

Ulysses was now alone; not one of the Argives stood by him, for
they were all panic-stricken. "Alas," said he to himself in his
dismay, "what will become of me? It is ill if I turn and fly
before these odds, but it will be worse if I am left alone and
taken prisoner, for the son of Saturn has struck the rest of the
Danaans with panic. But why talk to myself in this way? Well do I
know that though cowards quit the field, a hero, whether he wound
or be wounded, must stand firm and hold his own."

While he was thus in two minds, the ranks of the Trojans advanced
and hemmed him in, and bitterly did they come to rue it. As
hounds and lusty youths set upon a wild boar that sallies from
his lair whetting his white tusks--they attack him from every
side and can hear the gnashing of his jaws, but for all his
fierceness they still hold their ground--even so furiously did
the Trojans attack Ulysses. First he sprang spear in hand upon
Deiopites and wounded him on the shoulder with a downward blow;
then he killed Thoon and Ennomus. After these he struck
Chersidamas in the loins under his shield as he had just sprung
down from his chariot; so he fell in the dust and clutched the
earth in the hollow of his hand. These he let lie, and went on to
wound Charops son of Hippasus own brother to noble Socus. Socus,
hero that he was, made all speed to help him, and when he was
close to Ulysses he said, "Far-famed Ulysses, insatiable of craft
and toil, this day you shall either boast of having killed both
the sons of Hippasus and stripped them of their armour, or you
shall fall before my spear."

With these words he struck the shield of Ulysses. The spear went
through the shield and passed on through his richly wrought
cuirass, tearing the flesh from his side, but Pallas Minerva did
not suffer it to pierce the entrails of the hero. Ulysses knew
that his hour was not yet come, but he gave ground and said to
Socus, "Wretch, you shall now surely die. You have stayed me from
fighting further with the Trojans, but you shall now fall by my
spear, yielding glory to myself, and your soul to Hades of the
noble steeds."

Socus had turned in flight, but as he did so, the spear struck
him in the back midway between the shoulders, and went right
through his chest. He fell heavily to the ground and Ulysses
vaunted over him saying, "O Socus, son of Hippasus tamer of
horses, death has been too quick for you and you have not escaped
him: poor wretch, not even in death shall your father and mother
close your eyes, but the ravening vultures shall enshroud you
with the flapping of their dark wings and devour you. Whereas
even though I fall the Achaeans will give me my due rites of
burial."

So saying he drew Socus's heavy spear out of his flesh and from
his shield, and the blood welled forth when the spear was
withdrawn so that he was much dismayed. When the Trojans saw that
Ulysses was bleeding they raised a great shout and came on in a
body towards him; he therefore gave ground, and called his
comrades to come and help him. Thrice did he cry as loudly as man
can cry, and thrice did brave Menelaus hear him; he turned,
therefore, to Ajax who was close beside him and said, "Ajax,
noble son of Telamon, captain of your people, the cry of Ulysses
rings in my ears, as though the Trojans had cut him off and were
worsting him while he is single-handed. Let us make our way
through the throng; it will be well that we defend him; I fear he
may come to harm for all his valour if he be left without
support, and the Danaans would miss him sorely."

He led the way and mighty Ajax went with him. The Trojans had
gathered round Ulysses like ravenous mountain jackals round the
carcase of some horned stag that has been hit with an arrow--the
stag has fled at full speed so long as his blood was warm and his
strength has lasted, but when the arrow has overcome him, the
savage jackals devour him in the shady glades of the forest. Then
heaven sends a fierce lion thither, whereon the jackals fly in
terror and the lion robs them of their prey--even so did Trojans
many and brave gather round crafty Ulysses, but the hero stood at
bay and kept them off with his spear. Ajax then came up with his
shield before him like a wall, and stood hard by, whereon the
Trojans fled in all directions. Menelaus took Ulysses by the
hand, and led him out of the press while his squire brought up
his chariot, but Ajax rushed furiously on the Trojans and killed
Doryclus, a bastard son of Priam; then he wounded Pandocus,
Lysandrus, Pyrasus, and Pylartes; as some swollen torrent comes
rushing in full flood from the mountains on to the plain, big
with the rain of heaven--many a dry oak and many a pine does it
engulf, and much mud does it bring down and cast into the sea--
even so did brave Ajax chase the foe furiously over the plain,
slaying both men and horses.

Hector did not yet know what Ajax was doing, for he was fighting
on the extreme left of the battle by the banks of the river
Scamander, where the carnage was thickest and the war-cry loudest
round Nestor and brave Idomeneus. Among these Hector was making
great slaughter with his spear and furious driving, and was
destroying the ranks that were opposed to him; still the Achaeans
would have given no ground, had not Alexandrus husband of lovely
Helen stayed the prowess of Machaon, shepherd of his people, by
wounding him in the right shoulder with a triple-barbed arrow.
The Achaeans were in great fear that as the fight had turned
against them the Trojans might take him prisoner, and Idomeneus
said to Nestor, "Nestor son of Neleus, honour to the Achaean
name, mount your chariot at once; take Machaon with you and drive
your horses to the ships as fast as you can. A physician is worth
more than several other men put together, for he can cut out
arrows and spread healing herbs."

Nestor knight of Gerene did as Idomeneus had counselled; he at
once mounted his chariot, and Machaon son of the famed physician
Aesculapius, went with him. He lashed his horses and they flew
onward nothing loth towards the ships, as though of their own
free will.

Then Cebriones seeing the Trojans in confusion said to Hector
from his place beside him, "Hector, here are we two fighting on
the extreme wing of the battle, while the other Trojans are in
pell-mell rout, they and their horses. Ajax son of Telamon is
driving them before him; I know him by the breadth of his shield:
let us turn our chariot and horses thither, where horse and foot
are fighting most desperately, and where the cry of battle is
loudest."

With this he lashed his goodly steeds, and when they felt the
whip they drew the chariot full speed among the Achaeans and
Trojans, over the bodies and shields of those that had fallen:
the axle was bespattered with blood, and the rail round the car
was covered with splashes both from the horses' hoofs and from
the tyres of the wheels. Hector tore his way through and flung
himself into the thick of the fight, and his presence threw the
Danaans into confusion, for his spear was not long idle;
nevertheless though he went among the ranks with sword and spear,
and throwing great stones, he avoided Ajax son of Telamon, for
Jove would have been angry with him if he had fought a better man
than himself.

Then father Jove from his high throne struck fear into the heart
of Ajax, so that he stood there dazed and threw his shield behind
him--looking fearfully at the throng of his foes as though he
were some wild beast, and turning hither and thither but
crouching slowly backwards. As peasants with their hounds chase a
lion from their stockyard, and watch by night to prevent his
carrying off the pick of their herd--he makes his greedy spring,
but in vain, for the darts from many a strong hand fall thick
around him, with burning brands that scare him for all his fury,
and when morning comes he slinks foiled and angry away--even so
did Ajax, sorely against his will, retreat angrily before the
Trojans, fearing for the ships of the Achaeans. Or as some lazy
ass that has had many a cudgel broken about his back, when he
into a field begins eating the corn--boys beat him but he is too
many for them, and though they lay about with their sticks they
cannot hurt him; still when he has had his fill they at last
drive him from the field--even so did the Trojans and their
allies pursue great Ajax, ever smiting the middle of his shield
with their darts. Now and again he would turn and show fight,
keeping back the battalions of the Trojans, and then he would
again retreat; but he prevented any of them from making his way
to the ships. Single-handed he stood midway between the Trojans
and Achaeans: the spears that sped from their hands stuck some of
them in his mighty shield, while many, though thirsting for his
blood, fell to the ground ere they could reach him to the
wounding of his fair flesh.

Now when Eurypylus the brave son of Euaemon saw that Ajax was
being overpowered by the rain of arrows, he went up to him and
hurled his spear. He struck Apisaon son of Phausius in the liver
below the midriff, and laid him low. Eurypylus sprang upon him,
and stripped the armour from his shoulders; but when Alexandrus
saw him, he aimed an arrow at him which struck him in the right
thigh; the arrow broke, but the point that was left in the wound
dragged on the thigh; he drew back, therefore, under cover of his
comrades to save his life, shouting as he did so to the Danaans,
"My friends, princes and counsellors of the Argives, rally to the
defence of Ajax who is being overpowered, and I doubt whether he
will come out of the fight alive. Hither, then, to the rescue of
great Ajax son of Telamon."

Even so did he cry when he was wounded; thereon the others came
near, and gathered round him, holding their shields upwards from
their shoulders so as to give him cover. Ajax then made towards
them, and turned round to stand at bay as soon as he had reached
his men.

Thus then did they fight as it were a flaming fire. Meanwhile the
mares of Neleus, all in a lather with sweat, were bearing Nestor
out of the fight, and with him Machaon shepherd of his people.
Achilles saw and took note, for he was standing on the stern of
his ship watching the hard stress and struggle of the fight. He
called from the ship to his comrade Patroclus, who heard him in
the tent and came out looking like Mars himself--here indeed was
the beginning of the ill that presently befell him. "Why," said
he, "Achilles, do you call me? What do you want with me?" And
Achilles answered, "Noble son of Menoetius, man after my own
heart, I take it that I shall now have the Achaeans praying at my
knees, for they are in great straits; go, Patroclus, and ask
Nestor who it is that he is bearing away wounded from the field;
from his back I should say it was Machaon son of Aesculapius, but
I could not see his face for the horses went by me at full
speed."

Patroclus did as his dear comrade had bidden him, and set off
running by the ships and tents of the Achaeans.

When Nestor and Machaon had reached the tents of the son of
Neleus, they dismounted, and an esquire, Eurymedon, took the
horses from the chariot. The pair then stood in the breeze by the
seaside to dry the sweat from their shirts, and when they had so
done they came inside and took their seats. Fair Hecamede, whom
Nestor had had awarded to him from Tenedos when Achilles took it,
mixed them a mess; she was daughter of wise Arsinous, and the
Achaeans had given her to Nestor because he excelled all of them
in counsel. First she set for them a fair and well-made table
that had feet of cyanus; on it there was a vessel of bronze and
an onion to give relish to the drink, with honey and cakes of
barley-meal. There was also a cup of rare workmanship which the
old man had brought with him from home, studded with bosses of
gold; it had four handles, on each of which there were two golden
doves feeding, and it had two feet to stand on. Any one else
would hardly have been able to lift it from the table when it was
full, but Nestor could do so quite easily. In this the woman, as
fair as a goddess, mixed them a mess with Pramnian wine; she
grated goat's milk cheese into it with a bronze grater, threw in
a handful of white barley-meal, and having thus prepared the mess
she bade them drink it. When they had done so and had thus
quenched their thirst, they fell talking with one another, and at
this moment Patroclus appeared at the door.

When the old man saw him he sprang from his seat, seized his
hand, led him into the tent, and bade him take his place among
them; but Patroclus stood where he was and said, "Noble sir, I
may not stay, you cannot persuade me to come in; he that sent me
is not one to be trifled with, and he bade me ask who the wounded
man was whom you were bearing away from the field. I can now see
for myself that he is Machaon, shepherd of his people. I must go
back and tell Achilles. You, sir, know what a terrible man he is,
and how ready to blame even where no blame should lie."

And Nestor answered, "Why should Achilles care to know how many
of the Achaeans may be wounded? He recks not of the dismay that
reigns in our host; our most valiant chieftains lie disabled,
brave Diomed, son of Tydeus, is wounded; so are Ulysses and
Agamemnon; Eurypylus has been hit with an arrow in the thigh, and
I have just been bringing this man from the field--he too wounded
with an arrow. Nevertheless, Achilles, so valiant though he be,
cares not and knows no ruth. Will he wait till the ships, do what
we may, are in a blaze, and we perish one upon the other? As for
me, I have no strength nor stay in me any longer; would that I
were still young and strong as in the days when there was a fight
between us and the men of Elis about some cattle-raiding. I then
killed Itymoneus, the valiant son of Hypeirochus, a dweller in
Elis, as I was driving in the spoil; he was hit by a dart thrown
by my hand while fighting in the front rank in defence of his
cows, so he fell and the country people around him were in great
fear. We drove off a vast quantity of booty from the plain, fifty
herds of cattle and as many flocks of sheep; fifty droves also of
pigs, and as many wide-spreading flocks of goats. Of horses,
moreover, we seized a hundred and fifty, all of them mares, and
many had foals running with them. All these did we drive by night
to Pylus, the city of Neleus, taking them within the city; and
the heart of Neleus was glad in that I had taken so much, though
it was the first time I had ever been in the field. At daybreak
the heralds went round crying that all in Elis to whom there was
a debt owing should come; and the leading Pylians assembled to
divide the spoils. There were many to whom the Epeans owed
chattels, for we men of Pylus were few and had been oppressed
with wrong; in former years Hercules had come, and had laid his
hand heavy upon us, so that all our best men had perished. Neleus
had had twelve sons, but I alone was left; the others had all
been killed. The Epeans presuming upon all this had looked down
upon us and had done us much evil. My father chose a herd of
cattle and a great flock of sheep--three hundred in all--and he
took their shepherds with him, for there was a great debt due to
him in Elis, to wit four horses, winners of prizes. They and
their chariots with them had gone to the games and were to run
for a tripod, but King Augeas took them, and sent back their
driver grieving for the loss of his horses. Neleus was angered by
what he had both said and done, and took great value in return,
but he divided the rest, that no man might have less than his
full share.

"Thus did we order all things, and offer sacrifices to the gods
throughout the city; but three days afterwards the Epeans came in
a body, many in number, they and their chariots, in full array,
and with them the two Moliones in their armour, though they were
still lads and unused to fighting. Now there is a certain town,
Thryoessa, perched upon a rock on the river Alpheus, the border
city Pylus. This they would destroy, and pitched their camp about
it, but when they had crossed their whole plain, Minerva darted
down by night from Olympus and bade us set ourselves in array;
and she found willing soldiers in Pylos, for the men meant
fighting. Neleus would not let me arm, and hid my horses, for he
said that as yet I could know nothing about war; nevertheless
Minerva so ordered the fight that, all on foot as I was, I fought
among our mounted forces and vied with the foremost of them.
There is a river Minyeius that falls into the sea near Arene, and
there they that were mounted (and I with them) waited till
morning, when the companies of foot soldiers came up with us in
force. Thence in full panoply and equipment we came towards noon
to the sacred waters of the Alpheus, and there we offered victims
to almighty Jove, with a bull to Alpheus, another to Neptune, and
a herd-heifer to Minerva. After this we took supper in our
companies, and laid us down to rest each in his armour by the
river.

"The Epeans were beleaguering the city and were determined to
take it, but ere this might be there was a desperate fight in
store for them. When the sun's rays began to fall upon the earth
we joined battle, praying to Jove and to Minerva, and when the
fight had begun, I was the first to kill my man and take his
horses--to wit the warrior Mulius. He was son-in-law to Augeas,
having married his eldest daughter, golden-haired Agamede, who
knew the virtues of every herb which grows upon the face of the
earth. I speared him as he was coming towards me, and when he
fell headlong in the dust, I sprang upon his chariot and took my
place in the front ranks. The Epeans fled in all directions when
they saw the captain of their horsemen (the best man they had)
laid low, and I swept down on them like a whirlwind, taking fifty
chariots--and in each of them two men bit the dust, slain by my
spear. I should have even killed the two Moliones, sons of Actor,
unless their real father, Neptune lord of the earthquake, had
hidden them in a thick mist and borne them out of the fight.
Thereon Jove vouchsafed the Pylians a great victory, for we
chased them far over the plain, killing the men and bringing in
their armour, till we had brought our horses to Buprasium, rich
in wheat, and to the Olenian rock, with the hill that is called
Alision, at which point Minerva turned the people back. There I
slew the last man and left him; then the Achaeans drove their
horses back from Buprasium to Pylos and gave thanks to Jove among
the gods, and among mortal men to Nestor.

"Such was I among my peers, as surely as ever was, but Achilles
is for keeping all his valour for himself; bitterly will he rue
it hereafter when the host is being cut to pieces. My good
friend, did not Menoetius charge you thus, on the day when he
sent you from Phthia to Agamemnon? Ulysses and I were in the
house, inside, and heard all that he said to you; for we came to
the fair house of Peleus while beating up recruits throughout all
Achaea, and when we got there we found Menoetius and yourself,
and Achilles with you. The old knight Peleus was in the outer
court, roasting the fat thigh-bones of a heifer to Jove the lord
of thunder; and he held a gold chalice in his hand from which he
poured drink-offerings of wine over the burning sacrifice. You
two were busy cutting up the heifer, and at that moment we stood
at the gates, whereon Achilles sprang to his feet, led us by the
hand into the house, placed us at table, and set before us such
hospitable entertainment as guests expect. When we had satisfied
ourselves with meat and drink, I said my say and urged both of
you to join us. You were ready enough to do so, and the two old
men charged you much and straitly. Old Peleus bade his son
Achilles fight ever among the foremost and outvie his peers,
while Menoetius the son of Actor spoke thus to you: 'My son,'
said he, 'Achilles is of nobler birth than you are, but you are
older than he, though he is far the better man of the two.
Counsel him wisely, guide him in the right way, and he will
follow you to his own profit.' Thus did your father charge you,
but you have forgotten; nevertheless, even now, say all this to
Achilles if he will listen to you. Who knows but with heaven's
help you may talk him over, for it is good to take a friend's
advice. If, however, he is fearful about some oracle, or if his
mother has told him something from Jove, then let him send you,
and let the rest of the Myrmidons follow with you, if perchance
you may bring light and saving to the Danaans. And let him send
you into battle clad in his own armour, that the Trojans may
mistake you for him and leave off fighting; the sons of the
Achaeans may thus have time to get their breath, for they are
hard pressed and there is little breathing time in battle. You,
who are fresh, might easily drive a tired enemy back to his walls
and away from the tents and ships."

With these words he moved the heart of Patroclus, who set off
running by the line of the ships to Achilles, descendant of
Aeacus. When he had got as far as the ships of Ulysses, where was
their place of assembly and court of justice, with their altars
dedicated to the gods, Eurypylus son of Euaemon, met him, wounded
in the thigh with an arrow, and limping out of the fight. Sweat
rained from his head and shoulders, and black blood welled from
his cruel wound, but his mind did not wander. The son of
Menoetius when he saw him had compassion upon him and spoke
piteously saying, "O unhappy princes and counsellors of the
Danaans, are you then doomed to feed the hounds of Troy with your
fat, far from your friends and your native land? Say, noble
Eurypylus, will the Achaeans be able to hold great Hector in
check, or will they fall now before his spear?"

Wounded Eurypylus made answer, "Noble Patroclus, there is no hope
left for the Achaeans but they will perish at their ships. All
they that were princes among us are lying struck down and wounded
at the hands of the Trojans, who are waxing stronger and
stronger. But save me and take me to your ship; cut out the arrow
from my thigh; wash the black blood from off it with warm water,
and lay upon it those gracious herbs which, so they say, have
been shown you by Achilles, who was himself shown them by Chiron,
most righteous of all the centaurs. For of the physicians
Podalirius and Machaon, I hear that the one is lying wounded in
his tent and is himself in need of healing, while the other is
fighting the Trojans upon the plain."

"Hero Eurypylus," replied the brave son of Menoetius, "how may
these things be? What can I do? I am on my way to bear a message
to noble Achilles from Nestor of Gerene, bulwark of the Achaeans,
but even so I will not be unmindful of your distress."

With this he clasped him round the middle and led him into the
tent, and a servant, when he saw him, spread bullock-skins on the
ground for him to lie on. He laid him at full length and cut out
the sharp arrow from his thigh; he washed the black blood from
the wound with warm water; he then crushed a bitter herb, rubbing
it between his hands, and spread it upon the wound; this was a
virtuous herb which killed all pain; so the wound presently dried
and the blood left off flowing.

BOOK XII


SO THE son of Menoetius was attending to the hurt of Eurypylus
within the tent, but the Argives and Trojans still fought
desperately, nor were the trench and the high wall above it, to
keep the Trojans in check longer. They had built it to protect
their ships, and had dug the trench all round it that it might
safeguard both the ships and the rich spoils which they had
taken, but they had not offered hecatombs to the gods. It had
been built without the consent of the immortals, and therefore it
did not last. So long as Hector lived and Achilles nursed his
anger, and so long as the city of Priam remained untaken, the
great wall of the Achaeans stood firm; but when the bravest of
the Trojans were no more, and many also of the Argives, though
some were yet left alive--when, moreover, the city was sacked in
the tenth year, and the Argives had gone back with their ships to
their own country--then Neptune and Apollo took counsel to
destroy the wall, and they turned on to it the streams of all the
rivers from Mount Ida into the sea, Rhesus, Heptaporus, Caresus,
Rhodius, Grenicus, Aesopus, and goodly Scamander, with Simois,
where many a shield and helm had fallen, and many a hero of the
race of demigods had bitten the dust. Phoebus Apollo turned the
mouths of all these rivers together and made them flow for nine
days against the wall, while Jove rained the whole time that he
might wash it sooner into the sea. Neptune himself, trident in
hand, surveyed the work and threw into the sea all the
foundations of beams and stones which the Achaeans had laid with
so much toil; he made all level by the mighty stream of the
Hellespont, and then when he had swept the wall away he spread a
great beach of sand over the place where it had been. This done
he turned the rivers back into their old courses.

This was what Neptune and Apollo were to do in after time; but as
yet battle and turmoil were still raging round the wall till its
timbers rang under the blows that rained upon them. The Argives,
cowed by the scourge of Jove, were hemmed in at their ships in
fear of Hector the mighty minister of Rout, who as heretofore
fought with the force and fury of a whirlwind. As a lion or wild
boar turns fiercely on the dogs and men that attack him, while
these form solid wall and shower their javelins as they face
him--his courage is all undaunted, but his high spirit will be
the death of him; many a time does he charge at his pursuers to
scatter them, and they fall back as often as he does so--even so
did Hector go about among the host exhorting his men, and
cheering them on to cross the trench.

But the horses dared not do so, and stood neighing upon its
brink, for the width frightened them. They could neither jump it
nor cross it, for it had overhanging banks all round upon either
side, above which there were the sharp stakes that the sons of
the Achaeans had planted so close and strong as a defence against
all who would assail it; a horse, therefore, could not get into
it and draw his chariot after him, but those who were on foot
kept trying their very utmost. Then Polydamas went up to Hector
and said, "Hector, and you other captains of the Trojans and
allies, it is madness for us to try and drive our horses across
the trench; it will be very hard to cross, for it is full of
sharp stakes, and beyond these there is the wall. Our horses
therefore cannot get down into it, and would be of no use if they
did; moreover it is a narrow place and we should come to harm.
If, indeed, great Jove is minded to help the Trojans, and in his
anger will utterly destroy the Achaeans, I would myself gladly
see them perish now and here far from Argos; but if they should
rally and we are driven back from the ships pell-mell into the
trench there will be not so much as a man get back to the city to
tell the tale. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say; let our
squires hold our horses by the trench, but let us follow Hector
in a body on foot, clad in full armour, and if the day of their
doom is at hand the Achaeans will not be able to withstand us."

Thus spoke Polydamas and his saying pleased Hector, who sprang in
full armour to the ground, and all the other Trojans, when they
saw him do so, also left their chariots. Each man then gave his
horses over to his charioteer in charge to hold them ready for
him at the trench. Then they formed themselves into companies,
made themselves ready, and in five bodies followed their leaders.
Those that went with Hector and Polydamas were the bravest and
most in number, and the most determined to break through the wall
and fight at the ships. Cebriones was also joined with them as
third in command, for Hector had left his chariot in charge of a
less valiant soldier. The next company was led by Paris,
Alcathous, and Agenor; the third by Helenus and Deiphobus, two
sons of Priam, and with them was the hero Asius--Asius, the son
of Hyrtacus, whose great black horses of the breed that comes
from the river Selleis had brought him from Arisbe. Aeneas, the
valiant son of Anchises, led the fourth; he and the two sons of
Antenor, Archelochus and Acamas, men well versed in all the arts
of war. Sarpedon was captain over the allies, and took with him
Glaucus and Asteropaeus whom he deemed most valiant after
himself--for he was far the best man of them all. These helped to
array one another in their ox-hide shields, and then charged
straight at the Danaans, for they felt sure that they would not
hold out longer and that they should themselves now fall upon the
ships.

The rest of the Trojans and their allies now followed the counsel
of Polydamas but Asius, son of Hyrtacus, would not leave his
horses and his esquire behind him; in his foolhardiness he took
them on with him towards the ships, nor did he fail to come by
his end in consequence. Nevermore was he to return to wind-beaten
Ilius, exulting in his chariot and his horses; ere he could do
so, death of ill-omened name had overshadowed him and he had
fallen by the spear of Idomeneus the noble son of Deucalion. He
had driven towards the left wing of the ships, by which way the
Achaeans used to return with their chariots and horses from the
plain. Hither he drove and found the gates with their doors
opened wide, and the great bar down--for the gatemen kept them
open so as to let those of their comrades enter who might be
flying towards the ships. Hither of set purpose did he direct his
horses, and his men followed him with a loud cry, for they felt
sure that the Achaeans would not hold out longer, and that they
should now fall upon the ships. Little did they know that at the
gates they should find two of the bravest chieftains, proud sons
of the fighting Lapithae--the one, Polypoetes, mighty son of
Pirithous, and the other Leonteus, peer of murderous Mars. These
stood before the gates like two high oak trees upon the
mountains, that tower from their wide-spreading roots, and year
after year battle with wind and rain--even so did these two men
await the onset of great Asius confidently and without flinching.
The Trojans led by him and by Iamenus, Orestes, Adamas the son of
Asius, Thoon and Oenomaus, raised a loud cry of battle and made
straight for the wall, holding their shields of dry ox-hide above
their heads; for a while the two defenders remained inside and
cheered the Achaeans on to stand firm in the defence of their
ships; when, however, they saw that the Trojans were attacking
the wall, while the Danaans were crying out for help and being
routed, they rushed outside and fought in front of the gates like
two wild boars upon the mountains that abide the attack of men
and dogs, and charging on either side break down the wood all
round them tearing it up by the roots, and one can hear the
clattering of their tusks, till some one hits them and makes an
end of them--even so did the gleaming bronze rattle about their
breasts, as the weapons fell upon them; for they fought with
great fury, trusting to their own prowess and to those who were
on the wall above them. These threw great stones at their
assailants in defence of themselves their tents and their ships.
The stones fell thick as the flakes of snow which some fierce
blast drives from the dark clouds and showers down in sheets upon
the earth--even so fell the weapons from the hands alike of
Trojans and Achaeans. Helmet and shield rang out as the great
stones rained upon them, and Asius, the son of Hyrtacus, in his
dismay cried aloud and smote his two thighs. "Father Jove," he
cried, "of a truth you too are altogether given to lying. I made
sure the Argive heroes could not withstand us, whereas like
slim-waisted wasps, or bees that have their nests in the rocks by
the wayside--they leave not the holes wherein they have built
undefended, but fight for their little ones against all who would
take them--even so these men, though they be but two, will not be
driven from the gates, but stand firm either to slay or be
slain."

He spoke, but moved not the mind of Jove, whose counsel it then
was to give glory to Hector. Meanwhile the rest of the Trojans
were fighting about the other gates; I, however, am no god to be
able to tell about all these things, for the battle raged
everywhere about the stone wall as it were a fiery furnace. The
Argives, discomfited though they were, were forced to defend
their ships, and all the gods who were defending the Achaeans
were vexed in spirit; but the Lapithae kept on fighting with
might and main.

Thereon Polypoetes, mighty son of Pirithous, hit Damasus with a
spear upon his cheek-pierced helmet. The helmet did not protect
him, for the point of the spear went through it, and broke the
bone, so that the brain inside was scattered about, and he died
fighting. He then slew Pylon and Ormenus. Leonteus, of the race
of Mars, killed Hippomachus the son of Antimachus by striking him
with his spear upon the girdle. He then drew his sword and sprang
first upon Antiphates whom he killed in combat, and who fell face
upwards on the earth. After him he killed Menon, Iamenus, and
Orestes, and laid them low one after the other.

While they were busy stripping the armour from these heroes, the
youths who were led on by Polydamas and Hector (and these were
the greater part and the most valiant of those that were trying
to break through the wall and fire the ships) were still standing
by the trench, uncertain what they should do; for they had seen a
sign from heaven when they had essayed to cross it--a soaring
eagle that flew skirting the left wing of their host, with a
monstrous blood-red snake in its talons still alive and
struggling to escape. The snake was still bent on revenge,
wriggling and twisting itself backwards till it struck the bird
that held it, on the neck and breast; whereon the bird being in
pain, let it fall, dropping it into the middle of the host, and
then flew down the wind with a sharp cry. The Trojans were struck
with terror when they saw the snake, portent of aegis-bearing
Jove, writhing in the midst of them, and Polydamas went up to
Hector and said, "Hector, at our councils of war you are ever
given to rebuke me, even when I speak wisely, as though it were
not well, forsooth, that one of the people should cross your will
either in the field or at the council board; you would have them
support you always: nevertheless I will say what I think will be
best; let us not now go on to fight the Danaans at their ships,
for I know what will happen if this soaring eagle which skirted
the left wing of our host with a monstrous blood-red snake in its
talons (the snake being still alive) was really sent as an omen
to the Trojans on their essaying to cross the trench. The eagle
let go her hold; she did not succeed in taking it home to her
little ones, and so will it be--with ourselves; even though by a
mighty effort we break through the gates and wall of the
Achaeans, and they give way before us, still we shall not return
in good order by the way we came, but shall leave many a man
behind us whom the Achaeans will do to death in defence of their
ships. Thus would any seer who was expert in these matters, and
was trusted by the people, read the portent."

Hector looked fiercely at him and said, "Polydamas, I like not of
your reading. You can find a better saying than this if you will.
If, however, you have spoken in good earnest, then indeed has
heaven robbed you of your reason. You would have me pay no heed
to the counsels of Jove, nor to the promises he made me--and he
bowed his head in confirmation; you bid me be ruled rather by the
flight of wild-fowl. What care I whether they fly towards dawn or
dark, and whether they be on my right hand or on my left? Let us
put our trust rather in the counsel of great Jove, king of
mortals and immortals. There is one omen, and one only--that a
man should fight for his country. Why are you so fearful? Though
we be all of us slain at the ships of the Argives you are not
likely to be killed yourself, for you are not steadfast nor
courageous. If you will not fight, or would talk others over from
doing so, you shall fall forthwith before my spear."

With these words he led the way, and the others followed after
with a cry that rent the air. Then Jove the lord of thunder sent
the blast of a mighty wind from the mountains of Ida, that bore
the dust down towards the ships; he thus lulled the Achaeans into
security, and gave victory to Hector and to the Trojans, who,
trusting to their own might and to the signs he had shown them,
essayed to break through the great wall of the Achaeans. They
tore down the breastworks from the walls, and overthrew the
battlements; they upheaved the buttresses, which the Achaeans had
set in front of the wall in order to support it; when they had
pulled these down they made sure of breaking through the wall,
but the Danaans still showed no sign of giving ground; they still
fenced the battlements with their shields of ox-hide, and hurled
their missiles down upon the foe as soon as any came below the
wall.

The two Ajaxes went about everywhere on the walls cheering on the
Achaeans, giving fair words to some while they spoke sharply to
any one whom they saw to be remiss. "My friends," they cried,
"Argives one and all--good bad and indifferent, for there was
never fight yet, in which all were of equal prowess--there is now
work enough, as you very well know, for all of you. See that you
none of you turn in flight towards the ships, daunted by the
shouting of the foe, but press forward and keep one another in
heart, if it may so be that Olympian Jove the lord of lightning
will vouchsafe us to repel our foes, and drive them back towards
the city."

Thus did the two go about shouting and cheering the Achaeans on.
As the flakes that fall thick upon a winter's day, when Jove is
minded to snow and to display these his arrows to mankind--he
lulls the wind to rest, and snows hour after hour till he has
buried the tops of the high mountains, the headlands that jut
into the sea, the grassy plains, and the tilled fields of men;
the snow lies deep upon the forelands, and havens of the grey
sea, but the waves as they come rolling in stay it that it can
come no further, though all else is wrapped as with a mantle, so
heavy are the heavens with snow--even thus thickly did the stones
fall on one side and on the other, some thrown at the Trojans,
and some by the Trojans at the Achaeans; and the whole wall was
in an uproar.

Still the Trojans and brave Hector would not yet have broken down
the gates and the great bar, had not Jove turned his son Sarpedon
against the Argives as a lion against a herd of horned cattle.
Before him he held his shield of hammered bronze, that the smith
had beaten so fair and round, and had lined with ox hides which
he had made fast with rivets of gold all round the shield; this
he held in front of him, and brandishing his two spears came on
like some lion of the wilderness, who has been long famished for
want of meat and will dare break even into a well-fenced
homestead to try and get at the sheep. He may find the shepherds
keeping watch over their flocks with dogs and spears, but he is
in no mind to be driven from the fold till he has had a try for
it; he will either spring on a sheep and carry it off, or be hit
by a spear from some strong hand--even so was Sarpedon fain to
attack the wall and break down its battlements. Then he said to
Glaucus son of Hippolochus, "Glaucus, why in Lycia do we receive
especial honour as regards our place at table? Why are the
choicest portions served us and our cups kept brimming, and why
do men look up to us as though we were gods? Moreover we hold a
large estate by the banks of the river Xanthus, fair with orchard
lawns and wheat-growing land; it becomes us, therefore, to take
our stand at the head of all the Lycians and bear the brunt of
the fight, that one may say to another, 'Our princes in Lycia eat
the fat of the land and drink best of wine, but they are fine
fellows; they fight well and are ever at the front in battle.' My
good friend, if, when we were once out of this fight, we could
escape old age and death thenceforward and forever, I should
neither press forward myself nor bid you do so, but death in ten
thousand shapes hangs ever over our heads, and no man can elude
him; therefore let us go forward and either win glory for
ourselves, or yield it to another."

Glaucus heeded his saying, and the pair forthwith led on the host
of Lycians. Menestheus son of Peteos was dismayed when he saw
them, for it was against his part of the wall that they came--
bringing destruction with them; he looked along the wall for some
chieftain to support his comrades and saw the two Ajaxes, men
ever eager for the fray, and Teucer, who had just come from his
tent, standing near them; but he could not make his voice heard
by shouting to them, so great an uproar was there from crashing
shields and helmets and the battering of gates with a din which
reached the skies. For all the gates had been closed, and the
Trojans were hammering at them to try and break their way through
them. Menestheus, therefore, sent Thootes with a message to Ajax.
"Run, good Thootes," he said, "and call Ajax, or better still bid
both come, for it will be all over with us here directly; the
leaders of the Lycians are upon us, men who have ever fought
desperately heretofore. But if they have too much on their hands
to let them come, at any rate let Ajax son of Telamon do so, and
let Teucer, the famous bowman, come with him."

The messenger did as he was told, and set off running along the
wall of the Achaeans. When he reached the Ajaxes he said to them,
"Sirs, princes of the Argives, the son of noble Peteos bids you
come to him for a while and help him. You had better both come if
you can, or it will be all over with him directly; the leaders of
the Lycians are upon him, men who have ever fought desperately
heretofore; if you have too much on your hands to let both come,
at any rate let Ajax, son of Telamon, do so, and let Teucer, the
famous bowman, come with him."

Great Ajax son of Telamon heeded the message, and at once spoke
to the son of Oileus. "Ajax," said he, "do you two, yourself and
brave Lycomedes, stay here and keep the Danaans in heart to fight
their hardest. I will go over yonder, and bear my part in the
fray, but I will come back here at once as soon as I have given
them the help they need."

With this, Ajax son of Telamon set off, and Teucer, his brother
by the same father, went also, with Pandion to carry Teucer's
bow. They went along inside the wall, and when they came to the
tower where Menestheus was (and hard pressed indeed did they find
him) the brave captains and leaders of the Lycians were storming
the battlements as it were a thick dark cloud, fighting in close
quarters, and raising the battle-cry aloud.

First, Ajax son of Telamon killed brave Epicles, a comrade of
Sarpedon, hitting him with a jagged stone that lay by the
battlements at the very top of the wall. As men now are, even one
who is in the bloom of youth could hardly lift it with his two
hands, but Ajax raised it high aloft and flung it down, smashing
Epicles' four-crested helmet so that the bones of his head were
crushed to pieces, and he fell from the high wall as though he
were diving, with no more life left in him. Then Teucer wounded
Glaucus the brave son of Hippolochus as he was coming on to
attack the wall. He saw his shoulder bare and aimed an arrow at
it, which made Glaucus leave off fighting. Thereon he sprang
covertly down for fear some of the Achaeans might see that he was
wounded and taunt him. Sarpedon was stung with grief when he saw
Glaucus leave him, still he did not leave off fighting, but aimed
his spear at Alcmaon the son of Thestor and hit him. He drew his
spear back again and Alcmaon came down headlong after it with his
bronzed armour rattling round him. Then Sarpedon seized the
battlement in his strong hands, and tugged at it till it all gave
way together, and a breach was made through which many might
pass.

Ajax and Teucer then both of them attacked him. Teucer hit him
with an arrow on the band that bore the shield which covered his
body, but Jove saved his son from destruction that he might not
fall by the ships' sterns. Meanwhile Ajax sprang on him and
pierced his shield, but the spear did not go clean through,
though it hustled him back that he could come on no further. He
therefore retired a little space from the battlement, yet without
losing all his ground, for he still thought to cover himself with
glory. Then he turned round and shouted to the brave Lycians
saying, "Lycians, why do you thus fail me? For all my prowess I
cannot break through the wall and open a way to the ships
single-handed. Come close on behind me, for the more there are of
us the better."

The Lycians, shamed by his rebuke, pressed closer round him who
was their counsellor and their king. The Argives on their part
got their men in fighting order within the wall, and there was a
deadly struggle between them. The Lycians could not break through
the wall and force their way to the ships, nor could the Danaans
drive the Lycians from the wall now that they had once reached
it. As two men, measuring-rods in hand, quarrel about their
boundaries in a field that they own in common, and stickle for
their rights though they be but in a mere strip, even so did the
battlements now serve as a bone of contention, and they beat one
another's round shields for their possession. Many a man's body
was wounded with the pitiless bronze, as he turned round and
bared his back to the foe, and many were struck clean through
their shields; the wall and battlements were everywhere deluged
with the blood alike of Trojans and of Achaeans. But even so the
Trojans could not rout the Achaeans, who still held on; and as
some honest hard-working woman weighs wool in her balance and
sees that the scales be true, for she would gain some pitiful
earnings for her little ones, even so was the fight balanced
evenly between them till the time came when Jove gave the greater
glory to Hector son of Priam, who was first to spring towards the
wall of the Achaeans. When he had done so, he cried aloud to the
Trojans, "Up, Trojans, break the wall of the Argives, and fling
fire upon their ships."

Thus did he hound them on, and in one body they rushed straight
at the wall as he had bidden them, and scaled the battlements
with sharp spears in their hands. Hector laid hold of a stone
that lay just outside the gates and was thick at one end but
pointed at the other; two of the best men in a town, as men now
are, could hardly raise it from the ground and put it on to a
waggon, but Hector lifted it quite easily by himself, for the son
of scheming Saturn made it light for him. As a shepherd picks up
a ram's fleece with one hand and finds it no burden, so easily
did Hector lift the great stone and drive it right at the doors
that closed the gates so strong and so firmly set. These doors
were double and high, and were kept closed by two cross-bars to
which there was but one key. When he had got close up to them,
Hector strode towards them that his blow might gain in force and
struck them in the middle, leaning his whole weight against them.
He broke both hinges, and the stone fell inside by reason of its
great weight. The portals re-echoed with the sound, the bars held
no longer, and the doors flew open, one one way, and the other
the other, through the force of the blow. Then brave Hector
leaped inside with a face as dark as that of flying night. The
gleaming bronze flashed fiercely about his body and he had two
spears in his hand. None but a god could have withstood him as he
flung himself into the gateway, and his eyes glared like fire.
Then he turned round towards the Trojans and called on them to
scale the wall, and they did as he bade them--some of them at
once climbing over the wall, while others passed through the
gates. The Danaans then fled panic-stricken towards their ships,
and all was uproar and confusion.

BOOK XIII


NOW when Jove had thus brought Hector and the Trojans to the
ships, he left them to their never-ending toil, and turned his
keen eyes away, looking elsewhither towards the horse-breeders of
Thrace, the Mysians, fighters at close quarters, the noble
Hippemolgi, who live on milk, and the Abians, justest of mankind.
He no longer turned so much as a glance towards Troy, for he did
not think that any of the immortals would go and help either
Trojans or Danaans.

But King Neptune had kept no blind look-out; he had been looking
admiringly on the battle from his seat on the topmost crests of
wooded Samothrace, whence he could see all Ida, with the city of
Priam and the ships of the Achaeans. He had come from under the
sea and taken his place here, for he pitied the Achaeans who were
being overcome by the Trojans; and he was furiously angry with
Jove.

Presently he came down from his post on the mountain top, and as
he strode swiftly onwards the high hills and the forest quaked
beneath the tread of his immortal feet. Three strides he took,
and with the fourth he reached his goal--Aegae, where is his
glittering golden palace, imperishable, in the depths of the sea.
When he got there, he yoked his fleet brazen-footed steeds with
their manes of gold all flying in the wind; he clothed himself in
raiment of gold, grasped his gold whip, and took his stand upon
his chariot. As he went his way over the waves the sea-monsters
left their lairs, for they knew their lord, and came gambolling
round him from every quarter of the deep, while the sea in her
gladness opened a path before his chariot. So lightly did the
horses fly that the bronze axle of the car was not even wet
beneath it; and thus his bounding steeds took him to the ships of
the Achaeans.

Now there is a certain huge cavern in the depths of the sea
midway between Tenedos and rocky Imbrus; here Neptune lord of the
earthquake stayed his horses, unyoked them, and set before them
their ambrosial forage. He hobbled their feet with hobbles of
gold which none could either unloose or break, so that they might
stay there in that place until their lord should return. This
done he went his way to the host of the Achaeans.

Now the Trojans followed Hector son of Priam in close array like
a storm-cloud or flame of fire, fighting with might and main and
raising the cry battle; for they deemed that they should take the
ships of the Achaeans and kill all their chiefest heroes then and
there. Meanwhile earth-encircling Neptune lord of the earthquake
cheered on the Argives, for he had come up out of the sea and had
assumed the form and voice of Calchas.

First he spoke to the two Ajaxes, who were doing their best
already, and said, "Ajaxes, you two can be the saving of the
Achaeans if you will put out all your strength and not let
yourselves be daunted. I am not afraid that the Trojans, who have
got over the wall in force, will be victorious in any other part,
for the Achaeans can hold all of them in check, but I much fear
that some evil will befall us here where furious Hector, who
boasts himself the son of great Jove himself, is leading them on
like a pillar of flame. May some god, then, put it into your
hearts to make a firm stand here, and to incite others to do the
like. In this case you will drive him from the ships even though
he be inspired by Jove himself."

As he spoke the earth-encircling lord of the earthquake struck
both of them with his sceptre and filled their hearts with
daring. He made their legs light and active, as also their hands
and their feet. Then, as the soaring falcon poises on the wing
high above some sheer rock, and presently swoops down to chase
some bird over the plain, even so did Neptune lord of the
earthquake wing his flight into the air and leave them. Of the
two, swift Ajax son of Oileus was the first to know who it was
that had been speaking with them, and said to Ajax son of
Telamon, "Ajax, this is one of the gods that dwell on Olympus,
who in the likeness of the prophet is bidding us fight hard by
our ships. It was not Calchas the seer and diviner of omens; I
knew him at once by his feet and knees as he turned away, for the
gods are soon recognised. Moreover I feel the lust of battle burn
more fiercely within me, while my hands and my feet under me are
more eager for the fray."

And Ajax son of Telamon answered, "I too feel my hands grasp my
spear more firmly; my strength is greater, and my feet more
nimble; I long, moreover, to meet furious Hector son of Priam,
even in single combat."

Thus did they converse, exulting in the hunger after battle with
which the god had filled them. Meanwhile the earth-encircler
roused the Achaeans, who were resting in the rear by the ships
overcome at once by hard fighting and by grief at seeing that the
Trojans had got over the wall in force. Tears began falling from
their eyes as they beheld them, for they made sure that they
should not escape destruction; but the lord of the earthquake
passed lightly about among them and urged their battalions to the
front.

First he went up to Teucer and Leitus, the hero Peneleos, and
Thoas and Deipyrus; Meriones also and Antilochus, valiant
warriors; all did he exhort. "Shame on you young Argives," he
cried, "it was on your prowess I relied for the saving of our
ships; if you fight not with might and main, this very day will
see us overcome by the Trojans. Of a truth my eyes behold a great
and terrible portent which I had never thought to see--the
Trojans at our ships--they, who were heretofore like
panic-stricken hinds, the prey of jackals and wolves in a forest,
with no strength but in flight for they cannot defend themselves.
Hitherto the Trojans dared not for one moment face the attack of
the Achaeans, but now they have sallied far from their city and
are fighting at our very ships through the cowardice of our
leader and the disaffection of the people themselves, who in
their discontent care not to fight in defence of the ships but
are being slaughtered near them. True, King Agamemnon son of
Atreus is the cause of our disaster by having insulted the son of
Peleus, still this is no reason why we should leave off fighting.
Let us be quick to heal, for the hearts of the brave heal
quickly. You do ill to be thus remiss, you, who are the finest
soldiers in our whole army. I blame no man for keeping out of
battle if he is a weakling, but I am indignant with such men as
you are. My good friends, matters will soon become even worse
through this slackness; think, each one of you, of his own honour
and credit, for the hazard of the fight is extreme. Great Hector
is now fighting at our ships; he has broken through the gates and
the strong bolt that held them."

Thus did the earth-encircler address the Achaeans and urge them
on. Thereon round the two Ajaxes there gathered strong bands of
men, of whom not even Mars nor Minerva, marshaller of hosts could
make light if they went among them, for they were the picked men
of all those who were now awaiting the onset of Hector and the
Trojans. They made a living fence, spear to spear, shield to
shield, buckler to buckler, helmet to helmet, and man to man. The
horse-hair crests on their gleaming helmets touched one another
as they nodded forward, so closely serried were they; the spears
they brandished in their strong hands were interlaced, and their
hearts were set on battle.

The Trojans advanced in a dense body, with Hector at their head
pressing right on as a rock that comes thundering down the side
of some mountain from whose brow the winter torrents have torn
it; the foundations of the dull thing have been loosened by
floods of rain, and as it bounds headlong on its way it sets the
whole forest in an uproar; it swerves neither to right nor left
till it reaches level ground, but then for all its fury it can go
no further--even so easily did Hector for a while seem as though
he would career through the tents and ships of the Achaeans till
he had reached the sea in his murderous course; but the closely
serried battalions stayed him when he reached them, for the sons
of the Achaeans thrust at him with swords and spears pointed at
both ends, and drove him from them so that he staggered and gave
ground; thereon he shouted to the Trojans, "Trojans, Lycians, and
Dardanians, fighters in close combat, stand firm: the Achaeans
have set themselves as a wall against me, but they will not check
me for long; they will give ground before me if the mightiest of
the gods, the thundering spouse of Juno, has indeed inspired my
onset."

With these words he put heart and soul into them all. Deiphobus
son of Priam went about among them intent on deeds of daring with
his round shield before him, under cover of which he strode
quickly forward. Meriones took aim at him with a spear, nor did
he fail to hit the broad orb of ox-hide; but he was far from
piercing it for the spear broke in two pieces long ere he could
do so; moreover Deiphobus had seen it coming and had held his
shield well away from him. Meriones drew back under cover of his
comrades, angry alike at having failed to vanquish Deiphobus, and
having broken his spear. He turned therefore towards the ships
and tents to fetch a spear which he had left behind in his tent.

The others continued fighting, and the cry of battle rose up into
the heavens. Teucer son of Telamon was the first to kill his man,
to wit, the warrior Imbrius, son of Mentor, rich in horses.
Until the Achaeans came he had lived in Pedaeum, and had married
Medesicaste, a bastard daughter of Priam; but on the arrival of
the Danaan fleet he had gone back to Ilius, and was a great man
among the Trojans, dwelling near Priam himself, who gave him like
honour with his own sons. The son of Telamon now struck him under
the ear with a spear which he then drew back again, and Imbrius
fell headlong as an ash-tree when it is felled on the crest of
some high mountain beacon, and its delicate green foliage comes
toppling down to the ground. Thus did he fall with his
bronze-dight armour ringing harshly round him, and Teucer sprang
forward with intent to strip him of his armour; but as he was
doing so, Hector took aim at him with a spear. Teucer saw the
spear coming and swerved aside, whereon it hit Amphimachus, son
of Cteatus son of Actor, in the chest as he was coming into
battle, and his armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily
to the ground. Hector sprang forward to take Amphimachus's helmet
from off his temples, and in a moment Ajax threw a spear at him,
but did not wound him, for he was encased all over in his
terrible armour; nevertheless the spear struck the boss of his
shield with such force as to drive him back from the two corpses,
which the Achaeans then drew off. Stichius and Menestheus,
captains of the Athenians, bore away Amphimachus to the host of
the Achaeans, while the two brave and impetuous Ajaxes did the
like by Imbrius. As two lions snatch a goat from the hounds that
have it in their fangs, and bear it through thick brushwood high
above the ground in their jaws, thus did the Ajaxes bear aloft
the body of Imbrius, and strip it of its armour. Then the son of
Oileus severed the head from the neck in revenge for the death of
Amphimachus, and sent it whirling over the crowd as though it had
been a ball, till it fell in the dust at Hector's feet.

Neptune was exceedingly angry that his grandson Amphimachus
should have fallen; he therefore went to the tents and ships of
the Achaeans to urge the Danaans still further, and to devise
evil for the Trojans. Idomeneus met him, as he was taking leave
of a comrade, who had just come to him from the fight, wounded in
the knee. His fellow-soldiers bore him off the field, and
Idomeneus having given orders to the physicians went on to his
tent, for he was still thirsting for battle. Neptune spoke in the
likeness and with the voice of Thoas son of Andraemon who ruled
the Aetolians of all Pleuron and high Calydon, and was honoured
among his people as though he were a god. "Idomeneus," said he,
"lawgiver to the Cretans, what has now become of the threats with
which the sons of the Achaeans used to threaten the Trojans?"

And Idomeneus chief among the Cretans answered, "Thoas, no one,
so far as I know, is in fault, for we can all fight. None are
held back neither by fear nor slackness, but it seems to be the
will of almighty Jove that the Achaeans should perish
ingloriously here far from Argos: you, Thoas, have been always
staunch, and you keep others in heart if you see any fail in
duty; be not then remiss now, but exhort all to do their utmost."

To this Neptune lord of the earthquake made answer, "Idomeneus,
may he never return from Troy, but remain here for dogs to batten
upon, who is this day wilfully slack in fighting. Get your armour
and go, we must make all haste together if we may be of any use,
though we are only two. Even cowards gain courage from
companionship, and we two can hold our own with the bravest."

Therewith the god went back into the thick of the fight, and
Idomeneus when he had reached his tent donned his armour, grasped
his two spears, and sallied forth. As the lightning which the son
of Saturn brandishes from bright Olympus when he would show a
sign to mortals, and its gleam flashes far and wide--even so did
his armour gleam about him as he ran. Meriones his sturdy squire
met him while he was still near his tent (for he was going to
fetch his spear) and Idomeneus said:

"Meriones, fleet son of Molus, best of comrades, why have you
left the field? Are you wounded, and is the point of the weapon
hurting you? or have you been sent to fetch me? I want no
fetching; I had far rather fight than stay in my tent."

"Idomeneus," answered Meriones, "I come for a spear, if I can
find one in my tent; I have broken the one I had, in throwing it
at the shield of Deiphobus."

And Idomeneus captain of the Cretans answered, "You will find one
spear, or twenty if you so please, standing up against the end
wall of my tent. I have taken them from Trojans whom I have
killed, for I am not one to keep my enemy at arm's length;
therefore I have spears, bossed shields, helmets, and burnished
corslets."

Then Meriones said, "I too in my tent and at my ship have spoils
taken from the Trojans, but they are not at hand. I have been at
all times valorous, and wherever there has been hard fighting
have held my own among the foremost. There may be those among the
Achaeans who do not know how I fight, but you know it well enough
yourself."

Idomeneus answered, "I know you for a brave man: you need not
tell me. If the best men at the ships were being chosen to go on
an ambush--and there is nothing like this for showing what a man
is made of; it comes out then who is cowardly and who brave; the
coward will change colour at every touch and turn; he is full of
fears, and keeps shifting his weight first on one knee and then
on the other; his heart beats fast as he thinks of death, and one
can hear the chattering of his teeth; whereas the brave man will
not change colour nor be frightened on finding himself in ambush,
but is all the time longing to go into action--if the best men
were being chosen for such a service, no one could make light of
your courage nor feats of arms. If you were struck by a dart or
smitten in close combat, it would not be from behind, in your
neck nor back, but the weapon would hit you in the chest or belly
as you were pressing forward to a place in the front ranks. But
let us no longer stay here talking like children, lest we be ill
spoken of; go, fetch your spear from the tent at once."

On this Meriones, peer of Mars, went to the tent and got himself
a spear of bronze. He then followed after Idomeneus, big with
great deeds of valour. As when baneful Mars sallies forth to
battle, and his son Panic so strong and dauntless goes with him,
to strike terror even into the heart of a hero--the pair have
gone from Thrace to arm themselves among the Ephyri or the brave
Phlegyans, but they will not listen to both the contending hosts,
and will give victory to one side or to the other--even so did
Meriones and Idomeneus, captains of men, go out to battle clad in
their bronze armour. Meriones was first to speak. "Son of
Deucalion," said he, "where would you have us begin fighting? On
the right wing of the host, in the centre, or on the left wing,
where I take it the Achaeans will be weakest?"

Idomeneus answered, "There are others to defend the centre--the
two Ajaxes and Teucer, who is the finest archer of all the
Achaeans, and is good also in a hand-to-hand fight. These will
give Hector son of Priam enough to do; fight as he may, he will
find it hard to vanquish their indomitable fury, and fire the
ships, unless the son of Saturn fling a firebrand upon them with
his own hand. Great Ajax son of Telamon will yield to no man who
is in mortal mould and eats the grain of Ceres, if bronze and
great stones can overthrow him. He would not yield even to
Achilles in hand-to-hand fight, and in fleetness of foot there is
none to beat him; let us turn therefore towards the left wing,
that we may know forthwith whether we are to give glory to some
other, or he to us."

Meriones, peer of fleet Mars, then led the way till they came to
the part of the host which Idomeneus had named.

Now when the Trojans saw Idomeneus coming on like a flame of
fire, him and his squire clad in their richly wrought armour,
they shouted and made towards him all in a body, and a furious
hand-to-hand fight raged under the ships' sterns. Fierce as the
shrill winds that whistle upon a day when dust lies deep on the
roads, and the gusts raise it into a thick cloud--even such was
the fury of the combat, and might and main did they hack at each
other with spear and sword throughout the host. The field
bristled with the long and deadly spears which they bore.
Dazzling was the sheen of their gleaming helmets, their
fresh-burnished breastplates, and glittering shields as they
joined battle with one another. Iron indeed must be his courage
who could take pleasure in the sight of such a turmoil, and look
on it without being dismayed.

Thus did the two mighty sons of Saturn devise evil for mortal
heroes. Jove was minded to give victory to the Trojans and to
Hector, so as to do honour to fleet Achilles, nevertheless he did
not mean to utterly overthrow the Achaean host before Ilius, and
only wanted to glorify Thetis and her valiant son. Neptune on the
other hand went about among the Argives to incite them, having
come up from the grey sea in secret, for he was grieved at seeing
them vanquished by the Trojans, and was furiously angry with
Jove. Both were of the same race and country, but Jove was elder
born and knew more, therefore Neptune feared to defend the
Argives openly, but in the likeness of man, he kept on
encouraging them throughout their host. Thus, then, did these two
devise a knot of war and battle, that none could unloose or
break, and set both sides tugging at it, to the failing of men's
knees beneath them.

And now Idomeneus, though his hair was already flecked with grey,
called loud on the Danaans and spread panic among the Trojans as
he leaped in among them. He slew Othryoneus from Cabesus, a
sojourner, who had but lately come to take part in the war. He
sought Cassandra, the fairest of Priam's daughters, in marriage,
but offered no gifts of wooing, for he promised a great thing, to
wit, that he would drive the sons of the Achaeans willy nilly
from Troy; old King Priam had given his consent and promised her
to him, whereon he fought on the strength of the promises thus
made to him. Idomeneus aimed a spear, and hit him as he came
striding on. His cuirass of bronze did not protect him, and the
spear stuck in his belly, so that he fell heavily to the ground.
Then Idomeneus vaunted over him saying, "Othryoneus, there is no
one in the world whom I shall admire more than I do you, if you
indeed perform what you have promised Priam son of Dardanus in
return for his daughter. We too will make you an offer; we will
give you the loveliest daughter of the son of Atreus, and will
bring her from Argos for you to marry, if you will sack the
goodly city of Ilius in company with ourselves; so come along
with me, that we may make a covenant at the ships about the
marriage, and we will not be hard upon you about gifts of
wooing."

With this Idomeneus began dragging him by the foot through the
thick of the fight, but Asius came up to protect the body, on
foot, in front of his horses which his esquire drove so close
behind him that he could feel their breath upon his shoulder. He
was longing to strike down Idomeneus, but ere he could do so
Idomeneus smote him with his spear in the throat under the chin,
and the bronze point went clean through it. He fell as an oak, or
poplar, or pine which shipwrights have felled for ship's timber
upon the mountains with whetted axes--even thus did he lie full
length in front of his chariot and horses, grinding his teeth and
clutching at the bloodstained dust. His charioteer was struck
with panic and did not dare turn his horses round and escape:
thereupon Antilochus hit him in the middle of his body with a
spear; his cuirass of bronze did not protect him, and the spear
stuck in his belly. He fell gasping from his chariot and
Antilochus, great Nestor's son, drove his horses from the Trojans
to the Achaeans.

Deiphobus then came close up to Idomeneus to avenge Asius, and
took aim at him with a spear, but Idomeneus was on the look-out
and avoided it, for he was covered by the round shield he always
bore--a shield of oxhide and bronze with two arm-rods on the
inside. He crouched under cover of this, and the spear flew over
him, but the shield rang out as the spear grazed it, and the
weapon sped not in vain from the strong hand of Deiphobus, for it
struck Hypsenor son of Hippasus, shepherd of his people, in the
liver under the midriff, and his limbs failed beneath him.
Deiphobus vaunted over him and cried with a loud voice saying,
"Of a truth Asius has not fallen unavenged; he will be glad even
while passing into the house of Hades, strong warden of the gate,
that I have sent some one to escort him."

Thus did he vaunt, and the Argives were stung by his saying.
Noble Antilochus was more angry than any one, but grief did not
make him forget his friend and comrade. He ran up to him,
bestrode him, and covered him with his shield; then two of his
staunch comrades, Mecisteus son of Echius, and Alastor, stooped
down, and bore him away groaning heavily to the ships. But
Idomeneus ceased not his fury. He kept on striving continually
either to enshroud some Trojan in the darkness of death, or
himself to fall while warding off the evil day from the Achaeans.
Then fell Alcathous son of noble Aesyetes; he was son-in-law to
Anchises, having married his eldest daughter Hippodameia, who was
the darling of her father and mother, and excelled all her
generation in beauty, accomplishments, and understanding,
wherefore the bravest man in all Troy had taken her to wife--him
did Neptune lay low by the hand of Idomeneus, blinding his bright
eyes and binding his strong limbs in fetters so that he could
neither go back nor to one side, but stood stock still like
pillar or lofty tree when Idomeneus struck him with a spear in
the middle of his chest. The coat of mail that had hitherto
protected his body was now broken, and rang harshly as the spear
tore through it. He fell heavily to the ground, and the spear
stuck in his heart, which still beat, and made the butt-end of
the spear quiver till dread Mars put an end to his life.
Idomeneus vaunted over him and cried with a loud voice saying,
"Deiphobus, since you are in a mood to vaunt, shall we cry quits
now that we have killed three men to your one? Nay, sir, stand in
fight with me yourself, that you may learn what manner of
Jove-begotten man am I that have come hither. Jove first begot
Minos, chief ruler in Crete, and Minos in his turn begot a son,
noble Deucalion. Deucalion begot me to be a ruler over many men
in Crete, and my ships have now brought me hither, to be the bane
of yourself, your father, and the Trojans."

Thus did he speak, and Deiphobus was in two minds, whether to go
back and fetch some other Trojan to help him, or to take up the
challenge single-handed. In the end, he deemed it best to go and
fetch Aeneas, whom he found standing in the rear, for he had long
been aggrieved with Priam because in spite of his brave deeds he
did not give him his due share of honour. Deiphobus went up to
him and said, "Aeneas, prince among the Trojans, if you know any
ties of kinship, help me now to defend the body of your sister's
husband; come with me to the rescue of Alcathous, who being
husband to your sister brought you up when you were a child in
his house, and now Idomeneus has slain him."

With these words he moved the heart of Aeneas, and he went in
pursuit of Idomeneus, big with great deeds of valour; but
Idomeneus was not to be thus daunted as though he were a mere
child; he held his ground as a wild boar at bay upon the
mountains, who abides the coming of a great crowd of men in some
lonely place--the bristles stand upright on his back, his eyes
flash fire, and he whets his tusks in his eagerness to defend
himself against hounds and men--even so did famed Idomeneus hold
his ground and budge not at the coming of Aeneas. He cried aloud
to his comrades looking towards Ascalaphus, Aphareus, Deipyrus,
Meriones, and Antilochus, all of them brave soldiers--"Hither my
friends," he cried, "and leave me not single-handed--I go in
great fear by fleet Aeneas, who is coming against me, and is a
redoubtable dispenser of death battle. Moreover he is in the
flower of youth when a man's strength is greatest; if I was of
the same age as he is and in my present mind, either he or I
should soon bear away the prize of victory."

On this, all of them as one man stood near him, shield on
shoulder. Aeneas on the other side called to his comrades,
looking towards Deiphobus, Paris, and Agenor, who were leaders of
the Trojans along with himself, and the people followed them as
sheep follow the ram when they go down to drink after they have
been feeding, and the heart of the shepherd is glad--even so was
the heart of Aeneas gladdened when he saw his people follow him.

Then they fought furiously in close combat about the body of
Alcathous, wielding their long spears; and the bronze armour
about their bodies rang fearfully as they took aim at one another
in the press of the fight, while the two heroes Aeneas and
Idomeneus, peers of Mars, outvied everyone in their desire to
hack at each other with sword and spear. Aeneas took aim first,
but Idomeneus was on the lookout and avoided the spear, so that
it sped from Aeneas' strong hand in vain, and fell quivering in
the ground. Idomeneus meanwhile smote Oenomaus in the middle of
his belly, and broke the plate of his corslet, whereon his bowels
came gushing out and he clutched the earth in the palms of his
hands as he fell sprawling in the dust. Idomeneus drew his spear
out of the body, but could not strip him of the rest of his
armour for the rain of darts that were showered upon him:
moreover his strength was now beginning to fail him so that he
could no longer charge, and could neither spring forward to
recover his own weapon nor swerve aside to avoid one that was
aimed at him; therefore, though he still defended himself in
hand-to-hand fight, his heavy feet could not bear him swiftly out
of the battle. Deiphobus aimed a spear at him as he was
retreating slowly from the field, for his bitterness against him
was as fierce as ever, but again he missed him, and hit
Ascalaphus, the son of Mars; the spear went through his shoulder,
and he clutched the earth in the palms of his hands as he fell
sprawling in the dust.

Grim Mars of awful voice did not yet know that his son had
fallen, for he was sitting on the summits of Olympus under the
golden clouds, by command of Jove, where the other gods were also
sitting, forbidden to take part in the battle. Meanwhile men
fought furiously about the body. Deiphobus tore the helmet from
off his head, but Meriones sprang upon him, and struck him on the
arm with a spear so that the visored helmet fell from his hand
and came ringing down upon the ground. Thereon Meriones sprang
upon him like a vulture, drew the spear from his shoulder, and
fell back under cover of his men. Then Polites, own brother of
Deiphobus passed his arms around his waist, and bore him away
from the battle till he got to his horses that were standing in
the rear of the fight with the chariot and their driver. These
took him towards the city groaning and in great pain, with the
blood flowing from his arm.

The others still fought on, and the battle-cry rose to heaven
without ceasing. Aeneas sprang on Aphareus son of Caletor, and
struck him with a spear in his throat which was turned towards
him; his head fell on one side, his helmet and shield came down
along with him, and death, life's foe, was shed around him.
Antilochus spied his chance, flew forward towards Thoon, and
wounded him as he was turning round. He laid open the vein that
runs all the way up the back to the neck; he cut this vein clean
away throughout its whole course, and Thoon fell in the dust face
upwards, stretching out his hands imploringly towards his
comrades. Antilochus sprang upon him and stripped the armour from
his shoulders, glaring round him fearfully as he did so. The
Trojans came about him on every side and struck his broad and
gleaming shield, but could not wound his body, for Neptune stood
guard over the son of Nestor, though the darts fell thickly round
him. He was never clear of the foe, but was always in the thick
of the fight; his spear was never idle; he poised and aimed it in
every direction, so eager was he to hit someone from a distance
or to fight him hand to hand.

As he was thus aiming among the crowd, he was seen by Adamas, son
of Asius, who rushed towards him and struck him with a spear in
the middle of his shield, but Neptune made its point without
effect, for he grudged him the life of Antilochus. One half,
therefore, of the spear stuck fast like a charred stake in
Antilochus's shield, while the other lay on the ground. Adamas
then sought shelter under cover of his men, but Meriones followed
after and hit him with a spear midway between the private parts
and the navel, where a wound is particualrly painful to wretched
mortals. There did Meriones transfix him, and he writhed
convulsively about the spear as some bull whom mountain herdsmen
have bound with ropes of withes and are taking away perforce.
Even so did he move convulsively for a while, but not for very
long, till Meriones came up and drew the spear out of his body,
and his eyes were veiled in darkness.

Helenus then struck Deipyrus with a great Thracian sword, hitting
him on the temple in close combat and tearing the helmet from his
head; the helmet fell to the ground, and one of those who were
fighting on the Achaean side took charge of it as it rolled at
his feet, but the eyes of Deipyrus were closed in the darkness of
death.

On this Menelaus was grieved, and made menacingly towards
Helenus, brandishing his spear; but Helenus drew his bow, and the
two attacked one another at one and the same moment, the one with
his spear, and the other with his bow and arrow. The son of Priam
hit the breastplate of Menelaus's corslet, but the arrow glanced
from off it. As black beans or pulse come pattering down on to a
threshing-floor from the broad winnowing-shovel, blown by shrill
winds and shaken by the shovel--even so did the arrow glance off
and recoil from the shield of Menelaus, who in his turn wounded
the hand with which Helenus carried his bow; the spear went right
through his hand and stuck in the bow itself, so that to his life
he retreated under cover of his men, with his hand dragging by
his side--for the spear weighed it down till Agenor drew it out
and bound the hand carefully up in a woollen sling which his
esquire had with him.

Pisander then made straight at Menelaus--his evil destiny luring
him on to his doom, for he was to fall in fight with you, O
Menelaus. When the two were hard by one another the spear of the
son of Atreus turned aside and he missed his aim; Pisander then
struck the shield of brave Menelaus but could not pierce it, for
the shield stayed the spear and broke the shaft; nevertheless he
was glad and made sure of victory; forthwith, however, the son of
Atreus drew his sword and sprang upon him. Pisander then seized
the bronze battle-axe, with its long and polished handle of olive
wood that hung by his side under his shield, and the two made at
one another. Pisander struck the peak of Menelaus's crested
helmet just under the crest itself, and Menelaus hit Pisander as
he was coming towards him, on the forehead, just at the rise of
his nose; the bones cracked and his two gore-bedrabbled eyes fell
by his feet in the dust. He fell backwards to the ground, and
Menelaus set his heel upon him, stripped him of his armour, and
vaunted over him saying, "Even thus shall you Trojans leave the
ships of the Achaeans, proud and insatiate of battle though you
be, nor shall you lack any of the disgrace and shame which you
have heaped upon myself. Cowardly she-wolves that you are, you
feared not the anger of dread Jove, avenger of violated
hospitality, who will one day destroy your city; you stole my
wedded wife and wickedly carried off much treasure when you were
her guest, and now you would fling fire upon our ships, and kill
our heroes. A day will come when, rage as you may, you shall be
stayed. O father Jove, you, who they say art above all, both gods
and men, in wisdom, and from whom all things that befall us do
proceed, how can you thus favour the Trojans--men so proud and
overweening, that they are never tired of fighting? All things
pall after a while--sleep, love, sweet song, and stately dance--
still these are things of which a man would surely have his fill
rather than of battle, whereas it is of battle that the Trojans
are insatiate."

So saying Menelaus stripped the blood-stained armour from the
body of Pisander, and handed it over to his men; then he again
ranged himself among those who were in the front of the fight.

Harpalion son of King Pylaemenes then sprang upon him; he had
come to fight at Troy along with his father, but he did not go
home again. He struck the middle of Menelaus's shield with his
spear but could not pierce it, and to save his life drew back
under cover of his men, looking round him on every side lest he
should be wounded. But Meriones aimed a bronze-tipped arrow at
him as he was leaving the field, and hit him on the right
buttock; the arrow pierced the bone through and through, and
penetrated the bladder, so he sat down where he was and breathed
his last in the arms of his comrades, stretched like a worm upon
the ground and watering the earth with the blood that flowed from
his wound. The brave Paphlagonians tended him with all due care;
they raised him into his chariot, and bore him sadly off to the
city of Troy; his father went also with him weeping bitterly, but
there was no ransom that could bring his dead son to life again.

Paris was deeply grieved by the death of Harpalion, who was his
host when he went among the Paphlagonians; he aimed an arrow,
therefore, in order to avenge him. Now there was a certain man
named Euchenor, son of Polyidus the prophet, a brave man and
wealthy, whose home was in Corinth. This Euchenor had set sail
for Troy well knowing that it would be the death of him, for his
good old father Polyidus had often told him that he must either
stay at home and die of a terrible disease, or go with the
Achaeans and perish at the hands of the Trojans; he chose,
therefore, to avoid incurring the heavy fine the Achaeans would
have laid upon him, and at the same time to escape the pain and
suffering of disease. Paris now smote him on the jaw under his
ear, whereon the life went out of him and he was enshrouded in
the darkness of death.

Thus then did they fight as it were a flaming fire. But Hector
had not yet heard, and did not know that the Argives were making
havoc of his men on the left wing of the battle, where the
Achaeans ere long would have triumphed over them, so vigorously
did Neptune cheer them on and help them. He therefore held on at
the point where he had first forced his way through the gates and
the wall, after breaking through the serried ranks of Danaan
warriors. It was here that the ships of Ajax and Protesilaus were
drawn up by the sea-shore; here the wall was at its lowest, and
the fight both of man and horse raged most fiercely. The
Boeotians and the Ionians with their long tunics, the Locrians,
the men of Phthia, and the famous force of the Epeans could
hardly stay Hector as he rushed on towards the ships, nor could
they drive him from them, for he was as a wall of fire. The
chosen men of the Athenians were in the van, led by Menestheus
son of Peteos, with whom were also Pheidas, Stichius, and
stalwart Bias; Meges son of Phyleus, Amphion, and Dracius
commanded the Epeans, while Medon and staunch Podarces led the
men of Phthia. Of these, Medon was bastard son to Oileus and
brother of Ajax, but he lived in Phylace away from his own
country, for he had killed the brother of his stepmother Eriopis,
the wife of Oileus; the other, Podarces, was the son of Iphiclus,
son of Phylacus. These two stood in the van of the Phthians, and
defended the ships along with the Boeotians.

Ajax son of Oileus, never for a moment left the side of Ajax, son
of Telamon, but as two swart oxen both strain their utmost at the
plough which they are drawing in a fallow field, and the sweat
steams upwards from about the roots of their horns--nothing but
the yoke divides them as they break up the ground till they reach
the end of the field--even so did the two Ajaxes stand shoulder
to shoulder by one another. Many and brave comrades followed the
son of Telamon, to relieve him of his shield when he was overcome
with sweat and toil, but the Locrians did not follow so close
after the son of Oileus, for they could not hold their own in a
hand-to-hand fight. They had no bronze helmets with plumes of
horse-hair, neither had they shields nor ashen spears, but they
had come to Troy armed with bows, and with slings of twisted wool
from which they showered their missiles to break the ranks of the
Trojans. The others, therefore, with their heavy armour bore the
brunt of the fight with the Trojans and with Hector, while the
Locrians shot from behind, under their cover; and thus the
Trojans began to lose heart, for the arrows threw them into
confusion.

The Trojans would now have been driven in sorry plight from the
ships and tents back to windy Ilius, had not Polydamas presently
said to Hector, "Hector, there is no persuading you to take
advice. Because heaven has so richly endowed you with the arts of
war, you think that you must therefore excel others in counsel;
but you cannot thus claim preeminence in all things. Heaven has
made one man an excellent soldier; of another it has made a
dancer or a singer and player on the lyre; while yet in another
Jove has implanted a wise understanding of which men reap fruit
to the saving of many, and he himself knows more about it than
any one; therefore I will say what I think will be best. The
fight has hemmed you in as with a circle of fire, and even now
that the Trojans are within the wall some of them stand aloof in
full armour, while others are fighting scattered and outnumbered
near the ships. Draw back, therefore, and call your chieftains
round you, that we may advise together whether to fall now upon
the ships in the hope that heaven may vouchsafe us victory, or to
beat a retreat while we can yet safely do so. I greatly fear that
the Achaeans will pay us their debt of yesterday in full, for
there is one abiding at their ships who is never weary of battle,
and who will not hold aloof much longer."

Thus spoke Polydamas, and his words pleased Hector well. He
sprang in full armour from his chariot and said, "Polydamas,
gather the chieftains here; I will go yonder into the fight, but
will return at once when I have given them their orders."

He then sped onward, towering like a snowy mountain, and with a
loud cry flew through the ranks of the Trojans and their allies.
When they heard his voice they all hastened to gather round
Polydamas, the excellent son of Panthous, but Hector kept on
among the foremost, looking everywhere to find Deiphobus and
prince Helenus, Adamas son of Asius, and Asius son of Hyrtacus;
living, indeed, and scatheless he could no longer find them, for
the two last were lying by the sterns of the Achaean ships, slain
by the Argives, while the others had been also stricken and
wounded by them; but upon the left wing of the dread battle he
found Alexandrus, husband of lovely Helen, cheering his men and
urging them on to fight. He went up to him and upbraided him.
"Paris," said he, "evil-hearted Paris, fair to see but woman-mad
and false of tongue, where are Deiphobus and King Helenus? Where
are Adamas son of Asius, and Asius son of Hyrtacus? Where too is
Othryoneus? Ilius is undone and will now surely fall!"

Alexandrus answered, "Hector, why find fault when there is no one
to find fault with? I should hold aloof from battle on any day
rather than this, for my mother bore me with nothing of the
coward about me. From the moment when you set our men fighting
about the ships we have been staying here and doing battle with
the Danaans. Our comrades about whom you ask me are dead;
Deiphobus and King Helenus alone have left the field, wounded
both of them in the hand, but the son of Saturn saved them alive.
Now, therefore, lead on where you would have us go, and we will
follow with right goodwill; you shall not find us fail you in so
far as our strength holds out, but no man can do more than in him
lies, no matter how willing he may be."

With these words he satisfied his brother, and the two went
towards the part of the battle where the fight was thickest,
about Cebriones, brave Polydamas, Phalces, Orthaeus, godlike
Polyphetes, Palmys, Ascanius, and Morys son of Hippotion, who had
come from fertile Ascania on the preceding day to relieve other
troops. Then Jove urged them on to fight. They flew forth like
the blasts of some fierce wind that strike earth in the van of a
thunderstorm--they buffet the salt sea into an uproar; many and
mighty are the great waves that come crashing in one after the
other upon the shore with their arching heads all crested with
foam--even so did rank behind rank of Trojans arrayed in gleaming
armour follow their leaders onward. The way was led by Hector son
of Priam, peer of murderous Mars, with his round shield before
him--his shield of ox-hides covered with plates of bronze--and
his gleaming helmet upon his temples. He kept stepping forward
under cover of his shield in every direction, making trial of the
ranks to see if they would give way before him, but he could not
daunt the courage of the Achaeans. Ajax was the first to stride
out and challenge him. "Sir," he cried, "draw near; why do you
think thus vainly to dismay the Argives? We Achaeans are
excellent soldiers, but the scourge of Jove has fallen heavily
upon us. Your heart, forsooth, is set on destroying our ships,
but we too have hands that can keep you at bay, and your own fair
town shall be sooner taken and sacked by ourselves. The time is
near when you shall pray Jove and all the gods in your flight,
that your steeds may be swifter than hawks as they raise the dust
on the plain and bear you back to your city."

As he was thus speaking a bird flew by upon his right hand, and
the host of the Achaeans shouted, for they took heart at the
omen. But Hector answered, "Ajax, braggart and false of tongue,
would that I were as sure of being son for evermore to
aegis-bearing Jove, with Queen Juno for my mother, and of being
held in like honour with Minerva and Apollo, as I am that this
day is big with the destruction of the Achaeans; and you shall
fall among them if you dare abide my spear; it shall rend your
fair body and bid you glut our hounds and birds of prey with your
fat and your flesh, as you fall by the ships of the Achaeans."

With these words he led the way and the others followed after
with a cry that rent the air, while the host shouted behind them.
The Argives on their part raised a shout likewise, nor did they
forget their prowess, but stood firm against the onslaught of the
Trojan chieftains, and the cry from both the hosts rose up to
heaven and to the brightness of Jove's presence.

BOOK XIV


NESTOR was sitting over his wine, but the cry of battle did not
escape him, and he said to the son of Aesculapius, "What, noble
Machaon, is the meaning of all this? The shouts of men fighting
by our ships grow stronger and stronger; stay here, therefore,
and sit over your wine, while fair Hecamede heats you a bath and
washes the clotted blood from off you. I will go at once to the
look-out station and see what it is all about."

As he spoke he took up the shield of his son Thrasymedes that was
lying in his tent, all gleaming with bronze, for Thrasymedes had
taken his father's shield; he grasped his redoubtable bronze-shod
spear, and as soon as he was outside saw the disastrous rout of
the Achaeans who, now that their wall was overthrown, were flying
pell-mell before the Trojans. As when there is a heavy swell upon
the sea, but the waves are dumb--they keep their eyes on the
watch for the quarter whence the fierce winds may spring upon
them, but they stay where they are and set neither this way nor
that, till some particular wind sweeps down from heaven to
determine them--even so did the old man ponder whether to make
for the crowd of Danaans, or go in search of Agamemnon. In the
end he deemed it best to go to the son of Atreus; but meanwhile
the hosts were fighting and killing one another, and the hard
bronze rattled on their bodies, as they thrust at one another
with their swords and spears.

The wounded kings, the son of Tydeus, Ulysses, and Agamemnon son
of Atreus, fell in Nestor as they were coming up from their
ships--for theirs were drawn up some way from where the fighting
was going on, being on the shore itself inasmuch as they had been
beached first, while the wall had been built behind the
hindermost. The stretch of the shore, wide though it was, did not
afford room for all the ships, and the host was cramped for
space, therefore they had placed the ships in rows one behind the
other, and had filled the whole opening of the bay between the
two points that formed it. The kings, leaning on their spears,
were coming out to survey the fight, being in great anxiety, and
when old Nestor met them they were filled with dismay. Then King
Agamemnon said to him, "Nestor son of Neleus, honour to the
Achaean name, why have you left the battle to come hither? I fear
that what dread Hector said will come true, when he vaunted among
the Trojans saying that he would not return to Ilius till he had
fired our ships and killed us; this is what he said, and now it
is all coming true. Alas! others of the Achaeans, like Achilles,
are in anger with me that they refuse to fight by the sterns of
our ships."

Then Nestor knight of Gerene, answered, "It is indeed as you say;
it is all coming true at this moment, and even Jove who thunders
from on high cannot prevent it. Fallen is the wall on which we
relied as an impregnable bulwark both for us and our fleet. The
Trojans are fighting stubbornly and without ceasing at the ships;
look where you may you cannot see from what quarter the rout of
the Achaeans is coming; they are being killed in a confused mass
and the battle-cry ascends to heaven; let us think, if counsel
can be of any use, what we had better do; but I do not advise our
going into battle ourselves, for a man cannot fight when he is
wounded."

And King Agamemnon answered, "Nestor, if the Trojans are indeed
fighting at the rear of our ships, and neither the wall nor the
trench has served us--over which the Danaans toiled so hard, and
which they deemed would be an impregnable bulwark both for us and
our fleet--I see it must be the will of Jove that the Achaeans
should perish ingloriously here, far from Argos. I knew when Jove
was willing to defend us, and I know now that he is raising the
Trojans to like honour with the gods, while us, on the other
hand, he bas bound hand and foot. Now, therefore, let us all do
as I say; let us bring down the ships that are on the beach and
draw them into the water; let us make them fast to their
mooring-stones a little way out, against the fall of night--if
even by night the Trojans will desist from fighting; we may then
draw down the rest of the fleet. There is nothing wrong in flying
ruin even by night. It is better for a man that he should fly and
be saved than be caught and killed."

Ulysses looked fiercely at him and said, "Son of Atreus, what are
you talking about? Wretch, you should have commanded some other
and baser army, and not been ruler over us to whom Jove has
allotted a life of hard fighting from youth to old age, till we
every one of us perish. Is it thus that you would quit the city
of Troy, to win which we have suffered so much hardship? Hold
your peace, lest some other of the Achaeans hear you say what no
man who knows how to give good counsel, no king over so great a
host as that of the Argives should ever have let fall from his
lips. I despise your judgement utterly for what you have been
saying. Would you, then, have us draw down our ships into the
water while the battle is raging, and thus play further into the
hands of the conquering Trojans? It would be ruin; the Achaeans
will not go on fighting when they see the ships being drawn into
the water, but will cease attacking and keep turning their eyes
towards them; your counsel, therefore, sir captain, would be our
destruction."

Agamemnon answered, "Ulysses, your rebuke has stung me to the
heart. I am not, however, ordering the Achaeans to draw their
ships into the sea whether they will or no. Someone, it may be,
old or young, can offer us better counsel which I shall rejoice
to hear."

Then said Diomed, "Such an one is at hand; he is not far to seek,
if you will listen to me and not resent my speaking though I am
younger than any of you. I am by lineage son to a noble sire,
Tydeus, who lies buried at Thebes. For Portheus had three noble
sons, two of whom, Agrius and Melas, abode in Pleuron and rocky
Calydon. The third was the knight Oeneus, my father's father, and
he was the most valiant of them all. Oeneus remained in his own
country, but my father (as Jove and the other gods ordained it)
migrated to Argos. He married into the family of Adrastus, and
his house was one of great abundance, for he had large estates of
rich corn-growing land, with much orchard ground as well, and he
had many sheep; moreover he excelled all the Argives in the use
of the spear. You must yourselves have heard whether these things
are true or no; therefore when I say well despise not my words as
though I were a coward or of ignoble birth. I say, then, let us
go to the fight as we needs must, wounded though we be. When
there, we may keep out of the battle and beyond the range of the
spears lest we get fresh wounds in addition to what we have
already, but we can spur on others, who have been indulging their
spleen and holding aloof from battle hitherto."

Thus did he speak; whereon they did even as he had said and set
out, King Agamemnon leading the way.

Meanwhile Neptune had kept no blind look-out, and came up to them
in the semblance of an old man. He took Agamemnon's right hand in
his own and said, "Son of Atreus, I take it Achilles is glad now
that he sees the Achaeans routed and slain, for he is utterly
without remorse--may he come to a bad end and heaven confound
him. As for yourself, the blessed gods are not yet so bitterly
angry with you but that the princes and counsellors of the
Trojans shall again raise the dust upon the plain, and you shall
see them flying from the ships and tents towards their city."

With this he raised a mighty cry of battle, and sped forward to
the plain. The voice that came from his deep chest was as that of
nine or ten thousand men when they are shouting in the thick of a
fight, and it put fresh courage into the hearts of the Achaeans
to wage war and do battle without ceasing.

Juno of the golden throne looked down as she stood upon a peak of
Olympus and her heart was gladdened at the sight of him who was
at once her brother and her brother-in-law, hurrying hither and
thither amid the fighting. Then she turned her eyes to Jove as he
sat on the topmost crests of many-fountained Ida, and loathed
him. She set herself to think how she might hoodwink him, and in
the end she deemed that it would be best for her to go to Ida and
array herself in rich attire, in the hope that Jove might become
enamoured of her, and wish to embrace her. While he was thus
engaged a sweet and careless sleep might be made to steal over
his eyes and senses.

She went, therefore, to the room which her son Vulcan had made
her, and the doors of which he had cunningly fastened by means of
a secret key so that no other god could open them. Here she
entered and closed the doors behind her. She cleansed all the
dirt from her fair body with ambrosia, then she anointed herself
with olive oil, ambrosial, very soft, and scented specially for
herself--if it were so much as shaken in the bronze-floored house
of Jove, the scent pervaded the universe of heaven and earth.
With this she anointed her delicate skin, and then she plaited
the fair ambrosial locks that flowed in a stream of golden
tresses from her immortal head. She put on the wondrous robe
which Minerva had worked for her with consummate art, and had
embroidered with manifold devices; she fastened it about her
bosom with golden clasps, and she girded herself with a girdle
that had a hundred tassels: then she fastened her earrings, three
brilliant pendants that glistened most beautifully, through the
pierced lobes of her ears, and threw a lovely new veil over her
head. She bound her sandals on to her feet, and when she had
arrayed herself perfectly to her satisfaction, she left her room
and called Venus to come aside and speak to her. "My dear child,"
said she, "will you do what I am going to ask of you, or will
refuse me because you are angry at my being on the Danaan side,
while you are on the Trojan?"

Jove's daughter Venus answered, "Juno, august queen of goddesses,
daughter of mighty Saturn, say what you want, and I will do it
for you at once, if I can, and if it can be done at all."

Then Juno told her a lying tale and said, "I want you to endow me
with some of those fascinating charms, the spells of which bring
all things mortal and immortal to your feet. I am going to the
world's end to visit Oceanus (from whom all we gods proceed) and
mother Tethys: they received me in their house, took care of me,
and brought me up, having taken me over from Rhaea when Jove
imprisoned great Saturn in the depths that are under earth and
sea. I must go and see them that I may make peace between them;
they have been quarrelling, and are so angry that they have not
slept with one another this long while; if I can bring them round
and restore them to one another's embraces, they will be grateful
to me and love me for ever afterwards."

Thereon laughter-loving Venus said, "I cannot and must not refuse
you, for you sleep in the arms of Jove who is our king."

As she spoke she loosed from her bosom the curiously embroidered
girdle into which all her charms had been wrought--love, desire,
and that sweet flattery which steals the judgement even of the
most prudent. She gave the girdle to Juno and said, "Take this
girdle wherein all my charms reside and lay it in your bosom. If
you will wear it I promise you that your errand, be it what it
may, will not be bootless."

When she heard this Juno smiled, and still smiling she laid the
girdle in her bosom.

Venus now went back into the house of Jove, while Juno darted
down from the summits of Olympus. She passed over Pieria and fair
Emathia, and went on and on till she came to the snowy ranges of
the Thracian horsemen, over whose topmost crests she sped without
ever setting foot to ground. When she came to Athos she went on
over the, waves of the sea till she reached Lemnos, the city of
noble Thoas. There she met Sleep, own brother to Death, and
caught him by the hand, saying, "Sleep, you who lord it alike
over mortals and immortals, if you ever did me a service in times
past, do one for me now, and I shall be grateful to you ever
after. Close Jove's keen eyes for me in slumber while I hold him
clasped in my embrace, and I will give you a beautiful golden
seat, that can never fall to pieces; my clubfooted son Vulcan
shall make it for you, and he shall give it a footstool for you
to rest your fair feet upon when you are at table."

Then Sleep answered, "Juno, great queen of goddesses, daughter of
mighty Saturn, I would lull any other of the gods to sleep
without compunction, not even excepting the waters of Oceanus
from whom all of them proceed, but I dare not go near Jove, nor
send him to sleep unless he bids me. I have had one lesson
already through doing what you asked me, on the day when Jove's
mighty son Hercules set sail from Ilius after having sacked the
city of the Trojans. At your bidding I suffused my sweet self
over the mind of aegis-bearing Jove, and laid him to rest;
meanwhile you hatched a plot against Hercules, and set the blasts
of the angry winds beating upon the sea, till you took him to the
goodly city of Cos, away from all his friends. Jove was furious
when he awoke, and began hurling the gods about all over the
house; he was looking more particularly for myself, and would
have flung me down through space into the sea where I should
never have been heard of any more, had not Night who cows both
men and gods protected me. I fled to her and Jove left off
looking for me in spite of his being so angry, for he did not
dare do anything to displease Night. And now you are again asking
me to do something on which I cannot venture."

And Juno said, "Sleep, why do you take such notions as those into
your head? Do you think Jove will be as anxious to help the
Trojans, as he was about his own son? Come, I will marry you to
one of the youngest of the Graces, and she shall be your own--
Pasithea, whom you have always wanted to marry."

Sleep was pleased when he heard this, and answered, "Then swear
it to me by the dread waters of the river Styx; lay one hand on
the bounteous earth, and the other on the sheen of the sea, so
that all the gods who dwell down below with Saturn may be our
witnesses, and see that you really do give me one of the youngest
of the Graces--Pasithea, whom I have always wanted to marry."

Juno did as he had said. She swore, and invoked all the gods of
the nether world, who are called Titans, to witness. When she had
completed her oath, the two enshrouded themselves in a thick mist
and sped lightly forward, leaving Lemnos and Imbrus behind them.
Presently they reached many-fountained Ida, mother of wild
beasts, and Lectum where they left the sea to go on by land, and
the tops of the trees of the forest soughed under the going of
their feet. Here Sleep halted, and ere Jove caught sight of him
he climbed a lofty pine-tree--the tallest that reared its head
towards heaven on all Ida. He hid himself behind the branches and
sat there in the semblance of the sweet-singing bird that haunts
the mountains and is called Chalcis by the gods, but men call it
Cymindis. Juno then went to Gargarus, the topmost peak of Ida,
and Jove, driver of the clouds, set eyes upon her. As soon as he
did so he became inflamed with the same passionate desire for her
that he had felt when they had first enjoyed each other's
embraces, and slept with one another without their dear parents
knowing anything about it. He went up to her and said, "What do
you want that you have come hither from Olympus--and that too
with neither chariot nor horses to convey you?"

Then Juno told him a lying tale and said, "I am going to the
world's end, to visit Oceanus, from whom all we gods proceed, and
mother Tethys; they received me into their house, took care of
me, and brought me up. I must go and see them that I may make
peace between them: they have been quarrelling, and are so angry
that they have not slept with one another this long time. The
horses that will take me over land and sea are stationed on the
lowermost spurs of many-fountained Ida, and I have come here from
Olympus on purpose to consult you. I was afraid you might be
angry with me later on, if I went to the house of Oceanus without
letting you know."

And Jove said, "Juno, you can choose some other time for paying
your visit to Oceanus--for the present let us devote ourselves to
love and to the enjoyment of one another. Never yet have I been
so overpowered by passion neither for goddess nor mortal woman as
I am at this moment for yourself--not even when I was in love
with the wife of Ixion who bore me Pirithous, peer of gods in
counsel, nor yet with Danae the daintily-ancled daughter of
Acrisius, who bore me the famed hero Perseus. Then there was the
daughter of Phoenix, who bore me Minos and Rhadamanthus: there
was Semele, and Alcmena in Thebes by whom I begot my lion-hearted
son Hercules, while Semele became mother to Bacchus the comforter
of mankind. There was queen Ceres again, and lovely Leto, and
yourself--but with none of these was I ever so much enamoured as
I now am with you."

Juno again answered him with a lying tale. "Most dread son of
Saturn," she exclaimed, "what are you talking about? Would you
have us enjoy one another here on the top of Mount Ida, where
everything can be seen? What if one of the ever-living gods
should see us sleeping together, and tell the others? It would be
such a scandal that when I had risen from your embraces I could
never show myself inside your house again; but if you are so
minded, there is a room which your son Vulcan has made me, and he
has given it good strong doors; if you would so have it, let us
go thither and lie down."

And Jove answered, "Juno, you need not be afraid that either god
or man will see you, for I will enshroud both of us in such a
dense golden cloud, that the very sun for all his bright piercing
beams shall not see through it."

With this the son of Saturn caught his wife in his embrace;
whereon the earth sprouted them a cushion of young grass, with
dew-bespangled lotus, crocus, and hyacinth, so soft and thick
that it raised them well above the ground. Here they laid
themselves down and overhead they were covered by a fair cloud of
gold, from which there fell glittering dew-drops.

Thus, then, did the sire of all things repose peacefully on the
crest of Ida, overcome at once by sleep and love, and he held his
spouse in his arms. Meanwhile Sleep made off to the ships of the
Achaeans, to tell earth-encircling Neptune, lord of the
earthquake. When he had found him he said, "Now, Neptune, you can
help the Danaans with a will, and give them victory though it be
only for a short time while Jove is still sleeping. I have sent
him into a sweet slumber, and Juno has beguiled him into going to
bed with her."

Sleep now departed and went his ways to and fro among mankind,
leaving Neptune more eager than ever to help the Danaans. He
darted forward among the first ranks and shouted saying,
"Argives, shall we let Hector son of Priam have the triumph of
taking our ships and covering himself with glory? This is what he
says that he shall now do, seeing that Achilles is still in
dudgeon at his ship; we shall get on very well without him if we
keep each other in heart and stand by one another. Now,
therefore, let us all do as I say. Let us each take the best and
largest shield we can lay hold of, put on our helmets, and sally
forth with our longest spears in our hands; I will lead you on,
and Hector son of Priam, rage as he may, will not dare to hold
out against us. If any good staunch soldier has only a small
shield, let him hand it over to a worse man, and take a larger
one for himself."

Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. The son of
Tydeus, Ulysses, and Agamemnon, wounded though they were, set the
others in array, and went about everywhere effecting the
exchanges of armour; the most valiant took the best armour, and
gave the worse to the worse man. When they had donned their
bronze armour they marched on with Neptune at their head. In his
strong hand he grasped his terrible sword, keen of edge and
flashing like lightning; woe to him who comes across it in the
day of battle; all men quake for fear and keep away from it.

Hector on the other side set the Trojans in array. Thereon
Neptune and Hector waged fierce war on one another--Hector on the
Trojan and Neptune on the Argive side. Mighty was the uproar as
the two forces met; the sea came rolling in towards the ships and
tents of the Achaeans, but waves do not thunder on the shore more
loudly when driven before the blast of Boreas, nor do the flames
of a forest fire roar more fiercely when it is well alight upon
the mountains, nor does the wind bellow with ruder music as it
tears on through the tops of when it is blowing its hardest, than
the terrible shout which the Trojans and Achaeans raised as they
sprang upon one another.

Hector first aimed his spear at Ajax, who was turned full towards
him, nor did he miss his aim. The spear struck him where two
bands passed over his chest--the band of his shield and that of
his silver-studded sword--and these protected his body. Hector
was angry that his spear should have been hurled in vain, and
withdrew under cover of his men. As he was thus retreating, Ajax
son of Telamon, struck him with a stone, of which there were many
lying about under the men's feet as they fought--brought there to
give support to the ships' sides as they lay on the shore. Ajax
caught up one of them and struck Hector above the rim of his
shield close to his neck; the blow made him spin round like a top
and reel in all directions. As an oak falls headlong when
uprooted by the lightning flash of father Jove, and there is a
terrible smell of brimstone--no man can help being dismayed if he
is standing near it, for a thunderbolt is a very awful thing--
even so did Hector fall to earth and bite the dust. His spear
fell from his hand, but his shield and helmet were made fast
about his body, and his bronze armour rang about him.

The sons of the Achaeans came running with a loud cry towards
him, hoping to drag him away, and they showered their darts on
the Trojans, but none of them could wound him before he was
surrounded and covered by the princes Polydamas, Aeneas, Agenor,
Sarpedon captain of the Lycians, and noble Glaucus. Of the
others, too, there was not one who was unmindful of him, and they
held their round shields over him to cover him. His comrades then
lifted him off the ground and bore him away from the battle to
the place where his horses stood waiting for him at the rear of
the fight with their driver and the chariot; these then took him
towards the city groaning and in great pain. When they reached
the ford of the fair stream of Xanthus, begotten of Immortal
Jove, they took him from off his chariot and laid him down on the
ground; they poured water over him, and as they did so he
breathed again and opened his eyes. Then kneeling on his knees he
vomited blood, but soon fell back on to the ground, and his eyes
were again closed in darkness for he was still stunned by the
blow.

When the Argives saw Hector leaving the field, they took heart
and set upon the Trojans yet more furiously. Ajax fleet son of
Oileus began by springing on Satnius son of Enops, and wounding
him with his spear: a fair naiad nymph had borne him to Enops as
he was herding cattle by the banks of the river Satnioeis. The
son of Oileus came up to him and struck him in the flank so that
he fell, and a fierce fight between Trojans and Danaans raged
round his body. Polydamas son of Panthous drew near to avenge
him, and wounded Prothoenor son of Areilycus on the right
shoulder; the terrible spear went right through his shoulder, and
he clutched the earth as he fell in the dust. Polydamas vaunted
loudly over him saying, "Again I take it that the spear has not
sped in vain from the strong hand of the son of Panthous; an
Argive has caught it in his body, and it will serve him for a
staff as he goes down into the house of Hades."

The Argives were maddened by this boasting. Ajax son of Telamon
was more angry than any, for the man had fallen close beside him;
so he aimed at Polydamas as he was retreating, but Polydamas
saved himself by swerving aside and the spear struck Archelochus
son of Antenor, for heaven counselled his destruction; it struck
him where the head springs from the neck at the top joint of the
spine, and severed both the tendons at the back of the head. His
head, mouth, and nostrils reached the ground long before his legs
and knees could do so, and Ajax shouted to Polydamas saying,
"Think, Polydamas, and tell me truly whether this man is not as
well worth killing as Prothoenor was: he seems rich, and of rich
family, a brother, it may be, or son of the knight Antenor, for
he is very like him."

But he knew well who it was, and the Trojans were greatly
angered. Acamas then bestrode his brother's body and wounded
Promachus the Boeotian with his spear, for he was trying to drag
his brother's body away. Acamas vaunted loudly over him saying,
"Argive archers, braggarts that you are, toil and suffering shall
not be for us only, but some of you too shall fall here as well
as ourselves. See how Promachus now sleeps, vanquished by my
spear; payment for my brother's blood has not been long delayed;
a man, therefore, may well be thankful if he leaves a kinsman in
his house behind him to avenge his fall."

His taunts infuriated the Argives, and Peneleos was more enraged
than any of them. He sprang towards Acamas, but Acamas did not
stand his ground, and he killed Ilioneus son of the rich
flock-master Phorbas, whom Mercury had favoured and endowed with
greater wealth than any other of the Trojans. Ilioneus was his
only son, and Peneleos now wounded him in the eye under his
eyebrows, tearing the eye-ball from its socket: the spear went
right through the eye into the nape of the neck, and he fell,
stretching out both hands before him. Peneleos then drew his
sword and smote him on the neck, so that both head and helmet
came tumbling down to the ground with the spear still sticking in
the eye; he then held up the head, as though it had been a
poppy-head, and showed it to the Trojans, vaunting over them as
he did so. "Trojans," he cried, "bid the father and mother of
noble Ilioneus make moan for him in their house, for the wife
also of Promachus son of Alegenor will never be gladdened by the
coming of her dear husband--when we Argives return with our ships
from Troy."

As he spoke fear fell upon them, and every man looked round about
to see whither he might fly for safety.

Tell me now, O Muses that dwell on Olympus, who was the first of
the Argives to bear away blood-stained spoils after Neptune lord
of the earthquake had turned the fortune of war. Ajax son of
Telamon was first to wound Hyrtius son of Gyrtius, captain of the
staunch Mysians. Antilochus killed Phalces and Mermerus, while
Meriones slew Morys and Hippotion, Teucer also killed Prothoon
and Periphetes. The son of Atreus then wounded Hyperenor shepherd
of his people, in the flank, and the bronze point made his
entrails gush out as it tore in among them; on this his life came
hurrying out of him at the place where he had been wounded, and
his eyes were closed in darkness. Ajax son of Oileus killed more
than any other, for there was no man so fleet as he to pursue
flying foes when Jove had spread panic among them.