Book 13

Zeus, when he had brought the Trojans and Hector to the ships,he left them there beside them to endure toil and sorrowunceasingly, but himself turned back his shining eyesaway, looking over the land of the horse-breeding Thraciansand the close-fighting Mysians and the proud mare-milkers,the milk-drinkers, and the Abii, most just of men.But toward Troy he no longer turned his shining eyes at all;for he did not expect that any of the immortals in his heartwould come to help either the Trojans or the Danaans.Nor did the lord Earth-shaker keep a blind watch;for he sat there marveling at the war and the battlehigh on the topmost peak of wooded Samos,Thracian Samos; for from there all Ida appeared,and the city of Priam appeared, and the ships of the Achaeans.There he sat, coming up from the sea, and he pitied the Achaeansas they were subdued by the Trojans, and he was fiercely angry with Zeus.Straightway he came down from the rugged mountain,stepping swiftly with his feet; the long mountains trembled, and the forest,beneath the immortal feet of Poseidon as he went.Three times he strode forward, and the fourth time he reached his goal,Aegae, where his glorious palace in the depths of the lakelies golden, gleaming, imperishable forever.There he came and yoked beneath his chariot the bronze-hoofed horses,swift-flying, with golden manes flowing.He put gold about his body, and took in hand a whipof gold, well-made, and stepped onto his chariot,and went driving over the waves; and the sea-beasts frolicked beneath himfrom every side out of their haunts, and they knew their lord;and the sea parted for joy; and they flewvery swiftly, and beneath the bronze axle was not wetted.And the horses with lovely hooves bore him to the ships of the Achaeans.There is a certain wide cave in the depths of the deep lake,midway between Tenedos and rugged Imbros;there Poseidon the Earth-shaker halted his horses,loosed them from the chariot, and cast before them immortal fodderto eat; and about their feet he put fetters of gold,unbreakable, unloosable, so that they might stay firmly thereawaiting their lord's return; and he went off to the host of the Achaeans.But the Trojans, like flame or a whirlwind, in throngsfollowed Hector son of Priam, straining furiously,with no battle-cry, shrilly screaming; and they hoped to seizethe ships of the Achaeans, and to slay there all the best men.But Poseidon, the Earth-holder, the Earth-shaker,roused the Argives, coming up from the deep sea,in the likeness of Calchas in body and tireless voice.He spoke first to the two Ajaxes, eager themselves:"Ajaxes, you two shall save the host of the Achaeansif you remember your valor, and not chilling fear.For elsewhere I do not fear the irresistible handsof the Trojans, who have overleapt the great wall in a throng;for the well-greaved Achaeans will hold them all.But here it is that I fear most terribly lest we suffer something,where that madman, like flame, leads on,Hector, who boasts himself to be a son of mighty Zeus.For you two, may some god put it in your heartsboth to stand firm in strength and to urge on the others;then he might be driven back from the swift ships, though he hasten,even if the Olympian himself rouses him."So spoke the Earth-holder, the Earth-shaker,and striking both with his staff, he filled them with mighty rage,and made their limbs light, their feet and their hands above.And himself, like a swift-winged hawk, rose to fly,which from a sheer, towering rock rising updarts to chase over the plain some other bird;so from them sprang Poseidon the Earth-shaker.And swift Ajax son of Oileus knew of them first,and at once spoke to Ajax son of Telamon:"Ajax, since some one of the gods who hold Olympusbids us, in the likeness of a seer, to fight beside the ships,and it is not Calchas, the prophet, the bird-reader;for the footprints behind, of feet and shins,I easily knew as he went away; for the gods are easily known.And my own heart in my dear breastis rather spurred to war and to fight,and my feet below and my hands above quiver."And Telamonian Ajax answered him and said:"So now for me too around my spear my irresistible handsquiver, and my strength is roused, and beneath my feetI am urged on with both; and I long even aloneto fight with Hector son of Priam, straining furiously."So these two spoke such things to each other,rejoicing in the joy of battle that the god had put in their hearts.Meanwhile the Earth-holder roused the Achaeans behind,who were recovering their dear hearts beside the swift ships.For their dear limbs were loosed with grievous toil,and grief arose in their hearts as they beheldthe Trojans, who had overleapt the great wall in a throng.Looking at them, they let tears fall beneath their brows;for they did not think to escape out of evil; but the Earth-shakerpassing easily among them roused the strong battalions.He came first to Teucer and Leitus, urging them,and the hero Peneleos, and Thoas, and Deipyrus,and Meriones and Antilochus, crafters of the war cry;urging these, he spoke winged words:"Shame, Argives, young men! In you, while you fight,I trust to save our ships;but if you slack from woeful war,now indeed the day appears that we be subdued by the Trojans.Ah, how great a marvel is this I see with my eyes,dread, which I once said would never come to pass —Trojans coming against our ships, who before nowwere like timid deer, which through the woodlandare the prey of jackals and leopards and wolves,straying helplessly, and there is no fight in them.So the Trojans before were unwilling to standagainst the might and hands of the Achaeans, not even a little.But now they fight far from the city, beside the hollow ships,through the cowardice of their leader and the slackness of the people,who, quarreling with him, are unwilling to defendthe swift ships, but are being slain among them.But if indeed, and altogether truly, he is the cause,the hero son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon,because he dishonored the swift-footed son of Peleus,still for us it is in no way possible to slack from war.But let us heal it quickly; the hearts of good men are healable.You no longer nobly slack from furious valor,all being the best in the host. Nor would I myselfquarrel with any man who slacks from warif he is a coward; but I am indignant with you in my heart.O friends, you will quickly do some greater evilby this slackness; but set in each of your heartsshame and indignation; for now a great quarrel has arisen.Hector, good at the war-cry, is fighting beside the ships,strong, and he has broken the gates and the long bar."So urging, the Earth-holder roused the Achaeans.And around the two Ajaxes stood battalionsstrong, which neither Ares could blame if he came among themnor Athena, rouser of hosts; for these were the best,chosen out, awaiting the Trojans and shining Hector,fence with spear to spear, shield to well-woven shield:shield pressed on shield, helmet on helmet, man on man;and the horse-crested helmets touched with their bright studsas they leaned; so thick they stood against each other.And the spears were interlaced from bold hands,shaken; and they pictured straight ahead, and strained to fight.And the Trojans thrust forward in a throng, and Hector led,straining straight ahead, like a boulder from a rock,which a winter-swollen river pushes from the brow,breaking with unspeakable rain the buttresses of the shameless rock;and high it bounds and flies, and the forest rings beneath it;and it runs securely on firmly, until it reacheslevel ground, then it rolls no more though it hasten;so Hector for a while threatened to pass right through to the sea,easily, slaying, the huts and ships of the Achaeans;but when he met the close battalions,he stopped, hard pressed; and facing him the sons of the Achaeansthrust at him with swords and two-edged spearsand pushed him from them; and he gave ground and was shaken.He shouted shrilly, crying aloud to the Trojans:"Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians fighting close,hold fast! The Achaeans will not hold me long,even though they have marshaled themselves thick in a tower-formation,but I think they will give way before my spear, if trulythe best of the gods roused me, the loud-thundering husband of Hera."So speaking he roused the might and spirit of each.And Deiphobus, greatly exulting, had come among them,son of Priam, and before him he held a shield equal on all sides,stepping lightly with his feet and advancing beneath his shield.And Meriones aimed at him with his shining spearand struck him, nor did he miss, on the shield equal on all sides,of bull's hide; but the spear did not pierce through it, but long beforethe long spear broke at the socket; and Deiphobusheld his bull's-hide shield away from him, and feared in his heartthe spear of the warlike Meriones; but that herodrew back again into the throng of his comrades, and was terribly angryat both things — at the victory and at the spear which he had broken.He went off beside the huts and ships of the Achaeansto fetch the long spear that was left in his hut.And the others fought, and an unquenchable din arose.And Teucer, son of Telamon, killed first a man,the spearman Imbrius, son of Mentor, rich in horses;he dwelt in Pedaeum before the sons of the Achaeans came,and he had a bastard daughter of Priam, Medesicaste;but when the curved ships of the Danaans came,he came back to Ilios, and was conspicuous among the Trojans,and dwelt beside Priam; and he honored him like his own children.Him the son of Telamon struck beneath the ear with his long spearand drew out the spear; and he fell like an ash treethat on the peak of a mountain seen far off,cut by bronze, brings its tender leaves to the ground;so he fell, and about him his armor clashed, bright with bronze.And Teucer rushed, eager to strip the armor.But Hector, as he rushed, hurled at him with his shining spear.But Teucer, seeing it face to face, avoided the bronze spearby a little; and Hector struck Amphimachus, son of Cteatus son of Actor,as he came into the battle, on the chest with his spear;he thudded as he fell, and his armor rang upon him.And Hector rushed to snatch the helmet fitted to the templesfrom the head of great-hearted Amphimachus.But Ajax reached out at Hector as he rushed with his shining spear;but nowhere did it touch his flesh, for all of him was coveredwith dread bronze; but he struck the boss of his shield,and pushed him with great strength; and he gave ground backwardaway from both corpses, and the Achaeans dragged them off.Amphimachus Stichius and noble Menestheus,leaders of the Athenians, carried back to the Achaean host;and the two Ajaxes, eager with furious valor, took up Imbrius,as two lions snatch a goat from beneath sharp-toothed dogsand carry it through the thick brushwood,holding it high above the ground in their jaws;so the two Ajaxes held him on high and strippedthe armor from him; and the head from the tender neckthe son of Oileus cut off in anger for Amphimachus,and whirled and hurled it like a ball through the crowd;and it fell in the dust before the feet of Hector.And then Poseidon was angry in his heartbecause his grandson had fallen in the dread battle,and he went beside the huts and ships of the Achaeansto urge on the Danaans, and to prepare woes for the Trojans.And Idomeneus, famed with the spear, met himas he came from a comrade, who had just come to him from the warstruck in the knee by the sharp bronze.His comrades carried him, and he, giving charge to the healers,was going to his hut; for he still desired to facethe battle; and lord Earth-shaker spoke to him,taking the voice of Thoas, son of Andraemon,who ruled over all Pleuron and steep Calydonamong the Aetolians, and was honored as a god by the people:"Idomeneus, counselor of the Cretans, where are your threats gone,which the sons of the Achaeans threatened against the Trojans?"And Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, answered him:"Thoas, no man now is to blame, as far as Ican judge; for we all know how to fight.No fear holds anyone with a coward's heart, nor does anyoneyielding to sloth shirk hateful war; but it must bethat so it is dear to the overweening son of Cronosthat we Achaeans perish here nameless, far from Argos.But Thoas, since you were ever steadfast in battle,and urge on another too wherever you see one slacking,so now do not cease, but give orders to each man."And Poseidon the Earth-shaker answered him:"Idomeneus, may that man never returnfrom Troy, but may he become a sport for dogs here,whoever on this day willingly slacks from the fighting.But come, take up your armor and go; it is fitting that wemake haste together, if we two may be of some use.For joined valor of men works, even of very poor men,and we two know how to fight even with good men."So speaking, the god went back into the toil of men;and Idomeneus, when he reached his well-built hut,put on his beautiful armor about his body, and took two spears,and went like a lightning flash, which the son of Cronostaking in his hand shakes from gleaming Olympus,showing a sign to mortals; and its beams are bright;so his bronze shone about his chest as he ran.And Meriones, his good squire, met himnear the hut; for he was going to fetch a bronze spear.And the might of Idomeneus spoke to him:"Meriones, son of Molus, swift of foot, dearest of my comrades,why have you come, leaving the war and the fight?Are you struck somewhere, and does the point of a weapon distress you,or have you come after me with some message? Yet I myselfdo not desire to sit in the huts, but to fight."And wise Meriones answered him:"Idomeneus, counselor of the bronze-clad Cretans,I am coming, in case some spear of yours is left in the huts,to fetch it; for we have broken the one I carried before,striking the shield of the overbearing Deiphobus."And Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, answered him:"If you wish for spears, you will find one and twentystanding in the hut against the shining wall,Trojan ones, which I take from the slain; for I do not thinkto fight standing far from enemy men.Therefore I have spears and bossed shieldsand helmets and corselets shining brightly."And wise Meriones answered him:"And in my hut too and by my black shipthere are many spoils of the Trojans; but they are not near at hand to take.For I say that I too have not forgotten my valor,but among the foremost I stand in the man-glorifying battle,whenever the strife of war has arisen.Perhaps I am unnoticed in fighting more than some otherof the bronze-clad Achaeans, but you I think know it yourself."And Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, answered him:"I know your valor, what you are like; why need you say these things?For if now beside the ships we all, the best, should be gatheredinto an ambush, where above all the valor of men is discerned,there both the coward and the brave man become manifest;for the color of the coward turns here and there,nor does the spirit in his heart allow him to sit still,but he shifts from knee to knee and settles on both feet,and his heart beats loudly in his chestas he foresees his fates, and there is a chattering of his teeth;but the color of the brave man does not turn, nor does hegreatly fear, once he has sat down in the ambush of men,but he prays at once to mingle in woeful battle.There no one could blame your might and hands.For even if you were struck while toiling or hit,the weapon would not fall on your neck from behind nor on your back,but would meet your chest or bellyas you press forward into the close fighting of the foremost.But come, let us no longer talk of these things like children,standing still, lest someone be greatly indignant.But go to the hut and take a mighty spear."So he spoke, and Meriones, equal to swift Ares,quickly took up from the hut a bronze spear,and went after Idomeneus, greatly caring for war.As blood-stained Ares goes into battle,and with him Fear, his dear son, strong and fearless,follows, who routs even a stout warrior —so these two were arming to go from Thrace against the Ephyri,or against the great-hearted Phlegyans; and the twodid not hear both sides, but they gave glory to one side.Such were Meriones and Idomeneus, leaders of men,as they went into battle, helmeted in blazing bronze.And Meriones spoke first to him:"Son of Deucalion, where then do you intend to plunge into the crowd?On the right of the whole army, or in the middle,or on the left? For I do not think anywhere soare the long-haired Achaeans lacking in war."And Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, answered him:"In the middle of the ships there are others to defend,the two Ajaxes and Teucer, who is best of the Achaeansin archery, and good also in the standing battle;they will drive him back to satiety, though he hasten for war,Hector son of Priam, even though he be very strong.Hard will it be for him, though he strain to fight,to conquer the might and irresistible hands of those menand burn the ships, unless the son of Cronos himselfcasts a blazing brand upon the swift ships.But to a man great Telamonian Ajax would not yield,though he be mortal and eat the grain of Demeterand be breakable by bronze and by great stones.Nor would he give way to Achilles, breaker of men,at least in standing fight; but in running there is no way to rival him.So for us, hold to the left of the army, so that we soonmay see whether we will give glory to someone, or someone to us."So he spoke, and Meriones, equal to swift Ares,began to go, until they came through the host where he ordered,and these, when they saw Idomeneus like flame in valor,him and his squire with their cunningly-wrought armor,calling through the crowd, all advanced upon him;and a common strife arose at the sterns of the ships.As when under shrill winds the storm-blasts rushon a day when most dust is about the roads,and they raise together a great cloud of dust,so their battle came together, and they strained in their heartsto slay one another in the crowd with sharp bronze.And the man-destroying battle bristled with spearslong, which they held, flesh-cutting; and the eyes were blindedby the bronze gleam from the shining helmetsand the newly-whetted corselets and the bright shieldsas they came together; very stout-hearted would he bewho then rejoiced at the sight of the toil, and did not grieve.And the two mighty sons of Cronos, thinking apart,were devising woeful pains for the heroic men.Zeus indeed willed victory for the Trojans and Hector,honoring Achilles swift of foot; nor did he at allwish the Achaean host to perish before Ilios,but he honored Thetis and her strong-hearted son.And Poseidon, going among them, roused the Argives,secretly rising up out of the grey sea; for he was grievedthat they were subdued by the Trojans, and was fiercely angry with Zeus.Aye, truly the two had one birth and one fatherland,but Zeus was born earlier and knew more.Therefore he shunned open defense,but ever secretly roused them through the host in the likeness of a man.And these, entwining the bondof strong strife and equal war, stretched it over both sides,unbreakable and unloosable, which loosed the knees of many.Then Idomeneus, though grey in the middle, commanding the Danaans,sprang upon the Trojans and roused them to flight.For he killed Othryoneus, who was in Cabesus,who had just come for the glory of war,and asked for the fairest in form of the daughters of Priam,Cassandra, without bride-price, and promised a great deed:to drive the sons of the Achaeans from Troy against their will.And the old man Priam promised and noddedto give her; and he fought trusting in the promise.And Idomeneus aimed at him with his shining spear,and struck him, hitting him as he stepped high; nor did the bronze corseletwhich he wore protect him, but the spear fixed in the middle of his belly.He thudded as he fell; and Idomeneus boasted and spoke:"Othryoneus, above all mortal men I praise you,if indeed you will fulfill all that you promisedto Dardanian Priam; and he promised you his daughter.And we too would fulfill these promises for you,and give you the fairest in form of the daughters of Atreus' son,bringing her from Argos to marry, if with usyou sack the well-built citadel of Ilios.But come, let us make an agreement beside the sea-faring shipsabout the marriage, for we are no bad bride-bringers."So speaking, the hero Idomeneus dragged him by the footthrough the strong battle; and Asius came to help him,on foot before his horses; and the charioteer, his squire,ever held his breath over his shoulders; and he desired in his heartto strike Idomeneus; but he struck him first with his spearin the throat beneath the chin, and drove the bronze straight through.And he fell as when some oak falls or a black poplaror a tall pine, which in the mountains craftsmen mencut down with newly-whetted axes to make a ship;so he lay stretched before the horses and the chariot,bellowing, gripping the bloody dust.And his charioteer was struck from the wits he had before,nor did he dare to avoid the hands of the enemyand turn back his horses, but Antilochus, staunch in battle,struck him through the middle with his spear, and it did not protect him,the bronze corselet which he wore, but he fixed it in the middle of his belly.And he, gasping, fell from the well-made chariot,and Antilochus, son of great-hearted Nestor, drove the horsesout from the Trojans to the well-greaved Achaeans.And Deiphobus came very near to Idomeneus,grieving for Asius, and hurled with his shining spear.But he, seeing it face to face, avoided the bronze spear,Idomeneus; for he crouched beneath his shield equal on all sides,which he carried made of bull's hides and shining bronze,cunningly wrought, fitted with two rims.Under it he crouched all, and the bronze spear flew over,and the hide shield rang as the spear grazed over it;nor did he send it altogether in vain from his heavy hand,but he struck Hippasus' son Hypsenor, shepherd of the people,in the liver under the midriff, and straightway loosed his knees.And Deiphobus boasted terribly, shouting loud:"Indeed Asius now does not lie unavenged, but I saythat even as he goes to Hades, the strong gate-keeper,he will rejoice in his heart, since I gave him an escort."So he spoke, and grief came upon the Argives at his boast,and most of all it stirred the spirit of the warlike Antilochus;but even grieving he did not neglect his comrade,but rushing up he bestrode him and covered him with his shield.Then two trusty comrades, stooping beneath him,Mecisteus, son of Echius, and noble Alastor,carried him to the hollow ships, groaning heavily.But Idomeneus did not cease from his great fury; ever he stroveeither to cover some Trojan in the dark nightor himself to fall with a thud, warding ruin from the Achaeans.There the dear son of Aesyetes, nurtured by Zeus,the hero Alcathous — he was the son-in-law of Anchises,and had married the eldest of his daughters, Hippodameia,whom her father and her queenly mother loved heartilyin the hall; for she surpassed all of her age-matesin beauty and in handiwork and in mind; therefore it wasthat the best man in broad Troy married her.Him then Poseidon subdued beneath Idomeneus,charming his shining eyes and fettering his glorious limbs;for he could neither flee backward nor dodge aside,but as a pillar or a tree with high leavesstands motionless, so the hero Idomeneus struck him in the middle of the chest with his spear,and broke about him the tunicof bronze which before had warded destruction from his flesh.Then he cried shrilly, gasping about the spear.He fell with a thud, and the spear was fixed in his heart,which, as it leapt, kept shaking even the butt-endof the spear; for then mighty Ares let loose his fury.And Idomeneus boasted terribly, shouting aloud:"Deiphobus, do we then reckon it a thing worth anythingthat three be killed for one? For you yourself boast so.Wretch, come, stand against me yourself,so that you may see what manner of son of Zeus has come here,who first begot Minos as guardian of Crete;and Minos again begot a blameless son, Deucalion;and Deucalion begot me, a lord over many menin broad Crete; and now ships have brought me herefor evil to you and your father and the other Trojans."So he spoke, and Deiphobus pondered two ways in his mind,whether he should take as his comrade somewhere one of the great-hearted Trojans,retiring back, or make trial even alone.And as he thought, it seemed to him betterto go to Aeneas; and he found him standing last in the throng;for he was ever angry with noble Priambecause, though he was valiant among men, he did not honor him at all.And standing near him he spoke winged words:"Aeneas, counselor of the Trojans, now above all must youdefend your sister's husband, if any kinship touches you.But come, let us defend Alcathous, who before now,being your kin, reared you in his halls when you were small.Him has Idomeneus, famed with the spear, stripped of his armor."So he spoke, and roused the spirit in his breast,and he went after Idomeneus, greatly caring for war.But fear did not seize Idomeneus like a tender child,but he waited as when a boar in the mountains, trusting in his strength,waits for the great onrush of men coming upon himin a lonely place, and his back bristles above,and his two eyes shine with fire; and he whetshis teeth, eager to ward off dogs and men;so Idomeneus, famed with the spear, waited and did not give ground,as Aeneas came on to help; and he called to his comrades,looking at Ascalaphus and Aphareus and Deipyrus,and Meriones and Antilochus, devisers of the war-cry;urging these he spoke winged words:"Come, friends, and stand by me though I am alone; and I dread terriblyAeneas swift of foot, who comes against me,who is very strong in battle to slay men;and he has the flower of youth, which is the greatest strength.For if we were of one age and of this spirit,he would quickly carry off great victory, or I would."So he spoke, and all of them, having one spirit in their hearts,stood close beside him, leaning their shields against their shoulders.And Aeneas on the other side called to his comrades,looking at Deiphobus and Paris and noble Agenor,who were leaders of the Trojans along with him; and thenthe people followed, as sheep follow after the ramto drink from the pasture; and the shepherd rejoices in his heart;so the heart in Aeneas' breast rejoicedwhen he saw the throng of people following after him.And they rushed hand to hand around Alcathouswith their long spears; and about their chests the bronzerang terribly as they aimed at one another through the throng;and two men, warlike beyond the others,Aeneas and Idomeneus, equal to Ares,strove to cut each other's flesh with pitiless bronze.And Aeneas cast his spear first at Idomeneus;but he, seeing it face to face, avoided the bronze spear,and the point of Aeneas, quivering, went into the ground,since it sprang in vain from his sturdy hand.And Idomeneus struck Oenomaus in the middle of the belly,and broke the plate of his corselet, and through his guts the bronzedrew breath; and he fell in the dust and clutched the earth with his palm.And Idomeneus from the corpse the far-shadowing speardrew out, but could no longer strip the rest of the fine armorfrom his shoulders; for he was pressed hard by missiles.For his limbs of foot were no longer steady when he rushed,nor could he rush after his own spear, nor dodge a weapon.So in the close fight he warded off the pitiless day,but his feet no longer bore him swiftly to flee from war.And as he went off step by step, Deiphobus cast at him with his shining spear— for he held a constant grudge against him always.But he missed even then, and struck Ascalaphus with his spear,the son of Enyalius; and through his shoulder the mighty spearheld fast; and he fell in the dust and clutched the earth with his palm.Nor had mighty Ares, the loud-shouting, yet learnedthat his own son had fallen in the strong battle,but he sat on the top of Olympus beneath the golden clouds,held back by the will of Zeus, where the otherimmortal gods were also held back from the war.And they rushed hand to hand around Ascalaphus;and Deiphobus snatched from Ascalaphus his shining helmet,but Meriones, equal to swift Ares,leapt on him and struck his arm with his spear, and from his handthe hollow-eyeballed helmet fell to the ground with a clang.And Meriones sprang out again like a vultureand drew the mighty spear out of the upper arm,and gave back again into the throng of his comrades. And Polites,his own brother, stretching his arms about his middle,led him out of the ill-sounding war, until he came to the swift horses,which stood behind the battle and the war for him,with their charioteer and the richly-worked chariot;and they bore him toward the city, groaning heavily,in his torment; and blood ran down from the newly-wounded arm.And the others fought, and an unquenchable din arose.There Aeneas, springing upon Aphareus, son of Caletor,struck him with his sharp spear on the throat, as he turned toward him;his head slumped to one side, and over him his shield was pressedand his helmet, and about him death, the destroyer of life, was poured.And Antilochus, watching Thoon as he turned about,sprang on him and wounded him, and cut away the whole veinthat runs up the back and reaches the neck right through;that he cut away entire; and he fell on his back in the dust,stretching out both his hands to his dear comrades.And Antilochus sprang up and took the armor from his shoulders,glancing around; and the Trojans standing about, one from one side,kept striking his broad, richly-dappled shield, but could notscore the tender flesh within with the pitiless bronzeof Antilochus; for Poseidon the Earth-shakerwas guarding the son of Nestor even amid many missiles.For he was never away from the foes, but among themhe kept turning; nor was his spear ever still, but everit whirled, shaken; and he was minded in his hearteither to cast at someone, or to rush in close.But his aiming through the throng did not escape Adamas,son of Asius, who wounded him in the middle of his shield with sharp bronze,rushing in close; but Poseidon of the dark-blue hair blunted the pointfor him, grudging him his life.And one half of it stayed there like a fire-burnt stakein the shield of Antilochus, and the other half lay on the ground;and he gave back into the throng of his comrades, avoiding his doom.And Meriones, following after him as he went, struck him with his spearbetween the groin and the navel, where most of allAres is grievous to wretched mortals.There he fixed his spear in him; and he, writhing about the spear,struggled as when a bull, whom in the mountains herdsmenlead away by force, bound with ropes, though he is unwilling;so he, struck, struggled a little while, not very long,until the hero Meriones came near and drew the spearout of his flesh; and darkness covered his eyes.And Helenus struck Deipyrus near the temple with his great Thracian swordand knocked the helmet from his head.It fell to the ground, thrown aside, and one of the Achaeansfighting brought it under his feet as it rolled;and the dark night covered his eyes.And grief seized Menelaus, good at the war-cry, son of Atreus;and he went, threatening Helenus, the heroic lord,brandishing his sharp spear; and he drew back the arm of his bow.And the two together, the one with his sharp spearstrove to cast, the other with an arrow from the bowstring.The son of Priam struck him then with an arrow on the chest,on the plate of his corselet, and the bitter arrow flew off.As when from a broad winnowing-fan over a great threshing-floorblack-skinned beans or chickpeas leapunder the shrill wind and the winnower's urgency,so from the corselet of glorious Menelausthe bitter arrow, thrown far off, flew away.And Menelaus, good at the war-cry, son of Atreus, struckthe hand with which he held the well-smoothed bow; and into the bowthe bronze spear was driven right through his hand.And he gave back into the throng of his comrades, avoiding his doom,letting his hand hang down; and the ashen spear dragged along.And great-hearted Agenor drew it from his hand,and bound up the hand itself with a well-twisted band of sheep's wool,a sling, which his attendant carried for the shepherd of the people.And Peisander went straight at glorious Menelaus;but an evil fate was leading him, to meet his end in deathat your hands, Menelaus, in the dread battle.And when the two had come near, going at each other,the son of Atreus missed, and his spear turned aside from him,and Peisander struck the shield of glorious Menelaus,but could not drive the bronze through;for the broad shield held, and the spear was broken at the socket;and he rejoiced in his heart and hoped for victory.And the son of Atreus drew his silver-studded swordand sprang at Peisander; and he took from under his shield a fineaxe of good bronze, on a handle of olive wood,long and well-polished; and at the same moment they came at each other.So the one struck the boss of his horse-haired helmetat the top, just below the crest itself, and the other struck him on the foreheadabove the tip of the nose, as he came on; the bones cracked, and his two eyesbloody fell to the ground in the dust beside his feet,and he doubled up as he fell; and he set his heel on his chestand stripped his armor, and spoke a boasting word:"You will surely leave the ships of the swift-horsed Danaans so,overbearing Trojans, insatiate of the dread war-cry,not lacking in other outrage and shamewith which you outraged me, you evil dogs, nor in your heartsdid you fear the harsh wrath of Zeus who thunders mightily,the god of hosts, who will one day destroy your steep city;who carried off my wedded wife and many possessionsin vain on your ships, when you had been entertained by her;and now again you rage to cast deadly fire on the sea-faring shipsand to kill the Achaean heroes.But somewhere you will be checked, even though you hasten for war.Father Zeus, they say that you are above others in your mind,over men and gods; and from you all these things come.How great is the favor you grant to violent men,to the Trojans, whose fury is always reckless, and they cannotbe sated with the battle-cry of impartial war.Of all things there is satiety — of sleep and of loveand of sweet song and of blameless dancing —of which a man desires rather to have his fillthan of war; but the Trojans are insatiate of battle."So saying, the blameless Menelaus stripped the bloody armorfrom his flesh and gave it to his comrades,and he himself went back again and mingled with the foremost fighters.There the son of king Pylaemenes sprang at him,Harpalion, who followed his dear father to fightto Troy, and never came back again to his native land;he then struck the middle of the son of Atreus' shield with his spearfrom close by, but could not drive the bronze through;and he gave back into the throng of his comrades, avoiding his doom,glancing everywhere lest someone graze his flesh with bronze.And Meriones sent a bronze-headed arrow at him as he went,and struck him on the right buttock; and the arrowpassed right through the bladder beneath the bone.And sitting down there in the arms of his dear comradeshe breathed out his life; and like a worm on the groundhe lay stretched out; and black blood flowed and wet the earth.The great-hearted Paphlagonians tended him,and lifting him onto a chariot they brought him to holy Ilios,grieving; and their father went with them, shedding tears,and there was no vengeance for his dead son.And Paris was greatly angered in his spirit at his being slain;for he was his guest-friend among the many Paphlagonians;angered for him he sent forth a bronze-headed arrow.There was a certain Euchenor, son of the seer Polyidus,wealthy and noble, dwelling in a house at Corinth,who, knowing well his deadly fate, had embarked on a ship;for often the good old man Polyidus had told himthat he would perish of a grievous sickness in his own halls,or be subdued by the Trojans among the Achaean ships;so he at once avoided the grievous penalty that the Achaeans would bringand the hateful sickness, lest he suffer pain in his heart.Him Paris struck below the jaw and the ear; and quickly his lifewent from his limbs, and hateful darkness seized him.So they fought in the likeness of blazing fire;but Hector, dear to Zeus, had not learned, nor did he know at all,that on the left of the ships his people were being slainby the Argives. And quickly glory would have been the Achaeans',for such was the Earth-holder, the Earth-shaker,urging on the Argives, and himself defending them with his strength;but he held on where he had first leapt over the gates and the wall,breaking through the close ranks of the Danaans' shield-bearers,where were the ships of Ajax and of Protesilaus,drawn up on the shore of the grey sea; and above thema wall had been built, the lowest there, where most of allthey and their horses came thronging in the fight.There the Boeotians and the long-robed Ioniansand Locrians and Phthians and the glorious Epeianswith eager haste held him as he rushed on the ships, but could notpush noble Hector, like a flame, away from them;these were the picked men of the Athenians; and among themMenestheus, son of Peteos, led, and with him followedPheidas and Stichius and good Bias; and of the EpeiansMeges, son of Phyleus, and Amphion and Dracius;and before the Phthians, Medon and Podarces, staunch in battle.Now the one was a bastard son of the divine Oileus,Medon, the brother of Ajax; but he dweltin Phylace, far from his native land, having killed a man,the kinsman of his stepmother Eriopis, whom Oileus had married;and the other was the son of Iphiclus, the son of Phylacus.These, armed before the great-hearted Phthians,fought alongside the Boeotians, defending the ships;and Ajax, the swift son of Oileus, no longer at allstood apart from Ajax son of Telamon, not even a little,but as in a fallow field two wine-dark oxen pull a jointed ploughwith one spirit; and about themmuch sweat springs up at the base of their horns;and the well-polished yoke alone keeps them apartas they strain down the furrow, and it cuts the edge of the field;so the two stood firmly, stepping side by side.Yet for the son of Telamon many and goodpeople followed as comrades, who took up his shield for himwhenever weariness and sweat came to his knees.And the great-hearted son of Oileus was not followed by the Locrians;for their dear heart did not hold firm in close battle;for they had no bronze-crested helmets plumed with horse-hair,nor had they round shields and ashen spears,but trusting in their bows and well-twisted slings of sheep's woolthey followed along to Ilios; and with theseshooting thick and fast they broke the ranks of the Trojans.So then the one group in front, with their cunningly-wrought armor,fought against the Trojans and bronze-helmed Hector,and the others shot from behind and were unseen; nor did the Trojansremember their fighting spirit; for the arrows threw them into confusion.Then in sorry wise from the ships and the hutsthe Trojans would have withdrawn toward windy Ilios,had not Polydamas come up and spoken to bold Hector:"Hector, you are impossible to persuade with good counsel.Because a god has given you beyond others the works of war,therefore you wish to be wiser in counsel than others too;but you cannot yourself take all things at once.To one man the god has given the works of war,to another dancing, to another the lyre and song;and in another's breast Zeus the wide-thundering puts a mindthat is good, and many men profit from it,and it has saved many, and the man himself knows it best.But I will say how it seems to me best:for on every side the crown of war blazes around you;and the great-hearted Trojans, since they have crossed the wall,some stand apart with their armor, and others fight,fewer against more, scattered among the ships.But fall back and call all the best men here;then we could consider the whole plan,whether we should fall upon the many-benched shipsif the god is willing to give victory, or elsecome away from the ships unharmed. For I at leastfear lest the Achaeans exact the debt of yesterday,since beside the ships there waits a man insatiate of war,whom I think will now not hold back from battle at all."So spoke Polydamas, and his blameless word pleased Hector,and at once he leapt down from his chariot to the ground in his armorand spoke to him winged words:"Polydamas, do you hold all the best men here,and I will go there and face the war;and I will come back quickly once I have given them good orders."So he spoke, and set out like a snow-clad mountain,crying aloud, and flew through the Trojans and their allies.And they all hurried to Polydamas, the blameless son of Panthous,when they heard the voice of Hector.And he went among the foremost fighters, seeking Deiphobus and the strength of lord Helenusand Adamas, son of Asius, and Asius, son of Hyrtacus,in case he might find them anywhere.But he found them no longer at all unharmed or undestroyed;rather, some of them lay at the Achaeans' ship-sterns,having lost their lives by the hands of the Argives,and others were at the wall, struck and wounded.And he quickly found, on the left of the tearful battle,noble Alexandrus, the husband of fair-haired Helen,heartening his comrades and urging them to fight,and standing near he addressed him with shameful words:"Evil Paris, best in form, mad after women, deceiver,where are Deiphobus and the strength of lord Helenusand Adamas, son of Asius, and Asius, son of Hyrtacus?And where is Othryoneus? Now all steep Ilioshas perished utterly; now your sheer destruction is certain."And Alexandrus, like a god, answered him:"Hector, since your heart is set on blaming the blameless,at some other time I might rather draw back from war— though my mother did not bear me utterly without strength;for since the time you roused the battle of our comrades beside the ships,from that time we here have kept company with the Danaansunceasingly; but comrades have been killed whom you ask after.I think that Deiphobus and the strength of lord Helenushave gone off, struck with long spears,both of them in the arm; and the son of Cronos warded off their death.But now lead on wherever your heart and spirit bid you;and we will follow eagerly with you, and I say that we shall notfall short in valor, as far as strength is present.But one cannot fight beyond his strength, even if he hasten."So he spoke, and the hero persuaded his brother's heart;and they went where the battle and the din were greatest,around Cebriones and blameless Polydamas,Phalces and Orthaeus and godlike Polyphites,and Palmys and Ascanius and Morys, son of Hippotion,who had come from fertile Ascania as relief troopson the day before; and then Zeus roused them to fight.And they went, like the blast of grievous winds,which beneath the thunder of father Zeus comes down to the plain,and with a wondrous roar mingles with the sea; and in it manysurging waves of the loud-roaring sea,arching and white-crested, one before and others after;so the Trojans, some arrayed before and others after,flashing with bronze, followed along with their leaders.And Hector led them, like Ares, the bane of mortals,son of Priam; and he held before him his shield, equal on all sides,thick with hides, and much bronze was hammered upon it;and about his temples his shining helmet shook.And on every side he tried, stepping forward, to test the ranks,to see whether they would give way to him as he advanced beneath his shield;but he did not confuse the spirit in the breasts of the Achaeans.And Ajax was the first to challenge him, striding with long steps:"Wretch, come near; why do you frighten the Argives so for nothing?We are not unacquainted with battle,but we Achaeans have been subdued by the evil whip of Zeus.Surely your heart hopes somewhere to sackthe ships; but hands to defend them are ready for us too.Truly your well-peopled city would far soonerbe taken and sacked by our hands.And I say that for you yourself the time is near when, as you flee,you will pray to father Zeus and the other immortalsthat your fair-maned horses may be swifter than falcons,horses which will carry you to the city, raising dust over the plain."As he spoke, a bird flew by on the right,an eagle soaring high; and the Achaean host shouted aloudencouraged by the omen; and glorious Hector answered:"Ajax, blundering, loud-boasting, what a thing you have said!If only I were so surely a son of aegis-bearing Zeusfor all my days, and queenly Hera had borne me,and I were honored as Athena and Apollo are honored,as surely as this day brings evil to the Argives,to them all, and you too will appear among them, if you dareto await my long spear, which will rend your lily-bright skinand you will glut the dogs and birds of the Trojanswith your fat and flesh, fallen beside the ships of the Achaeans."So speaking he led the way, and they followed with himwith a wondrous cry, and the host shouted behind him.And the Argives shouted on the other side, and did not forgettheir valor, but awaited the best of the Trojans coming on.And the cry of both went up to the upper air and the light of Zeus.

Zeus, when he had brought the Trojans and Hector close to the ships,he left them there beside the ships to endure toil and sorrowwithout ceasing, but he himself turned his shining eyes away again,looking off toward the land of the horse-breeding Thraciansand the close-fighting Mysians and the proud mare-milkers,the milk-drinkers, and the Abii, the most just of men.But toward Troy he no longer turned his shining eyes at all;for he did not expect in his heart that any of the immortalswould come to help either the Trojans or the Danaans.Nor did the lord Earth-shaker keep a blind watch;for he sat there in wonder at the war and the battlehigh on the topmost peak of wooded Samos,Thracian Samos; for from there all Ida was visible,and the city of Priam was visible, and the ships of the Achaeans.There he sat, coming up out of the sea, and he pitied the Achaeansas they were being overcome by the Trojans, and he was fiercely angry with Zeus.At once he came down from the rugged mountain,stepping swiftly with his feet; the long mountains trembled, and the forest,beneath the immortal feet of Poseidon as he went.Three times he strode forward, and with the fourth stride he reached his goal,Aegae, where his glorious palace in the depths of the lakelies golden, gleaming, imperishable forever.There he came and yoked beneath his chariot the bronze-hoofed horses,swift-flying, with golden manes flowing.He put gold about his body, and took in his hand a whipof gold, well-made, and stepped onto his chariot,and went driving over the waves; and the sea-beasts played beneath himfrom every side out of their hiding places, and they knew their lord;and the sea parted for joy; and the horses flewvery swiftly, and the bronze axle beneath was not wetted.And the horses with lovely hooves carried him to the ships of the Achaeans.There is a certain wide cave in the depths of the deep lake,halfway between Tenedos and rugged Imbros;there Poseidon the Earth-shaker halted his horses,loosed them from the chariot, and threw before them immortal fodderto eat; and about their feet he put fetters of gold,unbreakable, unloosable, so that they would stay firmly therewaiting for their lord's return; and he went off to the host of the Achaeans.But the Trojans, like flame or a whirlwind, in throngsfollowed Hector son of Priam, straining furiously,with no battle-cry, screaming shrilly; and they hoped to seizethe ships of the Achaeans and to kill there all the best men.But Poseidon, the Earth-holder, the Earth-shaker,roused the Argives, coming up from the deep sea,in the likeness of Calchas in body and tireless voice.He spoke first to the two Ajaxes, who were eager themselves:"Ajaxes, you two shall save the host of the Achaeansif you remember your valor and do not yield to chilling fear.For elsewhere I do not fear the irresistible handsof the Trojans, who have leapt over the great wall in a throng;for the well-greaved Achaeans will hold them all.But it is here that I fear most terribly that we may suffer something,where that madman, like flame, leads the way,Hector, who boasts that he is a son of mighty Zeus.For you two, may some god put it in your heartsboth to stand firm in strength and to urge on the others;then he might be driven back from the swift ships, though he hurry,even if the Olympian himself urges him on."So spoke the Earth-holder, the Earth-shaker,and striking both with his staff he filled them with mighty rage,and made their limbs light, their feet and their hands above all.And he himself, like a swift-winged hawk, rose to fly,which from a sheer, towering rock rising updarts to chase over the plain some other bird;so from them sprang Poseidon the Earth-shaker.And swift Ajax son of Oileus was aware of him first,and at once he spoke to Ajax son of Telamon:"Ajax, since some one of the gods who hold Olympusurges us, in the likeness of a seer, to fight beside the ships,and it is not Calchas, the prophet, the reader of birds;for the footprints behind, of feet and shins,I easily recognized as he went away; for the gods are easily known.And my own heart in my dear breastis rather spurred to war and to fight,and my feet below and my hands above are quivering."And Telamonian Ajax answered him and said:"So now for me too, around my spear, my irresistible handsare quivering, and my strength is roused, and beneath my feetI am urged on with both; and I long even aloneto fight with Hector son of Priam, straining furiously."So these two spoke such things to each other,rejoicing in the joy of battle that the god had put in their hearts.Meanwhile the Earth-holder roused the Achaeans behind them,who were recovering their dear hearts beside the swift ships.For their dear limbs were loosed with grievous toil,and grief arose in their hearts as they looked atthe Trojans, who had leapt over the great wall in a throng.Looking at them, they let tears fall beneath their brows;for they did not expect to escape out of the evil; but the Earth-shakerpassing easily among them roused the strong battalions.He came first to Teucer and Leitus, urging them on,and the hero Peneleos, and Thoas, and Deipyrus,and Meriones and Antilochus, devisers of the war-cry;urging these, he spoke winged words:"Shame, Argives, young men! In you, while you fight,I trust to save our ships;but if you slack from the woeful war,now indeed the day appears when we shall be overcome by the Trojans.Ah, what a great marvel I see with my eyes,a dreadful one, which I once said would never come to pass —Trojans coming against our ships, who before nowwere like timid deer, which through the woodlandare the prey of jackals and leopards and wolves,straying helplessly, and there is no fight in them.So the Trojans before were unwilling to standagainst the might and the hands of the Achaeans, not even a little.But now they fight far from the city, beside the hollow ships,through the cowardice of their leader and the slackness of the people,who, quarreling with him, are unwilling to defendthe swift ships, but are being killed among them.But if indeed, and altogether truly, he is the cause,the hero son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon,because he dishonored the swift-footed son of Peleus,still for us it is in no way possible to slack from war.But let us heal it quickly; the hearts of good men can be healed.You no longer nobly slack from furious valor,all of you being the best in the host. Nor would I myselfquarrel with any man who slacks from warif he is a coward; but I am indignant with you in my heart.Friends, you will quickly do some greater evilby this slackness; but set in each of your heartsshame and indignation; for now a great quarrel has arisen.Hector, good at the war-cry, is fighting beside the ships,strong, and he has broken the gates and the long bar."So urging them, the Earth-holder roused the Achaeans.And around the two Ajaxes stood battalionsso strong that neither Ares could blame them if he came among themnor Athena, rouser of hosts; for these were the best,chosen out, awaiting the Trojans and shining Hector,fence with spear against spear, shield against well-woven shield:shield pressed on shield, helmet on helmet, man on man;and the horse-crested helmets touched with their bright studsas they leaned; so thick they stood against each other.And the spears were interlaced from bold hands,shaken; and they looked straight ahead and strained to fight.And the Trojans thrust forward in a throng, and Hector led them,straining straight ahead, like a boulder from a rock,which a winter-swollen river pushes from the brow,breaking with unspeakable rain the buttresses of the shameless rock;and high it bounds and flies, and the forest rings beneath it;and it runs securely on firmly, until it reacheslevel ground, then it rolls no more though it hurry;so Hector for a while threatened to pass right through to the sea,easily, killing, the huts and ships of the Achaeans;but when he met the close battalions,he stopped, hard pressed; and facing him the sons of the Achaeansthrust at him with swords and two-edged spearsand pushed him from them; and he gave ground and was shaken.He shouted shrilly, crying aloud to the Trojans:"Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians fighting close,hold fast! The Achaeans will not hold me long,even though they have marshaled themselves thick in a tower-formation,but I think they will give way before my spear, if trulythe best of the gods roused me, the loud-thundering husband of Hera."So speaking he roused the might and spirit of each.And Deiphobus, greatly exulting, had come among them,son of Priam, and before him he held a shield equal on all sides,stepping lightly with his feet and advancing beneath his shield.And Meriones aimed at him with his shining spearand struck him, nor did he miss, on the shield equal on all sides,of bull's hide; but the spear did not pierce through it, but long beforethe long spear broke at the socket; and Deiphobusheld his bull's-hide shield away from him, and feared in his heartthe spear of the warlike Meriones; but that herodrew back again into the throng of his comrades, and was terribly angryat both things — at the victory and at the spear which he had broken.He went off beside the huts and ships of the Achaeansto fetch the long spear that was left in his hut.And the others fought, and an unquenchable din arose.And Teucer, son of Telamon, killed a man first,the spearman Imbrius, son of Mentor, rich in horses;he lived in Pedaeum before the sons of the Achaeans came,and he had a bastard daughter of Priam, Medesicaste;but when the curved ships of the Danaans came,he came back to Ilios, and was conspicuous among the Trojans,and lived beside Priam; and he honored him like his own children.Him the son of Telamon struck beneath the ear with his long spearand drew out the spear; and he fell like an ash treethat on the peak of a mountain seen far off,cut by bronze, brings its tender leaves to the ground;so he fell, and about him his armor clashed, bright with bronze.And Teucer rushed forward, eager to strip the armor.But Hector, as he rushed, hurled at him with his shining spear.But Teucer, seeing it face to face, avoided the bronze spearby a little; and Hector struck Amphimachus, son of Cteatus son of Actor,as he came into the battle, on the chest with his spear;he thudded as he fell, and his armor rang upon him.And Hector rushed to snatch the helmet fitted to the templesfrom the head of great-hearted Amphimachus.But Ajax reached out at Hector as he rushed with his shining spear;but nowhere did it touch his flesh, for all of him was coveredwith dread bronze; but he struck the boss of his shield,and pushed him with great strength; and he gave ground backwardaway from both corpses, and the Achaeans dragged them off.Amphimachus Stichius and noble Menestheus,leaders of the Athenians, carried back to the Achaean host;and the two Ajaxes, eager with furious valor, took up Imbrius,as two lions snatch a goat from beneath sharp-toothed dogsand carry it through the thick brushwood,holding it high above the ground in their jaws;so the two Ajaxes held him on high and strippedthe armor from him; and the head from the tender neckthe son of Oileus cut off in anger for Amphimachus,and whirled and hurled it like a ball through the crowd;and it fell in the dust before the feet of Hector.And then Poseidon was angry in his heartbecause his grandson had fallen in the dread battle,and he went beside the huts and ships of the Achaeansto urge on the Danaans, and to prepare woes for the Trojans.And Idomeneus, famed with the spear, met himas he came from a comrade, who had just come to him from the warstruck in the knee by the sharp bronze.His comrades carried him, and he, giving charge to the healers,was going to his hut; for he still desired to facethe battle; and lord Earth-shaker spoke to him,taking the voice of Thoas, son of Andraemon,who ruled over all Pleuron and steep Calydonamong the Aetolians, and was honored as a god by the people:"Idomeneus, counselor of the Cretans, where have your threats gone,which the sons of the Achaeans threatened against the Trojans?"And Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, answered him:"Thoas, no man now is to blame, as far as Ican judge; for we all know how to fight.No fear holds anyone with a coward's heart, nor does anyoneyielding to sloth shirk the hateful war; but it must bethat so it is dear to the overweening son of Cronosthat we Achaeans perish here nameless, far from Argos.But Thoas, since you were ever steadfast in battle,and urge on another too wherever you see one slacking,so now do not cease, but give orders to each man."And Poseidon the Earth-shaker answered him:"Idomeneus, may that man never returnfrom Troy, but may he become a sport for dogs here,whoever on this day willingly slacks from the fighting.But come, take up your armor and go; it is fitting that wemake haste together, if we two may be of some use.For joined valor of men works, even of very poor men,and we two know how to fight even with good men."So speaking, the god went back into the toil of men;and Idomeneus, when he reached his well-built hut,put on his beautiful armor about his body, and took two spears,and went like a lightning flash, which the son of Cronostaking in his hand shakes from gleaming Olympus,showing a sign to mortals; and its beams are bright;so his bronze shone about his chest as he ran.And Meriones, his good squire, met himnear the hut; for he was going to fetch a bronze spear.And the might of Idomeneus spoke to him:"Meriones, son of Molus, swift of foot, dearest of my comrades,why have you come, leaving the war and the fight?Are you struck somewhere, and does the point of a weapon distress you,or have you come after me with some message? Yet I myselfdo not desire to sit in the huts, but to fight."And wise Meriones answered him:"Idomeneus, counselor of the bronze-clad Cretans,I am coming, in case some spear of yours is left in the huts,to fetch it; for we have broken the one I carried before,striking the shield of the overbearing Deiphobus."And Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, answered him:"If you want spears, you will find one and twentystanding in the hut against the shining wall,Trojan ones, which I take from the slain; for I do not thinkthat I fight standing far from enemy men.Therefore I have spears and bossed shieldsand helmets and corselets shining brightly."And wise Meriones answered him:"And in my hut too and by my black shipthere are many spoils of the Trojans; but they are not near at hand to take.For I say that I too have not forgotten my valor,but among the foremost I stand in the man-glorifying battle,whenever the strife of war has arisen.Perhaps I am unnoticed in fighting more than some otherof the bronze-clad Achaeans, but you I think know it yourself."And Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, answered him:"I know your valor, what you are like; why do you need to say these things?For if now beside the ships we all, the best of us, should be gatheredinto an ambush, where above all the valor of men is discerned,there both the coward and the brave man become clear;for the color of the coward turns here and there,nor does the spirit in his heart allow him to sit still,but he shifts from knee to knee and settles on both feet,and his heart beats loudly in his chestas he foresees his fates, and there is a chattering of his teeth;but the color of the brave man does not turn, nor does hegreatly fear, once he has sat down in the ambush of men,but he prays at once to mingle in the woeful battle.There no one could blame your might and hands.For even if you were struck while toiling or hit,the weapon would not fall on your neck from behind nor on your back,but would meet your chest or your bellyas you press forward into the close fighting of the foremost.But come, let us no longer talk of these things like children,standing still, lest someone be greatly indignant.But go to the hut and take a mighty spear."So he spoke, and Meriones, equal to swift Ares,quickly took up a bronze spear from the hut,and went after Idomeneus, greatly caring for war.As blood-stained Ares goes into battle,and with him Fear, his dear son, strong and fearless,follows, who routs even a stout warrior —so these two were arming to go from Thrace against the Ephyri,or against the great-hearted Phlegyans; and the twodid not hear both sides, but they gave glory to one side.Such were Meriones and Idomeneus, leaders of men,as they went into battle, helmeted in blazing bronze.And Meriones spoke first to him:"Son of Deucalion, where then do you intend to plunge into the crowd?On the right of the whole army, or in the middle,or on the left? For I do not think anywhere soare the long-haired Achaeans lacking in war."And Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, answered him:"In the middle of the ships there are others to defend them,the two Ajaxes and Teucer, who is best of the Achaeansin archery, and good also in the standing battle;they will drive him back to satiety, though he hurry for war,Hector son of Priam, even though he be very strong.Hard will it be for him, though he strain to fight,to conquer the might and irresistible hands of those menand burn the ships, unless the son of Cronos himselfcasts a blazing brand upon the swift ships.But to a man great Telamonian Ajax would not yield,though he be mortal and eat the grain of Demeterand be breakable by bronze and by great stones.Nor would he give way to Achilles, breaker of men,at least in standing fight; but in running there is no way to rival him.So for us, hold to the left of the army, so that we soonmay see whether we will give glory to someone, or someone to us."So he spoke, and Meriones, equal to swift Ares,began to go, until they came through the host where he ordered,and these, when they saw Idomeneus like flame in valor,him and his squire with their cunningly-wrought armor,calling through the crowd, all advanced upon him;and a common strife arose at the sterns of the ships.As when under shrill winds the storm-blasts rushon a day when most dust is about the roads,and they raise together a great cloud of dust,so their battle came together, and they strained in their heartsto kill one another in the crowd with sharp bronze.And the man-destroying battle bristled with spearslong, which they held, flesh-cutting; and the eyes were blindedby the bronze gleam from the shining helmetsand the newly-whetted corselets and the bright shieldsas they came together; very stout-hearted would he bewho then rejoiced at the sight of the toil, and did not grieve.And the two mighty sons of Cronos, thinking apart,were devising woeful pains for the heroic men.Zeus indeed willed victory for the Trojans and Hector,honoring Achilles swift of foot; nor did he at allwish the Achaean host to perish before Ilios,but he honored Thetis and her strong-hearted son.And Poseidon, going among them, roused the Argives,secretly rising up out of the grey sea; for he was grievedthat they were overcome by the Trojans, and was fiercely angry with Zeus.Yes, truly the two had one birth and one fatherland,but Zeus was born earlier and knew more.Therefore he shunned open defense,but ever secretly roused them through the host in the likeness of a man.And these, entwining the bondof strong strife and equal war, stretched it over both sides,unbreakable and unloosable, which loosed the knees of many.Then Idomeneus, though grey in the middle, commanding the Danaans,sprang upon the Trojans and roused them to flight.For he killed Othryoneus, who was in Cabesus,who had just come for the glory of war,and asked for the fairest in form of the daughters of Priam,Cassandra, without bride-price, and promised a great deed:to drive the sons of the Achaeans from Troy against their will.And the old man Priam promised and noddedto give her; and he fought trusting in the promise.And Idomeneus aimed at him with his shining spear,and struck him, hitting him as he stepped high; nor did the bronze corseletwhich he wore protect him, but the spear fixed in the middle of his belly.He thudded as he fell; and Idomeneus boasted and spoke:"Othryoneus, above all mortal men I praise you,if indeed you will fulfill all that you promisedto Dardanian Priam; and he promised you his daughter.And we too would fulfill these promises for you,and give you the fairest in form of the daughters of Atreus' son,bringing her from Argos to marry, if with usyou sack the well-built citadel of Ilios.But come, let us make an agreement beside the sea-faring shipsabout the marriage, for we are no bad bride-bringers."So speaking, the hero Idomeneus dragged him by the footthrough the strong battle; and Asius came to help him,on foot before his horses; and the charioteer, his squire,ever held his breath over his shoulders; and he desired in his heartto strike Idomeneus; but he struck him first with his spearin the throat beneath the chin, and drove the bronze straight through.And he fell as when some oak falls or a black poplaror a tall pine, which in the mountains craftsmen mencut down with newly-whetted axes to make a ship;so he lay stretched before the horses and the chariot,bellowing, gripping the bloody dust.And his charioteer was struck out of the wits he had before,nor did he dare to avoid the hands of the enemyand turn back his horses, but Antilochus, staunch in battle,struck him through the middle with his spear, and it did not protect him,the bronze corselet which he wore, but he fixed it in the middle of his belly.And he, gasping, fell from the well-made chariot,and Antilochus, son of great-hearted Nestor, drove the horsesout from the Trojans to the well-greaved Achaeans.And Deiphobus came very near to Idomeneus,grieving for Asius, and hurled with his shining spear.But he, seeing it face to face, avoided the bronze spear,Idomeneus; for he crouched beneath his shield equal on all sides,which he carried made of bull's hides and shining bronze,cunningly wrought, fitted with two rims.Under it he crouched all of him, and the bronze spear flew over,and the hide shield rang as the spear grazed over it;nor did he send it altogether in vain from his heavy hand,but he struck Hippasus' son Hypsenor, shepherd of the people,in the liver under the midriff, and at once loosed his knees.And Deiphobus boasted terribly, shouting loud:"Indeed Asius now does not lie unavenged, but I saythat even as he goes to Hades, the strong gate-keeper,he will rejoice in his heart, since I gave him an escort."So he spoke, and grief came upon the Argives at his boast,and most of all it stirred the spirit of the warlike Antilochus;but even grieving he did not neglect his comrade,but he ran up and bestrode him, covering him with his shield.Then two trusted comrades, bending down under him,Mecisteus, son of Echius, and noble Alastor,carried him to the hollow ships, groaning heavily.But Idomeneus did not stop his great fury, and kept wantingeither to cover some Trojan in the dark nightor himself to fall with a crash, beating off ruin from the Achaeans.There the dear son of Aesyetes, raised by Zeus,the hero Alcathous — he was the son-in-law of Anchises,and had married the eldest of his daughters, Hippodameia,whom her father and her lady mother loved heartilyin the hall; for she surpassed all of her age-matesin beauty and in handiwork and in mind; and so it wasthat the best man in broad Troy married her.Him then Poseidon subdued under Idomeneus,charming his shining eyes and binding his glorious limbs;for he could neither flee backward nor dodge aside,but as a pillar or a tree with high leavesstands motionless, so the hero Idomeneus struck him in the middle of the chest with his spear,and broke around him the tunicof bronze which before had kept destruction from his flesh.And then he cried out shrilly, gasping around the spear.He fell with a crash, and the spear was fixed in his heart,which, as it beat, kept shaking even the butt endof the spear; for then mighty Ares let go his fury.And Idomeneus boasted terribly, shouting aloud:"Deiphobus, do we really reckon it a thing worth anythingthat three should be killed for one? For you yourself boast so.You wretch, come and stand against me yourself,so that you may see what manner of son of Zeus has come here,who first fathered Minos as guardian of Crete;and Minos in turn fathered a blameless son, Deucalion;and Deucalion fathered me, a lord over many menin broad Crete; and now ships have brought me herefor evil to you and your father and the other Trojans."So he spoke, and Deiphobus pondered two ways in his mind,whether he should go back and take as a companion one of the great-hearted Trojans,or make trial even alone.And as he thought, it seemed better to himto go to Aeneas; and he found him standing last of the crowd;for he was always angry with noble Priambecause, though he was brave among men, he gave him no honor at all.And standing near him he spoke winged words:"Aeneas, counselor of the Trojans, now above all you mustdefend your sister's husband, if any kinship touches you.But come, let us defend Alcathous, who before now,being your kin, reared you in his halls when you were small.Him Idomeneus, famous for the spear, has stripped of his armor."So he spoke, and stirred the spirit in his breast,and he went after Idomeneus, greatly caring for war.But fear did not seize Idomeneus like a little child,but he waited as when a boar in the mountains, trusting in his strength,waits for the great onrush of many men coming upon himin a lonely place, and his back bristles above,and his two eyes shine with fire; and he whetshis teeth, eager to beat off dogs and men;so Idomeneus, famous for the spear, waited and did not give groundas Aeneas came on to help; and he called to his comrades,looking at Ascalaphus and Aphareus and Deipyrusand Meriones and Antilochus, devisers of the war-cry;urging them on, he spoke winged words:"Come, friends, and stand by me though I am alone; and I dread terriblyAeneas swift of foot, who is coming at me,who is very strong in battle at killing men;and he has the flower of youth, which is the greatest strength.If only we were of the same age and of this spirit,he would quickly carry off great victory, or I would."So he spoke, and all of them, having one spirit in their hearts,stood close beside him, leaning their shields on their shoulders.And Aeneas on the other side called to his comrades,looking at Deiphobus and Paris and noble Agenor,who were leaders of the Trojans along with him; and after themthe people followed, as sheep follow after the ramto drink from the pasture; and the shepherd rejoices in his heart;so the heart in Aeneas' breast rejoicedwhen he saw the crowd of people following him.And they rushed in close around Alcathouswith their long spears; and around their chests the bronzerang terribly as they aimed at one another through the crowd;and two men, warlike beyond the others,Aeneas and Idomeneus, equal to Ares,strove to cut each other's flesh with pitiless bronze.And Aeneas threw his spear first at Idomeneus;but he, seeing it face to face, dodged the bronze spear,and the point of Aeneas, quivering, went into the ground,since it sprang in vain from his strong hand.And Idomeneus struck Oenomaus in the middle of the belly,and broke the plate of his corselet, and through his guts the bronzeforced its way; and he fell in the dust and clutched the earth with his palm.And Idomeneus drew the far-shadowing spear out of the corpse,but he could no longer strip the rest of the fine armorfrom his shoulders; for he was hard pressed by missiles.For his leg limbs were no longer steady when he rushed,nor could he rush after his own spear, nor dodge a weapon.So in the close fight he beat off the pitiless day,but his feet no longer carried him swiftly to flee from war.And as he went away step by step, Deiphobus threw at him with his shining spear— for he always held a constant grudge against him.But he missed even then, and with his spear struck Ascalaphus,the son of Enyalius; and through his shoulder the mighty spearwent, and he fell in the dust and clutched the earth with his palm.Nor had mighty Ares, the loud-shouting, yet learnedthat his own son had fallen in the strong battle,but he sat on the top of Olympus under the golden clouds,held back by the will of Zeus, where the otherimmortal gods were also held back from the war.And they rushed in close around Ascalaphus;Deiphobus snatched the shining helmet from Ascalaphus,but Meriones, equal to swift Ares,jumped at him and struck his arm with his spear, and from his handthe hollow-eyed helmet fell to the ground with a clang.And Meriones sprang out again like a vultureand pulled the mighty spear out of the upper arm,and gave back again into the crowd of his comrades. And Polites,his own brother, stretching his arms around his waist,led him out of the ill-sounding war, until he reached the swift horses,which stood behind the battle and the war for him,with their charioteer and the richly-worked chariot;and they carried him toward the city, groaning heavily,in his torment; and blood ran down from the newly wounded arm.And the others fought, and an unquenchable din arose.There Aeneas, springing upon Aphareus, son of Caletor,struck him with his sharp spear on the throat, as he turned toward him;his head fell to one side, and over him his shield was pressed downand his helmet, and around him death, the destroyer of life, was poured.And Antilochus, watching Thoon as he turned about,sprang on him and wounded him, and cut away the whole veinthat runs up the back and reaches the neck right through;that he cut away entirely; and he fell on his back in the dust,stretching out both his hands to his dear comrades.And Antilochus sprang up and took the armor from his shoulders,glancing around; and the Trojans standing in a circle around him,one from one side, kept striking his broad, richly-dappled shield, but they could notscore the tender flesh inside with the pitiless bronzeof Antilochus; for Poseidon the Earth-shakerwas guarding the son of Nestor even amid many missiles.For he was never away from the enemies, but among themhe kept turning; nor was his spear ever still, but alwaysit whirled, shaken; and he intended in his hearteither to throw at someone, or to rush in close.But his aiming through the crowd did not escape Adamas,son of Asius, who wounded him in the middle of his shield with sharp bronze,rushing in close; but Poseidon of the dark-blue hair blunted his pointfor him, grudging him his life.And one half of it stayed there like a fire-burnt stakein the shield of Antilochus, and the other half lay on the ground;and he gave back into the crowd of his comrades, avoiding his death.And Meriones, following after him as he went, struck him with his spearbetween the groin and the navel, where most of allAres is painful to wretched mortals.There he fixed his spear in him; and he, writhing around the spear,struggled as when a bull, whom in the mountains herdsmenlead away by force, bound with ropes, though he is unwilling;so he, struck, struggled a little while, not for long,until the hero Meriones came near and pulled the spearout of his flesh; and darkness covered his eyes.And Helenus struck Deipyrus near the temple with his great Thracian swordand knocked the helmet off.It fell to the ground, thrown aside, and one of the Achaeansfighting brought it under his feet as it rolled;and the dark night covered his eyes.And grief seized Menelaus, good at the war-cry, son of Atreus;and he went, threatening Helenus, the heroic lord,brandishing his sharp spear; and he drew back the arm of his bow.And the two together, the one with his sharp spearstrove to throw, the other with an arrow from the bowstring.The son of Priam struck him then with an arrow on the chest,on the plate of his corselet, and the bitter arrow flew off.As when from a broad winnowing fan over a great threshing floorblack-skinned beans or chickpeas leapunder the shrill wind and the winnower's haste,so from the corselet of glorious Menelausthe bitter arrow, thrown far aside, flew away.And Menelaus, good at the war-cry, son of Atreus, struckthe hand with which he held the well-polished bow; and into the bowthe bronze spear was driven right through his hand.And he gave back into the crowd of his comrades, avoiding his death,letting his hand hang down; and the ashen spear was dragged along.And great-hearted Agenor pulled it from his hand,and bound up the hand itself with a well-twisted band of sheep's wool,a sling, which his attendant carried for the shepherd of the people.And Peisander went straight at glorious Menelaus;but an evil fate was leading him, to meet his end in deathat your hands, Menelaus, in the dread battle.And when the two had come near, going at each other,the son of Atreus missed, and his spear turned aside from him,and Peisander struck the shield of glorious Menelaus,but he could not drive the bronze through;for the broad shield held, and the spear broke at the socket;and he rejoiced in his heart and hoped for victory.And the son of Atreus drew his silver-studded swordand sprang at Peisander; and he took from under his shield a fineaxe of good bronze, on a handle of olive wood,long and well-polished; and at the same moment they came at each other.So the one struck the boss of his horse-haired helmetat the top, just below the crest itself, and the other struck him on the foreheadabove the very tip of his nose, as he came on; the bones cracked, and his two eyesbloody fell to the ground in the dust beside his feet,and he doubled up as he fell; and he set his heel on his chestand stripped his armor, and spoke a boasting word:"You will surely leave the ships of the swift-horsed Danaans like this,overbearing Trojans, insatiable for the dread war-cry,not lacking in other outrage and shamewith which you outraged me, you evil dogs, nor in your heartsdid you fear the harsh wrath of Zeus who thunders mightily,the god of hosts, who will one day destroy your steep city;who carried off my wedded wife and many possessionsfor nothing on your ships, when you had been entertained by her;and now again you rage to throw deadly fire on the sea-faring shipsand to kill the Achaean heroes.But somewhere you will be checked, even though you hurry for war.Father Zeus, they say that you are above others in your mind,over men and gods; and from you all these things come.How great is the favor you grant to violent men,to the Trojans, whose fury is always reckless, and they cannotbe satisfied with the battle-cry of impartial war.Of all things there is satisfaction — of sleep and of loveand of sweet song and of blameless dancing —of which a man desires rather to have his fillthan of war; but the Trojans are insatiable for battle."So saying, the blameless Menelaus stripped the bloody armorfrom his flesh and gave it to his comrades,and he himself went back again and mingled with the front fighters.There the son of king Pylaemenes sprang at him,Harpalion, who followed his dear father to fightto Troy, and never came back again to his native land;he then struck the middle of the son of Atreus' shield with his spearfrom close by, but he could not drive the bronze through;and he gave back into the crowd of his comrades, avoiding his death,glancing everywhere in case someone grazed his flesh with bronze.And Meriones sent a bronze-headed arrow at him as he went,and struck him on the right buttock; and the arrowpassed right through his bladder under the bone.And sitting down there in the arms of his dear comradeshe breathed out his life; and like a worm on the groundhe lay stretched out; and black blood flowed and wet the earth.The great-hearted Paphlagonians tended him,and lifting him onto a chariot they brought him to holy Ilios,grieving; and their father went with them, shedding tears,and there was no vengeance for his dead son.And Paris was greatly angered in his spirit at his being killed;for he was his guest-friend among the many Paphlagonians;angry for him he sent out a bronze-headed arrow.There was a certain Euchenor, son of the seer Polyidus,wealthy and noble, living in a house at Corinth,who, knowing well his deadly fate, had boarded a ship;for often the good old man Polyidus had told himthat he would die of a grievous sickness in his own halls,or be overcome by the Trojans among the Achaean ships;so he at once avoided the grievous penalty the Achaeans would exactand the hateful sickness, so that he would not suffer pain in his heart.Him Paris struck below the jaw and the ear; and quickly his lifeleft his limbs, and hateful darkness seized him.So they fought like blazing fire;but Hector, dear to Zeus, had not heard, nor did he know at all,that on the left of the ships his people were being killedby the Argives. And quickly the glory would have been the Achaeans',for such was the Earth-holder, the Earth-shaker,urging on the Argives, and himself defending them with his strength;but he held his ground where he had first leapt over the gates and the wall,breaking through the close ranks of the Danaans' shield-bearers,where were the ships of Ajax and of Protesilaus,drawn up on the shore of the grey sea; and above thema wall had been built, the lowest there, where most of allthey and their horses came crowding in the fight.There the Boeotians and the long-robed Ioniansand Locrians and Phthians and the glorious Epeianswith eager haste held him as he rushed at the ships, but they could notpush noble Hector, like a flame, away from them;these were the picked men of the Athenians; and among themMenestheus, son of Peteos, led, and with him followedPheidas and Stichius and good Bias; and of the EpeiansMeges, son of Phyleus, and Amphion and Dracius;and before the Phthians, Medon and Podarces, staunch in battle.Now the one was a bastard son of the divine Oileus,Medon, the brother of Ajax; but he livedin Phylace, far from his native land, having killed a man,the kinsman of his stepmother Eriopis, whom Oileus had married;and the other was the son of Iphiclus, the son of Phylacus.These, armed before the great-hearted Phthians,fought alongside the Boeotians, defending the ships;and Ajax, the swift son of Oileus, no longer at allstood apart from Ajax son of Telamon, not even a little,but as in a fallow field two wine-dark oxen pull a jointed ploughwith one spirit; and around themmuch sweat springs up at the base of their horns;and the well-polished yoke alone keeps them apartas they strain down the furrow, and it cuts the edge of the field;so the two stood firmly, stepping side by side.Yet for the son of Telamon many and goodpeople followed as comrades, who took up his shield for himwhenever weariness and sweat came to his knees.And the great-hearted son of Oileus was not followed by the Locrians;for their dear heart did not hold firm in close battle;for they had no bronze-crested helmets plumed with horse-hair,nor had they round shields and ashen spears,but trusting in their bows and well-twisted slings of sheep's woolthey followed along to Ilios; and with theseshooting thick and fast they broke the ranks of the Trojans.So then the one group in front, with their cunningly-wrought armor,fought against the Trojans and bronze-helmed Hector,and the others shot from behind and were unseen; nor did the Trojansremember their fighting spirit; for the arrows threw them into confusion.Then in sorry fashion from the ships and the hutsthe Trojans would have withdrawn toward windy Ilios,had not Polydamas come up and spoken to bold Hector:"Hector, you are impossible to persuade with good advice.Because a god has given you beyond others the works of war,therefore you wish to be wiser in counsel than others too;but you cannot yourself take on all things at once.To one man the god has given the works of war,to another dancing, to another the lyre and song;and in another's breast Zeus the wide-thundering puts a mindthat is good, and many men profit from it,and it has saved many, and the man himself knows it best.But I will say how it seems best to me:for on every side the crown of war blazes around you;and the great-hearted Trojans, since they have crossed the wall,some stand apart with their armor, and others fight,fewer against more, scattered among the ships.But fall back and call all the best men here;then we could consider the whole plan,whether we should fall upon the many-benched shipsif the god is willing to give victory, or elsecome away from the ships unharmed. For I at leastfear that the Achaeans may exact the debt of yesterday,since beside the ships there waits a man insatiable for war,whom I think will now not hold back from battle at all."So spoke Polydamas, and his blameless word pleased Hector,and at once he leapt down from his chariot to the ground in his armorand spoke to him winged words:"Polydamas, do you hold all the best men here,and I will go over there and face the war;and I will come back quickly once I have given them good orders."So he spoke, and set out like a snow-clad mountain,crying aloud, and flew through the Trojans and their allies.And they all hurried to Polydamas, the blameless son of Panthous,when they heard the voice of Hector.And he went among the front fighters, looking for Deiphobus and the strength of lord Helenusand Adamas, son of Asius, and Asius, son of Hyrtacus,in case he might find them anywhere.But he found them no longer at all unharmed or undestroyed;rather, some of them lay at the Achaeans' ship-sterns,having lost their lives at the hands of the Argives,and others were at the wall, struck and wounded.And he quickly found, on the left of the tearful battle,noble Alexandrus, the husband of fair-haired Helen,heartening his comrades and urging them to fight,and standing near he addressed him with shameful words:"Evil Paris, best in form, mad after women, deceiver,where are Deiphobus and the strength of lord Helenusand Adamas, son of Asius, and Asius, son of Hyrtacus?And where is Othryoneus? Now all steep Ilioshas perished utterly; now your sheer destruction is certain."And Alexandrus, like a god, answered him:"Hector, since your heart is set on blaming the blameless,at some other time I would rather hold back from war— though my mother did not bear me utterly without strength;for since the time you roused the battle of our comrades beside the ships,from that time we here have kept company with the Danaanswithout ceasing; but comrades have been killed whom you ask after.I think that Deiphobus and the strength of lord Helenushave gone off, struck with long spears,both of them in the arm; and the son of Cronos warded off their death.But now lead on wherever your heart and spirit bid you;and we will follow eagerly with you, and I say that we shall notfall short in valor, as far as strength is present.But one cannot fight beyond his strength, even if he hurries."So he spoke, and the hero persuaded his brother's heart;and they went where the battle and the din were greatest,around Cebriones and blameless Polydamas,Phalces and Orthaeus and godlike Polyphites,and Palmys and Ascanius and Morys, son of Hippotion,who had come from fertile Ascania as relief troopson the day before; and then Zeus roused them to fight.And they went, like the blast of grievous winds,which beneath the thunder of father Zeus comes down to the plain,and with a wondrous roar mingles with the sea; and in it manysurging waves of the loud-roaring sea,arching and white-crested, one before and others after;so the Trojans, some arrayed before and others after,flashing with bronze, followed along with their leaders.And Hector led them, like Ares, the bane of mortals,son of Priam; and he held before him his shield, equal on all sides,thick with hides, and much bronze was hammered onto it;and about his temples his shining helmet shook.And on every side he tried, stepping forward, to test the ranks,to see whether they would give way to him as he advanced under his shield;but he did not confuse the spirit in the breasts of the Achaeans.And Ajax was the first to challenge him, striding with long steps:"You wretch, come near; why do you frighten the Argives so for nothing?We are not unacquainted with battle,but we Achaeans have been subdued by the evil whip of Zeus.Surely your heart hopes somewhere to sackthe ships; but hands to defend them are ready for us too.Truly your well-peopled city would far soonerbe taken and sacked by our hands.And I say that for you yourself the time is near when, as you flee,you will pray to father Zeus and the other immortalsthat your fair-maned horses may be swifter than falcons,horses which will carry you to the city, raising dust over the plain."As he spoke, a bird flew by on the right,an eagle soaring high; and the Achaean host shouted aloudencouraged by the omen; and glorious Hector answered:"Ajax, blundering, loud-boasting, what a thing you have said!If only I were so surely a son of aegis-bearing Zeusfor all my days, and queenly Hera had borne me,and I were honored as Athena and Apollo are honored,as surely as this day brings evil to the Argives,to them all, and you too will appear among them, if you dareto await my long spear, which will rend your lily-bright skinand you will glut the dogs and birds of the Trojanswith your fat and flesh, fallen beside the ships of the Achaeans."So speaking he led the way, and they followed with himwith a wondrous cry, and the host shouted behind him.And the Argives shouted on the other side, and did not forgettheir valor, but awaited the best of the Trojans coming on.And the cry of both went up to the upper air and the light of Zeus.