Book 7

So speaking, glorious Hector rushed out from the gates,and with him went Alexandros his brother; and in their heartsboth were eager to do battle and to fight.As when a god gives to sailors who long for ita fair wind, when they are wearied with their well-planed oars,driving over the sea, and their limbs are loosed beneath their toil,so did those two appear to the longing Trojans.There they took, one the son of lord Areithoos,Menesthios who dwelt in Arne, whom the club-bearerAreithoos begot, and ox-eyed Phylomedousa;and Hector struck Eioneus with his sharp-pointed spearbeneath the rim of the neck below his bronze-cheeked helmet, and his limbs were loosed.And Glaukos, son of Hippolochos, leader of the Lycian men,smote Iphinous with his spear amid the strong encounter,the son of Dexias, as he leapt upon his swift horses,on the shoulder; and he fell from the chariot to the ground, and his limbs were loosed.But when the goddess grey-eyed Athene marked themslaying the Argives in the strong encounter,she went, darting down from the peaks of Olympus,to holy Ilios; and against her Apollo roselooking out from Pergamos, and he willed victory to the Trojans;and the two met together beside the oak.Lord Apollo, son of Zeus, spoke to her first:Why now, daughter of great Zeus, hast thou comeeager from Olympus, and what great purpose in thy heart urged thee on?Is it that to the Danaans thou mayest give victory that turns the battle,since thou hast no pity at all for the Trojans perishing?But if thou wouldst obey me, that would be far better;now let us stay the war and the fightingfor today; hereafter they shall fight again untilthey find the goal of Ilios, since so it was dear to the heartof you immortal goddesses to sack this city.Then the goddess grey-eyed Athene answered him:So be it, Far-darter; for with this same thought I toocame from Olympus to the Trojans and Achaeans.But come, how dost thou purpose to stay the war of men?Then lord Apollo, son of Zeus, answered her:Let us rouse the mighty fury of Hector, tamer of horses,if haply he may challenge one of the Danaans, alone by himself,to fight against him in the dread battle,and the bronze-greaved Achaeans, wondering at him,may send one alone to fight with godlike Hector.So he spoke, and the goddess grey-eyed Athene did not disobey.And Helenos, dear son of Priam, perceived in his hearttheir counsel, which pleased the gods in their devising;and he stood beside Hector and spoke to him a word:Hector, son of Priam, peer of Zeus in counsel,wilt thou now obey me, for I am thy brother?Make the other Trojans sit down and all the Achaeans,but do thou thyself challenge whoever is best of the Achaeansto fight against thee in the dread battle;for it is not yet thy fate to die and meet thy doom;for thus I heard the voice of the gods who live forever.So he spoke, and Hector rejoiced greatly at hearing the word,and going into the midst of the Trojans he held back the ranks,grasping his spear by the middle; and they all were stayed.And Agamemnon made the well-greaved Achaeans sit down;and Athene and silver-bowed Apollosat down, like to vultures,on the high oak of father Zeus the aegis-bearer,delighting in the men; and their ranks sat thick,bristling with shields and helmets and spears.As when a ripple of the West Wind is poured upon the sea,rising newly, and the sea grows black beneath it,so sat the ranks of the Achaeans and the Trojanson the plain; and Hector spoke among them both:Hear me, Trojans and well-greaved Achaeans,that I may speak what my heart in my breast bids me.The son of Kronos, high-throned, has not fulfilled the oaths,but devising evil he contrives for both sidesuntil either you take well-towered Troyor you yourselves are slain beside your sea-faring ships.Among you are the best of all the Panachaeans;whichever of them now has heart to fight with me,let him come hither out of all to be champion against godlike Hector.And thus I declare, and let Zeus be witness to us:if that man slays me with the long-edged bronze,let him strip my armor and carry it to the hollow ships,but my body let him give back home, that the Trojansand the wives of the Trojans may give me my due of fire when I am dead.But if I slay that man, and Apollo grants me glory,I will strip his armor and carry it to holy Ilios,and I will hang it in the temple of far-shooting Apollo,and his corpse I will give back to the well-benched ships,that the long-haired Achaeans may give him burial,and heap up a tomb for him on the broad Hellespont.And some day one of the men born after shall say,sailing in a many-benched ship over the wine-dark sea:This is the tomb of a man long since dead,whom glorious Hector slew when he was foremost in battle.So shall someone speak; and my glory shall never perish.So he spoke, and they were all silent in silence;they shamed to refuse, and they feared to accept;but at last Menelaus rose up and spoke among them,upbraiding with reproach, and he groaned greatly in his heart:Ah me, boasters, Achaean women, no longer Achaeans!Truly this will be a shame, dreadfully shameful,if none of the Danaans now goes against Hector.But may you all become water and earth,sitting there each one idle, undone and inglorious.But against this man I myself will arm; and abovethe ends of victory are held among the immortal gods.So speaking, he put on his fair armor.Then, Menelaus, would the end of thy life have appearedin Hector's hands, since he was far the stronger,had not the kings of the Achaeans leapt up and seized him,and the son of Atreus himself, wide-ruling Agamemnon,took his right hand and spoke a word and named him:Thou art mad, Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, nor is there needof this madness; hold back, though thou art grieved,nor wish out of rivalry to fight a man better than thou,Hector son of Priam, whom even others dread.Even Achilles, in the battle where men win glory,shuddered to meet him, though he is far better than thou.But do thou now sit down and go to the company of thy comrades,and the Achaeans will raise another champion against this man.Even if he is fearless and insatiate of battle,I say he will gladly bend the knee, if he escapeout of the hostile war and the dread battle.So speaking the hero turned his brother's heart,advising him rightly, and he was persuaded; and then hisglad squires took the armor from his shoulders;and Nestor rose up among the Argives and spoke:Alas, a great grief comes upon the Achaean land!Truly old horseman Peleus would groan aloud,the noble counselor of the Myrmidons and speaker in assembly,who once in his own house rejoiced greatly when he asked me,inquiring of the lineage and birth of all the Argives.If he should hear that all these now cower before Hector,he would often lift his dear hands to the immortalsthat his spirit might go down from his limbs into the house of Hades.Would that I were young, father Zeus, and Athene and Apollo,as when they fought by the swift-flowing Keladon,gathered together, the Pylians and the Arcadians, spearmen eager,beside the walls of Pheia, about the streams of Iardanos.Among them stood Ereuthalion as champion, a man like a god,bearing on his shoulders the armor of lord Areithoos,godlike Areithoos, whom by surname club-bearermen called, and fair-girdled women also,because he did not fight with bows and a long spear,but with an iron club he broke the ranks.Lykoorgos slew him by guile, not by strength,in a narrow road, where his club did not ward offdestruction for him, the iron club; for first Lykoorgos, anticipating him,pierced him through the middle with his spear, and he fell backward on the ground;and he stripped off his armor, which bronze Ares had given him.And afterward he himself wore it amid the press of Ares;but when Lykoorgos grew old in his halls,he gave it to his dear squire Ereuthalion to bear;and wearing that man's armor he challenged all the best.But they trembled and feared greatly, nor did any dare;but my heart urged me, enduring much, to fightwith my own courage; and in age I was the youngest of all;and I fought him, and Athene gave me glory.That man I slew, the tallest and the strongest;for he lay sprawled, a huge bulk, here and there.Would that I were young thus, and my strength were steadfast!Then would helmet-flashing Hector soon meet battle.But of you, whoever are the best of all the Panachaeans,not even these are eager in heart to go against Hector.So the old man chided, and all nine rose up.Far first rose up Agamemnon, lord of men,and after him rose the son of Tydeus, strong Diomedes,and after them the two Aiantes, clad in furious strength,and after them Idomeneus and the comrade of Idomeneus,Meriones, peer of Enyalios, slayer of men,and after them Eurypylos, shining son of Euaimon,and up rose Thoas, son of Andraimon, and godlike Odysseus;all these were willing to fight with godlike Hector.Then Gerenian horseman Nestor spoke among them:Now cast lots in turn, whoever may be chosen;for this man will profit the well-greaved Achaeans,and he himself will profit his own heart, if he escapeout of the hostile war and the dread battle.So he spoke, and each marked his lot,and they cast them into the helmet of Agamemnon, son of Atreus.And the people prayed, and lifted their hands to the gods;and thus someone would say, looking up to the wide heaven:Father Zeus, let it be Ajax, or the son of Tydeus,or the king himself of Mycenae rich in gold.So they spoke, and Gerenian horseman Nestor shook the helmet,and the lot leapt out of the helmet which they themselves wished,that of Ajax; and the herald, carrying it through the whole throng,showed it from left to right to all the best of the Achaeans.But they, not knowing it, refused it each one.But when he came to the one carrying it through the whole throngwho had marked it and thrown it into the helmet, glorious Ajax,he held out his hand, and he cast it down beside him as he stood near,and he knew the mark of the lot, seeing it, and rejoiced in his heart.He threw it on the ground at his feet and spoke:O friends, the lot is mine, and I rejoice myselfin my heart, for I think I shall conquer godlike Hector.But come, while I put on my war gear,do you meanwhile pray to Zeus, lord son of Kronos,in silence among yourselves, that the Trojans may not learn,or openly too, since we fear no one at all;for no one will drive me by force, willing or unwilling,nor by skill, since I think I am not so ignorantas not to have been born and reared in Salamis.So he spoke, and they prayed to Zeus, lord son of Kronos;and thus someone would say, looking up to the wide heaven:Father Zeus, ruling from Ida, most glorious, greatest,grant victory to Ajax and to win shining glory;but if thou dost also love Hector and care for him,grant equal strength and glory to both alike.So they spoke, and Ajax armed himself in shining bronze.But when he had put all his armor about his body,he rushed forth, like as huge Ares comeswho goes into war among men whom the son of Kronoshas set to fight with the fury of heart-devouring strife.Such did Ajax rise up, huge, the bulwark of the Achaeans,smiling with grim face; and beneath his feethe went with long strides, brandishing his long-shadowed spear.And the Argives rejoiced at seeing him,but on the Trojans a dread trembling came over every limb,and in Hector's own breast his heart beat fast;but he could not any longer shrink back nor draw awayinto the throng of the host, since he had challenged to the fight.And Ajax came near, carrying his shield like a tower,of bronze, seven-hided, which Tychios had made for him,far the best of leather-workers, dwelling in his house in Hyle,who made for him the gleaming seven-hided shieldof well-fed bulls, and on it drove an eighth layer of bronze.This he bore before his breast, Telamonian Ajax,and stood very near Hector, and threatened and spoke:Hector, now shalt thou know clearly, alone by thyself,what sort of men the best of the Danaans are,even after Achilles, breaker of men, heart of a lion.But he lies among his curved, sea-faring ships,angry with Agamemnon, shepherd of the host;but we are such as would meet thee,and many besides; but begin the fight and the war.Then great, helmet-flashing Hector answered him:Ajax, Zeus-born, son of Telamon, leader of the host,do not test me like a weak boyor a woman, who knows not the works of war.But I know well battles and the slaughter of men;I know how to wield my shield to the right, I know to the left,my dry ox-hide shield, which is mine for sturdy fighting;I know how to leap into the fray of swift horses;I know how to dance in close combat to hostile Ares.But I do not wish to smite thee, being such as thou art,spying secretly, but openly, if I may hit thee.He spoke, and swaying back his long-shadowed spear he hurled it,and struck Ajax's dread seven-hided shieldon the outermost bronze, which was the eighth layer upon it.Through six folds went the tireless bronze, cutting through,and in the seventh hide it was stayed; then a second timegodlike Ajax hurled his long-shadowed spear,and struck the shield of Priam's son, that was equal on every side.Through the bright shield went the mighty spear,and through the much-wrought corselet it was driven;and straight on past his flank it cut through his tunic,the spear; and he bent aside and avoided black death.Then the two drew out their long spears with both hands togetherand rushed at each other like flesh-eating lionsor like boars, whose strength is not feeble.Then the son of Priam wounded the middle of his shield with his spear,but the bronze did not break it, and the point was bent back.And Ajax leapt and smote his shield; and the spearwent clean through, and it staggered him in his eagerness,and grazing it came upon his neck, and black blood sprang up,but not even so did helmet-flashing Hector cease from battle,but drawing back he seized a stone with his stout handthat lay on the plain, black and rough and great;with it he struck Ajax's dread seven-hided shieldon the middle boss; and the bronze rang loudly about it.Then again Ajax lifted a stone far greaterand hurled it, whirling it, and it struck with measureless force,and he broke the shield by smiting it with a millstone-like rock,and he hurt his dear knees; and he was stretched out on his backpressed against his shield; and Apollo straightway raised him up.And now they would have wounded each other hand to hand with swords,had not the heralds, messengers of Zeus and of men,come, one from the Trojans, the other from the bronze-clad Achaeans,Talthybios and Idaios, both of them prudent;and between them both they held their sceptres, and spoke a wordthe herald Idaios, knowing wise counsels:Fight no more, dear sons, nor do battle;for Zeus the cloud-gatherer loves you both,and both are spearmen; that we all know well.And night is now at hand; it is good to obey night too.Then Telamonian Ajax answered him and said:Idaios, bid Hector speak these things;for he himself challenged all the best to the fight.Let him begin; and I will follow him wholly in whatever he does.Then great, helmet-flashing Hector answered him:Ajax, since the god has given thee both size and strengthand prudence, and above all the Achaeans thou art best with the spear,now let us stop the battle and the fightingfor today; hereafter we shall fight again until the godshall part us, and give victory to one or the other.And night is now at hand; it is good to obey night too,that thou mayest gladden all the Achaeans beside their ships,and most of all thy kinsmen and comrades, whoever are thine;and I in the great city of lord Priamwill gladden the Trojans and the long-robed Trojan women,who, praying for me, will enter the divine gathering place.But come, let us both give each other glorious gifts,that someone may say thus of the Achaeans and the Trojans:These two fought together over heart-devouring strife,and then parted in friendship, having joined in treaty.So speaking, he gave him a silver-studded swordbearing it with the sheath and the well-cut baldric;and Ajax gave him a belt shining with purple.Then the two, parted, one went to the host of the Achaeans,and the other went to the throng of the Trojans; and they rejoiced,when they saw him coming alive and unharmed,escaped from the might and the resistless hands of Ajax;and they led him to the city, not hoping he was safe.And Ajax on the other side the well-greaved Achaeansled to godlike Agamemnon, rejoicing in victory.But when they came to the huts of the son of Atreus,lord Agamemnon sacrificed a bull for them,a male, five years old, to the mighty son of Kronos.They flayed it and worked it and cut it all up,and chopped it skillfully and pierced it with spits,and roasted it carefully, and drew off all.But when they had ceased from their labor and prepared the feast,they feasted, nor did their heart lack an equal share of the feast;and with continuous chines of the back Ajax was honoredby the hero son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon.But when they had put aside the desire for drink and food,the old man first of all began to weave his counsel,Nestor, whose counsel had also before seemed best;he, kindly minded, spoke among them and said:Son of Atreus and other best of all the Panachaeans,for many long-haired Achaeans have died,whose dark blood now, fair-flowing, about Skamandrosswift Ares has scattered, and their souls have gone down to Hades;therefore it is needful for thee to stop the war of the Achaeans at dawn,and we ourselves, gathering, will bring the corpses herewith oxen and mules; and we will burn thema little away from the ships, that each man may carry the boneshome to his children, when we return again to our native land.And let us heap up one tomb about the pyre,drawn out and undivided from the plain; and beside it let us quickly buildhigh towers, a defense for the ships and for ourselves.And in them let us make well-fitted gates,that through them there may be a road for chariots;and outside let us dig a deep ditch near by,which would keep off horse and host, being around on every side,lest ever the war of the proud Trojans press upon us.So he spoke, and all the kings approved.And again there was an assembly of the Trojans in the citadel of Ilios,dread and tumultuous, at the doors of Priam;and among them wise Antenor began to speak:Hear me, Trojans and Dardanians and allies,that I may speak what my heart in my breast bids me.Come, let us give Argive Helen and the treasures with herto the sons of Atreus to lead away; now we fighthaving broken our faithful oaths; so I do not thinkanything more profitable will be accomplished for us, unless we do thus.So he spoke and sat down; and among them rose upgodlike Alexandros, the husband of fair-haired Helen,who answered him with winged words:Antenor, thou speakest no longer things dear to me;thou knowest how to think of another word better than this.But if in truth thou speakest this in earnest,then surely the gods themselves have destroyed thy wits.But I will speak among the horse-taming Trojans;and I declare outright that I will not give back the woman;but the treasures, all that I brought from Argos to our house,I am willing to give all, and to add others from home.So he spoke and sat down; and among them rose upPriam, son of Dardanos, peer of the gods in counsel,who, kindly minded, spoke among them and said:Hear me, Trojans and Dardanians and allies,that I may speak what my heart in my breast bids me.Now take your supper throughout the city as before,and remember the watch and each one be wakeful;and at dawn let Idaios go to the hollow shipsto tell the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus,the word of Alexandros, for whose sake the quarrel arose;and to say this prudent word too, if they are willingto stop the ill-sounding war, until weburn the dead; hereafter we shall fight again until the godshall part us and give victory to one or the other.So he spoke, and they heard him and obeyed;then they took supper throughout the army in their companies;and at dawn Idaios went to the hollow ships;and he found the Danaans, squires of Ares, in assemblybeside the stern of Agamemnon's ship; and he, standingin their midst, spoke to them, the loud-voiced herald:Son of Atreus and other best of all the Panachaeans,Priam and the other proud Trojans have bidden meto speak, if it should be dear and pleasing to you,the word of Alexandros, for whose sake the quarrel arose;the treasures, all that Alexandros in his hollow shipscarried to Troy, would that he had perished before,he is willing to give all, and to add others from home;but the wedded wife of glorious Menelaushe says he will not give back; truly the Trojans at least urge it.And they bade me speak this word too, if you are willingto stop the ill-sounding war, until weburn the dead; hereafter we shall fight again until the godshall part us and give victory to one or the other.So he spoke, and they were all silent in silence;but at last Diomedes, good at the war-cry, spoke among them:Let no one now accept the treasures of Alexandrosnor Helen; for it is clear even to one who is very foolishthat the ends of destruction now hang over the Trojans.So he spoke, and all the sons of the Achaeans shouted in approvalat the word of Diomedes, tamer of horses;and then lord Agamemnon spoke to Idaios:Idaios, thou thyself hearest the word of the Achaeans,how they answer thee; and it pleases me thus too;and as for burning the dead, I do not begrudge it at all;for there is no sparing of the dead who have diedto soothe them quickly with fire, once they are dead.But let Zeus be witness, the loud-thundering husband of Hera.So speaking he raised his sceptre to all the gods,and back again Idaios went to holy Ilios.And they sat in assembly, the Trojans and Dardanians,all gathered together, awaiting when Idaios might come;and he came and delivered his messagestanding in their midst; and they armed themselves very quickly,both to bring in the corpses and others to go for wood;and the Argives on the other side, from their well-benched ships,set themselves to bring in corpses, and others to go for wood.Then the Sun was newly striking the fieldsas he came up into the heaven from the softly-flowing, deep-streaming Ocean;and they met one another.There it was hard to recognize each single man;but washing away with water the bloody goreand shedding warm tears, they lifted them on the wagons.But great Priam did not allow them to weep; and they in silenceheaped the corpses on the pyre, grieving at heart,and when they had burned them in the fire they went to holy Ilios.So likewise on the other side the well-greaved Achaeansheaped the corpses on the pyre, grieving at heart,and when they had burned them in the fire they went to the hollow ships.And when it was not yet dawn, but still the dim light of night,then about the pyre the chosen host of the Achaeans arose,and they made one tomb about it, having drawn it outundivided from the plain, and beside it they built a walland high towers, a defense for the ships and for themselves.And in them they made well-fitted gates,that through them there might be a road for chariots;and outside they dug a deep ditch beside it,broad and great, and in it they fixed stakes.So they toiled, the long-haired Achaeans;and the gods, sitting beside Zeus the thunderer,gazed at the great work of the bronze-clad Achaeans.And Poseidon the earth-shaker began speech among them:Father Zeus, is there any mortal on the boundless earthwho will still declare his mind and counsel to the immortals?Dost thou not see that the long-haired Achaeanshave built a wall above their ships, and around ithave drawn a ditch, and have not given the gods glorious hecatombs?Its fame shall be as far as the dawn spreads;and they will forget that wall which I and Phoibos Apollobuilt for the hero Laomedon, toiling for him.Then Zeus the cloud-gatherer, greatly vexed, answered him:Ah me, earth-shaker, wide of strength, what hast thou said!Some other of the gods might fear this thought,one far weaker than thou in hands and might;but thy fame shall be as far as the dawn spreads.Come now, when the long-haired Achaeans againshall have gone with their ships to their dear native land,break down the wall and pour it all into the sea,and again cover the great shore with sand,so that the great wall of the Achaeans may be brought to nothing.So they spoke such things to one another,and the sun set, and the work of the Achaeans was finished,and they slaughtered oxen throughout the huts and took supper.And ships from Lemnos came to hand bringing wine,many, which Euneos, son of Jason, had sent,whom Hypsipyle bore to Jason, shepherd of the host.Separately to the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus,the son of Jason gave a thousand measures of wine to carry.From there the long-haired Achaeans got their wine,some with bronze, some with shining iron,some with hides, some with the live oxen themselves,some with slaves; and they set out a plentiful feast.All night long then the long-haired Achaeansfeasted, and the Trojans throughout the city and the allies;and all night the counselor Zeus devised evils for them,thundering terribly; and pale fear seized them;and they poured wine from the cups to the ground, and no one daredto drink before he had made libation to the mighty son of Kronos.Then they laid them down to sleep and took the gift of sleep.

So he spoke, and glorious Hector rushed out of the gates,and Alexandros his brother went with him; and in their heartsboth were eager to fight and do battle.Just as a god gives sailors who long for ita fair wind, when they are worn out with their well-planed oarsdriving across the sea, and their limbs are loosened by the work,so those two appeared to the Trojans who longed for them.There Menelaus took the son of lord Areithoos,Menesthios who lived in Arne, whom the club-bearerAreithoos fathered, and ox-eyed Phylomedousa;and Hector struck Eioneus with his sharp-pointed spearunder the rim of the neck below his bronze-cheeked helmet, and his limbs went slack.And Glaukos, son of Hippolochos, leader of the Lycian men,hit Iphinous with his spear in the hard fighting,the son of Dexias, as he was jumping up onto his swift horses,in the shoulder; and he fell from the chariot to the ground, and his limbs went slack.But when the goddess grey-eyed Athene noticed themkilling the Argives in the hard fighting,she went down, swooping from the peaks of Olympus,to holy Ilios; and Apollo rose to meet her,looking out from Pergamos, and he wanted victory for the Trojans;and the two of them met together by the oak tree.Lord Apollo, the son of Zeus, spoke to her first:Why have you now come, daughter of great Zeus, eagerfrom Olympus, and what great urge in your heart drove you on?Is it so that you can give the Danaans a victory that turns the battle,since you have no pity at all for the Trojans who are dying?But if you would listen to me, that would be much better:let us stop the war and the fightingfor today; later they will fight again untilthey find the end of Ilios, since it was thus dear to the heartof you immortal goddesses to sack this city.Then the goddess grey-eyed Athene answered him:So be it, far-shooter; for I too had this same thoughtwhen I came from Olympus to the Trojans and Achaeans.But come, how do you mean to stop the war of men?Then lord Apollo, the son of Zeus, answered her:Let us stir up the great fury of Hector, tamer of horses,in case he challenges one of the Danaans, all alone,to fight against him in the dread fighting,and the bronze-greaved Achaeans, feeling wonder at him,may send one man out alone to fight with godlike Hector.So he spoke, and the goddess grey-eyed Athene did not disobey.And Helenos, the dear son of Priam, understood in his hearttheir plan, which pleased the gods as they made it;and he came and stood beside Hector and spoke these words to him:Hector, son of Priam, equal to Zeus in counsel,will you now listen to me, since I am your brother?Make the other Trojans sit down and all the Achaeans too,and you yourself challenge whichever of the Achaeans is bestto fight against you in the dread fighting;for it is not yet your fate to die and meet your doom;for I heard this from the voice of the gods who live forever.So he spoke, and Hector rejoiced greatly to hear the words,and going into the middle of the Trojans he held back the ranks,gripping his spear by the middle; and they all stood still.And Agamemnon made the well-greaved Achaeans sit down;and Athene and silver-bowed Apollosat down, looking like vultures,on the high oak tree of father Zeus who holds the aegis,taking pleasure in the men; and the ranks sat thick,bristling with shields and helmets and spears.Just as a ripple of the West Wind is poured out on the seaas it rises fresh, and the sea turns black beneath it,so the ranks of the Achaeans and the Trojans saton the plain; and Hector spoke among both of them:Hear me, Trojans and well-greaved Achaeans,so I can say what my heart in my chest tells me.The son of Kronos, who sits on high, has not fulfilled the oaths,but planning evil he is working out something for both sidesuntil either you take well-towered Troyor you yourselves are killed beside your sea-going ships.There are among you the best men of all the Achaeans;whichever one of them now has the heart to fight with me,let him come here from all of them and be champion against godlike Hector.And this is what I say, and let Zeus be witness for us:if that man kills me with the long-edged bronze,let him strip my armor and carry it to the hollow ships,but let him give my body back home, so that the Trojansand the Trojans' wives may give me my share of fire when I am dead.But if I kill that man, and Apollo gives me the glory,I will strip his armor and carry it to holy Ilios,and I will hang it in the shrine of far-shooting Apollo,and I will give his body back to the well-benched ships,so that the long-haired Achaeans may give him a funeral,and heap up a mound for him on the wide Hellespont.And some day one of the men born later will say,sailing in a many-benched ship over the wine-dark sea:This is the mound of a man who died long ago,whom glorious Hector killed when he was at his best in battle.That is what someone will say some day; and my glory will never die.So he spoke, and they all became silent in silence;they were ashamed to refuse, and they were afraid to accept;and at last Menelaus stood up and spoke among them,scolding them with reproach, and he groaned deeply in his heart:Shame on you, you boasts of Achaean women, no longer Achaeans!This will really be a disgrace, a terribly dreadful disgrace,if none of the Danaans now goes out against Hector.But may all of you turn to water and earth,sitting there, each one of you, useless and without glory.But I myself will arm myself against this man; and abovethe outcomes of victory rest with the immortal gods.So he spoke, and he put on his fine armor.Then, Menelaus, the end of your life would have appearedat the hands of Hector, since he was far stronger,if the kings of the Achaeans had not jumped up and stopped him,and the son of Atreus himself, wide-ruling Agamemnon,took his right hand and spoke these words and named him:You are being foolish, Menelaus, raised by Zeus; there is no need for youto act with this foolishness; hold back, even though you are grieving,and do not want to fight out of rivalry a man better than you,Hector the son of Priam, whom others also dread.Even Achilles, in the battle where men win glory,shrank from meeting him, and he is far better than you.But now sit down and go to the company of your companions,and the Achaeans will set up another champion against this man.Even if he is fearless and cannot get enough of battle,I say he will gladly bend the knee, if he escapesout of the hostile war and the dread fighting.So he spoke, and the hero turned his brother's mind,giving him good advice, and he was persuaded; then hisglad attendants took the armor off his shoulders;and Nestor stood up among the Argives and spoke to them:Oh no, a great grief has come on the Achaean land.Truly old Peleus, master of horses, would groan out loud,the noble man who advised and spoke for the Myrmidons,who once in his own house rejoiced greatly when he questioned me,asking about the family and birth of all the Argives.If he should hear that all of them now cringe before Hector,he would often lift his dear hands to the immortal godspraying that his spirit might go down from his limbs into the house of Hades.If only I were young, father Zeus, and Athene and Apollo,as when they fought by the swift-flowing Keladon,the Pylians gathered together and the Arcadians who love spears,by the walls of Pheia, around the streams of Iardanos.Among them stood Ereuthalion as champion, a man like a god,carrying on his shoulders the armor of lord Areithoos,of godlike Areithoos, whom men called by the nameclub-bearer, and so did the women with fine girdles,because he did not fight with bows and a long spear,but with an iron club he broke through the ranks.Lykoorgos killed him by trickery, not by strength,in a narrow road, where his club did not save himfrom death, his iron club; for Lykoorgos struck firstand ran his spear through the middle of him, and he fell backward onto the ground;and he stripped off his armor, which bronze Ares had given him.And after that he himself wore it in the clash of Ares;but when Lykoorgos grew old in his halls,he gave it to his dear attendant Ereuthalion to wear;and wearing that man's armor he challenged all the best men.But they trembled and were terribly afraid, and no one dared;but my heart, which had endured much, urged me to fightwith my own courage; and in age I was the youngest of them all;and I fought him, and Athene gave me the glory.I killed that man, the tallest and the strongest;for he lay sprawled there, a huge bulk, here and there.If only I were young like that, and my strength were firm!Then helmet-flashing Hector would soon come out to fight.But of you who are the best men of all the Achaeans,not even these are eager in their hearts to go against Hector.So the old man scolded them, and all nine of them stood up.First by far stood up Agamemnon, lord of men,and after him stood up the son of Tydeus, strong Diomedes,and after them the two Aiantes, clothed in furious strength,and after them Idomeneus and Idomeneus' companionMeriones, equal to Enyalios, the killer of men,and after them Eurypylos, the shining son of Euaimon,and up stood Thoas the son of Andraimon and godlike Odysseus;all of these wanted to fight with godlike Hector.Then Gerenian horseman Nestor spoke to them again:Now cast lots, all the way through, for whoever is chosen;for this man will help the well-greaved Achaeans,and he will also help his own heart, if he escapesout of the hostile war and the dread fighting.So he spoke, and each of them marked his lot,and they threw them into the helmet of Agamemnon, the son of Atreus.And the people prayed, and held their hands up to the gods;and one of them would say, looking up at the wide sky:Father Zeus, let it be Ajax, or the son of Tydeus,or the king himself of Mycenae rich in gold.So they spoke, and Gerenian horseman Nestor shook the helmet,and the lot jumped out of the helmet that they themselves wanted,the lot of Ajax; and the herald carried it through the whole crowdand showed it from left to right to all the best of the Achaeans.But they did not recognize it and each one refused it.But when he came to the man carrying it through the whole crowdwho had marked it and thrown it into the helmet, glorious Ajax,he held out his hand, and he threw it down close beside him as he stood there,and he knew the mark of the lot when he saw it, and rejoiced in his heart.He threw it on the ground at his feet and spoke:My friends, the lot is mine, and I myself rejoicein my heart, because I think I will beat godlike Hector.But come, while I put on my war gear,in the meantime pray to Zeus, the lord son of Kronos,silently among yourselves so that the Trojans do not find out,or else openly, since we are not afraid of anyone anyway;for no one will drive me by force, willing or unwilling,nor by skill, since I do not think I am so ignorantas not to have been born and raised in Salamis.So he spoke, and they prayed to Zeus, the lord son of Kronos;and one of them would say, looking up at the wide sky:Father Zeus, ruling from Ida, most glorious, greatest,give victory to Ajax and let him win shining glory;but if you also love Hector and care about him,give equal strength and glory to both of them alike.So they spoke, and Ajax armed himself in gleaming bronze.But when he had put all his armor around his body,he rushed out, just like huge Ares comeswhen he goes into war among men whom the son of Kronoshas set to fight with the fury of heart-devouring strife.Just so Ajax rose up, huge, the wall of the Achaeans,smiling with a grim face; and beneath his feethe went with long strides, brandishing his long-shadowed spear.And the Argives rejoiced as they looked at him,but a terrible trembling came over each limb of the Trojans,and in Hector's own chest his heart pounded;but he could no longer shrink back or draw awayinto the crowd of his people, since he had challenged him to the fight.And Ajax came near, carrying his shield like a tower,of bronze, with seven hides, which Tychios had made for him,by far the best of leather-workers, living in his house in Hyle,who made him the gleaming shield of seven hidesof well-fed bulls, and on top of that he hammered an eighth layer of bronze.Carrying this in front of his chest, Telamonian Ajaxstood very close to Hector, and threatened him and spoke:Hector, now you will clearly know, all by yourself,what kind of men the best of the Danaans are,even after Achilles, breaker of men, the lion-hearted.But he lies among his curved sea-going ships,angry with Agamemnon, shepherd of the people;but we are the kind of men who would stand up to you,and many of us too; but begin the fight and the war.Then great, helmet-flashing Hector answered him:Ajax, born of Zeus, son of Telamon, leader of the people,do not test me like some weak boyor a woman, who does not know the works of war.But I know well battles and the killing of men;I know how to swing my shield to the right, I know how to the left,my dry ox-hide shield, which is mine for tough fighting;I know how to charge into the rush of swift horses;I know how to dance in close combat with hostile Ares.But I do not want to hit you, when you are like this,watching secretly, but openly, if I happen to hit you.He spoke, and swung his long-shadowed spear and threw it,and hit Ajax's terrible seven-hided shieldon the very outermost bronze, which was the eighth layer on it.Through six folds went the unyielding bronze, cutting through,and in the seventh hide it was stopped; and then a second timegodlike Ajax threw his long-shadowed spear,and hit the shield of Priam's son, which was equal on every side.Through the shining shield went the mighty spear,and through the much-decorated corselet it was driven;and straight on past his flank it cut through his tunic,the spear; and he leaned aside and avoided black death.Then the two of them pulled out their long spears with both hands at onceand rushed at each other, looking like flesh-eating lionsor like boars, whose strength is not weak.Then the son of Priam wounded the middle of his shield with his spear,but the bronze did not break through, and its point was bent back.And Ajax jumped and stabbed his shield; and the spear wentright through, and it pushed him back as he pressed forward,and grazing along it came upon his neck, and black blood spurted out,but not even so did helmet-flashing Hector stop fighting,but he drew back and picked up a stone with his thick handthat lay on the plain, black and rough and big;with it he hit Ajax's terrible seven-hided shieldright on the middle boss; and the bronze rang out around it.Then Ajax in turn lifted a much bigger stoneand threw it, spinning it, and it struck with immense force,and he smashed the shield by hitting it with a millstone-like rock,and he hurt his dear knees; and he was stretched out on his backpressed against his shield; and Apollo lifted him up at once.And now they would have wounded each other hand to hand with swords,if the heralds, messengers of Zeus and of men,had not come, one from the Trojans, the other from the bronze-clad Achaeans,Talthybios and Idaios, both of them sensible;and between the two of them they held their scepters, and spoke a wordthe herald Idaios, who knew wise plans:Fight no more, dear sons, and do not battle;for Zeus the cloud-gatherer loves you both,and both of you are spearmen; that we all know well.And night is already here; it is good to obey night too.Then Telamonian Ajax answered him and said:Idaios, tell Hector to say those things;for he himself challenged all the best men to the fight.Let him begin; and I will fully follow whatever he does.Then great, helmet-flashing Hector answered him:Ajax, since the god has given you both size and strengthand good sense, and you are the best of the Achaeans with the spear,now let us stop the battle and the fightingfor today; later we will fight again until the godseparates us, and gives victory to one side or the other.And night is already here; it is good to obey night too,so that you may make all the Achaeans glad beside their ships,and most of all your own kinsmen and companions, who belong to you;but I in the great city of lord Priamwill make the Trojans and the long-robed Trojan women glad,who pray for me and will enter the sacred gathering place.But come, let us both give each other famous gifts,so that someone may say like this, Achaean or Trojan:These two fought together over heart-devouring strife,and then they parted in friendship, after they had joined together.So he spoke, and he gave him a silver-studded swordcarrying it with its sheath and its well-cut strap;and Ajax gave him a belt shining with purple.Then the two of them, having parted, one went to the host of the Achaeans,and the other went to the crowd of the Trojans; and they rejoiced,when they saw him coming alive and unharmed,having escaped the might and the resistless hands of Ajax;and they led him to the city, not expecting he was safe.And Ajax on the other side the well-greaved Achaeansled to godlike Agamemnon, rejoicing in victory.But when they came to the huts of the son of Atreus,lord Agamemnon sacrificed a bull for them,a male, five years old, to the mighty son of Kronos.They skinned it and worked it and cut it all up,and chopped it expertly and put it on spits,and roasted it carefully, and pulled it all off.But when they had stopped their work and prepared the meal,they feasted, and their hearts did not lack an equal share of the feast;and with continuous cuts of the back Ajax was honoredby the hero son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon.But when they had set aside their desire for drink and food,the old man was the very first to begin weaving his plan,Nestor, whose advice had also seemed best before;he, thinking kindly, spoke to them in the assembly and said:Son of Atreus and other best men of all the Achaeans,for many long-haired Achaeans have died,whose dark blood now, flowing fair, around Skamandrosswift Ares has scattered, and their souls have gone down to Hades;so you must stop the Achaeans' war at dawn,and we ourselves, gathering together, will bring the corpses herewith oxen and mules; and we will burn thema little way from the ships, so that each man may carry the boneshome to his children, when we return again to our native land.And let us heap up one mound around the pyre,drawn out and shared from the plain; and beside it let us quickly buildhigh towers, a defense for the ships and for ourselves.And in them let us make well-fitted gates,so that through them there may be a road for chariots;and outside let us dig a deep ditch nearby,which would hold off horse and foot, being all around,in case the war of the proud Trojans ever presses on us.So he spoke, and all the kings approved.And again there was an assembly of the Trojans in the high city of Ilios,dreadful and in tumult, at the doors of Priam;and sensible Antenor began to speak among them:Hear me, Trojans and Dardanians and allies,so I can say what my heart in my chest tells me.Come now, let us give Argive Helen and the treasures with herto the sons of Atreus to lead away; now we are fightinghaving broken our faithful oaths; so I do not thinkanything more profitable will be completed for us, unless we do this.So he spoke and sat down; and among them stood upgodlike Alexandros, the husband of fair-haired Helen,who answered him with winged words:Antenor, what you say is no longer pleasing to me;you know how to think of another speech better than this one.But if you are really saying this in earnest,then surely the gods themselves have destroyed your wits.But I will speak among the horse-taming Trojans;and I declare outright that I will not give back the woman;but the treasures, as many as I brought from Argos to our house,I am willing to give them all, and to add others from home.So he spoke and sat down; and among them stood upPriam, the son of Dardanos, equal to the gods in counsel,who, thinking kindly, spoke to them in the assembly and said:Hear me, Trojans and Dardanians and allies,so I can say what my heart in my chest tells me.Now take your supper throughout the city as before,and remember the watch and each one stay awake;and at dawn let Idaios go to the hollow shipsto tell the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus,the word of Alexandros, for whose sake the quarrel began;and to say this prudent word too, if they are willingto stop the ill-sounding war, until weburn the dead; later we will fight again until the godseparates us and gives victory to one side or the other.So he spoke, and they heard him and obeyed;then they took supper throughout the army in their companies;and at dawn Idaios went to the hollow ships;and he found the Danaans, the attendants of Ares, in assemblybeside the stern of Agamemnon's ship; and he stoodin their midst and spoke to them, the loud-voiced herald:Son of Atreus and other best men of all the Achaeans,Priam and the other proud Trojans have ordered meto say, if it would be dear and pleasing to you,the word of Alexandros, for whose sake the quarrel began;the treasures, as many as Alexandros in his hollow shipscarried to Troy, would that he had died before that,he is willing to give them all, and to add others from home;but the wedded wife of glorious Menelaushe says he will not give back; and truly the Trojans at least urge it.And they ordered me to say this word too, if you are willingto stop the ill-sounding war, until weburn the dead; later we will fight again until the godseparates us and gives victory to one side or the other.So he spoke, and they all became silent in silence;and at last Diomedes, good at the war-cry, spoke among them:Let no one now accept the treasures of Alexandrosor Helen; because it is clear even to someone very foolishthat the ends of destruction now hang over the Trojans.So he spoke, and all the sons of the Achaeans shouted outin approval of the word of Diomedes, tamer of horses;and then lord Agamemnon spoke to Idaios:Idaios, you yourself hear the word of the Achaeans,how they answer you; and this pleases me too;and as for burning the dead, I do not begrudge it at all;for there is no sparing of the dead who have diedwhen it comes to soothing them quickly with fire, once they are dead.But let Zeus be witness, the loud-thundering husband of Hera.So he spoke, and he raised the scepter to all the gods,and Idaios went back again to holy Ilios.And they sat in assembly, the Trojans and Dardanians,all gathered together, waiting for when Idaios might come;and he came and delivered his messagestanding in their midst; and they armed themselves very quickly,both to bring in the corpses and others to go for wood;and the Argives on the other side, from their well-benched ships,urged themselves on to bring in corpses, and others to go for wood.Then the Sun was newly striking the fieldsas he came up into the sky from the softly-flowing, deep-streaming Ocean;and they met one another.There it was hard to recognize each single man;but washing the bloody gore off with waterand shedding warm tears, they lifted them onto the wagons.But great Priam did not let them weep; and they in silenceheaped the corpses on the pyre, grieving at heart,and when they had burned them in the fire they went to holy Ilios.Just so on the other side the well-greaved Achaeansheaped the corpses on the pyre, grieving at heart,and when they had burned them in the fire they went to the hollow ships.And when it was not yet dawn, but still the dim light of night,then around the pyre the chosen host of the Achaeans roused itself,and they made one mound around it, having drawn it outshared from the plain, and beside it they built a walland high towers, a defense for the ships and for themselves.And in them they made well-fitted gates,so that through them there might be a road for chariots;and outside they dug a deep ditch beside it,wide and great, and they fixed stakes in it.So they toiled, the long-haired Achaeans;and the gods, sitting beside Zeus the thunderer,gazed at the great work of the bronze-clad Achaeans.And Poseidon the earth-shaker began speech among them:Father Zeus, is there really any mortal on the boundless earthwho will still tell the immortals his mind and his plan?Do you not see that the long-haired Achaeanshave built a wall above their ships, and around ithave driven a ditch, and have not given the gods glorious hecatombs?Its fame will be as far as the dawn spreads;and they will forget that wall which I and Phoibos Apollobuilt for the hero Laomedon, toiling for him.Then Zeus the cloud-gatherer, greatly angered, answered him:Oh no, earth-shaker, wide of strength, what have you said!Some other of the gods might fear this thought,one far weaker than you in hands and strength;but your fame will be as far as the dawn spreads.Come now, when the long-haired Achaeans againhave gone with their ships to their dear native land,break down the wall and pour it all into the sea,and again cover the great shore with sand,so that the great wall of the Achaeans may be wiped out.So they spoke such things to one another,and the sun set, and the work of the Achaeans was finished,and they slaughtered oxen throughout the huts and took supper.And ships from Lemnos came to hand bringing wine,many of them, which Euneos, the son of Jason, had sent,whom Hypsipyle bore to Jason, shepherd of the people.Separately to the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus,the son of Jason gave a thousand measures of wine to carry.From there the long-haired Achaeans got their wine,some with bronze, some with shining iron,some with hides, some with the live oxen themselves,some with slaves; and they set out a rich feast.All night long then the long-haired Achaeansfeasted, and the Trojans throughout the city and the allies;and all night the counselor Zeus planned evils for them,thundering terribly; and pale fear seized them;and they poured wine from the cups onto the ground, and no one daredto drink before he had poured a libation to the mighty son of Kronos.Then they lay down to sleep and took the gift of sleep.