Sing, O goddess, the anger [ mênis ] of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon
 the Achaeans. Many a brave soul [ psukhê ] did it
 send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs 

 
 and vultures, for so was the will of Zeus
 fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great
 Achilles, first fell out with one another. And which of the gods was it that
 set them on to quarrel? It was the son of Zeus and Leto; for he was angry with
 the king 

 
 and sent a pestilence upon the host to plague
 the people, because the son of Atreus had dishonored Chryses his priest. Now
 Chryses had come to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and had
 brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the scepter of
 Apollo wreathed with a suppliant's wreath 

 
 and he besought the Achaeans, but most of all
 the two sons of Atreus, who were their chiefs. "Sons of Atreus," he cried, "and
 all other Achaeans, may the gods who dwell in Olympus grant you to sack the city of Priam, and to reach your
 homes in safety; 

 
 but free my daughter, and accept a ransom for
 her, in reverence to Apollo, son of Zeus." On this the rest of the Achaeans
 with one voice were for respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he
 offered; but not so Agamemnon, 

 
 who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly
 away. "Old man," said he, "let me not find you tarrying about our ships, nor
 yet coming hereafter. Your scepter of the god and your wreath shall profit you
 nothing. I will not free her. She shall grow old 

 
 in my house at Argos far from her own home, busying herself with her loom and
 visiting my couch; so go, and do not provoke me or it shall be the worse for
 you." The old man feared him and obeyed. Not a word he spoke, but went by the
 shore of the sounding sea 

 
 and prayed apart to King Apollo whom lovely Leto
 had borne. "Hear me," he cried, "O god of the silver bow, you who protect
 Chryse and holy Cilla and rule
 Tenedos with your might, hear
 me O god of Sminthe. If I have ever decked your temple with garlands,

or burned for you thigh-bones in fat of bulls or
 goats, grant my prayer, and let your arrows avenge these my tears upon the
 Danaans." Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. He came down furious
 from the summits of Olympus , 

 
 with his bow and his quiver upon his shoulder,
 and the arrows rattled on his back with the rage that trembled within him. He
 sat himself down away from the ships with a face as dark as night, and his
 silver bow rang death as he shot his arrow in the midst of them. 

 
 First he smote their mules and their hounds, but
 presently he aimed his shafts at the people themselves, and all day long the
 pyres of the dead were burning. For nine whole days he shot his arrows among
 the people, but upon the tenth day Achilles called them in assembly - 

 
 moved thereto by Hera, who saw the Achaeans in
 their death-throes and had compassion upon them. Then, when they were got
 together, he rose and spoke among them. "Son of Atreus," said he, "I deem that
 we should now 

 
 turn roving home if we would escape destruction,
 for we are being cut down by war and pestilence at once. Let us ask some priest
 or seer [ mantis ], or some reader of dreams (for
 dreams, too, are of Zeus) who can tell us why Phoebus Apollo is so angry, and
 say 

 
 whether it is for some vow that we have broken,
 or hecatomb that we have not offered, and whether he will accept the savor of
 lambs and goats without blemish, so as to take away the plague from us." With
 these words he sat down, and Kalkhas son of Thestor, wisest of augurs, 

 
 who knew things past present and to come, rose
 to speak. He it was who had guided the Achaeans with their fleet to Ilion , through the prophesyings with which
 Phoebus Apollo had inspired him. With all sincerity and goodwill he addressed
 them thus: - "Achilles, loved of heaven, you bid me tell you about the 

 
 anger [ mênis ] of
 King Apollo, I will therefore do so; but consider first and swear that you will
 stand by me heartily in word and deed, for I know that I shall offend one who
 rules the Argives with might, to whom all the Achaeans are in subjection.

A plain man cannot stand against the anger of a
 king, who if he swallow his displeasure now, will yet nurse revenge till he has
 wreaked it. Consider, therefore, whether or no you will protect me." And
 Achilles answered, 

 
 "Fear not, but speak as it is borne in upon you
 from heaven, for by Apollo, Kalkhas, to whom you pray, and whose oracles you
 reveal to us, not a Danaan at our ships shall lay his hand upon you, while I
 yet live to look upon the face of the earth - 

 
 no, not though you name Agamemnon himself, who
 is by far the foremost of the Achaeans." Thereon the seer [ mantis ] spoke boldly. "The god," he said, "is angry neither about
 vow nor hecatomb, but for his priest's sake, whom Agamemnon has dishonored, 

 
 in that he would not free his daughter nor take
 a ransom for her; therefore has he sent these evils upon us, and will yet send
 others. He will not deliver the Danaans from this pestilence till Agamemnon has
 restored the girl without fee or ransom to her father, and has sent a holy
 hecatomb 

 
 to Chryse . Thus we may perhaps appease him." With these words he
 sat down, and Agamemnon rose in anger. His heart was black with rage, and his
 eyes flashed fire 

 
 as he scowled on Kalkhas and said, "Seer [ mantis ] of evil, you never yet prophesied smooth
 things concerning me, but have ever loved to foretell that which was evil. You
 have brought me neither comfort nor performance; and now you come seeing among
 Danaans, and saying 

 
 that Apollo has plagued us because I would not
 take a ransom for this girl, the daughter of Chryses. I have set my heart on
 keeping her in my own house, for I love her better even than my own wife
 Clytemnestra, whose peer she is alike in 

 
 form and feature, in understanding and
 accomplishments. Still I will give her up if I must, for I would have the
 people live, not die; but you must find me a prize instead, or I alone among
 the Argives shall be without one. This is not well;

for you behold, all of you, that my prize is to
 go elsewhere." And Achilles answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, covetous
 beyond all humankind, how shall the Achaeans find you another prize? We have no
 common store from which to take one. 

 
 Those we took from the cities have been
 awarded; we cannot disallow the awards that have been made already. Give this
 girl, therefore, to the god, and if ever Zeus grants us to sack the city of
 Troy we will requite you three and
 fourfold." 

 
 Then Agamemnon said, "Achilles, valiant though
 you be, you shall not thus get the better of me in matters of the mind [ noos ]. You shall not overreach and you shall not
 persuade me. Are you to keep your own prize, while I sit tamely under my loss
 and give up the girl at your bidding? 

 
 Let the Achaeans find me a prize in fair
 exchange to my liking, or I will come and take your own, or that of Ajax or of
 Odysseus; and he to whomsoever I may come shall rue my coming. 

 
 But of this we will take thought hereafter; for
 the present, let us draw a ship into the sea, and find a crew for her
 expressly; let us put a hecatomb on board, and let us send Chryseis also;
 further, let some chief man among us be in command, 

 
 either Ajax, or Idomeneus, or yourself, son of
 Peleus, mighty warrior that you are, that we may offer sacrifice and appease
 the anger of the god." Achilles scowled at him and answered, "You are steeped
 in insolence and lust of gain. 

 
 With what heart can any of the Achaeans do your
 bidding, either on foray or in open fighting? I came to make war here not
 because the Trojans are responsible [ aitioi ] for
 any wrong committed against me. I have no quarrel with them. They have not
 raided my cattle nor my horses, 

 
 nor cut down my harvests on the fertile plains
 of Phthia ; for between me and them
 there is a great space, both mountain and sounding sea. We have followed you,
 Sir Insolence! for your pleasure, not ours - to gain satisfaction [ timê ] from the Trojans for your shameless self and for
 Menelaos.

You forget this, and threaten to rob me of the
 prize for which I have toiled, and which the sons of the Achaeans have given
 me. Never when the Achaeans sack any rich city of the Trojans do I receive so
 good a prize as you do, 

 
 though it is my hands that do the better part
 of the fighting. When the sharing comes, your share is far the largest, and I,
 indeed, must go back to my ships, take what I can get and be thankful, when my
 labor of fighting is done. Now, therefore, I shall go back to Phthia ; it will be much better 

 
 for me to return home with my ships, for I will
 not stay here dishonored to gather gold and substance for you." And Agamemnon
 answered, "Flee if you will, I shall make you no prayers to stay you. I have
 others here 

 
 who will do me honor, and above all Zeus, the
 lord of counsel. There is no king here so hateful to me as you are, for you are
 ever quarrelsome and ill affected. What though you be brave? Was it not heaven
 that made you so? Go home, then, with your ships and comrades 

 
 to lord it over the Myrmidons. I care neither
 for you nor for your anger; and thus will I do: since Phoebus Apollo is taking
 Chryseis from me, I shall send her with my ship and my followers, but I shall
 come to your tent and 

 
 take your own prize Briseis, that you may learn
 how much more prestigious I am than you are, and that another may fear to set
 himself up as equal or comparable with me." The son of Peleus felt grief [ akhos ], and his heart within his shaggy breast was
 divided 

 
 whether to draw his sword, push the others
 aside, and kill the son of Atreus, or to restrain himself and check his anger.
 While he was thus in two minds, and was drawing his mighty sword from its
 scabbard, Athena came down 

 
 from heaven (for Hera had sent her in the love
 she bore to them both), and seized the son of Peleus by his yellow hair,
 visible to him alone, for of the others no man could see her. Achilles turned
 in amaze, and by the fire that flashed from her eyes at once knew that she was

Athena. "Why are you here," said he, "daughter
 of aegis-bearing Zeus? To see the pride [ hubris ] of
 Agamemnon, son of Atreus? Let me tell you - and it shall surely be - 

 
 he shall pay for this insolence with his life."
 And Athena said, "I come from heaven, if you will hear me, to bid you stay your
 anger. Hera has sent me, who cares for both of you alike. 

 
 Cease, then, this brawling, and do not draw
 your sword; rail at him if you will, and your railing will not be vain, for I
 tell you - and it shall surely be - that you shall hereafter receive gifts
 three times as splendid by reason of this present insult [ hubris ]. Hold, therefore, and obey." 

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

 
 and thrust it back into the scabbard as Athena
 bade him. Then she went back to Olympus among the other gods [ daimones ], and to the house of aegis-bearing Zeus. But the son of
 Peleus again began railing at the son of Atreus, for he was still in a rage. 

 
 "Wine-bibber," he cried, "with the face of a
 dog and the heart of a hind, you never dare to go out with the host in fight,
 nor yet with our chosen men in ambuscade. You shun this as you do death itself.
 You had rather go round and 

 
 rob his prizes from any man who contradicts
 you. You devour your people, for you are king over a feeble folk; otherwise,
 son of Atreus, henceforward you would insult no man. Therefore I say, and swear
 it with a great oath - nay, by this my scepter which shall sprout neither leaf
 nor shoot, 

 
 nor bud anew from the day on which it left its
 parent stem upon the mountains - for the axe stripped it of leaf and bark, and
 now the sons of the Achaeans bear it as judges and guardians of the decrees
 [ themistes ] of heaven - so surely and solemnly
 do I swear

that hereafter they shall look fondly for
 Achilles and shall not find him. In the day of your distress, when your men
 fall dying by the murderous hand of Hektor, you shall not know how to help
 them, and shall rend your heart with rage for the hour when you offered insult
 to the best [ aristos ] of the Achaeans." 

 
 With this the son of Peleus dashed his
 gold-bestudded scepter on the ground and took his seat, while the son of Atreus
 was beginning fiercely from his place upon the other side. Then stood up
 smooth-tongued Nestor, the facile speaker of the Pylians, and the words fell
 from his lips sweeter than honey. 

 
 Two generations of men born and bred in
 Pylos had passed away under his
 rule, and he was now reigning over the third. With all sincerity and goodwill,
 therefore, he addressed them thus: - "Of a truth," he said, "a great sorrow
 [ penthos ] has befallen the Achaean land. 

 
 Surely Priam with his sons would rejoice, and
 the Trojans be glad at heart if they could hear this quarrel between you two,
 who are so excellent in fight and counsel. I am older than either of you;
 therefore be guided by me. 

 
 Moreover I have been the familiar friend of men
 even greater than you are, and they did not disregard my counsels. Never again
 can I behold such men as Peirithoos and Dryas shepherd of his people, or as
 Kaineus, Exadios, godlike Polyphemus, 

 
 and Theseus son of Aegeus, peer of the
 immortals. These were the mightiest men ever born upon this earth: mightiest
 were they, and when they fought the fiercest tribes of mountain savages they
 utterly overthrew them. I came from distant Pylos , and went about among them, 

 
 for they would have me come, and I fought as it
 was in me to do. Not a man now living could withstand them, but they heard my
 words, and were persuaded by them. So be it also with yourselves, for this is
 the more excellent way. 

 
 Therefore, Agamemnon, though you be
 prestigious, take not this girl away, for the sons of the Achaeans have already
 given her to Achilles; and you, Achilles, strive not further with the king, for
 no man who by the grace of Zeus wields a scepter has like honor [ timê ] with Agamemnon.

You are strong, and have a goddess for your
 mother; but Agamemnon is more prestigious than you, for he has more people
 under him. Son of Atreus, check your anger, I implore you; end this quarrel
 with Achilles, who in the day of battle is a tower of strength to the
 Achaeans." 

 
 And Agamemnon answered, "Old sir, all that you
 have said is true, but this man wants to become our lord and master: he must be
 lord of all, king of all, and leader of all, and this shall hardly be. 

 
 Granted that the gods have made him a great
 warrior, have they also given him the right to speak with railing?" Achilles in
 turn said to him: "I should be a mean coward," he cried, "were I to give in to
 you in all things. 

 
 Order other people about, not me, for I shall
 obey no longer. Furthermore I say - and lay my saying to your heart - I shall
 fight neither you nor any man about this girl, for those that take were those
 also that gave. 

 
 But of all else that is at my ship you shall
 carry away nothing by force. Try, that others may see; if you do, my spear
 shall be reddened with your blood." When they had quarreled thus angrily, 

 
 they rose, and broke up the assembly at the
 ships of the Achaeans. The son of Peleus went back to his tents and ships with
 the son of Menoitios and his company, while Agamemnon drew a vessel into the
 water and chose a crew of twenty oarsmen. 

 
 He escorted Chryseis on board and sent moreover
 a hecatomb for the god. And Odysseus went as leader. These, then, went on board
 and sailed their ways over the sea. But the son of Atreus bade the people
 purify themselves; so they purified themselves and cast their filth into the
 sea. 

 
 Then they offered hecatombs of bulls and goats
 without blemish on the sea-shore, and the smoke with the savor of their
 sacrifice rose curling up towards heaven. Thus did they busy themselves
 throughout the host. But Agamemnon did not forget the threat that he had made
 Achilles,

and called his trusty messengers and squires
 [ therapontes ] Talthybios and Eurybates. "Go,"
 said he, "to the tent of Achilles, son of Peleus; take Briseis by the hand and
 bring her hither; if he will not give her I shall come 

 
 with others and take her - which will press him
 harder." He charged them straightly further and dismissed them, whereon they
 went their way sorrowfully by the seaside, till they came to the tents and
 ships of the Myrmidons. They found Achilles sitting by his tent and his ships, 

 
 and ill-pleased he was when he beheld them.
 They stood fearfully and reverently before him, and never a word did they
 speak, but he knew them and said, "Welcome, heralds, messengers of gods and
 men; 

 
 draw near; my quarrel is not with you but with
 Agamemnon who has sent you for the girl Briseis. Therefore, Patroklos, bring
 her and give her to them, but let them be witnesses by the blessed gods, by
 mortal men, 

 
 and by the fierceness of Agamemnon's anger,
 that if ever again there be need of me to save the people from ruin, they shall
 seek and they shall not find. Agamemnon is mad with rage and knows not how to
 look before and after that the Achaeans may fight by their ships in safety." 

 
 Patroklos did as his dear comrade had bidden
 him. He brought Briseis from the tent and gave her over to the heralds, who
 took her with them to the ships of the Achaeans - and the woman was loath to
 go. Then Achilles went all alone 

 
 by the side of the hoar sea [ pontos ], weeping and looking out upon the boundless
 waste of waters. He raised his hands in prayer to his immortal mother,
 "Mother," he cried, "you bore me doomed to live but for a brief season; surely
 Zeus, who thunders from Olympus , might
 have given honor [ timê ] in return. It is not so. 

 
 Agamemnon, son of Atreus, has done me dishonor,
 and has robbed me of my prize by force." As he spoke he wept aloud, and his
 mother heard him where she was sitting in the depths of the sea hard by the Old
 One, her father. Forthwith she rose as it were a gray mist out of the waves,

sat down before him as he stood weeping,
 caressed him with her hand, and said, "My son, why are you weeping? What is it
 that gives you grief [ penthos ]? Keep it not from my
 thinking [ noos ], but tell me, that we may know it
 together." Achilles drew a deep sigh and said, 

 
 "You know it; why tell you what you know well
 already? We went to Thebe the strong city of Eetion, sacked it, and brought
 hither the spoil. The sons of the Achaeans shared it duly among themselves, and
 chose lovely Chryseis as the prize of Agamemnon; 

 
 but Chryses, priest of Apollo, came to the
 ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and brought with him a great
 ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the scepter of Apollo, wreathed with a
 suppliant's wreath, and he besought the Achaeans, 

 
 but most of all the two sons of Atreus who were
 their chiefs. On this the rest of the Achaeans with one voice were for
 respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered; but not so
 Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly away. 

 
 So he went back in anger, and Apollo, who loved
 him dearly, heard his prayer. Then the god sent a deadly dart upon the Argives,
 and the people died thick on one another, for the arrows went everywhere among
 the wide host of the Achaeans. At last a seer [ mantis ] 

 
 in the fullness of his knowledge declared to us
 the oracles of Apollo, and I was myself first to say that we should appease
 him. Whereon the son of Atreus rose in anger, and threatened that which he has
 since done. The Achaeans are now taking the girl in a ship 

 
 to Chryse , and sending gifts of sacrifice to the god; but the
 heralds have just taken from my tent the daughter of Briseus, whom the Achaeans
 had awarded to myself. Help your brave son, therefore, if you are able. Go to
 Olympus , and if you have ever 

 
 done him service in word or deed, implore the
 aid of Zeus. Ofttimes in my father's house have I heard you glory in that you
 alone of the immortals saved the son of Kronos from ruin, when the others,

with Hera, Poseidon, and Pallas Athena would
 have put him in bonds. It was you, goddess, who delivered him by calling to
 Olympus the hundred-handed one whom
 gods call Briareus, but men Aigaion, for he has more force [ biê ] even than his father; 

 
 when therefore he took his seat all-glorious
 beside the son of Kronos, the other gods were afraid, and did not bind him. Go,
 then, to him, remind him of all this, clasp his knees, and bid him give succor
 to the Trojans. Let the Achaeans be hemmed in at the sterns of their ships, and
 perish on the sea-shore, 

 
 that they may reap what joy they may of their
 king, and that Agamemnon may rue his derangement [ atê ] in offering insult to the best [ aristos ] of the Achaeans." Thetis wept and answered, "My son, woe is
 me that I should have borne or suckled you. 

 
 Would indeed that you had lived your span free
 from all sorrow at your ships, for it is all too brief; alas, that you should
 be at once short of life and long of sorrow above your peers: woe, therefore,
 was the hour in which I bore you; 

 
 nevertheless I will go to the snowy heights of
 Olympus , and tell this tale to
 Zeus, if he will hear our prayer: meanwhile stay where you are with your ships,
 nurse your anger [ mênis ] against the Achaeans, and
 hold aloof from fight. For Zeus went yesterday to Okeanos, to a feast among the
 Ethiopians, and the other gods went with him. 

 
 He will return to Olympus twelve days hence; I will then go to his mansion paved
 with bronze and will beseech him; nor do I doubt that I shall be able to
 persuade him." On this she left him, still furious at the loss of her 

 
 that had been taken by force [ biê ] from him. Meanwhile Odysseus reached Chryse with the hecatomb. When they had
 come inside the harbor they furled the sails and laid them in the ship's hold;
 they slackened the forestays, lowered the mast into its place, 

 
 and rowed the ship to the place where they
 would have her lie; there they cast out their mooring-stones and made fast the
 hawsers. They then got out upon the sea-shore and landed the hecatomb for
 Apollo; Chryseis also left the ship,

and Odysseus led her to the altar to deliver
 her into the hands of her father. "Chryses," said he, "King Agamemnon has sent
 me to bring you back your child, and to offer sacrifice to Apollo on behalf of
 the Danaans, that we may propitiate the god, 

 
 who has now brought sorrow upon the Argives."
 So saying he gave the girl over to her father, who received her gladly, and
 they ranged the holy hecatomb all orderly round the altar of the god. They
 washed their hands and took up the barley-meal to sprinkle over the victims, 

 
 while Chryses lifted up his hands and prayed
 aloud on their behalf. "Hear me," he cried, "O god of the silver bow, you who
 protect Chryse and holy Cilla, and
 rule Tenedos with your might. Even
 as you did hear me aforetime when I prayed, and did press hard upon the
 Achaeans, 

 
 so hear me yet again, and stay this fearful
 pestilence from the Danaans." Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer.
 When they had done praying and sprinkling the barley-meal, they drew back the
 heads of the victims and killed and flayed them. 

 
 They cut out the thigh-bones, wrapped them
 round in two layers of fat, set some pieces of raw meat on the top of them, and
 then Chryses laid them on the wood fire and poured wine over them, while the
 young men stood near him with five-pronged spits in their hands. When the
 thigh-bones were burned and they had tasted the inward meats, 

 
 they cut the rest up small, put the pieces upon
 the spits, roasted them till they were done, and drew them off: then, when they
 had finished their work [ ponos ] and the feast was
 ready, they ate it, and every man had his full share, so that all were
 satisfied. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, 

 
 pages filled the mixing-bowl with wine and
 water and handed it round, after giving every man his drink-offering. Thus all
 day long the young men worshipped the god with song, hymning him and chanting
 the joyous paean, and the god took pleasure in their voices; 

 
 but when the sun went down, and it came on
 dark, they laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables of the ship, and
 when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared they again set sail for
 the host of the Achaeans. Apollo sent them a fair wind,

so they raised their mast and hoisted their
 white sails aloft. As the sail bellied with the wind the ship flew through the
 seething deep water, and the foam hissed against her bows as she sped onward.
 When they reached the wide-stretching host of the Achaeans, 

 
 they drew the vessel ashore, high and dry upon
 the sands, set her strong props beneath her, and went their ways to their own
 tents and ships. But Achilles stayed at his ships and nursed his anger [ mênis ]. 

 
 He went not to the honorable assembly, and
 sallied not forth to fight, but gnawed at his own heart, pining for battle and
 the war-cry. Now after twelve days the immortal gods came back in a body to
 Olympus , 

 
 and Zeus led the way. Thetis was not unmindful
 of the charge her son had laid upon her, so she rose from under the sea and
 went, enveloped in mist, through great heaven with early morning to Olympus , where she found the mighty son of
 Kronos sitting all alone upon its topmost ridges. 

 
 She sat herself down before him, and with her
 left hand seized his knees, while with her right she caught him under the chin,
 and besought him, saying - "Father Zeus, if I ever did you service in word or
 deed among the immortals, hear my prayer, 

 
 and do honor to my son, whose life is to be cut
 short so early. King Agamemnon has dishonored him by taking his prize and
 keeping her. Honor him then yourself, Olympian lord of counsel, and grant
 victory to the Trojans, till the Achaeans 

 
 give my son his due and load him with riches in
 requital [ timê ]." Zeus sat for a while silent, and
 without a word, but Thetis still kept firm hold of his knees, and besought him
 a second time. "Nod your head," said she, "and promise me surely, 

 
 or else deny me - for you have nothing to fear
 - that I may learn how greatly you disdain me." At this Zeus was much troubled
 and answered, "I shall have trouble if you set me quarreling with Hera, for she
 will provoke me with her taunting speeches;

even now she is always railing at me before the
 other gods and accusing me of giving aid to the Trojans. Go back now, lest she
 should find out. I will consider the matter, and will bring it about as wish. 

 
 See, I nod my head that you believe me. This is
 the most solemn act that I can offer to any god. I never recall my word, or
 deceive, or fail to do what I say, when I have nodded my head." As he spoke the
 son of Kronos bowed his dark brows, and the ambrosial locks swayed 

 
 on his immortal head, till vast Olympus reeled. When the pair had thus laid
 their plans, they parted - Zeus to his mansion, while the goddess left the
 splendor of Olympus , and plunged into
 the depths of the sea. The gods rose from their seats, before the coming of
 their sire. Not one of them dared 

 
 to remain sitting, but all stood up as he came
 among them. There, then, he took his seat. But Hera, when she saw him, knew
 that he and silver-footed Thetis, the daughter of the Old One of the Sea, had
 been planning mischief, so she at once began to upbraid him. 

 
 "Trickster," she cried, "which of the gods have
 you been taking into your counsels now? You are always settling matters in
 secret behind my back, and have never yet told me, if you could help it, one
 word of your intentions." 

 
 "Hera," replied the sire of gods and men, "you
 must not expect to be informed of all my counsels. You are my wife, but you
 would find it hard to understand them. When it is proper for you to hear, there
 is no one, god or man, who will be told sooner, but when I mean to keep a
 matter to myself, 

 
 you must not pry nor ask questions." "Dread son
 of Kronos," answered Hera, "what are you talking about? I? Pry and ask
 questions? Never. I let you have your own way in everything. 

 
 Still, I have a strong misgiving that Thetis,
 daughter of the Old One of the Sea, has been talking you over, for she was with
 you and had hold of your knees this self-same morning. I believe, therefore,
 that you have been promising her to give glory to Achilles, and to kill many
 people at the ships of the Achaeans."

"Wife," said Zeus, "I can do nothing but you
 suspect me and find it out. You will take nothing by it, for I shall only
 dislike you the more, and it will go harder with you. Granted that it is as you
 say; I mean to have it so; 

 
 sit down and hold your tongue as I bid you for
 if I once begin to lay my hands about you, though all heaven were on your side
 it would profit you nothing." On this Hera was frightened, so she curbed her
 stubborn will and sat down in silence. 

 
 But the heavenly beings were disquieted
 throughout the house of Zeus, till the cunning workman Hephaistos began to try
 and pacify his mother Hera. "It will be intolerable," said he, "if you two fall
 to wrangling 

 
 and setting heaven in an uproar about a pack of
 mortals. If such ill counsels are to prevail, we shall have no pleasure at our
 banquet. Let me then advise my mother - and she must herself know that it will
 be better - to make friends with my dear father Zeus, lest he again scold her
 and disturb our feast. 

 
 If the Olympian Thunderer wants to hurl us all
 from our seats, he can do so, for he is far the strongest, so give him fair
 words, and he will then soon be in a good humor with us." As he spoke, he took
 a double cup of nectar, 

 
 and placed it in his mother's hand. "Cheer up,
 my dear mother," said he, "and make the best of it. I love you dearly, and
 should be very sorry to see you get a thrashing; however grieved I might be, I
 could not help for there is no standing against Zeus. 

 
 Once before when I was trying to help you, he
 caught me by the foot and flung me from the heavenly threshold. All day long
 from morn till eve, was I falling, till at sunset I came to ground in the
 island of Lemnos , and there I lay,
 with very little life left in me, till the Sintians came and tended me." 

 
 Hera smiled at this, and as she smiled she took
 the cup from her son's hands. Then Hephaistos drew sweet nectar from the
 mixing-bowl, and served it round among the gods, going from left to right; and
 the blessed gods laughed out a loud approval

as they saw him bustling about the heavenly
 mansion. Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun they
 feasted, and every one had his full share, so that all were satisfied. Apollo
 struck his lyre, and the Muses lifted up their sweet voices, taking turns. 

 
 But when the sun's glorious light had faded,
 they went home to bed, each in his own abode, which lame Hephaistos with his
 consummate skill had fashioned for them. So Zeus, the Olympian Lord of Thunder,
 hied him to the bed 

 
 in which he always slept; and when he had got
 on to it he went to sleep, with Hera of the golden throne by his side.

Now the other gods and the armed warriors on the
 plain slept soundly, but Zeus was wakeful, for he was thinking how to do honor
 to Achilles, and destroy many people at the ships of the Achaeans. 

 
 In the end he deemed it would be best to send a
 lying dream to King Agamemnon; so he called one to him and said to it, "Lying
 Dream, go to the ships of the Achaeans, 

 
 into the tent of Agamemnon, and say to him word
 to word as I now bid you. Tell him to get the Achaeans instantly under arms,
 for he shall take Troy . There are no
 longer divided counsels among the gods; 

 
 Hera has brought them to her own mind, and woe
 betides the Trojans." The dream went when it had heard its message, and soon
 reached the ships of the Achaeans. It sought Agamemnon son of Atreus and found
 him in his tent, wrapped in a profound slumber. 

 
 It hovered over his head in the likeness of
 Nestor, son of Neleus, whom Agamemnon honored above all his councilors, and
 said: - "You are sleeping, son of Atreus; 

 
 one who has the welfare of his host and so much
 other care upon his shoulders should dock his sleep. Hear me at once, for I
 come as a messenger from Zeus, who, though he be not near, yet takes thought
 for you and pities you. He bids you get the Achaeans instantly under arms, for
 you shall take 

 
 
 Troy . There are no longer divided
 counsels among the gods; Hera has brought them over to her own mind, and woe
 betides the Trojans at the hands of Zeus. Remember this, and when you wake see
 that it does not escape you." 

 
 The dream then left him, and he thought of
 things that were, surely not to be accomplished. He thought that on that same
 day he was to take the city of Priam, but he little knew what was in the mind
 of Zeus, who had many another

hard-fought fight in store alike for Danaans and
 Trojans. Then presently he woke, with the divine message still ringing in his
 ears; so he sat upright, and put on his soft shirt so fair and new, and over
 this his heavy cloak. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet, 

 
 and slung his silver-studded sword about his
 shoulders; then he took the imperishable staff of his father, and sallied forth
 to the ships of the Achaeans. The goddess Dawn now wended her way to vast
 Olympus that she might herald day
 to Zeus and to the other immortals, 

 
 and Agamemnon sent the criers round to call the
 people in assembly; so they called them and the people gathered thereon. But
 first he summoned a meeting of the elders at the ship of Nestor king of
 Pylos , 

 
 and when they were assembled he laid a cunning
 counsel before them. "My friends," said he, "I have had a dream from heaven in
 the dead of night, and its face and figure resembled none but Nestor's. It
 hovered over my head and said, 

 
 ‘You are sleeping, son of Atreus; one who has
 the welfare of his host and so much other care upon his shoulders should dock
 his sleep. Hear me at once, for I am a messenger from Zeus, who, though he be
 not near, yet takes thought for you and pities you. 

 
 He bids you get the Achaeans instantly under
 arms, for you shall take Troy . There
 are no longer divided counsels among the gods; Hera has brought them over to
 her own mind, and woe betides the Trojans 

 
 at the hands of Zeus. Remember this.’ The dream
 then vanished and I awoke. Let us now, therefore, arm the sons of the Achaeans.
 But it will be the right thing [ themis ] that I
 should first sound them, and to this end I will tell them to flee with their
 ships; 

 
 but do you others go about among the host and
 prevent their doing so." He then sat down, and Nestor the king of Pylos with all sincerity and goodwill
 addressed them thus: "My friends," said he, "princes and councilors of the
 Argives,

if any other man of the Achaeans had told us of
 this dream we should have declared it false, and would have had nothing to do
 with it. But he who has seen it is the foremost man among us; we must therefore
 set about getting the people under arms." With this he led the way from the
 assembly, 

 
 and the other sceptered kings rose with him in
 obedience to the word of Agamemnon; but the people pressed forward to hear.
 They swarmed like bees that sally from some hollow cave and flit in countless
 throng among the spring flowers, 

 
 bunched in knots and clusters; even so did the
 mighty multitude pour from ships and tents to the assembly, and range
 themselves upon the wide-watered shore, while among them ran Wildfire Rumor,
 messenger of Zeus, urging them ever to the fore. 

 
 Thus they gathered in a pell-mell of mad
 confusion, and the earth groaned under the tramp of men as the people sought
 their places. Nine heralds went crying about among them to stay their tumult
 and bid them listen to the kings, till at last they were got into their several
 places and ceased their clamor. 

 
 Then King Agamemnon rose, holding his scepter.
 This was the work of Hephaistos, who gave it to Zeus the son of Kronos. Zeus
 gave it to Hermes, slayer of Argos ,
 guide and guardian. King Hermes gave it to Pelops, the mighty charioteer, and 

 
 Pelops to Atreus, shepherd of his people.
 Atreus, when he died, left it to Thyestes, rich in flocks, and Thyestes in his
 turn left it to be borne by Agamemnon, that he might be lord of all Argos and of the isles. Leaning, then, on
 his scepter, he addressed the Argives. 

 
 "My friends," he said, "heroes, squires [ therapontes ] of Ares, Zeus the son of Kronos has tied
 me down with atê . Cruel, he gave me his solemn
 promise that I should sack the city of Priam before returning, but he has
 played me false, and is now bidding me 

 
 go ingloriously back to Argos with the loss of many people. Such is
 the will of Zeus, who has laid many a proud city in the dust, as he will yet
 lay others, for his power is above all. It will be a sorry tale hereafter that
 an

Achaean host, at once so great and valiant,
 battled in vain against men fewer in number than themselves; but as yet the end
 is not in sight. Think that the Achaeans and Trojans have sworn to a solemn
 covenant, and that they have each been numbered - 

 
 the Trojans by the roll of their householders,
 and we by companies of ten; think further that each of our companies desired to
 have a Trojan householder to pour out their wine; we are so greatly more in
 number that full many a company would have to go without its cup-bearer. 

 
 But they have in the town allies from other
 places, and it is these that hinder me from being able to sack the rich city of
 Ilion . Nine of Zeus years are gone; 

 
 the timbers of our ships have rotted; their
 tackling is sound no longer. Our wives and little ones at home look anxiously
 for our coming, but the work that we came hither to do has not been done. Now,
 therefore, let us all do as I say: 

 
 let us sail back to our own land, for we shall
 not take Troy ." With these words he
 moved the hearts of the multitude, so many of them as knew not the cunning
 counsel of Agamemnon. They surged to and fro like the waves 

 
 of the Ikarian Sea [ pontos ], when the east and south winds break from heaven's clouds to
 lash them; or as when the west wind sweeps over a field of grain and the ears
 bow beneath the blast, even so were they swayed as they flew with loud cries 

 
 towards the ships, and the dust from under
 their feet rose heavenward. They cheered each other on to draw the ships into
 the sea; they cleared the channels in front of them; they began taking away the
 stays from underneath them, and the welkin rang with their glad cries, so eager
 were they to return. 

 
 Then surely the Argives would have had a return
 [ nostos ] after a fashion that was not fated. But
 Hera said to Athena, "Alas, daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, unweariable, shall
 the Argives flee home to their own land over the broad sea,

and leave Priam and the Trojans the glory of
 still keeping Helen, for whose sake so many of the Achaeans have died at
 Troy , far from their homes? Go
 about at once among the host, and speak fairly to them, man by man, 

 
 that they draw not their ships into the sea."
 Athena was not slack to do her bidding. Down she darted from the topmost
 summits of Olympus , and in a moment
 she was at the ships of the Achaeans. There she found Odysseus, peer of Zeus in
 counsel, 

 
 standing alone. He had not as yet laid a hand
 upon his ship, for he felt grief [ akhos ] and was
 sorry; so she went close up to him and said, "Odysseus, noble son of Laertes , 

 
 are you going to fling yourselves into your
 ships and be off home to your own land in this way? Will you leave Priam and
 the Trojans the glory of still keeping Helen, for whose sake so many of the
 Achaeans have died at Troy , far from
 their homes? Go about at once among the host, 

 
 and speak fairly to them, man by man, that they
 draw not their ships into the sea." Odysseus knew the voice as that of the
 goddess: he flung his cloak from him and set off to run. His squire Eurybates,
 a man of Ithaca, who waited on him, took charge of the cloak, 

 
 whereon Odysseus went straight up to Agamemnon
 and received from him his ancestral, imperishable staff. With this he went
 about among the ships of the Achaeans. Whenever he met a king or chieftain, he
 stood by him and spoke him fairly. 

 
 "Sir," said he, "this flight is cowardly and
 unworthy. Stand to your post, and bid your people also keep their places. You
 do not yet know the full mind [ noos ] of Agamemnon;
 he was sounding us, and ere long will visit the Achaeans with his displeasure.
 We were not all of us at the council to hear what he then said; 

 
 see to it lest he be angry and do us a
 mischief; for the timê of kings is great, and the
 hand of Zeus is with them." But when he came across some man from some locale
 [ dêmos ] who was making a noise, he struck him
 with his staff and rebuked him, saying,

"What kind of daimôn has possessed you? Hold your peace, and listen to better men
 than yourself. You are a coward and no warrior; you are nobody either in fight
 or council; we cannot all be kings; it is not well that there should be many
 masters; one man must be supreme - 

 
 one king to whom the son of scheming Kronos has
 given the scepter and divine laws to rule over you all." Thus masterfully did
 he go about among the host, and the people hurried back to the council from
 their tents and ships with a sound as the thunder of surf when it comes
 crashing down upon the shore, 

 
 and all the sea [ pontos ] is in an uproar. The rest now took their seats and kept to
 their own several places, but Thersites still went on wagging his unbridled
 tongue - a man of many words, and those unseemly; a monger of sedition, a
 railer against all who were in authority [ kosmos ],
 who cared not what he said, 

 
 so that he might set the Achaeans in a laugh.
 He was the ugliest man of all those that came before Troy - bandy-legged, lame of one foot, with
 his two shoulders rounded and hunched over his chest. His head ran up to a
 point, but there was little hair on the top of it. 

 
 Achilles and Odysseus hated him worst of all,
 for it was with them that he was most wont to wrangle; now, however, with a
 shrill squeaky voice he began heaping his abuse on Agamemnon. The Achaeans were
 angry and disgusted, yet none the less he kept on brawling and bawling at the
 son of Atreus. 

 
 "Agamemnon," he cried, "what ails you now, and
 what more do you want? Your tents are filled with bronze and with fair women,
 for whenever we take a town we give you the pick of them. Would you have yet
 more gold, 

 
 which some Trojan is to give you as a ransom
 for his son, when I or another Achaean has taken him prisoner? or is it some
 young girl to hide and lie with? It is not well that you, the ruler of the
 Achaeans, should bring them into such misery. 

 
 Weakling cowards, women rather than men, let us
 sail home, and leave this man here at Troy to stew in his own prizes of honor, and discover whether
 we were of any service to him or no. Achilles is a much better man than he is,
 and see how he has treated him -

robbing him of his prize and keeping it
 himself. Achilles takes it meekly and shows no fight; if he did, son of Atreus,
 you would never again insult him." Thus railed Thersites, but Odysseus at once
 went up to him 

 
 and rebuked him sternly. "Check your glib
 tongue, Thersites," said be, "and babble not a word further. Chide not with
 princes when you have none to back you. There is no viler creature come before
 Troy with the sons of Atreus. 

 
 Drop this chatter about kings, and neither
 revile them nor keep harping about homecoming [ nostos ]. We do not yet know how things are going to be, nor whether
 the Achaeans are to return with good success or evil. How dare you gibe at
 Agamemnon 

 
 because the Danaans have awarded him so many
 prizes? I tell you, therefore - and it shall surely be - that if I again catch
 you talking such nonsense, I will either forfeit my own head 

 
 and be no more called father of Telemakhos, or
 I will take you, strip away from you all respect [ aidôs ], and whip you out of the assembly till you go blubbering back
 to the ships." 

 
 On this he beat him with his staff about the
 back and shoulders till he dropped and fell a-weeping. The golden scepter
 raised a bloody weal on his back, so he sat down frightened and in pain,
 looking foolish as he wiped the tears from his eyes. 

 
 The people were sorry for him, yet they laughed
 heartily, and one would turn to his neighbor saying, "Odysseus has done many a
 good thing ere now in fight and council, but he never did the Argives a better
 turn 

 
 than when he stopped this man's mouth from
 prating further. He will give the kings no more of his insolence." Thus said
 the people. Then Odysseus rose, scepter in hand, and Athena

in the likeness of a herald bade the people be
 still, that those who were far off might hear him and consider his council. He
 therefore with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus: - "King
 Agamemnon, the Achaeans are for 

 
 making you a by-word among all humankind. They
 forget the promise they made you when they set out from Argos , that you should not return till you
 had sacked the town of Troy , and,
 like children or widowed women, 

 
 they murmur and would set off homeward. True it
 is that they have had toil [ponos] enough to be disheartened. A man chafes at
 having to stay away from his wife even for a single month, when he is on
 shipboard, at the mercy of wind and sea, 

 
 but it is now nine long years that we have been
 kept here; I cannot, therefore, blame the Achaeans if they turn restive; still
 we shall be shamed if we go home empty after so long a stay - therefore, my
 friends, be patient yet a little longer that we may learn 

 
 whether the prophesyings of Kalkhas were false
 or true. "All who have not since perished must remember as though it were
 yesterday or the day before, how the ships of the Achaeans were detained in
 Aulis when we were on our way
 hither to make war on Priam and the Trojans. 

 
 We were ranged round about a fountain offering
 hecatombs to the gods upon their holy altars, and there was a fine plane-tree
 from beneath which there welled a stream of pure water. Then we saw a sign
 [ sêma ]; for Zeus sent a fearful serpent out of
 the ground, with blood-red stains upon its back, 

 
 and it darted from under the altar on to the
 plane-tree. Now there was a brood of young sparrows, quite small, upon the
 topmost bough, peeping out from under the leaves, eight in all, and their
 mother that hatched them made nine. The serpent ate the poor cheeping things, 

 
 while the old bird flew about lamenting her
 little ones; but the serpent threw his coils about her and caught her by the
 wing as she was screaming. Then, when he had eaten both the sparrow and her
 young, the god who had sent him made him become a sign; for the son of scheming
 Kronos turned him into stone,

and we stood there wondering at that which had
 come to pass. Seeing, then, that such a fearful portent had broken in upon our
 hecatombs, Kalkhas forthwith declared to us the oracles of heaven. ‘Why,
 Achaeans,’ said he, ‘are you thus speechless? Zeus has sent us this sign, 

 
 long in coming, and long ere it be fulfilled,
 though its fame [ kleos ] shall last for ever. As the
 serpent ate the eight fledglings and the sparrow that hatched them, which makes
 nine, so shall we fight nine years at Troy , but in the tenth shall take the town.’ 

 
 This was what he said, and now it is all coming
 true. Stay here, therefore, all of you, till we take the city of Priam." On
 this the Argives raised a shout, till the ships rang again with the uproar. 

 
 Nestor, horseman of Gerene, then addressed
 them. "Shame on you," he cried, "to stay talking here like children, when you
 should fight like men. Where are our covenants now, and where the oaths that we
 have taken? 

 
 Shall our counsels be flung into the fire, with
 our drink-offerings and the right hands of fellowship wherein we have put our
 trust? We waste our time in words, and for all our talking here shall be no
 further forward. Stand, therefore, son of Atreus, by your own steadfast
 purpose; 

 
 lead the Argives on to battle, and leave this
 handful of men to rot, who scheme, and scheme in vain, to get back to
 Argos ere they have learned
 whether Zeus be true or a liar. 

 
 For the mighty son of Kronos surely promised
 that we should succeed, when we Argives set sail to bring death and destruction
 upon the Trojans. He showed us favorable signs [ sêmata ] by flashing his lightning on our right hands; therefore let
 none make haste to go 

 
 till he has first lain with the wife of some
 Trojan, and avenged the toil and sorrow that he has suffered for the sake of
 Helen. Nevertheless, if any man is in such haste to be at home again, let him
 lay his hand to his ship that he may meet his doom in the sight of all.

But, O king, consider and give ear to my
 counsel, for the word that I say may not be neglected lightly. Divide [ krinô ] your men, Agamemnon, into their several tribes
 and clans, that clans and tribes may stand by and help one another. If you do
 this, and if the Achaeans obey you, 

 
 you will find out who, both chiefs and peoples,
 are brave, and who are cowards; for they will vie against the other. Thus you
 shall also learn whether it is through the counsel of heaven or the cowardice
 of man that you shall fail to take the town." And Agamemnon answered, 

 
 "Nestor, you have again outdone the sons of the
 Achaeans in counsel. Would, by Father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo, that I had
 among them ten more such councilors, for the city of King Priam would then soon
 fall beneath our hands, and we should sack it. 

 
 But the son of Kronos afflicts me with bootless
 wranglings and strife. Achilles and I are quarreling about this girl, in which
 matter I was the first to offend; if we can be of one mind again, 

 
 the Trojans will not stave off destruction for
 a day. Now, therefore, get your morning meal, that our hosts join in fight.
 Whet well your spears; see well to the ordering of your shields; give good
 feeds to your horses, and look your chariots carefully over, 

 
 that we may do battle the livelong day; for we
 shall have no rest, not for a moment, till night falls to part us. The bands
 that bear your shields shall be wet with the sweat upon your shoulders, your
 hands shall weary upon your spears, 

 
 your horses shall steam in front of your
 chariots, and if I see any man shirking the fight, or trying to keep out of it
 at the ships, there shall be no help for him, but he shall be a prey to dogs
 and vultures." Thus he spoke, and the Achaeans roared approval. As when the
 waves run high 

 
 before the blast of the south wind and break on
 some lofty headland, dashing against it and buffeting it without ceasing, as
 the storms from every quarter drive them, even so did the Achaeans rise and
 hurry in all directions to their ships. There they lighted their fires at their
 tents and got dinner,

offering sacrifice every man to one or other of
 the gods, and praying each one of them that he might live to come out of the
 fight. Agamemnon, king of men, sacrificed a fat five-year-old bull to the
 mighty son of Kronos, and invited the princes and elders of his host. 

 
 First he asked Nestor and King Idomeneus, then
 the two Ajaxes and the son of Tydeus, and sixthly Odysseus, peer of gods in
 counsel; but Menelaos came of his own accord, for he knew how busy his brother
 then was. 

 
 They stood round the bull with the barley-meal
 in their hands, and Agamemnon prayed, saying, "Zeus, most glorious, supreme,
 you who dwell in heaven, and ride upon the storm-cloud, grant that the sun may
 not go down, nor the night fall, till the palace of Priam is laid low, 

 
 and its gates are consumed with fire. Grant
 that my sword may pierce the shirt of Hektor about his heart, and that full
 many of his comrades may bite the dust as they fall dying round him." Thus he
 prayed, but the son of Kronos would not fulfill his prayer. 

 
 He accepted the sacrifice, yet none the less
 increased their toil [ ponos ] continually. When they
 had done praying and sprinkling the barley-meal upon the victim, they drew back
 its head, killed it, and then flayed it. They cut out the thigh-bones, wrapped
 them round in two layers of fat, and set pieces of raw meat on the top of them. 

 
 These they burned upon the split logs of
 firewood, but they spitted the inward meats, and held them in the flames to
 cook. When the thigh-bones were burned, and they had tasted the inward meats,
 they cut the rest up small, put the pieces upon spits, roasted them till they
 were done, and drew them off; 

 
 then, when they had finished their work [ ponos ] and the feast was ready, they ate it, and every
 man had his full share, so that all were satisfied. As soon as they had had
 enough to eat and drink, Nestor, horseman of Gerene, began to speak. "King
 Agamemnon," said he, 

 
 "let us not stay talking here, nor be slack in
 the work that heaven has put into our hands. Let the heralds summon the people
 to gather at their several ships; we will then go about among the host,

that we may begin fighting at once." Thus did
 he speak, and Agamemnon heeded his words. He at once sent the criers round to
 call the people in assembly. So they called them, and the people gathered
 thereon. 

 
 The chiefs about the son of Atreus chose their
 men and marshaled [ krinô ] them, while Athena went
 among them holding her priceless aegis that knows neither age nor death. From
 it there waved a hundred tassels of pure gold, all deftly woven, and each one
 of them worth a hundred oxen. 

 
 With this she darted furiously everywhere among
 the hosts of the Achaeans, urging them forward, and putting courage into the
 heart of each, so that he might fight and do battle without ceasing. Thus war
 became sweeter in their eyes even than returning home in their ships. 

 
 As when some great forest fire is raging upon a
 mountain top and its light is seen afar, even so as they marched the gleam of
 their armor flashed up into the firmament of heaven. They were like great
 flocks 

 
 of geese, or cranes, or swans on the plain
 about the waters of Cayster, that wing their way hither and thither, glorying
 in the pride of flight, and crying as they settle till the fen is alive with
 their screaming. Even thus did their tribes pour from ships and tents 

 
 on to the plain of the Skamandros, and the
 ground rang as brass under the feet of men and horses. They stood as thick upon
 the flower-bespangled field as leaves that bloom in season [ hôra ]. As countless swarms of flies 

 
 buzz around a herdsman's homestead in the
 season [ hôra ] of spring when the pails are drenched
 with milk, even so did the Achaeans swarm on to the plain to charge the Trojans
 and destroy them. The chiefs disposed their men this way and that before the
 fight began, drafting them out 

 
 as easily as goatherds draft their flocks when
 they have got mixed while feeding; and among them went King Agamemnon, with a
 head and face like Zeus the lord of thunder, a waist like Ares, and a chest
 like that of Poseidon.

As some great bull that lords it over the herds
 upon the plain, even so did Zeus make the son of Atreus stand peerless among
 the multitude of heroes. And now, O Muses, dwellers in the mansions of
 Olympus , tell me - 

 
 for you are goddesses and are in all places so
 that you see all things, while we know nothing but by report [ kleos ] - who were the chiefs and princes of the
 Danaans? As for the common warriors, they were so that I could not name every
 single one of them though I had ten tongues, 

 
 and though my voice failed not and my heart
 were of bronze within me, unless you, O Olympian Muses, daughters of
 aegis-bearing Zeus, were to recount them to me. Nevertheless, I will tell the
 leaders of the ships and all the fleet together. Peneleos, Leitos, 

 
 Arkesilaos, Prothoenor, and Klonios were
 leaders of the Boeotians. These were they that dwelt in Hyria and rocky Aulis , and who held Schoinos, Skolos, and
 the highlands of Eteonos, with Thespeia, Graia, and the fair city of Mykalessos . They also held Harma , Eilesium, and Erythrae; 

 
 and they had Eleon, Hyle, and Peteon; Ocalea
 and the strong fortress of Medeon ;
 Copae, Eutresis , and Thisbe the haunt of doves; Coronea , and the pastures of Haliartus;
 Plataea and Glisas ; 

 
 the fortress of Thebes the less; holy Onchestos with its famous grove of Poseidon; Arne rich in vineyards; Midea , sacred Nisa , and Anthedon upon the sea. From these there came fifty ships, and
 in each 

 
 there were a hundred and twenty young men of
 the Boeotians. Askalaphos and Ialmenos, sons of Ares, led the people that dwelt
 in Aspledon and Orkhomenos the realm of Minyas. Astyoche a
 noble maiden bore them in the house of Aktor son of Azeus; for she had gone
 with Ares secretly into an upper chamber, 

 
 and he had lain with her. With these there came
 thirty ships. The Phocaeans were led by Schedios and Epistrophos, sons of
 mighty Iphitos the son of Naubolos. These were they that held Cyparissus, rocky
 Pytho ,

holy Crisa , Daulis , and
 Panopeus; they also that dwelt in Anemorea and Hyampolis , and about the waters of the
 river Kephissos, and Lilaea by the springs of the Kephissos; with their
 chieftains came forty ships, 

 
 and they marshaled the forces of the Phocaeans,
 which were stationed next to the Boeotians, on their left. Ajax, the fleet son
 of Oileus, commanded the Locrians. He was not so great, nor nearly so great, as
 Ajax the son of Telamon. He was a little man, and his breastplate was made of
 linen, 

 
 but in use of the spear he excelled all the
 Hellenes and the Achaeans. These dwelt in Cynus , Opous, Calliarus, Bessa, Scarphe, fair Augeae, Tarphe,
 and Thronium about the river Boagrios. With him there came forty ships 

 
 of the Locrians who dwell beyond Euboea . The fierce Abantes held Euboea with its cities, Khalkis , Eretria , Histiaea rich in vines, Cerinthus upon the sea, and
 the rock-perched town of Dion ; with
 them were also the men of Karystos and Styra ; 

 
 Elephenor of the race of Ares was in command of
 these; he was son of Khalkodon, and chief over all the Abantes. With him they
 came, fleet of foot and wearing their hair long behind, brave warriors, who
 would ever strive to tear open the corselets of their foes with their long
 ashen spears. 

 
 Of these there came fifty ships. And they that
 held the strong city of Athens , the
 dêmos of great Erechtheus, who was born of the
 soil itself, but Zeus' daughter, Athena, fostered him, and established him at
 Athens in her own rich
 sanctuary. There, year by year, the Athenian youths worship him 

 
 with sacrifices of bulls and rams. These were
 commanded by Menestheus, son of Peteos. No man living could equal him in the
 marshaling of chariots and foot soldiers. 

 
 Nestor could alone rival him, for he was older.
 With him there came fifty ships. Ajax brought twelve ships from Salamis , and stationed them alongside those of
 the Athenians. The men of Argos ,
 again, and those who held the walls of Tiryns ,

with Hermione , and Asine 
 upon the gulf; Trozen, Eionae, and the vineyard lands of Epidaurus ; the Achaean youths, moreover, who
 came from Aegina and Mases ; these were led by Diomedes of the
 loud battle-cry, and Sthenelos son of famed Kapaneus. 

 
 With them in command was Euryalos, son of king
 Mekisteus, son of Talaos; but Diomedes was chief over them all. With these
 there came eighty ships. Those who held the strong city of Mycenae , 

 
 rich Corinth and Cleonae; Orneae, Araethyrea, and Licyon, where
 Adrastos reigned of old; Hyperesia , high Gonoessa, and Pellene ; Aegium 

 
 and all the coast-land round about Helike ; these sent a hundred ships under
 the command of King Agamemnon, son of Atreus. His force was far both finest and
 most numerous, and in their midst was the king himself, all glorious in his
 armor of gleaming bronze - foremost among the heroes, 

 
 for he was the greatest king, and had most men
 under him. And those that dwelt in Lacedaemon , lying low among the hills, Pharis, Sparta , with Messe the haunt of doves;
 Bryseae , Augeae, Amyclae, and
 Helos upon the sea; 

 
 
 Laas , moreover, and Oetylus; these
 were led by Menelaos of the loud battle-cry, brother to Agamemnon, and of them
 there were sixty ships, drawn up apart from the others. Among them went
 Menelaos himself, strong in zeal, urging his men to fight; for he longed to 

 
 avenge the toil and sorrow that he had suffered
 for the sake of Helen. The men of Pylos and Arene , and
 Thryum where is the ford of the river Alpheus; strong Aipy, Cyparisseis, and
 Amphigenea; Pteleum, Helos , and
 Dorium, where the Muses 

 
 met Thamyris, and stilled his minstrelsy for
 ever. He was returning from Oechalia , where Eurytos lived and reigned, and boasted that he
 would surpass even the Muses, daughters of aegis-bearing Zeus, if they should
 sing against him; whereon they were angry, and maimed him.

They robbed him of his divine power of song,
 and thenceforth he could strike the lyre no more. These were commanded by
 Nestor, horseman of Gerene, and with him there came ninety ships. And those
 that held Arcadia , under the high
 mountain of Cyllene, near the tomb of Aipytos, where the people fight hand to
 hand; 

 
 the men of Pheneus also, and Orkhomenos rich in flocks; of Rhipae, Stratie,
 and bleak Enispe ; of Tegea and fair Mantinea ; of Stymphelus and Parrhasia ; of these King Agapenor son of
 Ankaios was commander, 

 
 and they had sixty ships. Many Arcadians, good
 warriors, came in each one of them, but Agamemnon found them the ships in which
 to cross the sea [ pontos ], for they were not a
 people that occupied their business upon the waters. 

 
 The men, moreover, of Bouprasion and of
 Elis , so much of it as is enclosed
 between Hyrmine, Myrsinus upon the sea-shore, the rock Olene and Alesium. These
 had four leaders, and each of them had ten ships, with many Epeans on board. 

 
 Their leaders were Amphimakhos and Thalpios -
 the one, son of Kteatos, and the other, of Eurytos - both of the race of Aktor.
 The two others were Diores, son of Amarynkes, and Polyxenos, son of King
 Agasthenes, son of Augeas. 

 
 And those of Dulichium with the sacred Echinean
 islands, who dwelt beyond the sea off Elis ; these were led by Meges, peer of Ares, and the son of
 valiant Phyleus, dear to Zeus, who quarreled with his father, and went to
 settle in Dulichium. 

 
 With him there came forty ships. Odysseus led
 the brave Cephallenians, who held Ithaca , Neritum with its forests, Crocylea, rugged Aegilips,
 Samos and Zacynthus , 

 
 with the mainland also that was over against
 the islands. These were led by Odysseus, peer of Zeus in counsel, and with him
 there came twelve ships. Thoas, son of Andraimon, commanded the Aetolians, who
 dwelt in Pleuron , Olenus , Pylene,

Khalkis by the sea, and rocky Calydon,
 for the great king Oeneus had now no sons living, and was himself dead, as was
 also golden-haired Meleager, who had been set over the Aetolians to be their
 king. And with Thoas there came forty ships. 

 
 The famous spearsman Idomeneus led the Cretans,
 who held Knossos , and the
 well-walled city of Gortys ; Lyktos
 also, Miletus and Lykastos that lies upon the chalk; the
 populous towns of Phaistos and
 Rhytium, with the other peoples that dwelt in the hundred cities of Crete . 

 
 All these were led by Idomeneus, and by
 Meriones, peer of murderous Ares. And with these there came eighty ships.
 Tlepolemos, son of Herakles, a man both brave and large of stature, brought
 nine ships of lordly warriors from Rhodes . 

 
 These dwelt in Rhodes which is divided among the three cities of Lindos , Ialysos , and Kameiros , that lies upon the chalk. These were commanded by
 Tlepolemos, son of mighty Herakles and born of Astyochea, whom he had carried
 off from Ephyra , on the river
 Selleis, 

 
 after sacking many cities of valiant warriors.
 When Tlepolemos grew up, he killed his father's uncle Likymnios, who had been a
 famous warrior in his time, but was then grown old. On this he built himself a
 fleet, gathered a great following, 

 
 and fled beyond the sea [ pontos ], for he was menaced by the other sons and grandsons of
 Herakles. After a voyage. during which he suffered great hardship, he came to
 Rhodes , where the people divided
 into three communities, according to their tribes, and were dearly loved by
 Zeus, the lord, of gods and men; 

 
 wherefore the son of Kronos showered down great
 riches upon them. And Nireus brought three ships from Syme - Nireus, who was the handsomest man that
 came up under Ilion of all the Danaans
 after the son of Peleus - 

 
 but he was a man of no substance, and had but a
 small following. And those that held Nisyrus, Carpathus , and Casus, with Cos, the city of Eurypylos, and the
 Calydnian islands, these were commanded by Pheidippos and Antiphos, two sons of
 King Thessalos the son of Herakles.

And with them there came thirty ships. Those
 again who held Pelasgian Argos, Alos ,
 Alope, and Trachis ; and those of
 Phthia and Hellas the land of fair women, who were called
 Myrmidons, Hellenes, and Achaeans; 

 
 these had fifty ships, over which Achilles was
 in command. But they now took no part in the war, inasmuch as there was no one
 to marshal them; for Achilles stayed by his ships, furious about the loss of
 the girl Briseis, whom he had taken from Lyrnessos at his own great peril, 

 
 when he had sacked Lyrnessos and Thebe, and had
 overthrown Mynes and Epistrophos, sons of king Euenor, son of Selepus. For her
 sake Achilles was still in grief [ akhos ], but ere
 long he was again to join them. 

 
 And those that held Phylake and the flowery
 meadows of Pyrasus, sanctuary of Demeter ; Iton , the mother of sheep; Antrum upon the sea, and Pteleum
 that lies upon the grass lands. Of these brave Protesilaos had been leader
 while he was yet alive, but he was now lying under the earth. 

 
 He had left a wife behind him in Phylake to
 tear her cheeks in sorrow, and his house was only half finished, for he was
 slain by a Dardanian warrior while leaping foremost of the Achaeans upon the
 soil of Troy . Still, though his
 people mourned their chieftain, they were not without a leader, for Podarkes,
 of the race of Ares, marshaled them; 

 
 he was son of Iphiklos, rich in sheep, who was
 the son of Phylakos, and he was own brother to Protesilaos, only younger,
 Protesilaos being at once the elder and the more valiant. So the people were
 not without a leader, though they mourned him whom they had lost. 

 
 With him there came forty ships. And those that
 held Pherai by the Boebean lake,
 with Boebe, Glaphyrae, and the populous city of Iolkos, these with their eleven
 ships were led by Eumelos, son of Admetos, 

 
 whom Alcestis bore to him, loveliest of the
 daughters of Pelias. And those that held Methone and Thaumacia, with Meliboia and rugged Olizon , these were led by the skillful
 archer Philoctetes, and they had seven ships, each with fifty oarsmen

all of them good archers; but Philoctetes was
 lying in great pain in the Island of Lemnos , where the sons of the Achaeans left him, for he had
 been bitten by a poisonous water snake. There he lay sick and in grief [ akhos ], 

 
 and full soon did the Argives come to miss him.
 But his people, though they felt his loss were not leaderless, for Medon, the
 bastard son of Oileus by Rhene, set them in array. Those, again, of Tricca and the stony region of Ithome , 

 
 and they that held Oechalia , the city of Oechalian Eurytos,
 these were commanded by the two sons of Asklepios, skilled in the art of
 healing, Podaleirios and Machaon. And with them there came thirty ships. The
 men, moreover, of Ormenios, and by the fountain of Hypereia, 

 
 with those that held Asterios, and the white
 crests of Titanus, these were led by Eurypylos, the son of Euaemon, and with
 them there came forty ships. Those that held Argissa and Gyrtone, Orthe, Elone,
 and the white city of Oloosson, 

 
 of these brave Polypoites was leader. He was
 son of Peirithoos, who was son of Zeus himself, for Hippodameia bore him to
 Peirithoos on the day when he took his revenge on the shaggy mountain savages
 and drove them from Mount Pelion to the Aithikes. 

 
 But Polypoites was not sole in command, for
 with him was Leonteus, of the race of Ares, who was son of Koronos, the son of
 Kaineus. And with these there came forty ships. Guneus brought two and twenty
 ships from Cyphus, and he was followed by the Enienes and the valiant Peraebi, 

 
 who dwelt about wintry Dodona , and held the lands round the lovely
 river Titaresios, which sends its waters into the Peneus. They do not mingle
 with the silver eddies of the Peneus, but flow on the top of them like oil; 

 
 for the Titaresios is a branch of dread Orcus
 and of the river Styx. Of the Magnetes, Prothoos son of Tenthredon was
 commander. They were they that dwelt about the river Peneus and Mount Pelion.
 Prothoos, fleet of foot, was their leader, and with him there came forty ships.

Such were the chiefs and princes of the
 Danaans. Who, then, O Muse, was the foremost, whether man or horse, among those
 that followed after the sons of Atreus? Of the horses, those of the son of
 Pheres were by far the finest. They were driven by Eumelos, and were as fleet
 as birds. 

 
 They were of the same age and color, and
 perfectly matched in height. Apollo, of the silver bow, had bred them in Perea
 - both of them mares, and terrible as Ares in battle. Of the men, Ajax, son of
 Telamon, was much the foremost so long as Achilles' anger lasted, for Achilles
 excelled him greatly 

 
 and he had also better horses; but Achilles was
 now holding aloof at his ships by reason of his quarrel with Agamemnon, and his
 people passed their time upon the sea shore, throwing discs or aiming with
 spears at a mark, 

 
 and in archery. Their horses stood each by his
 own chariot, champing lotus and wild celery. The chariots were housed under
 cover, but their owners, for lack of leadership, wandered hither and thither
 about the host and went not forth to fight. 

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

 
 as they sped over the plain. And now Iris,
 fleet as the wind, was sent by Zeus to tell the bad news among the Trojans.
 They were gathered in assembly, old and young, at Priam's gates, 

 
 and Iris came close up to Priam, speaking with
 the voice of Priam's son Polites, who, being fleet of foot, was stationed as
 watchman for the Trojans on the tomb of old Aisyetes, to look out for any sally
 of the Achaeans. 

 
 In his likeness Iris spoke, saying, "Old man,
 you talk idly, as in time of peace, while war is at hand. I have been in many a
 battle, but never yet saw such a host as is now advancing. They are crossing
 the plain to attack the city as

thick as leaves or as the sands of the sea.
 Hektor, I charge you above all others, do as I say. There are many allies
 dispersed about the city of Priam from distant places and speaking divers
 tongues. 

 
 Therefore, let each chief give orders to his
 own people, setting them severally in array and leading them forth to battle."
 Thus she spoke, but Hektor knew that it was the goddess, and at once broke up
 the assembly. The men flew to arms; all the gates were opened, and the people
 thronged through them, 

 
 horse and foot, with the tramp as of a great
 multitude. Now there is a high mound before the city, rising by itself upon the
 plain. Men call it Batieia, but the gods know that it is the tomb [ sêma ] of lithe Myrrhine. 

 
 Here the Trojans and their allies divided their
 forces. Priam's son, great Hektor of the gleaming helmet, commanded the
 Trojans, and with him were arrayed by far the greater number and most valiant
 of those who were longing for the fray. The Dardanians were led by brave 

 
 Aeneas, whom Aphrodite bore to Anchises, when
 she, goddess though she was, had lain with him upon the mountain slopes of Ida.
 He was not alone, for with him were the two sons of Antenor, Archilokhos and
 Akamas, both skilled in all the arts of war. They that dwelt in Telea under the
 lowest spurs of Mount Ida , 

 
 men of substance, who drink the limpid waters
 of the Aesepos, and are of Trojan blood - these were led by Pandaros son of
 Lykaon, whom Apollo had taught to use the bow. They that held Adrasteia and the
 district [ dêmos ] of Apaesus, with Pityeia, and the
 high mountain of Tereia - 

 
 these were led by Adrastos and Amphios, whose
 breastplate was of linen. These were the sons of Merops of Perkote, who
 excelled in all kinds of divination. He told them not to take part in the war,
 but they gave him no heed, for fate lured them to destruction. 

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

Hippothoos led the tribes of Pelasgian
 spearsmen, who dwelt in fertile Larissa - Hippothoos, and Pylaios of the race
 of Ares, two sons of the Pelasgian Lethus, son of Teutamus. Akamas and the
 warrior Peirous commanded the Thracians 

 
 and those that came from beyond the mighty
 stream of the Hellespont . Euphemos,
 son of Troizenos, the son of Ceos , was
 leader of the Ciconian spearsmen. Pyraikhmes led the Paeonian archers from
 distant Amydon , by the broad waters
 of the river Axios , 

 
 the fairest that flow upon the earth. The
 Paphlagonians were commanded by stout-hearted Pylaimenes from Enetae, where the
 mules run wild in herds. These were they that held Cytorus and the country
 round Sesamus, with the cities by the river Parthenios, 

 
 Cromna, Aigialos, and lofty Erithinoi. Odios
 and Epistrophos were leaders over the Halizoni from distant Alybe, where there
 are mines of silver. Chromis, and Ennomos the augur, led the Mysians, but his
 skill in augury availed not to save him from destruction, 

 
 for he fell by the hand of the fleet descendant
 of Aiakos in the river, where he slew others also of the Trojans. Phorkys,
 again, and noble Askanios led the Phrygians from the far country of Askania,
 and both were eager for the fray. Mesthles and Antiphos commanded the Meonians, 

 
 sons of Talaimenes, born to him of the Gygaean
 lake. These led the Meonians, who dwelt under Mount Tmolos. Nastes led the
 Carians, men of a strange speech. These held Miletus and the wooded mountain of Phthires, with the water of
 the river Maeander and the lofty
 crests of Mount Mycale. 

 
 These were commanded by Nastes and Amphimakhos,
 the brave sons of Nomion. He came into the fight with gold about him, like a
 girl; fool that he was, his gold was of no avail to save him, for he fell in
 the river by the hand of the fleet descendant of Aiakos, 

 
 and Achilles bore away his gold. Sarpedon and
 Glaukos led the Lycians from their distant land, by the eddying waters of the
 Xanthos .

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

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

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

 
 He sprang, therefore, from his chariot, clad in
 his suit of armor. 

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

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

 
 And Alexander answered, "Hektor, your rebuke is
 just. You are hard as the axe which a shipwright wields at his work, and
 cleaves the timber to his liking. As the axe in his hand, so keen is the edge
 of your mind [ noos ]. Still, taunt me not with the
 gifts that golden Aphrodite has given me; they are precious; let not a man
 disdain them, for the gods give them where they are minded, and none can have
 them for the asking. If you would have me do battle with Menelaos, bid the
 Trojans and Achaeans take their seats, while he and I fight in their midst for
 Helen and all her wealth. 

 
 Let him who shall be victorious and prove to be
 the better man take the woman and all she has, to bear them to his home, but
 let the rest swear to a solemn covenant of peace whereby you Trojans shall stay
 here in Troy , while the others go
 home to Argos and the land of the
 Achaeans."

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 The two sages, Ucalegon and Antenor, elders of
 the people, were seated by the Scaean gates, with Priam, Panthoos, Thymoetes,
 Lampos, Klytios, and Hiketaon of the race of Ares. These were too old to fight,
 but they were fluent orators, and sat on the tower like cicadas that chirrup
 delicately from the boughs of some high tree in a wood. When they saw Helen
 coming towards the tower, 

 
 they said softly to one another, "No wonder the
 Trojans and Achaeans endure so much and so long, for the sake of a woman so
 marvelously and divinely lovely. There is no sense of nemesis here. Still, fair though she be, let them take her and go,
 or she will breed sorrow for us and for our children after us."

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

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

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

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

 
 And Helen answered, "He is Odysseus, a man of
 great craft, son of Laertes . He
 was born in the district [ dêmos ] of rugged
 Ithaca , and excels in all manner of
 stratagems and subtle cunning." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Agamemnon and Odysseus both rose to meet them.
 The attendants brought on the oath-offerings and mixed the wine in the
 mixing-bowls; they poured water over the hands of the chieftains, and the son
 of Atreus drew the dagger that hung by his sword, and cut wool from the lambs'
 heads; this the men-servants gave about among the Trojan and Achaean princes,
 and the son of Atreus lifted up his hands in prayer. "Father Zeus," he cried,
 "you who rule in Ida, most glorious in power, and you O Sun, who see and give
 ear to all things, Earth and Rivers, and you who in the realms below chastise
 those mortals who have broken their oath, witness these rites and guard them,
 that they be not vain. If Alexander kills Menelaos, let him keep Helen and all
 her wealth, while we sail home with our ships; but if Menelaos kills Alexander,
 let the Trojans give back Helen and all that she has; let them moreover pay
 such fine [ timê ] to the Achaeans as shall be agreed
 upon, in testimony among those that shall be born hereafter. 

 
 And if Priam and his sons refuse such fine
 [ timê ] when Alexander has fallen, then will I
 stay here and fight on till the war reaches its completion [ telos ]. " 

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

 
 Thus they prayed, but not as yet would Zeus
 grant them their prayer. Then Priam, descendant of Dardanos , spoke, saying, "Hear me,
 Trojans and Achaeans, I will now go back to the wind-beaten city of Ilion : I dare not with my own eyes witness
 this fight between my son and Menelaos, for Zeus and the other immortals alone
 know which of the two is doomed to undergo the outcome of death." 

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

Great Hektor now turned his head aside while he
 shook the helmet, and the lot of Paris 
 flew out first. The others took their several stations, each by his horses and
 the place where his arms were lying, while Alexander, husband of lovely Helen,
 put on his goodly armor. 

 
 First he greaved his legs with greaves of good
 make and fitted with ankle-clasps of silver; after this he donned the cuirass
 of his brother Lykaon, and fitted it to his own body; he hung his
 silver-studded sword of bronze about his shoulders, and then his mighty shield.
 On his comely head he set his helmet, well-wrought, with a crest of horse-hair
 that nodded menacingly above it, and he grasped a redoubtable spear that suited
 his hands. In like fashion Menelaos also put on his armor. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Thus they laid themselves on the bed together;
 but the son of Atreus strode among the throng, looking everywhere for
 Alexander, and no man, neither of the Trojans nor of the allies, could find
 him. If they had seen him they were in no mind to hide him, for they all of
 them hated him as they did death itself. Then Agamemnon, king of men, 

 
 spoke, saying, "Hear me, Trojans, Dardanians,
 and allies. The victory has been with Menelaos; therefore give back Helen with
 all her wealth, and pay such fine [ timê ] as shall
 be agreed upon, in testimony among them that shall be born hereafter." 

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

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

 
 Athena and Hera muttered their discontent as
 they sat side by side hatching mischief for the Trojans. Athena scowled at her
 father, for she was in a furious passion with him, and said nothing, but Hera
 could not contain herself. "Dread son of Kronos," said she, "what, pray, is the
 meaning of all this? Is my trouble [ ponos ], then,
 to go for nothing, 

 
 and the sweat that I have sweated, to say
 nothing of my horses, while getting the people together against Priam and his
 children? Do as you will, but we other gods shall not all of us approve your
 counsel." 

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

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

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

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

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

His fool's heart was persuaded, and he took his
 bow from its case. This bow was made from the horns of a wild ibex which he had
 killed as it was bounding from a rock; he had stalked it, and it had fallen as
 the arrow struck it to the heart. Its horns were sixteen palms long, and a
 worker in horn had made them into a bow, smoothing them well down, and giving
 them tips of gold. When Pandaros had strung his bow he laid it carefully on the
 ground, and his brave followers held their shields before him lest the Achaeans
 should set upon him before he had shot Menelaos. Then he opened the lid of his
 quiver and took out a winged arrow that had yet been shot, fraught with the
 pangs of death. 

 
 He laid the arrow on the string and prayed to
 Lycian Apollo, the famous archer, vowing that when he got home to his strong
 city of Zelea he would offer a hecatomb of firstling lambs in his honor. He
 laid the notch of the arrow on the oxhide bowstring, and drew both notch and
 string to his breast till the arrow-head was near the bow; then when the bow
 was arched into a half-circle he let fly, and the bow twanged, and the string
 sang as the arrow flew gladly on over the heads of the throng. 

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

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

 
 When King Agamemnon saw the blood flowing from
 the wound he was afraid, and so was brave Menelaos himself till he saw that the
 barbs of the arrow and the thread that bound the arrow-head to the shaft were
 still outside the wound. Then he took heart, but Agamemnon heaved a deep sigh
 as he held Menelaos' hand in his own, and his comrades made moan in concert. 

 
 "Dear brother, "he cried, "I have been the
 death of you in pledging this covenant and letting you come forward as our
 champion. The Trojans have trampled on their oaths and have wounded you;
 nevertheless the oath, the blood of lambs, the drink-offerings and the right
 hands of fellowship in which have put our trust shall not be vain. If he that
 rules Olympus fulfill it not here and
 now, he. will yet fulfill it hereafter, and they shall pay dearly with their
 lives and with their wives and children. The day will surely come when mighty
 Ilion shall be laid low, with Priam
 and Priam's people, when the son of Kronos from his high throne shall
 overshadow them with his awful aegis in punishment of their present treachery.
 This shall surely be; but how, Menelaos, shall I feel grief [ akhos ] for you, if it be your lot now to die? I should
 return to Argos as a by-word, for
 the Achaeans will at once go home. We shall leave Priam and the Trojans the
 glory of still keeping Helen, and the earth will rot your bones as you lie here
 at Troy with your purpose not
 fulfilled. Then shall some braggart Trojan leap upon your tomb and say, ‘Ever
 thus may Agamemnon wreak his vengeance; he brought his army in vain; he is gone
 home to his own land with empty ships, and has left Menelaos behind him.’ Thus
 will one of them say, and may the earth then swallow me." 

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

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

He then said to Talthybios, "Talthybios, tell
 Machaon, son to the great physician, Asklepios, to come and see Menelaos
 immediately. Some Trojan or Lycian archer has wounded him with an arrow to our
 dismay [ penthos ], and to his own great glory [ kleos ]." 

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

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

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

 
 You would not have then found Agamemnon asleep
 nor cowardly and unwilling to fight, but eager rather for the fray. He left his
 chariot rich with bronze and his panting steeds in charge of the squire [ therapôn ] Eurymedon, son of Ptolemaios the son of
 Peiraios, and bade him hold them in readiness against the time his limbs should
 weary of going about and giving orders to so many, for he went among the ranks
 on foot. When he saw men hastening to the front he stood by them and cheered
 them on. "Argives," said he, "slacken not one whit in your onset; father Zeus
 will be no helper of liars; 

 
 the Trojans have been the first to break their
 oaths and to attack us; therefore they shall be devoured of vultures; we shall
 take their city and carry off their wives and children in our ships." 

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

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

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

 
 The son of Atreus went on, glad at heart, till
 he came upon the two Ajaxes arming themselves amid a host of foot-soldiers. As
 when a goat-herd from some high post watches a storm drive over the deep [ pontos ] before the west wind 

 
 - black as pitch is the offing and a mighty
 whirlwind draws towards him, so that he is afraid and drives his flock into a
 cave - even thus did the ranks of stalwart youths move in a dark mass to battle
 under the Ajaxes, horrid with shield and spear. Glad was King Agamemnon when he
 saw them. "No need," he cried, "to give orders to such leaders of the Argives
 as you are, for of your own selves you spur your men on to fight with might and
 main. Would, by father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo that all were so minded as you
 are, for the city of Priam would then soon fall beneath our hands, and we
 should sack it." 

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

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

 
 And Nestor, horseman of Gerene, answered, "Son
 of Atreus, I too would gladly be the man I was when I slew mighty Ereuthalion;
 but the gods will not give us everything at one and the same time. I was then
 young, and now I am old; 

 
 still I can go with my horsemen and give them
 that counsel which old men have a right to give. The wielding of the spear I
 leave to those who are younger and has more force [ biê ] than myself." 

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

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

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

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

 
 Diomedes made no answer, for he was shamed by
 the rebuke of Agamemnon; but the son of Kapaneus took up his words and said,
 "Son of Atreus, tell no lies, for you can speak truth if you will. 

 
 We boast ourselves as even better men than our
 fathers; we took seven-gated Thebes , though the wall was stronger and our men were fewer in
 number, for we trusted in the omens of the gods and in the help of Zeus,
 whereas they perished through their own sheer folly; hold not, then, our
 fathers in like honor [ timê ] with us." 

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Forthwith Ajax, son of Telamon, slew the fair
 youth Simoeisios, son of Anthemion, whom his mother bore by the banks of the
 Simoeis, as she was coming down from Mount
 Ida , where she had been with her parents to see their flocks.
 Therefore he was named Simoeisios, but he did not live to pay his parents for
 his rearing, for he was cut off untimely by the spear of mighty Ajax, who
 struck him in the breast by the right nipple as he was coming on among the
 foremost fighters; 

 
 the spear went right through his shoulder, and
 he fell as a poplar that has grown straight and tall in a meadow by some mere,
 and its top is thick with branches. Then the wheelwright lays his axe to its
 roots that he may fashion a felloe for the wheel of some goodly chariot, and it
 lies seasoning by the waterside. In such wise did Ajax fell to earth
 Simoeisios, son of Anthemion. Thereon Antiphos of the gleaming corselet, son of
 Priam, hurled a spear at Ajax from amid the crowd and missed him, but he hit
 Leukos, the brave comrade of Odysseus, in the groin, as he was dragging the
 body of Simoeisios over to the other side; so he fell upon the body and loosed
 his hold upon it. Odysseus was furious when he saw Leukos slain, and strode in
 full armor through the front ranks till he was quite close; then he glared
 round about him and took aim, and the Trojans fell back as he did so. His dart
 was not sped in vain, for it struck Demokoön, the bastard son of Priam, who had
 come to him from Abydos , where he had
 charge of his father's mares. Odysseus, infuriated by the death of his comrade,
 hit him with his spear on one temple, and the bronze point came through on the
 other side of his forehead. Thereon darkness veiled his eyes, and his armor
 rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. Hektor, and they that
 were in front, then gave round while the Argives raised a shout and drew off
 the dead, pressing further forward as they did so. But Apollo looked down from
 Pergamos and called aloud to the
 Trojans, for he was displeased. "Trojans," he cried, "rush on the foe, and do
 not let yourselves be thus beaten by the Argives. Their skins are not stone nor
 iron that when hit them you do them no harm. Moreover, Achilles, the son of
 lovely Thetis, is not fighting, but is nursing his anger at the ships." 

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

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

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

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

 
 Now there was a certain rich and honorable man
 among the Trojans, priest of Hephaistos, and his name was Dares. He had two
 sons, Phegeus and Idaios, both of them skilled in all the arts of war. These
 two came forward from the main body of Trojans, and set upon Diomedes, he being
 on foot, while they fought from their chariot. When they were close up to one
 another, Phegeus took aim first, but his spear went over Diomedes ‘s left
 shoulder without hitting him. Diomedes then threw, and his spear sped not in
 vain, for it hit Phegeus on the breast near the nipple, and he fell from his
 chariot. Idaios did not dare to bestride his brother's body, but sprang from
 the chariot and took to flight, or he would have shared his brother's fate; 

 
 whereon Hephaistos saved him by wrapping him in
 a cloud of darkness, that his old father might not be utterly overwhelmed with
 grief; but the son of Tydeus drove off with the horses, and bade his followers
 take them to the ships. The Trojans were scared when they saw the two sons of
 Dares, one of them in fright and the other lying dead by his chariot. Athena,
 therefore, took Ares by the hand and said, "Ares, Ares, bane of men,
 bloodstained stormer of cities, may we not now leave the Trojans and Achaeans
 to fight it out, and see to which of the two Zeus will grant the victory? Let
 us go away, and thus avoid his anger [ mênis ]." 

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

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

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

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

 
 Meges, moreover, slew Pedaios, son of Antenor,
 who, though he was a bastard, had been brought up by Theano as one of her own
 children, for the love she bore her husband. The son of Phyleus got close up to
 him and drove a spear into the nape of his neck: it went under his tongue all
 among his teeth, so he bit the cold bronze, and fell 
 dead in the dust. 
 
 
 And Eurypylos, son of Euaemon, killed Hypsenor,
 the son of noble Dolopion, who had been made priest of the river Skamandros,
 and was honored in the dêmos as though he were a
 god. Eurypylos gave him chase as he was fleeing before him, smote him with his
 sword upon the arm, and lopped his strong hand from off it. The bloody hand
 fell to the ground, and the shades of death, with fate that no man can
 withstand, came over his eyes. 
 
 
 Thus furiously did the battle rage between them.
 As for the son of Tydeus, you could not say whether he was more among the
 Achaeans or the Trojans. He rushed across the plain like a winter torrent that
 has burst its barrier in full flood; no dikes, no walls of fruitful vineyards
 can embank it when it is swollen with rain from heaven, but in a moment it
 comes tearing onward, and lays many a field waste that many a strong man hand
 has reclaimed - even so were the dense phalanxes of the Trojans driven in rout
 by the son of Tydeus, and many though they were, they dared not abide his
 onslaught. 
 
 
 Now when the son of Lykaon saw him scouring the
 plain and driving the Trojans pell-mell before him, he aimed an arrow and hit
 the front part of his cuirass near the shoulder: the arrow went right through
 the metal and pierced the flesh, so that the cuirass was covered with blood. On
 this the son of Lykaon shouted in triumph, "Horsemen Trojans, come on; the
 bravest of the Achaeans is wounded, and he will not hold out much longer if
 King Apollo was indeed with me when I sped from Lycia hither."

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

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

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

 
 When she had said this Athena went away, and
 the son of Tydeus again took his place among the foremost fighters, three times
 more fierce even than he had been before. He was like a lion that some mountain
 shepherd has wounded, but not killed, as he is springing over the wall of a
 sheep-yard to attack the sheep. 

 
 The shepherd has roused the brute to fury but
 cannot defend his flock, so he takes shelter under cover of the buildings,
 while the sheep, panic-stricken on being deserted, are smothered in heaps one
 on top of the other, and the angry lion leaps out over the sheep-yard wall.
 Even thus did Diomedes go furiously about among the Trojans. 

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

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

 
 When Aeneas saw him thus making havoc among the
 ranks, he went through the fight amid the rain of spears to see if he could
 find Pandaros. When he had found the brave son of Lykaon he said, "Pandaros,
 where is now your bow, your winged arrows, and your renown [ kleos ] as an archer, in respect of which no man here
 can rival you nor is there any in Lycia that can beat you? Lift then your hands to Zeus and send
 an arrow at this man who is going so masterfully about,

and has done such deadly work among the
 Trojans. He has killed many a brave man - unless indeed he is some god who is
 angry with the Trojans about their sacrifices, and has set his hand against
 them in his anger [ mênis ]." 

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

 
 I get home again to set eyes on my native
 place, my wife, and the greatness of my house, may some one cut my head off
 then and there if I do not break the bow and set it on a hot fire - such pranks
 as it plays me." 

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

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

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

 
 Diomedes looked angrily at him and answered:
 "Talk not of flight, for I shall not listen to you: I am of a race that knows
 neither flight nor fear, and my limbs are as yet unwearied. I am in no mind to
 mount, but will go against them even as I am; Pallas Athena bids me be afraid
 of no man, and even though one of them escape, their steeds shall not take both
 back again. I say further, 

 
 and lay my saying to your heart - if Athena
 sees fit to grant me the glory of killing both, stay your horses here and make
 the reins fast to the rim of the chariot; then be sure you spring Aeneas'
 horses and drive them from the Trojan to the Achaean ranks. They are of the
 stock that great Zeus gave to Tros in payment for his son Ganymede, and are the
 finest that live and move under the sun. King Anchises stole the blood by
 putting his mares to them without Laomedon's knowledge, and they bore him six
 foals. Four are still in his stables, but he gave the other two to Aeneas. We
 shall win great glory [ kleos ] if we can take them."

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Now the son of Tydeus was in pursuit of the
 Cyprian goddess, spear in hand, for he knew her to be feeble and not one of
 those goddesses that can lord it among men in battle like Athena or Enyo the
 waster of cities, and when at last after a long chase he caught her up, 

 
 he flew at her and thrust his spear into the
 flesh of her delicate hand. The point tore through the ambrosial robe which the
 Graces [ kharites ] had woven for her, and pierced
 the skin between her wrist and the palm of her hand, so that the immortal
 blood, or ichor, that flows in the veins of the blessed gods, came pouring from
 the wound; for the gods do not eat bread nor drink wine, hence they have no
 blood such as ours, and are immortal. Aphrodite screamed aloud, and let her son
 fall, but Phoebus Apollo caught him in his arms, and hid him in a cloud of
 darkness, lest some Danaan should drive a spear into his breast and kill him;
 and Diomedes shouted out as he left her, "Daughter of Zeus, leave war and
 battle alone, can you not be contented with beguiling silly women? If you
 meddle with fighting you will get what will make you shudder at the very name
 of war."

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

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

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

 
 "Bear it, my child," replied Dione, "and make
 the best of it. We dwellers in Olympus 
 have to put up with much at the hands of men, and we lay much suffering on one
 another. Ares had to suffer when Otos and Ephialtes, children of Aloeus, bound
 him in cruel bonds, so that he lay thirteen months imprisoned in a vessel of
 bronze. Ares would have then perished had not fair Eeriboia, stepmother to the
 sons of Aloeus, told Hermes, who stole him away when he was already well-nigh
 worn out by the severity of his bondage. Hera, again, suffered when the mighty
 son of Amphitryon wounded her on the right breast with a three-barbed arrow,
 and nothing could assuage her pain. So, also, did huge Hades, when this same
 man, the son of aegis-bearing Zeus, hit him with an arrow even at the gates of
 Hades, and hurt him badly. Thereon Hades went to the house of Zeus on great
 Olympus , angry and full of pain
 [ akhos ]; and the arrow in his brawny shoulder
 caused him great anguish till Paieon healed him by spreading soothing herbs on
 the wound, for Hades was not of mortal mold. Daring, head-strong, evildoer who
 recked not of his evil deed in shooting the gods that dwell in Olympus . And now Athena has egged this son of
 Tydeus on against yourself, fool that he is for not reflecting that no man who
 fights with gods will live long or hear his children prattling about his knees
 when he returns from battle. Let, then, the son of Tydeus see that he does not
 have to fight with one who is stronger than you are. 

 
 Then shall his brave wife Aigialeia, daughter
 of Adrastos, rouse her whole house from sleep, wailing for the loss of her
 wedded lord, Diomedes the bravest of the Achaeans." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Brave Menelaos pitied them in their fall, and
 made his way to the front, clad in gleaming bronze and brandishing his spear,
 for Ares egged him on to do so with intent that he should be killed by Aeneas;
 but Antilokhos the son of Nestor saw him and sprang forward, fearing that the
 king might come to harm and thus bring all their labor [ ponos ] to nothing; when, therefore Aeneas and Menelaos were setting
 their hands and spears against one another eager to do battle, Antilokhos
 placed himself by the side of Menelaos.

Aeneas, bold though he was, drew back on seeing
 the two heroes side by side in front of him, so they drew the bodies of Crethon
 and Orsilokhos to the ranks of the Achaeans and committed the two poor men into
 the hands of their comrades. They then turned back and fought in the front
 ranks. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Meanwhile the Argives were neither driven
 towards their ships by Ares and Hektor, nor yet did they attack them; when they
 knew that Ares was with the Trojans they retreated, but kept their faces still
 turned towards the foe. Who, then, was first and who last to be slain by Ares
 and Hektor? They were valiant Teuthras, and Orestes the renowned charioteer,
 Trechos the Aetolian warrior, Oinomaos, Helenos the son of Oinops, and Oresbios
 of the gleaming belt, who was possessed of great wealth, and dwelt by the
 Cephisian lake with the other Boeotians who lived near him, owners of a fertile
 district [ dêmos ]. 

 
 Now when the goddess Hera saw the Argives thus
 falling, she said to Athena, "Alas, daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus,
 unweariable, the promise we made Menelaos that he should not return till he had
 sacked the city of Ilion will be of
 none effect if we let Ares rage thus furiously. Let us go into the fray at
 once." 

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

 
 Meanwhile Athena flung her richly embroidered
 vesture, made with her own hands, on to her father's threshold, and donned the
 shirt of Zeus, arming herself for battle. She threw her tasseled aegis about.
 her shoulders, wreathed round with Rout as with a fringe, and on it were
 Strife, and Strength, and Panic whose blood runs cold; moreover there was the
 head of the dread monster Gorgon,, grim and awful to behold, portent of
 aegis-bearing Zeus. On her head she set her helmet of gold, with four plumes,
 and coming to a peak both in front and behind - decked with the emblems of a
 hundred cities; then she stepped into her flaming chariot and grasped the
 spear, so stout and sturdy and strong, with which she quells the ranks of
 heroes who have displeased her. Hera lashed the horses on, and the gates of
 heaven bellowed as they flew open of their own accord -gates over which the
 flours preside, in whose hands are Heaven and Olympus , either to open the dense cloud that hides them, or to
 close it. Through these the goddesses drove their obedient steeds, and found
 the son of Kronos sitting all alone on the topmost ridges of Olympus . There Hera stayed her horses, and
 spoke to Zeus the son of Kronos, lord of all. "Father Zeus," said she, "are you
 not angry with Ares for these high doings? how great and goodly a host of the
 Achaeans he has destroyed to my great grief [ akhos ], in violation of the order [ kosmos ]
 of things, while the Cyprian and Apollo are enjoying it all at their ease and
 setting this unrighteous madman on to keep on doing things that are not right
 [ themis ]. I hope, Father Zeus, that you will not
 be angry if I hit Ares hard, and chase him out of the battle." 

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

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

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

 
 Diomedes answered, "I know you, goddess,
 daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, and will hide nothing from you. I am not afraid
 nor out of heart, nor is there any slackness in me. I am only following your
 own instructions; you told me not to fight any of the blessed gods; but if
 Zeus' daughter Aphrodite came into battle I was to wound her with my spear.
 Therefore I am retreating, and bidding the other Argives gather in this place,
 for I know that Ares is now lording it in the field." "Diomedes, son of
 Tydeus," replied Athena, "man after my own heart, fear neither Ares nor any
 other of the immortals, for I will befriend you. Nay, drive straight at Ares,
 and smite him in close combat; fear not this raging madman, villain incarnate,
 first on one side and then on the other. But now he was holding talk with Hera
 and myself, saying he would help the Argives and attack the Trojans;
 nevertheless he is with the Trojans, and has forgotten the Argives." 

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

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

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

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

 
 But Hera of Argos and Athena of Alalkomene, now that they had put a stop to
 the murderous doings of Ares, went back again to the house of Zeus.

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

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

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

 
 Euryalos killed Dresus and Opheltios, and then
 went in pursuit of Aesepos and Pedasos, whom the naiad nymph Abarbarea had
 borne to noble Bucolion. Bucolion was eldest son to Laomedon, but he was a
 bastard. While tending his sheep he had converse with the nymph, and she
 conceived twin sons; these the son of Mekisteus now slew, and he stripped the
 armor from their shoulders. Polypoites then
 killed Astyalos, Odysseus Pidytes of Perkote, and Teucer Aretaon. Ablerus fell
 by the spear of Nestor's son Antilokhos, and Agamemnon, king of men, killed
 Elatus who dwelt in Pedasos by the banks of the river Satnioeis. Leitos killed
 Phylakos as he was fleeing, and Eurypylos slew Melanthos. Then Menelaos of the
 loud war-cry took Adrastos alive, for his horses ran into a tamarisk bush, as
 they were flying wildly over the plain, and broke the pole from the car; they
 went on towards the city along with the others in full flight, but Adrastos
 rolled out, and fell in the dust flat on his face by the wheel of his chariot;
 Menelaos came up to him spear in hand, but Adrastos caught him by the knees
 begging for his life. "Take me alive," he cried, "son of Atreus, and you shall
 have a full ransom for me: my father is rich and has much treasure of gold,
 bronze, and wrought iron laid by in his house. From this store he will give you
 a large ransom should he hear of my being alive and at the ships of the
 Achaeans." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 And the son of Hippolokhos answered, son of
 Tydeus, why ask me of my lineage? Men come and go as leaves year by year upon
 the trees. Those of autumn the wind sheds upon the ground, but when the season
 [ hôra ] of spring returns the forest buds forth
 with fresh vines. 

 
 Even so is it with the generations of
 humankind, the new spring up as the old are passing away. If, then, you would
 learn my descent, it is one that is well known to many. There is a city in the
 heart of Argos , pasture land of
 horses, called Ephyra , where
 Sisyphus lived, who was the craftiest of all humankind. He was the son of
 Aeolus, and had a son named Glaukos, who was father to Bellerophon, whom heaven
 endowed with the most surpassing comeliness and beauty. But Proetus devised his
 ruin, and being stronger than he, drove him from the district [ dêmos ] of the Argives, over which Zeus had made him
 ruler. For Antaea, wife of Proetus, lusted after him, and would have had him
 lie with her in secret; but Bellerophon was an honorable man and would not, so
 she told lies about him to Proetus. ‘Proetus,’ said she, ‘kill Bellerophon or
 die, for he would have had converse with me against my will.’ The king was
 angered, but shrank from killing Bellerophon, so he sent him to Lycia bearing baneful signs [ sêmata ], written inside a folded tablet and containing
 much ill against the bearer. He bade Bellerophon show these written signs to
 his father-in-law, to the end that he might thus perish; Bellerophon therefore
 went to Lycia , and the gods convoyed
 him safely. 

 
 "When he reached the river Xanthos , which is in Lycia , the king received him with all
 goodwill, feasted him nine days, and killed nine heifers in his honor, but when
 rosy-fingered morning appeared upon the tenth day, he questioned him and
 desired to see the written signs [ sêmata ] from his
 son-in-law Proetus. When he had received the wicked written signs [ sêmata ] he first commanded Bellerophon to kill that
 savage monster, the Chimaera, who was not a human being, but a goddess, for she
 had the head of a lion and the tail of a serpent, while her body was that of a
 goat, and she breathed forth flames of fire; but Bellerophon slew her, for he
 was guided by signs from heaven. He next fought the far-famed Solymoi, and
 this, he said, was the hardest of all his battles. 

 
 Thirdly, he killed the Amazons, women who were
 the peers of men, and as he was returning thence the king devised yet another
 plan for his destruction; he picked [ krinô ] the
 bravest warriors in all Lycia , and
 placed them in ambuscade, but not a man ever came back, for Bellerophon killed
 every one of them. Then the king knew that he must be the valiant offspring of
 a god, so he kept him in Lycia , gave
 him his daughter in marriage, and made him of equal honor [ timê ] in the kingdom with himself; and the Lycians gave him a piece
 of land, the best in all the country, fair with vineyards and tilled fields, to
 have and to hold. 

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

Thus did he speak, and the heart of Diomedes
 was glad. He planted his spear in the ground, and spoke to him with friendly
 words. "Then," he said, you are an old friend of my father's house. Great
 Oeneus once entertained Bellerophon for twenty days, and the two exchanged
 presents. Oeneus gave a belt rich with purple, and Bellerophon a double cup,
 which I left at home when I set out for Troy . I do not remember Tydeus, for he was taken from us while
 I was yet a child, when the army of the Achaeans was cut to pieces before
 Thebes . 

 
 Henceforth, however, I must be your host in
 middle Argos , and you mine in
 Lycia , if I should ever go to that
 district [ dêmos ]; let us avoid one another's spears
 even during a general engagement; there are many noble Trojans and allies whom
 I can kill, if I overtake them and heaven delivers them into my hand; so again
 with yourself, there are many Achaeans whose lives you may take if you can; we
 two, then, will exchange armor, that all present may know of the old ties that
 subsist between us." 

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

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

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

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

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

 
 When they reached the temple of Athena, lovely
 Theano, daughter of Kisseus and wife of Antenor, opened the doors, for the
 Trojans had made her priestess of Athena. The women lifted up their hands to
 the goddess with a loud cry, and Theano took the robe to lay it upon the knees
 of Athena, praying the while to the daughter of great Zeus.

"Holy Athena," she cried, "protectress of our
 city, mighty goddess, break the spear of Diomedes and lay him low before the
 Scaean gates. Do this, and we will sacrifice twelve heifers that have never yet
 known the goad, in your temple, if you will have pity upon the town, with the
 wives and little ones If the Trojans." Thus she prayed, but Pallas Athena
 granted not her prayer. 

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

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

 
 Hektor made no answer, but Helen tried to
 soothe him. "Brother," said she, "to my abhorred and sinful self, would that a
 whirlwind had caught me up on the day my mother brought me forth, and had borne
 me to some mountain or 

 
 to the waves of the roaring sea that should
 have swept me away ere this mischief had come about. But, since the gods have
 devised these evils, would, at any rate, that I had been wife to a better man -
 to one who could smart under dishonor [nemesis] and men's evil speeches. This
 man was never yet to be depended upon, nor never will be, and he will surely
 reap what he has sown. Still, brother, come in and rest upon this seat, for it
 is you who bear the brunt of that toil [ ponos ] that
 has been caused by my hateful self and by the veering [ atê ] of Alexander - both of whom Zeus has doomed to be a theme of
 song among those that shall be born hereafter." 

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

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

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

Hektor hurried from the house when she had done
 speaking, and went down the streets by the same way that he had come. When he
 had gone through the city and had reached the Scaean gates through which he
 would go out on to the plain, his wife came running towards him, Andromache,
 daughter of great Eetion who ruled in Thebe under the wooded slopes of Mount
 Plakos, and was king of the Cilicians. His daughter had married Hektor, and now
 came to meet him with a nurse who carried his little child in her bosom - a
 mere babe. Hektor's darling son, and lovely as a star. Hektor had named him
 Skamandrios, but the people called him Astyanax, for his father stood alone as
 chief guardian of Ilion . Hektor smiled
 as he looked upon the boy, but he did not speak, and Andromache stood by him
 weeping and taking his hand in her own. "Dear husband," said she, "your valor
 will bring you to destruction; think on your infant son, and on my hapless self
 who ere long shall be your widow - for the Achaeans will set upon you in a body
 and kill you. It would be better for me, should I lose you, to lie dead and
 buried, for I shall have nothing left to comfort me when you are gone, save
 only sorrow [ akhos ]. I have neither father nor
 mother now. Achilles slew my father when he sacked Thebe the goodly city of the
 Cilicians. He slew him, but did not for very shame despoil him; when he had
 burned him in his wondrous armor, he raised a barrow over his ashes and the
 mountain nymphs, daughters of aegis-bearing Zeus, planted a grove of elms about
 his tomb [ sêma ]. I had seven brothers in my
 father's house, but on the same day they all went within the house of Hades.
 Achilles killed them as they were with their sheep and cattle. My mother - her
 who had been queen of all the land under Mount Plakos - he brought hither with
 the spoil, and freed her for a great sum, but the archer - queen Artemis took
 her in the house of your father. Nay - Hektor - you who to me are father,
 mother, brother, and dear husband - have mercy upon me; 

 
 stay here upon this wall; make not your child
 fatherless, and your wife a widow; as for the host, place them near the
 fig-tree, where the city can be best scaled, and the wall is weakest. Thrice
 have the bravest of them come thither and assailed it, under the two Ajaxes,
 Idomeneus, the sons of Atreus, and the brave son of Tydeus, either of their own
 bidding, or because some soothsayer had told them." 

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

 
 He stretched his arms towards his child, but
 the boy cried and nestled in his nurse's bosom, scared at the sight of his
 father's armor, and at the horse-hair plume that nodded fiercely from his
 helmet. His father and mother laughed to see him, but Hektor took the helmet
 from his head and laid it all gleaming upon the ground. Then he took his
 darling child, 

 
 kissed him, and dandled him in his arms,
 praying over him the while to Zeus and to all the gods. "Zeus," he cried,
 "grant that this my child may be even as myself, chief among the Trojans; let
 him be not less excellent in strength, and let him rule Ilion with his might. Then may one say of him
 as he comes from battle, ‘The son is far better than the father.’ May he bring
 back the blood-stained spoils of him whom he has laid low, and let his mother's
 heart be glad.’" 

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

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

 
 
 Paris did not remain long in his
 house. He donned his goodly armor overlaid with bronze, and hastened through
 the city as fast as his feet could take him. As a horse, stabled and fed,
 breaks loose and gallops gloriously over the plain to the place where he is
 wont to bathe in the fair-flowing river - he holds his head high, and his mane
 streams upon his shoulders as he exults in his strength and flies like the wind
 to the haunts and feeding ground of the mares -

even so went forth Paris from high Pergamos , gleaming like sunlight in his armor, and he laughed
 aloud as he sped swiftly on his way. Forthwith he came upon his brother Hektor,
 who was then turning away from the place where he had held converse with his
 wife, and he was himself the first to speak. "Sir," said he, "I fear that I
 have kept you waiting when you are in haste, and have not come as quickly as
 you bade me." 

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

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

 
 Thereon Alexander killed Menesthios the son of
 Areithoos; he lived in Ame, and was son of Areithoos the Mace-man, and of
 Phylomedousa. Hektor threw a spear at Eioneus and struck him dead with a wound
 in the neck under the bronze rim of his helmet. Glaukos, moreover, son of
 Hippolokhos, leader of the Lycians, in hard hand-to-hand fight smote Iphinoos
 son of Dexios on the shoulder, as he was springing on to his chariot behind his
 fleet mares; so he fell to earth from the car, and there was no life left in
 him. 

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

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

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

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

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

 
 "Hear me, Trojans and Achaeans, that I may speak
 even as I am minded; Zeus on his high throne has brought our oaths and
 covenants to nothing, and foreshadows ill for both of us, till you either take
 the towers of Troy , or are yourselves
 vanquished at your ships. The princes of the Achaeans are here present in the
 midst of you;

let him, then, that will fight me stand forward
 as your champion against Hektor. Thus I say, and may Zeus be witness between
 us. If your champion slay me, let him strip me of my armor and take it to your
 ships, but let him send my body home that the Trojans and their wives may give
 me my dues of fire when I am dead. In like manner, if Apollo grant me glory and
 I slay your champion, I will strip him of his armor and take it to the city of
 Ilion , where I will hang it in the
 temple of Apollo, but I will give up his body, that the Achaeans may bury him
 at their ships, and the build him a tomb [ sêma ] by
 the wide waters of the Hellespont .
 Then will one say hereafter as he sails his ship over the sea [ pontos ], ‘This is the marker [ sêma ] of one who died long since a champion who was slain by mighty
 Hektor.’ Thus will one say, and my fame [ kleos ]
 shall not be lost." 

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

 
 With these words he put on his armor; and then,
 O Menelaos, your life would have come to an end at the hands of hands of
 Hektor, for he was far better the man, had not the princes of the Achaeans
 sprung upon you and checked you. King Agamemnon caught him by the right hand
 and said, "Menelaos, you are mad; a truce to this folly. Be patient in spite of
 passion, do not think of fighting a man so much stronger than yourself as
 Hektor son of Priam, who is feared by many another as well as you. 

 
 Even Achilles, who is far more doughty than you
 are, shrank from meeting him in battle. Sit down your own people, and the
 Achaeans will send some other champion to fight Hektor; fearless and fond of
 battle though he be, I ween his knees will bend gladly under him if he comes
 out alive from the struggle of this fight." 

 
 With these words of reasonable counsel he
 persuaded his brother, whereon his squires [therapontes] gladly stripped the
 armor from off his shoulders. Then Nestor rose and spoke, "For sure," said he,
 "grief [ penthos ] has befallen the Achaean land. The
 old horseman Peleus, counselor and orator among the Myrmidons, loved when I was
 in his house to question me concerning the race and lineage of all the Argives.
 How would it not grieve him could he hear of them as now quailing before
 Hektor? Many a time would he lift his hands in prayer that his soul might leave
 his body and go down within the house of Hades. Would, by father Zeus, Athena,
 and Apollo, that I were still young and strong as when the Pylians and
 Arcadians were gathered in fight by the rapid river Keladon under the walls of
 Pheia , and round about the waters
 of the river Iardanos. The godlike hero Ereuthalion stood forward as their
 champion, with the armor of King Areithoos upon his shoulders - Areithoos whom
 men and women had surnamed ‘the Mace-man,’ because he fought neither with bow
 nor spear, but broke the battalions of the foe with his iron mace. Lycurgus
 killed him, not in fair fight, but by entrapping him in a narrow way where his
 mace served him in no stead; for Lycurgus was too quick for him and speared him
 through the middle, so he fell to earth on his back. Lycurgus then spoiled him
 of the armor which Ares had given him, and bore it in battle thenceforward; but
 when he grew old and stayed at home, he gave it to his faithful squire [ therapôn ] Ereuthalion, who in this same armor
 challenged the foremost men among us. The others quaked and quailed, but my
 high spirit bade me fight him though none other would venture; I was the
 youngest man of them all; 

 
 but when I fought him Athena granted me
 victory. He was the biggest and strongest man that ever I killed, and covered
 much ground as he lay sprawling upon the earth. Would that I were still young
 and strong as I then was, for the son of Priam would then soon find one who
 would face him. But you, foremost among the whole host though you be, have none
 of you any stomach for fighting Hektor." 

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

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

As they were speaking, Nestor horseman of
 Gerene shook the helmet, and from it there fell the very lot which they wanted
 - the lot of Ajax. The herald bore it about and showed it to all the chieftains
 of the Achaeans, going from left to right; but they none of them owned it.
 When, however, in due course he reached the man who had written upon it and had
 put it into the helmet, brave Ajax held out his hand, and the herald gave him
 the lot. When Ajax saw his mark [ sêma ] he knew it
 and was glad; he threw it to the ground and said, "My friends, the lot is mine,
 and I rejoice, for I shall vanquish Hektor. I will put on my armor; 

 
 meanwhile, pray to King Zeus in silence among
 yourselves that the Trojans may not hear you - or aloud if you will, for we
 fear no man. None shall overcome me, neither by force nor cunning, for I was
 born and bred in Salamis , and can hold
 my own in all things." 

 
 With this they fell praying to King Zeus the
 son of Kronos, and thus would one of them say as he looked into the vault of
 heaven, "Father Zeus, you who rule from Ida, most glorious in power, grant
 victory to Ajax, and let him win great glory: but if you wish well to Hektor
 also and would protect him, grant to each of them equal fame and prowess. Thus
 they prayed, and Ajax armed himself in his suit of gleaming bronze. When he was
 in full array he sprang forward as monstrous Ares when he takes part among men
 whom Zeus has set fighting with one another - even so did huge Ajax, bulwark of
 the Achaeans, spring forward with a grim smile on his face as he brandished his
 long spear and strode onward. The Argives were elated as they beheld him, but
 the Trojans trembled in every limb, and the heart even of Hektor beat quickly,
 but he could not now retreat and withdraw into the ranks behind him, for he had
 been the challenger. Ajax came up bearing his shield in front of him like a
 wall - a shield of bronze with seven folds of oxhide - the work of Tychios, who
 lived in Hyle and was by far the best worker in leather. He had made it with
 the hides of seven full-fed bulls, and over these he had set an eighth layer of
 bronze. Holding this shield before him, Ajax son of Telamon came close up to
 Hektor, and menaced him saying, "Hektor, you shall now learn, man to man, what
 kind of champions the Danaans have among them even besides lion-hearted
 Achilles cleaver of the ranks of men. He now abides at the ships in anger with
 Agamemnon shepherd of his people, but there are many of us who are well able to
 face you; therefore begin the fight." 

 
 And Hektor answered, "Noble Ajax, son of
 Telamon, leader of the host, treat me not as though I were some puny boy or
 woman that cannot fight. 

 
 I have been long used to the blood and
 butcheries of battle. I am quick to turn my leathern shield either to right or
 left, for this I deem the main thing in battle. I can charge among the chariots
 and horsemen, and in hand to hand fighting can delight the heart of Ares;
 howbeit I would not take such a man as you are off his guard - but I will smite
 you openly if I can." 

 
 He poised his spear as he spoke, and hurled it
 from him. It struck the sevenfold shield in its outermost layer - the eighth,
 which was of bronze - and went through six of the layers but in the seventh
 hide it stayed. Then Ajax threw in his turn, and struck the round shield of the
 son of Priam. The terrible spear went through his gleaming shield, and pressed
 onward through his cuirass of cunning workmanship; it pierced the shirt against
 his side, but he swerved and thus saved his life. They then each of them drew
 out the spear from his shield, and fell on one another like savage lions or
 wild boars of great strength and endurance: the son of Priam struck the middle
 of Ajax's shield, but the bronze did not break, and the point of his dart was
 turned. Ajax then sprang forward and pierced the shield of Hektor; the spear
 went through it and staggered him as he was springing forward to attack; it
 gashed his neck and the blood came pouring from the wound, but even so Hektor
 did not cease fighting; he gave ground, and with his brawny hand seized a
 stone, rugged and huge, that was lying upon the plain; with this he struck the
 shield of Ajax on the boss that was in its middle, so that the bronze rang
 again. But Ajax in turn caught up a far larger stone, swung it aloft, and
 hurled it with prodigious force. This millstone of a rock broke Hektor's shield
 inwards and threw him down on his back with the shield crushing him under
 it, 

 
 but Apollo raised him at once. Thereon they
 would have hacked at one another in close combat with their swords, had not
 heralds, messengers of gods and men, come forward, one from the Trojans and the
 other from the Achaeans - Talthybios and Idaios both of them honorable men;
 these parted them with their staves, and the good herald Idaios said, "My sons,
 fight no longer, you are both of you valiant, and both are dear to Zeus; we
 know this; but night is now falling, and the behests of night may not be well
 gainsaid." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

hereafter we will fight anew, till a daimôn decides between us and gives victory to one or
 to the other." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thus did they converse, and by sunset the work
 of the Achaeans was completed; they then slaughtered oxen at their tents and
 got their supper. Many ships had come with wine from Lemnos , sent by Euneus the son of Jason, born
 to him by Hypsipyle. The son of Jason freighted them with ten thousand measures
 of wine, which he sent specially to the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaos.
 From this supply the Achaeans bought their wine, some with bronze, some with
 iron, some with hides, some with whole heifers, and some again with captives.
 They spread a goodly banquet and feasted the whole night through, as also did
 the Trojans and their allies in the city. 

 
 But all the time Zeus boded them ill and roared
 with his portentous thunder. Pale fear got hold upon them, and they spilled the
 wine from their cups on to the ground, nor did any dare drink till he had made
 offerings to the most mighty son of Kronos. Then they laid themselves down to
 rest and enjoyed the boon of sleep.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Odysseus would not give ear, but sped onward to
 the ships of the Achaeans, and the son of Tydeus flinging himself alone into
 the thick of the fight took his stand before the horses of the son of Neleus.
 "Sir," said he, "these young warriors are pressing you hard, your force is
 spent, 

 
 and age is heavy upon you, your squire [ therapôn ] is naught, and your horses are slow to move.
 Mount my chariot and see what the horses of Tros can do- how cleverly they can
 scud hither and thither over the plain either in flight or in pursuit. I took
 them from the hero Aeneas. Let our squires [ theraponte ] attend to your own steeds, but let us drive mine
 straight at the Trojans, that Hektor may learn how furiously I too can wield my
 spear." 

 
 Nestor horseman of Gerene hearkened to his
 words. Thereon the doughty squires [ therapontes ],
 Sthenelos and kind-hearted Eurymedon, saw to Nestor's horses, while the two
 both mounted Diomedes' chariot. Nestor took the reins in his hands and lashed
 the horses on; they were soon close up with Hektor, and the son of Tydeus aimed
 a spear at him as he was charging full speed towards them. He missed him, but
 struck his charioteer and squire [ therapôn ]
 Eniopeus son of noble Thebaios in the breast by the nipple while the reins were
 in his hands, so that he lost his life-breath [ psukhê ] there and then, and the horses swerved as he fell headlong
 from the chariot. Hektor was greatly grieved at the loss of his charioteer, but
 let him lie, despite his sorrow [ akhos ], while he
 went in quest of another driver; nor did his steeds have to go long without
 one, for he presently found brave Arkheptolemos the son of Iphitos, and made
 him get up behind the horses, giving the reins into his hand. 

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

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

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

 
 So saying he turned the horses back through the
 thick of the battle, and with a cry that rent the air the Trojans and Hektor
 rained their darts after them. Hektor shouted to him and said, "Son of Tydeus,
 the Danaans have done you honor hitherto as regards your place at table, the
 meals they give you, and the filling of your cup with wine. Henceforth they
 will despise you, for you are become no better than a woman. Be off, girl and
 coward that you are, you shall not try to scale our towers without my stopping
 you; neither shall you carry off our wives in your ships, for I shall give you,
 with my own hand, a fate [ daimôn ] that will doom
 you."

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

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

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

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

 
 Thus did they converse; but the whole space
 enclosed by the ditch, from the ships even to the wall, was filled with horses
 and warriors, who were pent up there by Hektor son of Priam, now that the hand
 of Zeus was with him. He would even have set fire to the ships and burned them,
 had not Queen Hera put it into the mind of Agamemnon, to bestir himself and to
 encourage the Achaeans. To this end he went round the ships and tents carrying
 a great purple cloak, and took his stand by the huge black hull of Odysseus'
 ship, which was middlemost of all; it was from this place that his voice would
 carry farthest, on the one hand towards the tents of Ajax son of Telamon, and
 on the other towards those of Achilles- 

 
 for these two heroes, well assured of their own
 strength, had valorously drawn up their ships at the two ends of the line. From
 this spot then, with a voice that could be heard afar, he shouted to the
 Danaans, saying, "Argives, shame 

 
 on you cowardly creatures, brave in semblance
 only; where are now our vaunts that we should prove victorious - the vaunts we
 made so vaingloriously in Lemnos , when
 we ate the flesh of horned cattle and filled our mixing-bowls to the brim? You
 vowed that you would each of you stand against a hundred or two hundred men,
 and now you prove no match even for one- for Hektor, who will be ere long
 setting our ships in a blaze. Father Zeus, did you ever before cause the ruin
 [ atê ] of a great king to such an extent and rob
 him so utterly of his greatness? yet, when to my sorrow I was coming hither, I
 never let my ship pass your altars without offering the fat and thigh-bones of
 heifers upon every one of them, so eager was I to sack the city of Troy . Vouchsafe me then this prayer- suffer
 us to escape at any rate with our lives, and let not the Achaeans be so utterly
 vanquished by the Trojans." 

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

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

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

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

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

 
 As he spoke he aimed another arrow straight at
 Hektor, for he was bent on hitting him; nevertheless he missed him, and the
 arrow hit Priam's brave son Gorgythion in the breast. 

 
 His mother, fair Kastianeira, lovely as a
 goddess, had been married from Aisyme, and now he bowed his head as a garden
 poppy in full bloom when it is weighed down by showers in spring- even thus
 heavy bowed his head beneath the weight of his helmet. 

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

 
 Zeus now again put heart into the Trojans, and
 they drove the Achaeans to their deep trench with Hektor in all his glory at
 their head. As a hound grips a wild boar or lion in flank or buttock when he
 gives him chase, and watches warily for his wheeling, even so did Hektor follow
 close upon the Achaeans, ever killing the hindmost as they rushed
 panic-stricken onwards. When they had fled through the set stakes and trench
 and many Achaeans had been laid low at the hands of the Trojans,

they halted at their ships, calling upon one
 another and praying every man instantly as they lifted up their hands to the
 gods; but Hektor wheeled his horses this way and that, his eyes glaring like
 those of Gorgo or murderous Ares. 

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

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

 
 Thus did she speak and white-armed Hera,
 daughter of great Kronos, obeyed her words; she set about harnessing her
 gold-bedizened steeds, while Athena daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus 

 
 flung her richly vesture, made with her own
 hands, on to the threshold of her father, and donned the shirt of Zeus, arming
 herself for battle. Then she stepped into her flaming chariot, and grasped the
 spear so stout and sturdy and strong with which she quells the ranks of heroes
 who have displeased her. Hera lashed her horses, and the gates of heaven
 bellowed as they flew open of their own accord- gates over which the Hours
 preside, in whose hands are heaven and Olympus , either to open the dense cloud that hides them or to
 close it. Through these the goddesses drove their obedient steeds. 

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Athena and Hera groaned in spirit as they sat
 side by side and brooded mischief for the Trojans. Athena sat silent without a
 word, for she was in a furious passion and bitterly incensed against her
 father; but Hera could not contain herself and said, "What, dread son of
 Kronos, are you talking about? We know how great your power is, nevertheless we
 have compassion upon the Danaan warriors who are perishing and coming to a bad
 end. 

 
 We will, however, since you so bid us, refrain
 from actual fighting, but we will make serviceable suggestions to the Argives,
 that they may not all of them perish in your displeasure." 

 
 And Zeus answered, "Tomorrow morning, Hera, if
 you choose to do so, you will see the son of Kronos destroying large numbers of
 the Argives, for fierce Hektor shall not cease fighting till he has roused the
 son of Peleus when they are fighting in dire straits at their ships' sterns
 about the body of Patroklos. Like it or no, this is how it is decreed; for I
 don't care, you may go to the lowest depths beneath earth and sea [ pontos ], where Iapetos and Kronos dwell in lone
 Tartaros with neither ray of light nor breath of wind to cheer them. You may go
 on and on till you get there, and I shall not care one whit for your
 displeasure; you are the greatest vixen living." 

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

 
 Then Hektor led the Trojans back from the
 ships, and held a council on the open space near the river, where there was a
 spot ear corpses. They left their chariots and sat down on the ground to hear
 the speech he made them. He grasped a spear eleven cubits long, the bronze
 point of which gleamed in front of it, while the ring round the spear-head was
 of gold Spear in hand he spoke. "Hear me," said he, "Trojans, Dardanians, and
 allies. I deemed but now that I should destroy the ships and all the Achaeans
 with them ere I went back to Ilion ,
 but darkness came on too soon. It was this alone that saved them and their
 ships upon the seashore. Now, therefore, let us obey the behests of night, and
 prepare our suppers. Take your horses out of their chariots and give them their
 feeds of grain; then make speed to bring sheep and cattle from the city; 

 
 bring wine also and grain for your horses and
 gather much wood, that from dark till dawn we may burn watchfires whose flare
 may reach to heaven. For the Achaeans may try to flee beyond the sea by night,
 and they must not embark scatheless and unmolested; many a man among them must
 take a dart with him to nurse at home, hit with spear or arrow as he is leaping
 on board his ship, that others may fear to bring war and weeping upon the
 Trojans. Moreover let the heralds tell it about the city that the growing
 youths and gray-bearded men are to camp upon its heaven-built walls. Let the
 women each of them light a great fire in her house, and let watch be safely
 kept lest the town be entered by surprise while the host is outside. See to it,
 brave Trojans, as I have said, and let this suffice for the moment; at daybreak
 I will instruct you further. I pray in hope to Zeus and to the gods that we may
 then drive those fate-sped hounds from our land, for ‘tis the fates that have
 borne them and their ships hither. This night, therefore, let us keep watch,
 but with early morning let us put on our armor and rouse fierce war at the
 ships of the Achaeans; I shall then know whether brave Diomedes the son of
 Tydeus will drive me back from the ships to the wall, or whether I shall myself
 slay him and carry off his bloodstained spoils. Tomorrow let him show his
 mettle [ aretê ], abide my spear if he dare. I ween
 that at break of day, he shall be among the first to fall and many another of
 his comrades round him. Would that I were as sure of being immortal and never
 growing old, and of being worshipped like Athena and Apollo, as I am that this
 day will bring evil to the Argives."

Thus spoke Hektor and the Trojans shouted
 approval. They took their sweating steeds from under the yoke, and made them
 fast each by his own chariot. They made haste to bring sheep and cattle from
 the city, they brought wine also and grain from their houses and gathered much
 wood. 

 
 They then offered unblemished hecatombs to the
 immortals, and the wind carried the sweet savor of sacrifice to heaven - but
 the blessed gods partook not thereof, for they bitterly hated Ilion with Priam and Priam's people. Thus high
 in hope they sat through the livelong night by the highways of war, and many a
 watchfire did they kindle. As when the stars shine clear, and the moon is
 bright- there is not a breath of air, not a peak nor glade nor jutting headland
 but it stands out in the ineffable radiance that breaks from the serene of
 heaven; the stars can all of them be told and the heart of the shepherd is glad
 - even thus shone the watchfires of the Trojans before Ilion midway between the ships and the river
 Xanthos . A thousand camp-fires
 gleamed upon the plain, and in the glow of each there sat fifty men, while the
 horses, champing oats and wheat beside their chariots, waited till dawn should
 come.

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

 
 The son of Atreus in dismay bade the heralds call
 the people to a council man by man, but not to cry the matter aloud; he made
 haste also himself to call them, and they sat sorry at heart in their assembly.
 Agamemnon shed tears as it were a running stream or cataract on the side of
 some sheer cliff; and thus, with many a heavy sigh he spoke to the Achaeans.
 "My friends," said he, "princes and councilors, Zeus has tied down with ruin
 [ atê ] more than any other Argive . The cruel god gave me his solemn
 promise that I should sack the city of Troy before returning, but he has played me false, and is now
 bidding me go back to Argos with bad
 kleos and with the loss of many people. Such is
 the will of Zeus, who has laid many a proud city in the dust as he will yet lay
 others, for his power is above all. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say and
 sail back to our own country, for we shall not take Troy ." 

 
 Thus he spoke, and the sons of the Achaeans for
 a long while sat sorrowful there, but they all held their peace, till at last
 Diomedes of the loud battle-cry made answer saying, 

 
 "Son of Atreus, I will chide your folly, as is
 my right [themis] in council. Be not then aggrieved that I should do so. In the
 first place you attacked me before all the Danaans and said that I was a coward
 and no warrior. The Argives young and old know that you did so. But the son of
 scheming Kronos endowed you by halves only. He gave you honor as the chief
 ruler over us, but valor, which is the highest both right and might he did not
 give you. Sir, think you that the sons of the Achaeans are indeed as unwarlike
 and cowardly as you say they are? If your own mind is set upon going home - go
 - the way is open to you; the many ships that followed you from Mycenae stand ranged upon the seashore;
 but the rest of us stay here till we have sacked Troy . Nay though these too should turn homeward with their
 ships, Sthenelos and myself will still fight on till we reach the goal of
 Ilion , for heaven was with us when
 we came." 

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

 
 "Now, however, let us obey the behests of night
 and get our suppers, but let the sentinels every man of them camp by the trench
 that is without the wall. I am giving these instructions to the young men; when
 they have been attended to, do you, son of Atreus, give your orders, for you
 are the most royal among us all. Prepare a feast for your councilors; it is
 right and reasonable that you should do so; 

 
 there is abundance of wine in your tents, which
 the ships of the Achaeans bring from Thrace daily over the sea [ pontos ].
 You have everything at your disposal wherewith to entertain guests, and you
 have many subjects. When many are got together, you can be guided by him whose
 counsel is wisest - and sorely do we need shrewd and prudent counsel, for the
 foe has lit his watchfires hard by our ships. Who can be other than dismayed?
 This night will either be the ruin of our host, or save it." 

 
 Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had
 said. The sentinels went out in their armor under command of Nestor's son
 Thrasymedes, a leader of the host, and of the bold warriors Askalaphos and
 Ialmenos: there were also Meriones, Aphareus and Deipyros, and the son of
 Kreion, noble Lykomedes. There were seven leaders of the sentinels, and with
 each there went a hundred youths armed with long spears: they took their places
 midway between the trench and the wall, and when they had done so they lit
 their fires and got every man his supper.

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

 
 "With yourself, most noble son of Atreus, king
 of men, Agamemnon, will I both begin my speech and end it, for you are king
 over many people. Zeus, moreover, has granted you to wield the scepter and to
 uphold what is right [ themis ] that you may take
 thought for your people under you; therefore it behooves you above all others
 both to speak and to give ear, and to out the counsel of another who shall have
 been minded to speak wisely. All turns on you and on your commands, therefore I
 will say what I think will be best. No man will be of a truer mind [ noos ] than that which has been mine from the hour when
 you, sir, angered Achilles by taking the girl Briseis from his tent against my
 judgment [ noos ]. 

 
 I urged you not to do so, but you yielded to
 your own pride, and dishonored a hero whom heaven itself had honored - for you
 still hold the prize that had been awarded to him. Now, however, let us think
 how we may appease him, both with presents and fair speeches that may
 conciliate him." 

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

 
 "All these things will I give him now down, and
 if hereafter the gods grant me to sack the city of Priam, let him come when we
 Achaeans are dividing the spoil, and load his ship with gold and bronze to his
 liking; furthermore let him take twenty Trojan women, the loveliest after Helen
 herself. Then, when we reach Achaean Argos, wealthiest of all lands, he shall
 be my son-in-law and I will show him like honor with my own dear son Orestes,
 who is being nurtured in all abundance. I have three daughters, Chrysothemis,
 Laodike, and Iphianassa, let him take the one of his choice, freely and without
 gifts of wooing, to the house of Peleus; 

 
 I will add such dower to boot as no man ever
 yet gave his daughter, and will give him seven well established cities,
 Kardamyle , Enope, and Hire,
 where there is grass; holy Pherai 
 and the fertile meadows of Anthea ;
 Aipeia also, and the vine-clad slopes of Pedasos, all near the sea, and on the
 borders of sandy Pylos . The men that
 dwell there are rich in cattle and sheep; they will honor him with gifts as
 though he were a god, and be obedient to his comfortable ordinances [ themistes ]. All this will I do if he will now forgo
 his anger. Let him then yield: it is only Hades who is utterly ruthless and
 unyielding - and hence he is of all gods the one most hateful to humankind.
 Moreover I am older and more royal than himself. Therefore, let him now obey
 me." 

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

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

They went their way by the shore of the
 sounding sea, and prayed earnestly to earth-encircling Poseidon that the high
 spirit of the son of Aiakos might incline favorably towards them. When they
 reached the ships and tents of the Myrmidons, 

 
 they found Achilles playing on a lyre, fair, of
 cunning workmanship, and its cross-bar was of silver. It was part of the spoils
 which he had taken when he sacked the city of Eetion, and he was now diverting
 himself with it and singing the glories [ klea ] of
 heroes. Patroklos alone sat facing him, in silence, waiting till he should
 cease singing. Odysseus and Ajax now came in - Odysseus leading the way -and
 stood before him. Achilles sprang from his seat with the lyre still in his
 hand, and Patroklos, when he saw the strangers, rose also. Achilles then
 greeted them saying, "All hail and welcome - you must come upon some great
 matter, you, who for all my anger are still dearest to me of the Achaeans." 

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

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

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

 
 "My good friend, when your father Peleus sent
 you from Phthia to Agamemnon, did
 he not charge you saying, ‘Son, Athena and Hera will make you strong if they
 choose, but check your high temper, for the better part is in goodwill. Eschew
 vain quarreling, and the Achaeans old and young will respect you more for doing
 so.’ These were his words, but you have forgotten them. Even now, however, be
 appeased, and put away your anger from you. Agamemnon will make you great
 amends if you will forgive him; listen, and I will tell you what he has said in
 his tent that he will give you. He will give you seven tripods that have never
 yet been on the fire, and ten talents of gold; twenty iron cauldrons, and
 twelve strong horses that have won races and carried off prizes. 

 
 Rich indeed both in land and gold is he who has
 as many prizes as these horses have won for Agamemnon. Moreover he will give
 you seven excellent workers, women of Lesbos , whom he chose for himself, when you took Lesbos - all
 of surpassing beauty. He will give you these, and with them her whom he
 erewhile took from you, the daughter of Briseus, and he will swear a great
 oath, he has never gone up into her couch nor lain down with her, though it is
 right [ themis ] for men and women to do so. All
 these things will he give you now down, and if hereafter the gods grant him to
 sack the city of Priam, you can come when we Achaeans are dividing the spoil,
 and load your ship with gold and bronze to your liking. You can take twenty
 Trojan women, the loveliest after Helen herself. Then, when we reach Achaean
 Argos, wealthiest of all lands, you shall be his son-in-law, and he will show
 you like honor with his own dear son Orestes, who is being nurtured in all
 abundance. Agamemnon has three daughters, Chrysothemis, Laodike, and
 Iphianassa; you may take the one of your choice, freely and without gifts of
 wooing, to the house of Peleus; he will add such dower to boot as no man ever
 yet gave his daughter, and will give you seven well-established cities,
 Kardamyle , Enope, and Hire
 where there is grass; holy Pheras and the fertile meadows of Anthea ; Aipeia also, and the vine-clad
 slopes of Pedasos, all near the sea, and on the borders of sandy Pylos . The men that dwell there are rich in
 cattle and sheep; they will honor you with gifts as though were a god, and be
 obedient to your comfortable ordinances [ themistes ]. All this will he do if you will now forgo your anger.
 Moreover, though you hate both him and his gifts with all your heart, yet pity
 the rest of the Achaeans who are being harassed in all their host; they will
 honor you as a god, and you will earn great glory at their hands. You might
 even kill Hektor; he will come within your reach, for he is infatuated, and
 declares that not a Danaan whom the ships have brought can hold his own against
 him." 

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

"Nevertheless he did distribute some prizes of
 honor among the chieftains and kings, and these have them still; from me alone
 of the Achaeans did he take the woman in whom I delighted - let him keep her
 and sleep with her. Why, pray, must the Argives needs fight the Trojans? What
 made the son of Atreus gather the host and bring them? Was it not for the sake
 of Helen? Are the sons of Atreus the only men in the world who love their
 wives? Any man of common right feeling will love and cherish her who is his
 own, as I this woman, with my whole heart, though she was but a fruitling of my
 spear. Agamemnon has taken her from me; he has played me false; I know him; let
 him tempt me no further, for he shall not move me. Let him look to you,
 Odysseus, and to the other princes to save his ships from burning. 

 
 He has done much without me already. He has
 built a wall; he has dug a trench deep and wide all round it, and he has
 planted it within with stakes; but even so he stays not the murderous might of
 Hektor. So long as I fought the Achaeans Hektor suffered not the battle range
 far from the city walls; he would come to the Scaean gates and to the oak tree,
 but no further. Once he stayed to meet me and hardly did he escape my onset:
 now, however, since I am in no mood to fight him, I will tomorrow offer
 sacrifice to Zeus and to all the gods; I will draw my ships into the water and
 then victual them duly; tomorrow morning, if you care to look, you will see my
 ships on the Hellespont , and my men
 rowing out to sea with might and main. If great Poseidon grants me a fair
 passage, in three days I shall be in Phthia . I have much there that I left behind me when I came
 here to my sorrow, and I shall bring back still further store of gold, of red
 copper, of fair women, and of iron, my share of the spoils that we have taken;
 but one prize, he who gave has insolently taken away. Tell him all as I now bid
 you, and tell him in public that the Achaeans may hate him and beware of him
 should he think that he can yet dupe others for his effrontery never fails him. 

 
 "As for me, hound that he is, he dares not look
 me in the face. I will take no counsel with him, and will undertake nothing in
 common with him. He has wronged me and deceived me enough, he shall not cozen
 me further; let him go his own way, for Zeus has robbed him of his reason.
 Hateful [ ekhthra ] to me are his presents, and for
 himself care not one straw. He may offer me ten or even twenty times what he
 has now done, nay- not though it be all that he has in the world, both now or
 ever shall have; he may promise me the wealth of Orkhomenos or of Egyptian Thebes, which is the richest city in
 the whole world, for it has a hundred gates through each of which two hundred
 men may drive at once with their chariots and horses; 

 
 he may offer me gifts as the sands of the sea
 or the dust of the plain in multitude, but even so he shall not move me till I
 have been revenged in full for the bitter wrong he has done me. I will not
 marry his daughter; she may be fair as Aphrodite, and skillful as Athena, but I
 will have none of her: let another take her, who may be a good match for her
 and who rules a larger kingdom. If the gods spare me to return home, Peleus
 will find me a wife; there are Achaean women in Hellas and Phthia ,
 daughters of kings that have cities under them; of these I can take whom I will
 and marry her. Many a time was I minded when at home in Phthia to woo and wed a woman who would
 make me a suitable wife, and to enjoy the riches of my old father Peleus. My
 life [ psukhê ] means more to me than all the wealth
 of Ilion while it was yet at peace
 before the Achaeans went there, or than all the treasure that lies on the stone
 floor of Apollo's temple beneath the cliffs of Pytho . Cattle and sheep are to be had for harrying, and a man
 buy both tripods and horses if he wants them, but when his life has once left
 him it can neither be bought nor harried back again. 

 
 "My mother Thetis tells me that there are two
 ways in which I may meet my end [ telos ]. If I stay
 here and fight, I shall lose my safe homecoming [ nostos ] but I will have a glory [ kleos ]
 that is unwilting: whereas if I go home my glory [ kleos ] will die, but it will be a long time before the outcome
 [ telos ] of death shall take me. To the rest of
 you, then, I say, ‘Go home, for you will not take Ilion .’ Zeus has held his hand over her to protect her, and her
 people have taken heart. Go, therefore, as in duty bound, and tell the princes
 of the Achaeans the message that I have sent them; tell them to find some other
 plan for the saving of their ships and people, for so long as my displeasure
 lasts the one that they have now hit upon may not be. As for Phoenix, let him
 sleep here that he may sail with me in the morning if he so will. But I will
 not take him by force." 

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

 
 but when the darkness of the tenth night came,
 I broke through the closed doors of my room, and climbed the wall of the outer
 court after passing quickly and unperceived through the men on guard and the
 women servants. I then fled through Hellas till I came to fertile Phthia , mother of sheep, and to King Peleus, who made me
 welcome and treated me as a father treats an only son who will be heir to all
 his wealth. He made me rich and set me over many people, establishing me on the
 borders of Phthia where I was chief
 ruler over the Dolopians. 

 
 "It was I, Achilles, who had the making of you;
 I loved you with all my heart: for you would eat neither at home nor when you
 had gone out elsewhere, till I had first set you upon my knees, cut up the
 dainty morsel that you were to eat, and held the wine-cup to your lips. Many a
 time have you slobbered your wine in baby helplessness over my shirt; I had
 infinite trouble with you, but I knew that heaven had granted me no offspring
 of my own, and I made a son of you, Achilles, that in my hour of need you might
 protect me. Now, therefore, I say battle with your pride and beat it; cherish
 not your anger for ever; the excellence [ aretê ] and
 might [ biê ] and honor [ timê ] of the gods are more than ours, but even gods may be appeased;
 and if a man has erred he prays the gods, and reconciles them to himself by his
 piteous cries and by frankincense, with drink-offerings and the savor of burnt
 sacrifice. For prayers are as daughters to great Zeus; halt, wrinkled, with
 eyes askance, they follow in the footsteps of Derangement [ Atê ], who, being fierce and fleet of foot, leaves them far behind
 him, and ever baneful to humankind outstrips them even to the ends of the
 world; but nevertheless the prayers come hobbling and healing after. If a man
 has pity upon these daughters of Zeus when they draw near him, they will bless
 him and hear him too when he is praying; but if he deny them and will not
 listen to them, they go to Zeus the son of Kronos and pray that he may
 presently fall into derangement [ atê ] - to his
 ruing bitterly hereafter.

Therefore, Achilles, give these daughters of
 Zeus due reverence [ timê ], just as every other
 person does whose mind [ noos ] they change. Were not
 the son of Atreus offering you gifts and promising others later - if he were
 still furious and implacable - I am not he that would bid you throw off your
 anger [ mênis ] and help the Achaeans, no matter how
 great their need; but he is giving much now, and more hereafter; he has sent
 his leading men to urge his suit, and has chosen [ krinô ] those who of all the Argives are most near-and-dear [ philoi ] to you; make not then their words and their
 coming to be of no effect. Your anger has been righteous so far. We have heard
 in song the glories [ klea ] of heroes of old time:
 how they quarreled when they were roused to fury, but still they could be won
 by gifts, and fair words could soothe them. 

 
 "I totally recall [ memnêmai ] this event of the past - it is not a new thing - and how
 it happened. You are all near and dear [ philoi ],
 and I will tell it in your presence. The Curetes and the Aetolians were
 fighting and killing one another round Calydon - the Aetolians defending the
 city and the Curetes trying to destroy it. For Artemis of the golden throne was
 angry and did them hurt because Oeneus had not offered her his harvest
 first-fruits. The other gods had all been feasted with hecatombs, but to the
 daughter of great Zeus alone he had made no sacrifice. He had forgotten her, or
 somehow or other it had escaped him, and this was a grievous derangement.
 Thereon the archer goddess in her displeasure sent a prodigious creature
 against him - a savage wild boar with great white tusks that did much harm to
 his orchard lands, uprooting apple-trees in full bloom and throwing them to the
 ground. But Meleager son of Oeneus got huntsmen and hounds from many cities and
 killed it - for it was so monstrous that not a few were needed, and many a man
 did it stretch upon his funeral pyre. On this the goddess set the Curetes and
 the Aetolians fighting furiously about the head and skin of the boar. "So long
 as Meleager was in the field things went badly with the Curetes, and for all
 their numbers they could not hold their ground under the city walls; but in the
 course of time the anger weighed heavy on the thinking [ noos ] of Meleager : this can sometimes happen even to a sensible
 man. 

 
 He was incensed with his mother Althaia, and
 therefore stayed at home with his wedded wife fair Cleopatra, who was daughter
 of Marpessa daughter of Euenos, and of Ides the man then living. He it was who
 took his bow and faced King Apollo himself for fair Marpessa's sake; her father
 and mother then named her Halcyone, because her mother had mourned with the
 strains of the halcyon, bird of much grief [ penthos ], when Phoebus Apollo had carried her off. Meleager, then,
 stayed at home with Cleopatra, nursing the anger which he felt by reason of his
 mother's curses. His mother, grieving for the death of her brother, prayed the
 gods, and beat the earth with her hands, calling upon Hades and on awful
 Persephone; she went down upon her knees and her bosom was wet with tears as
 she prayed that they would kill her son - and Erinys that walks in darkness and
 knows no ruth heard her from Erebos. 

 
 "Then was heard the din of battle about the
 gates of Calydon, and the dull thump of the battering against their walls.
 Thereon the elders of the Aetolians besought Meleager; they sent the chiefest
 of their priests, and begged him to come out and help them, promising him a
 great reward. They bade him choose fifty plough-gates, the most fertile in the
 plain of Calydon, the one-half vineyard and the other open plough-land. The old
 warrior Oeneus implored him, standing at the threshold of his room and beating
 the doors in supplication. His sisters and his mother herself besought him
 sore, but he the more refused them; those of his comrades who were nearest and
 dearest to him also prayed him, but they could not move him till the foe was
 battering at the very doors of his chamber, and the Curetes had scaled the
 walls and were setting fire to the city. Then at last his sorrowing wife
 detailed the horrors that befall those whose city is taken; she reminded him
 how the men are slain, and the city is given over to the flames, while the
 women and children are carried into captivity; 

 
 when he heard all this, his heart was touched,
 and he donned his armor to go forth. Thus of his own inward motion he saved the
 city of the Aetolians; but they now gave him nothing of those rich rewards that
 they had offered earlier, and though he saved the city he took nothing by it.
 Be not then, my son, thus minded; let not heaven lure you into any such course.
 When the ships are burning it will be a harder matter to save them. Take the
 gifts, and go, for the Achaeans will then honor you as a god [ daimôn ]; whereas if you fight without taking them, you
 may beat the battle back, but you will not be held in like honor [ timê ]." 

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

 
 On this he nodded quietly to Patroklos as a
 sign that he was to prepare a bed for Phoenix, and that the others should take
 their leave [ nostos ]. Ajax son of Telamon then
 said, "Odysseus, noble son of Laertes , let us be gone, for I see that our journey is vain. We
 must now take our answer, unwelcome though it be, to the Danaans who are
 waiting to receive it. Achilles is savage and remorseless; he is cruel, and
 cares nothing for the affection [ philotês ] that his
 comrades lavished upon him more than on all the others. He is implacable - and
 yet if a man's brother or son has been slain he will accept a fine by way of
 amends from him that killed him, and the wrong-doer having paid in full remains
 in peace in his own district [ dêmos ]; but as for
 you, Achilles, the gods have put a wicked unforgiving spirit [ thumos ] in your breast, and this, all about one single
 girl, 

 
 whereas we now offer you the seven best we
 have, and much else into the bargain. Be then of a more gracious mind, respect
 the hospitality of your own roof. We are with you as messengers from the host
 of the Danaans, and would fain he held nearest and dearest to yourself of all
 the Achaeans."

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

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

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

 
 Odysseus answered, "Most noble son of Atreus,
 king of men, Agamemnon, Achilles will not be calmed, but is more fiercely angry
 than ever, and spurns both you and your gifts. He bids you take counsel with
 the Achaeans to save the ships and host as you best may; 

 
 as for himself, he said that at daybreak he
 should draw his ships into the water. He said further that he should advise
 every one to sail home likewise, for that you will not reach the goal of
 Ilion . ‘Zeus,’ he said, ‘has laid
 his hand over the city to protect it, and the people have taken heart.’ This is
 what he said, and the others who were with me can tell you the same story -
 Ajax and the two heralds, men, both of them, who may be trusted. The old man
 Phoenix stayed where he was to sleep, for so Achilles would have it, that he
 might go home with him in the morning if he so would; but he will not take him
 by force." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Nestor replied, "Most noble son of Atreus, king
 of men, Agamemnon, Zeus will not do all for Hektor that Hektor thinks he will;
 he will have troubles yet in plenty if Achilles will lay aside his anger. I
 will go with you, and we will rouse others, either the son of Tydeus, or
 Odysseus, or fleet Ajax and the valiant son of Phyleus. Some one had also
 better go and call Ajax and King Idomeneus, for their ships are not near at
 hand but the farthest of all. I cannot however refrain from blaming Menelaos,
 much as I love him and respect him -

and I will say so plainly, even at the risk of
 offending you - for sleeping and leaving all this trouble to yourself. He ought
 to be going about imploring aid from all the princes of the Achaeans, for we
 are in extreme danger." 

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

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

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

 
 On this Odysseus went at once into his tent,
 put his shield about his shoulders and came out with them. First they went to
 Diomedes son of Tydeus, and found him outside his tent clad in his armor with
 his comrades sleeping round him and using their shields as pillows; as for
 their spears, 

 
 they stood upright on the spikes of their butts
 that were driven into the ground, and the burnished bronze flashed afar like
 the lightning of father Zeus. The hero was sleeping upon the skin of an ox,
 with a piece of fine carpet under his head; Nestor went up to him and stirred
 him with his heel to rouse him, upbraiding him and urging him to bestir
 himself. "Wake up," he exclaimed, "son of Tydeus. How can you sleep on in this
 way? Can you not see that the Trojans are encamped on the brow of the plain
 hard by our ships, with but a little space between us and them?" 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When the pair had armed, they set out, and left
 the other chieftains behind them. Pallas Athena sent them a heron by the
 wayside upon their right hands; they could not see it for the darkness, but
 they heard its cry. Odysseus was glad when he heard it and prayed to
 Athena: 

 
 "Hear me," he cried, "daughter of aegis-bearing
 Zeus, you who spy out all my ways and who are with me in all my hardships
 [ ponoi ]; befriend me in this mine hour, and
 grant that we may return to the ships covered with glory after having achieved
 some mighty exploit that shall bring sorrow to the Trojans." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 "I will tell you truly all," replied Dolon. "To
 the seaward lie the Carians, the Paeonian bowmen, the Leleges, the Cauconians,
 and the noble Pelasgi. The Lysians and proud Mysians,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 The son of Atreus shouted aloud and bade the
 Argives gird themselves for battle while he put on his armor. First he girded
 his goodly greaves about his legs, making them fast with ankle clasps of
 silver; and about his chest he set the breastplate which Cinyras had once given
 him as a guest-gift. There had been a report [ kleos ] abroad, reaching as far as Cyprus , that the Achaeans were about to sail for Troy , 

 
 and therefore he gave it to the king. It had ten
 courses of dark lapis lazuli, twelve of gold, and ten of tin. There were
 serpents of lapis lazuli that reared themselves up towards the neck, three upon
 either side, like the rainbows which the son of Kronos has set in heaven as a
 sign to mortal men. About his shoulders he threw his sword, studded with bosses
 of gold; and the scabbard was of silver with a chain of gold wherewith to hang
 it. He took moreover the richly-equipped shield that covered his body when he
 was in battle - fair to see, with ten circles of bronze running all round see,
 wit it. On the body of the shield there were twenty bosses of white tin, with
 another of dark lapis lazuli in the middle: this last was made to show a
 Gorgon's head, fierce and grim, with Rout and Panic on either side. The band
 for the arm to go through was of silver, on which there was a writhing snake of
 lapis lazuli with three heads that sprang from a single neck, and went in and
 out among one another. On his head Agamemnon set a helmet, with a peak before
 and behind, and four plumes of horse-hair that nodded menacingly above it; then
 he grasped two redoubtable bronze-shod spears, and the gleam of his armor shot
 from him as a flame into the firmament, while Hera and Athena thundered in
 honor of the king of rich Mycenae . 

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

 
 The Trojans, on the other side upon the rising
 slope of the plain, were gathered round great Hektor, noble Polydamas, Aeneas
 who was honored in the district [ dêmos ] of the
 Trojans like an immortal, and the three sons of Antenor - Polybos, Agenor, 

 
 and young Akamas, beauteous as a god. Hektor's
 round shield showed in the front rank, and as some baneful star that shines for
 a moment through a rent in the clouds and is again hidden beneath them; even so
 was Hektor now seen in the front ranks and now again in the hindermost, and his
 bronze armor gleamed like the lightning of aegis-bearing Zeus. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Zeus drew Hektor away from the darts and dust,
 with the carnage and din of battle; but the son of Atreus sped onwards, calling
 out lustily to the Danaans. They flew on by the tomb [ sêma ] of old Ilos, son of Dardanos , in the middle of the plain, and past the place of the
 wild fig-tree making always for the city - the son of Atreus still shouting,
 and with hands all bedrabbled in gore; but when they had reached the Scaean
 gates and the oak tree, there they halted and waited for the others to come
 up. 

 
 Meanwhile the Trojans kept on fleeing over the
 middle of the plain like a herd cows maddened with fright when a lion has
 attacked them in the dead of night - he springs on one of them, seizes her neck
 in the grip of his strong teeth and then laps up her blood and gorges himself
 upon her entrails - even so did King Agamemnon son of Atreus pursue the foe,
 ever slaughtering the hindmost as they fled pell-mell before him. Many a man
 was flung headlong from his chariot by the hand of the son of Atreus, for he
 wielded his spear with fury. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 What, then is the full tale of those whom
 Hektor son of Priam killed in the hour of triumph which Zeus then granted him?
 First Asaios, Autonoos, and Opites; Dolops son of Klytios, Opheltios and
 Agelaos; Aisymnos, Orus and Hipponoos steadfast in battle; these chieftains of
 the Achaeans did Hektor slay, and then he fell upon the rank and file. As when
 the west wind hustles the clouds of the white south and beats them down with
 the fierceness of its fury - the waves of the sea roll high, and the spray is
 flung aloft in the rage of the wandering wind - even so thick were the heads of
 them that fell by the hand of Hektor.

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

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

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

 
 They then took two princes with their chariot,
 the two sons of Merops of Perkote, who excelled in the arts of divination all
 others from the district [ dêmos ]. He had forbidden
 his sons to go to the war, but they would not obey him, for fate lured them to
 their fall. Diomedes son of Tydeus deprived them both of their life-breath
 [ psukhê ] and stripped them of their armor, while
 Odysseus killed Hippodamos and Hypeirochos. 

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

 
 He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it,
 nor did he miss his mark. He had aimed at Hektor's head near the top of his
 helmet, but bronze was turned by bronze, and Hektor was untouched, for the
 spear was stayed by the visored helm made with three plates of metal, which
 Phoebus Apollo had given him. Hektor sprang back with a great bound under cover
 of the ranks; he fell on his knees and propped himself 

 
 with his brawny hand leaning on the ground, for
 darkness had fallen on his eyes. The son of Tydeus having thrown his spear
 dashed in among the foremost fighters, to the place where he had seen it strike
 the ground; meanwhile Hektor recovered himself and springing back into his
 chariot mingled with the crowd, by which means he saved his life. But Diomedes
 made at him with his spear and said, "Dog, you have again got away though death
 was close on your heels. Phoebus Apollo, to whom I ween you pray ere you go
 into battle, has again saved you, nevertheless I will meet you and make and end
 of you hereafter, if there is any god who will stand by me too and be my
 helper. For the present I must pursue those I can lay hands on." 

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

Diomedes all undaunted answered, "Archer, you
 who without your bow are nothing, slanderer and seducer, if you were to be
 tried in single combat fighting in full armor, your bow and your arrows would
 serve you in little stead. Vain is your boast in that you have scratched the
 sole of my foot. I care no more than if a girl or some silly boy had hit me. A
 worthless coward can inflict but a light wound; when I wound a man though I but
 graze his skin it is another matter, for my weapon will lay him low. 

 
 His wife will tear her cheeks for grief and his
 children will be fatherless: there will he rot, reddening the earth with his
 blood, and vultures, not women, will gather round him." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Hektor did not yet know what Ajax was doing,
 for he was fighting on the extreme left of the battle by the banks of the river
 Skamandros, where the carnage was thickest and the war-cry loudest round Nestor
 and brave Idomeneus. Among these Hektor was making great slaughter with his
 spear and furious driving, and was destroying the ranks that were opposed to
 him; still the Achaeans would have given no ground, had not Alexander husband
 of lovely Helen stayed the prowess of Machaon shepherd of his people, by
 wounding him in the right shoulder with a triple-barbed arrow. The Achaeans
 were in great fear that as the fight had turned against them the Trojans might
 take him prisoner, 

 
 and Idomeneus said to Nestor, "Nestor son of
 Neleus, honor to the Achaean name, mount your chariot at once; take Machaon
 with you and drive your horses to the ships as fast as you can. A physician is
 worth more than several other men put together, for he can cut out arrows and
 spread healing herbs." 

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

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

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

 
 Then father Zeus from his high throne struck
 fear into the heart of Ajax, so that he stood there dazed and threw his shield
 behind him- looking fearfully at the throng of his foes as though he were some
 wild beast, and turning hither and thither but crouching slowly backwards. 

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

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

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

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

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

 
 When Nestor and Machaon had reached the tents
 of the son of Neleus, they dismounted, and an esquire [ therapôn ], Eurymedon, took the horses from the chariot. The pair
 then stood in the breeze by the seaside to dry the sweat from their shirts, and
 when they had so done they came inside and took their seats. Fair Hekamede,
 whom Nestor had had awarded to him from Tenedos when Achilles took it, mixed them a mess; she was
 daughter of wise Arsinoos, and the Achaeans had given her to Nestor because he
 excelled all of them in counsel. First she set for them a fair and well-made
 table that had feet of lapis lazuli; 

 
 on it there was a vessel of bronze and an onion
 to give relish to the drink, with honey and cakes of barley-meal. There was
 also a cup of rare workmanship which the old man had brought with him from
 home, studded with bosses of gold; it had four handles, on each of which there
 were two golden doves feeding, and it had two feet to stand on. Any one else
 would hardly have been able to lift it from the table when it was full, but
 Nestor could do so quite easily. In this the woman, as fair as a goddess, mixed
 them a mess with Pramnian wine; she grated goat's milk cheese into it with a
 bronze grater, threw in a handful of white barley-meal, and having thus
 prepared the mess she bade them drink it. When they had done so and had thus
 quenched their thirst, they fell talking with one another, and at this moment
 Patroklos appeared at the door. 

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

 
 And Nestor answered, "Why should Achilles care
 to know how many of the Achaeans may be wounded? He recks not of the grief
 [ penthos ] that reigns in our host; our most
 valiant chieftains lie disabled, brave Diomedes son of Tydeus is wounded; so
 are Odysseus and Agamemnon; Eurypylos has been hit with an arrow in the thigh,
 and I have just been bringing this man from the field - he too wounded - with
 an arrow; nevertheless Achilles, so valiant though he be, cares not and knows
 no ruth. Will he wait till the ships, do what we may, are in a blaze, and we
 perish one upon the other?

As for me, I have no strength nor stay in me
 any longer; would that I were still young and strong as in the days when there
 was a fight between us and the men of Elis about some cattle-raiding. I then killed Itymoneus the
 valiant son of Hypeirochos a dweller in Elis , as I was driving in the spoil; he was hit by a dart
 thrown my hand while fighting in the front rank in defense of his cows, so he
 fell and the country people around him were in great fear. We drove off a vast
 quantity of booty from the plain, fifty herds of cattle and as many flocks of
 sheep; fifty droves also of pigs, and as many wide-spreading flocks of goats.
 Of horses moreover we seized a hundred and fifty, all of them mares, and many
 had foals running with them. All these did we drive by night to Pylos the city of Neleus, taking them within
 the city; and the heart of Neleus was glad in that I had taken so much, though
 it was the first time I had ever been in the field. At daybreak the heralds
 went round crying that all in Elis to
 whom there was a debt owing should come; and the leading Pylians assembled to
 divide the spoils. There were many to whom the Epeans owed chattels, for we men
 of Pylos were few and had been
 oppressed with wrong; in former years Herakles had come, and had laid his hand
 heavy upon us, so that all our best men had perished. Neleus had had twelve
 sons, but I alone was left; the others had all been killed. The Epeans
 presuming upon all this had looked down upon us and had done us much evil. My
 father chose [ krinô ] a herd of cattle and a great
 flock of sheep - three hundred in all - and he took their shepherds with him,
 for there was a great debt due to him in Elis , to wit four horses, winners of prizes. They and their
 chariots with them had gone to the games and were to run for a tripod, but King
 Augeas took them, and sent back their driver grieving for the loss of his
 horses. Neleus was angered by what he had both said and done, and took great
 value in return, but he gave the rest to the people of the district [ dêmos ] to divide among themselves, so that no man
 might have less than his full share. 

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

 
 "The Epeans were beleaguering the city and were
 determined to take it, but ere this might be there was a desperate fight in
 store for them. When the sun's rays began to fall upon the earth we joined
 battle, praying to Zeus and to Athena, and when the fight had begun, I was the
 first to kill my man and take his horses - to wit the warrior Moulios. He was
 son-in-law to Augeas, having married his eldest daughter, golden-haired
 Agamede, who knew the virtues of every herb which grows upon the face of the
 earth. I speared him as he was coming towards me, 

 
 and when he fell headlong in the dust, I sprang
 upon his chariot and took my place in the front ranks. The Epeans fled in all
 directions when they saw the leader of their horsemen (the best man they had)
 laid low, and I swept down on them like a whirlwind, taking fifty chariots -
 and in each of them two men bit the dust, slain by my spear. I should have even
 killed the two Moliones sons of Aktor, unless their real father, Poseidon lord
 of the earthquake, had hidden them in a thick mist and borne them out of the
 fight. Thereon Zeus granted the Pylians a great victory, for we chased them far
 over the plain, killing the men and bringing in their armor, till we had
 brought our horses to Bouprasion rich in wheat and to the Olenian rock, with
 the hill that is called Alision, at which point Athena turned the people back.
 There I slew the last man and left him; then the Achaeans drove their horses
 back from Bouprasion to Pylos and
 gave thanks to Zeus among the gods, and among mortal men to Nestor. 

 
 "Such was I among my peers, as surely as ever
 was, but Achilles is for keeping all his valor [ aretê ] for himself; bitterly will he rue it hereafter when the host
 is being cut to pieces. My good friend, did not Menoitios charge you thus, on
 the day when he sent you from Phthia to Agamemnon? Odysseus and I were in the house, inside,
 and heard all that he said to you; for we came to the fair house of Peleus
 while beating up recruits throughout all Achaea , and when we got there we found Menoitios and yourself,
 and Achilles with you. The old horseman Peleus was in the outer court, roasting
 the fat thigh-bones of a heifer to Zeus the lord of thunder; and he held a gold
 chalice in his hand from which he poured drink-offerings of wine over the
 burning sacrifice. You two were busy cutting up the heifer, and at that moment
 we stood at the gates, whereon Achilles sprang to his feet, led us by the hand
 into the house, placed us at table, and set before us such hospitable
 entertainment as is right [ themis ] for guests to
 expect. 

 
 When we had satisfied ourselves with meat and
 drink, I said my say and urged both of you to join us. You were ready enough to
 do so, and the two old men charged you much and straitly. Old Peleus bade his
 son Achilles fight ever among the foremost and outvie his peers, while
 Menoitios the son of Aktor spoke thus to you: ‘My son,’ said he, ‘Achilles is
 of nobler birth than you are, but you are older than he, though he is far the
 better man of the two. Counsel him wisely, guide him in the right way, and he
 will follow you to his own profit.’ Thus did your father charge you, but you
 have forgotten; nevertheless, even now, say all this to Achilles if he will
 listen to you. Who knows but with the help of a daimôn you may talk him over, for it is good to take a friend's
 advice. If, however, he is fearful about some oracle, or if his mother has told
 him something from Zeus, then let him send you, and let the rest of the
 Myrmidons follow with you, if perchance you may bring light and saving to the
 Danaans. And let him send you into battle clad in his own armor, that the
 Trojans may mistake you for him and leave off fighting; the sons of the
 Achaeans may thus have time to get their breath, for they are hard pressed and
 there is little breathing time in battle. You, who are fresh, might easily
 drive a tired enemy back to his walls and away from the tents and ships." 

 
 With these words he moved the heart of
 Patroklos, who set off running by the line of the ships to Achilles, descendant
 of Aiakos. When he had got as far as the ships of Odysseus, where was their
 place of assembly and rendering of judgment [ themis ], with their altars dedicated to the gods, Eurypylos son of
 Euaemon met him, wounded in the thigh with an arrow, and limping out of the
 fight. Sweat rained from his head and shoulders, and black blood welled from
 his cruel wound, but his mind [ noos ] did not
 wander. The son of Menoitios when he saw him had compassion upon him and spoke
 piteously saying, 

 
 "O unhappy princes and counselors of the
 Danaans, are you then doomed to feed the hounds of Troy with your fat, far from your friends and
 your native land? say, noble Eurypylos, will the Achaeans be able to hold great
 Hektor in check, or will they fall now before his spear?"

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

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

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

So the son of Menoitios was attending to the hurt
 of Eurypylos within the tent, but the Argives and Trojans still fought
 desperately, nor were the trench and the high wall above it, to keep the
 Trojans in check longer. They had built it to protect their ships, and had dug
 the trench all round it that it might safeguard both the ships and the rich
 spoils which they had taken, but they had not offered hecatombs to the gods. It
 had been built without the consent of the immortals, and therefore it did not
 last. So long as Hektor lived and Achilles continued his anger [ mênis ], and so long as the city of Priam remained
 untaken, the great wall of the Achaeans stood firm; but when the bravest of the
 Trojans were no more, and many also of the Argives, though some were yet left
 alive when, moreover, the city was sacked in the tenth year, and the Argives
 had gone back with their ships to their own country - then Poseidon and Apollo
 took counsel to destroy the wall, and they turned on to it the streams of all
 the rivers from Mount Ida into the
 sea, Rhesus, Heptaporos, Caresus, Rhodios, Grenicus, Aesopos, and goodly
 Skamandros, with Simoeis, where many a shield and helm had fallen, and many a
 hero of the race of demigods had bitten the dust. Phoebus Apollo turned the
 mouths of all these rivers together and made them flow for nine days against
 the wall, while Zeus rained the whole time that he might wash it sooner into
 the sea. Poseidon himself, trident in hand, surveyed the work and threw into
 the sea all the foundations of beams and stones which the Achaeans had laid
 with so much toil; 

 
 he made all level by the mighty stream of the
 Hellespont , and then when he had
 swept the wall away he spread a great beach of sand over the place where it had
 been. This done he turned the rivers back into their old courses. 

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

 
 But the horses dared not do so, and stood
 neighing upon its brink, for the width frightened them. They could neither jump
 it nor cross it, for it had overhanging banks all round upon either side, above
 which there were the sharp stakes that the sons of the Achaeans had planted so
 close and strong as a defense against all who would assail it; a horse,
 therefore, could not get into it and draw his chariot after him, but those who
 were on foot kept trying their very utmost. Then Polydamas went up to Hektor
 and said, "Hektor, and you other leaders of the Trojans and allies, it is
 madness for us to try and drive our horses across the trench; it will be very
 hard to cross, for it is full of sharp stakes, and beyond these there is the
 wall. Our horses therefore cannot get down into it, and would be of no use if
 they did; moreover it is a narrow place and we should come to harm. If, indeed,
 great Zeus is minded to help the Trojans, and in his anger will utterly destroy
 the Achaeans, 

 
 I would myself gladly see them perish now and
 here far from Argos ; but if they
 should rally and we are driven back from the ships pell-mell into the trench
 there will be not so much as a man get back to the city to tell the tale. Now,
 therefore, let us all do as I say; let our squires [ therapontes ] hold our horses by the trench, but let us follow Hektor
 in a body on foot, clad in full armor, and if the day of their doom is at hand
 the Achaeans will not be able to withstand us." 

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

 
 The rest of the Trojans and their allies now
 followed the counsel of Polydamas but Asios son of Hyrtakos would not leave his
 horses and his esquire [ therapôn ] behind him; in
 his foolhardiness he took them on with him towards the ships, nor did he fail
 to come by his end in consequence. Nevermore was he to return to wind-beaten
 Ilion , exulting in his chariot and
 his horses; ere he could do so, death of ill-omened name had overshadowed him
 and he had fallen by the spear of Idomeneus the noble son of Deukalion. He had
 driven towards the left wing of the ships, by which way the Achaeans used to
 return with their chariots and horses from the plain. Hither he drove and found
 the gates with their doors opened wide, and the great bar down - for the
 gatemen kept them open so as to let those of their comrades enter who might be
 fleeing towards the ships. Hither of set purpose did he direct his horses, and
 his men followed him with a loud cry, for they felt sure that the Achaeans
 would not hold out longer, and that they should now fall upon the ships. Little
 did they know that at the gates they should find two of the bravest chieftains,
 proud sons of the fighting Lapiths - the one, Polypoites, mighty son of
 Peirithoos, and the other Leonteus, peer of murderous Ares. These stood before
 the gates like two high oak trees upon the mountains, that tower from their
 wide-spreading roots, and year after year battle with wind and rain - even so
 did these two men await the onset of great Asios confidently and without
 flinching. The Trojans led by him and by Iamenos, Orestes, Adamas the son of
 Asios, Thoon and Oinomaos, raised a loud cry of battle and made straight for
 the wall, holding their shields of dry ox-hide above their heads; for a while
 the two defenders remained inside and cheered the Achaeans on to stand firm in
 the defense of their ships; when, however, they saw that the Trojans were
 attacking the wall, while the Danaans were crying out for help and being
 routed, they rushed outside and fought in front of the gates like two wild
 boars upon the mountains that abide the attack of men and dogs, and charging on
 either side break down the wood all round them tearing it up by the roots, 

 
 and one can hear the clattering of their tusks,
 till some one hits them and makes an end of them - even so did the gleaming
 bronze rattle about their breasts, as the weapons fell upon them; for they
 fought with great fury, trusting to their own prowess and to those who were on
 the wall above them. These threw great stones at their assailants in defense of
 themselves their tents and their ships. The stones fell thick as the flakes of
 snow which some fierce blast drives from the dark clouds and showers down in
 sheets upon the earth - even so fell the weapons from the hands alike of
 Trojans and Achaeans. Helmet and shield rang out as the great stones rained
 upon them, and Asios the son of Hyrtakos in his dismay cried aloud and smote
 his two thighs. "Father Zeus," he cried, "of a truth you too are altogether
 given to lying. I made sure the Argive 
 heroes could not withstand us, whereas like slim-waisted wasps, or bees that
 have their nests in the rocks by the wayside - they leave not the holes wherein
 they have built undefended, but fight for their little ones against all who
 would take them - even so these men, though they be but two, will not be driven
 from the gates, but stand firm either to slay or be slain."

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

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

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

 
 even though by a mighty effort we break through
 the gates and wall of the Achaeans, and they give way before us, still we shall
 not return in good order [ kosmos ] by the way we
 came, but shall leave many a man behind us whom the Achaeans will do to death
 in defense of their ships. Thus would any seer who was expert in these matters,
 and was trusted by the people, read the portent." 

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

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

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

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

Still the Trojans and brave Hektor would not
 yet have broken down the gates and the great bar, had not Zeus turned his son
 Sarpedon against the Argives as a lion against a herd of horned cattle. Before
 him he held his shield of hammered bronze, that the smith had beaten so fair
 and round, and had lined with ox hides which he had made fast with rivets of
 gold all round the shield; 

 
 this he held in front of him, and brandishing
 his two spears came on like some lion of the wilderness, who has been long
 famished for want of meat and will dare break even into a well-fenced homestead
 to try and get at the sheep. He may find the shepherds keeping watch over their
 flocks with dogs and spears, but he is in no mind to be driven from the fold
 till he has had a try for it; he will either spring on a sheep and carry it
 off, or be hit by a spear from strong hand - even so was Sarpedon fain to
 attack the wall and break down its battlements. Then he said to Glaukos son of
 Hippolokhos, "Glaukos, why in Lycia do
 we receive especial honor as regards our place at table? Why are the choicest
 portions served us and our cups kept brimming, and why do men look up to us as
 though we were gods? Moreover we hold a large estate by the banks of the river
 Xanthos , fair with orchard
 lawns and wheat-growing land; it becomes us, therefore, to take our stand at
 the head of all the Lycians and bear the brunt of the fight, that one may say
 to another, Our princes in Lycia eat
 the fat of the land and drink best of wine, but they are fine men; they fight
 well and are ever at the front in battle.’ My good friend, if, when we were
 once out of this fight, we could escape old age and death thenceforward and for
 ever, I should neither press forward myself nor bid you do so, but death in ten
 thousand shapes hangs ever over our heads, and no man can elude him; therefore
 let us go forward and either win glory for ourselves, or yield it to another." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Thus did he hound them on, and in one body they
 rushed straight at the wall as he had bidden them, and scaled the battlements
 with sharp spears in their hands. Hektor laid hold of a stone that lay just
 outside the gates and was thick at one end but pointed at the other; two of the
 best men in a district [ dêmos ], as men now are,
 could hardly raise it from the ground and put it on to a wagon, but Hektor
 lifted it quite easily by himself, for the son of scheming Kronos made it light
 for him. As a shepherd picks up a ram's fleece with one hand and finds it no
 burden, so easily did Hektor lift the great stone and drive it right at the
 doors that closed the gates so strong and so firmly set. 

 
 These doors were double and high, and were kept
 closed by two cross-bars to which there was but one key. When he had got close
 up to them, Hektor strode towards them that his blow might gain in force and
 struck them in the middle, leaning his whole weight against them. He broke both
 hinges, and the stone fell inside by reason of its great weight. The portals
 re-echoed with the sound, the bars held no longer, and the doors flew open, one
 one way, and the other the other, through the force of the blow. Then brave
 Hektor leaped inside with a face as dark as that of fleeing night. The gleaming
 bronze flashed fiercely about his body and he had tow spears in his hand. None
 but a god could have withstood him as he flung himself into the gateway, and
 his eyes glared like fire. Then he turned round towards the Trojans and called
 on them to scale the wall, and they did as he bade them - some of them at once
 climbing over the wall, while others passed through the gates. The Danaans then
 fled panic-stricken towards their ships, and all was uproar and confusion.

Now when Zeus had thus brought Hektor and the
 Trojans to the ships, he left them to their never-ending toil [ ponos ], and turned his keen eyes away, looking
 elsewhere towards the horse-breeders of Thrace , the Mysians, fighters at close quarters, the noble
 Hippemolgoi, who live on milk, and the Abians, the most just [ dikaioi ] of humankind. He no longer turned so much as
 a glance towards Troy , for he did not
 think that any of the immortals would go and help either Trojans or Danaans. 

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

 
 Presently he came down from his post on the
 mountain top, and as he strode swiftly onwards the high hills and the forest
 quaked beneath the tread of his immortal feet. Three strides he took, and with
 the fourth he reached his goal - Aigai , where is his glittering golden palace, imperishable, in the
 depths of the sea. When he got there, he yoked his fleet brazen-footed steeds
 with their manes of gold all flying in the wind; 

 
 he clothed himself in raiment of gold, grasped
 his gold whip, and took his stand upon his chariot. As he went his way over the
 waves the sea-monsters left their lairs, for they knew their lord, and came
 gamboling round him from every quarter of the deep, while the sea in her
 gladness opened a path before his chariot. So lightly did the horses fly that
 the bronze axle of the car was not even wet beneath it; and thus his bounding
 steeds took him to the ships of the Achaeans. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 First he went up to Teucer and Leitos, the hero
 Peneleos, and Thoas and Deipyros; Meriones also and Antilokhos, valiant
 warriors; all did he exhort. "Shame [ aidôs ] on you
 young Argives," he cried, "it was on your prowess I relied for the saving of
 our ships; 

 
 if you fight not with might and main, this very
 day will see us overcome by the Trojans. Of a truth my eyes behold a great and
 terrible portent which I had never thought to see - the Trojans at our ships -
 they, who were heretofore like panic-stricken hinds, the prey of jackals and
 wolves in a forest, with no strength but in flight for they cannot defend
 themselves. Hitherto the Trojans dared not for one moment face the attack of
 the Achaeans, but now they have sallied far from their city and are fighting at
 our very ships through the cowardice of our leader and the disaffection of the
 people themselves, who in their discontent care not to fight in defense of the
 ships but are being slaughtered near them. True, King Agamemnon son of Atreus
 is responsible [ aitios ] for our disaster by having
 insulted the son of Peleus, still this is no reason why we should leave off
 fighting. Let us be quick to heal, for the hearts of the brave heal quickly.
 You do ill to be thus remiss, you, who are the finest warriors in our whole
 army. I blame no man for keeping out of battle if he is a weakling, but I am
 indignant with such men as you are. My good friends, matters will soon become
 even worse through this slackness; think, each one of you, of his own respect
 [ aidôs ] and sense of nemesis , for the hazard of the fight is extreme. Great Hektor is now
 fighting at our ships; he has broken through the gates and the strong bolt that
 held them." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Therewith the god went back into the thick of
 the fight [ ponos ], and Idomeneus when he had
 reached his tent donned his armor, grasped his two spears, and sallied forth.
 As the lightning which the son of Kronos brandishes from bright Olympus when he would show a sign [ sêma ] to mortals, and its gleam flashes far and wide
 - 

 
 even so did his armor gleam about him as he
 ran. Meriones his sturdy squire [ therapôn ] met him
 while he was still near his tent (for he was going to fetch his spear) and
 Idomeneus said 

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

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

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

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

 
 Idomeneus answered, "I know you for a man of
 excellence [ aretê ]: you need not tell me. If the
 best men at the ships were being chosen to go on an ambush- and there is
 nothing like this for showing what a man is made of; it comes out then who is
 cowardly and who has a sense of striving [ aretê ];
 the coward will change color at every touch and turn; he is full of fears, and
 keeps shifting his weight first on one knee and then on the other; his heart
 beats fast as he thinks of death, and one can hear the chattering of his teeth;
 whereas the brave man will not change color nor be on finding himself in
 ambush, but is all the time longing to go into action - 

 
 if the best men were being chosen for such a
 service, no one could make light of your courage nor feats of arms. If you were
 struck by a dart or smitten in close combat, it would not be from behind, in
 your neck nor back, but the weapon would hit you in the chest or belly as you
 were pressing forward to a place in the front ranks. But let us no longer stay
 here talking like children, lest we be ill spoken of; go, fetch your spear from
 the tent at once." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Thus did he vaunt, and the Argives were stung
 with grief [ akhos ] over what he said. Noble
 Antilokhos was more angry than any one, but grief did not make him forget his
 friend and comrade. He ran up to him, bestrode him, and covered him with his
 shield; then two of his staunch comrades, Mekisteus son of Echios, and Alastor
 stooped down, and bore him away groaning heavily to the ships. But Idomeneus
 ceased not his fury. He kept on striving continually either to enshroud some
 Trojan in the darkness of death, or himself to fall while warding off the evil
 day from the Achaeans. Then fell Alkathoos son of noble Aisyetes: he was
 son-in-law to Anchises, having married his eldest daughter Hippodameia who was
 the darling of her father and mother, and excelled all her generation in
 beauty, accomplishments, and understanding, wherefore the bravest man in all
 Troy had taken her to wife - him
 did Poseidon lay low by the hand of Idomeneus, blinding his bright eyes and
 binding his strong limbs in fetters so that he could neither go back nor to one
 side, but stood stock still like pillar or lofty tree when Idomeneus struck him
 with a spear in the middle of his chest. 

 
 The coat of mail that had hitherto protected
 his body was now broken, and rang harshly as the spear tore through it. He fell
 heavily to the ground, and the spear stuck in his heart, which still beat, and
 made the butt-end of the spear quiver till dread Ares put an end to his life.
 Idomeneus vaunted over him and cried with a loud voice saying, "Deiphobos,
 since you are in a mood to vaunt, shall we cry quits now that we have killed
 three men to your one? Nay, sir, stand in fight with me yourself, that you may
 learn what manner of Zeus-begotten man am I that have come hither. Zeus first
 begot Minos chief ruler in Crete , and
 Minos in his turn begot a son, noble Deukalion; Deukalion begot me to be a
 ruler over many men in Crete , and my
 ships have now brought me hither, to be the bane of yourself, your father, and
 the Trojans." 

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

 
 With these words he moved the heart of Aeneas,
 and he went in pursuit of Idomeneus, big with great deeds of valor; but
 Idomeneus was not to be thus daunted as though he were a mere child; he held
 his ground as a wild boar at bay upon the mountains, who abides the coming of a
 great crowd of men in some lonely place - the bristles stand upright on his
 back, his eyes flash fire, and he whets his tusks in his eagerness to defend
 himself against hounds and men - 

 
 even so did famed Idomeneus hold his ground and
 budge not at the coming of Aeneas. He cried aloud to his comrades looking
 towards Askalaphos, Aphareus, Deipyros, Meriones, and Antilokhos, all of them
 brave warriors- "Hither my friends," he cried, "and leave me not single-handed
 - I go in great fear by fleet Aeneas, who is coming against me, and is a
 redoubtable dispenser of death battle. Moreover he is in the flower of youth
 when a man's strength is greatest; if I was of the same age as he is and in my
 present mind, either he or I should soon bear away the prize of victory

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

 
 Then they fought furiously in close combat
 about the body of Alkathoos, wielding their long spears; and the bronze armor
 about their bodies rang fearfully as they took aim at one another in the press
 of the fight, while the two heroes Aeneas and Idomeneus, peers of Ares, outdid
 every one in their desire to hack at each other with sword and spear. Aeneas
 took aim first, but Idomeneus was on the lookout and avoided the spear, so that
 it sped from Aeneas' strong hand in vain, and fell quivering in the ground.
 Idomeneus meanwhile smote Oinomaos in the middle of his belly, and broke the
 plate of his corselet, whereon his bowels came gushing out and he clutched the
 earth in the palms of his hands as he fell sprawling in the dust. Idomeneus
 drew his spear out of the body, but could not strip him of the rest of his
 armor for the rain of darts that were showered upon him: moreover his strength
 was now beginning to fail him so that he could no longer charge, 

 
 and could neither spring forward to recover his
 own weapon nor swerve aside to avoid one that was aimed at him; therefore,
 though he still defended himself in hand-to-hand fight, his heavy feet could
 not bear him swiftly out of the battle. Deiphobos aimed a spear at him as he
 was retreating slowly from the field, for his bitterness against him was as
 fierce as ever, but again he missed him, and hit Askalaphos, the son of Ares;
 the spear went through his shoulder, and he clutched the earth in the palms of
 his hands as he fell sprawling in the dust. 

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

 
 The others still fought on, and the battle-cry
 rose to heaven without ceasing. Aeneas sprang on Aphareus son of Kaletor, and
 struck him with a spear in his throat which was turned towards him; his head
 fell on one side, his helmet and shield came down along with him, and death,
 life's foe, was shed around him. Antilokhos spied his chance, flew forward
 towards Thoon, and wounded him as he was turning round. He laid open the vein
 that runs all the way up the back to the neck; he cut this vein clean away
 throughout its whole course, and Thoon fell in the dust face upwards,
 stretching out his hands imploringly towards his comrades. 

 
 Antilokhos sprang upon him and stripped the
 armor from his shoulders, glaring round him fearfully as he did so. The Trojans
 came about him on every side and struck his broad and gleaming shield, but
 could not wound his body, for Poseidon stood guard over the son of Nestor,
 though the darts fell thickly round him. He was never clear of the foe, but was
 always in the thick of the fight; his spear was never idle; he poised and aimed
 it in every direction, so eager was he to hit some one from a distance or to
 fight him hand to hand. 

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

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

On this Menelaos was stung by grief [ akhos ], and made menacingly towards Helenos,
 brandishing his spear; but Helenos drew his bow, and the two attacked one
 another at one and the same moment, the one with his spear, and the other with
 his bow and arrow. 

 
 The son of Priam hit the breastplate of
 Menelaos' corselet, but the arrow glanced from off it. As black beans or pulse
 come pattering down on to a threshing-floor from the broad winnowing-shovel,
 blown by shrill winds and shaken by the shovel - even so did the arrow glance
 off and recoil from the shield of Menelaos, who in his turn wounded the hand
 with which Helenos carried his bow; the spear went right through his hand and
 stuck in the bow itself, so that to his life he retreated under cover of his
 men, with his hand dragging by his side - for the spear weighed it down till
 Agenor drew it out and bound the hand carefully up in a woolen sling which his
 esquire [ therapôn ] had with him. 

 
 Peisandros then made straight at Menelaos - his
 evil destiny luring him on to his doom [ telos ], for
 he was to fall in fight with you, O Menelaos. When the two were hard by one
 another the spear of the son of Atreus turned aside and he missed his aim;
 Peisandros then struck the shield of brave Menelaos but could not pierce it,
 for the shield stayed the spear and broke the shaft; nevertheless he was glad
 and made sure of victory; forthwith, however, the son of Atreus drew his sword
 and sprang upon him. Peisandros then seized the bronze battle-axe, with its
 long and polished handle of olive wood that hung by his side under his shield,
 and the two made at one another. Peisandros struck the peak of Menelaos'
 crested helmet just under the crest itself, and Menelaos hit Peisandros as he
 was coming towards him, on the forehead, just at the rise of his nose; the
 bones cracked and his two gore-bedrabbled eyes fell by his feet in the dust. He
 fell backwards to the ground, and Menelaos set his heel upon him, stripped him
 of his armor, and vaunted over him saying, "Even thus shall you Trojans leave
 the ships of the Achaeans, proud and insatiate of battle though you be: nor
 shall you lack any of the disgrace and shame which you have heaped upon myself.
 Cowardly she-wolves that you are, you feared not the anger [ mênis ] of dread Zeus, avenger of violated
 hospitality, 

 
 who will one day destroy your city; you stole
 my wedded wife and wickedly carried off much treasure when you were her guest,
 and now you would fling fire upon our ships, and kill our heroes. A day will
 come when, rage as you may, you shall be stayed. O father Zeus, you, who they
 say art above all both gods and men in wisdom, and from whom all things that
 befall us do proceed, how can you thus favor the Trojans - men so proud and
 overweening, that they are never tired of fighting? All things pall after a
 while - sleep, love, sweet song, and stately dance - still these are things of
 which a man would surely have his fill rather than of battle, whereas it is of
 battle that the Trojans are insatiate." 

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

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

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

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

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

 
 The Trojans would now have been driven in sorry
 plight from the ships and tents back to windy Ilion , had not Polydamas presently said to Hektor, "Hektor,
 there is no persuading you to take advice. Because heaven has so richly endowed
 you with the arts of war, you think that you must therefore excel others in
 counsel; but you cannot thus claim preeminence in all things. Heaven has made
 one man an excellent warrior; of another it has made a dancer or a singer and
 player on the lyre; while yet in another Zeus has implanted a wise
 understanding [ noos ] of which men reap fruit to the
 saving of many, and he himself knows more about it than any one; therefore I
 will say what I think will be best. The fight has hemmed you in as with a
 circle of fire, 

 
 and even now that the Trojans are within the
 wall some of them stand aloof in full armor, while others are fighting
 scattered and outnumbered near the ships. Draw back, therefore, and call your
 chieftains round you, that we may advise together whether to fall now upon the
 ships in the hope that heaven may grant us victory, or to beat a retreat while
 we can yet safely do so. I greatly fear that the Achaeans will pay us their
 debt of yesterday in full, for there is one abiding at their ships who is never
 weary of battle, and who will not hold aloof much longer." 

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

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

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

 
 With these words he satisfied his brother, and
 the two went towards the part of the battle where the fight was thickest, about
 Kebriones, brave Polydamas, Phalces, Orthaios, godlike Polyphetes, Palmys,
 Askanios, and Morys son of Hippotion, who had come from fertile Askania on the
 preceding day to relieve other troops. Then Zeus urged them on to fight. They
 flew forth like the blasts of some fierce wind that strike earth in the van of
 a thunderstorm - they buffet the salt sea into an uproar; many and mighty are
 the great waves that come crashing in one after the other upon the shore with
 their arching heads all crested with foam - even so did rank behind rank of
 Trojans arrayed in gleaming armor follow their leaders onward. The way was led
 by Hektor son of Priam, peer of murderous Ares, with his round shield before
 him - his shield of ox-hides covered with plates of bronze - and his gleaming
 helmet upon his temples. He kept stepping forward under cover of his shield in
 every direction, making trial of the ranks to see if they would give way be
 him, but he could not daunt the courage of the Achaeans. Ajax was the first to
 stride out and challenge him. "Sir," he cried, "draw near; why do you think
 thus vainly to dismay the Argives? We Achaeans are excellent warriors, but the
 scourge of Zeus has fallen heavily upon us. Your heart, indeed, is set on
 destroying our ships, 

 
 but we too have bands that can keep you at bay,
 and your own fair town shall be sooner taken and sacked by ourselves. The time
 is near when you shall pray Zeus and all the gods in your flight, that your
 steeds may be swifter than hawks as they raise the dust on the plain and bear
 you back to your city."

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 And King Agamemnon answered, "Nestor, if the
 Trojans are indeed fighting at the rear of our ships, and neither the wall nor
 the trench has served us - over which the Danaans toiled so hard, and which
 they deemed would be an impregnable bulwark both for us and our fleet - I see
 it must be the will of Zeus that the Achaeans should perish ingloriously here,
 far from Argos . I knew when Zeus was
 willing to defend us, and I know now that he is raising the Trojans to like
 honor with the gods, while us, on the other hand, he bas bound hand and foot.
 Now, therefore, let us all do as I say; let us bring down the ships that are on
 the beach and draw them into the water; let us make them fast to their
 mooring-stones a little way out, against the fall of night - if even by night
 the Trojans will desist from fighting; we may then draw down the rest of the
 fleet. There is no sense of nemesis in fleeing ruin
 even by night. It is better for a man that he should flee and be saved than be
 caught and killed." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 She went, therefore, to the room which her son
 Hephaistos had made her, and the doors of which he had cunningly fastened by
 means of a secret key so that no other god could open them. Here she entered
 and closed the doors behind her. She cleansed all the dirt from her fair body
 with ambrosia, then she anointed herself with olive oil, ambrosial, very soft,
 and scented specially for herself - if it were so much as shaken in the
 bronze-floored house of Zeus, the scent pervaded the universe of heaven and
 earth. With this she anointed her delicate skin, and then she plaited the fair
 ambrosial locks that flowed in a stream of golden tresses from her immortal
 head. She put on the wondrous robe which Athena had worked for her with
 consummate art, and had embroidered with manifold devices; she fastened it
 about her bosom with golden clasps, and she girded herself with a girdle that
 had a hundred tassels: then she fastened her earrings, three brilliant pendants
 with much charm radiating from them, 

 
 through the pierced lobes of her ears, and
 threw a lovely new veil over her head. She bound her sandals on to her feet,
 and when she had finished making herself up in perfect order [ kosmos ], she left her room and called Aphrodite to
 come aside and speak to her. "My dear child," said she, "will you do what I am
 going to ask of you, or will refuse me because you are angry at my being on the
 Danaan side, while you are on the Trojan?" 

 
 Zeus' daughter Aphrodite answered, "Hera,
 august queen of goddesses, daughter of mighty Kronos, say what you want, and I
 will do it for at once, if I can, and if it can be done at all." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 Hera did as he had said. She swore, and invoked
 all the gods of the nether world, who are called Titans, to witness. When she
 had completed her oath, the two enshrouded themselves in a thick mist and sped
 lightly forward, leaving Lemnos and
 Imbros behind them. Presently they reached many-fountained Ida, mother of wild
 beasts, and Lectum where they left the sea to go on by land, and the tops of
 the trees of the forest soughed under the going of their feet. Here Sleep
 halted, and ere Zeus caught sight of him he climbed a lofty pine-tree - the
 tallest that reared its head towards heaven on all Ida. He hid himself behind
 the branches and sat there in the semblance of the sweet-singing bird that
 haunts the mountains and is called Khalkis by the gods, but men call it Kymindis. Hera then went
 to Gargaros, the topmost peak of Ida, and Zeus, driver of the clouds, set eyes
 upon her. As soon as he did so he became inflamed with the same passionate
 desire for her that he had felt when they had first enjoyed each other's
 embraces, and slept with one another without their dear parents knowing
 anything about it.

He went up to her and said, "What do you want
 that you have come hither from Olympus 
 - and that too with neither chariot nor horses to convey you?" 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had
 said. The son of Tydeus, Odysseus, and Agamemnon, wounded though they were, set
 the others in array, and went about everywhere effecting the exchanges of
 armor; the most valiant took the best armor, and gave the worse to the worse
 man. When they had donned their bronze armor they marched on with Poseidon at
 their head. In his strong hand he grasped his terrible sword, keen of edge and
 flashing like lightning; it is not the right thing [ themis ] to do, to come across it in the day of battle; all men quake
 for fear and keep away from it. 

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

 
 Hektor first aimed his spear at Ajax, who was
 turned full towards him, nor did he miss his aim. The spear struck him where
 two bands passed over his chest - the band of his shield and that of his
 silver-studded sword - and these protected his body. Hektor was angry that his
 spear should have been hurled in vain, and withdrew under cover of his men. As
 he was thus retreating, Ajax son of Telamon struck him with a stone, of which
 there were many lying about 

 
 under the men's feet as they fought - brought
 there to give support to the ships' sides as they lay on the shore. Ajax caught
 up one of them and struck Hektor above the rim of his shield close to his neck;
 the blow made him spin round like a top and reel in all directions. As an oak
 falls headlong when uprooted by the lightning flash of father Zeus, and there
 is a terrible smell of brimstone - no man can help being dismayed if he is
 standing near it, for a thunderbolt is a very awful thing - even so did Hektor
 fall to earth and bite the dust. His spear fell from his hand, but his shield
 and helmet were made fast about his body, and his bronze armor rang about him. 

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

 
 When the Argives saw Hektor leaving the field,
 they took heart and set upon the Trojans yet more furiously. Ajax fleet son of
 Oileus began by springing on Satnios son of Enops and wounding him with his
 spear: a fair naiad nymph had borne him to Enops 

 
 as he was herding cattle by the banks of the
 river Satnioeis. The son of Oileus came up to him and struck him in the flank
 so that he fell, and a fierce fight between Trojans and Danaans raged round his
 body. Polydamas son of Panthoos drew near to avenge him, and wounded Prothoenor
 son of Areilykos on the right shoulder; the terrible spear went right through
 his shoulder, and he clutched the earth as he fell in the dust. Polydamas
 vaunted loudly over him saying, "Again I take it that the spear has not sped in
 vain from the strong hand of the son of Panthoos; an Argive has caught it in his body, and it will
 serve him for a staff as he goes down into the house of Hades." 

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

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

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

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

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

But when their flight had taken them past the
 trench and the set stakes, and many had fallen by the hands of the Danaans, the
 Trojans made a halt on reaching their chariots, routed and pale with fear. Zeus
 now woke on the crests of Ida, where he was lying with golden-throned Hera by
 his side, and starting to his feet he saw the Trojans and Achaeans, the one
 thrown into confusion, and the others driving them pell-mell before them with
 King Poseidon in their midst. He saw Hektor lying on the ground with his
 comrades gathered round him, gasping for breath, wandering in mind and vomiting
 blood, for it was not the feeblest of the Achaeans who struck him. 

 
 The sire of gods and men had pity on him, and
 looked fiercely on Hera. "I see, Hera," said he, "you mischief-making
 trickster, that your cunning has stayed Hektor from fighting and has caused the
 rout of his host. I am in half a mind to thrash you, in which case you will be
 the first to reap the fruits of your scurvy knavery. Do you not remember how
 once upon a time I had you hanged? I fastened two anvils on to your feet, and
 bound your hands in a chain of gold which none might break, and you hung in
 mid-air among the clouds. All the gods in Olympus were in a fury, but they
 could not reach you to set you free; when I caught any one of them I gripped
 him and hurled him from the heavenly threshold till he came fainting down to
 earth; yet even this did not relieve my mind from the incessant anxiety 

 
 which I felt about noble Herakles whom you and
 Boreas had spitefully conveyed beyond the seas [ pontos ] to Cos, after suborning the tempests; but I rescued him, and
 notwithstanding all his mighty labors I brought him back again to Argos . I would remind you of this that you
 may learn to leave off being so deceitful, and discover how much you are likely
 to gain by the embraces out of which you have come here to trick me." 

 
 Hera trembled as he spoke, and said, "May heaven
 above and earth below be my witnesses, with the waters of the river Styx - and
 this is the most solemn oath that a blessed god can take - nay, I swear also by
 your own almighty head and by our bridal bed - things over which I could never
 possibly perjure myself - that Poseidon is not punishing Hektor and the Trojans
 and helping the Achaeans through any doing of mine; it is all of his own mere
 motion because he was sorry to see the Achaeans hard pressed at their ships: if
 I were advising him, I should tell him to do as you bid him." 

 
 The sire of gods and men smiled and answered,
 "If you, Hera, were always to support me when we sit in council of the gods,
 Poseidon, like it or no, would soon come round to your and my way of thinking
 [noon]. If, then, you are speaking the truth and mean what you say, go among
 the rank and file of the gods, and tell Iris and Apollo lord of the bow, that I
 want them - Iris, that she may go to the Achaean host and tell Poseidon to
 leave off fighting and go home, and Apollo, that he may send Hektor again into
 battle and give him fresh strength; he will thus forget his present sufferings,
 and drive the Achaeans back in confusion till they fall among the ships of
 Achilles son of Peleus. Achilles will then send his comrade Patroklos into
 battle, and Hektor will kill him in front of Ilion after he has slain many warriors, and among them my own
 noble son Sarpedon. Achilles will kill Hektor to avenge Patroklos, and from
 that time I will bring it about that the Achaeans shall persistently drive the
 Trojans back till they fulfill the counsels of Athena and take Ilion . But I will not stay my anger, nor
 permit any god to help the Danaans till I have accomplished the desire of the
 son of Peleus, according to the promise I made by bowing my head on the day
 when Thetis touched my knees and besought me to give him honor." 

 
 Hera heeded his words and went from the heights
 of Ida to great Olympus . Swift as the
 thought [ noos ] of one whose fancy carries him over
 vast continents, and he says to himself, "Now I will be here, or there," and he
 would have all manner of things - even so swiftly did Hera wing her way till
 she came to high Olympus and went in
 among the gods who were gathered in the house of Zeus. When they saw her they
 all of them came up to her, and held out their cups to her by way of greeting.
 She let the others be, but took the cup offered her by lovely Themis, who was
 first to come running up to her. "Hera," said she, "why are you here? And you
 seem troubled - has your husband the son of Kronos been frightening you?" 

 
 And Hera answered, "Themis, do not ask me about
 it. You know what a proud and cruel disposition my husband has. Lead the gods
 to table, where you and all the immortals can hear the wicked designs which he
 has avowed. Many a one, mortal and immortal, will be angered by them, however
 peaceably he may be feasting now." 

 
 On this Hera sat down, and the gods were
 troubled throughout the house of Zeus. Laughter sat on her lips but her brow
 was furrowed with care, and she spoke up in a rage. "Fools that we are," she
 cried, "to be thus madly angry with Zeus; we keep on wanting to go up to him
 and stay him by force or by persuasion, but he sits aloof and cares for nobody,
 for he knows that he is much stronger than any other of the immortals. Make the
 best, therefore, of whatever ills he may choose to send each one of you; Ares,
 I take it, has had a taste of them already, for his son Askalaphos has fallen
 in battle - the man whom of all others he loved most dearly and whose father he
 owns himself to be."

When he heard this Ares smote his two sturdy
 thighs with the flat of his hands, and said in anger, "Do not blame me, you
 gods that dwell in heaven, if I go to the ships of the Achaeans and avenge the
 death of my son, even though it end in my being struck by Zeus' lightning and
 lying in blood and dust among the corpses." 

 
 As he spoke he gave orders to yoke his horses
 Panic and Rout, while he put on his armor. On this, Zeus would have been roused
 to still more fierce and implacable anger [ mênis ]
 against the other immortals, had not Athena, alarmed for the safety of the
 gods, sprung from her seat and hurried outside. She tore the helmet from his
 head and the shield from his shoulders, and she took the bronze spear from his
 strong hand and set it on one side; then she said to Ares, "Mad one, you are
 undone; you have ears that hear not, or you have lost all sense of respect
 [ aidôs ] and understanding [ noos ]; have you not heard what Hera has said on coming straight from
 the presence of Olympian Zeus? Do you wish to go through all kinds of suffering
 before you are brought back sick and sorry to Olympus , after having caused infinite mischief to all us
 others? Zeus would instantly leave the Trojans and Achaeans to themselves; he
 would come to Olympus to punish us,
 and would grip us up one after another, guilty [ aitios ] or not guilty. Therefore lay aside your anger for the death
 of your son; better men than he have either been killed already or will fall
 hereafter, and one cannot protect every one's whole family." 

 
 With these words she took Ares back to his
 seat. Meanwhile Hera called Apollo outside, with Iris the messenger of the
 gods. "Zeus," she said to them, "desires you to go to him at once on Mount Ida ; when you have seen him you are to
 do as he may then bid you." 

 
 Thereon Hera left them and resumed her seat
 inside, while Iris and Apollo made all haste on their way. When they reached
 many-fountained Ida, mother of wild beasts, they found Zeus seated on topmost
 Gargaros with a fragrant cloud encircling his head as with a diadem. They stood
 before his presence, and he was pleased with them for having been so quick in
 obeying the orders his wife had given them. 

 
 He spoke to Iris first. "Go," said he, "fleet
 Iris, tell King Poseidon what I now bid you - and tell him true. Bid him leave
 off fighting, and either join the company of the gods, or go down into the sea.
 If he takes no heed and disobeys me, let him consider well whether he is strong
 enough to hold his own against me if I attack him. I am older and much stronger
 than he is; yet he is not afraid to set himself up as on a level with myself,
 of whom all the other gods stand in awe." 

 
 Iris, fleet as the wind, obeyed him, and as the
 cold hail or snowflakes that fly from out the clouds before the blast of
 Boreas, even so did she wing her way till she came close up to the great shaker
 of the earth. Then she said, "I have come, O dark-haired king that holds the
 world in his embrace, to bring you a message from Zeus. He bids you leave off
 fighting, and either join the company of the gods or go down into the sea; if,
 however, you take no heed and disobey him, he says he will come down here and
 fight you. He would have you keep out of his reach, for he is older and much
 stronger than you are, and yet you are not afraid to set yourself up as on a
 level with himself, of whom all the other gods stand in awe." 

 
 Poseidon was very angry and said, "Great
 heavens! strong as Zeus may be, he has said more than he can do if he has
 threatened violence against me, who am of like honor with himself. We were
 three brothers whom Rhea bore to Kronos - Zeus, myself, and Hades who rules the
 world below. Heaven and earth were divided into three parts, and each of us was
 to have an equal share. When we cast lots, it fell to me to have my dwelling in
 the sea for evermore; Hades took the darkness of the realms under the earth,
 while air and sky and clouds were the portion that fell to Zeus; but earth and
 great Olympus are the common property
 of all. 

 
 Therefore I will not walk as Zeus would have
 me. For all his strength, let him keep to his own third share and be contented
 without threatening to lay hands upon me as though I were nobody. Let him keep
 his bragging talk for his own sons and daughters, who must perforce obey him.

Iris fleet as the wind then answered, "Am I
 really, Poseidon, to take this daring and unyielding message to Zeus, or will
 you reconsider your answer? Sensible people are open to argument, and you know
 that the Erinyes always range themselves on the side of the older person." 

 
 Poseidon answered, "Goddess Iris, your words
 have been spoken in season. It is well when a messenger shows so much
 discretion. Nevertheless it cuts me to the very heart with grief [ akhos ] that any one should rebuke so angrily another
 who is his own peer, and of like empire with himself. Now, however, I will give
 way in spite of my displeasure; furthermore let me tell you, and I mean what I
 say - if contrary to the desire of myself, Athena driver of the spoil, Hera,
 Hermes, and King Hephaistos, Zeus spares steep Ilion , and will not let the Achaeans have the great triumph of
 sacking it, let him understand that he will incur our implacable resentment." 

 
 Poseidon now left the field to go down under
 the sea [ pontos ], and sorely did the Achaeans miss
 him. Then Zeus said to Apollo, "Go, dear Phoebus, to Hektor, for Poseidon who
 holds the earth in his embrace has now gone down under the sea to avoid the
 severity of my displeasure. Had he not done so those gods who are below with
 Kronos would have come to hear of the fight between us. It is better for both
 of us that he should have curbed his anger and kept out of my reach, for I
 should have had much trouble with him. Take, then, your tasseled aegis, and
 shake it furiously, so as to set the Achaean heroes in a panic; take, moreover,
 brave Hektor, O Far-Darter, into your own care, and rouse him to deeds of
 daring, till the Achaeans are sent fleeing back to their ships and to the
 Hellespont . From that point I will
 think it well over, how the Achaeans may have a respite from their troubles
 [ ponos ]." 

 
 Apollo obeyed his father's saying, and left the
 crests of Ida, flying like a falcon, bane of doves and swiftest of all birds.
 He found Hektor no longer lying upon the ground, but sitting up, for he had
 just come to himself again. He knew those who were about him, and the sweat and
 hard breathing had left him from the moment when the will [ noos ] of aegis-bearing Zeus had revived him. Apollo stood beside him
 and said, "Hektor, son of Priam, why are you so faint, and why are you here
 away from the others? Has any mishap befallen you?" 

 
 Hektor in a weak voice answered, "And which,
 kind sir, of the gods are you, who now ask me thus? Do you not know that Ajax
 struck me on the chest with a stone as I was killing his comrades at the ships
 of the Achaeans, and compelled me to leave off fighting? I made sure that this
 very day I should breathe my last and go down into the house of Hades." 

 
 Then King Apollo said to him, "Take heart; the
 son of Kronos has sent you a mighty helper from Ida to stand by you and defend
 you, even me, Phoebus Apollo of the golden sword, who have been guardian
 hitherto not only of yourself but of your city. Now, therefore, order your
 horsemen to drive their chariots to the ships in great multitudes. I will go
 before your horses to smooth the way for them, and will turn the Achaeans in
 flight." 

 
 As he spoke he infused great strength into the
 shepherd of his people. And as a horse, stabled and full-fed, breaks loose and
 gallops gloriously over the plain to the place where he is wont to take his
 bath in the river - he tosses his head, and his mane streams over his shoulders
 as in all the pride of his strength he flies full speed to the pastures where
 the mares are feeding - even so Hektor, when he heard what the god said, urged
 his horsemen on, and sped forward as fast as his limbs could take him. 

 
 As country peasants set their hounds on to a
 horned stag or wild goat - he has taken shelter under rock or thicket, and they
 cannot find him, but, lo, a bearded lion whom their shouts have roused stands
 in their path, and they are in no further humor for the chase - even so the
 Achaeans were still charging on in a body, using their swords and spears
 pointed at both ends, but when they saw Hektor going about among his men they
 were afraid, and their hearts fell down into their feet.

Then spoke Thoas son of Andraimon, leader of
 the Aetolians, a man who could throw a good throw, and who was staunch also in
 close fight, while few could surpass him in debate when opinions were divided.
 He then with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus: "What, in heaven's
 name, do I now see? Is it not Hektor come to life again? Every one made sure he
 had been killed by Ajax son of Telamon, but it seems that one of the gods has
 again rescued him. He has killed many of us Danaans already, and I take it will
 yet do so, for the hand of Zeus must be with him or he would never dare show
 himself so masterful in the forefront of the battle. Now, therefore, let us all
 do as I say; let us order the main body of our forces to fall back upon the
 ships, but let those of us who profess to be the flower of the army stand firm,
 and see whether we cannot hold Hektor back at the point of our spears as soon
 as he comes near us; I conceive that he will then think better of it before he
 tries to charge into the press of the Danaans." 

 
 Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had
 said. Those who were about Ajax and King Idomeneus, the followers moreover of
 Teucer, Meriones, and Meges peer of Ares called all their best men about them
 and sustained the fight against Hektor and the Trojans, but the main body fell
 back upon the ships of the Achaeans. 

 
 The Trojans pressed forward in a dense body,
 with Hektor striding on at their head. Before him went Phoebus Apollo shrouded
 in cloud about his shoulders. He bore aloft the terrible aegis with its shaggy
 fringe, which Hephaistos the smith had given Zeus to strike terror into the
 hearts of men. With this in his hand he led on the Trojans. 

 
 The Argives held together and stood their
 ground. The cry of battle rose high from either side, and the arrows flew from
 the bowstrings. Many a spear sped from strong hands and fastened in the bodies
 of many a valiant warrior, while others fell to earth midway, before they could
 taste of man's fair flesh and glut themselves with blood. So long as Phoebus
 Apollo held his aegis quietly and without shaking it, the weapons on either
 side took effect and the people fell, but when he shook it straight in the face
 of the Danaans and raised his mighty battle-cry their hearts fainted within
 them and they forgot their former prowess. As when two wild beasts spring in
 the dead of night on a herd of cattle or a large flock of sheep when the
 herdsman is not there - even so were the Danaans struck helpless, for Apollo
 filled them with panic and gave victory to Hektor and the Trojans. 

 
 The fight then became more scattered and they
 killed one another where they best could. Hektor killed Stichios and
 Arkesilaos, the one, leader of the Boeotians, and the other, friend and comrade
 of Menestheus. Aeneas killed Medon and Iasos . The first was bastard son to Oileus, and brother to
 Ajax, but he lived in Phylake away from his own country, for he had killed a
 man, a kinsman of his stepmother Eriopis whom Oileus had married. Iasos had become a leader of the Athenians,
 and was son of Sphelus the son of Boukolos. Polydamas killed Mekisteus, and
 Polites Echios, in the front of the battle, while Agenor slew Klonios.
 Paris struck Deiochus from behind
 in the lower part of the shoulder, as he was fleeing among the foremost, and
 the point of the spear went clean through him. 

 
 While they were spoiling these heroes of their
 armor, the Achaeans were fleeing pellmell to the trench and the set stakes, and
 were forced back within their wall. Hektor then cried out to the Trojans,
 "Forward to the ships, and let the spoils be. If I see any man keeping back on
 the other side the wall away from the ships I will have him killed: his kinsmen
 and kinswomen shall not give him his dues of fire, but dogs shall tear him in
 pieces in front of our city." 

 
 As he spoke he laid his whip about his horses'
 shoulders and called to the Trojans throughout their ranks; the Trojans shouted
 with a cry that rent the air, and kept their horses neck and neck with his own.
 Phoebus Apollo went before, and kicked down the banks of the deep trench into
 its middle so as to make a great broad bridge, as broad as the throw of a spear
 when a man is trying his strength. The Trojan battalions poured over the
 bridge, and Apollo with his redoubtable aegis led the way. He kicked down the
 wall of the Achaeans as easily as a child who playing on the sea-shore has
 built a house of sand and then kicks it down again and destroys it - even so
 did you, O Apollo, shed toil and trouble upon the Argives, filling them with
 panic and confusion. 

 
 Thus then were the Achaeans hemmed in at their
 ships, calling out to one another and raising their hands with loud cries every
 man to heaven. Nestor of Gerene, tower of strength to the Achaeans, lifted up
 his hands to the starry firmament of heaven, and prayed more fervently than any
 of them. "Father Zeus," said he, "if ever any one in wheat-growing Argos burned you fat thigh-bones of sheep or
 heifer and prayed that he might return safely home, whereon you bowed your head
 to him in assent, bear it in mind now, and suffer not the Trojans to triumph
 thus over the Achaeans."

All counseling Zeus thundered loudly in answer
 to die prayer of the aged son of Neleus. When the heard Zeus thunder they flung
 themselves yet more fiercely on the Achaeans. As a wave breaking over the
 bulwarks of a ship when the sea runs high before a gale- for it is the force of
 the wind that makes the waves so great - even so did the Trojans spring over
 the wall with a shout, and drive their chariots onwards. The two sides fought
 with their double-pointed spears in hand-to-hand encounter-the Trojans from
 their chariots, and the Achaeans climbing up into their ships and wielding the
 long pikes that were lying on the decks ready for use in a sea-fight, jointed
 and shod with bronze. 

 
 Now Patroklos, so long as the Achaeans and
 Trojans were fighting about the wall, but were not yet within it and at the
 ships, remained sitting in the tent of good Eurypylos, entertaining him with
 his conversation and spreading herbs over his wound to ease his pain. When,
 however, he saw the Trojans swarming through the breach in the wall, while the
 Achaeans were clamoring and struck with panic, he cried aloud, and smote his
 two thighs with the flat of his hands. "Eurypylos," said he in his dismay, "I
 know you want me badly, but I cannot stay with you any longer, for there is
 hard fighting going on; a squire [ therapôn ] shall
 take care of you now, for I must make all speed to Achilles, and induce him to
 fight if I can; who knows but with the help of a daimôn I may persuade him. A man does well to listen to the advice
 of a friend." 

 
 When he had thus spoken he went his way. The
 Achaeans stood firm and resisted the attack of the Trojans, yet though these
 were fewer in number, they could not drive them back from the ships, neither
 could the Trojans break the Achaean ranks and make their way in among the tents
 and ships. As a carpenter's line gives a true edge to a piece of ship's timber,
 in the hand of some skilled workman whom Athena has instructed in all kinds of
 useful arts - even so level was the issue of the fight between the two sides,
 as they fought some round one and some round another. 

 
 Hektor made straight for Ajax, and the put up
 fierce struggle [ ponos ] over the same ship. Hektor
 could not force Ajax back and fire the ship, nor yet could Ajax drive Hektor
 from the spot to which a daimôn had brought him. 

 
 Then Ajax struck Kaletor son of Klytios in the
 chest with a spear as he was bringing fire towards the ship. He fell heavily to
 the ground and the torch dropped from his hand. When Hektor saw his cousin
 fallen in front of the ship he shouted to the Trojans and Lycians saying,
 "Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanians good in close fight, bate not a jot, but
 rescue the son of Klytios lest the Achaeans strip him of his armor now that he
 has fallen in the struggle [ agôn ]." 

 
 He then aimed a spear at Ajax, and missed him,
 but he hit Lykophron a follower [ therapôn ] of Ajax,
 who came from Cythera , but was living
 with Ajax inasmuch as he had killed a man among the Cythereans. Hektor's spear
 struck him on the head below the ear, and he fell headlong from the ship's prow
 on to the ground with no life left in him. Ajax shook with rage and said to his
 brother, "Teucer, my good man, our trusty comrade the son of Mastor has fallen,
 he came to live with us from Cythera 
 and whom we honored as much as our own parents. Hektor has just killed him;
 fetch your deadly arrows at once and the bow which Phoebus Apollo gave you." 

 
 Teucer heard him and hastened towards him with
 his bow and quiver in his hands. Forthwith he showered his arrows on the
 Trojans, and hit Kleitos the son of Pisenor, comrade of Polydamas the noble son
 of Panthoos, with the reins in his hands as he was attending to his horses; he
 was in the middle of the very thickest part of the fight, doing good service to
 Hektor and the Trojans, but evil had now come upon him, and not one of those
 who were fain to do so could avert it, for the arrow struck him on the back of
 the neck. He fell from his chariot and his horses shook the empty car as they
 swerved aside. King Polydamas saw what had happened, and was the first to come
 up to the horses; he gave them in charge to Astynoos son of Protiaon, and
 ordered him to look on, and to keep the horses near at hand. He then went back
 and took his place in the front ranks. 

 
 Teucer then aimed another arrow at Hektor, and
 there would have been no more fighting at the ships if he had hit him and
 killed him then and there: but Teucer did not escape the notice [ noos ] of Zeus, who kept watch over Hektor and deprived
 him of his triumph, by breaking his bowstring for him just as he was drawing it
 and about to take his aim; on this the arrow went astray and the bow fell from
 his hands. Teucer shook with anger and said to his brother, "Alas, see how a
 daimôn thwarts us in all we do; he has broken my
 bowstring and snatched the bow from my hand, though I strung it this selfsame
 morning that it might serve me for many an arrow."

Ajax son of Telamon answered, "My good man, let
 your bow and your arrows be, for Zeus has made them useless in order to spite
 the Danaans. Take your spear, lay your shield upon your shoulder, and both
 fight the Trojans yourself and urge others to do so. They may be successful for
 the moment but if we fight as we ought they will find it a hard matter to take
 the ships." Teucer then took his bow and put it by in his tent. He hung a
 shield four hides thick about his shoulders, and on his comely head he set his
 helmet well wrought with a crest of horse-hair that nodded menacingly above it;
 he grasped his redoubtable bronze-shod spear, and forthwith he was by the side
 of Ajax. 

 
 When Hektor saw that Teucer's bow was of no
 more use to him, he shouted out to the Trojans and Lycians, "Trojans, Lycians,
 and Dardanians good in close fight, be men, my friends, and show your mettle
 here at the ships, for I see the weapon of one of their chieftains made useless
 by the hand of Zeus. It is easy to see when Zeus is helping people and means to
 help them still further, or again when he is bringing them down and will do
 nothing for them; he is now on our side, and is going against the Argives.
 Therefore swarm round the ships and fight. If any of you is struck by spear or
 sword and loses his life, let him die; he dies with honor who dies fighting for
 his country; and he will leave his wife and children safe behind him, with his
 house and allotment unplundered if only the Achaeans can be driven back to
 their own land, they and their ships." 

 
 With these words he put heart and soul into
 them all. Ajax on the other side exhorted his comrades saying, "Shame [ aidôs ] on you Argives, we are now utterly undone,
 unless we can save ourselves by driving the enemy from our ships. Do you think,
 if Hektor takes them, that you will be able to get home by land? Can you not
 hear him cheering on his whole host to fire our fleet, and bidding them
 remember that they are not at a dance [ khoros ] but
 in battle? Our only thought [ noos ] and plan [ mêtis ] is to fight them with might and main; we had
 better chance it, life or death, once for all, than fight long and without
 issue hemmed in at our ships by worse men than ourselves." 

 
 With these words he put life [ menos ] and spirit [ thumos ]
 into them all. Hektor then killed Schedios son of Perimedes, leader of the
 Phoceans, and Ajax killed Laodamas leader of foot soldiers and son to Antenor.
 Polydamas killed Otos of Cyllene a comrade of the son of Phyleus and chief of
 the proud Epeans. When Meges saw this he sprang upon him, but Polydamas
 crouched down, and he missed him, for Apollo would not suffer the son of
 Panthoos to fall in battle; but the spear hit Croesmus in the middle of his
 chest, whereon he fell heavily to the ground, and Meges stripped him of his
 armor. At that moment the valiant warrior Dolops son of Lampos sprang upon
 Lampos was son of Laomedon and for his valor, while his son Dolops was versed
 in all the ways of war. He then struck the middle of the son of Phyleus' shield
 with his spear, setting on him at close quarters, but his good corselet made
 with plates of metal saved him; Phyleus had brought it from Ephyra and the river Selleis, where his
 host, King Euphetes, had given it him to wear in battle and protect him. It now
 served to save the life of his son. Then Meges struck the topmost crest of
 Dolops' bronze helmet with his spear 

 
 and tore away its plume of horse-hair, so that
 all newly dyed with scarlet as it was it tumbled down into the dust. While he
 was still fighting and confident of victory, Menelaos came up to help Meges,
 and got by the side of Dolops unperceived; he then speared him in the shoulder,
 from behind, and the point, driven so furiously, went through into his chest,
 whereon he fell headlong. The two then made towards him to strip him of his
 armor, but Hektor called on all his brothers for help, and he especially
 upbraided brave Melanippos son of Hiketaon, who erewhile used to pasture his
 herds of cattle in Perkote before the war broke out; but when the ships of the
 Danaans came, he went back to Ilion ,
 where he was eminent among the Trojans, and lived near Priam who treated him as
 one of his own sons. Hektor now rebuked him and said, "Why, Melanippos, are we
 thus remiss? do you take no note of the death of your kinsman, and do you not
 see how they are trying to take Dolops' armor? Follow me; there must be no
 fighting the Argives from a distance now, but we must do so in close combat
 till either we kill them or they take the high wall of Ilion and slay her people." 

 
 He led on as he spoke, and the hero Melanippos
 followed after. Meanwhile Ajax son of Telamon was cheering on the Argives. "My
 friends," he cried, "be men, and fear the loss of respect [ aidôs ]; quit yourselves in battle so as to win respect from one
 another. Men who respect each other's good opinion are less likely to be killed
 than those who do not, but in flight there is neither gain nor glory [ kleos ]." 

 
 Thus did he exhort men who were already bent
 upon driving back the Trojans. They laid his words to heart and hedged the
 ships as with a wall of bronze, while Zeus urged on the Trojans. Menelaos of
 the loud battle-cry urged Antilokhos on. "Antilokhos," said he, "you are young
 and there is none of the Achaeans more fleet of foot or more valiant than you
 are. See if you cannot spring upon some Trojan and kill him." 

 
 He hurried away when he had thus spurred
 Antilokhos, who at once darted out from the front ranks and aimed a spear,
 after looking carefully round him. The Trojans fell back as he threw, and the
 dart did not speed from his hand without effect, for it struck Melanippos the
 proud son of Hiketaon in the breast by the nipple as he was coming forward, and
 his armor rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. Antilokhos
 sprang upon him as a dog springs on a fawn which a hunter has hit as it was
 breaking away from its covert, and killed it. Even so, O Melanippos, did
 stalwart Antilokhos spring upon you to strip you of your armor; but noble
 Hektor marked him, and came running up to him through the thick of the battle.
 Antilokhos, brave warrior though he was, would not stay to face him, but fled
 like some savage creature which knows it has done wrong, and flies, when it has
 killed a dog or a man who is herding his cattle, before a body of men can be
 gathered to attack it. Even so did the son of Nestor flee, and the Trojans and
 Hektor with a cry that rent the air showered their weapons after him; nor did
 he turn round and stay his flight till he had reached his comrades.

The Trojans, fierce as lions, were still
 rushing on towards the ships in fulfillment of the behests of Zeus who kept
 spurring them on to new deeds of daring, while he deadened the courage of the
 Argives and defeated them by encouraging the Trojans. For he meant giving glory
 to Hektor son of Priam, and letting him throw fire upon the ships, till he had
 fulfilled the unrighteous prayer that Thetis had made him; Zeus, therefore,
 bided his time till he should see the glare of a blazing ship. From that hour
 he was about so to order that the Trojans should be driven back from the ships
 and to grant glory to the Achaeans. With this purpose he inspired Hektor son of
 Priam, who was eager enough already, to assail the ships. His fury was as that
 of Ares, or as when a fire is raging in the glades of some dense forest upon
 the mountains; he foamed at the mouth, his eyes glared under his terrible
 eye-brows, and his helmet quivered on his temples by reason of the fury with
 which he fought. 

 
 Zeus from heaven was with him, and though he
 was but one against many, granted him victory and glory; for he was doomed to
 an early death, and already Pallas Athena was hurrying on the hour of his
 destruction at the hands of the son of Peleus. Now, however, he kept trying to
 break the ranks of the enemy wherever he could see them thickest, and in the
 goodliest armor; but do what he might he could not break through them, for they
 stood as a tower foursquare, or as some high cliff rising from the gray sea
 that braves the anger of the gale, and of the waves that thunder up against it.
 He fell upon them like flames of fire from every quarter. As when a wave,
 raised mountain high by wind and storm, breaks over a ship and covers it deep
 in foam, the fierce winds roar against the mast, the hearts of the sailors fail
 them for fear, and they are saved but by a very little from destruction - even
 so were the hearts of the Achaeans fainting within them. Or as a savage lion
 attacking a herd of cows while they are feeding by thousands in the low-lying
 meadows by some wide-watered shore - the herdsman is at his wit's end how to
 protect his herd and keeps going about now in the van and now in the rear of
 his cattle, while the lion springs into the thick of them and fastens on a cow
 so that they all tremble for fear - even so were the Achaeans utterly
 panic-stricken by Hektor and father Zeus. Nevertheless Hektor only killed
 Periphetes of Mycenae ; he was son
 of Kopreus who was wont to take the orders of King Eurystheus to mighty
 Herakles, but the son was far better in excellence [ aretê ] than the father in every way; he was fleet of foot, a valiant
 warrior, and in understanding [ noos ] ranked among
 the foremost men of Mycenae . He it
 was who then afforded Hektor a triumph, for as he was turning back he stumbled
 against the rim of his shield which reached his feet, and served to keep the
 javelins off him. He tripped against this and fell face upward, his helmet
 ringing loudly about his head as he did so. Hektor saw him fall and ran up to
 him; he then thrust a spear into his chest, and killed him close to his own
 comrades. These, for all their sorrow, could not help him for they were
 themselves terribly afraid of Hektor. 

 
 They had now reached the ships and the prows of
 those that had been drawn up first were on every side of them, but the Trojans
 came pouring after them. The Argives were driven back from the first row of
 ships, but they made a stand by their tents without being broken up and
 scattered; shame [ aidôs ] and fear restrained them.
 They kept shouting incessantly to one another, and Nestor of Gerene, tower of
 strength to the Achaeans, was loudest in imploring every man by his parents,
 and beseeching him to stand firm. 

 
 "Be men, my friends," he cried, "and give
 respect [ aidôs ] to one another's good opinion.
 Think, all of you, on your children, your wives, your property, and your
 parents whether these be alive or dead. On their behalf though they are not
 here, I implore you to stand firm, and not to turn in flight." 

 
 With these words he put heart and soul into
 them all. Athena lifted the thick veil of darkness from their eyes, and much
 light fell upon them, alike on the side of the ships and on that where the
 fight was raging. They could see Hektor and all his men, both those in the rear
 who were taking no part in the battle, and those who were fighting by the
 ships. 

 
 Ajax could not bring himself to retreat along
 with the rest, but strode from deck to deck with a great sea-pike in his hands
 twelve cubits long and jointed with rings. As a man skilled in feats of
 horsemanship couples four horses together and comes tearing full speed along
 the public way from the country into some large town - many both men and women
 marvel as they see him for he keeps all the time changing his horse, springing
 from one to another without ever missing his feet while the horses are at a
 gallop - even so did Ajax go striding from one ship's deck to another, and his
 voice went up into the heavens. He kept on shouting his orders to the Danaans
 and exhorting them to defend their ships and tents; 

 
 neither did Hektor remain within the main body
 of the Trojan warriors, but as a dun eagle swoops down upon a flock of
 wild-fowl feeding near a river-geese, it may be, or cranes, or long-necked
 swans - even so did Hektor make straight for a dark-prowed ship, rushing right
 towards it; for Zeus with his mighty hand impelled him forward, and roused his
 people to follow him. 

 
 And now the battle again raged furiously at the
 ships. You would have thought the men were coming on fresh and unwearied, so
 fiercely did they fight; and this was the mind [noos] in which they were - the
 Achaeans did not believe they should escape destruction but thought themselves
 doomed, while there was not a Trojan but his heart beat high with the hope of
 firing the ships and putting the Achaean heroes to the sword.

Thus were the two sides minded. Then Hektor
 seized the stern of the good ship that had brought Protesilaos to Troy , but never bore him back to his native
 land. Round this ship there raged a close hand-to-hand fight between Danaans
 and Trojans. They did not fight at a distance with bows and javelins, but with
 one mind hacked at one another in close combat with their mighty swords and
 spears pointed at both ends; they fought moreover with keen battle-axes and
 with hatchets. Many a good stout blade hilted and scabbarded with iron, fell
 from hand or shoulder as they fought, and the earth ran red with blood. Hektor,
 when he had seized the ship, would not loose his hold but held on to its curved
 stern and shouted to the Trojans, "Bring fire, and raise the battle-cry all of
 you with a single voice. Now has Zeus granted us a day that will pay us for all
 the rest; this day we shall take the ships which came hither against heaven's
 will, and which have caused us such infinite suffering through the cowardice of
 our councilors, who when I would have done battle at the ships held me back and
 forbade the host to follow me; if Zeus did then indeed warp our judgments,
 himself now commands me and cheers me on." 

 
 As he spoke thus the Trojans sprang yet more
 fiercely on the Achaeans, and Ajax no longer held his ground, for he was
 overcome by the darts that were flung at him, and made sure that he was doomed.
 Therefore he left the raised deck at the stern, and stepped back on to the
 seven-foot bench of the oarsmen. Here he stood on the look-out, and with his
 spear held back Trojan whom he saw bringing fire to the ships. All the time he
 kept on shouting at the top of his voice and exhorting the Danaans. "My
 friends," he cried, "Danaan heroes, squires [ therapontes ] of Ares, be men my friends, and fight with might and
 with main. Can we hope to find helpers hereafter, or a wall to shield us more
 surely than the one we have? There is no strong city within reach, whence we
 may draw fresh population [ dêmos ] to turn the
 scales in our favor. We are on the plain of the armed Trojans with the sea
 [ pontos ] behind us, and far from our own
 country. Our salvation, therefore, is in the might of our hands and in hard
 fighting." 

 
 As he spoke he wielded his spear with still
 greater fury, and when any Trojan made towards the ships with fire to win favor
 [ kharis ] with Hektor, he would be on the
 look-out for him, and drive at him with his long spear. Twelve men did he thus
 kill in hand-to-hand fight before the ships.

Thus did they fight about the ship of
 Protesilaos. Then Patroklos drew near to Achilles with tears welling from his
 eyes, as from some spring whose crystal stream falls over the ledges of a high
 precipice. When Achilles saw him thus weeping he was sorry for him and said,
 "Why, Patroklos, do you stand there weeping like some silly child that comes
 running to her mother, and begs to be taken up and carried- she catches hold of
 her mother's dress to stay her though she is in a hurry, and looks tearfully up
 until her mother carries her - even such tears, Patroklos, are you now
 shedding. Have you anything to say to the Myrmidons or to myself? or have you
 had news from Phthia which you
 alone know? They tell me Menoitios son of Aktor is still alive, as also Peleus
 son of Aiakos, among the Myrmidons - men whose loss we two should bitterly
 deplore; or are you grieving about the Argives and the way in which they are
 being killed at the ships, through their own high-handed doings? Do not hide in
 your mind [ noos ] anything from me but tell me that
 both of us may know about it." 

 
 Then, O horseman Patroklos, with a deep sigh you
 answered, "Achilles, son of Peleus, foremost champion of the Achaeans, do not
 be angry, but I feel grief [ akhos ] for the disaster
 that has now befallen the Argives. All those who have been their champions so
 far are lying at the ships, wounded by sword or spear. Brave Diomedes son of
 Tydeus has been hit with a spear, while famed Odysseus and Agamemnon have
 received sword-wounds; 

 
 Eurypylos again has been struck with an arrow in
 the thigh; skilled apothecaries are attending to these heroes, and healing them
 of their wounds; are you still, O Achilles, so inexorable? May it never be my
 lot to nurse such a passion as you have done, to the baning of your own good
 name. Who in future story will speak well of you unless you now save the
 Argives from ruin? You know no pity; horseman Peleus was not your father nor
 Thetis your mother, but the gray sea bore you and the sheer cliffs begot you,
 so cruel and remorseless are you in your thinking [ noos ]. If however you are kept back through knowledge of some
 oracle, or if your mother Thetis has told you something from the mouth of Zeus,
 at least send me and the Myrmidons with me, if I may bring deliverance to the
 Danaans. Let me moreover wear your armor; the Trojans may thus mistake me for
 you and quit the field, so that the hard-pressed sons of the Achaeans may have
 breathing time- which while they are fighting may hardly be. We who are fresh
 might soon drive tired men back from our ships and tents to their own city." 

 
 He knew not what he was asking, nor that he was
 suing for his own destruction. Achilles was deeply moved and answered, "What,
 noble Patroklos, are you saying? I know no prophesyings which I am heeding, nor
 has my mother told me anything from the mouth of Zeus, but I am cut to the very
 heart with grief [ akhos ] that one of my own rank
 should dare to rob me because he is more powerful than I am. This grief [ akhos ], after all that I have gone through, is more
 than I can endure. The girl whom the sons of the Achaeans chose for me, whom I
 won as the fruit of my spear on having sacked a city - her has King Agamemnon
 taken from me as though I were some common vagrant. Still, let bygones be
 bygones: no man may keep his anger for ever; I said I would not relent till
 battle and the cry of war had reached my own ships; nevertheless, now gird my
 armor about your shoulders, and lead the Myrmidons to battle, for the dark
 cloud of Trojans has burst furiously over our fleet; 

 
 the Argives are driven back on to the beach,
 cooped within a narrow space, and the whole people of Troy has taken heart to sally out against
 them, because they see not the visor of my helmet gleaming near them. Had they
 seen this, there would not have been a creek nor grip that had not been filled
 with their dead as they fled back again. And so it would have been, if only
 King Agamemnon had dealt fairly by me. As it is the Trojans have beset our
 host. Diomedes son of Tydeus no longer wields his spear to defend the Danaans,
 neither have I heard the voice of the son of Atreus coming from his hated
 [ ekhthrê ] head, whereas that of murderous Hektor
 rings in my cars as he gives orders to the Trojans, who triumph over the
 Achaeans and fill the whole plain with their cry of battle. But even so,
 Patroklos, fall upon them and save the fleet, lest the Trojans fire it and
 deprive us of our safe homecoming [ nostos ]. Bring
 to fulfillment [ telos ] what I now order you to do,
 so that you may win me great honor [ timê ] from all
 the Danaans, and that they may restore the girl to me again and give me rich
 gifts into the bargain. When you have driven the Trojans from the ships, come
 back again. Though Hera's thundering husband should put triumph within your
 reach, do not fight the Trojans further in my absence, or you will rob me of
 glory that should be mine. And do not for lust of battle go on killing the
 Trojans nor lead the Achaeans on to Ilion , lest one of the ever-living gods from Olympus attack you - for Phoebus Apollo loves
 them well: return when you have freed the ships from peril, and let others wage
 war upon the plain. Would, by father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo, that not a
 single man of all the Trojans might be left alive, nor yet of the Argives, but
 that we two might be alone left to tear aside the mantle that veils the brow of
 Troy ." 

 
 Thus did they converse. But Ajax could no
 longer hold his ground for the shower of darts that rained upon him; the will
 [ noos ] of Zeus and the javelins of the Trojans
 were too much for him; the helmet that gleamed about his temples rang with the
 continuous clatter of the missiles that kept pouring on to it and on to the
 cheek-pieces that protected his face. Moreover his left shoulder was tired with
 having held his shield so long, yet for all this, let fly at him as they would,
 they could not make him give ground. He could hardly draw his breath, the sweat
 rained from every pore of his body, he had not a moment's respite, and on all
 sides he was beset by danger upon danger. 

 
 And now, tell me, O Muses that hold your
 mansions on Olympus , how fire was
 thrown upon the ships of the Achaeans. Hektor came close up and let drive with
 his great sword at the ashen spear of Ajax. He cut it clean in two just behind
 where the point was fastened on to the shaft of the spear. Ajax, therefore, had
 now nothing but a headless spear, while the bronze point flew some way off and
 came ringing down on to the ground. Ajax knew the hand of heaven in this, and
 was dismayed at seeing that Zeus had now left him utterly defenseless and was
 willing victory for the Trojans. Therefore he drew back, and the Trojans flung
 fire upon the ship which was at once wrapped in flame. 

 
 The fire was now flaring about the ship's
 stern, whereon Achilles smote his two thighs and said to Patroklos, "Up, noble
 horseman, for I see the glare of hostile fire at our fleet; up, lest they
 destroy our ships, and there be no way by which we may retreat. Gird on your
 armor at once while I call our people together."

As he spoke Patroklos put on his armor. First
 he greaved his legs with greaves of good make, and fitted with ankle-clasps of
 silver; after this he donned the cuirass of the son of Aiakos, richly inlaid
 and studded. He hung his silver-studded sword of bronze about his shoulders,
 and then his mighty shield. On his comely head he set his helmet, well wrought,
 with a crest of horse-hair that nodded menacingly above it. He grasped two
 redoubtable spears that suited his hands, but he did not take the spear of
 noble Achilles, so stout and strong, 

 
 for none other of the Achaeans could wield it,
 though Achilles could do so easily. This was the ashen spear from Mount Pelion,
 which Chiron had cut upon a mountain top and had given to Peleus, wherewith to
 deal out death among heroes. He bade Automedon yoke his horses with all speed,
 for he was the man whom he held in honor next after Achilles, and on whose
 support in battle he could rely most firmly. Automedon therefore yoked the
 fleet horses Xanthos and Balios,
 steeds that could fly like the wind: these were they whom the harpy Podarge
 bore to the west wind, as she was grazing in a meadow by the waters of the
 river Okeanos. In the side traces he set the noble horse Pedasos, whom Achilles
 had brought away with him when he sacked the city of Eetion, and who, mortal
 steed though he was, could take his place along with those that were immortal. 

 
 Meanwhile Achilles went about everywhere among
 the tents, and bade his Myrmidons put on their armor. Even as fierce ravening
 wolves that are feasting upon a horned stag which they have killed upon the
 mountains, and their jaws are red with blood - they go in a pack to lap water
 from the clear spring with their long thin tongues; and they reek of blood and
 slaughter; they know not what fear is, for it is hunger drives them - even so
 did the leaders and counselors of the Myrmidons gather round the good squire
 [ therapôn ] of the fleet descendant of Aiakos,
 and among them stood Achilles himself cheering on both men and horses. 

 
 Fifty ships had noble Achilles brought to
 Troy , and in each there was a crew
 of fifty oarsmen. Over these he set five leaders whom he could trust, while he
 was himself commander over them all. Menesthios of the gleaming corselet, son
 to the river Spercheios that streams from heaven, was leader of the first
 company. Fair Polydora daughter of Peleus bore him to ever-flowing Spercheios -
 a woman mated with a god - but he was called son of Boros son of Perieres, with
 whom his mother was living as his wedded wife, and who gave great wealth to
 gain her. 

 
 The second company was led by noble Eudoros,
 son to an unwedded woman. Polymele, daughter of Phylas, graceful in dancing
 [ khoros ], bore him; the mighty slayer of
 Argos was enamored of her as he
 saw her among the singing women at a dance [ khoros ]
 held in honor of Artemis the rushing huntress of the golden arrows; he
 therefore - Hermes, giver of all good - went with her into an upper chamber,
 and lay with her in secret, whereon she bore him a noble son Eudoros,
 singularly fleet of foot and in fight valiant. When Eileithuia goddess of the
 pains of child-birth brought him to the light of day, and he saw the face of
 the sun, mighty Echekles son of Aktor took the mother to wife, and gave great
 wealth to gain her, but her father Phylas brought the child up, and took care
 of him, doting as fondly upon him as though he were his own son. The third
 company was led by Peisandros son of Maimalos, the finest spearman among all
 the Myrmidons next to Achilles' own comrade Patroklos. The old horseman Phoenix
 was leader of the fourth company, and Alkimedon, noble son of Laerceus of the
 fifth. 

 
 When Achilles had chosen [ krinô ] his men and had stationed them all with their leaders, he
 charged them straitly saying, "Myrmidons, remember your threats against the
 Trojans while you were at the ships in the time of my anger, and you were all
 complaining of me. ‘Cruel son of Peleus,’ you would say, ‘your mother must have
 suckled you on gall, so ruthless are you. You keep us here at the ships against
 our will; if you are so relentless it were better we went home over the sea.’
 Often have you gathered and thus chided with me. The hour is now come for those
 high feats of arms that you have so long been pining for, therefore keep high
 hearts each one of you to do battle with the Trojans." 

 
 With these words he put heart and soul into
 them all, and they serried their companies yet more closely when they heard the
 of their king. As the stones which a builder sets in the wall of some high
 house which is to give shelter from the winds - even so closely were the
 helmets and bossed shields set against one another. Shield pressed on shield,
 helm on helm, and man on man; so close were they that the horse-hair plumes on
 the gleaming ridges of their helmets touched each other as they bent their
 heads. 

 
 In front of them all two men put on their armor
 - Patroklos and Automedon - two men, with but one mind to lead the Myrmidons.
 Then Achilles went inside his tent and opened the lid of the strong chest which
 silver-footed Thetis had given him to take on board ship, and which she had
 filled with shirts, cloaks to keep out the cold, and good thick rugs. In this
 chest he had a cup of rare workmanship, from which no man but himself might
 drink, nor would he make offering from it to any other god save only to father
 Zeus. He took the cup from the chest and cleansed it with sulfur; this done he
 rinsed it clean water, and after he had washed his hands he drew wine. Then he
 stood in the middle of the court and prayed, looking towards heaven, and making
 his drink-offering of wine; nor was he unseen of Zeus whose joy is in thunder.
 "King Zeus," he cried, "lord of Dodona , god of the Pelasgi, you who dwell afar, you who hold
 wintry Dodona in your sway, where
 your seers the Selloi dwell around you with their feet unwashed and their
 couches made upon the ground - if you heard me when I prayed to you aforetime,
 and did me honor while you sent disaster on the Achaeans, grant me now the
 fulfillment of yet this further prayer. I shall stay here where my assembly
 [ agôn ] of ships are lying, but I shall send my
 comrade into battle at the head of many Myrmidons. Grant, O all-seeing Zeus,
 that victory may go with him; put your courage into his heart that Hektor may
 learn whether my squire [ therapôn ] is man enough to
 fight alone, or whether his might is only then so indomitable when I myself
 enter the turmoil of war. Afterwards when he has chased the fight and the cry
 of battle from the ships, grant that he may return unharmed, with his armor and
 his comrades, fighters in close combat."

Thus did he pray, and all-counseling Zeus heard
 his prayer. Part of it he did indeed grant him - but not the whole. He granted
 that Patroklos should thrust back war and battle from the ships, but refused to
 let him come safely out of the fight. 

 
 When he had made his drink-offering and had
 thus prayed, Achilles went inside his tent and put back the cup into his chest. 

 
 Then he again came out, for he still loved to
 look upon the fierce fight that raged between the Trojans and Achaeans. 

 
 Meanwhile the armed band that was about
 Patroklos marched on till they sprang high in hope upon the Trojans. They came
 swarming out like wasps whose nests are by the roadside, and whom silly
 children love to tease, whereon any one who happens to be passing may get stung
 - or again, if a wayfarer going along the road vexes them by accident, every
 wasp will come flying out in a fury to defend his little ones- even with such
 rage and courage did the Myrmidons swarm from their ships, and their cry of
 battle rose heavenwards. Patroklos called out to his men at the top of his
 voice, "Myrmidons, followers of Achilles son of Peleus, be men my friends,
 fight with might and with main, that we may win glory for the son of Peleus,
 who is far the foremost man at the ships of the Argives - he, and his close
 fighting followers [therapontes]. The son of Atreus King Agamemnon will thus
 recognize his derangement [ atê ] in showing no
 respect to the bravest of the Achaeans." 

 
 With these words he put heart and soul into
 them all, and they fell in a body upon the Trojans. The ships rang again with
 the cry which the Achaeans raised, and when the Trojans saw the brave son of
 Menoitios and his squire [ therapôn ] all gleaming in
 their armor, they were daunted and their battalions were thrown into confusion,
 for they thought the fleet son of Peleus must now have put aside his anger, and
 have been reconciled to Agamemnon; every one, therefore, looked round about to
 see whither he might flee for safety. 

 
 Patroklos first aimed a spear into the middle
 of the press where men were packed most closely, by the stern of the ship of
 Protesilaos. He hit Pyraikhmes who had led his Paeonian horsemen from the
 Amydon and the broad waters of
 the river Axios ; the spear struck him
 on the right shoulder, and with a groan he fell backwards in the dust; on this
 his men were thrown into confusion, for by killing their leader, who was the
 finest warrior among them, Patroklos struck panic into them all. He thus drove
 them from the ship and quenched the fire that was then blazing - leaving the
 half-burnt ship to lie where it was. The Trojans were now driven back with a
 shout that rent the skies, while the Danaans poured after them from their
 ships, shouting also without ceasing. As when Zeus, gatherer of the
 thunder-cloud, spreads a dense canopy on the top of some lofty mountain, and
 all the peaks, the jutting headlands, and forest glades show out in the great
 light that flashes from the bursting heavens, even so when the Danaans had now
 driven back the fire from their ships, they took breath for a little while; but
 the fury of the fight was not yet over, for the Trojans were not driven back in
 utter rout, but still gave battle, and were ousted from their ground only by
 sheer fighting. 

 
 The fight then became more scattered, and the
 chieftains killed one another when and how they could. The valiant son of
 Menoitios first drove his spear into the thigh of Areilykos just as he was
 turning round; the point went clean through, and broke the bone so that he fell
 forward. Meanwhile Menelaos struck Thoas in the chest, where it was exposed
 near the rim of his shield, and he fell dead. The son of Phyleus saw Amphiklos
 about to attack him, and ere he could do so took aim at the upper part of his
 thigh, where the muscles are thicker than in any other part; the spear tore
 through all the sinews of the leg, and his eyes were closed in darkness. 

 
 Of the sons of Nestor one, Antilokhos, speared
 Atymnios, driving the point of the spear through his throat, and down he fell.
 Maris then sprang on Antilokhos in hand-to-hand fight to avenge his brother,
 and bestrode the body spear in hand; but valiant Thrasymedes was too quick for
 him, and in a moment had struck him in the shoulder ere he could deal his blow;
 his aim was true, and the spear severed all the muscles at the root of his arm,
 and tore them right down to the bone, so he fell heavily to the ground and his
 eyes were closed in darkness. Thus did these two noble comrades of Sarpedon go
 down to Erebos slain by the two sons of Nestor; they were the warrior sons of
 Amisodoros, who had reared the invincible Chimaera, to the bane of many. Ajax
 son of Oileus sprang on Kleoboulos and took him alive as he was entangled in
 the crush; but he killed him then and there by a sword-blow on the neck. The
 sword reeked with his blood, while dark death and the strong hand of fate
 gripped him and closed his eyes.

Peneleos and Lykon now met in close fight, for
 they had missed each other with their spears. They had both thrown without
 effect, so now they drew their swords. Lykon struck the plumed crest of
 Peneleos' helmet but his sword broke at the hilt, while Peneleos smote Lykon on
 the neck under the ear. The blade sank so deep that the head was held on by
 nothing but the skin, and there was no more life left in him. Meriones gave
 chase to Akamas on foot and caught him up just as he was about to mount his
 chariot; he drove a spear through his right shoulder so that he fell headlong
 from the car, and his eyes were closed in darkness. Idomeneus speared Erymas in
 the mouth; the bronze point of the spear went clean through it beneath the
 brain, crashing in among the white bones and smashing them up. His teeth were
 all of them knocked out and the blood came gushing in a stream from both his
 eyes; it also came gurgling up from his mouth and nostrils, and the darkness of
 death enfolded him round about. 

 
 Thus did these chieftains of the Danaans each
 of them kill his man. As ravening wolves seize on kids or lambs, fastening on
 them when they are alone on the hillsides and have strayed from the main flock
 through the carelessness of the shepherd - and when the wolves see this they
 pounce upon them at once because they cannot defend themselves- even so did the
 Danaans now fall on the Trojans, who fled with ill-omened cries in their panic
 and had no more fight left in them. 

 
 Meanwhile great Ajax kept on trying to drive a
 spear into Hektor, but Hektor was so skillful that he held his broad shoulders
 well under cover of his ox-hide shield, ever on the look-out for the whizzing
 of the arrows and the heavy thud of the spears. He well knew that the fortunes
 of the day had changed, but still stood his ground and tried to protect his
 comrades. 

 
 As when a cloud goes up into heaven from
 Olympus , rising out of a clear sky
 when Zeus is brewing a gale - even with such panic stricken rout did the
 Trojans now flee, and there was no order in their going. Hektor's fleet horses
 bore him and his armor out of the fight, and he left the Trojan host penned in
 by the deep trench against their will. Many a yoke of horses snapped the pole
 of their chariots in the trench and left their master's car behind them.
 Patroklos gave chase, calling impetuously on the Danaans and full of fury
 against the Trojans, who, being now no longer in a body, filled all the ways
 with their cries of panic and rout; the air was darkened with the clouds of
 dust they raised, and the horses strained every nerve in their flight from the
 tents and ships towards the city. 

 
 Patroklos kept on heading his horses wherever
 he saw most men fleeing in confusion, cheering on his men the while. Chariots
 were being smashed in all directions, and many a man came tumbling down from
 his own car to fall beneath the wheels of that of Patroklos, whose immortal
 steeds, given by the gods to Peleus, sprang over the trench at a bound as they
 sped onward. He was intent on trying to get near Hektor, for he had set his
 heart on spearing him, but Hektor's horses were now hurrying him away. As the
 whole dark earth bows before some tempest on an autumn day when Zeus rains his
 hardest to punish men for judging [ krinô ] crookedly
 in their courts, and arriving justice there from without heed to the decrees
 [ themistes ] of heaven - all the rivers run full
 and the torrents tear many a new channel as they roar headlong from the
 mountains to the dark sea, and it fares ill with the works of men - even such
 was the stress and strain of the Trojan horses in their flight. 

 
 Patroklos now cut off the battalions that were
 nearest to him and drove them back to the ships. They were doing their best to
 reach the city, but he would not let them, and bore down on them between the
 river and the ships and wall. Many a fallen comrade did he then avenge. First
 he hit Pronoos with a spear on the chest where it was exposed near the rim of
 his shield, and he fell heavily to the ground. Next he sprang on Thestor son of
 Enops, who was sitting all huddled up in his chariot, for he had lost his head
 and the reins had been torn out of his hands. Patroklos went up to him and
 drove a spear into his right jaw; he thus hooked him by the teeth and the spear
 pulled him over the rim of his car, as one who sits at the end of some jutting
 rock and draws a strong fish out of the sea [ pontos ] with a hook and a line - even so with his spear did he pull
 Thestor all gaping from his chariot; he then threw him down on his face and he
 died while falling. On this, as Erylaos was on to attack him, he struck him
 full on the head with a stone, and his brains were all battered inside his
 helmet, whereon he fell headlong to the ground and the pangs of death took hold
 upon him. Then he laid low, one after the other, Erymas, Amphoteros, Epaltes,
 Tlepolemos, Echios son of Damastor, Pyris, Ipheus, Euippos and Polymelos son of
 Argeas. 

 
 Now when Sarpedon saw his comrades, men who
 wore unbelted tunics, being overcome by Patroklos son of Menoitios, he rebuked
 the Lycians saying. "Shame [ aidôs ] on you, where
 are you fleeing to? Show your mettle; I will myself meet this man in fight and
 learn who it is that is so masterful; he has done us much hurt, and has
 stretched many a brave man upon the ground." 

 
 He sprang from his chariot as he spoke, and
 Patroklos, when he saw this, leaped on to the ground also. The two then rushed
 at one another with loud cries like eagle-beaked crook-taloned vultures that
 scream and tear at one another in some high mountain fastness.

The son of scheming Kronos looked down upon
 them in pity and said to Hera who was his wife and sister, "Alas, that it
 should be the lot of Sarpedon whom I love so dearly to perish by the hand of
 Patroklos. I am in two minds whether to catch him up out of the fight and set
 him down safe and sound in the fertile district [ dêmos ] of Lycia , or to let
 him now fall by the hand of the son of Menoitios." 

 
 And Hera answered, "Most dread son of Kronos,
 what is this that you are saying? Would you snatch a mortal man, whose doom has
 long been fated, out of the jaws of death? Do as you will, but we shall not all
 of us be of your mind. I say further, and lay my saying to your heart, that if
 you send Sarpedon safely to his own home, some other of the gods will be also
 wanting to escort his son out of battle, for there are many sons of gods
 fighting round the city of Troy , and
 you will make every one jealous. If, however, you are fond of him and pity him,
 let him indeed fall by the hand of Patroklos, but as soon as the life [ psukhê ] is gone out of him, send Death and sweet Sleep
 to bear him off the field and take him to the broad district [ dêmos ] of Lycia , where his brothers and his kinsmen will bury him with
 mound and pillar, in due honor to the dead." 

 
 The sire of gods and men assented, but he shed
 a rain of blood upon the earth in honor [ timê ] of
 his son whom Patroklos was about to kill on the fertile plain of Troy far from his home. 

 
 When they were now come close to one another
 Patroklos struck Thrasydemos, the brave squire [ therapôn ] of Sarpedon, in the lower part of the belly, and killed
 him. Sarpedon then aimed a spear at Patroklos and missed him, but he struck the
 horse Pedasos in the right shoulder, and it screamed aloud as it lay, groaning
 in the dust until the life went out of it. The other two horses began to
 plunge; the pole of the chariot cracked and they got entangled in the reins
 through the fall of the horse that was yoked along with them; but Automedon
 knew what to do; without the loss of a moment he drew the keen blade that hung
 by his sturdy thigh and cut the third horse adrift; whereon the other two
 righted themselves, and pulling hard at the reins again went together into
 battle. 

 
 Sarpedon now took a second aim at Patroklos,
 and again missed him, the point of the spear passed over his left shoulder
 without hitting him. Patroklos then aimed in his turn, and the spear sped not
 from his hand in vain, for he hit Sarpedon just where the midriff surrounds the
 ever-beating heart. He fell like some oak or silver poplar or tall pine to
 which woodmen have laid their axes upon the mountains to make timber for
 ship-building - even so did he lie stretched at full length in front of his
 chariot and horses, moaning and clutching at the blood-stained dust. As when a
 lion springs with a bound upon a herd of cattle and fastens on a great black
 bull which dies bellowing in its clutches - even so did the leader of the
 Lycian warriors struggle in death as he fell by the hand of Patroklos. He
 called on his trusty comrade and said, "Glaukos, my brother, hero among heroes,
 put forth all your strength, fight with might and main, now if ever quit
 yourself like a valiant warrior. First go about among the Lycian leaders and
 bid them fight for Sarpedon; then yourself also do battle to save my armor from
 being taken. My name will haunt you henceforth and for ever if the Achaeans rob
 me of my armor now that I have fallen near the assembly [ agôn ] of their ships. Do your very utmost and call all my people
 together." 

 
 The outcome [ telos ]
 of death closed his eyes as he spoke. Patroklos planted his heel on his breast
 and drew the spear from his body, whereon his diaphragm came out along with it,
 and he drew out both spear-point and Sarpedon's life-breath [ psukhê ] at the same time. Hard by the Myrmidons held
 his snorting steeds, who were wild with panic at finding themselves deserted by
 their lords. Glaukos was overcome with grief [ akhos ] when he heard what Sarpedon said, for he could not help him. He
 had to support his arm with his other hand, being in great pain through the
 wound which Teucer's arrow had given him when Teucer was defending the wall as
 he, Glaukos, was assailing it. Therefore he prayed to far-darting Apollo
 saying, "Hear me O king from your seat, may be in the fertile district [ dêmos ] of Lycia , or may be in Troy , for in all places you can hear the prayer of one who is
 in distress, as I now am. I have a grievous wound; my hand is aching with pain,
 there is no staunching the blood, and my whole arm drags by reason of my hurt,
 so that I cannot grasp my sword nor go among my foes and fight them, though our
 prince, Zeus' son Sarpedon, is slain. Zeus defended not his son, do you,
 therefore, O king, heal me of my wound, ease my pain and grant me strength both
 to cheer on the Lycians and to fight along with them round the body of him who
 has fallen." 

 
 Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer.
 He eased his pain, staunched the black blood from the wound, and gave him new
 strength. Glaukos perceived this, and was thankful that the mighty god had
 answered his prayer; forthwith, therefore, he went among the Lycian leaders,
 and bade them come to fight about the body of Sarpedon. From these he strode on
 among the Trojans to Polydamas son of Panthoos and Agenor; he then went in
 search of Aeneas and Hektor, and when he had found them he said, "Hektor, you
 have utterly forgotten your allies, who languish here for your sake far from
 friends and home while you do nothing to support them. 

 
 Sarpedon leader of the Lycian warriors has
 fallen - he who was at once the right and might of Lycia ; Ares has laid him low by the spear of Patroklos. Stand
 by him, my friends, and suffer not the Myrmidons to strip him of his armor, nor
 to treat his body with contumely in revenge for all the Danaans whom we have
 speared at the ships."

As he spoke the Trojans were plunged in extreme
 and ungovernable grief [ penthos ]; for Sarpedon,
 alien though he was, had been one of the main stays of their city, both as
 having many people with him, and himself the foremost among them all. Led by
 Hektor, who was infuriated by the fall of Sarpedon, they made instantly for the
 Danaans with all their might, while the undaunted spirit of Patroklos son of
 Menoitios cheered on the Achaeans. First he spoke to the two Ajaxes, men who
 needed no bidding. "Ajaxes," said he, "may it now please you to show yourselves
 the men you have always been, or even better- Sarpedon is fallen - he who was
 first to overleap the wall of the Achaeans; let us take the body and outrage
 it; let us strip the armor from his shoulders, and kill his comrades if they
 try to rescue his body." 

 
 He spoke to men who of themselves were full
 eager; both sides, therefore, the Trojans and Lycians on the one hand, and the
 Myrmidons and Achaeans on the other, strengthened their battalions, and fought
 desperately about the body of Sarpedon, shouting fiercely the while. Mighty was
 the din of their armor as they came together, and Zeus shed a thick darkness
 over the fight, to increase the ordeal [ ponos ] of
 the battle over the body of his son. 

 
 At first the Trojans made some headway against
 the Achaeans, for one of the best men among the Myrmidons was killed, Epeigeus,
 son of noble Agakles who had erewhile been king in the good city of Boudeion;
 but presently, having killed a valiant kinsman of his own, he took refuge with
 Peleus and Thetis, who sent him to Ilion the land of noble steeds to fight the Trojans under
 Achilles. Hektor now struck him on the head with a stone just as he had caught
 hold of the body, 

 
 and his brains inside his helmet were all
 battered in, so that he fell face foremost upon the body of Sarpedon, and there
 died. Patroklos was enraged with grief [ akhos ] over
 by the death of his comrade, and sped through the front ranks as swiftly as a
 hawk that swoops down on a flock of daws or starlings. Even so swiftly, O noble
 horseman Patroklos, did you make straight for the Lycians and Trojans to avenge
 your comrade. Forthwith he struck Sthenelaos the son of Ithaimenes on the neck
 with a stone, and broke the tendons that join it to the head and spine. On this
 Hektor and the front rank of his men gave ground. As far as a man can throw a
 javelin in competition [ athlos ] for some prize, or
 even in battle - so far did the Trojans now retreat before the Achaeans.
 Glaukos, leader of the Lycians, was the first to rally them, by killing
 Bathykles son of Khalkon who lived in Hellas and was supreme in wealth [ olbos ] among the Myrmidons. Glaukos turned round suddenly, just as
 Bathykles who was pursuing him was about to lay hold of him, and drove his
 spear right into the middle of his chest, whereon he fell heavily to the
 ground, and the fall of so good a man filled the Achaeans with dismay [ akhos ], while the Trojans were exultant, and came up
 in a body round the corpse. Nevertheless the Achaeans, mindful of their
 prowess, bore straight down upon them. 

 
 Meriones then killed a helmed warrior of the
 Trojans, Laogonos son of Onetor, who was priest of Zeus of Mount Ida , and was honored in the district
 [ dêmos ] as though he were a god. Meriones struck
 him under the jaw and ear, so that life went out of him and the darkness of
 death laid hold upon him. Aeneas then aimed a spear at Meriones, hoping to hit
 him under the shield as he was advancing, but Meriones saw it coming and
 stooped forward to avoid it, whereon the spear flew past him and the point
 stuck in the ground, while the butt-end went on quivering till Ares robbed it
 of its force. The spear, therefore, sped from Aeneas' hand in vain and fell
 quivering to the ground. Aeneas was angry and said, "Meriones, you are a good
 dancer, but if I had hit you my spear would soon have made an end of you." 

 
 And Meriones answered, "Aeneas, for all your
 bravery, you will not be able to make an end of every one who comes against
 you. You are only a mortal like myself, and if I were to hit you in the middle
 of your shield with my spear, however strong and self-confident you may be, I
 should soon vanquish you, and you would yield your life-breath [ psukhê ] to Hades of the noble steeds." 

 
 On this the son of Menoitios rebuked him and
 said, "Meriones, hero though you be, you should not speak thus; taunting
 speeches, my good friend, will not make the Trojans draw away from the dead
 body; some of them must go under ground first; the outcome [ telos ] of battle is in the force of hands, while the
 outcome of deliberation is words; fight, therefore, and say nothing." 

 
 He led the way as he spoke and the hero went
 forward with him. As the sound of woodcutters in some forest glade upon the
 mountains- and the thud of their axes is heard afar - even such a din now rose
 from earth-clash of bronze armor and of good ox-hide shields, as men smote each
 other with their swords and spears pointed at both ends. A man had need of good
 eyesight now to know Sarpedon, so covered was he from head to foot with spears
 and blood and dust. Men swarmed about the body, as flies that buzz round the
 full milk-pails in the season [ hôra ] of spring when
 they are brimming with milk - even so did they gather round Sarpedon; nor did
 Zeus turn his keen eyes away for one moment from the fight, but kept looking at
 it all the time, for he was settling how best to kill Patroklos, and
 considering whether Hektor should be allowed to end him now in the fight round
 the body of Sarpedon, and strip him of his armor, or whether he should let him
 give yet further trouble [ ponos ] to the Trojans. In
 the end, he deemed it best that the brave squire [ therapôn ] of Achilles son of Peleus should drive Hektor and the
 Trojans back towards the city and take the lives of many. First, therefore, he
 made Hektor turn fainthearted, whereon he mounted his chariot and fled, bidding
 the other Trojans flee also,

for he saw that the scales of Zeus had turned
 against him. Neither would the brave Lycians stand firm; they were dismayed
 when they saw their king lying struck to the heart amid a heap of corpses - for
 when the son of Kronos made the fight wax hot many had fallen above him. The
 Achaeans, therefore stripped the gleaming armor from his shoulders and the
 brave son of Menoitios gave it to his men to take to the ships. Then Zeus lord
 of the storm-cloud said to Apollo, "Dear Phoebus, go, I pray you, and take
 Sarpedon out of range of the weapons; cleanse the black blood from off him, and
 then bear him a long way off where you may wash him in the river, anoint him
 with ambrosia, and clothe him in immortal raiment; this done, commit him to the
 arms of the two fleet messengers, Death, and Sleep, who will carry him
 straightway to the fertile district [ dêmos ] of
 Lycia , where his brothers and
 kinsmen will give him a funeral, and will raise both mound and pillar to his
 memory, in due honor to the dead." 

 
 Thus he spoke. Apollo obeyed his father's
 saying, and came down from the heights of Ida into the thick of the fight;
 forthwith he took Sarpedon out of range of the weapons, and then bore him a
 long way off, where he washed him in the river, anointed him with ambrosia and
 clothed him in immortal raiment; this done, he committed him to the arms of the
 two fleet messengers, Death and Sleep, who presently set him down in the
 fertile district [ dêmos ] of Lycia . 

 
 Meanwhile Patroklos, with many a shout to his
 horses and to Automedon, pursued the Trojans and Lycians in the pride and
 foolishness of his heart. Had he but obeyed the bidding of the son of Peleus,
 he would have, escaped death and have been scatheless; but the counsels [ noos ] of Zeus pass man's understanding; he will put
 even a brave man to flight and snatch victory from his grasp, or again he will
 set him on to fight, as he now did when he put a high spirit into the heart of
 Patroklos. 

 
 Who then first, and who last, was slain by you,
 O Patroklos, when the gods had now called you to meet your doom? First
 Adrastos, Autonoos, Echeklos, Perimos the son of Megas, Epistor and Melanippos;
 after these he killed Elasus, Moulios, and Pylartes. These he slew, but the
 rest saved themselves by flight. 

 
 The sons of the Achaeans would now have taken
 Troy by the hands of Patroklos,
 for his spear flew in all directions, had not Phoebus Apollo taken his stand
 upon the wall to defeat his purpose and to aid the Trojans. Thrice did
 Patroklos charge at an angle of the high wall, and thrice did Apollo beat him
 back, striking his shield with his own immortal hands. When Patroklos was
 coming on like a daimôn for yet a fourth time,
 Apollo shouted to him with an awful voice and said, "Draw back, noble
 Patroklos, it is not your lot to sack the city of the Trojan chieftains, nor
 yet will it be that of Achilles who is a far better man than you are." On
 hearing this, Patroklos withdrew to some distance and avoided the anger [ mênis ] of Apollo. 

 
 Meanwhile Hektor was waiting with his horses
 inside the Scaean gates, in doubt whether to drive out again and go on
 fighting, or to call the army inside the gates. As he was thus doubting Phoebus
 Apollo drew near him in the likeness of a young and lusty warrior Asios, who
 was Hektor's uncle, being own brother to Hecuba, and son of Dymas who lived in
 Phrygia by the waters of the river
 Sangarios; in his likeness Zeus' son Apollo now spoke to Hektor saying,
 "Hektor, why have you left off fighting? It is ill done of you. If I were as
 much better a man than you, as I am worse, you should soon rue your slackness.
 Drive straight towards Patroklos, if so be that Apollo may grant you a triumph
 over him, and you may kill him." 

 
 With this the god went back into the struggle
 [ ponos ], and Hektor bade Kebriones drive again
 into the fight. Apollo passed in among them, and struck panic into the Argives,
 while he gave triumph to Hektor and the Trojans. Hektor let the other Danaans
 alone and killed no man, but drove straight at Patroklos. Patroklos then sprang
 from his chariot to the ground, 

 
 with a spear in his left hand, and in his right
 a jagged stone as large as his hand could hold. He stood still and threw it,
 nor did it go far without hitting some one; the cast was not in vain, for the
 stone struck Kebriones, Hektor's charioteer, a bastard son of Priam, as he held
 the reins in his hands. The stone hit him on the forehead and drove his brows
 into his head for the bone was smashed, and his eyes fell to the ground at his
 feet. He dropped dead from his chariot as though he were diving, and there was
 no more life left in him. Over him did you then vaunt, O horseman Patroklos,
 saying, "Bless my heart, how active he is, and how well he dives. If we had
 been at sea [ pontos ] this man would have dived from
 the ship's side and brought up as many oysters as the whole crew could stomach,
 even in rough water, for he has dived beautifully off his chariot on to the
 ground. It seems, then, that there are divers also among the Trojans."

As he spoke he flung himself on Kebriones with
 the spring, as it were, of a lion that while attacking a stockyard is himself
 struck in the chest, and his courage is his own bane - even so furiously, O
 Patroklos, did you then spring upon Kebriones. Hektor sprang also from his
 chariot to the ground. The pair then fought over the body of Kebriones. As two
 lions fight fiercely on some high mountain over the body of a stag that they
 have killed, even so did these two mighty warriors, Patroklos son of Menoitios
 and brave Hektor, hack and hew at one another over the corpse of Kebriones.
 Hektor would not let him go when he had once got him by the head, while
 Patroklos kept fast hold of his feet, and a fierce fight raged between the
 other Danaans and Trojans. As the east and south wind buffet one another when
 they beat upon some dense forest on the mountains - there is beech and ash and
 spreading cornel; the to of the trees roar as they beat on one another, and one
 can hear the boughs cracking and breaking - 

 
 even so did the Trojans and Achaeans spring
 upon one another and lay about each other, and neither side would give way.
 Many a pointed spear fell to ground and many a winged arrow sped from its
 bow-string about the body of Kebriones; many a great stone, moreover, beat on
 many a shield as they fought around his body, but there he lay in the whirling
 clouds of dust, all huge and hugely, heedless of his driving now. 

 
 So long as the sun was still high in mid-heaven
 the weapons of either side were alike deadly, and the people fell; but when he
 went down towards the time when men loose their oxen, the Achaeans proved to be
 beyond all forecast stronger, so that they drew Kebriones out of range of the
 darts and tumult of the Trojans, and stripped the armor from his shoulders.
 Then Patroklos sprang like Ares with fierce intent and a terrific shout upon
 the Trojans, and thrice did he kill nine men; but as he was coming on like a
 daimôn for a time, at that moment, O Patroklos,
 was your doom approaching, for Phoebus fought you in fell earnest. Patroklos
 did not see him as he moved about in the crush, for he was enshrouded in thick
 darkness, and the god struck him from behind on his back and his broad
 shoulders with the flat of his hand, so that his eyes turned dizzy. Phoebus
 Apollo beat the helmet from off his head, and it rolled rattling off under the
 horses' feet, where its horse-hair plumes were all begrimed with dust and
 blood. Before this, it would not have been right [ themis ] for this to happen. For before, this helmet had served to
 protect the head and comely forehead of the godlike hero Achilles. Now,
 however, Zeus delivered it over to be worn by Hektor. Nevertheless the end of
 Hektor also was near. The bronze-shod spear, so great and so strong, was broken
 in the hand of Patroklos, while his shield that covered him from head to foot
 fell to the ground as did also the band that held it, and Apollo undid the
 fastenings of his corselet. 

 
 At this his mind became clouded in derangement
 [ atê ]; his limbs failed him, and he stood as one
 dazed; whereon Euphorbos son of Panthoos, a Dardanian, the best spearman of his
 time, as also the finest horseman and fleetest runner, came behind him and
 struck him in the back with a spear, midway between the shoulders. This man as
 soon as ever he had come up with his chariot had dismounted twenty men, so
 proficient was he in all the arts of war - he it was, O horseman Patroklos,
 that first drove a weapon into you, but he did not quite overpower you.
 Euphorbos then ran back into the crowd, after drawing his ashen spear out of
 the wound; he would not stand firm and wait for Patroklos, unarmed though he
 now was, to attack him; but Patroklos unnerved, alike by the blow the god had
 given him and by the spear-wound, drew back under cover of his men in fear for
 his life. Hektor on this, seeing him to be wounded and giving ground, forced
 his way through the ranks, and when close up with him struck him in the lower
 part of the belly with a spear, driving the bronze point right through it, so
 that he fell heavily to the ground to the great of the Achaeans. As when a lion
 has fought some fierce wild-boar and worsted him - the two fight furiously upon
 the mountains over some little fountain at which they would both drink, and the
 lion has beaten the boar till he can hardly breathe - even so did Hektor son of
 Priam take the life of the brave son of Menoitios who had killed so many,
 striking him from close at hand, and vaunting over him the while. "Patroklos,"
 said he, "you deemed that you should sack our city, rob our Trojan women of
 their freedom, and carry them off in your ships to your own country. Fool;
 Hektor and his fleet horses were ever straining their utmost to defend them. I
 am foremost of all the Trojan warriors to stave the day of bondage from off
 them; as for you, vultures shall devour you here. Poor wretch, Achilles with
 all his bravery availed you nothing; and yet I ween when you left him he
 charged you straitly saying, ‘Come not back to the ships, horseman Patroklos,
 till you have rent the bloodstained shirt of murderous Hektor about his body.
 Thus I ween did he charge you, and your fool's heart answered him ‘yea’ within
 you." 

 
 Then, as the life ebbed out of you, you
 answered, O horseman Patroklos: "Hektor, vaunt as you will, for Zeus the son of
 Kronos and Apollo have granted you victory; it is they who have vanquished me
 so easily, and they who have stripped the armor from my shoulders; had twenty
 such men as you attacked me, all of them would have fallen before my spear.
 Fate and the son of Leto have overpowered me, and among mortal men Euphorbos;
 you are yourself third only in the killing of me. I say further, and lay my
 saying to your heart, you too shall live but for a little season; death and the
 day of your doom are close upon you, and they will lay you low by the hand of
 Achilles son of Aiakos." When he had thus spoken his eyes were closed in the
 doom [ telos ] of death, his life-breath [ psukhê ] left his body and flitted down to the house of
 Hades, mourning its sad fate and bidding farewell to the youth and vigor of its
 manhood. Dead though he was, Hektor still spoke to him saying, "Patroklos, why
 should you thus foretell my doom? Who knows but Achilles, son of lovely Thetis,
 may be smitten by my spear and die before me?" 

 
 As he spoke he drew the bronze spear from the
 wound, planting his foot upon the body, which he thrust off and let lie on its
 back. He then went spear in hand after Automedon, squire [ therapôn ] of the fleet descendant of Aiakos, for he longed to lay
 him low, but the immortal steeds which the gods had given as a rich gift to
 Peleus bore him swiftly from the field.

Brave Menelaos son of Atreus now came to know
 that Patroklos had fallen, and made his way through the front ranks clad in
 full armor to bestride him. As a cow stands lowing over her first calf, even so
 did yellow-haired Menelaos bestride Patroklos. He held his round shield and his
 spear in front of him, resolute to kill any who should dare face him. But the
 son of Panthoos had also noted the body, and came up to Menelaos saying,
 "Menelaos, son of Atreus, draw back, leave the body, and let the bloodstained
 spoils be. I was first of the Trojans and their brave allies to drive my spear
 into Patroklos, let me, therefore, have my full glory [ kleos ] among the Trojans, or I will take aim and kill you." 

 
 To this Menelaos answered in great anger "By
 father Zeus, boasting is an ill thing. The pard is not more bold, nor the lion
 nor savage wild-boar, which is fiercest and most dauntless of all creatures,
 than are the proud sons of Panthoos. Yet Hyperenor did not see out the days of
 his youth when he made light of me and withstood me, deeming me the meanest
 warrior among the Danaans. His own feet never bore him back to gladden his wife
 and parents. Even so shall I make an end of you too, if you withstand me; get
 you back into the crowd and do not face me, or it shall be worse for you. Even
 a fool may be wise after the event." 

 
 Euphorbos would not listen, and said, "Now
 indeed, Menelaos, shall you pay for the death of my brother over whom you
 vaunted, and whose wife you widowed in her bridal chamber, while you brought
 grief [penthos] unspeakable on his parents. I shall comfort these poor people
 if I bring your head and armor and place them in the hands of Panthoos and
 noble Phrontis. The time is come when this matter shall be fought out in a
 struggle [ ponos ] and settled, for me or against
 me." 

 
 As he spoke he struck Menelaos full on the
 shield, but the spear did not go through, for the shield turned its point.
 Menelaos then took aim, praying to father Zeus as he did so; Euphorbos was
 drawing back, and Menelaos struck him about the roots of his throat, leaning
 his whole weight on the spear, so as to drive it home. The point went clean
 through his neck, and his armor rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to
 the ground. His locks of hair, so deftly bound in bands of silver and gold,
 were all bedrabbled with flecks of blood, which looked like myrtle-blossoms
 [ kharites ]. As one who has grown a fine young
 olive tree in a clear space where there is abundance of water - the plant is
 full of promise, and though the winds beat upon it from every quarter it puts
 forth its white blossoms till the blasts of some fierce wind sweep down upon it
 and level it with the ground - even so did Menelaos strip the fair youth
 Euphorbos of his armor after he had slain him. Or as some fierce lion upon the
 mountains in the pride of his strength fastens on the finest heifer in a herd
 as it is feeding - first he breaks her neck with his strong jaws, and then
 gorges on her blood and entrails; dogs and shepherds raise a hue and cry
 against him, but they stand aloof and will not come close to him, for they are
 pale with fear - even so no one had the courage to face valiant Menelaos. The
 son of Atreus would have then carried off the armor of the son of Panthoos with
 ease, had not Phoebus Apollo been angry, and in the guise of Mentes chief of
 the Kikones incited Hektor to attack him. "Hektor," said he, "you are now going
 after the horses of the noble son of Aiakos, but you will not take them; they
 cannot be kept in hand and driven by mortal man, save only by Achilles, who is
 son to an immortal mother. Meanwhile Menelaos son of Atreus has bestridden the
 body of Patroklos and killed the noblest of the Trojans, Euphorbos son of
 Panthoos, so that he can fight no more." 

 
 The god then went back into the toil [ ponos ] and turmoil, but the soul of Hektor was
 darkened with a cloud of grief [ akhos ]; he looked
 along the ranks and saw Euphorbos lying on the ground with the blood still
 flowing from his wound, and Menelaos stripping him of his armor. On this he
 made his way to the front like a flame of fire, clad in his gleaming armor, and
 crying with a loud voice. When the son of Atreus heard him, he said to himself
 in his dismay, "Alas! what shall I do? I may not let the Trojans take the armor
 of Patroklos who has fallen fighting on my behalf, lest some Danaan who sees me
 should cry shame upon me. Still if for the sake of my honor [ timê ] I fight Hektor and the Trojans single-handed,
 they will prove too many for me, for Hektor is bringing them up in force. Why,
 however, should I thus hesitate? When a man, opposing the will of a daimôn , fights with one whom a god befriends, he will
 soon rue it. Let no Danaan think ill of me if I give place to Hektor, for the
 hand of heaven gives him honor [ timê ]. Yet, if I
 could find Ajax, the two of us would fight Hektor and any daimôn too, if we might only save the body of Patroklos for Achilles
 son of Peleus. This, of many evils, would be the least." 

 
 While he was thus in two minds, the Trojans
 came up to him with Hektor at their head; he therefore drew back and left the
 body, turning about like some bearded lion who is being chased by dogs and men
 from a stockyard with spears and hue and cry, whereon he is daunted and slinks
 sulkily off - even so did Menelaos son of Atreus turn and leave the body of
 Patroklos. When among the body of his men, he looked around for mighty Ajax son
 of Telamon, and presently saw him on the extreme left of the fight, cheering on
 his men and exhorting them to keep on fighting, 

 
 for Phoebus Apollo had spread a great panic
 among them. He ran up to him and said, "Ajax, my good friend, come with me at
 once to dead Patroklos, if so be that we may take the body to Achilles - as for
 his armor, Hektor already has it." 

 
 These words stirred the heart of Ajax, and he
 made his way among the front ranks, Menelaos going with him. Hektor had
 stripped Patroklos of his armor, and was dragging him away to cut off his head
 and take the body to fling before the dogs of Troy . But Ajax came up with his shield like wall before him, on
 which Hektor withdrew under shelter of his men, and sprang on to his chariot,
 giving the armor over to the Trojans to take to the city, as a great glory
 [ kleos ] for himself; Ajax, therefore, covered
 the body of Patroklos with his broad shield and bestrode him; as a lion stands
 over his whelps if hunters have come upon him in a forest when he is with his
 little ones - in the pride and fierceness of his strength he draws his knit
 brows down till they cover his eyes - even so did Ajax bestride the body of
 Patroklos, and by his side stood Menelaos son of Atreus, nursing great sorrow
 [penthos] in his heart.

Then Glaukos son of Hippolokhos looked fiercely
 at Hektor and rebuked him sternly. "Hektor," said he, "you make a brave show,
 but in fight you are sadly wanting. A runaway like yourself has no claim to so
 great a glory [ kleos ]. Think how you may now save
 your town and citadel by the hands of your own people born in Ilion ; for you will get no Lycians to fight
 for you, seeing what thanks they have had for their incessant hardships. Are
 you likely, sir, to do anything to help a man of less note, after leaving
 Sarpedon, who was at once your guest and comrade in arms, to be the spoil and
 prey of the Danaans? So long as he lived he did good service [ kharis ] both to your city and yourself; yet you had no
 stomach to save his body from the dogs. If the Lycians will listen to me, they
 will go home and leave Troy to its
 fate. If the Trojans had any of that daring fearless spirit which lays hold of
 men who are engaging in the struggle [ ponos ] for
 their land and harassing those who would attack it, 

 
 we should soon bear off Patroklos into
 Ilion . Could we get this dead man
 away and bring him into the city of Priam, the Argives would readily give up
 the armor of Sarpedon, and we should get his body to boot. For he whose squire
 [ therapôn ] has been now killed is the foremost
 man at the ships of the Achaeans - he and his close-fighting followers [ therapontes ]. Nevertheless you dared not make a stand
 against Ajax, nor face him, eye to eye, with battle all round you, for he is a
 braver man than you are." 

 
 Hektor scowled at him and answered, "Glaukos,
 you should know better. I have held you so far as a man of more understanding
 than any in all Lycia , but now I
 despise you for saying that I am afraid of Ajax. I fear neither battle nor the
 din of chariots, but Zeus' will [ noos ] is stronger
 than ours; Zeus at one time makes even a strong man draw back and snatches
 victory from his grasp, while at another he will set him on to fight. Come
 hither then, my friend, stand by me and see indeed whether I shall play the
 coward the whole day through as you say, or whether I shall not stay some even
 of the boldest Danaans from fighting round the body of Patroklos." 

 
 As he spoke he called loudly on the Trojans
 saying, "Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanians, fighters in close combat, be men, my
 friends, and fight might and main, while I put on the goodly armor of Achilles,
 which I took when I killed Patroklos." 

 
 With this Hektor left the fight, and ran full
 speed after his men who were taking the armor of Achilles to Troy , but had not yet got far. Standing for a
 while apart from the woeful fight, he changed his armor. His own he sent to the
 strong city of Ilion and to the
 Trojans, while he put on the immortal armor of the son of Peleus, which the
 gods had given to Peleus, who in his age gave it to his son; but the son did
 not grow old in his father's armor. 

 
 When Zeus, lord of the storm-cloud, saw Hektor
 standing aloof and arming himself in the armor of the son of Peleus, he wagged
 his head and muttered to himself saying, "A! poor wretch, you arm in the armor
 of a hero, before whom many another trembles, and you reck nothing of the doom
 that is already close upon you. You have killed his comrade so brave and
 strong, but it was not according to the order [ kosmos ] of things that you should strip the armor from his head and
 shoulders. I do indeed endow you with great might now, but as against this you
 shall not return from battle to lay the armor of the son of Peleus before
 Andromache." 

 
 The son of Kronos bowed his portentous brows,
 and Hektor fitted the armor to his body, while terrible Ares entered into him,
 and filled his whole body with might and valor. With a shout he strode in among
 the allies, and his armor flashed about him so that he seemed to all of them
 like the great son of Peleus himself. He went about among them and cheered them
 on - Mesthles, Glaukos, Medon, Thersilokhos, Asteropaios, Deisenor and
 Hippothoos, Phorkys, Chromios, and Ennomos the augur. All these did he exhort
 saying, "Hear me, allies from other cities who are here in your thousands, it
 was not in order to have a crowd about me that I called you hither each from
 his several city, but that with heart and soul you might defend the wives and
 little ones of the Trojans from the fierce Achaeans. For this do I oppress my
 people with your food and the presents that make you rich. Therefore turn, and
 charge at the foe, to stand or fall as is the game of war; whoever shall bring
 Patroklos, dead though he be, into the hands of the Trojans, and shall make
 Ajax give way before him, I will give him one half of the spoils while I keep
 the other. He will thus share like honor [ kleos ]
 with myself." 

 
 When he had thus spoken they charged full
 weight upon the Danaans with their spears held out before them, and the hopes
 of each ran high that he should force Ajax son of Telamon to yield up the body
 - fools that they were, for he was about to take the lives of many. Then Ajax
 said to Menelaos, "My good friend Menelaos, you and I shall hardly come out of
 this fight alive. I am less concerned for the body of Patroklos,

who will shortly become meat for the dogs and
 vultures of Troy , than for the safety
 of my own head and yours. Hektor has wrapped us round in a storm of battle from
 every quarter, and our destruction seems now certain. Call then upon the
 princes of the Danaans if there is any who can hear us." 

 
 Menelaos did as he said, and shouted to the
 Danaans for help at the top of his voice. "My friends," he cried, "princes and
 counselors of the Argives, all you who with Agamemnon and Menelaos drink at the
 public cost, and give orders each to his own people as Zeus grants him power
 and honor [ timê ], the fight is so thick about me
 that I cannot distinguish you severally; come on, therefore, every man
 unbidden, and think it shame that Patroklos should become meat and morsel for
 Trojan hounds." 

 
 Fleet Ajax son of Oileus heard him and was
 first to force his way through the fight and run to help him. Next came
 Idomeneus and Meriones his esquire, peer of murderous Ares. As for the others
 that came into the fight after these, who of his own self could name them? 

 
 The Trojans with Hektor at their head charged
 in a body. As a great wave that comes thundering in at the mouth of some
 heaven-born river, and the rocks that jut into the sea ring with the roar of
 the breakers that beat and buffet them - even with such a roar did the Trojans
 come on; but the Achaeans in singleness of heart stood firm about the son of
 Menoitios, and fenced him with their bronze shields. Zeus, moreover, hid the
 brightness of their helmets in a thick cloud, for he had borne no grudge
 against the son of Menoitios while he was still alive and squire [ therapôn ] to the descendant of Aiakos; therefore he
 was loath to let him fall a prey to the dogs of his foes the Trojans, and urged
 his comrades on to defend him. 

 
 At first the Trojans drove the Achaeans back,
 and they withdrew from the dead man daunted. The Trojans did not succeed in
 killing any one, nevertheless they drew the body away. But the Achaeans did not
 lose it long, for Ajax, foremost of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus
 alike in stature and prowess, 

 
 quickly rallied them and made towards the front
 like a wild boar upon the mountains when he stands at bay in the forest glades
 and routs the hounds and lusty youths that have attacked him - even so did Ajax
 son of Telamon passing easily in among the phalanxes of the Trojans, disperse
 those who had bestridden Patroklos and were most bent on winning glory by
 dragging him off to their city. At this moment Hippothoos brave son of the
 Pelasgian Lethus, in his zeal for Hektor and the Trojans, was dragging the body
 off by the foot through the press of the fight, having bound a strap round the
 sinews near the ankle; but a mischief soon befell him from which none of those
 could save him who would have gladly done so, for the son of Telamon sprang
 forward and smote him on his bronze-cheeked helmet. The plumed headpiece broke
 about the point of the weapon, struck at once by the spear and by the strong
 hand of Ajax, so that the bloody brain came oozing out through the
 crest-socket. His strength then failed him and he let Patroklos' foot drop from
 his hand, as he fell full length dead upon the body; thus he died far from the
 fertile land of Larissa, and never repaid his parents the cost of bringing him
 up, for his life was cut short early by the spear of mighty Ajax. Hektor then
 took aim at Ajax with a spear, but he saw it coming and just managed to avoid
 it; the spear passed on and struck Schedios son of noble Iphitos, leader of the
 Phoceans, who dwelt in famed Panopeus and reigned over many people; it struck
 him under the middle of the collar-bone the bronze point went right through
 him, coming out at the bottom of his shoulder-blade, and his armor rang
 rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. Ajax in his turn struck
 noble Phorkys son of Phainops in the middle of the belly as he was bestriding
 Hippothoos, and broke the plate of his cuirass; whereon the spear tore out his
 entrails and he clutched the ground in his palm as he fell to earth. Hektor and
 those who were in the front rank then gave ground, while the Argives raised a
 loud cry of triumph, and drew off the bodies of Phorkys and Hippothoos which
 they stripped presently of their armor. 

 
 The Trojans would now have been worsted by the
 brave Achaeans and driven back to Ilion through their own cowardice, while the Argives, so great
 was their courage and endurance, would have achieved a triumph even against the
 will of Zeus, if Apollo had not roused Aeneas, in the likeness of Periphas son
 of Epytos, an attendant who had grown old in the service of Aeneas' aged
 father, and was at all times devoted to him. In his likeness, then, Apollo
 said, "Aeneas, can you not manage, even though heaven be against us, to save
 high Ilion ? I have known men, whose
 numbers, courage, and self-reliance have saved their population [ dêmos ] in spite of Zeus, whereas in this case he would
 much rather give victory to us than to the Danaans, if you would only fight
 instead of being so terribly afraid." 

 
 Aeneas knew Apollo when he looked straight at
 him, and shouted to Hektor saying, "Hektor and all other Trojans and allies,
 shame [ aidôs ] on us if we are beaten by the
 Achaeans and driven back to Ilion 
 through our own cowardice. A god has just come up to me and told me that Zeus
 the supreme disposer will be with us. Therefore let us make for the Danaans,
 that it may go hard with them ere they bear away dead Patroklos to the ships."

As he spoke he sprang out far in front of the
 others, who then rallied and again faced the Achaeans. Aeneas speared
 Leiokritos son of Arisbas, a valiant follower of Lykomedes, and Lykomedes was
 moved with pity as he saw him fall; he therefore went close up, and speared
 Apisaon son of Hippasus shepherd of his people in the liver under the midriff,
 so that he died; he had come from fertile Paeonia and was the best man of them
 all after Asteropaios. Asteropaios flew forward to avenge him and attack the
 Danaans, but this might no longer be, 

 
 inasmuch as those about Patroklos were well
 covered by their shields, and held their spears in front of them, for Ajax had
 given them strict orders that no man was either to give ground, or to stand out
 before the others, but all were to hold well together about the body and fight
 hand to hand. Thus did huge Ajax bid them, and the earth ran red with blood as
 the corpses fell thick on one another alike on the side of the Trojans and
 allies, and on that of the Danaans; for these last, too, fought no bloodless
 fight though many fewer of them perished, through the care they took to defend
 and stand by one another. 

 
 Thus did they fight as it were a flaming fire;
 it seemed as though it had gone hard even with the sun and moon, for they were
 hidden over all that part where the bravest heroes were fighting about the dead
 son of Menoitios, whereas the other Danaans and Achaeans fought at their ease
 in full daylight with brilliant sunshine all round them, and there was not a
 cloud to be seen neither on plain nor mountain. These last moreover would rest
 for a while and leave off fighting, for they were some distance apart and
 beyond the range of one another's weapons, whereas those who were in the thick
 of the fray suffered both from battle and darkness. All the best of them were
 being worn out by the great weight of their armor, but the two valiant heroes,
 Thrasymedes and Antilokhos, had not yet heard of the death of Patroklos, and
 believed him to be still alive and leading the van against the Trojans; they
 were keeping themselves in reserve against the death or rout of their own
 comrades, for so Nestor had ordered when he sent them from the ships into
 battle. 

 
 Thus through the livelong day did they wage
 fierce war, and the sweat of their toil rained ever on their legs under them,
 and on their hands and eyes, as they fought over the squire [ therapôn ] of the fleet son of Peleus. It was as when a
 man gives a great ox-hide all drenched in fat to his men, and bids them stretch
 it; whereon they stand round it in a ring and tug till the moisture leaves it,
 and the fat soaks in for the many that pull at it, and it is well stretched
 - 

 
 even so did the two sides tug the dead body
 hither and thither within the compass of but a little space - the Trojans
 steadfastly set on dragging it into Ilion , while the Achaeans were no less so on taking it to their
 ships; and fierce was the fight between them. Not Ares himself the lord of
 hosts, nor yet Athena, even in their fullest fury could make light of such a
 battle. 

 
 Such fearful turmoil [ ponos ] of men and horses did Zeus on that day ordain round the body
 of Patroklos. Meanwhile Achilles did not know that he had fallen, for the fight
 was under the wall of Troy a long way
 off the ships. He had no idea, therefore, that Patroklos was dead, and deemed
 that he would return alive as soon as he had gone close up to the gates. He
 knew that he was not to sack the city neither with nor without himself, for his
 mother had often told him this when he had sat alone with her, and she had
 informed him of the counsels of great Zeus. Now, however, she had not told him
 how great a disaster had befallen him in the death of the one who was far
 dearest to him of all his comrades. 

 
 The others still kept on charging one another
 round the body with their pointed spears and killing each other. Then would one
 say, "My friends, we can never again show our faces at the ships - better, and
 greatly better, that earth should open and swallow us here in this place, than
 that we should let the Trojans have the triumph of bearing off Patroklos to
 their city." 

 
 The Trojans also on their part spoke to one
 another saying, "Friends, though we fall to a man beside this body, let none
 shrink from fighting." With such words did they exhort each other. They fought
 and fought, and an iron clank rose through the void air to the brazen vault of
 heaven. The horses of the descendant of Aiakos stood out of the fight and wept
 when they heard that their driver had been laid low by the hand of murderous
 Hektor.

Automedon, valiant son of Diores, lashed them
 again and again; many a time did he speak kindly to them, and many a time did
 he upbraid them, but they would neither go back to the ships by the waters of
 the broad Hellespont , nor yet into
 battle among the Achaeans; they stood with their chariot stock still, as a
 pillar set over the tomb of some dead man or woman, and bowed their heads to
 the ground. Hot tears fell from their eyes as they mourned the loss of their
 charioteer, and their noble manes drooped all wet from under the yokestraps on
 either side the yoke. 

 
 The son of Kronos saw them and took pity upon
 their sorrow. He wagged his head, and muttered to himself, saying, "Poor
 things, why did we give you to King Peleus who is a mortal, while you are
 yourselves ageless and immortal? Was it that you might share the sorrows that
 befall humankind? for of all creatures that live and move upon the earth there
 is none so pitiable as he is - still, Hektor son of Priam shall drive neither
 you nor your chariot. I will not have it. It is enough that he should have the
 armor over which he vaunts so vainly. Furthermore I will give you strength of
 heart and limb to bear Automedon safely to the ships from battle, for I shall
 let the Trojans triumph still further, and go on killing till they reach the
 ships; whereon night shall fall and darkness overshadow the land." 

 
 As he spoke he breathed heart and strength into
 the horses so that they shook the dust from out of their manes, and bore their
 chariot swiftly into the fight that raged between Trojans and Achaeans. Behind
 them fought Automedon full of sorrow for his comrade, as a vulture amid a flock
 of geese. In and out, and here and there, full speed he dashed amid the throng
 of the Trojans, but for all the fury of his pursuit he killed no man, for he
 could not wield his spear and keep his horses in hand when alone in the
 chariot; at last, however, a comrade, Alkimedon, son of Laerkes son of Haimon
 caught sight of him and came up behind his chariot. "Automedon," said he, "what
 god has put this folly into your heart and robbed you of your right mind, that
 you fight the Trojans in the front rank single-handed? He who was your comrade
 is slain, and Hektor plumes himself on being armed in the armor of the
 descendant of Aiakos." 

 
 Automedon son of Diores answered, "Alkimedon,
 there is no one else who can control and guide the immortal steeds so well as
 you can, save only Patroklos - while he was alive - peer of gods in counsel.
 Take then the whip and reins, while I go down from the car and fight. 

 
 Alkimedon sprang on to the chariot, and caught
 up the whip and reins, while Automedon leaped from off the car. When Hektor saw
 him he said to Aeneas who was near him, "Aeneas, counselor of the mail-clad
 Trojans, I see the steeds of the fleet son of Aiakos come into battle with weak
 hands to drive them. I am sure, if you think well, that we might take them;
 they will not dare face us if we both attack them." The valiant son of Anchises
 was of the same mind, and the pair went right on, with their shoulders covered
 under shields of tough dry ox-hide, overlaid with much bronze. Chromios and
 Aretos went also with them, and their hearts beat high with hope that they
 might kill the men and capture the horses - fools that they were, for they were
 not to return scatheless from their meeting with Automedon, who prayed to
 father Zeus and was forthwith filled with courage and strength abounding. He
 turned to his trusty comrade Alkimedon and said, "Alkimedon, keep your horses
 so close up that I may feel their breath upon my back; I doubt that we shall
 not stay Hektor son of Priam till he has killed us and mounted behind the
 horses; he will then either spread panic among the ranks of the Achaeans, or
 himself be killed among the foremost." 

 
 On this he cried out to the two Ajaxes and
 Menelaos, "Ajaxes leaders of the Argives, and Menelaos, give the dead body over
 to them that are best able to defend it, and come to the rescue of us living;
 for Hektor and Aeneas who are the two best men among the Trojans, are pressing
 us hard in the full tide of war. Nevertheless the issue lies on the lap of
 heaven, I will therefore hurl my spear and leave the rest to Zeus." 

 
 He poised and hurled as he spoke, whereon the
 spear struck the round shield of Aretos, and went right through it for the
 shield stayed it not, so that it was driven through his belt into the lower
 part of his belly. As when some sturdy youth, axe in hand, deals his blow
 behind the horns of an ox and severs the tendons at the back of its neck so
 that it springs forward and then drops, even so did Aretos give one bound and
 then fall on his back the spear quivering in his body till it made an end of
 him. Hektor then aimed a spear at Automedon but he saw it coming and stooped
 forward to avoid it, so that it flew past him and the point stuck in the
 ground, while the butt-end went on quivering till Ares robbed it of its force.
 They would then have fought hand to hand with swords had not the two Ajaxes
 forced their way through the crowd when they heard their comrade calling, and
 parted them for all their fury - for Hektor, Aeneas, and Chromios were afraid
 and drew back, leaving Aretos to lie there struck to the heart. Automedon, peer
 of fleet Ares, then stripped him of his armor and vaunted over him saying, "I
 have done little to assuage my sorrow [ akhos ] for
 the son of Menoitios, for the man I have killed is not so good as he was." 

 
 As he spoke he took the blood-stained spoils
 and laid them upon his chariot; then he mounted the car with his hands and feet
 all steeped in gore as a lion that has been gorging upon a bull.

And now the fierce groanful fight again raged
 about Patroklos, for Athena came down from heaven and roused its fury by the
 command of far-seeing Zeus, who had changed his mind [ noos ] and sent her to encourage the Danaans. As when Zeus bends his
 bright bow in heaven in token to humankind either of war or of the chill storms
 that stay men from their labor and plague the flocks - even so, 

 
 wrapped in such radiant raiment, did Athena go
 in among the host and speak man by man to each. First she took the form and
 voice of Phoenix and spoke to Menelaos son of Atreus, who was standing near
 her. "Menelaos," said she, "it will be shame and dishonor to you, if dogs tear
 the noble comrade of Achilles under the walls of Troy . Therefore be staunch, and urge your men to be so also." 

 
 Menelaos answered, "Phoenix, my good old
 friend, may Athena grant me strength and keep the darts from off me, for so
 shall I stand by Patroklos and defend him; his death has gone to my heart, but
 Hektor is as a raging fire and deals his blows without ceasing, for Zeus is now
 granting him a time of triumph." 

 
 Athena was pleased at his having named herself
 before any of the other gods. Therefore she put strength into his knees and
 shoulders, and made him as bold as a fly, which, though driven off will yet
 come again and bite if it can, so dearly does it love man's blood- even so bold
 as this did she make him as he stood over Patroklos and threw his spear. Now
 there was among the Trojans a man named Podes, son of Eetion, who was both rich
 and valiant. Hektor held him in the highest honor in the district [ dêmos ], for he was his comrade and boon companion; the
 spear of Menelaos struck this man in the belt just as he had turned in flight,
 and went right through him. Whereon he fell heavily forward, and Menelaos son
 of Atreus drew off his body from the Trojans into the ranks of his own people. 

 
 Apollo then went up to Hektor and spurred him
 on to fight, in the likeness of Phainops son of Asios who lived in Abydos and was the most favored of all
 Hektor's guests. In his likeness Apollo said, "Hektor, who of the Achaeans will
 fear you henceforward now that you have quailed before Menelaos who has ever
 been rated poorly as a warrior? Yet he has now got a corpse away from the
 Trojans single-handed, and has slain your own true comrade, a man brave among
 the foremost, Podes son of Eetion. 

 
 A dark cloud of grief [ akhos ] fell upon Hektor as he heard, and he made his way to the
 front clad in full armor. Thereon the son of Kronos seized his bright tasseled
 aegis, and veiled Ida in cloud: he sent forth his lightnings and his thunders,
 and as he shook his aegis he gave victory to the Trojans and routed the
 Achaeans. 

 
 The panic was begun by Peneleos the Boeotian,
 for while keeping his face turned ever towards the foe he had been hit with a
 spear on the upper part of the shoulder; a spear thrown by Polydamas had grazed
 the top of the bone, for Polydamas had come up to him and struck him from close
 at hand. Then Hektor in close combat struck Leitos son of noble Alektryon in
 the hand by the wrist, and disabled him from fighting further. He looked about
 him in dismay, knowing that never again should he wield spear in battle with
 the Trojans. While Hektor was in pursuit of Leitos, Idomeneus struck him on the
 breastplate over his chest near the nipple; but the spear broke in the shaft,
 and the Trojans cheered aloud. Hektor then aimed at Idomeneus son of Deukalion
 as he was standing on his chariot, and very narrowly missed him, but the spear
 hit Koiranos, a follower and charioteer of Meriones who had come with him from
 Lyktos. Idomeneus had left the ships on foot and would have afforded a great
 triumph to the Trojans if Koiranos had not driven quickly up to him, he
 therefore brought life and rescue to Idomeneus, but himself fell by the hand of
 murderous Hektor. For Hektor hit him on the jaw under the ear; the end of the
 spear drove out his teeth and cut his tongue in two pieces, so that he fell
 from his chariot and let the reins fall to the ground. Meriones gathered them
 up from the ground and took them into his own hands, then he said to Idomeneus,
 "Lay on, till you get back to the ships, for you must see that the day is no
 longer ours." 

 
 On this Idomeneus lashed the horses to the
 ships, for fear had taken hold upon him.

Ajax and Menelaos noted how Zeus had turned the
 scale in favor of the Trojans, and Ajax was first to speak. "Alas," said he,
 "even a fool may see that father Zeus is helping the Trojans. All their weapons
 strike home; no matter whether it be a brave man or a coward that hurls them,
 Zeus speeds all alike, whereas ours fall each one of them without effect. What,
 then, will be best both as regards rescuing the body, and our return to the joy
 of our friends who will be grieving as they look hitherwards; for they will
 make sure that nothing can now check the terrible hands of Hektor, and that he
 will fling himself upon our ships. I wish that some one would go and tell the
 son of Peleus at once, for I do not think he can have yet heard the sad news
 that the dearest of his friends has fallen. But I can see not a man among the
 Achaeans to send, for they and their chariots are alike hidden in darkness. O
 father Zeus, lift this cloud from over the sons of the Achaeans; make heaven
 serene, and let us see; if you will that we perish, let us fall at any rate by
 daylight." 

 
 Father Zeus heard him and had compassion upon
 his tears. Forthwith he chased away the cloud of darkness, so that the sun
 shone out and all the fighting was revealed. Ajax then said to Menelaos, "Look,
 Menelaos, and if Antilokhos son of Nestor be still living, send him at once to
 tell Achilles that by far the dearest to him of all his comrades has fallen." 

 
 Menelaos heeded his words and went his way as a
 lion from a stockyard - the lion is tired of attacking the men and hounds, who
 keep watch the whole night through and will not let him feast on the fat of
 their herd. In his lust of meat he makes straight at them but in vain, for
 darts from strong hands assail him, and burning brands which daunt him for all
 his hunger, so in the morning he slinks sulkily away - even so did Menelaos
 sorely against his will leave Patroklos, in great fear lest the Achaeans should
 be driven back in rout and let him fall into the hands of the foe. He charged
 Meriones and the two Ajaxes straitly saying, "Ajaxes and Meriones, leaders of
 the Argives, now indeed remember how good Patroklos was; he was ever courteous
 while alive, bear it in mind now that he is dead." 

 
 With this Menelaos left them, looking round him
 as keenly as an eagle, whose sight they say is keener than that of any other
 bird - however high he may be in the heavens, not a hare that runs can escape
 him by crouching under bush or thicket, for he will swoop down upon it and make
 an end of it - even so, O Menelaos, did your keen eyes range round the mighty
 host of your followers to see if you could find the son of Nestor still alive.
 Presently Menelaos saw him on the extreme left of the battle cheering on his
 men and exhorting them to fight boldly. Menelaos went up to him and said,
 "Antilokhos, come here and listen to sad news, which I would indeed were
 untrue. You must see with your own eyes that heaven is heaping calamity upon
 the Danaans, and giving victory to the Trojans. Patroklos has fallen, who was
 the bravest of the Achaeans, and sorely will the Danaans miss him. Run
 instantly to the ships and tell Achilles, that he may come to rescue the body
 and bear it to the ships. As for the armor, Hektor already has it." 

 
 Antilokhos was struck with horror. For a long
 time he was speechless; his eyes filled with tears and he could find no
 utterance, but he did as Menelaos had said, and set off running as soon as he
 had given his armor to a comrade, Laodokos, who was wheeling his horses round,
 close beside him. 

 
 Thus, then, did he run weeping from the field,
 to carry the bad news to Achilles son of Peleus. Nor were you, O Menelaos,
 minded to succor his harassed comrades, when Antilokhos had left the Pylians -
 and greatly did they miss him - but he sent them noble Thrasymedes, and himself
 went back to Patroklos. He came running up to the two Ajaxes and said, "I have
 sent Antilokhos to the ships to tell Achilles, but rage against Hektor as he
 may, he cannot come, for he cannot fight without armor. What then will be our
 best plan both as regards rescuing the dead, and our own escape from death amid
 the battle-cries of the Trojans?" 

 
 Ajax answered, "Menelaos, you have said well:
 do you, then, and Meriones stoop down, raise the body, and bear it out of the
 fray [ ponos ], while we two behind you keep off
 Hektor and the Trojans, one in heart as in name, and long used to fighting side
 by side with one another." 

 
 On this Menelaos and Meriones took the dead man
 in their arms and lifted him high aloft with a great effort. The Trojan host
 raised a hue and cry behind them when they saw the Achaeans bearing the body
 away, and flew after them like hounds attacking a wounded boar at the loo of a
 band of young huntsmen. For a while the hounds fly at him as though they would
 tear him in pieces, but now and again he turns on them in a fury, scaring and
 scattering them in all directions - even so did the Trojans for a while charge
 in a body, striking with sword and with spears pointed at both the ends, but
 when the two Ajaxes faced them and stood at bay, they would turn pale and no
 man dared press on to fight further about the dead.

In this wise did the two heroes strain every
 nerve to bear the body to the ships out of the fight. The battle raged round
 them like fierce flames that when once kindled spread like wildfire over a
 city, and the houses fall in the glare of its burning - even such was the roar
 and tramp of men and horses that pursued them as they bore Patroklos from the
 field. Or as mules that put forth all their strength to draw some beam or great
 piece of ship's timber down a rough mountain-track, and they pant and sweat as
 they, go even so did Menelaos and pant and sweat as they bore the body of
 Patroklos. Behind them the two Ajaxes held stoutly out. As some wooded
 mountain-spur that stretches across a plain will turn water and check the flow
 even of a great river, 

 
 nor is there any stream strong enough to break
 through it - even so did the two Ajaxes face the Trojans and stern the tide of
 their fighting though they kept pouring on towards them and foremost among them
 all was Aeneas son of Anchises with valiant Hektor. As a flock of daws or
 starlings fall to screaming and chattering when they see a falcon, foe to small
 birds, come soaring near them, even so did the Achaean youth raise a babel of
 cries as they fled before Aeneas and Hektor, unmindful of their former prowess.
 In the rout of the Danaans much goodly armor fell round about the trench, and
 of fighting there was no end.

Thus then did they fight as it were a flaming
 fire. Meanwhile the fleet runner Antilokhos, who had been sent as messenger,
 reached Achilles, and found him sitting by his tall ships and boding that which
 was indeed too surely true. "Alas," said he to himself in the heaviness of his
 heart, "why are the Achaeans again scouring the plain and flocking towards the
 ships? Heaven grant the gods be not now bringing that sorrow upon me of which
 my mother Thetis spoke, saying that while I was yet alive the bravest of the
 Myrmidons should fall before the Trojans, and see the light of the sun no
 longer. I fear the brave son of Menoitios has fallen through his own daring and
 yet I bade him return to the ships as soon as he had driven back those that
 were bringing fire against them, and not join battle with Hektor." 

 
 As he was thus pondering, the son of Nestor came
 up to him and told his sad tale, weeping bitterly the while. "Alas," he cried,
 "son of noble Peleus, I bring you bad tidings, would indeed that they were
 untrue. Patroklos has fallen, and a fight is raging about his naked body - for
 Hektor holds his armor." 

 
 A dark cloud of grief [ akhos ] fell upon Achilles as he listened. He filled both hands with
 dust from off the ground, and poured it over his head, disfiguring his comely
 face, and letting the refuse settle over his shirt so fair and new. He flung
 himself down all huge and hugely at full length, and tore his hair with his
 hands. 

 
 The bondswomen whom Achilles and Patroklos had
 taken captive screamed aloud for grief, beating their breasts, and with their
 limbs failing them for sorrow. Antilokhos bent over him the while, weeping and
 holding both his hands as he lay groaning for he feared that he might plunge a
 knife into his own throat. Then Achilles gave a loud cry and his mother heard
 him as she was sitting in the depths of the sea by the old man her father,
 whereon she screamed, and all the goddesses daughters of Nereus that dwelt at
 the bottom of the sea, came gathering round her. There were Glauke, Thalia and
 Kymodoke, Nesaia, Speo, Thoe, and dark-eyed Halie, Kymothoe, Aktaia and
 Limnorea, Melite, Iaira, Amphithoe and Agaue, Doto and Proto, Pherousa and
 Dynamene, Dexamene, Amphinome and Kallianeira, Doris, Panope, and the famous
 sea-nymph Galatea, Nemertes, Apseudes and Kallianassa. There were also Klymene,
 Ianeira and Ianassa, Maira , Oreithuia
 and Amatheia of the lovely locks, with other Nereids who dwell in the depths of
 the sea. The crystal cave was filled with their multitude and they all beat
 their breasts while Thetis led them in their lament. 

 
 "Listen," she cried, "sisters, daughters of
 Nereus, that you may hear the burden of my sorrows. Alas, woe is me, woe in
 that I have borne the most glorious of offspring. I bore him fair and strong,
 hero among heroes, and he shot up as a sapling; I tended him as a plant in a
 goodly garden, and sent him with his ships to Ilion to fight the Trojans, but never shall I welcome him back
 to the house of Peleus. So long as he lives to look upon the light of the sun
 he is in heaviness, and though I go to him I cannot help him. Nevertheless I
 will go, that I may see my dear son and learn what sorrow [ penthos ] has befallen him though he is still holding aloof from
 battle." 

 
 She left the cave as she spoke, while the others
 followed weeping after, and the waves opened a path before them. When they
 reached the fertile plain of Troy ,
 they came up out of the sea in a long line on to the sands, at the place where
 the ships of the Myrmidons were drawn up in close order round the tents of
 Achilles. His mother went up to him as he lay groaning; she laid her hand upon
 his head and spoke piteously, saying, "My son, why are you thus weeping? What
 sorrow [penthos] has now befallen you? Tell me; hide it not from me. Surely
 Zeus has granted you the prayer you made him, when you lifted up your hands and
 besought him that the Achaeans might all of them be pent up at their ships, and
 rue it bitterly in that you were no longer with them." 

 
 Achilles groaned and answered, "Mother, Olympian
 Zeus has indeed granted me the fulfillment of my prayer, but what boots it to
 me, seeing that my dear comrade Patroklos has fallen - he whom I valued more
 than all others, and loved as dearly as my own life? I have lost him; aye, and
 Hektor when he had killed him stripped the wondrous armor, so glorious to
 behold, which the gods gave to Peleus when they laid you in the couch of a
 mortal man. Would that you were still dwelling among the immortal sea-nymphs,
 and that Peleus had taken to himself some mortal bride. For now you shall have
 grief [ penthos ] infinite by reason of the death of
 that son whom you can never welcome home- nay, I will not live nor go about
 among humankind unless Hektor fall by my spear, and thus pay me for having
 slain Patroklos son of Menoitios." 

 
 Thetis wept and answered, "Then, my son, is your
 end near at hand- for your own death awaits you full soon after that of
 Hektor."

Then said Achilles in his great grief, "I would
 die here and now, in that I could not save my comrade. He has fallen far from
 home, and in his hour of need my hand was not there to help him. What is there
 for me? Return to my own land I shall not, and I have brought no saving neither
 to Patroklos nor to my other comrades of whom so many have been slain by mighty
 Hektor; I stay here by my ships a bootless burden upon the earth, I, who in
 fight have no peer among the Achaeans, though in council there are better than
 I. 

 
 Therefore, perish strife both from among gods
 and men, and anger, wherein even a righteous man will harden his heart - which
 rises up in the soul of a man like smoke, and the taste thereof is sweeter than
 drops of honey. Even so has Agamemnon angered me. And yet - so be it, for it is
 over; I will force my soul into subjection as I needs must; I will go; I will
 pursue Hektor who has slain him whom I loved so dearly, and will then abide my
 doom when it may please Zeus and the other gods to send it. Even Herakles, the
 best beloved of Zeus - even he could not escape the hand of death, but fate and
 Hera's fierce anger laid him low, as I too shall lie when I am dead if a like
 doom awaits me. Till then I will win fame [ kleos ],
 and will bid Trojan and Dardanian women wring tears from their tender cheeks
 with both their hands in the grievousness of their great sorrow; thus shall
 they know that he who has held aloof so long will hold aloof no longer. Hold me
 not back, therefore, in the love you bear me, for you shall not move me." 

 
 Then silver-footed Thetis answered, "My son,
 what you have said is true. It is well to save your comrades from destruction,
 but your armor is in the hands of the Trojans; Hektor bears it in triumph upon
 his own shoulders. Full well I know that his vaunt shall not be lasting, for
 his end is close at hand; go not, however, into the press of battle till you
 see me return hither; tomorrow at break of day I shall be here, and will bring
 you goodly armor from King Hephaistos." 

 
 On this she left her brave son, and as she
 turned away she said to the sea-nymphs her sisters, "Dive into the bosom of the
 sea and go to the house of the old sea-god my father. Tell him everything; as
 for me, I will go to the cunning workman Hephaistos on high Olympus , and ask him to provide my son with a
 suit of splendid armor." 

 
 When she had so said, they dived forthwith
 beneath the waves, while silver-footed Thetis went her way that she might bring
 the armor for her son. 

 
 Thus, then, did her feet bear the goddess to
 Olympus , and meanwhile the Achaeans
 were fleeing with loud cries before murderous Hektor till they reached the
 ships and the Hellespont , and they
 could not draw the body of Ares' squire [ therapôn ]
 Patroklos out of reach of the weapons that were showered upon him, for Hektor
 son of Priam with his host and horsemen had again caught up to him like the
 flame of a fiery furnace; thrice did brave Hektor seize him by the feet,
 striving with might and main to draw him away and calling loudly on the
 Trojans, and thrice did the two Ajaxes, clothed in valor as with a garment,
 beat him from off the body; but all undaunted he would now charge into the
 thick of the fight, and now again he would stand still and cry aloud, but he
 would give no ground. As upland shepherds that cannot chase some famished lion
 from a carcass, even so could not the two Ajaxes scare Hektor son of Priam from
 the body of Patroklos. 

 
 And now he would even have dragged it off and
 have won imperishable glory, had not Iris fleet as the wind, winged her way as
 messenger from Olympus to the son of
 Peleus and bidden him arm. She came secretly without the knowledge of Zeus and
 of the other gods, for Hera sent her, and when she had got close to him she
 said, "Up, son of Peleus, mightiest of all humankind; rescue Patroklos about
 whom this fearful fight is now raging by the ships. Men are killing one
 another, the Danaans in defense of the dead body, while the Trojans are trying
 to hale it away, and take it to windy Ilion : Hektor is the most furious of them all; he is for
 cutting the head from the body and fixing it on the stakes of the wall. Up,
 then, and bide here no longer; shrink from the thought that Patroklos may
 become meat for the dogs of Troy .
 Shame on you, should his body suffer any kind of outrage." 

 
 And Achilles said, "Iris, which of the gods was
 it that sent you to me?"

Iris answered, "It was Hera the royal spouse of
 Zeus, but the son of Kronos does not know of my coming, nor yet does any other
 of the immortals who dwell on the snowy summits of Olympus ." 

 
 Then fleet Achilles answered her saying, "How
 can I go up into the battle? They have my armor. My mother forbade me to arm
 till I should see her come, for she promised to bring me goodly armor from
 Hephaistos; I know no man whose arms I can put on, save only the shield of Ajax
 son of Telamon, and he surely must be fighting in the front rank and wielding
 his spear about the body of dead Patroklos." 

 
 Iris said, ‘We know that your armor has been
 taken, but go as you are; go to the deep trench and show yourself before the
 Trojans, that they may fear you and cease fighting. Thus will the fainting sons
 of the Achaeans gain some brief breathing-time, which in battle may hardly be." 

 
 Iris left him when she had so spoken. But
 Achilles dear to Zeus arose, and Athena flung her tasseled aegis round his
 strong shoulders; she crowned his head with a halo of golden cloud from which
 she kindled a glow of gleaming fire. As the smoke that goes up into heaven from
 some city that is being beleaguered on an island far out at sea - all day long
 do men sally from the city and fight their hardest, and at the going down of
 the sun the line of beacon-fires blazes forth, flaring high for those that
 dwell near them to behold, if so be that they may come with their ships and
 succor them - even so did the light flare from the head of Achilles, as he
 stood by the trench, going beyond the wall - but he aid not join the Achaeans
 for he heeded the charge which his mother laid upon him. 

 
 There did he stand and shout aloud. Athena also
 raised her voice from afar, and spread terror unspeakable among the Trojans.
 Ringing as the note of a trumpet that sounds alarm then the foe is at the gates
 of a city, even so brazen was the voice of the son of Aiakos, and when the
 Trojans heard its clarion tones they were dismayed; the horses turned back with
 their chariots for they boded mischief, and their drivers were awe-struck by
 the steady flame which the gray-eyed goddess had kindled above the head of the
 great son of Peleus. 

 
 Thrice did Achilles raise his loud cry as he
 stood by the trench, and thrice were the Trojans and their brave allies thrown
 into confusion; whereon twelve of their noblest champions fell beneath the
 wheels of their chariots and perished by their own spears. The Achaeans to
 their great joy then drew Patroklos out of reach of the weapons, and laid him
 on a litter: his comrades stood mourning round him, and among them fleet
 Achilles who wept bitterly as he saw his true comrade lying dead upon his bier.
 He had sent him out with horses and chariots into battle, but his return he was
 not to welcome. 

 
 Then Hera sent the busy sun, loath though he
 was, into the waters of Okeanos; so he set, and the Achaeans had rest from the
 tug and turmoil of war. 

 
 Now the Trojans when they had come out of the
 fight, unyoked their horses and gathered in assembly before preparing their
 supper. They kept their feet, nor would any dare to sit down, for fear had
 fallen upon them all because Achilles had shown himself after having held aloof
 so long from battle. Polydamas son of Panthoos was first to speak, a man of
 judgment, who alone among them could look both before and after. He was comrade
 to Hektor, and they had been born upon the same night; with all sincerity and
 goodwill, therefore, he addressed them thus:-

"Look to it well, my friends; I would urge you
 to go back now to your city and not wait here by the ships till morning, for we
 are far from our walls. So long as this man has anger [ mênis ] against Agamemnon, the Achaeans were easier to deal with, and
 I would have gladly camped by the ships in the hope of taking them; but now I
 go in great fear of the fleet son of Peleus; he is so daring that he will never
 bide here on the plain whereon the Trojans and Achaeans fight with equal valor,
 but he will try to storm our city and carry off our women. 

 
 Do then as I say, and let us retreat. For this
 is what will happen. The darkness of night will for a time stay the son of
 Peleus, but if he find us here in the morning when he sallies forth in full
 armor, we shall have knowledge of him in good earnest. Glad indeed will he be
 who can escape and get back to Ilion ,
 and many a Trojan will become meat for dogs and vultures may I never live to
 hear it. If we do as I say, little though we may like it, we shall have
 strength in counsel during the night, and the great gates with the doors that
 close them will protect the city. At dawn we can arm and take our stand on the
 walls; he will then rue it if he sallies from the ships to fight us. He will go
 back when he has given his horses their fill of being driven in every which
 direction under our walls, and will be in no mind to try and force his way into
 the city. Neither will he ever sack it, dogs shall devour him ere he do so." 

 
 Hektor looked fiercely at him and answered,
 "Polydamas, your words are not to my liking in that you bid us go back and be
 pent within the city. Have you not had enough of being cooped up behind walls?
 In the old-days the city of Priam was famous the whole world over for its
 wealth of gold and bronze, but our treasures are wasted out of our houses, and
 much goods have been sold away to Phrygia and fair Meonia, for the hand of Zeus has been laid
 heavily upon us. Now, therefore, that the son of scheming Kronos has granted me
 to win glory here and to hem the Achaeans in at their ships, prate no more in
 this fool's wise among the population [ dêmos ]. You
 will have no man with you; it shall not be; do all of you as I now say; - take
 your suppers in your companies throughout the host, and keep your watches and
 be wakeful every man of you. If any Trojan is uneasy about his possessions, let
 him gather them and give them out among the people. Better let these, rather
 than the Achaeans, have them. At daybreak we will arm and fight about the
 ships; granted that Achilles has again come forward to defend them, let it be
 as he will, but it shall go hard with him. I shall not shun him, but will fight
 him, to fall or conquer. The god of war deals out like measure to all, and the
 slayer may yet be slain." 

 
 Thus spoke Hektor; and the Trojans, fools that
 they were, shouted in approval, for Pallas Athena had robbed them of their
 understanding. They gave ear to Hektor with his evil counsel, but the wise
 words of Polydamas no man would heed. They took their supper throughout the
 host, and meanwhile through the whole night the Achaeans mourned Patroklos, and
 the son of Peleus led them in their lament. He laid his murderous hands upon
 the breast of his comrade, groaning again and again as a bearded lion when a
 man who was chasing deer has robbed him of his young in some dense forest; when
 the lion comes back he is furious, and searches dingle and dell to track the
 hunter if he can find him, for he is mad with rage - even so with many a sigh
 did Achilles speak among the Myrmidons saying, "Alas! vain were the words with
 which I cheered the hero Menoitios in his own house; I said that I would bring
 his brave son back again to Opoeis after he had sacked Ilion and taken his share of the spoils - but
 Zeus does not give all men their heart's desire. The same soil shall be
 reddened here at Troy by the blood of
 us both, for I too shall never be welcomed home by the old horseman Peleus, nor
 by my mother Thetis, but even in this place shall the earth cover me.
 Nevertheless, O Patroklos, now that I am left behind you, I will not bury you,
 till I have brought hither the head and armor of mighty Hektor who has slain
 you. Twelve noble sons of Trojans will I behead before your bier to avenge you;
 till I have done so you shall lie as you are by the ships, and fair women of
 Troy and Dardanos, whom we have
 taken with spear and strength of arm when we sacked men's goodly cities, shall
 weep over you both night and day." 

 
 Then Achilles told his men to set a large
 tripod upon the fire that they might wash the clotted gore from off Patroklos.
 Thereon they set a tripod full of bath water on to a clear fire: they threw
 sticks on to it to make it blaze, and the water became hot as the flame played
 about the belly of the tripod. When the water in the cauldron was boiling they
 washed the body, anointed it with oil, and closed its wounds with ointment that
 had been kept nine years. Then they laid it on a bier and covered it with a
 linen cloth from head to foot, and over this they laid a fair white robe. Thus
 all night long did the Myrmidons gather round Achilles to mourn Patroklos. 

 
 Then Zeus said to Hera his sister-wife, "So,
 Queen Hera, you have gained your end, and have roused fleet Achilles. One would
 think that the Achaeans were of your own flesh and blood." 

 
 And Hera answered, "Dread son of Kronos, why
 should you say this thing? May not a man though he be only mortal and knows
 less than we do, do what he can for another person? And shall not I - foremost
 of all goddesses both by descent and as wife to you who reign in heaven -
 devise evil for the Trojans if I am angry with them?" 

 
 Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Thetis came
 to the house of Hephaistos, imperishable [ aphthitos ], star-bespangled, fairest of the abodes in heaven, a house
 of bronze wrought by the lame god's own hands. She found him busy with his
 bellows, sweating and hard at work, for he was making twenty tripods that were
 to stand by the wall of his house, and he set wheels of gold under them all
 that they might go of their own selves to the assemblies [ agôn ] of the gods, and come back again - marvels indeed to see. They
 were finished all but the ears of cunning workmanship which yet remained to be
 fixed to them: these he was now fixing, and he was hammering at the rivets.
 While he was thus at work silver-footed Thetis came to the house. Kharis, of
 graceful head-dress, wife to the far-famed lame god, came towards her as soon
 as she saw her, and took her hand in her own, saying, "Why have you come to our
 house, Thetis, honored and ever welcome - for you do not visit us often? Come
 inside and let me set refreshment before you."

The goddess led the way as she spoke, and bade
 Thetis sit on a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver; there was a footstool
 also under her feet. Then she called Hephaistos and said, "Hephaistos, come
 here, Thetis wants you"; and the far-famed lame god answered, "Then it is
 indeed an august and honored goddess who has come here; she it was that took
 care of me when I was suffering from the heavy fall which I had through my
 cruel mother's anger - for she would have got rid of me because I was lame. It
 would have gone hardly with me had not Eurynome, daughter of the
 ever-encircling waters of Okeanos, and Thetis, taken me to their bosom. Nine
 years did I stay with them, and many beautiful works in bronze, brooches,
 spiral armlets, cups, and chains, did I make for them in their cave, with the
 roaring waters of Okeanos foaming as they rushed ever past it; and no one knew,
 neither of gods nor men, save only Thetis and Eurynome who took care of me. If,
 then, Thetis has come to my house I must make her due requital for having saved
 me; entertain her, therefore, with all hospitality, while I put by my bellows
 and all my tools." 

 
 On this the mighty monster hobbled off from his
 anvil, his thin legs plying lustily under him. He set the bellows away from the
 fire, and gathered his tools into a silver chest. Then he took a sponge and
 washed his face and hands, his shaggy chest and brawny neck; he donned his
 shirt, grasped his strong staff, and limped towards the door. There were golden
 handmaids also who worked for him, and were like real young women, with sense
 and reason [ noos ], voice also and strength, and all
 the learning of the immortals; these busied themselves as the king bade them,
 while he drew near to Thetis, seated her upon a goodly seat, and took her hand
 in his own, saying, "Why have you come to our house, Thetis honored and ever
 welcome - for you do not visit us often? Say what you want, and I will do it
 for you at once if I can, and if it can be done at all." 

 
 Thetis wept and answered, "Hephaistos, is there
 another goddess in Olympus whom the
 son of Kronos has been pleased to try with so much affliction as he has me? Me
 alone of the marine goddesses did he make subject to a mortal husband, Peleus
 son of Aiakos, and sorely against my will did I submit to the embraces of one
 who was but mortal, and who now stays at home worn out with age. Neither is
 this all. Heaven granted me a son, hero among heroes, and he shot up as a
 sapling. I tended him as a plant in a goodly garden and sent him with his ships
 to Ilion to fight the Trojans, but
 never shall I welcome him back to the house of Peleus. So long as he lives to
 look upon the light of the sun, he is in heaviness, and though I go to him I
 cannot help him; King Agamemnon has made him give up the maiden whom the sons
 of the Achaeans had awarded him, and he wastes with sorrow [ akhos ] for her sake. Then the Trojans hemmed the
 Achaeans in at their ships' sterns and would not let them come forth; the
 elders, therefore, of the Argives besought Achilles and offered him great
 treasure, whereon he refused to bring deliverance to them himself, but put his
 own armor on Patroklos and sent him into the fight with many people after him.
 All day long they fought by the Scaean gates and would have taken the city
 there and then, had not Apollo granted glory to Hektor and slain the valiant
 son of Menoitios after he had done the Trojans much evil. Therefore I am
 suppliant at your knees if haply you may be pleased to provide my son, whose
 end is near at hand, with helmet and shield, with goodly greaves fitted with
 ankle-clasps, and with a breastplate, for he lost his own when his true comrade
 fell at the hands of the Trojans, and he now lies stretched on earth in the
 bitterness of his soul." 

 
 And Hephaistos answered, "Take heart, and be no
 more disquieted about this matter; would that I could hide him from death's
 sight when his hour is come, so surely as I can find him armor that shall amaze
 the eyes of all who behold it." 

 
 When he had so said he left her and went to his
 bellows, turning them towards the fire and bidding them do their office. Twenty
 bellows blew upon the melting-pots, and they blew blasts of every kind, some
 fierce to help him when he had need of them, and others less strong as
 Hephaistos willed it in the course of his work. He threw tough copper into the
 fire, and tin, with silver and gold; he set his great anvil on its block, and
 with one hand grasped his mighty hammer while he took the tongs in the other. 

 
 First he shaped the shield so great and strong,
 adorning it all over and binding it round with a gleaming circuit in three
 layers; and the baldric was made of silver. He made the shield in five
 thicknesses, and with many a wonder did his cunning hand enrich it. 

 
 He wrought the earth, the heavens, and the sea;
 the moon also at her full and the untiring sun, with all the signs that glorify
 the face of heaven - the Pleiads, the Hyads, huge Orion, and the Bear, which
 men also call the Wain and which turns round ever in one place, facing. Orion,
 and alone never dips into the stream of Okeanos. 

 
 He wrought also two cities, fair to see and
 busy with the hum of men. In the one were weddings and wedding-feasts, and they
 were going about the city with brides whom they were escorting by torchlight
 from their chambers. Loud rose the cry of Hymen, and the youths danced to the
 music of flute and lyre, while the women stood each at her house door to see
 them.

Meanwhile the people were gathered in assembly,
 for there was a quarrel [ neikos ], and two men were
 wrangling about the blood-price for a man who had died, the one claiming to the
 dêmos that he had the right to pay off the
 damages in full, and the other refusing to accept anything. Each was seeking a
 limit [ peirar ], in the presence of an arbitrator
 [ histôr ], and the people took sides, each man
 backing the side that he had taken; 

 
 but the heralds kept them back, and the elders
 sat on their seats of stone in a solemn circle, holding the staves which the
 heralds had put into their hands. Then they rose and each in his turn gave
 judgment [ dikê ], and there were two measures of
 gold laid down, to be given to him whose judgment [ dikê ] should be deemed the fairest. 

 
 About the other city there lay encamped two
 hosts in gleaming armor, and they were divided whether to sack it, or to spare
 it and accept the half of what it contained. But the men of the city would not
 yet consent, and armed themselves for a surprise; their wives and little
 children kept guard upon the walls, and with them were the men who were past
 fighting through age; but the others sallied forth with Ares and Pallas Athena
 at their head - both of them wrought in gold and clad in golden raiment, great
 and fair with their armor as befitting gods, while they that followed were
 smaller. When they reached the place where they would lay their ambush, it was
 on a riverbed to which live stock of all kinds would come from far and near to
 water; here, then, they lay concealed, clad in full armor. Some way off them
 there were two scouts who were on the look-out for the coming of sheep or
 cattle, which presently came, followed by two shepherds who were playing on
 their pipes, and had not so much as a thought of danger. When those who were in
 ambush saw this, they cut off the flocks and herds and killed the shepherds.
 Meanwhile the besiegers, when they heard much noise among the cattle as they
 sat in council, sprang to their horses, and made with all speed towards them;
 when they reached them they set battle in array by the banks of the river, and
 the hosts aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another. With them were Strife
 and Riot, and fell Fate who was dragging three men after her, one with a fresh
 wound, and the other unwounded, while the third was dead, and she was dragging
 him along by his heel: and her robe was bedrabbled in men's blood. They went in
 and out with one another and fought as though they were living people haling
 away one another's dead. 

 
 He wrought also a fair fallow field, large and
 thrice ploughed already. Many men were working at the plough within it, turning
 their oxen to and fro, furrow after furrow. Each time that they turned on
 reaching the headland a man would come up to them and give them a cup of wine,
 and they would go back to their furrows looking forward to the time when they
 should again reach the headland. The part that they had ploughed was dark
 behind them, so that the field, though it was of gold, still looked as if it
 were being ploughed - very curious to behold. 

 
 He wrought also a field of harvest grain, and
 the reapers were reaping with sharp sickles in their hands. Swathe after swathe
 fell to the ground in a straight line behind them, and the binders bound them
 in bands of twisted straw. There were three binders, and behind them there were
 boys who gathered the cut grain in armfuls and kept on bringing them to be
 bound: among them all the owner of the land stood by in silence and was glad.
 The servants were getting a meal ready under an oak, for they had sacrificed a
 great ox, and were busy cutting him up, while the women were making a porridge
 of much white barley for the laborers' dinner. 

 
 He wrought also a vineyard, golden and fair to
 see, and the vines were loaded with grapes. The bunches overhead were black,
 but the vines were trained on poles of silver. He ran a ditch of dark metal all
 round it, and fenced it with a fence of tin; there was only one path to it, and
 by this the vintagers went when they would gather the vintage. Youths and
 maidens all blithe and full of glee, carried the luscious fruit in plaited
 baskets; and with them there went a boy who made sweet music with his lyre, and
 sang the Linus-song with his clear boyish voice. 

 
 He wrought also a herd of horned cattle. He
 made the cows of gold and tin, and they lowed as they came full speed out of
 the yards to go and feed among the waving reeds that grow by the banks of the
 river. Along with the cattle there went four shepherds, all of them in gold,
 and their nine fleet dogs went with them. Two terrible lions had fastened on a
 bellowing bull that was with the foremost cows, and bellow as he might they
 haled him, while the dogs and men gave chase: the lions tore through the bull's
 thick hide and were gorging on his blood and bowels, but the herdsmen were
 afraid to do anything, and only hounded on their dogs; the dogs dared not
 fasten on the lions but stood by barking and keeping out of harm's way. 

 
 The god wrought also a pasture in a fair
 mountain dell, and large flock of sheep, with a homestead and huts, and
 sheltered sheepfolds.

Furthermore he wrought a green, like that which
 Daedalus once made in Knossos for
 lovely Ariadne. Here was a dance [khoros] of youths and maidens, whom all would
 woo, all with their hands on one another's wrists. The maidens wore robes of
 light linen, and the youths well woven shirts that were slightly oiled. The
 girls were crowned with garlands, while the young men had daggers of gold that
 hung by silver baldrics; sometimes they would dance deftly in a ring with merry
 twinkling feet, as it were a potter sitting at his work and making trial of his
 wheel to see whether it will run, and sometimes they would go all in line with
 one another, and many people was gathered joyously about the place of dancing
 [ khoros ]. There was a bard also to sing to them
 and play his lyre, while two tumblers went about performing in the midst of
 them when the man struck up with his tune. 

 
 All round the outermost rim of the shield he
 set the mighty stream of the river Okeanos. 

 
 Then when he had fashioned the shield so great
 and strong, he made a breastplate also that shone brighter than fire. He made
 helmet, close fitting to the brow, and richly worked, with a golden plume
 overhanging it; and he made greaves also of beaten tin. 

 
 Lastly, when the famed lame god had made all
 the armor, he took it and set it before the mother of Achilles; whereon she
 darted like a falcon from the snowy summits of Olympus and bore away the gleaming armor from the house of
 Hephaistos.

Now when Dawn in robe of saffron was hastening
 from the streams of Okeanos, to bring light to mortals and immortals, Thetis
 reached the ships with the armor that the god had given her. She found her son
 fallen about the body of Patroklos and weeping bitterly. Many also of his
 followers were weeping round him, but when the goddess came among them she
 clasped his hand in her own, saying, "My son, grieve as we may we must let this
 man lie, for it is by heaven's will that he has fallen; now, therefore, accept
 from Hephaistos this rich and goodly armor, which no man has ever yet borne
 upon his shoulders." 

 
 As she spoke she set the armor before Achilles,
 and it rang out bravely as she did so. The Myrmidons were struck with awe, and
 none dared look full at it, for they were afraid; but Achilles was roused to
 still greater fury, and his eyes gleamed with a fierce light, for he was glad
 when he handled the splendid present which the god had made him. Then, as soon
 as he had satisfied himself with looking at it, he said to his mother, "Mother,
 the god has given me armor, meet handiwork for an immortal and such as no
 living could have fashioned; I will now arm, but I much fear that flies will
 settle upon the son of Menoitios and breed worms about his wounds, so that his
 body, now he is dead, will be disfigured and the flesh will rot." 

 
 Silver-footed Thetis answered, "My son, be not
 disquieted about this matter. I will find means to protect him from the swarms
 of noisome flies that prey on the bodies of men who have been killed in battle.
 He may lie for a whole year, and his flesh shall still be as sound as ever, or
 even sounder. Call, therefore, the Achaean heroes in assembly; unsay your anger
 [ mênis ] against Agamemnon; arm at once, and
 fight with might and main." As she spoke she put strength and courage into his
 heart, and she then dropped ambrosia and red nectar into the wounds of
 Patroklos, that his body might suffer no change. 

 
 Then Achilles went out upon the seashore, and
 with a loud cry called on the Achaean heroes. On this even those who as yet had
 stayed always at the assembly of [ agôn ] of ships,
 the pilots and helmsmen, and even the stewards who were about the ships and
 served out rations, all came to the place of assembly because Achilles had
 shown himself after having held aloof so long from fighting. Two squires [ therapontes ] of Ares, Odysseus and the son of Tydeus,
 came limping, for their wounds still pained them; nevertheless they came, and
 took their seats in the front row of the assembly. Last of all came Agamemnon,
 king of men, he too wounded, for Koön son of Antenor had struck him with a
 spear in battle. 

 
 When the Achaeans were got together Achilles
 rose and said, "Son of Atreus, surely it would have been better alike for both
 you and me, when we two were in such high anger about Briseis, surely it would
 have been better, had Artemis' arrow slain her at the ships on the day when I
 took her after having sacked Lyrnessos. For so, many an Achaean the less would
 have bitten dust before the foe in the days of my anger. It has been well for
 Hektor and the Trojans, but the Achaeans will long indeed remember our quarrel.
 Now, however, let it be, for it is over. If we have been angry, necessity has
 schooled our anger. I put it from me: I dare not nurse it for ever; therefore,
 bid the Achaeans arm forthwith that I may go out against the Trojans, and learn
 whether they will be in a mind to sleep by the ships or no. Glad, I ween, will
 he be to rest his knees who may flee my spear when I wield it." 

 
 Thus did he speak, and the Achaeans rejoiced in
 that he had put away his anger [ mênis ]. Then
 Agamemnon spoke, rising in his place, and not going into the middle of the
 assembly. "Danaan heroes," said he, "squires [ therapontes ] of Ares, it is well to listen when a man stands up to
 speak, and it is not seemly to interrupt him, or it will go hard even with a
 practiced speaker. Who can either hear or speak in an uproar? Even the finest
 orator will be disconcerted by it. I will expound to the son of Peleus, and do
 you other Achaeans heed me and mark me well. Often have the Achaeans spoken to
 me of this matter and upbraided me, but it was not I who was responsible [ aitios ]: Zeus, and Fate [ Moira ], and Erinys that walks in darkness struck me with derangement
 [ atê ] when we were assembled on the day that I
 took from Achilles the prize that had been awarded to him. What could I do? All
 things are in the hand of heaven, and Atê , eldest
 of Zeus' daughters, shuts men's eyes to their destruction. She walks
 delicately, not on the solid earth, but hovers over the heads of men to make
 them stumble or to ensnare them. 

 
 "Time was when she fooled Zeus himself, who they
 say is greatest whether of gods or men; for Hera, woman though she was,
 beguiled him on the day when Alkmene was to bring forth mighty Herakles in the
 fair city of Thebes . He told it out
 among the gods saying, ‘Hear me all gods and goddesses, that I may speak even
 as I am minded; this day shall an Eileithuia, helper of women who are in labor,
 bring a man child into the world who shall be lord over all that dwell about
 him who are of my blood and lineage.’ Then said Hera all crafty and full of
 guile, ‘You will play false, and will not hold to the finality [ telos ] of your word. Swear me, O Olympian, swear me a
 great oath, that he who shall this day fall between the feet of a woman, shall
 be lord over all that dwell about him who are of your blood and lineage.’ 

 
 "Thus she spoke, and Zeus suspected her not,
 but swore the great oath, to his much ruing thereafter. For Hera darted down
 from the high summit of Olympus , and
 went in haste to Achaean Argos where she knew that the noble wife of Sthenelos
 son of Perseus then was. She being with child and in her seventh month, Hera
 brought the child to birth though there was a month still wanting, but she
 stayed the offspring of Alkmene, and kept back the Eileithuiai. Then she went
 to tell Zeus the son of Kronos, and said, ‘Father Zeus, lord of the lightning -
 I have a word for your ear. There is a fine child born this day, Eurystheus,
 son to Sthenelos the son of Perseus; he is of your lineage; it is well,
 therefore, that he should reign over the Argives.’

"On this Zeus was stung to the very quick with
 grief [ akhos ], and in his rage he caught Atê by the hair, and swore a great oath that never
 should she again invade starry heaven and Olympus , for she was the bane of all. Then he whirled her round
 with a twist of his hand, and flung her down from heaven so that she fell on to
 the fields of mortal men; and he was ever angry with her when he saw his son
 groaning under the cruel labors [ athloi ] that
 Eurystheus laid upon him. Even so did I grieve when mighty Hektor was killing
 the Argives at their ships, and all the time I kept thinking of Atê who had so baned me. I was blind, and Zeus robbed
 me of my reason; I will now make atonement, and will add much treasure by way
 of amends. Go, therefore, into battle, you and your people with you. I will
 give you all that Odysseus offered you yesterday in your tents: or if it so
 please you, wait, though you would fain fight at once, and my squires [ therapontes ] shall bring the gifts from my ship, that
 you may see whether what I give you is enough." 

 
 And Achilles answered, "Son of Atreus, king of
 men Agamemnon, you can give such gifts as you think proper, or you can withhold
 them: it is in your own hands. Let us now set battle in array; 

 
 it is not well to tarry talking about trifles,
 for there is a deed which is as yet to do. Achilles shall again be seen
 fighting among the foremost, and laying low the ranks of the Trojans: bear this
 in mind each one of you when he is fighting." 

 
 Then Odysseus said, "Achilles, godlike and
 brave, send not the Achaeans thus against Ilion to fight the Trojans fasting, for the battle will be no
 brief one, when it is once begun, and heaven has filled both sides with fury;
 bid them first take food both bread and wine by the ships, for in this there is
 strength and stay. No man can do battle the livelong day to the going down of
 the sun if he is without food; however much he may want to fight his strength
 will fail him before he knows it; hunger and thirst will find him out, and his
 limbs will grow weary under him. But a man can fight all day if he is full fed
 with meat and wine; his heart beats high, and his strength will stay till he
 has routed all his foes; therefore, send the people away and bid them prepare
 their meal; King Agamemnon will bring out the gifts in presence of the
 assembly, that all may see them and you may be satisfied. Moreover let him
 swear an oath before the Argives that he has never gone up into the couch of
 Briseis, nor has lain down with her, even though it is right [ themis ] for humans, both men and women, to do this;
 and do you, too, show yourself of a gracious mind; let Agamemnon entertain you
 in his tents with a feast of reconciliation, that so you may have had your dues
 in full. As for you, son of Atreus, treat people more righteously in future; it
 is no disgrace even to a king that he should make amends if he was wrong in the
 first instance." 

 
 And King Agamemnon answered, "Son of Laertes , your words please me well, for
 throughout you have spoken wisely. I will swear as you would have me do; I do
 so of my own free will, neither shall I take the name of a daimôn in vain. Let, then, Achilles wait, though he would fain fight
 at once, and do you others wait also, till the gifts come from my tent and we
 ratify the oath with sacrifice. Thus, then, do I charge you: choose [ krinô ] some noble young Achaeans to go with you, and
 bring from my tents the gifts that I promised yesterday to Achilles, and bring
 the women also; furthermore let Talthybios find me a boar from those that are
 with the host, and make it ready for sacrifice to Zeus and to the sun." 

 
 Then said Achilles, "Son of Atreus, king of men
 Agamemnon, see to these matters at some other season, when there is breathing
 time and when I am calmer. Would you have men eat while the bodies of those
 whom Hektor son of Priam slew are still lying mangled upon the plain? Let the
 sons of the Achaeans, say I, fight fasting and without food, till we have
 avenged them; afterwards at the going down of the sun let them eat their fill.
 As for me, Patroklos is lying dead in my tent, all hacked and hewn, with his
 feet to the door, and his comrades are mourning round him. Therefore I can take
 thought of nothing save only slaughter and blood and the rattle in the throat
 of the dying." 

 
 Odysseus answered, "Achilles, son of Peleus,
 mightiest of all the Achaeans, in battle you are better than I, and that more
 than a little, but in counsel I am much before you, for I am older and of
 greater knowledge. Therefore be patient under my words. Fighting is a thing of
 which men soon surfeit, and when Zeus, who is wars steward, weighs the upshot,
 it may well prove that the straw which our sickles have reaped is far heavier
 than the grain. It may not be that the Achaeans should mourn the dead with
 their bellies; day by day men fall thick and threefold continually; when should
 we have respite from our sorrow [ ponos ]? Let us
 mourn our dead for a day and bury them out of sight and mind, but let those of
 us who are left eat and drink that we may arm and fight our foes more fiercely.
 In that hour let no man hold back, waiting for a second summons; such summons
 shall bode ill for him who is found lagging behind at our ships; let us rather
 sally as one man and loose the fury of war upon the Trojans." 

 
 When he had thus spoken he took with him the
 sons of Nestor, with Meges son of Phyleus, Thoas, Meriones, Lykomedes son of
 Kreontes, and Melanippos, and went to the tent of Agamemnon son of Atreus. The
 word was not sooner said than the deed was done: they brought out the seven
 tripods which Agamemnon had promised, with the twenty metal cauldrons and the
 twelve horses; they also brought the women skilled in useful arts, seven in
 number, with Briseis, which made eight. Odysseus weighed out the ten talents of
 gold and then led the way back, while the young Achaeans brought the rest of
 the gifts, and laid them in the middle of the assembly.

Agamemnon then rose, and Talthybios whose voice
 was like that of a god came to him with the boar. The son of Atreus drew the
 knife which he wore by the scabbard of his mighty sword, and began by cutting
 off some bristles from the boar, lifting up his hands in prayer as he did so.
 The other Achaeans sat where they were all silent and orderly to hear the king,
 and Agamemnon looked into the vault of heaven and prayed saying, "I call Zeus
 the first and mightiest of all gods to witness, I call also Earth and Sun and
 the Erinyes who dwell below and take vengeance on him who shall swear falsely,
 that I have laid no hand upon the girl Briseis, neither to take her to my bed
 nor otherwise, but that she has remained in my tents inviolate. If I swear
 falsely may heaven visit me with all the penalties which it metes out to those
 who perjure themselves." 

 
 He cut the boar's throat as he spoke, whereon
 Talthybios whirled it round his head, and flung it into the wide sea to feed
 the fishes. Then Achilles also rose and said to the Argives, "Father Zeus,
 truly you give atê to men and bane them. The son of
 Atreus had not else stirred me to so fierce an anger, nor so stubbornly taken
 Briseis from me against my will. Surely Zeus must have counseled the
 destruction of many an Argive . Go,
 now, and take your food that we may begin fighting." 

 
 On this he broke up the assembly, and every man
 went back to his own ship. The Myrmidons attended to the presents and took them
 away to the ship of Achilles. They placed them in his tents, while the
 stable-men [therapontes] drove the horses in among the others. 

 
 Briseis, fair as Aphrodite, when she saw the
 mangled body of Patroklos, flung herself upon it and cried aloud, tearing her
 breast, her neck, and her lovely face with both her hands. Beautiful as a
 goddess she wept and said, "Patroklos, dearest friend, when I went hence I left
 you living; I return, O prince, to find you dead; thus do fresh sorrows
 multiply upon me one after the other. I saw him to whom my father and mother
 married me, cut down before our city, and my three own dear brothers perished
 with him on the self-same day; but you, Patroklos, even when Achilles slew my
 husband and sacked the city of noble Mynes, told me that I was not to weep, for
 you said you would make Achilles marry me, and take me back with him to
 Phthia , we should have a wedding
 feast among the Myrmidons. You were always kind to me and I shall never cease
 to grieve for you." 

 
 She wept as she spoke, and the women joined in
 her lament-making as though their tears were for Patroklos, but in truth each
 was weeping for her own sorrows. The elders of the Achaeans gathered round
 Achilles and prayed him to take food, but he groaned and would not do so. "I
 pray you," said he, "if any comrade will hear me, bid me neither eat nor drink,
 for I am in great heaviness, and will stay fasting even to the going down of
 the sun." 

 
 On this he sent the other princes away, save
 only the two sons of Atreus and Odysseus, Nestor, Idomeneus, and the horseman
 Phoenix, who stayed behind and tried to comfort him in the bitterness of his
 sorrow [ akhos ]: but he would not be comforted till
 he should have flung himself into the jaws of battle, and he fetched sigh on
 sigh, thinking ever of Patroklos. Then he said- 

 
 "Hapless and dearest comrade, you it was who
 would get a good dinner ready for me at once and without delay when the
 Achaeans were hastening to fight the Trojans; now, therefore, though I have
 meat and drink in my tents, yet will I fast for sorrow. Grief greater than this
 I could not know, not even though I were to hear of the death of my father, who
 is now in Phthia weeping for the
 loss of me his son, who am here fighting the Trojans in a strange land [ dêmos ] for the accursed sake of Helen, nor yet though
 I should hear that my son is no more - he who is being brought up in Skyros - if indeed Neoptolemos is still
 living. Till now I made sure that I alone was to fall here at Troy away from Argos , while you were to return to Phthia , bring back my son with you in your
 own ship, and show him all my property, my bondsmen, and the greatness of my
 house - for Peleus must surely be either dead, or what little life remains to
 him is oppressed alike with the infirmities of age and ever present fear lest
 he should hear the sad tidings of my death." 

 
 He wept as he spoke, and the elders sighed in
 concert as each thought on what he had left at home behind him. The son of
 Kronos looked down with pity upon them, and said presently to Athena, "My
 child, you have quite deserted your hero; is he then gone so clean out of your
 recollection? There he sits by the ships all desolate for the loss of his dear
 comrade, and though the others are gone to their dinner he will neither eat nor
 drink. Go then and drop nectar and ambrosia into his breast, that he may know
 no hunger."

With these words he urged Athena, who was
 already of the same mind. She darted down from heaven into the air like some
 falcon sailing on his broad wings and screaming. Meanwhile the Achaeans were
 arming throughout the host, and when Athena had dropped nectar and ambrosia
 into Achilles so that no cruel hunger should cause his limbs to fail him, she
 went back to the house of her mighty father. Thick as the chill snow-flakes
 shed from the hand of Zeus and borne on the keen blasts of the north wind, even
 so thick did the gleaming helmets, the bossed shields, the strongly plated
 breastplates, and the ashen spears stream from the ships. The sheen pierced the
 sky, the whole land was radiant with their flashing armor, and the sound of the
 tramp of their treading rose from under their feet. In the midst of them all
 Achilles put on his armor; he gnashed his teeth, his eyes gleamed like fire,
 for his grief [ akhos ] was greater than he could
 bear. Thus, then, full of fury against the Trojans, did he don the gift of the
 god, the armor that Hephaistos had made him. 

 
 First he put on the goodly greaves fitted with
 ankle-clasps, and next he did on the breastplate about his chest. He slung the
 silver-studded sword of bronze about his shoulders, and then took up the shield
 so great and strong that shone afar with a splendor as of the moon. As the
 light seen by sailors from out at sea [ pontos ],
 when men have lit a fire in their homestead high up among the mountains, but
 the sailors are carried out to sea [ pontos ] by wind
 and storm far from the haven where they would be - even so did the gleam of
 Achilles' wondrous shield strike up into the heavens. He lifted the redoubtable
 helmet, and set it upon his head, from whence it shone like a star, and the
 golden plumes which Hephaistos had set thick about the ridge of the helmet,
 waved all around it. Then Achilles made trial of himself in his armor to see
 whether it fitted him, so that his limbs could play freely under it, and it
 seemed to buoy him up as though it had been wings. 

 
 He also drew his father's spear out of the
 spear-stand, a spear so great and heavy and strong that none of the Achaeans
 save only Achilles had strength to wield it; this was the spear of Pelian ash
 from the topmost ridges of Mount Pelion, which Chiron had once given to Peleus,
 fraught with the death of heroes. Automedon and Alkimos busied themselves with
 the harnessing of his horses; they made the bands fast about them, and put the
 bit in their mouths, drawing the reins back towards the chariot. Automedon,
 whip in hand, sprang up behind the horses, and after him Achilles mounted in
 full armor, resplendent as the sun-god Hyperion. Then with a loud voice he
 chided with his father's horses saying, " Xanthos and Balios, famed offspring of Podarge - this time when
 we have done fighting be sure and bring your driver safely back to the host of
 the Achaeans, and do not leave him dead on the plain as you did Patroklos." 

 
 Then fleet Xanthos answered under the yoke - for white-armed Hera had
 endowed him with human speech - and he bowed his head till his mane touched the
 ground as it hung down from under the yoke-band. "Dread Achilles," said he, "we
 will indeed save you now, but the day of your death is near, and we will not be
 responsible [ aitioi ], for it will be heaven and
 stern fate that will destroy you. Neither was it through any sloth or slackness
 on our part that the Trojans stripped Patroklos of his armor; it was the mighty
 god whom lovely Leto bore that slew him as he fought among the foremost, and
 granted a triumph to Hektor. We two can fly as swiftly as Zephyros who they say
 is fleetest of all winds; nevertheless it is your doom to fall by the hand of a
 man and of a god." 

 
 When he had thus spoken, the Erinyes stayed his
 speech, and Achilles answered him in great sadness, saying, "Why, O Xanthos , do you thus foretell my death?
 You need not do so, for I well know that I am to fall here, far from my dear
 father and mother; none the more, however, shall I stay my hand till I have
 given the Trojans their fill of fighting." 

 
 So saying, with a loud cry he drove his horses
 to the front.

Thus, then, did the Achaeans arm by their ships
 round you, O son of Peleus, who were hungering for battle; while the Trojans
 over against them armed upon the rise of the plain. 

 
 Meanwhile Zeus from the top of many-delled
 Olympus , bade Themis gather the
 gods in council, whereon she went about and called them to the house of Zeus.
 There was not a river absent except Okeanos, nor a single one of the nymphs
 that haunt fair groves, or springs of rivers and meadows of green grass. When
 they reached the house of cloud-compelling Zeus, they took their seats in the
 arcades of polished marble which Hephaistos with his consummate skill had made
 for father Zeus. 

 
 In such wise, therefore, did they gather in the
 house of Zeus. Poseidon also, lord of the earthquake, obeyed the call of the
 goddess, and came up out of the sea to join them. There, sitting in the midst
 of them, he asked what Zeus' purpose might be. "Why," said he, "wielder of the
 lightning, have you called the gods in council? Are you considering some matter
 that concerns the Trojans and Achaeans - for the blaze of battle is on the
 point of being kindled between them?" 

 
 And Zeus answered, "You know my purpose, shaker
 of earth, and wherefore I have called you hither. I take thought for them even
 in their destruction. For my own part I shall stay here seated on Mount Olympus and look on in peace, but do you
 others go about among Trojans and Achaeans, and help either side as you may be
 severally disposed in your thinking [ noos ]. If
 Achilles fights the Trojans without hindrance they will make no stand against
 him; they have ever trembled at the sight of him, and now that he is roused to
 such fury about his comrade, he will override fate itself and storm their
 city." 

 
 Thus spoke Zeus and gave the word for war,
 whereon the gods took their several sides and went into battle. Hera, Pallas
 Athena, earth-encircling Poseidon, Hermes bringer of good luck and excellent in
 all cunning - all these joined the host that came from the assembly [ agôn ] of ships; with them also came Hephaistos in all
 his glory, limping, but yet with his thin legs plying lustily under him. Ares
 of gleaming helmet joined the Trojans, and with him Apollo of locks unshorn,
 and the archer goddess Artemis, Leto, Xanthos , and laughter-loving Aphrodite. 

 
 So long as the gods held themselves aloof from
 mortal warriors the Achaeans were triumphant, for Achilles who had long refused
 to fight was now with them. There was not a Trojan but his limbs failed him for
 fear as he beheld the fleet son of Peleus all glorious in his armor, and
 looking like Ares himself. When, however, the Olympians came to take their part
 among men, forthwith uprose strong Strife, rouser of hosts, and Athena raised
 her loud voice, now standing by the deep trench that ran outside the wall, and
 now shouting with all her might upon the shore of the sounding sea. Ares also
 bellowed out upon the other side, dark as some black thunder-cloud, and called
 on the Trojans at the top of his voice, now from the acropolis, and now
 speeding up the side of the river Simoeis till he came to the hill Kallikolone. 

 
 Thus did the gods spur on both hosts to fight,
 and rouse fierce contention also among themselves. The sire of gods and men
 thundered from heaven above, while from beneath Poseidon shook the vast earth,
 and bade the high hills tremble. The spurs and crests of many-fountained Ida
 quaked, as also the city of the Trojans and the ships of the Achaeans. Hades,
 king of the realms below, was struck with fear; he sprang panic-stricken from
 his throne and cried aloud in terror lest Poseidon, lord of the earthquake,
 should crack the ground over his head, and lay bare his moldy mansions to the
 sight of mortals and immortals - mansions so ghastly grim that even the gods
 shudder to think of them. Such was the uproar as the gods came together in
 battle. Apollo with his arrows took his stand to face King Poseidon, while
 Athena took hers against the god of war; the archer-goddess Artemis with her
 golden arrows, sister of far-darting Apollo, stood to face Hera; Hermes the
 lusty bringer of good luck faced Leto, while the mighty eddying river whom men
 can Skamandros, but gods Xanthos ,
 matched himself against Hephaistos. 

 
 The gods, then, were thus ranged against one
 another. But the heart of Achilles was set on meeting Hektor son of Priam, for
 it was with his blood that he longed above all things else to glut the stubborn
 lord of battle. Meanwhile Apollo set Aeneas on to attack the son of Peleus, and
 put courage into his heart, speaking with the voice of Lykaon son of Priam. In
 his likeness therefore, he said to Aeneas, "Aeneas, counselor of the Trojans,
 where are now the brave words with which you vaunted over your wine before the
 Trojan princes, saying that you would fight Achilles son of Peleus in single
 combat?"

And Aeneas answered, "Why do you thus bid me
 fight the proud son of Peleus, when I am in no mind to do so? Were I to face
 him now, it would not be for the first time. His spear has already put me to
 Right from Ida, when he attacked our cattle and sacked Lyrnessos and Pedasos;
 Zeus indeed saved me in that he granted me strength to flee, else had the
 fallen by the hands of Achilles and Athena, who went before him to protect him
 and urged him to fall upon the Leleges and Trojans. No man may fight Achilles,
 for one of the gods is always with him as his guardian, and even were it not
 so, his weapon flies ever straight, and fails not to pierce the flesh of him
 who is against him; if heaven would let me fight him to the finish [ telos ] on even terms, he should not soon overcome me,
 though he boasts that he is made of bronze." 

 
 Then said King Apollo, son to Zeus, "Nay, hero,
 pray to the ever-living gods, for men say that you were born of Zeus' daughter
 Aphrodite, whereas Achilles is son to a goddess of inferior rank. Aphrodite is
 child to Zeus, while Thetis is but daughter to the old man of the sea. Bring,
 therefore, your spear to bear upon him, and let him not scare you with his
 taunts and menaces." 

 
 As he spoke he put courage into the heart of
 the shepherd of his people, and he strode in full armor among the ranks of the
 foremost fighters. Nor did the son of Anchises escape the notice of white-armed
 Hera, as he went forth into the throng to meet Achilles. She called the gods
 about her, and said, "Look to it, you two, Poseidon and Athena, and consider
 how this shall be; Phoebus Apollo has been sending Aeneas clad in full armor to
 fight Achilles. Shall we turn him back at once, or shall one of us stand by
 Achilles and endow him with strength so that his heart fail not, and he may
 learn that the chiefs of the immortals are on his side, while the others who
 have all along been defending the Trojans are but vain helpers? Let us all come
 down from Olympus and join in the
 fight, that this day he may take no hurt at the hands of the Trojans. Hereafter
 let him suffer whatever fate may have spun out for him when he was begotten and
 his mother bore him. If Achilles be not thus assured by the voice of a god, he
 may come to fear presently when one of us meets him in battle, for the gods are
 terrible if they are seen face to face." 

 
 Poseidon lord of the earthquake answered her
 saying, "Hera, restrain your fury, which has made you veer in your thinking
 [ noos ]; it is not well; I am not in favor of
 forcing the other gods to fight us, for the advantage is too greatly on our own
 side; let us take our places on some hill out of the beaten track, and let
 mortals fight it out among themselves. If Ares or Phoebus Apollo begin
 fighting, or keep Achilles in check so that he cannot fight, we too, will at
 once raise the cry of battle, and in that case they will soon leave the field
 and go back vanquished to Olympus 
 among the other gods." 

 
 With these words the dark-haired god led the
 way to the high earth-barrow of Herakles, built round solid masonry, and made
 by the Trojans and Pallas Athena for him flee to when the sea-monster was
 chasing him from the shore on to the plain. Here Poseidon and those that were
 with him took their seats, wrapped in a thick cloud of darkness; but the other
 gods seated themselves on the brow of Kallikolone round you, O Phoebus, and
 Ares the waster of cities. 

 
 Thus did the gods sit apart and form their
 plans, but neither side was willing to begin battle with the other, and Zeus
 from his seat on high was in command over them all. Meanwhile the whole plain
 was alive with men and horses, and blazing with the gleam of armor. The earth
 rang again under the tramp of their feet as they rushed towards each other, and
 two champions, by far the foremost of them all, met between the hosts to fight
 - to wit, Aeneas son of Anchises, and noble Achilles. 

 
 Aeneas was first to stride forward in attack,
 his doughty helmet tossing defiance as he came on. He held his strong shield
 before his breast, and brandished his bronze spear. The son of Peleus from the
 other side sprang forth to meet him, like some fierce lion that the whole
 population [ dêmos ] has met to hunt and kill - at
 first he bodes no ill, but when some daring youth has struck him with a spear,
 he crouches openmouthed, his jaws foam, he roars with fury, he lashes his tail
 from side to side about his ribs and loins, and glares as he springs straight
 before him, to find out whether he is to slay, or be slain among the foremost
 of his foes - even with such fury did Achilles burn to spring upon Aeneas. 

 
 When they were now close up with one another
 Achilles was first to speak. "Aeneas," said he, "why do you stand thus out
 before the host to fight me? Is it that you hope to reign over the Trojans,
 partaking of the honor [ timê ] of Priam? Nay, though
 you kill me Priam will not hand his kingdom over to you. He is a man of sound
 judgment, and he has sons of his own. Or have the Trojans been allotting you a
 demesne of passing richness, fair with orchard lawns and wheat lands, if you
 should slay me? This you shall hardly do. I have discomfited you once already.
 Have you forgotten how when you were alone I chased you from your herds
 helter-skelter down the slopes of Ida? You did not turn round to look behind
 you; you took refuge in Lyrnessos, but I attacked the city, and with the help
 of Athena and father Zeus I sacked it and carried its women into captivity,
 though Zeus and the other gods rescued you. You think they will protect you
 now, but they will not do so; therefore I say go back into the host, and do not
 face me, or you will rue it. Even a fool may be wise after the event."

Then Aeneas answered, "Son of Peleus, think not
 that your words can scare me as though I were a child. I too, if I will, can
 brag and talk unseemly. We know one another's race and parentage as matters of
 common fame, though neither have you ever seen my parents nor I yours. Men say
 that you are son to noble Peleus, and that your mother is Thetis, fair-haired
 daughter of the sea. I have noble Anchises for my father, and Aphrodite for my
 mother; the parents of one or other of us shall this day mourn a son, for it
 will be more than silly talk that shall part us when the fight is over. Learn,
 then, my lineage if you will - and it is known to many. 

 
 "In the beginning Dardanos was the son of Zeus, and founded
 Dardania, for Ilion was not yet
 established on the plain for men to dwell in, and her people still abode on the
 spurs of many-fountained Ida. Dardanos had a son, king Erichthonios, who was
 wealthiest of all men living; he had three thousand mares that fed by the
 water-meadows, they and their foals with them. Boreas was enamored of them as
 they were feeding, and covered them in the semblance of a dark-maned stallion.
 Twelve filly foals did they conceive and bear him, and these, as they sped over
 the fertile plain, would go bounding on over the ripe ears of wheat and not
 break them; or again when they would disport themselves on the broad back of
 Ocean they could gallop on the crest of a breaker. Erichthonios begat Tros,
 king of the Trojans, and Tros had three noble sons, Ilos, Assarakos, and
 Ganymede who was comeliest of mortal men; wherefore the gods carried him off to
 be Zeus' cupbearer, for his beauty's sake, that he might dwell among the
 immortals. Ilos begat Laomedon, and Laomedon begat Tithonos, Priam, Lampos,
 Klytios, and Hiketaon of the stock of Ares. But Assarakos was father to Kapys,
 and Kapys to Anchises, who was my father, while Hektor is son to Priam. 

 
 "Such do I declare my blood and lineage, but as
 for valor [ aretê ], Zeus gives it or takes it as he
 will, for he is lord of all. And now let there be no more of this prating in
 mid-battle as though we were children. We could fling taunts without end at one
 another; a hundred-oared galley would not hold them. The tongue can run in
 every which direction and talk all wise; it can go here and there, and as a man
 says, so shall he be gainsaid. What is the use of our bandying hard like women
 who when they fall foul of one another go out and wrangle in the streets, one
 half true and the other lies, as rage inspires them? No words of yours shall
 turn me now that I am fain to fight- therefore let us make trial of one another
 with our spears." 

 
 As he spoke he drove his spear at the great and
 terrible shield of Achilles, which rang out as the point struck it. The son of
 Peleus held the shield before him with his strong hand, and he was afraid, for
 he deemed that Aeneas' spear would go through it quite easily, not reflecting
 that the god's glorious gifts were little likely to yield before the blows of
 mortal men; and indeed Aeneas' spear did not pierce the shield, for the layer
 of gold, gift of the god, stayed the point. It went through two layers, but the
 god had made the shield in five, two of bronze, the two innermost ones of tin,
 and one of gold; it was in this that the spear was stayed. 

 
 Achilles in his turn threw, and struck the
 round shield of Aeneas at the very edge, where the bronze was thinnest; the
 spear of Pelian ash went clean through, and the shield rang under the blow;
 Aeneas was afraid, and crouched backwards, holding the shield away from him;
 the spear, however, flew over his back, and stuck quivering in the ground,
 after having gone through both circles of the sheltering shield. Aeneas though
 he had avoided the spear, stood still, blinded with fear and grief [ akhos ] because the weapon had gone so near him; then
 Achilles sprang furiously upon him, with a cry as of death and with his keen
 blade drawn, and Aeneas seized a great stone, so huge that two men, as men now
 are, would be unable to lift it, but Aeneas wielded it quite easily. 

 
 Aeneas would then have struck Achilles as he
 was springing towards him, either on the helmet, or on the shield that covered
 him, and Achilles would have closed with him and dispatched him with his sword,
 had not Poseidon lord of the earthquake been quick to mark, and said forthwith
 to the immortals, "Alas, I feel grief [ akhos ] for
 great Aeneas, who will now go down to the house of Hades, vanquished by the son
 of Peleus. Fool that he was to give ear to the counsel of Apollo. Apollo will
 never save him from destruction. Why should this man suffer grief [ akhos ] when he is guiltless, to no purpose, and in
 another's quarrel? Has he not at all times offered acceptable sacrifice to the
 gods that dwell in heaven? Let us then snatch him from death's jaws, lest the
 son of Kronos be angry should Achilles slay him. It is fated, moreover, that he
 should escape, and that the race of Dardanos, whom Zeus loved above all the
 sons born to him of mortal women, shall not perish utterly without seed or
 sign. For now indeed has Zeus hated the blood of Priam, while Aeneas shall
 reign over the Trojans, he and his children's children that shall be born
 hereafter." 

 
 Then answered Hera, "Earth-shaker, look to this
 matter yourself, and consider concerning Aeneas, whether you will save him, or
 suffer him, brave though he be, to fall by the hand of Achilles son of Peleus.
 For of a truth we two, I and Pallas Athena, have sworn full many a time before
 all the immortals, that never would we shield Trojans from destruction, not
 even when all Troy is burning in the
 flames that the Achaeans shall kindle." 

 
 When earth-encircling Poseidon heard this he
 went into the battle amid the clash of spears, and came to the place where
 Achilles and Aeneas were. Forthwith he shed a darkness before the eyes of the
 son of Peleus, drew the bronze-headed ashen spear from the shield of Aeneas,
 and laid it at the feet of Achilles. Then he lifted Aeneas on high from off the
 earth and hurried him away. Over the heads of many a band of warriors both
 horse and foot did he soar as the god's hand sped him, till he came to the very
 fringe of the battle where the Cauconians were arming themselves for fight.
 Poseidon, shaker of the earth, then came near to him and said, Aeneas, what god
 has egged you on to this folly in fighting the son of Peleus, who is both a
 mightier man of valor and more beloved of heaven than you are? Give way before
 him whensoever you meet him, lest you go down to the house of Hades even though
 fate would have it otherwise. When Achilles is dead you may then fight among
 the foremost undaunted, for none other of the Achaeans shall slay you."

The god left him when he had given him these
 instructions, and at once removed the darkness from before the eyes of
 Achilles, who opened them wide indeed and said in great anger, "Alas! what
 marvel am I now beholding? Here is my spear upon the ground, but I see not him
 whom I meant to kill when I hurled it. Of a truth Aeneas also must be under
 heaven's protection, although I had thought his boasting was idle. Let him go
 hang; he will be in no mood to fight me further, seeing how narrowly he has
 missed being killed. I will now give my orders to the Danaans and attack some
 other of the Trojans." 

 
 He sprang forward along the line and cheered
 his men on as he did so. "Let not the Trojans," he cried, "keep you at arm's
 length, Achaeans, but go for them and fight them man for man. However valiant I
 may be, I cannot give chase to so many and fight all of them. Even Ares, who is
 an immortal, or Athena, would shrink from flinging himself into the jaws of
 such a fight and laying about him; nevertheless, so far as in me lies I will
 show no slackness of hand or foot nor want of endurance, not even for a moment;
 I will utterly break their ranks, and woe to the Trojan who shall venture
 within reach of my spear." 

 
 Thus did he exhort them. Meanwhile Hektor
 called upon the Trojans and declared that he would fight Achilles. "Be not
 afraid, proud Trojans," said he, "to face the son of Peleus; I could fight gods
 myself if the battle were one of words only, but they would be more than a
 match for me, if we had to use our spears. Even so the deed of Achilles will
 fall somewhat short of the outcome [ telos ] of his
 word; he will do in part, and the other part he will clip short. I will go up
 against him though his hands be as fire - though his hands be fire and his
 strength iron." 

 
 Thus urged the Trojans lifted up their spears
 against the Achaeans, and raised the cry of battle as they flung themselves
 into the midst of their ranks. But Phoebus Apollo came up to Hektor and said,
 "Hektor, on no account must you challenge Achilles to single combat; keep a
 lookout for him while you are under cover of the others and away from the thick
 of the fight, otherwise he will either hit you with a spear or cut you down at
 close quarters." 

 
 Thus he spoke, and Hektor drew back within the
 crowd, for he was afraid when he heard what the god had said to him. Achilles
 then sprang upon the Trojans with a terrible cry, clothed in valor as with a
 garment. First he killed Iphition son of Otrynteus, a leader of many people
 whom a naiad nymph had borne to Otrynteus waster of cities, in the district
 [ dêmos ] of Hyde under the snowy heights of Mount Tmolos. Achilles struck
 him full on the head as he was coming on towards him, and split it clean in
 two; whereon he fell heavily to the ground and Achilles vaunted over him
 saying, "You be low, son of Otrynteus, mighty hero; your death is here, but
 your lineage is on the Gygaean lake where your father's estate lies, by Hyllos,
 rich in fish, and the eddying waters of Hermos." 

 
 Thus did he vaunt, but darkness closed the eyes
 of the other. The chariots of the Achaeans cut him up as their wheels passed
 over him in the front of the battle, and after him Achilles killed Demoleon, a
 valiant man of war and son to Antenor. He struck him on the temple through his
 bronze-cheeked helmet. The helmet did not stay the spear, but it went right on,
 crushing the bone so that the brain inside was shed in all directions, and his
 lust of fighting was ended. Then he struck Hippodamas in the midriff as he was
 springing down from his chariot in front of him, and trying to escape. He
 breathed his last, bellowing like a bull bellows when young men are dragging
 him to offer him in sacrifice to the King of Helike , and the heart of the earth-shaker is glad; even so did
 he bellow as he lay dying. Achilles then went in pursuit of Polydoros son of
 Priam, whom his father had always forbidden to fight because he was the
 youngest of his sons, the one he loved best, and the fastest runner. He, in his
 folly and showing off the excellence [ aretê ] of his
 speed, was rushing about among front ranks until he lost his life, for Achilles
 struck him in the middle of the back as he was darting past him: he struck him
 just at the golden fastenings of his belt and where the two pieces of the
 double breastplate overlapped. The point of the spear pierced him through and
 came out by the navel, whereon he fell groaning on to his knees and a cloud of
 darkness overshadowed him as he sank holding his entrails in his hands. 

 
 When Hektor saw his brother Polydoros with his
 entrails in his hands and sinking down upon the ground, a mist came over his
 eyes, and he could not bear to keep longer at a distance; he therefore poised
 his spear and darted towards Achilles like a flame of fire. When Achilles saw
 him he bounded forward and vaunted saying, "This is he that has wounded my
 heart most deeply and has slain my beloved comrade. Not for long shall we two
 quail before one another on the highways of war." 

 
 He looked fiercely on Hektor and said, "Draw
 near, that you may meet your doom the sooner." Hektor feared him not and
 answered, "Son of Peleus, think not that your words can scare me as though I
 were a child; I too if I will can brag and talk unseemly; I know that you are a
 mighty warrior, mightier by far than I, nevertheless the issue lies in the lap
 of heaven whether I, worse man though I be, may not slay you with my spear, for
 this too has been found keen ere now."

He hurled his spear as he spoke, but Athena
 breathed upon it, and though she breathed but very lightly she turned it back
 from going towards Achilles, so that it returned to Hektor and lay at his feet
 in front of him. Achilles then sprang furiously on him with a loud cry, bent on
 killing him, but Apollo caught him up easily as a god can, and hid him in a
 thick darkness. Thrice did Achilles spring towards him spear in hand, and
 thrice did he waste his blow upon the air. When he rushed forward for the
 fourth time as though he were a daimôn he shouted
 aloud saying, "Hound, this time too you have escaped death - but of a truth it
 came exceedingly near you. Phoebus Apollo, to whom it seems you pray before you
 go into battle, has again saved you; but if I too have any friend among the
 gods I will surely make an end of you when I come across you at some other
 time. Now, however, I will pursue and overtake other Trojans." 

 
 On this he struck Dryops with his spear, about
 the middle of his neck, and he fell headlong at his feet. There he let him lie
 and stayed Demoukhos son of Philetor, a man both brave and of great stature, by
 hitting him on the knee with a spear; then he smote him with his sword and
 killed him. After this he sprang on Laogonos and Dardanos , sons of Bias, and threw them
 from their chariot, the one with a blow from a thrown spear, while the other he
 cut down in hand-to-hand fight. There was also Tros the son of Alastor - he
 came up to Achilles and clasped his knees in the hope that he would spare him
 and not kill him but let him go, because they were both of the same age. Fool,
 he might have known that he should not prevail with him, for the man was in no
 mood for pity or forbearance but was in grim earnest. Therefore when Tros laid
 hold of his knees and sought a hearing for his prayers, Achilles drove his
 sword into his liver, and the liver came rolling out, while his bosom was all
 covered with the black blood that welled from the wound. Thus did death close
 his eyes as he lay lifeless. 

 
 Achilles then went up to Moulios and struck him
 on the ear with a spear, and the bronze spear-head came right out at the other
 ear. He also struck Echeklos son of Agenor on the head with his sword, which
 became warm with the blood, while death and stern fate closed the eyes of
 Echeklos. Next in order the bronze point of his spear wounded Deukalion in the
 fore-arm where the sinews of the elbow are united, whereon he waited Achilles'
 onset with his arm hanging down and death staring him in the face. Achilles cut
 his head off with a blow from his sword and flung it helmet and all away from
 him, and the marrow came oozing out of his backbone as he lay. He then went in
 pursuit of Rhigmos, noble son of Peires, who had come from fertile Thrace , and struck him through the middle with
 a spear which fixed itself in his belly, so that he fell headlong from his
 chariot. He also speared Areithoos squire [ therapôn ] to Rhigmos in the back as he was turning his horses in
 flight, and thrust him from his chariot, while the horses were struck with
 panic. 

 
 As a fire raging in some mountain glen after
 long drought - and the dense forest is in a blaze, while the wind carries great
 tongues of fire in every direction - even so furiously did Achilles rage,
 wielding his spear as though he were a daimôn , and
 giving chase to those whom he would slay, till the dark earth ran with blood.
 Or as one who yokes broad-browed oxen that they may tread barley in a
 threshing-floor - and it is soon bruised small under the feet of the lowing
 cattle - even so did the horses of Achilles trample on the shields and bodies
 of the slain. The axle underneath and the railing that ran round the car were
 bespattered with clots of blood thrown up by the horses' hoofs, and from the
 tires of the wheels; but the son of Peleus pressed on to win still further
 glory, and his hands were bedrabbled with gore.

Now when they came to the ford of the
 full-flowing river Xanthos ,
 begotten of immortal Zeus, Achilles cut their forces in two: one half he chased
 over the plain towards the city by the same way that the Achaeans had taken
 when fleeing panic-stricken on the preceding day with Hektor in full triumph;
 this way did they flee pell-mell, and Hera sent down a thick mist in front of
 them to stay them. The other half were hemmed in by the deep silver-eddying
 stream, and fell into it with a great uproar. The waters resounded, and the
 banks rang again, as they swam hither and thither with loud cries amid the
 whirling eddies. As locusts flying to a river before the blast of a grass fire-
 the flame comes on and on till at last it overtakes them and they huddle into
 the water - even so was the eddying stream of Xanthos filled with the uproar of men and horses, all
 struggling in confusion before Achilles. 

 
 Forthwith the hero left his spear upon the bank,
 leaning it against a tamarisk bush, and plunged into the river like a daimôn , armed with his sword only. Fell was his
 purpose as he hewed the Trojans down on every side. Their dying groans rose
 hideous as the sword smote them, and the river ran red with blood. As when fish
 flee scared before a huge dolphin, and fill every nook and corner of some fair
 haven - for he is sure to eat all he can catch - even so did the Trojans cower
 under the banks of the mighty river, and when Achilles' arms grew weary with
 killing them, 

 
 he drew twelve youths alive out of the water, to
 sacrifice in revenge for Patroklos son of Menoitios. He drew them out like
 dazed fawns, bound their hands behind them with the belts of their own shirts,
 and gave them over to his men to take back to the ships. Then he sprang into
 the river, thirsting for still further blood. 

 
 There he found Lykaon, son of Priam seed of
 Dardanos , as he was escaping
 out of the water; he it was whom he had once taken prisoner when he was in his
 father's vineyard, having set upon him by night, as he was cutting young shoots
 from a wild fig-tree to make the wicker sides of a chariot. Achilles then
 caught him to his sorrow unawares, and sent him by sea to Lemnos , where the son of Jason bought him. But
 a guest-friend, Eetion of Imbros, freed him with a great sum, and sent him to
 Arisbe, whence he had escaped and returned to his father's house. He had spent
 eleven days happily with his friends after he had come from Lemnos , but on the twelfth heaven again
 delivered him into the hands of Achilles, who was to send him to the house of
 Hades sorely against his will. He was unarmed when Achilles caught sight of
 him, and had neither helmet nor shield; nor yet had he any spear, for he had
 thrown all his armor from him on to the bank, and was sweating with his
 struggles to get out of the river, so that his strength was now failing him. 

 
 Then Achilles said to himself in his surprise,
 "What marvel do I see here? If this man can come back alive after having been
 sold over into Lemnos , I shall have
 the Trojans also whom I have slain rising from the world below. Could not even
 the waters of the gray sea [pontos] imprison him, as they do many another
 whether he will or no? This time let him taste my spear, that I may know for
 certain whether mother earth who can keep even a strong man down, will be able
 to hold him, or whether thence too he will return." 

 
 Thus did he pause and ponder. But Lykaon came up
 to him dazed and trying hard to embrace his knees, for he would fain live, not
 die. Achilles thrust at him with his spear, meaning to kill him, but Lykaon ran
 crouching up to him and caught his knees, whereby the spear passed over his
 back, and stuck in the ground, hungering though it was for blood. With one hand
 he caught Achilles' knees as he besought him, and with the other he clutched
 the spear and would not let it go. Then he said, "Achilles, have mercy upon me
 and spare me, for I am your suppliant. It was in your tents that I first broke
 bread on the day when you took me prisoner in the vineyard; after which you
 sold away to Lemnos far from my father
 and my friends, and I brought you the price of a hundred oxen. I have paid
 three times as much to gain my freedom; it is but twelve days that I have come
 to Ilion after much suffering, and now
 cruel fate has again thrown me into your hands. Surely father Zeus must hate
 me, that he has given me over to you a second time. Short of life indeed did my
 mother Laothoe bear me, daughter of aged Altes - of Altes who reigns over the
 warlike Leleges and holds steep Pedasos on the river Satnioeis. Priam married
 his daughter along with many other women and two sons were born of her, both of
 whom you will have slain. Your spear slew noble Polydoros as he was fighting in
 the front ranks, and now evil will here befall me, for I fear that I shall not
 escape you since a daimôn has delivered me over to
 you. Furthermore I say, and lay my saying to your heart, spare me, for I am not
 of the same womb as Hektor who slew your brave and noble comrade." 

 
 With such words did the princely son of Priam
 beseech Achilles; but Achilles answered him sternly. "Idiot," said he, "talk
 not to me of ransom. Until Patroklos fell I preferred to give the Trojans
 quarter, and sold beyond the sea many of those whom I had taken alive; but now
 not a man shall live of those whom heaven delivers into my hands before the
 city of Ilion - 

 
 and of all Trojans it shall fare hardest with
 the sons of Priam. Therefore, my friend, you too shall die. Why should you
 whine in this way? Patroklos fell, and he was a better man than you are. I too
 - see you not how I am great and goodly? I am son to a noble father, and have a
 goddess for my mother, but the hands of doom and death overshadow me all as
 surely. The day will come, either at dawn or dark, or at the noontide, when one
 shall take my life also in battle, either with his spear, or with an arrow sped
 from his bow."

Thus did he speak, and Lykaon's heart sank
 within him. He loosed his hold of the spear, and held out both hands before
 him; but Achilles drew his keen blade, and struck him by the collar-bone on his
 neck; he plunged his two-edged sword into him to the very hilt, whereon he lay
 at full length on the ground, with the dark blood welling from him till the
 earth was soaked. Then Achilles caught him by the foot and flung him into the
 river to go down stream, vaunting over him the while, and saying, "Lie there
 among the fishes, who will lick the blood from your wound and gloat over it;
 your mother shall not lay you on any bier to mourn you, but the eddies of
 Skamandros shall bear you into the broad bosom of the sea. There shall the
 fishes feed on the fat of Lykaon as they dart under the dark ripple of the
 waters - so perish all of you till we reach the citadel of strong Ilion - you in flight, and I following after
 to destroy you. The river with its broad silver stream shall serve you in no
 stead, for all the bulls you offered him and all the horses that you flung
 living into his waters. None the less miserably shall you perish till there is
 not a man of you but has paid in full for the death of Patroklos and the havoc
 you wrought among the Achaeans whom you have slain while I held aloof from
 battle." 

 
 So spoke Achilles, but the river grew more and
 more angry, and pondered within himself how he should keep Achilles out of the
 struggle [ ponos ] and save the Trojans from
 disaster. Meanwhile the son of Peleus, spear in hand, sprang upon Asteropaios
 son of Pelegon to kill him. He was son to the broad river Axios and Periboia eldest daughter of
 Akessamenos; for the river had lain with her. Asteropaios stood up out of the
 water to face him with a spear in either hand, and Xanthos filled him with courage, being
 angry for the death of the youths whom Achilles was slaying ruthlessly within
 his waters. When they were close up with one another Achilles was first to
 speak. "Who and whence are you," said he, "who dare to face me? Woe to the
 parents whose son stands up against me." And the son of Pelegon answered,
 "Great son of Peleus, why should you ask my lineage. I am from the fertile land
 of far Paeonia, leader of the Paeonians, and it is now eleven days that I am at
 Ilion . I am of the blood of the
 river Axios - of Axios that is the fairest of all rivers that
 run. He begot the famed warrior Pelegon, whose son men call me. Let us now
 fight, Achilles." 

 
 Thus did he defy him, and Achilles raised his
 spear of Pelian ash. Asteropaios failed with both his spears, for he could use
 both hands alike; with the one spear he struck Achilles' shield, but did not
 pierce it, for the layer of gold, gift of the god, stayed the point; with the
 other spear he grazed the elbow of Achilles! right arm drawing dark blood, but
 the spear itself went by him and fixed itself in the ground, foiled of its
 bloody banquet. Then Achilles, fain to kill him, hurled his spear at
 Asteropaios, but failed to hit him and struck the steep bank of the river,
 driving the spear half its length into the earth. The son of Peleus then drew
 his sword and sprang furiously upon him. Asteropaios vainly tried to draw
 Achilles' spear out of the bank by main force; thrice did he tug at it, trying
 with all his might to draw it out, and thrice he had to leave off trying; the
 fourth time he tried to bend and break it, but ere he could do so Achilles
 smote him with his sword and killed him. He struck him in the belly near the
 navel, 

 
 so that all his bowels came gushing out on to
 the ground, and the darkness of death came over him as he lay gasping. Then
 Achilles set his foot on his chest and spoiled him of his armor, vaunting over
 him and saying, "Lie there - begotten of a river though you be, it is hard for
 you to strive with the offspring of Kronos' son. You declare yourself sprung
 from the blood of a broad river, but I am of the seed of mighty Zeus. My father
 is Peleus, son of Aiakos ruler over the many Myrmidons, and Aiakos was the son
 of Zeus. Therefore as Zeus is mightier than any river that flows into the sea,
 so are his children stronger than those of any river whatsoever. Moreover you
 have a great river hard by if he can be of any use to you, but there is no
 fighting against Zeus the son of Kronos, with whom not even King Akheloos can
 compare, nor the mighty stream of deep-flowing Okeanos, from whom all rivers
 and seas with all springs and deep wells proceed; even Okeanos fears the
 lightnings of great Zeus, and his thunder that comes crashing out of heaven." 

 
 With this he drew his bronze spear out of the
 bank, and now that he had killed Asteropaios, he let him lie where he was on
 the sand, with the dark water flowing over him and the eels and fishes busy
 nibbling and gnawing the fat that was about his kidneys. Then he went in chase
 of the Paeonians, who were fleeing along the bank of the river in panic when
 they saw their leader slain by the hands of the son of Peleus. Therein he slew
 Thersilokhos, Mydon, Astypylos, Mnesos, Thrasios, Oeneus, and Ophelestes, and
 he would have slain yet others, had not the river in anger taken human form,
 and spoken to him from out the deep waters saying, "Achilles, if you excel all
 in strength, so do you also in wickedness, for the gods are ever with you to
 protect you: if, then, the son of Kronos has granted it to you to destroy all
 the Trojans, at any rate drive them out of my stream, and do your grim work on
 land. My fair waters are now filled with corpses, nor can I find any channel by
 which I may pour myself into the sea for I am choked with dead, and yet you go
 on mercilessly slaying. I am in despair, therefore, O leader of your host,
 trouble me no further." 

 
 Achilles answered, "So be it, Skamandros,
 Zeus-descended; but I will never cease dealing out death among the Trojans,
 till I have pent them up in their city, and made trial of Hektor face to face,
 that I may learn whether he is to vanquish me, or I him." 

 
 As he spoke he set upon the Trojans with a fury
 like that of a daimôn. But the river said to
 Apollo, "Surely, son of Zeus, lord of the silver bow, you are not obeying the
 commands of Zeus who charged you straitly that you should stand by the Trojans
 and defend them, till twilight fades, and darkness is over an the earth." 

 
 Meanwhile Achilles sprang from the bank into
 mid-stream, whereon the river raised a high wave and attacked him. He swelled
 his stream into a torrent, and swept away the many dead whom Achilles had slain
 and left within his waters. These he cast out on to the land, bellowing like a
 bull the while, but the living he saved alive, hiding them in his mighty
 eddies. The great and terrible wave gathered about Achilles, falling upon him
 and beating on his shield, so that he could not keep his feet; he caught hold
 of a great elm-tree, but it came up by the roots, and tore away the bank,
 damming the stream with its thick branches and bridging it all across; whereby
 Achilles struggled out of the stream, and fled full speed over the plain, for
 he was afraid.

But the mighty god ceased not in his pursuit,
 and sprang upon him with a dark-crested wave, to keep him out of the struggle
 [ ponos ] and save the Trojans from destruction.
 The son of Peleus darted away a spear's throw from him; swift as the swoop of a
 black hunter-eagle which is the strongest and fleetest of all birds, even so
 did he spring forward, and the armor rang loudly about his breast. He fled on
 in front, but the river with a loud roar came tearing after. As one who would
 water his garden leads a stream from some fountain over his plants, and all his
 ground - 

 
 spade in hand he clears away the dams to free
 the channels, and the little stones run rolling round and round with the water
 as it goes merrily down the bank faster than the man can follow- even so did
 the river keep catching up with Achilles albeit he was a fleet runner, for the
 gods are stronger than men. As often as he would strive to stand his ground,
 and see whether or no all the gods in heaven were in league against him, so
 often would the mighty wave come beating down upon his shoulders, and he would
 have to keep fleeing on and on in great dismay; for the angry flood was tiring
 him out as it flowed past him and ate the ground from under his feet. 

 
 Then the son of Peleus lifted up his voice to
 heaven saying, "Father Zeus, is there none of the gods who will take pity upon
 me, and save me from the river? I do not care what may happen to me afterwards.
 I blame [aitios] none of the other dwellers on Olympus so severely as I do my dear mother, who has beguiled
 and tricked me. She told me I was to fall under the walls of Troy by the flying arrows of Apollo; would
 that Hektor, the best man among the Trojans, might there slay me; then should I
 fall a hero by the hand of a hero; whereas now it seems that I shall come to a
 most pitiable end, trapped in this river as though I were some swineherd's boy,
 who gets carried down a torrent while trying to cross it during a storm." 

 
 As soon as he had spoken thus, Poseidon and
 Athena came up to him in the likeness of two men, and took him by the hand to
 reassure him. Poseidon spoke first. "Son of Peleus," said he, "be not so
 exceeding fearful; we are two gods, come with Zeus' sanction to assist you, I,
 and Pallas Athena. It is not your fate to perish in this river; he will abate
 presently as you will see; moreover we strongly advise you, if you will be
 guided by us, not to stay your hand from fighting till you have pent the Trojan
 host within the famed walls of Ilion -
 as many of them as may escape. Then kill Hektor and go back to the ships, for
 we will grant you a triumph over him." 

 
 When they had so said they went back to the
 other immortals, but Achilles strove onward over the plain, encouraged by the
 charge the gods had laid upon him. All was now covered with the flood of
 waters, and much goodly armor of the youths that had been slain was rifting
 about, as also many corpses, but he forced his way against the stream, speeding
 right onwards, nor could the broad waters stay him, for Athena had endowed him
 with great strength. Nevertheless Skamandros did not slacken in his pursuit,
 but was still more furious with the son of Peleus. He lifted his waters into a
 high crest and cried aloud to Simoeis saying, "Dear brother, let the two of us
 unite to save this man, or he will sack the mighty city of King Priam, and the
 Trojans will not hold out against him. Help me at once; fill your streams with
 water from their sources, rouse all your torrents to a fury; raise your wave on
 high, and let snags and stones come thundering down you that we may make an end
 of this savage creature who is now lording it as though he were a god. Nothing
 shall serve him longer, not strength nor comeliness, nor his fine armor, which
 indeed shall soon be lying low in the deep waters covered over with mud. I will
 wrap him in sand, and pour tons of shingle round him, so that the Achaeans
 shall not know how to gather his bones for the silt in which I shall have
 hidden him, and when they celebrate his funeral they need build no tomb [ sêma ]." 

 
 On this he upraised his tumultuous flood high
 against Achilles, seething as it was with foam and blood and the bodies of the
 dead. The dark waters of the river stood upright and would have overwhelmed the
 son of Peleus, but Hera, trembling lest Achilles should be swept away in the
 mighty torrent, lifted her voice on high and called out to Hephaistos her son.
 "Crook-foot," she cried, "my child, be up and doing, for I deem it is with you
 that Xanthos is fain to fight;
 help us at once, kindle a fierce fire; I will then bring up the west and the
 white south wind in a mighty gale from the sea, 

 
 that shall bear the flames against the heads
 and armor of the Trojans and consume them, while you go along the banks of
 Xanthos burning his trees and
 wrapping him round with fire. Let him not turn you back neither by fair words
 nor foul, and slacken not till I shout and tell you. Then you may stay your
 flames." 

 
 On this Hephaistos kindled a fierce fire, which
 broke out first upon the plain and burned the many dead whom Achilles had
 killed and whose bodies were lying about in great numbers; by this means the
 plain was dried and the flood stayed. As the north wind, blowing on an orchard
 that has been sodden with autumn rain, soon dries it, and the heart of the
 owner is glad - even so the whole plan was dried and the dead bodies were
 consumed. Then he turned tongues of fire on to the river. He burned the elms
 the willows and the tamarisks, the lotus also, with the rushes and marshy
 herbage that grew abundantly by the banks of the river. The eels and fishes
 that go darting about everywhere in the water, these, too, were sorely harassed
 by the flames that cunning Hephaistos had kindled, and the river himself was
 scalded, so that he spoke saying, "Hephaistos, there is no god can hold his own
 against you. I cannot fight you when you flare out your flames in this way;
 strive with me no longer. Let Achilles drive the Trojans out of city
 immediately. What have I to do with quarreling and helping people?"

He was boiling as he spoke, and all his waters
 were seething. As a cauldron upon ‘a large fire boils when it is melting the
 lard of some fatted hog, and the lard keeps bubbling up all over when the dry
 faggots blaze under it - even so were the goodly waters of Xanthos heated with the fire till they
 were boiling. He could flow no longer but stayed his stream, so afflicted was
 he by the blasts of fire which cunning Hephaistos had raised. Then he prayed to
 Hera and besought her saying, "Hera, why should your son vex my stream with
 such especial fury? I am not so much responsible [ aitios ] as all the others are who have been helping the Trojans. 

 
 I will leave off, since you so desire it, and
 let son leave off also. Furthermore I swear never again will I do anything to
 save the Trojans from destruction, not even when all Troy is burning in the flames which the
 Achaeans will kindle." 

 
 As soon as Hera heard this she said to her son
 Hephaistos, "Son Hephaistos, hold now your flames; we ought not to use such
 violence against a god for the sake of mortals." 

 
 When she had thus spoken Hephaistos quenched
 his flames, and the river went back once more into his own fair bed. 

 
 
 Xanthos was now beaten, so these
 two left off fighting, for Hera stayed them though she was still angry; but a
 furious quarrel broke out among the other gods, for they were of divided
 counsels. They fell on one another with a mighty uproar - earth groaned, and
 the spacious firmament rang out as with a blare of trumpets. Zeus heard as he
 was sitting on Olympus , and laughed
 for joy when he saw the gods coming to blows among themselves. They were not
 long about beginning, and Ares piercer of shields opened the battle. Sword in
 hand he sprang at once upon Athena and reviled her. "Why, vixen," said he,
 "have you again set the gods by the ears in the pride and haughtiness of your
 heart? Have you forgotten how you set Diomedes son of Tydeus on to wound me,
 and yourself took visible spear and drove it into me to the hurt of my fair
 body? You shall now suffer for what you then did to me." 

 
 As he spoke he struck her on the terrible
 tasseled aegis - so terrible that not even can Zeus' lightning pierce it. Here
 did murderous Ares strike her with his great spear. She drew back and with her
 strong hand seized a stone that was lying on the plain - great and rugged and
 black - which men of old had set for the boundary of a field. With this she
 struck Ares on the neck, and brought him down. Nine roods did he cover in his
 fall, and his hair was all soiled in the dust, while his armor rang rattling
 round him. 

 
 But Athena laughed and vaunted over him saying,
 "Idiot, have you not learned how far stronger I am than you, but you must still
 match yourself against me? Thus do your mother's curses now roost upon you, for
 she is angry and would do you mischief because you have deserted the Achaeans
 and are helping the Trojans." 

 
 She then turned her two piercing eyes
 elsewhere, whereon Zeus' daughter Aphrodite took Ares by the hand and led him
 away groaning all the time, for it was only with great difficulty that he had
 come to himself again. When Queen Hera saw her, she said to Athena, "Look,
 daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, unweariable, that vixen Aphrodite is again
 taking Ares through the crowd out of the battle; go after her at once."

Thus she spoke. Athena sped after Aphrodite
 with a will, and made at her, striking her on the bosom with her strong hand so
 that she fell fainting to the ground, and there they both lay stretched at full
 length. Then Athena vaunted over her saying, "May all who help the Trojans
 against the Argives prove just as redoubtable and stalwart as Aphrodite did
 when she came across me while she was helping Ares. Had this been so, we should
 long since have ended the war by sacking the strong city of Ilion ." 

 
 Hera smiled as she listened. Meanwhile King
 Poseidon turned to Apollo saying, "Phoebus, why should we keep each other at
 arm's length? it is not well, now that the others have begun fighting; it will
 be disgraceful to us if we return to Zeus' bronze-floored mansion on Olympus without having fought each other;
 therefore come on, you are the younger of the two, and I ought not to attack
 you, for I am older and have had more experience. Idiot, you have no sense, and
 forget how we two alone of all the gods fared hardly round about Ilion when we came from Zeus' house and worked
 for Laomedon a whole year at a stated wage and he gave us his orders. I built
 the Trojans the wall about their city, so wide and fair that it might be
 impregnable, while you, Phoebus, herded cattle for him in the dales of many
 valleyed Ida. 

 
 When, however, the glad hours [ hôrai ] brought round the time-limit [ telos ] for payment, mighty Laomedon robbed us of all
 our hire and sent us off with nothing but abuse. He threatened to bind us hand
 and foot and sell us over into some distant island. He tried, moreover, to cut
 off the ears of both of us, so we went away in a rage, furious about the
 payment he had promised us, and yet withheld; in spite of all this, you are now
 showing favor [ kharis ] to his people, and will not
 join us in compassing the utter ruin of the proud Trojans with their wives and
 children." 

 
 And King Apollo answered, "Lord of the
 earthquake, you would not think me moderate [ sôphrôn ] if I were to fight you about a pack of miserable mortals,
 who come out like leaves in summer and eat the fruit of the field, and
 presently fall lifeless to the ground. Let us stay this fighting at once and
 let them settle it among themselves." 

 
 He turned away as he spoke, for he would lay no
 hand on the brother of his own father. But his sister the huntress Artemis,
 patroness of wild beasts, was very angry with him and said, "So you would flee,
 Far-Darter, and hand victory over to Poseidon with a cheap vaunt to boot. Baby,
 why keep your bow thus idle? Never let me again hear you bragging in my
 father's house, as you have often done in the presence of the immortals, that
 you would stand up and fight with Poseidon." 

 
 Apollo made her no answer, but Zeus' august
 queen was angry and upbraided her bitterly. "Bold vixen," she cried, "how dare
 you cross me thus? For all your bow you will find it hard to hold your own
 against me. Zeus made you as a lion among women, and lets you kill them
 whenever you choose. You will And it better to chase wild beasts and deer upon
 the mountains than to fight those who are stronger than you are. If you would
 try war, do so, and find out by pitting yourself against me, how far stronger I
 am than you are." 

 
 She caught both Artemis' wrists with her left
 hand as she spoke, and with her right she took the bow from her shoulders, and
 laughed as she beat her with it about the ears while Artemis wriggled and
 writhed under her blows. Her swift arrows were shed upon the ground, and she
 fled weeping from under Hera's hand as a dove that flies before a falcon to the
 cleft of some hollow rock, when it is her good fortune to escape. Even so did
 she flee weeping away, leaving her bow and arrows behind her. 

 
 Then the slayer of Argos , guide and guardian, said to Leto,
 "Leto, I shall not fight you; it is ill to come to blows with any of Zeus'
 wives. Therefore boast as you will among the immortals that you worsted me in
 fair fight."

Leto then gathered up Artemis' bow and arrows
 that had fallen about amid the whirling dust, and when she had got them she
 made all haste after her daughter. Artemis had now reached Zeus' bronze-floored
 mansion on Olympus , and sat herself
 down with many tears on the knees of her father, while her ambrosial raiment
 was quivering all about her. The son of Kronos drew her towards him, and
 laughing pleasantly the while began to question her saying, "Which of the
 heavenly beings, my dear child, has been treating you in this cruel manner, as
 though you had been misconducting yourself in the face of everybody?" and the
 fair-crowned goddess of the chase answered, "It was your wife Hera, father, who
 has been beating me; it is always her doing when there is any quarreling among
 the immortals." 

 
 Thus did they converse, and meanwhile Phoebus
 Apollo entered the strong city of Ilion , for he was uneasy lest the wall should not hold out and
 the Danaans should take the city then and there, before its hour had come; but
 the rest of the ever-living gods went back, some angry and some triumphant to
 Olympus , where they took their
 seats beside Zeus lord of the storm cloud, while Achilles still kept on dealing
 out death alike on the Trojans and on their As when the smoke from some burning
 city ascends to heaven when the anger [ mênis ] of
 the gods has kindled it - there is then toil [ ponos ] for all, and sorrow for not a few - even so did Achilles bring
 toil [ ponos ] and sorrow on the Trojans. 

 
 Old King Priam stood on a high tower of the
 wall looking down on huge Achilles as the Trojans fled panic-stricken before
 him, and there was none to help them. Presently he came down from off the tower
 and with many a groan went along the wall to give orders to the brave warders
 of the gate. "Keep the gates," said he, "wide open till the people come fleeing
 into the city, for Achilles is hard by and is driving them in rout before him.
 I see we are in great peril. As soon as our people are inside and in safety,
 close the strong gates for I fear lest that terrible man should come bounding
 inside along with the others." 

 
 As he spoke they drew back the bolts and opened
 the gates, and when these were opened there was a haven of refuge for the
 Trojans. Apollo then came full speed out of the city to meet them and protect
 them. Right for the city and the high wall, parched with thirst and grimy with
 dust, still they hurried on, with Achilles wielding his spear furiously behind
 them. For he was as one possessed, and was thirsting after glory. 

 
 Then had the sons of the Achaeans taken the
 lofty gates of Troy if Apollo had not
 spurred on Agenor, valiant and noble son to Antenor. He put courage into his
 heart, and stood by his side to guard him, leaning against a beech tree and
 shrouded in thick darkness. When Agenor saw Achilles he stood still and his
 heart was clouded with care. "Alas," said he to himself in his dismay, "if I
 flee before mighty Achilles, and go where all the others are being driven in
 rout, he will none the less catch me and kill me for a coward. How would it be
 were I to let Achilles drive the others before him, and then flee from the wall
 to the plain that is behind Ilion 
 

 
 till I reach the spurs of Ida and can hide in
 the underwood that is thereon? I could then wash the sweat from off me in the
 river and in the evening return to Ilion . But why commune with myself in this way? Like enough he
 would see me as I am hurrying from the city over the plain, and would speed
 after me till he had caught me - I should stand no chance against him, for he
 is mightiest of all humankind. What, then, if I go out and meet him in front of
 the city? His flesh too, I take it, can be pierced by pointed bronze. Life
 [ psukhê ] is the same in one and all, and men say
 that he is but mortal despite the triumph that Zeus son of Kronos grants him." 

 
 So saying he stood on his guard and awaited
 Achilles, for he was now fain to fight him. As a leopardess that bounds from
 out a thick covert to attack a hunter - she knows no fear and is not dismayed
 by the baying of the hounds; even though the man be too quick for her and wound
 her either with thrust or spear, still, though the spear has pierced her she
 will not give in till she has either caught him in her grip or been killed
 outright - even so did noble Agenor son of Antenor refuse to flee till he had
 made trial of Achilles, and took aim at him with his spear, holding his round
 shield before him and crying with a loud voice. "Of a truth," said he, "noble
 Achilles, you deem that you shall this day sack the city of the proud Trojans.
 Fool, there will be trouble enough yet before it, for there is many a brave man
 of us still inside who will stand in front of our dear parents with our wives
 and children, to defend Ilion . Here
 therefore, huge and mighty warrior though you be, here shall you cue. 

 
 As he spoke his strong hand hurled his javelin
 from him, and the spear struck Achilles on the leg beneath the knee; the greave
 of newly wrought tin rang loudly, but the spear recoiled from the body of him
 whom it had struck, and did not pierce it, for the gods gift stayed it.
 Achilles in his turn attacked noble Agenor, but Apollo would not grant him
 glory,

for he snatched Agenor away and hid him in a
 thick mist, sending him out of the battle unmolested Then he craftily drew the
 son of Peleus away from going after the host, for he put on the semblance of
 Agenor and stood in front of Achilles, who ran towards him to give him chase
 and pursued him over the wheat lands of the plain, turning him towards the deep
 waters of the river Skamandros. Apollo ran but a little way before him and
 beguiled Achilles by making him think all the time that he was on the point of
 overtaking him. Meanwhile the rabble of routed Trojans was thankful to crowd
 within the city till their numbers thronged it; no longer did they dare wait
 for one another outside the city walls, to learn who had escaped and who were
 fallen in fight, but all whose feet and knees could still carry them poured
 pell-mell into the town.

Thus the Trojans in the city, scared like fawns,
 wiped the sweat from off them and drank to quench their thirst, leaning against
 the goodly battlements, while the Achaeans with their shields laid upon their
 shoulders drew close up to the walls. But stern fate bade Hektor stay where he
 was before Ilion and the Scaean gates.
 Then Phoebus Apollo spoke to the son of Peleus saying, "Why, son of Peleus, do
 you, who are but man, give chase to me who am immortal? Have you not yet found
 out that it is a god whom you pursue so furiously? You did not inflict
 struggles [ ponos ] on the Trojans whom you had
 routed, and now they are within their walls, while you have been decoyed hither
 away from them. Me you cannot kill, for death can take no hold upon me." 

 
 Achilles was greatly angered and said, "You have
 baulked me, Far-Darter, most malicious of all gods, and have drawn me away from
 the wall, where many another man would have bitten the dust ere he got within
 Ilion ; you have robbed me of great
 glory and have saved the Trojans at no risk to yourself, for you have nothing
 to fear, but I would indeed have my revenge if it were in my power to do so." 

 
 On this, with fell intent he made towards the
 city, and as the winning horse in a chariot race strains every nerve when he is
 flying over the plain, even so fast and furiously did the limbs of Achilles
 bear him onwards. King Priam was first to note him as he scoured the plain, all
 radiant as the star which men call Orion's Hound, and whose 

 
 beams blaze forth in time of harvest more
 brilliantly than those of any other that shines by night; brightest of them all
 though he be, he yet sends an ill sign [ sêma ] for
 mortals, for he brings fire and fever in his train - even so did Achilles'
 armor gleam on his breast as he sped onwards. Priam raised a cry and beat his
 head with his hands as he lifted them up and shouted out to his dear son,
 imploring him to return; but Hektor still stayed before the gates, for his
 heart was set upon doing battle with Achilles. The old man reached out his arms
 towards him and bade him for pity's sake come within the walls. "Hektor," he
 cried, "my son, stay not to face this man alone and unsupported, or you will
 meet death at the hands of the son of Peleus, for he is mightier than you.
 Monster that he is; would indeed that the gods loved him no better than I do,
 for so, dogs and vultures would soon devour him as he lay stretched on earth,
 and a load of grief [ akhos ] would be lifted from my
 heart, for many a brave son has he reft from me, either by killing them or
 selling them away in the islands that are beyond the sea: even now I miss two
 sons from among the Trojans who have thronged within the city, Lykaon and
 Polydoros, whom Laothoe peeress among women bore me. Should they be still alive
 and in the hands of the Achaeans, we will ransom them with gold and bronze, of
 which we have store, for the old man Altes endowed his daughter richly; but if
 they are already dead and in the house of Hades, sorrow will it be to us two
 who were their parents; albeit the grief of others will be more short-lived
 unless you too perish at the hands of Achilles. Come, then, my son, within the
 city, to be the guardian of Trojan men and Trojan women, or you will both lose
 your own life and afford a mighty triumph to the son of Peleus. Have pity also
 on your unhappy father while life yet remains to him - on me, whom the son of
 Kronos will destroy by a terrible doom on the threshold of old age, after I
 have seen my sons slain and my daughters haled away as captives, my bridal
 chambers pillaged, 

 
 little children dashed to earth amid the rage of
 battle, and my sons' wives dragged away by the cruel hands of the Achaeans; in
 the end fierce hounds will tear me in pieces at my own gates after some one has
 beaten the life out of my body with sword or spear-hounds that I myself reared
 and fed at my own table to guard my gates, but who will yet lap my blood and
 then lie all distraught at my doors. When a young man falls by the sword in
 battle, he may lie where he is and there is nothing unseemly; let what will be
 seen, all is honorable in death, but when an old man is slain there is nothing
 in this world more pitiable than that dogs should defile his gray hair and
 beard and all that men hide for shame [ aidôs ]." 

 
 The old man tore his gray hair as he spoke, but
 he moved not the heart of Hektor. His mother hard by wept and moaned aloud as
 she bared her bosom and pointed to the breast which had suckled him. "Hektor,"
 she cried, weeping bitterly the while, "Hektor, my son, spurn not this breast,
 but have pity upon me too: if I have ever given you comfort from my own bosom,
 think on it now, dear son, and come within the wall to protect us from this
 man; stand not without to meet him. Should the wretch kill you, neither I nor
 your richly dowered wife shall ever weep, dear offshoot of myself, over the bed
 on which you lie, for dogs will devour you at the ships of the Achaeans." Thus
 did the two with many tears implore their son, but they moved not the heart of
 Hektor, and he stood his ground awaiting huge Achilles as he drew nearer
 towards him. As serpent in its den upon the mountains, full fed with deadly
 poisons, waits for the approach of man - he is filled with fury and his eyes
 glare terribly as he goes writhing round his den - even so Hektor leaned his
 shield against a tower that jutted out from the wall and stood where he was,
 undaunted. 

 
 "Alas," said he to himself in the heaviness of
 his heart, "if I go within the gates, Polydamas will be the first to heap
 reproach upon me, for it was he that urged me to lead the Trojans back to the
 city on that awful night when Achilles again came forth against us. I would not
 listen, but it would have been indeed better if I had done so. Now that my
 folly has destroyed the host, I dare not look Trojan men and Trojan women in
 the face, lest a worse man should say, ‘Hektor has ruined us by his
 self-confidence.’ Surely it would be better for me to return after having
 fought Achilles and slain him, or to die gloriously here before the city. What,
 again, if were to lay down my shield and helmet, lean my spear against the wall
 and go straight up to noble Achilles? What if I were to promise to give up
 Helen, who was the fountainhead of all this war, and all the treasure that
 Alexander brought with him in his ships to Troy , aye, and to let the Achaeans divide the half of
 everything that the city contains among themselves? I might make the Trojans,
 by the mouths of their princes, take a solemn oath that they would hide
 nothing, but would divide into two shares all that is within the city - but why
 argue with myself in this way? Were I to go up to him he would show me no kind
 of mercy; he would kill me then and there as easily as though I were a woman,
 when I had off my armor. There is no parleying with him from some rock or oak
 tree as young men and maidens prattle with one another. Better fight him at
 once, and learn to which of us Zeus will grant victory." 

 
 Thus did he stand and ponder, but Achilles came
 up to him as it were Ares himself, plumed lord of battle. From his right
 shoulder he brandished his terrible spear of Pelian ash, and the bronze gleamed
 around him like flashing fire or the rays of the rising sun. Fear fell upon
 Hektor as he beheld him, and he dared not stay longer where he was but fled in
 dismay from before the gates, while Achilles darted after him at his utmost
 speed. As a mountain falcon, swiftest of all birds, swoops down upon some
 cowering dove - the dove flies before him but the

falcon with a shrill scream follows close
 after, resolved to have her - even so did Achilles make straight for Hektor
 with all his might, while Hektor fled under the Trojan wall as fast as his
 limbs could take him. 

 
 On they flew along the wagon-road that ran hard
 by under the wall, past the lookout station, and past the weather-beaten wild
 fig-tree, till they came to two fair springs which feed the river Skamandros.
 One of these two springs is warm, and steam rises from it as smoke from a
 burning fire, but the other even in summer is as cold as hail or snow, or the
 ice that forms on water. Here, hard by the springs, are the goodly
 washing-troughs of stone, where in the time of peace before the coming of the
 Achaeans the wives and fair daughters of the Trojans used to wash their
 clothes. Past these did they flee, the one in front and the other giving chase
 behind him: good was the man that fled, 

 
 but better far was he that followed after, and
 swiftly indeed did they run, for the prize was no mere beast for sacrifice or
 bullock's hide, as it might be for a common foot-race, but they ran for the
 life [ psukhê ] of Hektor. As horses in a chariot
 race speed round the turning-posts when they are running for some great prize
 [ athlon ] - a tripod or woman - at the games in
 honor of some dead hero, so did these two run full speed three times round the
 city of Priam. All the gods watched them, and the sire of gods and men was the
 first to speak. 

 
 "Alas," said he, "my eyes behold a man who is
 dear to me being pursued round the walls of Troy ; my heart is full of pity for Hektor, who has burned the
 thigh-bones of many a heifer in my honor, at one while on the of many-valleyed
 Ida, and again on the citadel of Troy ; and now I see noble Achilles in full pursuit of him round
 the city of Priam. What say you? Consider among yourselves and decide whether
 we shall now save him or let him fall, valiant though he be, before Achilles,
 son of Peleus." 

 
 Then Athena said, "Father, wielder of the
 lightning, lord of cloud and storm, what mean you? Would you pluck this mortal
 whose doom has long been decreed out of the jaws of death? Do as you will, but
 we others shall not be of a mind with you." And Zeus answered, "My child,
 Trito-born, take heart. I did not speak in full earnest, and I will let you
 have your way. Do as your thinking [ noos ] tells
 you, without letting up, without hindrance." 

 
 Thus did he urge Athena who was already eager,
 and down she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus . 

 
 Achilles was still in full pursuit of Hektor,
 as a hound chasing a fawn which he has started from its covert on the
 mountains, and hunts through glade and thicket. The fawn may try to elude him
 by crouching under cover of a bush, but he will scent her out and follow her up
 until he gets her - even so there was no escape for Hektor from the fleet son
 of Peleus. Whenever he made a set to get near the Dardanian gates and under the
 walls, that his people might help him by showering down weapons from above,
 Achilles would gain on him and head him back towards the plain, keeping himself
 always on the city side. As a man in a dream who fails to lay hands upon
 another whom he is pursuing - the one cannot escape nor the other overtake -
 even so neither could Achilles come up with Hektor, nor Hektor break away from
 Achilles; nevertheless he might even yet have escaped death had not the time
 come when Apollo, who thus far had sustained his strength and nerved his
 running, was now no longer to stay by him. Achilles made signs to the Achaean
 host, and shook his head to show that no man was to aim a dart at Hektor, lest
 another might win the glory of having hit him and he might himself come in
 second. Then, at last, as they were nearing the fountains for the fourth time,
 the father of all balanced his golden scales and placed a doom in each of them,
 one for Achilles and the other for Hektor. As he held the scales by the middle,
 the doom of Hektor fell down deep into the house of Hades - and then Phoebus
 Apollo left him. Thereon Athena went close up to the son of Peleus and said,
 "Noble Achilles, favored of heaven, I think in my mind [ noos ] we two shall surely take back to the ships a triumph for the
 Achaeans by slaying Hektor, for all his lust of battle. Do what Apollo may as
 he lies groveling before his father, aegis-bearing Zeus, Hektor cannot escape
 us longer. Stay here and take breath, while I go up to him and persuade him to
 make a stand and fight you." 

 
 Thus spoke Athena. Achilles obeyed her gladly,
 and stood still, leaning on his bronze-pointed ashen spear, while Athena left
 him and went after Hektor in the form and with the voice of Deiphobos. She came
 close up to him and said, "Dear brother, I see you are hard pressed by Achilles
 who is chasing you at full speed round the city of Priam, let us await his
 onset and stand on our defense."

And Hektor answered, "Deiphobos, you have
 always been dearest to me of all my brothers, children of Hecuba and Priam, but
 henceforth I shall rate you yet more highly, inasmuch as you have ventured
 outside the wall for my sake when all the others remain inside." 

 
 Then Athena said, "Dear brother, my father and
 mother went down on their knees and implored me, as did all my comrades, to
 remain inside, so great a fear has fallen upon them all; but I was in an agony
 of grief when I beheld you; now, therefore, let us two make a stand and fight,
 and let there be no keeping our spears in reserve, that we may learn whether
 Achilles shall kill us and bear off our spoils to the ships, or whether he
 shall fall before you." 

 
 Thus did Athena inveigle him by her cunning,
 and when the two were now close to one another great Hektor was first to speak.
 "I will no longer flee you, son of Peleus," said he, "as I have been doing
 hitherto. Three times have I fled round the mighty city of Priam, without
 daring to withstand you, but now, let me either slay or be slain, for I am in
 the mind to face you. Let us, then, give pledges to one another by our gods,
 who are the fittest witnesses and guardians of all covenants; let it be agreed
 between us that if Zeus grants me the longer stay and I take your life [ psukhê ], I am not to treat your dead body in any
 unseemly fashion, but when I have stripped you of your armor, I am to give up
 your body to the Achaeans. And do you likewise." 

 
 Achilles glared at him and answered, "Fool,
 prate not to me about covenants. There can be no covenants between men and
 lions, wolves and lambs can never be of one mind, but hate each other out and
 out an through. Therefore there can be no understanding between you and me, nor
 may there be any covenants between us, till one or other shall fall and glut
 grim Ares with his life's blood. Be mindful of all your excellence [ aretê ]; you have need now to prove yourself indeed a
 bold warrior and fighter. You have no more chance, and Pallas Athena will
 forthwith vanquish you by my spear: you shall now pay me in full for the grief
 you have caused me on account of my comrades whom you have killed in battle." 

 
 He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it.
 Hektor saw it coming and avoided it; he watched it and crouched down so that it
 flew over his head and stuck in the ground beyond; Athena then snatched it up
 and gave it back to Achilles without Hektor's seeing her; Hektor thereon said
 to the son of Peleus, "You have missed your aim, Achilles, peer of the gods,
 and Zeus has not yet revealed to you the hour of my doom, though you made sure
 that he had done so. You were a false-tongued liar when you deemed that I
 should forget my valor and quail before you. You shall not drive spear into the
 back of a runaway - drive it, should heaven so grant you power, drive it into
 me as I make straight towards you; and now for your own part avoid my spear if
 you can - would that you might receive the whole of it into your body; if you
 were once dead the Trojans would find the war an easier matter, for it is you
 who have harmed them most." 

 
 He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it.
 His aim was true for he hit the middle of Achilles' shield, but the spear
 rebounded from it, and did not pierce it. Hektor was angry when he saw that the
 weapon had sped from his hand in vain, and stood there in dismay for he had no
 second spear. With a loud cry he called Deiphobos and asked him for one, but
 there was no man; then he saw the truth and said to himself, "Alas! the gods
 have lured me on to my destruction. I deemed that the hero Deiphobos was by my
 side, but he is within the wall, and Athena has inveigled me; death is now
 indeed exceedingly near at hand and there is no way out of it - for so Zeus and
 his son Apollo the far-darter have willed it, though heretofore they have been
 ever ready to protect me. My doom has come upon me; let me not then die
 ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that
 shall be told among men hereafter." 

 
 As he spoke he drew the keen blade that hung so
 great and strong by his side, and gathering himself together be sprang on
 Achilles like a soaring eagle which swoops down from the clouds on to some lamb
 or timid hare - even so did Hektor brandish his sword and spring upon Achilles.
 Achilles mad with rage darted towards him, with his wondrous shield before his
 breast, and his gleaming helmet, made with four layers of metal, nodding
 fiercely forward. The thick tresses of gold with which Hephaistos had crested
 the helmet floated round it, and as the evening star that shines brighter than
 all others through the stillness of night, even such was the gleam of the spear
 which Achilles poised in his right hand, fraught with the death of noble
 Hektor. He eyed his fair flesh over and over to see where he could best wound
 it, but all was protected by the goodly armor of which Hektor had spoiled
 Patroklos after he had slain him, save only the throat where the collar-bones
 divide the neck from the shoulders, and this is the quickest place for the
 life-breath [ psukhê ] to escape: here then did
 Achilles strike him as he was coming on towards him, and the point of his spear
 went right through the fleshy part of the neck, but it did not sever his
 windpipe so that he could still speak. Hektor fell headlong, and Achilles
 vaunted over him saying, "Hektor, you deemed that you should come off
 scatheless when you were spoiling Patroklos, and recked not of myself who was
 not with him. Fool that you were: for I, his comrade, mightier far than he, was
 still left behind him at the ships, and now I have laid you low. The Achaeans
 shall give him all due funeral rites, while dogs and vultures shall work their
 will upon yourself." 

 
 Then Hektor said, as the life-breath [ psukhê ] ebbed out of him, "I pray you by your life and
 knees, and by your parents, let not dogs devour me at the ships of the
 Achaeans, but accept the rich treasure of gold and bronze which my father and
 mother will offer you, and send my body home, that the Trojans and their wives
 may give me my dues of fire when I am dead."

Achilles glared at him and answered, "Dog, talk
 not to me neither of knees nor parents; would that I could be as sure of being
 able to cut your flesh into pieces and eat it raw, for the ill have done me, as
 I am that nothing shall save you from the dogs - it shall not be, though they
 bring ten or twenty-fold ransom and weigh it out for me on the spot, with
 promise of yet more hereafter. Though Priam son of Dardanos should bid them offer me your
 weight in gold, even so your mother shall never lay you out and make lament
 over the son she bore, but dogs and vultures shall eat you utterly up." 

 
 Hektor with his dying breath then said, "I know
 you what you are, and was sure that I should not move you, for your heart is
 hard as iron; look to it that I bring not heaven's anger upon you on the day
 when Paris and Phoebus Apollo, valiant
 though you be, shall slay you at the Scaean gates." 

 
 When he had thus said the shrouds of death's
 final outcome [ telos ] enfolded him, whereon his
 life-breath [ psukhê ] went out of him and flew down
 to the house of Hades, lamenting its sad fate that it should enjoy youth and
 strength no longer. But Achilles said, speaking to the dead body, "Die; for my
 part I will accept my fate whensoever Zeus and the other gods see fit to send
 it." 

 
 As he spoke he drew his spear from the body and
 set it on one side; then he stripped the blood-stained armor from Hektor's
 shoulders while the other Achaeans came running up to view his wondrous
 strength and beauty; and no one came near him without giving him a fresh wound.
 Then would one turn to his neighbor and say, "It is easier to handle Hektor now
 than when he was flinging fire on to our ships" and as he spoke he would thrust
 his spear into him anew. 

 
 When Achilles had done spoiling Hektor of his
 armor, he stood among the Argives and said, "My friends, princes and counselors
 of the Argives, now that heaven has granted us to overcome this man, who has
 done us more hurt than all the others together, consider whether we should not
 attack the city in force, 

 
 and discover in what mind [ noos ] the Trojans may be. We should thus learn whether they will
 desert their city now that Hektor has fallen, or will still hold out even
 though he is no longer living. But why argue with myself in this way, while
 Patroklos is still lying at the ships unburied, and unmourned - he Whom I can
 never forget so long as I am alive and my strength fails not? Though men forget
 their dead when once they are within the house of Hades, yet not even there
 will I forget the comrade whom I have lost. Now, therefore, Achaean youths, let
 us raise the song of victory and go back to the ships taking this man along
 with us; for we have achieved a mighty triumph and have slain noble Hektor to
 whom the Trojans prayed throughout their city as though he were a god." 

 
 On this he treated the body of Hektor with
 contumely: he pierced the sinews at the back of both his feet from heel to
 ankle and passed thongs of ox-hide through the slits he had made: thus he made
 the body fast to his chariot, letting the head trail upon the ground. Then when
 he had put the goodly armor on the chariot and had himself mounted, he lashed
 his horses on and they flew forward nothing loath. The dust rose from Hektor as
 he was being dragged along, his dark hair flew all abroad, and his head once so
 comely was laid low on earth, for Zeus had now delivered him into the hands of
 his foes to do him outrage in his own land. 

 
 Thus was the head of Hektor being dishonored in
 the dust. His mother tore her hair, and flung her veil from her with a loud cry
 as she looked upon her son. His father made piteous moan, and throughout the
 city the people fell to weeping and wailing. It was as though the whole of
 frowning Ilion was being smirched with
 fire. Hardly could the people hold Priam back in his hot haste to rush without
 the gates of the city. He groveled in the mire and besought them, calling each
 one of them by his name.

"Let be, my friends," he cried, "and for all
 your sorrow, suffer me to go single-handed to the ships of the Achaeans. Let me
 beseech this cruel and terrible man, if maybe he will respect the feeling of
 his fellow-men, and have compassion on my old age. His own father is even such
 another as myself - Peleus, who bred him and reared him to - be the bane of us
 Trojans, and of myself more than of all others. Many a son of mine has he slain
 in the flower of his youth, and yet, grieve for these as I may, I do so for one
 - Hektor - more than for them all, and the bitterness of my sorrow [ akhos ] will bring me down to the house of Hades. Would
 that he had died in my arms, for so both his ill-starred mother who bore him,
 and myself, should have had the comfort of weeping and mourning over him." 

 
 Thus did he speak with many tears, and all the
 people of the city joined in his lament. Hecuba then raised the cry of wailing
 among the Trojans. "Alas, my son," she cried, "what have I left to live for now
 that you are no more? Night and day did I glory in. you throughout the city,
 for you were a tower of strength to all in Troy , and both men and women alike hailed you as a god. So long
 as you lived you were their pride, but now death and destruction have fallen
 upon you." 

 
 Hektor's wife had as yet heard nothing, for no
 one had come to tell her that her husband had remained without the gates. She
 was at her loom in an inner part of the house, weaving a double purple web, and
 embroidering it with many flowers. She told her maids to set a large tripod on
 the fire, so as to have a warm bath ready for Hektor when he came out of
 battle; poor woman, she knew not that he was now beyond the reach of baths, and
 that Athena had laid him low by the hands of Achilles. She heard the cry coming
 as from the wall, and trembled in every limb; the shuttle fell from her hands,
 and again she spoke to her waiting-women. "Two of you," she said, "come with me
 that I may learn what it is that has befallen; I heard the voice of my
 husband's honored mother; 

 
 my own heart beats as though it would come into
 my mouth and my limbs refuse to carry me; some great misfortune for Priam's
 children must be at hand. May I never live to hear it, but I greatly fear that
 Achilles has cut off the retreat of brave Hektor and has chased him on to the
 plain where he was singlehanded; I fear he may have put an end to the reckless
 daring which possessed my husband, who would never remain with the body of his
 men, but would dash on far in front, foremost of them all in valor." 

 
 Her heart beat fast, and as she spoke she flew
 from the house like a maniac, with her waiting-women following after. When she
 reached the battlements and the crowd of people, she stood looking out upon the
 wall, and saw Hektor being borne away in front of the city - the horses
 dragging him without heed or care over the ground towards the ships of the
 Achaeans. Her eyes were then shrouded as with the darkness of night and she
 fell fainting backwards, losing her life-breath [ psukhê ]. She tore the tiring from her head and flung it from her,
 the frontlet and net with its plaited band, and the veil which golden Aphrodite
 had given her on the day when Hektor took her with him from the house of
 Eetion, after having given countless gifts of wooing for her sake. Her
 husband's sisters and the wives of his brothers crowded round her and supported
 her, for she was fain to die in her distraction; when she again presently
 breathed and came to herself, she sobbed and made lament among the Trojans
 saying, ‘Woe is me, O Hektor; woe, indeed, that to share a common lot we were
 born, you at Troy in the house of
 Priam, and I at Thebes under the
 wooded mountain of Plakos in the house of Eetion who brought me up when I was a
 child - ill-starred sire of an ill-starred daughter - would that he had never
 begotten me. You are now going into the house of Hades under the secret places
 of the earth, and you leave me a sorrowing widow in your house. The child, of
 whom you and I are the unhappy parents, is as yet a mere infant. Now that you
 are gone, O Hektor, you can do nothing for him nor he for you. 

 
 Even though he escape the horrors of this
 woeful war with the Achaeans, yet shall his life henceforth be one of labor
 [ ponos ] and sorrow, for others will seize his
 lands. The day that robs a child of his parents severs him from his own kind;
 his head is bowed, his cheeks are wet with tears, and he will go about
 destitute among the friends of his father, plucking one by the cloak and
 another by the shirt. Some one or other of these may so far pity him as to hold
 the cup for a moment towards him and let him moisten his lips, but he must not
 drink enough to wet the roof of his mouth; then one whose parents are alive
 will drive him from the table with blows and angry words. ‘Out with you,’ he
 will say, ‘you have no father here,’ and the child will go crying back to his
 widowed mother - he, Astyanax, who erewhile would sit upon his father's knees,
 and have none but the daintiest and choicest morsels set before him. When he
 had played till he was tired and went to sleep, he would lie in a bed, in the
 arms of his nurse, on a soft couch, knowing neither want nor care, whereas now
 that he has lost his father his lot will be full of hardship - he, whom the
 Trojans name Astyanax, because you, O Hektor, were the only defense of their
 gates and battlements. The wriggling writhing worms will now eat you at the
 ships, far from your parents, when the dogs have glutted themselves upon you.
 You will lie naked, although in your house you have fine and goodly raiment
 made by hands of women. This will I now burn; it is of no use to you, for you
 can never again wear it, and thus you will have glory [ kleos ] among the Trojans both men and women." In such wise did she
 cry aloud amid her tears, and the women joined in her lament.

Thus did they make their moan throughout the
 city, while the Achaeans when they reached the Hellespont went back every man to his own ship. But Achilles
 would not let the Myrmidons go, and spoke to his brave comrades saying,
 "Myrmidons, famed horsemen and my own trusted friends, not yet, I say, let us
 unyoke, but with horse and chariot draw near to the body and mourn Patroklos,
 in due honor to the dead. When we have had full comfort of lamentation we will
 unyoke our horses and take supper all of us here." 

 
 On this they all joined in a cry of wailing and
 Achilles led them in their lament. Thrice did they drive their chariots all
 sorrowing round the body, and Thetis stirred within them a still deeper
 yearning. The sands of the seashore and the men's armor were wet with their
 weeping, so great a minister of fear was he whom they had lost. Chief in all
 their mourning was the son of Peleus: he laid his bloodstained hand on the
 breast of his friend. "Fare well," he cried, "Patroklos, even in the house of
 Hades. I will now do all that I erewhile promised you; I will drag Hektor
 hither and let dogs devour him raw; twelve noble sons of Trojans will I also
 slay before your pyre to avenge you." 

 
 As he spoke he treated the body of noble Hektor
 with contumely, laying it at full length in the dust beside the bier of
 Patroklos. The others then put off every man his armor, took the horses from
 their chariots, and seated themselves in great multitude by the ship of the
 fleet descendant of Aiakos, 

 
 who thereon feasted them with an abundant
 funeral banquet. Many a goodly ox, with many a sheep and bleating goat did they
 butcher and cut up; many a tusked boar moreover, fat and well-fed, did they
 singe and set to roast in the flames of Hephaistos; and rivulets of blood
 flowed all round the place where the body was lying. 

 
 Then the princes of the Achaeans took the son of
 Peleus to Agamemnon, but hardly could they persuade him to come with them, so
 wroth was he for the death of his comrade. As soon as they reached Agamemnon's
 tent they told the serving-men to set a large tripod over the fire in case they
 might persuade the son of Peleus ‘to wash the clotted gore from this body, but
 he denied them sternly, and swore it with a solemn oath, saying, "Nay, by King
 Zeus, first and mightiest of all gods, it is not right [ themis ] that water should touch my body, till I have laid Patroklos
 on the flames, have built him a tomb [ sêma ], and
 shaved my head - for so long as I live no such second sorrow [ akhos ] shall ever draw nigh me. Now, therefore, let us
 do all that this sad festival demands, but at break of day, King Agamemnon, bid
 your men bring wood, and provide all else that the dead may duly take into the
 realm of darkness; the fire shall thus burn him out of our sight the sooner,
 and the people shall turn again to their own labors." 

 
 Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had
 said. They made haste to prepare the meal, they ate, and every man had his full
 share so that all were satisfied. As soon as they had had enough to eat and
 drink, the others went to their rest each in his own tent, but the son of
 Peleus lay grieving among his Myrmidons by the shore of the sounding sea, in an
 open place where the waves came surging in one after another. Here a very deep
 slumber took hold upon him and eased the burden of his sorrows, for his limbs
 were weary with chasing Hektor round windy Ilion . Presently the sad spirit [ psukhê ] of Patroklos drew near him, like what he had been in
 stature, voice, and the light of his beaming eyes, clad, too, as he had been
 clad in life. The spirit hovered over his head and said- 

 
 "You sleep, Achilles, and have forgotten me; you
 loved me living, but now that I am dead you think for me no further. Bury me
 with all speed that I may pass the gates of Hades; the ghosts [ psukhai ], vain shadows of men that can labor no more,
 drive me away from them; they will not yet suffer me to join those that are
 beyond the river, and I wander all desolate by the wide gates of the house of
 Hades. Give me now your hand I pray you, for when you have once given me my
 dues of fire, never shall I again come forth out of the house of Hades.
 Nevermore shall we sit apart and take sweet counsel among the living; the cruel
 fate which was my birth-right has yawned its wide jaws around me - nay, you too
 Achilles, peer of gods, are doomed to die beneath the wall of the noble
 Trojans. 

 
 "One prayer more will I make you, if you will
 grant it; let not my bones be laid apart from yours, Achilles, but with them;
 even as we were brought up together in your own home, what time Menoitios
 brought me to you as a child from Opoeis because by a sad spite I had killed
 the son of Amphidamas - not of set purpose, but in childish quarrel over the
 dice. The horseman Peleus took me into his house, entreated me kindly, and
 named me to be your squire [ therapôn ]; therefore
 let our bones lie in but a single urn, the two-handled golden vase given to you
 by your mother."

And Achilles answered, "Why, true heart, are you
 come hither to lay these charges upon me? will of my own self do all as you
 have bidden me. Draw closer to me, let us once more throw our arms around one
 another, and find sad comfort in the sharing of our sorrows." 

 
 He opened his arms towards him as he spoke and
 would have clasped him in them, but there was nothing, and the spirit [ psukhê ] vanished as a vapor, gibbering and whining
 into the earth. Achilles sprang to his feet, smote his two hands, and made
 lamentation saying, "Of a truth even in the house of Hades there are ghosts
 [ psukhai ] and phantoms that have no life in
 them; 

 
 all night long the sad spirit [ psukhê ] of Patroklos has hovered over head making
 piteous moan, telling me what I am to do for him, and looking wondrously like
 himself." 

 
 Thus did he speak and his words set them all
 weeping and mourning about the poor dumb dead, till rosy-fingered morn
 appeared. Then King Agamemnon sent men and mules from all parts of the camp, to
 bring wood, and Meriones, squire [ therapôn ] to
 Idomeneus, was in charge over them. They went out with woodmen's axes and
 strong ropes in their hands, and before them went the mules. Up hill and down
 dale did they go, by straight ways and crooked, and when they reached the
 heights of many-fountained Ida, they laid their axes to the roots of many a
 tall branching oak that came thundering down as they felled it. They split the
 trees and bound them behind the mules, which then wended their way as they best
 could through the thick brushwood on to the plain. All who had been cutting
 wood bore logs, for so Meriones squire [ therapôn ]
 to Idomeneus had bidden them, and they threw them down in a line upon the
 seashore at the place where Achilles would make a mighty monument for Patroklos
 and for himself. 

 
 When they had thrown down their great logs of
 wood over the whole ground, they stayed all of them where they were, but
 Achilles ordered his brave Myrmidons to gird on their armor, and to yoke each
 man his horses; they therefore rose, girded on their armor and mounted each his
 chariot - they and their charioteers with them. The chariots went before, and
 they that were on foot followed as a cloud in their tens of thousands after. In
 the midst of them his comrades bore Patroklos and covered him with the locks of
 their hair which they cut off and threw upon his body. Last came Achilles with
 his head bowed for sorrow, so noble a comrade was he taking to the house of
 Hades. 

 
 When they came to the place of which Achilles
 had told them they laid the body down and built up the wood. Achilles then
 bethought him of another matter. He went a space away from the pyre, and cut
 off the yellow lock which he had let grow for the river Spercheios. He looked
 all sorrowfully out upon the dark sea [ pontos ], and
 said, "Spercheios, in vain did my father Peleus vow to you that when I returned
 home to my loved native land I should cut off this lock and offer you a holy
 hecatomb; fifty she-goats was I to sacrifice to you there at your springs,
 where is your grove and your altar fragrant with burnt-offerings. Thus did my
 father vow, but you have not fulfilled the thinking [ noos ] of his prayer; now, therefore, that I shall see my home no
 more, I give this lock as a keepsake to the hero Patroklos." 

 
 As he spoke he placed the lock in the hands of
 his dear comrade, and all who stood by were filled with yearning and
 lamentation. The sun would have gone down upon their mourning had not Achilles
 presently said to Agamemnon, "Son of Atreus, for it is to you that the people
 will give ear, there is a time to mourn and a time to cease from mourning; bid
 the people now leave the pyre and set about getting their dinners: we, to whom
 the dead is dearest, will see to what is wanted here, and let the other princes
 also stay by me." 

 
 When King Agamemnon heard this he dismissed the
 people to their ships, but those who were about the dead heaped up wood and
 built a pyre a hundred feet this way and that; then they laid the dead all
 sorrowfully upon the top of it. They flayed and dressed many fat sheep and oxen
 before the pyre, and Achilles took fat from all of them and wrapped the body
 therein from head to foot, heaping the flayed carcasses all round it. Against
 the bier he leaned two-handled jars of honey and unguents; four proud horses
 did he then cast upon the pyre, groaning the while he did so. The dead hero had
 had house-dogs; two of them did Achilles slay and threw upon the pyre; he also
 put twelve brave sons of noble Trojans to the sword and laid them with the
 rest, for he was full of bitterness and fury.

Then he committed all to the resistless and
 devouring might of the fire; he groaned aloud and called on his dead comrade by
 name. "Fare well," he cried, "Patroklos, even in the house of Hades; I am now
 doing all that I have promised you. Twelve brave sons of noble Trojans shall
 the flames consume along with yourself, but dogs, not fire, shall devour the
 flesh of Hektor son of Priam." 

 
 Thus did he vaunt, but the dogs came not about
 the body of Hektor, for Zeus' daughter Aphrodite kept them off him night and
 day, and anointed him with ambrosial oil of roses that his flesh might not be
 torn when Achilles was dragging him about. Phoebus Apollo moreover sent a dark
 cloud from heaven to earth, which gave shade to the whole place where Hektor
 lay, that the heat of the sun might not parch his body. 

 
 Now the pyre about dead Patroklos would not
 kindle. Achilles therefore bethought him of another matter; he went apart and
 prayed to the two winds Boreas and Zephyros vowing them goodly offerings. He
 made them many drink-offerings from the golden cup and besought them to come
 and help him that the wood might make haste to kindle and the dead bodies be
 consumed. Fleet Iris heard him praying and started off to fetch the winds. They
 were holding high feast in the house of boisterous Zephyros when Iris came
 running up to the stone threshold of the house and stood there, but as soon as
 they set eyes on her they all came towards her and each of them called her to
 him, but Iris would not sit down. "I cannot stay," she said, "I must go back to
 the streams of Okeanos and the land of the Ethiopians who are offering
 hecatombs to the immortals, and I would have my share; but Achilles prays that
 Boreas and shrill Zephyros will come to him, and he vows them goodly offerings;
 he would have you blow upon the pyre of Patroklos for whom all the Achaeans are
 lamenting." 

 
 With this she left them, and the two winds rose
 with a cry that rent the air and swept the clouds before them. They blew on and
 on until they came to the sea [ pontos ], and the
 waves rose high beneath them, but when they reached Troy they fell upon the pyre till the mighty
 flames roared under the blast that they blew. All night long did they blow hard
 and beat upon the fire, and all night long did Achilles grasp his double cup,
 drawing wine from a mixing-bowl of gold, and calling upon the spirit [ psukhê ] of dead Patroklos as he poured it upon the
 ground until the earth was drenched. As a father mourns when he is burning the
 bones of his bridegroom son whose death has wrung the hearts of his parents,
 even so did Achilles mourn while burning the body of his comrade, pacing round
 the bier with piteous groaning and lamentation. 

 
 At length as the Morning Star was beginning to
 herald the light which saffron-mantled Dawn was soon to suffuse over the sea,
 the flames fell and the fire began to die. The winds then went home beyond the
 Thracian sea [ pontos ], which roared and boiled as
 they swept over it. The son of Peleus now turned away from the pyre and lay
 down, overcome with toil, till he fell into a sweet slumber. Presently they who
 were about the son of Atreus drew near in a body, and roused him with the noise
 and tramp of their coming. He sat upright and said, "Son of Atreus, and all
 other princes of the Achaeans, first pour red wine everywhere upon the fire and
 quench it; let us then gather the bones of Patroklos son of Menoitios, singling
 them out with care; they are easily found, for they lie in the middle of the
 pyre, while all else, both men and horses, has been thrown in a heap and burned
 at the outer edge. We will lay the bones in a golden urn, in two layers of fat,
 against the time when I shall myself go down into the house of Hades. As for
 the barrow, labor not to raise a great one now, but such as is reasonable.
 Afterwards, let those Achaeans who may be left at the ships when I am gone,
 build it both broad and high." 

 
 Thus he spoke and they obeyed the word of the
 son of Peleus. First they poured red wine upon the thick layer of ashes and
 quenched the fire. With many tears they singled out the whitened bones of their
 loved comrade and laid them within a golden urn in two layers of fat: they then
 covered the urn with a linen cloth and took it inside the tent. They marked off
 the circle where the tomb [ sêma ] should be, made a
 foundation for it about the pyre, and forthwith heaped up the earth. When they
 had thus raised a mound [ sêma ] they were going
 away, but Achilles stayed the people and made them sit in assembly [ agôn ]. He brought prizes from the ships - cauldrons,
 tripods, horses and mules, noble oxen, women with fair girdles, and swart iron. 

 
 The first prize he offered was for the chariot
 races - a woman skilled in all useful arts, and a three-legged cauldron that
 had ears for handles, and would hold twenty-two measures. This was for the man
 who came in first. For the second there was a six-year old mare, unbroken, and
 in foal to a he-ass; the third was to have a goodly cauldron that had never yet
 been on the fire; it was still bright as when it left the maker, and would hold
 four measures. The fourth prize was two talents of gold, and the fifth a
 two-handled urn as yet unsoiled by smoke. Then he stood up and spoke among the
 Argives saying- 

 
 "Son of Atreus, and all other Achaeans, these
 are the prizes that lie waiting the winners in the contest [ agôn ] of the chariot races. At any other time I should
 carry off the first prize and take it to my own tent; you know how much my
 steeds are better in excellence [ aretê ] than all
 others - for they are immortal; Poseidon gave them to my father Peleus, who in
 his turn gave them to myself; but I shall hold aloof, I and my steeds that have
 lost the glory [ kleos ] of their brave and kind
 driver, who many a time has washed them in clear water and anointed their manes
 with oil. See how they stand weeping here, with their manes trailing on the
 ground in the extremity of their sorrow. But do you others set yourselves in
 order throughout the host, whosoever has confidence in his horses and in the
 strength of his chariot."

Thus spoke the son of Peleus and the drivers of
 chariots bestirred themselves. First among them all uprose Eumelos, king of
 men, son of Admetos, a man excellent in horsemanship. Next to him rose mighty
 Diomedes son of Tydeus; he yoked the Trojan horses which he had taken from
 Aeneas, when Apollo bore him out of the fight. Next to him, yellow-haired
 Menelaos son of Atreus rose and yoked his fleet horses, Agamemnon's mare Aithe,
 and his own horse Podagros. The mare had been given to Agamemnon by Echepolos
 son of Anchises, that he might not have to follow him to Ilion , but might stay at home and take his
 ease; for Zeus had endowed him with great wealth and he lived in spacious
 Sicyon . This mare, all eager for
 the race, did Menelaos put under the yoke. 

 
 Fourth in order Antilokhos, son to noble Nestor
 son of Neleus, made ready his horses. These were bred in Pylos , and his father came up to him to give
 him good advice of which, however, he stood in but little need. "Antilokhos,"
 said Nestor, "you are young, but Zeus and Poseidon have loved you well, and
 have made you an excellent horseman. I need not therefore say much by way of
 instruction. You are skillful at wheeling your horses round the post, but the
 horses themselves are very slow, and it is this that will, I fear, mar your
 chances. The other drivers know less than you do, but their horses are fleeter;
 therefore, my dear son, see if you cannot hit upon some artifice [ mêtis ] whereby you may insure that the prize shall not
 slip through your fingers. The woodsman does more by skill [ mêtis ] than by brute force [ biê ]; by skill [ mêtis ] the pilot guides
 his storm-tossed ship over the sea [ pontos ], and so
 by skill [ mêtis ] one driver can beat another. If a
 man go wide in rounding this way and that, whereas a man of craft [ kerdos ] may have worse horses, but he will keep them
 well in hand when he sees the turning-post [ terma ]; 

 
 he knows the precise moment at which to pull
 the rein, and keeps his eye well on the man in front of him. I will give you
 this certain sign [ sêma ] which cannot escape your
 notice. There is a stump of a dead tree-oak or pine as it may be - some six
 feet above the ground, and not yet rotted away by rain; it stands at the fork
 of the road; it has two white stones set one on each side, and there is a clear
 course all round it. It may have been a tomb [ sêma ]
 of someone who died long ago, or it may have been used as a turning-post in
 days gone by; now, however, it has been fixed on by Achilles as the mark [ terma ] round which the chariots shall turn; hug it as
 close as you can, but as you stand in your chariot lean over a little to the
 left; urge on your right-hand horse with voice and lash, and give him a loose
 rein, but let the left-hand horse keep so close in, that the nave of your wheel
 shall almost graze the post; but mind the stone, or you will wound your horses
 and break your chariot in pieces, which would be sport for others but confusion
 for yourself. Therefore, my dear son, mind well what you are about, for if you
 can be first to round the post there is no chance of any one giving you the
 go-by later, not even though you had Adrastos' horse Arion behind you horse
 which is of divine race - or those of Laomedon, which are the noblest in this
 country." 

 
 When Nestor had made an end of counseling his
 son he sat down in his place, and fifth in order Meriones got ready his horses.
 They then all mounted their chariots and cast lots. - Achilles shook the
 helmet, and the lot of Antilokhos son of Nestor fell out first; next came that
 of King Eumelos, and after his, those of Menelaos son of Atreus and of
 Meriones. The last place fell to the lot of Diomedes son of Tydeus, who was the
 best man of them all. They took their places in line; Achilles showed them the
 turning-post round which they were to turn, some way off upon the plain; here
 he stationed his father's follower Phoenix as umpire, to note the running, and
 report truly. 

 
 At the same instant they all of them lashed
 their horses, struck them with the reins, and shouted at them with all their
 might. They flew full speed over the plain away from the ships, the dust rose
 from under them as it were a cloud or whirlwind, and their manes were all
 flying in the wind. At one moment the chariots seemed to touch the ground, and
 then again they bounded into the air; the drivers stood erect, and their hearts
 beat fast and furious in their lust of victory. Each kept calling on his
 horses, and the horses scoured the plain amid the clouds of dust that they
 raised. 

 
 It was when they were doing the last part of
 the course on their way back towards the sea that their pace was strained to
 the utmost and it was seen what each could do in striving [ aretê ] toward the prize. The horses of the descendant of Pheres now
 took the lead, and close behind them came the Trojan stallions of Diomedes.
 They seemed as if about to mount Eumelos' chariot, and he could feel their warm
 breath on his back and on his broad shoulders, for their heads were close to
 him as they flew over the course. Diomedes would have now passed him, or there
 would have been a dead heat, but Phoebus Apollo to spite him made him drop his
 whip. Tears of anger fell from his eyes as he saw the mares going on faster
 than ever, while his own horses lost ground through his having no whip. Athena
 saw the trick which Apollo had played the son of Tydeus, so she brought him his
 whip and put spirit into his horses; moreover she went after the son of Admetos
 in a rage and broke his yoke for him; the mares went one to one side the
 course, and the other to the other, and the pole was broken against the ground.
 Eumelos was thrown from his chariot close to the wheel; his elbows, mouth, and
 nostrils were all torn, and his forehead was bruised above his eyebrows; his
 eyes filled with tears and he could find no utterance. But the son of Tydeus
 turned his horses aside and shot far ahead, for Athena put fresh strength into
 them and covered Diomedes himself with glory. 

 
 Menelaos son of Atreus came next behind him,
 but Antilokhos called to his father's horses. "On with you both," he cried,
 "and do your very utmost. I do not bid you try to beat the steeds of the son of
 Tydeus, for Athena has put running into them, and has covered Diomedes with
 glory; but you must overtake the horses of the son of Atreus and not be left
 behind, or Aethe who is so fleet will taunt you. Why, my good men, are you
 lagging? I tell you, and it shall surely be - Nestor will keep neither of you,
 but will put both of you to the sword, if we win any the worse a prize [ athlon ] through your carelessness, fly after them at
 your utmost speed; I will hit on a plan for passing them in a narrow part of
 the way, and it shall not fail me." 

 
 They feared the rebuke of their master, and for
 a short space went quicker. Presently Antilokhos saw a narrow place where the
 road had sunk. The ground was broken, for the winter's rain had gathered and
 had worn the road so that the whole place was deepened. Menelaos was making
 towards it so as to get there first, for fear of a foul, but Antilokhos turned
 his horses out of the way, and followed him a little on one side. The son of
 Atreus was afraid and shouted out, "Antilokhos, you are driving recklessly;
 rein in your horses; the road is too narrow here, it will be wider soon, and
 you can pass me then; if you foul my chariot you may bring both of us to a
 mischief."

But Antilokhos plied his whip, and drove
 faster, as though he had not heard him. They went side by side for about as far
 as a young man can hurl a disc from his shoulder when he is trying his
 strength, and then Menelaos' mares drew behind, for he left off driving for
 fear the horses should foul one another and upset the chariots; thus, while
 pressing on in quest of victory, they might both come headlong to the ground.
 Menelaos then upbraided Antilokhos and said, "There is no greater trickster
 living than you are; go, and bad luck go with you; the Achaeans say not well
 that you have understanding, and come what may you shall not bear away the
 prize [ athlon ] without sworn protest on my part." 

 
 Then he called on his horses and said to them,
 "Keep your pace, and slacken not; the limbs of the other horses will weary
 sooner than yours, for they are neither of them young." 

 
 The horses feared the rebuke of their master,
 and went faster, so that they were soon nearly up with the others. 

 
 Meanwhile the Achaeans from their seats were
 watching how the horses went, as they scoured the plain amid clouds of their
 own dust. Idomeneus leader of the Cretans was first to make out the running,
 for he was not in the thick of the crowd, but stood on the most commanding part
 of the ground. The driver was a long way off from the assembly [ agôn ], but Idomeneus could hear him shouting, and
 could see the foremost horse quite plainly - a chestnut with a round white mark
 [ sêma ], like the moon, on its forehead. He stood
 up and said among the Argives, "My friends, princes and counselors of the
 Argives, can you see the running as well as I can? There seems to be another
 pair in front now, and another driver; those that led off at the start must
 have been disabled out on the plain. I saw them at first making their way round
 the turning-post, but now, though I search the plain of Troy , I cannot find them. Perhaps the reins
 fell from the driver's hand so that he lost command of his horses at the
 turning-post, and could not turn it. I suppose he must have been thrown out
 there, and broken his chariot, while his mares have left the course and gone
 off wildly in a panic. Come up and see for yourselves, I cannot make out for
 certain, but the driver seems an Aetolian by descent, ruler over the Argives,
 brave Diomedes the son of Tydeus." 

 
 Ajax the son of Oileus took him up rudely and
 said, "Idomeneus, why should you be in such a hurry to tell us all about it,
 when the mares are still so far out upon the plain? You are none of the
 youngest, nor your eyes none of the sharpest, but you are always laying down
 the law. 

 
 You have no right to do so, for there are
 better men here than you are. Eumelos' horses are in front now, as they always
 have been, and he is on the chariot holding the reins." 

 
 The leader of the Cretans was angry, and
 answered, "Ajax, you are an excellent railer, but you have no judgment [ noos ], and are wanting in much else as well, for you
 have a vile temper. I will wager you a tripod or cauldron, and Agamemnon son of
 Atreus shall decide whose horses are first. You will then know to your cost." 

 
 Ajax son of Oileus was for making him an angry
 answer, and there would have been yet further brawling between them, had not
 Achilles risen in his place and said, "Cease your railing Ajax and Idomeneus;
 it is not you would be scandalized if you saw any one else do the like: sit
 down in the assembly [ agôn ] and keep your eyes on
 the horses; they are speeding towards the winning-post and will be here
 directly. You will then both of you know whose horses are first, and whose come
 after."

As he was speaking, the son of Tydeus came
 driving in, plying his whip lustily from his shoulder, and his horses stepping
 high as they flew over the course. The sand and grit rained thick on the
 driver, and the chariot inlaid with gold and tin ran close behind his fleet
 horses. There was little trace of wheel-marks in the fine dust, and the horses
 came flying in at their utmost speed. Diomedes stayed them in the middle of the
 assembly [ agôn ], and the sweat from their manes and
 chests fell in streams on to the ground. Forthwith he sprang from his goodly
 chariot, and leaned his whip against his horses' yoke; brave Sthenelos now lost
 no time, but at once brought on the prize [ athlon ],
 and gave the woman and the ear-handled cauldron to his comrades to take away.
 Then he unyoked the horses. 

 
 Next after him came in Antilokhos of the race
 of Neleus, who had passed Menelaos by craft [ kerdos ] and not by the fleetness of his horses; but even so Menelaos
 came in as close behind him as the wheel is to the horse that draws both the
 chariot and its master. The end hairs of a horse's tail touch the tire of the
 wheel, and there is never much space between wheel and horse when the chariot
 is going; Menelaos was no further than this behind Antilokhos, though at first
 he had been a full disc's throw behind him. He had soon caught him up again,
 for Agamemnon's mare Aethe kept pulling stronger and stronger, so that if the
 course had been longer he would have passed him, and there would not even have
 been a dead heat. Idomeneus' brave squire [ therapôn ] Meriones was about a spear's cast behind Menelaos. His horses
 were slowest of all in the contest [ agôn ], and he
 was the worst driver. Last of them all came the son of Admetos, dragging his
 chariot and driving his horses on in front. When Achilles saw him he was sorry,
 and stood up among the Argives saying, "The best man is coming in last. Let us
 give him a prize for it is reasonable. He shall have the second, but the first
 must go to the son of Tydeus." 

 
 Thus did he speak and the others all of them
 applauded his saying, and were for doing as he had said, but Nestor's son
 Antilokhos stood up and claimed his rights from the son of Peleus. "Achilles,"
 said he, "I shall take it much amiss if you do this thing; you would rob me of
 my prize [ athlon ], because you think Eumelos'
 chariot and horses were thrown out, and himself too, good man that he is. He
 should have prayed duly to the immortals; he would not have come in fast if he
 had done so. If you are sorry for him and so choose, you have much gold in your
 tents, with bronze, sheep, cattle, and horses. Take something from this store
 if you would have the Achaeans speak well of you, and give him a better prize
 [ athlon ] even than that which you have now
 offered; but I will not give up the mare, and he that will fight me for her,
 let him come on." 

 
 Achilles smiled as he heard this, and was
 pleased with Antilokhos, who was one of his dearest comrades. So he said - 

 
 "Antilokhos, if you would have me find Eumelos
 another prize, I will give him the bronze breastplate with a rim of tin running
 all round it which I took from Asteropaios. It will be worth much money to
 him." 

 
 He bade his comrade Automedon bring the
 breastplate from his tent, and he did so. Achilles then gave it over to
 Eumelos, who received it gladly. 

 
 But Menelaos got up in a rage, furiously angry
 with Antilokhos. An attendant placed his staff in his hands and bade the
 Argives keep silence: the hero then addressed them. "Antilokhos," said he,
 "what is this from you who have been so far blameless? You have shamed my
 excellence [ aretê ] and baulked my horses by
 flinging your own in front of them, though yours are much worse than mine are;
 therefore, O princes and counselors of the Argives, judge between us and show
 no favor, lest one of the Achaeans say, ‘Menelaos has got the mare through
 lying and corruption; his horses were far inferior to Antilokhos', but he is
 superior in excellence [ aretê ] and force [ biê ].’ Nay, I will determine the matter myself, and no
 man will blame me, for I shall do what is just. Come here, Antilokhos, and
 stand, as our custom [ themis ] is, whip in hand
 before your chariot and horses; lay your hand on your steeds, and swear by
 earth-encircling Poseidon that you did not purposely and guilefully get in the
 way of my horses." 

 
 And Antilokhos answered, "Forgive me; I am much
 younger, King Menelaos, than you are; you stand higher than I do and are the
 better man of the two; you know how easily young men are betrayed into
 indiscretion; their tempers are more hasty and they have less judgment [ noos ]; make due allowances therefore, and bear with
 me; I will of my own accord give up the mare that I have won, and if you claim
 any further chattel from my own possessions, I would rather yield it to you, at
 once, than fall from your good graces henceforth, and do wrong in the eyes of
 daimones ."

The son of Nestor then took the mare and gave
 her over to Menelaos, whose anger was thus appeased; as when dew falls upon a
 field of ripening wheat, and the lands are bristling with the harvest - even
 so, O Menelaos, was your heart made glad within you. He turned to Antilokhos
 and said, "Now, Antilokhos, angry though I have been, I can give way to you of
 my own free will; you have never been headstrong nor ill-disposed hitherto, but
 this time your youth has got the better of your judgment [ noos ]; be careful how you outwit your betters in future; no one else
 could have brought me round so easily, but your good father, your brother, and
 yourself have all of you had infinite trouble on my behalf; I therefore yield
 to your entreaty, and will give up the mare to you, mine though it indeed be;
 the people will thus see that I am neither harsh nor vindictive." 

 
 With this he gave the mare over to Antilokhos'
 comrade Noemon, and then took the cauldron. Meriones, who had come in fourth,
 carried off the two talents of gold, and the fifth prize [ athlon ], the two-handled urn, being unawarded, Achilles gave it to
 Nestor, going up to him in the assembly [ agôn ] of
 Argives and saying, "Take this, my good old friend, as an heirloom and memorial
 of the funeral of Patroklos - for you shall see him no more among the Argives.
 I give you this prize [ athlon ] though you cannot
 win one; you can now neither wrestle nor fight, and cannot enter for the
 javelin-match nor foot-races, for the hand of age has been laid heavily upon
 you." 

 
 So saying he gave the urn over to Nestor, who
 received it gladly and answered, "My son, all that you have said is true; there
 is no strength now in my legs and feet, nor can I hit out with my hands from
 either shoulder. Would that I were still young and strong as when the Epeans
 were burying King Amarynkeus in Bouprasion, and his sons offered prizes in his
 honor. There was then none that could vie with me neither of the Epeans nor the
 Pylians themselves nor the Aetolians. In boxing I overcame Klytomedes son of
 Enops, and in wrestling, Ankaios of Pleuron who had come forward against me.
 Iphiklos was a good runner, 

 
 but I beat him, and threw farther with my spear
 than either Phyleus or Polydoros. In chariot-racing alone did the two sons of
 Aktor surpass me by crowding their horses in front of me, for they were angry
 at the way victory had gone, and at the greater part of the prizes remaining in
 the place in which they had been offered. They were twins, and the one kept on
 holding the reins, and holding the reins, while the other plied the whip. Such
 was I then, but now I must leave these matters to younger men; I must bow
 before the weight of years, but in those days I was eminent among heroes. And
 now, sir, go on with the funeral contests [ athloi ]
 in honor of your comrade: gladly do I accept this urn, and my heart rejoices
 that you do not forget me but are ever mindful of my goodwill towards you, and
 of the respect [ timê ] due to me from the Achaeans.
 For all which may the grace [ kharis ] of heaven be
 granted you in great abundance." 

 
 Thereon the son of Peleus, when he had listened
 to all the praise [ ainos ] of Nestor, went about
 among the concourse of the Achaeans, and presently offered prizes for skill in
 the painful art of boxing. He brought out a strong mule, and made it fast in
 the middle of the crowd [ agôn ] - a she-mule never
 yet broken, but six years old - when it is hardest of all to break them: this
 was for the victor, and for the vanquished he offered a double cup. Then he
 stood up and said among the Argives, "Son of Atreus, and all other Achaeans, I
 invite our two champion boxers to lay about them lustily and compete for these
 prizes. He to whom Apollo grants the greater endurance, and whom the Achaeans
 acknowledge as victor, shall take the mule back with him to his own tent, while
 he that is vanquished shall have the double cup." 

 
 As he spoke there stood up a champion both
 brave and great stature, a skillful boxer, Epeios, son of Panopeus. He laid his
 hand on the mule and said, "Let the man who is to have the cup come hither, for
 none but myself will take the mule. I am the best boxer of all here present,
 and none can beat me. Is it not enough that I should fall short of you in
 actual fighting? Still, no man can be good at everything. I tell you plainly,
 and it shall come true; if any man will box with me I will bruise his body and
 break his bones; therefore let his friends stay here in a body and be at hand
 to take him away when I have done with him." 

 
 They all held their peace, and no man rose save
 Euryalos son of Mekisteus, who was son of Talaos. Mekisteus went once to
 Thebes after the fall of
 Oedipus, to attend his funeral, and he beat all the people of Cadmus. The son
 of Tydeus was Euryalos' second, cheering him on and hoping heartily that he
 would win. First he put a waistband round him and then he gave him some
 well-cut thongs of ox-hide; the two men being now girt went into the middle of
 the ring [ agôn ], and immediately fell to; heavily
 indeed did they punish one another and lay about them with their brawny fists.
 One could hear the horrid crashing of their jaws, and they sweated from every
 pore of their skin. Presently Epeios came on and gave Euryalos a blow on the
 jaw as he was looking round; Euryalos could not keep his legs; they gave way
 under him in a moment and he sprang up with a bound, as a fish leaps into the
 air near some shore that is all bestrewn with sea-wrack, when Boreas furs the
 top of the waves, and then falls back into deep water. But noble Epeios caught
 hold of him and raised him up; his comrades also came round him and led him
 from the ring [ agôn ], unsteady in his gait, his
 head hanging on one side, and spitting great clots of gore. They set him down
 in a swoon and then went to fetch the double cup. 

 
 The son of Peleus now brought out the prizes
 for the third contest and showed them to the Argives. These were for the
 painful art of wrestling. For the winner there was a great tripod ready for
 setting upon the fire,

and the Achaeans valued it among themselves at
 twelve oxen. For the loser he brought out a woman skilled in all manner of
 arts, and they valued her at four oxen. He rose and said among the Argives,
 "Stand forward, you who will essay this contest [ athlon ]." 

 
 Forthwith uprose great Ajax the son of Telamon,
 and crafty Odysseus, full of craft [ kerdos ] rose
 also. The two girded themselves and went into the middle of the ring [ agôn ]. They gripped each other in their strong hands
 like the rafters which some master-builder frames for the roof of a high house
 to keep the wind out. Their backbones cracked as they tugged at one another
 with their mighty arms - and sweat rained from them in torrents. Many a bloody
 weal sprang up on their sides and shoulders, but they kept on striving with
 might and main for victory and to win the tripod. Odysseus could not throw
 Ajax, nor Ajax him; Odysseus was too strong for him; but when the Achaeans
 began to tire of watching them, Ajax said to Odysseus, "Odysseus, noble son of
 Laertes , you shall either lift
 me, or I you, and let Zeus settle it between us." 

 
 He lifted him from the ground as he spoke, but
 Odysseus did not forget his cunning. He hit Ajax in the hollow at back of his
 knee, so that he could not keep his feet, but fell on his back with Odysseus
 lying upon his chest, and all who saw it marveled. Then Odysseus in turn lifted
 Ajax and stirred him a little from the ground but could not lift him right off
 it, his knee sank under him, and the two fell side by side on the ground and
 were all begrimed with dust. They now sprang towards one another and were for
 wrestling yet a third time, but Achilles rose and stayed them. "Put not each
 other further," said he, "to such cruel suffering; the victory is with both
 alike, take each of you an equal prize, and let the other Achaeans now
 compete." 

 
 Thus did he speak and they did even as he had
 said, and put on their shirts again after wiping the dust from off their
 bodies. 

 
 The son of Peleus then offered prizes for speed
 in running - a mixing-bowl beautifully wrought, of pure silver. It would hold
 six measures, and far exceeded all others in the whole world for beauty; it was
 the work of cunning artificers in Sidon , and had been brought into port by Phoenicians from
 beyond the sea [ pontos ], who had made a present of
 it to Thoas. Eueneus son of Jason had given it to Patroklos in ransom of
 Priam's son Lykaon, and Achilles now offered it as a prize [ athlon ] in honor of his comrade to him who should be
 the swiftest runner. For the second prize he offered a large ox, well fattened,
 while for the last there was to be half a talent of gold. He then rose and said
 among the Argives, "Stand forward, you who will essay this contest [ athlon ]." 

 
 Forthwith uprose fleet Ajax son of Oileus, with
 cunning Odysseus, and Nestor's son Antilokhos, the fastest runner among all the
 youth of his time. They stood side by side and Achilles showed them the goal.
 The course was set out for them from the starting-post, and the son of Oileus
 took the lead at once, with Odysseus as close behind him as the shuttle is to a
 woman's bosom when she throws the woof across the warp and holds it close up to
 her; even so close behind him was Odysseus - treading in his footprints before
 the dust could settle there, and Ajax could feel his breath on the back of his
 head as he ran swiftly on. The Achaeans all shouted approval as they saw him
 straining his utmost, and cheered him as he shot past them; but when they were
 now nearing the end of the course Odysseus prayed inwardly to Athena. "Hear
 me," he cried, "and help my feet, O goddess." Thus did he pray, and Pallas
 Athena heard his prayer; she made his hands and his feet feel light, and when
 the runners were at the point of pouncing upon the prize [ athlon ], Ajax, through Athena's spite slipped upon some offal that
 was lying there from the cattle which Achilles had slaughtered in honor of
 Patroklos, and his mouth and nostrils were all filled with cow dung. 

 
 Odysseus therefore carried off the mixing-bowl,
 for he got before Ajax and came in first. But Ajax took the ox and stood with
 his hand on one of its horns, spitting the dung out of his mouth. Then he said
 to the Argives, "Alas, the goddess has spoiled my running; she watches over
 Odysseus and stands by him as though she were his own mother." Thus did he
 speak and they all of them laughed heartily. 

 
 Antilokhos carried off the last prize [ athlon ] and smiled as he said to the bystanders, "You
 all see, my friends, that now too the gods have shown their respect for
 seniority. Ajax is somewhat older than I am, and as for Odysseus, he belongs to
 an earlier generation, but he is hale in spite of his years, and no man of the
 Achaeans can run against him save only Achilles."

He said this to pay a compliment to the son of
 Peleus, and Achilles answered, "Antilokhos, you shall not have given me praise
 [ ainos ] to no purpose; I shall give you an
 additional half talent of gold." He then gave the half talent to Antilokhos,
 who received it gladly. 

 
 Then the son of Peleus brought out to the
 assembly [ agôn ] the spear, helmet, and shield that
 had been borne by Sarpedon, and were taken from him by Patroklos. He stood up
 and said among the Argives, "We bid two champions put on their armor, take
 their keen blades, and make trial of one another in the presence of the
 multitude; whichever of them can first wound the flesh of the other, cut
 through his armor, and draw blood, to him will I give this goodly Thracian
 sword inlaid with silver, which I took from Asteropaios, but the armor let both
 hold in partnership, and I will give each of them a hearty meal in my own
 tent." 

 
 Forthwith uprose great Ajax the son of Telamon,
 as also mighty Diomedes son of Tydeus. When they had put on their armor each on
 his own side of the ring, they both went into the middle eager to engage, and
 with fire flashing from their eyes. The Achaeans marveled as they beheld them,
 and when the two were now close up with one another, thrice did they spring
 forward and thrice try to strike each other in close combat. Ajax pierced Diomedes' round shield, but did not draw blood,
 for the cuirass beneath the shield protected him; thereon the son of Tydeus
 from over his huge shield kept aiming continually at Ajax's neck with the point
 of his spear, and the Achaeans alarmed for his safety bade them leave off
 fighting and divide the prize between them. Achilles then gave the great sword
 to the son of Tydeus, with its scabbard, and the leathern belt with which to
 hang it. 

 
 Achilles next offered the massive iron quoit
 which mighty Eetion had erewhile been used to hurl, until Achilles had slain
 him and carried it off in his ships along with other spoils. He stood up and
 said among the Argives, "Stand forward, you who would essay this contest [ athlon ]. He who wins it will have a store of iron that
 will last him five years as they go rolling round, and if his fair fields lie
 far from a town his shepherd or ploughman will not have to make a journey to
 buy iron, for he will have a stock of it on his own premises." 

 
 Then uprose the two mighty men Polypoites and
 Leonteus, with Ajax son of Telamon and noble Epeios. They stood up one after
 the other and Epeios took the quoit, whirled it, and flung it from him, which
 set all the Achaeans laughing. After him threw Leonteus of the race of Ares.
 Ajax son of Telamon threw third, and sent the quoit beyond any mark [ sêma ] that had been made yet, but when mighty
 Polypoites took the quoit he hurled it as though it had been a stockman's stick
 which he sends flying about among his cattle when he is driving them, so far
 did his throw out-distance those of the others in the contest [ agôn ]. All who saw it roared approval, and his
 comrades carried the prize [ athlon ] for him and set
 it on board his ship. 

 
 Achilles next offered a prize of iron for
 archery - ten double-edged axes and ten with single eddies: he set up a ship's
 mast, some way off upon the sands, and with a fine string tied a pigeon to it
 by the foot; this was what they were to aim at. 

 
 "Whoever," he said, "can hit the pigeon shall
 have all the axes and take them away with him; he who hits the string without
 hitting the bird will have taken a worse aim and shall have the single-edged
 axes." 

 
 Then uprose King Teucer, and Meriones the
 stalwart squire [ therapôn ] of Idomeneus rose also,
 They cast lots in a bronze helmet and the lot of Teucer fell first. He let fly
 with his arrow forthwith, but he did not promise hecatombs of firstling lambs
 to King Apollo, and missed his bird, for Apollo foiled his aim; but he hit the
 string with which the bird was tied, near its foot; the arrow cut the string
 clean through so that it hung down towards the ground, while the bird flew up
 into the sky, and the Achaeans shouted approval. Meriones, who had his arrow
 ready while Teucer was aiming, snatched the bow out of his hand, and at once
 promised that he would sacrifice a hecatomb of firstling lambs to Apollo lord
 of the bow; then espying the pigeon high up under the clouds, he hit her in the
 middle of the wing as she was circling upwards; the arrow went clean through
 the wing and fixed itself in the ground at Meriones' feet, but the bird perched
 on the ship's mast hanging her head and with all her feathers drooping; the
 life went out of her, and she fell heavily from the mast. Meriones, therefore,
 took all ten double-edged axes, while Teucer bore off the single-edged ones to
 his ships.

Then the son of Peleus brought in to the
 contest [ agôn ] a spear and a cauldron that had
 never been on the fire; it was worth an ox, and was chased with a pattern of
 flowers; and those that throw the javelin stood up - to wit the son of Atreus,
 king of men Agamemnon, and Meriones, stalwart squire of Idomeneus. But Achilles
 spoke saying, "Son of Atreus, we know how far you excel all others both in
 power and in throwing the javelin; take the cauldron as prize [ athlon ] back with you to your ships, but if it so
 please you, let us give the spear to Meriones; this at least is what I should
 myself wish." 

 
 King Agamemnon assented. So he gave the bronze
 spear to Meriones, 

 and handed the goodly cauldron as prize [ athlon ] to
 Talthybios his esquire.

The assembly [ agôn ]
 now broke up and the people went their ways each to his own ship. There they
 made ready their supper, and then bethought them of the blessed boon of sleep;
 but Achilles still wept for thinking of his dear comrade, and sleep, before
 whom all things bow, could take no hold upon him. This way and that did he turn
 as he yearned after the might and manfulness of Patroklos; he thought of all
 they had done together, and all they had gone through both on the field of
 battle and on the waves of the weary sea. As he dwelt on these things he wept
 bitterly and lay now on his side, now on his back, and now face downwards, till
 at last he rose and went out as one distraught to wander upon the seashore.
 Then, when he saw dawn breaking over beach and sea, he yoked his horses to his
 chariot, and bound the body of Hektor behind it that he might drag it about.
 Thrice did he drag it round the tomb [ sêma ] of the
 son of Menoitios, and then went back into his tent, leaving the body on the
 ground full length and with its face downwards. But Apollo would not suffer it
 to be disfigured, for he pitied the man, dead though he now was; therefore he
 shielded him with his golden aegis continually, that he might take no hurt
 while Achilles was dragging him. 

 
 Thus shamefully did Achilles in his fury
 dishonor Hektor; but the blessed gods looked down in pity from heaven, and
 urged Hermes, slayer of Argos , to
 steal the body. All were of this mind save only Hera, Poseidon, and Zeus'
 gray-eyed daughter, 

 
 who persisted in the hate which they had ever
 borne towards Ilion with Priam and his
 people; for they forgave not the wrong [ atê ] done
 them by Alexander in disdaining the goddesses who came to him when he was in
 his sheepyards, and preferring her who had offered him a wanton to his ruin. 

 
 When, therefore, the morning of the twelfth day
 had now come, Phoebus Apollo spoke among the immortals saying, "You gods ought
 to be ashamed of yourselves; you are cruel and hard-hearted. Did not Hektor
 burn you thigh-bones of heifers and of unblemished goats? And now dare you not
 rescue even his dead body, for his wife to look upon, with his mother and
 child, his father Priam, and his people, who would forthwith commit him to the
 flames, and give him his due funeral rites? So, then, you would all be on the
 side of mad Achilles, who knows neither right nor ruth? He is like some savage
 lion that in the pride of his great strength [ biê ]
 and spirit [ thumos ] springs upon men's flocks and
 gorges on them. Even so has Achilles flung aside all pity, and all that decency
 [ aidôs ] which at once so greatly banes yet
 greatly boons him that will heed it. man may lose one far dearer than Achilles
 has lost- a son, it may be, or a brother born from his own mother's womb; yet
 when he has mourned him and wept over him he will let him bide, for it takes
 much sorrow to kill a man; whereas Achilles, now that he has slain noble
 Hektor, drags him behind his chariot round the tomb [ sêma ] of his comrade. It were better of him, and for him, that he
 should not do so, for brave though he be we gods may take it ill that he should
 vent his fury upon dead clay." 

 
 Hera spoke up in a rage. "This were well," she
 cried, "O lord of the silver bow, if you would give like honor [ timê ] to Hektor and to Achilles; but Hektor was mortal
 and suckled at a woman's breast, whereas Achilles is the offspring of a goddess
 whom I myself reared and brought up. I married her to Peleus, who is above
 measure dear to the immortals; you gods came all of you to her wedding; you
 feasted along with them yourself and brought your lyre - false, and fond of low
 company, that you have ever been." 

 
 Then said Zeus, "Hera, be not so bitter. Their
 honor [ timê ] shall not be equal, but of all that
 dwell in Ilion , Hektor was dearest to
 the gods, as also to myself, for his offerings never failed me. Never was my
 altar stinted of its dues, nor of the drink-offerings and savor of sacrifice
 which we claim of right. I shall therefore permit the body of mighty Hektor to
 be stolen; and yet this may hardly be without Achilles coming to know it, for
 his mother keeps night and day beside him. Let some one of you, therefore, send
 Thetis to me, and I will impart my counsel to her, namely that Achilles is to
 accept a ransom from Priam, and give up the body." 

 
 On this Iris fleet as the wind went forth to
 carry his message. Down she plunged into the dark sea [ pontos ] midway between Samos and rocky Imbros; the waters hissed as they closed over
 her, and she sank into the bottom as the lead at the end of an ox-horn, that is
 sped to carry death to fishes. She found Thetis sitting in a great cave with
 the other sea-goddesses gathered round her; there she sat in the midst of them
 weeping for her noble son who was to fall far from his own land, on the fertile
 plains of Troy . Iris went up to her
 and said, "Rise Thetis; Zeus, whose counsels fail not, bids you come to him."
 And Thetis answered, "Why does the mighty god so bid me? I am in great grief
 [ akhos ], and shrink from going in and out among
 the immortals. Still, I will go, and the word that he may speak shall not be
 spoken in vain." 

 
 The goddess took her dark veil, than which there
 can be no robe more somber, and went forth with fleet Iris leading the way
 before her. The waves of the sea opened them a path, and when they reached the
 shore they flew up into the heavens, where they found the all-seeing son of
 Kronos with the blessed gods that live for ever assembled near him. Athena gave
 up her seat to her, and she sat down by the side of father Zeus. Hera then
 placed a fair golden cup in her hand, and spoke to her in words of comfort,
 whereon Thetis drank and gave her back the cup; and the sire of gods and men
 was the first to speak.

"So, goddess Thetis," said he, "for all your
 sorrow, and the grief [ penthos ] that I well know
 reigns ever in your heart, you have come hither to Olympus , and I will tell you why I have sent for you. This nine
 days past the immortals have been quarreling about Achilles waster of cities
 and the body of Hektor. The gods would have Hermes slayer of Argos steal the body, but in furtherance of
 our decency [ aidôs ] and sense of being
 near-and-dear [ philotês ] henceforward, I will
 concede such honor to your son as I will now tell you. Go, then, to the host
 and lay these commands upon him; say that the gods are angry with him, and that
 I am myself more angry than them all, in that he keeps Hektor at the ships and
 will not give him up. He may thus fear me and let the body go. At the same time
 I will send Iris to great Priam to bid him go to the ships of the Achaeans, and
 ransom his son, taking with him such gifts for Achilles as may give him
 satisfaction. 

 
 Silver-footed Thetis did as the god had told
 her, and forthwith down she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus . She went to her son's tents where she
 found him grieving bitterly, while his trusty comrades round him were busy
 preparing their morning meal, for which they had killed a great woolly sheep.
 His mother sat down beside him and caressed him with her hand saying, "My son,
 how long will you keep on thus grieving and making moan? You are gnawing at
 your own heart, and think neither of food nor of woman's embraces; and yet
 these too were well, for you have no long time to live, and death with the
 strong hand of fate are already close beside you. Now, therefore, heed what I
 say, for I come as a messenger from Zeus; he says that the gods are angry with
 you, and himself more angry than them all, in that you keep Hektor at the ships
 and will not give him up. Therefore let him go, and accept a ransom for his
 body." 

 
 And Achilles answered, "So be it. If Olympian
 Zeus of his own motion thus commands me, let him that brings the ransom bear
 the body away." 

 
 Thus did mother and son talk together at the
 ships in long discourse with one another. Meanwhile the son of Kronos sent Iris
 to the strong city of Ilion . "Go,"
 said he, "fleet Iris, from the mansions of Olympus , and tell King Priam in Ilion , that he is to go to the ships of the Achaeans and free
 the body of his dear son. He is to take such gifts with him as shall give
 satisfaction to Achilles, and he is to go alone, with no other Trojan, save
 only some honored servant who may drive his mules and wagon, and bring back the
 body of him whom noble Achilles has slain. Let him have no thought nor fear of
 death in his heart, for we will send the slayer of Argos to escort him, and bring him within
 the tent of Achilles. Achilles will not kill him nor let another do so, for he
 will take heed to his ways and err not, and he will entreat a suppliant with
 all honorable courtesy." 

 
 On this Iris, fleet as the wind, sped forth to
 deliver her message. She went to Priam's house, and found weeping and
 lamentation therein. His sons were seated round their father in the outer
 courtyard, and their raiment was wet with tears: the old man sat in the midst
 of them with his mantle wrapped close about his body, and his head and neck all
 covered with the filth which he had clutched as he lay groveling in the mire.
 His daughters and his sons' wives went wailing about the house, as they thought
 of the many and brave men who lost their life-breath [ psukhê ], slain by the Argives. The messenger of Zeus stood by Priam
 and spoke softly to him, but fear fell upon him as she did so. "Take heart,"
 she said, "Priam offspring of Dardanos , take heart and fear not. I bring no evil tidings, but
 am minded well towards you. I come as a messenger from Zeus, who though he be
 not near, takes thought for you and pities you. The lord of Olympus bids you go and ransom noble Hektor,
 and take with you such gifts as shall give satisfaction to Achilles. 

 
 You are to go alone, with no Trojan, save only
 some honored servant who may drive your mules and wagon, and bring back to the
 city the body of him whom noble Achilles has slain. You are to have no thought,
 nor fear of death, for Zeus will send the slayer of Argos to escort you. When he has brought you
 within Achilles' tent, Achilles will not kill you nor let another do so, for he
 will take heed to his ways and err not, and he will entreat a suppliant with
 all honorable courtesy." 

 
 Iris went her way when she had thus spoken, and
 Priam told his sons to get a mule-wagon ready, and to make the body of the
 wagon fast upon the top of its bed. Then he went down into his fragrant
 store-room, high-vaulted, and made of cedar-wood, where his many treasures were
 kept, and he called Hecuba his wife. "Wife," said he, "a messenger has come to
 me from Olympus , and has told me to go
 to the ships of the Achaeans to ransom my dear son, taking with me such gifts
 as shall give satisfaction to Achilles. What think you of this matter? for my
 own part I am greatly moved to pass through the of the Achaeans and go to their
 ships." 

 
 His wife cried aloud as she heard him, and
 said, "Alas, what has become of that judgment for which you have been ever
 famous both among strangers and your own people? How can you venture alone to
 the ships of the Achaeans, and look into the face of him who has slain so many
 of your brave sons? You must have iron courage, for if the cruel savage sees
 you and lays hold on you, he will know neither respect nor pity. Let us then
 weep Hektor from afar here in our own house, for when I gave him birth the
 threads of overruling fate were spun for him that dogs should eat his flesh far
 from his parents, in the house of that terrible man on whose liver I would fain
 fasten and devour it. Thus would I avenge my son, who showed no cowardice when
 Achilles slew him, and thought neither of Right nor of avoiding battle as he
 stood in defense of Trojan men and Trojan women."

Then Priam said, "I would go, do not therefore
 stay me nor be as a bird of ill omen in my house, for you will not move me. Had
 it been some mortal man who had sent me some seer [ mantis ] or priest who divines from sacrifice - I should have deemed
 him false and have given him no heed; but now I have heard the goddess and seen
 her face to face, therefore I will go and her saying shall not be in vain. If
 it be my fate to die at the ships of the Achaeans even so would I have it; let
 Achilles slay me, if I may but first have taken my son in my arms and mourned
 him to my heart's comforting." 

 
 So saying he lifted the lids of his chests, and
 took out twelve goodly vestments. He took also twelve cloaks of single fold,
 twelve rugs, twelve fair mantles, and an equal number of shirts. He weighed out
 ten talents of gold, and brought moreover two burnished tripods, four
 cauldrons, and a very beautiful cup which the Thracians had given him when he
 had gone to them on an embassy; it was very precious, but he grudged not even
 this, so eager was he to ransom the body of his son. Then he chased all the
 Trojans from the court and rebuked them with words of anger. "Out," he cried,
 "shame and disgrace to me that you are. Have you no grief in your own homes
 that you are come to plague me here? Is it a small thing, think you, that the
 son of Kronos has sent this sorrow upon me, to lose the bravest of my sons?
 Nay, you shall prove it in person, for now he is gone the Achaeans will have
 easier work in killing you. As for me, let me go down within the house of
 Hades, ere mine eyes behold the sacking and wasting of the city." 

 
 He drove the men away with his staff, and they
 went forth as the old man sped them. Then he called to his sons, upbraiding
 Helenos, Paris , noble Agathon, Pammon,
 Antiphonos, Polites of the loud battle-cry, Deiphobos, Hippothoos, and Dios.
 These nine did the old man call near him. "Come to me at once," he cried,
 "worthless sons who do me shame; 

 
 would that you had all been killed at the ships
 rather than Hektor. Miserable man that I am, I have had the bravest sons in all
 Troy - noble Nestor, Troilus the
 dauntless charioteer, and Hektor who was a god among men, so that one would
 have thought he was son to an immortal - yet there is not one of them left.
 Ares has slain them and those of whom I am ashamed are alone left me. Liars,
 and light of foot, heroes of the dance, robbers of lambs and kids from your own
 people, why do you not get a wagon ready for me at once, and put all these
 things upon it that I may set out on my way?" 

 
 Thus did he speak, and they feared the rebuke
 of their father. They brought out a strong mule-wagon, newly made, and set the
 body of the wagon fast on its bed. They took the mule-yoke from the peg on
 which it hung, a yoke of boxwood with a knob on the top of it and rings for the
 reins to go through. Then they brought a yoke-band eleven cubits long, to bind
 the yoke to the pole; they bound it on at the far end of the pole, and put the
 ring over the upright pin making it fast with three turns of the band on either
 side the knob, and bending the thong of the yoke beneath it. This done, they
 brought from the store-chamber the rich ransom that was to purchase the body of
 Hektor, and they set it all orderly on the wagon; then they yoked the strong
 harness-mules which the Mysians had on a time given as a goodly present to
 Priam; but for Priam himself they yoked horses which the old king had bred, and
 kept for own use. 

 
 Thus heedfully did Priam and his servant see to
 the yoking of their cars at the palace. Then Hecuba came to them all sorrowful,
 with a golden goblet of wine in her right hand, that they might make a
 drink-offering before they set out. She stood in front of the horses and said,
 "Take this, make a drink-offering to father Zeus, and since you are minded to
 go to the ships in spite of me, pray that you may come safely back from the
 hands of your enemies. Pray to the son of Kronos lord of the whirlwind, who
 sits on Ida and looks down over all Troy , 

 
 pray him to send his swift messenger on your
 right hand, the bird of omen which is strongest and most dear to him of all
 birds, that you may see it with your own eyes and trust it as you go forth to
 the ships of the Danaans. If all-seeing Zeus will not send you this messenger,
 however set upon it you may be, I would not have you go to the ships of the
 Argives." 

 
 And Priam answered, "Wife, I will do as you
 desire me; it is well to lift hands in prayer to Zeus, if so be he may have
 mercy upon me." With this the old man bade the serving-woman pour pure water
 over his hands, and the woman came, bearing the water in a bowl. He washed his
 hands and took the cup from his wife; then he made the drink-offering and
 prayed, standing in the middle of the courtyard and turning his eyes to heaven.
 "Father Zeus," he said, "you who rule from Ida, most glorious and most great,
 grant that I may be received kindly and compassionately in the tents of
 Achilles; and send your swift messenger upon my right hand, the bird of omen
 which is strongest and most dear to you of all birds, that I may see it with my
 own eyes and trust it as I go forth to the ships of the Danaans."

So did he pray, and Zeus the lord of counsel
 heard his prayer. Forthwith he sent an eagle, the most unerring portent of all
 birds that fly, the dusky hunter that men also call the Black Eagle. His wings
 were spread abroad on either side as wide as the well-made and well-bolted door
 of a rich man's chamber. He came to them flying over the city upon their right
 hands, and when they saw him they were glad and their hearts took comfort
 within them. The old man made haste to mount his chariot, and drove out through
 the inner gateway and under the echoing gatehouse of the outer court. Before
 him went the mules drawing the four-wheeled wagon, and driven by wise Idaios;
 behind these were the horses, which the old man lashed with his whip and drove
 swiftly through the city, 

 
 while his friends followed after, wailing and
 lamenting for him as though he were on his road to death. As soon as they had
 come down from the city and had reached the plain, his sons and sons-in-law who
 had followed him went back to Ilion . 

 
 But Priam and Idaios as they showed out upon
 the plain did not escape the ken of all-seeing Zeus, who looked down upon the
 old man and pitied him; then he spoke to his son Hermes and said, "Hermes, for
 it is you who are the most disposed to escort men on their way, and to hear
 those whom you will hear, go, and so conduct Priam to the ships of the Achaeans
 that no other of the Danaans shall see him nor take note of him until he reach
 the son of Peleus." 

 
 Thus he spoke and Hermes, guide and guardian,
 slayer of Argos , did as he was told.
 Forthwith he bound on his glittering golden sandals with which he could fly
 like the wind over land and sea; he took the wand with which he seals men's
 eyes in sleep, or wakes them just as he pleases, and flew holding it in his
 hand till he came to Troy and to the
 Hellespont . To look at, he was like
 a young man of noble birth in the hey-day of his youth and beauty with the down
 just coming upon his face. 

 
 Now when Priam and Idaios had driven past the
 great tomb [ sêma ] of Ilion , they stayed their mules and horses that they might drink
 in the river, for the shades of night were falling, when, therefore, Idaios saw
 Hermes standing near them he said to Priam, "Take heed, descendant of
 Dardanos ; here is matter which
 demands consideration [ noos ]. I see a man who I
 think will presently fall upon us; let us flee with our horses, or at least
 embrace his knees and implore him to take compassion upon us? 

 
 When he heard this the old man's heart [ noos ] failed him, and he was in great fear; he stayed
 where he was as one dazed, and the hair stood on end over his whole body; but
 the bringer of good luck came up to him and took him by the hand, saying,
 "Whither, father, are you thus driving your mules and horses in the dead of
 night when other men are asleep? 

 
 Are you not afraid of the fierce Achaeans who
 are hard by you, so cruel and relentless? Should some one of them see you
 bearing so much treasure through the darkness of the fleeing night, what would
 not your state of mind [ noos ] then be? You are no
 longer young, and he who is with you is too old to protect you from those who
 would attack you. For myself, I will do you no harm, and I will defend you from
 any one else, for you remind me of my own father." 

 
 And Priam answered, "It is indeed as you say,
 my dear son; nevertheless some god has held his hand over me, in that he has
 sent such a wayfarer as yourself to meet me so Opportunely; you are so comely
 in mien and figure, and your judgment [ noos ] is so
 excellent that you must come of blessed parents."

Then said the slayer of Argos , guide and guardian, "Sir, all that
 you have said is right; but tell me and tell me true, are you taking this rich
 treasure to send it to a foreign people where it may be safe, or are you all
 leaving strong Ilion in dismay now
 that your son has fallen who was the bravest man among you and was never
 lacking in battle with the Achaeans?" 

 
 And Priam said, "Who are you, my friend, and
 who are your parents, that you speak so truly about the fate of my unhappy
 son?" 

 
 The slayer of Argos , guide and guardian, answered him, "Sir, you would prove
 me, that you question me about noble Hektor. Many a time have I set eyes upon
 him in battle when he was driving the Argives to their ships and putting them
 to the sword. We stood still and marveled, for Achilles in his anger with the
 son of Atreus suffered us not to fight. I am his squire [ therapôn ], and came with him in the same ship. I am a Myrmidon, and
 my father's name is Polyktor: he is a rich man and about as old as you are; he
 has six sons besides myself, and I am the seventh. We cast lots, and it fell
 upon me to sail hither with Achilles. I am now come from the ships on to the
 plain, for with daybreak the Achaeans will set battle in array about the city.
 They chafe at doing nothing, and are so eager that their princes cannot hold
 them back." 

 
 Then answered Priam, "If you are indeed the
 squire [ therapôn ] of Achilles son of Peleus, tell
 me now the Whole truth. Is my son still at the ships, or has Achilles hewn him
 limb from limb, and given him to his hounds?" 

 
 "Sir," replied the slayer of Argos , guide and guardian, "neither hounds
 nor vultures have yet devoured him; he is still just lying at the tents by the
 ship of Achilles, and though it is now twelve days that he has lain there, his
 flesh is not wasted nor have the worms eaten him although they feed on
 warriors. At daybreak Achilles drags him cruelly round the sepulcher [ sêma ] of his dear comrade, but it does him no hurt.
 You should come yourself and see how he lies fresh as dew, with the blood all
 washed away, and his wounds every one of them closed though many pierced him
 with their spears. Such care have the blessed gods taken of your brave son, for
 he was dear to them beyond all measure." 

 
 The old man was comforted as he heard him and
 said, "My son, see what a good thing it is to have made due offerings to the
 immortals; for as sure as that he was born my son never forgot the gods that
 hold Olympus , and now they requite it
 to him even in death. Accept therefore at my hands this goodly chalice; guard
 me and with heaven's help guide me till I come to the tent of the son of
 Peleus." 

 
 Then answered the slayer of Argos , guide and guardian, "Sir, you are
 tempting me and playing upon my youth, but you shall not move me, for you are
 offering me presents without the knowledge of Achilles whom I fear and hold it
 great guiltless to defraud, lest some evil presently befall me; but as your
 guide I would go with you even to Argos itself, and would guard you so carefully whether by sea
 or land, that no one should attack you through making light of him who was with
 you." 

 
 The bringer of good luck then sprang on to the
 chariot, and seizing the whip and reins he breathed fresh spirit into the mules
 and horses. When they reached the trench and the wall that was before the
 ships, those who were on guard had just been getting their suppers, and the
 slayer of Argos threw them all into
 a deep sleep. Then he drew back the bolts to open the gates, and took Priam
 inside with the treasure he had upon his wagon. Ere long they came to the lofty
 dwelling of the son of Peleus for which the Myrmidons had cut pine and which
 they had built for their king; when they had built it they thatched it with
 coarse tussock-grass which they had mown out on the plain, and all round it
 they made a large courtyard, which was fenced with stakes set close together.
 The gate was barred with a single bolt of pine which it took three men to force
 into its place, and three to draw back so as to open the gate, but Achilles
 could draw it by himself. Hermes opened the gate for the old man, and brought
 in the treasure that he was taking with him for the son of Peleus. Then he
 sprang from the chariot on to the ground and said, "Sir, it is I, immortal
 Hermes, that am come with you, for my father sent me to escort you. I will now
 leave you, and will not enter into the presence of Achilles, for it might anger
 him that a god should befriend mortal men thus openly. Go you within, and
 embrace the knees of the son of Peleus: beseech him by his father, his lovely
 mother, and his son; thus you may move him."

With these words Hermes went back to high
 Olympus . Priam sprang from his
 chariot to the ground, leaving Idaios where he was, in charge of the mules and
 horses. The old man went straight into the house where Achilles, loved of the
 gods, was sitting. There he found him with his men seated at a distance from
 him: only two, the hero Automedon, and Alkimos of the race of Ares, were busy
 in attendance about his person, for he had but just done eating and drinking, 

 
 and the table was still there. King Priam
 entered without their seeing him, and going right up to Achilles he clasped his
 knees and kissed the dread murderous hands that had slain so many of his sons. 

 
 As when some cruel spite [ atê ] has befallen a man that he should have killed some one in his
 own country, and must flee to a great man's protection in a land [ dêmos ] of strangers, and all marvel who see him, even
 so did Achilles marvel as he beheld Priam. The others looked one to another and
 marveled also, but Priam besought Achilles saying, "Think of your father, O
 Achilles like unto the gods, who is such even as I am, on the sad threshold of
 old age. It may be that those who dwell near him harass him, and there is none
 to keep war and ruin from him. Yet when he hears of you being still alive, he
 is glad, and his days are full of hope that he shall see his dear son come home
 to him from Troy ; but I, wretched man
 that I am, had the bravest in all Troy for my sons, and there is not one of them left. I had
 fifty sons when the Achaeans came here; nineteen of them were from a single
 womb, and the others were borne to me by the women of my household. The greater
 part of them has fierce Ares laid low, and Hektor, him who was alone left, him
 who was the guardian of the city and ourselves, him have you lately slain;
 therefore I am now come to the ships of the Achaeans to ransom his body from
 you with a great ransom. Fear, O Achilles, the wrath of heaven; think on your
 own father and have compassion upon me, who am the more pitiable, for I have
 steeled myself as no man yet has ever steeled himself before me, and have
 raised to my lips the hand of him who slew my son." 

 
 Thus spoke Priam, and the heart of Achilles
 yearned as he bethought him of his father. He took the old man's hand and moved
 him gently away. The two wept bitterly - Priam, as he lay at Achilles' feet,
 weeping for Hektor, and Achilles now for his father and now for Patroklos, till
 the house was filled with their lamentation. But when Achilles was now sated
 with grief 

 
 and had unburdened the bitterness of his
 sorrow, he left his seat and raised the old man by the hand, in pity for his
 white hair and beard; then he said, "Unhappy man, you have indeed been greatly
 daring; how could you venture to come alone to the ships of the Achaeans, and
 enter the presence of him who has slain so many of your brave sons? You must
 have iron courage: sit now upon this seat, and for all our grief we will hide
 our sorrows in our hearts, for weeping will not avail us. The immortals know no
 care, yet the lot they spin for man is full of sorrow; on the floor of Zeus'
 palace there stand two urns, the one filled with evil gifts, and the other with
 good ones. He for whom Zeus the lord of thunder mixes the gifts he sends, will
 meet now with good and now with evil fortune; but he to whom Zeus sends none
 but evil gifts will be pointed at by the finger of scorn, the hand of famine
 will pursue him to the ends of the world, and he will go up and down the face
 of the earth, respected neither by gods nor men. Even so did it befall Peleus;
 the gods endowed him with all good things from his birth upwards, for he
 reigned over the Myrmidons excelling all men in prosperity [olbos] and wealth,
 and mortal though he was they gave him a goddess for his bride. But even on him
 too did heaven send misfortune, for there is no race of royal children born to
 him in his house, save one son who is doomed to die all untimely; nor may I
 take care of him now that he is growing old, for I must stay here at Troy to be the bane of you and your children.
 And you too, O Priam, I have heard that you were aforetime happy [ olbios ]. They say that in wealth and plenitude of
 offspring you surpassed all that is in Lesbos , the realm of Makar to the northward, Phrygia that is more inland, and those that
 dwell upon the great Hellespont ; but
 from the day when the dwellers in heaven sent this evil upon you, war and
 slaughter have been about your city continually. 

 
 Bear up against it, and let there be some
 intervals in your sorrow. Mourn as you may for your brave son, you will take
 nothing by it. You cannot raise him from the dead, ere you do so yet another
 sorrow shall befall you." 

 
 And Priam answered, "O king, bid me not be
 seated, while Hektor is still lying uncared for in your tents, but accept the
 great ransom which I have brought you, and give him to me at once that I may
 look upon him. May you prosper with the ransom and reach your own land in
 safety, seeing that you have suffered me to live and to look upon the light of
 the sun." 

 
 Achilles looked at him sternly and said, "Vex
 me, sir, no longer; I am of myself minded to give up the body of Hektor. My
 mother, daughter of the old man of the sea, came to me from Zeus to bid me
 deliver it to you. Moreover I know well, O Priam, and you cannot hide it, that
 some god has brought you to the ships of the Achaeans, for else, no man however
 strong and in his prime would dare to come to our host; he could neither pass
 our guard unseen, nor draw the bolt of my gates thus easily; therefore, provoke
 me no further, lest I err against the word of Zeus, and suffer you not,
 suppliant though you are, within my tents."

The old man feared him and obeyed. Then the son
 of Peleus sprang like a lion through the door of his house, not alone, but with
 him went his two squires [ therapontes ] Automedon
 and Alkimos who were closer to him than any others of his comrades now that
 Patroklos was no more. These unyoked the horses and mules, and bade Priam's
 herald and attendant be seated within the house. They lifted the ransom for
 Hektor's body from the wagon. but they left two mantles and a goodly shirt,
 that Achilles might wrap the body in them when he gave it to be taken home.
 Then he called to his servants and ordered them to wash the body and anoint it,
 but he first took it to a place where Priam should not see it, lest if he did
 so, he should break out in the bitterness of his grief, and enrage Achilles,
 who might then kill him and err against the word of Zeus. When the servants had
 washed the body and anointed it, and had wrapped it in a fair shirt and mantle,
 Achilles himself lifted it on to a bier, and he and his men then laid it on the
 wagon. He cried aloud as he did so and called on the name of his dear comrade,
 "Be not angry with me, Patroklos," he said, "if you hear even in the house of
 Hades that I have given Hektor to his father for a ransom. It has been no
 unworthy one, and I will share it equitably with you." 

 
 Achilles then went back into the tent and took
 his place on the richly inlaid seat from which he had risen, by the wall that
 was at right angles to the one against which Priam was sitting. "Sir," he said,
 "your son is now laid upon his bier and is ransomed according to desire; you
 shall look upon him when you him away at daybreak; for the present let us
 prepare our supper. Even lovely Niobe had to think about eating, though her
 twelve children - six daughters and six lusty sons - had been all slain in her
 house. Apollo killed the sons with arrows from his silver bow, to punish Niobe,
 and Artemis slew the daughters, because Niobe had vaunted herself against Leto;
 she said Leto had borne two children only, whereas she had herself borne many -
 whereon the two killed the many. Nine days did they lie weltering, and there
 was none to bury them, for the son of Kronos turned the people into stone; but
 on the tenth day the gods in heaven themselves buried them, and Niobe then took
 food, being worn out with weeping. They say that somewhere among the rocks on
 the mountain pastures of Sipylos, where the nymphs live that haunt the river
 Akheloos, there, they say, she lives in stone and still nurses the sorrows sent
 upon her by the hand of heaven. Therefore, noble sir, let us two now take food;
 you can weep for your dear son hereafter as you are bearing him back to
 Ilion - and many a tear will he
 cost you." 

 
 With this Achilles sprang from his seat and
 killed a sheep of silvery whiteness, which his followers skinned and made ready
 all in due order [ kosmos ]. They cut the meat
 carefully up into smaller pieces, spitted them, and drew them off again when
 they were well roasted. Automedon brought bread in fair baskets and served it
 round the table, while Achilles dealt out the meat, and they laid their hands
 on the good things that were before them. As soon as they had had enough to eat
 and drink, Priam, descendant of Dardanos , marveled at the strength and beauty of Achilles for
 he was as a god to see, and Achilles marveled at Priam as he listened to him
 and looked upon his noble presence. When they had gazed their fill Priam spoke
 first. "And now, O king," he said, "take me to my couch that we may lie down
 and enjoy the blessed boon of sleep. Never once have my eyes been closed from
 the day your hands took the life of my son; I have groveled without ceasing in
 the mire of my stable-yard, making moan and brooding over my countless sorrows.
 Now, moreover, I have eaten bread and drunk wine; hitherto I have tasted
 nothing." 

 
 As he spoke Achilles told his men and the
 women-servants to set beds in the room that was in the gatehouse, and make them
 with good red rugs, and spread coverlets on the top of them with woolen cloaks
 for Priam and Idaios to wear. So the maids went out carrying a torch and got
 the two beds ready in all haste. Then Achilles said laughingly to Priam, "Dear
 sir, you shall lie outside, lest some counselor of those who, as is right
 [ themis ], keep coming to advise with me should
 see you here in the darkness of the fleeing night, and tell it to Agamemnon.
 This might cause delay in the delivery of the body. And now tell me and tell me
 true, for how many days would you celebrate the funeral rites of noble Hektor?
 Tell me, that I may hold aloof from war and restrain the host." 

 
 And Priam answered, "Since, then, you suffer me
 to bury my noble son with all due rites, do thus, Achilles, and I shall be
 grateful. You know how we are pent up within our city; 

 
 it is far for us to fetch wood from the
 mountain, and the people live in fear. Nine days, therefore, will we mourn
 Hektor in my house; on the tenth day we will bury him and there shall be a
 public feast in his honor; on the eleventh we will build a mound over his
 ashes, and on the twelfth, if there be need, we will fight." And Achilles
 answered, "All, King Priam, shall be as you have said. I will stay our fighting
 for as long a time as you have named." 

 
 As he spoke he laid his hand on the old man's
 right wrist, in token that he should have no fear; thus then did Priam and his
 attendant sleep there in the forecourt, full of thought, while Achilles lay in
 an inner room of the house, with fair Briseis by his side. 

 
 And now both gods and mortals were fast asleep
 through the livelong night, but upon Hermes alone, the bringer of good luck,
 sleep could take no hold for he was thinking all the time how to get King Priam
 away from the ships without his being seen by the strong force of sentinels. He
 hovered therefore over Priam's head and said, "Sir, now that Achilles has
 spared your life, you seem to have no fear about sleeping in the thick of your
 foes. You have paid a great ransom, and have received the body of your son;
 were you still alive and a prisoner the sons whom you have left at home would
 have to give three times as much to free you; and so it would be if Agamemnon
 and the other Achaeans were to know of your being here."

When he heard this the old man was afraid and
 roused his servant. Hermes then yoked their horses and mules, and drove them
 quickly through the host so that no man perceived them. When they came to the
 ford of eddying Xanthos , begotten
 of immortal Zeus, Hermes went back to high Olympus , and dawn in robe of saffron began to break over all
 the land. Priam and Idaios then drove on toward the city lamenting and making
 moan, and the mules drew the body of Hektor. No one neither man nor woman saw
 them, 

 
 till Cassandra, fair as golden Aphrodite
 standing on Pergamos , caught sight of
 her dear father in his chariot, and his servant that was the city's herald with
 him. Then she saw him that was lying upon the bier, drawn by the mules, and
 with a loud cry she went about the city saying, "Come hither Trojans, men and
 women, and look on Hektor; if ever you rejoiced to see him coming from battle
 when he was alive, look now on him that was the glory of our city and all our
 ." 

 
 At this there was not man nor woman left in the
 city, so great a sorrow [ penthos ] had possessed
 them. Hard by the gates they met Priam as he was bringing in the body. Hektor's
 wife and his mother were the first to mourn him: they flew towards the wagon
 and laid their hands upon his head, while the crowd stood weeping round them.
 They would have stayed before the gates, weeping and lamenting the livelong day
 to the going down of the sun, had not Priam spoken to them from the chariot and
 said, "Make way for the mules to pass you. Afterwards when I have taken the
 body home you shall have your fill of weeping." 

 
 On this the people stood asunder, and made a
 way for the wagon. When they had borne the body within the house they laid it
 upon a bed and seated minstrels round it to lead the dirge, whereon the women
 joined in the sad music of their lament. Foremost among them all Andromache led
 their wailing as she clasped the head of mighty Hektor in her embrace.
 "Husband," she cried, "you have died young, and leave me in your house a widow;
 he of whom we are the ill-starred parents is still a mere child, and I fear he
 may not reach manhood. Ere he can do so our city will be razed and overthrown,
 for you who watched over it are no more - you who were its savior, the guardian
 of our wives and children. Our women will be carried away captives to the
 ships, and I among them; while you, my child, who will be with me will be put
 to some unseemly tasks, working for a cruel master. Or, may be, 

 
 some Achaean will hurl you (O miserable death)
 from our walls, to avenge some brother, son, or father whom Hektor slew; many
 of them have indeed bitten the dust at his hands, for your father's hand in
 battle was no light one. Therefore do the people mourn him. You have left, O
 Hektor, sorrow unutterable to your parents, and my own grief [penthos] is
 greatest of all, for you did not stretch forth your arms and embrace me as you
 lay dying, nor say to me any words that might have lived with me in my tears
 night and day for evermore." 

 
 Bitterly did she weep the while, and the women
 joined in her lament. Hecuba in her turn took up the strains of woe. "Hektor,"
 she cried, "dearest to me of all my children. So long as you were alive the
 gods loved you well, and even in death they have not been utterly unmindful of
 you; for when Achilles took any other of my sons, he would sell him beyond the
 seas, to Samos Imbros or rugged Lemnos ; and when he had taken away with his sword your life-breath
 [ psukhê ] as well, many a time did he drag you
 round the sepulcher [ sêma ] of his comrade - though
 this could not give him life - yet here you lie all fresh as dew, and comely as
 one whom Apollo has slain with his painless shafts." 

 
 Thus did she too speak through her tears with
 bitter moan, and then Helen for a third time took up the strain of lamentation.
 "Hektor," said she, "dearest of all my brothers-in-law-for I am wife to
 Alexander who brought me hither to Troy - would that I had died ere he did so - twenty years are
 come and gone since I left my home and came from over the sea, but I have never
 heard one word of insult or unkindness from you. When another would chide with
 me, as it might be one of your brothers or sisters or of your brothers' wives,
 or my mother-in-law - for Priam was as kind to me as though he were my own
 father - you would rebuke and check them with words of gentleness and goodwill.
 Therefore my tears flow both for you and for my unhappy self, for there is no
 one else in Troy who is kind to me, but all shrink and shudder as they go by
 me." 

 
 She wept as she spoke and the vast population
 [ dêmos ] that was gathered round her joined in
 her lament. Then King Priam spoke to them saying, "Bring wood, O Trojans, to
 the city, and fear no cunning ambush of the Argives, for Achilles when he
 dismissed me from the ships gave me his word that they should not attack us
 until the morning of the twelfth day."

Forthwith they yoked their oxen and mules and
 gathered together before the city. Nine days long did they bring in great heaps
 wood, and on the morning of the tenth day with many tears they took brave
 Hektor forth, laid his dead body upon the summit of the pile, and set the fire
 thereto. Then when the child of morning rosy-fingered dawn appeared on the
 eleventh day, the people again assembled, round the pyre of mighty Hektor. When
 they were got together, they first quenched the fire with wine wherever it was
 burning, and then his brothers and comrades with many a bitter tear gathered
 his white bones, wrapped them in soft robes of purple, and laid them in a
 golden urn, which they placed in a grave [ sêma ] and
 covered over with large stones set close together. Then they built a tomb
 [ sêma ] hurriedly over it keeping guard on every
 side lest the Achaeans should attack them before they had finished. When they
 had heaped up the barrow they went back again into the city, and being well
 assembled they held high feast in the house of Priam their king. 

 
 Thus, then, did they celebrate the funeral of
 Hektor tamer of horses.