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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="/comments.php?id=410294" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Iliad: Book 13</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="/comments.php?id=410294" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">Now when Jove had thus brought Hector and the Trojans to the<br>ships, he left them to their never-ending toil, and turned his keen<br>eyes away, looking elsewhither towards the horse-breeders of Thrace,<br>the Mysians, fighters at close quarters, the noble Hippemolgi, who<br>live on milk, and the Abians, justest of mankind. He no longer<br>turned so much as a glance towards Troy, for he did not think that any<br>of the immortals would go and help either Trojans or Danaans.<br>But King Neptune had kept no blind look-out; he had been looking<br>admiringly on the battle from his seat on the topmost crests of wooded<br>Samothrace, whence he could see all Ida, with the city of Priam and<br>the ships of the Achaeans. He had come from under the sea and taken<br>his place here, for he pitied the Achaeans who were being overcome<br>by the Trojans; and he was furiously angry with Jove.<br>Presently he came down from his post on the mountain top, and as<br>he strode swiftly onwards the high hills and the forest quaked beneath<br>the tread of his immortal feet. Three strides he took, and with the<br>fourth he reached his goal- Aegae, where is his glittering golden<br>palace, imperishable, in the depths of the sea. When he got there,<br>he yoked his fleet brazen-footed steeds with their manes of gold all<br>flying in the wind; he clothed himself in raiment of gold, grasped his<br>gold whip, and took his stand upon his chariot. As he went his way<br>over the waves the sea-monsters left their lairs, for they knew<br>their lord, and came gambolling round him from every quarter of the<br>deep, while the sea in her gladness opened a path before his<br>chariot. So lightly did the horses fly that the bronze axle of the car<br>was not even wet beneath it; and thus his bounding steeds took him<br>to the ships of the Achaeans.<br>Now there is a certain huge cavern in the depths of the sea midway<br>between Tenedos and rocky Imbrus; here Neptune lord of the<br>earthquake stayed his horses, unyoked them, and set before them<br>their ambrosial forage. He hobbled their feet with hobbles of gold<br>which none could either unloose or break, so that they might stay<br>there in that place until their lord should return. This done he<br>went his way to the host of the Achaeans.<br>Now the Trojans followed Hector son of Priam in close array like a<br>storm-cloud or flame of fire, fighting with might and main and raising<br>the cry battle; for they deemed that they should take the ships of the<br>Achaeans and kill all their chiefest heroes then and there.<br>Meanwhile earth-encircling Neptune lord of the earthquake cheered on<br>the Argives, for he had come up out of the sea and had assumed the<br>form and voice of Calchas.<br>First he spoke to the two Ajaxes, who were doing their best already,<br>and said, "Ajaxes, you two can be the saving of the Achaeans if you<br>will put out all your strength and not let yourselves be daunted. I am<br>not afraid that the Trojans, who have got over the wall in force, will<br>be victorious in any other part, for the Achaeans can hold all of them<br>in check, but I much fear that some evil will befall us here where<br>furious Hector, who boasts himself the son of great Jove himself, is<br>leading them on like a pillar of flame. May some god, then, put it<br>into your hearts to make a firm stand here, and to incite others to do<br>the like. In this case you will drive him from the ships even though<br>he be inspired by Jove himself."<br>As he spoke the earth-encircling lord of the earthquake struck<br>both of them with his sceptre and filled their hearts with daring.<br>He made their legs light and active, as also their hands and their<br>feet. Then, as the soaring falcon poises on the wing high above some<br>sheer rock, and presently swoops down to chase some bird over the<br>plain, even so did Neptune lord of the earthquake wing his flight into<br>the air and leave them. Of the two, swift Ajax son of Oileus was the<br>first to know who it was that had been speaking with them, and said to<br>Ajax son of Telamon, "Ajax, this is one of the gods that dwell on<br>Olympus, who in the likeness of the prophet is bidding us fight hard<br>by our ships. It was not Calchas the seer and diviner of omens; I knew<br>him at once by his feet and knees as he turned away, for the gods<br>are soon recognised. Moreover I feel the lust of battle burn more<br>fiercely within me, while my hands and my feet under me are more eager<br>for the fray."<br>And Ajax son of Telamon answered, "I too feel my hands grasp my<br>spear more firmly; my strength is greater, and my feet more nimble;<br>I long, moreover, to meet furious Hector son of Priam, even in<br>single combat."<br>Thus did they converse, exulting in the hunger after battle with<br>which the god had filled them. Meanwhile the earth-encircler roused<br>the Achaeans, who were resting in the rear by the ships overcome at<br>once by hard fighting and by grief at seeing that the Trojans had<br>got over the wall in force. Tears began falling from their eyes as<br>they beheld them, for they made sure that they should not escape<br>destruction; but the lord of the earthquake passed lightly about among<br>them and urged their battalions to the front.<br>First he went up to Teucer and Leitus, the hero Peneleos, and<br>Thoas and Deipyrus; Meriones also and Antilochus, valiant warriors;<br>all did he exhort. "Shame on you young Argives," he cried, "it was<br>on your prowess I relied for the saving of our ships; if you fight not<br>with might and main, this very day will see us overcome by the<br>Trojans. Of a truth my eyes behold a great and terrible portent<br>which I had never thought to see- the Trojans at our ships- they,<br>who were heretofore like panic-stricken hinds, the prey of jackals and<br>wolves in a forest, with no strength but in flight for they cannot<br>defend themselves. Hitherto the Trojans dared not for one moment<br>face the attack of the Achaeans, but now they have sallied far from<br>their city and are fighting at our very ships through the cowardice of<br>our leader and the disaffection of the people themselves, who in their<br>discontent care not to fight in defence of the ships but are being<br>slaughtered near them. True, King Agamemnon son of Atreus is the cause<br>of our disaster by having insulted the son of Peleus, still this is no<br>reason why we should leave off fighting. Let us be quick to heal,<br>for the hearts of the brave heal quickly. You do ill to be thus<br>remiss, you, who are the finest soldiers in our whole army. I blame no<br>man for keeping out of battle if he is a weakling, but I am<br>indignant with such men as you are. My good friends, matters will soon<br>become even worse through this slackness; think, each one of you, of<br>his own honour and credit, for the hazard of the fight is extreme.<br>Great Hector is now fighting at our ships; he has broken through the<br>gates and the strong bolt that held them."<br>Thus did the earth-encircler address the Achaeans and urge them<br>on. Thereon round the two Ajaxes there gathered strong bands of men,<br>of whom not even Mars nor Minerva, marshaller of hosts could make<br>light if they went among them, for they were the picked men of all<br>those who were now awaiting the onset of Hector and the Trojans.<br>They made a living fence, spear to spear, shield to shield, buckler to<br>buckler, helmet to helmet, and man to man. The horse-hair crests on<br>their gleaming helmets touched one another as they nodded forward,<br>so closely seffied were they; the spears they brandished in their<br>strong hands were interlaced, and their hearts were set on battle.<br>The Trojans advanced in a dense body, with Hector at their head<br>pressing right on as a rock that comes thundering down the side of<br>some mountain from whose brow the winter torrents have torn it; the<br>foundations of the dull thing have been loosened by floods of rain,<br>and as it bounds headlong on its way it sets the whole forest in an<br>uproar; it swerves neither to right nor left till it reaches level<br>ground, but then for all its fury it can go no further- even so easily<br>did Hector for a while seem as though he would career through the<br>tents and ships of the Achaeans till he had reached the sea in his<br>murderous course; but the closely serried battalions stayed him when<br>he reached them, for the sons of the Achaeans thrust at him with<br>swords and spears pointed at both ends, and drove him from them so<br>that he staggered and gave ground; thereon he shouted to the<br>Trojans, "Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanians, fighters in close<br>combat, stand firm: the Achaeans have set themselves as a wall against<br>me, but they will not check me for long; they will give ground<br>before me if the mightiest of the gods, the thundering spouse of Juno,<br>has indeed inspired my onset."<br>With these words he put heart and soul into them all. Deiphobus<br>son of Priam went about among them intent on deeds of daring with<br>his round shield before him, under cover of which he strode quickly<br>forward. Meriones took aim at him with a spear, nor did he fail to hit<br>the broad orb of ox-hide; but he was far from piercing it for the<br>spear broke in two pieces long ere he could do so; moreover<br>Deiphobus had seen it coming and had held his shield well away from<br>him. Meriones drew back under cover of his comrades, angry alike at<br>having failed to vanquish Deiphobus, and having broken his spear. He<br>turned therefore towards the ships and tents to fetch a spear which he<br>had left behind in his tent.<br>The others continued fighting, and the cry of battle rose up into<br>the heavens. Teucer son of Telamon was the first to kill his man, to<br>wit, the warrior Imbrius son of Mentor rich in horses. Until the<br>Achaeans came he had lived in Pedaeum, and had married Medesicaste a<br>bastard daughter of Priam; but on the arrival of the Danaan fleet he<br>had gone back to Ilius, and was a great man among the Trojans,<br>dwelling near Priam himself, who gave him like honour with his own<br>sons. The son of Telamon now struck him under the ear with a spear<br>which he then drew back again, and Imbrius fell headlong as an<br>ash-tree when it is felled on the crest of some high mountain<br>beacon, and its delicate green foliage comes toppling down to the<br>ground. Thus did he fall with his bronze-dight armour ringing<br>harshly round him, and Teucer sprang forward with intent to strip<br>him of his armour; but as he was doing so, Hector took aim at him with<br>a spear. Teucer saw the spear coming and swerved aside, whereon it hit<br>Amphimachus, son of Cteatus son of Actor, in the chest as he was<br>coming into battle, and his armour rang rattling round him as he<br>fell heavily to the ground. Hector sprang forward to take<br>Amphimachus's helmet from off his temples, and in a moment Ajax<br>threw a spear at him, but did not wound him, for he was encased all<br>over in his terrible armour; nevertheless the spear struck the boss of<br>his shield with such force as to drive him back from the two<br>corpses, which the Achaeans then drew off. Stichius and Menestheus,<br>captains of the Athenians, bore away Amphimachus to the host of the<br>Achaeans, while the two brave and impetuous Ajaxes did the like by<br>Imbrius. As two lions snatch a goat from the hounds that have it in<br>their fangs, and bear it through thick brushwood high above the ground<br>in their jaws, thus did the Ajaxes bear aloft the body of Imbrius, and<br>strip it of its armour. Then the son of Oileus severed the head from<br>the neck in revenge for the death of Amphimachus, and sent it whirling<br>over the crowd as though it had been a ball, till fell in the dust<br>at Hector's feet.<br>Neptune was exceedingly angry that his grandson Amphimachus should<br>have fallen; he therefore went to the tents and ships of the<br>Achaeans to urge the Danaans still further, and to devise evil for the<br>Trojans. Idomeneus met him, as he was taking leave of a comrade, who<br>had just come to him from the fight, wounded in the knee. His<br>fellow-soldiers bore him off the field, and Idomeneus having given<br>orders to the physicians went on to his tent, for he was still<br>thirsting for battle. Neptune spoke in the likeness and with the voice<br>of Thoas son of Andraemon who ruled the Aetolians of all Pleuron and<br>high Calydon, and was honoured among his people as though he were a<br>god. "Idomeneus," said he, "lawgiver to the Cretans, what has now<br>become of the threats with which the sons of the Achaeans used to<br>threaten the Trojans?"<br>And Idomeneus chief among the Cretans answered, "Thoas, no one, so<br>far as I know, is in fault, for we can all fight. None are held back<br>neither by fear nor slackness, but it seems to be the of almighty Jove<br>that the Achaeans should perish ingloriously here far from Argos: you,<br>Thoas, have been always staunch, and you keep others in heart if you<br>see any fail in duty; be not then remiss now, but exhort all to do<br>their utmost."<br>To this Neptune lord of the earthquake made answer, "Idomeneus,<br>may he never return from Troy, but remain here for dogs to batten<br>upon, who is this day wilfully slack in fighting. Get your armour<br>and go, we must make all haste together if we may be of any use,<br>though we are only two. Even cowards gain courage from<br>companionship, and we two can hold our own with the bravest."<br>Therewith the god went back into the thick of the fight, and<br>Idomeneus when he had reached his tent donned his armour, grasped<br>his two spears, and sallied forth. As the lightning which the son of<br>Saturn brandishes from bright Olympus when he would show a sign to<br>mortals, and its gleam flashes far and wide- even so did his armour<br>gleam about him as he ran. Meriones his sturdy squire met him while he<br>was still near his tent (for he was going to fetch his spear) and<br>Idomeneus said<br>"Meriones, fleet son of Molus, best of comrades, why have you left<br>the field? Are you wounded, and is the point of the weapon hurting<br>you? or have you been sent to fetch me? I want no fetching; I had<br>far rather fight than stay in my tent."<br>"Idomeneus," answered Meriones, "I come for a spear, if I can find<br>one in my tent; I have broken the one I had, in throwing it at the<br>shield of Deiphobus."<br>And Idomeneus captain of the Cretans answered, "You will find one<br>spear, or twenty if you so please, standing up against the end wall of<br>my tent. I have taken them from Trojans whom I have killed, for I am<br>not one to keep my enemy at arm's length; therefore I have spears,<br>bossed shields, helmets, and burnished corslets."<br>Then Meriones said, "I too in my tent and at my ship have spoils<br>taken from the Trojans, but they are not at hand. I have been at all<br>times valorous, and wherever there has been hard fighting have held my<br>own among the foremost. There may be those among the Achaeans who do<br>not know how I fight, but you know it well enough yourself."<br>Idomeneus answered, "I know you for a brave man: you need not tell<br>me. If the best men at the ships were being chosen to go on an ambush-<br>and there is nothing like this for showing what a man is made of; it<br>comes out then who is cowardly and who brave; the coward will change<br>colour at every touch and turn; he is full of fears, and keeps<br>shifting his weight first on one knee and then on the other; his heart<br>beats fast as he thinks of death, and one can hear the chattering of<br>his teeth; whereas the brave man will not change colour nor be on<br>finding himself in ambush, but is all the time longing to go into<br>action- if the best men were being chosen for such a service, no one<br>could make light of your courage nor feats of arms. If you were struck<br>by a dart or smitten in close combat, it would not be from behind,<br>in your neck nor back, but the weapon would hit you in the chest or<br>belly as you were pressing forward to a place in the front ranks.<br>But let us no longer stay here talking like children, lest we be ill<br>spoken of; go, fetch your spear from the tent at once."<br>On this Meriones, peer of Mars, went to the tent and got himself a<br>spear of bronze. He then followed after Idomeneus, big with great<br>deeds of valour. As when baneful Mars sallies forth to battle, and his<br>son Panic so strong and dauntless goes with him, to strike terror even<br>into the heart of a hero- the pair have gone from Thrace to arm<br>themselves among the Ephyri or the brave Phlegyans, but they will<br>not listen to both the contending hosts, and will give victory to<br>one side or to the other- even so did Meriones and Idomeneus, captains<br>of men, go out to battle clad in their bronze armour. Meriones was<br>first to speak. "Son of Deucalion," said he, "where would you have<br>us begin fighting? On the right wing of the host, in the centre, or on<br>the left wing, where I take it the Achaeans will be weakest?"<br>Idomeneus answered, "There are others to defend the centre- the<br>two Ajaxes and Teucer, who is the finest archer of all the Achaeans,<br>and is good also in a hand-to-hand fight. These will give Hector son<br>of Priam enough to do; fight as he may, he will find it hard to<br>vanquish their indomitable fury, and fire the ships, unless the son of<br>Saturn fling a firebrand upon them with his own hand. Great Ajax son<br>of Telamon will yield to no man who is in mortal mould and eats the<br>grain of Ceres, if bronze and great stones can overthrow him. He would<br>not yield even to Achilles in hand-to-hand fight, and in fleetness<br>of foot there is none to beat him; let us turn therefore towards the<br>left wing, that we may know forthwith whether we are to give glory<br>to some other, or he to us."<br>Meriones, peer of fleet Mars, then led the way till they came to the<br>part of the host which Idomeneus had named.<br>Now when the Trojans saw Idomeneus coming on like a flame of fire,<br>him and his squire clad in their richly wrought armour, they shouted<br>and made towards him all in a body, and a furious hand-to-hand fight<br>raged under the ships' sterns. Fierce as the shrill winds that whistle<br>upon a day when dust lies deep on the roads, and the gusts raise it<br>into a thick cloud- even such was the fury of the combat, and might<br>and main did they hack at each other with spear and sword throughout<br>the host. The field bristled with the long and deadly spears which<br>they bore. Dazzling was the sheen of their gleaming helmets, their<br>fresh-burnished breastplates, and glittering shields as they joined<br>battle with one another. Iron indeed must be his courage who could<br>take pleasure in the sight of such a turmoil, and look on it without<br>being dismayed.<br>Thus did the two mighty sons of Saturn devise evil for mortal<br>heroes. Jove was minded to give victory to the Trojans and to<br>Hector, so as to do honour to fleet Achilles, nevertheless he did<br>not mean to utterly overthrow the Achaean host before Ilius, and<br>only wanted to glorify Thetis and her valiant son. Neptune on the<br>other hand went about among the Argives to incite them, having come up<br>from the grey sea in secret, for he was grieved at seeing them<br>vanquished by the Trojans, and was furiously angry with Jove. Both<br>were of the same race and country, but Jove was elder born and knew<br>more, therefore Neptune feared to defend the Argives openly, but in<br>the likeness of man, he kept on encouraging them throughout their<br>host. Thus, then, did these two devise a knot of war and battle,<br>that none could unloose or break, and set both sides tugging at it, to<br>the failing of men's knees beneath them.<br>And now Idomeneus, though his hair was already flecked with grey,<br>called loud on the Danaans and spread panic among the Trojans as he<br>leaped in among them. He slew Othryoneus from Cabesus, a sojourner,<br>who had but lately come to take part in the war. He sought Cassandra<br>the fairest of Priam's daughters in marriage, but offered no gifts<br>of wooing, for he promised a great thing, to wit, that he would<br>drive the sons of the Achaeans willy nilly from Troy; old King Priam<br>had given his consent and promised her to him, whereon he fought on<br>the strength of the promises thus made to him. Idomeneus aimed a<br>spear, and hit him as he came striding on. His cuirass of bronze did<br>not protect him, and the spear stuck in his belly, so that he fell<br>heavily to the ground. Then Idomeneus vaunted over him saying,<br>"Othryoneus, there is no one in the world whom I shall admire more<br>than I do you, if you indeed perform what you have promised Priam<br>son of Dardanus in return for his daughter. We too will make you an<br>offer; we will give you the loveliest daughter of the son of Atreus,<br>and will bring her from Argos for you to marry, if you will sack the<br>goodly city of Ilius in company with ourselves; so come along with me,<br>that we may make a covenant at the ships about the marriage, and we<br>will not be hard upon you about gifts of wooing."<br>With this Idomeneus began dragging him by the foot through the thick<br>of the fight, but Asius came up to protect the body, on foot, in front<br>of his horses which his esquire drove so close behind him that he<br>could feel their 'breath upon his shoulder. He was longing to strike<br>down Idomeneus, but ere he could do so Idomeneus smote him with his<br>spear in the throat under the chin, and the bronze point went clean<br>through it. He fell as an oak, or poplar, or pine which shipwrights<br>have felled for ship's timber upon the mountains with whetted axes-<br>even thus did he lie full length in front of his chariot and horses,<br>grinding his teeth and clutching at the bloodstained just. His<br>charioteer was struck with panic and did not dare turn his horses<br>round and escape: thereupon Antilochus hit him in the middle of his<br>body with a spear; his cuirass of bronze did not protect him, and<br>the spear stuck in his belly. He fell gasping from his chariot and<br>Antilochus great Nestor's son, drove his horses from the Trojans to<br>the Achaeans.<br>Deiphobus then came close up to Idomeneus to avenge Asius, and<br>took aim at him with a spear, but Idomeneus was on the look-out and<br>avoided it, for he was covered by the round shield he always bore- a<br>shield of oxhide and bronze with two arm-rods on the inside. He<br>crouched under cover of this, and the spear flew over him, but the<br>shield rang out as the spear grazed it, and the weapon sped not in<br>vain from the strong hand of Deiphobus, for it struck Hypsenor son<br>of Hippasus, shepherd of his people, in the liver under the midriff,<br>and his limbs failed beneath him. Deiphobus vaunted over him and cried<br>with a loud voice saying, "Of a truth Asius has not fallen<br>unavenied; he will be glad even while passing into the house of Hades,<br>strong warden of the gate, that I have sent some one to escort him."<br>Thus did he vaunt, and the Argives were stung by his saying. Noble<br>Antilochus was more angry than any one, but grief did not make him<br>forget his friend and comrade. He ran up to him, bestrode him, and<br>covered him with his shield; then two of his staunch comrades,<br>Mecisteus son of Echius, and Alastor stooped down, and bore him away<br>groaning heavily to the ships. But Idomeneus ceased not his fury. He<br>kept on striving continually either to enshroud some Trojan in the<br>darkness of death, or himself to fall while warding off the evil day<br>from the Achaeans. Then fell Alcathous son of noble Aesyetes: he was<br>son-in-law to Anchises, having married his eldest daughter Hippodameia<br>who was the darling of her father and mother, and excelled all her<br>generation in beauty, accomplishments, and understanding, wherefore<br>the bravest man in all Troy had taken her to wife- him did Neptune lay<br>low by the hand of Idomeneus, blinding his bright eyes and binding his<br>strong limbs in fetters so that he could neither go back nor to one<br>side, but stood stock still like pillar or lofty tree when Idomeneus<br>struck him with a spear in the middle of his chest. The coat of mail<br>that had hitherto protected his body was now broken, and rang<br>harshly as the spear tore through it. He fell heavily to the ground,<br>and the spear stuck in his heart, which still beat, and made the<br>butt-end of the spear quiver till dread Mars put an end to his life.<br>Idomeneus vaunted over him and cried with a loud voice saying,<br>"Deiphobus, since you are in a mood to vaunt, shall we cry quits now<br>that we have killed three men to your one? Nay, sir, stand in fight<br>with me yourself, that you may learn what manner of Jove-begotten<br>man am I that have come hither. Jove first begot Minos chief ruler<br>in Crete, and Minos in his turn begot a son, noble Deucalion;<br>Deucalion begot me to be a ruler over many men in Crete, and my<br>ships have now brought me hither, to be the bane of yourself, your<br>father, and the Trojans."<br>Thus did he speak, and Deiphobus was in two minds, whether to go<br>back and fetch some other Trojan to help him, or to take up the<br>challenge single-handed. In the end, he deemed it best to go and fetch<br>Aeneas, whom he found standing in the rear, for he had long been<br>aggrieved with Priam because in spite his brave deeds he did not<br>give him his due share of honour. Deiphobus went up to him and said,<br>"Aeneas, prince among the Trojans, if you know any ties of kinship,<br>help me now to defend the body of your sister's husband; come with<br>me to the rescue of Alcathous, who being husband to your sister<br>brought you up when you were a child in his house, and now Idomeneus<br>has slain him."<br>With these words he moved the heart of Aeneas, and he went in<br>pursuit of Idomeneus, big with great deeds of valour; but Idomeneus<br>was not to be thus daunted as though he were a mere child; he held his<br>ground as a wild boar at bay upon the mountains, who abides the coming<br>of a great crowd of men in some lonely place- the bristles stand<br>upright on his back, his eyes flash fire, and he whets his tusks in<br>his eagerness to defend himself against hounds and men- even so did<br>famed Idomeneus hold his ground and budge not at the coming of Aeneas.<br>He cried aloud to his comrades looking towards Ascalaphus, Aphareus,<br>Deipyrus, Meriones, and Antilochus, all of them brave soldiers-<br>"Hither my friends," he cried, "and leave me not single-handed- I go<br>in great fear by fleet Aeneas, who is coming against me, and is a<br>redoubtable dispenser of death battle. Moreover he is in the flower of<br>youth when a man's strength is greatest; if I was of the same age as<br>he is and in my present mind, either he or I should soon bear away the<br>prize of victory<br>On this, all of them as one man stood near him, shield on<br>shoulder. Aeneas on the other side called to his comrades, looking<br>towards Deiphobus, Paris, and Agenor, who were leaders of the<br>Trojans along with himself, and the people followed them as sheep<br>follow the ram when they go down to drink after they have been<br>feeding, and the heart of the shepherd is glad- even so was the<br>heart of Aeneas gladdened when he saw his people follow him.<br>Then they fought furiously in close combat about the body of<br>Alcathous, wielding their long spears; and the bronze armour about<br>their bodies rang fearfully as they took aim at one another in the<br>press of the fight, while the two heroes Aeneas and Idomeneus, peers<br>of Mars, outxied every one in their desire to hack at each other<br>with sword and spear. Aeneas took aim first, but Idomeneus was on<br>the lookout and avoided the spear, so that it sped from Aeneas' strong<br>hand in vain, and fell quivering in the ground. Idomeneus meanwhile<br>smote Oenomaus in the middle of his belly, and broke the plate of<br>his corslet, whereon his bowels came gushing out and he clutched the<br>earth in the palms of his hands as he fell sprawling in the dust.<br>Idomeneus drew his spear out of the body, but could not strip him of<br>the rest of his armour for the rain of darts that were showered upon<br>him: moreover his strength was now beginning to fail him so that he<br>could no longer charge, and could neither spring forward to recover<br>his own weapon nor swerve aside to avoid one that was aimed at him;<br>therefore, though he still defended himself in hand-to-hand fight, his<br>heavy feet could not bear him swiftly out of the battle. Deiphobus<br>aimed a spear at him as he was retreating slowly from the field, for<br>his bitterness against him was as fierce as ever, but again he<br>missed him, and hit Ascalaphus, the son of Mars; the spear went<br>through his shoulder, and he clutched the earth in the palms of his<br>hands as he fell sprawling in the dust.<br>Grim Mars of awful voice did not yet know that his son had fallen,<br>for he was sitting on the summits of Olympus under the golden<br>clouds, by command of Jove, where the other gods were also sitting,<br>forbidden to take part in the battle. Meanwhile men fought furiously<br>about the body. Deiphobus tore the helmet from off his head, but<br>Meriones sprang upon him, and struck him on the arm with a spear so<br>that the visored helmet fell from his hand and came ringing down<br>upon the ground. Thereon Meriones sprang upon him like a vulture, drew<br>the spear from his shoulder, and fell back under cover of his men.<br>Then Polites, own brother of Deiphobus passed his arms around his<br>waist, and bore him away from the battle till he got to his horses<br>that were standing in the rear of the fight with the chariot and their<br>driver. These took him towards the city groaning and in great pain,<br>with the blood flowing from his arm.<br>The others still fought on, and the battle-cry rose to heaven<br>without ceasing. Aeneas sprang on Aphareus son of Caletor, and<br>struck him with a spear in his throat which was turned towards him;<br>his head fell on one side, his helmet and shield came down along<br>with him, and death, life's foe, was shed around him. Antilochus spied<br>his chance, flew forward towards Thoon, and wounded him as he was<br>turning round. He laid open the vein that runs all the way up the back<br>to the neck; he cut this vein clean away throughout its whole<br>course, and Thoon fell in the dust face upwards, stretching out his<br>hands imploringly towards his comrades. Antilochus sprang upon him and<br>stripped the armour from his shoulders, glaring round him fearfully as<br>he did so. The Trojans came about him on every side and struck his<br>broad and gleaming shield, but could not wound his body, for Neptune<br>stood guard over the son of Nestor, though the darts fell thickly<br>round him. He was never clear of the foe, but was always in the<br>thick of the fight; his spear was never idle; he poised and aimed it<br>in every direction, so eager was he to hit some one from a distance or<br>to fight him hand to hand.<br>As he was thus aiming among the crowd, he was seen by Adamas son<br>of Asius, who rushed towards him and struck him with a spear in the<br>middle of his shield, but Neptune made its point without effect, for<br>he grudged him the life of Antilochus. One half, therefore, of the<br>spear stuck fast like a charred stake in Antilochus's shield, while<br>the other lay on the ground. Adamas then sought shelter under cover of<br>his men, but Meriones followed after and hit him with a spear midway<br>between the private parts and the navel, where a wound is particualrly<br>painful to wretched mortals. There did Meriones transfix him, and he<br>writhed convulsively about the spear as some bull whom mountain<br>herdsmen have bound with ropes of withes and are taking away perforce.<br>Even so did he move convulsively for a while, but not for very long,<br>till Meriones came up and drew the spear out of his body, and his eyes<br>were veiled in darkness.<br>Helenus then struck Deipyrus with a great Thracian sword, hitting<br>him on the temple in close combat and tearing the helmet from his<br>head; the helmet fell to the ground, and one of those who were<br>fighting on the Achaean side took charge of it as it rolled at his<br>feet, but the eyes of Deipyrus were closed in the darkness of death.<br>On this Menelaus was grieved, and made menacingly towards Helenus,<br>brandishing his spear; but Helenus drew his bow, and the two<br>attacked one another at one and the same moment, the one with his<br>spear, and the other with his bow and arrow. The son of Priam hit<br>the breastplate of Menelaus's corslet, but the arrow glanced from<br>off it. As black beans or pulse come pattering down on to a<br>threshing-floor from the broad winnowing-shovel, blown by shrill winds<br>and shaken by the shovel- even so did the arrow glance off and<br>recoil from the shield of Menelaus, who in his turn wounded the hand<br>with which Helenus carried his bow; the spear went right through his<br>hand and stuck in the bow itself, so that to his life he retreated<br>under cover of his men, with his hand dragging by his side- for the<br>spear weighed it down till Agenor drew it out and bound the hand<br>carefully up in a woollen sling which his esquire had with him.<br>Pisander then made straight at Menelaus- his evil destiny luring him<br>on to his doom, for he was to fall in fight with you, O Menelaus. When<br>the two were hard by one another the spear of the son of Atreus turned<br>aside and he missed his aim; Pisander then struck the shield of<br>brave Menelaus but could not pierce it, for the shield stayed the<br>spear and broke the shaft; nevertheless he was glad and made sure of<br>victory; forthwith, however, the son of Atreus drew his sword and<br>sprang upon him. Pisander then seized the bronze battle-axe, with<br>its long and polished handle of olive wood that hung by his side under<br>his shield, and the two made at one another. Pisander struck the<br>peak of Menelaus's crested helmet just under the crest itself, and<br>Menelaus hit Pisander as he was coming towards him, on the forehead,<br>just at the rise of his nose; the bones cracked and his two<br>gore-bedrabbled eyes fell by his feet in the dust. He fell backwards<br>to the ground, and Menelaus set his heel upon him, stripped him of his<br>armour, and vaunted over him saying, "Even thus shall you Trojans<br>leave the ships of the Achaeans, proud and insatiate of battle<br>though you be: nor shall you lack any of the disgrace and shame<br>which you have heaped upon myself. Cowardly she-wolves that you are,<br>you feared not the anger of dread Jove, avenger of violated<br>hospitality, who will one day destroy your city; you stole my wedded<br>wife and wickedly carried off much treasure when you were her guest,<br>and now you would fling fire upon our ships, and kill our heroes. A<br>day will come when, rage as you may, you shall be stayed. O father<br>Jove, you, who they say art above all both gods and men in wisdom, and<br>from whom all things that befall us do proceed, how can you thus<br>favour the Trojans- men so proud and overweening, that they are<br>never tired of fighting? All things pall after a while- sleep, love,<br>sweet song, and stately dance- still these are things of which a man<br>would surely have his fill rather than of battle, whereas it is of<br>battle that the Trojans are insatiate."<br>So saying Menelaus stripped the blood-stained armour from the body<br>of Pisander, and handed it over to his men; then he again ranged<br>himself among those who were in the front of the fight.<br>Harpalion son of King Pylaemenes then sprang upon him; he had come<br>to fight at Troy along with his father, but he did not go home<br>again. He struck the middle of Menelaus's shield with his spear but<br>could not pierce it, and to save his life drew back under cover of his<br>men, looking round him on every side lest he should be wounded. But<br>Meriones aimed a bronze-tipped arrow at him as he was leaving the<br>field, and hit him on the right buttock; the arrow pierced the bone<br>through and through, and penetrated the bladder, so he sat down<br>where he was and breathed his last in the arms of his comrades,<br>stretched like a worm upon the ground and watering the earth with<br>the blood that flowed from his wound. The brave Paphlagonians tended<br>him with all due care; they raised him into his chariot, and bore<br>him sadly off to the city of Troy; his father went also with him<br>weeping bitterly, but there was no ransom that could bring his dead<br>son to life again.<br>Paris was deeply grieved by the death of Harpalion, who was his host<br>when he went among the Paphlagonians; he aimed an arrow, therefore, in<br>order to avenge him. Now there was a certain man named Euchenor, son<br>of Polyidus the prophet, a brave man and wealthy, whose home was in<br>Corinth. This Euchenor had set sail for Troy well knowing that it<br>would be the death of him, for his good old father Polyidus had<br>often told him that he must either stay at home and die of a<br>terrible disease, or go with the Achaeans and perish at the hands of<br>the Trojans; he chose, therefore, to avoid incurring the heavy fine<br>the Achaeans would have laid upon him, and at the same time to<br>escape the pain and suffering of disease. Paris now smote him on the<br>jaw under his ear, whereon the life went out of him and he was<br>enshrouded in the darkness of death.<br>Thus then did they fight as it were a flaming fire. But Hector had<br>not yet heard, and did not know that the Argives were making havoc<br>of his men on the left wing of the battle, where the Achaeans ere long<br>would have triumphed over them, so vigorously did Neptune cheer them<br>on and help them. He therefore held on at the point where he had first<br>forced his way through the gates and the wall, after breaking<br>through the serried ranks of Danaan warriors. It was here that the<br>ships of Ajax and Protesilaus were drawn up by the sea-shore; here the<br>wall was at its lowest, and the fight both of man and horse raged most<br>fiercely. The Boeotians and the Ionians with their long tunics, the<br>Locrians, the men of Phthia, and the famous force of the Epeans<br>could hardly stay Hector as he rushed on towards the ships, nor<br>could they drive him from them, for he was as a wall of fire. The<br>chosen men of the Athenians were in the van, led by Menestheus son<br>of Peteos, with whom were also Pheidas, Stichius, and stalwart Bias:<br>Meges son of Phyleus, Amphion, and Dracius commanded the Epeans, while<br>Medon and staunch Podarces led the men of Phthia. Of these, Medon<br>was bastard son to Oileus and brother of Ajax, but he lived in Phylace<br>away from his own country, for he had killed the brother of his<br>stepmother Eriopis, the wife of Oileus; the other, Podarces, was the<br>son of Iphiclus son of Phylacus. These two stood in the van of the<br>Phthians, and defended the ships along with the Boeotians.<br>Ajax son of Oileus never for a moment left the side of Ajax son of<br>Telamon, but as two swart oxen both strain their utmost at the<br>plough which they are drawing in a fallow field, and the sweat<br>steams upwards from about the roots of their horns- nothing but the<br>yoke divides them as they break up the ground till they reach the<br>end of the field- even so did the two Ajaxes stand shoulder to<br>shoulder by one another. Many and brave comrades followed the son of<br>Telamon, to relieve him of his shield when he was overcome with<br>sweat and toil, but the Locrians did not follow so close after the son<br>of Oileus, for they could not hold their own in a hand-to-hand<br>fight. They had no bronze helmets with plumes of horse-hair, neither<br>had they shields nor ashen spears, but they had come to Troy armed<br>with bows, and with slings of twisted wool from which they showered<br>their missiles to break the ranks of the Trojans. The others,<br>therefore, with their heavy armour bore the brunt of the fight with<br>the Trojans and with Hector, while the Locrians shot from behind,<br>under their cover; and thus the Trojans began to lose heart, for the<br>arrows threw them into confusion.<br>The Trojans would now have been driven in sorry plight from the<br>ships and tents back to windy Ilius, had not Polydamas presently<br>said to Hector, "Hector, there is no persuading you to take advice.<br>Because heaven has so richly endowed you with the arts of war, you<br>think that you must therefore excel others in counsel; but you<br>cannot thus claim preeminence in all things. Heaven has made one man<br>an excellent soldier; of another it has made a dancer or a singer<br>and player on the lyre; while yet in another Jove has implanted a wise<br>understanding of which men reap fruit to the saving of many, and he<br>himself knows more about it than any one; therefore I will say what<br>I think will be best. The fight has hemmed you in as with a circle<br>of fire, and even now that the Trojans are within the wall some of<br>them stand aloof in full armour, while others are fighting scattered<br>and outnumbered near the ships. Draw back, therefore, and call your<br>chieftains round you, that we may advise together whether to fall<br>now upon the ships in the hope that heaven may vouchsafe us victory,<br>or to beat a retreat while we can yet safely do so. I greatly fear<br>that the Achaeans will pay us their debt of yesterday in full, for<br>there is one abiding at their ships who is never weary of battle,<br>and who will not hold aloof much longer."<br>Thus spoke Polydamas, and his words pleased Hector well. He sprang<br>in full armour from his chariot and said, "Polydamas, gather the<br>chieftains here; I will go yonder into the fight, but will return at<br>once when I have given them their orders."<br>He then sped onward, towering like a snowy mountain, and with a loud<br>cry flew through the ranks of the Trojans and their allies. When<br>they heard his voice they all hastened to gather round Polydamas the<br>excellent son of Panthous, but Hector kept on among the foremost,<br>looking everywhere to find Deiphobus and prince Helenus, Adamas son of<br>Asius, and Asius son of Hyrtacus; living, indeed, and scatheless he<br>could no longer find them, for the two last were lying by the sterns<br>of the Achaean ships, slain by the Argives, while the others had<br>been also stricken and wounded by them; but upon the left wing of<br>the dread battle he found Alexandrus, husband of lovely Helen,<br>cheering his men and urging them on to fight. He went up to him and<br>upbraided him. "Paris," said he, "evil-hearted Paris, fair to see<br>but woman-mad and false of tongue, where are Deiphobus and King<br>Helenus? Where are Adamas son of Asius, and Asius son of Hyrtacus?<br>Where too is Othryoneus? Ilius is undone and will now surely fall!"<br>Alexandrus answered, "Hector, why find fault when there is no one to<br>find fault with? I should hold aloof from battle on any day rather<br>than this, for my mother bore me with nothing of the coward about<br>me. From the moment when you set our men fighting about the ships we<br>have been staying here and doing battle with the Danaans. Our comrades<br>about whom you ask me are dead; Deiphobus and King Helenus alone<br>have left the field, wounded both of them in the hand, but the son<br>of Saturn saved them alive. Now, therefore, lead on where you would<br>have us go, and we will follow with right goodwill; you shall not find<br>us fail you in so far as our strength holds out, but no man can do<br>more than in him lies, no matter how willing he may be."<br>With these words he satisfied his brother, and the two went<br>towards the part of the battle where the fight was thickest, about<br>Cebriones, brave Polydamas, Phalces, Orthaeus, godlike Polyphetes,<br>Palmys, Ascanius, and Morys son of Hippotion, who had come from<br>fertile Ascania on the preceding day to relieve other troops. Then<br>Jove urged them on to fight. They flew forth like the blasts of some<br>fierce wind that strike earth in the van of a thunderstorm- they<br>buffet the salt sea into an uproar; many and mighty are the great<br>waves that come crashing in one after the other upon the shore with<br>their arching heads all crested with foam- even so did rank behind<br>rank of Trojans arrayed in gleaming armour follow their leaders<br>onward. The way was led by Hector son of Priam, peer of murderous<br>Mars, with his round shield before him- his shield of ox-hides covered<br>with plates of bronze- and his gleaming helmet upon his temples. He<br>kept stepping forward under cover of his shield in every direction,<br>making trial of the ranks to see if they would give way be him, but he<br>could not daunt the courage of the Achaeans. Ajax was the first to<br>stride out and challenge him. "Sir," he cried, "draw near; why do<br>you think thus vainly to dismay the Argives? We Achaeans are excellent<br>soldiers, but the scourge of Jove has fallen heavily upon us. Your<br>heart, forsooth, is set on destroying our ships, but we too have bands<br>that can keep you at bay, and your own fair town shall be sooner taken<br>and sacked by ourselves. The time is near when you shall pray Jove and<br>all the gods in your flight, that your steeds may be swifter than<br>hawks as they raise the dust on the plain and bear you back to your<br>city."<br>As he was thus speaking a bird flew by upon his right hand, and<br>the host of the Achaeans shouted, for they took heart at the omen. But<br>Hector answered, "Ajax, braggart and false of tongue, would that I<br>were as sure of being son for evermore to aegis-bearing Jove, with<br>Queen Juno for my mother, and of being held in like honour with<br>Minerva and Apollo, as I am that this day is big with the<br>destruction of the Achaeans; and you shall fall among them if you dare<br>abide my spear; it shall rend your fair body and bid you glut our<br>hounds and birds of prey with your fat and your flesh, as you fall<br>by the ships of the Achaeans."<br>With these words he led the way and the others followed after with a<br>cry that rent the air, while the host shouted behind them. The Argives<br>on their part raised a shout likewise, nor did they forget their<br>prowess, but stood firm against the onslaught of the Trojan<br>chieftains, and the cry from both the hosts rose up to heaven and to<br>the brightness of Jove's presence.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br/></a><a href="https://poems.citatepedia.com/">poem</a> by <strong><a rel="author" href="https://authors.citatepedia.com/by.php?a=Homer">Homer</a></strong>, translated by Samuel Butler</div>

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