{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_74231/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_74231","id":"gutenberg_74231","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74231","summary":null,"tags":["Achilles (Mythological character) -- Juvenile literature","Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Trojan War -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"THE\n\n  STORY OF THE ILIAD\n\n\n  BY THE\n\n  REV. ALFRED J. CHURCH, M.A.\n\n  LATELY PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE\n  LONDON\n\n\n  EDITED FOR SCHOOL USE\n\n\n\n  New York\n  THE MACMILLAN COMPANY\n  LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.\n  1920\n\n  _All rights reserved_\n\n\n\n\n  COPYRIGHT, 1905,\n  BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.\n\n\n  Set up and electrotyped.  Published March, 1905.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nTHE ILIAD:\n\n  I. THE QUARREL\n  II. THE ASSEMBLY\n  III. THE DUEL OF PARIS AND MENELAUS\n  IV. THE BROKEN OATH\n  V. THE VALIANT DEEDS OF DIOMED\n  VI. GLAUCUS AND DIOMED\n  VII. HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE\n  VIII. THE DUEL OF HECTOR AND AJAX\n  IX. THE BATTLE ON THE PLAIN\n  X. THE EMBASSY TO ACHILLES\n  XI. THE ADVENTURE OF ULYSSES AND DIOMED\n  XII. THE WOUNDING OF THE CHIEFS\n  XIII. THE BATTLE AT THE WALL\n  XIV. THE BATTLE AT THE SHIPS\n  XV. THE DEEDS AND DEATH OF PATROCLUS\n  XVI. THE ROUSING OF ACHILLES\n  XVII. THE MAKING OF THE ARMS\n  XVIII. THE ENDING OF THE STRIFE\n  XIX. THE BATTLE AT THE RIVER\n  XX. THE BATTLE OF THE GODS\n  XXI. THE SLAYING OF HECTOR\n  XXII. THE BURNING OF PATROCLUS\n  XXIII. THE RANSOMING OF HECTOR\n\nPRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nThree thousand years ago the world was still young.  The western\ncontinent was a huge wilderness, and the greater part of Europe was\ninhabited by savage and wandering tribes.  Only a few nations at the\neastern end of the Mediterranean and in the neighbouring parts of\nAsia had learned to dwell in cities, to use a written language, to\nmake laws for themselves, and to live in a more orderly fashion.  Of\nthese nations the most brilliant was that of the Greeks, who were\ndestined in war, in learning, in government, and in the arts, to play\na great part in the world, and to be the real founders of our modern\ncivilization.  While they were still a rude people, they had noble\nideals of beauty and bravery, of duty and justice.  Even before they\nhad a written language, their singers had made songs about their\nheroes and their great deeds; and later these songs, which fathers\nhad taught to children, and these children to their children, were\nbrought together into two long and wonderful poems, which have ever\nsince been the delight of the world, the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_.\n\nThe _Iliad_ is the story of the siege of Ilium, or Troy, on the\nwestern coast of Asia Minor.  Paris, son of the king of Troy, had\nenticed Helen, the most beautiful of Grecian women, and the wife of a\nGrecian king, to leave her husband's home with him; and the kings and\nprinces of the Greeks had gathered an army and a fleet and sailed\nacross the \u00c6gean Sea to rescue her.  For ten years they strove to\ncapture the city.  According to the fine old legends, the gods\nthemselves took a part in the war, some siding with the Greeks, and\nsome with the Trojans.  It was finally through Ulysses, a famous\nGreek warrior, brave and fierce as well as wise and crafty, that the\nGreeks captured the city.\n\nThe second poem, the _Odyssey_, tells what befell Ulysses, or\nOdysseus, as the Greeks called him, on his homeward way.  Sailing\nfrom Troy with his little fleet of ships, which were so small that\nthey used oars as well as sails, he was destined to wander for ten\nyears longer before he could return to his rocky island of Ithaca, on\nthe west shore of Greece, and to his faithful wife, Penelope.\n\nHe had marvellous adventures, for the gods who had opposed the Greeks\nat Troy had plotted to bring him ill-fortune.  Just as his ships were\nsafely rounding the southern cape of Greece, a fierce storm took them\nout of their course and bore them to many strange lands--lands of\ngiants, man-eating monsters, and wondrous enchantments of which you\nwill delight to read.  Through countless perils the resolute wanderer\nforced his way, losing ship after ship from his little fleet, and\ncompanion after companion from his own band, until he reached home\nfriendless and alone, and found his palace, his property, and his\nfamily all in the power of a band of greedy princes.  These he\novercame by his cunning and his strength, and his long trials were\nended.\n\nAs you read these ancient tales, you must forget what knowledge you\nhave of the world, and think of it as the Greeks did. It was only a\nlittle part of the world that they knew at all,--the eastern end of\nthe Mediterranean,--but even that seemed to them a great and\nmarvellous region.  Beyond its borders were strange and mysterious\nlands, in which wonders of all kinds were found, and round all ran\nthe great world-river, the encircling stream of Ocean.\n\nIn the mountains of Olympus, to the northward, lived the gods.  There\nwas Zeus, greatest of all, the god of thunder and the wide heavens;\nHera, his wife; Apollo, the archer god; Athene, the wise and clever\ngoddess; Poseidon, who ruled the sea; Aphrodite, the goddess of love;\nHeph\u00e6stus, the cunning workman; Ares, the god of war; Hermes, the\nswift messenger; and others still, whom you will learn to know as you\nread.  All these were worshipped by men with prayer and sacrifice;\nand, as in the early legends of many races, the gods often took the\nshape of men and women; they had their favourites and those whom they\nhated; and they ruled the fate of mortals as they chose.\n\nIf you let yourselves be beguiled into this old, simple way of\nregarding earth and heaven, you will not only love these ancient\ntales yourself, but you will see why, for century after century, they\nhave been the longest loved and the best loved of all tales--beloved\nby old and young, by men and women and children.  For they are\nhero-tales,--tales of war and adventure, tales of bravery and\nnobility, tales of the heroes that mankind, almost since the\nbeginning of time, have looked to as ideals of wisdom and strength\nand beauty.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ILIAD\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nTHE QUARREL\n\nLeda, Queen of Sparta, bare a daughter, Helen by name, that grew to\nbe the fairest of all women upon earth.  She married Menelaus, son of\nAtreus, and for a while dwelt in peace with her husband, bearing him\na daughter, Hermione by name.  But there came to the court of\nMenelaus, who was by this time King of Sparta, a certain Paris,\nsecond in birth among the sons of Priam, King of Troy.  Menelaus\nentertained him hospitably, but Paris repaid his kindness with evil,\nfor he carried off his wife, the fair Helen, and took with her many\nof the King's possessions.\n\n\nLe'-da.  Men-e-la'-us.  Ag-a-mem'-non.  Her-mi'-o-ne.  A'-treus.\n\n\nThen Menelaus, with his elder brother Agamemnon, who was lord of all\nthe Greeks, went to all the chiefs, and prayed that they would help\nthem to avenge this wrong.  Thus was a great host gathered together,\neven a hundred thousand men, and eleven hundred fourscore and six\nships.\n\nFor nine years did the Greeks besiege the city of Troy.  They won,\nindeed, in the field, but could not break through the walls.\n\nNow because they had been away from their homes for many years, they\nwere in want of things needful.  Therefore it was their custom to\nleave part of the army to watch the city, and with part to spoil the\ncities in the country round about.  And in this way the great quarrel\nthat caused such trouble to the host came about.\n\nThe Greeks sacked the city of Chryse, where was a temple of Apollo,\nand a priest that served the temple.  And when they divided the\nspoil, they gave to King Agamemnon, with other gifts, the priest's\ndaughter Chryseis.  Thereupon Chryses, the priest, came to the camp,\nwishing to ransom his daughter.  Much gold he brought with him, and\non his staff of gold he carried the holy garland, that men might\nreverence him the more.  He went to all the chiefs, and to the sons\nof Atreus first of all, saying:--\n\n\nChry'-se.  A-pol'-lo.  Chry-se'-is.  Chry'-ses.\n\n\n\"Loose, I pray you, my dear daughter, and take the ransom for her; so\nmay the gods that dwell in Olympus grant you to take the city of\nTroy, and to have safe return to your homes.\"\n\nThen all the others spake him fair, and would have done what he\nwished.  Only Agamemnon would not have it so.\n\n\"Get thee out, graybeard!\" he cried in great wrath.  \"Let me not find\nthee lingering now by the ships, neither coming hither again, or it\nshall be the worse for thee, for all thy priesthood.  And as for thy\ndaughter, I shall carry her away to Argos, when I shall have taken\nthis city of Troy.\"\n\nThen the old man went out hastily in great fear and trouble.  And he\nwalked in his sorrow by the shore of the sounding sea, and prayed to\nhis god Apollo.\n\n\"Hear me, God of the silver bow!  If I have built thee a temple, and\noffered thee the fat of many bullocks and rams, hear me, and avenge\nmy tears on these Greeks with thine arrows!\"\n\nAnd Apollo heard him.  Wroth was he that men had so dishonoured his\npriest, and he came down from the top of Olympus, where he dwelt.\nDreadful was the rattle of his arrows as he went, and his coming was\nas the night when it cometh over the sky.  Then he shot the arrows of\ndeath, first on the dogs and the mules, and then on the men; and soon\nall along the shore rolled the black smoke from the piles of wood on\nwhich they burnt the bodies of the dead.\n\n\nO-lym'-pus.\n\n\nFor nine days the shafts of the god went throughout the host; but on\nthe tenth day Achilles called the people to an assembly.  So Hera\nbade him, for she loved the Greeks, and grieved to see them die.\nWhen they were gathered together he stood up among them, and spake to\nAgamemnon.\n\n\nA-chil'-les.  He'-ra.\n\n\n\"Surely it were better to return home, than that we should all perish\nhere by war or plague.  But come, let us ask some prophet, or priest,\nor dreamer of dreams, why it is that Apollo is so wroth with us.\"\n\nThen stood up Calchas, best of prophets, who knew what had been, and\nwhat was, and what was to come, and spake.\n\n\nCal'-chas.  seer, prophet.\n\n\n\"Achilles, thou biddest me tell the people why Apollo is wroth with\nthem.  Lo!  I will tell thee, but thou must first swear to stand by\nme, for I know that what I shall say will anger King Agamemnon, and\nit goes ill with common men when kings are angry.\"\n\n\"Speak out, thou wise man!\" cried Achilles; \"for I swear by Apollo\nthat while I live no one shall lay hands on thee, no, not Agamemnon's\nself, though he be lord of the Greeks.\"\n\nThen the blameless seer took heart, and spake: \"It is not for vow or\noffering that Apollo is wroth; it is for his servant the priest, for\nhe came to ransom his daughter, but Agamemnon scorned him, and would\nnot let the maiden go.  Now, then, ye must send her back without\nransom, and with her a hundred beasts for sacrifice, so that the\nplague may be stayed.\"\n\nThen Agamemnon stood up in a fury, his eyes blazing like fire.\n\n\"Never,\" he cried, \"hast thou spoken good concerning me, ill prophet\nthat thou art, and now thou tellest me to give up this maiden!  I\nwill do it, for I would not that the people should perish.  Only take\ncare, ye Greeks, that there be a share of the spoil for me, for it\nwould be ill if the lord of all the host should alone be without his\nshare.\"\n\n\"Nay, my lord Agamemnon,\" cried Achilles, \"thou art too eager for\ngain.  We have no treasures out of which we may make up thy loss, for\nwhat we got out of the towns we have either sold or divided; nor\nwould it be fitting that the people should give back what has been\ngiven to them.  Give up the maiden, then, without conditions, and\nwhen we shall have taken this city of Troy, we will repay thee three\nand four fold.\"\n\n\"Nay, great Achilles,\" said Agamemnon, \"thou shalt not cheat me thus.\nIf the Greeks will give me such a share as I should have, well and\ngood.  But if not, I will take one for myself, whether it be from\nthee, or from Ajax, or from Ulysses; for my share I will have.  But\nof this hereafter.  Now let us see that this maiden be sent back.\nLet them get ready a ship, and put her therein, and with her a\nhundred victims for sacrifice, and let some chief go with the ship,\nand see that all things be rightly done.\"\n\n\nA'-jax.\n\n\nThen cried Achilles, and his face was black as a thunder-storm:\n\"Surely thou art altogether shameless and greedy, and, in truth, an\nill ruler of men.  No quarrel have I with the Trojans.  They never\nseized oxen or sheep of mine in my native land, for many mountains\nlie between, and a great breadth of roaring sea.  But I have been\nfighting in thy cause, and that of thy brother.  Naught carest thou\nfor that.  Thou leavest me to fight, and sittest in thy tent at ease.\nBut when the spoil is divided, thine is always the lion's share.\nSmall indeed is my part, and this, forsooth, thou wilt take away!\nNow am I resolved to go home.  I have no mind to heap up goods and\ngold for thee, and be myself dishonoured.\"\n\nAnd King Agamemnon answered: \"Go, and thy Myrmidons with thee!  I\nhave other chieftains as good as thou art, and ready, as thou art\nnot, to pay me due respect; and Zeus is with me.  I hate thee, for\nthou always lovest war and strife.  And as for the matter of the\nspoil, know that I will take thy share, the girl Briseis, and fetch\nher myself, if need be, that all may know that I am sovereign lord\nhere in the host of the Greeks.\"\n\n\nMyr-mi-dons, the soldiers of Achilles.  Bri-se'-is.\n\n\nThen Achilles was mad with anger, and he thought in his heart, \"Shall\nI arise and slay him, or shall I keep down the wrath in my breast?\"\nAnd as he thought he laid his hand on his sword-hilt, and had half\ndrawn his sword from the scabbard, when lo! the goddess Athene stood\nbehind him (for Hera, who loved both chieftains had sent her), and\ncaught him by the long locks of his yellow hair.  Achilles marvelled\nmuch to feel the mighty grasp, and turned, and looked, and knew the\ngoddess, but no one else in the assembly could see her.  Terrible was\nthe flash of his eyes as he cried: \"Art thou come, child of Zeus, to\nsee the insolence of Agamemnon?  Of a truth, I think that he will\nperish for his folly.\"\n\n\nA-the'-ne.\n\n\nBut Athene said: \"Nay, I am come from heaven to calm thy wrath, if\nthou wilt hear me; white-armed Hera sent me, for she loveth and\ncherisheth you both alike.  Draw not thy sword; but use bitter words,\neven as thou wilt.  Of a truth, I tell thee that for this insolence\nof to-day he will bring thee hereafter splendid gifts, threefold and\nfourfold for all that he may take away.  Only restrain thyself and do\nmy bidding.\"\n\nThen Achilles answered: \"I will abide by thy command in spite of my\nwrath, for the man who hearkens to the immortal gods is also heard by\nthem.\"  And as he spake he laid his heavy hand upon the hilt, and\nthrust back the sword into the scabbard, and Athene went her way to\nOlympus.\n\nThen he turned him to King Agamemnon, and spake again, for his anger\nwas not spent: \"Drunkard, with the eyes of a dog and the heart of a\ndeer! never fighting in the front of the battle, nor daring to lie in\nthe ambush!  This I tell thee, and confirm my words with a mighty\noath--by this sceptre do I swear.  Once it was the branch of a tree;\nand as surely as it shall never again have bark, or leaves, or\nshoots, so surely shall the Greeks one day miss Achilles, when they\nfall in heaps before the dreadful Hector; and thou shalt eat thy\nheart for rage, to think that thou hast wronged the bravest of thy\nhost.\"\n\nAnd as he spake he dashed the sceptre upon the ground, and sat down.\nAnd on the other side Agamemnon sat in furious anger.  Then Nestor\nrose, an old man of a hundred years and more, and counselled peace.\nLet them listen, he said, to his counsel.  Great chiefs in the old\ndays, with whom no man now alive would dare to fight, had listened to\nhim.  Let not Agamemnon take away from the bravest of the Greeks the\nprize of war; let not Achilles, though he was mightier in battle than\nall other men, contend with Agamemnon, who was sovereign lord of all\nthe hosts of Greece.  But he spake in vain.  For Agamemnon answered:--\n\n\"Nestor, thou speakest well, and peace is good.  But this fellow\nwould lord it over all; yet there are some, methinks, who will not\nobey him.  For if the immortal gods have made him a great warrior, do\nthey therefore grant him leave to speak lawless words?  Verily he\nmust be taught that there is one here, at least, who is better than\nhe.\"\n\nAnd Achilles said: \"I would be a slave and a coward if I owned thee\nas my lord.  Play the master over others, but think not to master me.\nAs for the prize which the Greeks gave me, let them do as they will.\nThey gave it; let them take it away.  But if thou darest to touch\naught that is mine own, that hour thy life-blood shall redden on my\nspear.\"\n\nThen the assembly was dismissed.  Chryseis was sent to her home with\ndue offerings to the god, the wise Ulysses going with her.  And all\nthe people purified themselves, and offered sacrifices to the gods;\nand the sweet savour went up to heaven in the wreathing smoke.\n\nBut King Agamemnon would not go back from his purpose, So he called\nto him the heralds, Talthybius and Eurybates, and said:--\n\n\nTal-thyb'-i-us.  Eu-ryb'-a-tes.\n\n\n\"Heralds, go to the tents of Achilles, and fetch the maiden Briseis.\nBut if he will not let her go, say that I will come myself with many\nothers to fetch her; and it will be the worse for him.\"\n\nSorely against their will the heralds went.  Along the seashore they\nwalked, till they came to where, amidst the Myrmidons, were the tents\nof Achilles.  There they found him, sitting between his tent and his\nship.  He did not rejoice to see them, and they stood in great terror\nand shame.  But he knew in his heart wherefore they had come, and\ncried aloud: \"Come near, ye heralds, messengers of gods and men.\n'Tis no fault of yours that ye are come on such an errand.\"\n\nThen he turned to Patroclus, his dearest friend, and said: \"Bring the\nmaiden from her tent, and let the heralds lead her away.  But let\nthem be witnesses, before gods and men, and before this evil-minded\nking, that the day will come when he shall have sore need of me to\nsave his host from destruction.\"\n\n\nPa-tro'-clus.\n\n\nThen Patroclus brought forth the maiden from her tent, and gave her\nto the heralds.  And they led her away, sorely against her will.  But\nAchilles went apart from his comrades, and sat upon the seashore,\nfalling into a great passion of tears, and stretching out his hands\nwith loud prayer to his mother, Thetis, daughter of the sea.  She\nheard him where she sat in the depths by her father, the old god of\nthe sea, and rose from the gray sea, as a vapour rises, and came to\nwhere he sat weeping, and stroked him with her hand, and hailed him\nby his name.\n\n\nThe'-tis.\n\n\n\"What ails thee, my son?\" she said.\n\nThen he told her the story of his wrong, and when he had ended he\nsaid:--\n\n\"Go, I pray thee, to the top of Olympus, to the palace of Zeus.\nOften have I heard thee boast how, long ago, thou didst help him when\nthe other gods would have bound him, fetching Briareus of the hundred\nhands, who sat by him in his strength, so that the gods feared to\ntouch him.  Go now, and call these things to his mind, and pray him\nthat he help the sons of Troy, and give them victory in the battle,\nso that the Greeks, as they flee before them, may have joy of this\nking of theirs, who has done such wrong to the bravest of his host.\"\n\n\nBri-a'-re-us.\n\n\nAnd his mother answered him: \"Surely thine is an evil lot, my son.\nThy life is short, and it should of right be without tears and full\nof joy; but now it seems to me to be both short and sad.  But I will\ngo as thou sayest to Olympus, to the palace of Zeus; but not now, for\nhe has gone, and the other gods with him, to a twelve days' feast\nwith the pious Ethiopians.  But when he comes back I will entreat and\npersuade him.  And do thou sit still, nor go forth to battle.\"\n\nMeanwhile Ulysses drew near to Chryse with the holy offerings.  And\nwhen they were come within the haven, they furled the sail, and laid\nit in the ship, and lowered the mast, and rowed the ship to her\nmoorings.  They cast out the anchor stones, and made fast the cables\nfrom the stern.  After that they landed, taking with them the\nofferings and the maid Chryseis.  To the altar they brought the maid,\nand gave her into the arms of her father, and the wise Ulysses said:\n\"See now; Agamemnon, king of men, sends back thy daughter, and with\nher a hundred beasts for sacrifice, that we may appease the god who\nhath smitten the Greeks in his wrath.\"\n\nThen the priest received his daughter right gladly, and when they had\nranged the beasts about the altar, then the priest prayed, \"Hear me,\nGod of the silver bow!  If before thou didst hearken to my prayer,\nand grievously afflict the Greeks, so hear me now, and stay this\nplague which is come upon them.\"\n\nSo prayed he, and the god gave ear.\n\nThen they slew the cattle, and flayed them, and burned an offering to\nthe gods.  Then they cut up the rest, and broiled the pieces\ncarefully on spits.  This being done, they made their meal, nor did\nany one lack his share.  And when the meal was ended, then they\npoured a little wine into the cups to serve for an offering to the\ngods.  After that they sat till sunset, singing a hymn to the Archer\nGod, and making merry; and he heard their voice and was pleased.\n\nWhen the sun went down they slept beside the stern-cables; and when\nthe dawn appeared then they embarked, raising the mast and spreading\nthe sail; and Apollo sent them a favouring wind, and the dark blue\nwave hissed about the ship as she went: so they came to the camp of\nthe Greeks.\n\nBut all the time Achilles sat in wrath beside his ships; he went not\nto the war, nor yet to the assembly, but sat fretting in his heart,\nbecause he longed for the cry of the battle.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nTHE ASSEMBLY\n\nWhen the twelfth day was come, Thetis rose out of the sea, and went\nto high Olympus.  There she found Zeus sitting apart on the topmost\npeak of Olympus, and she knelt down before him; with her left hand\nshe clasped his knees, and with her right she took his beard, and she\nmade her prayer unto him.\n\n\"O Father Zeus, if ever I have aided thee by word or deed, fulfil now\nmy prayer.  Give honour, I beseech thee, to Achilles my son, who hath\nso short a space of life; for now Agamemnon hath put dishonour upon\nhim, taking away the gift that the Greeks gave him.  Grant,\ntherefore, that the men of Troy may for a while gain the victory so\nthat the Greeks may do honour to my son.\"\n\nSo she spake, and Zeus sat a long time silent; but Thetis would not\nloose her hold.  Then she spake again: \"Give me now thy promise, and\nconfirm it with a nod, or else deny me.  So shall I know that I am\nheld least in honour of all the gods.\"\n\nThen Zeus made answer much disturbed: \"This is a hard matter, for\nthou wilt set me at strife with Hera, and she will upbraid me with\nbitter words.  Even now she is ever reproaching me, saying that I\nfavour the men of Troy in the battle.  Therefore go thou away, that\nshe may not know of thy coming; and I will consider how this thing\nmay be best accomplished.  And now I will assure my promise with a\nnod; for when I give my nod, then the thing may not be repented of or\nleft undone.\"\n\nSo he spake, and nodded with his dark brows, and the hair waved about\nhis head, and all Olympus was shaken.\n\nThen Thetis departed, diving into the deep sea, and Zeus went to his\nown house, and all the gods rose up before him.  And when he sat upon\nhis chair, then Hera, knowing that Thetis of the silver feet had held\ncounsel with him, addressed him with bitter words.\n\n\"Who hath been in council with thee, thou plotter?  Thou dost always\ntake pleasure, when I am absent, in secret plans, and never tellest\nthy thought to me freely.\"\n\nTo her the father of gods and men made reply: \"Hera, think not to\nknow all my thoughts; that would be too hard for thee, even though\nthou art my wife.  That which is fitting thou shalt hear first; but\ninto such counsel as I take by myself inquire thou not.\"\n\nHera answered: \"What sayest thou?  I have not pried into thy plans.\nThese thou makest as thou wilt.  And now I sorely fear that Thetis of\nthe silver feet hath persuaded thee.  At dawn of day I saw her\nkneeling before thee; thou hast granted, I doubt not, that Achilles\nshall have honour, and that many of the Greeks shall die beside their\nships.\"\n\nTo this Zeus made reply: \"Verily nothing escapeth thee, thou witch.\nIf it be as thou sayest, such is my will.  Do thou sit silent, and\nobey.  Else all the gods in Olympus shall not save thee, when I lay\nupon thee the hands that none may resist.\"\n\nThen Hera was afraid, and held her peace, and all the gods were\ntroubled.  But her son Heph\u00e6stus, the smith, spake, saying: \"This\nindeed will be grievous, if ye two come to strife for the sake of\nmortal men, and make trouble among the gods.  If such ill counsels\nprevail, what pleasure shall we have in our feasting?  Now will I\nadvise my mother that she make peace with Zeus, lest he rebuke her\nagain.  If he were minded to hurl her from these seats, who should\nwithstand him?\"\n\n\nHe-ph\u00e6s'-tus.\n\n\nThereupon he put the double-handled cup into his mother's hand, and\nsaid: \"Have patience, mother, for all that thou art vexed, lest I see\nthee beaten before mine eyes.  I could not help thee.  Once before\nwhen I would have succoured thee, he grasped me by the foot, and\nflung me from the threshold of heaven.  All day I fell, and at sunset\nI lighted in Lemnos.\"\n\nThen Hera smiled, and took the cup from her son.  And he went round\nto all the gods, going from left to right as a cupbearer should, and\npoured the nectar from the mixing-bowl, and laughter without end\nawoke among the blessed gods, when they saw the limping Heph\u00e6stus go\npuffing through the hall.\n\nGods and men slept that night; but Zeus slept not, for he thought in\nhis heart how he might do honour to Achilles.  And as he thought, he\njudged it best to send a deceiving dream to Agamemnon.  Therefore he\nsaid: \"Go, deceiving Dream, to the swift ships of the Greeks, and\nseek the tent of Agamemnon.  Bid him make haste and arm the Greeks,\nfor he shall surely take the city of Troy.\"\n\nSo the dream went to the tent of Agamemnon, and found him wrapped in\nsleep.  It took the shape of Nestor, the old chief, whom the King\nhonoured more than all besides.\n\nThen the false Nestor spake: \"Sleepest thou, Agamemnon?  It is not\nfor kings to sleep all through the night, for they must take thought\nfor many, and have many cares.  Listen now to the words of Zeus: 'Set\nthe battle in array against Troy, for the gods are now of one mind,\nand the day of doom is come for the city, and thou shalt take it, and\ngain everlasting glory for thyself.'\"\n\nAnd Agamemnon believed the dream.  So he rose from his bed, and\ndonned his tunic, and put over it a great cloak, and fastened the\nsandals on his feet, and hung from his shoulders his mighty\nsilver-studded sword, and took in his right hand the great sceptre of\nhis house, which was the token of his sovereignty over all the Greeks.\n\nFirst he called a council of the chiefs by the ship of King Nestor;\nand when they were seated, he said: \"Hear me, my friends.  This night\na dream came to me in my sleep; most like it was to Nestor.  Above my\nhead it stood, and said: 'Thou sleepest, son of Atreus.  It is not\nfor kings to sleep all through the night.  Now mark my word; I come\nto thee from Zeus, who careth for thee, though he be far away.  He\nbids thee call the Greeks to battle, for now thou shalt take the city\nof Troy.'  So spake the Dream.  Come, therefore, let us rouse the\nGreeks; but first I will try their spirit, counselling them to flee\nto their homes, and do ye dissuade them.\"\n\nThen up rose Nestor in his place and spake: \"Had any other told us\nthis dream, we had thought it false; but seeing that he who hath seen\nit is chief among us, let us call the people to arms.\"\n\nThen the heralds made proclamation, and the people hastened to their\nplaces.  Even as the bees swarm from a hollow rock and cluster about\nthe flowers of spring, and some fly this way and some that, so the\nmany tribes marched from the ships and the tents to the place of the\nassembly.  Great was the confusion and great the uproar, and nine\nheralds sought to quiet the people, that they might listen to the\nspeaking of the kings; and at the last the Greeks ceased from their\nshouting, and sat in their places.\n\nThen Agamemnon rose up, holding the sceptre in his hand, and spake\nthus: \"O my friends, ill hath Zeus dealt with me.  He promised me\nthat I should take the city of Troy, and so return to my home.  But\nhis words were deceitful, for now he bids me go back to Argos.  Nine\nyears have passed, and the timbers of our ships are rotted, and the\nrigging is worn; and our wives and our children sit at home and wait\nfor us.  Come, therefore, let us flee to the land of our fathers, for\nTroy we may not take.\"\n\nSo spake the King, and stirred the hearts of the people; that is to\nsay, of all that knew not his secret counsel.  All the assembly was\nmoved as the sea is moved, when the east wind raiseth the waves, or\nas a cornfield, when the strong west wind comes upon it, and shakes\nthe ears.  Shouting they hasted to the ships, and laid hands on them\nto drag them down.\n\nThen would the Greeks have returned home again.  But Hera spake to\nAthene: \"Will the Greeks thus idly flee to their homes? and will they\nleave Helen to Priam and to Troy,--Helen, for whom so many have\nfallen far from their fatherland?  Hasten now, and turn them from\ntheir purpose.\"\n\nSo Athene hastened down from Olympus, and she found Ulysses, who had\nlaid no hand upon his ship, for grief had touched him to his heart.\nTo him she said: \"Son of Laertes, will ye indeed flee to your\nfatherland, and leave Helen, for whom so many have fallen, to be a\nboast to Priam and the men of Troy?  Go now, and dissuade the Greeks,\nand suffer them not to drag their ships to the sea.\"\n\n\nLa-er'-tes.\n\n\nAnd when Ulysses heard the voice of the goddess, he cast away his\ncloak, and ran.  King Agamemnon gave him his sceptre, and, bearing\nthat, he went among the ships.  When he saw a chief, he said with\ngentle words, \"Hold, sir, it ill becomes thee to be a coward; sit\nstill and hold the people back.  Thou knowest not the mind of the\nKing; he did but make trial of the spirit of the Greeks.  Anger him\nnot, lest he do some mischief to the people.\"\n\nBut when he saw a common man, he smote him with his sceptre, and\nsaid: \"Fellow, sit still, and listen to them that are better than\nthou.  Let there be one master, one king, to whom Zeus has given\nauthority.\"\n\nThus did he turn them from their purpose.  And they hasted again to\nthe assembly with such a noise as when a wave breaks along the shore.\n\nBut, when all the rest were silent, Thersites alone jeered at the\nprinces, that he might move laughter among the Greeks.  Most\nill-favoured was he of all that came to Troy, bandy-legged, and\nhalting on one foot, with a hump on his back, narrow-chested, and his\nhead misshapen, with straggling hair thereon.  Loud he shouted now,\nreviling Agamemnon:--\n\n\nTher-si'-tes.\n\n\n\"What lackest thou yet, son of Atreus?  Full of bronze are thy tents,\nand many are the fair women whom we have given thee.  Wantest thou\nmore than these?  Surely a leader of men should not bring the Greeks\ninto trouble.  And ye, who are women rather than men, why sail ye not\nhome, and leave this man to gorge himself with his spoils alone?  For\nnow he hath wronged Achilles, taking away his gift--Achilles, who is\nfar better than he.  Surely Achilles is mild of temper, or this, son\nof Atreus, had been thy last wrong-doing!\"\n\nThereupon Ulysses rose up beside him, and spake in wrath: \"Peace,\nbabbler; take not the name of kings upon thy lips, nor taunt thy\nbetters.  Hearken now to me: if I hear thee speak idle words again as\nthou hast done this day, I will surely strip from off thee cloak and\ntunic, and drive thee to the ships with shameful blows.\"  So\nspeaking, he smote him with the sceptre on back and shoulders; and a\nbloody weal rose up beneath the blow.  All dazed, the fellow cowered\ndown and wiped away his tears.\n\nMerrily laughed the others, saying one to his neighbour: \"Often hath\nUlysses done well, but never better than now, when he hath stopped\nthis babbler's tongue.  He will not rail against the kings again.\"\n\nThen Ulysses stood up to speak, holding the sceptre in his hand; and\nAthene stood by his side, in the likeness of a herald, bidding the\npeople keep silence, that all, nearest and farthest alike, might hear\nhis words.\n\n\"Now, O King,\" he said, \"the Greeks are shaming thee, abiding no more\nby their promise which they made thee coming from Argos; that they\nwould not return till they had taken the city of Troy.  Truly there\nis toil enough here to make us sick of heart and wishful to return.\nFor a man will feel weary if he be kept but a single moon from his\nwife by winter winds and stormy sea, and we have lingered here for\ntwelve moons nine times told.  But it is not well to tarry long and\ncome back empty-handed, after all.  Ye all remember the prophecy that\nwas given when we set sail from Greece,--all whom death hath not\ncarried away,--that for nine years we should make war, and in the\ntenth we should take the fair city of Troy.  Remain, therefore, ye\nGreeks, till ye have taken Priam's mighty town.\"\n\nSo he spake, and all the Greeks shouted in assent; and the ships sent\nback the shout as if it had been thunder.\n\nThen King Agamemnon stood up, and said: \"Go now to your meal, and\nafterwards we will join the battle.  Let every man whet well his\nspear, and fit his shield, and feed his horses abundantly, and look\nto his chariot, that all day long we may fight, and cease not, even\nfor a little space, till night shall come and separate the hosts.\nTruly the band of the shield shall grow wet, and the hand be weary\nthat holdeth the spear, and the horse shall sweat that draweth the\npolished chariot.  And whoever holdeth back from the fight, tarrying\nat the ships, nothing shall save him from feeding the dogs and the\nfowls of the air.\"\n\nThen the Greeks shouted again.  Quickly did they scatter themselves\namong the ships and the tents, and make their meal.  And Agamemnon\nmade a feast, and called thereto the chiefs, Nestor and Idomeneus,\nand Ajax the Greater and Ajax the Less, and Diomed, and Ulysses; but\nMenelaus came uncalled, knowing that he would be welcome.\n\n\nI-do'-me-neus.  Di'-o-med.\n\n\nThen King Agamemnon stood up and prayed: \"O Zeus, let not the sun set\nand the darkness fall before I humble Priam's roof in the dust, and\nburn his doors with fire, and rend the coat of Hector on his breast!\"\n\nSo he prayed, but Zeus hearkened not.\n\nAnd when the feast was ended, the chiefs marshalled their hosts for\nthe battle; and Athene in the midst swept through the host, urging\nthem to the conflict; and in every heart she roused the delight of\nbattle, so that there was no man but would have chosen war rather\nthan to return to his home.  As is the flare of a great fire when a\nwood is burning on a hilltop, so was the flash of their arms and\ntheir armour, as they thronged to the field.  And as the countless\nflocks of wild geese or cranes or swans now wheel and now settle in\nthe great Asian swamp, or as the bees swarm in the spring, when the\nmilk-pails are full, so thick the Greeks thronged to the battle in\nthe great plain by the banks of the Scamander.\n\n\nSca-man'-der.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nTHE DUEL OF PARIS AND MENELAUS\n\nSo now the hosts drew near to battle.  With many a cry the men of\nTroy came on, clamorous as a flock of cranes when they fly southward\nfrom the winter and the rain.  But the Greeks marched in silence,\nresolute to stand by one another in the battle; and beneath their\nfeet rose up a great cloud of dust, thick as the mist which the south\nwind brings over the mountain-tops.\n\nThey were now about to fight, when from the ranks of the Trojans\nParis rushed forth.  He had a panther's skin over his shoulders, and\na bow and a sword, and in either hand a spear, and he called aloud to\nthe Greeks that they should send forth their bravest to fight with\nhim.  But when Menelaus saw him he was glad, for he said that now he\nshould avenge himself on the man who had done him such wrong.  He\nleapt from his chariot and rushed to meet his enemy; but Paris was\nafraid when he saw Menelaus, and fled back into the ranks of his\ncomrades, just as a man steps back in haste when unawares in a\nmountain glen he comes upon a snake.  But Hector saw him, and rebuked\nhim: \"Fair art thou to look upon, Paris, but nothing worth.  Surely\nthe Greeks will scorn us if they think that thou art our bravest\nwarrior, because thou art of stately presence.  But thou art a\ncoward; and yet thou daredst to go across the sea and carry off the\nfair Helen.  Why dost thou not stand and abide the onset of her\nhusband, and see what manner of man he is?  Little would thy harp and\nthy long locks and thy fair face avail when thou wert lying in the\ndust!  A craven race are the sons of Troy, or they would have stoned\nthee ere this.\"\n\nThen Paris answered: \"Thou speakest well, Hector, and thy rebuke is\njust.  As for thee, thy heart is like iron, ever set on battle; yet\nare beauty and love also the gifts of the gods, and not to be\ndespised.  But now set Menelaus and me in the midst, and let us\nfight, man to man, for the fair Helen and for all her possessions.\nAnd if he prevail over me, let him take her and them and depart, and\nthe Greeks with him, leaving you to dwell in peace; but if I prevail\nthey shall depart without her.\"\n\nThen Hector was glad, and going before the Trojan ranks, holding his\nspear by the middle, he kept them back.  But the Greeks would have\nshot at him with arrows and slung stones, only Agamemnon cried aloud\nand said, \"Hold, Hector has somewhat to say to us.\"\n\nThen Hector said: \"Hear, Trojans and Greeks, what Paris saith, Paris\nwho hath bred this quarrel between us: 'Let all lay their arms upon\nthe ground, and let Menelaus and me fight for the fair Helen, and all\nher wealth.  And let him that is the better keep her and them, but\nthe rest shall swear faith and friendship.'\"\n\nThen Menelaus stood up and spake: \"Listen to me, for this trouble\ntoucheth me nearer than you all.  The Greeks and the men of Troy\nwould fain be at peace, for they have suffered grievous things\nbecause of my quarrel and of the wrong that Paris did.  Therefore we\ntwo will fight together, and let him perish who is doomed to die.\nBring two sheep, ye men of Troy, a white wether for the sun, and a\nblack ewe for the earth, and we will bring another for Zeus.  And let\nPriam himself come, and do sacrifice, and take the oath.  Young men\nare ever changeable; but when an old man is among them, he taketh\nthought for all.\"\n\nSo spake Menelaus; and both the armies were glad, hoping to see an\nend of the war.\n\nThen Hector sent a herald to the city, to summon Priam to the\nsacrifice and to fetch the sheep.  And while he went, Iris, in the\nguise of Laodice, fairest of the daughters of Priam, came to Helen,\nwhere she sat in her hall, weaving a great web of double breadth and\ndyed with purple, whereon she had wrought many battles of the Greeks\nand the men of Troy, Iris came near and said:\n\n\nLa-o'-di-ce.\n\n\n\"Come, dear sister, and behold this marvel.  Heretofore the Greeks\nand the men of Troy have fought together on the plain, but now they\nsit in peace, and the war is stayed; for Paris and Menelaus are to\nfight for thee, and thou shalt be the wife of him that shall prevail.\"\n\nSo spake the goddess, and roused in Helen sweet longing for her\nformer husband, and her city, and her parents.  So she wrapped\nherself in white apparel, and went forth from her chamber.\n\nMeanwhile Priam sat on the wall with the old men.  They had ceased\nfrom war, but in speech they were to be admired; they were like to\nthe crickets that sit upon a tree in the wood, and send forth a thin,\nsweet voice.  And as they talked, the fair Helen came near, and they\nsaid: \"What wonder that men should suffer much for such a woman, for\nindeed she is divinely fair!  Yet let her depart in the ships, nor\nbring a curse on us and our children.\"\n\nBut Priam called to her: \"Come near, my daughter, that thou mayest\nsee him that was thy husband, and thy friends and kinsmen.  I find no\nfault with thee, for 'tis not thou, 'tis the gods who have brought\nabout all this trouble.  But tell me, who is this warrior that I see,\nso fair and strong?  There are others even a head taller than he, but\nnone of such majesty.\"\n\nAnd Helen answered: \"Ah, my father!  I owe thee much reverence; yet\nwould that I had died before I left husband and child to follow thy\nson.  But as for this warrior, he is Agamemnon, a good king and brave\nsoldier, and my brother-in-law in the old days.\"\n\n\"Happy Agamemnon,\" said Priam, \"to rule over so many!  Never saw I\nsuch an army gathered together.  But who is this that I see, not so\ntall as Agamemnon, but of broader shoulders?  His arms lie upon the\nground, and he is walking through the ranks of his men just as some\ngreat ram walks through a flock of sheep.\"\n\n\"This,\" said Helen, \"is Ulysses of Ithaca, who is better in craft and\ncounsel than all other men.\"\n\n\"'Tis well spoken, lady,\" said Antenor.  \"Well I remember Ulysses\nwhen he came hither on an embassy about thee with the brave Menelaus.\nMy guests they were, and I knew them well.  And I remember how, in\nthe assembly of the Trojans, when both were standing, Menelaus was\nthe taller, but when they sat, Ulysses was the more majestic to\nbehold.  And when they rose to speak, Menelaus said few words, but\nsaid them wisely and well; and Ulysses--you had thought him a fool,\nso stiffly he held his sceptre and so downcast were his eyes; but as\nsoon as he began, oh! the mighty voice, and the words thick as the\nfalling snow!\"\n\n\nAn-te'-nor.\n\n\nThen Priam said, \"Who is that stalwart hero, so tall and strong,\novertopping all by head and shoulders?\"\n\n\"That,\" said Helen, \"is mighty Ajax, the bulwark of the Greeks.  And\nnext to him is Idomeneus.  Often has Menelaus had him as his guest in\nthe old days, when he came from Crete.  As for the other chiefs, I\nsee and could name them all.  But I miss my own dear brothers,\nCastor, tamer of horses, and Pollux, the mighty boxer.  Either they\ncame not from Sparta, or, having come, shun the meeting of men for\nshame of me.\"\n\nSo she spake, and knew not that they were sleeping their last sleep\nfar away in their dear fatherland.\n\nMeanwhile the heralds were bringing the sheep from the town, and wine\nin a goatskin; and Id\u00e6us, the herald, carried a bowl and golden cups.\nHe came near to King Priam, and told him how the armies called for\nhim.  So he went, and he, on the one side, for the Trojans, and King\nAgamemnon for the Greeks, made a covenant with sacrifice that Paris\nand Menelaus should fight together, and that the fair Helen, with all\nher treasures, should go with him who should prevail.\n\n\nI-d\u00e6'-us.\n\n\nAnd when the sacrifice and the prayers were ended, King Priam said:\n\"I will go back to Troy, for I could not endure to see my son\nfighting with Menelaus.  But which of the two is doomed to death,\nZeus and the immortal gods only know.\"\n\nSo he spake and climbed into his chariot and took the reins; so he\nwent back to Troy even as he came.\n\nAnd afterwards Hector and Ulysses marked out a space for the fight,\nand Hector shook two pebbles in a helmet, looking away as he shook\nthem, that he whose pebble leapt forth the first should be the first\nto throw his spear.  And so it befell that the lot of Paris leapt\nforth first.  Then the two warriors armed themselves, and came forth\ninto the space, and stood over against each other, brandishing their\nspears, with hate in their eyes.  Then Paris threw his spear.  It\nstruck the shield of Menelaus, but pierced it not, for the spear\npoint was bent back.  Then Menelaus prayed to Zeus: \"Grant, Father\nZeus, that I may avenge myself on Paris, who has done me this wrong;\nso shall men in after time fear to do wrong to their host.\"  So\nspeaking, he cast his long-shafted spear.  It struck the shield of\nParis and pierced it through, and passed through the corselet, and\nthrough the tunic; but Paris shrank aside, and the spear wounded him\nnot.  Then Menelaus drew his silver-studded sword and struck a mighty\nblow on the top of the helmet of Paris, but the sword broke in four\npieces in his hand.  Then he cried in his wrath, \"O Zeus, most\nmischief-loving of the gods, my spear I cast in vain, and now my\nsword is broken.\"  Then he rushed forward and seized Paris by the\nhelmet, and dragged him towards the hosts of the Greeks, for he was\nchoked by the band of the helmet.  And truly he had taken him, but\nAphrodite loosed the strap that was beneath the chin, and the helmet\ncame off in his hand.  And Menelaus whirled it among the Greeks and\ncharged with another spear in his hand.  But Aphrodite snatched Paris\naway, covering him with a mist, and put him down in his chamber in\nTroy.  Then Menelaus looked for him everywhere, but no one could tell\nhim where he might be.  No son of Troy would have hidden him out of\nkindness, for all hated him as death.\n\n\nAph-ro-di'-te.\n\n\nThen King Agamemnon said, \"Now, ye sons of Troy, it is for you to\ngive back the fair Helen and her wealth, and to pay me, besides, so\nmuch as may be fitting for all my cost and trouble.\"\n\nSo spake King Agamemnon, and the Greeks applauded.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nTHE BROKEN OATH\n\nMeanwhile the gods sat in council in the hall of Zeus; and fair Hebe\npoured out for them the nectar, and they pledged each other in cups\nof gold, looking down upon the city of Troy.  Then spake Zeus,\nseeking to provoke Hera with taunting words:--\n\n\nHe'-be.\n\n\n\"Two helpers hath Menelaus among the goddesses, even Hera and Athene.\nBut now they sit still and take their pleasure, while Aphrodite\nwalketh beside Paris, and delivereth him from instant death.  Yet,\nseeing that Menelaus hath prevailed, let us consider what shall next\nbe done.  Shall we stir up war again, or make peace between the\nhosts?  If it please you to make peace, then let Menelaus take Helen\nto his home again, and let Priam's city continue.\"\n\nSo he spake.  But Hera and Athene sat wrathful side by side,\nmeditating evil in their hearts against the men of Troy.  Athene kept\nsilence, in spite of the fury that raged within her, but Hera could\nnot contain her wrath, and spake:--\n\n\"What is this thou sayest?  Wouldst thou make void all my toil and\ntrouble, with which I have gathered this people together, that Priam\nand his sons may be destroyed?  Do as thou wilt; but it pleaseth not\nthe other gods.\"\n\nTo her Zeus spake in answer wrathfully: \"Tell us what evil have Priam\nand the sons of Priam done in thy sight that thou desirest so\npitilessly the downfall of this fair city of Troy?  Verily wert thou\nto pass within the gates, and eat Priam raw, and his sons with him,\nthen might thy hate be satisfied.  Do, then, as thou wilt.  Let not\nthis matter breed ill-will betwixt me and thee.  Yet remember what I\nsay.  If I be minded to destroy in time to come some city that thou\nlovest, say me not nay, nor hinder me, for in this have I yielded to\nthy will.  Verily of all the cities of men that lie beneath the\nstars, I have loved Troy the best.  Never there has my altar failed\nof feast and banquet and the sweet savour that is the due of gods.\"\n\nThen Hera answered: \"Three cities have I that I love, Argos and\nSparta and Mycen\u00e6.  If they have offended thee, destroy them; I\nbegrudge them not; nor, indeed, could I withstand thy will.  Yet my\ntoil also should not be made vain; for I, too, am a daughter of\nChronos, and first in place among the immortals, seeing that I am thy\nwife, who art the King.  Come, therefore, let us yield to one\nanother, and the other gods will follow us.  Let now Athene go down,\nand bring it to pass that some one of the Trojans begin the strife\nand break the truce.\"\n\n\nMy-ce'-n\u00e6.\n\n\nThus she ended, and Zeus said not nay, but spake straightway to\nAthene: \"Make haste, get thee down to the host, and bring it to pass\nthat the men of Troy break the truce.\"\n\nSo Athene sped down from the top of Olympus, like to a star which\nZeus sends as a sign to sailors on the sea, or to some host that\ngoeth forth to battle; and wonder cometh upon all that behold it.\n\nAmong the host of Troy she went, taking upon herself the shape of\nLaodocus, son of Antenor, and went to Pandarus, where he stood among\nhis men.  Then the false Laodocus said: \"Pandarus, darest thou aim an\narrow at Menelaus.  Truly the Trojans would love thee well, and Paris\nbest of all, if they could see Menelaus slain by an arrow from thy\nbow.  Aim then, but first pray to Apollo, and vow that thou wilt\noffer a hundred beasts when thou returnest to thy city.\"\n\n\nLa-o'-do-cus.  Pan'-da-rus.\n\n\nNow Pandarus had a bow made of the horns of a wild goat which he had\nslain; sixteen palms long were the horns, and a cunning workman had\nmade them smooth, and put a tip of gold whereon to fasten the\nbow-string.  And Pandarus strung his bow, his comrades hiding him\nwith their shields.  Then he took an arrow from his quiver, and laid\nit on the bow-string, and drew the string to his breast, till the\narrow-head touched the bow, and let fly.  Right well aimed was the\ndart, but it was not the will of heaven that it should slay Menelaus.\nFor the daughter of Zeus stood before him, and turned aside the\nshaft, waving it from him as a mother waveth a fly from her child\nwhen he lieth asleep.  She guided it to where the golden clasps of\nthe belt came together, and the breast-plate overlapped.  It passed\nthrough the belt, and through the corselet, and through the girdle,\nand pierced the skin.  Then the red blood rushed out and stained the\nwhite skin.\n\nSore dismayed was King Agamemnon to see the blood; sore dismayed also\nwas the brave Menelaus, till he spied the barb of the arrow, and knew\nthat the wound was not deep.  But Agamemnon cried: \"It was in an evil\nhour for thee, my brother, that I made a covenant with these false\nsons of Troy.  Right well, indeed, I know that oath and sacrifice are\nnot in vain.  For though Zeus fulfil not now his purpose, yet will he\ntake vengeance at the last, and the guilty shall suffer, they and\ntheir wives, and their children.  Troy shall fall; but woe is me if\nthou shouldst die, Menelaus.  For the Greeks will straightway go back\nto their fatherland, and the fair Helen will be left a boast to the\nsons of Troy, and I shall have great shames when one of them shall\nsay, as he leaps on the tomb of the brave Menelaus, 'Surely the great\nAgamemnon has avenged himself well; for he brought an army hither,\nbut now has gone back to his home, and left Menelaus here.'  May the\nearth swallow me up before that day!\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said Menelaus; \"fear not, for the arrow hath but grazed the\nskin.\"\n\nThen King Agamemnon bade fetch Machaon, the physician.  And Machaon\ncame, and drew forth the arrow, and when he had wiped away the blood\nhe put healing drugs upon the wound.\n\n\nMa-cha'-on.\n\n\nBut while this was doing, King Agamemnon went throughout the host,\nand if he saw any one stirring himself to get ready for the battle he\npraised him and gave him good encouragement; but whomsoever he saw\nhalting and lingering and slothful, him he blamed and rebuked,\nwhether he were common man or chief.\n\nSo he passed through all the host.  And the Greeks went forward to\nthe battle, as the waves that curl themselves, then dash upon the\nshore, throwing high the foam.  In order they went after their\nchiefs; you would have thought then dumb, so silent were they.  But\nthe Trojans were like a flock of ewes which wait to be milked, and\nbleat hearing the voice of their lambs, so confused a cry went out\nfrom their army, for there were men of many tongues gathered\ntogether.  And on either side the gods urged them on.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nTHE VALIANT DEEDS OF DIOMED\n\nWhen the armies were come into one place, they dashed together with\nbuckler and spear: and there was a great crash of shields that met.\nNext rose up a great moaning of them that were stricken down, and\nshouting of the conquerors; and the ground ran with blood.  As when\ntwo torrents, swollen with rains of winter, join their waters in a\nhollow ravine at the meeting of the glens, and the shepherds hear the\ndin far off among the hills, even so, with a mighty noise and great\nconfusion, did the two armies meet.\n\nThen did the Greeks beat back the men of Troy.  And each of the\nchiefs slew a foe; but there was none like Diomed, who raged through\nthe battle so furiously that you could not tell with which host he\nwas, whether with the Greeks or with the sons of Troy.  Then Pandarus\naimed an arrow at him, and smote him in the right shoulder as he was\nrushing forward, and cried aloud: \"On, great-hearted sons of Troy,\nthe bravest of the Greeks is wounded!  Soon, methinks, will his\nstrength fail him, unless Apollo has deceived me.\"\n\nSo he spake exulting, but the arrow quelled not Diomed.  Only he\nleapt down from the chariot, and spake to Sthenelus, his charioteer,\n\"Come down, and draw this arrow from my shoulder.\"  Then Sthenelus\ndrew it, and the blood spurted out from the wound.  And Diomed prayed\nto Athene: \"O Goddess, if ever thou didst love my father, and stand\nbeside him in the fiery war, be thou a friend to me also; let me come\nwithin a spear's cast of this man who hath wounded me, and who\nboasteth himself over me, saying that I shall not long look upon the\nshining of the sun.\"\n\n\nSthen'-e-lus.\n\n\nSo he prayed, and Athene heard; and she made light his hands and his\nfeet, and stood beside him, and spake: \"Be bold now, O Diomed, and\nfight with the men of Troy!  I have breathed into thy heart the\nspirit that was in thy father, and I have taken away the mist that\nwas upon thy eyes, that thou mayest know god from man.  Fight not\nthou with any of the immortals, if a god should come in thy way; only\nif Aphrodite comes into the battle, her thou mayest wound.\"\n\nSo spake Athene, and went her way; and Diomed turned back to the\nbattle, and mingled with the foremost.  Eager he had been before to\nfight, but now his eagerness was increased threefold.  Even as a lion\nwhom a shepherd wounds a little as he leaps into the fold, but kills\nnot, and the man escapes into his house, and the sheep flee in their\nterror, falling huddled in a heap, even so did Diomed rage among the\nmen of Troy.\n\n\u00c6neas saw him, and thought how he might stay him in his course.  So\nhe passed through the host till he found Pandarus.  \"Pandarus,\" he\nsaid, \"where are thy bow and arrows?  See how this man deals death\nthrough the ranks.  Send a shaft at him, first making thy prayer to\nZeus.\"\n\n\n\u00c6-ne'-as.\n\n\nThen Pandarus answered: \"This man, methinks, is Diomed.  The shield\nand the helmet and the horses are his.  And yet I know not whether he\nis not a god.  Some god, at least, stands by him and guards him.  But\nnow I sent an arrow at him, and smote him on the shoulder, right\nthrough the corselet, and thought that I had slain him; but lo! I\nhave harmed him not at all.  And now I know not what to do, for here\nI have no chariot.  I came, trusting in my bow, and lo! it has failed\nme these two times.  Two of the chiefs I have hit, Menelaus and\nDiomed, and from each have seen the red blood flow, yet have I not\nharmed them.  Surely, if ever I return safe to my home, I will break\nthis useless bow.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said \u00c6neas, \"talk not thus.  Climb into my chariot, and see\nwhat horses we have in Troy.  They will carry us safe to the city,\neven should Diomed prevail against us.  Take thou the rein and the\nwhip, and I will fight; or, if thou wilt, fight thou, and I will\ndrive.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said Pandarus, \"let the horses have the driver whom they know.\nIt might lose us both, should we turn to flee, and they linger or\nstart aside, missing their master's voice.\"\n\nSo Pandarus mounted the chariot, and they drove together against\nDiomed.  And Sthenelus saw them coming, and said to his comrades: \"I\nsee two mighty warriors.  It would be well that we should go back to\nour chariot.\"\n\nBut Diomed frowned, and said: \"Talk not of going back.  Thou wilt\ntalk in vain to me.  As for my chariot, I care not for it.  As I am\nwill I go against these men.  Both shall not return safe, even if one\nshould escape.  But do thou stay my chariot where it is, tying the\nreins to the rail; and if I slay these men, mount the chariot of\n\u00c6neas and drive it into the host of the Greeks, There are no horses\nunder the sun such as these, for they are of the breed which Zeus\nhimself gave to King Tros.\"\n\nMeanwhile Pandarus and \u00c6neas were coming near, and Pandarus cast his\nspear.  Right through the shield of Diomed it passed, and reached the\ncorselet, and Pandarus cried:--\n\n\"Thou art hit in the loin.  This, methinks, will lay thee low.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said Diomed, \"thou hast missed and not hit at all.\"\n\nAnd as he spake he threw his spear.  Through nose and teeth and\ntongue it passed, and stood out below the chin.  Headlong from the\nchariot he fell, and his armour clashed about him.  Straightway \u00c6neas\nleapt off with spear and shield to guard the body of his friend, and\nstood as a lion stands over a carcass.  But Diomed lifted a great\nstone, such as two men of our day could scarcely carry, and cast it.\nIt struck \u00c6neas on the hip, crushing the bone.  The hero stooped on\nhis knee, clutching the ground with his hand, and darkness covered\nhis eyes.  That hour he would have perished, but his mother Aphrodite\ncaught him in her white arms, and threw her veil about him.  But even\nso, Diomed was loath to let his foe escape, and he rushed on her and\nwounded her on the wrist, and the blood gushed out--such blood as\nflows in the veins of the immortal gods, who eat not the meat and\ndrink not the drink of men.  With a loud shriek she dropped her son,\nbut Apollo caught him up and covered him with a dark mist, lest\nperchance one of the Greeks should spy him and slay him.\n\nBut Diomed called aloud after Aphrodite: \"Haste thee from the battle,\ndaughter of Zeus.  It is enough for thee to beguile weak women.\"\n\nWildly did the goddess rush from the battle.  And Iris, swift as the\nwinds, took her by the hand, and led her out of the press, for she\nwas tormented with the pain.  She found Ares on the left of the\nfield, and knelt before him, begging for his horses with many\nprayers.  \"Help me, dear brother,\" she said, \"and lend me thy horses\nto carry me to Olympus, for I am tormented with a wound which a\nmortal man gave me, even Diomed, who would fight with Father Zeus\nhimself.\"\n\n\nA'-res.\n\n\nThen Ares gave her his chariot, and Iris took the reins, and touched\nthe horses with the whip.  Speedily came they to Olympus, and then\nIris reined in the horses, and Aphrodite fell on the lap of her\nmother Dione, who took her daughter in her arms, and caressed her,\nsaying:--\n\n\"Dear child, which of the immortals hath harmed thee thus?\"\n\nAphrodite answered, \"No immortal hath done it, but a mortal man, even\nDiomed, who now fighteth with the immortal gods.\"\n\nBut Dione answered: \"Bear up and endure thy pain, for many who dwell\nin Olympus have suffered pain at the hands of mortal men.\"\n\n\nDi-o'-ne.\n\n\nSo spake she, and wiped the moisture from the wound with both her\nhands, and the grievous hurt was healed.  But Hera and Athene looked\non and mocked.  And Athene said to Zeus, \"Now hath thy daughter been\nmoving one of the Greek women to follow the Trojans whom she loveth\nso well, and lo! she hath wounded her hand with the pin of a golden\nbrooch.\"\n\nBut the father smiled, and called Aphrodite to him, and said, \"My\nchild, deeds of war are not for thee, but love and marriage; leave\nthe rest to Athene and Ares.\"\n\nMeanwhile Diomed sprang upon \u00c6neas, though he knew that Apollo\nhimself held him.  He regarded not the god, for he was eager to slay\nthe hero and to strip off his arms.  Thrice he sprang, and thrice\nApollo dashed back his shining shield.  The fourth time Apollo warned\nhim with awful words, \"Beware, Diomed, and fall back, nor think to\nmatch thyself with gods.\"  But Apollo carried \u00c6neas out of the\nbattle, and laid him down in his own temple in the citadel of Troy,\nand there he was healed of his wound.  And all the while the Trojans\nand the Greeks were fighting, as they thought, about his body, for\nApollo had made a likeness of the hero and thrown it down in their\nmidst.  Then Sarpedon spake to Hector with bitter words:--\n\n\nSar-pe'-don.\n\n\n\"Where are thy boasts, Hector?  Thou saidst that thou couldst guard\nthy city, without thy people or thy allies, thou alone, with thy\nbrothers and thy brothers-in-law.  But I cannot see even one of them.\nThey go and hide themselves, as dogs before a lion.  It is we, your\nallies, who maintain the battle.  I have come from far to help thy\npeople, nor do I shrink from the fight, but thou shouldst do thy\npart.\"\n\nAnd the words stung Hector to the heart.  He leapt from his chariot\nand went through the host, urging them to the battle.  And on the\nother side the Greeks strengthened themselves.  But Ares brought back\n\u00c6neas whole from his wound, and gave him courage and might.  Right\nglad were his comrades to see him, nor did they ask him any question;\nscant leisure was there for questions that day.  Then were done many\nvaliant deeds nor did any bear himself more bravely than \u00c6neas.\n\nBut all the while Hector, with Ares at his side, dealt death and\ndestruction through the ranks of the Greeks.  Hera and Athene saw him\nwhere they sat on the top of Olympus, and were wroth.  So they went\nto Father Zeus, and prayed that it might be lawful to them to stop\nhim in his fury.  And Zeus said, \"Be it as you will.\"  So they yoked\nthe horses to the chariot of Hera and passed down to earth, the\nhorses flying at every stride over so much space as a man sees who\nsits upon a cliff and looks across the sea to where it meets the sky.\nThey alighted on the spot where the two rivers join their streams.\nThere they loosed the horses from the yoke, and then sped like doves\nto where the bravest of the Greeks stood round King Diomed.  There\nHera took the shape of Stentor with the lungs of bronze, whose voice\nwas as the voice of fifty men, and cried: \"Shame, men of Greece!\nWhen Achilles went to the battle, the men of Troy came not beyond the\ngates, but now they fight far from the city, even by the ships.\"  But\nAthene went to Diomed, where he stood wiping away the blood from the\nwound where Pandarus had struck him with the arrow.  And she spake:\n\"Surely the son of Tydeus is little like to his sire.  Small of\nstature was he, but a keen fighter.  But thou--whether it be\nweariness or fear that keeps thee back I know not--canst scarcely be\na true son of Tydeus.\"\n\n\nTy'-deus.\n\n\nBut Diomed answered: \"Nay, great goddess, for I know thee who thou\nart, daughter of Zeus, it is not weariness or fear that keeps me\nback.  'Tis thy own command that I heed.  Thou didst bid me fight\nwith none other of the immortal gods but only with Aphrodite, should\nshe come to the battle.  Therefore I give place, for I see Ares\nlording it through the ranks of war.\"\n\nThen Athene spake: \"Heed not Ares; drive thy chariot at him, and\nsmite him with the spear.  This very morning he promised that he\nwould help the Greeks, and now he hath changed his purpose.\"\n\nAnd as she spake she pushed Sthenelus, who drove the chariot, so that\nhe leapt out upon the ground, and she mounted herself and caught the\nreins and lashed the horses.  But Athene had donned the helmet of\nHades, which whosoever puts on straightway becomes invisible, for she\nwould not that Ares should see who she was.  The god saw Diomed come\nnear, and cast his spear over the yoke of the chariot, eager to slay\nthe hero.  But Athene caught the spear in her hand, and turned it\naside, so that it flew vainly through the air.  Then Diomed in turn\nthrust forward his spear, and Athene leant upon it, so that it\npierced the loin of Ares, where his girdle was clasped.  And Ares\nshouted with the pain, loud as a host of men, thousands nine or ten,\nshouts when it joins in battle.  And the Greeks and Trojans trembled\nas they heard.  And Diomed saw the god go up to Olympus as a\nthunder-cloud goes up when the wind of the south blows hot.\n\n\nHa'-des, the god of the underworld.\n\n\nBy the side of Zeus did he sit down, and showed the immortal blood as\nit flowed from the wound, and cried: \"Father Zeus, canst thou contain\nthyself, seeing such deeds as these?  See now this daughter of thine,\nhow she is bent on evil and mischief.  All we that dwell in Olympus\nare obedient to thee; but her thou checkest not with word or deed.\nAnd now she hath set on this bold Diomed to wreak his madness on the\nimmortal gods: first he wounded Aphrodite on the wrist; then he\nrushed on me; my swift feet bare me away, else surely I had suffered\nthe pains of death among the carcasses of the slain.\"\n\nBut Zeus frowned on him, and spake: \"Come not to me with thy\ncomplaints, for of all the Olympian gods thou vexest me the most, for\nbattle and strife are ever dear to thee.  'Tis thy mother Hera that\nhath put thee to this pain.  Yet I may not suffer thee to endure the\nanguish any more, for thou art my child.\"\n\nThen Zeus called P\u00e6on the healer, and bade him tend the wound; and he\ncured it of its smart.  Then Hebe gave to Ares the bath, and clad him\nin fair array, and he sat down by Zeus, rejoicing.\n\n\nP\u00e6'-on.  He'-be.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nGLAUCUS AND DIOMED\n\nNow when Ares had departed, the Greeks prevailed again, slaying many\nof the sons of Troy and of their allies.  But at last Helenus, the\nwise seer, spake to Hector and \u00c6neas:--\n\n\nGlau'-cus.  Hel'-e-nus.\n\n\n\"Cause the army to draw back to the walls, and go through the ranks\nand give them such strength and courage as ye may.  And do thou,\nHector, when thou hast so done, pass into the city, and bid thy\nmother go with the daughters of Troy, and take the costliest robe\nthat she hath, and lay it on the knees of Athene in her temple,\nvowing therewith to sacrifice twelve heifers, if perchance she may\nhave pity upon us, and keep this Diomed from our walls.  Surely there\nis no Greek so strong as he; we did not fear even Achilles' self so\nmuch as we fear this man to-day, so dreadful is he and fierce.  Go,\nand we will make such stand meanwhile as we can.\"\n\nThen Hector passed through the ranks, bidding them be of good heart,\nand so departed to the city.\n\nAnd when he was gone, Glaucus and Diomed met in the space between the\ntwo hosts.  Then first spake Diomed: \"Tell me, thou mighty man of\nvalour, who thou art of mortal men, for never before have I seen thee\nin the battle; but now thou comest out far before the ranks of thy\nfellows, and art willing to abide my spear.  If thou be one of the\nimmortal gods, and hast come down from heaven, I fight thee not.  I\ndare not match myself with the gods of heaven.\"\n\nTo him Glaucus made answer: \"Valiant son of Tydeus, why seekest thou\nto know my name and lineage, and the generations of my fathers?  For\nthe generations of men are as the leaves of the wood.  The wind\nscattereth them on the ground, and the wood bringeth forth others in\nthe springtime.  So is it with the generations of men--one goeth, and\nanother cometh.  Yet, if thou wilt know these things, hearken unto\nme.  I am the son of Hippolochus, the son of Bellerophon.\"\n\n\nHip-pol'-o-chus.  Bel-ler'-o-phon.\n\n\nSo spake Glaucus, and Diomed was glad at heart.  His spear he drave\ninto the earth, and he spake pleasant words to the prince: \"Verily,\nthou art by inheritance a friend of my house.  For long ago great\n\u0152neus entertained Bellerophon in his dwelling, keeping him twenty\ndays.  Goodly gifts did they give one to the other.  \u0152neus gave to\nBellerophon a belt richly broidered with purple, and Bellerophon gave\nto \u0152neus a cup of gold with a mouth on either side.  This I left\nwhen I came hither, in my palace at home.  Now \u0152neus was my\ngrandfather.  Therefore, I am thy friend and host when thou comest to\nthe land of Argos, and thou art mine if any chance shall bring me to\nLycia.  But now, let each of us shun the spear of the other, yea, in\nthe closest press of the battle.  Many sons of Troy there are, and\nmany of their brave allies, whom I may slay if the gods deliver them\ninto my hands, so and my feet be swift to overtake them.  And thou\nalso hast many Greeks to slay if thou canst.  But now let us make\nexchange of arms and armour, that both the Greeks and the men of Troy\nmay know that we are friends by inheritance.\"\n\n\n\u0152'-neus.  Lyc'-i-a.\n\n\nSo spake Tydeus.  And the two chiefs leapt down from their chariots,\nand clasped each the hand of the other, and pledged their faith.\nThen Zeus changed the wisdom of Glaucus to folly, so that he gave his\narmour in exchange for the armour of Diomed, gold for bronze, the\nprice of five-score oxen for the price of nine.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nHECTOR AND ANDROMACHE\n\nHector came into the city by the Sc\u00e6an gates, and as he went wives\nand mothers crowded about him, asking how it had fared with their\nhusbands and sons.  But he said naught, save to bid them pray; and\nindeed there was sore news for many, if he had told that which he\nknew.  Then he came to the palace of King Priam, and there he saw\nHecuba, his mother, and with her Laodice, fairest of her daughters.\nShe caught him by the hand and said:--\n\n\nAn-drom'-a-che.  Sc\u00e6'-an.  Hec'-u-ba.\n\n\n\"Why hast thou come from the battle, my son?  Do the Greeks press\nthee hard, and art thou minded to pray to Father Zeus from the\ncitadel?  Let me bring thee honey-sweet wine, that thou mayest pour\nout before him, aye, and that thou mayest drink thyself, and gladden\nthy heart.\"\n\nBut Hector said: \"Give me not wine, my mother, lest thou weaken my\nknees and make me forget my courage.  Nor must I pour out an offering\nto Zeus thus, with unwashed hands.  But do thou gather the mothers of\nTroy together, and go to the temple of Athene and take a robe, the\none that is the most precious and beautiful in thy stores, and lay it\non the knees of the goddess, and pray her to keep this dreadful\nDiomed from the walls of Troy; and forget not to vow therewith twelve\nheifers as a sacrifice.  As for me, I will go and seek Paris, if\nperchance he will come with me to the war.  Would that the earth\nmight open and swallow him up, for of a truth he is a curse to King\nPriam and to Troy.\"\n\nThen went Queen Hecuba into her house, and gave command to her maids\nthat they should assemble the aged women of the city.  Afterwards she\nwent to her store-chamber, where lay the well-wrought robes, work of\nSidonian women, which Paris himself brought from Sidon, when he\nsailed upon the broad sea, bringing home with him high-born Helen.\nThe fairest robe of all did the Queen take.  Bright as a star it was,\nand it lay the undermost of all.\n\n\nSi-do'-ni-an.  Si'-don.\n\n\nAnd when she and the aged women that were with her came to the temple\nof Athene that was in the citadel, the priestess of Athene opened the\ndoors to them.  They lifted their hands, and cried aloud, and the\npriestess laid the garment on the knees of the goddess, and spake,\nsaying:--\n\n\"Lady Athene, that keepest the city, break now the spear of Diomed,\nand let him fall upon his face before the Sc\u00e6an gates.  So will we\nsacrifice to thee twelve heifers that have not felt the goad, if only\nthou wilt have pity upon our town, and on the wives and little ones\nof the men of Troy.\"\n\nSo she prayed, but Athene heeded not her words.\n\nMeanwhile Hector went to the house of Paris, where it stood on the\ncitadel, near to his own dwelling and the dwelling of Priam.  He\nfound him busy with his arms, and the fair Helen sat near him and\ngave their tasks to her maidens.\n\nWhen Hector saw his brother, he spake to him bitter words, taunting\nhim, as if it were by reason of his anger that he stood aloof from\nthe battle.  \"Verily thou doest not well to be angry.  The people\nperish about the walls, and the war burns hot round the city; and all\nfor thy sake.  Rouse thee, lest it be consumed.\"\n\nAnd Paris answered: \"Brother, thou hast spoken well.  It was not in\nwrath that I sat here.  I was vexed at my sore defeat.  But now my\nwife has urged me to join the battle; and truly it is well, for\nvictory comes now to one and now to another.  Wait thou, then, till I\nput on my arms, or, if thou wouldst depart, I will overtake thee.\"\n\nThen spake Helen with soothing words: \"O my brother, come in, sit\nthee down in this chair, for my heart is weary because of my sin and\nof the sin of my husband.  Verily Zeus hath ordained for us an evil\nfate, so that our story shall be sung in days that are yet to come.\"\n\nBut Hector said: \"Ask me not to rest, for I am eager to help the men\nof Troy, for verily their need is sore.  But do thou urge thy husband\nthat he overtake me while I am yet within the city, for now I go to\nmy home that I may see my wife and my little son, because I know not\nwhether I shall return to them again.\"\n\nSo Hector departed and went to his own home, seeking his wife\nAndromache, but found her not, for she was on a tower of the wall\nwith her child and her child's nurse, weeping sore for fear.  And\nHector spake to the maids:--\n\n\"Tell me, whither went the white-armed Andromache; to see some\nsister-in-law, or to the temple of Athene with the mothers of Troy?\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said an aged woman, keeper of the house.  \"She went to one of\nthe towers of the wall, for she had heard that the Greeks were\npressing our people hard.  She hasted as if she were mad, and the\nnurse carried the child.\"\n\nSo Hector ran through the city to the Sc\u00e6an gates, and there\nAndromache spied him, and hasted to meet him.  And with her was the\nnurse, bearing the young child on her bosom--Hector's only child,\nbeautiful, headed as a star.  His father called him Scamandrius,\nafter the river, but the sons of Troy called him Astyanax, the\n\"City-King,\" because it was his father who saved the city.  Silently\nhe smiled when he saw the child, but Andromache clasped his hand and\nwept, and said:--\n\n\nSca-man'-dri-us.  As-ty'-a-nax.\n\n\n\"O Hector, thy courage will bring thee to death.  Thou hast no pity\non thy wife and child, but sparest not thyself, and all the Greeks\nwill rush on thee and slay thee.  It were better for me, losing thee,\nto die; for I have no comfort but thee.  My father is dead, for\nAchilles slew him.  Seven brethren I had, and they all fell in one\nday by the hand of the great Achilles.  And my mother, she is dead,\nfor when she had been ransomed, Artemis smote her with an arrow in\nher father's house.  But thou art father to me, and mother, and\nbrother, and husband also.  Have pity, then, and stay here upon the\nwall, lest thou leave me a widow and thy child an orphan.  And set\nthe people here in array by this fig tree, where the city is easiest\nto be taken; for there come the bravest of the Greeks.\"\n\n\nAr'-te-mis.\n\n\nBut Hector said: \"Nay, let these things be my care.  I would not that\nany son or daughter of Troy should see me skulking from the war.  And\nmy own heart loathes the thought, and bids me fight in the front.\nWell I know, indeed, that Priam, and the people of Priam, and holy\nTroy, will perish.  Yet it is not for Troy, or for the people, or\neven for my father or my mother that I care so much, as for thee in\nthe day when some Greek shall carry thee away captive, and thou shalt\nply the loom or carry the pitcher in the land of Greece.  And some\none shall say when he sees thee, 'This was Hector's wife, who was the\nbravest of the sons of Troy.'  May the earth cover me before that\nday!\"\n\nThen Hector stretched out his arms to his child.  But the child drew\nback into the bosom of his nurse, with a loud cry, fearing the\nshining bronze and the horse-hair plume which nodded awfully from his\nhelmet top.  Then father and mother laughed aloud.  And Hector took\nthe helmet from his head, and laid it on the ground, and caught his\nchild in his hands, and kissed him and dandled him, praying aloud to\nFather Zeus and all the gods.\n\n\"Grant, Father Zeus and all ye gods, that this child may be as I am,\ngreat among the sons of Troy; and may they say some day, when they\nsee him carrying home the bloody spoils from the war.  'A better man\nthan his father, this,' and his mother shall be glad at heart.\"\n\nThen he gave the child to his mother, and she clasped him to her\nbreast, and smiled a tearful smile.  And her husband's heart was\nmoved; and he stroked her with his hand, and spake:--\n\n\"Be not troubled over much.  No man shall slay me against the\nordering of fate; but as for fate, that, methinks, no man may escape,\nbe he coward or brave.  But go, ply thy tasks, the shuttle and the\nloom, and give their tasks to thy maidens, and let men take thought\nfor the battle.\"\n\nThen Hector took up his helmet from the ground, and Andromache went\nher way to her home, oft turning back her eyes.  And when she was\ncome, she and all her maidens wailed for the living Hector as though\nhe were dead, for she thought that she should never see him any more\nreturning safe from the battle.\n\nAnd as Hector went his way, Paris came running, clad in shining arms,\nlike to some proud steed which has been fed high in his stall, and\nnow scours the plain with head aloft and mane streaming over his\nshoulders.  And he spake to Hector:--\n\n\"I have kept thee, I fear, when thou wast in haste, nor came at thy\nbidding.\"\n\nBut Hector answered: \"No man can blame thy courage, only thou\nwilfully heldest back from the battle.  Therefore do the sons of Troy\nspeak shame of thee.  But now let us go to the war.\"\n\nSo they went together out of the gates, and fell upon the hosts of\nthe Greeks and slew many chiefs of fame, and Glaucus the Lycian went\nwith them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nTHE DUEL OF HECTOR AND AJAX\n\nNow when Athene saw that the Greeks were perishing by the hand of\nHector and his companions, it grieved her sore.  So she came down\nfrom the heights of Olympus to help them.  And Apollo met her and\nsaid:--\n\n\"Art thou come, Athene, to help the Greeks whom thou lovest?  Well,\nlet us stay the battle for this day; hereafter they shall fight till\nthe doom of Troy be accomplished.\"\n\nBut Athene answered, \"How shall we stay it?\"\n\nAnd Apollo said, \"We will set on Hector to challenge the bravest of\nthe Greeks to fight with him, man to man.\"\n\nSo they two put the matter into the mind of Helenus the seer.  Then\nHelenus went near to Hector, and spake, saying:--\n\n\"Listen to me, for I am thy brother,.  Cause the rest of the sons of\nTroy and of the Greeks to sit down, and do thou challenge the bravest\nof the Greeks to fight with thee, man to man.  And be sure thou shalt\nnot fall in the battle, for the will of the immortal gods is so.\"\n\nThen Hector greatly rejoiced, and passed to the front of the army,\nholding his spear by the middle, and kept back the sons of Troy; and\nKing Agamemnon did likewise with his own people.  Then Hector spake:--\n\n\"Hear me, sons of Troy, and ye men of Greece.  The covenant that we\nmade one with another hath been broken, for Zeus would have it so,\npurposing evil to both, till either you shall take our high-walled\ncity or we shall conquer you by your ships.  But let one of you, who\ncall yourselves champions of the Greeks, come forth and fight with\nme, man to man.  And let it so be that if he vanquish me, he shall\nspoil me of my arms, but give my body to my people, that they may\nburn it with fire; and if I vanquish him, I will spoil him of his\narms, but give his body to the Greeks, that they may bury him and\nraise a great mound above him by the broad salt river of Hellespont.\nAnd so men of after days shall see it, sailing by, and say, 'This is\nthe tomb of the bravest of the Greeks, whom Hector slew.'  So shall\nmy name live forever.\"\n\n\nHel'-les-pont.\n\n\nBut all the Greeks kept silence, fearing to meet him in battle, but\nashamed to hold back.  At last Menelaus leapt forward and spake:--\n\n\"Surely ye are women and not men.  Is there no man to stand up\nagainst this Hector?  Lo!  I will fight with him my own self.\"\n\nSo he spake in his rage, courting death, for Hector was much stronger\nthan he.  Then King Agamemnon answered:--\n\n\"Nay, but this is folly, my brother.  Seek not in thy anger to fight\nwith one that is stronger than thou; for even Achilles is loth to\nmeet Hector.  Sit thou down among thy comrades, and the Greeks will\nfind some champion who shall fight with him.\"\n\nAnd Menelaus hearkened to his brother's words, and sat down.  Then\nrose up nine chiefs of fame.  First of all, King Agamemnon, lord of\nmany nations, and next to him Diomed, son of Tydeus, and Ajax the\nGreater, and Ajax the Less, and then Idomeneus, and Meriones, who was\nhis companion in arms, and Eurypylus, and Thoas, son of Andr\u00e6mon, and\nthe wise Ulysses.\n\n\nMe-ri'-o-nes.  Eu-ryp'-y-lus.  Tho'-as.  An-dr\u00e6'-mon.\n\n\nThen Nestor said, \"Let us cast lots to see who shall do battle with\nthe mighty Hector.\"\n\nSo they threw the lots into the helmet of King Agamemnon,--a lot for\neach.  And the people prayed, \"Grant, ye gods, that the lot of Ajax\nthe Greater may leap forth, or the lot of Diomed, or the lot of King\nAgamemnon.\"  Then Nestor shook the lots in the helmet, and the one\nwhich they most wished leapt forth.  For the herald took it through\nthe ranks and showed it to the chiefs, but none knew it for his own\ntill he came to where Ajax the Greater stood among his comrades.  But\nAjax had marked it with his mark, and put forth his hand for it, and\nclaimed it, right glad at heart.  On the ground by his feet he threw\nit, and said:--\n\n\"Mine is the lot, my friends, and right glad I am, for I think that I\nshall prevail over the mighty Hector.\"\n\nSo he armed himself and moved forwards, smiling with grim face.  With\nmighty strides he came, brandishing his long-shafted spear.  And all\nthe Greeks were glad to behold him, but the knees of the Trojans were\nloosened with fear, and great Hector's heart beat fast; but he\ntrembled not, nor gave place, seeing that he had himself called him\nto battle.  So Ajax came near, holding before him the great shield,\nlike a wall.  Seven folds of bull's hide it had, and an eighth of\nbronze.  Threateningly he spake:--\n\n\"Now shalt thou know, Hector, what manner of men there are yet among\nour chiefs, though Achilles the lion-hearted is far away, sitting\nidly in his tent, in great wrath with King Agamemnon.  Do thou, then,\nbegin the battle.\"\n\n\"Speak not to me,\" said Hector, \"as though I were a woman or a child,\nknowing nothing of war.  Well I know all the arts of battle, to ply\nmy shield this way and that, to guide my car through the tumult of\nsteeds, and to stand fighting hand to hand.\"\n\nAnd as he spake he hurled his long-shafted spear, and smote the great\nshield.  Through six folds it passed, but in the seventh it was\nstayed.  Then Ajax hurled his spear, striking Hector's shield.\nThrough shield it passed and corselet, and cut the tunic close\nagainst the loin; but Hector shrank away and escaped the doom of\ndeath.  Then, each with a fresh spear, they rushed together like\nlions or wild boars of the wood.  First Hector smote the middle of\nthe shield of Ajax, but pierced it not, for the spear-point was bent\nback; then Ajax, with a great bound, drove his spear at Hector's\nshield and pierced it, forcing him back, and grazing his neck so that\nthe black blood welled out.  Yet did not Hector cease from the\ncombat.  A great stone and rough he caught up from the ground, and\nhurled it at the seven-fold shield.  Loud rang the bronze, but the\nshield brake not.  Then Ajax took a stone heavier by far, and threw\nit with all his might.  It brake the shield of Hector, and bore him\nbackwards, so that he fell at length with his shield above him.  But\nApollo raised him up.  Then did both draw their swords; but ere they\ncould join in close battle came the heralds, and held their sceptres\nbetween them, and Id\u00e6us, the herald of Troy, spake:--\n\n\nI-d\u00e6'-us.\n\n\n\"Fight no more, my sons; Zeus loves you both, and ye are both mighty\nwarriors.  That we all know right well.  But now the night bids you\ncease, and it is well to heed its bidding.\"\n\nThen said Ajax: \"It is for Hector to speak, for he called the bravest\nof the Greeks to battle.  And as he wills it, so will I.\"\n\nAnd Hector said: \"O Ajax, the gods have given thee stature and\nstrength and skill, nor is there any better warrior among the Greeks.\nLet us cease then from the battle; we may yet meet again, and the\ngods give the victory to me or thee.  But now let us give gifts the\none to the other, so that Trojans and Greeks may say, 'Hector and\nAjax met in fierce fight and parted in friendship.'\"\n\nSo Hector gave to Ajax a silver-studded sword with the scabbard and\nthe sword-belt, and Ajax gave to Hector a buckler splendid with\npurple.  So they parted.  Right glad were the sons of Troy when they\nsaw Hector returning safe.  Glad also were the Greeks, as they led\nAjax rejoicing in his victory to King Agamemnon.  Thereupon the King\ncalled the chiefs to banquet together, and bade slay an ox of five\nyears old, and Ajax he honoured most of all, giving him the best\nportions.  And when the feast was ended, Nestor said:--\n\n\"It were well that we should cease a while from war and burn the\ndead, for many are fallen.  And we will build a great wall and dig a\ntrench about it, and we will make gates that a chariot may pass\nthrough, so that our ships may be safe, if the sons of Troy should\npress us hard.\"\n\nBut the next morning came a herald from Troy to the chiefs, as they\nsat in council by the ship of King Agamemnon, and said:--\n\n\"This is the word of Priam and the men of Troy: Paris will give back\nall the treasures of the fair Helen, and many more besides; but the\nfair Helen herself he will not give.  And if this please you not,\ngrant us a truce, that we may bury our dead.\"\n\nThen Diomed spake, \"Nay, we will not take the treasures, for a man\nmay know, even though he be a fool, that the doom of Troy is come.\"\n\nAnd King Agamemnon said, \"Herald, thou hast heard the word of the\nGreeks, but as for the truce, be it as you will.\"\n\nSo the next day they burnt their dead, and the Greeks made a wall\nwith gates and dug a trench about it.  And when it was finished, even\nat sunset, they made ready a meal, and lo! there came ships from\nLemnos bringing wine, and Greeks bought thereof, some with bronze,\nand some with iron, and some with shields of ox hide.  All night they\nfeasted right joyously.  The sons of Troy also feasted in their city.\nBut the dreadful thunder rolled through the night, for Zeus was\nplanning evil against them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nTHE BATTLE ON THE PLAIN\n\nWhen the next morning came Zeus called the gods to an assembly on the\ntopmost ridge of Olympus, and spake to them, saying:--\n\n\"Hearken, gods and goddesses!  Let none of you presume to go against\nmy word.  Whosoever of you shall aid either Greek or Trojan, him will\nI smite with the thunder, or else will cast him far down to the\ndarkness of Tartarus, whose gates are iron and whose threshold\nbronze, and he shall know that I am chief among gods.  And if ye will\nmake trial of my strength, let down a chain of gold from heaven to\nearth, and take hold thereof, all ye gods and goddesses.  Yet shall\nye not drag down Zeus, no, though ye strive with all your might.  But\nif I should draw with all my strength, I could lift you up, and earth\nand sea with you, and bind the chain about a horn of Olympus, and\nleave you hanging there.  So much am I stronger than all besides.\"\n\n\nTar'-tar-us.\n\n\nThen all the gods sat silent and amazed.  But at last spake Athene:\n\"Surely we know, Father Zeus, that thy strength cannot be resisted.\nYet we pity the Greeks, and fear lest they should perish altogether.\nWe will keep aloof from the war, according to thy command, but we\nwill give them counsel.\"\n\nAnd Zeus smiled upon her, and gave consent.  Then he yoked to his\nchariot his swift horses, and touched them with his whip.  Midway\nbetween heaven and earth they flew, and came to Ida, the mountain of\nmany springs.  There he stayed his course, and sat down amidst the\npeaks, looking on the city of Troy and the host of the Greeks.\n\nThe Greeks took their meal in haste, and armed themselves.  The men\nof Troy also made them ready for battle in the city; fewer they were\nin number than their foes, but not less eager for the fight, for\nindeed a sore need was upon them, the need to fight for children and\nwife.  Then the gates were opened, and the people went quickly forth.\n\nAnd the two hosts came together, buckler against buckler, and spear\nagainst spear, and the shields clashed with a great ringing sound.\nWhile the day was increasing, neither this side prevailed nor that;\nbut at noon Father Zeus stretched on high his golden scales, laying\nin them two weights of death; one for the Greeks, and one for the\nsons of Troy.  By the middle he took the scales, and let them hang,\nand the scale of the Greeks sank lower.  Then did he send his blazing\nthunderbolt among the people from the heights of Ida, and they saw it\nand were dismayed.\n\nThen could no man hold his ground.  Only Nestor remained, against his\nwill, for Paris had slain one of his chariot-horses with an arrow.\nAnd while the old man cut away the traces, Hector came through the\npress.  Then would the old man have perished, but Diomed was swift to\nnotice his danger.  With a great cry he called Ulysses, and said:--\n\n\"Son of Laertes, whither dost thou flee, turning thy back like a\ncoward?  See that no man thrust thee in the back with a spear.\nTarry, and keep back this fierce man of war from old Nestor.\"\n\nSo he spake, but Ulysses heeded not, fleeing fast to the ships.\n\nThen rushed Diomed, alone as he was, into the foremost rank, and\nstood before the chariot of old Nestor, and spake: \"Old sir, the\nyounger fighters press thee sore; feeble thou art, and weak thy\ncharioteer, and thy horses slow.  Come, mount upon my chariot, and\nsee what the horses that I took from \u00c6neas can do--how they can flee,\nand follow, and speed this way and that!  Thy charioteer and mine\nshall look to thy horses.  Come thou with me, and Hector shall see\nwhether there is yet any strength in the spear of Diomed.\"\n\nTo this Nestor gave consent, and took the reins in his hand, and\nplied the whip.  Soon they came near to Hector, and Diomed cast his\nspear.  Hector he missed, but smote his charioteer upon the breast,\nso that he fell from the chariot, and the swift horses started back.\nHector's heart was dark with grief for his comrade; yet he let him\nlie where he fell, for he must needs find another charioteer.\n\nThen there would have been rout among the men of Troy, and they would\nhave been pent up in the city, as sheep in a fold, but that Zeus\nhurled a blazing thunderbolt.  Right before the chariot of Diomed did\nit fall; and the horses crouched in fear, and Nestor let fall the\nreins from his hands, for he was sore afraid, and cried aloud:--\n\n\"Son of Tydeus, turn thy horses to flight; seest thou that Zeus is\nnot with thee?  To-day he giveth glory to Hector; to-morrow, perhaps,\nto thee.  The purpose of Zeus none may hinder.\"\n\nThen the son of Tydeus spake: \"Old sir, thou sayest well; but this\ngoeth to my heart, that Hector will say, 'Diomed fled before me,\nseeking the ships.'  Then may the earth swallow me up!\"\n\nBut Nestor made reply, \"Though Hector call thee coward, yet will not\nthe sons of Troy believe him, nor the daughters whose gallant\nhusbands thou hast tumbled in the dust.\"\n\nThen he turned his horses, and fled.  But Hector cried after Diomed:\n\"Art thou the man to whom the Greeks give high place in the feast,\nand plenteous cups of wine?  Not so will they honour thee hereafter.\nRun, girl! run, coward!  Shalt thou climb our walls, and carry away\nour daughters in thy ships?\"\n\nThen Diomed was very wroth, doubting whether to flee or to turn; but\nwhen he turned Zeus thundered from on high, making him afraid.  And\nHector bade the hosts of Troy be of good courage, for that Zeus was\nwith them, and called to his horses: \"Come, now, Bayard, and\nWhitefoot, and Flame of Fire, and Brilliant; forget not how the fair\nAndromache has cared for you; aye, even before me, who am her\nhusband.  Carry me fast, that I may win old Nestor's shield, which\nmen say is all of gold, and strip from the shoulders of Diomed the\nbreastplate which Heph\u00e6stus wrought.\"\n\nSo the Greeks fled headlong within the wall which they had built,\nHector driving them before him, and all the space between the wall\nand the ships was crowded with chariots and with men.  Then would\nHector have burned the ships, had not Hera put it in the heart of\nKing Agamemnon to urge the Greeks to battle.  On the ship of Ulysses,\nthat was midmost of all, he stood, so that he could shout to either\nend, to where Ajax the Greater on one side, and Achilles on the\nother, had drawn up their ships.  And he cried aloud:--\n\n\"Shame on you, ye Greeks!  Where are now your boasts that one man of\nyou would outmatch five score, yea, ten score, of the sons of Troy?\nAnd now one single man is of more worth than you all!  O Father Zeus,\ngrant us that we may at least escape with our lives.\"\n\nAnd Zeus hearkened to his prayer, and sent a sign from heaven, an\neagle that held a kid in his claw; by the altar of Zeus did he drop\nit, and the Greeks, when they saw it, took heart, and leaped upon the\nmen of Troy, and rejoiced again in the battle.\n\nForemost of all was Diomed.  After him came the sons of Atreus, and\neither Ajax, and all the chiefs, and among them Teucer, who stood\nbeneath the shield of Ajax son of Telamon, as he bent his bow.  Ajax\nwould lift his shield a little, and Teucer, peering out, would shoot\na warrior in the throng.  Then would he go back as a child to his\nmother, and Ajax would hide him beneath his shield.  Eight warriors\ndid he slay; and when Agamemnon saw him, he came near, and spake,\nsaying: \"Shoot on, Teucer, and be a light to thy people and to thy\nfather Telamon.  Surely when Zeus and Athene shall grant me the spoil\nof Troy, to thee, first after myself, will I give a goodly gift.\"\n\n\nTeu'-cer.  Tel'-a-mon.\n\n\nTeucer made reply: \"Eight shafts have I launched, and every shaft has\nbeen buried in a warrior's flesh; but that man I cannot strike.\"\n\nHe spake, and sped another arrow from the string, aiming at Hector.\nHim he touched not, but he slew a son of Priam.  Yet once again he\nshot, and slew this time the charioteer of Hector, striking him full\nupon the breast, as he rushed into battle.  Then Hector's heart grew\ndark with rage and grief.  He leapt from his chariot to the ground,\nand caught a stone in his hand, and went towards Teucer, desiring to\ncrush him.  Then Teucer took an arrow from the quiver and fitted it\non the string, but as he drew the arrow to his shoulder, Hector smote\nhim where the collarbone stands between neck and breast, and snapped\nthe bow-string, and numbed his arm and wrist, so that the bow flew\nfrom his hand, and he fell upon his knee.  But Ajax bestrode him,\ncovering him with his shield, and two of his comrades bare him,\ngroaning deeply, to the ships.\n\nThen again did Zeus put courage into the hearts of the men of Troy,\nand they thrust the Greeks back to the ditch; and Hector moved ever\nin the front, rejoicing in his strength.  Even as a dog pursues a\nwild boar or a lion, and catches him by hip or thigh, so did Hector\nhang upon the Greeks, and smite the hindmost as they fled.\n\nBut Hera saw and pitied them, and spake to Athene: \"Shall not thou\nand I have pity on the Greeks once more?  They are perishing at the\nhands of Hector.\"\n\nAthene made reply: \"It is all the doing of my father, who listened to\nThetis, when she besought him to give honour to Achilles.  But\nanother day, may be, he will hearken unto me.  Make ready, therefore,\nthe horses, while I arm myself for the war.  We will see whether\nHector will be glad when he beholds thee and me in the forefront of\nthe battle.\"\n\nSo Hera made ready the chariot, and Athene armed herself for the war.\nAnd when she was armed, Hera lashed the horses, and the great gates\nof heaven, where the Hours keep watch, opened before them.\n\nBut Zeus saw them from Ida, and said to Iris of the golden wings: \"Go\nnow, swift Iris, bid these two not come face to face with me, for our\nmeeting would be ill for them.  Verily I will cast them from their\nchariot, and break the chariot in pieces.  Not for ten years would\nthey recover of their wounds should the lightning smite them.\"\n\nSo Iris hasted on her way, and gave the two goddesses the Father's\nmessage.\n\nThen spake Hera to Athene: \"No more shall we two do battle with Zeus\nfor the sake of mortal men.  Let them perish or live, as it may\nchance.\"\n\nSo they two went back to Olympus, and sat down in their chairs of\ngold, among the other gods, right heavy of heart.\n\nZeus also hastened from Ida to Olympus, and came into the assembly of\nthe gods; but Hera and Athene sat apart, and spake not, and asked no\nquestion.\n\nThen said Zeus: \"Why are ye so cast down?  To-morrow shall see worse\nthings than these; for great Hector will not cease from his slaying\ntill the son of Peleus be roused by his ships, in the day when they\nshall fight about the dead Patroclus.\"\n\n\nPe'-leus.\n\n\nAnd row the sun sank into the sea; wroth were the Trojans that the\nlight should go, but to the Greeks welcome came the night.\n\nThen Hector called the men of Troy to an assembly.  In his hand he\nheld a spear eleven cubits long, with flaming point of bronze, and\ncircled with gold; on it he leant and spake:--\n\n\ncubit, a foot and a half.\n\n\n\"Give ear, ye Trojans and allies!  I thought this day to destroy the\nhosts of the Greeks and their ships, and so to return to Troy; but\nnight hath hindered me.  Let us yield to night, and take our meal.\nUnharness your horses and feed them.  Fetch also from the city kine,\nand sheep, and wine, and bread, and store of fuel also, that we may\nburn many fires, lest the Greeks escape across the sea in the night.\nAlso let the heralds make proclamation in the city that the lads and\nthe old men should guard the wall, and that every woman should light\na great fire in her house, and that all should keep watch, lest an\nambush should enter the city while the people are away.  In the\nmorning will we arm ourselves, and wake the war beside the ships, and\nbring ruin on the Greeks.\"\n\nSo Hector spake, and all the Trojans shouted their assent.  They\nloosed their horses, and fetched food from the city, and gathered\nfuel.  All night long they sat in high hope.  And as on some windless\nnight the stars shine bright about the moon, and all the crags and\ndells are shown, and the tops of the hills also, and the depths of\nthe sky are open, and all the stars appear, and the shepherd's heart\nis glad; so the Trojan fires glittered between the stream of Xanthus\nand the ships.  A thousand fires were burning, and fifty sat in the\nglare of each; and the horses stood beside the chariots champing\ntheir grain, and waited for the morn.\n\n\nXan'-thus (X is pronounced as Z).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nTHE EMBASSY TO ACHILLES\n\nWhile the Trojans watched with good hope, the Greeks were filled with\nfear.  And King Agamemnon was troubled beyond all others.  He bade\nthe heralds call every man to the assembly.  Gloomily they sat, and\nwhen the King rose up to speak, his tears dropped down, as the waters\ndrop down a steep cliff-side from some spring which the sunshine\ntoucheth not.  Thus he spake: \"O friends, lords and leaders of the\nGreeks, verily Zeus dealeth ill with me.  Once he promised that I\nshould take the city of Troy and so return home; but now he hath\ndeceived me, bidding me go back dishonoured, having lost much people.\nTherefore let us flee with our ships to the land of our fathers, for\nTroy we may not take.\"\n\nLong time the chiefs kept silence, for they were out of heart; but at\nthe last rose Diomed, and spake: \"Be not wroth, O King, if I contend\nwith this thy madness.  Thou hast called me laggard and coward;\nwhether I be so indeed the Greeks know well, both young and old.  But\nto thee Zeus hath given lordship and the power of the sceptre above\nthy fellows; but courage he hath not given, and courage is best of\nall.  Now if thine heart be bent upon return, go thou; the way is\nnigh, and thy ships are by the sea; but all the other Greeks will\nabide till they have taken Troy.  Yea, and if these also will go,\nthen we two, I and Sthenelus, will abide and fight till we make an\nend of the city, for it was the gods that sent us hither.\"\n\nThen Nestor spake: \"Thou art brave in war, son of Tydeus, and\nexcellent in council above thy fellows.  But now let us take our\nmeal; and let sentinels watch along the trench.  And do thou, son of\nAtreus, make a feast for thy chiefs, as is meet.  And him who\ncounsels thee most wisely thou must follow.  Sorely do we need wise\ncounsel, seeing that the enemy have so many fires near our ships.\nVerily this night will save our army or destroy.\"\n\nSo King Agamemnon called the chiefs to a feast; and when the feast\nwas ended Nestor rose up and spake: \"Evil was the day, O King, when\nthou didst send and take the damsel Briseis from the tent of\nAchilles.  Let us therefore take thought how we may best appease him\nwith noble gifts and pleasant words.\"\n\nThen said King Agamemnon: \"These are true words that thou hast\nspoken, old man.  Truly I did as a fool that day, and I deny it not.\nFor he that is loved of Zeus is of more worth than whole armies of\nmen; and verily Zeus loveth this man, seeing that he putteth the\nGreeks to flight that he may do him honour.  But even as I wronged\nhim in my folly, so will I make amends, and give a recompense beyond\nall telling.  And now I will declare before you all the gifts that I\nwill give: a huge treasure of gold and bronze, and twelve stout\nhorses, that have won prizes in the race by fleetness of foot.  And\nseven women will I give him, skilled in excellent handiwork, fairer\nthan all women.  These will I give him, and with them the damsel\nBriseis, even as I took her from him.  And if the gods shall grant us\nto destroy the great city of Priam, then let him come when we divide\nthe spoil, and choose for himself twenty women of Troy, the fairest\nthere be after Helen.  And if he come again to the land of Greece,\nthen shall he be my son, and he shall choose in marriage which one of\nmy daughters he will.  Yea, and I will give with her seven fair\ncities, with pasture-lands and vineyards, wherein dwell men that have\nmany flocks and herds, who will honour him with gifts even as men\nhonour a god, and will fulfil his commands.  All this will I give\nhim, if so be that he will cease from his anger.\"\n\nTo him Nestor made answer: \"No man may think lightly of the gifts\nthat thou givest to great Achilles.  Come, therefore, let us choose\nmen, that they may go with all speed to his tent.  Let Ph\u0153nix, who\nis beloved of Zeus, lead the way; and let Ajax the Greater and\nUlysses go with him, and two heralds also.\"\n\n\nPh\u0153'-nix.\n\n\nSo the heralds went by the shore of the sea; and, as they went, they\nmade prayer to the god that shakes the earth that they might turn the\nheart of Achilles.  And when they came to the ships of the Myrmidons,\nthey found the King taking his pleasure with a harp.  There he sat,\ndelighting his soul with music, and sang the deeds of heroes of old\ntime.  And Patroclus sat opposite him in silence, waiting till he\nshould cease from his singing.  Then the two chiefs came forward,\nUlysses leading the way, and stood before the face of Achilles; and\nAchilles leapt up in much amaze, holding the harp in his hand.  And\nPatroclus rose also from his seat when he saw the twain.  Then said\nAchilles, fleet of foot, \"Welcome ye are, and right dear to me, for\nall my anger.\"\n\nSo spake Achilles, and led them forward; and he bade them sit on\nseats that were covered with coverlets of purple.  Then said he to\nPatroclus, \"Bring forth the biggest bowl, and mix for each man a cup,\nfor I have not dearer friends than these that are come beneath my\nroof this day.\n\nAnd the chiefs stretched forth their hands to the meat that lay ready\nbefore them.  And when they had done with the desire for food and\ndrink, Ajax nodded to Ph\u0153nix that he should speak; but Ulysses\nperceived it, and was beforehand with him, and filled a cup with\nwine, and pledged Achilles, and spake: \"Hail, Achilles!  No lack have\nwe had of feasting before in the tent of King Agamemnon and now in\nthine; but it is not of feasting that we think this day; for we\nbehold sore destruction close at hand, and are afraid.  Verily, we\nare in doubt whether or no we may save our ships, unless thou wilt\ngird on thy might again.  For indeed this day the men of Troy and\ntheir allies come near to the ships to burn them with fire.  And Zeus\nshows them favourable signs.  As for Hector, he rages furiously,\ntrusting in Zeus, and vows that he will burn the ships with fire, and\nmake havoc of the Greeks while they are dazed with the smoke of the\nburning.  Sorely do I fear in my heart lest the god fulfil his\nthreats, and doom us to perish here in Troy, far from the plains of\nArgos.  Up, therefore, if thou art minded even now to save the\nGreeks!  Delay not, lest thou repent hereafter, for there is no\nremedy for that which is done.  Cease from thy anger.  Verily,\nAgamemnon offereth thee worldly gifts, a huge treasure of gold and\nbronze, and twelve stout horses that have won much wealth for\nAgamemnon by fleetness of foot, and seven women, skilful in\nhandiwork, and fairer than all their kind; and Briseis herself he\nwill restore to thee, even as he took her from thee.  All these\nthings will he give; and if we take the great city of Priam, twenty\ndaughters of Troy, fairest of women, after Helen.  And when we shall\ngo back to Greece, thou shalt have his daughter to wife, her whom\nthou shalt choose, and with her seven cities, lying all of them near\nto the sea, a land of vineyards and cornfields, whose folk shall pay\nthee tribute and honour.  But if thou yet hate from thy heart\nAgamemnon and his gifts, then I pray thee have pity upon the Greeks,\nwho will honour thee even as men honour a god.  Hector, too, thou\nmayest slay, for he will come near thee in his madness, for he deems\nthat there is not a man of all the Greeks that can stand against him.\"\n\nTo him Achilles, fleet of foot, made answer: \"Son of Laertes, plain\nshall be my speech; for I would not have you sit before me, seeking\nto coax me, one man this way and another another.  Why must the\nGreeks make war against the sons of Troy?  Why did the sons of Atreus\ngather this host together, and lead them to this land?  Was it not\nfor fair-haired Helen's sake?  Tell me, then, do the sons of Atreus\nalone of all men love their wives?  Nay, but whosoever is good and\nsound of heart loveth his wife and cherisheth her, even as I loved\nmine, though I won her by my spear.  He took her from me, and\ndeceived me; let him not make trial of me again, for I know him well,\nand he shall not prevail with me.  Let him take counsel now with\nthee, Ulysses, and with the other princes of the host, how he may\nkeep from the ships the devouring fire.  Many things hath he done\nwithout my help, building a wall and digging a ditch about it, both\nwide and deep, and setting stakes in the ditch; yet for all this can\nhe not keep Hector from the ships.  And yet, when I fought in the\nhost of the Greeks, this Hector dared not set his army in array far\nfrom the walls, but scarce came to the Sc\u00e6an gates and the fig tree.\nOnce did he await me there to do battle, man against man, and scarce\nescaped my spear.  But now, seeing that I have no mind to fight with\nhim, I will do sacrifice to-morrow to Zeus and all the gods, and I\nwill store my ships and launch them on the sea.  Yea, to-morrow,\nright early in the morning, thou shalt see them, if thou wilt,\nsailing along the Hellespont, and my men toiling eagerly at the oar;\nand if the god that shaketh the earth grants me a fair journey, on\nthe third morning shall I come to the fair land of Phthia.  There is\nall the wealth that I left behind me when I came to Troy; and hence I\nshall carry with me yet more of gold and bronze and iron, and fair\nwomen slaves, my portion of the spoil.  King Agamemnon shall not\ndeceive me again with lying speech.  And as for his gifts, I scorn\nthem; though he give me tenfold, yea, twentyfold, all that he now\nhath promised.  Yea, verily, though he give me gifts as the sand of\nthe sea for multitude, he shall not persuade me, till he shall have\nendured bitterness of soul like mine.  And his daughter I will not\nwed--no, not though she be as fair as golden Aphrodite, and match\nAthene of the flashing eyes in skill of handiwork.  Let him choose\nhim from among the Greeks some kinglier son-in-law than I, and for\nme, if the gods bring me safe to my home, Peleus shall choose a wife.\nFor all the wealth that was stored in the city of Troy, in the days\nof peace, before the Greeks came thither, and all the treasure that\nis laid up in the temple of Apollo the Archer that is in the city of\nDelphi--all this I count as nothing in comparison with life.  For a\nman may take cattle and sheep for spoil, and he may buy treasure and\nhorses; but the life of a man, when it hath once passed from out his\nlips, he may not win back by spoiling or by buying.  And to me my\nmother, even Thetis, the goddess of the silver foot, hath unfolded my\ndoom.  A double doom it is.  If I abide in this land and fight\nagainst the city of Troy, then shall I return no more to my native\ncountry, but my name shall live for ever; but if I go back to my\nhome, then my fame shall be taken from me, but I shall live long and\nsee not the grave.  Therefore I go, and verily I counsel you all to\ngo, for Troy ye never shall take as ye desire, seeing that Zeus, who\nseeth all things before, holdeth over it his hand, and her sons are a\nvaliant folk.  And now go your way; carry back this answer to the\nprinces of the Greeks.  But let the old man Ph\u0153nix abide with me\nin my tent to-night, that he may sail in my ship on the morrow.\nVerily he shall sail, if he will; but I will not take him by force.\"\n\n\nPhthi'-a.  Pe'-leus.\n\n\nThus spake Achilles.  And the chiefs sat still and held their peace,\nmarvelling at his speech, so vehement was he.  But at the last the\nold man Ph\u0153nix made answer.  With many tears he spake, for he was\nsore afraid lest the ships of the Greeks should perish: \"If indeed\nthou art minded to depart, and carest not to save the ships from\ndevouring fire, how can I endure to be left alone by thee?  For the\nold man Peleus made me thy teacher, both of words and of deeds.  With\nno man but me wouldst thou go unto the feast, or take thy meat in the\nhall; but I set thee upon my knees, and cut the savoury morsel for\nthee from the dish, and put the wine-cup to thy lips.  Many a tunic\nhast thou stained for me, sputtering forth the wine upon it.  Much\nhave I suffered, and much toiled for thee; for child of mine own I\nhad not, and thou wast to me as a son, Achilles, to cherish me in my\nneed.\"\n\nThen Achilles nodded to Patroclus, that he should spread a couch for\nthe old man Ph\u0153nix, that so the other twain might depart without\ndelay.  Then said Ajax, the son of Telamon: \"Let us depart, Ulysses.\nI trow that we shall accomplish naught this day.  Let us, therefore,\ntake back the tidings, evil though they be, to them that wait for us.\"\n\nThen said Achilles: \"My heart swells with wrath, when I remember how\nthe son of Atreus shamed me before all the people, as though I was\nsome stranger nothing worth.  Go and take my message.  I will not\narise to the battle till Hector shall come as he slays the Greeks\neven to the tents of the Myrmidons, and shall encircle their ships\nwith fire.  But when he shall come to my tent and to my ships, then I\nween shall he be stayed, for all that he is eager for battle.\"\n\nThen Ajax and Ulysses departed, and told the message of Achilles to\nKing Agamemnon.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nTHE ADVENTURE OF ULYSSES AND DIOMED\n\nThe other chiefs of the Greeks slept that night; but King Agamemnon\nslept not; sore troubled was he in heart.  For when he looked towards\nTroy, and saw the many fires, and heard the sound of flute and pipe\nand the murmur of men, he was astonished; and when he looked towards\nthe ships he groaned, and tore his hair, thinking what evil might\ncome to the people.  Then it seemed good to him to seek counsel from\nNestor.  So he arose, and drew his coat about his breast, and bound\nthe sandals on his feet, and wrapped a tawny lion's hide about him,\nand took a spear in his hand.\n\nTo Menelaus also came no sleep that night.  So he arose, and wrapped\na leopard's skin about him, and put on his head a cap of bronze, and\ntook a spear in his hand, and went to seek his brother.\n\nHe found him arming by his ship, and said; \"Why armest thou?  Wilt\nthou send some one to spy out the doings of the Trojans?  I fear much\nthat no man will undertake the task to go alone, for it is a daring\ndeed.\"\n\nTo him replied King Agamemnon: \"We have need of good counsel, my\nbrother, that we may save the people.  Truly the mind of Zeus is\nchanged; for never hath a man wrought such destruction in one day as\ndid Hector on the Greeks.  Run thou to Ajax and Idomeneus, and call\nthem to the council, and I will go to Nestor.\"\n\nSo the chiefs were gathered to the council.  First of all they went\nto the company of them that watched the camp.  These they found not\nsleeping but awake.  As dogs that hear the sound of some wild beast\nin the wood, so did the watch look towards the plain, thinking to\nhear the sound of the feet of the Trojans.\n\nGladly did old Nestor see them, and spake, saying, \"Such be your\nwatch, my children, lest we become a prey to our enemies.\"\n\nThen he hasted to cross the trench, and with him went the other\nprinces.  In an open spaces that was clear of dead, they sat down,\neven where Hector had turned back from slaying the Greeks.\n\nAnd Nestor rose and said: \"Is there now a man who will go among the\nsons of Troy, and see what they are minded to do?  Great honour will\nhe win, and gifts.\"\n\nThen Diomed said, \"I am ready to go, but I would fain have some one\nwith me.  To have a companion gives comfort and courage, and, indeed,\ntwo wits are better than one to take counsel and to foresee.\"\n\nAnd many were willing to go with Diomed.  But Agamemnon said, \"Choose\nthe best man, O Diomed, and regard not the birth or rank of any.\"\nAnd Diomed answered: \"If I may choose, whom should I choose rather\nthan the wise Ulysses?  Brave is he, and prudent, and Athene loves\nhim well.\"\n\nBut Ulysses said: \"Praise me not overmuch, nor blame me.  Only let us\ngo, for the night is far spent.\"\n\nSo these two armed themselves.  Diomed took a two-edged sword and a\nshield, and a helmet without a crest, and Ulysses a bow and a quiver\nand a sword, and a helmet of hide with the white teeth of a wild boar\nabout it.  Then both prayed to Athene that she would help them, and\nafter that they went through the darkness like two lions, trampling\nover dead bodies and arms and blood.\n\nBut Hector, meanwhile, was thinking on the same things, for he called\nthe chiefs to a council and said: \"Who now will go and spy among the\nGreeks, and see what they purpose to do on the morrow, and whether\nthey are keeping watch through the night?  A goodly reward shall he\nhave, even a chariot and horses, the best that there are in the camp\nof the Greeks.\"\n\nThen stood up a certain Dolon.  Ill-favoured was he, but a swift\nrunner.  He said:--\n\n\nDo'-lon.\n\n\n\"I will go, Hector; but come, lift up thy sceptre, and swear to me\nthat thou wilt give me the chariot and the horses of Achilles.\"\n\nSo Hector sware to him.  And Dolon took his bow, and a helmet of gray\nwolf-skin, and a sharp spear, and went his way in haste.  But Ulysses\nsaw him, and said:--\n\n\"Here cometh a man, Diomed, but whether he be a spy or a spoiler of\nthe dead I know not.  Let him pass by a space that we may take him.\nIf he outrun us, press him with thy spear towards the ships; only let\nhim not turn back to the city.\"\n\nSo they lay down among the dead, a little out of the way, and Dolon\npassed by them unknowing; but when he had gone a little space they\nran upon him.  For a while he stood hearkening to their steps, for he\nthought that Hector had sent comrades to call him back.  But when\nthey were a spear's throw from him, or less, he knew them for foes\nand fled.  And as two dogs follow a fawn or a hare, so they ran,\npursuing Dolon.  And when he had well-nigh reached the trench, for\nthey kept him from turning back to the city, Diomed rushed forward\nand cried:--\n\n\"Stay, or I will slay thee with my spear.\"\n\nAnd he threw the spear, but made it pass over his shoulder, so that\nit stood in the ground before him.  Then Dolon stood trembling and\npale, and with teeth chattering with fear.  And the two heroes,\nbreathing hard, came up and laid hands on him.  And he said,\nweeping:--\n\n\"Hold me for ransom; much gold and bronze and iron will my father\ngive, if he hear that I am a prisoner at the ships.\"\n\nThen said the wise Ulysses: \"Tell us truly, why wast thou coming\nhither through the darkness?  To spoil the dead, or, at Hector's\nbidding, to spy out our affairs at the ships, or on some errand of\nthine own?\"\n\nAnd Dolon answered, \"Hector persuaded me, promising to give me the\nhorses and chariot of Achilles, and he bade me go and spy out what ye\npurposed to do on the morrow, and whether ye were keeping watch in\nthe night.\"\n\nAnd Ulysses smiled and said: \"Surely it was a great reward that thy\nsoul desired.  But tell me, where is Hector, and where are the\nwatches of the sons of Troy?\"\n\nThen Dolon answered: \"Hector holds council with the chiefs.  As for\nthe army, there are no watches set, save only where be the Trojans\nthemselves.  As for the allies, they sleep secure, and trust to the\nTrojans to watch for them, seeing that they have not wives or\nchildren near.\"\n\nThen Ulysses asked, \"Do they sleep, then, among the Trojans, or\napart?\"\n\n\"Next to the sea,\" said Dolon, \"but if ye wish to enter the camp, lo!\napart from all are some newcomers, Thracians, with Rhesus, their\nking.  Never have I seen horses so fair and tall as his.  Whiter are\nthey than snow, and swifter than the winds.  But do ye now send me to\nthe ships, or, if ye will, bind me and leave me here.\"\n\n\nThra'-ci-ans.  Rhe'-sus.\n\n\nBut Diomed said: \"Think not to escape, Dolon, though thy news is\ngood; for then wouldst thou come again to spy out our camp or to\nfight.  But if I slay thee, thou wilt trouble the Greeks no more.\"\n\nSo he slew him, and took from him his arms, hanging them on a\ntamarisk tree, and made a mark with reeds and tamarisk boughs, that\nthey might know the place as they came back.  So they went on across\nthe plain and came to where the men of Thrace lay sleeping, and by\neach man were his arms in fair array, and his horses; but in the\nmidst lay King Rhesus, with his horses tethered to the chariot-rail.\nThen Diomed began to slay.  As a lion rushes on a flock, so rushed he\non the men of Thrace.  Twelve he slew, and as he slew them Ulysses\ndragged them out of the way, that there might be a clear road for the\nhorses, lest they should start back, fearing the dead bodies, for\nthey were not used to war.  And the thirteenth was King Rhesus\nhimself, who panted in his sleep, for an evil dream was on him.  And\nmeanwhile Ulysses drove the horses out of the encampment, smiting\nthem with his bow, for he had not thought to take the whip out of the\nchariot.  Then he whistled, making a sign to Diomed that he should\ncome, for Diomed lingered, doubting whether he might not slay yet\nmore.  But Athene whispered in his ear:--\n\n\"Think of thy return, lest some god rouse the Trojans against thee.\"\n\nIndeed, Apollo was even then rousing them.  And the Trojans flocked\ntogether with tumult and shouting.  But Diomed and Ulysses meanwhile\nhad mounted the horses, and were riding to the ships.  Glad were\ntheir comrades to see them safe returned, and praised them much for\nall that they had done.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nTHE WOUNDING OF THE CHIEFS\n\nWhen the next day dawned, King Agamemnon called the Greeks to battle.\nAnd on the other side Hector set in order the men of Troy.  As a\nbaleful star now shineth from the clouds, and now is hidden, so\nHector now shone among the foremost ranks, and now ordered the\nrearward.\n\nThen the men of Troy and the Greeks leapt upon each other.  As\nreapers reap in a rich man's field, making the barley and the wheat\nfall in long swathes, so did the Trojans and the Greeks slay one\nanother.  So long as the day was waxing, the battle was equal, and\nthe people fell alike on either side; but at noon, the Greeks brake\nthe Trojan line, and Agamemnon leapt first into the breach.  As a\nfire falleth on a wood, and sweepeth it away, so Agamemnon fell upon\nthe men of Troy, and swept them before him.  Past the Tomb of Ilus,\nand past the wild fig tree in the plain, they fled, and the King\nfollowed hard upon them, shouting aloud.  But when they came to the\nSc\u00e6an gate they turned and stood, and the battle was renewed.\n\n\nI'-lus.\n\n\nThen spake Zeus to Iris, saying: \"Get thee away, swift Iris, and bear\nthis word to Hector.  So long as he shall see King Agamemnon laying\nwaste the ranks of men, so long let him hold back from the battle.\nBut when the King shall be wounded with spear or arrow, and shall\nleap from his chariot, then let him advance, and I will give him\nstrength to slay till he shall come to the ships, and the sun shall\nset.\"\n\nSo he came, and told these words to Hector.  And when Hector heard\nthem, he leapt from his chariot, and went up and down the ranks of\nTroy, strengthening them for the fight.  And the two hosts stood, and\nfaced each other.\n\nThen did King Agamemnon slay the two sons of Antenor.  First he slew\nIphidamas, smiting him a deadly blow upon the neck.  But Co\u00f6n,\nAntenor's first-born son, was grieved for his brother, and standing\nsideways, so that the King saw him not, he stabbed him in the middle\nof the arm, beneath the elbow, and the spear pierced it through.  The\nKing started, yet ceased not from battle, and as Co\u00f6n dragged his\nbrother by the foot out of the press, calling upon the chiefs to\nhelp, then Agamemnon smote him with the spear, beneath the shield,\nand drove him to the ground, and then smote off his head with the\nsword.  Thus did Agamemnon slay the two sons of Antenor.\n\n\nI-phid'-a-mas.  Co'-on.\n\n\nFor a time, while the wound was warm, the King fought as before; but\nwhen it grew cold and stiff, great pain came upon him, and he leapt\ninto his chariot and bade the charioteer drive him to the ships, for\nhe could fight no more.\n\nNow when Hector saw that Agamemnon, had departed from the battle, he\ncalled aloud to the Trojans and the allies: \"Come on, and play the\nman.  The leader of the Greeks is gone; and Zeus giveth the honour\nunto me.\"\n\nSo he stirred the spirit within them.  As a hunter setteth his dogs\non a wild boar or a lion in the field, so did Hector set the men of\nTroy upon the Greeks, and he himself went among the foremost, and\nplunged into the battle as a storm cometh down upon the sea.  Many\nvaliant men did he slay, till Ulysses called to Diomed: \"Son of\nTydeus, have we forgotten our courage?  Come hither, and stand by me;\nit were shame if Hector should take our ships.\"\n\nStrong Diomed made answer, \"I will, indeed, abide with thee; but it\nwill fare ill with us if Zeus give the mastery to the men of Troy\nrather than to us.\"\n\nSo he spake, and slew a man, and Ulysses another; and afterwards they\nslew two apiece, making head against the men of Troy, and the Greeks,\nas they fled from Hector, gladly took breath and turned again.\n\nHector was quick to see what they did, and he came upon them with a\ncry, and the companies of Troy followed after him.  But when Diomed\nsaw him, he was afraid, and said to Ulysses, \"See, mighty Hector\ncometh against us; let us be firm and stand against him.\"\n\nAnd even as he spake he cast his spear, nor missed his aim.  On the\nhelmet he smote Hector; but the spear glanced from the bronze, nor\nwounded the flesh; for the helmet which Apollo had given him saved\nhim.  But he staggered under the blow, falling on his knee, and\ndarkness came over his eyes.  And when Diomed came after his spear,\nfar through the foremost ranks, to where it had lighted on the\nground, then Hector, breathing again, leapt upon his car, and drove\ninto the midst of the host, avoiding death.\n\nThen Diomed, as he rushed on, with his spear in his hand, cried\naloud: \"Dog, thou hast escaped from death once more; but mischief\ncame near thee.  Apollo hath saved thee, to whom doubtless thou didst\npray ere thou came into the press of war.  But some time I will slay\nthee, if only some god will help.\"\n\nAnd he turned to slay the men of Troy.  But Paris, who was in hiding\nbehind the pillar on the Tomb of Ilus, drew his bow, and smote him\nwith an arrow through the ankle of the right foot.  Loud he boasted\nof his aim.  \"Only,\" he said, \"I would that I had pierced thee in the\nloin; then hadst thou troubled the sons of Troy no more.\"\n\nBut Diomed answered: \"Small good were thy bow to thee, cowardly\narcher, if thou shouldst dare to meet me face to face.  And as for\nthis graze on my foot, I care no more than if a woman or child had\nsmitten me.  Not such the wounds I deal.\"\n\nThen Ulysses stood before him, while he drew the arrow out of his\nfoot.  Grievous was the smart of the wound, for all his brave words.\nTherefore he leapt into his chariot, and bade drive in haste to the\nships; and Ulysses stood alone, and none of the Greeks stood by him,\nfor all were sore afraid.  Then spake he to himself:--\n\n\"What shall I do?  It were much evil to fly before these many foes,\nand yet worse were I to be caught and slain, for truly Zeus hath sent\ngreat fear upon the Greeks.  But why talk I thus?  'Tis only the\ncoward that draweth back from the war; the brave man standeth whether\nhe smite or be smitten.\"\n\nAnd as he spake, the Trojans came about him as men with dogs come\nabout a wild boar who stands at bay, gnashing his white teeth.\nFiercely Ulysses stood at bay, and slew five chiefs of fame.  But one\nof them, before he fell, wounded him on the side, scraping the flesh\nfrom the ribs.  High spurted the blood from the wound, and the\nTrojans shouted to see it.  Then Ulysses cried aloud for help; three\ntimes he cried, and Menelaus heard him, and called to Ajax, saying:--\n\n\"O Ajax, I hear the voice of Ulysses; and he shouteth as if the men\nof Troy had compassed him about, and he was left alone.  Come,\ntherefore, let us help him, lest he come to harm, and the Greeks have\na heavy loss!\"\n\nThus he spake, and led the way, and Ajax followed him; and when they\ncame to Ulysses, the Trojans had beset him, even as the jackals beset\na long-horned hart among the hills, which a hunter hath wounded with\nan arrow from the bow.  From the hunter he flieth, while the wound is\nwarm, but when he groweth weak the jackals tear him.  Then cometh a\nlion, and the jackals flee.  So fled the Trojans when Ajax came and\nstood beside Ulysses.  Then Menelaus took Ulysses by the hand, and\nled him from out the throng.\n\nThen Ajax leapt upon the Trojans and slew many, scouring the plain,\nand killing horse and man.  But Paris, husband of Helen, stayed\nMachaon from the fight, wounding him on the right shoulder with a\nthree-pointed arrow.  Therefore spake Idomeneus to Nestor, \"Quick,\nNestor, mount thy chariot and take Machaon with thee, and drive\nquickly to the ships, for the life of a physician is as the lives of\nmany men!\"\n\nSo Nestor mounted on his chariot, and Machaon stood beside him.  He\ntouched the horses, and they flew right willingly to the ships.\n\nNow Achilles was standing on the stern of his ship, looking at the\nwar, and he saw Nestor carrying Machaon in his chariot to the ships.\nThen he called to Patroclus, and Patroclus, who was in the tent, came\nforth.  Then said Achilles:--\n\n\"Now will the Greeks soon come praying for help, for their need is\nsore.  But go and see who is this whom Nestor is taking to the ships.\nHis shoulders are the shoulders of Machaon, but I saw not his face,\nso swift the horses passed me by.\"\n\nThen Patroclus ran to the tent of Nestor, and stood in the door.  But\nwhen old Nestor saw him, he went and took him by the hand, and would\nhave had him sit down.  But Patroclus would not, saying:--\n\n\"Stay me not.  I came but to see who is this that thou hast brought\nwounded from the battle.  And now I see that it is Machaon.\nTherefore I will return; for thou knowest what manner of man is\nAchilles, that he is hasty and swift to blame.\"\n\nThen said Nestor: \"But what careth Achilles for the Greeks? or why\ndoth he ask who are wounded?  Hear what I say.  It may be that\nAchilles will not go forth to the battle.  But let him send thee\nforth, and the Myrmidons with thee, and let him put his arms upon\nthee, so that the sons of Troy be affrighted, thinking that he is in\nthe battle, and we shall have breathing space.\"\n\nThen Patroclus returned to Achilles.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nTHE BATTLE AT THE WALL\n\nNow by this time the Trojans were close upon the trench.  But the\nhorses stood on the brink, fearing to leap it, for it was broad and\ndeep, and the Greeks had put great stakes therein.  Thus said\nPolydamas.\n\n\nPo-lyd'-a-mas.\n\n\n\"Surely, Hector, this is madness that we strive to cross the trench\nin our chariots, for it is broad and deep, and there are great stakes\ntherein.  Look, too, at this: even if we should be able to cross it,\nhow will the matter stand?  If, indeed, it be the pleasure of Zeus\nthat the Greeks should perish utterly--it will be well.  But if they\nturn upon us and pursue us, driving us back from the ships, then\nshall we not be able to return.  Wherefore let us leave our chariots\nhere upon the brink, and go on foot against the wall.\"\n\nSo they went in five companies, and Hector led that which was bravest\nand largest.  And in each company they joined shield to shield, and\nso went against the Greeks.  And they all left their chariots by the\ntrench, save Asius only.  But Asius drove his chariot right up to\nthat gate which was on the left hand in the wall.  Now the gates\nchanced to be open, for the warders had opened them, so that any of\nthe Greeks that fled might enter.  Now the warders were two mighty\nheroes; and these, when they saw Asius and his company coming, went\nwithout and stood in front of the gates, just as two wild boars stand\nat bay against a crowd of men and dogs.  And all the while they that\nstood on the wall threw heavy stones, which fell, thick as the\nsnowflakes fall in the winter, on the men of Troy, and loud rang the\nhelmets and the shields.  And many fell wounded to the death, nor\ncould Asius, for all his fury, win his way into the walls.  But\nwhere, at another of the gates, Hector led the way, there appeared a\nstrange marvel in the skies, for an eagle was bearing in his claws a\ngreat snake, which it had taken as a prey.  But the snake fought\nfiercely for its life, and writhed itself about, even till it bit the\neagle on the breast.  Thereupon the eagle dropped it into the midst\nof the host, and fled with a loud cry.  Then Polydamas, the wise\ncounsellor, came near to Hector and said:--\n\n\nA'-si-us.\n\n\n\"Now it will be well that we should not follow these Greeks to their\nships.  For I take it that this marvel that we have seen is a sign to\nus.  For as this eagle had caught in his claws a snake, but held it\nnot, dropping it before he could bear it to his young, so shall it\nfare with us.  For we shall drive the Greeks to their ships, yet\nshall not subdue them, but shall return in disorder by the way that\nwe came, leaving full many of our comrades behind us.\"\n\nBut Hector frowned, and answered: \"Nay, but this is ill counsel,\nPolydamas.  Dost thou bid me forget the command of Zeus the\nThunderer, and take heed to birds, how they fly?  Little care I\nwhether they go to the east or to the west, to the right or to the\nleft.  Surely there is but one sign for a brave man, that he be\nfighting for his fatherland.  Therefore take thou heed; for if thou\nholdest back from the war, or holdest back any other, lo! I will\nsmite thee with my spear.\"\n\nThen he sprang forward, and the men of Troy followed him with a\nshout.  And Zeus sent down from Ida a great blast of wind, which bore\nthe dust of the plain straight to the ships, troubling the hearts of\nthe Greeks.  Then the Trojans sought to drag down the battlements\nfrom the wall, and to wrench up the posts which had been set to\nstrengthen it.  Nor did the Greeks give way, but they joined shield\nto shield, and fought for the wall.  And foremost among them were\nAjax the Greater and Ajax the Less.  Just as the snow falls in\nmid-winter, when the winds are hushed, and the mountain-tops are\ncovered, and the plains and the dwellings of men and the very shores\nof the sea, up to the waves' edge, so thickly fell the stones which\nthe Greeks showered from the wall against the men of Troy, and which\nthese again threw upon the Greeks.  And still Hector and his men\navailed not to break through the gate.  But at the last Zeus stirred\nup the heart of his own son, Sarpedon.  Holding his shield before him\nhe went, and he shook in either hand a spear.  As goes a lion, when\nhunger presses him sore, against a stall of oxen or a sheepfold, and\ncares not though he find men and dogs keeping watch against him, so\nSarpedon went against the wall.\n\nAnd on the other hand the Greeks strengthened their ranks within the\nwall, for the matter was of life or death.  Long time they fought\nwith equal might, for neither could the Lycians break through the\nwall of the Greeks and make a way to the ships, nor could the Greeks\ndrive back the Lycians from the wall.  Even as two neighbours,\nstanding with measures in their hands, contend about some boundary,\nso the Lycians and the Greeks contended for the battlements.  And\nmany a man was wounded with the pitiless bronze, either smitten in\nthe back, where he was without defence, or smitten in front through\nhis shield; and all the battlements were bespattered with the blood\nof men.\n\nSo it was till Zeus gave the glory to Hector.  He leapt within the\nwall, and cried to the men of Troy, \"Now follow me, and break down\nthe wall, and burn the ships.\"\n\nSo he spake, and they heard his voice, and rushed together on the\nwall.  Now in front of the gate there lay a great stone, broad at the\nbase and sharp at the top.  Scarce could two men of the strongest,\nsuch as are men in these days, move it with levers on to a wagon; but\nHector lifted it easily, easily as a shepherd carries in one hand the\nfleece of a sheep.  Two folding doors there were in the gates, held\nby bolts and a key, and at these he hurled the great stone, planting\nhis feet apart, that his aim might be the surer and stronger.  With a\nmighty crash it came against the gates.  and the bolts held not\nagainst it, and the hinges were broken, so that the folding doors\nflew back.  Then Hector leapt into the space, holding a spear in\neither hand, and his eyes flashed as fire.  And the men of Troy came\nafter him, some mounting the wall, and some pouring through the gates.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\nTHE BATTLE AT THE SHIPS\n\nAnd when Zeus had brought the Trojans near to the ships, he turned\naway his eyes, and looked upon them no more, for he deemed that none\nof the immortal gods would come to help either Trojan or Greek.  But\nPoseidon was watching the battle from the wooded height of\nSamothrace, whence he could see Ida and Troy and the ships.  And he\npitied the Greeks, when he saw how they fled before Hector, and\npurposed in his heart to help them.  So he left the height of\nSamothrace, and came with four strides to his palace in the depths of\nthe sea.  There he harnessed the horses to his chariot, and rode,\npassing over the waves, and the great beasts of the sea gambolled\nabout him as he went, knowing their king.\n\n\nPo-sei'-don.  Sa-mo-thrace'.\n\n\nHis horses he stabled in a cavern of the sea, and loosed them from\nthe car, and gave them immortal food to eat, and put shackles of gold\nabout their feet.\n\nAnd all the while the men of Troy came on, following Hector, like a\nstorm or a great flame, for they thought to take the ships and to\nslay the Greeks beside them.\n\nBut Poseidon came to the camp of the Greeks, taking upon him the\nshape of Calchas the herald.  First he spake to either Ajax, saying:\n\"Hold fast, ye men of might, so that ye save the people.  For the\nrest of the wall I fear not, but only for the place where Hector\nrages.\"\n\n\nCal'-chas.\n\n\nAnd as he spake, he smote each with his staff, and filled them with\ncourage, and gave strength to hands and feet.  Then he passed from\nthem even as a hawk that riseth from a cliff, chasing a bird.\n\nAnd the Lesser Ajax knew him, and spake to his comrade, saying: \"This\nis some god that bids us fight for the ships; he was not Calchas, for\nI marked the goings of his legs and his feet as he went.  The gods\nare easily discerned.  And verily my heart within me is eager for the\nfight.\"\n\nThe Greater Ajax answered him, \"Even so do my own hands yearn about\nthe spear, and my heart is on fire, and my feet carry me away, and I\nam eager to fight with Hector, even I alone, for all his fury.\"\n\nThen Poseidon went to the other chiefs, going up and down the ranks,\nand urged them to stand fast against their enemies.  But not the less\ndid the men of Troy press on, Hector leading the way.\n\nAnd so loud was the cry of battle that it roused old Nestor where he\nsat in his tent, tending the wounded Machaon.  So he went forth from\nthe tent, seeking King Agamemnon.  And as he went, the King met him,\nand with him were Diomed and Ulysses, who also had been wounded that\nday.  So they held counsel together.  And Agamemnon--for it troubled\nhim sore that the people were slain--would that they should draw down\nthe ships into the sea, and should flee homewards, as soon as the\ndarkness should cover them and the Trojans should cease from the\nbattle.\n\nBut Ulysses would have none of such counsel, saying: \"Now surely, son\nof Atreus, thou art not worthy to rule over us, who have been men of\nwar from our youth.  Wilt thou leave this city, for the taking of\nwhich we have suffered so much?  That may not be; let not any one of\nthe Greeks hear thee say such words.  And what is this, that thou\nwouldst have us launch our ships now, whilst the hosts are fighting?\nSurely, so doing, we should perish together, for the Greeks would not\nfight any more, seeing that the ships were being launched, and the\nmen of Troy would slay us altogether.\"\n\nThen King Agamemnon said, \"Thou speakest well.\"  And he went through\nthe host, bidding the men bear themselves bravely; and all the while\nPoseidon put courage and strength into their hearts; and, on the\nother hand, Hera lulled Zeus to sleep on the heights of Olympus, so\nthat now the battle went against the men of Troy.\n\nAnd Ajax took a great stone--now were there many such which they had\nas props for the ships--and smote Hector above the rim of his shield,\non the neck.  As an oak falls, stricken by the thunder of Zeus, so he\nfell, and the Greeks rushed with a great cry to drag him to them, but\ncould not, for all the bravest of the sons of Troy held their shields\nbefore him.  Then they carried him to the river, and poured water\nupon him.  And after a while he sat up, and then again his spirit\nleft him, for the blow had been very grievous.  But when the Greeks\nsaw that Hector had been carried out of the battle, they pressed on\nthe more, slaying the men of Troy, and driving them back even out of\nthe camp and across the trench.  But when they came to their\nchariots, where they had left them on the other side of the trench,\nthere they stood trembling and pale with fear, as men that flee in\nthe day of battle.\n\nAnd now Zeus woke from his sleep, and he looked upon the earth; and\nhe saw how the Greeks were driving the men of Troy before them, and\nHector lay upon the plain, and vomited blood, and his friends knelt\nabout him.  Senseless he lay, for it was no puny hand that had dealt\nthe blow.  Very wroth was Zeus to see such a sight, and he said to\nHera: \"What is this that thou hast done, sending Hector from the\nbattle?  Rememberest thou not how I hung thee amid the clouds with a\nband of gold about thy hands and an anvil of gold on either foot?\nMake an end of thy deceits, or verily nothing shall protect thee from\nmy wrath.\"  to\n\nThen Hera answered: \"It is Poseidon that afflicts the Trojans, and\nbears up the Greeks.\"\n\nThen said Zeus: \"Call hither Iris and Apollo the Archer; let Iris go\nto Poseidon, and bid him cease from the battle, and let Apollo\nstrengthen Hector, that he may go back to the battle; so shall my\nwill be accomplished, fulfilling the oath that I sware to Thetis of\nthe sea that I would do honour to her son.\"\n\nThen Iris went to Poseidon, and gave him the message of Zeus.  Very\nwroth was the god, and said: \"Thinketh he then to control me by force\nwho am his equal in honour?  Three brethren are we, and the Fates\ngave the sea to me for my dominion, and to Hades the realm of\ndarkness, and to Zeus the heaven; but the earth is for all.  I walk\nnot by the will of Zeus; let him remain in his own possessions, and\nmeddle not.\"\n\nBut Iris answered: \"Shaker of the earth, shall I bear back so rough\nan answer to Zeus?  Surely thou knowest the might of the elder born?\"\n\nThen Poseidon said, \"Iris, thou speakest well; this time will I\nyield, but know that if he shall scorn me and the other gods and let\nTroy stand untaken, and give not victory to the Greeks, there shall\nbe endless feud between him and me.\"\n\nMeanwhile Apollo went, at the bidding of Zeus, to Hector.  He found\nhim sitting up, for the will of Zeus had revived him.  Then spake\nApollo: \"Hector, why sittest thou apart from thy fellows?  Hath\ntrouble come upon thee?\"\n\nHector made reply in a feeble voice: \"Who art thou among the gods\nthat speakest to me?  Knowest thou not that Ajax smote me with a\nmighty stone and stayed me from the battle?  Verily I thought that I\nhad gone down this day to the dwellings of the dead.\"\n\nBut Apollo said: \"Be of good cheer, for Zeus hath sent me, who am\nApollo of the Golden Sword, to stand by thee and to succour thee.\nCome now, and bid thy people advance toward the ships, and I will go\nbefore thee, and make the way easy for thy horses.\"\n\nSo Hector rose up in his might, and entered into the battle.  And as\nmen that chase a stag or a wild goat, and lo! a lion crosseth their\npath, so were the Greeks afraid when they saw Hector, the son of\nPriam.  And one spake, saying:--\n\n\"Surely this is a great marvel that I see with mine eyes.  For we\nthought that Hector had been slain by the hand of Ajax, son of\nTelamon, and now, behold! he is come back to the battle.  Many Greeks\nhave fallen before him, and many, methinks, will fall, for of a truth\nsome god has raised him up and helps him.  But come, let all the\nbravest stand together.  So, mighty though he be, he shall fear to\nenter our array.\"\n\nAnd all the bravest gathered together and stood in the front, but the\nmultitude made for the ships.  But Hector came on, and Apollo before\nhim, and many of the Greeks fell slain before the sons of Troy.  Thus\nthe battle turned again, and came near to the trench; and now Apollo\nmade it easy for the men of Troy to pass, so that they left not their\nchariots, as before, upon the brink, but drave them across.\n\nAnd still the men of Troy came on, and still the Greeks gave way.  So\nthey came again, these pushing forward and these yielding ground, to\nthe ships.  And Hector caught hold of one of them, and the battle\nraged about it; for the men of Troy and the Greeks were gathered\nround, and none fought with arrows or javelins from afar, but man to\nman, with battle-axe and sword and great spears pointed at either\nend.  And many a fair weapon lay shattered on the ground, and the\nearth flowed with blood as with a river.  But still Hector held the\nstem of the ship with his hand, and called to the men of Troy that\nthey should bring fire, for Zeus had given them the victory that day.\nThen even Ajax himself gave way, so did the spears of the Trojans\npress him; for now he stood no longer upon the stern deck, but on the\nrowers' bench, thrusting thence with his spear at any one who sought\nto set fire to the ship.  And ever he cried to the Greeks with a\nterrible voice:--\n\n\"O ye Greeks! now must ye bear yourselves like men.  For have ye any\nhelpers behind? or have ye any walls to shelter you?  We are here in\nthe plain of Troy, and the sea is close behind us, and we are far\nfrom our country.  Wherefore all our hope is in valour, and not in\nshrinking back from the battle.\"\n\nAnd still he thrust with his spear, if any of the men of Troy, at\nHector's bidding, sought to bring fire against the ships.  Full\ntwelve he wounded where he stood.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\nTHE DEEDS AND DEATH OF PATROCLUS\n\nNow Patroclus stood by Achilles, weeping bitterly.  Then said\nAchilles: \"What ails thee, Patroclus, that thou weepest like a\ngirl-child that runs along by her mother's side, and would be taken\nup, holding her gown, and looking at her with tearful eyes till she\nlift her in her arms?  Hast thou heard evil news from home?  Or art\nthou weeping for the Greeks, because they perish for their folly?\"\n\nThen said Patroclus: \"Be not wroth with me, great Achilles, for\nindeed the Greeks are in grievous straits, and all their bravest are\nwounded, and still thou cherishest thy wrath.  If thou goest not to\nthe battle, fearing some warning from the gods, let me go, and thy\nMyrmidons with me.  And let me put thy armour on me; so shall the\nGreeks have breathing-space from the war.\"\n\nSo he spake, entreating, nor knew that for his own doom he entreated.\nAnd Achilles made reply:--\n\n\"It is no warning that I heed, that I keep back from the war.  These\nmen took from me my prize, which I won with my own hands.  But let\nthe past be past.  I said that I would not rise up till the battle\nshould come nigh to my own ships.  But thou mayest put my armour upon\nthee, and lead my Myrmidons to the fight.  For in truth the men of\nTroy are gathered as a dark cloud about the ships, and the Greeks\nhave scarce standing-ground between them and the sea.  For they see\nnot the gleam of my helmet, and Diomed is not there with his spear;\nnor do I hear the voice of Agamemnon, but only the voice of Hector,\nas he calls the men of Troy to the battle.  Go, therefore, Patroclus,\nand drive the fire from the ships.  And then come thou back, nor\nfight any more with the Trojans, lest thou take my glory from me.\nAnd go not near, in the delight of battle, to the walls of Troy, lest\none of the gods meet thee to thy hurt: for the keen-archer Apollo\nloves the Trojans well.\"\n\nBut as they talked the one to the other, Ajax could hold out no\nlonger.  For swords and javelins came thick upon him, and clattered\non his helmet, and his shoulder was weary with the great shield which\nhe held; and he breathed heavily and hard, and the great drops of\nsweat fell upon the ground.  Then at the last Hector came near and\nsmote his spear with a great sword, so that the head fell off.  Then\nwas Ajax sore afraid, and gave way, and the men of Troy set torches\nto the ship's stem, and a great flame shot up to the sky.  And\nAchilles saw it, and smote his thigh and spake:--\n\n\"Haste thee, Patroclus, for I see the fire rising up from the ships.\nPut thou on the armour, and I will call my people to the war.\"\n\nSo Patroclus put on the armour,--corselet, and shield, and\nhelmet,--and bound upon his shoulder the silver-studded sword, and\ntook a mighty spear in his hand.  But the great spear of Achilles he\ntook not, for that no man but Achilles might wield.  Then Automedon\nyoked the horses to the chariot, Bayard and Piebald, and with them in\nthe side harness, Pedasus; and the two first were deathless steeds,\nbut the third was mortal.\n\n\nAu-tom'-e-don.  Ped'-a-sus.\n\n\nMeanwhile Achilles had called the Myrmidons to battle.  Fifty ships\nhad he brought to Troy, and in each there were fifty men.\n\nThen Achilles said: \"Forget not, ye Myrmidons, the bold words that ye\nspake against the men of Troy during the days of my wrath, making\ncomplaint that I kept you from the battle against your will.  Now,\ntherefore, ye have that which ye desired.\"\n\nSo the Myrmidons went to the battle in close array, helmet to helmet\nand shield to shield, close as the stones with which a builder builds\na wall And in front went Patroclus, and Automedon in the chariot\nbeside him.  Then Achilles went to his tent and took from the chest a\ngreat cup, which Thetis his mother had given him.  Now no man drank\nof that cup but he only, nor did he pour out of it offerings to any\nof the gods except to Zeus.  This first he cleansed with sulphur, and\nthen with water from the spring.  And after this he washed his hands,\nand stood in the midst of the space before his tent, and poured out\nof it to Zeus, saying, \"O Zeus, I send my comrade to this battle;\nmake him strong and bold, and give him glory, and bring him home safe\nto the ships, and my people with him.\"\n\nSo he prayed, and Father Zeus heard him, and part he granted and part\ndenied.\n\nBut now Patroclus with the Myrmidons had come to where the battle was\nraging about the ships, and when the men of Troy beheld him, they\nthought that Achilles had forgotten his wrath and was come forth to\nthe war.  Then the men of Troy turned to flee, and many chiefs of\nfame fell by the spears of the Greeks.  So the battle rolled back to\nthe trench, and in the trench many chariots of the Trojans were\nbroken, but the horses of Achilles went across it at a stride, so\nnimble were they and strong.  And the heart of Patroclus was set to\nslay Hector; but he could not overtake him, so swift were his horses.\nThen did Patroclus turn his chariot, and keep back those that fled,\nand rushed hither and thither, still slaying as he went.\n\nBut Sarpedon, when he saw the Lycians dismayed and scattered, called\nto them that they should be of good courage, saying that he would\nhimself make trial of this great warrior.  So he leapt down from his\nchariot, and Patroclus also leapt down, and they rushed at each other\nas two eagles rush together.  And Sarpedon, who had a spear in either\nhand, with the one struck the horse Pedasus, which was of mortal\nbreed, on the right shoulder, and with the other missed his aim,\nsending it over the left shoulder of Patroclus.  But Patroclus missed\nnot his aim, driving his spear into Sarpedon's heart.  Then fell the\ngreat Lycian chief, as an oak, or a poplar, or a pine falls upon the\nhills before the axe.  But he called to Glaucus, his companion,\nsaying: \"Now must thou show thyself a good warrior, Glaucus.  First\ncall the men of Lycia to fight for me, and do thou fight thyself, for\nit would be foul shame to thee, all thy days, if the Greeks should\nspoil me of my arms.\"\n\nThen with a great shout the Lycians and the Trojans charged, and\ndrove the Greeks back a space from the body; and then again the\nGreeks did the like.  And so the battle raged, till no one would have\nknown the great Sarpedon, so covered was he with spears and blood and\ndust.  But at the last the Greeks drave back the men of Troy from the\nbody, and stripped the arms, but the body itself they harmed not.\nFor Apollo came down at the bidding of Zeus and carried it out of the\nmidst of the battle, and washed it with water, and anointed it with\nambrosia, and wrapped it in garments of the gods.  And then he gave\nit to Sleep and Death, and these two carried it to Lycia, his\nfatherland.\n\nThen did Patroclus forget the word which Achilles had spoken to him,\nthat he should not go near to Troy, for he pursued the men to the\ncity, even to the wall.  Thrice he mounted on the angle of the wall,\nand thrice Apollo himself drove him back, pushing his shining shield.\nBut the fourth time the god said: \"Go thou back, Patroclus.  It is\nnot for thee to take the city of Troy; no, nor for Achilles, who is\nfar better than thou art.\"\n\nSo Patroclus went back, fearing the wrath of the archer god.  Then\nApollo stirred up the spirit of Hector, that he should go against\nPatroclus.  Therefore he went, with his brother Cebriones for driver\nof his chariot.  But when they came near, Patroclus cast a great\nstone which he had in his hand, and smote Cebriones on the forehead,\ncrushing it in, so that he fell headlong from the chariot.  And\nPatroclus mocked him, saying:--\n\n\nCeb-ri'-o-nes.\n\n\n\"How nimble is this man! how lightly he dives!  What spoil he would\ntake of oysters, diving from a ship, even in a stormy sea!  Who would\nhave thought that there were such skilful divers in Troy!\"\n\nThen again the battle waxed hot about the body of Cebriones, and this\ntoo, at the last, the Greeks drew unto themselves, and spoiled it of\nthe arms.  And this being accomplished, Patroclus rushed against the\nmen of Troy.  Thrice he rushed, and each time he slew nine chiefs of\nfame.  But the fourth time Apollo stood behind him and struck him on\nthe head and shoulders, so that his eyes were darkened.  And the\nhelmet fell from off his head, so that the horse-hair plumes were\nsoiled with dust.  Never before had it touched the ground, for it was\nthe helmet of Achilles.  And also the god brake the spear in his\nhand, and struck the shield from his arms, and loosed his corselet.\nAll amazed he stood, and then Euphorbus smote him on the back with\nhis spear, but slew him not.  Then Patroclus sought to flee to the\nranks of his comrades.  But Hector saw him, and thrust at him with\nhis spear, smiting him in the groin, so that he fell.  And when the\nGreeks saw him fail, they sent up a terrible cry.  Then Hector stood\nover him and cried:--\n\n\"Didst thou think to spoil our city, Patroclus, and to carry away our\nwives and daughters in the ships?  But lo! I have slain thee, and the\nfowls of the air shall eat thy flesh; nor shall the great Achilles\nhelp thee at all--  Achilles, who bade thee strip the tunic from my\nbreast, and thou thoughtest in thy folly to do it.\"\n\n\nEu-phor'-bus.\n\n\nBut Patroclus answered: \"Thou boasteth much, Hector.  Yet thou didst\nnot slay me, but Apollo, who took from me my arms, for had twenty\nsuch as thou met me, I had slain them all.  And mark thou this: death\nand fate are close to thee by the hand of the great Achilles.\"\n\nAnd Hector answered, but Patroclus was dead already: \"Why dost thou\nprophesy death to me?  May be the great Achilles himself shall fall\nby my hand.\n\nThen he drew his spear from the wound, and went after Automedon, to\nslay him, but the swift horses of Achilles carried him away.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI\n\nTHE ROUSING OF ACHILLES\n\nFierce was the fight about the body of Patroclus, and many heroes\nfell, both on this side and on that, and first of them all Euphorbus,\nwho first had wounded him.  For as he came near to strip the dead man\nof his arms, Menelaus slew him with his spear.  He slew him, but took\nnot his arms, for Hector came through the battle; nor did Menelaus\ndare to abide his coming, but went back into the ranks of his own\npeople.  Then did Hector strip off the arms of Patroclus, the arms\nwhich the great Achilles had given him to wear.  Then he laid hold of\nthe body, and would have dragged it into the host of the Trojans, but\nAjax Telamon came forth, and put his broad shield before it, as a\nlion stands before its cubs when the hunters meet it in the woods,\ndrawing down over its eyes its shaggy brows.  Then Hector gave place,\nbut Glaucus saw him, and said:--\n\n\"Now is this a shame to thee, that thou darest not to stand against\nAjax.  How wilt thou and thy countrymen save the city of Troy?  For\nsurely no more will thy allies fight for it.  Small profit have they\nof thee.  Did not Sarpedon fall, and didst thou not leave him to be a\nprey to the dogs?  And now, if thou hadst stood firm and carried off\nPatroclus, we might have made exchange, and gained from the Greeks\nSarpedon and his arms.  But it may not be, for thou fearest Ajax, and\nfleest before him.\"\n\nBut Hector said: \"I fear him not, nor any man.  Only Zeus giveth\nvictory now to one man and now to another.  But wait thou here, and\nsee whether I be a coward, as thou sayest.\"\n\nNow he had sent the armour of Patroclus to the city.  But now he ran\nafter those that were carrying it, and overtook them, and put on the\narmour himself (but Zeus saw him doing it, and liked it not), and\ncame back to the battle; and all who saw him thought that it had been\nthe great Achilles himself.  Then they all charged together, and\nfiercer grew the battle and fiercer as the day went on.  For the\nGreeks said one to another: \"Now had the earth better yawn and\nswallow us up alive, than we should let the men of Troy carry off\nPatroclus to their city;\" and the Trojans said: \"Now if we must all\nfall by the body of this man, be it so, but we will not yield.\"  But\nthe horses of Achilles stood apart from the battle, when they knew\nthat Patroclus was dead, and wept.  Nor could Automedon move them\nwith the lash, nor with gentle words, nor with threats.  They would\nnot return to the ships, nor would they go into the battle; but as a\npillar stands on the tomb of some dead man, so they stood, with their\nheads drooped to the ground, and with big tears dropping to the\nearth, and their long manes trailing in the dust.\n\nBut Father Zeus beheld them, and pitied them, and said:--\n\n\"It was not well that we gave you, immortal as ye are, to a mortal\nman; for of all things that, move on earth, mortal man is the fullest\nof sorrow.  But Hector shall not possess you.  It is enough for him,\nyea, and too much, that he hath the arms of Achilles.\"\n\nThen did the horses move from their place, and obey their charioteers\nas before.  Nor could Hector take them, though he desired them very\nmuch.  And all the while the battle raged about the dead Patroclus.\nAnd at last Ajax said to Menelaus (now these two had borne themselves\nmore bravely in the fight than all others):--\n\n\"See if thou canst find Antilochus, Nestor's son, that he may carry\nthe tidings to Achilles, how that Patroclus is dead.\"\n\n\nAn-til'-o-chus.\n\n\nSo Menelaus went and found Antilochus on the left of the battle, and\nsaid to him: \"I have ill news for thee.  Thou seest that the men of\nTroy have the victory to-day.  And also Patroclus lies dead.  Run,\ntherefore, to Achilles, and tell him, if haply he may save the body;\nbut as for the arms, Hector has them already.\"\n\nSore dismayed was Antilochus to hear such tidings, and his eyes were\nfilled with tears, and his voice was choked.  Yet did he give heed to\nthe words of Menelaus, and ran to tell Achilles of what had chanced.\nBut Menelaus went back to Ajax, where he had left him by Patroclus,\nand said:--\n\n\"Antilochus, indeed, bears the tidings to Achilles.  Yet I doubt\nwhether he will come, for all his wrath against Hector, seeing that\nhe has no armour to cover him.  Let us think, then, how we may best\ncarry Patroclus away from the men of Troy.\"\n\nThen said Ajax, \"Do thou and Meriones run forward and raise the body\nin your arms, and I and Ajax the Less will keep off, meanwhile, the\nmen of Troy.\"\n\n\nMe-ri'-o-nes.\n\n\nSo Menelaus and Meriones ran forward and lifted up the body, And the\nTrojans ran forward with a great shout when they saw them, as dogs\nrun barking before the hunters when they chase a wild boar; but when\nthe beast turns to bay, then they flee this way and that.  So did the\nmen of Troy flee when Ajax the Greater and Ajax the Less turned to\ngive battle.  But still the Greeks gave way, and still the Trojans\ncame on, and ever in the front were Hector, the son of Priam, and\n\u00c6neas, the son of Anchises.  But in the meantime Antilochus came near\nto Achilles, who, indeed, seeing that the Greeks fled and the men of\nTroy pursued, was already sore afraid.  And he said, weeping as he\nspake:--\n\n\nAn-chi'-ses.\n\n\n\"I bring ill news,--Patroclus lies low.  The Greeks fight for his\nbody, but Hector has his arms.\"\n\nThen Achilles took of the dust of the plain in his hand, and poured\nit on his head, and lay at his length upon the ground, and tare his\nhair.  And all the women wailed.  And Antilochus sat weeping; but\never he held the hands of Achilles, lest he should slay himself in\nhis great grief.\n\nThen came his mother, hearing his cry, from where she sat in the\ndepths of the sea, and laid her hand on him and said:--\n\n\"Why weepest thou, my son?  Hide not the matter from me, but tell me.\"\n\nAnd Achilles answered: \"All that Zeus promised thee for me he hath\nfulfilled.  But what profit have I, for my friend Patroclus is dead,\nand Hector has the arms which I gave him to wear.  And as for me, I\ncare not to live, except I can avenge me upon him.\"\n\nThen said Thetis: \"Nay, my son, speak not thus.  For when Hector\ndieth, thy doom also is near.\"\n\nAnd Achilles spake in great wrath: \"Would that I might die this hour,\nseeing that I could not help my friend, but am a burden on the\nearth--I, who am better in battle than all the Greeks besides.\nCursed be the wrath that sets men to strive the one with the other,\neven as it set me to strive with King Agamemnon!  But let the past be\npast.  And as for my fate--let it come when it may, so that I first\navenge myself on Hector.  Therefore, seek not to keep me back from\nthe battle.\"\n\nThen Thetis said: \"Be it so; only thou canst not go without thy arms,\nwhich Hector hath.  But to-morrow will I go to Heph\u00e6stus, that he may\nfurnish thee anew.\"\n\nBut while they talked the men of Troy pressed the Greeks more and\nmore, and the two heroes, Ajax the Greater and Ajax the Less, could\nno longer keep Hector back, but that he should lay hold of the body\nof Patroclus.  And indeed he would have taken it, but that Zeus sent\nIris to Achilles, who said:--\n\n\"Rouse thee, son of Peleus, or Patroclus will be a prey for the dogs\nof Troy!\"\n\nBut Achilles said: \"How shall I go?--for arms have I none, nor know I\nwhose I might wear.\"\n\nThen answered Iris, \"Go only to the trench and show thyself; so shall\nthe men of Troy tremble and cease from the battle, and the Greeks\nshall have breathing-space.\"\n\nThen went he to the trench; with the battle he mingled not, heeding\nhis mother's commands, but he shouted aloud, and his voice was as the\nsound of a trumpet.  And when the men of Troy heard, they were\nstricken with fear, and the horses backed with the chariots, and the\ndrivers were astonished when they saw the flaming fire above his head\nwhich Athene had kindled.  Thrice across the trench the great\nAchilles shouted, and thrice the men of Troy fell back.  And that\nhour there perished twelve chiefs of fame, wounded by their own\nspears or trampled by their own steeds, so great was the terror among\nthe men of Troy.\n\nRight gladly did the Greeks take Patroclus out of the press.  Then\nthey laid him on a bier, and carried him to the tent, Achilles\nwalking with many tears by his side.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII\n\nTHE MAKING OF THE ARMS\n\nAnd Achilles stood among his Myrmidons and said:--\n\n\"Vain was the promise that I made to Men\u0153tius that I would bring\nback his son with his portion of the spoils of Troy.  For he lies\ndead, nor shall I return to the house of Peleus, my father, for I,\ntoo, must die in this land.  But thee, O Patroclus, I will not bury\ntill I bring hither the head and the arms of Hector, and twelve men\nof Troy to slay at thy funeral pile.\"\n\n\nMen-\u0153'-ti-us.\n\n\nSo they washed the body of Patroclus and anointed it, putting\nointment nine years old into the wounds, and laid it on a bed, and\ncovered it with a linen cloth from the head to the feet, and laid a\nwhite robe over it.  All night the Myrmidons mourned for Patroclus\ndead.\n\nBut Thetis went to the house of Heph\u00e6stus.  She found him busy at his\nwork, making twenty cauldrons with three feet, that were to stand\nabout the house of the gods.  Golden wheels had they beneath, that\nthey might go of their own motion into the chambers of the gods, and\nof their own motion return.  But Grace, the wife of Heph\u00e6stus, espied\nThetis, and caught her by the hands, and led her in, and set her on a\nsilver-studded chair, and put a chair beneath her feet.  Then she\ncalled to her husband, saying:--\n\n\"Come quick.  Thetis would have somewhat of thee.\"\n\nAnd he said: \"Verily, she was my saviour in the day of trouble; for\nmy mother cast me out because I was lame, but Thetis and her sister\nreceived me in the sea.  Nine years I dwelt with them, and hammered\nmany a trinket in a hollow cave.  Verily, I would pay the price of my\nlife for Thetis.\"\n\nThen he put away his tools, and washed himself, and took a staff in\nhis hand, and came into the house, and sat upon a chair, and said:\n\"Speak all thy mind.  I will do thy pleasure, if it can be done.\"\n\nThen did Thetis tell him of her son Achilles, and of the wrong that\nhad been done to him, and of his wrath, and of how Patroclus was\ndead, and that the arms that he had had were lost.\n\n\"Make me now,\" she said, \"for him a shield and a helmet, and greaves,\nand a corselet.\"\n\n\ngreaves, armour for the legs.\n\n\nAnd Heph\u00e6stus answered: \"Be of good cheer.  Would that I could keep\nfrom him the doom of death as easily as I can make him such arms that\na man will wonder when he looks upon them.\"\n\nThen he went to his smithy, and turned the bellows to the fire, and\nbade them work.  Also he put bronze and tin and gold and silver into\nthe fire, to melt them, and set the anvil, and took the hammer in one\nhand, and the tongs in the other.\n\nFirst he made a shield, great and strong, and fastened thereto a belt\nof silver.  On it he wrought the earth, and the sky, and the sea, and\nthe sun, and the moon, and all the stars.  He wrought also two\ncities.  In the one there was peace, and about the other there was\nwar.  For in the first they led a bride to her home with music and\ndancing, and the women stood in the doors to see the show, but about\nthe other city there sat an army besieging it, and the men of the\ncity stood upon the wall defending it.  These had also set an ambush\nby a river where the herds were wont to drink.  And when the herds\ncame down, they rose up and took them and slew the herdsmen.  But the\narmy of the besiegers heard the cry, and came swiftly on horses, and\nfought by the bank of the river.  Also he wrought one field where\nmany men drove the plough, and another where reapers reaped the corn,\nand boys gathered it in their arms to bind into sheaves, while the\nlord stood glad at heart, beholding them.  Also he wrought a\nvineyard, wherein was a path, and youths and maidens bearing baskets\nof grapes, and in the midst a boy played on a harp of gold and sang a\npleasant song.  Also he made a herd of oxen going from the stables to\nthe pastures, and herdsmen and dogs, and in the front two lions had\ncaught a mighty bull and were devouring it, while the dogs stood far\noff and barked.  Also he made a sheepfold; also a marvellous dance of\nmen and maidens, and these had coronets of gold, and those daggers of\ngold hanging from belts of silver.  And round about the shield he\nwrought the great river of ocean.\n\nBesides the shield, he also made corselet brighter than fire, and a\ngreat helmet with a ridge of gold for the crest, and greaves of tin.\nAnd when he had finished all the armour, he set them before the\nmother of Achilles.  Like to a hawk did she leap from Olympus,\ncarrying them to her son.  And when she came to the ships, she found\nhim lying on the earth with his arms about the body of Patroclus,\nweeping aloud, and his men stood about lamenting.\n\nThe goddess stood in the midst, and clasped her son by the hand, and\nspake: \"Come, now, let us leave the dead man; for he hath been slain\naccording to the ordering of the gods.  And do thou receive from\nHeph\u00e6stus this armour, exceeding beautiful, such as man never yet\nwore upon his shoulders.\"\n\nSo she spake, and cast the armour before Achilles.  Loud did it\nrattle as it fell, and the Myrmidons feared to look upon the sight.\nBut Achilles took the splendid armour into his hand, and was glad,\nand spake, saying: \"Mother, the gods have given me arms, such as it\nis fitting should be made in heaven, and I vow I will arm me for the\nfight.  Yet much I fear that decay will mar the body of Patroclus,\nnow that the life hath gone from out of it.\"\n\nBut Thetis made answer: \"Let not this trouble thee; I will keep decay\nfrom his flesh, yea, though he should lie here till the year come\nround again.  Go, then, and call the people to the assembly, and put\naway thy wrath against King Agamemnon, and arm thyself for the\nbattle.\"\n\nSo she spake, putting trust and valour into his soul; and into the\nnostrils of the dead man she poured ambrosia and ruddy nectar, that\nhis flesh might be sweet.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII\n\nTHE ENDING OF THE STRIFE\n\nAchilles went along the shore of the sea, shouting aloud to the\nwarriors.  And at his call they came; and also Diomed and Ulysses\ncame to the assembly, leaning on spears, for their wounds were fresh,\nand King Agamemnon.\n\nThen Achilles stood up, and spake: \"It was ill done, son of Atreus,\nthat we strove for a woman!  Would that Artemis had slain her with an\narrow on the day when I took her captive!  Many a Greek who hath now\nbitten the ground had then lived, and the Trojans had not reaped such\nprofit from our wrath.  But come, let the past be past.  Here I make\nan end of my anger.  And now make haste, and send the Greeks to\nbattle.  Let us see whether the men of Troy will camp beside the\nships.\"\n\nThen said Agamemnon, speaking from his place: \"Listen, ye Greeks.\nOft have ye blamed me for this quarrel.  Yet it was not I that was in\nfault; rather it was Zeus and Fate, and the Fury that walketh in\ndarkness.  But to thee, Achilles, I make full amends, for here I\noffer thee the gifts which Ulysses promised thee yesterday.  Stay for\na time, while my people bring them from my ships.\"\n\nTo him Achilles made answer: \"Give thy gifts, O King, if it be thy\nwill, or keep them to thyself.  But let us turn without delay to the\nbattle.\"\n\nThen spake the wise Ulysses: \"Achilles, urge not the Greeks to enter\nfasting into the battle: for verily the strife will not be short.  A\nman that hath not eaten cannot fight till set of sun, for his limbs\ngrow heavy unawares, and he is hindered by hunger and thirst.  Bid,\ntherefore, the people disperse, and make ready their food.\nMeanwhile, let King Agamemnon send for the gifts and deliver them to\nthee in full assembly.  And afterwards let him furnish a feast.\"\n\nThen said the King: \"Thou speakest well, Ulysses.  Do them thyself\nfetch the gifts, and let the herald fetch us a boar, that we may do\nsacrifice to Zeus and to the Sun.\"\n\nBut Achilles said: \"Now the dead whom Hector slew lieth low, and ye\nbid me think of food.  Let the Greeks enter fasting into battle, and\nmake them a great supper when the sun goes down.  As for me, neither\nfood nor drink shall pass my lips.\"\n\nTo him Ulysses made reply: \"Thou art the stronger, son of Peleus, yet\nI may be the wiser, for I am older than thou, and of more experience.\nAsk not the Greeks to fast because of the dead.  Verily they fall\nevery day.  Rather let us bury him that dieth, and bewail him for a\nday, and harden our hearts to forget: and then let us who are left\neat and drink, that we may fight with better heart.\"\n\nThen did Ulysses go to the tent of the King; and they brought thence\nthe gifts, the treasure, and twelve horses, and seven women, skilled\nworkers with the needle, and the fair Briseis the eighth.\n\nThese the Myrmidons took to the tent of Achilles.  But when Briseis\nsaw Patroclus, she beat her breast and her fair face and neck, and\nwailed aloud, for he had been gentle and good, she said.  And all the\nwomen wailed with her, thinking each of her own sorrows.\n\nThen the chiefs would have Achilles feast with them; but he hearkened\nnot, for he would neither eat nor drink till he had had vengeance for\nthe dead.  And he spake, saying: \"Often, Patroclus, hast thou ordered\nthe feast when we were hastening to the war.  And now thou liest\nslain, and for grief for thee I cannot eat nor drink.  For greater\nsorrow could not have come to me.  Often did I think that I only\nshould perish here, but that thou shouldst return and show my son all\nthat was mine, goods and servants and palace.\"\n\nAnd as he wept, the old men wept with him, thinking each of what he\nhad left at home.\n\nBut Zeus said to Athene: \"Carest thou not for Achilles that is so\ndear to thee?  See, the other Greeks are gone to their meal, but he\nsits fasting.\"\n\nThen Athene leapt down from heaven, and shed into the breast of\nAchilles nectar and ambrosia, that his knees should not fail from\nhunger.\n\nMeanwhile the Greeks poured out to battle, and in the midst Achilles\narmed himself.  He put the lordly greaves about his legs, and fitted\nthe corselet on his breast.  From his shoulders he hung the sword,\nand he took the great shield that Heph\u00e6stus had made, and it blazed\nas it were the heaven.  Also he put the helmet on his head, and the\nplumes waved all around.  Then he made trial of the arms, and they\nfitted him well, and bare him up like wings.  Last he drew from its\ncase his father's spear, which none might wield but Achilles' self.\nThen he spake to his horses: \"Take heed, Bayard and Piebald, that ye\nsave your driver to-day, nor leave him dead on the field, as ye left\nPatroclus.\"\n\nThen Hera gave to the horse Bayard a voice, so that he spake: \"Surely\nwe will save thee, great Achilles; yet for all that, doom is near to\nthee, nor are we the cause, but the gods and mastering Fate.  Nor was\nit of us that Patroclus died, but Apollo slew him and gave the glory\nto Hector.  So shalt thou, too, die by the hands of a god and of a\nmortal man.\"\n\nAnd Achilles said: \"What need to tell me of my doom?  Right well I\nknow it.  Yet will I not cease till I have made the Trojans weary of\nbattle.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX\n\nTHE BATTLE AT THE RIVER\n\nThus did Achilles go again into the battle, eager above all things to\nmeet with Hector and to slay him.\n\nBut Apollo stood by \u00c6neas, and spake to him, \"\u00c6neas, where are now\nthy boastings that thou wouldst meet Achilles face to face?\"\n\nThen \u00c6neas answered: \"Nay, I have stood up against him in the day\nwhen he took the town of Lyrnessus.  But I fled before him, and only\nmy nimble feet saved me from falling by his spear.  Surely a god is\never with him, making his spear to fly aright.\"\n\n\nLyr-nes'-sus.\n\n\nHim Apollo answered again: \"Thou, too, art the son of a goddess, and\nthy mother is greater than his, for she is but a daughter of the Sea.\nDrive straight at him with thy spear, and let not his threats dismay\nthee.\"\n\nThen \u00c6neas cast his spear, and it struck the shield of Achilles with\nso dreadful a sound that the hero feared lest it should pierce it\nthrough, knowing not that the gifts of the gods are not easy for\nmortal man to vanquish.  Two folds, indeed, it pierced, that were of\nbronze, but in the gold it was stayed, and there were yet two of tin\nwithin.  Then Achilles cast his spear.  Through the shield of \u00c6neas\nit passed, and though it wounded him not, yet was he sore dismayed,\nso near it came.  Then Achilles drew his sword, and rushed on \u00c6neas,\nand \u00c6neas caught up a great stone to cast at him.  But it was not the\nwill of the gods that \u00c6neas should perish, seeing that he and his\nsons after him should rule over the men of Troy in the ages to come.\nTherefore Poseidon lifted him up, and bore him over the ranks of men\nto the left of the battle, but first he drew the spear out of the\nshield, and laid it at the feet of Achilles.  Much the hero marvelled\nto see it, crying: \"This is a great wonder that I behold with mine\neyes.  For I see my spear before me, but the man whom I sought to\nslay I see not.  Of a truth \u00c6neas spake truth, saying that he was\ndear to the immortal gods.\"\n\nThen he rushed into the battle, slaying as he went.  And Hector would\nhave met him, but Apollo stood by him, and said, \"Fight not with\nAchilles, lest he slay thee.\"  Therefore he went back among the men\nof Troy.  Many did Achilles slay, and among them Polydorus, son of\nPriam, who, because he was the youngest and very dear, his father\nsuffered not to go to the battle.  Yet he went, in his folly, and\nbeing very swift of foot, he trusted in his speed, running through\nthe foremost of the fighters.  But as he ran, Achilles smote him, and\nwounded him to the death.  When Hector saw it, he could not bear any\nmore to stand apart.  Therefore he rushed at Achilles, and Achilles\nrejoiced to see him, saying, \"This is the man who slew my comrade.\"\nAnd to Hector he cried, \"Come hither, and taste of death.\"\n\n\nPol-y-do'-rus.\n\n\nAnd Hector made answer: \"Son of Peleus, seek not to make me afraid\nwith words.  For though I be weaker than thou, yet victory lieth on\nthe knees of the gods, and I, too, bear a spear.\"\n\nThen he cast his spear; but Athene turned it aside with her breath,\nand laid it again at his feet.  And when Achilles leapt upon Hector\nwith a shout, Apollo snatched him away.  Three times did Achilles\nleap upon him, and three times he struck only the mist.  But the\nfourth time he cried with a terrible voice, \"Dog, thou hast escaped\nfrom death, Apollo helping thee; but I shall meet thee again, and\nmake an end of thee.\"\n\nThen Achilles turned to the others, and slew multitudes of them, so\nthat they fled, some across the plain, and some to the river, the\neddying Xanthus.  And these leapt into the water as locusts leap into\na river when a fire which men light drives them from the fields.  And\nall the river was full of horses and men.  Then Achilles leapt into\nthe stream, leaving his spear on the bank, resting on the tamarisk\ntrees.  Only his sword had he, and with this he slew many; and they\nwere as fishes which fly from some great dolphin in the sea.  And\nwhen Achilles was weary of slaying, he took twelve alive, whom he\nwould slay on the tomb of Patroclus.\n\nThen there met him Asterop\u00e6us, who was the grandson of a river-god\nAxius.  And Achilles wondered to see him, and said, \"Who art thou,\nthat standest against me?\"\n\n\nAs-ter-o-p\u00e6'-us.  Ax'-i-us.\n\n\nAnd he said, \"I am the grandson of the river-god Axius, fairest of\nall the streams on the earth.\"\n\nAnd as he spake he cast two spears, one with each hand, for he could\nuse either alike; and the one struck the shield, nor pierced it\nthrough, for the gold stayed it, and the other grazed the right hand\nso that the blood spurted forth.  Then did Achilles cast his spear,\nbut missed his aim, and the great spear stood fast in the bank.  And\nthrice Asterop\u00e6us strove to draw it forth.  Thrice he strove in vain,\nand the fourth time he strove to break the spear.  But as he strove\nAchilles smote him so that he died.  Yet had he some glory, for he\nhad wounded the great Achilles.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX\n\nTHE BATTLE OF THE GODS\n\nWhen the River saw that Asterop\u00e6us was dead, he took upon him the\nshape of a man, and spake to Achilles, saying: \"Truly, Achilles, thou\nexcellest all other men in might and deeds of blood, for the gods\nthemselves protect thee.  It may be that Zeus hath given thee to slay\nall the sons of Troy; nevertheless, depart from me and work thy will\nupon the plain; for my stream is choked with the multitude of\ncorpses, nor can I pass to the sea.  Do thou, therefore, cease from\ntroubling me.\"\n\nTo him Achilles made answer: \"This shall be as thou wilt, O\nScamander.  But the Trojans I will not cease from slaying till I have\ndriven them into their city and have made trial of Hector, whether I\nshall vanquish him or he shall vanquish me.\"\n\nAnd as he spake he sped on, pursuing the Trojans.  Then the River\ncried to Apollo: \"Little thou doest the will of thy father, thou of\nthe Silver Bow, who bade thee stand by the men of Troy and help them\ntill darkness should cover the land.\"  And he rushed on with a great\nwave, stirring together all his streams.  The dead bodies he threw\nupon the shore, roaring as a bull roareth; and them that lived he hid\nin the depth of his eddies.  And all about Achilles rose up the\nflood, beating full upon his shield, so that he could not stand fast\nupon his feet.  Then Achilles laid hold of a lime tree, fair and\ntall, that grew upon the bank; but the tree brake therefrom with all\nits roots, and tare down the bank, and lay across the River, staying\nits flow, for it had many branches.  Thereupon Achilles leapt out of\nthe water and sped across the plain, being sore afraid.  But the\nRiver ceased not from pursuing him, that he might stay him from\nslaughter and save the sons of Troy.  So far as a man may throw a\nspear, so far did Achilles leap.  And still as he fled the River\npursued after him with a great roar.\n\nAnd when Achilles would have stood against the River, seeking to know\nwhether indeed all the gods were against him, then the great wave\nsmote upon his shoulders; and when he leapt into the air, it bowed\nhis knees beneath him and devoured the ground from under his feet.\nThen Achilles looked up to heaven and groaned, crying out: \"O Zeus,\nwill none of the gods pity me, and save me from the River?  I care\nnot what else may befall me.  Truly my mother hath deceived me,\nsaying that I should perish under the walls of Troy by the arrows of\nApollo.  Surely it had been better that Hector should slay me, for he\nis the bravest of the men of Troy, but now I shall perish miserably\nin the River, as some herdboy perisheth whom a torrent sweepeth away\nin a storm.\"\n\nSo he spake; but Poseidon and Athene stood by him, having taken upon\nthem the shape of men, and took him by the hand and strengthened him\nwith comforting words, for Poseidon spake, saying: \"Son of Peletis,\ntremble not, neither be afraid.  It is not thy fate to be mastered by\nthe River.  He shall soon cease from troubling thee.  And do thou\nheed what we say.  Stay not thy hands from the battle, till thou\nshalt have driven all the sons of Troy that escape thee within the\nwalls of the city.  And when thou shalt have slain Hector, go back to\nthe ships; for this day is the day of thy glory.\"\n\nThen the two departed from him.  Now all the plain was covered with\nwater, wherein floated much fair armour and many dead bodies.  But\nAchilles went on even against the stream, nor could the River hold\nhim back; for Athene put great might into his heart.  Yet did not\nScamander cease, from his wrath, but lifted his waves yet higher, and\ncried aloud to Simois: \"Dear brother, let us two stay the fury of\nthis man, or else of a surety he will destroy the city of Priam.\nCome now, fill all thy streams and rouse thy torrents against him,\nand lift up against him a mighty wave with tree-trunks and stones,\nthat we may stay this wild man from his fighting.  Neither his might,\nnor his beauty, nor his fair form shall profit him, for they shall be\ncovered with much mud; and over him will I heap sand beyond all\ncounting.  Neither shall the Greeks be able to gather his bones\ntogether, with such a heap will I hide them.\"\n\n\nSi'-mo-is.\n\n\nThen he rushed again upon Achilles, swelling high with foam and blood\nand dead bodies of men.  Very dark was the wave as it rose, and was\nlike to have overwhelmed the man, so that Hera greatly feared for\nhim, lest the River should sweep him away.  And she cried to\nHeph\u00e6stus, her son, saying: \"Rouse thee, Haltfoot, my son!  Come,\nhelp us, and bring much fire with thee; and I will call the west wind\nand the south wind from the sea, with such a storm as shall consume\nthe sons of Troy, both them and their arms.  And do thou burn the\ntrees that are by the banks of Xanthus, yea, and the River himself.\nAnd let him not turn thee from thy purpose by fury or by craft; but\nburn till I shall bid thee cease.\"\n\nThen Heph\u00e6stus lit a great fire.  First it burned the dead bodies\nthat lay upon the plain, and it dried all the plain, as the north\nwind in the autumn time dries a field, to the joy of him that tills\nit.  After this it laid hold of the River.  The lime tree and the\nwillows and the tamarisks it burned; also the plants that grew in the\nstreams.  And the eels and the fishes were sore distressed, twisting\nhither and thither in the water, being troubled by the breath of\nHeph\u00e6stus.  So the might of the River was subdued, and he cried\naloud: \"O Heph\u00e6stus, no one of the gods can match himself with thee.\nCease now from consuming me; and Achilles may drive the men of Troy\nfrom the city if he will.  What have I to do with the strife and\nsorrow of men?\"\n\nAnd Queen Hera heard him, and called to Heph\u00e6stus, saying: \"Cease, my\nson; it doth not beseem thee to work such damage to a god for the\nsake of a mortal man.\"\n\nSo Heph\u00e6stus quenched his fire, and the River flowed as he flowed\nbefore.\n\nBut among the other gods there arose a dreadful strife, for they were\ndivided, the one part against the other.  With a great crash they\ncame together, and the broad earth resounded, and the heavens rang as\nwith the voice of a trumpet; and Zeus heard it as he sat on Olympus,\nand was glad in heart to see the gods join in battle.\n\nFirst of all, Ares, the shield-piercer, rushed against Athene,\nholding his spear in his hand, and cried: \"Why dost thou make the\ngods to strive in battle, thou that art bold as a fly and shameless\nas a dog?  Dost thou not remember how thou didst set Diomed, the son\nof Tydeus, upon me to wound me, and how thou didst take his spear in\nthy hand, so that all might see it, and drive it through my thigh?\nNow will I repay thee for all that thou hast done.\"\n\nAnd he smote on the shield--the mighty shield that not even the\nthunder of Zeus can break.  But Athene took up in her hand a great\nstone that lay upon the plain.  Black it was and rough, and very\ngreat, that men of old had set for a boundary of the field.  With\nthis she smote Ares on the neck, that his knees failed beneath him.\nHe lay along the ground, a hundred feet and more, and Athene laughed\nwhen she saw him, and cried: \"Fool! hast thou not yet learned how\nmuch stronger I am than thou, that thou matchest thy might against\nme?  Lie there and suffer the curses of thy mother; for she is wroth\nbecause thou hast betrayed the Greeks and helpest the men of Troy.\"\n\nBut Aphrodite took him by the hand, and would have led him away; deep\ndid he groan, and scarce could he gather his spirit together.  And\nwhen Hera saw it, she cried to Athene, saying: \"See now, how\nAphrodite would lead Ares out of the battle!  Pursue her now, and\nhinder her.\"\n\nSo Athene pursued after her, and smote her on the breast with her\nheavy hand; and her knees failed beneath her.  So these two lay upon\nthe earth, and Athene cried over them: \"Now would that all who help\nthe sons of Troy were as brave and strong as these two.  Long since\nhad we ceased from war and destroyed the fair city of Troy.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI\n\nTHE SLAYING OF HECTOR\n\nWhile these things were doing, Achilles ceased not to pursue and slay\nthe men of Troy, and Priam stood on a tower of the wall and saw the\npeople.  Sore troubled was he, and he hastened down to the gates and\nsaid to the keepers, \"Keep the gates open, that the people may enter\nin, for they fly before Achilles.\"  So the keepers held the gates\nopen, and the people hastened in, wearied with toil and thirst, and\ncovered with dust, and Achilles followed close upon them.  And that\nhour would the Greeks have taken the city of Troy, but that Apollo\nsaved it.  For he put courage into the heart of Agenor, standing also\nby him, that he should not be slain.  And Agenor thought within\nhimself:--\n\n\nA-ge'-nor.\n\n\n\"Shall I flee with these others?  Nay, for Achilles will take me and\nslay me, and I shall die as a coward dies.  Or shall I flee across\nthe plain to Ida, and hide me in the thickets, and come back at\nnightfall to the city?  Yet should he see me he will overtake me and\nsmite me, so swift of foot is lie and strong.  But what if I stand to\nmeet him before the gates?  He, too, is a mortal man, and his flesh\nmay be pierced by the spear.\"\n\nWherefore he stood till Achilles should come near.  And when he came\nhe cast his spear, striking the leg below the knee, but the greave\nturned off the spear, so strong was it.  And when Achilles would have\nslain him, lo! Apollo lifted him up and set him within the city.  And\nthat the men of Troy might have time to enter, he took upon him\nAgenor's shape.  And the false Agenor fled, and Achilles pursued.\nBut meanwhile the men of Troy flocked into the city, nor did they\nstay to ask who was safe and who was dead, in such haste and fear did\nthey flee.  Only Hector remained outside the walls, standing in front\nof the great Sc\u00e6an gates.  But all the while Achilles was fiercely\npursuing the false Agenor, till at last Apollo turned and spake to\nhim:--\n\n\"Why dost thou pursue me, swift-footed Achilles?  Hast thou not yet\nfound out that I am a god, and that all thy fury is in vain?  And now\nall the sons of Troy are safe in their city, and thou art here, far\nout of the way, seeking to slay me, who cannot die.\"\n\nIn great wrath Achilles answered him: \"Thou hast done me wrong in so\ndrawing me away from the wall, great archer, most mischief-loving of\nall the gods that are.  Had it not been for this, many a Trojan more\nhad bitten the ground.  Thou hast robbed me of great glory, and saved\nthy favourites.  O that I had the power to take vengeance on thee!\nThou wouldst have paid dearly for thy cheat!\"\n\nThen he turned and rushed towards the city, swift as a race-horse\nwhirls a chariot across the plain.  Old Priam spied him from the\nwalls, with his glittering armour, bright as that brightest of the\nstars--men call it Orion's dog--which shines at vintage-time.  And\nthe old man groaned aloud when he saw him, and stretching out his\nhands, cried to his son Hector, who stood before the gates, eager to\ndo battle with this dread warrior:--\n\n\nO-ri'-on.\n\n\n\"Wait not for this man, dear son, wait not for him, lest thou die\nbeneath his hand, for indeed he is stronger than thou.  Come within\nthe walls, dear child; come to save the sons and daughters of Troy;\ncome in pity for me, thy father, for whom, in my old age, an evil\nfate is in store, to see sons slain with the sword, and daughters\ncarried into captivity, and babes dashed upon the ground.\"\n\nAnd his mother besought him also, but in vain.  He was still minded\nto abide the coming of Achilles.  Just as in the mountains a great\nsnake at its hole abides the coming of a man; fierce glare its eyes,\nand it coils its tail about its hole: so Hector waited for Achilles.\n\nAnd Achilles came near, brandishing over his right shoulder his great\nspear, and the flash of his arms was as the flame of fire, or as the\nrising sun.  And Hector trembled when he saw him, nor dared to abide\nhis coming.  Fast he fled from the gates, and fast Achilles pursued\nhim, as a hawk, fastest of all the birds of the air, pursues a dove\nupon the mountains.  Past the watch-tower they ran, past the\nwind-blown fig tree, along the wagon-road which went about the walls,\nand they came to the fair-flowing fountain where from two springs\nrises the stream of eddying Scamander.\n\nPast these springs they ran, one fleeing, the other pursuing; brave\nwas he that fled, braver he that pursued; it was no sheep for\nsacrifice or shield of ox-hide for which they ran, but for the life\nof Hector, the tamer of horses.  Thrice they ran round the city, and\nall the gods looked on.\n\nAnd Zeus said: \"This is a piteous sight that I behold.  My heart is\ngrieved for Hector--Hector, who has ever worshipped me with\nsacrifice; and now the great Achilles is pursuing him round the city\nof Priam.  Come, ye gods, let us take counsel together.  Shall we\nsave him from death, or let him fall beneath the hand of Achilles?\"\n\nThen Athene said: \"What is this that thou sayest, great sire?--to\nrescue a man whom fate has appointed to die?  Do it, if it be thy\nwill; but we, the other gods, approve it not.\"\n\nZeus answered her: \"My heart is loath; yet I would do thee pleasure.\nBe it as thou wilt.\"\n\nThen Athene came down in haste from the top of Olympus, and still\nHector fled and Achilles pursued, just as a dog pursues a fawn upon\nthe hills.  And ever Hector made for the gates, or to get shelter\nbeneath the towers, so that those that stood upon them might defend\nhim with their spears; and ever Achilles would get before him, and\ndrive him towards the plain.  So they ran, one making for the city,\nand the other driving him to the plain.\n\nNow Achilles had beckoned to the Greeks that no man should throw his\nspear at Hector, lest, perchance, he should be robbed of his glory.\nAnd when the two came in their running for the fourth time to the\nsprings of Scamander, Zeus held out the great balance of doom, and in\none scale he put the fate of Achilles, and in the other the fate of\nHector; and lo! the scale of Hector sank down to the realms of death,\nand Apollo left him.\n\nThen Athene lighted down from the air close to Achilles and said:\n\"This, great Achilles, is our day of glory, for we shall slay Hector,\nmighty warrior though he be.  For it is his doom to die, and not\nApollo's self shall save him.  But stand thou still and take breath,\nand I will give this man heart to meet thee in battle.\"\n\nSo Achilles stood leaning upon his spear.  And Athene took the shape\nof Deiphobus, and came near to Hector and said:--\n\n\nDe-iph'-o-bus.\n\n\n\"Achilles presses thee hard, my brother, pursuing thee thus round the\ncity of Priam.  Come, let us make a stand and encounter him.\"\n\nThen Hector answered him, \"Deiphobus, I always loved thee best of all\nmy brothers; but now I love thee yet more, for thou alone, while all\nothers remained within, hast ventured forth to stand by my side.\"\n\nBut the false Deiphobus said: \"Much did father and mother and all my\ncomrades beseech me to remain.  But my heart was sore troubled for\nthee, and I could not stay.  But let us stand and fight this man, and\nsee whether he shall carry our spoil to the ships, or we shall slay\nhim here.\"\n\nThen the two chiefs came near to each other, and Hector with the\nwaving plume spake first, and said: \"Thrice, great Achilles, hast\nthou pursued me round the walls of Troy, and I dared not stand up\nagainst thee; but now I fear thee no more.  Only let us make this\ncovenant between us: if Zeus give me the victory, I will do no\ndishonour to thy body; thy arms and armour will I take, and give back\nthy body to the Greeks; and do thou promise to do likewise.\"\n\nBut Achilles scowled at him and said: \"Hector, talk not of covenants\nto me.  Men and lions make no oaths between each other, neither is\nthere any agreement between wolves and sheep.  So there shall be no\ncovenant between me and thee.  One of us two shall fall; and now is\nthe time for thee to show thyself a warrior, for of a truth Athene\nwill slay thee by my spear, and thou shalt pay the penalty for all my\ncomrades whom thou hast slain.\"\n\nThen he threw the mighty spear, but Hector saw it coming and avoided\nit, crouching on the ground, so that the mighty spear flew above his\nhead and fixed itself in the earth.  But Athene snatched it from the\nground and gave it back to Achilles, Hector not perceiving.\n\nThen Hector spake to Achilles: \"Thou hast missed thy aim, great\nAchilles.  Now look out for my spear.  Would that it might bury\nitself in so thy flesh!  The battle would be easier for the men of\nTroy were thou only out of the way.\"\n\nAnd as he spake he threw his long-shafted spear.  True aim he took,\nfor the spear struck the very middle of Achilles' shield.  It struck,\nbut pierced it not, but bounded far away, for the shield was not of\nmortal make.  And Hector stood dismayed, for he had not another\nspear, and when he called to Deiphobus that he should give him\nanother, lo! Deiphobus was gone.  Then Hector knew that his end was\ncome, and he said to himself: \"Now have the gods called me to my\ndoom.  I thought that Deiphobus was near; but he is within the walls,\nand the help which he promised me was but a cheat with which Athene\ncheated me.  Zeus and Apollo are with me no more; but if I must die,\nlet me at least die in such a deed as men of after time may hear of.\"\n\nSo he spake, and drew the mighty sword that hung by his side: then as\nan eagle rushes through the clouds to pounce on a lamb, he rushed on\nthe great Achilles.  But he dealt never a blow; for Achilles charged\nto meet him, his shield before his breast, his helmet bent forward as\nhe ran, with the long plumes streaming behind, and the gleam of his\nspear-point was as the gleam of the evening star, which is the\nfairest of all the stars in heaven.  One moment he thought where he\nshould drive it home, for the armour which Hector had won from\nPatroclus guarded him well; but one spot there was, where by the\ncollar-bone the neck joins the shoulder (and nowhere is the stroke of\nsword or spear more deadly).  There he drave in the spear, and the\npoint stood out behind the neck, and Hector fell in the dust.\n\nThen Achilles cried aloud: \"Hector, thou thoughtest in the day when\nthou didst spoil Patroclus of his arms that thou wouldst be safe from\nvengeance.  And lo! thou art fallen before me, and now the dogs and\nvultures shall devour thee, but to him all the Greeks shall give due\nburial.\"\n\nBut Hector, growing faint, spake to him: \"Nay, great Achilles, by thy\nlife, and by thy knees, and by thy parents dear, I pray thee, let not\nthe dogs of the Greeks devour me.  Take rather the ransom, gold and\nbronze, that my father and mother shall pay thee, and let the sons\nand daughters of Troy give me burial rites.\"\n\nBut Achilles scowled at him, and cried: \"Dog, seek not to entreat me!\nI could mince that flesh of thine and devour it raw, such grief hast\nthou wrought me.  Surely the dogs shall devour thee, nor shall any\nman hinder.  No ransom, though it were ten times told, should buy\nthee back; no, not though Priam should offer thy weight in gold.\"\n\nThen Hector, who was now at the point to die, spake to him: \"I know\nthee well, what manner of man thou art, that the heart in thy breast\nis iron only.  Only beware lest some vengeance from the gods come\nupon thee in the day when Paris and Apollo shall slay thee, for all\nthy valour, by the Sc\u00e6an gates.\"\n\nSo speaking, he died.  But Achilles said, \"Die, hound; but my fate I\nmeet when Zeus and the other gods decree.\"\n\nThen he drew his spear out of the corpse, and stripped off the arms;\nand all the Greeks came about the dead man, marvelling at his stature\nand beauty, and no man came but wounded the dead corpse.  And one\nwould say to another, \"Surely this Hector is less dreadful now than\nin the day when he would burn our ships with fire.\"\n\nThen Achilles devised a ruthless thing in his heart.  He pierced the\nankle-bones of Hector, and so bound the body with thongs of ox-hide\nto the chariot, letting the head drag behind, the head that once was\nso fair, and now was so disfigured in the dust.  So he dragged Hector\nto the ships.  And Priam saw him from the walls, and scarce could his\nsons keep him back, but that he should go forth and beg the body of\nhis dear son from him who had slain him.  And Hecuba, his mother,\nalso bewailed him, but Andromache knew not as yet of what had\nbefallen.  For she sat in her dwelling, weaving a great purple mantle\nbroidered with flowers.  And she bade her maidens make ready a bath\nfor Hector, when he should come back from the battle, nor knew that\nhe should never need it more.  But the voice of wailing from the town\ncame to her, and she rose up hastily in great fear, and dropped the\nshuttle from her hand, and called to her maidens:--\n\n\"Come with me, ye maidens, that I may see what has befallen, for I\nheard the voice of Queen Hecuba, and I fear me much that some evil\nhas come to the children of Priam.  For it may be that Achilles has\nrun between Hector and the city, and is pursuing him to the plain,\nfor never will Hector abide with the army, but will fight in the\nfront, so bold is he.\"\n\nThen she hasted through the city like as she were mad.  And when she\ncame to the wall, she stood and looked; and lo! the horses of\nAchilles were dragging Hector to the ships.  Then did darkness come\non her, and she fell back fainting.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII\n\nTHE BURNING OF PATROCLUS\n\nWhile the Trojans mourned for Hector in the city, the Greeks went\nback to the camp.  All the others were scattered, each to his own\nship, but Achilles spake to the Myrmidons, saying, \"Loose not your\nhorses from the yoke, but let us do honour to Patroclus, driving our\nchariots round the dead, and making lamentation the while.\"\n\nThen the Myrmidons did as he had bidden them; thrice round the dead\nthey drave their chariots, and made lamentation; and Achilles led the\nmourning.  Also he laid the body of Hector in the dust beside the\ndead.  After that he made a funeral feast for his people.  He himself\nwas brought by the chiefs, much against his will, to King Agamemnon,\nwho had made a great feast for the leaders of the Greeks.  But when\nthe heralds heated water in a caldron, and would have had him wash\noff the blood, he refused, saying; \"Nay; water shall not come nigh me\ntill I have laid Patroclus on the fire, and heaped a mound over him.\nNow let us eat our meal, though it be in sorrow; to-morrow we will\npay due honour to the dead.\"\n\nSo they ate and drank; and when they had had enough, the others lay\ndown to sleep, each in his own tent, but Achilles lay groaning\nheavily amidst the Myrmidons in an open place by the sea.\n\nThe next day they made a great pile of wood, and laid the dead man\nthereon.  Nine dogs had the Prince, and Achilles slew two of them on\nthe pile, and four horses he slew, and also the twelve youths of Troy\nwhom he had taken at the river.  Then he set fire to the pile,\nsaying: \"Hear, Patroclus; twelve of the sons of Troy doth the fire\ndevour with thee; but Hector will I give to the dogs.\"\n\nAnd when the burning was well-nigh ended, Achilles spake, saying:\n\"Quench ye the fire that yet remains with wine, and gather the bones\nof Patroclus together where they lie apart in the midst of the pile,\nand put them in an urn of gold against the day of my death.  And make\nover them a tomb not over large; but when I am dead also, then shall\nye that are left make it higher, as is meet.\"\n\nAnd when all these things were ended, Achilles, willing to do all\nhonour to the dead man, would have games, wherein the chiefs should\ncontend one with the other.  So, having called the people together,\nhe brought forth out of his ships many things that should be for\nprizes,--caldrons, kettles of bronze, and horses and mules, and fair\nwomen-slaves, and iron.\n\nFirst, he would have a contest of chariots and horses, for which he\nset forth prizes: for the first, a woman-slave, skilled in all the\nworks of the loom, and with her a kettle of bronze; and for the\nsecond, a mare of six years old; and for the third, a kettle of\nbronze, fair and new; and for the fourth, two talents of gold; and\nfor the fifth, a double cup.  Then he stood up in the midst, and\nspake: \"Ye men of Greece, behold these prizes, which I have set in\nthe midst for a race of chariots.  Now know ye that if we were doing\nhonour to another than Patroclus, I myself should carry the first\nprize to my tent, for there are not in the camp horses such as mine;\nand, indeed, they are not of mortal breed, but Poseidon gave them to\nPeleus, my father.  But from this race I stand apart, and they also;\nfor he that drave them is dead, whom they loved; therefore they stand\ngrieving sore, and their manes droop to the ground.\"  Then stood up\nfive chiefs; first of all, Eumelus, and next to him Diomed, having\nhorses of Troy, which he took from \u00c6neas; and third, Menelaus,\ndriving his horse Whitefoot, and a mare, Flash-of-Fire.  Fourth came\nAntilochus, son of Nestor, and after him Meriones.\n\n\nEu-me'-lus.\n\n\nAfter this they drew lots for their places.  And the first lot fell\nto Antilochus, and after him came Eumelus, and Menelaus, and\nMeriones, and Diomed, in this order.  Then Achilles marked the\ncourse, making old Ph\u0153nix the judge.  After this the race began,\nand the men lifted their whips and smote their horses, and shouted\nalso.  And the dust rose up beneath the horses' breasts, and their\nmanes were blown by the wind, and the chariots were seen now low upon\nthe earth and now high in the air.  But when they were come near to\nthe end of the course at the turning-point, it might be seen which\nsteeds were the better.  For the horses of Eumelus were foremost, and\nnext to these the horses of King Diomed, very close, so that they\nseemed about to step upon the chariot that was before them, and the\nback and broad shoulders of Eumelus were hot with their breath.  And\nDiomed would now have passed him, or been equal in the race, but\nApollo grudged him the victory,--for the god loved him not,--and\nstruck the whip out of his hand.  Very wroth was Diomed, and his eyes\nwere filled with tears, that his horses should thus lack control.\nBut Athene saw the thing and had pity on him, and gave him back the\nwhip, and put strength into his horses.  Also she went near to\nEumelus, and brake the yoke of his chariot, so that the pole smote\nupon the ground, and the man himself was thrown down, having his\nelbows and mouth and nostrils sorely bruised, and a wound on his\nforehead over the eyebrows.  Then did Diomed take the first place\nwith his chariot, and next to him came Menelaus.  But Antilochus\ncried to his horses, saying: \"Now speed ye as best ye can.  I bid you\nnot strive with the horses of King Diomed, for Athene giveth them\nswiftness and strength; but the horses of Menelaus ye can overtake.\nIt were a shame to you that Flame-of-Fire, being a mare, should\nsurpass you.\"\n\nAnd the horses feared the fury of the Prince, and leapt forward.  Now\nAntilochus had spied a narrow place in the way, where it had been\nbroken by the floods in the winter; and as Menelaus drove his chariot\nthereby, Antilochus, turning a little out of the way, sought to pass\nat the same time.  Now there was not space sufficient for two\nchariots, and Menelaus feared, and cried: \"Why drivest thou so madly,\nAntilochus?  Stay awhile, and thou canst pass me if thou wilt, where\nthe way is broader; but now thou wilt hurt thy chariot and mine.\"\nBut Antilochus drave the more furiously, making as though he heard\nnot.  And for the space of a quoit's throw the chariots were abreast,\nbut then Menelaus held back, fearing lest they should clash together.\nBut he cried to Antilochus: \"Was there ever man so evil-minded as\nthou?  Yet shalt thou not win this prize unless thou shalt forswear\nthyself that thou hast dealt fairly.\"  And to his horses cried:\n\"Speed ye!  Stand not still; ye shall overtake them, for they will\ngrow weary before you.\"\n\nIn the meantime the Greeks sat waiting till the chariots should come\nback.\n\nThen came in Diomed first of all, and leapt from the chariot; and\nnext to him Antilochus, having surpassed Menelaus by craft and not by\nspeed; nor, indeed, was Menelaus far behind, being as near to him as\na chariot is near to the horse which draweth it, so swift was the\nmare Flame-of-Fire, for at the first he had been a whole quoit's\nthrow behind.  But Meriones was vanquished by the flight of a spear,\nfor his horses were the slowest, and he himself less skilled to\ndrive.  Last of all came Eumelus, drawing his chariot, and driving\nhis horses before him.  And Achilles pitied him and said: \"The most\nskilful cometh last.  Surely he shall have the second prize.\"\n\nAnd the Greeks gave consent; but Antilochus cried aloud: \"Wilt thou\ntake away this prize from me because his chariot was broken?  Had he\nprayed to the gods, this had not happened.  But if thou pitiest him,\ngive him somewhat of thine own.  As for this prize, no man taketh it\nfrom me but by arms.\"\n\nAnd Achilles laughed and said: \"'Tis well said, Antilochus.  I will\ngive him of mine own, even a breastplate which Asterop\u00e6us wore.\"\n\nThen stood up Menelaus, in great wrath, and said: \"What is this that\nthou hast done, Antilochus?  For thou hast shamed me and my horses,\nputting thine own in front, which are, of a truth, much worse than\nthey.  Judge, therefore, between us, ye chiefs of the Greeks.  And\nthou, Antilochus, stand before thy chariot and thy horses, as the\ncustom is, holding in one hand thy whip, and laying the other hand on\nthine horses, and swear by Poseidon that thou didst not hinder my\nchariot by fraud.\"\n\nTo him Antilochus made reply: \"Bear with me, Menelaus, for I am\nyounger than thou, and thou knowest how young men go astray, for\ntheir judgment is hasty and their wit small.  And as for the mare, I\ngive it thee, and aught else that thou desirest, rather than that I\nshould be at strife with thee or sin against the gods.\"\n\nAnd the soul of Menelaus was glad, as the corn is glad when the dew\nfalleth upon it; and he said: \"This is well said, son of Nestor.  And\nnow--for thy father and thy brother have borne much for my sake--I\ngive thee this mare.\"\n\nAnd he himself took the kettle of bronze, and the fourth prize\nMeriones had; but the double cup Achilles gave to old Nestor, saying:\n\"Take this to be a memorial of the burial of Patroclus, whom thou\nwilt not see any more.  For I know that old age hinders thee, that\nthou canst not contend in wrestling or boxing with the rest.\"\n\nAfter this Achilles set forth two prizes for boxers: for the\nconqueror a mule, and for him that should be vanquished a cup with\ntwo mouths.  Then stood up Epeius and spake: \"Who desireth to take\nthis cup? for the mule no man but I shall have.  In battle I am\nweak--for what man can do all things?--but whosoever shall stand\nagainst me to-day, verily, I will tear his flesh and break his bones,\nso that his friends had best be at hand to carry him away.\"\n\n\nE-pei'-us.\n\n\nThen there rose up against him Euryalus.  King Diomed stood by him,\nwishing much that he might prevail, and brought him his girdle that\nhe might gird himself, and gave him the great gloves of bull's hide.\nThen the two stood together in the midst.  Many blows did they deal\nto each other, so that the noise was dreadful to hear, and the sweat\nran down from them.  But after awhile Epeius sprang forward and smote\nEuryalus on the jaw, even through his guard, and Euryalus could not\nstand against him; but even as a fish is dashed by the north wind\nagainst the shore, so was he dashed to the earth.  But Epeius raised\nhim up, and his companions led him away, sorely wounded and amazed.\n\n\nEu-ry'-a-lus.\n\n\nAfter this Achilles would have a match of wrestling, saying that the\nconqueror should have a great kettle of bronze, of twelve oxen's\nworth, and the vanquished a woman-slave, skilful at the loom, worth\nfour oxen.  Then stood up Ajax the Greater and Ulysses, and took hold\nof one another with their hands, and strove together for the mastery.\nBut after a while, when neither could prevail, and the people were\nweary with looking, Ajax spake, saying: \"Come, Ulysses; thou shalt\nlift me from the ground if thou canst, and I thee.  So shall we\nfinish this matter.\"  Then Ajax laid hold of Ulysses to lift him; and\nthis he had done, but Ulysses used craft, as was his wont, and put\nforth his leg and smote Ajax on the sinew behind the knee, so that he\nfell, and Ulysses also above him.  Then Ulysses would have lifted\nAjax from the ground; a little space he moved him, but lifted him\nnot, and his knee yielded beneath him, and they fell to the ground,\nboth of them.  But when they would have striven the third time,\nAchilles hindered them, saying: \"Hold! it is enough.  Ye are\nconquerors both, and your prizes shall be equal.\"\n\nNext to this was a trial of racers on foot, in which three contended,\nAjax the Less, and Ulysses, and Antilochus.  In a short space Ajax\nthe Less was foremost, with Ulysses close upon him, close as is the\nshuttle to the breast of a woman who stands at the loom and weaves.\nHard behind him he ran, treading in his steps before the dust could\nrise from them.  And when they were now drawing to the end of the\ncourse Ulysses prayed to Athene that she should help him, and Athene\nheard him, and made his knees and feet right nimble, and even at the\nvery end she caused that Ajax slipped in the filth where certain oxen\nhad been slain, so that his mouth and nostrils were filled with it.\nSo Ulysses gained the mixing-bowl; but Ajax stood and spat the filth\nfrom his mouth, and laid his hand on the head of the ox, and cried,\n\"Surely the goddess caused my feet to slip, for she ever standeth by\nUlysses, and helpeth him as a mother helpeth a child.\"\n\nSo he spake, and all men laughed to hear him; and last of all came\nAntilochus, taking the third prize.  And he said: \"Ye know well, my\nfriends, that the immortal gods ever help the aged.  As for Ajax, he\nis but a little older than I, but Ulysses is of another generation.\nYet is his verily a green old age; hardly may any of the Greeks\nstrive with him, but only Achilles himself.\"\n\nSo the Games of Patroclus were ended; and the people were scattered\nto the ships, and sat down to eat and drink; and afterwards they\nslept.  But Achilles slept not, for he remembered his dear Patroclus,\nand all that the two had done and endured together, journeying over\nsea and land, and standing against the enemy in the day of battle.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII\n\nTHE RANSOMING OF HECTOR\n\nWhen the burial of Patroclus was ended, the gods held council about\nHector, for Achilles did despite to the body of Hector, dragging it\nabout the tomb of his friend, but the gods had pity on the dead man,\nbecause in his life he had ever honoured them.\n\nThen did Zeus send for Thetis, and when she was come to Olympus, he\nsaid: \"Get thee to the camp, and bid thy son give up Hector for\nransom, for I am wroth with him because he doth despite to the dead.\"\n\nSo Thetis went to Achilles, and found him weeping softly for his dead\nfriend, for the strength of his sorrow was now spent, and she said to\nhim: \"It is the will of the gods that thou give up the body of\nHector, and take in exchange the ransom of gold and precious things\nwhich his father will give thee for him.\"\n\nAnd her son answered, \"Be it so, if the gods will have it.\"\n\nThen Zeus sent Iris, who was his messenger, to King Priam, where he\nsat with his face wrapped in his mantle, and his sons weeping about\nhim, and his daughters wailing through the chambers of his palace.\n\nThen Iris spake: \"Be of good cheer, Priam, Zeus has sent me to thee.\nGo, taking with thee such gifts as may best please the heart of\nAchilles, and bring back the body of thy dear son Hector.  Go without\nfear of death or harm, and go alone.  Only let an aged herald be with\nthee, to help thee when thou bringest back the body of the dead.\"\n\nThen Priam rose with joy, and bade his sons bring forth his chariot;\nbut first he went to his chamber, and called to Hecuba, his wife, and\ntold her of his purpose, nor heeded when she sought to turn him from\nit, but said: \"Seek not to hold me back, nor be a bird of evil omen\nin my house.  If any prophet or seer had bidden me do this thing, I\nshould have held it a deceit; but now have I heard the very voice of\nthe messenger of Zeus.  Wherefore, I shall go.  And if I die, what\ncare I?  Let Achilles slay me, if only I embrace once more the body\nof my son.\"\n\nThen he bade put into a wagon shawls and mantles that had never been\nwashed, and rugs, and cloaks, and tunics, twelve of each, and ten\ntalents of gold, and two bright three-footed caldrons, and four\nbasins, and a cup of passing beauty which the Thracians had given\nhim.  The old man spared nothing that he had, if only he might buy\nback his son.  None of the Trojans would he suffer to come near him.\n\"Begone,\" he cried, \"ye cowards!  Have ye nothing to wail for at\nhome, that ye come to wail with me?  Surely, an easy prey will ye be\nto the Greeks, now that Hector is dead.\"\n\nThen the old man mounted his chariot in haste, and drove forth from\nthe palace.  Before him the mules drew the four-wheeled wagon, and\nthese the herald Id\u00e6us guided.  But his chariot the old King drove\nhimself.  And all his kinsfolk went with him, weeping as for one who\nwas going to his death.  But when they came down from the city to the\nplain, Priam and the herald went towards the ships of the Greeks, but\nall the others returned to Troy.\n\nBut Zeus saw him depart, and said to Hermes: \"Hermes, go guide King\nPriam to the ships of the Greeks, so that no man see him before he\ncomes to the tents of Achilles.\"\n\nThen Hermes fastened on his feet the fair sandals of gold with which\nhe flies, fast as the wind, over sea and land, and in his hand he\ntook the rod with which he opens and closes, as he wills, the eyes of\nmen.  And he flew down and lighted on the plain of Troy, taking on\nhim the likeness of a fair youth.\n\nBut when they had driven past the great Tomb of Ilus, they stopped\nthe horses and the mules, to let them drink of the river.  And\ndarkness came over the land; and then the herald spied Hermes, and\nsaid:--\n\n\nHer'-mes.\n\n\n\"Consider, my lord, what we shall do.  I see a man, and I am sore\nafraid lest he slay us.  Shall we flee on the chariot, or shall we go\nnear and entreat him, that he may have pity upon us?\"\n\nThen the old man was sore troubled, and his hair stood up with fear.\nBut Hermes came near and took him by the hand and said:--\n\n\"Whither goest thou, old man, with thy horses and mules through the\ndarkness?  Hast thou no fear of these fierce Greeks, who are close at\nhand?  If any one should see thee with all this wealth, what then?\nAnd thou art not young, nor is thy attendant young, that ye should\ndefend yourselves against an enemy.  But I will not harm thee, nor\nsuffer any other, for thou art like my own dear father.\"\n\n\"It is well, my son,\" said the old man.  \"Surely one of the blessed\ngods is with me, in causing me to meet such an one as thou, so fair\nand so wise.  Happy the parents of such a son!\"\n\nAnd Hermes said: \"Come, tell me true, old man.  Are you sending away\nall these treasures that they may be kept safe for you far away? or\nare all the men of Troy leaving the city, seeing now that Hector, who\nwas their bravest warrior, is dead?\"\n\nThen Priam answered, \"Who art thou, my son, and what thy race, that\nthou speakest so truly about my hapless son?\"\n\n\"Often,\" said Hermes, \"have I seen Hector in the battle, both at\nother times, and when he drove the Greeks before him at the ships.\nWe, indeed, stood and watched and marvelled at him, for Achilles\nwould not suffer us to fight, being wroth with King Agamemnon.  Now I\nam a follower of Achilles, coming from Greece in the same ship with\nhim.\"\n\nThen said Priam, \"If thou art an attendant of Achilles, tell me true,\nis my son yet by the ships, or have the dogs devoured him?\"\n\nAnd Hermes answered: \"Nor dogs nor vultures have devoured him.  Still\nhe lies by the ships of Achilles; and though this is the twelfth day\nsince he was slain, no decay has touched him.  Nay, though Achilles\ndrags him round the tomb of his dear Patroclus, yet even so does no\nunseemliness come to him.  All fresh he lies, and the blood is washed\nfrom him, and all his wounds are closed--and many spear-points\npierced him.  The blessed gods love him well, dead man though he be.\"\n\nThis King Priam was well pleased to hear.  \"It is well,\" he said,\n\"for a man to honour the gods; for, indeed, as my son never forgot\nthe dwellers on Olympus, so have they not forgotten him, even in\ndeath.  But do thou take this fair cup, and do kindness to him, and\nlead me to the tent of Achilles.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" answered Hermes; \"thou speakest this in vain.  No gift would I\ntake from thy hand unknown to Achilles; for I honour him much, and\nfear to rob him, lest some evil happen to me afterwards.  But thee I\nwill guide to Argos itself, if thou wilt, whether by land or sea, and\nno one shall blame my guiding.\"\n\nThen he leapt into the chariot of the King and caught the reins in\nhis hand, and gave the horses and the mules a strength that was not\ntheir own.  And when they came to the ditch and the trench that\nguarded the ships, lo! the guards were busy with their meal; but\nHermes made sleep descend upon them, and opened the gates, and\nbrought in Priam with his treasures.  And when they came to the tent\nof Achilles, Hermes lighted down from the chariot and said:--\n\n\"Lo!  I am Hermes, whom my father Zeus hath sent to be thy guide.\nAnd now I shall depart, for I would not that Achilles should see me.\nBut go thou in, and clasp his knees, and beseech him by his father,\nand his mother, and his child.  So shalt thou move his heart with\npity.\"\n\nSo Hermes departed to Olympus, and King Priam leapt down from the\nchariot, leaving the herald to care for the horses and the mules, and\nwent to the tent.  There he found Achilles sitting; his comrades sat\napart, but two waited on him, for he had but newly ended his meal,\nand the table was yet at his hand.  But no man saw King Priam till he\nwas close to Achilles, and caught hit knees and kissed his hands, the\ndreadful, murderous hands that had slain so many of his sons, and\nAchilles wondered to see King Priam, and his comrades wondered,\nlooking one at another.  Then King Priam spake:--\n\n\"Think of thy father, godlike Achilles, and pity me.  He is old, as I\nam, and, it may be, his neighbours trouble him, seeing that he has no\ndefender; yet so long as he knows that thou art alive, it is well\nwith him, for every day he hopes to see his dear son returned from\nTroy.  But as for me, I am altogether wretched.  Many a valiant son I\nhad,--nineteen born to me of one mother,--and most of them are dead,\nand he that was the best of all, who kept our city safe, he has been\nslain by thee.  He it is whom I have come to ransom.  Have pity on\nhim and on me, thinking of thy father.  Never, surely, was lot so sad\nas this, to kiss the hands that slew a son.\"\n\nAnd the words so stirred the heart if Achilles that he wept, thinking\nnow of Patroclus, and now of his old father at home; and Priam wept,\nthinking of his dead Hector.  But at last Achilles stood up from his\nseat and raised King Priam, having pity on his white hair and his\nwhite beard, and spake:--\n\n\"How didst thou dare to come to the ships of the Greeks, to the man\nwho slew thy sons?  Surely, thou must have a heart of iron.  But sit\nthou down: let our sorrows rest in our hearts, for there is no profit\nin lamentation.  It is the will of the gods that men should suffer\nwoe, but they are themselves free from care.\"\n\nBut Priam answered: \"Make me not to sit, great Achilles, while Hector\nlies unhonoured.  Let me ransom him, and look upon him with my eyes,\nand do thou take the gifts.  And the gods grant thee to return safe\nto thy fatherland.\"\n\nThen Achilles hastened from his tent, and two comrades with him.\nFirst they loosed the horses from the chariot and the mules from the\nwagon; then they brought in the herald Id\u00e6us, and took the gifts.\nOnly they left of them two cloaks and a tunic, wherein they might\nwrap the dead.  And Achilles bade the women wash and anoint the body,\nbut apart from the tent, lest, perchance, Priam should see his son\nand cry aloud.  But when it was washed and anointed, Achilles himself\nlifted it in his arms and put it on the litter, and his comrades\nlifted the litter on the wagon.\n\nAnd when all was finished, Achilles groaned and cried to his dead\nfriend, saying:--\n\n\"Be not wroth, Patroclus, if thou shouldst hear in the unknown land\nthat I have ransomed Hector to his father: a noble ransom hath he\npaid me, and of this, too, thou shalt have thy share, as is meet.\"\n\nThen he went back to his tent, and set himself down, over against\nPriam, and spake: \"Thy son is ransomed, old man, and to-morrow shalt\nthou see him and take him back to Troy.  But now let us eat.\nTo-morrow shalt thou weep for Hector.\"\n\nSo they ate and drank.  And when the meal was ended, Achilles sat and\nmarvelled at King Priam's noble look, and King Priam marvelled at\nAchilles, so strong he was and fair.\n\nThen Priam said: \"Let me sleep, great Achilles.  I have not slept\nsince my son fell by thy hand.  Now I have eaten and drunk, and my\neyes are heavy.\"\n\nSo the comrades of Achilles made him a bed outside, where no one\nmight see him, should it chance that any of the chiefs should come to\nthe tent of Achilles to take counsel, and should espy him, and tell\nit to King Agamemnon.\n\nBut before he slept King Priam said: \"If thou art minded to let me\nbury Hector, let there be a truce between my people and the Greeks.\nFor nine days let us mourn for Hector, and on the tenth will we bury\nhim and feast the people, and on the eleventh raise a great tomb\nabove him, and on the twelfth we will fight again, if fight we must.\"\n\nAnd Achilles answered: \"Be it so: I will stay the war for so long.\"\n\nBut while Priam slept there came to him Hermes, the messenger of\nZeus, and said: \"Sleepest thou, Priam, among thy foes?  Achilles has\ntaken ransom for thy Hector; but thy sons that are left would pay\nthrice as much for thee should Agamemnon hear that thou wert among\nthe ships.\"\n\nThe old man heard and trembled, and roused the herald, and the two\nyoked the horses and the mules.  So they passed through the army, and\nno man knew.  And when they came to the river, Hermes departed to\nOlympus, and the morning shone over all the earth.  Wailing and\nweeping, they carried the body to the city.\n\nAnd straightway there was not man or woman left in the city.  They\nmet the wagon when it was close to the gates: his wife led the way,\nand his mother and all the multitude followed.  And in truth they\nwould have kept it thus till evening, weeping and wailing, but King\nPriam spake:--\n\n\"Let us pass; ye shall have enough of wailing when we have taken him\nto his home.\"\n\nSo they took him to his home and laid him on his bed.  And the\nminstrels lamented, and the women wailed.\n\nThen first of all came Andromache, his wife, and cried:--\n\n\"O my husband, thou hast perished in thy youth, and I am left in\nwidowhood, and our child, thy child and mine, is but an infant!  I\nfear me he will not grow to manhood.  Ere that day this city will\nfall, for thou art gone who wast its defender.\"\n\nNext spake Hecuba, his mother: \"Dear wast thou, my son, in life to\nthe immortal gods, and dear in death.  Achilles dragged thee about\nthe tomb of his dear Patroclus, but could not bring him back, and now\nthou liest fresh and fair as one whom the God of the silver bow has\nslain with sudden stroke.\"\n\nAnd last of all came Helen, and cried: \"Many a year has passed since\nI came to Troy--would that I had died before!  And never have I heard\nfrom thy lips one bitter word, and if others spake harshly to me,\nthou wouldst check them with thy gracious words.  Therefore I weep\nfor thee; no one is left to be my friend in all the broad streets of\nTroy.  All shun and hate me now.\"\n\nAnd all the people wailed reply.\n\nThen Priam spake: \"Go, my people, gather wood for the burial, and\nfear not any ambush of the Greeks, for Achilles promised that he\nwould stay the war until the twelfth day should come.\"\n\nSo for nine days the people gathered much wood, and on the tenth they\nlaid Hector upon the pile, and lit fire beneath it.  And when it was\nburnt they quenched the embers with wine.  Then his brethren and\ncomrades gathered together the white bones, and laid them in a chest\nof gold; and this they covered with purple robes and put it in a\ngreat coffin, and laid upon it stones many and great.  And over all\nthey raised a mighty mound; and all the while the watchers watched,\nlest the Greeks should arise and slay them.  Last of all was a great\nfeast held in the palace of King Priam.\n\nSo they buried Hector.\n\nAfter these things Achilles himself perished, for he strove to break\nthrough the Sc\u00e6an gate, and there Paris wounded him to the death with\nan arrow, but it was Apollo that guided the archer's hand.\n\nAnd when Troy still could not be taken, the Greeks pretended to\ndepart, burning their camp and sailing away in their ships.  But they\nleft behind them a great horse of wood in which the bravest of the\nchiefs hid themselves.  This the men of Troy drew into their city;\nand at night, when their thoughts were given to feasting, for they\nthought that the war was ended, the chiefs came out of the horse and\nthrew open the gate, so that the Greeks entered and took the city.\n\n\n\n\nPRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES\n\nPronounce _\u00e6_ as in _C\u00e6sar_; _ei_ as _i_ in _island_; [_oe_] as _\u00e6_;\n_y_, when accented, as _i_ in _island_; when unaccented, as _i_ in\n_till_.\n\nPronounce _ch_ as _k_.  _C_ and _g_ are soft (as _s_ and _j_) before\n_ei_, _i_, _y_, _\u00e6_, [_oe_], _eu_; otherwise, hard, as _k_ and _g_\n(in _gas_).\n\n\n  A-chil'-les.\n  \u00c6-ne'-as.\n  Ag-a-mem'-non.\n  A-ge'-nor.\n  A'-jax.\n  An-chi'-ses.\n  An-dr\u00e6'-mon.\n  An-drom'-a-che.\n  An-te'-nor.\n  An-til'-o-chus.\n  Aph-ro-di'-te.\n  A-pol'-lo.\n  A'-res.\n  Ar'-te-mis.\n  A'-si-us.\n  As-ter-o-p\u00e6'-us.\n  As-ty'-a-nax.\n  A-the'-ne.\n  A'-treus.\n  Au-tom'-e-don.\n  Ax'-i-us.\n\n  Bel-ler'-o-phon.\n  Bri-a'-re-us.\n  Bri-se'-is.\n\n  Cal'-chas.\n  Ceb-ri'-o-nes.\n  Chry'-se.\n  Chry-se'-is.\n  Chry'-ses.\n  Co'-on.\n\n  De-iph'-o-bus.\n  Di'-o-med.\n  Di-o'-ne.\n  Do'-lon.\n\n  E-pei'-us.\n  Eu-me'-lus.\n  Eu-phor'-bus.\n  Eu-ry'-a-lus.\n  Eu-ryb'-a-tes.\n  Eu-ryp'-a-lus.\n\n  Glau'-cus.\n\n  Ha'-des.\n  He'-be.\n  Hec'-u-ba.\n  Hel'-e-nus.\n  Hel'-les-pont.\n  He-ph\u00e6s'-tus.\n  He'-ra.\n  Her'-mes.\n  Her-mi'-o-ne.\n  Hip-pol'-o-chus,\n\n  I-d\u00e6'-us.\n  I-do'-me-neus.\n  I'-lus.\n  I-phid'-a-mas.\n  I'-ris.\n\n  La-er'-tes.\n  La-o'-di-ce.\n  La-o'-do-cus.\n  Le'-da.\n  Lyc'-i-a.\n  Lyr-nes'-sus.\n\n  Ma-cha'-on.\n  Men-e-la'-us.\n  Men-\u0153'-ti-us.\n  Me-ri'-o-nes.\n  My-ce'-n\u00e6.\n  Myr'-mi-dons.\n\n  Oe'-neus.\n  O-lym'-pus.\n  O-ri'-on.\n\n  P\u00e6'-on\n  Pan'-da-rus.\n  Pa-tro'-clus\n  Ped'-a-sus.\n  Pe'-leus.\n  Ph\u0153'-nix.\n  Phthi'-a.\n  Po-lyd'-a-mas.\n  Pol-y-do'-rus.\n  Po-sei'-don.\n\n  Rhe'-sus.\n\n  Sa-mo-thrace'.\n  Sar-pe'-don.\n  Sc\u00e6'-an.\n  Sca-man'-der.\n  Sca-man'-dri-us.\n  Si'-don.\n  Si-do'-ni-an.\n  Si'-mo-is.\n  Sthen'-e-lus.\n\n  Tal-thyb'-i-us.\n  Tar'-tar-us.\n  Tel'-a-mon.\n  Teu'-cer.\n  Ther-si'-tes.\n  The'-tis.\n  Tho'-as.\n  Thra'-ci-ans.\n  Ty'-deus.\n\n  Xan'-thus.\n\n\nAs many of the Greek gods are better known under the names given to\nthem by the Romans, the following list is given:--\n\n  _Greek_ -- _Latin_\n\n  Zeus. -- Jupiter.\n  Hera. -- Juno.\n  (Pallas) Athene. -- Minerva.\n  Aphrodite. -- Venus.\n  Poseidon. -- Neptune.\n  Ares. -- Mars.\n  Heph\u00e6stus. -- Vulcan.\n\n\n\nPrinted In the United States of America.","title":"The story of the Iliad","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":43255}