 Book four of the Iliad. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. A quarrel in Olympus. Minerva goes down to persuade Pandarist to violate the oath by wounding Menelaus with an arrow. Agamemnon makes a speech and sends for Machaeon. He then goes about among his captains and operates Ulysses and Sthenolus, who each of them retort fiercely. Diamid checks Sthenolus and the two hosts engage with great slaughter on either side. Now the gods were sitting with Joven Council upon the golden floor, while Hebe went around pouring out nectar for them to drink. And as they pledged one another in their cups of gold, they looked down upon the town of Troy. The son of Saturn then began to tease Juno, talking at her so as to provoke her. Menelaus, he said, has two good friends among the goddesses, Juno of Argos and Minerva of Alal-Kamene, but they only sit still and look on, while Venus keeps ever at Alexander's side to defend him at any danger. Indeed, she has just rescued him when he made sure that it was all over with him, for the victory really did lie with Menelaus. We must consider what we shall do about all this. Shall we set them fighting anew, or make peace between them? If you will agree to this last, Menelaus can take back Helen, and the city of Priam may remain still inhabited. Minerva and Juno muttered their discontents as they sat side by side, hatching mischief for the Trojans. Minerva scowled at her father, for she was in a furious passion with him, and said nothing, but Juno could not contain herself. Dread, son of Saturn, said she, What, pray, is the meaning of all this? Is my trouble, then, to go for nothing, and the sweat that I have sweated, to say nothing of my horse, while getting the people together against Priam and his children? Do as you will, but we, the other gods, shall not all of us approve your counsel. Jove was angry, and answered, My dear, what harm have Priam and his sons done you that you are so hotly bent on sacking the city of Ilias? Will nothing do for you, but you must within their walls, and eat Priam raw, with his sons and all the other Trojans to boot? Have it your own way, then. For I would not have this matter become a bone of contention between us. I say further, and I lay my saying to your heart, if ever I want to sack a city belonging to friends of yours, you must not try to stop me, you will have to let me do it, for I am giving in to you, sorely against my will. Of all inhabited cities, under the sun and stars of heaven, there was none that I so much respected as Ilias with Priam and his whole people. Equitable feasts were never wanting about my altar, nor the savor of burning fat which is honoured due to ourselves. My own three favorite cities, answered Gino, are Argos, Sparda, and Mycenae. Sack them whenever you may be displeased with them, I shall not defend them, I shall not care, even if I did, and tried to say to you, I should take nothing by it, for you are much stronger than I am, but I will not have my own work wasted. I, too, am a god, and of the same race with yourself. I am Saturn's eldest daughter, and am honourable not on this ground only, but also because I am your wife, and you are a king over the gods. Let it be a case, then, of give and take between us, and the rest of the gods will follow our lead. Tell Minerva to go and take part in the fighting at once, and let her contrive that the Trojans shall be the first to break their oaths and set upon the Achaeans. The sire of gods and men heeded to her words, and said to Minerva, go at once to the Trojans and the Achaean host, and contrive that the Trojans shall be the first to break their oaths and set upon the Achaeans. This was what Minerva was already eager to do, so she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus. She shot through the sky as some brilliant meteor, which the sun of scheming Saturn has sent as a sign to mariners or to some great army, and a fiery train of light follows in its wake. The Trojans and the Achaeans were struck with awe as they beheld, and one would turn to his neighbor and say, either we shall have a war and den of combat, or jove the lord of battle will now make peace between us. Thus they did converse. Then Minerva took the form of Laodicus, son of Antinor, and went through the ranks of the Trojans to find Pandaris, the redeadable son of Lycaon. She found him standing among the stalwart heroes who had followed him from the banks of the Asipus. So she went close to him and said, brave son of Lycaon, will you do as I tell you? If you dare send an arrow at Menelaus, you will win honor and thanks from all the Trojans, and especially from the Prince Alexandrus. He would be the first to requite you very handsomely if he could see Menelaus mount his funeral pyre slain by an arrow from your hand. Take your home aim, then, and pray to the Lycean Apollo, the famous archer, vow that when you get home to your strong city of Zeely, you will offer a hectic home of firstling lambs in his honor. His fool's heart was persuaded, and he took his bow from its case. This bow was made from the horns of a wild ibex, which he had killed as it was bounding from rock. He had stalked it, and it had fallen as the arrow struck its heart. Its horns were sixteen palms long, and a worker and horn had made them into a bow, smoothing them well down, and giving them tips of gold. When Pandaris had strung his bow, he laid it carefully on the ground, and his brave followers held their shields before him, lest the Achaeans should set upon him before he had shot Menelaus. Then he opened the lid of his quiver, and took out a wing at arrow that had not yet been shot, fraught with the pangs of death. He laid the arrow on the string, and prayed to Lycean Apollo, the famous archer, vowing that when he got home to his strong city of Zeely, he would offer a hectic home of firstling lambs in his honor. He laid the notch of the arrow on the oxide bow string, and drew both the notch and the string to his breast till the arrow head was near the bow. Then when the bow was arched into a half circle, he let fly, and the bow twang'd in the string sang as the arrow flew gladly on over the heads of the throng. But the blessed gods did not forget the Omenelaus, and Job's daughter, driver of the spoil, was the first to stand before thee to ward off the piercing arrow. She turned it from his skin as a mother whisks a fly from off her child when it is sleeping sweetly. She guided it to the part where the golden buckles of the belt that pass over his double queer-ass were fastened. So the arrow struck the belt that went tightly round him. It went through this and through the queer-ass of cunning workmanship. It also pierced the belt beneath it, which he wore next to his skin to keep out darts or arrows. It was this that served him in the best stead. Nevertheless, the arrow went through it, and grazed the top of the skin, so that blood began to flow from the wound. As when some woman of Maonia, or Caria, strains purple dyes on a piece of ivory, that is to be the cheekpiece of a horse, and is to be laid up in the treasure-house. Many a knife is feigned to bear it, but the king keeps it as an ornament of which both the horse and the driver may be proud. Even so, Omenelaus, were your shapely thighs and your legs down to your fair ankles stained with blood. When King Agamemnon saw the blood flow from the wound, he was afraid, and so was brave Maoniaus himself, till he saw that the barb of the arrow and the thread that bound the arrow head to the shaft were still outside the wound. Then he took heart, but Agamemnon heaved a deep sigh as he held Maoniaus' hand in his own, and his comrades made moan in concert. Dear brother, he cried, I've been the death of you in pledging this covenant and letting you come forward as our champion. The Trojans have trampled on their oaths and have wounded you, nevertheless the oath, the blood of lambs, the drinking of offerings, and the right hand of fellowship in which we have put our trust shall not be in vain. If he that rules Olympus fulfill it not here and now, he will yet fulfill it hereafter, and they shall pay dearly with their lives and with their wives and children. The day will surely come when mighty Ilius shall be laid low, with Priam and Priam's people, when the Son of Saturn from his high throne shall overthrow them with his awful aegis in punishment of their present treachery. This shall surely be, but how, Maoniaus, shall I mourn you, if it is your lot now to die? I should return to Argos as a byword, for the Achaeans will at once go home. We shall leave Priam and the Trojans the glory of still keeping Helen, and the earth will rot your bones as you lie here at Troy with your purpose not fulfilled. Then shall some braggart Trojan leap upon your tomb and say, ever thus may Agamemnon wreak his vengeance. He brought his army in vain, he has gone home to his own lands with empty ships, and has left Menelaus behind him. Thus will one of them say, and may the earth then swallow me. But Menelaus reassured him and said, take heart, and do not alarm the people. The arrow has not struck me in a mortal part, for my outer belt of burnished metal first stated, and under this my queries, and the belt of mail which the bronze mists made me. And Agamemnon answered, I trust, dear Menelaus, that it may be even so, but the surgeon shall examine your wound and lay herbs upon it to relieve your pain. He then said to Tothebius, Tothebius, tell Machaeon, son of the great physician Asclepius, to come to see Menelaus immediately, some Trojan or Lycean archer has wounded him with an arrow to our dismay and to his great victory. Tothebius did as he was told, and went about the host trying to find Machaeon. Presently he found standing amid the brave warriors who had followed him from Triccia. Whereon he went up to him and said, son of Asclepius, King Agamemnon says you are to come to see Menelaus immediately. Some Trojan or Lycean archer has wounded him with an arrow to our dismay and to his great glory. Thus did he speak and Machaeon was moved to go. They passed through the spreading host of the Achaeans and went on till they came to the place where Menelaus had been wounded and was lying with the chieftains gathered in a circle around him. Machaeon passed into the middle of the ring and at once drew the arrow from the belt, bending its barb back through the force with which he pulled it out. He undid the burnished belt and beneath this the queerness in the belt of mail which the bronze myths had made. Then when he had seen the wound he wiped away the blood and applied some soothing drugs which Chaeon had given to Asclepius out of the good will he bore him. While they were busy about Menelaus the Trojans came forward against them for they had put on their armor and now renewed the fight. He would not have then found Agamemnon asleep nor cowardly and unwilling to fight but eager rather for the fray. He left his chariot, rich with bronze and his panting steeds in the charge of Yuri Medan, son of Ptolemaeus, the son of Pirias, and bowed him hold them in readiness against the time his limbs should weary of going about and giving orders to so many. For he went among the ranks on foot. When he saw men hasting to the front he stood by them and cheered them on. Argypse said, a slacken knot one with near on set. Father Jove will be no helper of liars. The Trojans have been the first to break their oats and attack us. Therefore they shall be devoured of vultures. We shall take their city and carry off their wives and children in our ships. But he angrily rebuked those he saw shirking and disinclined to fight. Argypse cried, cowardly miserable creatures. Have you no shame that you stand here like frightened fawns who, when they can no longer scud over the plain, huddle together but show no fight? You are as dazed and spiritless as deer. Would you wait till the Trojans reach the stern of our ships as they lie on the shore to see whether the son of Saturn will hold his hand over you to protect you? Thus did he go about giving orders among the ranks. Passing through the crowd, he presently came to the Cretans, arming around Idomenius, who was at their head. Fierce as a wild boar, while myrianese was bringing up battalions that were in the rear. Agamemnon was glad when he saw him, and spoke him fairly. Idomenius said he, I treat you with greater distinction than I do any others of the Achaeans, whether in war or in other things or at the table. When the princes are mixing my choicest wines in the mixing bowls, they each of them have a fixed allowance. But your cup is kept always full, like my own, that you may drink whenever you are minded. Go therefore into battle, and show yourself the man you have been always proud to be. Idomenius answered, I will be a trustee comrade, as I promised you from the first I would be. Urge on other Achaeans that we may join battle at once, for the Trojans are trampled upon their covenants. Death and destruction shall be theirs, seeing they have been the first to break their oaths and attack us. The son of Atreus went on, glad at heart, till he came upon the two Ajaxes, arming themselves amid a host of foot soldiers. As when a goat heard, from some high post watches a storm drive over the deep before the west wind, black as pitch is the offing, and a mighty whirlwind draws towards him, so that he is afraid and drives his flock into a cave. Even thus did the ranks of stalwart youths move in a dark mass to battle under the Ajaxes, horrid with shield and spear. Glad was King Agamemnon when he saw them. No need, he cried, to give orders to such leaders of the Argives as you are. For your own selves you spur your men on to fight with Might and Main. Would my father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, that all were so minded as you are, for the city of Priam would then soon fall beneath our hands, and we should sack it? With this he left them, and went onward to Nestor, the facile speaker of the Pylians, who was marshalling his men and urging them on, in company with Pelagon, Alastor, Chromius, Haman, and Bias, shepherd of his people. He placed his knights with their chariots and horses in the front rank, while his foot soldiers, brave men and many, whom he could trust, were in the rear. The cowards he drove into the middle, that they might fight whether they would or no. He gave his orders to the knights first, bidding them to hold their horse while in hand, so as to avoid confusion. Let no man, he said, relying on his strength or horsemanship, get before the others and engage singly with the Trojans. Nor yet let him lag behind, or you will weaken your attack. But let each, when he meets an enemy chariot, throw his spear from his own. This be much the best, this is how the men of old took towns and strongholds, and this wise they were minded. Thus did the old man charge them. For he had been in many a fight, and King Agamemnon was glad. I wish, he said to him, that your limbs were as supple and your strength as sure as your judgment is. But each, the common enemy of mankind, has laid his hand upon you, would that it had fallen upon some other, and that you were still young. And Nester, knight of Gerenet, answered, Son of Atreus, I too would cloudly be the man I was when I slew my dear Euryothallion. But the gods will not give us everything at one in the same time. I was young men, and now I am old. Still I can go with my knights and give them that council which old men have a right to give. The wielding of the spear, I leave to those who are younger and stronger than myself. Agamemnon went his way rejoicing, and presently found Menestheus, Son of Petos, tarrying in his place, and with him were the Athenians loud of tongue in battle, near him also tarried cunning Ulysses, with his sturdy Catholanians round him. They had not yet heard the battle cry, for the ranks of Trojans and Achaeans had only just begun to move, so they were standing still, waiting for some other columns of the Achaeans to attack the Trojans and begin the fighting. When he saw this, Agamemnon rebuked them, and said, Son of Petos, and you other, steeped in cunning, heart of guile, why stand you here cowering and waiting on others? You too should be of all men foremost when there is hard fighting to be done. For you are ever foremost to accept my invitation when we counselors of the Achaeans are holding feast. You are glad enough then to take your fill of roasted meats and to drink wine as long as you please. Whereas now you would not care though you saw ten columns of Achaeans engage the enemy in front of you. Ulysses glared at him and answered, Son of Atreus, what are you talking about? How can you say that we are a slack when the Achaeans are in full fight with the Trojans? You shall see, if you care to do so, that the father of Telemachus will join the battle with the foremost of them. You are talking idly. When Agamemnon saw that Ulysses was angry, he smiled pleasantly at him and withdrew his words. Ulysses said he, noble Son of Laertes, excellent in all good counsel. I have neither fault to find nor orders to give you. For I know that your heart is right, and that you and I are of a mind. Enough, I will make you men's for what I have said, and if any ill has now been spoken, may the gods bring it to nothing. He then left them and went on to others. Presently he saw the Son of Tidius, noble Diamond, standing by his chariot and horses with the Stenolus, the son of Cappanius, beside him, whereon he began to upgrade him. Son of Tidius, he said. Why stand you cowering here upon the brink of battle? Tidius did not shrink thus, but was ever ahead of his men when leading them on against the foe. So at least they say that saw him in battle, for I never set eyes upon him myself. They say that there was no man like him. He came once to Mycenae, not as an enemy, but as a guest, in company with Paulinaeces, to recruit his forces, for they were levying war against the strong city of Thebes, and prayed our people for a body of picked men to help him. The men of Mycenae were willing to let them have one, but Jove dissuaded them by showing them unfavorable omens. Tidius, therefore, and Paulinaeces went their way. When they had got as far as the deep meadowed and rush-grown banks of the Asipus, the Achaeans sent Tidius as their envoy. And he found the Cadmians gathered in great number to a banquet in the house of Aetiochles. Stranger though he was, he knew no fear on finding himself single-handed amongst so many. He challenged them to contests of all kinds, and in each one of them was he at once victorious, so mightily did Minerva help him. The Cadmians were incensed at his success, and sent a force of fifty youths with two captains, the godlike hero Maon, son of Haman, and Paulifontes, son of Othophanus, at their head to lie and wait for him on his return journey. But Tidius slew every man of them, save only Maon, whom he let go in obedience to heaven's omens. Such was Tidius of Aetolia. His son can talk more glibly, but he cannot fight as his father did. Diomed made no answer. For he was shamed by the rebuke of Agamemnon. But the son of Cepanius took up his words and said, Son of Atreus, tell no lies, for you can speak the truth, if you will. We boast ourselves as even better men than our fathers. We took seven-gated thieves, though the walls were stronger and our men were fewer in number. For we trusted in the omens of gods and in the help of Jove, whereas they perished through their own sheer folly. Hold not, then, our fathers, in like honor with us. Diomed looked sternly at him and said, Hold your peace, my friend, as I bid you. It is not a mess that Agamemnon should urge the Achaeans forward. For the glory will be his if we take the city, and his the shame if we are vanquished. Therefore let us acquit ourselves with valor. As he spoke he sprang from his chariot, and his armour rang so fiercely about his body that even a brave man might well have been scared to hear it. As went some mighty wave that thunders on the beach when the west wind has lashed it into fury, it has reared its head afar and now comes crashing down on the shore. It bows its arching crest high over the jagged rocks and spews its salt foam in all directions. Even so did the seared phalanxes of the Danians march steadfastly to battle. The chiefs gave orders each to his own people, but the men said never a word. No men would think it. For as huge as the host was, it seemed as though there was not a tongue among them, so silent were they in their obedience. As they marched the armour about their bodies glistened in the sun, but the clamour of the Trojan ranks was as that of many thousand youths that stand waiting to be milked in the yard of some rich flockmaster, and bleeding incessantly in answer to the bleeding of their lambs. For they had not one speech nor language, but their tongues were diverse and they came from different places. These were inspired of Mars, but the others by Minerva, and with them came panic, rout, and strife whose fury never tires. Sister and friend of the murderous Mars, who, from being at first but small in stature, grows till she up rears her head to heaven, though her feet are still on the earth. She was that went about among them and flung down discord to the waxing of sorrows with even hand between them. When they were got together in one place, shield crashed with shield and spear with spear in the rage of battle. The bossed shields beat upon one another, and there was a tramp as of a great multitude, death cry and shout of triumph of slain and slayers, and the earth ran red with blood. As torrents swan with rain course madly down their deep channels till the angry floods meet in some gorge, and the shepherd on the hillside hears their roaring from afar, even such was the toil and uproar of the hosts as they joined battle. First Dotylochus slew an armed warrior of the Trojans, a Keplis, son of Thalysius, fighting in the foremost ranks. He struck at the projecting part of his helmet, and drove his spear into his brow. The point of bronze pierced the bone, and darkness veiled his eyes. Headlong as a tower he fell amid the press of the fighting, and as he dropped King Elephanor, son of Kolkadon, and captain of the Proud Abantes, began dragging him out of reach of the darts that were falling around him, in haste to strip him of his armor. But his purpose was not for long. Ajanor saw him hauling away the body, and smote him in the side with his bronze shod spear. For as he stooped, his side was left unprotected by his shield, and thus he perished. Then the fighting between Trojans and Achaeans grew furious over his body, and they flew upon each other like wolves, man in man crushing one upon the other. Fourthwith, Ajax, son of Talomon, slew the fair youth Simoesis, son of Anthemion, whom his mother bore by the banks of the Simoes, as she was coming down from Mount Ida, where she had been with her parents to see their flocks. Therefore he was named Simoesius, but he did not live to pay his parents for his rearing. For he was cut off untimely by the spear of mighty Ajax, who struck him in the breast by the right nipple, as he was coming on among the foremost fighters. The spear went right through his shoulder, and he fell as a poplar that has grown straight and tall in a meadow by some mere, and his top is thick with branches. Then the wheel-right lays his axe to its roots, that he may fashion a fellow for the wheel of some goodly chariot, and it lies seasoning by the waterside. In such wise did Ajax fell to earth Simoesius, son of Anthemion, whereon Antifas, of the gleaming corset, son of Priam, hurled his spear at Ajax from amid the crowd and missed him. But he hit Lucas, the brave comrade of Ulysses, in the groin as he was dragging away the body of Simoesius over to the other side. So he fell upon the body, and loosed his hold upon it. Ulysses was furious when he saw Leocas slain, and strode in full armor through the front ranks till he was quite close. Then he glared round about him and took aim, and the Trojans fell back as he did so. His dart was not sped in vain, for it struck Democoon, the bastard son of Priam, who had come to him from Abidos, where he had charge of his father's mares. Ulysses, infuriated by the death of his comrade, hit him with his spear on one temple, and the bronze point came through on the other side of his forehead. Thereon darkness veiled his eyes, and his armor rang, rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. Hector, and they that were in front, then gave round, while the Argyves raised a shout and drew off the dead, pressing further forward as they did so. But Apollo looked down from Pyramus and called aloud to the Trojans, for he was displeased. Trojans, he cried, Rush on the foe, and do not let yourselves be thus beaten by the Argyves. Their skins are not stone nor iron, that when hit you do them no harm. Moreover Achilles, the son of Lovely Thetis, is not fighting, but nursing his anger at the ships. Thus spoke the mighty God, crying to them from the city, while Jove's redoubtable daughter, the Tritoborn, went about among the host of the Achaeans, and urged them forward whenever she beheld them slackening. Then fate fell upon Diorys, son of Emerynchius, for he was struck by a jagged stone near the ankle of his right leg. He that hurled it was Pyrrhus, son of Ambrasus, captain of the Thracians, who had come from Enus. The bones in both the tendons were crushed by the pedulous stone. He fell to the ground on his back, and in his death throes stretched out his hand towards his comrades. But Pyrrhus, who had wounded him, sprang on him and thrust a spear into his belly, so that his bowels came gushing out upon the ground, and darkness veiled his eyes. As he was leaving the body, Thoas of Vatolia struck him in the chest near the nebble, and the point fixed itself in his lungs. Thoas came close up to him, pulled the spear from his chest, and then, drawing his sword, smote him in the middle of the belly so that he died. But he did not strip him of his armor. For his Thracian comrades, men who wear their hair and tufts upon the top of their head, stood round the body and kept him off with their long spears for all his great stature and valor. So he was driven back. Thus the two corpses lay stretched on the earth near to one another, and one captain of the Thracians and the other of the Apeans, and many another fell round them. And now no man would have made light of the fighting if he could have gone about among it, scabulous and unwounded, with Minerva leading him by the hand, and protecting him from the storm of spears and arrows. For many Trojans and Achaeans on that day lay stretched side by side, face downwards upon the earth. Recording by Joshua Christensen The Iliad by Homer. Translated by Samuel Butler. Book 5. The Exploits of Diomed The exploits of Diomed, who, though wounded by Pandaris, continues fighting. He kills Pandaris and wounds Aeneas. Venus rescues Aeneas, but being wounded by Diomed, commits him to the care of Apollo and goes to Olympus, where she is tended by her mother, Dione. Mars encourages the Trojans, and Aeneas returns to the fight cured of his wound. Minerva and Juno help the Achaeans, and by the advice of the former Diomed, wounds Mars, who returns to Olympus to get cured. Then Pallas Minerva put valor into the heart of Diomed, son of Tideas, that he might excel all the other Argives and cover himself with glory. She made a stream of fire flare from his shield and helmet, like the star that shines most brilliantly in summer, after its bath in the waters of Aeannas. Even such a fire did she kindle upon his head and shoulders, as she bade him speed into the thickest hurly-burly of the fight. Now there was a certain rich and honorable man among the Trojans, priest of Vulcan, and his name was Darius. He had two sons, Fegius and Ideas, both of them skilled in all the arts of war. These two came forward from the main body of Trojans, and set upon Diomed, he being on foot, while they fought from their chariot. When they were close up to one another, Fegius took Aem first, but his spear went over Diomed's left shoulder without hitting him. Diomed then threw, and his spear sped not in vain, for it hit Fegius on the breast near the nipple, and he fell from his chariot. Ideas did not dare to bestride his brother's body, but sprang from the chariot and took to flight, or he would have shared his brother's fate, whereon Vulcan saved him by wrapping him in a cloud of darkness, that his old father might not be utterly overwhelmed with grief, but the son of Tideas drove off with the horses, and bade his followers take them to the ships. The Trojans were scared when they saw the two sons of Darius, one of them in fright and the other lying dead by his chariot. Minerva, therefore, took Mars by the hand and said, Mars, Mars, bane of men, bloodstain, stormer of cities, may we not now leave the Trojans and Achaeans to fight it out, and see to which of the two Jo will vouchsafe the victory? Let us go away, and thus avoid his anger. So, saying, she drew Mars out of the battle, and set him down upon the steep banks of the Scamander. Upon this the Deneans drove the Trojans back, and each one of their chieftains killed his man. First King Agamemnon flung mighty Odeus, captain of the Halzoni, from the chariot. The spear of Agamemnon caught him on the broad of his back just as he was turning in flight. It struck him between the shoulders, and went right through his chest, and his armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. Then Idomanius killed Phasus, son of Borus the Mionian, who had come from Varne. Mighty Idomanius speared him on the right shoulder as he was mounting his chariot, and the darkness of death enshroudered him as he fell heavily from the car. The squires of Idomanius spoiled him of his armour, while Menelaus, son of Atreus, skilled Scamanderius, the son of Strophius, a mighty huntsman and keen lover of the chase. Diana herself had taught him how to kill every kind of wild creature that is bred in mounted forests. But neither she nor his famed skill in archery could now save him, for the spear of Menelaus struck him in the back as he was flying. It struck him between the shoulders, and went right through his chest, so that he fell headlong, and his armour rang rattling round him. Mareonis then killed Faraclus, the son of Tecton, who was the son of Hermon, a man whose hand was skilled in all manner of cutting workmanship, for Pallas Minerva had dearly loved him. He it was that made the ships for Alexandrus, which were the beginning of all mischief, and brought evil alike both on the Trojans and on Alexandrus himself, for he heeded not the decrees of heaven. Mareonis overtook him as he was flying, and struck him on the right buttock. The point of the spear went through the bone into the bladder, and death came upon him as he cried aloud and fell forward on his knees. Mijis, moreover, Slu Padius, son of Antonor, who, though he was a bastard, had been brought up by Theano as one of her own children for the love she bore her husband. The son of Phileus got close up to him, and drove a spear into the nape of his neck. It went under his tongue all among his teeth, so he bit the cold bronze, and fell dead in the dust. And Euripilus, son of Eumon, killed Hispanoor, the son of Noble Dolopion, who had been made priest of the river's commander, and was honoured among the people as though he were a god. Euripilus gave him chase as he was flying before him, smote him with his sword upon the arm, and lopped his strong hand from off it. The bloody hand fell to the ground, and the shades of death, with fate that no man can withstand, came over his eyes. Thus furiously did the battle rage between them. As for the son of Sadeus, you could not say whether he was more among the Achaeans or the Trojans. He rushed across the plain like a winter torrent that has burst its barrier in full flood. No dikes, no walls of fruitful vineyards can embank it when it is swollen with rain from heaven, but in a moment it comes tearing onward and lays many a field waste that many a strong man's hands has reclaimed. Even so were the dense phalanxes of the Trojans driven and routed by the son of Tadeus, and many though they were, they dared not abide his onslaught. Now when the son of Lecheon saw him scouring the plain and driving the Trojans pel mail before him, he aimed an arrow and hit the front part of his cures near the shoulder. The arrow went right through the metal and pierced the flesh, so that the cures was covered with blood. On this the son of Lecheon shouted in triumph, Knights, Trojans, come on, the bravest of the Achaeans as wounded, and he will not hold out much longer if King Apollo was indeed with me when I sped from Lysia hither. Thus did he vaunt, but his arrow had not killed Diomed, who withdrew and made for the chariot and horses of Thenolus, the son of Cephenius. Dear son of Cephenius, said he, come down from your chariot and draw the arrow out of my shoulder. Thenolus sprang from his chariot and drew the arrow from the wound, whereon the blood came spouting out through the hole that had been made in his shirt. Then Diomed prayed, saying, Hear me, daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, unwearable, if ever you loved my father well and stood by him in the thick of a fight, do the like now by me, grant me to come within a spear's throw of that man and kill him. He has been too quick for me and has wounded me, and now he is boasting that I shall not see the light of the sun much longer. Thus he prayed, and Pallas Minerva heard him. She made his limbs supple and quickened his hands and his feet. Then she went up close to him and said, Fear not, Diomed, to do battle with the Trojans, for I have set in your heart the spirit of your nightly father Tadeus. Moreover, I have withdrawn the veil from your eyes, that you know gods and men apart. If then any other god comes here and offers you battle, do not fight him, but should Jove's daughter Venus come, strike her with your spear and wound her. When she had said this, Minerva went away, and the son of Tadeus again took his place among the foremost fighters, three times more fierce even than he had been before. He was like a lion that some mountain shepherd had wounded, but not killed, as he is springing over the wall of a sheepyard to attack the sheep. The shepherd has roused the brute to fury, but cannot defend his flock, so he takes shelter under cover of the buildings, while the sheep, panic-stricken on being deserted, are smothered in heaps, one on top of the other, and the angry lion leaps out over the sheep-yard wall. Even thus did Diomed go furiously about among the Trojans. He killed Astonos, an Hyperion shepherd of his people, the one with a thrust of his spear, which struck him above the nibble, the other with a sword cut on the collar bone that severed his shoulder from his neck and back. He let both of them die, and went in pursuit of Abbas and Polyitis, sons of the old reader of dreams Eurydimus. They never came back for him to read them any more dreams, for mighty Diomed made an end of them. He then gave chase to Xanthus and Thune, the two sons of Phaenops, both of them very dear to him, for he was now worn out with age, and he got no more sons to inherit his possessions. But Diomed took both their lives and left their fathers sorrowing bitterly, for he never more saw them come home from battle alive, and his kinsmen divided his wealth among themselves. Then he came upon two sons of Priam, Echomon, and Chromius, as they were both in one chariot. He sprang upon them as a lion fastens on the neck of some cow or heifer when the herd is feeding in a coppus. For all their veins struggles he flung them both from their chariot, and stripped the armour from their bodies. Then he gave their horses to his comrades, to take them back to the ships. When Aeneas saw him thus making havoc among the ranks, he went through the fight amid the rain of spears to see if he could find Panderus. When he had found the brave son of Lacaeon he said, Panderus, where is now your bow, your winged arrows, your renown as an archer, in respect of which no man here can rival you, nor is there any in Lycea that can beat you? Lift then your hands to Job and send an arrow at this fellow who is going so masterfully about, and has done such deadly work among the Trojans. He has killed many a brave man, unless indeed he is some god who is angry with the Trojans about their sacrifices, and has set his hand against them in his pleasure. And the son of Lycaeon answered, Aeneas, I take him for none other than the son of Tideas. I know him by his shield, the visor of his helmet, and by his horses. It is possible that he may be a god, but if he is the man I say he is, he is not making all this havoc without heaven's help, but has some god by his side who is shrouded in a cloud of darkness, and who turned my arrow aside when it had hit him. I had taken aim at him already, and hit him on the right shoulder. My arrow went through the breast-piece of his cures, and I made sure I sent him hurrying to the world below, but it seems that I have not killed him. There must be a god who is angry with me. Moreover I am neither horse nor chariot. In my father's stables there are eleven excellent chariots, fresh from the builder, quite new, with claws spread over them, and by each of them there stand a pair of horses, chomping barley and rye. My old father Lycaeon urged me again and again when I was at home, and on the point of starting to take chariots and horses with me, that I might lead the Trojans in battle. But I would not listen to him. It would have been much better if I had done so. But I was thinking about the horses, which had been used to eat their fill, and I was afraid that in such a great gathering of men they might be ill-fed, so I left them at home and came on foot to Ilius, armed only with my bow and arrows. These, it seems, are of no use, for I have already hit two chieftains, the son of Atreus and of Titius, and though I drew blood surely enough, I have only made them still more furious. I did ill to take my bow down from its peg on the day that I led my band of Trojans to Ilius and Hector's service, and if ever I get home again to sit eyes on my native place, my wife and the greatness of my house, may someone cut my head off then and there if I do not break the bow and set it on a hot fire. Such pranks as it plays me. Ilius answered, Say no more. Things will not mend till we too go against this man with chariot and horses, and bring him to a trial of arms. Mount my chariot, and note how cleverly the horses of Tross can speed hither and thither over the plain in pursuit or flight. If Job again vouchsafes glory to the son of Titius, they will carry us safely back to the city. Take hold then of the whip and reins while I stand upon the car to fight, or else do you wait this man's onset while I look after the horses. Aneus replied the son of Lycaon. Take the reins and drive, if we have to fly before the son of Titius the horses will go better for their own driver. If they miss the sound of your voice when they expect it they may be frightened and refuse to take us out of the fight. The son of Titius will then kill both of us and take the horses, therefore drive them yourself, and I will be ready for him with my spear. They then mounted the chariot, and drove full speed towards the son of Titius. Stenolus, son of Copaeneus, saw them coming and said to Diomed, Diomed, son of Titius, man after my own heart, I see two heroes speeding towards you, both of them men of might, the one a skillful archer, pandora, son of Lycaon, the other Aeneus, whose sire is Ancaisis, while his mother is Venus. Mount the chariot and let us retreat. Do not, I pray, you press so furiously forward, or you may get killed. Diomed looked angrily at him and entered, talk not of flight, for I shall not listen to you. I am of a race that knows neither flight nor fear, and my limbs are as yet unwirried. I am in no mind to mount, but will go against them even as I am. Palace Minerva bids me be afraid of no man, and even though one of them escape, their steed shall not take both back again. I say further and lay my saying to your heart, if Minerva cease fit to vouchsave me the glory of killing both, stay your horses here, and make the reins fast to the rim of the chariot, then be sure you spring in Neus' horses and drive them from the Trojan to the Achaean ranks. They are of the stock that Great Job gave to Tross in payment for his son Ganymede, and are the finest that live and move under the sun. King Ancaisis stole the blood by putting his mares to them without Leomedan's knowledge, and they bore him six foals. Four are still in his stables, but he gave the other two to Annaeus. We shall win great glory if we can take them. Thus did they converse, but the other two had now driven close up to them, and the son of Lechaean spoke first. Great and mighty son, said he, of noble Tydeus, my arrow failed to lay you low, so I will now try with my spear. He poised his spear as he spoke, and hurled it from him. It struck the shield on the son of Tydeus. The bronze point pierced it, and passed on till it reached the breastplate. Thereon the son of Lechaean shouted out and said, You are hit clean through the belly. You will not stand up for long, and the glory of the fight is mine. But Diamede, all undismayed, made answer. You have missed, not hit, and before you too see the end of this matter, one or other of you shall glut tough shielded mares with his blood. With this he hurled his spear, and the nerve a guided it on the pandaris' nose near the eye. It went crashing in among his white teeth. The bronze point cut through the root of his tongue, coming out under his chin, and his glistening armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. The horses started aside for fear, and he was reft of life and strength. A neus sprang from his chariot, armed with shield and spear, fearing lest the Achaeans should carry off the body. He bestroded as a lion in the pride of strength, with shield and spear before him, and a cry of battle on his lips, resolute to kill the first that should dare face him. But the son of Titius caught up a mighty stone, so huge and great, that as men now are it would take two to lift it. Nevertheless he bore it aloft with ease unaided, and with this he struck a neus on the groin where the hip turns in the joint that is called the cup bone. The stone crushed this joint, and broke both the sinews, while its jagged edges tore away all the flesh. The hero fell on his knees, and propped himself with his hand resting on the ground till the darkness of night fell upon his eyes. And now a neus, king of men, would have perished then and there, had not his mother, Jove's daughter Venus, who had conceived him by Achaeans when he was hurting cattle, been quick to mark, and thrown her two white arms about the body of her dear son. She protected him by covering him with a fold of her own fair garment, lest some Denean should drive his spear into his breast and kill him. Thus then did she bear her dear son out of the fight. But the son of Copaeneus was not unmindful of the orders the diamond had given him. He made his own horses fast, away from the hurly-burly by binding the reins to the rim of the chariot. Then he sprang upon her neus' horses, and drove them from the Trojan to the Achaean ranks. When he had so done he gave them over to his chosen comrade, Diapolis, whom he valued above all others as the one who is most like-minded with himself, to take them on to the ships. He then remounted his own chariot, seized the reins, and drove with all speed in search of the son of Titius. Now the son of Titius was in pursuit of the Cyprian goddess, spear in hand, for he knew her to be feeble, and not one of those goddesses that can lord it among men in battle, like Minerva or Ennio the Waster of cities. And when at last after a long chase he caught her up, he flew at her and thrust his spear into the flesh of her delicate hand. The point tore through the ambrosial robe which the graces had woven for her, and pierced the skin between her wrist and the palm of her hand, so that the immortal blood, or icor, that flows in the veins of the blessed gods, came pouring from the wound. For the gods do not eat bread nor drink wine, hence they have no blood such as ours, and are immortal. Venus screamed aloud, and let her son fall, but Phoebus Apollo caught him in his arms, and hid him in a cloud of darkness lest some Denean should drive a spear into his breast and kill him. And Diamond shouted out as he left her, daughter of Jove, leave war and battle alone. Can you not be contented with beguiling silly women? If you meddle with fighting you will get what will make you shudder at the very name of war. The goddess went dazed and discomforted away, and Iris, fleet as the wind, drew her from the throng in pain and with her fair skin all besmirched. She found fierce mars waiting on the left of the battle, with his spear and his two fleet's steeds resting on a cloud, whereon she fell on her knees before her brother and implored him to let her have his horses. Dear brother, she cried, save me, and give me your horses to take me to Olympus where the gods dwell. I am badly wounded by a mortal, the son of Tadeus, who would now fight even with the father Jove. Thus she spoke, and Mars gave her his gold bedisen steeds. She mounted the chariot, sick and sorry at heart, while Iris sat beside her, and took the reins in her hand. She lashed her horses on, and they flew forward, nothing loth, till in a trice they were at high Olympus where the gods had their dwelling. There she stayed them, unloosed them from the chariot, and gave them their ambrosial forage. But Venus flung herself on the lap of her mother Diony, who threw her arms about her and caressed her, saying, Which of the heavenly beings has been treating you in this way, as though you had been doing something wrong in the face of day? And laughter loving Venus answered, Proud Diomed, the son of Tadeus, wounded me because I was bearing my dear son Annius, whom I love best of all mankind out of the fight. The war is no longer one between Trojans and Achaeans, for the Deneans have now taken to fighting with the immortals. Bear it, my child, replied Diony, and make the best of it. We dwellers in Olympus have to put up with much at the hands of men, and we lay much suffering on one another. Mars had to suffer when Otus, and Aphialtus, children of Olias, bound him in cruel bonds, so that he lay thirteen months imprisoned in a vessel of bronze. Mars would have then perished, had not fair Ereboia, stepmother to the son of Olias, told Mercury, who stalled him away when he was already well nigh worn out by the severity of his bondage. Juno again suffered when the mighty son of Amphitrion wounded her on the right breast with a three-barbed arrow, and nothing could assuage her pain. So also did huge Hades, when this same man, the son of Aegis Bearing Jove, hit him with an arrow even at the gates of Hell, and hurt him badly. Thereon Hades went to the house of Jove on great Olympus, angry and full of pain, and the arrow in his brawny shoulder caused him great anguish, Tapeion healed him by spreading soothing herbs on the wound, for Hades was not of mortal mould. Daring, headstrong evildoer who wracked not of his sin in shooting the gods that dwell in Olympus. And now Minerva has egged this son of Tideas on against herself, fool that he is, for not reflecting that no man who fights with gods will live long, or hear his children prattling about his knees when he returns from battle. Let then the son of Tideas see that he does not have to fight with one who is stronger than you are. Then shall his brave wife, Aegealia, daughter of Addrastus, rouse her whole house from sleep, wailing for the loss of her wedded Lord, Diomed the bravest of the Achaeans. So, saying, she wiped the Ikor from the wrist of her daughter with both hands, whereon the pain left her, and her hand was healed. But Minerva and Juno, who were looking on, began to taunt Jove with their mocking talk, and Minerva was first to speak. Father Jove, said she, to not be angry with me but I think the Cyprian must have been persuading some one of the Achaean women to go with the Trojans of whom she is so very fond, and while caressing one of the other of them she must have torn her delicate hand with the gold pin of the women's brooch. The sire of gods and men smiled and called golden Venus to his side. My child, said he, it has not been given you to be a warrior. Attend henceforth to your own delightful matrimonial duties, and leave all this fighting to Mars and to Minerva. Thus did they converse. But Diomed sprang upon Aeneas, though he knew him to be in the very arms of Apollo. Not one whit did he fear the mighty god, so set was he on killing Aeneas and stripping him of his armour. Thrice did he spring forward with his might and mane to slay him, and Thrice did Apollo beat back his gleaming shield. When he was coming on for the fourth time, as though he were a god, Apollo shouted to him with an awful voice and said, Take heed, son of Tideas, and draw off. Think not to match yourself against gods, for men that walk the earth cannot hold their own with the immortals. The son of Tideas then gave way for a little space to avoid the anger of the god, while Apollo took Aeneas out of the crowd and set him in sacred Pergamos where his temple stood. There, within the mighty sanctuary, Letona and Diana healed him and made him glorious to behold, while Apollo of the silver bow fashioned a wraith in the likeness of Aeneas and armed as he was. Round this the Trojans and Achaeans hacked at the bucklers about one another's breasts, hewing each other's round shields and light hide-covered targets. Then Phoebus Apollo said to Mars, Mars, Mars, bane of men, blood-stained stormer of cities, can you not go to this man, the son of Tideas, who would fight even with Father Jove, and draw him out of the battle? He first went up to the Cyprian and wounded her in the hand near her wrist, and afterwards sprang upon me, too, as though he were a god. He then took a seat on the top of Pergamos, while murderous Mars went about among the ranks of the Trojans, cheering them on in the likeness of fleet Achaeamos, chief of the Thracians. Sons of Priam, said he, how long will you let your people be thus slaughtered by the Achaeans? Would you wait till they are at the walls of Troy? Aeneas, the son of Ankhaisis, has fallen, he whom we held in as high honor as Hector himself. Help me, then, to rescue our brave comrade from the stress of the fight. With these words he put heart and soul into them all. Then Sarpedon rebuked Hector very sternly. Hector, said he, where is your prowess now? You used to say that though you had neither people nor allies, you could hold the town alone with your brothers and brothers-in-law. I see not one of them here. They cower as hounds before a lion. It is we, your allies, who bear the brunt of the battle. I have come from afar, even from Lycea and the banks of the River Xanthus, where I have left my wife, my infant son, and much wealth to tempt whoever is needy. Nevertheless, I head my Lycean soldiers and stand my ground against any who would fight me, though I have nothing here for the Achaeans to plunder, while you look on without even bidding your men stand firm in defense of their wives. See that you fall not into the hands of your foes, as men caught in the meshes of Annette, and they sacked your fair city forthwith. Keep this before your mind night and day, and beseech the captains of your allies to hold on without flinching, and thus put away their approaches from you. So spoke Sarpelen, and Hector smarted under his words. He sprained from his chariot, clad in his suit of armour, and went about among the host brandishing his two spears, exhorting the men to fight and raising the terrible cry of battle. Then they rallied and again faced the Achaeans, but the Argyves stood compact and firm and were not driven back. As the breezes sport with the chaff upon some goodly threshing floor when men are winnowing, while yellow series blows with the wind to sift the chaff from the grain, and the chaff heaps grow whiter and whiter. Even so did the Achaeans whiten in the dust, which the horses hooves raised to the firmament of heaven, as their drivers turned them back to battle, and they bore down with might upon the foe. Fierce Mars, to help the Trojans, covered them in a veil of darkness, and went about everywhere among them. In as much as Phoebus Apollo had told him that when he saw Pallas Minerva leave the fray, he was to put courage into the hearts of the Trojans, for it was she who was helping the Denaeans. Then Apollo sent Nias forth from his rich sanctuary, and filled his heart with valor, whereon he took his place among his comrades, who were overjoyed at seeing him alive, sound, and of a good courage. But they could not ask him how it all happened, for they were too busy with the turmoil raised by Mars and by strife, who raged insatiably in their midst. The two Ajaxes, Ulysses and Diomed, cheered the Denaeans on, fearless of the fury and onset of the Trojans. They stood as still as clouds, which the sun of Saturn had spread upon the mountaintops, when there is no air, and fierce Boreas sleeps with the other boisterous winds, whose shrill blasts scatter the clouds in all directions. Even so did the Denaeans stand firm and unflinching against the Trojans. The sun of Atreus went about among them and exhorted them. My friends, said he, quit yourselves like brave men, and shun dishonor in one another's eyes amid the stress of battle. They that shun dishonor more often live than get killed, but they that fly save neither life nor name. As he spoke he hurled his spear and hit one of those who were in the front rank, the comrade of Aeneas, Daikun, son of Purgasus, whom the Trojans held in no less honour than the sons of Priam, for he was ever quick to place himself among the foremost. The spear of King Agamemnon struck his shield and went right through it, for the shield stayed it not. It drove through his belt into the lower part of his belly, and his armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. Then Aeneas killed two champions of the Aeneans, Cretan and Orsilicus. Their father was a rich man who lived in a strong city of Firae and was descended from the river Alpheus, whose broad stream flows through the land of the Pileons. The river begat Orsilicus, who ruled over much people and was fathered to Daocles, who in his turn begat twin sons, Cretan and Orsilicus, well skilled in all the arts of war. These, when they grew up, went to Ilius with the Argyle fleet in the cause of Menelaus and Agamemnon, sons of Atreus, and there they both of them fell. As two lions, whom their dam has reared in the depths of some mountain forest to plunder homesteads and carry off sheep and cattle, till they get killed by the hand of man, so were these two vanquished by Aeneas and fell like high pine trees to the ground. Brave Menelaus pitted them in their fall and made his way to the front, clad in gleaming bronze and brandishing his spear, for Mars egg demanded do so with intent that he should be killed by Aeneas. But Antilicus the son of Nestor saw him and sprang forward, fearing that the king might come to harm and thus bring all their labor to nothing. When, therefore, Aeneas and Menelaus were setting their hands and spears against one another eager to do battle, Antilicus placed himself by the side of Menelaus. Aeneas, bold though he was, drew back on seeing the two heroes side by side in front of him, so they drew the bodies of Cretan and Arcilicus to the ranks of the Achaeans and committed the two poor fellows into the hands of their comrades. They then turned back and fought in the front ranks. They killed Pylah Emanes, peer of Mars, leader of the Paphlegonian warriors. Menelaus struck him on the collar bone as he was standing on his chariot, while Antilicus hid his charioteer in Squire, Myron, the son of Antimneus, who was turning his horses in flight. He hit him with a stone upon the elbow, and the reins enriched with white ivory fell from his hands into the dust. Antilicus rushed towards him and struck him on the temples with his sword, whereon he fell head first from the chariot to the ground. There he stood for a while with his head and shoulders buried deep in the dust, for he had fallen on sandy soil till his horses kicked him and laid him flat on the ground, as Antilicus lashed them and drove them off to the host of the Achaeans. But Hector marked them from across the ranks, and with a loud cry rushed towards them, followed by the strong battalions of the Trojans. Mars and Dread Eño led them on. She fraught with ruthless turmoil of battle, while Mars wielded a monstrous spear and went about, now in front of Hector and now behind him. Diamond shook with passion as he saw them, as a man crossing a wide plain is dismayed to find himself in the brink of some great river rolling swiftly to the sea. He sees its boiling waters and starts back in fear. Even so did the son of Tideus give ground. Then he said to his men, My friends, how can we wonder that Hector wields the spear so well? Some God is ever by his side to protect him, and now Mars is with him in the likeness of mortal man. Keep your faces therefore towards the Trojans, but give ground backwards, for we dare not fight with gods. As he spoke, the Trojans drew close up, and Hector killed two men, both in one chariot, Menesthes and in Chialis, heroes well versed in war. Ajax, son of Telemann, pitted them in their fall. He came close up and hurled his spear, hitting Ampheus, the son of Selegus, a man of great wealth who lived in Paesus and owned much corn-growing land, but his lot had led him to come to the aid of Priam and his sons. Ajax struck him in the belt. The spear pierced the lower part of his belly, and he fell heavily to the ground. Then Ajax ran towards him to strip him of his armour, but the Trojans reigned spears upon him, many of which fell upon his shield. He planted his heel upon the body, and drew out his spear, but the darts pressed so heavily upon him that he could not strip the goodly armour from his shoulders. The Trojan chieftains, moreover, many in Valiant, came about him with their spears, so that he dared not stay. Great, brave, and valiant though he was, they drove him from them, and he was beaten back. Thus, then, did the battle rage between them. Presently the strong hand of fate impelled Tlapolamus, the son of Herculees, a man both brave and of great stature, to fight Sarpedon, so the two, son and grandson of Great Jove, drew near to one another, and Tlapolamus spoke first. Sarpedon, said he, Councilor of the Lyceans, why should you come skulking here, you who are a man of peace? They lie who call you son of ages, bearing Jove, for you are little like those who were of old his children. Far other was Herculees, my own brave and lion-hearted father, who came here for the horses of Leomedon, and though he had six ships only, and few men to follow him, sacked the city of Ilius, and made a wilderness of her highways. You are a coward, and your people are falling from you, for all your strength, and all your coming from Lacea, you will be no help to the Trojans, but will pass the gates of Hades vanquished by my hand. And Sarpedon, Captain of the Lyceans, answered, Tlapolamus, your father overthrew Ilius by reason of Leomedon's folly and refusing payment to one who had served him well. He would not give your father the horses which he had come so far to fetch. As for yourself, you shall meet death by my spear, you shall yield glory to myself, and your soul to Hades of the noble steeds. Thus spoke Sarpedon, and Tlapolamus upraised his spear. They threw at the same moment, and Sarpedon struck his foe in the middle of his throat. The spear went right through, and the darkness of death fell upon his eyes. Tlapolamus' spear struck Sarpedon on the left thigh with such force that it tore through the flesh and grazed the bone, but his father as yet warded off destruction from him. His comrades bore Sarpedon out of the fight, in great pain by the weight of the spear that was dragging from his wound. They were in such haste and stress, as they bore him, that no one thought of drawing the spear from his thigh, so as to let him walk up rightly. Meanwhile the Achaeans carried off the body of Tlapolamus. Whereon Ulysses was moved to Pity, and panted for the fray as he beheld them. He doubted whether to pursue the son of Jove, or to make slaughter of the Lycean rank and file. It was not decreed, however, that he should slay the son of Jove. Minerva, therefore, turned him against the main body of the Lyceans. He killed Corianus, Alastor, Chromius, Alcandris, Haleus, Noamon, and Protanus, and would have slain yet more had not great Hector marked him, and sped to the front of the fight, clad in his suit of mail, filling the Achaeans with terror. Sarpedon was glad when he saw him coming, and he sought him, saying, Son of Priam, let me not be here to fall into the hands of the Achaeans, help me, and since I may not return home to gladden the hearts of my wife and of my infant son, let me die within the walls of your city. Hector made him no answer, but rushed onward to fall at once upon the Achaeans and kill many among them. His comrades then bore Sarpedon away, and lay him beneath Jove's spreading oak tree. Pelagon, his friend and comrade, drew the spear out of his thigh, but Sarpedon fainted, and a mist came over his eyes. Presently he came to himself again, for the breath of the north wind as it played upon him gave him new life, and brought him out of the deep swoon into which he had fallen. Meanwhile the Argyves were neither driven towards their ships by Mars and Hector, nor yet did they attack them, when they knew that Mars was with the Trojans they retreated, but kept their faces still turned towards the foe. Who then was first, and who was last to be slain by Mars and Hector? They were Valiant Tutharis, and arestis the renowned charioteer, Tricus the Aetolian warrior, Owenamous, Hellenus the son of Onops, and Orcibius of the gleaming girdle, who was possessed of great wealth, and wealthed by the Sufisian lake with the other Boetians who lived near him, owners of a fertile country. Now when the goddess Juno saw the Argyves thus falling, she said to Minerva, Alas, daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, un-wariable, the promise we made Menelaus that he should not return till he had sacked the city of Ilias will be of no effect if we let Mars rage thus furiously. Let us go and hit the fray at once. Minerva did not gainsay her. Thereon the August goddess, daughter of great Saturn, began to harness her gold-bedizen steeds. Hebe, with all speed, fitted on the eight-spoked wheels of bronze that were on either side of the iron axle-tree. The fellows of the wheels were gold, imperishable, and over these there was a tire of bronze, wondrous to behold. The knaves of the wheels were silver, turning round the axle upon either side. The car itself was made with plated bands of gold and silver, and it had a double top rail running all round it. From the body of the car there went a pole of silver, on to the end of which she bound the golden yoke, with the bands of gold that were to go under the necks of the horses, then Juno put her steeds under the yoke, eager for battle, and the war cry. Meanwhile Minerva flung her richly embroidered vesture, made with her own hands on to her father's threshold, and dawned the shirt of Jove, arming herself for battle. She threw her tassled Aegis about her shoulders, wreathe ground with rout as with a fringe, and on it were strife and strength, and panic whose blood runs cold. Moreover there was the head of the dread monster Gorgon, grim and awful to behold, portent of Aegis bearing Jove. On her head she set her helmet of gold, with four plumes, and coming to a peak both in front and behind, decked with the emblems of a hundred cities. Then she stepped into her flaming chariot, and grasped the spear, so stout and sturdy and strong, with which she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her. Juno lashed the horses on, and the gates of heaven bellowed as they flew open of their own accord, gates over which the hours preside, in whose hands are heaven and Olympus, either to open the dense cloud that hides them, or to close it. Through these the goddesses drove their obedient steeds, and found the son of Saturn sitting all alone on the topmost ridges of Olympus. There Juno stayed her horses, and spoke to Jove the son of Saturn, Lord of all. Father Jove, said she, are you not angry with Mars for these high-doings, how great and goodly a host of the Achaeans he has destroyed to my great grief, and without either right or reason, while the Cyprian and Apollo are enjoying it all at their ease, and setting this unrighteous madman on to do further mischief. I hope, Father Jove, that you will not be angry if I hit Mars hard, and chase him out of the battle. And Jove answered, set Minerva on to him, for she punishes him more often than anyone else does. Juno did, as he had said. She lashed her horses, and they flew forward nothing loth midway between earth and sky. As far as a man can see, when he looks out upon the sea from some high beacon, so far can the loud-naying horses of the gods spring at a single bound. When they reached Troy, and the place where its two flowing streams, Samois and Scamander meet, there Juno stayed them and took them from the chariot. She hid them in a thick cloud, and Samois made ambrosia spring up for them to eat. The two goddesses then went on, flying like turtledoves in their eagerness to help the Argives. When they came to the part where the bravest and most in number were gathered about mighty diamond, fighting like lions or wild boars of great strength and endurance, there Juno stood still, and raised a shout like that of brazen voiced stenter, whose cry was as loud as that of fifty men together. Argives, she cried, shame on cowardly creatures, brave in semblance only, as long as Achilles was fighting, if his spear was so deadly that the Trojans dared not show themselves outside the Dardanian gates. But now they sell afar from the city, and fight even at your ships. With these words she put heart and soul into them all, while Minerva sprang to the side of the son of Tadeus, whom she found near his chariot and horses, cooling the wound that Pandorus had given him. For the sweat caused by the hand that bore the weight of his shield irritated the hurt. His arm was weary with pain, and he was lifting up the strap to wipe away the blood. The goddess laid her hand on the yoke of his horses and said, The son of Tadeus is not such another as his father. Tadeus was a little man, but he could fight, and rushed madly into the fray even when I told him not to do so. When he went all unattended as envoy to the city of Thebes among the Chedmians, I bade him feast in their houses and be at peace. But with that high spirit which was ever present with him, he challenged the youth of the Chedmians, and at once beat them in all that he attempted, so mightily did I help him. I stand by you too to protect you, and I bid you be instant in fighting the Trojans, but either you are tired out, or you are afraid and out of heart, and in that case I say that you are no true son of Tadeus, the son of Oenius. Diomed answered, I know you goddess, daughter of Aegis bearing Jove, and will hide nothing from you. I am not afraid nor out of heart, nor is there any slackness in me. I am only following your own instructions. You told me not to fight any of the blessed gods, but if Jove's daughter Venus came into battle, I was to wound her with my spear. Therefore I am retreating, and bidding the other archives gather in this place, for I know that Mars is now lording it in the field. Diomed, son of Tadeus, replied Minerva, man after my own heart, fear neither Mars nor any other of the immortals, for I will befriend you. Nay, drive straight at Mars and smite him in close combat. Fear not this raging madman, villain incarnate, first on one side and then on the other. But now he was holding talks with Juno and myself, saying he would help the archives and attack the Trojans. Nevertheless, he is with the Trojans, and has forgotten the archives. With this she caught hold of Stenolus, and lifted him off the chariot onto the ground. In a second he was on the ground, whereupon the goddess mounted the car and placed herself by the side of Diomed. The oaken axle groaned aloud under the burden of the awful goddess and the hero. Pallas Minerva took the whip and reins, and drove straight at Mars. He was in the act of stripping huge periphas, son of Oceas, and bravest of the Etolians. Bloody Mars was stripping him of his armour, and Minerva donned the helmet of Hades, that he might not see her. When, therefore, he saw Diomed, he made straight for him and let periphas lie where he had fallen. As soon as they were at close quarters, he let fly with his bronze spear over the reins and yoke, thinking to take Diomed's life, but Minerva caught the spear in her hand and made it fly harmlessly over the chariot. Diomed then threw, and Pallas Minerva drove the spear into the pit of Mars's stomach, where his undergirdle went round him. There Diomed wounded him, tearing his fair flesh, and then drawing his spear out again. Mars roared as loudly as nine or ten thousand men in the thick of a fight, and the Achaeans and Trojans were struck with panic, so terrible was the cry he raised. As a dark cloud in the sky, when it comes on to blow after heat, even so did Diomed, son of Tideas, see Mars ascend into the broad heavens. With all speed he reached High Olympus, home of the gods, and in great pain sat down beside Joe, the son of Saturn. He showed Joe the immortal blood that was flowing from his wound, and spoke piteously, saying, Father Joe, are you not angered by such doings? We gods are continually suffering in the most cruel manner at one another's hands while helping mortals, and we all owe you a grudge for having begotten that mad termigant of a daughter, who is always committing outrage of some kind. We other gods must all do as you bid us, but her you neither scold nor punish. You encourage her because the pestilent creature is your daughter. See how she has been inciting proud Diomed to vent his rage on the immortal gods. First he went up to the Cyprian and wounded her in the hand near her wrist, and then he sprang upon me too, as though he were a god. Had I not run for it, I must either have lain there for long enough in torments among the ghastly corpses, or else have been eaten alive with spears till I had no more strength left in me. Joe looked angrily at him and said, Do not come whining here, surfacing both ways. I hate you worst of all the gods in Olympus, for you were ever fighting and making mischief. You have the intolerable and stubborn spirit of your mother Juno. It is all I can do to manage her, and it is her doing that you are now in this plight. Still I cannot let you remain longer in such great pain. You are my own offspring, and it was by me that your mother conceived you. If, however, you had been a son of any other god, you are so destructive that by this time you should have been lying lower than the Titans. He then bade Peion heal him, whereon Peion spread pain-killing herbs upon his wound and cured him, for he was not of mortal mould. As the juice of the fig tree curdles milk, and thickens it in a moment, though it is liquid, even so instantly did Peion cure fierce Mars. Then he bewashed him, and clothed him in goodly rainment, and he took his seat by his father Joe, all glorious to behold. But Juno of Argos, and Minerva of Alalcomene, now that they had put a stop to the murderous doings of Mars, went back again to the house of Jove. The fight between Trojans and Achaens was now left to rage as it would, and the tide of war surged hither and nither over the plain as they aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another between the streams of Samoas and Xanthus. First Ajax, son of Telemann, tower of strength to the Achaens, broke a phalanx of the Trojans, and came to the assistance of his comrades by killing a Camus, son of Eusaurus, the best man among the Thracians, being both brave and of great stature. The spear struck the projecting peak of his helmet, its bronze point then went through his forehead into the brain, and darkness veiled his eyes. Then Diamid killed Exilis, son of Tithranus, a rich man who lived in the strong city of Aresby, and was beloved by all men, for he had a house by the roadside, and entertained every one who passed, how be it not one of his guests stood before him to save his life, and Diamid killed both him and his squire Calesius, who was then his charioteer. So the pair passed beneath the earth. Uriolus killed Dresus and Eiffeltius, and then went in pursuit of Asipus and Pettisus, whom the Niyadnymph of Barbarea had borne to noble Bucoleon. Bucoleon was eldest son to Laudamon, but he was a bastard. While tending his sheep, he had converse with the Nymph, and she conceived twin sons. These the son of Mesistius now slew, and he stripped the armour from their shoulders. Polypoeties then killed Aestialis, Ulysses, Pidaites of Percoti, and too Sir Aritan. Oblerus fell by the spear of Nestor's son Antillicus, and Agamemnon, king of men, killed Elatus, who dwelt in Pettisus by the banks of the river Satnuius. Latus killed Phylacus as he was flying, and Eropylus slew Melanthus. Then Menelaus of the loud war cry took Adrestus alive, for his horses ran into a tamarisk bush, as they were flying wildly over the plane, and broke the pole from the car. They went on towards the city along with the others in full flight, but Adrestus rolled out, and fell in the dust flat on his face by the wheel of his chariot. Menelaus came up to him spear in hand, but Adrestus caught him by the knees begging for his life. Take me alive, he cried, son of Atreus, and you shall have a full ransom for me. My father is rich, and has much treasure of gold, bronze, and wrought iron laid by in his house. From this store he will give you a large ransom, should he hear of my being alive and at the ships of the Achaeans. Dust did he plead, and Menelaus was for yielding and giving him to a squire to take to the ships of the Achaeans, but Agamemnon came running up to him and rebuked him. My good Menelaus said he this is no time for giving quarter. Has then your house fared so well at the hands of the Trojans? Let us not spare a single one of them, not even the child unborn and in its mother's womb. Let not a man of them be left alive, but let all in Ilias perish, unheeded and forgotten." Dust did he speak, and his brother was persuaded by him, for his words were just. Menelaus therefore thrust Adrestus from him, whereon King Agamemnon struck him in the flank, and he fell. Then the son of Atreus planted his foot upon the breast to draw his spear from the body. Meanwhile Nestor shouted to the Argyve, saying, My friends, Denean warriors, servants of Mars, let no man lag that he may spoil the dead and bring back much booty to the ships. Let us kill as many as we can. The bodies will lie upon the plane, and you can despoil them later at your leisure. With these words he put heart and soul into them all. And now the Trojans would have been routed and driven back into Ilias had not Priam's son Hellenus, wisest of augurs, said to Hector and Deneas. Hector and Deneas, you too are the mainstays of the Trojans and Lyceans, for you are foremost at all times, alike in fight and counsel. Hold your ground here, and go about among the host to rally them in front of the gates, where they will fling themselves into the arms of their wives, to the great joy of our foes. Then, when you have put heart into all our companies, we will stand firm here and fight the Deneans however hard they press us, for there is nothing else to be done. Meanwhile, do you, Hector, go to the city and tell our mother what is happening. Tell her to bid the matrons gather at the temple of Minerva in the Acropolis. Let her then take her key and open the doors of the sacred building. There, upon the knees of Minerva, let her lay the largest, fairest robe she has in her house, the one she sets most store by. Let her moreover promise to sacrifice twelve-yearling heifers that have never yet felt the goad in the temple of the Goddess, if she will take pity on the town with the wives and little ones of the Trojans, and keep the son of Tideas from falling on the goodly city of Ilias, for he fights with fury and fills men's souls with panic. I hold him mightiest of them all. We did not fear even their great champion Achilles, son of a goddess, though he be, as we do this man. His rage is beyond all bounds, and there is none can vie with him in prowess. Hector did as his brother bade him. He sprang from his chariot, and went about everywhere among the host, brandishing his spears, urging the men on to fight, and raising the dread cry of battle. Thereon they rallied, and again faced the Achaeans, who gave ground and ceased their murderous onset, for they deemed that some one of the immortals had come down from starry heaven to help the Trojans, so strangely had they rallied. And Hector shouted to the Trojans, Trojans and allies, be men, my friends, and fight with might and main, while I go to Ilias and tell the old men of our council and our wives to pray to the gods, and vow hecatumes in their honour. With this he went his way, and the black rim of hide that went round his shield beat against his neck and his ankles. Then Glockus, son of Hippolicus, and the son of Tydeus went into the open space between the hosts to fight in single combat. When they were close up to one another, Diamed of the loud war cry was the first to speak. Who, my good sir, said he? Who are you among men? I have never seen you in battle until now, but you are daring beyond all others if you abide my onset. Woe to those fathers whose sons face my might. If, however, you are one of the immortals, and have come down from heaven, I will not fight you. For even Valiant Lycurgus, son of Dryas, did not live long when he took to fighting with the gods. He, it was, drove the nursing women who were in charge of friendied Bacchus through the land of Nysa, and they flung their thircee on the ground as murderous Lycurgus beat them with his ox-goat. Bacus himself plunged terror-stricken into the sea, and Thetis took him to her bosom to comfort him, for he was scared by the fury with which the man reviled him. Thereon the gods who lived at ease were angry with Lycurgus, and the son of Saturn struck him blind, nor did he live much longer after he had become hateful to the immortals. Therefore I will not fight with the blessed gods, but if you are of them that eat the fruit of the ground, draw near, and meet your doom. And the son of Hippolychus answered, Son of Tydeas, why ask me of my lineage? Men come and go as leaves year by year upon the trees. Those of autumn the wind sheds upon the ground, but when spring returns the forest buds forth with fresh vines. Even so is it with the generations of mankind. The news spring up as the old are passing away. If then you would learn my descent, it is one that is well known to many. There is a city in the heart of Argos, past your land of horses called Ephira, where Sisyphus lived, who was the craftiest of all mankind. He was the son of Aelis, and had a son named Glaucus who was fathered to Bolarophon, whom heaven endowed with the most surpassing comeliness and beauty. But Prootus devised his ruin, and being stronger than he, drove him from the land of the Argives over which Job had made him ruler. For Antaea, wife of Prootus, lusted after him, and would have had him lie with her in secret. But Bolarophon was an honourable man, and would not, so she told lies about him to Prootus. Prootus said she kill Bolarophon or die, for he would have had converse with me against my will. The king was angered, but shrank from killing Bolarophon, so he sent him to Lycia with lying letters of introduction, written on a folded tablet and containing much ill against the bearer. He bade Bolarophon show these letters to his father-in-law, to the end that he might thus perish. Bolarophon therefore went to Lycia, and the gods conveyed him safely. When he reached the river Xanthus which is in Lycia, the king received him with all good will, feasted him nine days, and killed nine heifers in his honour. But when Rosie fingered mourn appeared upon the tenth day he questioned him, and desired to see the letter from his son-in-law, Prootus. When he had received the wicked letter he first commanded Bolarophon to kill that savage monster, the Chimera, who was not a human being but a goddess, for she had the head of a lion and the tail of a serpent, while her body was that of a goat, and she breathed forth flames of fire. But Bolarophon slew her, for he was guided by signs from heaven. He next fought the far-famed Solomy, and this he said was the hardest of all his battles. Thirdly he killed the Amazons, women who were the peers of men, and as he was returning thence the king devised yet another plan for his destruction. He picked the bravest warriors in all Lycia, and placed them in Ambuscade, but not a man ever came back, for Bolarophon killed every one of them. Then the king knew that he must be the valiant offspring of a god, so he kept him in Lycia, gave him his daughter in marriage, and made him of equal honour in the kingdom with himself, and the Lycians gave him a piece of land, the best in all the country, fair with vineyards and tilled fields, to have and to hold. The king's daughter bore Bolarophon three children, Isander, Hippolychus, and Laodomia. The Lord of Council lay with Laodomia, and she bore him noble Sarpedon, but when Bolarophon came to be hated by all the gods, he wandered all desolate and dismayed upon the Allian Plain, gnawing at his own heart and shunning the path of men. Mars, in satiate of battle, killed his son Isander while he was fighting the Solomy. His daughter was killed by Diana of the Golden Reigns, for she was angered with her. But Hippolychus was father to myself, and when he sent me to Troy he urged me again and again to fight ever among the foremost and out by my peers, so as not to shame the blood of my fathers, who were the noblest in Ephira and in all Lycea. This, then, is the dissent I claim. Thus did he speak, and the heart of Diamond was glad. He planted his spear in the ground, and spoke to him with friendly words. Then he said, you are an old friend of my father's house. Great Anais once entertained Bolarophon for twenty days, and the two exchanged presents. Anais gave a belt rich with purple, and Bolarophon a double cup, which I left at home when I sent out for Troy. I do not remember Tideas, for he was taken from us while I was yet a child, when the army of the Achaeans was cut to pieces before Thebes. Henceforth, however, I must be your host in Middle Argos, and you mine in Lycea if I should ever go there. Let us avoid one another's spears even during a general engagement. There are many noble Trojans and allies whom I can kill, if I overtake them, and Heaven delivers them into my hand. So again with yourself. There are many Achaeans whose lives you may take if you can. We, too, then, will exchange armor that all present may know of the old ties that subsist between us. With these words they sprang from their chariots, grasped one another's hands and plighted friendship, but the son of Saturn made Glaucas take leave of his wit, for he exchanged golden armor for bronze, the worth of a hundred head of cattle, for the worth of nine. Now when Hector reached the scant gates and the oak tree, the wives and daughters of the Trojans came running towards him to ask after their sons, brothers, kinsmen, and husbands. He told them to set about praying to the gods, and many were made sorrowful as they heard him. Presently he reached the splendid palace of King Priam, adorned with colonnades of Hewne Stone. In it there were fifty bed chambers, all of Hewne Stone, built near one another, where the sons of Priam slept, each with his wedded wife. Opposite these, on the other side of the courtyard, there were twelve upper rooms, also of Hewne Stone for Priam's daughters, built near one another, where his sons-in-law slept with their wives. When Hector got there, his fond mother came to him with lout to see the fairest of her daughters. She took his hand within her own, and said, My son, why have you left the battle to come hither? Are the Achaeans, woe betide them, pressing you hard about the city, that you have thought fit to come, and uplift your hands to Jove from the citadel? Wait till I can bring you wine, that you may make offering to Jove and to the other immortals, and may then drink and be refreshed. Wine gives a man fresh strength when he is wearied, as you know are with fighting on behalf of your kinsmen. And Hector answered, Honoured mother, bring no wine, lest you unmand me, and I forget my strength. I dare not make a drink offering to Jove with unwashed hands, one who is bespattered with blood and filth may not pray to the son of Saturn. Get the matrons together, and go with offerings to the temple of Minerva, driver of the spoil. There, upon the knees of Minerva, lay the largest and fairest robe you have in your house, the one you set most store by. Promise, moreover, to sacrifice twelve yearling heifers that have never yet felt the goad in the temple of the goddess, if she will take pity on the town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans, and keep the son of Tideas from off the goodly city of Ilias, for he fights with fury, and fills men's souls with panic. Go then to the temple of Minerva, while I seek Paris and exhort him, if he will hear my words. Would that the earth might open her jaws and swallow him, for Jove bred him to be the bane of the Trojans, and of Priam and Priam's sons. Could I but see him go down into the house of Hades, my heart would forget its heaviness. His mother went into the house, and called her waiting women, who gathered the matrons throughout the city. She then went down into her fragrant storeroom, where her embroidered robes were kept, the work of Sidonian women whom Alexandra's had brought over from Sidon when he sailed the seas upon that voyage during which he carried off Helen. Hecuba took out the largest robe, and the one that was most beautifully enriched with embroidery, as an offering to Minerva. It glittered like a star, and lay at the very bottom of the chest. With this she went on her way, and many matrons with her. When they reached the temple of Minerva, lovely Theano, daughter of Saseis and wife of Antonore, opened the doors, for the Trojans had made her priestess of Minerva. The women lifted up their hands to the goddess with a loud cry, and Theano took the robe to lay it upon the knees of Minerva, praying the while to the daughter of Great Jove. Holy Minerva, she cried, protect her of our city, mighty goddess, break the spear of Diomed and lay him low before the skein gates. Do this, and we will sacrifice twelve heifers that have never yet known the goat in your temple, if you will have pity upon the town, with the wives and the little ones of the Trojans. Thus she prayed. But palace Minerva granted not her prayer. While they were thus praying to the daughter of Great Jove, Hector went to the fair house of Alexandrus, which he had built for him by the foremost builders in the land. They had built him his house, storehouse, and courtyard near those of Priam and Hector on the Acropolis. Here Hector entered with a spear eleven cubits long in his hand. The bronze point gleamed in front of him, and was fastened to the shaft of the spear by a ring of gold. He found Alexandrus within the house, busied about his armor, his shield and curis, and handling his curved bow. There too sat Argyve Helen with her women, setting them their several tasks, and as Hector saw him he rebuked him with words of scorn. Sir said he, you do ill to nurse this rancor. The people perish fighting round this our town. You would yourself chide one whom you saw shirking his part in the combat. Up then, or ere long, the city will be in a blaze. And Alexandrus answered, Hector your rebuke is just. Listen therefore, and believe me, when I tell you that I am not here so much through rancor or ill will towards the Trojans, as from a desire to indulge my grief, my wife was even now gently urging me to battle, and I hold it better than I should go. For victory is ever fickle. Wait then, while I put on my armor, or go first and I will follow. I shall be sure to overtake you. Hector made no answer. But Helen tried to soothe him. Brother said she, to my abhorred and sinful self, would that a whirlwind had caught me up on the day my brother brought me forth, and had borne me to some mountain or to the waves of the roaring sea that should have swept me away ere this mischief had come about. But since the gods have devised these evils, would at any rate that I had been wife to a better man, to one who could smart under dishonour and men's evil speeches, this fellow was never yet to be depended upon, nor never will be. And he will surely reap what he has sown. Still, brother, come in and rest upon this seat. For it is you who bear the brunt of that toil that has been caused by my hateful self and by the sin of Alexandrus, both of whom Jove has doomed to be a theme of song among those that shall be born hereafter. And Hector answered, Bid me not be seated, Helen, for all the good will you bear me. I cannot stay. I am in haste to help the Trojans, who miss me greatly when I am not among them. But urge your husband, and of his own self also let him make haste to overtake me before I am out of the city. I must go home to see my household, my wife and my little son, for I know not whether I shall ever again return to them, or whether the gods will cause me to fall by the hands of the Achaans. Then Hector left her, and forthwith was at his own house. He did not find Andromaca, for she was on the wall with her child and one of her maids, weeping bitterly. Seeing then that she was not within, he stood on the threshold of the women's rooms and said, women tell me, and tell me true, where did Andromaca go when she left the house? Was it to my sisters, or to my brother's wives? Where is she at the temple of Minerva where the other women are propitiating that awful goddess? His good housekeeper answered, Hector, since you bid me tell you truly she did not go to your sisters, nor to your brother's wives, nor yet to the temple of Minerva where the other women are propitiating the awful goddess, but she is on the high wall of Ilias, for she had heard the Trojans were being hard-pressed and that the Achaans were in great force. She went to the wall in frenzied haste, and the nurse went with her carrying the child. Hector hurried from the house when she had done speaking, and went down the streets by the same way that he had come. When he had gone through the city, and had reached the skein gates through which he would go out onto the plain, his wife came running toward him, Andromaca, daughter of great Etion who ruled in Thebes under the wooded slopes of Mount Placus, and was king of the Sicilians. His daughter had married Hector, and now came to meet him with a nurse who carried his little child in her bosom, a mere babe, Hector's darling son, and lovely as a star. Hector had named him Scamandrias, but the people called him Asteionics, for his father stood alone as chief guardian of Ilias. Hector smiled as he looked upon the boy, but did not speak, and Andromaca stood beside him, weeping, and taking his hand in her own. Dear husband, said she, your valour will bring you to destruction. Think on your infant son, and on my hapless self, who ere long shall be your widow, for the Achaeans will set upon you in a body and kill you. It would be better for me, should I lose you, to lie dead and buried, for I shall have nothing left to comfort me when you are gone. Save only sorrow." I have neither father nor mother now. Achilles slew my father when he sacked Thebi, the goodly city of the Sicilians. He slew him, but did not, for very shame, to spoil him. When he had burned him in his wondrous armour, he raised a barrow over his ashes and the mountain-nymphs. Daughters of ages-bearing Jove planted a grove of elms about his tomb. I had seven brothers in my father's house, but on the same day they all went within the house of Hades. Achilles killed them, as they were with their sheep and cattle. My mother, her who had been queen of all the land under Mount Laques, he brought hither with the spoil, and freed her for a great sum. But the archer queen Diana took her in the house of your father. Nay, Hector, you who to me are father, mother, brother, and dear husband, have mercy upon me. Stay here upon this wall. Make not your child fatherless, and your wife a widow. As for the host, place them near the fig-tree, where the city can be best scaled, and the wall is weakest. The rice have the bravest of them come thither and assailed it, under the two Ajaxes, Idomenius, the sons of Atreus, and the brave son of Tideus, either of their own bidding, or because some soothsayer had told them. And Hector answered, Wife, I too have thought on all this. But with what face should I look upon the Trojans, men or women, if I shirked battle like a coward? I cannot do so. I know nothing saved to fight bravely in the forefront of the Trojan host, and win renown, alike for my father and myself. Well, do I know that the day will surely come when mighty Ilius shall be destroyed with Priam and Priam's people. But I grieve for none of these, not even for Hecuba, nor King Priam, nor for my brothers, many and brave, who may fall in the dust before their foes. For none of these do I grieve as for yourself, when the day shall come on which one of the Achaeans shall rob you for ever of your freedom, and bear you weeping away. It may be that you will have to ply the loom in Argos at the bidding of a mistress, or to fetch water from the springs messaeus or Hyperia, treated brutally by some cruel taskmaster. Then will one say who sees you weeping, she was wife to Hector, the bravest warrior among the Trojans during the war before Ilius. On this your tears will break forth anew for him who would have put away the day of captivity for you. May I lie dead under the barrow that is heaped over my body, ere I hear you cry as they carry you into bondage. He stretched his arms toward his child, but the boy cried, and nestled in his nurse's bosom scared at the sight of his father's armour, and at the horse-hair bloom that nodded fiercely from his helmet. His father and mother laughed to see him, but Hector took the helmet from his head and laid it all gleaming upon the ground. Then he took his darling child, kissed him, and dandled him in his arms, praying over him the while to Jove and to all the gods. Jove, he cried, grant that this my child may be even as myself chief among the Trojans, let him be not less excellent in strength, and let him rule Ilius with his might. Then may one say of him as he comes back from battle, the son is far better than the father. May he bring back the bloodstained spoils of him whom he has laid low, and let his mother's heart be glad. With this he laid the child again in the arms of his wife, who took him to her own soft bosom, smiling through her tears. As her husband watched her, his heart yearned towards her, and he caressed her fondly, saying, My own wife, do not take these things too bitterly to heart. No one can hurry me down to Hades before my time. But if a man's hour has come, be he brave or be he coward, there is no escape for him when he has once been born. Go then within the house, and busy yourself with your daily duties, your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants, for war is man's matter, and mine above all others of them that have been born in Ilius. He took his plumed helmet from the ground, and his wife went back again to her house, weeping bitterly and often looking back towards him. When she reached her home she found her maidens within, and bade them all join her in her lament. So they mourned Hector in his own house, though he was yet alive, for they deemed that they should never see him return safe from battle, and from the furious hands of the Achaeans. Paris did not remain long in his house. He donned his goodly armour overlaid with bronze, and hasted through the city as fast as his feet could take him. As a horse, stabled and fed, breaks loose and gallops gloriously over the plain to the place where he is want to bathe in the fair-flowing river. He holds his head high, and his mane streams upon his shoulders as he exalts in his strength, and flies like the wind to the haunts and feeding ground of mares. Even so went forth Paris from high Pergamus, gleaming like sunlight in his armour, and he laughed aloud as he sped swiftly on his way. Fourthwith he came upon his brother Hector, who was then turning away from the place where he had held converse with his wife, and he was himself the first to speak. Sir, said he, I fear that I have kept you waiting when you are in haste, and have not come as quickly as you bade me. My good brother, answered Hector, you fight bravely, and no man with any justice can make light of your doings in battle. But you are careless, and willfully remiss. It grieves me to the heart to hear the ill that the Trojans speak about you, for they have suffered much on your account. Let us be going, and we will make things right hereafter should jove vouchsafe us to set the cup of our deliverance before ever living gods of heaven in our own homes when we have chased the Achaeans from Troy. End of book 6