 Book 13 of the Iliad. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Iliad by Homer translated by Samuel Butler, Book 13. Neptune helps the Achaians. The feats of Idomenius. Hector at the ships. Now when Jove had thus bought Hector and the Trojans to the ships, he left them to the never-ending toil and turned his keen eyes away. Looking else withered towards the horse breeders of Thrace, the Missians fighters at close quarters, the noble hippomulgi who live on milk, and the Albians just test the mankind. He no longer turned so much as a glance toward Troy, for he did not think that any of the immortals would go and help either Trojans or Danians. But King Neptune had kept no blind lookout. He had been looking admirably on the battle from his seat on the topmost crests of wooded Samothrace. Once he could see all Ida with the city of Priam and the ships of the Achaians. He had come from under the sea and had taken his place here, for he pitted the Achaians who were being overcome by the Trojans, and he was furiously angry with Jove. Presently, he came down from his post on the mountaintop and as he strode swiftly onwards the high hills and the forest quaked beneath the tread of his immortal feet. Three strides he took, and with the fourth he reached his gold, Agee, whereas his glittering golden palace imperishable in the depths of the sea. When he got there, he yoked his fleet, brazen footed steves with their mains of gold fall flying in the wind. He clothed himself in raiment of gold, grasped his gold whip, and took a stand upon his chariot. As he went his way over the waves, the sea monsters left their lairs, for they knew their lord and came gambling round him from every quarter of the deep, while the sea and her gladness opened a path before his chariot. So lightly did the horses fly that the bronze axle of the car was not even wet beneath it, and thus his bounding steeds took him to the ships of the Achaians. Now there is a certain huge cavern in the depths of the sea midway between Tenedos and Rocky Imbrus. Here, Neptune, lord of the earthquake, stayed his horses, unyoked them, and set before them their umbrosial forage. He hobbled their feet with hobbles of gold, which none could either unloose or break, so that they might stay there in their place until the lord should return. This done, he went his way to the host of the Achaians. Now the Trojans followed Hector, son of Priam, in close array like a storm cloud or flame of fire, fighting with might and main and raising the cry battle, for they deemed that they should take the ship to the Achaian and kill all their chiefest heroes then and there. Meanwhile, earth encircling Neptune, lord of the earthquake, cheered on the Argyves, for he had come up out of the sea and had assumed the form and voice of Calches. First he spoke to the two Ajaxes, who were doing their best already, and said, Ajaxes, you too can be the saving of the Achaians if you will put out all your strength and not let yourselves be daunted. I am not afraid that the childrens who have got over the wall and force will be victorious in any other part, for the Achaians can hold all of them in check. But I much fear that some evil will befall us here where furious Hector, who boasts himself, the son of great Jove himself, is leading them on like a pillar of flame. May some god then put it into your hearts to make a firm stand here and to incite others to do the like. In this case you will drive him from the ships even though he be inspired by Jove himself. As he spoke, the earth encircling lord of the earthquake struck both of them with his scepter and filled their hearts with daring. He made their legs light and active as also their hands and their feet. Then as the soaring falcon poises on the wing high above some sheer rock and presently swoops down to chase some bird over the plane, even so did Neptune, lord of the earthquake, wing his flight into the air and leave them. Of the two, swift Ajax son of Oylas was the first to know who it was that had been speaking with them and said to Ajax son of Telemann, Ajax, this is one of the gods that dwell on Olympus, who in the likeness of the prophet is bidding us fight hard by our ships. It was not couches to sear and diviner of omens. I knew him at once by his feet and knees as he turned away, for the gods are soon recognized. Moreover, I feel the lust of battle burn more fiercely within me while my hands and my feet under me are more eager for the fray. And Ajax son of Telemann answered, I too feel my hands grasp my spear more firmly, my strength is greater, and my feet more nimble. I long more over to meet furious Hector son of Priam, even in single combat. Thus did they converse, exulting in the hunger after battle with which the gods had filled them. Meanwhile, the earth encircle aroused the Achaeans, who were resting in the rear by the ships, overcome at once by hard fighting and by grief at seeing that the Trojans had got over the wall in force. Tears began falling from their eyes as they beheld them, for they made sure that they should not escape us to destruction. But the Lord of the earthquake passed lightly among them and urged their battalions to the front. First he went up to Tusser and Laodice, the hero of Pinellas and Thoas and up Pyrrhus. Myriones and Antelaucus, valiant waters, all did he exhort. Shame on you young archives, he cried. It was on your prowess I relied for the saving of our ships. If you fight not with might and man, this very day will see us overcome by the Trojans. Of a truth my eyes behold, a great and terrible portent, which I had never thought to see. The Trojans at our ships, they who were here to fore like panic-stricken hines, the prey of jackals and wolves in a forest, with no strength but in flight for they cannot defend themselves. Hitherto the Trojans dared not for one moment face the attack of the Achaeans, but now they have sallied far from their city and are fighting at our very ships through the cowardice of our leader and the disaffection of the people themselves, who in their discontent care not the fight in defense of the ships but are being slaughtered near them. True, King Agamemnon, son of Atreus, is the cause of our disaster by having insulted the son Apelius. Still this is no reason why we should leave off fighting. Let us be quick to heal for the hearts of the brave heal quickly. You do ill to be thus remiss, you who are the finest soldiers in our whole army. I blame no man for keeping out a battle if he is a weakling, but I am indignant with such men as you are. My good friends, matters will soon become even worse through this slackness. Think, each one of you, of his honor and credit for the hazard of the fight is extreme. Great Hector is now fighting at our ships. He has broken through the gates and the strong bolt that held them. Thus did the earthen circular address the Acans and urged them on. Thereon, round the two Ajaxes, there gathered strong biomes of men, of whom not even Mars nor Minerva, marshal of hosts, could make light if they went among them, for they were the picked men of all those who were now awaiting at the onset of Hector and the Trojans. They made a living fence, spear to spear, shield to shield, buckler to buckler, helmet to helmet, and man to man. The Horsier crests on their gleaming helmets touched one another as they nodded forward. So closely sirried were they. The spears they brandished in their strong hands were interlaced and their hearts were set on battle. The Trojans advanced in a dense body, with Hector at their head, pressing right on as a rock that comes thundering down the side of some mountain from whose brow the winter torrents have torn it. The foundations of the dull thing have been loosened by floods of rain, and as it bounds headlong on its way, the whole forest is set in an uproar. It swerves neither to right nor left till it reaches level ground, but then for all its fury cannot go further. Even so easily did Hector for a while seem as though he would career through the tents and ships of the Achaeans till he had reached the sea in his murderous course. But the closely sirried battalions stayed with him when he reached them, for the sons of the Achaeans thrusted him with swords and spears pointed at both ends, and drove him from them so he staggered and gave ground. Thereon he shouted to the Trojans, Trojans, Lycians and Dardanians, fight in close combat, stand firm. The Achaeans have set themselves as a wall against me, but they will not check me for long. They will give ground before me if the mightiest of the gods, the thundering spouse of Juno has indeed inspired my onset. With these words he put heart and soul into them all. Theophobus son of Priam went about among them intent on deeds of daring with his round shield before him, undercover of which he strode quickly forward. Marionis took aim in him with a spear, nor did he fail to hit the broad orb of Oxide, but he was far from piercing it, for the spear broke in two pieces long air he could do so. Moreover, Theophobus had seen it coming and has held his shield well away from him. Marionis drew back undercover of his comrades, angry alike at having failed to vanquish Theophobus and having broken his spear. He turned therefore towards the ships and tents to fetch a spear which he had left behind in his tent. The others continued fighting, and the cry of the battle rose up into the heavens. Tusser, son of Telemann, was the first to kill his man, Tuit, the warrior Imbrius, son of Mentor, rich in horses. Until the Achaeans came he had lived in Pideum and had married Metiscasty, a bastard daughter of Priam. But on the arrival of the Danian fleet he had gone back to Ilius and was a great man among the Trojans, dwelling near Priam himself, who gave him like honor with his own son. The son of Telemann now struck him under the air with a spear which he then drew back again, and Imbrius fell headlong as an ashtray when it has felled on the crest of Samhain Mountain Beacon, and its delicate green foliage comes toppling down to the ground. Thus to default with his bronze-dite armor ringing harshly around him, and Tusser sprang forward with intent to strip him of his armor, but as he was doing so, Hector took aim in him with a spear. Tusser saw the spear coming and swerved aside, whereupon it hit Amphimachus, son of Cetaceous, son of Actor in the chest as he was coming into battle, and his armor rang rattling around him as he fell heavily to the ground. Hector sprang forward to take Amphimachus' helmet from off his temples, and in a moment Ajax threw a spear at him, but did not wound him, for he was encased all over in his terrible armor. Nevertheless, the spear struck the boss of his shield with such force as to drive him back from the two corpses, which the Achaeans then drew off. Stickyus and Menentheus, captains of the Athenians bore away Amphimachus to the host of the Achaeans, while the two brave and impetuous Ajaxes did the like by Imbrius. As two lions snatch a goat from the hounds that have it in their fangs, and bear it through thick brushwood high above the ground in their jaws, thus did the Ajaxes barrel off the body of Imbrius and strip it of its armor. Then the son of Oileus severed the head from the neck in revenge for the death of Amphimachus, and said it whirling over the crowd as though it had been a ball, till it fell into dust at Hector's feet. Neptune was exceedingly angry that his grandson Amphimachus should have fallen. He therefore went to the tents and ships of the Achaeans to urge the Danians still further, and to devise evil for the Trojans. Idomenius met him as he was taking leave of a comrade who had just come from the fight wounded in the knee. His fellow soldiers bore him off the field, and Idomenius, having given orders to the physician, went on to his tent, for he was still thirsting for battle. Neptune spoke in the likeness and with the voice of Thoas, son of Andremon, who ruled the Aetolians in all pleuron and Halkaldion, and was honored among his people as though he were a god. Idomenius, said he, log over to the Cretans, what has now become of the threats with which the sons of the Achaeans used to threaten the Trojans? And Idomenius, chief among the Cretans, answered, Thoas, no one, so far as I know, is in fault for we can all fight. None are held back, neither by fear nor slackness, but it seems to be the will of Almighty Job that the Achaeans should perish ingoriously here far from Argos. You, Thoas, have always been staunch, and you keep others in heart if you see any fail in duty. Be not then remiss now, but exhort all to do their utmost. To this, Neptune, lord of the earthquake, made answer. Idomenius, may he never return from Troy, but remain here for the dogs to batten upon. Who is this day willfully slack in fighting? Get your armor and go. We must make haste all together for maybe of any use, though we are only two. Even cowards gain courage from companionship, and we too can hold our own with the bravest. Therewith the God went back into the thick of the fight, and Idomenius, when he had reached his tent, donned his armor, grasped his two spares, and sallied forth, as the lightning which the son of Saturn brandishes from Bright Olympus when he should show a sign to mortals, and its gleam flashes far and wide, even so did his armor gleam about him as he ran. Marionis, his sturdy squire, met him while he was still near his tent, for he was going to fetch his spear. And Idomenius said, Marionis, fleet son of Molus, best of comrades, why have you left the field? Are you wounded, and is the point at the wet and hurting you? Or have you been sent to fetch me? I want no fetching. I had far rather fight than stay in my tent. Idomenius, answered Marionis, I come for a spear if I can find one in my tent. I have broken the one I had, and throwing it at the shield of Diaphobus. And Idomenius, captain of the Cretans, answered, you will find one spear, or twenty if you please, standing up again the end wall of my tent. I have taken them from Trojans who I am killed, for I am not one to keep my enemy at arm's length, therefore I have spears, boss shields, helmets, and burnished courtslets. Then Marionis said, I too in my tent and at my ship have spoils taken from the Trojans, but they are not at hand. I have been at all times valorous, and wherever there has been hard fighting have held my own among the foremost. There may be those among the Acans who do not know how I fight, but you know it well enough yourself. Idomenius answered, I know you for a brave man, you need not tell me. If the best men at the ships were being chosen to go on an ambush, and there is nothing like this for showing what a man is made of, it comes out then who was cowardly and who brave. The coward will change color at every touch and turn. He is full of fears and keeps shifting his weight first on one knee and then on the other. His heart beats fast as he thinks of death, and one can hear the chattering of his teeth, whereas the brave man will not change color nor be frightened on finding himself in an ambush, but is all the time longing to go into action. If the best men were being chosen for such a service, no one could make light of your courage nor feats of arms. If you were struck by a dart or smitten in close combat, it would not be from behind, in your neck nor back, but the weapon would hit you in the chest or belly as you were pressing forward to place in the front ranks. But let us no longer stay here talking like children, lest we be ill-spoken of. Go, fetch your spear from the tent at once. On this, Marionius, pure of Mars, went to the tent and got himself a spear of bronze. He then followed after Idomenius, big with great deeds of valor. As when baneful Mars sallies false to battle, his son panicked so strong and dauntless goes with him to strike terror even into the heart of a hero. The pair have gone from threese to arm themselves among the aphiri or the brave phlegions, but they will not listen to both the contending host and will give victory to one side or the other. Even so, do Marionius and Idomenius, captains of men, go out to battle clad in their bronze armors. Marionius was first to speak. Son of Ducalion said he, where would you have us begin fighting? On the right wing of the host, in the center on the left wing, where I take it the Achaeans will be the weakest? Idomenius answered, there are others to defend the center, the two Ajaxes and Tusser, who is the finest archer of all the Achaeans, and is good also in a hand to hand fight. These will give Hector son of Priam enough to do. Fight as he may, he will find it hard to vanquish their indomitable fury and to fire the ships unless the son of Saturn fling a fire brand upon them with his own hand. Great Ajax, son of Telemond will yield to no man who is in mortal mode and eats the grain of Ceres, if bronze and great stones can overthrow him. He would not yield even to Achilles in a hand to hand fight, and in fleetness of foot there is none to beat him. Let us turn therefore towards the left wing, that we may know forthwith whether we are to give glory to some other or he to us. Marionis, pure of fleet Mars then led the way till they came to the part of the host which Idomenius had named. Now when the Trojan saw Idomenius coming on like a flame of fire, him and his squire clad in their richly wrought armor, they shouted and made towards him all in a body, and a furious hand to hand fight raged under the ship's sterns. Fierce as the shrill winds that whistle upon a day when dust lies deep on the roads, and the gust raised it into a thick cloud, even such was a fury of combat, and might and main did they hack at each other with spear and swords throughout the host. The field bristled with the long and deadly spears which they bore. Dazzling was the sheen of their gleaming helmets, their fresh burnished breast plates and glittering shields as they joined battle with one another. Iron and deed must be as courage who could take pleasure in the sight of such a turmoil and look on it without being dismayed. Thus did the two mighty sons of Saturn devise evil for mortal heroes. Job was minded to give victory to the Trojans and the Hector so as to do honor to the fleet Achilles. Nevertheless, he did not mean to utterly overthrow the Achaeans host before Ilias and only wanted to glorify Thedas and her valiant son. Neptune on the other hand went about the Argives to incite them having come up from the Gracian secret, for he was grieved at seeing them vanquished by the Trojans and he was furiously angry with Job. Both were of the same race and country, but Job was the elder born in Newmore. Therefore, Neptune feared to defend the Argives openly, but in the likeness of man he kept on encouraging them throughout their host. Thus then, did these two devise a not-of-war-in-battle that none could unlooser break and set both sides tugging at it to the failing of men's needs beneath them. And now, Idemenius, though his hair was already flecked with gray, called loud on the Danans and spread panic among the Trojans as he leaped in among them. He slew Othrionus from Cabecius, a sojourner, who had but lately come to take part in the war. He sought Cassandra, the fiercest of Priam's daughters, in marriage, but offered no gifts of wooing, for he promised a great thing, to wit, that he would drive the sons of the Achaeans willy-nilly from Troy. Old King Priam had given his consent and promised her to him, whereon he fought on the strength of the promises thus made to him. Idemenius aimed a spear and hit him as he came striding on. His cuirass of bronze did not protect him, and the spear stuck in his belly, so that he fell heavily to the ground. Then Idemenius wanted over him, saying, Othrionus, there is no one in the world whom I shall admire more than I do you, if you indeed perform what you have promised Priam's son of Dardanius in return for his daughter. We, too, will make you an offer. We will give you the loveliest daughter of the son of Atreus, and will bring her from Argos for you to marry, if you will sack the goodly city of Ilius and company with ourselves. So come along with me, that we may make a covenant to ships about the marriage, and we will not be hard upon you about gifts of wooing. With this, Idemenius began dragging him by the foot through the thick of the fight. But Aeceus came up to protect the body on foot, in front of his horses, which his Esquire drove so close behind him that he could feel their breath upon his shoulder. He was longing to strike down Idemenius, but ere he could do so, Idemenius smote him with a spear and a throat under the chin, and the bronze point went clean through it. He fell as an oak or poplar or pine, which shipwrights have felled for ship's timbers upon the mountain with wedded axes. Even thus did he lie in full length in front of his chariot and horses, grinding his teeth and clutching at the bloodstained dust. His charioteer was strict with panic and did not dare turn his horses round and escape. Thereupon, at the locus heath him in the middle of the body with a spear, his curess of bronze did not protect him, and his spear stuck in his belly. He fell gasping for his chariot, and that the locus, great Nestor's son, drove his horses from the Trojans to the Achaeans. Diaphobus then came close up to Idemenius to avenge Aeceus and took aim at him with a spear, but Idemenius was on the lookout and avoided it, for he was covered by the round shield as always bore, a shield of oxide and bronze with two arm rods on the inside. He crouched under cover of this, and the spear flew over him, but the shield rang out as the spear grazed it, and the weapon sped not in vain from the strong head of Diaphobus, for it struck Hypsenor, son of Hepassus, shepherd of his people, in the liver under the midriff, and his limbs failed beneath him. Diaphobus vaunted over him and cried with a loud voice, saying, Of a truth Aeceus has not fallen unevenged, he will be glad even while passing into the house of Hades, strong warden of the gate, that I have sent someone to escort him. Thus did he vaunt, and the Argives were stung by his saying. Noble Antillicus was more angry than anyone, but grief did not make him forget his friend and comrade. He ran up to him, bestowed him, and covered him with his shield, then two of his staunch comrades, Mesistis, son of Akinus, and Aliastor, stooped down and bore him away, groaning heavily to the ships. But Ademinius ceased not his fury. He kept on striving continually, either to enshroud some torgent in the darkness of death, or himself to fall while warding off the evil day from the Achaeans. Then fell Alcotheus, son of Noble Aestes. He was son-in-law to Ancyces, having married his eldest daughter Hippodimea, who was the darling of her father and mother, and extolled all her generation in beauty accomplishments and understanding, wherefore the bravest men and all Troy had taken her to wife. Him, did Neptune lay low by the hand of Ademinius, blinding his bright eye and binding his strong limbs and fetters, thought he could neither go back nor to one side, but sit stock still like a pillar or lofty tree, when Ademinius struck him with a spear in the middle of his chest. The coat of mail that had hitherto protected his body was now broken, and rang harshly as the spear tore through it. He fell heavily to the ground, and the spear stuck in his heart, which still beat, and made the butt end of the spear quiver, till dread Mars put an end to his life. Ademinius vaunted over him in crowd with a lied voice, saying, Deophobus, since you are in a mood to vaunt, shall we cry quits now that we have killed three men to your one? Nacer, stand and fight with me yourself, that you may learn what manner of Job begotten man am I that have come hither. Job first begot Minos, chief ruler in Crete, and Minos in turn begot a son, the noble Decalion. Decalion begot me to be a ruler over many men in Crete, and my ships have now brought me hither to be the bane of yourself, your father, and the Trojans. Thus did he speak, and Deophobus was in two minds, whether to go back and fetch some other Trojan to help him, or to take up the challenge single-handed. In the end he deemed it best to go and fetch Aeneas, whom he found standing in the rear, for he had long been aggrieved with Priam, because in spite of his brave deeds he did not give him his due share of honor. Deophobus went up to him and said, Aeneas, Prince of the Trojans, if you know any ties of kinship, help me now to defend the body of your sister's husband. Come with me to the rescue of Alcathias, who being husband to your sister brought you up when you were a child in his house, and now Idomenius has slain him. With these words he moved the heart of Aeneas, and he went in pursuit of Idomenius, big with great deeds of valor. But Idomenius was not to be thus daunted as though he were a mere child. He held his ground as a wild boar at bay upon the mountains, who abides the coming of a great crowd of men in some lonely place. The bristles stand up upon his back, his eyes flash fire, and he wets his tusks in his eagerness to defend himself against hounds and men. Even so, did famed Idomenius hold his ground and budge not at the coming of Aeneas. He cried aloud to his comrades, looking tall to Alcathias, Atherias, Deoperis, Mironis, and at Delocus, all of them brave soldiers. Hither, my friends, he cried, and leave me not single-handed. I go in great fear by fleet Aeneas, who is coming against me, and is a redoubtable dispenser of death battle. Moreover, as he is in the flower of youth when a man's strength is greatest, if I was of the same age as he is, and in my present mind, either he or I shall soon bear away the prize of victory. On this, all of them as one man stood near him, shield on shoulder. Aeneas on the other side called to his comrades, looking tall as Deophobus, Paris, and the Agenor, who were the leadings of the Trojans along with himself. And the people followed them as sheep followed the ram when they go down to the drink after they had been feeding, and the heart of the shepherd is glad. Even so was the heart of Aeneas glad when he saw his people follow him. Then they fought furiously in close combat about the body of Alcathias, wielding the long spears, and the bronze armors about their bodies rang fearfully as they took aim at one another in the press of the fight, while the two heroes Aeneas and Idomenius, peers of Mars, outvied everyone in their desire to hack at each other with sword and spear. Aeneas took aim first, but Idomenius was on the lookout and avoided the spear, so that it sped from Aeneas's strong hand in vain and fell quivering in the ground. Idomenius, meanwhile, smoked only malice in the middle of his belly and broke the plate of his corset, whereupon his bowels came gushing out as he clutched the earth in the palms of his hands as he fell sprawling in the dust. Idomenius drew his spear out of his body, but could not strip him of the rest of his armor for the reign of darts that were showered upon him. Moreover, his strength was now beginning to fail him so that he could no longer charge and could no longer spring forward to recover his own weapon, nor swerve aside to avoid one that was aimed at him. Therefore, though he still defended himself in hand-to-hand fight, his heavy feet could not bear him swiftly out of the battle. Deophobus aimed a spear at him as he was retreating slowly from the field, for his bitterness against him was as fierce as ever, but again he missed him, and hit a scalphus, the son of Mars. The spear went through his shoulder and he clutched the earth in the palms of his hands as he fell sprawling in the dust. Grim Mars, of awful voice, did not yet know that his son had fallen, for he was sitting on the summits of Olympus under the golden clouds by command of Jove, where the other gods were also sitting, forbidden to take part in the battle. Meanwhile, men fought furiously about the body. Deophobus tore the helmet from off his head, but Morona sprang upon him and struck him on the arm with a spear so that the visor helmet fell from his hand and came ringing down upon the ground. Therefore, Morione sprang upon him like a vulture, drew his spear from his shoulder, and fell back under the cover of his men. Then Pilates, own brother of Deophobus, passed his arms around his waist and bore him away from the battle till he got through his horses that were standing in the rear, with the chariot and their driver. These took him towards the city, groaning and in great pain, with blood flowing from his arm. The others still fought on, and the battle cry rose to heaven without ceasing. Ania sprang on a fairious son of Calotir and struck him with a spear in his throat which was turned towards him. His head fell on one side, his helmet and shield came down along him, and death, life's foe, was shed around him. Antillicus spied his chance, flew forward towards Thune and wounded him as he was turning around. He laid open the vein that runs all the way up the back of the neck. He cut this vein clean away through its whole course, and Thune fell in the dust, face upwards, stretching out his hands imploringly towards his comrades. Antillicus sprang upon him and stripped the armor from his shoulders, glaring round him fearfully as he did so. The Trojans came about him on every side and struck his broad and gleaming shield, but could not wound his body, for Neptune stood guard over the Son of Nester, though the darts fell thickly round him. He was never clear of the foe, but was always in the thick of the fight. His spear was never idle. He poised and named it in every direction, so eager was he to hit someone from a distance, or to fight him hand to hand. As he was thus aiming among the crowd, he was seen by Adamus, son of Acius, who rushed toward him and struck him with a spear in the middle of his shield, but Neptune made his point without effect, for he grudged him the life of Antillicus. One half, therefore, of the spear stuck fast like a charged stake in Antillicus' shield, while the other lay on the ground. Adamus then sought shelter on the cover of his men, but Marionis followed after him and hit him with a spear midway between the private parts in the naval, where a wound is particularly painful to wretched mortals. There did Marionis transfix him, and he writhed convulsively about the spear of some bull, whom mountain herdsmen abound with ropes and whys, and are taking away perforce. Even so did he move convulsively for a while, but not for very long, till Marionis came up and drew the spear out of his body, and his eyes were veiled in darkness. Hellenus then struck Deopyrus, which is a great Thracian sword, hitting him on the temple in close combat and tearing the helmet from his head. The helmet fell to the ground, and one of those who were fighting on the Acan side took charge of it as it rolled at his feet, but the eyes of Deopyrus were closed in the darkness of death. On this, Menelaus was grieved and made menacingly towards Hellenus, brandishing his spear, but Hellenus drew his bow, and the two attacked one another at the same moment, the one with the spear and the other with his bow and arrow. The son of Priam hit the breast place to Menelaus' coarselet, but the hour glanced from it. As black beans or pulse coming pattering down onto a threshing floor from the broad, winnowing shovel, blown by shrill wrens and shaken by the shovel, even so did the arrow glance off and recoiled from the shield of Menelaus, who in his turn wounded the hand which was Hellenus carried his bow. The spear went right through his hand and stuck in the bow itself, so that to his life he retreated under cover of his men with his hand dragging by his side, for the spear weighed it down till Agin or drew it out and bound the hand carefully in a woollen sling which his Esquire had with him. Pisander then made straight at Menelaus, his evil destiny luring him onto his doom, for he was to fall and fight with you, O Menelaus. When the two were hard by one another, the spear of the son of Atrius turned aside, and he missed his aim. Pisander then struck the shield of brave Menelaus, but could not pierce it, for the shield stayed the spear and broke the shaft. Nevertheless, he was glad and made sure of victory. Fourth with, however, the son of Atrius drew his sword and sprang upon him. Pisander then seized the bronze battle axe with his long and polished handle of olive wood that hung by his side under his shield, and the two made at one another. Pisander struck the peak of Menelaus' crested helmet just under the crest itself, and Menelaus hit Pisander as he was coming towards him on the forehead, just at the rise of his nose. The bones cracked, and his two gore be drabbled eyes fell by his feet in the dust. He fell backward to the ground, and Menelaus sent his heel upon him, stripped him of his armor, and vaunted over him, saying, Even thus shall you Trojans leave the ships of the Achaeans, proud and insatiative battle though you be, nor shall you lack any of the disgrace and shame which you have heaped upon yourself. Cowardly she-wolves that you are, you feared not the anger of Dred Jov, a vendor of violated hospitality, who will one day destroy your city. You stole my wedded wife and wickedly carried off much treasure when you were her guest, and now you would fling fire upon our ships and kill our heroes. A day will come when, rage as you may, you shall be stayed. O Father Jov, you, who they say are above all both gods and men in wisdom, and from whom all things that befall us do proceed, how can you thus favor the Trojans, men so proud and overweening that they are never tired of fighting, all things pawl after a while, sleep, love, sweet song, and stately dance. Still, these are the things of which a man would surely have as fill rather than a battle, whereas it is a battle that the Trojans are insatiate. So saying, Menelaus stripped the blood-stained armor from the body of Pysander and handed it over to his men. Then he again ranged himself among those who were in the front of the fight. Harpalion, son of King Palameanus, then sprang upon him. He had come to fight a Troj along with his father, but he did not go home again. He struck the middle of Menelaus' shield with a spear but could not pierce it, and to save his life, drew back under cover of his men, looking round him on every side lest he should be wounded. But Marionis aimed a bronze-tipped arrow at him as he was leaving the field, and hit him on the right buttock. The arrow pierced the bone through and through, and penetrated the bladder, so he sat down where he was and breathed his last in the arms of his comrades, stretched like a worm upon the ground and watering the earth with blood that flowed from his wounds. The brave Paphlegonians tended him with all due care. They raised him into his chariot and bore him sadly off to the city of Troy. His father went also with him weeping bitterly, but there was no ransom that could bring his dead son to life again. Paris was deeply grieved by the death of Herpélion, who was his host when he went among the Paphlegonians. He aimed an arrow there for an order to avenge him. Now there was a certain man named Eucanor, son of Polyides, the prophet, a brave man and wealthy, whose home was in Corinth. This Eucanor had set sail for Troy while knowing that it would be the death of him, for his good old father Polyides has often told him that he must either stay at home and die of a terrible disease, or go with the Achaeans and perish at the hands of the Trojans. He chose, therefore, to avoid incurring the heavy fine the Achaeans would have laid upon him, and at the same time to escape the pain and suffering of disease. Paris now smote him on the jaw under his ear, whereon the life went out of him, and he was enshrouded in the darkness of death. Thus then did they fight as it were a flaming fire, but Hector had not yet heard, and did not know that the Argives were making havoc of his men on the left wing of the battle, where the Achaeans ere long would have triumphed over them, so vigorously did Neptune cheer them on and help them. He, therefore, held on at the point where he had first forced his way through the gates and the wall, after breaking through the Syrian ranks of Danian warriors. It was here that the ships of Ajax and Protocellius were drawn up upon the seashore. Here the wall was at its lowest, and the fight both of man and horse raged most fiercely. The Boecians and Aeonians with their long tunics, the Locrians, the Menephithia, and the famous force of the Achaeans could hardly stay Hector as he rushed on towards the ships, nor could they drive him from them, for he was as a wall of fire. The chosen men of the Athenians were in the van, led by Manistius' son of Pedios, with whom were Thelsofidris, Stygius, and Stalwart Bias, Megis the son of Phileus, Ampheon, and Gracius commanded the Achaeans, while Medeon and Stans Podarsis led the Menephithia. Of these, Medan was bastard son of Oileus and brother of Ajax, but he lived in Phylasi away from his own country, for he had killed the brother of his stepmother, Oropus, the wife of Oileus, the other Podarsis, with the son of Ithglis, son of Flacus. The two stood in the van of the Theans, then defended the ships, along with the Boetians. Ajax, son of Oileus, never for a moment left the side of Ajax, son of Telemon. But as the two swore at Oxen, both strained their utmost at the plow, which they are drawing in a fallow field, and the sweat steams upward from about the roots of their horns, nothing but the yoke divides them as they break up the ground till they reach the end of the field, even so did the two Ajaxes stand shoulder to shoulder by one another. Many and brave comrades followed the son of Telemon to relieve him of his shield when he was overcome with sweat and toil, but the Locrians did not follow so close after the son of Oileus, for they could not hold their own in a hand-to-hand fight. They had no bronze helmets with plumes of horsehair, neither had they the shields nor Ashen spears, but they had come to Troy armed with bows and with slings of twisted wool from which they showered their missiles to break the ranks of the Trojans. The others, therefore, with their heavy armor bore the brunt of the fight with the Trojans and with Hector, while the Locrians shot from behind under their cover, and thus the Trojans began to lose heart for the arrows threw them into confusion. The Trojans would now have been driven in a sorry plight from the ship's intent back to Windy Oileus, had not Polydemus presently said to Hector, Hector, there is no persuading you to take advice. Because heaven has so richly endowed you with the arts of war, you think that you must therefore sell others in counsel, but you cannot thus claim preeminence in all things. Heaven has made one man an excellent soldier, of another it is made a dancer or a singer and a player on the lyre, while yet in another Jove has implanted a wise understanding of which men reap fruit to the saving of many, and he himself knows more about it than anyone. Therefore, I will say what I think will be best. The fight has hemmed you in as with a circle of fire, and even now that the Trojans are within the wall, some of them stand aloof and full armor, while others are fighting scattered and outnumbered near the ships. Draw back, therefore, and call your chieftains round you, that we may advise together whether to fall now upon the ships in the hope that heaven may outsafe us victory, or to be to retreat while we can yet safely do so. I greatly fear the Acans will pay us their debt of yesterday and full, for there is one abiding at their ships who has never weary a battle, and who will not hold aloof much longer. Thus spoke Polydemus and his words please, Hector, well. He sprang in full armor from his chariot and said, Polydemus, gather the chieftains here, I will go yonder into the fight, but will return it once when I have given them their orders. He then spied onward, towering like a snowy mountain, and with a loud cry flew through the ranks of the Trojans and their allies. When they heard his voice, they all hastened to gather round Polydemus, the excellent son of Pantheos, but Hector kept on among the foremost, looking everywhere to find Diaphobus and Prince Alenus, Adamus, son of Aseus, and Aseus, son of Hercdicus, living indeed and scabless he could no longer find them, for the last two were lying by the sterns of the Acan ships, slain by the archives, while the others had also been stricken and wounded by them. But upon the left wing of the dread battle, he found Alexander's husband of lovely Helen, cheering his men and urging them on the fight. He went up to him and upgraded him. Paris said he evil-hearted Paris, fair to see but woman mad and false of tongue. Where are Diaphobus and King Alenus? Where are Adamus, son of Aseus, and Aseus, son of Hercdicus? Where, too, is Othrionius? Ilius is undone and will now surely fall. Alexander's answered. Hector, why find fault when there is no one to find fault with? I should hold a loop from battle on any day rather than this. For my mother bore me with nothing of the coward about me. From the moment when you said our men fighting about the ships, that we have been staying here and doing battle with the Danians, our comrades about whom you asked me are dead. Diaphobus and King Helenus alone have left the field, wounded both of them in the hand, but the son of Saturn saved them alive. Now, therefore, lead on where you would have us go, and we will follow with right good will. You shall not find us value in so far as our strength holds out. But no man can do more than in him lies, no matter how willing he may be. With these words he satisfied his brother, and the two went towards the part of the battle where the fight was thickest, about Sebreonis, brave Polydamus, Flacis, Ortheus, godlike Polyphetes, Palmus, Ascanius, and Morus' son of Hippotion, who had come from fertile Ascani on the preceding day to relieve other troops. Then Jove urged them on to fight. They flew forth like the blasts, and some fierce wind that strike earth in the van of a thunderstorm. They debuff at the salt sea into an uproar. Many and mighty are the great waves that come crashing in one after the other upon the shore, with their arching heads all crested with foam. Even so did rank behind rank of Trojans, raiding gleaming armor followed their leaders onward. The way was led by Hector, son of Priam, peer of murderous Mars with his round shield before him, his shield of oxhide covered with plates of bronze, and his gleaming helmet upon his temples. He kept stepping forward under cover of his shield in every direction, making trial of the ranks to see if they would give way before him, but he could not daunt the courage of the Achaeans. Ajax was the first to stride out and challenge him. Sir, he cried, draw near. Why do you think thus vainly to dismay the Argives? We Achaeans are excellent soldiers, but the scourge of Jove has fallen heavily upon us. Your heart forsooth is set on destroying our ships, but we too have hands that can keep you at bay, and your own fair town shall be soon taken and sacked by ourselves. The time is near when you so pray, Jove, and all the gods in your flight, that your steeds may be swifter than the hawks, that they raise the dust on a plane and bear you back to the city. As he was thus speaking, a bird flew by upon his right hand, and the host of the Achaeans shouted, for they took heart at the omen. But Hector answered, Ajax, braggart and false of tongue, would that I were as sure of being son forevermore to ages bearing Jove, with Queen Juno for my mother, and of being held in like honor with Minerva and Apollo, as I am that this day is big with the destruction of the Achaeans, and you shall fall among them if you dare abide my spear. It shall rend your fair body and bid your glut our hounds and birds of prey with your fat and your flesh as you fall by the ships of the Achaeans. With these words, he led the way and the others followed after with a war cry that rent the air while the host shouted behind them. The Argives on their part raised a shout likewise, nor did they forget their prowess but stood firm against the onslaught of the Trojan Chieftains, and the cry from both the host rose up to heaven and to the brightness of Jove's presence. End of Book 13. Reporting by ML Cohen, www.mojoemove411.com. Cleveland, Ohio. November 2007. Book 14 of the Iliad. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Iliad by Homer. Translated by Samuel Butler. Book 14. Agamemnon proposes that the Achaeans should sail home, and is rebuked by Ulysses. Juno beguiles Jupiter. Hector is wounded. Nestor was sitting over his wine, but the cry of battle did not escape him, and he said to the son of Esculapius, What, Nobomachean, is the meaning of all this. The shouts of men fighting by our ships grow stronger and stronger. Stay here, therefore, and sit over your wine, while fair Hechemity heats you a bath, and washes the clotted blood from off you. I will go at once to the lookout station and see what it is all about. As he spoke, he took up the shield of his son Thersimides, that was lying in his tit, all gleaming with bronze, for Thersimides had taken his father's shield. He grasped his redoubtable bronze shod spear, and as soon as he was outside, saw the disastrous rout of the Achaean, who, now that their wall was overthrown, were flying pell-mell before the Trojans. As, when there is a heavy swell upon the sea, but the waves are dumb, they keep their eyes on the watch for the quarter-winds the fierce winds may spring upon them, but they stay where they are, and set neither this way nor that, till some particular wind sweeps down from heaven to determine them. Even so did the old man ponder whether to make for the crowd of Danians, or go and search of Agamemnon. In the end he deemed it best to go to the son of Atreus, but meanwhile the hosts were fighting and killing one another, and the hard bronze rattled on their bodies as they thrust at one another with their swords and spears. The wounded kings, the son of Tidius, Ulysses, and Agamemnon, son of Atreus, fell in with Nestor as they were coming up from their ships, for theirs were drawn up some way from where the fighting was going on, being on the shore itself, in as much as they had been beached first, while the wall had been built behind the hindermost. The stretch of the shore, wide though it was, did not afford room for all the ships, and the host was cramped for space. Therefore they had placed the ships in rows one behind the other, and had filled the whole opening of the bay between the two points that formed it. The kings, leaning on their spears, were coming out to survey the fight, being in great anxiety, and when old Nestor met them they were filled with dismay. Then King Agamemnon said to him, Nestor, son of Nilius, honored to the Achaean name, why have you left the battle to come hither? I fear that what Dread Hector said will come true, when he vaunted among the Trojans, saying that he would not return to Ilius till he had fired our ships and killed us. This is what he said, and now it is all coming true. Alas, others of the Achaeans, like Achilles, are in such anger with me, that they refuse to fight by the sterns of our ships. Then Nestor, son of Jareen, answered, it is indeed as you say, it is all coming true at this moment, and even Job, who thunders from on high, cannot prevent it. Fallen is the wall on which we relied as an impregnable bulwark, both for us and our fleet. The Trojans are fighting stubbornly and without seizing at the ships. Look where you may, you cannot see from what quarter the route of the Achaeans is coming. They are being killed in a confused mass, and the battle cry ascends to heaven. Let us think, if counsel could be of any use, what we had better do. But I do not advise our going into battle ourselves, for a man cannot fight when he is wounded. And King Agamemnon answered, Nestor, if the Trojans are indeed fighting at the rear of our ships, and neither the wall nor the trench has served us, over which the Danians toiled so hard, in which they deemed would be an impregnable bulwark, both for us and our fleet. I see it must be the will of Job, that the Achaeans should perish ingloriously here, far from Argus. I knew when Job was willing to defend us, and I know now that he is raising the Trojans to like honor with the gods. While us, on the other hand, he has bound hand and foot. Now therefore, let us all do as I say, let us bring down the ships that are on the beach, and draw them into the water. Let us make them fast to their mooring stones a little way out, against the fall of night. If even by night the Trojans will desist from fighting, we may then draw down the rest of the fleet. There is nothing wrong in flying, ruin, even by night. It is better for a man that he should fly and be saved than be caught and killed. Ulysses looked fiercely at him and said, Son of Atreus, what are you talking about? Wretch, you should have commanded some other invasor army, and not been ruler over us, to whom Job has allotted a life of hard fighting from youth to old age, till we every one of us perish. Is it thus that you would quit the city of Troy to win which we have suffered so much hardship? Hold your peace, lest some other of the Achaeans hear you say what no man who knows how to give good counsel, no king over so great a host as that of the archives, should ever have let fall from his lips. I despise your judgment utterly for what you have been saying. Would you then have us draw down our ships into the water while the battle is raging, and thus play further into the hands of the conquering Trojans? It would be ruin. The Achaeans would not go on fighting when they see the ships being drawn into the water, but will seize attacking and keep turning their eyes toward them. Your counsel therefore, Sir Captain, would be our destruction, Agamemnon answered. Ulysses, your rebuke has stung me to the heart. I am not, however, ordering the Achaeans to draw their ships into the sea, whether they will or know. Someone, it may be, old or young, can offer us better counsel, which I shall rejoice to hear. Then said Diamond, such a one is at hand. He is not far to seek, if you will listen to me, and not resent my speaking, though I am younger than any of you. I am by lineage, son, to a noble sire, tedious, who lies buried at Thebes. For Portheus had three noble sons, two of whom, Agrius and Melis, abode in Pluron and Rocky Caledon. The third was the knight Oenius, my father's father, and he was the most valiant of them all. Oenius remained in his own country, but my father, as Jove and the other gods ordained it, migrated to Argus. He married into the family of Adrostus, and his house was one of great abundance, for he had large estates of rich corn-growing land, with much orchard ground as well, and he had many sheep. Moreover, he excelled all the Argives in the use of the spear. You must yourselves have heard whether these things are true or no. Therefore, when I say well despised not my words, as though I were a coward or a vignable berth, I say then, let us go to the fight as we need must, wounded though we be. When there we may keep out of the battle, and beyond the range of the spears, lest we get fresh wounds in addition to what we have already, but we can spur on others who have been indulging their spleen and holding aloof from battle hitherto. Thus did he speak, whereon they did, even as he had said, and set out, keying Agamemnon leading the way. Meanwhile Neptune had kept no blind lookout, and came up to them in the semblance of an old man. He took Agamemnon's right hand in his own, and said, Son of Atreus, I take it Achilles is glad now that he sees the Achaeans routed in slain, for he is utterly without remorse. May he come to a bad end, and heaven confound him. As for yourself, the blessed gods are not yet so bitterly angry with you, but that the princes and counselors of the Trojans shall again raise the dust upon the plane, and you shall see them flying from the ships and tents toward their city. With this he raised a mighty cry of battle, and sped forward to the plane. The voice that came from his deep chest was as that of nine or ten thousand men, when they are shouting in the thick of a fight, and it put fresh courage into the hearts of the Achaeans to wage war and do battle without seizing. Juno, of the Golden Throne, looked down as she stood upon a peak of Olympus, and her heart was gladdened at the sight of him, who was at once her brother and brother-in-law, hurrying hither and thither and then fighting. Then she turned to rise to Jove, as he said on the topmost crests of many fountained Ida, and loathed him. She set herself to think how she might hoodwink him, and in the end she deemed that it would be best for her to go to Ida and array herself in rich attire in the hope that Jove might become enamored of her and wish to embrace her. While he was thus engaged, a sweet and careless sleep might be made to steal over his eyes and senses. She went therefore to the room which her son Vulcan had made her, and the doors of which he had cuddly fastened by means of a secret key so that no other god could open them. Here she entered and closed the doors behind her. She cleansed all the dirt from her fair body with ambrosia. Then she anointed herself with olive oil, ambrosial, very soft, and scented specially for herself. If it were so much as shaken in the bronze-floored house of Jove, the scent pervaded the universe of heaven and earth. With this she anointed her delicate skin, and then she plaited the fair ambrosial locks that flowed in a stream of golden tresses from her immortal head. She put on the wondrous robe which Minerva had worked for her with consummate art, and it embroidered her with manifold devices. She fastened it about her bosom with golden clasps, and she girded herself with a girdle that had a hundred tassels. Then she fastened her earrings, three brilliant pendants that glistened most beautifully through the pierced lobes of her ears, and through a lovely new veil over her head. She bound her sandals onto her feet, and when she had arrayed herself perfectly to her satisfaction, she left her room and called Venus to come aside and speak to her. My dear child, said she, will you do what I am going to ask of you, or will refuse me, because you are angry at my being on the Danian side while you are on the Trojan? Jove's daughter Venus answered, Juno, a gust queen of goddesses, daughter of mighty Saturn, say what you want, and I will do it for you at once, if I can, and if it can be done at all. Then Juno told a relying tale and said, I want you to endow me with some of those fascinating charms, the spells of which bring all things mortal and immortal to your feet. I am going to the world's end to visit Oceanus, from whom all we gods proceed, and Mother Tithus, they received me in their house, took care of me and brought me up, having taken me over from Rhea, when Jove imprisoned great Saturn into the depths that are under earth and sea. I must go and see them, that I may make peace between them. They have been quarreling and are so angry that they have not slept with one another this long while. If I can bring them round and restore them to one another's embraces, they will be grateful to me and love me forever afterwards. Thereon, laughter loving Venus said, I cannot and must not refuse you, for you sleep in the arms of Jove who is our king. As she spoke, she loosed from her bosom the curiously embroidered girdle into which all her charms have been wrought, love, desire, and that sweet flattery which steals the judgment even of the most prudent. She gave the girdle to Juno and said, take this girdle wherein all my charms reside and lay it in your bosom. If you will wear it, I promise you that your errand, be it what it may, will not be bootless. When she heard this, Juno smiled, and still smiling, she laid the girdle in her bosom. Venus now went back into the house of Jove, while Juno darted down from the summits of Olympus. She passed over Pairia and fair in Mathea, and went on and on till she came to the snowy ranges of the Thracian horsemen, over whose topmost crest she sped without ever setting foot to the ground. When she came to Athos, she went on over the waves of the sea till she reached Lymnos, the city of noble Thoas. There she met sleep, own brother to death, and caught him by the hand, saying, Sleep! You who lord it alike over mortals and immortals, if you ever did me a service in times past, do one for me now, and I shall be grateful to you ever after. Close Jove's keen eyes for me in slumber, while I hold him clasped in my embrace, and I will give you a beautiful golden seat that can never fall to pieces. My club-footed son Vulcan can make it for you, and he shall give it a footstool for you to rest your fair feet upon when you are at table. Then sleep answered, Juno, great queen of goddesses, daughter of Mathea Saturn. I would lull any other of the gods to sleep without compunction, not even accepting the waters of Oceanus, from whom all of them proceed, but I dare not go near Jove, nor send him to sleep unless he bids me. I have had one listen already through doing what you asked me, on the day when Jove's mighty son Hercules set sail from Ilias after having sacked the city of the Trojans. At your bidding I suffused my sweet self over the mind of Egypt's bearing Jove, and laid him to rest. Meanwhile you hatched a plot against Hercules, and set the blast of the angry winds beating upon the sea till you took him to the godly city of Koss, away from all his friends. Jove was furious when he awoke, and began hurling the gods about all over the house. He was looking more particularly for myself, and would have flung me down through space into the sea where I should never have been heard of any more. I had not knight who coused both men and gods protecting me. I fled to her, and Jove left off looking for me in spite of his being so angry, for he did not dare do anything to displease knight. And now you are again asking me to do something on which I cannot venture, and Juno said sleep. Why do you take such notions as those into your head? Do you think Jove will be as anxious to help the Trojans as he was about his own son? Come, I will marry you to one of the youngest of the graces, and she shall be your own. Pesethea, whom you have always wanted to marry. Sleep was pleased when he heard this, and answered, Then swear it to me by the dread waters of the river Styx. Lay one hand on the bounteous earth, and the other on the sheen of the sea, so that all the gods who dwell down below with Saturn may be our witnesses, and see that you really do give me one of the youngest of the graces. Pesethea, whom I have always wanted to marry. Juno did, as he had said. She swore, and invoked all the gods of the netherworld, were called Titans, to witness. When she had completed her oath, the two enshrouded themselves in a thick mist, and sped lightly forward, leaving Limnaus and Embras behind them. Presently they reached Minifountain Dida, Mother of Wild Beasts, and Lectum, where they left the sea to go on by land, and the tops of the trees of the forest sowed under the going of their feet. Here sleep halted, and air jove caught sight of him he climbed a lofty pine tree, the tallest that reared its head toward Heaven on Allida. He hid himself behind the branches, and sat there in the semblance of the sweet singing bird that haunts the mountains, and is called Kalsus by the gods. The men call it Symindus. Juno then went to Gargaras, the topmost peak of Ida, and jove, driver of the clouds, set eyes upon her. As soon as he did so, he became inflamed with the same passionate desire for her that he had felt when they had first enjoyed each other's embraces, and slept with one another without their dear parents knowing anything about it. He went up to her and said, What do you want, that you have come hither from Olympus, and that too with neither chariot nor horses to convey you? Then Juno told him a lying tale, and said, I am going to the world's end to visit Oceanus, from whom all we gods proceed, and mother Teethas. They received me into their house, took care of me, and brought me up. I must go and see them, that I may make peace between them. They have been quarreling, and are so angry that they have not slept with one another this long time. The horses that will take me over land and sea are stationed on the lower most spurs of many Fountain Ida, and I have come here from Olympus on purpose to consult you. I was afraid that you might be angry with me later on, if I went to the house of Oceanus without letting you know. And Jove said, Juno, you can choose some other time for paying your visit to Oceanus. For the present, let us devote ourselves to love, and to the enjoyment of one another. Never yet have I been so overpowered by passion, neither for goddess nor mortal woman, as I am at this moment for yourself. Not even when I was in love with the wife of Exion, who bore me Pyrithus, peer of gods and council, nor yet with Danae, the daintily-ankled daughter of Acreus, who bore me the famed Heroperceus. Then there was the daughter of Phenix, who bore me Minos, and Renamanthus. There was Simile, and Alcminna, and Thebes, by whom I begot my lionhearted son, Hercules, while Simile became mother to Bacchus, the comforter of mankind. There was Queen Ceres, again, a lovely Leto, and yourself, but with none of these was I ever so much enamored as I now am with you. Juno again answered him with a lying tale. Most dread son of Saturn, she exclaimed. What are you talking about? Would you have us enjoy one another here, on the top of Mount Aida, where everything can be seen? What if one of the ever-living gods should see us sleeping together until the others? It would be such a scandal that when I had risen from your embraces, I could never show myself inside your house again. But, if you are so minded, there is a room which your son Vulcan has made me, and he has given it good, strong doors. If you would so have it, let us go thither and lie down. And Joe answered, Juno, you need not be afraid that either God or man will see you, for I will enshroud both of us in such a dense golden cloud that the very sun for all his bright piercing beams shall not see through it. With this the son of Saturn caught his wife in his embrace, who on the earth sprouted them a cushion of young grass, with due bespangled lotus, crocus, and hyacinth, so soft and thick that raised them well above the ground. Here they laid themselves down, and overhead they were covered by a fair cloud of gold, from which there fell glittering dew-drops. Thus then did the sire of all things repose peacefully on the crest of Ida, overcome at once by sleep and love, and he held his spouse in his arms. Meanwhile sleep made off to the ships of the Achaeans to tell earth encircling Neptune, Lord of the earthquake. When he had found him he said, Now, Neptune, you can help the Danians with the will and give them victory, though it be only for a short time while Joe is still sleeping. I have sent him into a sweet slumber, and Juno has beguiled him into going to bed with her. Sleep now departed, and went his ways to and fro among mankind, leaving Neptune more eager than ever to help the Danians. He darted forward among the first ranks, and shouted, Our guys, shall we let Hector's son of Priam have the triumph taken our ships and covering himself with glory? This is what he says that he shall now do, seeing that Achilles is still in dungeon in his ships. We shall get on very well without him, if we keep each other in heart, and stand by one another. Now therefore let us all do as I say. Let us each take the best and largest shield we can lay hold of, put on our helmets, and sally forth with our longest spears in our hands. I will lead you on, and Hector, son of Priam, rage as he may, will not dare to hold out against us. If any good staunch soldier has only a small shield, let him hand it over to a worse man, and take a larger one for himself. Thus did he speak, and they did, even as he had said. The son of Tegius, Ulysses, and Agamemnon, wounded though they were, set the others in array, and went about everywhere, affecting the exchanges of armor. The most valiant took the best armor, and gave the worst to the worst man. When they had donned their bronze armor, they marched on with Neptune at their head. In his strong hand he grasped his terrible sword, keen of edge, and flashing like lightning. Woe to him who comes across it in the day of battle. All men quake for fear, and keep away from it. Hector, on the other side, set the Trojans in array. Thereon, Neptune and Hector waged fierce war on one another. Hector on the Trojan, and Neptune on the Archive side. Mighty was yet roar as the two forces meet. The sea came rolling in toward the ships, and tense of the Achaeans. But waves do not thunder on the shore, more loudly, when driven before the blast of Boreus. Nor did the flames of a fat forest fire roar more fiercely, when it is well alight upon the mountains. Nor does the wind bellow with rudor music as it tears on through the tops of when it is blowing its hardest. Then the terrible shout was the Trojans and Achaeans raised as they sprang upon one another. Hector first aimed his spear at Ajax, who was turned full towards him. Nor did he miss his aim. The spear struck him, where two bands passed over his chest. The band of his shield and that of his silver-studded sword. And these protected his body. Hector was angry that his spear should have been hurled in vain, and withdrew under cover of his men. As he was thus retreating, Ajax, son of Telemond, struck him with the stone, of which there were many lying about, under the men's feet as they fought. Brought there to give support to the ship's sides as they lay on the shore. Ajax caught up one of them and struck Hector above the rim of his shield, close to his neck. The blow made him spin round like a top, and reel in all directions. As an oak falls headlong, when uprooted by the lightning flash of Father Jove, and there's a terrible smell of brimstone, no man can help being dismayed if he's standing near it, for a thunderbolt is a very awful thing. Even so did Hector fall to earth and bite the dust. His spear fell from his hand, but his shield and helmet were made fast about his body, and his bronze armor rang about him. The sons of the Achaeans came running with a loud cry towards him, hoping to drag him away, and they showered their darts on the Trojans. But none of them could wound him before he was surrounded and covered by the princes Polidamas, Aeneas, Agenor, Sarpedan, Captain of the Lysians, and Noble Glaucus. Of the others, too, there was not one who was unmindful of him, and they held their round shields over him to cover him. His comrades then lifted him off the ground and bore him away from the battle to the place where his horses stood waiting for him at the rear of the fight with their driver and the chariot. These then took him towards the city, groaning and in great pain. When they reached the ford of the fair stream of Xanthus, begotten of immortal Jove, they took him from off his chariot and laid him down on the ground. They poured water over him, and as they did so he breathed again and opened his eyes. Then kneeling on his knees he vomited blood, but soon fell back onto the ground, and his eyes were again closed in darkness, for he was still stunned by the blow. When the Argives saw Hector leaving the field, they took heart, and set upon the Trojan jet more furiously. Ajax, fleet's son of Oelias, began by springing on Satneas, son of Enobs, and wounding him with his spear. A fair Naid Nymph had borne him to Enobs, as he was herding cattle by the banks of the river Satneas. The son of Oelias came up to him, and struck him in the flanks so that he fell, and a fierce fight between Trojans and Danians raged round the body. Polydamus, son of Panthus, drew near to a Vengem, and wounded Prothinior, son of a Relicus on the right shoulder. The terrible spear went right through his shoulder, and he clutched the earth as he fell in the dust. Polydamus vaunted loudly over him, saying, Again, I take it that the spear is not sped in vain from the strong hand of the son of Panthus. An Argive has caught it in his body, and it will serve him for his staff, as he goes down into the house of Hades. The Argives were maddened by this boasting. Ajax, son of Telemund, was more angry than any, for the man had fallen close beside him. So he aimed at Polydamus, as he was retreating, but Polydamus saved himself by swerving aside, and the spear struck Arkelocus, son of Antinor, for heaven counseled his destruction. It struck him where the head springs from the neck of the top joint of the spine, and severed both the tendons at the back of the head. His head, mouth, and nostrils reached the ground long before his legs and knees could do so. An Ajax shouted to Polydamus, saying, Think, Polydamus, and tell me truly whether this man is not as well worth killing as Prothenior was. He seems rich, and of rich family. A brother it may be, or son of the knight Antinor, for he is very like him. But he knew well who it was, and the Trojans were greatly angered. Akamas then bestrode his brother's body, and wounded Promacus, the Bawashon with his spear, for he was trying to drag his brother's body away. Akamas vaunted loudly over him, saying, Argyve archers, braggarts that you are, toil and suffering shall not be for us only, but some of you too shall fall here as well as ourselves. See how Promacus now sleeps, vanquished by my spear? Payment for my brother's blood has not been long delayed. A man therefore may well be thankful if he leaves the kinsmen in his house behind him to avenge his fall. His taunts infuriated the archives, and Penelius was more enraged than any of them. He sprang toward Akamas, but Akamas did not stand his ground, and he killed Ileonius, son of the rich flockmaster Thorbus, whom Mercury had favored and endowed with greater wealth than any other of the Trojans. Ileonius was his only son, and Penelius now wounded him in the eye under his eyebrows, tearing the eyeball from its socket. The spear went right through the eye, into the nape of the neck, and he fell, stretching out both hands before him. Penelius then drew his sword and smote him on the neck, so that both head and helmet came tumbling down to the ground, with the spear still sticking in the eye. He then held up the head, as though it had been a poppy head, and showed it to the Trojans, vaunting over them as he did so. Trojans, he cried, bid the father and mother of noble Ileonius make moan for him in their house, for the wife also of Promakas, son of Alegionor, will never be gladdened by the coming of her dear husband, when we, our guys, return with our ships from Troy. As he spoke, fear fell upon them, and every man looked round about to see whether he might fly for safety. Tell me now, well, muses the dwell on Olympus, who was the first of the archives to bear away bloodstained spoils after Neptune, lord of the earthquake, and turned the fortune of war? Ajax, son of Telemann, was first to win Hirtius, son of Gyartius, captain of the staunch missions. Antelacus killed Phelses and Mirmurus, while Meryonius slew Morys and Hippotian, Teusur also killed Brothon and Pyramites, the son of Atreus, then wounded Hyperinor, shepherd of his people in the flank, and the bronze point made his entrails gush out as it tore in among them. On this his life came hurrying out of him, at the place where he had been wounded, and his eyes were closed in darkness. Ajax, son of Oelius, killed more than any other, for there was no man so fleet as he to pursue flying foes when Jove had spread panic among them. End of book 14, recording by Kelly Doherty of Plano, Texas, September 15, 2007.