<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=410296" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Iliad: Book 15</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">But when their flight had taken them past the trench and the set<br>stakes, and many had fallen by the hands of the Danaans, the Trojans<br>made a halt on reaching their chariots, routed and pale with fear.<br>Jove now woke on the crests of Ida, where he was lying with<br>golden-throned Juno by his side, and starting to his feet he saw the<br>Trojans and Achaeans, the one thrown into confusion, and the others<br>driving them pell-mell before them with King Neptune in their midst.<br>He saw Hector lying on the ground with his comrades gathered round<br>him, gasping for breath, wandering in mind and vomiting blood, for<br>it was not the feeblest of the Achaeans who struck him.<br>The sire of gods and men had pity on him, and looked fiercely on<br>Juno. "I see, Juno," said he, "you mischief- making trickster, that<br>your cunning has stayed Hector from fighting and has caused the rout<br>of his host. I am in half a mind to thrash you, in which case you will<br>be the first to reap the fruits of your scurvy knavery. Do you not<br>remember how once upon a time I had you hanged? I fastened two<br>anvils on to your feet, and bound your hands in a chain of gold<br>which none might break, and you hung in mid-air among the clouds.<br>All the gods in Olympus were in a fury, but they could not reach you<br>to set you free; when I caught any one of them I gripped him and<br>hurled him from the heavenly threshold till he came fainting down to<br>earth; yet even this did not relieve my mind from the incessant<br>anxiety which I felt about noble Hercules whom you and Boreas had<br>spitefully conveyed beyond the seas to Cos, after suborning the<br>tempests; but I rescued him, and notwithstanding all his mighty<br>labours I brought him back again to Argos. I would remind you of<br>this that you may learn to leave off being so deceitful, and<br>discover how much you are likely to gain by the embraces out of<br>which you have come here to trick me."<br>Juno trembled as he spoke, and said, "May heaven above and earth<br>below be my witnesses, with the waters of the river Styx- and this<br>is the most solemn oath that a blessed god can take- nay, I swear also<br>by your own almighty head and by our bridal bed- things over which I<br>could never possibly perjure myself- that Neptune is not punishing<br>Hector and the Trojans and helping the Achaeans through any doing of<br>mine; it is all of his own mere motion because he was sorry to see the<br>Achaeans hard pressed at their ships: if I were advising him, I should<br>tell him to do as you bid him."<br>The sire of gods and men smiled and answered, "If you, Juno, were<br>always to support me when we sit in council of the gods, Neptune, like<br>it or no, would soon come round to your and my way of thinking. If,<br>then, you are speaking the truth and mean what you say, go among the<br>rank and file of the gods, and tell Iris and Apollo lord of the bow,<br>that I want them- Iris, that she may go to the Achaean host and tell<br>Neptune to leave off fighting and go home, and Apollo, that he may<br>send Hector again into battle and give him fresh strength; he will<br>thus forget his present sufferings, and drive the Achaeans back in<br>confusion till they fall among the ships of Achilles son of Peleus.<br>Achilles will then send his comrade Patroclus into battle, and<br>Hector will kill him in front of Ilius after he has slain many<br>warriors, and among them my own noble son Sarpedon. Achilles will kill<br>Hector to avenge Patroclus, and from that time I will bring it about<br>that the Achaeans shall persistently drive the Trojans back till<br>they fulfil the counsels of Minerva and take Ilius. But I will not<br>stay my anger, nor permit any god to help the Danaans till I have<br>accomplished the desire of the son of Peleus, according to the promise<br>I made by bowing my head on the day when Thetis touched my knees and<br>besought me to give him honour."<br>Juno heeded his words and went from the heights of Ida to great<br>Olympus. Swift as the thought of one whose fancy carries him over vast<br>continents, and he says to himself, "Now I will be here, or there,"<br>and he would have all manner of things- even so swiftly did Juno<br>wing her way till she came to high Olympus and went in among the<br>gods who were gathered in the house of Jove. When they saw her they<br>all of them came up to her, and held out their cups to her by way of<br>greeting. She let the others be, but took the cup offered her by<br>lovely Themis, who was first to come running up to her. "Juno," said<br>she, "why are you here? And you seem troubled- has your husband the<br>son of Saturn been frightening you?"<br>And Juno answered, "Themis, do not ask me about it. You know what<br>a proud and cruel disposition my husband has. Lead the gods to<br>table, where you and all the immortals can hear the wicked designs<br>which he has avowed. Many a one, mortal and immortal, will be<br>angered by them, however peaceably he may be feasting now."<br>On this Juno sat down, and the gods were troubled throughout the<br>house of Jove. Laughter sat on her lips but her brow was furrowed with<br>care, and she spoke up in a rage. "Fools that we are," she cried,<br>"to be thus madly angry with Jove; we keep on wanting to go up to<br>him and stay him by force or by persuasion, but he sits aloof and<br>cares for nobody, for he knows that he is much stronger than any other<br>of the immortals. Make the best, therefore, of whatever ills he may<br>choose to send each one of you; Mars, I take it, has had a taste of<br>them already, for his son Ascalaphus has fallen in battle- the man<br>whom of all others he loved most dearly and whose father he owns<br>himself to be."<br>When he heard this Mars smote his two sturdy thighs with the flat of<br>his hands, and said in anger, "Do not blame me, you gods that dwell in<br>heaven, if I go to the ships of the Achaeans and avenge the death of<br>my son, even though it end in my being struck by Jove's lightning<br>and lying in blood and dust among the corpses."<br>As he spoke he gave orders to yoke his horses Panic and Rout,<br>while he put on his armour. On this, Jove would have been roused to<br>still more fierce and implacable enmity against the other immortals,<br>had not Minerva, ararmed for the safety of the gods, sprung from her<br>seat and hurried outside. She tore the helmet from his head and the<br>shield from his shoulders, and she took the bronze spear from his<br>strong hand and set it on one side; then she said to Mars, "Madman,<br>you are undone; you have ears that hear not, or you have lost all<br>judgement and understanding; have you not heard what Juno has said<br>on coming straight from the presence of Olympian Jove? Do you wish<br>to go through all kinds of suffering before you are brought back<br>sick and sorry to Olympus, after having caused infinite mischief to<br>all us others? Jove would instantly leave the Trojans and Achaeans<br>to themselves; he would come to Olympus to punish us, and would grip<br>us up one after another, guilty or not guilty. Therefore lay aside<br>your anger for the death of your son; better men than he have either<br>been killed already or will fall hereafter, and one cannot protect<br>every one's whole family."<br>With these words she took Mars back to his seat. Meanwhile Juno<br>called Apollo outside, with Iris the messenger of the gods. "Jove,"<br>she said to them, "desires you to go to him at once on Mt. Ida; when<br>you have seen him you are to do as he may then bid you."<br>Thereon Juno left them and resumed her seat inside, while Iris and<br>Apollo made all haste on their way. When they reached<br>many-fountained Ida, mother of wild beasts, they found Jove seated<br>on topmost Gargarus with a fragrant cloud encircling his head as<br>with a diadem. They stood before his presence, and he was pleased with<br>them for having been so quick in obeying the orders his wife had given<br>them.<br>He spoke to Iris first. "Go," said he, "fleet Iris, tell King<br>Neptune what I now bid you- and tell him true. Bid him leave off<br>fighting, and either join the company of the gods, or go down into the<br>sea. If he takes no heed and disobeys me, let him consider well<br>whether he is strong enough to hold his own against me if I attack<br>him. I am older and much stronger than he is; yet he is not afraid<br>to set himself up as on a level with myself, of whom all the other<br>gods stand in awe."<br>Iris, fleet as the wind, obeyed him, and as the cold hail or<br>snowflakes that fly from out the clouds before the blast of Boreas,<br>even so did she wing her way till she came close up to the great<br>shaker of the earth. Then she said, "I have come, O dark-haired king<br>that holds the world in his embrace, to bring you a message from Jove.<br>He bids you leave off fighting, and either join the company of the<br>gods or go down into the sea; if, however, you take no heed and<br>disobey him, he says he will come down here and fight you. He would<br>have you keep out of his reach, for he is older and much stronger than<br>you are, and yet you are not afraid to set yourself up as on a level<br>with himself, of whom all the other gods stand in awe."<br>Neptune was very angry and said, "Great heavens! strong as Jove<br>may be, he has said more than he can do if he has threatened<br>violence against me, who am of like honour with himself. We were three<br>brothers whom Rhea bore to Saturn- Jove, myself, and Hades who rules<br>the world below. Heaven and earth were divided into three parts, and<br>each of us was to have an equal share. When we cast lots, it fell to<br>me to have my dwelling in the sea for evermore; Hades took the<br>darkness of the realms under the earth, while air and sky and clouds<br>were the portion that fell to Jove; but earth and great Olympus are<br>the common property of all. Therefore I will not walk as Jove would<br>have me. For all his strength, let him keep to his own third share and<br>be contented without threatening to lay hands upon me as though I were<br>nobody. Let him keep his bragging talk for his own sons and daughters,<br>who must perforce obey him.<br>Iris fleet as the wind then answered, "Am I really, Neptune, to take<br>this daring and unyielding message to Jove, or will you reconsider<br>your answer? Sensible people are open to argument, and you know that<br>the Erinyes always range themselves on the side of the older person."<br>Neptune answered, "Goddess Iris, your words have been spoken in<br>season. It is well when a messenger shows so much discretion.<br>Nevertheless it cuts me to the very heart that any one should rebuke<br>so angrily another who is his own peer, and of like empire with<br>himself. Now, however, I will give way in spite of my displeasure;<br>furthermore let me tell you, and I mean what I say- if contrary to the<br>desire of myself, Minerva driver of the spoil, Juno, Mercury, and King<br>Vulcan, Jove spares steep Ilius, and will not let the Achaeans have<br>the great triumph of sacking it, let him understand that he will incur<br>our implacable resentment."<br>Neptune now left the field to go down under the sea, and sorely<br>did the Achaeans miss him. Then Jove said to Apollo, "Go, dear<br>Phoebus, to Hector, for Neptune who holds the earth in his embrace has<br>now gone down under the sea to avoid the severity of my displeasure.<br>Had he not done so those gods who are below with Saturn would have<br>come to hear of the fight between us. It is better for both of us that<br>he should have curbed his anger and kept out of my reach, for I should<br>have had much trouble with him. Take, then, your tasselled aegis,<br>and shake it furiously, so as to set the Achaean heroes in a panic;<br>take, moreover, brave Hector, O Far-Darter, into your own care, and<br>rouse him to deeds of daring, till the Achaeans are sent flying back<br>to their ships and to the Hellespont. From that point I will think<br>it well over, how the Achaeans may have a respite from their<br>troubles."<br>Apollo obeyed his father's saying, and left the crests of Ida,<br>flying like a falcon, bane of doves and swiftest of all birds. He<br>found Hector no longer lying upon the ground, but sitting up, for he<br>had just come to himself again. He knew those who were about him,<br>and the sweat and hard breathing had left him from the moment when the<br>will of aegis-bearing Jove had revived him. Apollo stood beside him<br>and said, "Hector, son of Priam, why are you so faint, and why are you<br>here away from the others? Has any mishap befallen you?"<br>Hector in a weak voice answered, "And which, kind sir, of the gods<br>are you, who now ask me thus? Do you not know that Ajax struck me on<br>the chest with a stone as I was killing his comrades at the ships of<br>the Achaeans, and compelled me to leave off fighting? I made sure that<br>this very day I should breathe my last and go down into the house of<br>Hades."<br>Then King Apollo said to him, "Take heart; the son of Saturn has<br>sent you a mighty helper from Ida to stand by you and defend you, even<br>me, Phoebus Apollo of the golden sword, who have been guardian<br>hitherto not only of yourself but of your city. Now, therefore,<br>order your horsemen to drive their chariots to the ships in great<br>multitudes. I will go before your horses to smooth the way for them,<br>and will turn the Achaeans in flight."<br>As he spoke he infused great strength into the shepherd of his<br>people. And as a horse, stabled and full-fed, breaks loose and gallops<br>gloriously over the plain to the place where he is wont to take his<br>bath in the river- he tosses his head, and his mane streams over his<br>shoulders as in all the pride of his strength he flies full speed to<br>the pastures where the mares are feeding- even so Hector, when he<br>heard what the god said, urged his horsemen on, and sped forward as<br>fast as his limbs could take him. As country peasants set their hounds<br>on to a homed stag or wild goat- he has taken shelter under rock or<br>thicket, and they cannot find him, but, lo, a bearded lion whom<br>their shouts have roused stands in their path, and they are in no<br>further humour for the chase- even so the Achaeans were still charging<br>on in a body, using their swords and spears pointed at both ends,<br>but when they saw Hector going about among his men they were afraid,<br>and their hearts fell down into their feet.<br>Then spoke Thoas son of Andraemon, leader of the Aetolians, a man<br>who could throw a good throw, and who was staunch also in close fight,<br>while few could surpass him in debate when opinions were divided. He<br>then with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus: "What, in<br>heaven's name, do I now see? Is it not Hector come to life again?<br>Every one made sure he had been killed by Ajax son of Telamon, but<br>it seems that one of the gods has again rescued him. He has killed<br>many of us Danaans already, and I take it will yet do so, for the hand<br>of Jove must be with him or he would never dare show himself so<br>masterful in the forefront of the battle. Now, therefore, let us all<br>do as I say; let us order the main body of our forces to fall back<br>upon the ships, but let those of us who profess to be the flower of<br>the army stand firm, and see whether we cannot hold Hector back at the<br>point of our spears as soon as he comes near us; I conceive that he<br>will then think better of it before he tries to charge into the<br>press of the Danaans."<br>Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. Those who<br>were about Ajax and King Idomeneus, the followers moreover of<br>Teucer, Meriones, and Meges peer of Mars called all their best men<br>about them and sustained the fight against Hector and the Trojans, but<br>the main body fell back upon the ships of the Achaeans.<br>The Trojans pressed forward in a dense body, with Hector striding on<br>at their head. Before him went Phoebus Apollo shrouded in cloud<br>about his shoulders. He bore aloft the terrible aegis with its<br>shaggy fringe, which Vulcan the smith had given Jove to strike<br>terror into the hearts of men. With this in his hand he led on the<br>Trojans.<br>The Argives held together and stood their ground. The cry of<br>battle rose high from either side, and the arrows flew from the<br>bowstrings. Many a spear sped from strong hands and fastened in the<br>bodies of many a valiant warrior, while others fell to earth midway,<br>before they could taste of man's fair flesh and glut themselves with<br>blood. So long as Phoebus Apollo held his aegis quietly and without<br>shaking it, the weapons on either side took effect and the people<br>fell, but when he shook it straight in the face of the Danaans and<br>raised his mighty battle-cry their hearts fainted within them and they<br>forgot their former prowess. As when two wild beasts spring in the<br>dead of night on a herd of cattle or a large flock of sheep when the<br>herdsman is not there- even so were the Danaans struck helpless, for<br>Apollo filled them with panic and gave victory to Hector and the<br>Trojans.<br>The fight then became more scattered and they killed one another<br>where they best could. Hector killed Stichius and Arcesilaus, the one,<br>leader of the Boeotians, and the other, friend and comrade of<br>Menestheus. Aeneas killed Medon and Iasus. The first was bastard son<br>to Oileus, and brother to Ajax, but he lived in Phylace away from<br>his own country, for he had killed a man, a kinsman of his<br>stepmother Eriopis whom Oileus had married. Iasus had become a<br>leader of the Athenians, and was son of Sphelus the son of Boucolos.<br>Polydamas killed Mecisteus, and Polites Echius, in the front of the<br>battle, while Agenor slew Clonius. Paris struck Deiochus from behind<br>in the lower part of the shoulder, as he was flying among the<br>foremost, and the point of the spear went clean through him.<br>While they were spoiling these heroes of their armour, the<br>Achaeans were flying pellmell to the trench and the set stakes, and<br>were forced back within their wall. Hector then cried out to the<br>Trojans, "Forward to the ships, and let the spoils be. If I see any<br>man keeping back on the other side the wall away from the ships I will<br>have him killed: his kinsmen and kinswomen shall not give him his dues<br>of fire, but dogs shall tear him in pieces in front of our city."<br>As he spoke he laid his whip about his horses' shoulders and<br>called to the Trojans throughout their ranks; the Trojans shouted with<br>a cry that rent the air, and kept their horses neck and neck with<br>his own. Phoebus Apollo went before, and kicked down the banks of<br>the deep trench into its middle so as to make a great broad bridge, as<br>broad as the throw of a spear when a man is trying his strength. The<br>Trojan battalions poured over the bridge, and Apollo with his<br>redoubtable aegis led the way. He kicked down the wall of the Achaeans<br>as easily as a child who playing on the sea-shore has built a house of<br>sand and then kicks it down again and destroys it- even so did you,<br>O Apollo, shed toil and trouble upon the Argives, filling them with<br>panic and confusion.<br>Thus then were the Achaeans hemmed in at their ships, calling out to<br>one another and raising their hands with loud cries every man to<br>heaven. Nestor of Gerene, tower of strength to the Achaeans, lifted up<br>his hands to the starry firmament of heaven, and prayed more fervently<br>than any of them. "Father Jove," said he, "if ever any one in<br>wheat-growing Argos burned you fat thigh-bones of sheep or heifer<br>and prayed that he might return safely home, whereon you bowed your<br>head to him in assent, bear it in mind now, and suffer not the Trojans<br>to triumph thus over the Achaeans."<br>All counselling Jove thundered loudly in answer to die prayer of the<br>aged son of Neleus. When the heard Jove thunder they flung<br>themselves yet more fiercely on the Achaeans. As a wave breaking<br>over the bulwarks of a ship when the sea runs high before a gale-<br>for it is the force of the wind that makes the waves so great- even so<br>did the Trojans spring over the wall with a shout, and drive their<br>chariots onwards. The two sides fought with their double-pointed<br>spears in hand-to-hand encounter-the Trojans from their chariots,<br>and the Achaeans climbing up into their ships and wielding the long<br>pikes that were lying on the decks ready for use in a sea-fight,<br>jointed and shod with bronze.<br>Now Patroclus, so long as the Achaeans and Trojans were fighting<br>about the wall, but were not yet within it and at the ships,<br>remained sitting in the tent of good Eurypylus, entertaining him<br>with his conversation and spreading herbs over his wound to ease his<br>pain. When, however, he saw the Trojans swarming through the breach in<br>the wall, while the Achaeans were clamouring and struck with panic, he<br>cried aloud, and smote his two thighs with the flat of his hands.<br>"Eurypylus," said he in his dismay, "I know you want me badly, but I<br>cannot stay with you any longer, for there is hard fighting going<br>on; a servant shall take care of you now, for I must make all speed to<br>Achilles, and induce him to fight if I can; who knows but with<br>heaven's help I may persuade him. A man does well to listen to the<br>advice of a friend."<br>When he had thus spoken he went his way. The Achaeans stood firm and<br>resisted the attack of the Trojans, yet though these were fewer in<br>number, they could not drive them back from the ships, neither could<br>the Trojans break the Achaean ranks and make their way in among the<br>tents and ships. As a carpenter's line gives a true edge to a piece of<br>ship's timber, in the hand of some skilled workman whom Minerva has<br>instructed in all kinds of useful arts- even so level was the issue of<br>the fight between the two sides, as they fought some round one and<br>some round another.<br>Hector made straight for Ajax, and the two fought fiercely about the<br>same ship. Hector could not force Ajax back and fire the ship, nor yet<br>could Ajax drive Hector from the spot to which heaven had brought him.<br>Then Ajax struck Caletor son of Clytius in the chest with a spear as<br>he was bringing fire towards the ship. He fell heavily to the ground<br>and the torch dropped from his hand. When Hector saw his cousin fallen<br>in front of the ship he shouted to the Trojans and Lycians saying,<br>"Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanians good in close fight, bate not a jot,<br>but rescue the son of Clytius lest the Achaeans strip him of his<br>armour now that he has fallen."<br>He then aimed a spear at Ajax, and missed him, but he hit<br>Lycophron a follower of Ajax, who came from Cythera, but was living<br>with Ajax inasmuch as he had killed a man among the Cythereans.<br>Hector's spear struck him on the head below the ear, and he fell<br>headlong from the ship's prow on to the ground with no life left in<br>him. Ajax shook with rage and said to his brother, "Teucer, my good<br>fellow, our trusty comrade the son of Mastor has fallen, he came to<br>live with us from Cythera and whom we honoured as much as our own<br>parents. Hector has just killed him; fetch your deadly arrows at<br>once and the bow which Phoebus Apollo gave you."<br>Teucer heard him and hastened towards him with his bow and quiver in<br>his hands. Forthwith he showered his arrows on the Trojans, and hit<br>Cleitus the son of Pisenor, comrade of Polydamas the noble son of<br>Panthous, with the reins in his hands as he was attending to his<br>horses; he was in the middle of the very thickest part of the fight,<br>doing good service to Hector and the Trojans, but evil had now come<br>upon him, and not one of those who were fain to do so could avert<br>it, for the arrow struck him on the back of the neck. He fell from his<br>chariot and his horses shook the empty car as they swerved aside. King<br>Polydamas saw what had happened, and was the first to come up to the<br>horses; he gave them in charge to Astynous son of Protiaon, and<br>ordered him to look on, and to keep the horses near at hand. He then<br>went back and took his place in the front ranks.<br>Teucer then aimed another arrow at Hector, and there would have been<br>no more fighting at the ships if he had hit him and killed him then<br>and there: Jove, however, who kept watch over Hector, had his eyes<br>on Teucer, and deprived him of his triumph, by breaking his<br>bowstring for him just as he was drawing it and about to take his aim;<br>on this the arrow went astray and the bow fell from his hands.<br>Teucer shook with anger and said to his brother, "Alas, see how heaven<br>thwarts us in all we do; it has broken my bowstring and snatched the<br>bow from my hand, though I strung it this selfsame morning that it<br>might serve me for many an arrow."<br>Ajax son of Telamon answered, "My good fellow, let your bow and your<br>arrows be, for Jove has made them useless in order to spite the<br>Danaans. Take your spear, lay your shield upon your shoulder, and both<br>fight the Trojans yourself and urge others to do so. They may be<br>successful for the moment but if we fight as we ought they will find<br>it a hard matter to take the ships."<br>Teucer then took his bow and put it by in his tent. He hung a shield<br>four hides thick about his shoulders, and on his comely head he set<br>his helmet well wrought with a crest of horse-hair that nodded<br>menacingly above it; he grasped his redoubtable bronze-shod spear, and<br>forthwith he was by the side of Ajax.<br>When Hector saw that Teucer's bow was of no more use to him, he<br>shouted out to the Trojans and Lycians, "Trojans, Lycians, and<br>Dardanians good in close fight, be men, my friends, and show your<br>mettle here at the ships, for I see the weapon of one of their<br>chieftains made useless by the hand of Jove. It is easy to see when<br>Jove is helping people and means to help them still further, or<br>again when he is bringing them down and will do nothing for them; he<br>is now on our side, and is going against the Argives. Therefore<br>swarm round the ships and fight. If any of you is struck by spear or<br>sword and loses his life, let him die; he dies with honour who dies<br>fighting for his country; and he will leave his wife and children safe<br>behind him, with his house and allotment unplundered if only the<br>Achaeans can be driven back to their own land, they and their ships."<br>With these words he put heart and soul into them all. Ajax on the<br>other side exhorted his comrades saying, "Shame on you Argives, we are<br>now utterly undone, unless we can save ourselves by driving the<br>enemy from our ships. Do you think, if Hector takes them, that you<br>will be able to get home by land? Can you not hear him cheering on his<br>whole host to fire our fleet, and bidding them remember that they<br>are not at a dance but in battle? Our only course is to fight them<br>with might and main; we had better chance it, life or death, once<br>for all, than fight long and without issue hemmed in at our ships by<br>worse men than ourselves."<br>With these words he put life and soul into them all. Hector then<br>killed Schedius son of Perimedes, leader of the Phoceans, and Ajax<br>killed Laodamas captain of foot soldiers and son to Antenor. Polydamas<br>killed Otus of Cyllene a comrade of the son of Phyleus and chief of<br>the proud Epeans. When Meges saw this he sprang upon him, but<br>Polydamas crouched down, and he missed him, for Apollo would not<br>suffer the son of Panthous to fall in battle; but the spear hit<br>Croesmus in the middle of his chest, whereon he fell heavily to the<br>ground, and Meges stripped him of his armour. At that moment the<br>valiant soldier Dolops son of Lampus sprang upon Lampus was son of<br>Laomedon and for his valour, while his son Dolops was versed in all<br>the ways of war. He then struck the middle of the son of Phyleus'<br>shield with his spear, setting on him at close quarters, but his<br>good corslet made with plates of metal saved him; Phyleus had<br>brought it from Ephyra and the river Selleis, where his host, King<br>Euphetes, had given it him to wear in battle and protect him. It now<br>served to save the life of his son. Then Meges struck the topmost<br>crest of Dolops's bronze helmet with his spear and tore away its plume<br>of horse-hair, so that all newly dyed with scarlet as it was it<br>tumbled down into the dust. While he was still fighting and<br>confident of victory, Menelaus came up to help Meges, and got by the<br>side of Dolops unperceived; he then speared him in the shoulder,<br>from behind, and the point, driven so furiously, went through into his<br>chest, whereon he fell headlong. The two then made towards him to<br>strip him of his armour, but Hector called on all his brothers for<br>help, and he especially upbraided brave Melanippus son of Hiketaon,<br>who erewhile used to pasture his herds of cattle in Percote before the<br>war broke out; but when the ships of the Danaans came, he went back to<br>Ilius, where he was eminent among the Trojans, and lived near Priam<br>who treated him as one of his own sons. Hector now rebuked him and<br>said, "Why, Melanippus, are we thus remiss? do you take no note of the<br>death of your kinsman, and do you not see how they are trying to<br>take Dolops's armour? Follow me; there must be no fighting the Argives<br>from a distance now, but we must do so in close combat till either<br>we kill them or they take the high wall of Ilius and slay her people."<br>He led on as he spoke, and the hero Melanippus followed after.<br>Meanwhile Ajax son of Telamon was cheering on the Argives. "My<br>friends," he cried, "be men, and fear dishonour; quit yourselves in<br>battle so as to win respect from one another. Men who respect each<br>other's good opinion are less likely to be killed than those who do<br>not, but in flight there is neither gain nor glory."<br>Thus did he exhort men who were already bent upon driving back the<br>Trojans. They laid his words to heart and hedged the ships as with a<br>wall of bronze, while Jove urged on the Trojans. Menelaus of the<br>loud battle-cry urged Antilochus on. "Antilochus," said he, "you are<br>young and there is none of the Achaeans more fleet of foot or more<br>valiant than you are. See if you cannot spring upon some Trojan and<br>kill him."<br>He hurried away when he had thus spurred Antilochus, who at once<br>darted out from the front ranks and aimed a spear, after looking<br>carefully round him. The Trojans fell back as he threw, and the dart<br>did not speed from his hand without effect, for it struck Melanippus<br>the proud son of Hiketaon in the breast by the nipple as he was coming<br>forward, and his armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily<br>to the ground. Antilochus sprang upon him as a dog springs on a fawn<br>which a hunter has hit as it was breaking away from its covert, and<br>killed it. Even so, O Melanippus, did stalwart Antilochus spring<br>upon you to strip you of your armour; but noble Hector marked him, and<br>came running up to him through the thick of the battle. Antilochus,<br>brave soldier though he was, would not stay to face him, but fled like<br>some savage creature which knows it has done wrong, and flies, when it<br>has killed a dog or a man who is herding his cattle, before a body<br>of men can be gathered to attack it. Even so did the son of Nestor<br>fly, and the Trojans and Hector with a cry that rent the air<br>showered their weapons after him; nor did he turn round and stay his<br>flight till he had reached his comrades.<br>The Trojans, fierce as lions, were still rushing on towards the<br>ships in fulfilment of the behests of Jove who kept spurring them on<br>to new deeds of daring, while he deadened the courage of the Argives<br>and defeated them by encouraging the Trojans. For he meant giving<br>glory to Hector son of Priam, and letting him throw fire upon the<br>ships, till he had fulfilled the unrighteous prayer that Thetis had<br>made him; Jove, therefore, bided his time till he should see the glare<br>of a blazing ship. From that hour he was about so to order that the<br>Trojans should be driven back from the ships and to vouchsafe glory to<br>the Achaeans. With this purpose he inspired Hector son of Priam, who<br>was cager enough already, to assail the ships. His fury was as that of<br>Mars, or as when a fire is raging in the glades of some dense forest<br>upon the mountains; he foamed at the mouth, his eyes glared under<br>his terrible eye-brows, and his helmet quivered on his temples by<br>reason of the fury with which he fought. Jove from heaven was with<br>him, and though he was but one against many, vouchsafed him victory<br>and glory; for he was doomed to an early death, and already Pallas<br>Minerva was hurrying on the hour of his destruction at the hands of<br>the son of Peleus. Now, however, he kept trying to break the ranks<br>of the enemy wherever he could see them thickest, and in the goodliest<br>armour; but do what he might he could not break through them, for they<br>stood as a tower foursquare, or as some high cliff rising from the<br>grey sea that braves the anger of the gale, and of the waves that<br>thunder up against it. He fell upon them like flames of fire from<br>every quarter. As when a wave, raised mountain high by wind and storm,<br>breaks over a ship and covers it deep in foam, the fierce winds roar<br>against the mast, the hearts of the sailors fail them for fear, and<br>they are saved but by a very little from destruction- even so were the<br>hearts of the Achaeans fainting within them. Or as a savage lion<br>attacking a herd of cows while they are feeding by thousands in the<br>low-lying meadows by some wide-watered shore- the herdsman is at his<br>wit's end how to protect his herd and keeps going about now in the van<br>and now in the rear of his cattle, while the lion springs into the<br>thick of them and fastens on a cow so that they all tremble for<br>fear- even so were the Achaeans utterly panic-stricken by Hector and<br>father Jove. Nevertheless Hector only killed Periphetes of Mycenae; he<br>was son of Copreus who was wont to take the orders of King<br>Eurystheus to mighty Hercules, but the son was a far better man than<br>the father in every way; he was fleet of foot, a valiant warrior,<br>and in understanding ranked among the foremost men of Mycenae. He it<br>was who then afforded Hector a triumph, for as he was turning back<br>he stumbled against the rim of his shield which reached his feet,<br>and served to keep the javelins off him. He tripped against this and<br>fell face upward, his helmet ringing loudly about his head as he did<br>so. Hector saw him fall and ran up to him; he then thrust a spear into<br>his chest, and killed him close to his own comrades. These, for all<br>their sorrow, could not help him for they were themselves terribly<br>afraid of Hector.<br>They had now reached the ships and the prows of those that had<br>been drawn up first were on every side of them, but the Trojans came<br>pouring after them. The Argives were driven back from the first row of<br>ships, but they made a stand by their tents without being broken up<br>and scattered; shame and fear restrained them. They kept shouting<br>incessantly to one another, and Nestor of Gerene, tower of strength to<br>the Achaeans, was loudest in imploring every man by his parents, and<br>beseeching him to stand firm.<br>"Be men, my friends," he cried, "and respect one another's good<br>opinion. Think, all of you, on your children, your wives, your<br>property, and your parents whether these be alive or dead. On their<br>behalf though they are not here, I implore you to stand firm, and<br>not to turn in flight."<br>With these words he put heart and soul into them all. Minerva lifted<br>the thick veil of darkness from their eyes, and much light fell upon<br>them, alike on the side of the ships and on that where the fight was<br>raging. They could see Hector and all his men, both those in the<br>rear who were taking no part in the battle, and those who were<br>fighting by the ships.<br>Ajax could not bring himself to retreat along with the rest, but<br>strode from deck to deck with a great sea-pike in his hands twelve<br>cubits long and jointed with rings. As a man skilled in feats of<br>horsemanship couples four horses together and comes tearing full speed<br>along the public way from the country into some large town- many<br>both men and women marvel as they see him for he keeps all the time<br>changing his horse, springing from one to another without ever missing<br>his feet while the horses are at a gallop- even so did Ajax go<br>striding from one ship's deck to another, and his voice went up into<br>the heavens. He kept on shouting his orders to the Danaans and<br>exhorting them to defend their ships and tents; neither did Hector<br>remain within the main body of the Trojan warriors, but as a dun eagle<br>swoops down upon a flock of wild-fowl feeding near a river-geese, it<br>may be, or cranes, or long-necked swans- even so did Hector make<br>straight for a dark-prowed ship, rushing right towards it; for Jove<br>with his mighty hand impelled him forward, and roused his people to<br>follow him.<br>And now the battle again raged furiously at the ships. You would<br>have thought the men were coming on fresh and unwearied, so fiercely<br>did they fight; and this was the mind in which they were- the Achaeans<br>did not believe they should escape destruction but thought<br>themselves doomed, while there was not a Trojan but his heart beat<br>high with the hope of firing the ships and putting the Achaean<br>heroes to the sword.<br>Thus were the two sides minded. Then Hector seized the stern of<br>the good ship that had brought Protesilaus to Troy, but never bore him<br>back to his native land. Round this ship there raged a close<br>hand-to-hand fight between Danaans and Trojans. They did not fight<br>at a distance with bows and javelins, but with one mind hacked at<br>one another in close combat with their mighty swords and spears<br>pointed at both ends; they fought moreover with keen battle-axes and<br>with hatchets. Many a good stout blade hilted and scabbarded with<br>iron, fell from hand or shoulder as they fought, and the earth ran red<br>with blood. Hector, when he had seized the ship, would not loose his<br>hold but held on to its curved stern and shouted to the Trojans,<br>"Bring fire, and raise the battle-cry all of you with a single<br>voice. Now has Jove vouchsafed us a day that will pay us for all the<br>rest; this day we shall take the ships which came hither against<br>heaven's will, and which have caused us such infinite suffering<br>through the cowardice of our councillors, who when I would have done<br>battle at the ships held me back and forbade the host to follow me; if<br>Jove did then indeed warp our judgements, himself now commands me<br>and cheers me on."<br>As he spoke thus the Trojans sprang yet more fiercely on the<br>Achaeans, and Ajax no longer held his ground, for he was overcome by<br>the darts that were flung at him, and made sure that he was doomed.<br>Therefore he left the raised deck at the stern, and stepped back on to<br>the seven-foot bench of the oarsmen. Here he stood on the look-out,<br>and with his spear held back Trojan whom he saw bringing fire to the<br>ships. All the time he kept on shouting at the top of his voice and<br>exhorting the Danaans. "My friends," he cried, "Danaan heroes,<br>servants of Mars, be men my friends, and fight with might and with<br>main. Can we hope to find helpers hereafter, or a wall to shield us<br>more surely than the one we have? There is no strong city within<br>reach, whence we may draw fresh forces to turn the scales in our<br>favour. We are on the plain of the armed Trojans with the sea behind<br>us, and far from our own country. Our salvation, therefore, is in<br>the might of our hands and in hard fighting."<br>As he spoke he wielded his spear with still greater fury, and when<br>any Trojan made towards the ships with fire at Hector's bidding, he<br>would be on the look-out for him, and drive at him with his long<br>spear. Twelve men did he thus kill in hand-to-hand fight before the<br>ships.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Homer">Homer</a>, translated by Samuel Butler<div class=q> <img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share"> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=410296" data-title="The Iliad: Book 15 de Homer" data-description="But when their flight had taken them past the trench and the set/stakes, and many had fallen by the hands of the Danaans, the Trojans/made a halt on reaching their chariots, routed and pale with fear./Jove now woke on the crests of Ida, where he w..."></div> </div> </div>

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