by Homer
he struck him first on the crest of his helmet, bristling horsehair,
and the bronze spear-point plunged in his brow, then penetrated bone;460
darkness covered his eyes,
and he fell like a tower in the mighty combat.
Taking hold of the fallen man by the feet, lord Elephenor
son of Chalkodon, leader of the great-hearted Abantes,
dragged him away from the range of thrown spears in eager haste,
with all speed to strip his armor. But his haste was short-lived.
For great-hearted Agenor, seeing him dragging the dead man,
thrust at his ribs, which showed forth beneath his shield as he bent over,
with his bronze-headed spear, and unstrung his limbs.
So Elephenor’s spirit left him, and over his body there was wrought hard470
work of war by Trojans and Achaeans; like wolves they
rushed at one another, man flung at man.
Then Telamonian Ajax struck the son of Anthemion,
virginal Simoeisios in the flower of youth, whom time ago his mother,
descending from Mount Ida, bore by the banks of the river Simoeis,
when she followed with her parents to watch the flocks.
And for this reason they named him Simoeisios; his parents
he did not repay for his nurture, and short was the life allotted to him,
who was broken under the spear of great-hearted Ajax.
For Ajax struck him as he came among the front fighters, on the chest, beside his right480
nipple, and straight on through the shoulder the bronze spear
came; and he fell to the ground in the dust like a poplar,
which in the lowland of a great marsh-meadow has grown
smooth-trunked, and yet branches are brought forth on its topmost part;
and these a man, a chariot maker, with gleaming iron axe
cuts away, so that he may bend from them a wheel rim for a splendid chariot;
and the poplar lies drying by the banks of the river;
such then was Simoeisios, son of Anthemion, whom
Zeus-descended Ajax killed. And Antiphos of glinting armor,
Priam’s son, cast at him through the crowd with his sharp spear;490
He missed Ajax, but struck Leukos, noble companion of Odysseus,
hard in the groin as he was dragging a body to one side;
and the body dropped from his hand, and he fell upon it.
And at the killing of this man Odysseus was greatly angered in his heart,
and he strode through the front rank of fighters, helmeted with gleaming bronze,
and drawing near the body, took his stand and menaced with his shining spear,
looking close about him; and the Trojans gave way before
the man as he cast his spear. And not in vain did he hurl the shaft,
but he struck Demokoön, a son of Priam, a bastard,
who had come from Abydos, from the place of swift mares;500
this man Odysseus, in anger for his comrade struck with his spear
in the temple; through the other temple the sharp bronze
passed; darkness covered his eyes,
he fell with a thud, and his armor clashed shining upon him.
The front ranks fell back, even shining Hector,
and the Argives gave a great cry and dragged away the dead,
and kept charging forward. But Apollo was watching from the height of
Pergamos, outraged, and crying out he called to the Trojans:
“Rise up, Trojan breakers of horses, do not yield the battle
to the Argives; for their skin is not rock or iron510
that withstands flesh-cutting bronze when they are struck.
Nor now does Achilles, the son of Thetis of the lovely hair,
fight in the battle, but by his ships he broods upon his heart-grieving anger.”
So from the citadel spoke the terrifying god; but the daughter of Zeus,
most glorious Athena Tritogeneia, urged the Achaeans on
as she advanced through the host to where she saw men malingering.
And there fate bound Diores son of Amarynkeus;
for he was struck beside the ankle by a jagged stone
on his right shin; the leader of the Thracian men hurled it,
Peiros son of Imbrasos, who had come from Ainos.520
Bone and both tendons the ruthless stone
utterly crushed; and he fell on his back in the dust,
stretching his hands to his beloved companions,
breathing out his soul; and he—Peiros, the man who wounded him—ran up,
and with his spear struck Diores beside his navel; all his
bowels were poured out upon the ground, and darkness covered his eyes.
But Thoas the Aetolian, rushing up, struck Peiros with his spear
in the chest below the nipple, and the bronze point fixed in his lung.
Thoas moved close to him, pulled the heavy spear
from his chest, and drew his sharp sword;530
and smote him in the middle of his stomach, and snatched his life away.
But he did not strip the armor; for the dead man’s companions stood around him,
top-knotted Thracians, holding their long spears in their hands,
and big though he was and strong and illustrious,
they drove Thoas from them; and he retreated, staggering.
So the two men were stretched beside each other in the dust,
both leaders, he of the Thracians, the other of the bronze-clad Epeans;
and many others were slain around them.
There, a man coming upon the scene would not make light of the work of war,
someone still unharmed and unwounded by sharp bronze,540
who whirled through their midst with Pallas Athena to lead him
by the hand and to ward off the onslaught of spears thrown;
for many Trojans and Achaeans on that day
lay sprawled face down in the dust beside one another.
5.ILIÁDOS E
And then to Tydeus’ son Diomedes, Pallas Athena
gave strength and daring, that he be preeminent among all
Argives and win glory outstanding;
from his helmet and shield she blazed forth unwearying fire,
like the star of late summer, which gleams brightest of all,
washed clean by Ocean.
Such was the fire she made blaze from his head and shoulders,
as she drove him through the midst, to where the tumult was the greatest.
Among the Trojans was a certain Dares, a rich and blameless man,
a priest of Hephaestus; he had two sons,10
Phegeus and Idaios, well skilled in all kinds of battle;
these two, peeling off from the throng, charged against the son of Tydeus,
they from their chariot, and he on foot charged from the ground.
Then when they had advanced almost upon each other,
Phegeus was first to hurl his long-shadowed spear;
over the son of Tydeus’ left shoulder the spear-point
passed, nor struck him. But the son of Tydeus attacked next with his
bronze-headed spear; and not in vain did his cast escape his hand,
but he struck Phegeus in the chest between the breasts, and knocked him from his chariot.
And Idaios abandoning the splendid chariot leapt away,20
nor had he courage to stand over his slain brother;
nor indeed would even he have escaped dark death,
had not Hephaestus brought him from danger and saved him, concealed in darkness,
so that the old man, his priest, not be wholly broken with sorrow.
And driving their horses off, the son of great-spirited Tydeus
gave them to his comrades to lead down to his hollow ships.
But when the great-hearted Trojans saw the two sons o
f Dares,
the one fleeing, the other dead by his chariot,
the hearts in all were stirred to panic; then gleaming-eyed Athena,
taking furious Ares by the hand, addressed him with words:30
“Ares, Ares, ruinous to mortals, murderous sacker of walled cities,
shall we not leave the Trojans and Achaeans
to fight, for whichever of them father Zeus should grant victory?
Let us two withdraw and avoid Zeus’ wrath.”
So speaking she led furious Ares from the field of war.
Then she sat him down on the banks of Scamander;
and the Danaans turned the Trojans to flight, and each of the leaders
killed a man. First Agamemnon lord of men
struck great Odios leader of the Halizones from his chariot;
he was killed first, for as he was turning Agamemnon fixed his spear in his back40
between the shoulders, and drove it through his chest;
he fell with a thud, and his armor clashed upon him.
Then Idomeneus killed Phaistos, son of Maeonian
Boros, who came from Tarne where the soil is rich.
With his long spear Idomeneus, famed spearman,
stabbed him down through his right shoulder as he was about to mount behind his horses;
he fell from his chariot, and the hateful darkness took him.
And Idomeneus’ henchmen stripped his armor;
then Menelaos son of Atreus killed with his sharp spear
the son of Strophios, Scamandrios, cunning in the chase,50
an outstanding hunter; for Artemis herself had taught him
to strike down all kinds of wild beasts, those the mountain forest rears;
but now Artemis who showers arrows did not protect him,
nor did the far-shooting in which he had before excelled;
but Atreus’ son famed spearman Menelaos, struck
him with his spear in the back as he was fleeing before him
between the shoulders, and drove the spear through his chest,
and he fell headlong and his armor clattered about him.
Meriones stripped the life of Phereklos, the son of Tekton
son in turn of Harmon, who knew how to make with his hands all 60
elaborate things, for greatly had Pallas Athena loved him;
he it was who had built for Alexandros the balanced ships
that began the troubles, which came to be evil for all Trojans
and for himself, since he knew nothing of what the gods had determined.
And when Meriones, pursuing, caught him,
he struck him down through the right buttock; straight through
into the bladder under the bone the spear-point passed;
he dropped to his knees screaming, and death embraced him.
Then Meges slew Pedaios, the son of Antenor,
who bastard though he was, noble Theano, Antenor’s wife, nurtured closely,70
like her own children, to gratify her husband.
Drawing near, Meges the spear-famed son of Phyleus
struck him through the tendons at the back of the head with his sharp spear;
straight through his teeth and tongue the bronze cut,
and he fell in the dust, and bit the cold bronze with his teeth.
Eurypylos the son of Euaimon slew godlike Hypsenor,
the son of high-spirited Dolopion, who served as priest
of the river Scamander, and was honored like a god by the people;
this man it was Eurypylos, Euaimon’s splendid son,
struck on the shoulder, running in pursuit as Hypsenor fled before him,80
and slashing with his sword, he sheered away Hypsenor’s massive arm;
covered with gore, the arm fell to the ground, and over his eyes
crimson death and powerful destiny seized him.
So they toiled through the mighty combat;
and you would not have known with which side the son of Tydeus stood,
whether he fought in company with Trojans or Achaeans.
For he surged across the plain like a river swollen
with winter flood that, racing swiftly, dashes its embankments,
and the dams fenced close around cannot restrain it,
nor the protective walls hold it from the fertile gardens90
in its sudden coming, when the rain of Zeus pounds down,
and crushes beneath it many fine plots tilled by vigorous young men;
so the close-pressed ranks of Trojans were roiled
by the son of Tydeus, nor did they withstand him although they were many.
Then Pandaros, the splendid son of Lykaon, saw him
as he surged across the plain, roiling the battle lines before him,
and he swiftly pulled his curved bow upon the son of Tydeus,
and struck him as he rushed forward, hitting him by the right shoulder,
in the hollow of his breastplate, and the bitter arrow flew on,
and held straight through, and the breastplate was spattered with blood.100
And at this the splendid son of Lykaon shouted loud:
“Rise up, great-hearted Trojans, spurrers of horses;
for the best of the Achaeans is hit, and I do not think he
will long endure the strong arrow, if truly lord Apollo
the son of Zeus stirred me to set forth from Lycia.”
So he spoke, vaunting; but the swift arrow had not defeated Diomedes,
and drawing back, he stood before his horses and chariot,
and spoke to Sthenelos, the son of Kapaneus:
“Rise up, son of Kapaneus, my ready friend, get down from the chariot,
so that you can withdraw this bitter arrow from my shoulder.”110
So he spoke, and Sthenelos leapt from behind his horses to the ground,
and standing close pulled the swift arrow right through his shoulder;
and blood spurted up through his strong-woven tunic.
And then Diomedes of the war cry prayed:
“Hear me, child of Zeus who wields the aegis, Weariless One, Athena;
if ever you stood by my father in kindness of heart
in deadly battle, now also be my friend, Athena;
and grant that I kill this man and come within spear-cast of him,
who struck me before I saw him and boasts about it, and declares that
I will not look long upon the shining light of the sun.”120
So he spoke, praying; and Pallas Athena heard him,
and made his limbs light and his feet and his arms above,
and standing close she addressed him with winged words:
“With good heart now, Diomedes, go to battle with the Trojans;
for in your breast I have caused to flow the mighty spirit of your father,
unshakable, such as the shield-wielding horseman Tydeus possessed.
I have taken from your eyes the mist that was before upon you,
so that you may well distinguish god and also mortal man.
Therefore now, should a god come here to test you,
do you in no way wage head-on battle with the immortal gods,130
with any of the others—only if Aphrodite daughter of Zeus
comes to war, her you can wound with sharp bronze.”
Speaking thus, gleaming-eyed Athena left,
and at once the son of Tydeus setting forth took his place among the front fighters,
hungry in spirit as he was even before to do battle with the Trojans;
but now three times greater was the fighting spirit that seized him, like a lion
that a shepherd in wild pasture among his wool-fleeced flock
has grazed as it leapt over the enclosure, but did not kill;
he rouses the lion’s strength, and thereafter does not come out to aid his flock,
but ducks into his shelter, and they, forsaken, scatter in fear;140
they are huddle
d together in a heap,
but the lion in fierce haste bounds forth from the high enclosure;
so powerful Diomedes in eager haste took his stand among the Trojans.
There he killed Astynoös and Hypeiron shepherd of the people,
smiting the one above the breast with his bronze-headed spear,
and the other he struck on the collarbone beside the shoulder
with his great sword, and from neck and back severed the shoulder.
He left them, and went after Abas and Polyidos,
sons of Eurydamas the aged interpreter of dreams;
but the old man interpreted no dreams for them as they went forth,150
and powerful Diomedes killed them.
And he went after Xanthos and Thoön, both late-born
sons of Phainops; he was worn out with pitiful old age,
and did not bear another son to be left behind for his possessions.
There Diomedes killed them, took away the dear life of
both, and left for the father lamentation and pitiful cares,
since he did not receive them alive, returned home from battle,
and kinsmen divided up his possessions.
Then Diomedes slew the two sons of Dardanian Priam
who were in the same chariot, Echemmon and Chromios.160
As a lion leaping among cattle shatters the neck
of a calf or cow of a herd feeding in a woodland copse,
so the son of Tydeus brought both down from their chariot
with evil intent, against their will, then stripped their armor,
and gave the horses to his companions to drive to the ships.
And Aeneas saw him wreaking havoc on the ranks of men,
and he left to go through the fighting and through the spears’ confusion
seeking out godlike Pandaros, in the hope that he would come upon him.
He found the blameless and mighty son of Lykaon,
and stood close to him, and spoke a word straight to him:170
“Pandaros, where is your bow and your feathered arrows
and your glory, with which no man here can compete,
nor any man in Lycia boast to be your better?
Come, lift your hands to Zeus, let fly an arrow at this man,
whoever this is who holds sway over us and has worked so much evil
on the Trojans, since he has unstrung the knees’ strength of many and outstanding men—
unless he is some god angered at the Trojans,
wrathful over failed sacrifices; and the wrath of the god be heavy upon us.”
Then the splendid son of Lykaon addressed him: