by Homer
through the murk of night, but heard its ringing cry.
And Odysseus rejoiced in the bird sign, and made prayer to Athena:
“Hear me, daughter of Zeus who wields the aegis, who ever
is my aid in all adversity, nor do I escape your notice
as I set out; now again especially be my friend, Athena,280
and grant that we come back in honor to the ships,
having performed a great deed, which will be trouble for the Trojans.”
Then after him prayed Diomedes of the war cry:
“Hear me now also, child of Zeus, Weariless One,
accompany me as when you accompanied my father godlike Tydeus
into Thebes, when he was going as messenger on behalf of the Achaeans,
the bronze-clad Achaeans whom he left at the river Asopos,
and carried conciliatory words for the Cadmeians
thither; but going back he devised dark deeds
with you, goddess of Zeus, since in solicitude you supported him.290
So now be willing to stand by and protect me;
to you in return I will sacrifice a broad-browed yearling heifer,
unbroken, which no man has ever led beneath the yoke;
this I will sacrifice to you, after sheathing its horns with gold.”
Thus they spoke praying, and Pallas Athena heard them.
And when they had made prayer to the daughter of great Zeus,
they set out like two lions into the black night,
through the carnage, through the corpses, through the war-gear and dark blood.
But nor did Hector allow the high-hearted Trojans
to sleep either, but he summoned in a body all the nobles,300
those who were leaders and counselors of the Trojans.
Having called these all together, he laid out his shrewd plan:
“What man would undertake this work for me and bring it to fulfillment
for a great reward? The return to him will be certain;
for I will give him a chariot and two high-necked horses,
whichever are best by the swift ships of the Achaeans,
whoever dares this—and he will win himself glory—
to go close to the fast-running ships and find out
whether the swift ships are guarded, as before,
or now broken under our hands310
they are making plans among themselves for flight, and are not minded
to stand guard the night, worn out with fatigue beyond endurance.”
So he spoke; and all the men were hushed in silence.
Now there was among the Trojans a certain Dolon, the son of Eumedes—
a sacred herald, a man of much gold and much bronze—
who was, to be sure, mean in appearance, but swift of foot;
and he was the only son among five sisters.
He it was who then made speech to Hector and the Trojans:
“Hector, my heart and my strong spirit urge me
to go close to the fast-running ships and find this out;320
but come, and hold up this scepter for me and swear to me,
that you will give me the horses and the chariot wrought with bronze
that carry the blameless son of Peleus.
I will be no idle scout for you, nor short of expectation;
for I am going to their army, right through until I come
to Agamemnon’s ship, where I think the nobles likely
are taking counsel, whether to flee or whether to fight.”
So he spoke, and Hector took the scepter in his hand and swore an oath to him:
“Let Zeus himself now be witness, Hera’s far-thundering husband;
on these horses no other man of all the Trojans will be carried,330
but you, I say, will forever glory in them.”
So he spoke, and swore an empty oath and urged the other on.
At once Dolon cast across his shoulders his curved bow,
and put about him as an outer cover a gray wolfhide,
and on his head a cap of weasel skin, and took his sharp throwing-spear.
He set out toward the ships from his army; nor was he destined
to come back from the ships and bring report to Hector.
But when at last he left behind the throng of horse and men,
he went along the way eagerly; and as he came Zeus-descended
Odysseus marked him, and spoke to Diomedes:340
“Here is some man, Diomedes, who comes from the army,
I do not know whether he is a spy on our ships,
or is stripping one of the corpses of those who died.
But let us allow him first to pass by us out upon the plain
a little way, then rushing at him we could grab him
quickly. And if he should get ahead of us with speed of feet,
keep driving him toward the ships away from his army,
rushing at him with your spear, that he not somehow escape to the city.”
Having so spoken, the two lay down off the path
among the corpses; and the other ran swiftly by in heedlessness.350
And when he was as far away as the width of a day’s plowing
by mules—for they are better than oxen
in dragging a wrought plow through the deep fallow land—
the two men ran at him, and hearing the thud of their feet he came to a halt;
for in his heart he hoped that comrades were coming
from the Trojans to turn him back, Hector having summoned him again.
But when then they were as far as the cast of a spear, or even less,
he saw that they were enemy men, and made his swift knees move
to flee; and at once they made a rush to chase him.
As when two jagged-toothed dogs spy their quarry,360
pressing hard upon a fawn or hare without respite
all through the wooded country, and it flees crying before them,
so did the son of Tydeus and Odysseus sacker of cities
make pursuit, continuously cutting Dolon from his people.
But when he was about to reach the watch posts
as he fled toward the ships, then Athena cast strength in
Tydeus’ son, so that no bronze-clad Achaean
should boast that he struck Dolon first, and Diomedes come second place.
And rushing toward him with his spear, powerful Diomedes addressed him:
“Stay, or I shall catch you with my spear; nor do I think that you370
will long ward off your sheer destruction under my hand.”
He spoke, and let fly his spear, but missed the man on purpose,
and flying over his right shoulder the point of the well-honed shaft
fixed in the ground. And Dolon stopped in terror
jabbering—the clattering of teeth came from his mouth—
green with fear. And the two men, breathing hard, caught up,
and seized him with their hands; and in tears he spoke a word:
“Take me alive, and I will redeem myself; for in my home is
bronze and gold and well-worked iron,
and from this my father would freely give you untold ransom,380
were he to learn that I was alive by the ships of the Achaeans.”
Then in answer spoke resourceful Odysseus:
“Take courage, let no thought of death be on your heart.
But come tell me this and explain exactly;
where do you go alone like this toward the ships from your army
through the murk of night, when other mortal men are sleeping?
Are you stripping one of the corpses of those who died,
or did Hector send you to spy out everything
by our hollow ships, or did your own spirit urge you?”
Then Dolon answered him, and his limbs shook beneath him:390
“With many delusions, beyond sense, Hector led me on,
who prom
ised to give me the single-hoofed horses of the glorious son of Peleus
and his chariot wrought with bronze,
and urged me to make my way through the fast-moving black night
and go close to the enemy men and find out,
whether the swift ships are guarded, as before,
or now broken under our hands
you are making plans among yourselves for flight, and are not minded
to stand guard the night, worn out with fatigue beyond endurance.”
Then smiling at him resourceful Odysseus addressed him: 400
“Surely now it is on big rewards your heart was set,
the horses of brilliant Aeacides! They are difficult
for mortal men to control and drive,
for any other man than Achilles, whom an immortal mother bore.
But come, tell me this and explain exactly;
where now, when you came here, did you leave Hector shepherd of the people?
Where does his war-gear lie, where are his horses?
And of the other Trojans, how stand the guards and sleepers?
What do they deliberate among themselves? Do they intend
to remain afield here by the ships, or withdraw410
back to their city, since they have defeated the Achaeans?”
Then again Dolon the son of Eumedes addressed him:
“So, I will state these things to you very exactly.
Hector is with all those who are counselors,
he holds council by the tomb of godlike Ilos,
away from the clamor; the guards you ask of, sir,
none have been detailed to protect nor guard the army.
As many as have hearths at Troy, those on whom there is necessity,
they keep themselves awake and exhort one another
to stay on guard; but as for our far-flung allies,420
they sleep; for they leave it to the Trojans to watch over them;
for their children do not lie near by, nor their wives.”
Then in turn resourceful Odysseus addressed him:
“Yes, but how do they sleep—mixed with the horse-breaking Trojans
or apart? Tell me in detail, so that I may know.”
And then answered him Dolon son of Eumedes:
“So, I will go through these things too very accurately.
On the side toward the sea are the Carians and Paeonians armed with curved bows,
and the Leleges and Kaukones and illustrious Pelasgians.
The side toward Thymbre fell to the Lycians and noble Mysians430
and horse-breaking Phrygians and the Maeonians, masters of the chariot.
But why do you interrogate me about each of these things?
For if you two desire to make your way into the host of Trojans,
over there are the Thracians, newly arrived and on their own, on the outskirts of everyone;
and in the middle is Rhesos the king, son of Eïoneus.
His are the most beautiful horses I have beheld and the most magnificent;
they are whiter than snow, they run like the wind.
His chariot is finely wrought with silver and with gold;
he came bearing golden armor, astounding,
a wonder to behold; this is not like anything for mortal440
men to wear, but is something rather for the deathless gods.
But now then, take me to the fast-running ships,
or leave me here, tied in hard bonds,
so that you can go on your way and make trial of me,
as to whether I informed you correctly, or did not.”
Then looking from beneath his brows powerful Diomedes addressed him:
“Do not before me, Dolon, make dreams of escape,
excellent though your news be, seeing that you have come into our hands.
For if we were to release you now, or let you go,
you would surely come again another time to the swift ships of the Achaeans,450
either spying about or fighting against us;
but if you should lose your life killed beneath my hands,
then you will never be a cause of pain to the Argives.”
He spoke, and the other was about to supplicate him,
to grasp his chin with his stout hand, but Diomedes struck the middle of his neck
flashing out with his sword, and cut through both tendons,
and the head of the man as he was speaking was jumbled in the dust.
Then they took from his head the cap of weasel skin,
and his wolfhide and back-curved bow and his long spear.
And these to Athena of the Spoils godlike Odysseus460
held high in his hand and spoke a word in prayer:
“Rejoice, goddess, in these things; for upon you first of all the immortals
on Olympus we will call for aid; and even as before
conduct us to the horses and sleeping places of the Thracian men.”
Thus he spoke, and lifting the spoils high, away from him,
he placed them upon a tamarisk tree, and made a plain sign upon it,
bundling reeds and luxuriant bows of the tamarisk,
so that it would not escape their notice as they returned through the fast-moving black night.
And the two men made their way forward through the war-gear and dark blood,
and going onward they soon found themselves at the Thracian camp.470
The men were sleeping, worn out with exhaustion, their splendid war-gear
lying well ordered beside them on the ground,
in three rows; and beside each man stood a pair of horses.
Rhesos slept in the middle, and beside him his swift horses
were tethered by reins to the outer chariot rail.
As first to see him, Odysseus signed to Diomedes:
“This is the man, Diomedes, and these to be sure are the horses
that Dolon described to us, Dolon whom we killed.
But come, and show your great strength; there is no need for you
to stand by idly with your weapons—come, release the horses;480
or you kill the men, and the horses will be my care.”
So he spoke; and gleaming-eyed Athena breathed strength into Diomedes,
and he began to kill, turning this side and that; and abject groaning rose from the men
struck by his sword, and the ground was made red with blood.
As a lion advances on unguarded flocks,
goats or sheep, leaping on them with evil intent,
so the son of Tydeus ranged among the Thracians,
until he had slain twelve men; and whomever the son of Tydeus stood over
and struck with his sword, that man would resourceful Odysseus
drag out of the way, taking hold of his foot from behind490
thinking to himself that now the horses with their fine manes
might easily pass through, and their hearts not shake with fear
as they trod upon the dead, unused as they still were to such things.
But when the son of Tydeus came upon the king,
the thirteenth man, he robbed him of his honey-sweet life
as he lay breathing heavily; for an evil dream stood by his head
that night—Diomedes, seed of Oineus, through the contrivance of Athena.
And all the while steadfast Odysseus untied the single-hoofed horses,
and roped them together with their reins and drove them from the mass of men,
striking them with his bow, since he had not thought to take500
the shining whip in his hands from the elaborate chariot.
Then he whistled, signaling to godlike Diomedes;
but Diomedes lingered, weighing in his mind the most shaming thing that he could do—
whether to seize the chariot, where the elaborate armor lay,
pulling it by the pole or lifting up and carrying it away,
or whether he should take the life of s
till more Thracians.
As he was turning these things in his mind, Athena
drew up near him and spoke to godlike Diomedes:
“Think now of returning, son of great-hearted Tydeus,
to the hollow ships, lest you return in full flight;510
and lest by chance some other god awake the Trojans.”
So she spoke; and he recognized the voice of the goddess speaking,
and swiftly mounted the horses, and Odysseus smote them
with his bow; and they flew toward the swift ships of the Achaeans.
But Apollo of the silver bow did not keep blind watch,
when he saw Athena attending the son of Tydeus.
Raging at her, he descended into the great host of Trojans,
and aroused Hippokoön, a leading counselor of the Thracians,
and noble kin of Rhesos; starting up from sleep,
when he saw the empty space where the swift horses had stood,520
and the men gasping amid the brutal carnage,
he cried out and called by name his beloved companion.
Clamor and unbounded uproar rose from the Trojans,
who came running as one; and they in amazement looked on the harrowing deeds,
all that was done by the men who were now on their way to the hollow ships.
And when they arrived at the place where they had slain Hector’s spy,
there Odysseus beloved of Zeus held the swift horses,
and the son of Tydeus leaping to the ground placed the bloody war-spoils
in the hands of Odysseus, and mounted the horses,
and put whip to them, and they two not unwilling flew on530
to the hollow ships; for there their hearts tended.
And Nestor was first to hear their thunder and spoke out:
“O friends, leaders and protectors of the Argives,
shall I be wrong or right in what I shall say? My heart directs me.
The thunder of swift-footed horses pounds my ears.
Would that Odysseus and powerful Diomedes were even now
driving here single-hoofed horses from the Trojans—
but dreadfully I fear in my heart lest they have met some misfortune,
these best of Argives, from the mob of Trojans.”
He had not yet spoken all he was saying when the men themselves arrived;540
and they descended to the ground, and rejoicing the others
greeted them with clasped hands and warm words.
And first to make inquiry was the Gerenian horseman Nestor:
“Come, tell me, O illustrious Odysseus, great pride of the Achaeans,
how you got hold of these horses; by making your way into the throng
of Trojans, or did some god you fell in with present them to you?