by Homer
“Have courage now; such an ally has the son of Cronus
sent to you from Ida to stand by and defend you—
Phoebus Apollo of the golden sword, I who even before
watched over you, both you and your steep city.
But come, now rouse your many chariot-fighting men
to drive their swift horses to the hollow ships;
and going before you I will smooth the whole way260
for the horses, and will turn back the Achaean warriors.”
So speaking he breathed great strength into the shepherd of the people.
As when a horse confined to a stall, fed on barley at the manger,
breaking his tether runs with pounding feet across the plain,
to immerse himself in the fair-flowing waters of his accustomed river,
triumphant, and he holds his head high, his mane
streaming about his shoulders; emboldened by his beauty,
his knees bear him lightly to the pasture and places horses love;
so did Hector lightly move his feet and knees,
urging on the horsemen, since he heeded the gods’ voice.270
And as dogs and rustic men give chase
to a horned stag or wild goat—
one that the wild rock-cliff or dusky forest
protects, which, after all, were they not destined to catch—
and drawn by their shouting a full-maned lion appears
in their path, and immediately he turns the pack of them around, for all their eagerness;
so the Danaans for a while followed, always in a body,
striking wounds with their swords and two-edged spears;
but when they saw Hector ranging through the ranks of his men,
they were filled with terror, and the heart in all sank to their feet.280
Then spoke up among them Thoas son of Andraimon,
far the best of the Aetolians, skilled in the work of spear,
outstanding in close combat; in assembly few Achaeans
could best him, when young warriors would contend with words;
with keen understanding he spoke up and addressed them:
“Oh shame! This is a great wonder I see with my eyes,
how once again Hector is back on his feet, having eluded death.
Each of us was surely hoping in his heart that he
had died at the hands of Telamonian Ajax;
but once more one of the gods protected and rescued290
Hector, who has already unstrung the knees of many Danaans,
as I think he will again now; for it is not without
far-thundering Zeus he stands forth as champion like this in his determination.
Come, let us all be persuaded as I say;
let us command the troops to return to the ships,
and ourselves, those of us who claim to be the army’s best,
let us take our stand, to see if we can hold them off as they first encounter us,
with spears raised. And I think that for all his zeal
he will in his heart shrink from entering the throng of Danaans.”
So he spoke; and they listened closely and obeyed him.300
And those around Ajax and lord Idomeneus—
Teucer and Meriones and Meges, Ares’ equal—
closed the line of battle, having called the best men forth
to face Hector and the Trojans; and behind them
the troops made their way back to the Achaean ships.
But the Trojans pressed forward in a body, and Hector led
with his long strides; and in front of him went Phoebus Apollo,
his shoulders cloaked in cloud, holding the furious aegis,
a thing of dread, thick-fringed all around, dazzling, which the bronze-smith
Hephaestus gave to Zeus for putting men to flight.310
Holding this in his hands, Apollo led the army;
but the Argives awaited in a body, and from both sides
piercing cries arose, and arrows sprang from their bowstrings,
and spears in multitude from men’s bold hands
were driven in the flesh of vigorous young warriors,
and many, too, fell short, before they grazed white skin,
standing fast in the ground, longing to glut themselves on flesh.
And so long as in his hands Phoebus Apollo held the aegis steady,
the missiles of both sides reached their mark, and the people fell;
but when, looking straight into the face of the Danaans of swift horses,320
he shook it, and howled at them aloud, then he bewitched
the spirit in them, and they forgot their furious courage.
And as a herd of cattle or great flock of sheep
is struck to panic by two wild beasts in the milky murk of a black night,
coming on a sudden when no herdsman is by,
so the Achaeans fled in helpless terror; for Apollo
hurled panic among them, and gave glory to the Trojans and to Hector.
Then man killed man as the ranks were shattered.
Hector slew Stichios and Arkesilaos,
one the leader of the bronze-clad Boeotians,330
the other the trusted companion of great-hearted Menestheus.
And Aeneas killed Medon and Iasos;
Medon had been the bastard son of godlike Oïleus,
the brother of Ajax, although he had lived
in Phylake, far from the land of his fathers, having killed a man,
a kinsmen of his stepmother Eriopis, whom Oïleus married;
and Iasos was a commander of the Athenians,
and was called the son of Sphelos, son in turn of Boukolos.
And Poulydamas killed Mekisteus, and Polites killed Echios
in the forefront of battle, and godlike Agenor killed Klonios.340
And Paris struck Deïochos in the lower back from behind
as he was fleeing among the frontline fighters, and drove the bronze spearhead right through.
And while these stripped the fallen of their armor, the Achaeans,
thrashing in the trench and palisade,
fled here and there, and made their way into ramparts from sheer necessity.
And shouting loud, Hector gave orders to the Trojans,
to make a rush for the ships, and to leave the bloodied spoils:
“That man whom I see away from the ships on the other side,
there and then I will find a way to bring about his death, nor
will his kin, male or female, give him his portion of fire when he has died,350
but the dogs will tear him in the sight of our city.”
So speaking, down from his shoulder he brought his whip to drive the horses,
calling to the Trojans across the ranks; and they with him,
shouting all together, held their chariot-drawing horses
amid the inhuman roar; and at the front Phoebus Apollo,
without effort, dashed the sides of the deep trench with his foot
and threw them down in the middle, and made a long causeway for passage,
in width as far as a spear is cast,
when a man makes trial of his strength.
There the Trojans poured forth in battle ranks, Apollo at the front360
holding the prized aegis; he threw down the wall of the Achaeans
without effort at all, as a child tumbles sand by the sea,
who when in his childish way has made his play-castle,
sweeps it away again with his feet and hands, still playing—
so then you, Apollo to whom we cry aloud, destroyed the work of much toil and hardship
of the Argives, and aroused the terror of panic upon them.
When they were checked beside the ships, there they stood their ground,
calling out to one another and lifting their hands
to all the gods, each man prayed aloud.
And Gerenian Nestor, watchman of
the Achaeans,370
prayed hardest, reaching his hands toward the starry heaven:
“Father Zeus, if ever in Argos rich in wheat,
burning the fat-rich thighs of an ox or a sheep,
some one of us made prayer for safe return, and you promised and gave assent,
be mindful of this, O Olympian, and ward off the pitiless day of death,
do not let the Achaeans be broken this way by the Trojans.”
So he spoke praying, and Zeus the all-devising thundered loud,
heeding the prayers of the old man, Neleus’ son.
But when the Trojans heard the thunder-stroke of Zeus who wields the aegis,
they lunged for the Argives all the more, and recollected their fighting spirit.380
And as a great wave of the wide-ranging sea descends
over the sides of a ship, when the strength of the wind bears down—
for this it is that swells the waves the most—
so the Trojans with a great cry kept coming down through the wall
and, driving their horses in, they fought by the ship sterns
at close quarters with their two-edged spears, they from their chariots,
and the Achaeans, having climbed aloft, from the black ships
with long pikes that were lying upon their ships,
jointed together for sea battles, their points encased with bronze.
And so long as the Achaeans and Trojans390
fought for the wall beyond the line of swift ships,
Patroclus sat in the shelter of generous Eurypylos
and cheered him with his words, and on his baneful wound
he sprinkled healing herbs as remedies for the dark pangs of pain;
but when he saw the Trojans surging over the rampart,
and the uproar and panic among the Danaans,
then he groaned and struck his thighs
with the flat of his hand, and spoke in grief:
“Eurypylos, despite your need, I can no longer
linger with you here; for now a great battle has arisen.400
Let your retainer continue to attend you, but I
am going to hasten to Achilles, so as to urge him to fight.
Who knows, if with help from some god I might stir his heart,
winning him over? For the persuasion of a comrade is a worthy thing.”
And his feet were carrying him as he spoke; meanwhile the Achaeans
steadily awaited the attacking Trojans. They were not able
to thrust them, although fewer, back from the ships;
nor were the Trojans ever able to break the Danaan lines
and get into the midst of the ships and shelters;
but as measuring cord makes straight a ship timber410
in the hands of an experienced carpenter who,
with the inspiration of Athena knows all skills well,
so their fighting and the line of war were pulled tight and equal.
And while others fought the battle about one ship or the other,
Hector made straight against glorious Ajax.
And around a single ship the two fought their fight, but neither could succeed,
not Hector to drive the other off and set the ship ablaze,
nor Ajax to force Hector back, since divine power drove him.
And then shining Ajax struck Kaletor the son of Klytios
in the chest with his spear as he brought fire to the ship;420
he fell with a thud, and the firebrand dropped from his hand.
And as Hector with his own eyes saw his cousin
falling in the dust in front of the black ship,
he called on the Trojans and Lycians, shouting loud:
“Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians who fight at close quarters,
do not draw back from battle anywhere in this narrow passage,
but rescue the son of Klytios, nor let the Achaeans
strip the armor from him, fallen in the gathering place of ships.”
So speaking he cast at Ajax with his shining spear;
but missed him, and struck Lykophron the son of Mastor,430
the henchman of Ajax from Cythera, who lived near him,
since he had killed a man in holy Cythera—
this man he struck on the head above the ear with his sharp sword
as he stood close to Ajax; he fell backward from the stern of the ship
to the ground in the dust, and the strength of his limbs was undone.
And Ajax shuddered, and addressed his brother:
“Teucer old man, now our trusted comrade has been killed,
Mastor’s son, whom after coming to our home from Cythera
we esteemed equal to our parents in our halls;
great-hearted Hector has killed him. Where now are your arrows440
that bring swift death, and the bow that Phoebus Apollo gave you?”
So he spoke; and the other heard, and running up stood close beside him,
his back-curved bow in his hand and his quiver of arrows.
And swift were the shafts he began to let fly at the Trojans;
he struck Kleitos, the splendid son of Peisenor,
companion of Poulydamas, son of noble Panthoös,
as he held reins in his hand. For he was struggling with his horses;
he was holding his course to the very place where the most ranks were in disordered panic,
as service to Hector and the Trojans; but evil came to him
swiftly, nor did any of them for all their desire ward it off from him,450
for into the back of his neck there struck a sorrow-bearing arrow—
he fell from the chariot, and the horses started,
rattling the empty car. At once lord Poulydamas
marked this, and was first to intercept the horses.
He gave them to Astynoös son of Protiaon,
and pressed him urgently to hold the horses close while keeping lookout;
then he himself went back to the frontline fighters.
And Teucer took up another arrow, this one for Hector
of the brazen helm; and would have stopped his fighting by the ships of the Achaeans,
if he had snatched Hector’s life away, by striking him as he excelled in valor;460
but he could not slip by the sharp mind of Zeus, who kept watch over
Hector, and who deprived Teucer son of Telamon of glory—
he broke a bowstring—one strong made and on a blameless bow—
as he drew it on Hector; and the bronze-weighted arrow
was knocked wide, and the bow fell from his hand.
And Teucer shuddered, and spoke to his brother:
“See! Some god now wholly thwarts our plans
for battle, and has struck the bow from my hand,
snapped a new-strung bowstring, one which I bent on
this early morning, so that it could withstand the constant springing arrows.”470
Then answered him great Telamonian Ajax:
“Come, old man, let the bow and the flurrying arrows
lie, as some god confounds them, grudging the Danaans;
rather take your long-shadowed spear in your hands and your shield upon your shoulder,
to do battle with the Trojans and rally the rest of our people.
Although they have beaten us, let them not without struggle take
our well-benched ships, and let us recollect our fighting spirit.”
So he spoke; and the other put his bow in his shelter,
and about his shoulders he put his four-layered oxhide shield,
and over his powerful head he placed his well-forged helmet480
with flowing horsehair, and terribly the crest nodded over it,
and he took his strong spear fitted with sharp bronze,
and set out, and running fast he came to stand by Ajax.
And as Hector saw that the shafts had been thwarted,
he called out to the
Trojans and Lycians, shouting loud:
“Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians who fight at close quarters,
be men, my friends, and recollect your fierce courage
among the hollow ships; for I now have seen with my own eyes
the shafts of their best archer thwarted by the hand of Zeus.
Easily seen is Zeus’ help to men,490
either those in whose cupped hands he places victory’s glory,
and those whom he lays low and is not minded to defend;
as now he lays low the might of Argives, and stands by us.
Come, fight to the ships together; and he of us who,
struck or stabbed, meets his fated death,
let him so die; there is no shame for a man to die fighting to defend
his fatherland; but his wife is safe and his children after him,
and his home and property are undefiled, if the Achaeans
depart with their ships for their own fatherland.”
So speaking he stirred the courage and spirit of each man.500
Then Ajax in turn on the other side called out to his companions:
“For shame, you Argives; now it is certain we either die,
or are saved and ward off evil destruction from the ships.
Or do you think if Hector of the shimmering helm should seize the ships
that each of you will return on foot to his fatherland?
Did you not hear Hector as he rallied all his people,
Hector who burns to set our ships ablaze?
He does not summon you to come to dance, but to do battle.
For us there is no better plan than this, and no strategy—
to join our strength of hands and courage in close combat.510
Better either to die once for all, or live,
than to be wrung to exhaustion in dread combat
like this, by our ships, to no avail, at the hands of lesser men.”
So speaking he stirred the courage and spirit of each man.
Then Hector slew Schedios, the son of Perimedes,
leader of the Phocians; and Ajax slew Laodamas
leader of the infantry, the outstanding son of Antenor;
and Poulydamas slew and stripped Otos of Kyllene,
companion of Meges, son of Phyleus, leader of the great-hearted Epeans.
And seeing this Meges charged at him, but Poulydamas ducked and slipped520
out of reach; and Meges missed, for Apollo
did not suffer the son of Panthoös to die among the frontline fighters;
but Meges then struck Kroismos in the middle of the chest with his spear,
and he fell with a thud. And he stripped the armor from his shoulders.
And as he did, Dolops, son of Lampos, the skilled spearman charged at him,