Book 6

6. And Dawn, leaving the stream of Ocean and the bed

of Tithonus, mounted the great heaven, and on every side

she was spread, all-shining; and earth and air laughed;

and mortals turned to their tasks, men who easily perish;

one went to one work, another to another; but the Achaeans

poured into the assembly at the call of Menelaus;

and when at last they were all gathered throughout the host,

then in the midst of them as they gathered he spoke:

“Hear my word, you god-born kings,

as I declare it; for greatly within me my heart is worn

for the perishing of the host, who came for my sake

to the grievous strife, men whom their home shall not receive,

nor their parents; for the Fate of fortune has cut down many.

Would that the heavy strength of unbearable Death

had fallen upon me myself before I gathered the host here;

but now some god has laid unceasing pains upon me,

that I should see many evils; who could rejoice in heart

looking long upon the hopeless works of war?

But come, as many of us as are still left, let us upon the swift ships

flee quickly, each to his own land,

now that Ajax is dead and mighty Achilles,

for I do not think that, when they are slain, we shall escape

destruction, but shall be overcome by the grievous Trojans

for my sake and for that of dog-faced Helen, for whom now

I care nothing, as I care for you, when I behold men slain

in the war; let her go with her most worthless

husband; for a god took her prudent wits

from her heart, when she left my house and my bed.

But these things shall be the care of Priam and the Trojans;

let us at once depart, since it is far better

to flee the ill-sounding war than to perish.”

So he spoke, making trial of the Argives; but other things his heart

pondered within his breast in his jealous spirit,

how he might destroy the Trojans and break the long walls of the city

from their foundations, and glut Ares with much blood

when godlike Alexander had fallen among the slain;

for nothing is more hateful than jealousy.

So he pondered, and sat down upon his seat.

And then the son of Tydeus, the spear-shaker, rose in the midst,

and quickly rebuked Menelaus dear to Ares:

“Ah, wretched son of Atreus, why now does grievous fear

seize you, and you speak such things among the Argives,

like a child or a woman, whose strength is feeble?

But the best sons of the Achaeans will not obey you

before they cast all the battlements of Troy to the ground;

for courage is great glory to men, but flight a reproach.

And if any of these too obeys, as you bid,

at once will I cut off his head with the dark iron,

and cast him to the high-flying birds for food.

But come, you whose care it is to rouse the spirit of men,

let them at once urge on all the host along the ships

to whet their spears, and set the shields beside them and all else

in good order, and let all at once take their meal,

both men and horses that are eager for war;

and on the plain Ares will most swiftly decide.”

So spoke the son of Tydeus, and sat down where he had been before;

and to them the son of Thestor spoke this word,

standing up in the midst, where it is right to speak in assembly:

“Hear me, dear children of the war-abiding Argives;

for you know how clearly I am skilled to declare oracles.

Already before this I said that in the tenth year

we should sack steep Ilium; and that now the immortals

are bringing to pass; and victory lies at the feet of the Achaeans.

But come, let us send the son of Tydeus and steadfast Odysseus

swiftly to Scyros in a black ship,

who by persuasion shall bring the mighty son

of Achilles; and a great light he shall bring to us all.”

So spoke the son of wise Thestor; and about him the host

shouted in gladness, since their hearts hoped

that the word of Calchas was true, as he spoke;

and then the son of Laertes spoke among the Achaeans:

“O friends, it is no longer fitting to say much among you

this day; for there is weariness now upon men in grief;

for I know that to a weary host neither a speaker

is pleasing, nor a singer, whom the immortal Pierides

love; men have desire then for few words.

Now then, that which has pleased all throughout the Argive host,

with the son of Tydeus most of all going with me, I would accomplish;

for we two going will bring the mighty son

of war-loving Achilles, persuading him with words,

even if his mother greatly lamenting holds him back

in the halls; for I hope in my heart that the son

of a mighty father is warlike.”

When he had so spoken, prudent Menelaus addressed him:

“O Odysseus, great help of the mighty Argives,

if indeed the mighty son of great-souled Achilles

should come at your persuasion as a helper to us who long for it

from Scyros, and if some one of the heavenly ones grants

victory to us who pray, and I reach the land of Hellas,

I will give him my glorious daughter for a wife,

Hermione, and many rich gifts with her

freely; for I think he will neither scorn his wife

nor his noble father-in-law overweeningly.”

So he spoke; and the Danaans assented with their words.

And then the assembly broke up; and they scattered to the ships,

eager for their meal, which is strength for men;

and when they had ceased, sated with abundant food,

then together with wise Odysseus the son of Tydeus

drew a swift ship into the boundless sea;

and quickly they went in, and stowed all the gear;

and they themselves went aboard; and with them twenty men

skilled in rowing, both when the winds blow against them

and when calm spreads beneath the wide sea.

And when they had sat at the well-made benches,

they struck the great wave of the sea; and much foam seethed about;

and the watery paths were cut through about the oars

as the ship sped on; and they sweated as they rowed;

as when beneath the yokes oxen greatly wearied

drag the wooden wagon forward, eager,

groaning beneath the burden upon the whirling axle,

worn down, while much sweat down their necks and shoulders

for both runs down to the ground;

so then the young men toiled at the sturdy oars;

and very swiftly they crossed the wide sea.

But the other Achaeans watched them as they went;

and they whetted the dread arrows and spears with which they fought.

But the Trojans within the city, undaunted, made ready

eager for the war, and praying to the blessed gods

for a rest from slaughter and a breathing-space from toil.

And to them as they longed for it the gods brought a great bulwark against calamity,

Eurypylus, of the line of mighty Heracles;

and the host followed him, men skilled in battle,

many, all who dwelt by the streams of long Caïcus,

trusting in their strong spears.

And about him the sons of the Trojans greatly rejoiced in their hearts;

as when, penned within an enclosure, tame geese behold

a man who casts food to them,

and about him standing in a circle they cackle with their bills,

and fawn, and his heart is warmed as he looks on;

so the sons of the Trojans rejoiced when they beheld

mighty Eurypylus, and his bold heart within him

took delight in those who gathered; and from the porches the women

marvelled at the godlike man; and he sped forth conspicuous among the host

like a lion that has come down among the jackals in the mountains.

And Paris welcomed him, and honoured him as equal to Hector;

for he was his cousin, sprung of one stock;

for him the divine sister of Priam bore,

Astyoche, mingling beneath the strong arms

of Telephus, whom indeed to fearless Heracles,

in secret from her father, fair-haired Auge bore;

and him, while still a babe craving the breast,

once a swift hind reared, and loved him like her own fawn,

offering her teat by the will of Zeus; for it was not fitting

that the offspring of Heracles should miserably perish.

And his glorious son Paris with right willing heart

led to his own house through the spacious city,

past the tomb of Assaracus and the lofty halls of Hector

and the most holy temple of the Tritonian, where near at hand

were his dwellings and the pure altar of Zeus of the Court;

and of his brothers and kinsmen and his parents

he asked him eagerly; and the other told him all;

and both, conversing thus, went on together.

And they came to the great and wealthy house; there sat

godlike Helen, clothed in the beauty of the Graces;

and about her four handmaids busily moved,

and others apart, away from the famous chamber,

were busy with such works as befit servants.

And Helen greatly marvelled, looking upon Eurypylus,

and he in turn at Helen; and they greeted one another

with words in the fragrant house;

and the servants set two thrones near the queen;

and straightway Alexander sat down, and beside him

Eurypylus. And the host before the city made their camp

where the strong-souled watchmen of the Trojans were;

and quickly they set their arms upon the ground, and beside them the horses

they stood, still panting from their wretched toil;

and they cast before them in the mangers what the swift horses eat.

And then night rushed on, and earth and air grew dark;

and they took their meal before the lofty wall,

the Ceteians and the Trojans; and much talk arose

as they feasted; and everywhere the strength of smoky fire

blazed beside the huts; and the shrill pipe sounded

and flutes fitted with clear-toned reeds,

and about them rose the lovely cry of the lyres.

And the Argives afar off marvelled, looking on

upon the many fires on the plain, and hearing the boundless

cry of flutes and lyres and of men and horses

and of the pipe, which is conspicuous at the feast and among herdsmen;

therefore each one in his own huts gave command

to guard the ships by turns until dawn,

lest the proud Trojans should come and burn them,

they who then before the lofty wall were feasting.

And likewise in the house of Alexander the warlike

son of Telephus feasted among the glorious kings;

and much both Priam and the other sons of the Trojans

in turn prayed that he would close with the Argives

in the grievous hour; and he promised to accomplish all.

But when they had supped, they went each to his own house;

and Eurypylus lay down there a little apart

in a well-built chamber, where before noble Alexander

himself was wont to sleep beside his glorious wife;

for that was the most splendid and far the best of all;

there he went and lay; and the rest took their rest elsewhere

until fair-throned Dawn. But with the dawn

the son of Telephus rose up and came to the wide host

with the other kings, all who were about Ilium;

and the host straightway sank into their arms, eager,

all longing to toil among the foremost;

and so too Eurypylus set about his great limbs

arms like to gleaming lightnings;

and on his divine shield lay much cunning work,

all that the bold strength of Heracles had wrought before.

There were two serpents, licking with grim jaws,

like to things in motion, in their dart,

straining horribly; but he, one here, one there,

though but a babe, was overcoming them; and his heart

was fearless, and his spirit, since he was like Zeus in strength

from the beginning; for no race of the heavenly gods

is fruitless or helpless, but might

attended him, boundless, even when he was within the womb.

There too was wrought the strength of the Nemean lion,

beneath the sturdy hands of mighty Heracles

grievously crushed; and about his grim jaws

there was bloody foam; and he seemed to be gasping out his life.

Near it laboured the strength of the many-necked hydra,

licking terribly; and her painful heads,

some had been laid low upon the ground, but others grew up,

many from few; and toil held Heracles

and bold Iolaus, since both thought strong thoughts,

the one cutting off the raging heads

with the crooked-toothed sickle swiftly, the other burning with iron

set ablaze; and the strong onset of the beast was overcome.

Next was wrought the strength of the tireless boar

foaming at the jaws; and he bore it, as though in truth,

alive to Eurystheus, the great strength of Alcides.

And the hind was well wrought, swift of foot, which over the lands

of grievous dwellers round about greatly ravaged every field;

and her, by the golden horn, the mighty hero

held fast, breathing the breath of deadly fire.

And about were the hateful Stymphalian birds; some, struck

by arrows, gasped out their life in the dust, and others, still mindful

of flight, sped through the gray air;

and at them Heracles, enraged, one after another

ever sent an arrow, like one greatly hastening.

There too was the great steading of godlike Augeas

cunningly wrought upon the tireless oxhide;

and to it the deep stream of the divine Alpheus

mighty Heracles led on; and about him the Nymphs

marvelled at the boundless work. And far off was the bull

fire-breathing, which, mighty though it was,

he bent by force of its strong horn; and the tireless

sinews of both were strained as he pressed upon it;

and it seemed to send forth a bellowing. And near it,

about the shield, was wrought, clothed in the form of the goddesses,

Hippolyte; and her, beneath his strong hands,

eager to strip her of her cunning belt,

he seized by the hair as she rode the swift horse; and apart

the other Amazons trembled. And about were the deadly

man-eating mares of Diomedes throughout the Thracian land;

and these at the hateful mangers,

together with the king who plotted evil, he slew.

There too was the body of tireless Geryon

lying dead among his cattle; and his heads in the dust

lay bloody, overcome by the force of the club;

and before him lay slain the dog most deadly of all,

Orthrus, like in his mighty strength to grievous

Cerberus, who was his brother; and beside lay

the herdsman Eurytion, defiled with much blood.

And about it were wrought the golden apples gleaming

of the Hesperides upon the undefiled tree-trunk; and about it

a terrible serpent lay slain; and they, one here, one there,

cowering, fled the bold son of great Zeus.

There too was a great terror even for the immortals to behold,

Cerberus, whom to tireless Typhoeus Echidna bore

in a chill cave near black grievous Night;

and he was a monstrous and hideous thing,

before the deadly gates of much-bewailed Hades

keeping back the throng of the dead beneath the misty pit;

and easily the son of Zeus, mastering him with blows,

led him heavy-headed past the steep streams of Styx,

dragging him unwilling by force to an unwonted place

boldly. And far off were wrought the long glens

of Caucasus; and the bonds of Prometheus, this way and that,

together with the very rocks to which they were fitted,

he broke and loosed the great Titan; and grievous beside him lay

the eagle, its body struck with a painful arrow.

And there was wrought the great strength of the mighty Centaurs

about the hall of Pholus; strife and wine roused them

to fight against Heracles, those monsters;

and some lay slain about the pine-trunks

which they held in their hands as a remedy of battle; but others still

fought with the long firs, eager, nor did they cease

from the conflict; and the heads of all were wet with gore

as they were struck in the pitiless strife, as though in truth;

and blood was mingled with wine, and all was crushed together,

the food and the mixing-bowls and the well-polished tables.

And Nessus, on the other side, by the stream of Evenus,

who had escaped from that battle, he overcame with an arrow,

enraged about his lovely wife; and there too was wrought

the great strength of mighty Antaeus, whom likewise,

as he strove fiercely about the wrestling,

he lifted high and crushed with his strong hands.

And at the mouths of fair-flowing Hellespont lay

a grievous great sea-monster, struck by pitiless arrows;

and he loosed Hesione from her cruel bonds.

And other countless deeds of bold-hearted Alcides

the wide shield of god-nurtured Eurypylus held about it.

And he seemed like Ares as he rushed among the ranks;

and the Trojans about him rejoiced when they beheld

both the arms and the man, clothed in the form of the gods;

and Paris, urging him to battle, addressed him:

“I rejoice that you have come, since now my heart hopes

that all the Argives will miserably perish

together with their ships, since never such a mortal

have I seen among the Trojans or among the warlike Achaeans.

But come, by great and mighty Heracles,

whom in size and strength and splendid form you resemble,

remembering him and devising deeds worthy of him,

boldly defend the Trojans as they are slaughtered,

that we may somehow breathe again; for you alone I think

can ward off the evil dooms from the perishing city.”

So he spoke, greatly urging; and the other addressed him with words:

“Great-souled son of Priam, in form like the blessed ones,

these things are fixed upon the knees of the immortals,

whether one dies in the violent battle or is saved;

but we, as is fitting and as we have strength to fight,

will stand before the city; and this too I will swear,

that I will not turn back before I either slay or perish.”

So he spoke boldly; and the Trojans rejoiced greatly.

And then Alexander and high-souled Aeneas

and Polydamas of the good ash-spear and noble Pammon

and Deïphobus after them and Aethicus, who above all

the Paphlagonians was foremost to endure the throng in battle,

all these he chose together, men who knew how to toil,

that against the foremost foes they might fight

in the war; and very quickly they went before the host;

and eagerly they sped from the city; and about them many

of the host followed, as when the famous tribes of bees

pour after their leaders from the covered hive

with a buzzing, when the day of spring comes;

so the men followed them as they went to battle;

and of them as they came a great din reached the air,

of themselves and of their horses; and the boundless arms rang about.

And as when the strength of a great wind, leaping forth,

stirs from the roots the depth of the barren sea,

and the dark waves swiftly roaring toward the shores

spit out the seaweed as the surge belches it,

and a din rises along the barren beaches;

so beneath the rush of these the monstrous earth resounded.

And the Argives apart before the wall poured forth

about godlike Agamemnon; and there rose a cry of the host

calling upon one another to face the deadly war

and not to cower at the rebuke

and stay beside the ships, eager as they were to fight.

And they met the rushing Trojans, as when calves

from the thicket meet the cattle coming to the steading

from the spring pasture down the mountain, when the fields

bloom thick, and the earth teems with flowers,

and the bowls are full again with the milk of cattle and of sheep,

and a great lowing rises here and there

as they mingle, and the herdsman rejoices among them;

so, as these rushed against one another, an uproar

arose; for terribly they shouted on both sides.

They stretched out the boundless battle; and Tumult

turned among them with grievous Slaughter;

and shields and spears and helmets fell together

close by; and the bronze flashed like fire all about;

and the battle bristled with spears; and on every side with blood

the black earth was wet as the heroes were slain

and the swift-footed horses, which were poured about the chariots,

some still gasping beneath the axles, others

falling from above; and a hateful cry rushed through the air;

for brazen strife had fallen upon both sides;

and some fought with cruel stones,

others with new-edged javelins and arrows,

others with axes and double-edged battle-axes

and strong swords and close-fighting spears,

each holding in his hands some defence of battle.

First the Argives thrust back the Trojan ranks

a little from themselves; but they, rushing back again,

wet Ares with blood, leaping among the Argives;

and Eurypylus among them, like a black hurricane,

went against all the host and slew the Argives

boldly; for Zeus granted him boundless might,

showing favour to glorious Heracles.

There he struck Nireus too, a man like to the gods,

as he fought the Trojans, with his long spear

a little above the navel; and he fell to the ground of earth;

and the blood gushed from him, and his glorious arms were wet,

and his splendid form was wet together with his flourishing hair;

and he lay in the dust and blood among the slain,

like a flourishing shoot of a well-cleft olive,

which the force of a river along its roaring stream

with its banks drives down, when it has rent the whole channel

from the roots, and it lies heavy with its blossoms;

so then upon the boundless ground of earth Nireus' goodly

body was poured out, and his lovely splendour;

and over him, slain, Eurypylus greatly boasted:

“Lie now in the dust, since your admired beauty

in no way availed you, much as you longed for it, but I

have robbed you of life, much as you longed to escape;

wretch, you did not see that you came against a better man;

for beauty is no match for strength in the press of battle.”

So speaking, he set about taking the famous arms of the slain,

rushing on; but against him came Machaon

enraged for Nireus, whose fate he had endured close beside;

and with his grievous spear he struck him across the broad shoulder,

the right one, and the blood gushed, mighty though he was;

yet not even so did he draw back from the cruel tumult,

but like a lion or a wild boar in the mountains

he raged in the midst, that he might overcome him who came on,

him who first wounded him, darting ahead through the throng;

this purposing he rushed upon Machaon, and quickly

wounded him with his spear, long and sturdy,

on the right buttock; but the other did not draw back,

nor did he avoid the onset, though the blood gushed;

but quickly raising a huge stone

he cast it at the head of great-souled Telephus' son;

but his helmet warded off grievous slaughter and woe

swiftly; and then more was he wroth with the strong man,

Eurypylus, and greatly grieving in his spirit

he swiftly drove his spear through the breast of Machaon.

And the bloody point reached even to his back;

and he fell as when a bull beneath the jaws of a lion;

and about his limbs his gleaming arms rang loudly.

And Eurypylus straightway drew out the grievous point

from the flesh of the wounded man, and boasting greatly cried out:

“Ah wretch, your heart was not at all well fitted in your wits,

you who, though a man of no account, against a far better man

came face to face; therefore an evil Fate of fortune fell upon you.

But this shall be your gain, when the birds devour

your flesh, slain in the battle; or do you still hope

to return home and escape my might and my hands?

You are a healer, and you know full well soothing remedies,

trusting in which you hoped perhaps to escape the evil day.

But not even your father himself from windy Olympus

shall save your heart from death,

not even if he pour nectar and ambrosia upon you.”

So he spoke; and breathing faintly the other addressed him:

“Eurypylus, for you too it is not fated to live

for a long time, but close beside you stands deadly Doom

over the Trojan plain, you who now speak insolent things.”

When he had so spoken, his spirit left him; and he went at once within Hades;

and even now that he was no more the glorious man addressed him:

“Now then lie there beneath the earth; but I

care not for the hereafter, even if soon gentle to my feet

the grievous destruction comes this day; for in no way do men

live forever; doom is appointed for all.”

So speaking he wounded the corpse; and greatly Teucer cried out

when he saw Machaon in the dust; for afar off

he was standing, toiling hard; for there in the midst

lay the strife; and one onset rose upon another.

Yet not even so did he neglect the noble man fallen,

Nireus, who lay close beside; but he saw him

later amid the dust of godlike Machaon;

and at once he called to the Argives, shouting aloud:

“Rush on, Argives, and yield not to the rushing

foes; for boundless shall be our reproach,

if divine Machaon together with godlike Nireus

the Trojans drag off and bear back to Ilium.

But come, let us fight the foe with willing heart,

that we may either drag off the slain, or ourselves

die beside them, since this is the right of men,

to defend their own, and not to leave them a prey to others;

for not without sweat does glory grow among men.”

So he spoke; and grief came upon the Danaans; and about them

many reddened the earth, slain beneath Ares,

as they fought on either side; and an equal strife arose.

At last Podalirius perceived the grievous slaughter

of his brother, struck down in the dust, for by the swift ships

he sat tending the wounds of men struck by spears,

healing them. And he put on all his arms,

enraged in spirit for his brother; and in him valour

terribly grew within his breast as he raged

to the grievous war; and his dark blood seethed,

fierce, beneath his heart; and swiftly he leapt among the foes,

brandishing in his swift hands a long-pointed javelin;

and quickly he took the noble son of Agamestor,

Clitus, whom a fair-haired Nymph bore about the streams

of Parthenius, which flows through the land like oil,

pouring its fair-flowing water into the Euxine sea.

And another he slew, a foeman, about his brother,

Lassus, whom godlike Pronoe bore about the streams

of the river Nymphaeus very near the wide cave,

the wondrous cave, which men say is of them,

the sacred cave of the Nymphs, all who dwell about the long

mountains of the Paphlagonians, and all who dwell about clustered

Heraclea; and that cave is like the work of the gods,

for it is wrought boundless to behold,

of stone, and cold water goes through the cavern,

like crystal, and in its innermost recesses everywhere

stone mixing-bowls upon the hard rocks

appear as though made by the hands of men;

and about them are Pans together with lovely Nymphs,

and looms and distaffs, and all such cunning

works as belong to mortals, which appear a marvel

to men coming within the sacred recess;

in it are two descents and ways up,

the one turned toward the resounding north

wind, the other facing the south that blows moist,

by which mortals pass beneath the wide cave of the goddesses;

but the other is the road of the blessed, nor do men

easily tread it, since a wide chasm is wrought

down to the pit of high-souled Aïdoneus;

but these things it is the right of the blessed to behold.

About Machaon and the glorious son of Aglaïe,

as men fought on either side, a great throng perished;

at last the Danaans dragged them away, after much

labour; and quickly to their own ships they carried them,

a few, since upon the greater part wretched misery

of the grievous war was spread; and they remained in toil by necessity.

But when very many had filled up the dark dooms

amid the bloody and grievous tumult,

then many of the Argives fled within the ships,

as many as Eurypylus pressed hard upon, rolling great calamity.

A few about Ajax and the two mighty sons of Atreus

remained in the battle; and soon all would have perished

by the hands of the foes as they turned about in the throng,

had not the son of Oïleus struck wise Polydamas

with his spear by the left shoulder near the breast;

and the blood gushed from him; and he drew back a little.

And far-famed Menelaus wounded Deïphobus

by the right breast; but he escaped on swift feet.

Then godlike Agamemnon slew a great throng

from the deadly multitude; and after noble Aethicus he went

raging with his spear; but the other fled among his comrades.

But when host-rousing Eurypylus perceived them

all drawing back together from the hateful tumult,

at once he left the host, as many as he was driving toward the ships,

and swiftly rushed upon the two mighty sons of Atreus

and the strong-hearted son of Oïleus, who in running

was swift, and in battle was foremost.

Upon them he rushed swiftly, holding his long spear;

and with him came Paris and high-souled Aeneas,

who swiftly struck Ajax with a long stone

upon his strong helmet; but he, stretched in the dust,

breathed not out his life, since for him the fated day

was appointed in his homecoming about the Capherean rocks;

and his comrades dear to Ares snatched him up,

still faintly breathing, and bore him to the ships of the Achaeans.

And then the glorious kings were left alone,

the sons of Atreus; and about them stood a deadly throng

casting from either side whatever their hands had strength to take;

for some poured grievous arrows, others stones,

others javelins; and they, being in the midst,

turned about, like boars within an enclosure, or lions

on the day when lords gather men together

and grievously hem them in, devising evil destruction

for the strong beasts, while these, within the enclosure,

tear the servants, whoever comes near them;

so they in the midst slew those who rushed upon them.

Yet not even so had they strength, though they longed, to escape,

had not Teucer come, and high-souled Idomeneus,

and Meriones and Thoas and godlike Thrasymedes,

who before feared the bold strength of Eurypylus,

and would have fled to the ships, avoiding the heavy calamity,

had they not, fearing greatly for the sons of Atreus, come

face to face with Eurypylus; and a baleful battle arose.

Then Teucer of the good ash-spear thrust his spear

against the shield of Aeneas; but he wounded not his fair flesh;

for the great fourfold ox-hide shield warded off the calamity;

but even so, afraid, he drew back a little.

And Meriones rushed upon blameless Laophoön,

son of Paeon, whom fair-haired Cleomede bore

by the streams of Axius; and he came to holy Ilium

to aid the Trojans with blameless Asteropaeus;

him Meriones pierced with his jagged spear

above the privy parts; and swiftly the point drew out

his bowels; and most swiftly his spirit sped to the darkness.

And Ajax' comrade, the warlike son of Oïleus,

Alcimedes, cast into the throng of the mighty Trojans;

and praying he hurled into the dread battle-cry of the foes

a grievous stone from his sling; and the men trembled through

at the whir and at the stone, fearing greatly as it came.

And deadly Fate bore it to the bold charioteer

of Pammon, the son of Hippasus; and as he held the reins in his hands

it struck him upon the temple; and swiftly it cast him from the chariot

before his own wheel; and the swift car of him as he fell

rolled his wretched body back beneath the wheel-rims

as the horses sped on; and dread death overcame him

swiftly, leaving whip and reins behind;

and grief fell upon Pammon; and at once necessity made him

both king and charioteer of the swift car;

and now would he have endured there his doom and his last day,

had not some Trojan, in the bloody tumult,

taken the reins in his hands and saved the king

already hard pressed by the deadly hands of the foes.

And godlike Acamas, rushing against him,

the mighty son of Nestor struck above the knee with his spear;

and into the deadly wound there entered hateful pains;

and he drew back from the war; and he left to his comrades the tumult

full of tears; for war was no longer his care.

And then the squire of glorious Eurypylus

struck Thoas' comrade Echemmon in the battle

a little below the shoulder; and about his heart the spear

came, grievous; and with the blood there oozed sweat

cold from his limbs; and as he turned to be borne

back, the great strength of Eurypylus caught him;

and cut his swift sinews; and his feet against his will stayed

there, where he struck him; and the immortal life left him.

Swiftly Thoas pierced Paris with his sharp spear

on the right thigh; and he went back a little

to fetch his swift bow, which he had left behind.

And Idomeneus, raising a stone with his hands, as much as he had strength for,

cast it upon the arm of Eurypylus; and to the ground

his deadly spear fell; and at once he drew back

to fetch his spear; for the one he had he let fall from his hand.

And the sons of Atreus breathed a little from the war.

But swiftly his squires came near him, who brought him

an unbreakable long spear, which loosed the knees of many;

and taking it he went against the host, raging in his might,

slaying whomever he met, and overcoming a great throng.

Then neither did the sons of Atreus stand firm nor any other

of the close-fighting Danaans; for grievous fear seized them all;

for upon all rushed calamity, arming itself,

Eurypylus; and following behind he made havoc.

And he called out again to the Trojans and his horse-taming comrades:

“O friends, come, take courage in your breasts

and work for the Danaans slaughter and unseen doom,

they who now like sheep are departing

to their own ships; but let us all remember

the deadly battle, in which from childhood we are skilled.”

So he spoke; and they rushed in a throng upon the Argives;

and they, trembling greatly, fled from the grievous tumult;

and the others followed like white-toothed dogs

upon wild hinds along the long glens and the wood.

And many they cast in the dust, eager though they were

to escape the grievous war-cry of deadly slaughter.

Eurypylus slew blameless Bucolion

and Nesus and Chromius and Antiphus; and they dwelt

in wealthy Mycene, while the others dwelt in Lacedaemon;

these he slew, well known though they were.

And out of the multitude he took countless tribes of men,

as many as I have no strength to sing, though I long to,

not even if there were a heart of iron in my breast.

And Aeneas slew Pheres and Antimachus,

both of whom had come from Crete with Idomeneus.

And noble Agenor slew blameless Molus,

who came from Argos under king Sthenelus;

him he struck with a new-whetted javelin far behind

as he fled from the war, hitting him beneath the lowest part of his right

shin; and the point cut clean through the broad sinew,

driving straight on; and it grievously sheared the bones of the man

beside; and death was mingled with pain, and the man perished.

Then Paris struck Mosynus and brave Phorcys,

both brothers, who came from Salamis

in the ships of Ajax, and saw their homecoming no more.

Upon them he took Cleolaus, the goodly squire of Meges,

striking him on the left breast; and about him night,

evil, seized, and his spirit flew away; and as he was overcome,

within, beneath his breast, his grievous heart

beating fast still made the feathered shaft quiver.

And he sent another arrow at bold Eëtion

swiftly; and at once through his jaw it passed,

the bronze; and he groaned; and with his blood mingled his tear.

And one slew another; and a great space was crowded

with the Argives fallen in heaps upon one another.

And now would the Trojans have burned the ships with fire,

had not night rushed on, bringing deep-shadowed darkness.

And Eurypylus drew back, and with him the other sons of the Trojans

a little apart from the ships toward the mouths of Simoeis,

where they made their camp rejoicing. But among the ships

the Argives lamented, falling upon the sands,

grieving greatly for the slain, because of them

black doom had overtaken many in the dust.