The Iliad by Homer (pdf to ebook reader .TXT) 📖

loud clear voice he shouted to the Danaans, "My friends, princes and
counsellors of the Argives, defend the ships yourselves, for Jove has
not suffered me to fight the whole day through against the Trojans."

With this the charioteer turned his horses towards the ships, and they
flew forward nothing loth. Their chests were white with foam and their
bellies with dust, as they drew the wounded king out of the battle.

When Hector saw Agamemnon quit the field, he shouted to the Trojans and
Lycians saying, "Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanian warriors, be men, my
friends, and acquit yourselves in battle bravely; their best man has
left them, and Jove has vouchsafed me a great triumph; charge the foe
with your chariots that you may win still greater glory."

With these words he put heart and soul into them all, and as a huntsman
hounds his dogs on against a lion or wild boar, even so did Hector,
peer of Mars, hound the proud Trojans on against the Achaeans. Full of
hope he plunged in among the foremost, and fell on the fight like some
fierce tempest that swoops down upon the sea, and lashes its deep blue
waters into fury.

What, then is the full tale of those whom Hector son of Priam killed in
the hour of triumph which Jove then vouchsafed him? First Asaeus,
Autonous, and Opites; Dolops son of Clytius, Opheltius and Agelaus;
Aesymnus, Orus and Hipponous steadfast in battle; these chieftains of
the Achaeans did Hector slay, and then he fell upon the rank and file.
As when the west wind hustles the clouds of the white south and beats
them down with the fierceness of its fury--the waves of the sea roll
high, and the spray is flung aloft in the rage of the wandering
wind--even so thick were the heads of them that fell by the hand of
Hector.

All had then been lost and no help for it, and the Achaeans would have
fled pell-mell to their ships, had not Ulysses cried out to Diomed,
"Son of Tydeus, what has happened to us that we thus forget our
prowess? Come, my good fellow, stand by my side and help me, we shall
be shamed for ever if Hector takes the ships."

And Diomed answered, "Come what may, I will stand firm; but we shall
have scant joy of it, for Jove is minded to give victory to the Trojans
rather than to us."

With these words he struck Thymbraeus from his chariot to the ground,
smiting him in the left breast with his spear, while Ulysses killed
Molion who was his squire. These they let lie, now that they had
stopped their fighting; the two heroes then went on playing havoc with
the foe, like two wild boars that turn in fury and rend the hounds that
hunt them. Thus did they turn upon the Trojans and slay them, and the
Achaeans were thankful to have breathing time in their flight from
Hector.

They then took two princes with their chariot, the two sons of Merops
of Percote, who excelled all others in the arts of divination. He had
forbidden his sons to go to the war, but they would not obey him, for
fate lured them to their fall. Diomed son of Tydeus slew them both and
stripped them of their armour, while Ulysses killed Hippodamus and
Hypeirochus.

And now the son of Saturn as he looked down from Ida ordained that
neither side should have the advantage, and they kept on killing one
another. The son of Tydeus speared Agastrophus son of Paeon in the
hip-joint with his spear. His chariot was not at hand for him to fly
with, so blindly confident had he been. His squire was in charge of it
at some distance and he was fighting on foot among the foremost until
he lost his life. Hector soon marked the havoc Diomed and Ulysses were
making, and bore down upon them with a loud cry, followed by the Trojan
ranks; brave Diomed was dismayed when he saw them, and said to Ulysses
who was beside him, "Great Hector is bearing down upon us and we shall
be undone; let us stand firm and wait his onset."

He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it, nor did he miss his
mark. He had aimed at Hector's head near the top of his helmet, but
bronze was turned by bronze, and Hector was untouched, for the spear
was stayed by the visored helm made with three plates of metal, which
Phoebus Apollo had given him. Hector sprang back with a great bound
under cover of the ranks; he fell on his knees and propped himself with
his brawny hand leaning on the ground, for darkness had fallen on his
eyes. The son of Tydeus having thrown his spear dashed in among the
foremost fighters, to the place where he had seen it strike the ground;
meanwhile Hector recovered himself and springing back into his chariot
mingled with the crowd, by which means he saved his life. But Diomed
made at him with his spear and said, "Dog, you have again got away
though death was close on your heels. Phoebus Apollo, to whom I ween
you pray ere you go into battle, has again saved you, nevertheless I
will meet you and make an end of you hereafter, if there is any god who
will stand by me too and be my helper. For the present I must pursue
those I can lay hands on."

As he spoke he began stripping the spoils from the son of Paeon, but
Alexandrus husband of lovely Helen aimed an arrow at him, leaning
against a pillar of the monument which men had raised to Ilus son of
Dardanus, a ruler in days of old. Diomed had taken the cuirass from off
the breast of Agastrophus, his heavy helmet also, and the shield from
off his shoulders, when Paris drew his bow and let fly an arrow that
sped not from his hand in vain, but pierced the flat of Diomed's right
foot, going right through it and fixing itself in the ground. Thereon
Paris with a hearty laugh sprang forward from his hiding-place, and
taunted him saying, "You are wounded--my arrow has not been shot in
vain; would that it had hit you in the belly and killed you, for thus
the Trojans, who fear you as goats fear a lion, would have had a truce
from evil."

Diomed all undaunted answered, "Archer, you who without your bow are
nothing, slanderer and seducer, if you were to be tried in single
combat fighting in full armour, your bow and your arrows would serve
you in little stead. Vain is your boast in that you have scratched the
sole of my foot. I care no more than if a girl or some silly boy had
hit me. A worthless coward can inflict but a light wound; when I wound
a man though I but graze his skin it is another matter, for my weapon
will lay him low. His wife will tear her cheeks for grief and his
children will be fatherless: there will he rot, reddening the earth
with his blood, and vultures, not women, will gather round him."

Thus he spoke, but Ulysses came up and stood over him. Under this cover
he sat down to draw the arrow from his foot, and sharp was the pain he
suffered as he did so. Then he sprang on to his chariot and bade the
charioteer drive him to the ships, for he was sick at heart.

Ulysses was now alone; not one of the Argives stood by him, for they
were all panic-stricken. "Alas," said he to himself in his dismay,
"what will become of me? It is ill if I turn and fly before these odds,
but it will be worse if I am left alone and taken prisoner, for the son
of Saturn has struck the rest of the Danaans with panic. But why talk
to myself in this way? Well do I know that though cowards quit the
field, a hero, whether he wound or be wounded, must stand firm and hold
his own."

While he was thus in two minds, the ranks of the Trojans advanced and
hemmed him in, and bitterly did they come to rue it. As hounds and
lusty youths set upon a wild boar that sallies from his lair whetting
his white tusks--they attack him from every side and can hear the
gnashing of his jaws, but for all his fierceness they still hold their
ground--even so furiously did the Trojans attack Ulysses. First he
sprang spear in hand upon Deiopites and wounded him on the shoulder
with a downward blow; then he killed Thoon and Ennomus. After these he
struck Chersidamas in the loins under his shield as he had just sprung
down from his chariot; so he fell in the dust and clutched the earth in
the hollow of his hand. These he let lie, and went on to wound Charops
son of Hippasus own brother to noble Socus. Socus, hero that he was,
made all speed to help him, and when he was close to Ulysses he said,
"Far-famed Ulysses, insatiable of craft and toil, this day you shall
either boast of having killed both the sons of Hippasus and stripped
them of their armour, or you shall fall before my spear."

With these words he struck the shield of Ulysses. The spear went
through the shield and passed on through his richly wrought cuirass,
tearing the flesh from his side, but Pallas Minerva did not suffer it
to pierce the entrails of the hero. Ulysses knew that his hour was not
yet come, but he gave ground and said to Socus, "Wretch, you shall now
surely die. You have stayed me from fighting further with the Trojans,
but you shall now fall by my spear, yielding glory to myself, and your
soul to Hades of the noble steeds."

Socus had turned in flight, but as he did so, the spear struck him in
the back midway between the shoulders, and went right through his
chest. He fell heavily to the ground and Ulysses vaunted over him
saying, "O Socus, son of Hippasus tamer of horses, death has been too
quick for you and you have not escaped him: poor wretch, not even in
death shall your father and mother close your eyes, but the ravening
vultures shall enshroud you with the flapping of their dark wings and
devour you. Whereas even though I fall the Achaeans will give me my due
rites of burial."

So saying he drew Socus's heavy spear out of his flesh and from his
shield, and the blood welled forth when the spear was withdrawn so that
he was much dismayed. When the Trojans saw that Ulysses was bleeding
they raised a great shout and came on in a body towards him; he
therefore gave ground, and called his comrades to come and help him.
Thrice did he cry as loudly as man can cry, and thrice did brave
Menelaus hear him; he turned, therefore, to Ajax who was close beside
him and said, "Ajax, noble son of Telamon, captain of your people, the
cry of Ulysses rings in my ears, as though the Trojans had cut him off
and were worsting him while he is single-handed. Let us make our way
through the throng; it will be well that we defend him; I fear he may
come to harm for all his valour if he be left without support, and the
Danaans would miss him sorely."

He led the way and mighty Ajax went with him. The Trojans had gathered
round Ulysses like ravenous mountain jackals round the carcase of some
horned stag