heon he said panderous where's now your bow your winged arrows you're renowned as an archer in respect of which no man here can rival you nor is there any in licea that can beat you lift then your hands to joe and send an arrow at this fellow who's going so masterfully about and has done such deadly work among the trojans he has killed many a brave man unless indeed he is some god who is angry with the trojans about their sacrifices and is said his hand against them in his pleasure and the son of lecheon answered and he is i take him for none other than the son of tides i know him by his shield the visor of his helmet and by his horses it is possible that he may be a god but if he is the man i say he is he is not making all this havoc without heaven's help but as some god by his side it was shrouded in a cloud of darkness and who turned my arrow aside when it had hit him i had taken aim at him already and hit him on the right shoulder my arrow went through the breast piece of his cures and i made sure i sent him hurrying to the world below but it seems that i have not killed him there must be a god who is angry with me moreover i am neither horse nor chariot in my father's stables there are 11 excellent chariots fresh from the builder quite new with claws spread over them and by each of them there stand a pair of horses chomping barley and rye my old father lecheon urged me again and again when i was at home and on the point of starting to take chariots and horses with me that i might lead the trojans in battle but i would not listen to him it would have been much better if i had done so but i was thinking about the horses which had been used to eat their fill and i was afraid that in such a great gathering of men they might be ill fed so i left them at home and came on foot to ileus armed only with my bow and arrows these it seems are of no use for i've already hit two chieftains the son of atrius and of titius and though i drew blood surely enough i have only made them still more furious i did ill to take my bow down from its peg on the day that i led my band of trojans to ileus and hector service and if ever i get home again does it eyes on my native place my wife and the greatness of my house may someone cut my head off then and there if i do not break the bow and set it on a hot fire such pranks as it plays me a neus answered say no more things will not mend till we too go against this man with chariot and horses and bring him to a trial of arms mount my chariot and note how cleverly the horses of tross can speed hither and thither over the plane in pursuit or flight if joe again vouchsafe's glory to the son of titius they will carry us safely back to the city take hold then of the whip and reins will i stand up on the car to fight or else do you wait this man's onset while i look after the horses a neus replied the son of likeion take the reins and drive if we have to fly before the son of titius the horses will go better for their own driver if they miss the sound of your voice when they expect it they may be frightened and refuse to take us out of the fight the son of titius will then kill both of us and take the horses therefore drive them yourself and i will be ready for him with my spear they then mounted the chariot and drove full speed towards the son of titius stenolus son of companion saw them coming and said to diamed diamed son of titius man after my own heart i see two heroes speeding towards you both of the men of might the one a skillful archer pandora son of likeion the other a neus who sire is an kaisies while his mother is venus mount the chariot and let us retreat do not i pray you press so furiously forward or you make it killed diam had looked angrily at him and entered talking out of flight for i shall not listen to you i am of a race that knows neither flight nor fear and my limbs are as yet unwearyed i am in no mind to mount but it will go against them even as i am palace minerva bids me be afraid of no man and even though one of them escape their steed shall not take both back again i say further and lay my saying to your heart if minerva sees fit to vouch safe me the glory of killing both stay your horses here and make the rains fast in the rim of the chariot then be sure you spring in neus's horses and drive them from the trojan to the achaean ranks there of the stock the great jove gave to tross in payment for his son ganemede and are the finest that live and move under the sun king and kaisies stole the blood by putting his mares to them without leomidon's knowledge and they bore him six foals four are still in his stables but he gave the other two to a neus we shall win great glory if we can take them thus did they converse but the other two had now driven close up to them and the son of lecheon spoke first great and mighty son said he of noble tides my arrow failed to lay you low so i will now try with my spear he poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it from it it struck the shield on the son of tides the bronze point pierced it and passed on till it reached the breastplate thereon the son of lecheon shouted out and said you are hit clean through the belly you will not stand up for long and the glory of the fight is mine but i am at all on this maid made answer you have missed not hit and before you too see the end of this matter one or other of you shall glut tough shielded mars with his blood with this he hurled his spear and the nervous guided it on the pandaris's nose near the eye it went crashing in among his white teeth the bronze point cut through the root of his tongue coming out under his chin and his glistening armor rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground the horses started aside for fear and he was reft of life and strength a neus sprang from his chariot armed with shield and spear fearing less the achaeans should carry off the body he bestrode it as a lion in the pride of strength with shield and spear before him at a cry of battle on his lips resolute to kill the first that should dare face him but the son of tides caught up a mighty stone so huge and great that his men now are it would take two to lift it nevertheless he bore it aloft with ease unaided and with this he struck a neus on the groin where the hip turns in the joint that is called the cup bone the stone crushed this joint and broke both the sinews while its jagged edges tore away all the flesh the hero fell on his knees and propped himself with his hand resting on the ground till the darkness of night fell upon his eyes and now a neus king of men would have perished then and there had not his mother joe's daughter venus who had conceived him by achaeans when he was hurting cattle then quick to mark and thrown her two white arms about the body of her dear son she protected him by covering him with a fold of her own fair garment lest some denian should drive his spear into his breast and kill him thus then did you bear her dear son out of the fight but the son of companionus was not unmindful of the orders the diamond had given him he made his own horses fast away from the hurly burly by binding the reins to the rim of the chariot then he sprang upon a neus's horses and drove them from the trojan to the achaean ranks when he had so done he gave them over to his chosen comrade dipolis whom he valued above all others as the one who is most like minded with himself to take them on to the ships he then remounted his own chariot seized the reins and drove with all speed in search of the son of titius now the son of titius was in pursuit of the syprian goddess spear in hand for he knew her to be feeble and not one of those goddesses that can lord at the mongmen in battle like manerva or ennio the waster of cities and when at last after a long chase he caught her up he flew with her and thrust his spear into the flesh of her delicate hand the point tore through the ambrosial robe which the graces had woven for her and pierced the skin between her wrist and the palm of her hand so that the immortal blood or icor that flows in the veins of the blessed gods came pouring from the wound for the gods do not eat bread nor drink wine hence they have no blood such as ours and are immortal lina screamed aloud and that her son fall but feebus apollo caught him in his arms and hid him in a cloud of darkness lest some danaean should drive his spear into his breast and kill him and diamant shouted out as he left her daughter of joe leave war and battle alone can you not be contented with beguiling silly women if you meddle with fighting you will get what will make you shudder at the very name of war the goddess went dazed and discomforted away and iris fleet is the wind drew her from the throng in pain and with her fair skin all besmirched she found fierce mars waiting on the left of the battle with his spear and his two fleet steeds resting on a cloud whereon she fell on her knees before her brother and implored him to let her have his horses your brother she cried save me and give me your horses to take me to olibis where the gods dwell i am badly wounded by a mortal the son of tadeus who would now fight even with the father joe thus she spoke and mars gave her his gold bedisen steeds she mounted the chariot sick and sorry at heart while iris sat beside her and took the reins in her hand she lashed her horses on and they flew forward nothing left till in a trice they were at high olympus where the gods have their dwelling there she stayed them unloosed them from the chariot and gave them their ambrosial forage but venus flung herself on the lap of her mother dione who threw her arms about her and caressed her saying which of the heavenly beings has been treating you in this way as though you had been doing something wrong in the face of day and laughter loving venus answered how diamet the son of tadeus wounded me because i was bearing my dear son and neus whom i love best of all mankind out of the fight the war is no longer one between trojans and akeans for the denians have now taken to fighting with the immortals buried my child replied dione and make the best of it we dwellers in olympus have to put up with much of the hands of men and we lay much suffering on one another mars had to suffer when autus and afialtus children of oleus bound him in cruel bonds so that he lay 13 months imprisoned in a vessel of bronze mars would have then perished had not fair irriboya stepmother to the son of aloeus called mercury who stalled him away when he was already well now worn out by the severity of his bondage juno again suffered when the mighty son of amphotrion wounded her on the right breast with a three barbed arrow and nothing could assuage her pain so also did huge hades when the same man the son of a just bearing jove hit him with an arrow even at the gates of hell and hurt him badly there on hades went to the house of jove on great olympus angry and full of pain and the arrow in his brawny shoulder caused him great anguish palpeon healed him by spreading soothing herbs on the wound for hades was not of mortal mold daring headstrong evil doer who wracked not of his sin and shooting the gods that dwell in olympus and now minerva has egged this son of tides on against yourself fool that he is for not reflecting that no man who fights with gods will live long or hear his children praddling about his knees when he returns from battle let then the son of tides see that he does not have to fight with one who is stronger than you are then shall his brave wife aegalia daughter of adrastus rouse her whole house from sleep wailing for the loss of her wedded lord diomed the bravest of the achaeans so saying she wiped the icor from the wrist of her daughter with both hands where on the pain left her and her hand was healed but minerva and juno who were looking on began to taunt jove with their mocking talk and minerva was first to speak father jove said she to not be angry with me but i think the syprian must have been persuading some one of the achaean women to go with the trojans of whom she is so very font and while caressing one of the other of them she must have torn her delicate hand with the gold pin of the women's brooch the sire of gods and men smiled and called golden venus to his side my child said he it has not been given you to be a warrior attend henceforth to your own delightful matrimonial duties and leave all this fighting to mars and to minerva thus did they converse but diomed spraying upon anis though he knew him to be in the very arms of apollo not one wit did he fear the mighty god so sat was he on killing anis and stripping him of his armor thrice did he spring forward with his might and main to slay him and thrice did apollo beat back his gleaming shield when he was coming on for the fourth time as though he were a god apollo shouted to him with an awful voice and said take heed son of ideas and draw off think not to match yourself against gods for men that walk the earth cannot hold their own with the immortals the son of ideas then gave way for a little space to avoid the anger of the god while apollo took anis out of the crowd and set him in sacred pergamas where his temple stood there within the mighty sanctuary latona and diana healed him and made him glorious to behold while apollo of the silver bow fashioned a wraith in the likeness of anis and armed as he was round this the trojans and akeans hacked at the bucklers about one another's breasts hewing each other's round shields and light hide covered targets then feebus apollo said to mars mars mars bane of men bloodstained stormer of cities can you not go to this man the son of tides who would fight even with father joe and draw him out of the battle he first went up to the syprian and wounded her in the hand near her wrist and afterwards sprang upon me too as though he were a god he then took a seat on the top of pergamas while murderous mars went about among the ranks of the trojans cheering them on in the likeness of fleet akemos chief of the thracians sons of priam said he how long will you let your people be thus slaughtered by the akeans would you wait till they are at the walls of troj and nears the son of entizies has fallen he whom we held in as high honor as hector himself helped me then to rescue our brave comrade from the stress of the fight with these words who put heart and soul into them all then sarpedan rebuked hector very sternly hector said he where is your prowess now you used to say that though you had neither people nor allies you could hold the town alone with your brothers and brothers-in-law i see not one of them here they cower as hounds before a lion it is we your allies who bear the brunt of the battle i have come from afar even from licea and the banks of the representus where i have left my wife my infant son and much wealth to tempt whoever is needy nevertheless i head my lisian soldiers and stand my ground against any who would fight me though i have nothing here for the akeans to plunder while you look on without even bidding your men stand firm in defense of their wives see that you fall not into the hands of your foes as men caught in the meshes of a net and they sack your fair city forthwith keep this before your mind night and day and beseech the captains of your allies to hold on without flinching and thus put away their approaches from you so spoke sarpedan and hector smarted under his words he sprang from his chariot clad in his suit of armor and went about among the host brandishing his two spears exhorting the men to fight and raising the terrible cry of battle then they rallied and again faced the akeans but the argives stood compact and firm and were not driven back as the breezes sport with the chaff upon some goodly threshing floor when men are winnowing while yellow series blows with the wind to sift the chaff from the grain and the chaff heaps grow whiter and whiter even so did the akeans whiten in the dust which the horses hooves raised to the firmament of heaven as their drivers turned them back to battle and they bore down with might upon the foe fierce mars to help the trojans covered them in a veil of darkness and went about everywhere among them in as much as febus apollo had told him that when he saw palace minerva leave the fray he was to put courage into the hearts of the trojans for it was she who was helping the denayans then apollo sent an eus forth from his rich sanctuary and filled his heart with valor whereon he took his place among his comrades who were overjoyed at seeing him alive sound and have a good courage but they could not ask him how it at all happened for they were too busy with the turmoil raised by mars and by strife who raged insatiably in their midst the two ajax's ulysses and diamet cheered the denayans on fearless of the fury and onset of the trojans they stood as still as clouds which the son of saturn had spread upon the mountaintops when there is no air and fierce boreas sleeps with the other boisterous winds whose shrill blasts scatter the clouds in all directions even so did the denayans stand firm and unflinching against the trojans the son of atreus went about among them and exhorted them my friends said he quit yourselves like brave men and shun dishonor in one another's eyes amid the stress of battle they that shunned his honor more often live than get killed but they that fly save neither life nor name as he spoke he hurled his spear and hit one of those who were in the front rank the comrade of anus daikun son of pergasus whom the trojans held in no less honor than the sons of pream for he was ever quick to place himself among the foremost the spear of king agamemnon struck his shield and went right through it for the shield stayed it not it drove through his belt into the lower part of his belly and his armor rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground then anus killed two champions of the denayans crethon and orcilicus their father was a rich man who lived in a strong city of firre and was descended from the river alpheus whose broad stream flows through the land of the pillions the river begat orcilicus who ruled over much people and was father to daiklis who in his turn begat twin sons crethon and orcilicus well skilled in all the arts of war these when they grew up went to ileus with the argae fleet in the cause of menileus and agamemnon sons of atreus and there they both of them fell as two lions whom their dam has reared in the depths of some mountain forest to plunder homesteads and carry off sheep and cattle till they get killed by the hand of man so were these two vanquished by anus and fell like high pine trees to the ground brave menileus pitted them in their fall and made his way to the front glad and gleaming bronze and brandishing his spear for mars egg demanded do so with intent that he should be killed by anus but antilicus the son of nester saw him and spraying forward fearing that the king might come to harm and thus bring all their labor to nothing when therefore anus and menileus were setting their hands and spears against one another eager to do battle antilicus placed himself by the side of menileus anus bold though he was drew back on seeing the two heroes side by side in front of him so they drew the bodies of crethon and orcilicus to the ranks of the achaeans and committed to two poor fellows into the hands of their comrades they then turned back and fought in the front ranks they killed pila emanis peer of mars leader of the pathologonian warriors menileus struck him on the collar bone as he was standing on his chariot while antilicus hid his charioteer in squire myon the son of antimneus who was turning his horses in flight he hit him with a stone upon the elbow and the reins enriched with white ivory fell from his hands into the dust antilicus rushed towards him and struck him on the temples with his sword where on he fell headfirst from the chariot to the ground there he stood for a while with his head and shoulders buried deep in the dust for he had fallen on sandy soil till his horses kicked him and laid him flat on the ground as antilicus lashed them and drove them off to the host of the achaeans but hector marked them from across the ranks and with a loud cry rushed towards them followed by the strong battalions of the trojans mars and dread ennio led them on she fraught with ruthless turmoil of battle while mars wielded a monstrous spear and went about now in front of hector and now behind him diamed shook with passion as he saw them as a man crossing a wide plain as dismayed to find himself on the brink of some great river rolling swiftly to the sea he sees its boiling waters and starts back in fear even so did the son of titius give ground then he said to his men my friends how can we wonder that hector wields the spear so well some god is ever by his side to protect him and now mars is with him in a likeness of mortal man keep your faces therefore towards the trojans but give ground backwards for we dare not fight with gods as he spoke the trojans drew close up and hector killed two men both in one chariot menesthes and in chialis heroes well versed in war ajax son of telemon pity them in their fall he came close up and hurled his spear hitting ampheus the son of selegus a man of great wealth who lived in paesus and owned much corn growing land but his lot had led him to come to the aid of priam and his sons ajax struck him in the belt the spear pierced the lower part of his belly and he fell heavily to the ground then ajax ran towards him to strip him of his armor but the trojans reigned spears upon him many of which fell upon his shield he planted his heel upon the body and drew out his spear but the darts pressed so heavily upon him that he could not strip the goodly armor from his shoulders the trojan chieftains moreover many in valiant came about him with their spears so that he dare not stay great brave and valiant though he was they drove him from them and he was beaten back thus then did the battle rage between them presently the strong hand of fate impelled tlapolamus the son of hercules a man both brave and of great stature defied sarpedan so the two son and grandson of great joe drew near to one another and tlapolamus spoke first sarpedan said he counselor of the lesions why should you come skulking here you who are a man of peace they lie who call you son of ages burying joe for you are little like those who were of old his children far other was hercules my own brave and lie and hearted father who came here for the horses of leomedan and though he had six ships only and few men to follow him sacked the city of ileus and made a wilderness of her highways you are a coward and your people are falling from you for all your strength and all your coming from lacya you will be no help to the trojans but will pass the gates of hades vanquished by my hand and sarpedan captain of the lesions answered tlapolamus your father overthrew ileus by reason of leomedan's folly and refusing payment to one who had served him well he would not give your father the horses which he had come so far to fetch as for yourself you shall meet death by my spear you shall yield glory to myself and your soul to hades of the noble thus spoke sarpedan and tlapolamus upraised his spear they threw at the same moment and sarpedan struck his foe in the middle of his throat the spear went right through and the darkness of death fell upon his eyes tlapolamus's spear struck sarpedan on the left thigh with such force that it tore through the flesh and grazed the bone but his father as yet warded off destruction from him his comrades bore sarpedan out of the fight in great pain by the weight of the spear that was dragging from his wound they were in such haste and stress as they bore him that no one thought of drawing the spear from his thigh so as to let him walk up rightly meanwhile the achaeans carried off the body of tlapolamus whereon ulysses was moved to pity and panned it for the fray as he beheld him he doubted whether to pursue the son of joe or to make slaughter of the lycean rank and file it was not decreed however that he should slay the son of joe minerva therefore turned him against the main body of the lyceans he killed koreanus, alastor, chromius, altandris, halius, noamon, and persanus and what if slain yet more had not great hector marked him and sped to the front of the fight clad in his suit of nail filling the denayans with terror sarpedan was glad when he saw him coming and he saw him saying son of priam let me not be here to fall into the hands of the denayans help me and since i may not return home to gladden the hearts of my wife and of my infant son let me die within the walls of your city hector made him no answer but rushed onward to fall at once upon the achaeans and kill many among them his comrades then bore sarpedan away and lay him beneath joe's spreading oak tree heligon his friend and comrade drew the spear out of his thigh but sarpedan fainted and a mist came over his eyes presently he came to himself again for the breath of the north wind as it played upon him gave him new life and brought him out of the deep swoon into which he had fallen meanwhile the argives were neither driven towards their ships by mars and hector nor yet did they attack them when they knew that mars was with the trojans they were treated but kept their faces still turned towards the foe who then was first and who was last to be slain by mars and hector they were valiant tootharists and arrestees the renowned charioteer trikas the etolian warrior owenemaus helanus the son of owenops and orcibius of the gleaming girdle who was possessed of great wealth and dwelt by the syphesian lake with the other boesians who lived near him owners of a fertile country now when the goddess juno saw the argives thus falling she said to minerva alas daughter of agesbearing joe unwariable the promise we made menelaus that he should not return to Lee it sacked the city of ileus will be of no effect if we let mars rage thus furiously let us go into the fray at once minerva did not gainsayer there on the august goddess daughter of great Saturn began to harness her gold bedyson steeds hebe with all speed fitted on the eight smoked wheels of bronze that were on either side of the iron axle tree the fellows of the wheels were gold imperishable and over these there was a tire of bronze wondrous to behold the knaves of the wheels were silver turning round the axle upon either side the car itself was made with plated bands of gold and silver and it had a double top rail running all round it from the body of the car there went a pole of silver on to the end of which she bound the golden yoke with the bands of gold that were to go under the necks of the horses then juno put her steeds under the yoke eager for battle and the war cry meanwhile minerva flung her richly embroidered vesture made with her own hands on to her father's threshold and dawned the shirt of joe arming herself for battle she threw her tasseled aegis about her shoulders wreathe ground with route as with a fringe and on it were strife and strength and panic whose blood runs cold moreover there was the head of the dread monster gorgon grim and awful to behold hortent of ages bearing joe on her head she set her helmet of gold with four plumes and coming to a peak both in front and behind decked with the emblems of a hundred cities then she stepped into her flaming chariot and grasped the spear so stout and sturdy and strong with which she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her juno lashed the horses on and the gates of heaven bellowed as they flew open of their own accord gates over which the hours preside in whose hands are heaven and olympus either to open the dense cloud that hides them or to close it through these the goddesses drove their obedient steeds and found the son of saturn sitting all alone on the topmost ridges of olympus there juno stayed her horses and spoke to joe the son of saturn lord of all father joe said she are you not angry with mars for these high doings how great and goodly a host of the akians he has destroyed to my great grief and without a the right or reason while the syprian and apollo are enjoying it all at their ease and setting this unrighteous madman on to do further mischief i hope father joe that you will not be angry if i hit mars hard and chase him out of the battle and joe answered set manurva onto him for she punishes them more often than anyone else does juno did as he had said she lashed her horses and they flew forward nothing loth midway between earth and sky as far as a man can see when he looks out upon the sea from some high beacon so far can the loud neighing horses of the gods spring at a single bound when they reached troi and the place where its two flowing streams samois and skamander meet their juno stayed them and took them from the chariot she hid them in a thick cloud and samois made ambrosia spring out for them to eat the two goddesses then went on flying like turtledoves in their eagerness to help the archives when they came to the part where the bravest and most in number were gathered about mighty diamond fighting like lions or wild boars of great strength and endurance there juno stood still and raised a shot like that of brazen voiced stentor whose cry was as loud as that of fifty men together our guys she cried shame on cowardly creatures brave in semblance only as long as akiles was fighting if his spear was so deadly that the trojans dare not show themselves outside the ordainian gates but now they sell it far from the city and fight even at your ships with these words you put heart and soul into them all while manurva sprang to the side of the son of todias whom she found near his chariot and horses cooling the wound that pandorus had given him for the sweat caused by the hand that bore the weight of his shield irritated the hurt his arm was weary with pain and he was lifting up the strap to wipe away the blood the goddess laid her hand on the yoke of his horses and said the son of todias is not such another as his father todias was a little man but he could fight and rushed madly into the fray even when i told him not to do so when he went all unattended as envoy to the city of thieves among the cadmians i bait him feast in their houses and be at peace but with that high spirit which was ever present with him he challenged the use of the cadmians and at once beat them and all that he attempted so mightily did i help him i stand by you too to protect you and i bid you be instant in fighting the trojans but either you are tired out or you are afraid and out of heart and in that case i say that you are no true son of todias the son of oenius diamet answered i know you goddess daughter of age is bearing jove and will hide nothing from you i am not afraid nor out of heart nor is there any slackness in me i am only following your own instructions you told me not to fight any of the blessed gods but if joe's daughter venus came in a battle i was to wound her with my spear therefore i am retreating and bidding the other argives gather in this place for i know that mars is now lording it in the field diamet son of todias replied minerva man after my own heart fear neither mars nor any other of the immortals for i will befriend you nay drive straight at mars and smite him in close combat fear not this raging madman villain incarnate first on one side and then on the other but now he was holding talks with you know and myself saying he would help the argives and attack the trojans nevertheless he is with the trojans and has forgotten the argives with this she caught hold of stenolus and lifted him off the chariot onto the ground in a second he was on the ground whereupon the goddess mounted the car and placed herself by the side of diamet the oaken axel groaned aloud under the burden of the awful goddess and the hero palace minerva took the weapon reins and drove straight at mars he was in the act of stripping huge paraffus son of okissias and bravest of the italians bloody mars was stripping him of his armor and minerva donned the helmet of hades that he might not see her when therefore he saw diamet he made straight for him in that paraffus lie where he had fallen as soon as they were at close quarters he let fly with his bronze spear over the reins and yoke thinking to take diamet's life a minerva caught the spear in her hand and made it fly harmlessly over the chariot diamet then threw and palace minerva drove the spear into the pit of mars's stomach where his undergirdle went round him there diamet wounded him tearing his fair flesh and then drawing his spear out again mars roared as loudly as nine or ten thousand men in the thick of a fight and the akeans and trojans were struck with panic so terrible was the cry he raised as a dark cloud in the sky when it comes on to blow after heat even so did diamet son of tidias see mars ascend into the broad heavens with all speed he reached high olympus home of the gods and in great pain sat down beside joe the son of saturn he showed joe the immortal blood that was flowing from his wound and spoke piteously saying father joe are you not angered by such doings we gods are continually suffering in the most cruel manner at one another's hands while helping mortals and we all owe you a grudge for having be gotten that mad termigant of a daughter who was always committing outrage of some kind we other gods must all do as you bid us but her you neither scold nor punish you encourage her because the pestilent creature is your daughter see how she has been inciting proud diamet to vent his rage on the immortal gods first he went up to the syprian and wounded her in the hand near her wrist and then he sprang upon me too as though he were a god had i not run for it i must either have lain there for long enough in torment among the ghastly corpses or else have been eaten alive with spears till i had no more strength left in me joe looked angrily at him and said do not come whining here surfacing both ways i hate you worst of all the gods in olympus for you are ever fighting and making mischief you have the intolerable and stubborn spirit of your mother juno it is all i can do to manage her and it is her doing that you are now in this plight still i cannot let you remain longer in such great pain you are my own offspring and it was by me that your mother conceived you if however you had been a son of any other god you are so destructive that by this time you should have been lying lower than the titans he then bade peyon heal him whereon peyon spread pain-killing herbs upon his wound and cured him for he was not a mortal mold as the juice of the fig tree curdles milk and thickens it in a moment though it is liquid even so instantly did peyon cure fierce mars then he be washed him and clothed him in goodly rain and he took his seat by his father joe all glorious to behold but juno of argos and manurva avalalkomin now that they had put a stop to the murderous doings of mars went back again to the house of joe end of book five this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information want to volunteer visit libra vox.org recorded by kirsten ferrari the iliott by homer translated by samuel butler book six locus and diamid the story of bellarophone hector and andromica the fight between trojans and akeans was now left to rage as it would and the tide of war surged hither and nither over the plane as they aimed their bronze shot spears at one another between the streams of simoas and xanthus first ajax son of telemon tower of strength to the akeans broke a phalanx of the trojans and came to the assistance of his comrades by killing a camis son of usaurus the best man among the thracians being both brave and of great stature the spear struck the projecting peak of his helmet its bronze point then went through his forehead into the brain and darkness failed his eyes then diamid killed exilis son of tuthranus a rich man who lived in the strong city of erisby and was beloved by all men for he had a house by the roadside and entertained everyone who passed how be it not one of his guests stood before him to save his life and diamid killed both him and his squire calesius who was then his charioteer so the pair passed beneath the earth uriolus killed jresus and afeltius and then went in pursuit of asipus and pettisus whom the night nymph abarbarae had born to noble bucolion bucolion was eldest son to laudamen but he was a bastard while tending his sheep he had converse with the nymph and she conceived twin sons these the son of mesistius now slew and he stripped the armor from their shoulders polypoeties then killed a stylus ulysses pedaites of percoti and two sir aritan ableris fell by the spear of nestor's son antillicus and agamemnon king of men killed elatus who dwelt in pettisus by the banks of the river satanoius latus killed phylacus as he was flying and urupilus slew melanthus then menelaus of the loud war cry took adrestus alive for his horses ran into a tamarisk bush as they were flying wildly over the plane and broke the pole from the car they went on towards the city along with the others in full flight but adrestus rolled out and fell in the dust flat on his face by the wheel of his chariot menelaus came up to him spear in hand but adrestus caught him by the knees begging for his life take me alive he cried son of atreus and you shall have a full ransom for me my father is rich and has much treasure of gold bronze and wrought iron laid by in his house from this store he will give you a large ransom should he hear of my being alive and at the ships of the acheans thus did he plead and menelaus was for yielding and giving him to a squire to take to the ships of the acheans but agamemnon came running up to him and rebuked him my good menelaus said he this is no time for giving quarter has then your house fared so well at the hands of the trojans let us not spare a single one of them not even the child unborn and in its mother's womb let not a man of them be left alive but let all in ilius perish unheeded and forgotten thus did he speak and his brother was persuaded by him for his words were just menelaus therefore thrust adrestus from him where unking agamemnon struck him in the flank and he fell then the son of atrius planted his foot upon the breast to draw his spear from the body meanwhile nester shouted to the our guy of saying my friends danaean warriors servants of mars let no man lag that he may spoil the dead and bring back much booty to the ships let us kill as many as we can the bodies will lie upon the plain and you can despoil them later at your leisure with these words he put heart and soul into them all and now the trojans would have been routed and driven back into ilius had not priam's son helanus wisest of augurs said to hector and danaeus hector and danaeus you two are the mainstays of the trojans and lysians for you are foremost at all times alike in fight and counsel hold your ground here and go about among the host to rally them in front of the gates where they will fling themselves into the arms of their wives to the great joy of our foes then when you have put heart into all our companies we will stand firm here and fight the danaeans however hard they press us for there is nothing else to be meanwhile do you hector go to the city and tell our mother what is happening tell her to bid the matrons gather at the temple of manurva in the acropolis let her then take her key and open the doors of the sacred building there upon the knees of manurva let her lay the largest fairest robe she has in her house the one she sets most store by let her moreover promise to sacrifice twelve yearling heifers that have never yet felt the goat in the temple of the goddess if she will take pity on the town with the wives and little ones of the trojans and keep the son of tydeus from falling on the goodly city of ileus for he fights with fury and fills men's souls with panic i hold him mightiest of them all we did not fear even their great champion achilles son of a goddess though he be as we do this man his rage is beyond all bounds and there is none can buy with him in prowess hector did as his brother bait him he sprang from his chariot and went about everywhere among the host brandishing his spears urging the men on to fight and raising the dread cry of battle thereon they rallied and again faced the acaians who gave ground and ceased their murderous onset for they deemed that some one of the immortals had come down from starry heaven to help the trojans so strangely had they rallied and hector shouted to the trojans trojans and allies be men my friends and fight with might and main while i go to ileus and tell the old men of our council and our wives to pray to the gods and vow hecatums in their honor with this he went his way and the black rim of hide that went round his shield beat against his neck and his ankles then glocus son of hipolicus and the son of tydeus went into the open space between the hosts to fight in single combat when they were close up to one another diamede of the loud war cry was the first to speak whom i could sir said he who are you among men i have never seen you in battle until now but you are daring beyond all others if you abide my onset woe to those fathers whose sons face my might if however you are one of the immortals and have come down from heaven i will not fight you for even valiant like urgus son of dryus did not live long when he took to fighting with the gods he it was drove the nursing women who were in charge of frenzied back us through the land of nisa and they flung their thyrsie on the ground as murderous like urgus beat them with his ox goat back us himself plunged terror stricken into the sea and fetus took him to her bosom to comfort him for he was scared by the fury with which the man reviled him there on the gods who levities were angry with like urgus and the son of saturn struck him blind nor did he live much longer after he had become hateful to the immortals therefore i will not fight with the blessed gods but if you are of them that eat the fruit of the ground draw near and meet your doom and the son of hypolycus answered son of tydeus why ask me of my lineage men come and go as leaves year by year upon the trees those of autumn the wind sheds upon the ground but when spring returns the forest butts forth with fresh vines even so is it with the generations of mankind the news spring up as the old are passing away if then you would learn my descent it is one that is well known to many there is a city in the heart of argos pastureland of horses called ifira where sisyphus lived who is the craftiest of all mankind he was the son of ailus and had a son named glaucus who was fathered to bolerophon whom heaven endowed with the most surpassing comeliness and beauty but protus devised his ruin and being stronger than he drove him from the land of the archives over which joe had made him ruler for anthea wife of protus lusted after him and would have had him lie with her in secret but bolerophon was an honorable man and would not so she told lies about him to protus protus said she killed bolerophon or die for he would have had converse with me against my will the king was angered but shrank from killing bolerophon so he sent him to licea with lying letters of introduction written on a folded tablet and containing much ill against the bearer he bade bolerophon show these letters to his father-in-law to the end that he might thus perish bolerophon therefore went to licea and the gods conveyed him safely when he reached the rivers anthus which is in licea the king received him with all good will feasted him nine days and killed nine heifers in his honor but when rosy fingered mourn appeared upon the tenth day he questioned him and desired to see the letter from his son-in-law protus when he had received the wicked letter he first commanded bolerophon to kill that savage monster the chimera who was not a human being but a goddess for she had the head of a lion and the tail of a serpent while her body was out of a goat then she breathed forth flames of fire but bolerophon slew her for he was guided by signs from heaven he next fought the far famed soly me and this he said was the hardest of all his battles thirdly he killed the amazons women who were the peers of men and as he was returning thence the king devised yet another plan for his destruction he picked the bravest warriors in all licea and placed them in ambuscade but not a man ever came back for bolerophon killed every one of them then the king knew that he must be the valiant offspring of a god so he kept him in licea gave him his daughter in marriage and made him of equal honor in the kingdom with himself and the liceans gave him a piece of land the best in all the country fair with vineyards and tilled fields to have and to hold the king's daughter bore bolerophon three children isander Hippolychus and laodonia the lord of council lay with laodonia and she bore him noble sarpedon but when bolerophon came to be hated by all the gods he wandered all desolate and dismayed upon the alien plane gnawing at his own heart and shunning the path of men mars in satiate of battle killed his son isander while he was fighting the solemn he his daughter was killed by diana of the golden reins for she was angered with her but Hippolychus was father to myself and when he sent me to Troy he urged me again and again to fight ever among the foremost and out by my peers so as not to shame the blood of my fathers who were the noblest in Ifira and in all licea this then is the descent I claim thus did he speak and the heart of diamid was glad he planted his spear in the ground and spoke to him with friendly words then he said you are an old friend of my father's house great aneus once entertained bolerophon for twenty days and the two exchanged presents aneus gave a belt rich with purple and bolerophon a double cup which I left at home when I sent out for Troy I do not remember tydeus for he was taken from us while I was yet a child when the army of the acans was cut to pieces before thieves henceforth however I must be your host in middle argos and you mine in licea if I should ever go there let us avoid one another's spears even during a general engagement there are many noble trojans and allies whom I can kill if I overtake them and heaven delivers them into my hand so again with yourself there many acans whose lives you may take if you can we too then will exchange armor that all present may know of the old ties that subsist between us with these words they sprang from their chariots grasped one another's hands and plighted friendship but the son of Saturn made Glaucas take leave of his wit for he exchanged golden armor for bronze the worth of a hundred head of cattle for the worth of nine now when hector reached the scam gates and the oak tree the wives and daughters of the trojans came running towards him to ask after their sons brothers kinsmen and husbands he told them to set about praying to the gods and many were made sorrowful as they heard him presently he reached the splendid palace of king priam adorned with colonnades of hewn stone in it there were fifty bed chambers all of hewn stone built near one another where the sons of priam slept each with his wedded wife opposite these on the other side of the courtyard there were 12 upper rooms also of hewn stone for priam's daughters built near one another where his sons-in-law slept with their wives when hector got there his fond mother came to him with lout to see the fairest of her daughters she took his hand within her own and said my son why have you left the battle to come hither are the achaeans woe betide them pressing you hard about the city that you have thought fit to come and uplift your hands to jove from the citadel wait till i can bring you wine that you may make offering to jove into the other immortals and may then drink and be refreshed wine gives a man fresh strength when he is wearied as you now are with fighting on behalf of your kinsmen and hector answered honored mother bring no wine lest you unmand me and i forget my strength i dare not make a drink offering to jove with unwashed hands one who is bespattered with blood and filth may not pray to the son of satan get the matrons together and go with offerings to the temple of minerva driver of the spoil there upon the knees of minerva lay the largest and fairest robe you have in your house the one you set most store by promise moreover to sacrifice twelve yearling heifers that have never yet felt the goat in the temple of the goddess if she will take pity on the town with the wives and little ones of the trojans and keep the son of taideis from off the goodly city of ilias where he fights with fury and fills men's souls with panic go then to the temple of minerva while i seek Paris and exhort him if he will hear my words would that the earth might open her jaws and swallow him for jove bred him to be the bane of the trojans and of premium and premium sons could i but see him go down into the house of hades my heart would forget its heaviness his mother went into the house and called her waiting women who gathered the matrons throughout the city she then went down into her fragrant storeroom where her embroidered robes were kept the work of Sidonian women whom alexandris had brought over from Sidon when he sailed the seas upon that voyage during which he carried off Helen Huckuba took out the largest robe and the one that was most beautifully enriched with embroidery as an offering to minerva it glittered like a star and lay at the very bottom of the chest with this she went on her way and many matrons with her when they reached the temple of minerva lovely theano daughter of sasaus and wife of antinort opened the doors for the trojans had made her priestess of minerva the women lifted up their hands to the goddess with a loud cry and theano took the robe to lay it upon the knees of minerva praying the while to the daughter of great jove holy minerva she cried protect us of our city mighty goddess break the spear of diamide and lay him low before the skein gates do this and we will sacrifice twelve heifers that have never yet known the goat in your temple if you will have pity upon the town with the wives and the little ones of the trojans thus she prayed but palace minerva granted not her prayer while they were thus praying to the daughter of great jove hector went to the fair house of alexander's which he had built for him by the foremost builders in the land they had built him his house storehouse and courtyard near those of priam and hector on the acropolis here hector entered with a spear eleven cubits long in his hand the bronze point gleamed in front of him and was fastened to the shaft of the spear by a ring of gold he found alexander's within the house busy about his armor his shield and cures and handling his curved bow there too sat our guy felon with her women setting them their several tasks and as hector saw him he rebuked him with words of scorn sir said he you do ill to nurse this rancor the people perish fighting round this our town you would yourself child one whom you saw shirking his part in the combat up then or ere long the city will be in a blaze and alexander's answered hector your rebuke is just listen therefore and believe me when I tell you that I am not here so much through rancor or ill will towards the Trojans as from a desire to indulge my grief my wife was even now gently urging me to battle and I hold it better than I should go for victory is ever fickle wait then while I put on my armor or go first and I will follow I shall be sure to ever take you hector made no answer but Helen tried to soothe him brother said she to my abhorred and sinful self would that a whirlwind had caught me up on the day my brother brought me forth and had borne me to some mountain or to the waves of the roaring sea that should have swept me away ere this mischief had come about but since the gods have devised these evils would at any rate that I had been wife to a better man to one who could smart under dishonour and men's evil speeches this fellow was never yet to be depended upon nor never will be and he will surely reap what he has sown still brother come in and rest upon this seat for it is you who bear the brunt of that toil that has been caused by my hateful self and by the sin of alexander's both of whom jove has doomed to be a theme of song among those that shall be born hereafter and hector answered it may not be seated Helen for all the good will you bear me I cannot stay I am in haste to help the Trojans who miss me greatly when I am not among them but urge your husband and of his own self also let him make haste to overtake me before I'm out of the city I must go home to see my household my wife and my little son for I know not whether I shall ever again return to them or whether the gods will cause me to fall by the hands of the Achaeans then hector left her and forthwith was at his own house he did not find Andromaca for she was on the wall with her child and one of her maids weeping bitterly seeing them that she was not within he stood on the threshold of the women's rooms and said women tell me and tell me true where did Andromaca go when she left the house was it to my sisters or to my brother's wives or is she at the temple of Minerva where the other women are propitiating that awful goddess his good housekeeper answered Hector since you bid me tell you truly she did not go to your sisters nor to your brother's wives nor yet to the temple of Minerva where the other women are propitiating the awful goddess but she is on the high wall of Ilias for she had heard the Trojans were being hard pressed and that the Achaeans were in great force she went to the wall in frenzied haste and the nurse went with her carrying the child Hector hurried from the house when she had done speaking and went down the streets by the same way that he had come when he had gone through the city and had reached the scan gates through which he would go out on to the plane his wife came running toward him Andromaca daughter of great Etion who ruled in Thebes under the wooded slopes of Mount Placus and was king of the Sicilians his daughter had married Hector and now came to meet him with a nurse who carried his little child in her bosom a mere babe Hector's darling son and lovely as a star Hector had named him Scamandrias but the people called him Asteionics for his father stood alone as chief guardian of Ilias Hector smiled as he looked upon the boy but did not speak and Andromaca stood beside him weeping and taking his hand in her own Dear husband said she your valor will bring you to destruction think on your infant son and on my hapless self who ere long shall be your widow where the Achaens will set upon you in a body and kill you it would be better for me should I lose you to lie dead and buried for I shall have nothing left to comfort me when you are gone save only sorrow I have neither father nor mother now Achilles slew my father when he sacked Thebes the goodly city of the Sicilians he slew him but did not for very shame to spoil him when he had burned him in his wondrous armor he raised a barrow over his ashes and the mountain nymphs daughters of ages bearing Jove planted a grove of elms about his tomb I had seven brothers in my father's house but on the same day they all went within the house of Hades Achilles killed them as they were with their sheep and cattle my mother her who had been queen of all the land under Mount Bacchus he brought hither with the spoil and freed her for a great sum but the archer queen Diana took her in the house of your father nay Hector you who to me our father mother brother and dear husband have mercy upon me stay here upon this while make not your child fatherless and your wife a widow as for the host place them near the fig tree where the city can be best scaled and the wall is weakest Rice had the bravest of them come thither and assailed it under the two Ajaxes Idomenius the sons of Atreus and the brave son of Tideus either of their own bidding or because some soothsayer had told them and Hector answered wife I too have thought on all this but with what face should I look upon the Trojans men or women if I shirked battle like a coward I cannot do so I know nothing safe to fight bravely in the forefront of the Trojan host and when renowned unlike for my father and myself well do I know that the day will surely come when mighty Ilias shall be destroyed with Priam and Priam's people but I grieve for none of these not even for Hecuba nor King Priam nor for my brothers many and brave who may fall in the dust before their foes for none of these do I grieve as for yourself when the day shall come on which one of the Achaeans shall rob you forever of your freedom and bear you weeping away it may be that you will have to ply the loom in Argos at the bidding of a mistress or to fetch water from the springs Maceus or Hyperia treated brutally by some cruel task master then will one say who sees you weeping she was wife to Hector the bravest warrior among the Trojans during the war before Ilias on this your tears will break forth anew for him who would have put away the day of captivity for you may I lie dead under the barrow that has heaped over my body and I hear you cry as they carry you into bondage he stretched his arms toward his child but the boy cried and nestled in his nurse's bosom scared at the sight of his father's armor and at the horsehair bloom that nodded fiercely from his helmet his father and mother laughed to see him but Hector took the helmet from his head and laid it all gleaming upon the ground then he took his darling child kissed him and dandled him in his arms praying over him the wild to Jove and to all the gods Jove he cried grant that this my child may be even as myself chief among the Trojans let him be not less excellent in strength and let him rule Ilias with his might then may one say of him as he comes back from battle the son is far better than the father may he bring back the bloodstained spoils of him he has laid low and let his mother's heart be glad with this he laid the child again in the arms of his wife who took him to her own soft bosom smiling through her tears as her husband watched her his heart yearned towards her and he caressed her fondly saying my own wife do not take these things too bitterly to heart no one can hurry me down to Hades before my time but if a man's hour has come be he brave or be he coward there is no escape for him when he has once been born go then within the house and busy yourself with your daily duties your loom your distaff and the ordering of your servants for war is man's matter and mine above all others of them that have been born in Ilias he took his plumed helmet from the ground and his wife went back again to her house weeping bitterly and often looking back towards him when she reached her home she found her maidens within and bade them all joined her in her lament so they mourned Hector in his own house so he was yet alive where they deemed that they should never see him return safe from battle and from the furious hands of the Achaeans Paris did not remain long in his house he donned his goodly armor overlaid with bronze and hastened through the city as fast as his feet could take him as a horse stabled and fed breaks loose and gallops gloriously over the plain to the place where he is want to bathe in the fair flowing river he holds his head high and his main streams upon his shoulders as he exalts in his strength and flies like the wind to the haunts and feeding ground of mayors even so went forth Paris from high Pergamus gleaming like sunlight in his armor and he laughed aloud as he spent swiftly on his way forthwith he came upon his brother Hector who was then turning away from the place where he had held converse with his wife and he was himself the first to speak sir said he I fear that I have kept you waiting when you are in haste and have not come as quickly as you bade me my good brother answered Hector you fight bravely and no man with any justice can make light of your doings in battle but you are careless and willfully remiss it grieves me to the heart to hear the ill that the Trojans speak about you where they have suffered much on your account let us be going and we will make things right here after should joe vouchsafe us to set the cup of our deliverance before ever living gods of heaven in our own homes when we have chased the Achaeans from Troy end of book six book seven of the aliyah this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Hector and HX fight Hector is getting worsted when night comes on and parts them they exchange presents the burial of the dead and the building of the wall around their ships by the Achaeans the Achaeans by their wine of Agamemnon and Menelaus with these words Hector passed through the gates and his brother Alexandros with him both eager for the fray as one heaven sends a breeze to sailors who have long looked for one in vain and have labored at their oars till they are faint with toil even so welcome was the sight of these two heroes to the Trojans there on Alexandros killed Manusthias the son of Arithos he lived in Arnae and was the son of Arithos the mace man and of Philo Medusa Hector threw a spear at Oynius and struck him dead with a wound in the neck under the bronze room of his helmet Glaucus moreover son of Hippolocus captain of the Lyceans in hard hand to hand fight smote Ifinus son of Dexias on the shoulder as he was spring onto his chariot behind his fleet mares so he fell to the earth from the car and there was no life left in him when therefore Minerva saw these men making havoc of the Argyves she darted down to Ilius from the summit of Olympus and Apollo who was looking on from Pergamus went out to meet her for he wanted the Trojans to be victorious the pair met by the oak tree and King Apollo son of Jov was first to speak what would you have he said daughter of great Jov that your proud spirit has sent you hither from Olympus have you no pity upon the Trojans and would you incline the scales of victory in favor of the Danans let me persuade you for it will be better thus stay the combat for today but let them renew the fight here after till they compass the doom of Ilius since you goddess have made up your mind to destroy the city and Minerva answered so be it far darter it was in this mind that I came down from Olympus to the Trojans and Achaeans tell me then how do you propose to end this present fighting Apollo son of Jov replied let us incite great Hector to challenge one of the Danans in single combat on this the Achaeans will be shamed into finding a man who will fight him Minerva assented and Hellenus son of Priam to find the council of the gods he therefore went up to Hector and said Hector son of Priam here of gods in council I am your brother let me then persuade you fit the other Trojans and Achaeans all of them take their seats and challenge the best man among the Achaeans to meet you in single combat I've heard the voice of the ever living gods and the hour of your doom is not yet come Hector was glad when he heard this saying and went in among the Trojans grasping his spear in the middle to hold them back and they all sat down Agamemnon also bad the Achaeans be seated but Minerva and Apollo in the likeness of vultures perched on Father Jov's high oak tree proud of their man and the ranks sat close ranged together bristling with shield and helmet and spear as when the rising west wind furs the face of the sea and the waters grow dark beneath it so sat the companies of Trojans and Achaeans upon the plane and Hector spoke thus hear me Trojans and Achaeans that I may speak even as I am minded Jov on his high throne has brought our oaths and covenants to nothing and foreshadows ill for both of us till you either take the towers of Troy or are yourselves vanquished at your ships the princess of the Achaeans are here present in the midst of you let him then that will fight me stand forward as your champion against Hector thus I say and may Jov be witness between us if your champion slay me let him strip me of my armor and take it to your ships but let him send my body home that the Trojans and their wives may give me my dues of fire when I am dead in like manner if Apollo Verge save me glory and I slay your champion I will strip him of his armor and I will take it to the city of Ilias where I will hang it in the temple of Apollo but I will give up his body that the Achaeans may bury him at their ships and build him a mound by the wide waters of the helis pond then we'll one say here after as he sails his ship over the sea this is the monument of one who died long since a champion who was slayed by mighty Hector thus will one say and my fame shall not be lost thus did he speak but they all held their peace a shame to decline the challenge yet fearing to accept it till at last Manilaus rose and rebuked them for he was angry alas he cried vain braggarts woman forsooth not man that will died indeed will be the stain upon us if no man of the denons will now face Hector may you be turned every man of you into earth and water as you sit spiritless and inglorious in your places I will myself go out against this man but the upshot of the fight will be from on high in the hands of the immortal gods with these words he put on his armor and then oh Manilaus your life would have come to an end at the hands of Hector for he was a far better man had not the princes of the Achaean sprung upon you and checked you King Agamemnon caught him by the right hand and said Manilaus you are mad a truce to this is folly be patient in spite of passion do not think of fighting a man so much stronger than yourself as Hector son of prime who is feared by many another as well as you even Achilles who's far more doubty than you are shrank for meeting him in battle sit down your own people and the Achaeans will send some other champion to fight Hector fearless and fond of battle though he be I wean his when he's will bend gladly under him if he comes out alive from the hurly burly of this fight with these words of reasonable counsel he persuaded his brother where on his spires gladly stripped the armor from off his shoulders then Nestor rose and spoke of a truth he said the Achaean land is fallen upon evil times the old knight Palaeus counselor in order to are among the mermidons loved when I was in his house to question me concerning the race and lineage of all the argives how would it not grieve him could he hear of them now is quailing before Hector any time would he lift his hands in prayer that his soul might leave his body and go down within the house of Hades would by Father Joe of Minerva and Apollo that I was still young and strong as when the Pyleans and Arcadians were gathered in fight by the rapid river Caledon under the walls of Fia and around about the waters of the river Yardinus the god like hero Ariothalion stood forward as their champion with the armor of King Ariothos upon his shoulders Ariothos who men and women surnamed the mace man because he fought neither with bow nor spear but broke the battalions of the foe with his iron mace Lycurgus killed him not in fair fight but by entrapping him in a narrow way where his mace served him in no stead for Lycurgus was too quick for him and speared him through the middle so he fell to earth on his back Lycurgus then spoiled him of the armor which Mars had given him and bore it in battle thence forward but when he grew old and stayed at home he gave it to his faithful squire Ariothalion who in the same armor challenged the foremost man among us but my high spirit made me fight him though none other would venture I was the youngest man of them all but when I fought him Minerva Veg saved me victory he was the biggest and strongest man I ever killed and conquered much ground as he laid sprawled upon the earth with that I was still young and strong as I was then for the son of Priam would then soon find one who would face him foremost among the whole host though you be have none of you any stomach for fighting Hector thus did the old man rebuke them and forthwith nine men started to their feet for most of all uproads king Agamemnon and after him brave dyamed the son of Tidius next were the two age axes man clothed in valor as with a garment and then Idomenius and Mirionys his brother in arms after these eerie pilus son of Oymon the last son of Andrei Amon and Ulysses also rose then nester night of Jarennae again spoke saying cast lots among you to see who will be chosen if he comes alive out of this fight he will have done good service elect to his own soul into the Achaeans thus he spoke and when each of them had marked his lot and had thrown it into the helmet of Agamemnon son of Atreus the people lifted their hands in prayer and thus would one of them say as he looked into the vault of heaven father Jov granted the lot fall on age axe or on the son of Tidius or upon the king of rich Mycenae himself as they were speaking nester night of Jarennae shook the helmet and from it there fell the very lot which they wanted the lot of age axe the herald borrowed about and showed it to all the chief dens of the Achaeans going from left to right but they none of them owned it when however in due course he reached the man who had written upon it and had put it into the helmet the brave age axe held out his hand and the herald gave him the lot when age axe saw his mark he knew it and was glad he threw it to the ground and said my friends the lot is mine and I rejoice for I shall vanquish Hector I will put on my armor meanwhile pray to King Jov in silence among yourselves that the Trojans may not hear you or loud if you will for we fear no man none shall overcome me neither by force nor cunning for I was born and bred in Salamis and can hold my own in all things with this they fell praying to King Jov the son of Saturn and thus would one of them say as he looked into the vault of heaven Father Jov the rulers from Ida most glorious in power vouchsave victory to age axe and let him win great glory but if you wish well to Hector also and would protect him grant to each of them equal fame and prowess thus they prayed and age axe armed himself in his suit of cleaning bronze when he was in full array he sprang forward as monstrous Mars when he takes part among men whom Jov is set fighting with one another even so did huge age axe bulwark of the Achaeans spring forward with a grim smile on his face as he brandished his long spear and strode onward the argives were elated as they beheld him but the Trojans trembled in every limb and the heart even of Hector beat quickly but he could not now retreat and withdraw into the ranks behind him for he had been the challenger age axe came up bearing his shield in front of him like a wall a shield of bronze with seven folds of oxide the work of taekyus who lived in high lay and was by far the best worker in leather he had made it with the hides of seven full fed bulls and over these he had set an eighth layer of bronze holding his shield before him age axe son of Telemon came close up to Hector and menaced him saying Hector you shall now learn man to man what kind of champions the Danons have among them even besides the lionhearted Achilles cleaver of the ranks of men he now abides at the ships in anger with Agamemnon shepherd of his people but there are many of us who are well able to face you therefore begin the fight and Hector answered noble age axe son of Telemon captain of the host treat me not as though i were some puny boy or woman that cannot fight i have long been used to the blood and butcheries of battle i'm quick to turn my leather shield either to the right or left for this i deem the main thing in battle i can charge among the chariots and horsemen and in hand to hand fighting can delight the heart of mars albeit i would not take such a man as you off his guard but i will smite you openly if i can he poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it from him it struck the seven fold shield in its outermost layer the eighth which was a bronze and went through six of the layers but in the seventh hide it stayed then age axe through his intern and struck the round shield of the son of Priam the terrible spear went through his gleaming shield and pressed onward through his queer ass of coming workmanship it pierced the shirt against his side but he swerved and thus saved his life they then each of them drew out the spear from his shield and fell on one another like savage lions or wild boars of great strength and endurance the son of Priam struck the middle of age axe's shield but the bronze did not break and the point of his dart was turned age axe then sprang forward and pierced the shield of hector the spear went through it and staggered him as he sprang forward to attack it gashed his neck and the blood came pouring out from the wound but even so hector did not cease fighting he gave ground and with his brawny hand seized his stone rugged and huge that was lying upon the plane with this he struck the shield of age axe on the boss that was in the middle so that the bronze rang again but age axe in his turn caught up a far larger stone swung it aloft and hurled it with prodigious force this millstone of a rock broke hector's shield inwards and threw him down on his back the shield crushing him under it but apollo raised him at once thereon they would have hacked at one another in close combat with their sword had not the heralds messengers of the gods and men come forward one from the trojans and the other from neokeans talthebius and aidaeus both of the honorable men these parted them with their stabs and the good herald aidaeus said my sons fight no longer you are both of you valiance and both are dear to joe we know this but night is falling and the behest of night may not be well gained said age axe son of talomon answered aidaeus bid hector say so for it was he that challenged our princes let him speak first and I will accept his saying then hector said age axe heaven has vegged to you stature and strength and judgment and in wielding the spear you excel all others the achaeans let us for this day cease fighting hereafter we will fight anew till heaven decide between us and give victory to one or the other night is now falling and the behest of night may not be well gained said gladden then the hearts of the achaeans at your ships and more especially those of your own followers and clansmen while I in the great city of king prime bring comfort to the trojans and their women who vie with one another in their prayers on my behalf let us moreover exchange presents that it may be said among the achaeans and the trojans they fought with might and main but were reconciled and parted in friendship on this he gave age axe a silver studded sword with its sheath and leather balderic and in return age axe gave him a girdle died with purple thus they parted and one going to the host of the achaeans and the other to that of the trojans who rejoiced when they saw their hero come to them safe and unharmed from the strong hands of the mighty age axe they let him therefore to the city as one who had been saved beyond their hopes on the other side the achaeans brought age axe elated with victory to agamemnon when they reached the quarters of the son of atreus agamemnon sacrificed for them a five-year-old bull in honor of joe the son of saturn they fled his carcass made it ready and divided it into joints these they cut carefully into smaller pieces putting them on the spits roasting them sufficiently and then drawing them off when they had done all this and had prepared the feast they ate it and every man had his full and equal share so that they were satisfied and king agamemnon gave age axe some slices cut lengthways down the loin as a mark of special honor as soon as they had had had enough to eat and drink old nester whose council was ever truest began to speak with all sincerity and goodwill therefore he addressed them thus son of atreus and other chieftains in as much as many of the achaeans are now dead whose blood mars has shed by the banks of the skamander and their souls have gone down to the house of hades it will be well when morning comes that we should cease fighting we will then wheel our dead together with oxen and mules and burn them not far from the ships that when we sail hence we may take the bones of our comrades home to their children hard by the funeral pier we will build a barrow that shall be raised from the plain for all in common near this let us set about building a high wall to shelter ourselves and our ships and let it have well-made gates that there may be a way through them for our chariots close outside we will dig a deep trench all around it to keep off both horse and foot that the trojan chieftains may not bear hard upon us thus he spoke and the princes shouted in a pause meanwhile the trojans held a council angry and full of discord on the acropolis by the gates of king priam's palace and why is antonore spoke hear me he said trojans and dardanians and allies that i may speak even as i am minded let us give up our give helen and her wealth to the sons of atreus for we are now fighting in violation of our solemn covenants and shall not prosper till we have done as i said he then sat down and alexandris husband of the lovely helen rose to speak antonore he said your words are not to my liking you can find a better saying than this if you will if however you have spoken in good earnest then indeed has happened robbed you of your reason i will speak plainly and hereby notified to the trojans that i will not give up the woman for the wealth that i brought home with her from argos i will restore and i will add yet further of my own on this when paris had spoken and taken his seat prime of the race of darkness peer of the gods and council rose and with all sincerity and good will address them thus hear me trojans dardanians and allies that i may speak even as i am minded get your suppers now as hitherto throughout the city but keep your watches and be wakeful at daybreak let ideus go to the ships and tell agamemnon and menelaus sons of atreus the saying of alexandris through whom the squirrel has come about and let him also be instant with them that they now cease fighting till we burn our dead hereafter we will fight anew till heaven decide between us and give victory to one or the other thus did he speak and they did even what he said they took their supper in their companies and at daybreak ideus went his way to the ships he found the denians servants of mars in council at the stern of agamnon ship and took his place in the midst of them sons of atreus he said and princes of the achian host priam and the other trojans have sent me to tell you of the sayings of alexandris through whom the squirrel has come about if so be that you may find it acceptable all the treasure he took with him in his ships to troi would be he had sooner perished he will restore and will add yet further of his own but he will not give up the wedded wife of menelaus though the trojans would have him do so priam bed me inquire further if you will cease fighting till we burn our dead hereafter we will fight anew till heaven decide between us and give victory to one or to the other they all held their peace but presently diamant of the lad war cry saying let there be no taking neither treasure nor yet hellen for even a child may see that the doom of the trojans is at hand the sons of the achians shouted their applause at the words that diamant had spoken and there on agamnon said to ideus ideus you have heard the answer the achians make you and i with them but as concerning the dead i give you leave to bury them for when men are once dead there should be no grudging them the rites of fire let joe the mighty husband of juno be witness to this covenant as he spoke he upheld deceptor in the side of the gods and ideus went back to his strong city of ilias the trojans and dardanians were gathering in council waiting his return when he came he stood in their midst and delivered his message as soon as they heard it they said about their twofold labor some gathering corpses others bringing wood the argues on their part also hastened from their ships some to gather corpses and others to bring in wood the sun was beginning to beat upon the field fresh risen into the vault of heaven from the slow still currents of deep oceanics when the two armies met they could hardly recognize their dead but they washed the cotted gore from off them shed tears over them and lifted them upon their wagons priam had forbidden the trojans to wail aloud so they heaped their dead sadly and silently upon the pyre and having burned them went back to the city of ilias the achians in like manner heaped their dead sadly and silently on the pyre and having burned them went back to their ships now in the twilight when it was not yet dawn chosen bands of the achians were gathering around the pyre and built one barrow that was raised in common for all and hard by this they built a high wall to shelter themselves in their ships they gave it strong gates that there might be a way through them for their chariots and close outside it they dug a trench deep and wide and they planted it within with stakes thus did the achians toil and the gods seated by the side of joe for the lord of lightning marveled at their great work but nettoon lord of the earthquake spoke saying father joe what mortal in the whole world will again take the gods into his council see you not how the achians have built a wall about their ships and driven a trench around it without offering hectic tomes for the gods the fame of this wall will reach as far as dawn itself and men will no longer think anything of the one which feebus apollo and myself built with so much labor for leomon joe was displeased and answered what oh shaker of the earth are you talking about a god less powerful than yourself might be alarmed at what they are doing but your fame reaches as far as dawn itself surely when the achians have gone home with their ships you can shatter their wall and fling it into the sea you can cover the beach with sand again and the great wall of the achians will then be utterly afaced thus did they converse and by sunset the work of the achians was complete they had slaughtered oxen in their tents and got their supper many ships had come with wine from lemnos sent by oinus the son of jason born to him by hip sapile the son of jason freighted them with 10 000 measures of wine which they sent especially to the sons of atreus agamemnon and menelaus from this supply the achians bought their wine some with bronze some with iron some with hides some with whole heifers and some again with captives they spread a goodly banquet and feasted the whole night through as also did the trojans and their allies in the city but all the time joe voted ill and roared with his portentous thunder hail fear got hold upon them and they spilled the wine from their cups onto the ground nor did any dare to drink till he had made offerings to the most mighty son of satyr then they laid themselves down to rest and enjoyed the boon of sleep and of book seven of the iliad book eight of the iliad this is a leverbox recording all leverbox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit leverbox.org this recording is by mark smith of simpsonville south carolina the iliad by homer book eight the victory of the trojans now in mourning clad in her robe of saffron had begun to suffuse light over the earth joe called the gods in council on the topmost crest of serrated ellipis then he smoke and all the other gods gave ear hear me said he gods and goddesses that i may speak even as i am minded let none of you neither goddess nor god try to cross me but obey me every one of you that i may bring this matter to an end if i see anyone acting apart and helping either trojans or denayans he shall be beaten inordinately ere he come back again to ellipis or i will hurl him down into the dark tartarist far into the deepest pit under the earth where the gates are iron and the floor bronze as far beneath hades as heaven is high above the earth that you may learn how much the mightiest i am among you try me and find out for yourself hangs me a golden chain from heaven and lay hold of it all of you gods and goddesses together tug as you will you will not drag joe the supreme counselor from heaven to earth but were i to pull at it myself i should draw you up with earth and see into the bargain then would i bind the chain about some pinnacle of olympus and leave you all dangling in the mid fergament so far am i above all others either of gods or men they were frightened and all of them held their peace for he had spoken masterfully but at last minerva answered father son of saturn king of kings we all know that your might is not to be gained said but we are also sorry for the denayan warriors who are perishing and coming to a bad end we will however since you so bit us refrain from actual fighting but we will make serviceable suggestions to the our guys that they may not all of them perish in your displeasure joe smiled at her and answered take heart my child trito born i am not really an earnest and i wish to be kind to you with this he yoked his fleet horses with hopes of bronze and names of glittering gold he girded himself also with gold about the body seized his gold whip and took his seat in his chariot thereon he lashed his horses and they flew forward nothing lost bitway tweaked earth and starry heaven after a while he reached many fountain dida mother of wild beasts and gargurus where are his grove and fragrant altar there the father of gods and men stayed his horses took them from the chariot and hid them in a thick cloud then he took his seat all glorious upon the topmost crests looking down upon the city of troi and the ships of the akeans the akeans took their morning meal hastily at the ships and afterwards put on their armor the trojans on the other hand likewise armed themselves throughout the city fewer in numbers but nevertheless eager perforce to do battle for their wives and children all the gates were flung wide open and horse and foot sallied forth with a trap as of a great multitude when they were got together in one place shield clashed with shield and spear with spear in the conflict of male clad men mighty was the din as the bust shields pressed hard on one another death cry and shout of triumph of slain and slayers and the earth ran red with blood now so long as the day waxed and it was still mourning their weapons beat against one another and the people fell but when the sun had reached mid heaven the sire of all balanced his golden scales and put two fates of death within them one for the trojans and the other for the akeans he took the balance by the middle and when he lifted it up the day of the akeans sank the death fraught scale of the akeans settled down upon the ground while that of the trojans rose heavenwards then he thundered aloud from ida and sent the glare of his lightning upon the akeans when they saw this pale fear fell upon them and they were sore afraid itomanias dare not stay nor yet agaman not nor did the two ajaxes servants of mars hold their ground nester night of jareen alone stood firm bulwark of the akeans not of his own will but one of his horses was disabled alexandris husband of lovely helen had hit it with an arrow just on the top of its head where the main begins to grow away from the skull a very deadly place the horse bounded in his anguish as the arrow pierced his brain and his struggles through others into confusion the old man immediately began cutting the traces with his sword but hector's fleet horses bore down upon him through the route with their bold charioteer even hector himself and the old man would have perished there and then had not diamad bitten quick to mark and with a loud cry called ulysses to help him ulysses he cried noble son of liertes where are you flying to with your back turned like a coward see that you are not struck with a spear between the shoulders stay here and help me to defend nester from this man's furious onset ulysses would not give ear but sped onward to the ships of the akeans and the son of titias flinging himself alone into the thick of the fight took his stand before the horses of the son of nilius sir said he these young warriors are pressing you hard your forces spent and age is heavy upon you your squire is not and your horses are slow to move mount my chariot and see what the horses of troess can do how cleverly they can scud hither and thither over the plane either in flight or in pursuit i took them from the hero anias let us squires attend to your own steeds but let us drive mine straight at the trojans that hector may learn how furiously i too can wield my spear nester night of jereen harken to his words there on the dowdy squires stenilis and kind-hearted uremadan saw to nester's horses while the two both mounted diameds chariot nester took the reins in his hands and lashed the horses on they were soon close up with hector and the son of titias aimed to spirit him as he was charging full speed towards them he missed him but struck his charioteer and squire any opious son of noble thibias in the breast by the nipple while the reins were in his hands so that he died there and then and the horses swerved as he fell headlong from the chariot hector was greatly grieved at the loss of his charioteer but let him lie for all his sorrow while he went in quest of another driver nor did his steeds have to go long without one for he presently found brave architalumus the son of ifetus and made him get up behind the horses giving the reins into his hand all had then been lost and no help for it for they would have been penned up in ileus like sheep had not the sire of gods and men been quick to mark and hurled a fiery flaming thunderbolt which fell just in front of diamead's horses with a flare of burning brimstone the horses were frightened and tried to back beneath the car while the reins dropped from nester's hands then he was afraid and said to diamead son of titias turn your horses in flight see you not that the hand of joe is against you today he vouchsafes victory to hector tomorrow if it so please him he will again grant it to ourselves no man however brave may thwart the purpose of joe for he is far stronger than any diamead answered all that you have said is true there is a grief however which pierces me to the very heart for hector will talk among the trojans and say the son of titias fled before me to the ships this is the vaught he will make and the earth then swallow me son of titias replied nester what mean you though hector say that you were a coward the trojans and ardentians will not believe him nor yet the wives of the mighty warriors whom you have laid low so saying he turned the horses back through the thick of the battle and with a cry that rent the air the trojans and hector reigned their darts after them hector shouted to him and said son of titias the denayans have done you honor hitherto as regard your place at table the meals they give you and the filling of your cup with wine henceforth they will despise you for you have become no better than a woman be off girl and coward that you are you shall not scale our walls through any flinching upon my part neither shall you carry off our wives in your ships for I shall kill you with my own hand the son of titias was in two minds whether or no to turn his horses round again and fight him thrice did he doubt and thrice did joe thunder from the height sabita entoken to the trojans that he would turn the battle in their favor hector then shouted to them and said trojans lyceans and dardanians lovers of close fighting be men my friends and fight with might and with main I see that joe is minded about safe victory and great glory to myself while he will deal destruction upon the denayans fools for having thought of building this weak and worthless wall it shall not stay my fury my horses will spring lightly over their trench and when I am out their ships forget not to bring me fire that I may burn them while I slaughter the archives who will be all dazed and bewildered by the smoke then he cried to his horses santhus and podargoth and you athon and goodly lampus pay me for your keep now and for all the honey sweet corn with which andromache daughter of great etion has fed you and for which she has mixed wine and water for you to drink whenever you would before doing so even for me who am her own husband haste in pursuit that we may take the shield of nester the fame of which ascends to heaven for it is of solid gold arm rods and all and that we may strip from the shoulders of diamet the queer ass which vulcan made him could we take these two things the achaeans would set sail in their ships this self-same night thus did he vaunt the queen juno made high olympus quake as she shook with rage upon her throne then said she to the mighty god of neptune what now wide ruling lord of the earthquake can you find no compassion in your heart for the dying denayans who bring you many a welcome offering to helis and to achae wish them well then if all of us who are with the denayans were to drive the trojans back and keep joe from helping them he would have to sit there sulking alone on ida king neptune was greatly troubled and answered juno rash of tongue what are you talking about we other gods must not set ourselves against joe for he is far stronger than we are thus did they converse but the whole space enclosed by the ditch from the ships even to the wall was filled with horses and warriors who were pent up there by hector son of priam now that the hand of joe was with him he could even have set fire to the ships and burn them had not queen juno put it into the mind of angamendon to bestir himself and to encourage the achaeans to this end he went round the ships in tents carrying a great purple cloak and took his stand by the huge black hall of ulysses ship which was middlemost of all it was from this place that his voice would carry farthest on the one hand towards the tents of ajax son of talamon and on the other towards those of achilles for these two heroes well assured of their own strength had valorously drawn up their ships at the two ends of the line from this spot then with a voice that could be heard afar he shouted to the denayans saying our guys shame on you cowardly creatures brave in semblance only where are now our vaunts that we should prove victorious the vaunts we made so vengloriously in lemnos when we ate the flesh of horned cattle and filled our mixing bowls to the brim you vowed that you would each of you stand against a hundred or two hundred men and now you prove no match even for one for hector who will be the air long setting our ships in a blaze father jove did you ever so ruin a great king and rob him so utterly of his greatness yet one to my sorrow i was coming hither i never let my ship pass your altars without offering the fat and thigh bones of heifers upon every one of them so eager was i to sack the city of troi about safe me then this prayer suffer us to escape at any rate with our lives and let not the akeans be so utterly vanquished by the trojans thus did he pray and father jove pitying his tears about safe tim that his people should live not die forthwith he sent them an eagle most unfailingly portentous of all birds with a young fawn in its talons the eagle dropped the fawn by the altar on which the akeans sacrificed to jove the lord of omens when therefore the people saw that the bird had come from jove they sprang more fiercely upon the trojans and fought more boldly there was no man of all the many denayans who could then boast that he had driven his horses over the trench and gone forth to fight sooner than the son of titius long before anyone else could do so he slew an armed warrior of the trojans agilist the son of fragman he had turned his horses in flight but the spear struck him in the back midway between his shoulders and went right through his chest and his armor rang rattling round him as he fell forward from his chariot after him came agamemnon and menelus sons of atreus the two ajaxes clothed in valor as with a garment he dominious on his companion and arms naryonis pier of murderous mars and euripolis the brave son of yueyamon ninth came toyser with his bow and took his place under cover of the shield of ajax son of telemon when ajax lifted his shield two sir would peer around and when he had hit anyone in the throng the man would fall dead then two sir would hide back to ajax as a child to its mother and again duck down under his shield which of the trojans did brave two sir first kill orselacus and then orminus and ophelestes dator chromius and godlike lecomphatis amopean son of polyamon and melanippus these in turn did he lay low upon the earth and king agamemnon was glad when he saw him making a habit of the trojans with his mighty bow he went up to him and said two sir man after my own heart son of telemon captain among the host shoot on and be it once the saving of the denayans and the glory of your father telemon who brought you up and took care of you in his own house when you were a child bastard though you were cover him with glory although he is far off i will promise and i will assuredly perform if ajax bearing jove and minerva grant me to sack the city of ilias you shall have the next best mead of honor after my own a tripod or two horses with their chariot or a woman who shall go up into your bed and two sir answered most noble son of atreus you need not urge me from the moment we began to drive them back to ilias i have never ceased so far as in me lies to look out for men whom i can shoot and kill i have shot eight barb shafts and all of them have been buried in the flesh of warlike youths but this mad dog i cannot hit as he spoke he aimed another arrow straight at hector for he was bent on hitting him nevertheless he missed him and the arrow hit crime's brave son gorgithion in the breast his mother fair castiniera lovely as a goddess had been married from asaimi and now he bowed his head as a garden poppy in full bloom when it is weighed down by showers and spring even thus heavy bowed his head beneath the weight of his helmet again he aimed at hector for he was longing to hit him and again his arrow missed for apollo turned it aside but he hit hector's brave charioteer arcatalamus in the breast by the nipple as he was driving furiously into the fight the horses were of decide as he fell headlong from the chariot and there was no life left in him hector was greatly grieved at the loss of his charioteer but for all his sorrow he let him lie where he fell and bade his brother sebreonis who was hard by take the reins sebreonis did as he had said hector thereon with a loud cry sprang from his chariot to the ground and seizing a great stone made straight for toyser with intent to kill him toyser had just taken an arrow from his quiver and had laid it upon the bow string but hector struck him with a jagged stone as he was taking aim and drawing the string to his shoulder he hit him just where the collarbone divides the neck from the chest a very deadly place and broke the sinew of his arms so that his wrist was less and the bow dropped from his hand as they fell forward on his knees ajax saw that his brother had fallen and running towards him bestowed him and shelled at him with a shield meanwhile his two trusty squires mesistius son of achius and alastor came up and bore him to the ships groaning in his great pain jove now again put heart into the trojans and they drove the akeans to their deep trench with hector in all his glory at their head as a hound grips a wild boar or lion in flank or buttock when he gives him chase and watches rarely for his wheeling even so did hector follow close upon the akeans ever killing the hindmost as they rushed panic-stricken onwards when they had fled to the set stakes and trench and many akeans had been laid low at the hands of the trojans they halted at their ships calling upon one another and praying every man instantly as they lifted up their hands to the gods but hector wheeled his horses this way and that his eyes glaring like those of gorgo or murderous mars you know when she saw them had pity upon them and it once said to manurva alas child of aegis bearing jove shall you and i take no more thought for the dying denayans though it be the last time we ever do so see how they perish and come to a bad end before the onset of but a single man hector the son of prime rages with intolerable fury and has already done great mischief manurva answered would indeed this fellow might die in his own land and fall by the hands of the akeans but my father jove is mad with spleen ever foiling me ever headstrong and unjust he forgets how often i saved his son when he was worn out by the labor's uristias had laid on him he would weep till his cry came up to heaven and then jove would send me down to help him if i had had the sense to foresee all this when uristias sent him to the house of hades to fetch the hellhound from arabus he would never have come back alive out of the deep waters of the river sticks and now jove hates me while he lets thetas have her way because she kissed his knees and took hold of his beard when she was begging him to do honor to achilles i shall know what to do next time he begins calling me his gray eye darling get her horses ready while i go within the house of aegis bearing jove and put on my armor we shall then find out whether prime son hector will be glad to meet us in the highways of battle or whether the trojans will glut hounds and vultures with the fat of their flesh as they be dead by the ships of the acaians thus did she speak and white armed juno daughter of great saturn obeyed her words she set about harnessing her gold bedisoned steeds while minerva daughter of aegis bearing jove flung her richly vesture made with her own hands on to the threshold of her father and donned the shirt of jove arming herself for battle then she stepped into her flaming chariot and grasped the spear so stout and sturdy and strong with which she quells the ranks of heroes who would have displeased her juno lashed her horses and the gates of heaven bellowed as they flew open of their own accord gates over which the hours preside in whose hands are heaven and olympus either to open the dense cloud that hides them or to close it through these the goddesses drove their obedient steeds but father jove when he saw them from ida was very angry and sent winged iris with a message to them go said he bleed iris turn them back and see that they do not come near me for if we come to fighting there will be mischief this is what i say and this is what i mean to do i will lame their horses for them i will hurl them from their chariot and will break it in pieces it will take them all ten years to heal the wounds my lightning shall inflict upon them my grey eyed daughter will then learn what quarreling with her father means i am less surprised and angry with judo for whatever i say she always contradicts me with this iris went her way fleet as the wind from the heights of ida to the lofty summits of lupus she met the goddesses at the outer gates of its many valleys and gave them her message what said she are you about are you mad the son of satan forbids going this is what he says and this is what he means to do he will lame your horses for you he will hurl you from your chariot and will break it in pieces it will take you all ten years to heal the wounds his lightning will inflict upon you that you may learn grey eyed goddess what quarreling with your father means he is less hurt and angry with judo for whatever he says she always contradicts him but you bold hussy will you really dare to raise your huge spear in defiance of joe with this she left them and judo said to minerva of a truth child of age aspiring joe i am not for fighting men's battles further in defiance of joe let them live or die as luck will have it and let joe meet out his judgments upon the trojans and denians according to his own pleasure she turned her speeds the hours presently on yoke them made them fast through their ambrosial majors and lean the chariot against the end wall of the courtyard the two goddesses then sat down upon their golden thrones amid the company of the other gods but they were very angry presently father joe drove his chariot to olympus and entered the assembly of gods the mighty lord of the earthquake unyoked his horses for him set the car upon its stand and threw a cloth over it joe then sat down upon his golden throne and olympus reeled beneath him minerva and judo sat alone apart from joe and neither spoke nor asked in questions but joe knew what they meant and said minerva and judo why are you so angry are you fatigued with killing so many of your dear friends the trojans be this as it may such as the might of my hands that all the gods and olympus cannot turn me you were both of you trembling all over or ever you saw the fight in its terrible doings i tell you therefore and it would have surely been i should have struck you with lightning and your chariots would never have brought you back again to olympus minerva and judo groaned in spirit as they sat side by side and brooded mischief for the trojans minerva sat silent without a word for she was in a furious passion and bitterly incensed against her father but judo could not contain herself and said what dread son of saturn are you talking about we know how great your power is nevertheless we have compassion upon the deneyan warriors who are perishing and coming to a bad end we will however since you so bid us refrain from actual fighting but we will make serviceable suggestions to the argives that they may not all of them perish in your displeasure and joe answered tomorrow morning judo if you choose to do so you will see the son of saturn destroying large numbers of the arg-guides for fierce hector shall not cease fighting till he has roused the son of pilius when they are fighting in dire straits at their ship's sterns about the body of patricklas like it or no this is how it is decreed for odd high care you may go to the lowest depths beneath earth and sea where eapodists and saturn dwell in lone tartarists with neither ray of light nor breath of wind to cheer them you may go on and on till you get there and i shall not care one wit for your displeasure you are the greatest vixen living jeno made him no answer the son's glorious orb now sank into oceanus and drew down night over the land sorry indeed where the trojans when light failed them but welcome and thrice prayed for did darkness fall upon the acheans then hector led the trojans back from the ships and held a council on the open space near the river where there was a spot clear of corpses they left their chariots and sat down on the ground to hear the speech he made them he grasped the spear eleven cubits long the bronze point of which gleamed in front of it while the ring rounded spearhead was of gold spear in hand he spoke hear me said he trojans dardanians and allies i deemed but now that i should destroy the ships and all the acheans with them ere i went back to ileus but darkness came on too soon it was this alone that saved them and their ships upon the seashore now therefore let us obey the behests of night and prepare our suppers take your horses out of their chariots and give them their feeds of corn then make speed to bring sheep and cattle from the city bring wine also and corn for your horses and gather much wood that from dark till dawn we may burn watchfires whose flare may reach to heaven for the acheans may try to fly beyond the sea by night and they must not embark scatheless and unmolested many a man among them must take a dart with him to nurse at home hit with spear or arrow as he is leaping on board his ship that others may fear to bring war and weeping upon the trojans moreover let the heralds tell it about the city that the growing youths and gray-bearded men are to camp upon its heaven-built walls let the women each of them light a great fire in her house and let watch be safely kept lest the town be entered by surprise while the host is outside see to it brave chariots as i have said and let the suffice for the moment at daybreak i will instruct you further i pray and hope to joven to the gods that we may then drive those fates bed hounds from our land for tis the fates that have borne them and their ships hither this night therefore let us keep watch but with early morning let us put on our armor and rouse fierce war at the ships of the acheans i shall then know whether brave diamet the son of titius will drive me back from the ships to the wall or whether i shall myself slay him and carry off his bloodstained spoils tomorrow let him show his medal abide by spear if he dare i wean that at break of day he shall be among the first to fall and many another of his comrades round him would that i were sure of being immortal and never growing old and of being worshiped like manurva and apollo as i am that this day will bring evil to the argives thus spoke hector and their trojans shouted applause they took their sweating steeds from under the yoke and made them fast each by his own chariot they made haste to bring sheep and cattle from the city they brought wine also and corn from their houses and gathered much wood they then offered unblemished peccatooms to the immortals and the wind carried the sweet savor of sacrifice to heaven but the blessed gods per took not thereof for they bitterly hated alias with prime and primes people thus high in hope they sat through the live long night by the highways of war at many a watch fire did they kindle as when the stars shine clear and the moon is bright there is not a breath of air not a peak nor glade nor jutting headland when it stands out in the ineffable radiance that breaks from the serene of heaven the stars can all of them be told and the heart of the shepherd is glad even thus shown the watch fires of the trojans before alias midway between the ships and the river xanthus a thousand campfires gleamed upon the plane and in the glow of each there sat fifty men while the horses champing oats and corn beside their chariots waited till dawn should come and a book eight book nine of the iliad this is a leber vox recording all leber vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit leber vox.org the iliad by homer translated by samuel butler book nine recording by michael helion the embassy to achilles thus did the trojans watch but panic comrade of bloodstained route had taken fast hold of the achaeans and their princes were all of them in despair as when the two winds that blow from thrace the north and the northwest spring up of a sudden and rouse the fury of the mane in a moment the dark waves up rear their heads and scatter their sea rack in all directions even thus troubled were the hearts of the achaeans the son of aches and dismay bade the heralds called the people to a council man by man but not to cry the matter aloud he made haste also himself to call them and they sat sorry at heart and their assembly agamemnon shed tears as it were a running stream or cataract on the side of some sheer cliff and thus with many a heavy sigh he spoke to the achaeans my friends said he princes and counselors of the archives the hand of heaven has been laid heavily upon me cruel jove gave me his solemn promise that i should sack the city of troi before returning but he has played me false and is now bidding me go ingloriously back to argos with the loss of much people such is the will of jove who has laid many a proud city in the dust as he will yet lay others for his power is above all now therefore let us all do as i say and sail back to our own country for we shall not take troi thus he spoke and the sons of the achaeans for a long while sat sorrowful there but they all held their peace till it last diamied if the loud battle cry made answer saying son of atreus i will chide your folly as is my right in council be not then aggrieved that i should do so in the first place you attacked me before all the danians and said i was a coward and no soldier the argives young and old know that you did so but the son of scheming sadden and doubt you by haves only he gave you honor as the chief ruler over us but valor which is the highest both right and might he did not give you sir think you that the sons of the achaeans are indeed as unwarlike and cowardly as you say they are if your own mind is set upon going home go the way is open to you the many ships that followed you from mykenei stand ranged upon the seashore but the rest of us stay here till we have sacked troi nay though these two should turn homeward with their ships stenolus and myself will still fight on till we reach the goal of ileus for heaven was with us when we came the sons of the achaeans shouted applause at the words of diamied and presently nest or rose to speak son of tydeus said he in war your prowess is beyond question and in council you excel all who are of your own years no one of the achaeans can make light of what you say nor gainsay it but you have not yet come to the end of the whole matter you are still young you might be the youngest of my own children still you have spoken wisely and have counseled the chief of the achaeans not without discretion nevertheless i am older than you and i will tell you everything therefore let no man not even king agamemnon disregard my saying for he that foment civil discord is a clanless heartless outlaw now however let us obey the behests of night and get our suppers but let the sentinels every man of them camp by the trench that is without the wall i'm giving these instructions to the young men when they have been attended to do you son of achaeus give your orders for you are the most royal among us all prepare a feast for your counselors it is right and reasonable that you should do so there is abundance of wine in your tents which the ships of the achaean spring from thrace daily you have everything at your disposal wherewith to entertain guests and you have many subjects when many are got together you can be guided by him whose counsel is wisest and sorely do we need shrewd and prudent counsel for the foe has lit his watch fires hard by our ships who can be other than dismayed this night will either be the ruin of our host or save it thus did he speak and they did even as he had said the sentinels went out in their armor under command of nester's son thrasimides a captain of the host and the bold warriors is caliphus and yelemannus there were also marionis apharius and depyrus and the son of crayon noble like amides there were seven captains of the sentinels and with each they went a hundred youths armed with long spears they took their places midway between the trench and the wall and when they had done so they lit their fires and got every man his supper the son of atreus then bade many counselors of the achaeans to his quarters prepared in a great feast in their honor they laid their hands on the good things that were before them and as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink old nestor whose counsel was ever truest was the first to lay his mind before them he therefore with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus with yourself most noble son of atreus king of men agamemnon will i both begin my speech and end it for you a king over much people jove moreover has vouchsafed you to wield the scepter and to uphold righteousness that you may take thought for your people under you therefore it behooves you above all others both to speak and to give ear and to out the counsel of another who shall have been minded to speak wisely all turns on you and on your commands therefore i will say what i think will be best no man will be of a truer mind than that which has been mine from the hour when you sir angered achilles by taking the girl brisceus from his tent against my judgment i urged you not to do so but you yielded to your own pride and dishonored a hero whom heaven itself had honored for you still hold the prize that had been awarded to him now however let us think how we may appease him both with presence and fair speeches that may conciliate him and king agamemnon answered sir you have proved my folly justly i was wrong i own it one whom heaven befriends is in himself a host and jove has shown that he befriends this man by destroying much people of the achaeans i was blinded with passion and yielded to my worser mind therefore i will make amends and will give him great gifts by way of atonement i will tell them in the presence of you all i will give him seven tripods that have never yet been on the fire and ten talents of gold i will give him 20 iron cauldrons and 12 strong horses that have won races and carried off prizes rich indeed both in land and gold is he that has as many prizes as my horses have won me i will give him seven excellent work women lesbians whom i chose for myself when he took lesbos all of surpassing beauty i will give him these and with them her whom i airwild took from him the daughter of brisceus and i swear a great oath that i never went up into her couch nor have been with her after the manner of men and women all these things will i give him now and if you're after the gods vouchsafe me to sack the city of prime let him come when we achaeans are dividing the spoil and load his ship with gold and bronze to his liking furthermore let him take 20 trojan women the loveliest after hell in herself then when we reach a key in argos wealthiest of all lands he shall be my son-in-law and i will show him like honor with my own dear son arrestees who is being nurtured in all abundance i have three daughters chrysothemus leodici and ifia nasa let him take the one of his choice freely and without gifts of wooing to the house of paleos i will add such dower to boot as no man had ever yet gave his daughter and will give him seven well-established cities cardameli anope and hiri where there is grass holy fairy and the rich meadows of anthea epia also and the vine clad slopes of peticis all near the sea and on the borders of sandy pilus the men that dwell there are rich in cattle and sheep they will honor him with gifts as though he were a god and be obedient to his comfortable ordinances all this will i do if he will now forego his anger let him then yield it is only hades who is utterly ruthless and unyielding and hence he is of all gods the one most hateful to mankind moreover i am older and more royal than himself therefore let him now obey me then nestor answered most noble son of atreus king of men agamemnon the gifts you offer are no small ones let us then send chosen messengers who will make go to the tent of achilles son of paleos without delay let those go whom i shall name let phoenix dear to joe lead the way let ajax and ulysses follow and let the heralds odious and uribities go with them now bring water for our hands and bid all keep silence while we pray to joe for the son of saturn if so be that he may have mercy upon us thus did he speak and his saying pleased them well men servants poured water over the hands of the guests while pages filled the mixing bowls with wine and water and handed it round after giving every man his drink offering then when they had made their offerings and had drunk each as much as he was minded the envoy set out from the tent of agamemnon son of atreus and nestor looking first to one and then to another but most especially at ulysses was instant with them that they should prevail with the noble son of paleos they went their way by the shore of the sounding sea and prayed earnestly to earth encircling neptune that the high spirit of the son of aeacus might incline favorably towards them when they reached the ship's intense of the murmur dense they found achilles playing on a lyre fair of conning workmanship and its crossbar was of silver it was part of the spoils which he had taken when he had sacked the city of the ishan and he was now diverting himself with it and singing the feats of heroes he was alone with patrickless who sat opposite to him and said nothing waiting till he should cease singing ulysses and ajax now came in ulysses leading the way and stood before him achilles sprang from his seat with the lyre still in hand and patrickless when he saw the strangers rose also achilles then greeted them saying all hail and welcome you must come upon some great matter you who for all my anger are still dearest to me of the aeacians with this he led them forward and made them sit on seats covered with purple rugs then he said to patrickless who was close by him son of menetius set a larger bowl upon the table mix less water with the wine and give every man his cup for these are very dear friends who are now under my roof patrickless did as his comrade made him he set the chopping block in front of the fire and on it he laid the loin of a sheep the loin also of a goat and the chin of a fat hog auto meat and held the meat while achilles chopped it he then sliced the pieces and put them on spits while the son of menetius made the fire burn high when the flame had died down he spread the embers laid the spits on top of them lifting them up and setting them upon the spit racks and he sprinkled them with salt when the meat was roasted he set it on platters and handed bread around the table in fair baskets while achilles dealt them their portions then achilles took his seat facing ulysses against the opposite wall and made his comrade patrickless offer sacrifice to the gods so he cast the offerings into the fire and they laid their hands upon the good things that were before them as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink a jacks made a sign to phoenix and when he saw this ulysses filled his cup with wine and pledged achilles hail said he achilles we have had no scant of good cheer neither in the tent of agamemnon nor yet here there's been plenty to eat and drink but our thoughts turn upon no such matter sir we are in the face of great disaster and without your help know not whether we shall save our fleet or lose it the trojans and their allies have camped hard by our ships and by the wall they have lit watch fires throughout their host and deemed that nothing can now prevent them from falling on our fleet jove moreover has sent his lightning on their right hector in all his glory rages like a maniac confident that jove is with him he fears neither god nor man but he's gone raving mad and prays for the approach of day he vows that he will hew the high sterns of our ships and pieces set fire to their hulls and make havoc of the achaeans while they are dazed and smothered in smoke i much fear that heaven will make good his boasting and it will prove our lot to perish at troi far from our home in argos up then and late though it be save the sons of the achaeans who faint before the fury of the trojans you will repent bitterly hereafter if you do not for when the harm is done there will be no curing it consider erot be too late and save the danians from destruction my good friend when your father paleo sent you from fithia to agamemnon they did not charge you saying son manurva and juno will make you strong if they choose but check your temper for the better part is in goodwill ashuvane quarreling and the achaeans old and young will respect you more for doing so these were his words but you have forgotten them even now however be appeased and put away your anger from you agamemnon will make you great amends if you will forgive him listen and i will tell you what he has said in his tent that he will give you he will give you seven tripods that have never yet been on the fire and 10 talents of gold 20 iron cauldrons and 12 strong horses that have won races and carried off prizes rich indeed both in land and gold as he who has had as many prizes as these horses have won at for agamemnon moreover he will give you seven excellent work women lesbians whom he chose for himself when you took lesbos all of surpassing beauty he will give you these and with them her whom the airwild took from you the daughter of brisius and he will swear a great oath he has never gone up into her couch nor been with her after the manner of men and women all these things will he give you now down and if hereafter the gods vouchsafe him to sack the city of priam you can come when we achaeans are dividing the spoil and load your ship with golden bronze to your liking you can take 20 trojan women the loveliest after helen herself then when we reach a key in argos wealthiest of all lands you shall be his son-in-law and he will show you like honor with his own dear son arrestees who is being nurtured in all abundance agamemnon has three daughters chrysothemus leodice and ifian asa you may take the one of your choice freely and without gifts of wooing to the house of paleus he will add such dower to boot as no man ever yet gave his daughter and will give you seven well-established cities cardameli and api and hiri where there is grass holy ferius and the rich meadows of anthea ipia also and the vine clad slips of peticis all near the sea and on the borders of sandy pelos the men that dwell there are rich in cattle and sheep they will honor you with gifts as though you were a god and be obedient to your comfortable ordinances all this will he do if you will now forego your anger moreover though you hate both him and his gifts with all your heart yet pity the rest of the achaeans who are being harassed and all their host they will honor you as a god and you will earn great glory at their hands you might even kill hector he will come within your reach for he is infatuated and declares that not a dana on whom the ships have brought can hold his own against him achilles answered ulysses noble son of laertes i should give you formal notice plainly in an all fixity of purpose that there be no more of this cajoling from whatsoever quarter it may come him do i hate even as the gates of hell who says one thing while he hides another in his heart therefore i will say what i mean i will be appeased neither by agamemnon son of atreus nor by any of the other danaans for i see that i have no thanks for all my fighting he that fights fares no better than he that does not coward and hero are held in equal honor and death deals like measure to him who works and to him who is idle i have taken nothing by all my hardships wit