Book III
  
     When the companies were thus arrayed, each under its own captain,
     the Trojans advanced as a flight of wild fowl or cranes that scream
     overhead when rain and winter drive them over the flowing waters of
     Oceanus to bring death and destruction on the Pygmies, and they
     wrangle in the air as they fly; but the Achaeans marched silently,
     in high heart, and minded to stand by one another. 
     
     As when the south wind spreads a curtain of mist upon the mountain
     tops, bad for shepherds but better than night for thieves, and a man
     can see no further than he can throw a stone, even so rose the dust
     from under their feet as they made all speed over the plain. 
     
     When they were close up with one another, Alexandrus came forward as
     champion on the Trojan side. On his shoulders he bore the skin of a
     panther, his bow, and his sword, and he brandished two spears shod
     with bronze as a challenge to the bravest of the Achaeans to meet
     him in single fight. Menelaus saw him thus stride out before the
     ranks, and was glad as a hungry lion that lights on the carcase of
     some goat or horned stag, and devours it there and then, though dogs
     and youths set upon him. Even thus was Menelaus glad when his eyes
     caught sight of Alexandrus, for he deemed that now he should be
     revenged. He sprang, therefore, from his chariot, clad in his suit
     of armour. 
     
     Alexandrus quailed as he saw Menelaus come forward, and shrank in
     fear of his life under cover of his men. As one who starts back
     affrighted, trembling and pale, when he comes suddenly upon a
     serpent in some mountain glade, even so did Alexandrus plunge into
     the throng of Trojan warriors, terror-stricken at the sight of the
     son Atreus. 
     
     Then Hector upbraided him. "Paris," said he, "evil-hearted Paris,
     fair to see, but woman-mad, and false of tongue, would that you had
     never been born, or that you had died unwed. Better so, than live to
     be disgraced and looked askance at. Will not the Achaeans mock at us
     and say that we have sent one to champion us who is fair to see but
     who has neither wit nor courage? Did you not, such as you are, get
     your following together and sail beyond the seas? Did you not from
     your a far country carry off a lovely woman wedded among a people of
     warriors- to bring sorrow upon your father, your city, and your
     whole country, but joy to your enemies, and hang-dog shamefacedness
     to yourself? And now can you not dare face Menelaus and learn what
     manner of man he is whose wife you have stolen? Where indeed would
     be your lyre and your love-tricks, your comely locks and your fair
     favour, when you were lying in the dust before him? The Trojans are
     a weak-kneed people, or ere this you would have had a shirt of
     stones for the wrongs you have done them." 
     
     And Alexandrus answered, "Hector, your rebuke is just. You are hard
     as the axe which a shipwright wields at his work, and cleaves the
     timber to his liking. As the axe in his hand, so keen is the edge of
     your scorn. Still, taunt me not with the gifts that golden Venus has
     given me; they are precious; let not a man disdain them, for the
     gods give them where they are minded, and none can have them for the
     asking. If you would have me do battle with Menelaus, bid the
     Trojans and Achaeans take their seats, while he and I fight in their
     midst for Helen and all her wealth. Let him who shall be victorious
     and prove to be the better man take the woman and all she has, to
     bear them to his home, but let the rest swear to a solemn covenant
     of peace whereby you Trojans shall stay here in Troy, while the
     others go home to Argos and the land of the Achaeans." 
     
     When Hector heard this he was glad, and went about among the Trojan
     ranks holding his spear by the middle to keep them back, and they
     all sat down at his bidding: but the Achaeans still aimed at him
     with stones and arrows, till Agamemnon shouted to them saying,
     "Hold, Argives, shoot not, sons of the Achaeans; Hector desires to
     speak." 
     
     They ceased taking aim and were still, whereon Hector spoke. "Hear
     from my mouth," said he, "Trojans and Achaeans, the saying of
     Alexandrus, through whom this quarrel has come about. He bids the
     Trojans and Achaeans lay their armour upon the ground, while he and
     Menelaus fight in the midst of you for Helen and all her wealth. Let
     him who shall be victorious and prove to be the better man take the
     woman and all she has, to bear them to his own home, but let the
     rest swear to a solemn covenant of peace." 
     
     Thus he spoke, and they all held their peace, till Menelaus of the
     loud battle-cry addressed them. "And now," he said, "hear me too,
     for it is I who am the most aggrieved. I deem that the parting of
     Achaeans and Trojans is at hand, as well it may be, seeing how much
     have suffered for my quarrel with Alexandrus and the wrong he did
     me. Let him who shall die, die, and let the others fight no more.
     Bring, then, two lambs, a white ram and a black ewe, for Earth and
     Sun, and we will bring a third for Jove. Moreover, you shall bid
     Priam come, that he may swear to the covenant himself; for his sons
     are high-handed and ill to trust, and the oaths of Jove must not be
     transgressed or taken in vain. Young men's minds are light as air,
     but when an old man comes he looks before and after, deeming that
     which shall be fairest upon both sides." 
     
     The Trojans and Achaeans were glad when they heard this, for they
     thought that they should now have rest. They backed their chariots
     toward the ranks, got out of them, and put off their armour, laying
     it down upon the ground; and the hosts were near to one another with
     a little space between them. Hector sent two messengers to the city
     to bring the lambs and to bid Priam come, while Agamemnon told
     Talthybius to fetch the other lamb from the ships, and he did as
     Agamemnon had said. 
     
     Meanwhile Iris went to Helen in the form of her sister-in-law, wife
     of the son of Antenor, for Helicaon, son of Antenor, had married
     Laodice, the fairest of Priam's daughters. She found her in her own
     room, working at a great web of purple linen, on which she was
     embroidering the battles between Trojans and Achaeans, that Mars had
     made them fight for her sake. Iris then came close up to her and
     said, "Come hither, child, and see the strange doings of the Trojans
     and Achaeans till now they have been warring upon the plain, mad
     with lust of battle, but now they have left off fighting, and are
     leaning upon their shields, sitting still with their spears planted
     beside them. Alexandrus and Menelaus are going to fight about
     yourself, and you are to the the wife of him who is the victor." 
     
     Thus spoke the goddess, and Helen's heart yearned after her former
     husband, her city, and her parents. She threw a white mantle over
     her head, and hurried from her room, weeping as she went, not alone,
     but attended by two of her handmaids, Aethrae, daughter of Pittheus,
     and Clymene. And straightway they were at the Scaean gates. 
     
     The two sages, Ucalegon and Antenor, elders of the people, were
     seated by the Scaean gates, with Priam, Panthous, Thymoetes, Lampus,
     Clytius, and Hiketaon of the race of Mars. These were too old to
     fight, but they were fluent orators, and sat on the tower like
     cicales that chirrup delicately from the boughs of some high tree in
     a wood. When they saw Helen coming towards the tower, they said
     softly to one another, "Small wonder that Trojans and Achaeans
     should endure so much and so long, for the sake of a woman so
     marvellously and divinely lovely. Still, fair though she be, let
     them take her and go, or she will breed sorrow for us and for our
     children after us." 
     
     But Priam bade her draw nigh. "My child," said he, "take your seat
     in front of me that you may see your former husband, your kinsmen
     and your friends. I lay no blame upon you, it is the gods, not you
     who are to blame. It is they that have brought about this terrible
     war with the Achaeans. Tell me, then, who is yonder huge hero so
     great and goodly? I have seen men taller by a head, but none so
     comely and so royal. Surely he must be a king." 
     
     "Sir," answered Helen, "father of my husband, dear and reverend in
     my eyes, would that I had chosen death rather than to have come here
     with your son, far from my bridal chamber, my friends, my darling
     daughter, and all the companions of my girlhood. But it was not to
     be, and my lot is one of tears and sorrow. As for your question, the
     hero of whom you ask is Agamemnon, son of Atreus, a good king and a
     brave soldier, brother-in-law as surely as that he lives, to my
     abhorred and miserable self." 
     
     The old man marvelled at him and said, "Happy son of Atreus, child
     of good fortune. I see that the Achaeans are subject to you in great
     multitudes. When I was in Phrygia I saw much horsemen, the people of
     Otreus and of Mygdon, who were camping upon the banks of the river
     Sangarius; I was their ally, and with them when the Amazons, peers
     of men, came up against them, but even they were not so many as the
     Achaeans." 
     
     The old man next looked upon Ulysses; "Tell me," he said, "who is
     that other, shorter by a head than Agamemnon, but broader across the
     chest and shoulders? His armour is laid upon the ground, and he
     stalks in front of the ranks as it were some great woolly ram
     ordering his ewes." 
     
     And Helen answered, "He is Ulysses, a man of great craft, son of
     Laertes. He was born in rugged Ithaca, and excels in all manner of
     stratagems and subtle cunning." 
     
     On this Antenor said, "Madam, you have spoken truly. Ulysses once
     came here as envoy about yourself, and Menelaus with him. I received
     them in my own house, and therefore know both of them by sight and
     conversation. When they stood up in presence of the assembled
     Trojans, Menelaus was the broader shouldered, but when both were
     seated Ulysses had the more royal presence. After a time they
     delivered their message, and the speech of Menelaus ran trippingly
     on the tongue; he did not say much, for he was a man of few words,
     but he spoke very clearly and to the point, though he was the
     younger man of the two; Ulysses, on the other hand, when he rose to
     speak, was at first silent and kept his eyes fixed upon the ground.
     There was no play nor graceful movement of his sceptre; he kept it
     straight and stiff like a man unpractised in oratory- one might have
     taken him for a mere churl or simpleton; but when he raised his
     voice, and the words came driving from his deep chest like winter
     snow before the wind, then there was none to touch him, and no man
     thought further of what he looked like." 
     
     Priam then caught sight of Ajax and asked, "Who is that great and
     goodly warrior whose head and broad shoulders tower above the rest
     of the Argives?" 
     
     "That," answered Helen, "is huge Ajax, bulwark of the Achaeans, and
     on the other side of him, among the Cretans, stands Idomeneus
     looking like a god, and with the captains of the Cretans round him.
     Often did Menelaus receive him as a guest in our house when he came
     visiting us from Crete. I see, moreover, many other Achaeans whose
     names I could tell you, but there are two whom I can nowhere find,
     Castor, breaker of horses, and Pollux the mighty boxer; they are
     children of my mother, and own brothers to myself. Either they have
     not left Lacedaemon, or else, though they have brought their ships,
     they will not show themselves in battle for the shame and disgrace
     that I have brought upon them." 
     
     She knew not that both these heroes were already lying under the
     earth in their own land of Lacedaemon. 
     
     Meanwhile the heralds were bringing the holy oath-offerings through
     the city- two lambs and a goatskin of wine, the gift of earth; and
     Idaeus brought the mixing bowl and the cups of gold. He went up to
     Priam and said, "Son of Laomedon, the princes of the Trojans and
     Achaeans bid you come down on to the plain and swear to a solemn
     covenant. Alexandrus and Menelaus are to fight for Helen in single
     combat, that she and all her wealth may go with him who is the
     victor. We are to swear to a solemn covenant of peace whereby we
     others shall dwell here in Troy, while the Achaeans return to Argos
     and the land of the Achaeans." 
     
     The old man trembled as he heard, but bade his followers yoke the
     horses, and they made all haste to do so. He mounted the chariot,
     gathered the reins in his hand, and Antenor took his seat beside
     him; they then drove through the Scaean gates on to the plain. When
     they reached the ranks of the Trojans and Achaeans they left the
     chariot, and with measured pace advanced into the space between the
     hosts. 
     
     Agamemnon and Ulysses both rose to meet them. The attendants brought
     on the oath-offerings and mixed the wine in the mixing-bowls; they
     poured water over the hands of the chieftains, and the son of Atreus
     drew the dagger that hung by his sword, and cut wool from the lambs'
     heads; this the men-servants gave about among the Trojan and Achaean
     princes, and the son of Atreus lifted up his hands in prayer.
     "Father Jove," he cried, "that rulest in Ida, most glorious in
     power, and thou oh Sun, that seest and givest ear to all things,
     Earth and Rivers, and ye who in the realms below chastise the soul
     of him that has broken his oath, witness these rites and guard them,
     that they be not vain. If Alexandrus kills Menelaus, let him keep
     Helen and all her wealth, while we sail home with our ships; but if
     Menelaus kills Alexandrus, let the Trojans give back Helen and all
     that she has; let them moreover pay such fine to the Achaeans as
     shall be agreed upon, in testimony among those that shall be born
     hereafter. Aid if Priam and his sons refuse such fine when
     Alexandrus has fallen, then will I stay here and fight on till I
     have got satisfaction." 
     
     As he spoke he drew his knife across the throats of the victims, and
     laid them down gasping and dying upon the ground, for the knife had
     reft them of their strength. Then they poured wine from the
     mixing-bowl into the cups, and prayed to the everlasting gods,
     saying, Trojans and Achaeans among one another, "Jove, most great
     and glorious, and ye other everlasting gods, grant that the brains
     of them who shall first sin against their oaths- of them and their
     children- may be shed upon the ground even as this wine, and let
     their wives become the slaves of strangers." 
     
     Thus they prayed, but not as yet would Jove grant them their prayer.
     Then Priam, descendant of Dardanus, spoke, saying, "Hear me, Trojans
     and Achaeans, I will now go back to the wind-beaten city of Ilius: I
     dare not with my own eyes witness this fight between my son and
     Menelaus, for Jove and the other immortals alone know which shall
     fall." 
     
     On this he laid the two lambs on his chariot and took his seat. He
     gathered the reins in his hand, and Antenor sat beside him; the two
     then went back to Ilius. Hector and Ulysses measured the ground, and
     cast lots from a helmet of bronze to see which should take aim
     first. Meanwhile the two hosts lifted up their hands and prayed
     saying, "Father Jove, that rulest from Ida, most glorious in power,
     grant that he who first brought about this war between us may die,
     and enter the house of Hades, while we others remain at peace and
     abide by our oaths." 
     
     Great Hector now turned his head aside while he shook the helmet,
     and the lot of Paris flew out first. The others took their several
     stations, each by his horses and the place where his arms were
     lying, while Alexandrus, husband of lovely Helen, put on his goodly
     armour. First he greaved his legs with greaves of good make and
     fitted with ancle-clasps of silver; after this he donned the cuirass
     of his brother Lycaon, and fitted it to his own body; he hung his
     silver-studded sword of bronze about his shoulders, and then his
     mighty shield. On his comely head he set his helmet, well-wrought,
     with a crest of horse-hair that nodded menacingly above it, and he
     grasped a redoubtable spear that suited his hands. In like fashion
     Menelaus also put on his armour. 
     
     When they had thus armed, each amid his own people, they strode
     fierce of aspect into the open space, and both Trojans and Achaeans
     were struck with awe as they beheld them. They stood near one
     another on the measured ground, brandishing their spears, and each
     furious against the other. Alexandrus aimed first, and struck the
     round shield of the son of Atreus, but the spear did not pierce it,
     for the shield turned its point. Menelaus next took aim, praying to
     Father Jove as he did so. "King Jove," he said, "grant me revenge on
     Alexandrus who has wronged me; subdue him under my hand that in ages
     yet to come a man may shrink from doing ill deeds in the house of
     his host." 
     
     He poised his spear as he spoke, and hurled it at the shield of
     Alexandrus. Through shield and cuirass it went, and tore the shirt
     by his flank, but Alexandrus swerved aside, and thus saved his life.
     Then the son of Atreus drew his sword, and drove at the projecting
     part of his helmet, but the sword fell shivered in three or four
     pieces from his hand, and he cried, looking towards Heaven, "Father
     Jove, of all gods thou art the most despiteful; I made sure of my
     revenge, but the sword has broken in my hand, my spear has been
     hurled in vain, and I have not killed him." 
     
     With this he flew at Alexandrus, caught him by the horsehair plume
     of his helmet, and began dragging him towards the Achaeans. The
     strap of the helmet that went under his chin was choking him, and
     Menelaus would have dragged him off to his own great glory had not
     Jove's daughter Venus been quick to mark and to break the strap of
     oxhide, so that the empty helmet came away in his hand. This he
     flung to his comrades among the Achaeans, and was again springing
     upon Alexandrus to run him through with a spear, but Venus snatched
     him up in a moment (as a god can do), hid him under a cloud of
     darkness, and conveyed him to his own bedchamber. 
     
     Then she went to call Helen, and found her on a high tower with the
     Trojan women crowding round her. She took the form of an old woman
     who used to dress wool for her when she was still in Lacedaemon, and
     of whom she was very fond. Thus disguised she plucked her by
     perfumed robe and said, "Come hither; Alexandrus says you are to go
     to the house; he is on his bed in his own room, radiant with beauty
     and dressed in gorgeous apparel. No one would think he had just come
     from fighting, but rather that he was going to a dance, or had done
     dancing and was sitting down." 
     
     With these words she moved the heart of Helen to anger. When she
     marked the beautiful neck of the goddess, her lovely bosom, and
     sparkling eyes, she marvelled at her and said, "Goddess, why do you
     thus beguile me? Are you going to send me afield still further to
     some man whom you have taken up in Phrygia or fair Meonia? Menelaus
     has just vanquished Alexandrus, and is to take my hateful self back
     with him. You are come here to betray me. Go sit with Alexandrus
     yourself; henceforth be goddess no longer; never let your feet carry
     you back to Olympus; worry about him and look after him till he make
     you his wife, or, for the matter of that, his slave- but me? I shall
     not go; I can garnish his bed no longer; I should be a by-word among
     all the women of Troy. Besides, I have trouble on my mind." 
     
     Venus was very angry, and said, "Bold hussy, do not provoke me; if
     you do, I shall leave you to your fate and hate you as much as I
     have loved you. I will stir up fierce hatred between Trojans and
     Achaeans, and you shall come to a bad end." 
     
     At this Helen was frightened. She wrapped her mantle about her and
     went in silence, following the goddess and unnoticed by the Trojan
     women. 
     
     When they came to the house of Alexandrus the maid-servants set
     about their work, but Helen went into her own room, and the
     laughter-loving goddess took a seat and set it for her facing
     Alexandrus. On this Helen, daughter of aegis-bearing Jove, sat down,
     and with eyes askance began to upbraid her husband. 
     
     "So you are come from the fight," said she; "would that you had
     fallen rather by the hand of that brave man who was my husband. You
     used to brag that you were a better man with hands and spear than
     Menelaus. go, but I then, an challenge him again- but I should
     advise you not to do so, for if you are foolish enough to meet him
     in single combat, you will soon all by his spear." 
     
     And Paris answered, "Wife, do not vex me with your reproaches. This
     time, with the help of Minerva, Menelaus has vanquished me; another
     time I may myself be victor, for I too have gods that will stand by
     me. Come, let us lie down together and make friends. Never yet was I
     so passionately enamoured of you as at this moment- not even when I
     first carried you off from Lacedaemon and sailed away with you- not
     even when I had converse with you upon the couch of love in the
     island of Cranae was I so enthralled by desire of you as now." On
     this he led her towards the bed, and his wife went with him. 
     
     Thus they laid themselves on the bed together; but the son of Atreus
     strode among the throng, looking everywhere for Alexandrus, and no
     man, neither of the Trojans nor of the allies, could find him. If
     they had seen him they were in no mind to hide him, for they all of
     them hated him as they did death itself. Then Agamemnon, king of
     men, spoke, saying, "Hear me, Trojans, Dardanians, and allies. The
     victory has been with Menelaus; therefore give back Helen with all
     her wealth, and pay such fine as shall be agreed upon, in testimony
     among them that shall be born hereafter." 
     
     Thus spoke the son of Atreus, and the Achaeans shouted in applause.