Book IV
  
     Now the gods were sitting with Jove in council upon the golden floor
     while Hebe went round pouring out nectar for them to drink, and as
     they pledged one another in their cups of gold they looked down upon
     the town of Troy. The son of Saturn then began to tease Juno,
     talking at her so as to provoke her. "Menelaus," said he, "has two
     good friends among the goddesses, Juno of Argos, and Minerva of
     Alalcomene, but they only sit still and look on, while Venus keeps
     ever by Alexandrus' side to defend him in any danger; indeed she has
     just rescued him when he made sure that it was all over with him-
     for the victory really did lie with Menelaus. We must consider what
     we shall do about all this; shall we set them fighting anew or make
     peace between them? If you will agree to this last Menelaus can take
     back Helen and the city of Priam may remain still inhabited." 
     
     Minerva and Juno muttered their discontent as they sat side by side
     hatching mischief for the Trojans. Minerva scowled at her father,
     for she was in a furious passion with him, and said nothing, but
     Juno could not contain herself. "Dread son of Saturn," said she,
     "what, pray, is the meaning of all this? Is my trouble, then, to go
     for nothing, and the sweat that I have sweated, to say nothing of my
     horses, while getting the people together against Priam and his
     children? Do as you will, but we other gods shall not all of us
     approve your counsel." 
     
     Jove was angry and answered, "My dear, what harm have Priam and his
     sons done you that you are so hotly bent on sacking the city of
     Ilius? Will nothing do for you but you must within their walls and
     eat Priam raw, with his sons and all the other Trojans to boot? Have
     it your own way then; for I would not have this matter become a bone
     of contention between us. I say further, and lay my saying to your
     heart, if ever I want to sack a city belonging to friends of yours,
     you must not try to stop me; you will have to let me do it, for I am
     giving in to you sorely against my will. Of all inhabited cities
     under the sun and stars of heaven, there was none that I so much
     respected as Ilius with Priam and his whole people. Equitable feasts
     were never wanting about my altar, nor the savour of burning fat,
     which is honour due to ourselves." 
     
     "My own three favourite cities," answered Juno, "are Argos, Sparta,
     and Mycenae. Sack them whenever you may be displeased with them. I
     shall not defend them and I shall not care. Even if I did, and tried
     to stay you, I should take nothing by it, for you are much stronger
     than I am, but I will not have my own work wasted. I too am a god
     and of the same race with yourself. I am Saturn's eldest daughter,
     and am honourable not on this ground only, but also because I am
     your wife, and you are king over the gods. Let it be a case, then,
     of give-and-take between us, and the rest of the gods will follow
     our lead. Tell Minerva to go and take part in the fight at once, and
     let her contrive that the Trojans shall be the first to break their
     oaths and set upon the Achaeans." 
     
     The sire of gods and men heeded her words, and said to Minerva, "Go
     at once into the Trojan and Achaean hosts, and contrive that the
     Trojans shall be the first to break their oaths and set upon the
     Achaeans." 
     
     This was what Minerva was already eager to do, so down she darted
     from the topmost summits of Olympus. She shot through the sky as
     some brilliant meteor which the son of scheming Saturn has sent as a
     sign to mariners or to some great army, and a fiery train of light
     follows in its wake. The Trojans and Achaeans were struck with awe
     as they beheld, and one would turn to his neighbour, saying, "Either
     we shall again have war and din of combat, or Jove the lord of
     battle will now make peace between us." 
     
     Thus did they converse. Then Minerva took the form of Laodocus, son
     of Antenor, and went through the ranks of the Trojans to find
     Pandarus, the redoubtable son of Lycaon. She found him standing
     among the stalwart heroes who had followed him from the banks of the
     Aesopus, so she went close up to him and said, "Brave son of Lycaon,
     will you do as I tell you? If you dare send an arrow at Menelaus you
     will win honour and thanks from all the Trojans, and especially from
     prince Alexandrus- he would be the first to requite you very
     handsomely if he could see Menelaus mount his funeral pyre, slain by
     an arrow from your hand. Take your home aim then, and pray to Lycian
     Apollo, the famous archer; vow that when you get home to your strong
     city of Zelea you will offer a hecatomb of firstling lambs in his
     honour." 
     
     His fool's heart was persuaded, and he took his bow from its case.
     This bow was made from the horns of a wild ibex which he had killed
     as it was bounding from a rock; he had stalked it, and it had fallen
     as the arrow struck it to the heart. Its horns were sixteen palms
     long, and a worker in horn had made them into a bow, smoothing them
     well down, and giving them tips of gold. When Pandarus had strung
     his bow he laid it carefully on the ground, and his brave followers
     held their shields before him lest the Achaeans should set upon him
     before he had shot Menelaus. Then he opened the lid of his quiver
     and took out a winged arrow that had yet been shot, fraught with the
     pangs of death. He laid the arrow on the string and prayed to Lycian
     Apollo, the famous archer, vowing that when he got home to his
     strong city of Zelea he would offer a hecatomb of firstling lambs in
     his honour. He laid the notch of the arrow on the oxhide bowstring,
     and drew both notch and string to his breast till the arrow-head was
     near the bow; then when the bow was arched into a half-circle he let
     fly, and the bow twanged, and the string sang as the arrow flew
     gladly on over the heads of the throng. 
     
     But the blessed gods did not forget thee, O Menelaus, and Jove's
     daughter, driver of the spoil, was the first to stand before thee
     and ward off the piercing arrow. She turned it from his skin as a
     mother whisks a fly from off her child when it is sleeping sweetly;
     she guided it to the part where the golden buckles of the belt that
     passed over his double cuirass were fastened, so the arrow struck
     the belt that went tightly round him. It went right through this and
     through the cuirass of cunning workmanship; it also pierced the belt
     beneath it, which he wore next his skin to keep out darts or arrows;
     it was this that served him in the best stead, nevertheless the
     arrow went through it and grazed the top of the skin, so that blood
     began flowing from the wound. 
     
     As when some woman of Meonia or Caria strains purple dye on to a
     piece of ivory that is to be the cheek-piece of a horse, and is to
     be laid up in a treasure house- many a knight is fain to bear it,
     but the king keeps it as an ornament of which both horse and driver
     may be proud- even so, O Menelaus, were your shapely thighs and your
     legs down to your fair ancles stained with blood. 
     
     When King Agamemnon saw the blood flowing from the wound he was
     afraid, and so was brave Menelaus himself till he saw that the barbs
     of the arrow and the thread that bound the arrow-head to the shaft
     were still outside the wound. Then he took heart, but Agamemnon
     heaved a deep sigh as he held Menelaus's hand in his own, and his
     comrades made moan in concert. "Dear brother, "he cried, "I have
     been the death of you in pledging this covenant and letting you come
     forward as our champion. The Trojans have trampled on their oaths
     and have wounded you; nevertheless the oath, the blood of lambs, the
     drink-offerings and the right hands of fellowship in which have put
     our trust shall not be vain. If he that rules Olympus fulfil it not
     here and now, he. will yet fulfil it hereafter, and they shall pay
     dearly with their lives and with their wives and children. The day
     will surely come when mighty Ilius shall be laid low, with Priam and
     Priam's people, when the son of Saturn from his high throne shall
     overshadow them with his awful aegis in punishment of their present
     treachery. This shall surely be; but how, Menelaus, shall I mourn
     you, if it be your lot now to die? I should return to Argos as a
     by-word, for the Achaeans will at once go home. We shall leave Priam
     and the Trojans the glory of still keeping Helen, and the earth will
     rot your bones as you lie here at Troy with your purpose not
     fulfilled. Then shall some braggart Trojan leap upon your tomb and
     say, 'Ever thus may Agamemnon wreak his vengeance; he brought his
     army in vain; he is gone home to his own land with empty ships, and
     has left Menelaus behind him.' Thus will one of them say, and may
     the earth then swallow me." 
     
     But Menelaus reassured him and said, "Take heart, and do not alarm
     the people; the arrow has not struck me in a mortal part, for my
     outer belt of burnished metal first stayed it, and under this my
     cuirass and the belt of mail which the bronze-smiths made me." 
     
     And Agamemnon answered, "I trust, dear Menelaus, that it may be even
     so, but the surgeon shall examine your wound and lay herbs upon it
     to relieve your pain." 
     
     He then said to Talthybius, "Talthybius, tell Machaon, son to the
     great physician, Aesculapius, to come and see Menelaus immediately.
     Some Trojan or Lycian archer has wounded him with an arrow to our
     dismay, and to his own great glory." 
     
     Talthybius did as he was told, and went about the host trying to
     find Machaon. Presently he found standing amid the brave warriors
     who had followed him from Tricca; thereon he went up to him and
     said, "Son of Aesculapius, King Agamemnon says you are to come and
     see Menelaus immediately. Some Trojan or Lycian archer has wounded
     him with an arrow to our dismay and to his own great glory." 
     
     Thus did he speak, and Machaon was moved to go. They passed through
     the spreading host of the Achaeans and went on till they came to the
     place where Menelaus had been wounded and was lying with the
     chieftains gathered in a circle round him. Machaon passed into the
     middle of the ring and at once drew the arrow from the belt, bending
     its barbs back through the force with which he pulled it out. He
     undid the burnished belt, and beneath this the cuirass and the belt
     of mail which the bronze-smiths had made; then, when he had seen the
     wound, he wiped away the blood and applied some soothing drugs which
     Chiron had given to Aesculapius out of the good will he bore him. 
     
     While they were thus busy about Menelaus, the Trojans came forward
     against them, for they had put on their armour, and now renewed the
     fight. 
     
     You would not have then found Agamemnon asleep nor cowardly and
     unwilling to fight, but eager rather for the fray. He left his
     chariot rich with bronze and his panting steeds in charge of
     Eurymedon, son of Ptolemaeus the son of Peiraeus, and bade him hold
     them in readiness against the time his limbs should weary of going
     about and giving orders to so many, for he went among the ranks on
     foot. When he saw men hasting to the front he stood by them and
     cheered them on. "Argives," said he, "slacken not one whit in your
     onset; father Jove will be no helper of liars; the Trojans have been
     the first to break their oaths and to attack us; therefore they
     shall be devoured of vultures; we shall take their city and carry
     off their wives and children in our ships." 
     
     But he angrily rebuked those whom he saw shirking and disinclined to
     fight. "Argives," he cried, "cowardly miserable creatures, have you
     no shame to stand here like frightened fawns who, when they can no
     longer scud over the plain, huddle together, but show no fight? You
     are as dazed and spiritless as deer. Would you wait till the Trojans
     reach the sterns of our ships as they lie on the shore, to see,
     whether the son of Saturn will hold his hand over you to protect
     you?" 
     
     Thus did he go about giving his orders among the ranks. Passing
     through the crowd, he came presently on the Cretans, arming round
     Idomeneus, who was at their head, fierce as a wild boar, while
     Meriones was bringing up the battalions that were in the rear.
     Agamemnon was glad when he saw him, and spoke him fairly.
     "Idomeneus," said he, "I treat you with greater distinction than I
     do any others of the Achaeans, whether in war or in other things, or
     at table. When the princes are mixing my choicest wines in the
     mixing-bowls, they have each of them a fixed allowance, but your cup
     is kept always full like my own, that you may drink whenever you are
     minded. Go, therefore, into battle, and show yourself the man you
     have been always proud to be." 
     
     Idomeneus answered, "I will be a trusty comrade, as I promised you
     from the first I would be. Urge on the other Achaeans, that we may
     join battle at once, for the Trojans have trampled upon their
     covenants. Death and destruction shall be theirs, seeing they have
     been the first to break their oaths and to attack us." 
     
     The son of Atreus went on, glad at heart, till he came upon the two
     Ajaxes arming themselves amid a host of foot-soldiers. As when a
     goat-herd from some high post watches a storm drive over the deep
     before the west wind- black as pitch is the offing and a mighty
     whirlwind draws towards him, so that he is afraid and drives his
     flock into a cave- even thus did the ranks of stalwart youths move
     in a dark mass to battle under the Ajaxes, horrid with shield and
     spear. Glad was King Agamemnon when he saw them. "No need," he
     cried, "to give orders to such leaders of the Argives as you are,
     for of your own selves you spur your men on to fight with might and
     main. Would, by father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo that all were so
     minded as you are, for the city of Priam would then soon fall
     beneath our hands, and we should sack it." 
     
     With this he left them and went onward to Nestor, the facile speaker
     of the Pylians, who was marshalling his men and urging them on, in
     company with Pelagon, Alastor, Chromius, Haemon, and Bias shepherd
     of his people. He placed his knights with their chariots and horses
     in the front rank, while the foot-soldiers, brave men and many, whom
     he could trust, were in the rear. The cowards he drove into the
     middle, that they might fight whether they would or no. He gave his
     orders to the knights first, bidding them hold their horses well in
     hand, so as to avoid confusion. "Let no man," he said, "relying on
     his strength or horsemanship, get before the others and engage
     singly with the Trojans, nor yet let him lag behind or you will
     weaken your attack; but let each when he meets an enemy's chariot
     throw his spear from his own; this be much the best; this is how the
     men of old took towns and strongholds; in this wise were they
     minded." 
     
     Thus did the old man charge them, for he had been in many a fight,
     and King Agamemnon was glad. "I wish," he said to him, that your
     limbs were as supple and your strength as sure as your judgment is;
     but age, the common enemy of mankind, has laid his hand upon you;
     would that it had fallen upon some other, and that you were still
     young." 
     
     And Nestor, knight of Gerene, answered, "Son of Atreus, I too would
     gladly be the man I was when I slew mighty Ereuthalion; but the gods
     will not give us everything at one and the same time. I was then
     young, and now I am old; still I can go with my knights and give
     them that counsel which old men have a right to give. The wielding
     of the spear I leave to those who are younger and stronger than
     myself." 
     
     Agamemnon went his way rejoicing, and presently found Menestheus,
     son of Peteos, tarrying in his place, and with him were the
     Athenians loud of tongue in battle. Near him also tarried cunning
     Ulysses, with his sturdy Cephallenians round him; they had not yet
     heard the battle-cry, for the ranks of Trojans and Achaeans had only
     just begun to move, so they were standing still, waiting for some
     other columns of the Achaeans to attack the Trojans and begin the
     fighting. When he saw this Agamemnon rebuked them and said, "Son of
     Peteos, and you other, steeped in cunning, heart of guile, why stand
     you here cowering and waiting on others? You two should be of all
     men foremost when there is hard fighting to be done, for you are
     ever foremost to accept my invitation when we councillors of the
     Achaeans are holding feast. You are glad enough then to take your
     fill of roast meats and to drink wine as long as you please, whereas
     now you would not care though you saw ten columns of Achaeans engage
     the enemy in front of you." 
     
     Ulysses glared at him and answered, "Son of Atreus, what are you
     talking about? How can you say that we are slack? When the Achaeans
     are in full fight with the Trojans, you shall see, if you care to do
     so, that the father of Telemachus will join battle with the foremost
     of them. You are talking idly." 
     
     When Agamemnon saw that Ulysses was angry, he smiled pleasantly at
     him and withdrew his words. "Ulysses," said he, "noble son of
     Laertes, excellent in all good counsel, I have neither fault to find
     nor orders to give you, for I know your heart is right, and that you
     and I are of a mind. Enough; I will make you amends for what I have
     said, and if any ill has now been spoken may the gods bring it to
     nothing." 
     
     He then left them and went on to others. Presently he saw the son of
     Tydeus, noble Diomed, standing by his chariot and horses, with
     Sthenelus the son of Capaneus beside him; whereon he began to
     upbraid him. "Son of Tydeus," he said, "why stand you cowering here
     upon the brink of battle? Tydeus did not shrink thus, but was ever
     ahead of his men when leading them on against the foe- so, at least,
     say they that saw him in battle, for I never set eyes upon him
     myself. They say that there was no man like him. He came once to
     Mycenae, not as an enemy but as a guest, in company with Polynices
     to recruit his forces, for they were levying war against the strong
     city of Thebes, and prayed our people for a body of picked men to
     help them. The men of Mycenae were willing to let them have one, but
     Jove dissuaded them by showing them unfavourable omens. Tydeus,
     therefore, and Polynices went their way. When they had got as far
     the deep-meadowed and rush-grown banks of the Aesopus, the Achaeans
     sent Tydeus as their envoy, and he found the Cadmeans gathered in
     great numbers to a banquet in the house of Eteocles. Stranger though
     he was, he knew no fear on finding himself single-handed among so
     many, but challenged them to contests of all kinds, and in each one
     of them was at once victorious, so mightily did Minerva help him.
     The Cadmeans were incensed at his success, and set a force of fifty
     youths with two captains- the godlike hero Maeon, son of Haemon, and
     Polyphontes, son of Autophonus- at their head, to lie in wait for
     him on his return journey; but Tydeus slew every man of them, save
     only Maeon, whom he let go in obedience to heaven's omens. Such was
     Tydeus of Aetolia. His son can talk more glibly, but he cannot fight
     as his father did." 
     
     Diomed made no answer, for he was shamed by the rebuke of Agamemnon;
     but the son of Capaneus took up his words and said, "Son of Atreus,
     tell no lies, for you can speak truth if you will. We boast
     ourselves as even better men than our fathers; we took seven-gated
     Thebes, though the wall was stronger and our men were fewer in
     number, for we trusted in the omens of the gods and in the help of
     Jove, whereas they perished through their own sheer folly; hold not,
     then, our fathers in like honour with us." 
     
     Diomed looked sternly at him and said, "Hold your peace, my friend,
     as I bid you. It is not amiss that Agamemnon should urge the
     Achaeans forward, for the glory will be his if we take the city, and
     his the shame if we are vanquished. Therefore let us acquit
     ourselves with valour." 
     
     As he spoke he sprang from his chariot, and his armour rang so
     fiercely about his body that even a brave man might well have been
     scared to hear it. 
     
     As when some mighty wave that thunders on the beach when the west
     wind has lashed it into fury- it has reared its head afar and now
     comes crashing down on the shore; it bows its arching crest high
     over the jagged rocks and spews its salt foam in all directions-
     even so did the serried phalanxes of the Danaans march steadfastly
     to battle. The chiefs gave orders each to his own people, but the
     men said never a word; no man would think it, for huge as the host
     was, it seemed as though there was not a tongue among them, so
     silent were they in their obedience; and as they marched the armour
     about their bodies glistened in the sun. But the clamour of the
     Trojan ranks was as that of many thousand ewes that stand waiting to
     be milked in the yards of some rich flockmaster, and bleat
     incessantly in answer to the bleating of their lambs; for they had
     not one speech nor language, but their tongues were diverse, and
     they came from many different places. These were inspired of Mars,
     but the others by Minerva- and with them came Panic, Rout, and
     Strife whose fury never tires, sister and friend of murderous Mars,
     who, from being at first but low in stature, grows till she uprears
     her head to heaven, though her feet are still on earth. She it was
     that went about among them and flung down discord to the waxing of
     sorrow with even hand between them. 
     
     When they were got together in one place shield clashed with shield
     and spear with spear in the rage of battle. The bossed shields beat
     one upon another, and there was a tramp as of a great multitude-
     death-cry and shout of triumph of slain and slayers, and the earth
     ran red with blood. As torrents swollen with rain course madly down
     their deep channels till the angry floods meet in some gorge, and
     the shepherd the hillside hears their roaring from afar- even such
     was the toil and uproar of the hosts as they joined in battle. 
     
     First Antilochus slew an armed warrior of the Trojans, Echepolus,
     son of Thalysius, fighting in the foremost ranks. He struck at the
     projecting part of his helmet and drove the spear into his brow; the
     point of bronze pierced the bone, and darkness veiled his eyes;
     headlong as a tower he fell amid the press of the fight, and as he
     dropped King Elephenor, son of Chalcodon and captain of the proud
     Abantes began dragging him out of reach of the darts that were
     falling around him, in haste to strip him of his armour. But his
     purpose was not for long; Agenor saw him haling the body away, and
     smote him in the side with his bronze-shod spear- for as he stooped
     his side was left unprotected by his shield- and thus he perished.
     Then the fight between Trojans and Achaeans grew furious over his
     body, and they flew upon each other like wolves, man and man
     crushing one upon the other. 
     
     Forthwith Ajax, son of Telamon, slew the fair youth Simoeisius, son
     of Anthemion, whom his mother bore by the banks of the Simois, as
     she was coming down from Mt. Ida, where she had been with her
     parents to see their flocks. Therefore he was named Simoeisius, but
     he did not live to pay his parents for his rearing, for he was cut
     off untimely by the spear of mighty Ajax, who struck him in the
     breast by the right nipple as he was coming on among the foremost
     fighters; the spear went right through his shoulder, and he fell as
     a poplar that has grown straight and tall in a meadow by some mere,
     and its top is thick with branches. Then the wheelwright lays his
     axe to its roots that he may fashion a felloe for the wheel of some
     goodly chariot, and it lies seasoning by the waterside. In such wise
     did Ajax fell to earth Simoeisius, son of Anthemion. Thereon
     Antiphus of the gleaming corslet, son of Priam, hurled a spear at
     Ajax from amid the crowd and missed him, but he hit Leucus, the
     brave comrade of Ulysses, in the groin, as he was dragging the body
     of Simoeisius over to the other side; so he fell upon the body and
     loosed his hold upon it. Ulysses was furious when he saw Leucus
     slain, and strode in full armour through the front ranks till he was
     quite close; then he glared round about him and took aim, and the
     Trojans fell back as he did so. His dart was not sped in vain, for
     it struck Democoon, the bastard son of Priam, who had come to him
     from Abydos, where he had charge of his father's mares. Ulysses,
     infuriated by the death of his comrade, hit him with his spear on
     one temple, and the bronze point came through on the other side of
     his forehead. Thereon darkness veiled his eyes, and his armour rang
     rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. Hector, and
     they that were in front, then gave round while the Argives raised a
     shout and drew off the dead, pressing further forward as they did
     so. But Apollo looked down from Pergamus and called aloud to the
     Trojans, for he was displeased. "Trojans," he cried, "rush on the
     foe, and do not let yourselves be thus beaten by the Argives. Their
     skins are not stone nor iron that when hit them you do them no harm.
     Moreover, Achilles, the son of lovely Thetis, is not fighting, but
     is nursing his anger at the ships." 
     
     Thus spoke the mighty god, crying to them from the city, while
     Jove's redoubtable daughter, the Trito-born, went about among the
     host of the Achaeans, and urged them forward whenever she beheld
     them slackening. 
     
     Then fate fell upon Diores, son of Amarynceus, for he was struck by
     a jagged stone near the ancle of his right leg. He that hurled it
     was Peirous, son of Imbrasus, captain of the Thracians, who had come
     from Aenus; the bones and both the tendons were crushed by the
     pitiless stone. He fell to the ground on his back, and in his death
     throes stretched out his hands towards his comrades. But Peirous,
     who had wounded him, sprang on him and thrust a spear into his
     belly, so that his bowels came gushing out upon the ground, and
     darkness veiled his eyes. As he was leaving the body, Thoas of
     Aetolia struck him in the chest near the nipple, and the point fixed
     itself in his lungs. Thoas came close up to him, pulled the spear
     out of his chest, and then drawing his sword, smote him in the
     middle of the belly so that he died; but he did not strip him of his
     armour, for his Thracian comrades, men who wear their hair in a tuft
     at the top of their heads, stood round the body and kept him off
     with their long spears for all his great stature and valour; so he
     was driven back. Thus the two corpses lay stretched on earth near to
     one another, the one captain of the Thracians and the other of the
     Epeans; and many another fell round them. 
     
     And now no man would have made light of the fighting if he could
     have gone about among it scatheless and unwounded, with Minerva
     leading him by the hand, and protecting him from the storm of spears
     and arrows. For many Trojans and Achaeans on that day lay stretched
     side by side face downwards upon the earth.