Book V
  
     Then Pallas Minerva put valour into the heart of Diomed, son of
     Tydeus, that he might excel all the other Argives, and cover himself
     with glory. She made a stream of fire flare from his shield and
     helmet like the star that shines most brilliantly in summer after
     its bath in the waters of Oceanus- even such a fire did she kindle
     upon his head and shoulders as she bade him speed into the thickest
     hurly-burly of the fight. 
     
     Now there was a certain rich and honourable man among the Trojans,
     priest of Vulcan, and his name was Dares. He had two sons, Phegeus
     and Idaeus, both of them skilled in all the arts of war. These two
     came forward from the main body of Trojans, and set upon Diomed, he
     being on foot, while they fought from their chariot. When they were
     close up to one another, Phegeus took aim first, but his spear went
     over Diomed's left shoulder without hitting him. Diomed then threw,
     and his spear sped not in vain, for it hit Phegeus on the breast
     near the nipple, and he fell from his chariot. Idaeus did not dare
     to bestride his brother's body, but sprang from the chariot and took
     to flight, or he would have shared his brother's fate; whereon
     Vulcan saved him by wrapping him in a cloud of darkness, that his
     old father might not be utterly overwhelmed with grief; but the son
     of Tydeus drove off with the horses, and bade his followers take
     them to the ships. The Trojans were scared when they saw the two
     sons of Dares, one of them in fright and the other lying dead by his
     chariot. Minerva, therefore, took Mars by the hand and said, "Mars,
     Mars, bane of men, bloodstained stormer of cities, may we not now
     leave the Trojans and Achaeans to fight it out, and see to which of
     the two Jove will vouchsafe the victory? Let us go away, and thus
     avoid his anger." 
     
     So saying, she drew Mars out of the battle, and set him down upon
     the steep banks of the Scamander. Upon this the Danaans drove the
     Trojans back, and each one of their chieftains killed his man. First
     King Agamemnon flung mighty Odius, captain of the Halizoni, from his
     chariot. The spear of Agamemnon caught him on the broad of his back,
     just as he was turning in flight; it struck him between the
     shoulders and went right through his chest, and his armour rang
     rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground. 
     
     Then Idomeneus killed Phaesus, son of Borus the Meonian, who had
     come from Varne. Mighty Idomeneus speared him on the right shoulder
     as he was mounting his chariot, and the darkness of death enshrouded
     him as he fell heavily from the car. 
     
     The squires of Idomeneus spoiled him of his armour, while Menelaus,
     son of Atreus, killed Scamandrius the son of Strophius, a mighty
     huntsman and keen lover of the chase. Diana herself had taught him
     how to kill every kind of wild creature that is bred in mountain
     forests, but neither she nor his famed skill in archery could now
     save him, for the spear of Menelaus struck him in the back as he was
     flying; it struck him between the shoulders and went right through
     his chest, so that he fell headlong and his armour rang rattling
     round him. 
     
     Meriones then killed Phereclus the son of Tecton, who was the son of
     Hermon, a man whose hand was skilled in all manner of cunning
     workmanship, for Pallas Minerva had dearly loved him. He it was that
     made the ships for Alexandrus, which were the beginning of all
     mischief, and brought evil alike both on the Trojans and on
     Alexandrus himself; for he heeded not the decrees of heaven.
     Meriones overtook him as he was flying, and struck him on the right
     buttock. The point of the spear went through the bone into the
     bladder, and death came upon him as he cried aloud and fell forward
     on his knees. 
     
     Meges, moreover, slew Pedaeus, son of Antenor, who, though he was a
     bastard, had been brought up by Theano as one of her own children,
     for the love she bore her husband. The son of Phyleus got close up
     to him and drove a spear into the nape of his neck: it went under
     his tongue all among his teeth, so he bit the cold bronze, and fell
     dead in the dust. 
     
     And Eurypylus, son of Euaemon, killed Hypsenor, the son of noble
     Dolopion, who had been made priest of the river Scamander, and was
     honoured among the people as though he were a god. Eurypylus gave
     him chase as he was flying before him, smote him with his sword upon
     the arm, and lopped his strong hand from off it. The bloody hand
     fell to the ground, and the shades of death, with fate that no man
     can withstand, came over his eyes. 
     
     Thus furiously did the battle rage between them. As for the son of
     Tydeus, you could not say whether he was more among the Achaeans or
     the Trojans. He rushed across the plain like a winter torrent that
     has burst its barrier in full flood; no dykes, no walls of fruitful
     vineyards can embank it when it is swollen with rain from heaven,
     but in a moment it comes tearing onward, and lays many a field waste
     that many a strong man hand has reclaimed- even so were the dense
     phalanxes of the Trojans driven in rout by the son of Tydeus, and
     many though they were, they dared not abide his onslaught. 
     
     Now when the son of Lycaon saw him scouring the plain and driving
     the Trojans pell-mell before him, he aimed an arrow and hit the
     front part of his cuirass near the shoulder: the arrow went right
     through the metal and pierced the flesh, so that the cuirass was
     covered with blood. On this the son of Lycaon shouted in triumph,
     "Knights Trojans, come on; the bravest of the Achaeans is wounded,
     and he will not hold out much longer if King Apollo was indeed with
     me when I sped from Lycia hither." 
     
     Thus did he vaunt; but his arrow had not killed Diomed, who withdrew
     and made for the chariot and horses of Sthenelus, the son of
     Capaneus. "Dear son of Capaneus," said he, "come down from your
     chariot, and draw the arrow out of my shoulder." 
     
     Sthenelus sprang from his chariot, and drew the arrow from the
     wound, whereon the blood came spouting out through the hole that had
     been made in his shirt. Then Diomed prayed, saying, "Hear me,
     daughter of aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable, if ever you loved my
     father well and stood by him in the thick of a fight, do the like
     now by me; grant me to come within a spear's throw of that man and
     kill him. He has been too quick for me and has wounded me; and now
     he is boasting that I shall not see the light of the sun much
     longer." 
     
     Thus he prayed, and Pallas Minerva heard him; she made his limbs
     supple and quickened his hands and his feet. Then she went up close
     to him and said, "Fear not, Diomed, to do battle with the Trojans,
     for I have set in your heart the spirit of your knightly father
     Tydeus. Moreover, I have withdrawn the veil from your eyes, that you
     know gods and men apart. If, then, any other god comes here and
     offers you battle, do not fight him; but should Jove's daughter
     Venus come, strike her with your spear and wound her." 
     
     When she had said this Minerva went away, and the son of Tydeus
     again took his place among the foremost fighters, three times more
     fierce even than he had been before. He was like a lion that some
     mountain shepherd has wounded, but not killed, as he is springing
     over the wall of a sheep-yard to attack the sheep. The shepherd has
     roused the brute to fury but cannot defend his flock, so he takes
     shelter under cover of the buildings, while the sheep,
     panic-stricken on being deserted, are smothered in heaps one on top
     of the other, and the angry lion leaps out over the sheep-yard wall.
     Even thus did Diomed go furiously about among the Trojans. 
     
     He killed Astynous, and shepherd of his people, the one with a
     thrust of his spear, which struck him above the nipple, the other
     with a sword- cut on the collar-bone, that severed his shoulder from
     his neck and back. He let both of them lie, and went in pursuit of
     Abas and Polyidus, sons of the old reader of dreams Eurydamas: they
     never came back for him to read them any more dreams, for mighty
     Diomed made an end of them. He then gave chase to Xanthus and Thoon,
     the two sons of Phaenops, both of them very dear to him, for he was
     now worn out with age, and begat no more sons to inherit his
     possessions. But Diomed took both their lives and left their father
     sorrowing bitterly, for he nevermore saw them come home from battle
     alive, and his kinsmen divided his wealth among themselves. 
     
     Then he came upon two sons of Priam, Echemmon and Chromius, as they
     were both in one chariot. He sprang upon them as a lion fastens on
     the neck of some cow or heifer when the herd is feeding in a
     coppice. For all their vain struggles he flung them both from their
     chariot and stripped the armour from their bodies. Then he gave
     their horses to his comrades to take them back to the ships. 
     
     When Aeneas saw him thus making havoc among the ranks, he went
     through the fight amid the rain of spears to see if he could find
     Pandarus. When he had found the brave son of Lycaon he said,
     "Pandarus, where is now your bow, your winged arrows, and your
     renown as an archer, in respect of which no man here can rival you
     nor is there any in Lycia that can beat you? Lift then your hands to
     Jove and send an arrow at this fellow who is 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 and has set his hand
     against them in his displeasure." 
     
     And the son of Lycaon answered, "Aeneas, I take him for none other
     than the son of Tydeus. 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 has some god by his side who is shrouded
     in a cloud of darkness, and who turned my arrow aside when it had
     hit him. I have taken aim at him already and hit him on the right
     shoulder; my arrow went through the breastpiece of his cuirass; and
     I made sure I should send 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 have neither horse nor chariot. In my father's
     stables there are eleven excellent chariots, fresh from the builder,
     quite new, with cloths spread over them; and by each of them there
     stand a pair of horses, champing barley and rye; my old father
     Lycaon 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 Ilius armed only with my bow and
     arrows. These it seems, are of no use, for I have already hit two
     chieftains, the sons of Atreus and of Tydeus, 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 I led my band of
     Trojans to Ilius in Hector's service, and if ever I get home again
     to set eyes on my native place, my wife, and the greatness of my
     house, may some one 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." 
     
     Aeneas answered, "Say no more. Things will not mend till we two 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 Tros can
     speed hither and thither over the plain in pursuit or flight. If
     Jove again vouchsafes glory to the son of Tydeus they will carry us
     safely back to the city. Take hold, then, of the whip and reins
     while I stand upon the car to fight, or else do you wait this man's
     onset while I look after the horses." 
     
     "Aeneas." replied the son of Lycaon, "take the reins and drive; if
     we have to fly before the son of Tydeus 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 Tydeus 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 Tydeus. Sthenelus, son of Capaneus, saw them coming and said to
     Diomed, "Diomed, son of Tydeus, man after my own heart, I see two
     heroes speeding towards you, both of them men of might the one a
     skilful archer, Pandarus son of Lycaon, the other, Aeneas, whose
     sire is Anchises, while his mother is Venus. Mount the chariot and
     let us retreat. Do not, I pray you, press so furiously forward, or
     you may get killed." 
     
     Diomed looked angrily at him and answered: "Talk not 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 unwearied. I am in no mind to
     mount, but will go against them even as I am; Pallas Minerva bids me
     be afraid of no man, and even though one of them escape, their
     steeds shall not take both back again. I say further, and lay my
     saying to your heart- if Minerva sees fit to vouchsafe me the glory
     of killing both, stay your horses here and make the reins fast to
     the rim of the chariot; then be sure you spring Aeneas' horses and
     drive them from the Trojan to the Achaean ranks. They are of the
     stock that great Jove gave to Tros in payment for his son Ganymede,
     and are the finest that live and move under the sun. King Anchises
     stole the blood by putting his mares to them without Laomedon's
     knowledge, and they bore him six foals. Four are still in his
     stables, but he gave the other two to Aeneas. 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 Lycaon spoke first. "Great and mighty son,"
     said he, "of noble Tydeus, 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 him. It struck
     the shield of the son of Tydeus; the bronze point pierced it and
     passed on till it reached the breastplate. Thereon the son of Lycaon
     shouted out and said, "You are hit clean through the belly; you will
     not stand out for long, and the glory of the fight is mine." 
     
     But Diomed all undismayed made answer, "You have missed, not hit,
     and before you two 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 Minerva guided it on to
     Pandarus's nose near the eye. It went crashing in among his white
     teeth; the bronze point cut through the root of his to tongue,
     coming out under his chin, and his glistening armour 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. 
     
     Aeneas sprang from his chariot armed with shield and spear, fearing
     lest the Achaeans should carry off the body. He bestrode it as a
     lion in the pride of strength, with shield and on spear before him
     and a cry of battle on his lips resolute to kill the first that
     should dare face him. But the son of Tydeus caught up a mighty
     stone, so huge and great that as men now are it would take two to
     lift it; nevertheless he bore it aloft with ease unaided, and with
     this he struck Aeneas 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 Aeneas, king of men, would have perished then and there, had
     not his mother, Jove's daughter Venus, who had conceived him by
     Anchises when he was herding cattle, been 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
     Danaan should drive a spear into his breast and kill him. 
     
     Thus, then, did she bear her dear son out of the fight. But the son
     of Capaneus was not unmindful of the orders that Diomed 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
     Aeneas'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
     Deipylus, whom he valued above all others as the one who was 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 Tydeus. 
     
     Now the son of Tydeus was in pursuit of the Cyprian goddess, spear
     in hand, for he knew her to be feeble and not one of those goddesses
     that can lord it among men in battle like Minerva or Enyo the waster
     of cities, and when at last after a long chase he caught her up, he
     flew at 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 ichor, 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. Venus screamed aloud, and let her son fall,
     but Phoebus Apollo caught him in his arms, and hid him in a cloud of
     darkness, lest some Danaan should drive a spear into his breast and
     kill him; and Diomed shouted out as he left her, "Daughter of Jove,
     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 discomfited away, and Iris, fleet as 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. "Dear brother," she cried, "save me, and give me
     your horses to take me to Olympus where the gods dwell. I am badly
     wounded by a mortal, the son of Tydeus, who would now fight even
     with father Jove." 
     
     Thus she spoke, and Mars gave her his gold-bedizened 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 loth, 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 to 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, "Proud Diomed, the son of
     Tydeus, wounded me because I was bearing my dear son Aeneas, whom I
     love best of all mankind, out of the fight. The war is no longer one
     between Trojans and Achaeans, for the Danaans have now taken to
     fighting with the immortals." 
     
     "Bear it, my child," replied Dione, "and make the best of it. We
     dwellers in Olympus have to put up with much at the hands of men,
     and we lay much suffering on one another. Mars had to suffer when
     Otus and Ephialtes, children of Aloeus, bound him in cruel bonds, so
     that he lay thirteen months imprisoned in a vessel of bronze. Mars
     would have then perished had not fair Eeriboea, stepmother to the
     sons of Aloeus, told Mercury, who stole him away when he was already
     well-nigh worn out by the severity of his bondage. Juno, again,
     suffered when the mighty son of Amphitryon wounded her on the right
     breast with a three-barbed arrow, and nothing could assuage her
     pain. So, also, did huge Hades, when this same man, the son of
     aegis-bearing Jove, hit him with an arrow even at the gates of hell,
     and hurt him badly. Thereon 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 till Paeeon healed him by
     spreading soothing herbs on the wound, for Hades was not of mortal
     mould. Daring, head-strong, evildoer who recked not of his sin in
     shooting the gods that dwell in Olympus. And now Minerva has egged
     this son of Tydeus on against yourself, fool that he is for not
     reflecting that no man who fights with gods will live long or hear
     his children prattling about his knees when he returns from battle.
     Let, then, the son of Tydeus see that he does not have to fight with
     one who is stronger than you are. Then shall his brave wife
     Aegialeia, daughter of Adrestus, 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 ichor from the wrist of her daughter with
     both hands, whereon 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, "do not be angry with me, but I think the Cyprian must
     have been persuading some one of the Achaean women to go with the
     Trojans of whom she is so very fond, and while caressing one or
     other of them she must have torn her delicate hand with the gold pin
     of the woman'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 sprang upon Aeneas, though he
     knew him to be in the very arms of Apollo. Not one whit did he fear
     the mighty god, so set was he on killing Aeneas and stripping him of
     his armour. Thrice did he spring forward with 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
     Tydeus, 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 Tydeus then gave way for a little space, to avoid the
     anger of the god, while Apollo took Aeneas out of the crowd and set
     him in sacred Pergamus, 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 Aeneas, and armed as he was. Round this the Trojans and
     Achaeans hacked at the bucklers about one another's breasts, hewing
     each other's round shields and light hide-covered targets. Then
     Phoebus Apollo said to Mars, "Mars, Mars, bane of men, blood-stained
     stormer of cities, can you not go to this man, the son of Tydeus,
     who would now fight even with father Jove, and draw him out of the
     battle? He first went up to the Cyprian and wounded her in the hand
     near her wrist, and afterwards sprang upon me too, as though he were
     a god." 
     
     He then took his seat on the top of Pergamus, while murderous Mars
     went about among the ranks of the Trojans, cheering them on, in the
     likeness of fleet Acamas chief of the Thracians. "Sons of Priam,"
     said he, "how long will you let your people be thus slaughtered by
     the Achaeans? Would you wait till they are at the walls of Troy?
     Aeneas the son of Anchises has fallen, he whom we held in as high
     honour as Hector himself. Help me, then, to rescue our brave comrade
     from the stress of the fight." 
     
     With these words he put heart and soul into them all. Then Sarpedon
     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 Lycia and the banks of the
     river Xanthus, where I have left my wife, my infant son, and much
     wealth to tempt whoever is needy; nevertheless, I head my Lycian
     soldiers and stand my ground against any who would fight me though I
     have nothing here for the Achaeans to plunder, while you look on,
     without even bidding your men stand firm in defence 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
     reproaches from you." 
     
     So spoke Sarpedon, and Hector smarted under his words. He sprang
     from his chariot clad in his suit of armour, 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 Achaeans, 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 Ceres
     blows with the wind to sift the chaff from the grain, and the chaff-
     heaps grow whiter and whiter- even so did the Achaeans whiten in the
     dust which the horses' hoofs 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,
     inasmuch as Phoebus Apollo had told him that when he saw Pallas,
     Minerva leave the fray he was to put courage into the hearts of the
     Trojans- for it was she who was helping the Danaans. Then Apollo
     sent Aeneas forth from his rich sanctuary, and filled his heart with
     valour, whereon he took his place among his comrades, who were
     overjoyed at seeing him alive, sound, and of a good courage; but
     they could not ask him how it had all happened, for they were too
     busy with the turmoil raised by Mars and by Strife, who raged
     insatiably in their midst. 
     
     The two Ajaxes, Ulysses and Diomed, cheered the Danaans on, fearless
     of the fury and onset of the Trojans. They stood as still as clouds
     which the son of Saturn has spread upon the mountain tops 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 Danaans 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 dishonour in one
     another's eyes amid the stress of battle. They that shun dishonour
     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 Aeneas, Deicoon son of Pergasus, whom the
     Trojans held in no less honour than the sons of Priam, 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 armour rang rattling round him as he fell
     heavily to the ground. 
     
     Then Aeneas killed two champions of the Danaans, Crethon and
     Orsilochus. Their father was a rich man who lived in the strong city
     of Phere and was descended from the river Alpheus, whose broad
     stream flows through the land of the Pylians. The river begat
     Orsilochus, who ruled over much people and was father to Diocles,
     who in his turn begat twin sons, Crethon and Orsilochus, well
     skilled in all the arts of war. These, when they grew up, went to
     Ilius with the Argive fleet in the cause of Menelaus 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 Aeneas,
     and fell like high pine-trees to the ground. 
     
     Brave Menelaus pitied them in their fall, and made his way to the
     front, clad in gleaming bronze and brandishing his spear, for Mars
     egged him on to do so with intent that he should be killed by
     Aeneas; but Antilochus the son of Nestor saw him and sprang forward,
     fearing that the king might come to harm and thus bring all their
     labour to nothing; when, therefore Aeneas and Menelaus were setting
     their hands and spears against one another eager to do battle,
     Antilochus placed himself by the side of Menelaus. Aeneas, 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 Orsilochus to
     the ranks of the Achaeans and committed the two poor fellows into
     the hands of their comrades. They then turned back and fought in the
     front ranks. 
     
     They killed Pylaemenes peer of Mars, leader of the Paphlagonian
     warriors. Menelaus struck him on the collar-bone as he was standing
     on his chariot, while Antilochus hit his charioteer and squire
     Mydon, the son of Atymnius, 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. Antilochus rushed
     towards him and struck him on the temples with his sword, whereon he
     fell head first 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 Antilochus 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 Enyo 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. 
     
     Diomed shook with passion as he saw them. As a man crossing a wide
     plain is 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 Tydeus 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 the 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 Anchialus, heroes well versed in
     war. Ajax son of Telamon pitied them in their fall; he came close up
     and hurled his spear, hitting Amphius the son of Selagus, 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 armour, but the Trojans rained 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 armour from his shoulders.
     The Trojan chieftains, moreover, many and valiant, came about him
     with their spears, so that he dared 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 Tlepolemus, the son of Hercules, a man both
     brave and of great stature, to fight Sarpedon; so the two, son and
     grandson of great Jove, drew near to one another, and Tlepolemus
     spoke first. "Sarpedon," said he, "councillor of the Lycians, why
     should you come skulking here you who are a man of peace? They lie
     who call you son of aegis-bearing Jove, for you are little like
     those who were of old his children. Far other was Hercules, my own
     brave and lion-hearted father, who came here for the horses of
     Laomedon, and though he had six ships only, and few men to follow
     him, sacked the city of Ilius 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 Lycia, you will be no help to the
     Trojans but will pass the gates of Hades vanquished by my hand." 
     
     And Sarpedon, captain of the Lycians, answered, "Tlepolemus, your
     father overthrew Ilius by reason of Laomedon's folly in 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 steeds." 
     
     Thus spoke Sarpedon, and Tlepolemus upraised his spear. They threw
     at the same moment, and Sarpedon struck his foe in the middle of his
     throat; the spear went right through, and the darkness of death fell
     upon his eyes. Tlepolemus's spear struck Sarpedon 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 Sarpedon 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 uprightly.
     Meanwhile the Achaeans carried off the body of Tlepolemus, whereon
     Ulysses was moved to pity, and panted for the fray as he beheld
     them. He doubted whether to pursue the son of Jove, or to make
     slaughter of the Lycian rank and file; it was not decreed, however,
     that he should slay the son of Jove; Minerva, therefore, turned him
     against the main body of the Lycians. He killed Coeranus, Alastor,
     Chromius, Alcandrus, Halius, Noemon, and Prytanis, and would have
     slain yet more, had not great Hector marked him, and sped to the
     front of the fight clad in his suit of mail, filling the Danaans
     with terror. Sarpedon was glad when he saw him coming, and besought
     him, saying, "Son of Priam, let me not he here to fall into the
     hands of the Danaans. 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
     Sarpedon away and laid him beneath Jove's spreading oak tree.
     Pelagon, his friend and comrade drew the spear out of his thigh, but
     Sarpedon 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 retreated, but kept their faces still
     turned towards the foe. Who, then, was first and who last to be
     slain by Mars and Hector? They were valiant Teuthras, and Orestes
     the renowned charioteer, Trechus the Aetolian warrior, Oenomaus,
     Helenus the son of Oenops, and Oresbius of the gleaming girdle, who
     was possessed of great wealth, and dwelt by the Cephisian lake with
     the other Boeotians 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 aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable, the
     promise we made Menelaus that he should not return till he had
     sacked the city of Ilius will be of none effect if we let Mars rage
     thus furiously. Let us go into the fray at once." 
     
     Minerva did not gainsay her. Thereon the august goddess, daughter of
     great Saturn, began to harness her gold-bedizened steeds. Hebe with
     all speed fitted on the eight-spoked wheels of bronze that were on
     either side of the iron axle-tree. The felloes of the wheels were of
     gold, imperishable, and over these there was a tire of bronze,
     wondrous to behold. The naves of the wheels were silver, turning
     round the axle upon either side. The car itself was made with
     plaited 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 donned the shirt of
     Jove, arming herself for battle. She threw her tasselled aegis
     about. her shoulders, wreathed round with Rout 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, portent of aegis-bearing Jove. 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 flours 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 Jove the son of
     Saturn, lord of all. "Father Jove," said she, "are you not angry
     with Mars for these high doings? how great and goodly a host of the
     Achaeans he has destroyed to my great grief, and without either
     right or reason, while the Cyprian and Apollo are enjoying it all at
     their ease and setting this unrighteous madman on to do further
     mischief. I hope, Father Jove, that you will not be angry if I hit
     Mars hard, and chase him out of the battle." 
     
     And Jove answered, "Set Minerva on to him, for she punishes him more
     often than any one else does." 
     
     Juno did as he had said. She lashed her horses, and they flew
     forward nothing loth midway betwixt 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 Troy and the place where its two flowing streams
     Simois and Scamander meet, there Juno stayed them and took them from
     the chariot. She hid them in a thick cloud, and Simois made ambrosia
     spring up for them to eat; the two goddesses then went on, flying
     like turtledoves in their eagerness to help the Argives. When they
     came to the part where the bravest and most in number were gathered
     about mighty Diomed, fighting like lions or wild boars of great
     strength and endurance, there Juno stood still and raised a shout
     like that of brazen-voiced Stentor, whose cry was as loud as that of
     fifty men together. "Argives," she cried; "shame on cowardly
     creatures, brave in semblance only; as long as Achilles was
     fighting, fi his spear was so deadly that the Trojans dared not show
     themselves outside the Dardanian gates, but now they sally far from
     the city and fight even at your ships." 
     
     With these words she put heart and soul into them all, while Minerva
     sprang to the side of the son of Tydeus, whom she found near his
     chariot and horses, cooling the wound that Pandarus 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 Tydeus is not such
     another as his father. Tydeus 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 Thebes among the
     Cadmeans, I bade him feast in their houses and be at peace; but with
     that high spirit which was ever present with him, he challenged the
     youth of the Cadmeans, and at once beat them in 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 Tydeus the son of Oeneus." 
     
     Diomed answered, "I know you, goddess, daughter of aegis-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 Jove's daughter Venus came into 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." 
     
     "Diomed, son of Tydeus," 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 talk with Juno
     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 Sthenelus and lifted him off the
     chariot on to the ground. In a second he was on the ground,
     whereupon the goddess mounted the car and placed herself by the side
     of Diomed. The oaken axle groaned aloud under the burden of the
     awful goddess and the hero; Pallas Minerva took the whip and reins,
     and drove straight at Mars. He was in the act of stripping huge
     Periphas, son of Ochesius and bravest of the Aetolians. Bloody Mars
     was stripping him of his armour, and Minerva donned the helmet of
     Hades, that he might not see her; when, therefore, he saw Diomed, he
     made straight for him and let Periphas 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 Diomed's life, but Minerva
     caught the spear in her hand and made it fly harmlessly over the
     chariot. Diomed then threw, and Pallas Minerva drove the spear into
     the pit of Mars's stomach where his under-girdle went round him.
     There Diomed 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 Achaeans 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 Diomed son of Tydeus 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 Jove the son of Saturn. He showed Jove
     the immortal blood that was flowing from his wound, and spoke
     piteously, saying, "Father Jove, 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 begotten that mad termagant of a daughter, who is 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 Diomed to vent his rage on the immortal gods.
     First he went up to the Cyprian 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
     torments among the ghastly corpes, or have been eaten alive with
     spears till I had no more strength left in me." 
     
     Jove looked angrily at him and said, "Do not come whining here, Sir
     Facing-bothways. 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 off-spring, and it was by me that your mother conceived you; if,
     however, you had been the 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 Paeeon heal him, whereon Paeeon spread pain-killing
     herbs upon his wound and cured him, for he was not of mortal mould.
     As the juice of the fig-tree curdles milk, and thickens it in a
     moment though it is liquid, even so instantly did Paeeon cure fierce
     Mars. Then Hebe washed him, and clothed him in goodly raiment, and
     he took his seat by his father Jove all glorious to behold. 
     
     But Juno of Argos and Minerva of Alalcomene, now that they had put a
     stop to the murderous doings of Mars, went back again to the house
     of Jove.