Book VI
  
     The fight between Trojans and Achaeans was now left to rage as it
     would, and the tide of war surged hither and thither over the plain
     as they aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another between the
     streams of Simois and Xanthus. 
     
     First, Ajax son of Telamon, tower of strength to the Achaeans, broke
     a phalanx of the Trojans, and came to the assistance of his comrades
     by killing Acamas son of Eussorus, the best man among the Thracians,
     being both brave and of great stature. The spear struck the
     projecting peak of his helmet: its bronze point then went through
     his forehead into the brain, and darkness veiled his eyes. 
     
     Then Diomed killed Axylus son of Teuthranus, a rich man who lived in
     the strong city of Arisbe, and was beloved by all men; for he had a
     house by the roadside, and entertained every one who passed; howbeit
     not one of his guests stood before him to save his life, and Diomed
     killed both him and his squire Calesius, who was then his
     charioteer- so the pair passed beneath the earth. 
     
     Euryalus killed Dresus and Opheltius, and then went in pursuit of
     Aesepus and Pedasus, whom the naiad nymph Abarbarea had borne to
     noble Bucolion. Bucolion was eldest son to Laomedon, but he was a
     bastard. While tending his sheep he had converse with the nymph, and
     she conceived twin sons; these the son of Mecisteus now slew, and he
     stripped the armour from their shoulders. Polypoetes then killed
     Astyalus, Ulysses Pidytes of Percote, and Teucer Aretaon. Ablerus
     fell by the spear of Nestor's son Antilochus, and Agamemnon, king of
     men, killed Elatus who dwelt in Pedasus by the banks of the river
     Satnioeis. Leitus killed Phylacus as he was flying, and Eurypylus
     slew Melanthus. 
     
     Then Menelaus of the loud war-cry took Adrestus alive, for his
     horses ran into a tamarisk bush, as they were flying wildly over the
     plain, and broke the pole from the car; they went on towards the
     city along with the others in full flight, but Adrestus rolled out,
     and fell in the dust flat on his face by the wheel of his chariot;
     Menelaus came up to him spear in hand, but Adrestus caught him by
     the knees begging for his life. "Take me alive," he cried, "son of
     Atreus, and you shall have a full ransom for me: my father is rich
     and has much treasure of gold, bronze, and wrought iron laid by in
     his house. From this store he will give you a large ransom should he
     hear of my being alive and at the ships of the Achaeans." 
     
     Thus did he plead, and Menelaus was for yielding and giving him to a
     squire to take to the ships of the Achaeans, but Agamemnon came
     running up to him and rebuked him. "My good Menelaus," said he,
     "this is no time for giving quarter. Has, then, your house fared so
     well at the hands of the Trojans? Let us not spare a single one of
     them- not even the child unborn and in its mother's womb; let not a
     man of them be left alive, but let all in Ilius perish, unheeded and
     forgotten." 
     
     Thus did he speak, and his brother was persuaded by him, for his
     words were just. Menelaus, therefore, thrust Adrestus from him,
     whereon King Agamemnon struck him in the flank, and he fell: then
     the son of Atreus planted his foot upon his breast to draw his spear
     from the body. 
     
     Meanwhile Nestor shouted to the Argives, saying, "My friends, Danaan
     warriors, servants of Mars, let no man lag that he may spoil the
     dead, and bring back much booty to the ships. Let us kill as many as
     we can; the bodies will lie upon the plain, and you can despoil them
     later at your leisure." 
     
     With these words he put heart and soul into them all. And now the
     Trojans would have been routed and driven back into Ilius, had not
     Priam's son Helenus, wisest of augurs, said to Hector and Aeneas,
     "Hector and Aeneas, you two are the mainstays of the Trojans and
     Lycians, for you are foremost at all times, alike in fight and
     counsel; hold your ground here, and go about among the host to rally
     them in front of the gates, or they will fling themselves into the
     arms of their wives, to the great joy of our foes. Then, when you
     have put heart into all our companies, we will stand firm here and
     fight the Danaans however hard they press us, for there is nothing
     else to be done. Meanwhile do you, Hector, go to the city and tell
     our mother what is happening. Tell her to bid the matrons gather at
     the temple of Minerva in the acropolis; let her then take her key
     and open the doors of the sacred building; there, upon the knees of
     Minerva, let her lay the largest, fairest robe she has in her house-
     the one she sets most store by; let her, moreover, promise to
     sacrifice twelve yearling heifers that have never yet felt the goad,
     in the temple of the goddess, if she will take pity on the town,
     with the wives and little ones of the Trojans, and keep the son of
     Tydeus from falling on the goodly city of Ilius; for he fights with
     fury and fills men's souls with panic. I hold him mightiest of them
     all; we did not fear even their great champion Achilles, son of a
     goddess though he be, as we do this man: his rage is beyond all
     bounds, and there is none can vie with him in prowess" 
     
     Hector did as his brother bade him. He sprang from his chariot, and
     went about everywhere among the host, brandishing his spears, urging
     the men on to fight, and raising the dread cry of battle. Thereon
     they rallied and again faced the Achaeans, who gave ground and
     ceased their murderous onset, for they deemed that some one of the
     immortals had come down from starry heaven to help the Trojans, so
     strangely had they rallied. And Hector shouted to the Trojans,
     "Trojans and allies, be men, my friends, and fight with might and
     main, while I go to Ilius and tell the old men of our council and
     our wives to pray to the gods and vow hecatombs in their honour." 
     
     With this he went his way, and the black rim of hide that went round
     his shield beat against his neck and his ancles. 
     
     Then Glaucus son of Hippolochus, and the son of Tydeus went into the
     open space between the hosts to fight in single combat. When they
     were close up to one another Diomed of the loud war-cry was the
     first to speak. "Who, my good sir," said he, "who are you among men?
     I have never seen you in battle until now, but you are daring beyond
     all others if you abide my onset. Woe to those fathers whose sons
     face my might. If, however, you are one of the immortals and have
     come down from heaven, I will not fight you; for even valiant
     Lycurgus, son of Dryas, did not live long when he took to fighting
     with the gods. He it was that drove the nursing women who were in
     charge of frenzied Bacchus through the land of Nysa, and they flung
     their thyrsi on the ground as murderous Lycurgus beat them with his
     oxgoad. Bacchus himself plunged terror-stricken into the sea, and
     Thetis took him to her bosom to comfort him, for he was scared by
     the fury with which the man reviled him. Thereon the gods who live
     at ease were angry with Lycurgus and the son of Saturn struck him
     blind, nor did he live much longer after he had become hateful to
     the immortals. Therefore I will not fight with the blessed gods; but
     if you are of them that eat the fruit of the ground, draw near and
     meet your doom." 
     
     And the son of Hippolochus answered, son of Tydeus, why ask me of my
     lineage? Men come and go as leaves year by year upon the trees.
     Those of autumn the wind sheds upon the ground, but when spring
     returns the forest buds forth with fresh vines. Even so is it with
     the generations of mankind, the new spring up as the old are passing
     away. If, then, you would learn my descent, it is one that is well
     known to many. There is a city in the heart of Argos, pasture land
     of horses, called Ephyra, where Sisyphus lived, who was the
     craftiest of all mankind. He was the son of Aeolus, and had a son
     named Glaucus, who was father to Bellerophon, whom heaven endowed
     with the most surpassing comeliness and beauty. But Proetus devised
     his ruin, and being stronger than he, drove him from the land of the
     Argives, over which Jove had made him ruler. For Antea, wife of
     Proetus, lusted after him, and would have had him lie with her in
     secret; but Bellerophon was an honourable man and would not, so she
     told lies about him to Proteus. 'Proetus,' said she, 'kill
     Bellerophon or die, for he would have had converse with me against
     my will.' The king was angered, but shrank from killing Bellerophon,
     so he sent him to Lycia with lying letters of introduction, written
     on a folded tablet, and containing much ill against the bearer. He
     bade Bellerophon show these letters to his father-in-law, to the end
     that he might thus perish; Bellerophon therefore went to Lycia, and
     the gods convoyed him safely. 
     
     "When he reached the river Xanthus, which is in Lycia, the king
     received him with all goodwill, feasted him nine days, and killed
     nine heifers in his honour, but when rosy-fingered morning appeared
     upon the tenth day, he questioned him and desired to see the letter
     from his son-in-law Proetus. When he had received the wicked letter
     he first commanded Bellerophon to kill that savage monster, the
     Chimaera, who was not a human being, but a goddess, for she had the
     head of a lion and the tail of a serpent, while her body was that of
     a goat, and she breathed forth flames of fire; but Bellerophon slew
     her, for he was guided by signs from heaven. He next fought the
     far-famed Solymi, and this, he said, was the hardest of all his
     battles. Thirdly, he killed the Amazons, women who were the peers of
     men, and as he was returning thence the king devised yet another
     plan for his destruction; he picked the bravest warriors in all
     Lycia, and placed them in ambuscade, but not a man ever came back,
     for Bellerophon killed every one of them. Then the king knew that he
     must be the valiant offspring of a god, so he kept him in Lycia,
     gave him his daughter in marriage, and made him of equal honour in
     the kingdom with himself; and the Lycians gave him a piece of land,
     the best in all the country, fair with vineyards and tilled fields,
     to have and to hold. 
     
     "The king's daughter bore Bellerophon three children, Isander,
     Hippolochus, and Laodameia. Jove, the lord of counsel, lay with
     Laodameia, and she bore him noble Sarpedon; but when Bellerophon
     came to be hated by all the gods, he wandered all desolate and
     dismayed upon the Alean plain, gnawing at his own heart, and
     shunning the path of man. Mars, insatiate of battle, killed his son
     Isander while he was fighting the Solymi; his daughter was killed by
     Diana of the golden reins, for she was angered with her; but
     Hippolochus was father to myself, and when he sent me to Troy he
     urged me again and again to fight ever among the foremost and outvie
     my peers, so as not to shame the blood of my fathers who were the
     noblest in Ephyra and in all Lycia. This, then, is the descent I
     claim." 
     
     Thus did he speak, and the heart of Diomed was glad. He planted his
     spear in the ground, and spoke to him with friendly words. "Then,"
     he said, you are an old friend of my father's house. Great Oeneus
     once entertained Bellerophon for twenty days, and the two exchanged
     presents. Oeneus gave a belt rich with purple, and Bellerophon a
     double cup, which I left at home when I set out for Troy. I do not
     remember Tydeus, for he was taken from us while I was yet a child,
     when the army of the Achaeans was cut to pieces before Thebes.
     Henceforth, however, I must be your host in middle Argos, and you
     mine in Lycia, if I should ever go there; let us avoid one another's
     spears even during a general engagement; there are many noble
     Trojans and allies whom I can kill, if I overtake them and heaven
     delivers them into my hand; so again with yourself, there are many
     Achaeans whose lives you may take if you can; we two, then, will
     exchange armour, that all present may know of the old ties that
     subsist between us." 
     
     With these words they sprang from their chariots, grasped one
     another's hands, and plighted friendship. But the son of Saturn made
     Glaucus take leave of his wits, for he exchanged golden armour for
     bronze, the worth of a hundred head of cattle for the worth of nine.
     
     
     Now when Hector reached the Scaean gates and the oak tree, the wives
     and daughters of the Trojans came running towards him to ask after
     their sons, brothers, kinsmen, and husbands: he told them to set
     about praying to the gods, and many were made sorrowful as they
     heard him. 
     
     Presently he reached the splendid palace of King Priam, adorned with
     colonnades of hewn stone. In it there were fifty bedchambers- all of
     hewn stone- built near one another, where the sons of Priam slept,
     each with his wedded wife. Opposite these, on the other side the
     courtyard, there were twelve upper rooms also of hewn stone for
     Priam's daughters, built near one another, where his sons-in-law
     slept with their wives. When Hector got there, his fond mother came
     up to him with Laodice the fairest of her daughters. She took his
     hand within her own and said, "My son, why have you left the battle
     to come hither? Are the Achaeans, woe betide them, pressing you hard
     about the city that you have thought fit to come and uplift your
     hands to Jove from the citadel? Wait till I can bring you wine that
     you may make offering to Jove and to the other immortals, and may
     then drink and be refreshed. Wine gives a man fresh strength when he
     is wearied, as you now are with fighting on behalf of your kinsmen."
     
     
     And Hector answered, "Honoured mother, bring no wine, lest you unman
     me and I forget my strength. I dare not make a drink-offering to
     Jove with unwashed hands; one who is bespattered with blood and
     filth may not pray to the son of Saturn. Get the matrons together,
     and go with offerings to the temple of Minerva driver of the spoil;
     there, upon the knees of Minerva, lay the largest and fairest robe
     you have in your house- the one you set most store by; promise,
     moreover, to sacrifice twelve yearling heifers that have never yet
     felt the goad, in the temple of the goddess if she will take pity on
     the town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans, and keep
     the son of Tydeus from off the goodly city of Ilius, for he fights
     with fury, and fills men's souls with panic. Go, then, to the temple
     of Minerva, while I seek Paris and exhort him, if he will hear my
     words. Would that the earth might open her jaws and swallow him, for
     Jove bred him to be the bane of the Trojans, and of Priam and
     Priam's sons. Could I but see him go down into the house of Hades,
     my heart would forget its heaviness." 
     
     His mother went into the house and called her waiting-women who
     gathered the matrons throughout the city. She then went down into
     her fragrant store-room, where her embroidered robes were kept, the
     work of Sidonian women, whom Alexandrus had brought over from Sidon
     when he sailed the seas upon that voyage during which he carried off
     Helen. Hecuba took out the largest robe, and the one that was most
     beautifully enriched with embroidery, as an offering to Minerva: it
     glittered like a star, and lay at the very bottom of the chest. With
     this she went on her way and many matrons with her. 
     
     When they reached the temple of Minerva, lovely Theano, daughter of
     Cisseus and wife of Antenor, opened the doors, for the Trojans had
     made her priestess of Minerva. The women lifted up their hands to
     the goddess with a loud cry, and Theano took the robe to lay it upon
     the knees of Minerva, praying the while to the daughter of great
     Jove. "Holy Minerva," she cried, "protectress of our city, mighty
     goddess, break the spear of Diomed and lay him low before the Scaean
     gates. Do this, and we will sacrifice twelve heifers that have never
     yet known the goad, in your temple, if you will have pity upon the
     town, with the wives and little ones If the Trojans." Thus she
     prayed, but Pallas Minerva granted not her prayer. 
     
     While they were thus praying to the daughter of great Jove, Hector
     went to the fair house of Alexandrus, which he had built for him by
     the foremost builders in the land. They had built him his house,
     storehouse, and courtyard near those of Priam and Hector on the
     acropolis. Here Hector entered, with a spear eleven cubits long in
     his hand; the bronze point gleamed in front of him, and was fastened
     to the shaft of the spear by a ring of gold. He found Alexandrus
     within the house, busied about his armour, his shield and cuirass,
     and handling his curved bow; there, too, sat Argive Helen with her
     women, setting them their several tasks; and as Hector saw him he
     rebuked him with words of scorn. "Sir," said he, "you do ill to
     nurse this rancour; the people perish fighting round this our town;
     you would yourself chide one whom you saw shirking his part in the
     combat. Up then, or ere long the city will be in a blaze." 
     
     And Alexandrus answered, "Hector, your rebuke is just; listen
     therefore, and believe me when I tell you that I am not here so much
     through rancour or ill-will towards the Trojans, as from a desire to
     indulge my grief. My wife was even now gently urging me to battle,
     and I hold it better that I should go, for victory is ever fickle.
     Wait, then, while I put on my armour, or go first and I will follow.
     I shall be sure to overtake you." 
     
     Hector made no answer, but Helen tried to soothe him. "Brother,"
     said she, "to my abhorred and sinful self, would that a whirlwind
     had caught me up on the day my mother brought me forth, and had
     borne me to some mountain or to the waves of the roaring sea that
     should have swept me away ere this mischief had come about. But,
     since the gods have devised these evils, would, at any rate, that I
     had been wife to a better man- to one who could smart under
     dishonour and men's evil speeches. This fellow was never yet to be
     depended upon, nor never will be, and he will surely reap what he
     has sown. Still, brother, come in and rest upon this seat, for it is
     you who bear the brunt of that toil that has been caused by my
     hateful self and by the sin of Alexandrus- both of whom Jove has
     doomed to be a theme of song among those that shall be born
     hereafter." 
     
     And Hector answered, "Bid me not be seated, Helen, for all the
     goodwill you bear me. I cannot stay. I am in haste to help the
     Trojans, who miss me greatly when I am not among them; but urge your
     husband, and of his own self also let him make haste to overtake me
     before I am out of the city. I must go home to see my household, my
     wife and my little son, for I know not whether I shall ever again
     return to them, or whether the gods will cause me to fill by the
     hands of the Achaeans." 
     
     Then Hector left her, and forthwith was at his own house. He did not
     find Andromache, for she was on the wall with her child and one of
     her maids, weeping bitterly. Seeing, then, that she was not within,
     he stood on the threshold of the women's rooms and said, "Women,
     tell me, and tell me true, where did Andromache go when she left the
     house? Was it to my sisters, or to my brothers' wives? or is she at
     the temple of Minerva where the other women are propitiating the
     awful goddess?" 
     
     His good housekeeper answered, "Hector, since you bid me tell you
     truly, she did not go to your sisters nor to your brothers' wives,
     nor yet to the temple of Minerva, where the other women are
     propitiating the awful goddess, but she is on the high wall of
     Ilius, for she had heard the Trojans were being hard pressed, and
     that the Achaeans were in great force: she went to the wall in
     frenzied haste, and the nurse went with her carrying the child." 
     
     Hector hurried from the house when she had done speaking, and went
     down the streets by the same way that he had come. When he had gone
     through the city and had reached the Scaean gates through which he
     would go out on to the plain, his wife came running towards him,
     Andromache, daughter of great Eetion who ruled in Thebe under the
     wooded slopes of Mt. Placus, and was king of the Cilicians. His
     daughter had married Hector, and now came to meet him with a nurse
     who carried his little child in her bosom- a mere babe. Hector's
     darling son, and lovely as a star. Hector had named him Scamandrius,
     but the people called him Astyanax, for his father stood alone as
     chief guardian of Ilius. Hector smiled as he looked upon the boy,
     but he did not speak, and Andromache stood by him weeping and taking
     his hand in her own. "Dear husband," said she, "your valour will
     bring you to destruction; think on your infant son, and on my
     hapless self who ere long shall be your widow- for the Achaeans will
     set upon you in a body and kill you. It would be better for me,
     should I lose you, to lie dead and buried, for I shall have nothing
     left to comfort me when you are gone, save only sorrow. I have
     neither father nor mother now. Achilles slew my father when he
     sacked Thebe the goodly city of the Cilicians. He slew him, but did
     not for very shame despoil him; when he had burned him in his
     wondrous armour, he raised a barrow over his ashes and the mountain
     nymphs, daughters of aegis-bearing Jove, planted a grove of elms
     about his tomb. I had seven brothers in my father's house, but on
     the same day they all went within the house of Hades. Achilles
     killed them as they were with their sheep and cattle. My mother- her
     who had been queen of all the land under Mt. Placus- he brought
     hither with the spoil, and freed her for a great sum, but the
     archer- queen Diana took her in the house of your father. Nay-
     Hector- you who to me are father, mother, brother, and dear husband-
     have mercy upon me; stay here upon this wall; make not your child
     fatherless, and your wife a widow; as for the host, place them near
     the fig-tree, where the city can be best scaled, and the wall is
     weakest. Thrice have the bravest of them come thither and assailed
     it, under the two Ajaxes, Idomeneus, the sons of Atreus, and the
     brave son of Tydeus, either of their own bidding, or because some
     soothsayer had told them." 
     
     And Hector answered, "Wife, I too have thought upon all this, but
     with what face should I look upon the Trojans, men or women, if I
     shirked battle like a coward? I cannot do so: I know nothing save to
     fight bravely in the forefront of the Trojan host and win renown
     alike for my father and myself. Well do I know that the day will
     surely come when mighty Ilius shall be destroyed with Priam and
     Priam's people, but I grieve for none of these- not even for Hecuba,
     nor King Priam, nor for my brothers many and brave who may fall in
     the dust before their foes- for none of these do I grieve as for
     yourself when the day shall come on which some one of the Achaeans
     shall rob you for ever of your freedom, and bear you weeping away.
     It may be that you will have to ply the loom in Argos at the bidding
     of a mistress, or to fetch water from the springs Messeis or
     Hypereia, treated brutally by some cruel task-master; then will one
     say who sees you weeping, 'She was wife to Hector, the bravest
     warrior among the Trojans during the war before Ilius.' On this your
     tears will break forth anew for him who would have put away the day
     of captivity from you. May I lie dead under the barrow that is
     heaped over my body ere I hear your cry as they carry you into
     bondage." 
     
     He stretched his arms towards his child, but the boy cried and
     nestled in his nurse's bosom, scared at the sight of his father's
     armour, and at the horse-hair plume that nodded fiercely from his
     helmet. His father and mother laughed to see him, but Hector took
     the helmet from his head and laid it all gleaming upon the ground.
     Then he took his darling child, kissed him, and dandled him in his
     arms, praying over him the while to Jove and to all the gods.
     "Jove," he cried, "grant that this my child may be even as myself,
     chief among the Trojans; let him be not less excellent in strength,
     and let him rule Ilius with his might. Then may one say of him as he
     comes from battle, 'The son is far better than the father.' May he
     bring back the blood-stained spoils of him whom he has laid low, and
     let his mother's heart be glad.'" 
     
     With this he laid the child again in the arms of his wife, who took
     him to her own soft bosom, smiling through her tears. As her husband
     watched her his heart yearned towards her and he caressed her
     fondly, saying, "My own wife, do not take these things too bitterly
     to heart. No one can hurry me down to Hades before my time, but if a
     man's hour is come, be he brave or be he coward, there is no escape
     for him when he has once been born. Go, then, within the house, and
     busy yourself with your daily duties, your loom, your distaff, and
     the ordering of your servants; for war is man's matter, and mine
     above all others of them that have been born in Ilius." 
     
     He took his plumed helmet from the ground, and his wife went back
     again to her house, weeping bitterly and often looking back towards
     him. When she reached her home she found her maidens within, and
     bade them all join in her lament; so they mourned Hector in his own
     house though he was yet alive, for they deemed that they should
     never see him return safe from battle, and from the furious hands of
     the Achaeans. 
     
     Paris did not remain long in his house. He donned his goodly armour
     overlaid with bronze, and hasted through the city as fast as his
     feet could take him. As a horse, stabled and fed, breaks loose and
     gallops gloriously over the plain to the place where he is wont to
     bathe in the fair-flowing river- he holds his head high, and his
     mane streams upon his shoulders as he exults in his strength and
     flies like the wind to the haunts and feeding ground of the mares-
     even so went forth Paris from high Pergamus, gleaming like sunlight
     in his armour, and he laughed aloud as he sped swiftly on his way.
     Forthwith he came upon his brother Hector, who was then turning away
     from the place where he had held converse with his wife, and he was
     himself the first to speak. "Sir," said he, "I fear that I have kept
     you waiting when you are in haste, and have not come as quickly as
     you bade me." 
     
     "My good brother," answered Hector, you fight bravely, and no man
     with any justice can make light of your doings in battle. But you
     are careless and wilfully remiss. It grieves me to the heart to hear
     the ill that the Trojans speak about you, for they have suffered
     much on your account. Let us be going, and we will make things right
     hereafter, should Jove vouchsafe us to set the cup of our
     deliverance before ever-living gods of heaven in our own homes, when
     we have chased the Achaeans from Troy."