Book XIV
  
     Nestor was sitting over his wine, but the cry of battle did not
     escape him, and he said to the son of Aesculapius, "What, noble
     Machaon, is the meaning of all this? The shouts of men fighting by
     our ships grow stronger and stronger; stay here, therefore, and sit
     over your wine, while fair Hecamede heats you a bath and washes the
     clotted blood from off you. I will go at once to the look-out
     station and see what it is all about." 
     
     As he spoke he took up the shield of his son Thrasymedes that was
     lying in his tent, all gleaming with bronze, for Thrasymedes had
     taken his father's shield; he grasped his redoubtable bronze-shod
     spear, and as soon as he was outside saw the disastrous rout of the
     Achaeans who, now that their wall was overthrown, were flying
     pell-mell before the Trojans. As when there is a heavy swell upon
     the sea, but the waves are dumb- they keep their eyes on the watch
     for the quarter whence the fierce winds may spring upon them, but
     they stay where they are and set neither this way nor that, till
     some particular wind sweeps down from heaven to determine them- even
     so did the old man ponder whether to make for the crowd of Danaans,
     or go in search of Agamemnon. In the end he deemed it best to go to
     the son of Atreus; but meanwhile the hosts were fighting and killing
     one another, and the hard bronze rattled on their bodies, as they
     thrust at one another with their swords and spears. 
     
     The wounded kings, the son of Tydeus, Ulysses, and Agamemnon son of
     Atreus, fell in Nestor as they were coming up from their ships- for
     theirs were drawn up some way from where the fighting was going on,
     being on the shore itself inasmuch as they had been beached first,
     while the wall had been built behind the hindermost. The stretch of
     the shore, wide though it was, did not afford room for all the
     ships, and the host was cramped for space, therefore they had placed
     the ships in rows one behind the other, and had filled the whole
     opening of the bay between the two points that formed it. The kings,
     leaning on their spears, were coming out to survey the fight, being
     in great anxiety, and when old Nestor met them they were filled with
     dismay. Then King Agamemnon said to him, "Nestor son of Neleus,
     honour to the Achaean name, why have you left the battle to come
     hither? I fear that what dread Hector said will come true, when he
     vaunted among the Trojans saying that he would not return to Ilius
     till he had fired our ships and killed us; this is what he said, and
     now it is all coming true. Alas! others of the Achaeans, like
     Achilles, are in anger with me that they refuse to fight by the
     sterns of our ships." 
     
     Then Nestor knight of Gerene answered, "It is indeed as you say; it
     is all coming true at this moment, and even Jove who thunders from
     on high cannot prevent it. Fallen is the wall on which we relied as
     an impregnable bulwark both for us and our fleet. The Trojans are
     fighting stubbornly and without ceasing at the ships; look where you
     may you cannot see from what quarter the rout of the Achaeans is
     coming; they are being killed in a confused mass and the battle-cry
     ascends to heaven; let us think, if counsel can be of any use, what
     we had better do; but I do not advise our going into battle
     ourselves, for a man cannot fight when he is wounded." 
     
     And King Agamemnon answered, "Nestor, if the Trojans are indeed
     fighting at the rear of our ships, and neither the wall nor the
     trench has served us- over which the Danaans toiled so hard, and
     which they deemed would be an impregnable bulwark both for us and
     our fleet- I see it must be the will of Jove that the Achaeans
     should perish ingloriously here, far from Argos. I knew when Jove
     was willing to defend us, and I know now that he is raising the
     Trojans to like honour with the gods, while us, on the other hand,
     he bas bound hand and foot. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say;
     let us bring down the ships that are on the beach and draw them into
     the water; let us make them fast to their mooring-stones a little
     way out, against the fall of night- if even by night the Trojans
     will desist from fighting; we may then draw down the rest of the
     fleet. There is nothing wrong in flying ruin even by night. It is
     better for a man that he should fly and be saved than be caught and
     killed." 
     
     Ulysses looked fiercely at him and said, "Son of Atreus, what are
     you talking about? Wretch, you should have commanded some other and
     baser army, and not been ruler over us to whom Jove has allotted a
     life of hard fighting from youth to old age, till we every one of us
     perish. Is it thus that you would quit the city of Troy, to win
     which we have suffered so much hardship? Hold your peace, lest some
     other of the Achaeans hear you say what no man who knows how to give
     good counsel, no king over so great a host as that of the Argives
     should ever have let fall from his lips. I despise your judgement
     utterly for what you have been saying. Would you, then, have us draw
     down our ships into the water while the battle is raging, and thus
     play further into the hands of the conquering Trojans? It would be
     ruin; the Achaeans will not go on fighting when they see the ships
     being drawn into the water, but will cease attacking and keep
     turning their eyes towards them; your counsel, therefore, Sir
     captain, would be our destruction." 
     
     Agamemnon answered, "Ulysses, your rebuke has stung me to the heart.
     I am not, however, ordering the Achaeans to draw their ships into
     the sea whether they will or no. Some one, it may be, old or young,
     can offer us better counsel which I shall rejoice to hear." 
     
     Then said Diomed, "Such an one is at hand; he is not far to seek, if
     you will listen to me and not resent my speaking though I am younger
     than any of you. I am by lineage son to a noble sire, Tydeus, who
     lies buried at Thebes. For Portheus had three noble sons, two of
     whom, Agrius and Melas, abode in Pleuron and rocky Calydon. The
     third was the knight Oeneus, my father's father, and he was the most
     valiant of them all. Oeeneus remained in his own country, but my
     father (as Jove and the other gods ordained it) migrated to Argos.
     He married into the family of Adrastus, and his house was one of
     great abundance, for he had large estates of rich corn-growing land,
     with much orchard ground as well, and he had many sheep; moreover he
     excelled all the Argives in the use of the spear. You must
     yourselves have heard whether these things are true or no; therefore
     when I say well despise not my words as though I were a coward or of
     ignoble birth. I say, then, let us go to the fight as we needs must,
     wounded though we be. When there, we may keep out of the battle and
     beyond the range of the spears lest we get fresh wounds in addition
     to what we have already, but we can spur on others, who have been
     indulging their spleen and holding aloof from battle hitherto." 
     
     Thus did he speak; whereon they did even as he had said and set out,
     King Agamemnon leading the way. 
     
     Meanwhile Neptune had kept no blind look-out, and came up to them in
     the semblance of an old man. He took Agamemnon's right hand in his
     own and said, "Son of Atreus, I take it Achilles is glad now that he
     sees the Achaeans routed and slain, for he is utterly without
     remorse- may he come to a bad end and heaven confound him. As for
     yourself, the blessed gods are not yet so bitterly angry with you
     but that the princes and counsellors of the Trojans shall again
     raise the dust upon the plain, and you shall see them flying from
     the ships and tents towards their city." 
     
     With this he raised a mighty cry of battle, and sped forward to the
     plain. The voice that came from his deep chest was as that of nine
     or ten thousand men when they are shouting in the thick of a fight,
     and it put fresh courage into the hearts of the Achaeans to wage war
     and do battle without ceasing. 
     
     Juno of the golden throne looked down as she stood upon a peak of
     Olympus and her heart was gladdened at the sight of him who was at
     once her brother and her brother-in-law, hurrying hither and thither
     amid the fighting. Then she turned her eyes to Jove as he sat on the
     topmost crests of many-fountained Ida, and loathed him. She set
     herself to think how she might hoodwink him, and in the end she
     deemed that it would be best for her to go to Ida and array herself
     in rich attire, in the hope that Jove might become enamoured of her,
     and wish to embrace her. While he was thus engaged a sweet and
     careless sleep might be made to steal over his eyes and senses. 
     
     She went, therefore, to the room which her son Vulcan had made her,
     and the doors of which he had cunningly fastened by means of a
     secret key so that no other god could open them. Here she entered
     and closed the doors behind her. She cleansed all the dirt from her
     fair body with ambrosia, then she anointed herself with olive oil,
     ambrosial, very soft, and scented specially for herself- if it were
     so much as shaken in the bronze-floored house of Jove, the scent
     pervaded the universe of heaven and earth. With this she anointed
     her delicate skin, and then she plaited the fair ambrosial locks
     that flowed in a stream of golden tresses from her immortal head.
     She put on the wondrous robe which Minerva had worked for her with
     consummate art, and had embroidered with manifold devices; she
     fastened it about her bosom with golden clasps, and she girded
     herself with a girdle that had a hundred tassels: then she fastened
     her earrings, three brilliant pendants that glistened most
     beautifully, through the pierced lobes of her ears, and threw a
     lovely new veil over her head. She bound her sandals on to her feet,
     and when she had arrayed herself perfectly to her satisfaction, she
     left her room and called Venus to come aside and speak to her. "My
     dear child," said she, "will you do what I am going to ask of you,
     or will refuse me because you are angry at my being on the Danaan
     side, while you are on the Trojan?" 
     
     Jove's daughter Venus answered, "Juno, august queen of goddesses,
     daughter of mighty Saturn, say what you want, and I will do it for
     at once, if I can, and if it can be done at all." 
     
     Then Juno told her a lying tale and said, "I want you to endow me
     with some of those fascinating charms, the spells of which bring all
     things mortal and immortal to your feet. I am going to the world's
     end to visit Oceanus (from whom all we gods proceed) and mother
     Tethys: they received me in their house, took care of me, and
     brought me up, having taken me over from Rhaea when Jove imprisoned
     great Saturn in the depths that are under earth and sea. I must go
     and see them that I may make peace between them; they have been
     quarrelling, and are so angry that they have not slept with one
     another this long while; if I can bring them round and restore them
     to one another's embraces, they will be grateful to me and love me
     for ever afterwards." 
     
     Thereon laughter-loving Venus said, "I cannot and must not refuse
     you, for you sleep in the arms of Jove who is our king." 
     
     As she spoke she loosed from her bosom the curiously embroidered
     girdle into which all her charms had been wrought- love, desire, and
     that sweet flattery which steals the judgement even of the most
     prudent. She gave the girdle to Juno and said, "Take this girdle
     wherein all my charms reside and lay it in your bosom. If you will
     wear it I promise you that your errand, be it what it may, will not
     be bootless." 
     
     When she heard this Juno smiled, and still smiling she laid the
     girdle in her bosom. 
     
     Venus now went back into the house of Jove, while Juno darted down
     from the summits of Olympus. She passed over Pieria and fair
     Emathia, and went on and on till she came to the snowy ranges of the
     Thracian horsemen, over whose topmost crests she sped without ever
     setting foot to ground. When she came to Athos she went on over the,
     waves of the sea till she reached Lemnos, the city of noble Thoas.
     There she met Sleep, own brother to Death, and caught him by the
     hand, saying, "Sleep, you who lord it alike over mortals and
     immortals, if you ever did me a service in times past, do one for me
     now, and I shall be grateful to you ever after. Close Jove's keen
     eyes for me in slumber while I hold him clasped in my embrace, and I
     will give you a beautiful golden seat, that can never fall to
     pieces; my clubfooted son Vulcan shall make it for you, and he shall
     give it a footstool for you to rest your fair feet upon when you are
     at table." 
     
     Then Sleep answered, "Juno, great queen of goddesses, daughter of
     mighty Saturn, I would lull any other of the gods to sleep without
     compunction, not even excepting the waters of Oceanus from whom all
     of them proceed, but I dare not go near Jove, nor send him to sleep
     unless he bids me. I have had one lesson already through doing what
     you asked me, on the day when Jove's mighty son Hercules set sail
     from Ilius after having sacked the city of the Trojans. At your
     bidding I suffused my sweet self over the mind of aegis-bearing
     Jove, and laid him to rest; meanwhile you hatched a plot against
     Hercules, and set the blasts of the angry winds beating upon the
     sea, till you took him to the goodly city of Cos away from all his
     friends. Jove was furious when he awoke, and began hurling the gods
     about all over the house; he was looking more particularly for
     myself, and would have flung me down through space into the sea
     where I should never have been heard of any more, had not Night who
     cows both men and gods protected me. I fled to her and Jove left off
     looking for me in spite of his being so angry, for he did not dare
     do anything to displease Night. And now you are again asking me to
     do something on which I cannot venture." 
     
     And Juno said, "Sleep, why do you take such notions as those into
     your head? Do you think Jove will be as anxious to help the Trojans,
     as he was about his own son? Come, I will marry you to one of the
     youngest of the Graces, and she shall be your own- Pasithea, whom
     you have always wanted to marry." 
     
     Sleep was pleased when he heard this, and answered, "Then swear it
     to me by the dread waters of the river Styx; lay one hand on the
     bounteous earth, and the other on the sheen of the sea, so that all
     the gods who dwell down below with Saturn may be our witnesses, and
     see that you really do give me one of the youngest of the Graces-
     Pasithea, whom I have always wanted to marry." 
     
     Juno did as he had said. She swore, and invoked all the gods of the
     nether world, who are called Titans, to witness. When she had
     completed her oath, the two enshrouded themselves in a thick mist
     and sped lightly forward, leaving Lemnos and Imbrus behind them.
     Presently they reached many-fountained Ida, mother of wild beasts,
     and Lectum where they left the sea to go on by land, and the tops of
     the trees of the forest soughed under the going of their feet. Here
     Sleep halted, and ere Jove caught sight of him he climbed a lofty
     pine-tree- the tallest that reared its head towards heaven on all
     Ida. He hid himself behind the branches and sat there in the
     semblance of the sweet-singing bird that haunts the mountains and is
     called Chalcis by the gods, but men call it Cymindis. Juno then went
     to Gargarus, the topmost peak of Ida, and Jove, driver of the
     clouds, set eyes upon her. As soon as he did so he became inflamed
     with the same passionate desire for her that he had felt when they
     had first enjoyed each other's embraces, and slept with one another
     without their dear parents knowing anything about it. He went up to
     her and said, "What do you want that you have come hither from
     Olympus- and that too with neither chariot nor horses to convey
     you?" 
     
     Then Juno told him a lying tale and said, "I am going to the world's
     end, to visit Oceanus, from whom all we gods proceed, and mother
     Tethys; they received me into their house, took care of me, and
     brought me up. I must go and see them that I may make peace between
     them: they have been quarrelling, and are so angry that they have
     not slept with one another this long time. The horses that will take
     me over land and sea are stationed on the lowermost spurs of
     many-fountained Ida, and I have come here from Olympus on purpose to
     consult you. I was afraid you might be angry with me later on, if I
     went to the house of Oceanus without letting you know." 
     
     And Jove said, "Juno, you can choose some other time for paying your
     visit to Oceanus- for the present let us devote ourselves to love
     and to the enjoyment of one another. Never yet have I been so
     overpowered by passion neither for goddess nor mortal woman as I am
     at this moment for yourself- not even when I was in love with the
     wife of Ixion who bore me Pirithous, peer of gods in counsel, nor
     yet with Danae the daintily-ancled daughter of Acrisius, who bore me
     the famed hero Perseus. Then there was the daughter of Phoenix, who
     bore me Minos and Rhadamanthus: there was Semele, and Alcmena in
     Thebes by whom I begot my lion-hearted son Hercules, while Semele
     became mother to Bacchus the comforter of mankind. There was queen
     Ceres again, and lovely Leto, and yourself- but with none of these
     was I ever so much enamoured as I now am with you." 
     
     Juno again answered him with a lying tale. "Most dread son of
     Saturn," she exclaimed, "what are you talking about? Would you have
     us enjoy one another here on the top of Mount Ida, where everything
     can be seen? What if one of the ever-living gods should see us
     sleeping together, and tell the others? It would be such a scandal
     that when I had risen from your embraces I could never show myself
     inside your house again; but if you are so minded, there is a room
     which your son Vulcan has made me, and he has given it good strong
     doors; if you would so have it, let us go thither and lie down." 
     
     And Jove answered, "Juno, you need not be afraid that either god or
     man will see you, for I will enshroud both of us in such a dense
     golden cloud, that the very sun for all his bright piercing beams
     shall not see through it." 
     
     With this the son of Saturn caught his wife in his embrace; whereon
     the earth sprouted them a cushion of young grass, with
     dew-bespangled lotus, crocus, and hyacinth, so soft and thick that
     it raised them well above the ground. Here they laid themselves down
     and overhead they were covered by a fair cloud of gold, from which
     there fell glittering dew-drops. 
     
     Thus, then, did the sire of all things repose peacefully on the
     crest of Ida, overcome at once by sleep and love, and he held his
     spouse in his arms. Meanwhile Sleep made off to the ships of the
     Achaeans, to tell earth-encircling Neptune, lord of the earthquake.
     When he had found him he said, "Now, Neptune, you can help the
     Danaans with a will, and give them victory though it be only for a
     short time while Jove is still sleeping. I have sent him into a
     sweet slumber, and Juno has beguiled him into going to bed with
     her." 
     
     Sleep now departed and went his ways to and fro among mankind,
     leaving Neptune more eager than ever to help the Danaans. He darted
     forward among the first ranks and shouted saying, "Argives, shall we
     let Hector son of Priam have the triumph of taking our ships and
     covering himself with glory? This is what he says that he shall now
     do, seeing that Achilles is still in dudgeon at his ship; We shall
     get on very well without him if we keep each other in heart and
     stand by one another. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say. Let us
     each take the best and largest shield we can lay hold of, put on our
     helmets, and sally forth with our longest spears in our hands; will
     lead you on, and Hector son of Priam, rage as he may, will not dare
     to hold out against us. If any good staunch soldier has only a small
     shield, let him hand it over to a worse man, and take a larger one
     for himself." 
     
     Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. The son of
     Tydeus, Ulysses, and Agamemnon, wounded though they were, set the
     others in array, and went about everywhere effecting the exchanges
     of armour; the most valiant took the best armour, and gave the worse
     to the worse man. When they had donned their bronze armour they
     marched on with Neptune at their head. In his strong hand he grasped
     his terrible sword, keen of edge and flashing like lightning; woe to
     him who comes across it in the day of battle; all men quake for fear
     and keep away from it. 
     
     Hector on the other side set the Trojans in array. Thereon Neptune
     and Hector waged fierce war on one another- Hector on the Trojan and
     Neptune on the Argive side. Mighty was the uproar as the two forces
     met; the sea came rolling in towards the ships and tents of the
     Achaeans, but waves do not thunder on the shore more loudly when
     driven before the blast of Boreas, nor do the flames of a forest
     fire roar more fiercely when it is well alight upon the mountains,
     nor does the wind bellow with ruder music as it tears on through the
     tops of when it is blowing its hardest, than the terrible shout
     which the Trojans and Achaeans raised as they sprang upon one
     another. 
     
     Hector first aimed his spear at Ajax, who was turned full towards
     him, nor did he miss his aim. The spear struck him where two bands
     passed over his chest- the band of his shield and that of his
     silver-studded sword- and these protected his body. Hector was angry
     that his spear should have been hurled in vain, and withdrew under
     cover of his men. As he was thus retreating, Ajax son of Telamon
     struck him with a stone, of which there were many lying about under
     the men's feet as they fought- brought there to give support to the
     ships' sides as they lay on the shore. Ajax caught up one of them
     and struck Hector above the rim of his shield close to his neck; the
     blow made him spin round like a top and reel in all directions. As
     an oak falls headlong when uprooted by the lightning flash of father
     Jove, and there is a terrible smell of brimstone- no man can help
     being dismayed if he is standing near it, for a thunderbolt is a
     very awful thing- even so did Hector fall to earth and bite the
     dust. His spear fell from his hand, but his shield and helmet were
     made fast about his body, and his bronze armour rang about him. 
     
     The sons of the Achaeans came running with a loud cry towards him,
     hoping to drag him away, and they showered their darts on the
     Trojans, but none of them could wound him before he was surrounded
     and covered by the princes Polydamas, Aeneas, Agenor, Sarpedon
     captain of the Lycians, and noble Glaucus: of the others, too, there
     was not one who was unmindful of him, and they held their round
     shields over him to cover him. His comrades then lifted him off the
     ground and bore him away from the battle to the place where his
     horses stood waiting for him at the rear of the fight with their
     driver and the chariot; these then took him towards the city
     groaning and in great pain. When they reached the ford of the air
     stream of Xanthus, begotten of Immortal Jove, they took him from off
     his chariot and laid him down on the ground; they poured water over
     him, and as they did so he breathed again and opened his eyes. Then
     kneeling on his knees he vomited blood, but soon fell back on to the
     ground, and his eyes were again closed in darkness for he was still
     sturined by the blow. 
     
     When the Argives saw Hector leaving the field, they took heart and
     set upon the Trojans yet more furiously. Ajax fleet son of Oileus
     began by springing on Satnius son of Enops and wounding him with his
     spear: a fair naiad nymph had borne him to Enops as he was herding
     cattle by the banks of the river Satnioeis. The son of Oileus came
     up to him and struck him in the flank so that he fell, and a fierce
     fight between Trojans and Danaans raged round his body. Polydamas
     son of Panthous drew near to avenge him, and wounded Prothoenor son
     of Areilycus on the right shoulder; the terrible spear went right
     through his shoulder, and he clutched the earth as he fell in the
     dust. Polydamas vaunted loudly over him saying, "Again I take it
     that the spear has not sped in vain from the strong hand of the son
     of Panthous; an Argive has caught it in his body, and it will serve
     him for a staff as he goes down into the house of Hades." 
     
     The Argives were maddened by this boasting. Ajax son of Telamon was
     more angry than any, for the man had fallen close be, him; so he
     aimed at Polydamas as he was retreating, but Polydamas saved himself
     by swerving aside and the spear struck Archelochus son of Antenor,
     for heaven counselled his destruction; it struck him where the head
     springs from the neck at the top joint of the spine, and severed
     both the tendons at the back of the head. His head, mouth, and
     nostrils reached the ground long before his legs and knees could do
     so, and Ajax shouted to Polydamas saying, "Think, Polydamas, and
     tell me truly whether this man is not as well worth killing as
     Prothoenor was: he seems rich, and of rich family, a brother, it may
     be, or son of the knight Antenor, for he is very like him." 
     
     But he knew well who it was, and the Trojans were greatly angered.
     Acamas then bestrode his brother's body and wounded Promachus the
     Boeotian with his spear, for he was trying to drag his brother's
     body away. Acamas vaunted loudly over him saying, "Argive archers,
     braggarts that you are, toil and suffering shall not be for us only,
     but some of you too shall fall here as well as ourselves. See how
     Promachus now sleeps, vanquished by my spear; payment for my
     brother's blood has not long delayed; a man, therefore, may well be
     thankful if he leaves a kinsman in his house behind him to avenge
     his fall." 
     
     His taunts infuriated the Argives, and Peneleos was more enraged
     than any of them. He sprang towards Acamas, but Acamas did not stand
     his ground, and he killed Ilioneus son of the rich flock-master
     Phorbas, whom Mercury had favoured and endowed with greater wealth
     than any other of the Trojans. Ilioneus was his only son, and
     Peneleos now wounded him in the eye under his eyebrows, tearing the
     eye-ball from its socket: the spear went right through the eye into
     the nape of the neck, and he fell, stretching out both hands before
     him. Peneleos then drew his sword and smote him on the neck, so that
     both head and helmet came tumbling down to the ground with the spear
     still sticking in the eye; he then held up the head, as though it
     had been a poppy-head, and showed it to the Trojans, vaunting over
     them as he did so. "Trojans," he cried, "bid the father and mother
     of noble Ilioneus make moan for him in their house, for the wife
     also of Promachus son of Alegenor will never be gladdened by the
     coming of her dear husband- when we Argives return with our ships
     from Troy." 
     
     As he spoke fear fell upon them, and every man looked round about to
     see whither he might fly for safety. 
     
     Tell me now, O Muses that dwell on Olympus, who was the first of the
     Argives to bear away blood-stained spoils after Neptune lord of the
     earthquake had turned the fortune of war. Ajax son of Telamon was
     first to wound Hyrtius son of Gyrtius, captain of the staunch
     Mysians. Antilochus killed Phalces and Mermerus, while Meriones slew
     Morys and Hippotion, Teucer also killed Prothoon and Periphetes. The
     son of Atreus then wounded Hyperenor shepherd of his people, in the
     flank, and the bronze point made his entrails gush out as it tore in
     among them; on this his life came hurrying out of him at the place
     where he had been wounded, and his eyes were closed in darkness.
     Ajax son of Oileus killed more than any other, for there was no man
     so fleet as he to pursue flying foes when Jove had spread panic
     among them.