The Iliad by Homer (ereader for textbooks .txt) 📕

/> 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