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

set a helmet of bull's hide without either peak or
crest; it is called a skull-cap and is a common headgear. Meriones
found a bow and quiver for Ulysses, and on his head he set a leathern
helmet that was lined with a strong plaiting of leathern thongs, while
on the outside it was thickly studded with boar's teeth, well and
skilfully set into it; next the head there was an inner lining of felt.
This helmet had been stolen by Autolycus out of Eleon when he broke
into the house of Amyntor son of Ormenus. He gave it to Amphidamas of
Cythera to take to Scandea, and Amphidamas gave it as a guest-gift to
Molus, who gave it to his son Meriones; and now it was set upon the
head of Ulysses.

When the pair had armed, they set out, and left the other chieftains
behind them. Pallas Minerva sent them a heron by the wayside upon their
right hands; they could not see it for the darkness, but they heard its
cry. Ulysses was glad when he heard it and prayed to Minerva: "Hear
me," he cried, "daughter of aegis-bearing Jove, you who spy out all my
ways and who are with me in all my hardships; befriend me in this mine
hour, and grant that we may return to the ships covered with glory
after having achieved some mighty exploit that shall bring sorrow to
the Trojans."

Then Diomed of the loud war-cry also prayed: "Hear me too," said he,
"daughter of Jove, unweariable; be with me even as you were with my
noble father Tydeus when he went to Thebes as envoy sent by the
Achaeans. He left the Achaeans by the banks of the river Aesopus, and
went to the city bearing a message of peace to the Cadmeians; on his
return thence, with your help, goddess, he did great deeds of daring,
for you were his ready helper. Even so guide me and guard me now, and
in return I will offer you in sacrifice a broad-browed heifer of a year
old, unbroken, and never yet brought by man under the yoke. I will gild
her horns and will offer her up to you in sacrifice."

Thus they prayed, and Pallas Minerva heard their prayer. When they had
done praying to the daughter of great Jove, they went their way like
two lions prowling by night amid the armour and blood-stained bodies of
them that had fallen.

Neither again did Hector let the Trojans sleep; for he too called the
princes and councillors of the Trojans that he might set his counsel
before them. "Is there one," said he, "who for a great reward will do
me the service of which I will tell you? He shall be well paid if he
will. I will give him a chariot and a couple of horses, the fleetest
that can be found at the ships of the Achaeans, if he will dare this
thing; and he will win infinite honour to boot; he must go to the ships
and find out whether they are still guarded as heretofore, or whether
now that we have beaten them the Achaeans design to fly, and through
sheer exhaustion are neglecting to keep their watches."

They all held their peace; but there was among the Trojans a certain
man named Dolon, son of Eumedes, the famous herald--a man rich in gold
and bronze. He was ill-favoured, but a good runner, and was an only son
among five sisters. He it was that now addressed the Trojans. "I,
Hector," said he, "Will to the ships and will exploit them. But first
hold up your sceptre and swear that you will give me the chariot,
bedight with bronze, and the horses that now carry the noble son of
Peleus. I will make you a good scout, and will not fail you. I will go
through the host from one end to the other till I come to the ship of
Agamemnon, where I take it the princes of the Achaeans are now
consulting whether they shall fight or fly."

When he had done speaking Hector held up his sceptre, and swore him his
oath saying, "May Jove the thundering husband of Juno bear witness that
no other Trojan but yourself shall mount those steeds, and that you
shall have your will with them for ever."

The oath he swore was bootless, but it made Dolon more keen on going.
He hung his bow over his shoulder, and as an overall he wore the skin
of a grey wolf, while on his head he set a cap of ferret skin. Then he
took a pointed javelin, and left the camp for the ships, but he was not
to return with any news for Hector. When he had left the horses and the
troops behind him, he made all speed on his way, but Ulysses perceived
his coming and said to Diomed, "Diomed, here is some one from the camp;
I am not sure whether he is a spy, or whether it is some thief who
would plunder the bodies of the dead; let him get a little past us, we
can then spring upon him and take him. If, however, he is too quick for
us, go after him with your spear and hem him in towards the ships away
from the Trojan camp, to prevent his getting back to the town."

With this they turned out of their way and lay down among the corpses.
Dolon suspected nothing and soon passed them, but when he had got about
as far as the distance by which a mule-plowed furrow exceeds one that
has been ploughed by oxen (for mules can plow fallow land quicker than
oxen) they ran after him, and when he heard their footsteps he stood
still, for he made sure they were friends from the Trojan camp come by
Hector's orders to bid him return; when, however, they were only a
spear's cast, or less, away from him, he saw that they were enemies as
fast as his legs could take him. The others gave chase at once, and as
a couple of well-trained hounds press forward after a doe or hare that
runs screaming in front of them, even so did the son of Tydeus and
Ulysses pursue Dolon and cut him off from his own people. But when he
had fled so far towards the ships that he would soon have fallen in
with the outposts, Minerva infused fresh strength into the son of
Tydeus for fear some other of the Achaeans might have the glory of
being first to hit him, and he might himself be only second; he
therefore sprang forward with his spear and said, "Stand, or I shall
throw my spear, and in that case I shall soon make an end of you."

He threw as he spoke, but missed his aim on purpose. The dart flew over
the man's right shoulder, and then stuck in the ground. He stood stock
still, trembling and in great fear; his teeth chattered, and he turned
pale with fear. The two came breathless up to him and seized his hands,
whereon he began to weep and said, "Take me alive; I will ransom
myself; we have great store of gold, bronze, and wrought iron, and from
this my father will satisfy you with a very large ransom, should he
hear of my being alive at the ships of the Achaeans."

"Fear not," replied Ulysses, "let no thought of death be in your mind;
but tell me, and tell me true, why are you thus going about alone in
the dead of night away from your camp and towards the ships, while
other men are sleeping? Is it to plunder the bodies of the slain, or
did Hector send you to spy out what was going on at the ships? Or did
you come here of your own mere notion?"

Dolon answered, his limbs trembling beneath him: "Hector, with his vain
flattering promises, lured me from my better judgement. He said he
would give me the horses of the noble son of Peleus and his
bronze-bedizened chariot; he bade me go through the darkness of the
flying night, get close to the enemy, and find out whether the ships
are still guarded as heretofore, or whether, now that we have beaten
them, the Achaeans design to fly, and through sheer exhaustion are
neglecting to keep their watches."

Ulysses smiled at him and answered, "You had indeed set your heart upon
a great reward, but the horses of the descendant of Aeacus are hardly
to be kept in hand or driven by any other mortal man than Achilles
himself, whose mother was an immortal. But tell me, and tell me true,
where did you leave Hector when you started? Where lies his armour and
his horses? How, too, are the watches and sleeping-ground of the
Trojans ordered? What are their plans? Will they stay here by the ships
and away from the city, or now that they have worsted the Achaeans,
will they retire within their walls?"

And Dolon answered, "I will tell you truly all. Hector and the other
councillors are now holding conference by the monument of great Ilus,
away from the general tumult; as for the guards about which you ask me,
there is no chosen watch to keep guard over the host. The Trojans have
their watchfires, for they are bound to have them; they, therefore, are
awake and keep each other to their duty as sentinels; but the allies
who have come from other places are asleep and leave it to the Trojans
to keep guard, for their wives and children are not here."

Ulysses then said, "Now tell me; are they sleeping among the Trojan
troops, or do they lie apart? Explain this that I may understand it."

"I will tell you truly all," replied Dolon. "To the seaward lie the
Carians, the Paeonian bowmen, the Leleges, the Cauconians, and the
noble Pelasgi. The Lysians and proud Mysians, with the Phrygians and
Meonians, have their place on the side towards Thymbra; but why ask
about all this? If you want to find your way into the host of the
Trojans, there are the Thracians, who have lately come here and lie
apart from the others at the far end of the camp; and they have Rhesus
son of Eioneus for their king. His horses are the finest and strongest
that I have ever seen, they are whiter than snow and fleeter than any
wind that blows. His chariot is bedight with silver and gold, and he
has brought his marvellous golden armour, of the rarest
workmanship--too splendid for any mortal man to carry, and meet only
for the gods. Now, therefore, take me to the ships or bind me securely
here, until you come back and have proved my words whether they be
false or true."

Diomed looked sternly at him and answered, "Think not, Dolon, for all
the good information you have given us, that you shall escape now you
are in our hands, for if we ransom you or let you go, you will come
some second time to the ships of the Achaeans either as a spy or as an
open enemy, but if I kill you and an end of you, you will give no more
trouble."

On this Dolon would have caught him by the beard to beseech him
further, but Diomed struck him in the middle of his neck with his sword
and cut through both sinews so that his head fell rolling in the dust
while he was yet speaking. They took the ferret-skin cap from his head,
and also the wolf-skin, the bow, and his long spear. Ulysses hung them
up aloft in honour of Minerva the goddess