THE VALIANT DEEDS OF DIOMED
When the armies were come into one place, they dashed together with
buckler and spear: and there was a great crash of shields that met.
Next rose up a great moaning of them that were stricken down, and
shouting of the conquerors; and the ground ran with blood. As when
two torrents, swollen with rains of winter, join their waters in a
hollow ravine at the meeting of the glens, and the shepherds hear the
din far off among the hills, even so, with a mighty noise and great
confusion, did the two armies meet.
Then did the Greeks beat back the men of Troy. And each of the
chiefs slew a foe; but there was none like Diomed, who raged through
the battle so furiously that you could not tell with which host he
was, whether with the Greeks or with the sons of Troy. Then Pandarus
aimed an arrow at him, and smote him in the right shoulder as he was
rushing forward, and cried aloud: "On, great-hearted sons of Troy,
the bravest of the Greeks is wounded! Soon, methinks, will his
strength fail him, unless Apollo has deceived me."
So he spake exulting, but the arrow quelled not Diomed. Only he
leapt down from the chariot, and spake to Sthenelus, his charioteer,
"Come down, and draw this arrow from my shoulder." Then Sthenelus
drew it, and the blood spurted out from the wound. And Diomed prayed
to Athene: "O Goddess, if ever thou didst love my father, and stand
beside him in the fiery war, be thou a friend to me also; let me come
within a spear's cast of this man who hath wounded me, and who
boasteth himself over me, saying that I shall not long look upon the
shining of the sun."
Sthen'-e-lus.
So he prayed, and Athene heard; and she made light his hands and his
feet, and stood beside him, and spake: "Be bold now, O Diomed, and
fight with the men of Troy! I have breathed into thy heart the
spirit that was in thy father, and I have taken away the mist that
was upon thy eyes, that thou mayest know god from man. Fight not
thou with any of the immortals, if a god should come in thy way; only
if Aphrodite comes into the battle, her thou mayest wound."
So spake Athene, and went her way; and Diomed turned back to the
battle, and mingled with the foremost. Eager he had been before to
fight, but now his eagerness was increased threefold. Even as a lion
whom a shepherd wounds a little as he leaps into the fold, but kills
not, and the man escapes into his house, and the sheep flee in their
terror, falling huddled in a heap, even so did Diomed rage among the
men of Troy.
Æneas saw him, and thought how he might stay him in his course. So
he passed through the host till he found Pandarus. "Pandarus," he
said, "where are thy bow and arrows? See how this man deals death
through the ranks. Send a shaft at him, first making thy prayer to
Zeus."
Æ-ne'-as.
Then Pandarus answered: "This man, methinks, is Diomed. The shield
and the helmet and the horses are his. And yet I know not whether he
is not a god. Some god, at least, stands by him and guards him. But
now I sent an arrow at him, and smote him on the shoulder, right
through the corselet, and thought that I had slain him; but lo! I
have harmed him not at all. And now I know not what to do, for here
I have no chariot. I came, trusting in my bow, and lo! it has failed
me these two times. Two of the chiefs I have hit, Menelaus and
Diomed, and from each have seen the red blood flow, yet have I not
harmed them. Surely, if ever I return safe to my home, I will break
this useless bow."
"Nay," said Æneas, "talk not thus. Climb into my chariot, and see
what horses we have in Troy. They will carry us safe to the city,
even should Diomed prevail against us. Take thou the rein and the
whip, and I will fight; or, if thou wilt, fight thou, and I will
drive."
"Nay," said Pandarus, "let the horses have the driver whom they know.
It might lose us both, should we turn to flee, and they linger or
start aside, missing their master's voice."
So Pandarus mounted the chariot, and they drove together against
Diomed. And Sthenelus saw them coming, and said to his comrades: "I
see two mighty warriors. It would be well that we should go back to
our chariot."
But Diomed frowned, and said: "Talk not of going back. Thou wilt
talk in vain to me. As for my chariot, I care not for it. As I am
will I go against these men. Both shall not return safe, even if one
should escape. But do thou stay my chariot where it is, tying the
reins to the rail; and if I slay these men, mount the chariot of
Æneas and drive it into the host of the Greeks, There are no horses
under the sun such as these, for they are of the breed which Zeus
himself gave to King Tros."
Meanwhile Pandarus and Æneas were coming near, and Pandarus cast his
spear. Right through the shield of Diomed it passed, and reached the
corselet, and Pandarus cried:--
"Thou art hit in the loin. This, methinks, will lay thee low."
"Nay," said Diomed, "thou hast missed and not hit at all."
And as he spake he threw his spear. Through nose and teeth and
tongue it passed, and stood out below the chin. Headlong from the
chariot he fell, and his armour clashed about him. Straightway Æneas
leapt off with spear and shield to guard the body of his friend, and
stood as a lion stands over a carcass. But Diomed lifted a great
stone, such as two men of our day could scarcely carry, and cast it.
It struck Æneas on the hip, crushing the bone. The hero stooped on
his knee, clutching the ground with his hand, and darkness covered
his eyes. That hour he would have perished, but his mother Aphrodite
caught him in her white arms, and threw her veil about him. But even
so, Diomed was loath to let his foe escape, and he rushed on her and
wounded her on the wrist, and the blood gushed out--such blood as
flows in the veins of the immortal gods, who eat not the meat and
drink not the drink of men. With a loud shriek she dropped her son,
but Apollo caught him up and covered him with a dark mist, lest
perchance one of the Greeks should spy him and slay him.
But Diomed called aloud after Aphrodite: "Haste thee from the battle,
daughter of Zeus. It is enough for thee to beguile weak women."
Wildly did the goddess rush from the battle. And Iris, swift as the
winds, took her by the hand, and led her out of the press, for she
was tormented with the pain. She found Ares on the left of the
field, and knelt before him, begging for his horses with many
prayers. "Help me, dear brother," she said, "and lend me thy horses
to carry me to Olympus, for I am tormented with a wound which a
mortal man gave me, even Diomed, who would fight with Father Zeus
himself."
A'-res.
Then Ares gave her his chariot, and Iris took the reins, and touched
the horses with the whip. Speedily came they to Olympus, and then
Iris reined in the horses, and Aphrodite fell on the lap of her
mother Dione, who took her daughter in her arms, and caressed her,
saying:--
"Dear child, which of the immortals hath harmed thee thus?"
Aphrodite answered, "No immortal hath done it, but a mortal man, even
Diomed, who now fighteth with the immortal gods."
But Dione answered: "Bear up and endure thy pain, for many who dwell
in Olympus have suffered pain at the hands of mortal men."
Di-o'-ne.
So spake she, and wiped the moisture from the wound with both her
hands, and the grievous hurt was healed. But Hera and Athene looked
on and mocked. And Athene said to Zeus, "Now hath thy daughter been
moving one of the Greek women to follow the Trojans whom she loveth
so well, and lo! she hath wounded her hand with the pin of a golden
brooch."
But the father smiled, and called Aphrodite to him, and said, "My
child, deeds of war are not for thee, but love and marriage; leave
the rest to Athene and Ares."
Meanwhile Diomed sprang upon Æneas, though he knew that Apollo
himself held him. He regarded not the god, for he was eager to slay
the hero and to strip off his arms. Thrice he sprang, and thrice
Apollo dashed back his shining shield. The fourth time Apollo warned
him with awful words, "Beware, Diomed, and fall back, nor think to
match thyself with gods." But Apollo carried Æneas out of the
battle, and laid him down in his own temple in the citadel of Troy,
and there he was healed of his wound. And all the while the Trojans
and the Greeks were fighting, as they thought, about his body, for
Apollo had made a likeness of the hero and thrown it down in their
midst. Then Sarpedon spake to Hector with bitter words:--
Sar-pe'-don.
"Where are thy boasts, Hector? Thou saidst that thou couldst guard
thy city, without thy people or thy allies, thou alone, with thy
brothers and thy brothers-in-law. But I cannot see even one of them.
They go and hide themselves, as dogs before a lion. It is we, your
allies, who maintain the battle. I have come from far to help thy
people, nor do I shrink from the fight, but thou shouldst do thy
part."
And the words stung Hector to the heart. He leapt from his chariot
and went through the host, urging them to the battle. And on the
other side the Greeks strengthened themselves. But Ares brought back
Æneas whole from his wound, and gave him courage and might. Right
glad were his comrades to see him, nor did they ask him any question;
scant leisure was there for questions that day. Then were done many
valiant deeds nor did any bear himself more bravely than Æneas.
But all the while Hector, with Ares at his side, dealt death and
destruction through the ranks of the Greeks. Hera and Athene saw him
where they sat on the top of Olympus, and were wroth. So they went
to Father Zeus, and prayed that it might be lawful to them to stop
him in his fury. And Zeus said, "Be it as you will." So they yoked
the horses to the chariot of Hera and passed down to earth, the
horses flying at every stride over so much space as a man sees who
sits upon a cliff and looks across the sea to where it meets the sky.
They alighted on the spot where the two rivers join their streams.
There they loosed the horses from the yoke, and then sped like doves
to where the bravest of the Greeks stood round King Diomed. There
Hera took the shape of Stentor with the lungs of bronze, whose voice
was as the voice of fifty men, and cried: "Shame, men of Greece!
When Achilles went to the battle, the men of Troy came not beyond the
gates, but now they fight far from the city, even by the ships." But
Athene went to Diomed, where he stood wiping away the blood from the
wound where Pandarus had struck him with the arrow. And she spake:
"Surely the son of Tydeus is little like to his sire. Small of
stature was he, but a keen fighter. But thou--whether it be
weariness or fear that keeps thee back I know not--canst scarcely be
a true son of Tydeus."
Ty'-deus.
But Diomed answered: "Nay, great goddess, for I know thee who thou
art, daughter of Zeus, it is not weariness or fear that keeps me
back. 'Tis thy own command that I heed. Thou didst bid me fight
with none other of the immortal gods but only with Aphrodite, should
she come to the battle. Therefore I give place, for I see Ares
lording it through the ranks of war."
Then Athene spake: "Heed not Ares; drive thy chariot at him, and
smite him with the spear. This very morning he promised that he
would help the Greeks, and now he hath changed his purpose."
And as she spake she pushed Sthenelus, who drove the chariot, so that
he leapt out upon the ground, and she mounted herself and caught the
reins and lashed the horses. But Athene had donned the helmet of
Hades, which whosoever puts on straightway becomes invisible, for she
would not that Ares should see who she was. The god saw Diomed come
near, and cast his spear over the yoke of the chariot, eager to slay
the hero. But Athene caught the spear in her hand, and turned it
aside, so that it flew vainly through the air. Then Diomed in turn
thrust forward his spear, and Athene leant upon it, so that it
pierced the loin of Ares, where his girdle was clasped. And Ares
shouted with the pain, loud as a host of men, thousands nine or ten,
shouts when it joins in battle. And the Greeks and Trojans trembled
as they heard. And Diomed saw the god go up to Olympus as a
thunder-cloud goes up when the wind of the south blows hot.
Ha'-des, the god of the underworld.
By the side of Zeus did he sit down, and showed the immortal blood as
it flowed from the wound, and cried: "Father Zeus, canst thou contain
thyself, seeing such deeds as these? See now this daughter of thine,
how she is bent on evil and mischief. All we that dwell in Olympus
are obedient to thee; but her thou checkest not with word or deed.
And now she hath set on this bold Diomed to wreak his madness on the
immortal gods: first he wounded Aphrodite on the wrist; then he
rushed on me; my swift feet bare me away, else surely I had suffered
the pains of death among the carcasses of the slain."
But Zeus frowned on him, and spake: "Come not to me with thy
complaints, for of all the Olympian gods thou vexest me the most, for
battle and strife are ever dear to thee. 'Tis thy mother Hera that
hath put thee to this pain. Yet I may not suffer thee to endure the
anguish any more, for thou art my child."
Then Zeus called Pæon the healer, and bade him tend the wound; and he
cured it of its smart. Then Hebe gave to Ares the bath, and clad him
in fair array, and he sat down by Zeus, rejoicing.
Pæ'-on. He'-be.