THE DEEDS AND DEATH OF PATROCLUS
Now Patroclus stood by Achilles, weeping bitterly. Then said
Achilles: "What ails thee, Patroclus, that thou weepest like a
girl-child that runs along by her mother's side, and would be taken
up, holding her gown, and looking at her with tearful eyes till she
lift her in her arms? Hast thou heard evil news from home? Or art
thou weeping for the Greeks, because they perish for their folly?"
Then said Patroclus: "Be not wroth with me, great Achilles, for
indeed the Greeks are in grievous straits, and all their bravest are
wounded, and still thou cherishest thy wrath. If thou goest not to
the battle, fearing some warning from the gods, let me go, and thy
Myrmidons with me. And let me put thy armour on me; so shall the
Greeks have breathing-space from the war."
So he spake, entreating, nor knew that for his own doom he entreated.
And Achilles made reply:--
"It is no warning that I heed, that I keep back from the war. These
men took from me my prize, which I won with my own hands. But let
the past be past. I said that I would not rise up till the battle
should come nigh to my own ships. But thou mayest put my armour upon
thee, and lead my Myrmidons to the fight. For in truth the men of
Troy are gathered as a dark cloud about the ships, and the Greeks
have scarce standing-ground between them and the sea. For they see
not the gleam of my helmet, and Diomed is not there with his spear;
nor do I hear the voice of Agamemnon, but only the voice of Hector,
as he calls the men of Troy to the battle. Go, therefore, Patroclus,
and drive the fire from the ships. And then come thou back, nor
fight any more with the Trojans, lest thou take my glory from me.
And go not near, in the delight of battle, to the walls of Troy, lest
one of the gods meet thee to thy hurt: for the keen-archer Apollo
loves the Trojans well."
But as they talked the one to the other, Ajax could hold out no
longer. For swords and javelins came thick upon him, and clattered
on his helmet, and his shoulder was weary with the great shield which
he held; and he breathed heavily and hard, and the great drops of
sweat fell upon the ground. Then at the last Hector came near and
smote his spear with a great sword, so that the head fell off. Then
was Ajax sore afraid, and gave way, and the men of Troy set torches
to the ship's stem, and a great flame shot up to the sky. And
Achilles saw it, and smote his thigh and spake:--
"Haste thee, Patroclus, for I see the fire rising up from the ships.
Put thou on the armour, and I will call my people to the war."
So Patroclus put on the armour,--corselet, and shield, and
helmet,--and bound upon his shoulder the silver-studded sword, and
took a mighty spear in his hand. But the great spear of Achilles he
took not, for that no man but Achilles might wield. Then Automedon
yoked the horses to the chariot, Bayard and Piebald, and with them in
the side harness, Pedasus; and the two first were deathless steeds,
but the third was mortal.
Au-tom'-e-don. Ped'-a-sus.
Meanwhile Achilles had called the Myrmidons to battle. Fifty ships
had he brought to Troy, and in each there were fifty men.
Then Achilles said: "Forget not, ye Myrmidons, the bold words that ye
spake against the men of Troy during the days of my wrath, making
complaint that I kept you from the battle against your will. Now,
therefore, ye have that which ye desired."
So the Myrmidons went to the battle in close array, helmet to helmet
and shield to shield, close as the stones with which a builder builds
a wall And in front went Patroclus, and Automedon in the chariot
beside him. Then Achilles went to his tent and took from the chest a
great cup, which Thetis his mother had given him. Now no man drank
of that cup but he only, nor did he pour out of it offerings to any
of the gods except to Zeus. This first he cleansed with sulphur, and
then with water from the spring. And after this he washed his hands,
and stood in the midst of the space before his tent, and poured out
of it to Zeus, saying, "O Zeus, I send my comrade to this battle;
make him strong and bold, and give him glory, and bring him home safe
to the ships, and my people with him."
So he prayed, and Father Zeus heard him, and part he granted and part
denied.
But now Patroclus with the Myrmidons had come to where the battle was
raging about the ships, and when the men of Troy beheld him, they
thought that Achilles had forgotten his wrath and was come forth to
the war. Then the men of Troy turned to flee, and many chiefs of
fame fell by the spears of the Greeks. So the battle rolled back to
the trench, and in the trench many chariots of the Trojans were
broken, but the horses of Achilles went across it at a stride, so
nimble were they and strong. And the heart of Patroclus was set to
slay Hector; but he could not overtake him, so swift were his horses.
Then did Patroclus turn his chariot, and keep back those that fled,
and rushed hither and thither, still slaying as he went.
But Sarpedon, when he saw the Lycians dismayed and scattered, called
to them that they should be of good courage, saying that he would
himself make trial of this great warrior. So he leapt down from his
chariot, and Patroclus also leapt down, and they rushed at each other
as two eagles rush together. And Sarpedon, who had a spear in either
hand, with the one struck the horse Pedasus, which was of mortal
breed, on the right shoulder, and with the other missed his aim,
sending it over the left shoulder of Patroclus. But Patroclus missed
not his aim, driving his spear into Sarpedon's heart. Then fell the
great Lycian chief, as an oak, or a poplar, or a pine falls upon the
hills before the axe. But he called to Glaucus, his companion,
saying: "Now must thou show thyself a good warrior, Glaucus. First
call the men of Lycia to fight for me, and do thou fight thyself, for
it would be foul shame to thee, all thy days, if the Greeks should
spoil me of my arms."
Then with a great shout the Lycians and the Trojans charged, and
drove the Greeks back a space from the body; and then again the
Greeks did the like. And so the battle raged, till no one would have
known the great Sarpedon, so covered was he with spears and blood and
dust. But at the last the Greeks drave back the men of Troy from the
body, and stripped the arms, but the body itself they harmed not.
For Apollo came down at the bidding of Zeus and carried it out of the
midst of the battle, and washed it with water, and anointed it with
ambrosia, and wrapped it in garments of the gods. And then he gave
it to Sleep and Death, and these two carried it to Lycia, his
fatherland.
Then did Patroclus forget the word which Achilles had spoken to him,
that he should not go near to Troy, for he pursued the men to the
city, even to the wall. Thrice he mounted on the angle of the wall,
and thrice Apollo himself drove him back, pushing his shining shield.
But the fourth time the god said: "Go thou back, Patroclus. It is
not for thee to take the city of Troy; no, nor for Achilles, who is
far better than thou art."
So Patroclus went back, fearing the wrath of the archer god. Then
Apollo stirred up the spirit of Hector, that he should go against
Patroclus. Therefore he went, with his brother Cebriones for driver
of his chariot. But when they came near, Patroclus cast a great
stone which he had in his hand, and smote Cebriones on the forehead,
crushing it in, so that he fell headlong from the chariot. And
Patroclus mocked him, saying:--
Ceb-ri'-o-nes.
"How nimble is this man! how lightly he dives! What spoil he would
take of oysters, diving from a ship, even in a stormy sea! Who would
have thought that there were such skilful divers in Troy!"
Then again the battle waxed hot about the body of Cebriones, and this
too, at the last, the Greeks drew unto themselves, and spoiled it of
the arms. And this being accomplished, Patroclus rushed against the
men of Troy. Thrice he rushed, and each time he slew nine chiefs of
fame. But the fourth time Apollo stood behind him and struck him on
the head and shoulders, so that his eyes were darkened. And the
helmet fell from off his head, so that the horse-hair plumes were
soiled with dust. Never before had it touched the ground, for it was
the helmet of Achilles. And also the god brake the spear in his
hand, and struck the shield from his arms, and loosed his corselet.
All amazed he stood, and then Euphorbus smote him on the back with
his spear, but slew him not. Then Patroclus sought to flee to the
ranks of his comrades. But Hector saw him, and thrust at him with
his spear, smiting him in the groin, so that he fell. And when the
Greeks saw him fail, they sent up a terrible cry. Then Hector stood
over him and cried:--
"Didst thou think to spoil our city, Patroclus, and to carry away our
wives and daughters in the ships? But lo! I have slain thee, and the
fowls of the air shall eat thy flesh; nor shall the great Achilles
help thee at all-- Achilles, who bade thee strip the tunic from my
breast, and thou thoughtest in thy folly to do it."
Eu-phor'-bus.
But Patroclus answered: "Thou boasteth much, Hector. Yet thou didst
not slay me, but Apollo, who took from me my arms, for had twenty
such as thou met me, I had slain them all. And mark thou this: death
and fate are close to thee by the hand of the great Achilles."
And Hector answered, but Patroclus was dead already: "Why dost thou
prophesy death to me? May be the great Achilles himself shall fall
by my hand.
Then he drew his spear from the wound, and went after Automedon, to
slay him, but the swift horses of Achilles carried him away.