Hector challenges the bravest of the Greeks to single combat, and nine
of the chiefs having cast lots, Ajax is appointed to meet him. Having
protracted the contest till night, the combatants exchange gifts, and
separate. A truce is then made for the purpose of burying the dead, and
the Greeks fortify their camp.
Thus having said, illustrious Hector rushed forth from the gates, and
with him went his brother Alexander, for both were eager in soul to
wage war and to fight. As when the deity hath given a prosperous wind
to expecting mariners, after they have become weary, agitating the deep
with well-polished oars, and their limbs are relaxed with toil; thus
then did those two appear to the expecting Trojans. Then they slew, the
one, 253 indeed, Menesthius, son of king Areithoüs, who dwelt in Arne,
whom the club-bearer Areithoüs and large-eyed Philomedusa brought
forth; but Hector smote Eïoneus with his sharp spear upon the neck,
under his well-wrought brazen helmet, 254 and relaxed his limbs. And
Glaucus, son of Hippolochus, leader of the Lycian heroes, in fierce
engagement smote Iphinous, son of Dexias, upon the shoulder with his
spear, as he vaulted on his swift mares.
Footnote 253: (return) _I. e_. Paris. The construction is an instance
of the σχήμα καθ’ όλον και μέρος. See Jelf, Gk. Gr. §478, and my note
on Æsch. Prom. p. 8, ed. Bohn.
Footnote 254: (return) Apollonius, Lex. p. 734. seems to regard the
στεφάνη as a distinct kind of helmet, or cap. So, also, the Schol. and
Hesych. t. ii. p. 186, and p. 1266. Others understand the rim of the
helmet. Paschal, de Coronis, i. 2: “Eam galeæ partem quam Hesychius
dicit habere εξοχάς, id quod in galea eminentissimum est. Et vero apud
Plutarchum distinguitur το κράνος galea από της στεφάνης, ab ejus parte
quæ est in ipsius summitate.”
But he fell from his mares on the ground, and his limbs were relaxed.
But when the azure-eyed goddess Minerva saw them destroying the Greeks,
in fierce engagement, she descended straightway, rushing down from the
tops of Olympus to sacred Ilium. Then Apollo hastened to meet her,
having perceived her from Pergamus, for he wished victory to the
Trojans. And they met each other at the beech-tree. Her first king
Apollo, the son of Jove, addressed:
“Why again dost thou, O daughter of mighty Jove, come ardently from
Olympus, and why has thy mighty soul impelled thee? It is that thou
mightst give to the Greeks the doubtful victory of battle, for thou
dost not pity the Trojans perishing. But if thou obeyest me in aught,
which indeed would be much better, let us now make the war and conflict
to cease this day, afterwards shall they fight until they find an end
of Ilium; since it is pleasing to the mind of you goddesses to
overthrow this city.” 255
Footnote 255: (return) On the partisan deities for and against Troy,
cf. Dionys. 817.
“Ιλιον, ἣν ἐπόλισσε οσειδάων καἰ Απόλλων,
Ιλιον, ἣν ἀλάπαζαν Ἀθηναίη τε καἰ Ἣρη”.
See Grote’s Hist, of Greece, vol. i. p. 68.
But him in turn the azure-eyed goddess Minerva thus addressed: “Be it
so, Far-darter; for I myself, meditating the same things, came down
from Olympus to the Trojans and the Greeks. But come, how dost thou
intend to make the battle of men to cease?”
Her then in turn king Apollo, the son of Jove, addressed: “Let us
arouse the valiant spirit of horse-breaking Hector, if perchance he
will challenge some one of the Greeks to fight against him singly
opposed in grievous combat. And the well-greaved Greeks enraged will
urge on some single man to fight with noble Hector.”
Thus he spoke, nor did the azure-eyed goddess disobey. But Helenus, the
dear son of Priam, perceived in his mind the counsel, which seemed good
to the gods deliberating. He therefore went and stood near Hector, and
thus accosted him:
“Hector, son of Priam, equal to Jove in wisdom, wilt thou obey me in
aught? for I am thy brother. Cause all the rest of the Trojans and the
Greeks to sit down, but do thou thyself challenge whoever is the
bravest of the Greeks to fight against thee in grievous combat. For it
is not yet thy fate to die, and draw on fate; for to this effect have I
heard the voice of the immortal gods.”
Thus he spoke. But Hector in turn rejoiced exceedingly, having heard
his advice, and accordingly advancing into the midst, grasping his
spear in the middle, he restrained the phalanxes of the Trojans; and
they all sat down. Agamemnon also caused the well-greaved Greeks to sit
down; and Minerva also, and silver-bowed Apollo, sat like unto vulture
birds, on a lofty beech-tree of their sire, the ægis-bearing Jove,
delighted with the heroes; of these the ranks sat thick, horribly
bristling with shields, and helmets, and spears. And as the ripple of
the west wind, just risen, is poured over the ocean, and the sea begins
to darken under it, such sat the ranks of the Greeks and Trojans in the
plain: but Hector thus spoke in the midst of both armies:
“Hear me, ye Trojans, and ye well-greaved Greeks, whilst I speak what
the mind in my breast commands me. Saturnian Jove, indeed, sitting
aloft, has not ratified the leagues, but devising evils against both
sides, ordains them, till either ye take well-turreted Troy, or
yourselves fall at your sea-traversing ships. Amongst you, indeed,
there are the bravest of all the Greeks, of whom whomsoever his mind
orders to fight with me, let him come hither from amongst all, to be a
champion against noble Hector. This then do I propose, but let Jove be
our witness; if, on the one hand, he shall slay me with his
long-pointed spear, having stripped off my armour, let him bear it to
the hollow ships, but send my body home, that the Trojans and the wives
of the Trojans may make me, deceased, a partaker of the funeral pyre.
But if, on the other hand, I shall slay him, and Apollo shall give me
glory, having stripped off his armour, I will bear it to sacred Ilium,
and I will hang it up on the temple of far-darting Apollo: but his body
I will send back to the well-benched ships, that the long-haired Greeks
may perform his exsequies, and pile up for him a tomb on the wide
Hellespont. And hereafter will some one of future men say, as he sails
over the sea in his many-benched ship: ‘This, indeed, is the tomb of a
hero long since deceased, whom once, bearing himself doughtily,
illustrious Hector slew.’ Thus hereafter will some one say; but this my
glory shall never perish.”
Thus he said, but all became mute in silence. Ashamed indeed they were
to refuse, and yet they dreaded to accept [the challenge]. At length,
however, Menelaus stood up, and spoke amongst them, rebuking them with
reproaches, and he groaned greatly in spirit:
“Alas! ye boasters! Greek dames! no longer Grecian men! certainly will
these things be a disgrace, most grievously grievous, if none of the
Greeks will now go against Hector. But may ye all become water and
earth, sitting there each of you, faint-hearted; utterly inglorious:
but I myself will be armed against him. But the issues of victory are
rested in the immortal gods.”
Thus having spoken, he put on his beautiful arms. Then, indeed, Ο
Menelaus, would the end of life have befallen thee at the hands of
Hector, since he was much the better man, had not the princes of the
Greeks, starting up suddenly, restrained thee, and the son of Atreus
himself, wide-ruling Agamemnon, seized thee by the right hand, and
addressed thee, and spoke:
“Thou art mad, O Menelaus! offspring of Jove, nor hast thou any need of
such madness: restrain thyself, although grieved, nor wish for the sake
of contention to fight with a braver man than thyself, Hector, the son
of Priam, whom others also dread. Nay, even Achilles, who is much
braver than thou, dreads to meet him 256 in the glorious fight. But
now, going to the troop of thy companions, sit down. Against him the
Greeks will set up some other champion. Although he be intrepid and
insatiable of battle, I think that he will gladly bend his knee, 257 if
he shall escape from the hostile battle and the grievous fight.”
Footnote 256: (return) Lesbonax, περί σχημ. p. 182, reads τούτόν
γε—άντιολήσαι, which Valckenaer, and with reason, thinks a more
_recherché_ and genuine reading than τούτῳ. Lesbonax compares the Attic
phrase άρέσκει με for μοι Cf. Aristoph. Ran. 103, with the Scholiast.
Footnote 257: (return) _I.e._ sit down through fatigue, “de iis qui
longo labore seu cuisu fessi quiescunt et vires recipiunt.”—Heyne.
Thus speaking, the hero dissuaded his brother’s mind, advising him
rightly; and he obeyed. His joyful attendants then stripped the armour
from his shoulders. Then Nestor arose amidst the Greeks, and said:
“O gods, surely great grief comes upon the Grecian land. Certainly the
aged knight Peleus, the excellent counsellor and adviser of the
Myrmidons, will greatly lament, who formerly interrogated me, greatly
rejoiced in his palace, inquiring the race and offspring of all the
Greeks. If he now heard of them all crouching down under Hector, often
indeed would he uplift his hands to the immortals, [praying] that his
soul, [separated] from his limbs, might depart into the house of Pluto.
For would, Ο father Jove, and Minerva, and Apollo, I were young, as
when the assembled Pylians and the spear-skilled Arcadians fought by
the rapid Celadon, at the walls of Phæa, about the streams of Jardan.
With them Ereuthalion, god-like hero, stood in the van, bearing on his
shoulders the armour of king Areïthous, of noble Areïthous, whom men
and beauteous-girt women called by surname Corynetes, since he fought
not with a bow, nor with a long spear, but used to break the phalanxes
with an iron club. Him Lycurgus slew by stratagem, not by strength, in
a narrow defile, where his iron club did not ward off destruction from
him; for Lycurgus, anticipating, pierced him right through the waist
with his spear, and he was dashed to the ground on his back; and he
spoiled him of the armour which brazen Mars had given him, and he
indeed afterwards bore them himself in the battle of Mars. But when
Lycurgus had grown old in his palaces, he gave them to his beloved
attendant Ereuthalion, to be borne: and he, having his armour,
challenged all the bravest: but these trembled and feared very much:
nor did any one dare [to withstand him]. But my bold mind, by its
confidence, urged me on to fight him: now I was the youngest of them
all; and I fought with him, and Minerva gave me glory. And I slew this
most mighty and valiant hero, for vast he lay stretched out on this
side and on that. Would that [now] I were thus young, and my strength
entire—so quickly should crest-tossing Hector meet with a contest. But
those of you who are the bravest of all the Greeks, not even you
promptly desire to go against Hector.”
Thus did the old man upbraid them; and nine heroes in all arose. Much
the first arose Agamemnon, the king of men; after him arose brave
Diomede, son of Tydeus, and after them the Ajaces, clad in impetuous
valour: after them Idomeneus, and Meriones, the armour-bearer of
Idomeneus, equal to man-slaughtering Mars. After them Eurypylus, the
gallant son of Evæmon. And there [also arose] Thoas, son of Andræmon,
and divine Ulysses. All these wished to fight with noble Hector. But
these again the Gerenian knight Nestor addressed:
“Decide now, exclusively by lot, who shall obtain [the accepting of the
challenge]; for he indeed will aid the well-greaved Greeks; and he will
also delight his own soul, if he shall escape safe from the hostile war
and the grievous fight.”
Thus he spoke, and they marked each his own lot, and they cast them
into the helmet of Agamemnon, the son of Atreus. The people
supplicated, and raised their hands to the gods, and thus would one of
them say, looking towards the wide heaven:
“Ο father Jove, grant that Ajax obtain the lot, or the son of Tydeus,
or the king himself of rich Mycenæ.”
Thus they spake, and the Gerenian knight Nestor shook [the lots], and
the lot of Ajax, which indeed they wished for, leaped forth from the
helmet. Then a herald bearing it around through the multitude,
beginning at the right, showed it to all the chiefs of the Greeks. But
they, not recognizing it, disclaimed it severally. But, when at last
the herald, carrying it round through the multitude, came to him,
illustrious Ajax, who had inscribed and cast it into the helmet, he
[Ajax] stretched forth his hand, and the herald standing near, placed
it in it. Having inspected it, he knew his own mark, and rejoiced in
his soul. He cast it on the ground at his feet, and said:
“Ο friends, surely the lot is mine, and I myself rejoice in my soul,
since I think that I shall conquer noble Hector. But come, while I put
on my warlike arms, do ye meantime pray to Jove, the Saturnian king,
silently within yourselves, that the Trojans may not hear; or even
openly, since we fear no one at all. For no one willingly shall, by
force, overcome me against my will, nor through my inexperience; since
I hope I have not been so ignorantly 258 born and bred at Salamis.”
Footnote 258: (return) I. e. ignorant of arms.
Thus he spoke: but they prayed to Jove, the Saturnian king; and thus
would one of them say looking towards the wide heaven:
“O father Jove, ruling from Ida, most glorious, most mighty, grant to
Ajax to bear away victory, and illustrious glory. But if thou lovest
Hector also, and carest for him, grant equal might and glory to both.”
Thus they spake, and Ajax was arming himself in splendid brass. But
when he had put on all his armour around his body, then he rushed
forward: as moves mighty Mars, who goes to war amidst men, whom the son
of Saturn has engaged to fight with the strength of soul-gnawing
strife, such mighty Ajax advanced, the bulwark of the Greeks, smiling
with grim countenance; but he advanced, taking long strides with his
feet beneath, brandishing his long-shadowed spear. The Greeks, on their
part, rejoiced much on beholding him, but dire dismay seized the
Trojans, each one as to his limbs, and the soul panted in the breast of
Hector himself. But now he could not in anywise retract through fear,
nor retire back into the crowd of the people, since he had challenged
to the fight. But Ajax drew near, bearing a shield, like a tower,
brazen, covered with seven ox-hides, which for him the artist Tychius
labouring had wrought, dwelling at his home in Hyla, by far the most
excellent of leather-cutters, who for him had made a moveable shield,
of seven hides of very fat bulls, and drawn over it an eighth [layer]
of brass. Carrying this before his breast, Telamonian Ajax stood very
near Hector, and menacing addressed him:
“Ο Hector, now thou, alone with me alone, shalt plainly know, what kind
of chiefs are present with the Greeks, even besides Achilles, the
breaker of ranks, the lion-hearted. But he, indeed, abides at his
high-beaked sea-traversing ships, enraged against Agamemnon, the
shepherd of the people. Yet we are such, even many of us, who can go
against thee; but begin the battle and the strife.”
Him then in turn the mighty crest-tossing Hector addressed: “Thou
Jove-sprung Ajax, son of Telamon, ruler of forces, tamper not with me
as with a weak boy, or a woman, who knows not warlike deeds. But I well
know both battles and man-slaughterings. I know how to shift my dry
shield to the right and to the left; wherefore to me it belongs to
fight unwearied. I am also skilled to rush to the battle of swift
steeds. I know too, how, in hostile array, to move skilfully in honour
of glowing Mars. But I do not desire to wound thee, being such,
watching stealthily, but openly, if haply I may strike thee.”
He spoke, and brandishing hurled forth his long-shadowed spear, and
smote the mighty seven-hided shield of Ajax on the outside brass, which
was the eighth [layer] thereon. And the unwearied brass cutting
through, penetrated six folds, and was stuck fast in the seventh hide.
Next, Jove-sprung Ajax in turn sent forth his very long spear, and
struck the all-equal shield of Priam’s son. Through the shining shield
passed the impetuous spear, and was fastened in his very
ingeniously-wrought corslet, and from the opposite side the spear cut
his tunic near the flank. But he inclined himself, and avoided black
death. Then they both, having drawn out their long spears with their
hands, joined battle, like unto raw-devouring lions, or wild boars,
whose strength is not feeble. Then indeed the son of Priam struck the
midst of his [Ajax’s] shield with his spear; it broke not through the
brass, but the point of it was bent. But Ajax, bounding forward,
pierced his shield: and the spear went right through, and repelled him
as he rushed on: it glanced over his neck, cutting it, and black gore
gushed forth. But not even thus did crest-tossing Hector cease from the
battle: but retiring back, he seized in his hand, a black, rough, huge
stone, lying in the plain. With it he struck the mighty seven-hided
shield of Ajax, in the midst of the boss, and the brass rang around.
Ajax next taking up a much larger stone, whirling, discharged it, and
applied immense strength. And he broke through the shield, having
struck with a rock like unto a millstone, and he wounded him in the
knee; and he was stretched supine, having come into violent contact
with his shield; but Apollo quickly raised him. And now in close combat
hand to hand, they would have wounded each other with their swords, had
not the heralds, the messengers of gods and men, arrived, one of the
Trojans, the other of the brazen-mailed Greeks, Talthybius and Idæus,
both prudent men. And between both armies they held their sceptres, but
the herald Idæus, skilled in prudent counsels, said:
“No longer, my dear sons, war or fight, for cloud-collecting Jove loves
you both: ye both are warriors, and this we all know. Night is now
approaching, and it is good to obey night.” 259