The Iliad of Homer

by Richmond Lattimore

driving over the sea, and their arms are weak with weariness,

  so these two appeared to the Trojans, who had longed for them.

  Each killed his man: Paris, the son of lord Areïthoös,

  Menesthios, who lived in Arne, born to him of the war club

  10 Areïthoös, and to ox-eyed Phylomedousa;

  while Hektor with the sharp spear struck Eïoneus, under

  the circle of the bronze helm, in the neck, and broke his limbs’ strength.

  And Glaukos, lord of the Lykian men, the son of Hippolochos,

  struck down with the spear Iphinoös in the strong encounter,

  15 Dexias’ son, as he leapt up behind his fast horses, striking him

  in the shoulder. He dropped from car to ground, and his limbs’ strength was broken.

  Now as the goddess gray-eyed Athene was aware of these two

  destroying the men of Argos in the strong encounter,

  she went down in a flash of speed from the peaks of Olympos

  20 to sacred Ilion, where Apollo stirred forth to meet her

  from his seat on Pergamos, where he planned that the Trojans should conquer.

  These two then encountered each other beside the oak tree,

  and speaking first the son of Zeus, lord Apollo, addressed her:

  “What can be your desire this time, O daughter of great Zeus,

  25 that you came down from Olympos at the urge of your mighty spirit?

  To give the Danaäns victory in the battle, turning it

  back? Since you have no pity at all for the Trojans who are dying.

  But if you might only do as I say, it would be far better.

  For this day let us put an end to the hatred and the fighting

  30 now; they shall fight again hereafter, till we witness the finish

  they make of Ilion, since it is dear to the heart of you, who

  are goddesses immortal, that this city shall be made desolate.”

  Then in answer the goddess gray-eyed Athene spoke to him:

  “Worker from afar, thus let it be. These were my thoughts also

  35 as I came down from Olympos among the Achaians and Trojans.

  Tell me then, how are you minded to stop these men in their fighting?”

  Now in turn the son of Zeus, lord Apollo, addressed her:

  “Let us rouse up the strong heart in Hektor, breaker of horses,

  if he might call forth some Danaän to do battle against him,

  40 single man against single man, in bitter combat;

  and let the strong-greaved Achaians, stirred into admiration,

  send forth a single man to do battle with brilliant Hektor.”

  He spoke, nor failed to persuade the goddess gray-eyed Athene.

  Now Helenos, Priam’s beloved son, gathered into his heart their

  45 deliberation, and all that pleased the musing divinities.

  He went on his way and stood beside Hektor and spoke a word to him:

  “Hektor, O son of Priam and equal of Zeus in counsel,

  would you now be persuaded by me, for I am your brother?

  Make the rest of the Trojans sit down, and all the Achaians,

  50 and yourself call forth one of the Achaians, their bravest,

  to fight man to man against you in bitter combat.

  Since it is not your destiny yet to die and encounter

  fate. For thus I heard it in the speech of the gods everlasting.”

  So he spoke, and Hektor hearing his word was happy,

  55 and went into the space between and forced back the Trojan battalions,

  holding his spear by the middle, until they were all seated,

  while Agamemnon in turn seated the strong-greaved Achaians,

  and Athene and the lord of the silver bow, Apollo,

  assuming the likenesses of birds, of vultures, settled

  60 aloft the great oak tree of their father, Zeus of the aegis,

  taking their ease and watching these men whose ranks, dense-settled,

  shuddered into a bristle of spears, of shields and of helmets.

  As when the shudder of the west wind suddenly rising

  scatters across the water, and the water darkens beneath it,

  65 so darkening were settled the ranks of Achaians and Trojans

  in the plain. And now Hektor spoke forth between them:

  “Listen to me, you Trojans and strong-greaved Achaians,

  while I speak forth what the heart within my breast urges.

  Zeus, son of Kronos, who sits on high, would not bring to fulfillment

  70 our oaths, but is found to be of evil intention toward both sides

  until that day when you storm Troy of the strong towers, or that day

  when you yourselves are broken beside your seafaring vessels.

  Seeing now that among you are the bravest of all the Achaians,

  let one of you, whose heart stirs him to combat against me,

  75 stand forth before all to fight by himself against brilliant Hektor.

  Behold the terms that I make, let Zeus be witness upon them.

  If with the thin edge of the bronze he takes my life, then

  let him strip my armor and carry it back to the hollow ships,

  but give my body to be taken home again, so that the Trojans

  80 and the wives of the Trojans may give me in death my rite of burning.

  But if I take his life, and Apollo grants me the glory,

  I will strip his armor and carry it to sacred Ilion

  and hang it in front of the temple of far-striking Apollo,

  but his corpse I will give back among the strong-benched vessels

  85 so that the flowing-haired Achaians may give him due burial

  and heap up a mound upon him beside the broad passage of Helle.

  And some day one of the men to come will say, as he sees it,

  one who in his benched ship sails on the wine-blue water:

  ‘This is the mound of a man who died long ago in battle,

  90 who was one of the bravest, and glorious Hektor killed him.’

  So will he speak some day, and my glory will not be forgotten.”

  So he spoke, and all of them stayed stricken to silence

  in shame of refusing him, and in fear to take up his challenge.

  But now at long last Menelaos stood forth and addressed them

  95 in scorn and reproach, and stirred within the heart to great sorrow:

  “Ah me! You brave in words, you women, not men, of Achaia!

  This will be a defilement upon us, shame upon shame piled,

  if no one of the Danaäns goes out to face Hektor.

  No, may all of youturn to water and earth, all of you

  100 who sit by yourselves with no life in you, utterly dishonored.

  I myself will arm against this man. While above us

  the threads of victory are held in the hands of the immortals.”

  So he spoke, and began to put on his splendid armor.

  And there, O Menelaos, would have shown forth the end of your life

  105 under the hands of Hektor, since he was far stronger than you were,

  had not the kings of the Achaians leapt up and caught you;

  and the son of Atreus himself, powerful Agamemnon,

  caught you by the right hand, and called you by name, and spoke to you:

  “Menelaos, beloved of God, you are mad; you have no need

  110 to take leave of your senses thus. Hold fast, though it hurts you,

  nor long in your pride to fight with a man who is better than you are,

  with Hektor, Priam’s son. There are others who shudder before him.

  Even Achilleus, in the fighting where men win glory,

  trembles to meet this man, and he is far better than you are.

  115 Go back now and sit down in the throng of your own companions;

  the Achaians will set up another to fight against this man,

  and
even though he is without fear, and can never be glutted

  with rough work, I think he will be glad to leave off, even

  if he comes off whole from the hateful fighting and bitter combat.”

  120 The hero spoke like this and bent the heart of his brother

  since he urged wisely. And Menelaos obeyed him; his henchmen

  joyfully thereupon took off the armor from his shoulders.

  Nestor among the Argives now stood forth and addressed them:

  “Oh, for shame. Great sorrow settles on the land of Achaia.

  125 Surely he would groan aloud, Peleus, the aged horseman,

  the great man of counsel among the Myrmidons, and their speaker.

  Once, as he questioned me in his house, he was filled with great joy

  as he heard the generation and blood of all of the Argives.

  Now if he were to hear how all cringe away before Hektor,

  130 many a time he would lift up his very hands to the immortals,

  and the life breath from his limbs would go down into the house of Hades.

  If only, O father Zeus, Athene, Apollo,

  I were in my youth as when the Pylians assembled

  and the spear-fighting Arkadians battled by swirling Keladon,

  135 by the streams of Iardanos and before the ramparts of Pheia.

  Their champion stood forth, Ereuthalion, a man godlike,

  wearing upon his shoulders the armor of lord Areïthoös,

  Areïthoös the brilliant, given by the men of that time

  and the fair-girdled women the name club-fighter, because he

  140 went into battle armed neither with the bow nor the long spear,

  but with a great bar clubbed of iron broke the battalions.

  Lykourgos killed this man by craft, not strength, for he met him

  in the narrow pass of the way, where the iron club served not to parry

  destruction, for Lykourgos, too quick with a stab beneath it,

  145 pinned him through the middle with the spear, so he went down backward

  to the ground; and he stripped the armor brazen Ares had given him

  and wore the armor thereafter himself through the grind of battle.

  But when Lykourgos was grown an old man in his halls, he gave it

  to his beloved henchman, Ereuthalion, to carry.

  150 Wearing this armor he called forth all the bravest to fight him,

  but they were all afraid and trembling: none had the courage,

  only I, for my hard-enduring heart in its daring

  drove me to fight him. I in age was the youngest of all of them.

  And I fought with him, and Pallas Athene gave me the glory.

  155 Of all the men I have killed this was the tallest and strongest.

  For he sprawled in his great bulk this way and that way. If only

  I were young now, as then, and the strength still steady within me;

  Hektor of the glancing helm would soon find his battle.

  But you, now, who are the bravest of all the Achaians,

  160 are not minded with a good will to go against Hektor.”

  So the old man scolded them, and nine in all stood forth.

  Far the first to rise up was the lord of men, Agamemnon,

  and rose after him the son of Tydeus, strong Diomedes,

  and next the two Aiantes rose, their fierce strength upon them,

  165 and after these Idomeneus, and Idomeneus’ companion,

  Meriones, a match for the murderous Lord of Battles,

  and after these Eurypylos, the glorious son of Euaimon,

  and Thoas rose up, Andraimon’s son, and brilliant Odysseus.

  All of these were willing to fight against brilliant Hektor.

  170 Now before them again spoke the Gerenian horseman, Nestor:

  “Let the lot be shaken for all of you, to see who wins it.

  He shall be the one to gladden the strong-greaved Achaians,

  and to be glad within his own heart, if he can come off

  whole again from the hateful battle and bitter combat.”

  175 So he spoke, and each of them marked a lot as his own one lot.

  They threw them in the helmet of Atreus’ son, Agamemnon,

  and the people, holding up their hands to the gods, prayed to them.

  Then would murmur any man, gazing into the wide sky:

  “Father Zeus, let Aias win the lot, or else Diomedes,

  180 Tydeus’ son, or the king himself of golden Mykenai.”

  So they spoke, and Nestor the Gerenian horseman shook the lots,

  and a lot leapt from the helmet, that one that they all had wished for,

  the lot of Aias; and a herald carrying it all through the great throng

  showed it from left to right to the great men of the Achaians,

  185 all of them. Each man knew not the mark, and denied it,

  but as carrying it all through the great throng he showed it to that one

  who had marked it as his, and thrown it in the helmet, glorious Aias,

  he held forth his hand, and the herald stood by him, and put the lot in it,

  and he saw his mark on the lot, and knew it, and his heart was gladdened.

  190 “He threw it down on the ground beside his foot, and spoke to them:

  See, friends, the lot is mine, and I myself am made happy

  in my heart, since I think I can win over brilliant Hektor.

  Do this, then: while I put on my armor of fighting,

  all of you be praying to the lord Zeus, the son of Kronos,

  195 in silence and each to himself, let none of the Trojans hear you;

  or openly out loud, since we have nothing to be afraid of

  at all, since no man by force will beat me backward unwilling

  as he wills, nor by craft either, since I think that the man who was born

  and raised in Salamis, myself, is not such a novice.”

  200 So he spoke, and they prayed to the lord Zeus, the son of Kronos.

  And then would murmur any man, gazing into the wide sky:

  “Father Zeus, watching over us from Ida, most high, most honored,

  grant that Aias win the vaunt of renown and the victory;

  but if truly you love Hektor and are careful for him,

  205 give to both of them equal strength, make equal their honor.”

  So they spoke, and meanwhile Aias armed him in shining

  bronze. Then when he had girt his body in all its armor,

  he strode on his way, as Ares the war god walks gigantic

  going into the fighting of men whom the son of Kronos

  210 has driven to fight angrily in heart-perishing hatred.

  Such was Aias as he strode gigantic, the wall of the Achaians,

  smiling under his threatening brows, with his feet beneath him

  taking huge strides forward, and shaking the spear far-shadowing.

  And the Argives looking upon him were made glad, while the Trojans

  215 were taken every man in the knees with trembling and terror,

  and for Hektor himself the heart beat hard in his breast, but he could not

  anymore find means to take flight and shrink back into

  the throng of his men, since he in his pride had called him to battle.

  Now Aias came near him, carrying like a wall his shield

  220 of bronze and sevenfold ox-hide which Tychios wrought him with much toil;

  Tychios, at home in Hyle, far the best of all workers in leather

  who had made him the great gleaming shield of sevenfold ox-hide

  from strong bulls, and hammered an eighth fold of bronze upon it.

  Telamonian Aias, carrying this to cover

  225 his chest, came near to Hektor and spoke to him in words of menace:

  “Hektor, single man against single man you will learn now

  for sure what the bravest men are like among the Danaäns

 
even after Achilleus the lion-hearted who breaks men in battle.

  He lies now apart among his own beaked seafaring

  230 ships, in anger at Agamemnon, the shepherd of the people.

  But here are we; and we are such men as can stand up against you;

  there are plenty of us; so now begin your fight and your combat.”

  Tall Hektor of the glancing helm answered him: “Aias,

  son of Telamon, seed of Zeus, O lord of the people,

  235 do not be testing me as if I were some ineffectual

  boy, or a woman, who knows nothing of the works of warfare.

  I know well myself how to fight and kill men in battle;

  I know how to turn to the right, how to turn to the left the ox-hide

  tanned into a shield which is my protection in battle;

  240 I know how to storm my way into the struggle of flying horses;

  I know how to tread my measures on the grim floor of the war god.

  Yet great as you are I would not strike you by stealth, watching

  for my chance, but openly, so, if perhaps I might hit you.”

  So he spoke, and balanced the spear far-shadowed, and threw it,

  245 and struck the sevenfold-ox-hide terrible shield of Aias

  in the uttermost bronze, which was the eighth layer upon it,

  and the unwearying bronze spearhead shore its way through six folds

  but was stopped in the seventh ox-hide. Then after him Aias

  the illustrious in turn cast with his spear far-shadowing

  250 and struck the shield of Priam’s son on its perfect circle.

  All the way through the glittering shield went the heavy spearhead,

  and crashed its way through the intricately worked corselet;

  straight ahead by the flank the spearhead shore through his tunic,

  yet he bent away to one side and avoided the dark death.

  255 Both now gripping in their hands the long spears pulled them

  out, and went at each other like lions who live on raw meat,

  or wild boars, whose strength is no light thing. The son of

  Priam stabbed then with his spear into the shield’s center,

  nor did the bronze point break its way through, but the spearhead bent back.

  260 Now Aias plunging upon him thrust at the shield, and the spearhead

  passed clean through, and pounded Hektor back in his fury,

  and tore at his neck passing so that the dark blood broke. Yet

  even so Hektor of the shining helmet did not stop fighting,