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it well over, how the Achaeans may have a respite from their troubles."
Apollo obeyed his father's saying, and left the crests of Ida, flying
like a falcon, bane of doves and swiftest of all birds. He found Hector
no longer lying upon the ground, but sitting up, for he had just come
to himself again. He knew those who were about him, and the sweat
and hard breathing had left him from the moment when the will of aegis-­‐bearing
Jove had revived him. Apollo stood beside him and said, "Hector, son
of Priam, why are you so faint, and why are you here away from the
others? Has any mishap befallen you?"
Hector in a weak voice answered, "And which, kind sir, of the gods
are you, who now ask me thus? Do you not know that Ajax struck me
on the chest with a stone as I was killing his comrades at the ships
of the Achaeans, and compelled me to leave off fighting? I made sure
that this very day I should breathe my last and go down into the house
of Hades."
Then King Apollo said to him, "Take heart; the son of Saturn has sent
you a mighty helper from Ida to stand by you and defend you, even
me, Phoebus Apollo of the golden sword, who have been guardian hitherto
not only of yourself but of your city. Now, therefore, order your
horsemen to drive their chariots to the ships in great multitudes.
I will go before your horses to smooth the way for them, and will
turn the Achaeans in flight."
As he spoke he infused great strength into the shepherd of his people.
And as a horse, stabled and full-­‐fed, breaks loose and gallops gloriously