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that he will then think better of it before he tries to charge into
the press of the Danaans."
Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. Those who were
about Ajax and King Idomeneus, the followers moreover of Teucer, Meriones,
and Meges peer of Mars called all their best men about them and sustained
the fight against Hector and the Trojans, but the main body fell back
upon the ships of the Achaeans.
The Trojans pressed forward in a dense body, with Hector striding
on at their head. Before him went Phoebus Apollo shrouded in cloud
about his shoulders. He bore aloft the terrible aegis with its shaggy
fringe, which Vulcan the smith had given Jove to strike terror into
the hearts of men. With this in his hand he led on the Trojans.
The Argives held together and stood their ground. The cry of battle
rose high from either side, and the arrows flew from the bowstrings.
Many a spear sped from strong hands and fastened in the bodies of
many a valiant warrior, while others fell to earth midway, before
they could taste of man's fair flesh and glut themselves with blood.
So long as Phoebus Apollo held his aegis quietly and without shaking
it, the weapons on either side took effect and the people fell, but
when he shook it straight in the face of the Danaans and raised his
mighty battle-­‐cry their hearts fainted within them and they forgot
their former prowess. As when two wild beasts spring in the dead of
night on a herd of cattle or a large flock of sheep when the herdsman
is not there-­‐ even so were the Danaans struck helpless, for Apollo
filled them with panic and gave victory to Hector and the Trojans.