Homer, Iliad (Orange Street).pdf

Homer’s Iliad
Now so long as the day waxed and it was still morning their
weapons beat against one another, and the people fell, but when
the sun had reached mid-heaven, the sire of all balanced his golden
scales, and put two fates of death within them, one for the Trojans
and the other for the Achaeans. He took the balance by the middle,
and when he lifted it up the day of the Achaeans sank; the deathfraught
scale of the Achaeans settled down upon the ground, while
that of the Trojans rose heavenwards. Then he thundered aloud
from Ida, and sent the glare of his lightning upon the Achaeans;
when they saw this, pale fear fell upon them and they were sore
afraid.
Idomeneus dared not stay nor yet Agamemnon, nor did the two
Ajaxes, servants of Mars, hold their ground. Nestor knight of
Gerene alone stood firm, bulwark of the Achaeans, not of his own
will, but one of his horses was disabled. Alexandrus husband of
lovely Helen had hit it with an arrow just on the top of its head
where the mane begins to grow away from the skull, a very deadly
place. The horse bounded in his anguish as the arrow pierced his
brain, and his struggles threw others into confusion. The old man
instantly began cutting the traces with his sword, but Hector’s fleet
horses bore down upon him through the rout with their bold
charioteer, even Hector himself, and the old man would have
perished there and then had not Diomed been quick to mark, and
with a loud cry called Ulysses to help him.
“Ulysses,” he cried, “noble son of Laertes where are you flying to,
with your back turned like a coward? See that you are not struck
with a spear between the shoulders. Stay here and help me to
defend Nestor from this man’s furious onset.”
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