for it hit Phegeus on the breast near the nipple, and he fell
from his chariot. Idaeus did not dare to bestride his brother's
body, but sprang from the chariot and took to flight, or he would
have shared his brother's fate; whereon Vulcan saved him by
wrapping him in a cloud of darkness, that his old father might
not be utterly overwhelmed with grief; but the son of Tydeus
drove off with the horses, and bade his followers take them to
the ships. The Trojans were scared when they saw the two sons of
Dares, one of them in fright and the other lying dead by his
chariot. Minerva, therefore, took Mars by the hand and said,
"Mars, Mars, bane of men, bloodstained stormer of cities, may we
not now leave the Trojans and Achaeans to fight it out, and see
to which of the two Jove will vouchsafe the victory? Let us go
away, and thus avoid his anger."

So saying, she drew Mars out of the battle, and set him down upon
the steep banks of the Scamander. Upon this the Danaans drove the
Trojans back, and each one of their chieftains killed his man.
First King Agamemnon flung mighty Odius, captain of the Halizoni,
from his chariot. The spear of Agamemnon caught him on the broad
of his back, just as he was turning in flight; it struck him
between the shoulders and went right through his chest, and his
armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground.

Then Idomeneus killed Phaesus, son of Borus the Meonian, who had
come from Varne. Mighty Idomeneus speared him on the right
shoulder as he was mounting his chariot, and the darkness of
death enshrouded him as he fell heavily from the car.

The squires of Idomeneus spoiled him of his armour, while
Menelaus, son of Atreus, killed Scamandrius the son of Strophius,
a mighty huntsman and keen lover of the chase. Diana herself had
taught him how to kill every kind of wild creature that is bred
in mountain forests, but neither she nor his famed skill in
archery could now save him, for the spear of Menelaus struck him
in the back as he was flying; it struck him between the shoulders
and went right through his chest, so that he fell headlong and
his armour rang rattling round him.

Meriones then killed Phereclus the son of Tecton, who was the son
of Hermon, a man whose hand was skilled in all manner of cunning
workmanship, for Pallas Minerva had dearly loved him. He it was
that made the ships for Alexandrus, which were the beginning of
all mischief, and brought evil alike both on the Trojans and on
Alexandrus himself; for he heeded not the decrees of heaven.
Meriones overtook him as he was flying, and struck him on the
right buttock. The point of the spear went through the bone into
the bladder, and death came upon him as he cried aloud and fell
forward on his knees.

Meges, moreover, slew Pedaeus, son of Antenor, who, though he was
a bastard, had been brought up by Theano as one of her own
children, for the love she bore her husband. The son of Phyleus
got close up to him and drove a spear into the nape of his neck:
it went under his tongue all among his teeth, so he bit the cold
bronze, and fell dead in the dust.

And Eurypylus, son of Euaemon, killed Hypsenor, the son of noble
Dolopion, who had been made priest of the river Scamander, and
was honoured among the people as though he were a god. Eurypylus
gave him chase as he was flying before him, smote him with his
sword upon the arm, and lopped his strong hand from off it. The
bloody hand fell to the ground, and the shades of death, with
fate that no man can withstand, came over his eyes.

Thus furiously did the battle rage between them. As for the son
of Tydeus, you could not say whether he was more among the
Achaeans or the Trojans. He rushed across the plain like a winter
torrent that has burst its barrier in full flood; no dykes, no
walls of fruitful vineyards can embank it when it is swollen with
rain from heaven, but in a moment it comes tearing onward, and
lays many a field waste that many a strong man's hand has
reclaimed--even so were the dense phalanxes of the Trojans driven
in rout by the son of Tydeus, and many though they were, they
dared not abide his onslaught.

Now when the son of Lycaon saw him scouring the plain and driving
the Trojans pell-mell before him, he aimed an arrow and hit the
front part of his cuirass near the shoulder: the arrow went right
through the metal and pierced the flesh, so that the cuirass was
covered with blood. On this the son of Lycaon shouted in triumph,
"Knights Trojans, come on; the bravest of the Achaeans is
wounded, and he will not hold out much longer if King Apollo was
indeed with me when I sped from Lycia hither."

Thus did he vaunt; but his arrow had not killed Diomed, who
withdrew and made for the chariot and horses of Sthenelus, the
son of Capaneus. "Dear son of Capaneus," said he, "come down from
your chariot, and draw the arrow out of my shoulder."

Sthenelus sprang from his chariot, and drew the arrow from the
wound, whereon the blood came spouting out through the hole that
had been made in his shirt. Then Diomed prayed, saying, "Hear me,
daughter of aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable, if ever you loved my
father well and stood by him in the thick of a fight, do the like
now by me; grant me to come within a spear's throw of that man
and kill him. He has been too quick for me and has wounded me;
and now he is boasting that I shall not see the light of the sun
much longer."



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