But Diomed made at him with his spear and said, "Dog, you have
again got away though death was close on your heels. Phoebus
Apollo, to whom I ween you pray ere you go into battle, has again
saved you, nevertheless I will meet you and make an end of you
hereafter, if there is any god who will stand by me too and be my
helper. For the present I must pursue those I can lay hands on."

As he spoke he began stripping the spoils from the son of Paeon,
but Alexandrus husband of lovely Helen aimed an arrow at him,
leaning against a pillar of the monument which men had raised to
Ilus son of Dardanus, a ruler in days of old. Diomed had taken
the cuirass from off the breast of Agastrophus, his heavy helmet
also, and the shield from off his shoulders, when Paris drew his
bow and let fly an arrow that sped not from his hand in vain, but
pierced the flat of Diomed's right foot, going right through it
and fixing itself in the ground. Thereon Paris with a hearty
laugh sprang forward from his hiding-place, and taunted him
saying, "You are wounded--my arrow has not been shot in vain;
would that it had hit you in the belly and killed you, for thus
the Trojans, who fear you as goats fear a lion, would have had a
truce from evil."

Diomed all undaunted answered, "Archer, you who without your bow
are nothing, slanderer and seducer, if you were to be tried in
single combat fighting in full armour, your bow and your arrows
would serve you in little stead. Vain is your boast in that you
have scratched the sole of my foot. I care no more than if a girl
or some silly boy had hit me. A worthless coward can inflict but
a light wound; when I wound a man though I but graze his skin it
is another matter, for my weapon will lay him low. His wife will
tear her cheeks for grief and his children will be fatherless:
there will he rot, reddening the earth with his blood, and
vultures, not women, will gather round him."

Thus he spoke, but Ulysses came up and stood over him. Under this
cover he sat down to draw the arrow from his foot, and sharp was
the pain he suffered as he did so. Then he sprang on to his
chariot and bade the charioteer drive him to the ships, for he
was sick at heart.

Ulysses was now alone; not one of the Argives stood by him, for
they were all panic-stricken. "Alas," said he to himself in his
dismay, "what will become of me? It is ill if I turn and fly
before these odds, but it will be worse if I am left alone and
taken prisoner, for the son of Saturn has struck the rest of the
Danaans with panic. But why talk to myself in this way? Well do I
know that though cowards quit the field, a hero, whether he wound
or be wounded, must stand firm and hold his own."

While he was thus in two minds, the ranks of the Trojans advanced
and hemmed him in, and bitterly did they come to rue it. As
hounds and lusty youths set upon a wild boar that sallies from
his lair whetting his white tusks--they attack him from every
side and can hear the gnashing of his jaws, but for all his
fierceness they still hold their ground--even so furiously did
the Trojans attack Ulysses. First he sprang spear in hand upon
Deiopites and wounded him on the shoulder with a downward blow;
then he killed Thoon and Ennomus. After these he struck
Chersidamas in the loins under his shield as he had just sprung
down from his chariot; so he fell in the dust and clutched the
earth in the hollow of his hand. These he let lie, and went on to
wound Charops son of Hippasus own brother to noble Socus. Socus,
hero that he was, made all speed to help him, and when he was
close to Ulysses he said, "Far-famed Ulysses, insatiable of craft
and toil, this day you shall either boast of having killed both
the sons of Hippasus and stripped them of their armour, or you
shall fall before my spear."

With these words he struck the shield of Ulysses. The spear went
through the shield and passed on through his richly wrought
cuirass, tearing the flesh from his side, but Pallas Minerva did
not suffer it to pierce the entrails of the hero. Ulysses knew
that his hour was not yet come, but he gave ground and said to
Socus, "Wretch, you shall now surely die. You have stayed me from
fighting further with the Trojans, but you shall now fall by my
spear, yielding glory to myself, and your soul to Hades of the
noble steeds."

Socus had turned in flight, but as he did so, the spear struck
him in the back midway between the shoulders, and went right
through his chest. He fell heavily to the ground and Ulysses
vaunted over him saying, "O Socus, son of Hippasus tamer of
horses, death has been too quick for you and you have not escaped
him: poor wretch, not even in death shall your father and mother
close your eyes, but the ravening vultures shall enshroud you
with the flapping of their dark wings and devour you. Whereas
even though I fall the Achaeans will give me my due rites of
burial."

So saying he drew Socus's heavy spear out of his flesh and from
his shield, and the blood welled forth when the spear was
withdrawn so that he was much dismayed. When the Trojans saw that
Ulysses was bleeding they raised a great shout and came on in a
body towards him; he therefore gave ground, and called his
comrades to come and help him. Thrice did he cry as loudly as man
can cry, and thrice did brave Menelaus hear him; he turned,
therefore, to Ajax who was close beside him and said, "Ajax,
noble son of Telamon, captain of your people, the cry of Ulysses
rings in my ears, as though the Trojans had cut him off and were
worsting him while he is single-handed. Let us make our way


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