These words stirred the heart of Ajax, and he made his way among
the front ranks, Menelaus going with him. Hector had stripped
Patroclus of his armour, and was dragging him away to cut off his
head and take the body to fling before the dogs of Troy. But Ajax
came up with his shield like wall before him, on which Hector
withdrew under shelter of his men, and sprang on to his chariot,
giving the armour over to the Trojans to take to the city, as a
great trophy for himself; Ajax, therefore, covered the body of
Patroclus with his broad shield and bestrode him; as a lion
stands over his whelps if hunters have come upon him in a forest
when he is with his little ones--in the pride and fierceness of
his strength he draws his knit brows down till they cover his
eyes--even so did Ajax bestride the body of Patroclus, and by his
side stood Menelaus son of Atreus, nursing great sorrow in his
heart.

Then Glaucus son of Hippolochus looked fiercely at Hector and
rebuked him sternly. "Hector," said he, "you make a brave show,
but in fight you are sadly wanting. A runaway like yourself has
no claim to so great a reputation. Think how you may now save
your town and citadel by the hands of your own people born in
Ilius; for you will get no Lycians to fight for you, seeing what
thanks they have had for their incessant hardships. Are you
likely, sir, to do anything to help a man of less note, after
leaving Sarpedon, who was at once your guest and comrade in arms,
to be the spoil and prey of the Danaans? So long as he lived he
did good service both to your city and yourself; yet you had no
stomach to save his body from the dogs. If the Lycians will
listen to me, they will go home and leave Troy to its fate. If
the Trojans had any of that daring fearless spirit which lays
hold of men who are fighting for their country and harassing
those who would attack it, we should soon bear off Patroclus into
Ilius. Could we get this dead man away and bring him into the
city of Priam, the Argives would readily give up the armour of
Sarpedon, and we should get his body to boot. For he whose squire
has been now killed is the foremost man at the ships of the
Achaeans--he and his close-fighting followers. Nevertheless you
dared not make a stand against Ajax, nor face him, eye to eye,
with battle all round you, for he is a braver man than you are."

Hector scowled at him and answered, "Glaucus, you should know
better. I have held you so far as a man of more understanding
than any in all Lycia, but now I despise you for saying that I am
afraid of Ajax. I fear neither battle nor the din of chariots,
but Jove's will is stronger than ours; Jove at one time makes
even a strong man draw back and snatches victory from his grasp,
while at another he will set him on to fight. Come hither then,
my friend, stand by me and see indeed whether I shall play the
coward the whole day through as you say, or whether I shall not
stay some even of the boldest Danaans from fighting round the
body of Patroclus."

As he spoke he called loudly on the Trojans saying, "Trojans,
Lycians, and Dardanians, fighters in close combat, be men, my
friends, and fight might and main, while I put on the goodly
armour of Achilles, which I took when I killed Patroclus."

With this Hector left the fight, and ran full speed after his men
who were taking the armour of Achilles to Troy, but had not yet
got far. Standing for a while apart from the woeful fight, he
changed his armour. His own he sent to the strong city of Ilius
and to the Trojans, while he put on the immortal armour of the
son of Peleus, which the gods had given to Peleus, who in his age
gave it to his son; but the son did not grow old in his father's
armour.

When Jove, lord of the storm-cloud, saw Hector standing aloof and
arming himself in the armour of the son of Peleus, he wagged his
head and muttered to himself saying, "A! poor wretch, you arm in
the armour of a hero, before whom many another trembles, and you
reck nothing of the doom that is already close upon you. You have
killed his comrade so brave and strong, but it was not well that
you should strip the armour from his head and shoulders. I do
indeed endow you with great might now, but as against this you
shall not return from battle to lay the armour of the son of
Peleus before Andromache."

The son of Saturn bowed his portentous brows, and Hector fitted
the armour to his body, while terrible Mars entered into him, and
filled his whole body with might and valour. With a shout he
strode in among the allies, and his armour flashed about him so
that he seemed to all of them like the great son of Peleus
himself. He went about among them and cheered them on--Mesthles,
Glaucus, Medon, Thersilochus, Asteropaeus, Deisenor and
Hippothous, Phorcys, Chromius and Ennomus the augur. All these
did he exhort saying, "Hear me, allies from other cities who are
here in your thousands, it was not in order to have a crowd about
me that I called you hither each from his several city, but that
with heart and soul you might defend the wives and little ones of
the Trojans from the fierce Achaeans. For this do I oppress my
people with your food and the presents that make you rich.
Therefore turn, and charge at the foe, to stand or fall as is the
game of war; whoever shall bring Patroclus, dead though he be,
into the hands of the Trojans, and shall make Ajax give way
before him, I will give him one half of the spoils while I keep
the other. He will thus share like honour with myself."

When he had thus spoken they charged full weight upon the Danaans
with their spears held out before them, and the hopes of each ran


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