CHAPTER XVII.

THE BATTLE AT THE SHIPS (continued).

So loud was the cry that it roused old Nestor where he sat in his tent, tending the wounded Machaon. Whereupon he said, "Sit thou here and drink the red wine till the fair Hecamedé shall have got ready the bath to wash the blood from thy wound; but I will ask how things fare in the battle."

So he went forth from the tent, seeking King Agamemnon. And as he went, the King met him, and with him were Diomed and Ulysses, who also had been wounded that day. So they held counsel together. And Agamemnon- for it troubled him sore that the people were slain would that they should draw down the ships into the sea, and should flee homewards, as soon as the darkness should cover them and the Trojans should cease from the battle.

But Ulysses would have none of such coun

sel, saying: "Now surely, son of Atreus, thou art not worthy to rule over us, who have been men of war from our youth. Wilt thou leave this city, for the taking of which we have suffered so much? That may not be; let not any one of the Greeks hear thee say such words. And what is this, that thou wouldst have us launch our ships now, whilst the hosts are fighting? Surely, so doing, we should perish together, for the Greeks would not fight any more, seeing that the ships were being launched, and the men of Troy would slay us altogether."

Then King Agamemnon said, "Thou speakest well." And he went through the host, bidding the men bear themselves bravely; and all the while Poseidon put courage and strength into their hearts; and, on the other hand, Hera lulled Zeus to sleep on the heights of Olympus, so that now the battle went against the men of Troy. Then Hector cast his spear against Ajax Telamon. The shield kept it not off, for it passed beneath, but the two belts, of the shield and of the sword, stayed it, so that it wounded not his body. Then Hector in wrath

and tear went back into the ranks of his comTades, but as it went Ajax took a great stone - now were there many such which they had as props to the ships and smote him above the rim at his shield, on the neck. As an oak falls, stricken by the thunder of Zeus, so he tell, and the Greeks rushed with a great cry to drag him to them, but could not, for all the hravest at the sons of Troy held their shields before him.- Polydamas, and Eneas, and Sarpedon, and Glaucus. Then they carried him to the Xanthus, and poured water upon him. And after a while he sat up, and then again his spirit left him, tor the blow had been very grievous. But when the Greeks saw that Hector had been carried out of the battle, they pressed on the more, slaying the men of Troy, and driving them back even out of the camp and across the trench. But when they came to their chariots, where they had left them on the other side of the trench, there they stood trembling and pale with fear, as men that flee in the day of battle.

And now Zeus woke from his sleep, and he looked upon the earth; and he saw how the

Greeks were driving the men of Troy before them, and Hector lay upon the plain, and vomited blood, and his friends knelt about him. Senseless he lay, for it was no puny hand that had dealt the blow. Very wroth was Zeus to see such a sight, and he said to Hera: "What is this that thou hast done, sending Hector from the battle? Rememberest thou not how I hung thee amid the clouds with a band of gold about thy hands and an anvil of gold on either foot, and how when any god came to help thee I flung him from Olympus to fall till he came utterly spent to the earth? Make an end of thy deceits, or verily nothing shall protect thee from my wrath."

Then Hera answered: "It is Poseidon that afflicts the Trojans, and bears up the Greeks. Yet he, too, would do well to walk in the paths wherein thou walkest."

Then said Zeus: "Call hither Iris and Apollo the Archer; let Iris go to Poseidon, and bid him cease from the battle and get him to his own domain, and let Apollo strengthen Hector, that he may go back to the battle; so shall my will be accomplished, fulfilling the

outh that I swart to Thetis of the sea that I would de honour to her son."

So he spake, and Hera obeyed his voice. To the council of the gods she went. Her brows were black with anger as she spake: "Fools! in your madiness ve are wroth with Zeus, but he sitteth apart, and careth not. Take, therefore, what evil he may send, even as Ares must take the death of his son Ascalaphus, who even now hath been slain in the battle."

Then Ares started up in wrath, and smote his thighs, and said. "Nay, but I will go to the ships to avenge my son, even though I be smitten with the thunderbolt of Zeus.”

So he bade Flight and Fear yoke his horses, and he donned his glittering arms. Then had the anger of Zeus fallen on the gods; but Athené rose from her seat, and caught Ares, and took the helmet from his head, and the shield from his shoulders, and the spear from his hand. What wilt thou do, madman?" she said. Wilt thou bring the anger of Zeus

upon us all?

Lay aside thy wrath for thy son, for mightier men than he have talion."