Ἰλιάδος Ν

Now when Zeus had indeed brought the Trojans and Hector to the ships,

there he left them beside them to bear toil and misery

without ceasing, while he himself turned back his shining eyes

away, gazing upon the land of the horse-breeding Thracians

and of the close-fighting Mysians and the glorious Hippemolgoi

milk-fed, and the Abians, most just of men.

But toward Troy he no longer turned his shining eyes at all;

for he did not think in his heart that any one of the immortals

would come to aid either Trojans or Danaans.

Nor did the lord Earth-shaker keep blind watch;

for he sat marveling at the war and the battle

high up on the topmost peak of wooded Samothrace;

for from there all Ida appeared before him,

and Priam's city appeared, and the ships of the Achaeans.

There, coming up from the sea, he sat, and pitied the Achaeans

being broken by the Trojans, and was fiercely angry with Zeus.

At once he came down from the rugged mountain

striding swiftly on his feet; and the tall mountains and the forest trembled

beneath the immortal feet of Poseidon as he went.

Three times he stretched forward in his stride, and with the fourth he reached the goal,

Aegae, where his glorious halls in the depths of the sea

stand fashioned in gold, gleaming, imperishable forever.

Coming there he yoked beneath his chariot his bronze-footed horses,

swift-flying, with their flowing manes of gold;

he clothed his own body round in gold and took

his well-made golden whip, then mounted his chariot,

and drove over the waves; and sea-creatures played beneath him

from every side out of their hiding-places, nor did they fail to know their lord;

and in gladness the sea parted; and they flew

very swiftly, nor was the bronze axle wet beneath.

And his sure-footed horses bore him to the ships of the Achaeans.

There is a certain broad cave in the depths of the sea

midway between Tenedos and rugged Imbros;

there Poseidon the earth-shaker halted his horses,

loosed them from the chariot, and cast before them ambrosial fodder

to eat; and around their feet he cast golden shackles,

unbreakable and unloosenable, so that they might stay there fixed in place

awaiting their lord's return; and he went toward the host of the Achaeans.

The Trojans, equal to fire or storm-wind,

followed Hector, son of Priam, in close array,

unshaken, crying aloud; and they hoped the ships of the Achaeans

to take, and there beside them kill all the best men.

But Poseidon the earth-holder, the Earth-shaker,

was stirring the Argives, coming up out of the deep sea,

taking on the shape and the tireless voice of Calchas.

First he spoke to the two Ajaxes, eager though both already were:

"Ajaxes, you two will save the people of the Achaeans

if you remember your might, and not chill panic.

In other quarters I do not fear the irresistible hands

of the Trojans, who in their throng have crossed the great wall;

for the well-greaved Achaeans will hold them all in check.

But there indeed I dread most terribly lest we suffer something,

where that madman, like a flame, leads them on,

Hector, who boasts he is the son of Zeus, mighty in strength.

May some god put this in the hearts of you two,

both to stand fast yourselves and to urge on others;

then even from the swift ships you would drive him back

though he rushes on, even if Olympian Zeus himself rouses him."

So saying, Poseidon the earth-holder, the Earth-shaker,

striking both with his staff, filled them with mighty valor,

and made their limbs light, both their feet and hands above.

Then he himself sprang away like a swift-winged hawk in flight,

one that, rising from a lofty crag on a steep cliff,

darts across the plain to chase another bird,

so from them sprang Poseidon the Earth-shaker.

The first of the two to know him was swift Ajax, son of Oileus,

and at once he spoke to Ajax, son of Telamon:

"Ajax, since one of the gods who hold Olympus

in the likeness of a seer commands us to fight beside the ships,

that man is not Calchas the prophet and reader of birds;

for easily I knew the marks of his feet and shins

as he went away; and the gods are easy indeed to know.

And within my own breast the heart in me more

rushes on to war and to battle,

and beneath me my feet are eager, and above my hands."

Then Telamonian Ajax answered him and said:

"So now for me too around the spear my irresistible hands

are eager, and my strength has risen, and beneath my feet

I am quick with both of them; and I long even alone

to fight Hector son of Priam, eager beyond measure."

So they spoke such words to one another,

rejoicing in the delight for battle that the god had cast into their hearts.

Meanwhile the earth-holder roused the Achaeans in the rear,

who beside the swift ships were taking breath in their dear hearts.

Their limbs had been loosened with grievous toil,

and grief came upon their hearts as they looked on

the Trojans, who in their throng had crossed the great wall.

Seeing them, they shed tears from beneath their brows;

for they did not think they would escape from ruin. But the Earth-shaker

moving easily among them roused the strong battalions.

First he came urging Teucer and Leitus,

and the hero Peneleos and Thoas and Deipyrus,

and Meriones and Antilochus, masters of the war-cry;

urging them on, he addressed them with winged words:

"Shame, Argives, young men; upon you indeed

fighting, I relied to save our ships.

But if you withdraw from dread battle,

now indeed the day is seen when we shall be subdued by the Trojans.

Ah me, truly a great wonder this my eyes behold,

a fearful thing, which I had never said would come to pass:

the Trojans going against our ships, they who before this

were like fleeing deer, who through the forest

become the prey of jackals and leopards and wolves,

wandering helplessly, and with no heart for battle.

So the Trojans before this were not willing to await

the strength and hands of the Achaeans face to face, not for a little.

but now they fight far from the city, beside the hollow ships."

through the leader's failure and the slackness of the people,