Ἰλιάδος Η

So speaking, glorious Hector rushed out through the gates,

and with him went his brother Paris; within their hearts

both were eager to wage war and fight.

As when a god gives welcome wind to sailors

who long for it, when they have wearied at the polished oars,

driving over the sea, and their limbs hang loose with toil,

so the two appeared to the longing Trojans.

There each killed his man: one killed the son of King Areithous,

Menesthius, who lived in Arne, whom the mace-bearer

Areithous and ox-eyed Phylomedusa begot;

and Hector struck Eioneus with his sharp spear

in the neck beneath the rim of his bronze-fitted helm, and his limbs gave way.

Then Glaucus, son of Hippolochus, leader of the Lycian men,

struck Iphinous with his spear in the mighty combat,

the son of Dexius, as he leapt onto his swift horses,

in the shoulder; he fell from his chariot to the ground, and his limbs gave way.

But when the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, saw them

destroying the Argives in the mighty combat,

she darted down from the peaks of Olympus

toward sacred Ilion; Apollo rose to meet her,

looking down from Pergamus, for he wished victory for the Trojans;

and the two met one another beside the oak.

Lord Apollo, son of Zeus, spoke to her first:

"Why, daughter of great Zeus, have you come again so eager

from Olympus? Your great heart has driven you on.

Is it to give the Danaans victory that turns the battle

because you feel no pity for the Trojans as they perish?

But if you would heed me, it would be far better:

for now let us halt the war and strife

today; later they shall fight again until they reach the end

of Ilion, since it has become dear to the hearts

of you immortal goddesses to sack this city."

Then the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, answered him:

"So be it, far-worker; I too came with these thoughts

from Olympus among the Trojans and Achaeans.

But come, how do you mean to bring the men's war to an end?"

Then lord Apollo, son of Zeus, answered her:

"Let us stir the mighty spirit of Hector, tamer of horses,

in hope that he may challenge one of the Danaans, alone,

to fight him man to man in the dread strife of war.

Then the bronze-greaved Achaeans, angered by it,

may send one man to fight godlike Hector."

So she spoke, and the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, did not disobey.

Then Helenus, Priam's dear son, perceived in his heart

the plan that pleased the gods as they took counsel;

he went and stood beside Hector, and spoke a word to him:

"Hector, son of Priam, the equal of Zeus in counsel,

would you heed me in something? I am your brother.

Seat the other Trojans and all the Achaeans down,

and you yourself challenge whoever is best among the Achaeans

to fight him man to man in the dread strife of war.

For it is not yet your fate to die and meet your doom;

for so I heard the voice of the gods who live forever."

So he spoke, and Hector rejoiced greatly to hear his words;

and going into the middle he held back the ranks of the Trojans,

gripping his spear by the middle; and they all sat down.

Agamemnon seated the well-greaved Achaeans as well;

and Athena and Apollo of the silver bow

sat like birds, like vultures,

on the high oak of father Zeus, bearer of the aegis,

delighting in the men; their ranks sat close together,

bristling with shields and helmets and spears.

As a ripple of the West Wind pours over the sea

as the wind newly rises, and the sea grows black beneath it,

so sat the ranks of Achaeans and Trojans

upon the plain; and Hector spoke among both armies:

"Hear me, you Trojans and well-greaved Achaeans,

that I may speak what the heart in my breast commands.

The son of Cronos, throned on high, did not fulfill the oaths,

but plans evil for both sides

until either you take well-walled Troy

or you yourselves are slain beside your sea-crossing ships.

For here among you are the champions of all the Achaeans.

Now let the man among them whose heart urges him to fight me

come here from them all and stand as champion against godlike Hector.

Thus I declare, and let Zeus be witness between us:

if that man kills me with long-edged bronze,

let him strip my armor and carry it to the hollow ships,

but give my body back to my home, so that when I am dead

the Trojans and the Trojan wives may grant me my share of fire.

But if I kill him, and Apollo grants me glory,

I will strip his armor and carry it to sacred Ilion,

and hang it before the temple of Apollo the far-shooter,

but I will give his corpse back beside the well-benched ships,

so that the long-haired Achaeans may give him funeral rites

and heap up his mound beside the broad Hellespont.

Then someday one among men born hereafter will say,

sailing in a many-benched ship over the wine-dark sea:

‘This is the mound of a man who died long ago,

a champion whom glorious Hector once killed.’

So one will someday say; and my fame shall never perish."

So he spoke, and they all became still in silence;

they were ashamed to refuse, but afraid to accept.

At last Menelaus rose and spoke among them,

rebuking them with taunts, and groaning deeply in his heart:

"Ah, braggarts, Achaean women, no longer Achaeans!

This will surely be a dreadful disgrace, dreadful beyond measure,

if no Danaan now goes out against Hector.

May you all become water and earth,

sitting there each of you, spiritless, inglorious, good for nothing.

Against this man I myself will arm; but from above

the cords of victory are held among the immortal gods."

So speaking, he put on his fine armor.

Then, Menelaus, the end of life would have appeared to you

at Hector's hands, since he was far stronger,

had not the kings of the Achaeans sprung up and seized you,

and the wide-ruling lord Agamemnon himself, son of Atreus,

caught your right hand and spoke, and called you by name:

"You are mad, Menelaus, nurtured of Zeus; there is no need