Jove forbids the gods to interfere further—There is an even fight

      till midday, but then Jove inclines the scales of victory in

      favour of the Trojans, who eventually chase the Achaeans within

      their wall—Juno and Minerva set out to help the Trojans: Jove

      sends Iris to turn them back, but later on he promises Juno that

      she shall have her way in the end—Hector’s triumph is stayed by

      nightfall—The Trojans bivouac on the plain.



      Now when Morning, clad in her robe of saffron, had begun to

      suffuse light over the earth, Jove called the gods in council on

      the topmost crest of serrated Olympus. Then he spoke and all the

      other gods gave ear. “Hear me,” said he, “gods and goddesses,

      that I may speak even as I am minded. Let none of you neither

      goddess nor god try to cross me, but obey me every one of you

      that I may bring this matter to an end. If I see anyone acting

      apart and helping either Trojans or Danaans, he shall be beaten

      inordinately ere he come back again to Olympus; or I will hurl

      him down into dark Tartarus far into the deepest pit under the

      earth, where the gates are iron and the floor bronze, as far

      beneath Hades as heaven is high above the earth, that you may

      learn how much the mightiest I am among you. Try me and find out

      for yourselves. Hangs me a golden chain from heaven, and lay hold

      of it all of you, gods and goddesses together—tug as you will,

      you will not drag Jove the supreme counsellor from heaven to

      earth; but were I to pull at it myself I should draw you up with

      earth and sea into the bargain, then would I bind the chain about

      some pinnacle of Olympus and leave you all dangling in the mid

      firmament. So far am I above all others either of gods or men.”



      They were frightened and all of them of held their peace, for he

      had spoken masterfully; but at last Minerva answered, “Father,

      son of Saturn, king of kings, we all know that your might is not

      to be gainsaid, but we are also sorry for the Danaan warriors,

      who are perishing and coming to a bad end. We will, however,

      since you so bid us, refrain from actual fighting, but we will

      make serviceable suggestions to the Argives that they may not all

      of them perish in your displeasure.”



      Jove smiled at her and answered, “Take heart, my child,

      Trito-born; I am not really in earnest, and I wish to be kind to

      you.”



      With this he yoked his fleet horses, with hoofs of bronze and

      manes of glittering gold. He girded himself also with gold about

      the body, seized his gold whip and took his seat in his chariot.

      Thereon he lashed his horses and they flew forward nothing loth

      midway twixt earth and starry heaven. After a while he reached

      many-fountained Ida, mother of wild beasts, and Gargarus, where

      are his grove and fragrant altar. There the father of gods and

      men stayed his horses, took them from the chariot, and hid them

      in a thick cloud; then he took his seat all glorious upon the

      topmost crests, looking down upon the city of Troy and the ships

      of the Achaeans.



      The Achaeans took their morning meal hastily at the ships, and

      afterwards put on their armour. The Trojans on the other hand

      likewise armed themselves throughout the city, fewer in numbers

      but nevertheless eager perforce to do battle for their wives and

      children. All the gates were flung wide open, and horse and foot

      sallied forth with the tramp as of a great multitude.



      When they were got together in one place, shield clashed with

      shield, and spear with spear, in the conflict of mail-clad men.

      Mighty was the din as the bossed shields pressed hard on one

      another—death—cry and shout of triumph of slain and slayers, and

      the earth ran red with blood.



      Now so long as the day waxed and it was still morning their

      weapons beat against one another, and the people fell, but when

      the sun had reached mid-heaven, the sire of all balanced his

      golden scales, and put two fates of death within them, one for

      the Trojans and the other for the Achaeans. He took the balance

      by the middle, and when he lifted it up the day of the Achaeans

      sank; the death-fraught scale of the Achaeans settled down upon

      the ground, while that of the Trojans rose heavenwards. Then he

      thundered aloud from Ida, and sent the glare of his lightning

      upon the Achaeans; when they saw this, pale fear fell upon them

      and they were sore afraid.



      Idomeneus dared not stay nor yet Agamemnon, nor did the two

      Ajaxes, servants of Mars, hold their ground. Nestor knight of

      Gerene alone stood firm, bulwark of the Achaeans, not of his own

      will, but one of his horses was disabled. Alexandrus husband of

      lovely Helen had hit it with an arrow just on the top of its head

      where the mane begins to grow away from the skull, a very deadly

      place. The horse bounded in his anguish as the arrow pierced his

      brain, and his struggles threw others into confusion. The old man

      instantly began cutting the traces with his sword, but Hector’s

      fleet horses bore down upon him through the rout with their bold

      charioteer, even Hector himself, and the old man would have

      perished there and then had not Diomed been quick to mark, and

      with a loud cry called Ulysses to help him.



      “Ulysses,” he cried, “noble son of Laertes where are you flying

      to, with your back turned like a coward? See that you are not

      struck with a spear between the shoulders. Stay here and help me

      to defend Nestor from this man’s furious onset.”



      Ulysses would not give ear, but sped onward to the ships of the

      Achaeans, and the son of Tydeus flinging himself alone into the

      thick of the fight took his stand before the horses of the son of

      Neleus. “Sir,” said he, “these young warriors are pressing you

      hard, your force is spent, and age is heavy upon you, your squire

      is naught, and your horses are slow to move. Mount my chariot and

      see what the horses of Tros can do—how cleverly they can scud

      hither and thither over the plain either in flight or in pursuit.

      I took them from the hero Aeneas. Let our squires attend to your

      own steeds, but let us drive mine straight at the Trojans, that

      Hector may learn how furiously I too can wield my spear.”



      Nestor knight of Gerene hearkened to his words. Thereon the

      doughty squires, Sthenelus and kind-hearted Eurymedon, saw to

      Nestor’s horses, while the two both mounted Diomed’s chariot.

      Nestor took the reins in his hands and lashed the horses on; they

      were soon close up with Hector, and the son of Tydeus aimed a

      spear at him as he was charging full speed towards them. He

      missed him, but struck his charioteer and squire Eniopeus son of

      noble Thebaeus in the breast by the nipple while the reins were

      in his hands, so that he died there and then, and the horses

      swerved as he fell headlong from the chariot. Hector was greatly

      grieved at the loss of his charioteer, but let him lie for all

      his sorrow, while he went in quest of another driver; nor did his

      steeds have to go long without one, for he presently found brave

      Archeptolemus the son of Iphitus, and made him get up behind the

      horses, giving the reins into his hand.



      All had then been lost and no help for it, for they would have

      been penned up in Ilius like sheep, had not the sire of gods and

      men been quick to mark, and hurled a fiery flaming thunderbolt

      which fell just in front of Diomed’s horses with a flare of

      burning brimstone. The horses were frightened and tried to back

      beneath the car, while the reins dropped from Nestor’s hands.

      Then he was afraid and said to Diomed, “Son of Tydeus, turn your

      horses in flight; see you not that the hand of Jove is against

      you? To-day he vouchsafes victory to Hector; to-morrow, if it so

      please him, he will again grant it to ourselves; no man, however

      brave, may thwart the purpose of Jove, for he is far stronger

      than any.”



      Diomed answered, “All that you have said is true; there is a

      grief however which pierces me to the very heart, for Hector will

      talk among the Trojans and say, ‘The son of Tydeus fled before me

      to the ships.’ This is the vaunt he will make, and may earth then

      swallow me.”



      “Son of Tydeus,” replied Nestor, “what mean you? Though Hector

      say that you are a coward the Trojans and Dardanians will not

      believe him, nor yet the wives of the mighty warriors whom you

      have laid low.”



      So saying he turned the horses back through the thick of the

      battle, and with a cry that rent the air the Trojans and Hector

      rained their darts after them. Hector shouted to him and said,

      “Son of Tydeus, the Danaans have done you honour hitherto as

      regards your place at table, the meals they give you, and the

      filling of your cup with wine. Henceforth they will despise you,

      for you are become no better than a woman. Be off, girl and

      coward that you are, you shall not scale our walls through any

      flinching upon my part; neither shall you carry off our wives in

      your ships, for I shall kill you with my own hand.”



      The son of Tydeus was in two minds whether or no to turn his

      horses round again and fight him. Thrice did he doubt, and thrice

      did Jove thunder from the heights of Ida in token to the Trojans

      that he would turn the battle in their favour. Hector then

      shouted to them and said, “Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanians,

      lovers of close fighting, be men, my friends, and fight with

      might and with main; I see that Jove is minded to vouchsafe

      victory and great glory to myself, while he will deal destruction

      upon the Danaans. Fools, for having thought of building this weak

      and worthless wall. It shall not stay my fury; my horses will

      spring lightly over their trench, and when I am at their ships

      forget not to bring me fire that I may burn them, while I

      slaughter the Argives who will be all dazed and bewildered by the

      smoke.”



      Then he cried to his horses, “Xanthus and Podargus, and you

      Aethon and goodly Lampus, pay me for your keep now and for all

      the honey-sweet corn with which Andromache daughter of great

      Eetion has fed you, and for she has mixed wine and water for you

      to drink whenever you would, before doing so even for me who am

      her own husband. Haste in pursuit, that we may take the shield of

      Nestor, the fame of which ascends to heaven, for it is of solid

      gold, arm-rods and all, and that we may strip from the shoulders

      of Diomed the cuirass which Vulcan made him. Could we take these

      two things, the Achaeans would set sail in their ships this

      self-same night.”



      Thus did he vaunt, but Queen Juno made high Olympus quake as she

      shook with rage upon her throne. Then said she to the mighty god

      of Neptune, “What now, wide ruling lord of the earthquake? Can

      you find no compassion in your heart for the dying Danaans, who

      bring you many a welcome offering to Helice and to Aegae? Wish

      them well then. If all of us who are with the Danaans were to

      drive the Trojans back and keep Jove from helping them, he would

      have to sit there sulking alone on Ida.”



      King Neptune was greatly troubled and answered, “Juno, rash of

      tongue, what are you talking about? We other gods must not set

      ourselves against Jove, for he is far stronger than we are.”



      Thus did they converse; but the whole space enclosed by the

      ditch, from the ships even to the wall, was filled with horses

      and warriors, who were pent up there by Hector son of Priam, now

      that the hand of Jove was with him. He would even have set fire

      to the ships and burned them, had not Queen Juno put it into the

      mind of Agamemnon, to bestir himself and to encourage the

      Achaeans. To this end he went round the ships and tents carrying

      a great purple cloak, and took his stand by the huge black hull

      of Ulysses’ ship, which was middlemost of all; it was from this

      place that his voice would carry farthest, on the one hand

      towards the tents of Ajax son of Telamon, and on the other

      towards those of Achilles—for these two heroes, well assured of

      their own strength, had valorously drawn up their ships at the

      two ends of the line. From this spot then, with a voice that

      could be heard afar, he shouted to the Danaans, saying, “Argives,

      shame on you cowardly creatures, brave in semblance only; where

      are now our vaunts that we should prove victorious—the vaunts we

      made so vaingloriously in Lemnos, when we ate the flesh of horned

      cattle and filled our mixing-bowls to the brim? You vowed that

      you would each of you stand against a hundred or two hundred men,

      and now you prove no match even for one—for Hector, who will be

      ere long setting our ships in a blaze. Father Jove, did you ever

      so ruin a great king and rob him so utterly of his greatness?

      Yet, when to my sorrow I was coming hither, I never let my ship

      pass your altars without offering the fat and thigh-bones of

      heifers upon every one of them, so eager was I to sack the city

      of Troy. Vouchsafe me then this prayer—suffer us to escape at any

      rate with our lives, and let not the Achaeans be so utterly

      vanquished by the Trojans.”



      Thus did he pray, and father Jove pitying his tears vouchsafed

      him that his people should live, not die; forthwith he sent them

      an eagle, most unfailingly portentous of all birds, with a young

      fawn in its talons; the eagle dropped the fawn by the altar on

      which the Achaeans sacrificed to Jove the lord of omens; when,

      therefore, the people saw that the bird had come from Jove, they

      sprang more fiercely upon the Trojans and fought more boldly.



      There was no man of all the many Danaans who could then boast

      that he had driven his horses over the trench and gone forth to

      fight sooner than the son of Tydeus; long before any one else

      could do so he slew an armed warrior of the Trojans, Agelaus the

      son of Phradmon. He had turned his horses in flight, but the

      spear struck him in the back midway between his shoulders and

      went right through his chest, and his armour rang rattling round

      him as he fell forward from his chariot.



      After him came Agamemnon and Menelaus, sons of Atreus, the two

      Ajaxes clothed in valour as with a garment, Idomeneus and his

      companion in arms Meriones, peer of murderous Mars, and Eurypylus

      the brave son of Euaemon. Ninth came Teucer with his bow, and

      took his place under cover of the shield of Ajax son of Telamon.

      When Ajax lifted his shield Teucer would peer round, and when he

      had hit any one in the throng, the man would fall dead; then

      Teucer would hie back to Ajax as a child to its mother, and again

      duck down under his shield.



      Which of the Trojans did brave Teucer first kill? Orsilochus, and

      then Ormenus and Ophelestes, Daetor, Chromius, and godlike

      Lycophontes, Amopaon son of Polyaemon, and Melanippus. All these

      in turn did he lay low upon the earth, and King Agamemnon was

      glad when he saw him making havoc of the Trojans with his mighty

      bow. He went up to him and said, “Teucer, man after my own heart,

      son of Telamon, captain among the host, shoot on, and be at once

      the saving of the Danaans and the glory of your father Telamon,

      who brought you up and took care of you in his own house when you

      were a child, bastard though you were. Cover him with glory

      though he is far off; I will promise and I will assuredly

      perform; if aegis-bearing Jove and Minerva grant me to sack the

      city of Ilius, you shall have the next best meed of honour after

      my own—a tripod, or two horses with their chariot, or a woman who

      shall go up into your bed.”



      And Teucer answered, “Most noble son of Atreus, you need not urge

      me; from the moment we began to drive them back to Ilius, I have

      never ceased so far as in me lies to look out for men whom I can

      shoot and kill; I have shot eight barbed shafts, and all of them

      have been buried in the flesh of warlike youths, but this mad dog

      I cannot hit.”



      As he spoke he aimed another arrow straight at Hector, for he was

      bent on hitting him; nevertheless he missed him, and the arrow

      hit Priam’s brave son Gorgythion in the breast. His mother, fair

      Castianeira, lovely as a goddess, had been married from Aesyme,

      and now he bowed his head as a garden poppy in full bloom when it

      is weighed down by showers in spring—even thus heavy bowed his

      head beneath the weight of his helmet.



      Again he aimed at Hector, for he was longing to hit him, and

      again his arrow missed, for Apollo turned it aside; but he hit

      Hector’s brave charioteer Archeptolemus in the breast, by the

      nipple, as he was driving furiously into the fight. The horses

      swerved aside as he fell headlong from the chariot, and there was

      no life left in him. Hector was greatly grieved at the loss of

      his charioteer, but for all his sorrow he let him lie where he

      fell, and bade his brother Cebriones, who was hard by, take the

      reins. Cebriones did as he had said. Hector thereon with a loud

      cry sprang from his chariot to the ground, and seizing a great

      stone made straight for Teucer with intent to kill him. Teucer

      had just taken an arrow from his quiver and had laid it upon the

      bowstring, but Hector struck him with the jagged stone as he was

      taking aim and drawing the string to his shoulder; he hit him

      just where the collar-bone divides the neck from the chest, a

      very deadly place, and broke the sinew of his arm so that his

      wrist was less, and the bow dropped from his hand as he fell

      forward on his knees. Ajax saw that his brother had fallen, and

      running towards him bestrode him and sheltered him with his

      shield. Meanwhile his two trusty squires, Mecisteus son of

      Echius, and Alastor, came up and bore him to the ships groaning

      in his great pain.



      Jove now again put heart into the Trojans, and they drove the

      Achaeans to their deep trench with Hector in all his glory at

      their head. As a hound grips a wild boar or lion in flank or

      buttock when he gives him chase, and watches warily for his

      wheeling, even so did Hector follow close upon the Achaeans, ever

      killing the hindmost as they rushed panic-stricken onwards. When

      they had fled through the set stakes and trench and many Achaeans

      had been laid low at the hands of the Trojans, they halted at

      their ships, calling upon one another and praying every man

      instantly as they lifted up their hands to the gods; but Hector

      wheeled his horses this way and that, his eyes glaring like those

      of Gorgo or murderous Mars.



      Juno when she saw them had pity upon them, and at once said to

      Minerva, “Alas, child of aegis-bearing Jove, shall you and I take

      no more thought for the dying Danaans, though it be the last time

      we ever do so? See how they perish and come to a bad end before

      the onset of but a single man. Hector the son of Priam rages with

      intolerable fury, and has already done great mischief.”



      Minerva answered, “Would, indeed, this fellow might die in his

      own land, and fall by the hands of the Achaeans; but my father

      Jove is mad with spleen, ever foiling me, ever headstrong and

      unjust. He forgets how often I saved his son when he was worn out

      by the labours Eurystheus had laid on him. He would weep till his

      cry came up to heaven, and then Jove would send me down to help

      him; if I had had the sense to foresee all this, when Eurystheus

      sent him to the house of Hades, to fetch the hell-hound from

      Erebus, he would never have come back alive out of the deep

      waters of the river Styx. And now Jove hates me, while he lets

      Thetis have her way because she kissed his knees and took hold of

      his beard, when she was begging him to do honour to Achilles. I

      shall know what to do next time he begins calling me his

      grey-eyed darling. Get our horses ready, while I go within the

      house of aegis-bearing Jove and put on my armour; we shall then

      find out whether Priam’s son Hector will be glad to meet us in

      the highways of battle, or whether the Trojans will glut hounds

      and vultures with the fat of their flesh as they be dead by the

      ships of the Achaeans.”



      Thus did she speak and white-armed Juno, daughter of great

      Saturn, obeyed her words; she set about harnessing her

      gold-bedizened steeds, while Minerva daughter of aegis-bearing

      Jove flung her richly vesture, made with her own hands, on to the

      threshold of her father, and donned the shirt of Jove, arming

      herself for battle. Then she stepped into her flaming chariot,

      and grasped the spear so stout and sturdy and strong with which

      she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her. Juno

      lashed her horses, and the gates of heaven bellowed as they flew

      open of their own accord—gates over which the Hours preside, in

      whose hands are heaven and Olympus, either to open the dense

      cloud that hides them or to close it. Through these the goddesses

      drove their obedient steeds.



      But father Jove when he saw them from Ida was very angry, and

      sent winged Iris with a message to them. “Go,” said he, “fleet

      Iris, turn them back, and see that they do not come near me, for

      if we come to fighting there will be mischief. This is what I

      say, and this is what I mean to do. I will lame their horses for

      them; I will hurl them from their chariot, and will break it in

      pieces. It will take them all ten years to heal the wounds my

      lightning shall inflict upon them; my grey-eyed daughter will

      then learn what quarrelling with her father means. I am less

      surprised and angry with Juno, for whatever I say she always

      contradicts me.”



      With this Iris went her way, fleet as the wind, from the heights

      of Ida to the lofty summits of Olympus. She met the goddesses at

      the outer gates of its many valleys and gave them her message.

      “What,” said she, “are you about? Are you mad? The son of Saturn

      forbids going. This is what he says, and this is what he means to

      do, he will lame your horses for you, he will hurl you from your

      chariot, and will break it in pieces. It will take you all ten

      years to heal the wounds his lightning will inflict upon you,

      that you may learn, grey-eyed goddess, what quarrelling with your

      father means. He is less hurt and angry with Juno, for whatever

      he says she always contradicts him but you, bold hussy, will you

      really dare to raise your huge spear in defiance of Jove?”



      With this she left them, and Juno said to Minerva, “Of a truth,

      child of aegis-bearing Jove, I am not for fighting men’s battles

      further in defiance of Jove. Let them live or die as luck will

      have it, and let Jove mete out his judgements upon the Trojans

      and Danaans according to his own pleasure.”



      She turned her steeds; the Hours presently unyoked them, made

      them fast to their ambrosial mangers, and leaned the chariot

      against the end wall of the courtyard. The two goddesses then sat

      down upon their golden thrones, amid the company of the other

      gods; but they were very angry.



      Presently father Jove drove his chariot to Olympus, and entered

      the assembly of gods. The mighty lord of the earthquake unyoked

      his horses for him, set the car upon its stand, and threw a cloth

      over it. Jove then sat down upon his golden throne and Olympus

      reeled beneath him. Minerva and Juno sat alone, apart from Jove,

      and neither spoke nor asked him questions, but Jove knew what

      they meant, and said, “Minerva and Juno, why are you so angry?

      Are you fatigued with killing so many of your dear friends the

      Trojans? Be this as it may, such is the might of my hands that

      all the gods in Olympus cannot turn me; you were both of you

      trembling all over ere ever you saw the fight and its terrible

      doings. I tell you therefore-and it would have surely been—I

      should have struck you with lightning, and your chariots would

      never have brought you back again to Olympus.”



      Minerva and Juno groaned in spirit as they sat side by side and

      brooded mischief for the Trojans. Minerva sat silent without a

      word, for she was in a furious passion and bitterly incensed

      against her father; but Juno could not contain herself and said,

      “What, dread son of Saturn, are you talking about? We know how

      great your power is, nevertheless we have compassion upon the

      Danaan warriors who are perishing and coming to a bad end. We

      will, however, since you so bid us, refrain from actual fighting,

      but we will make serviceable suggestions to the Argives, that

      they may not all of them perish in your displeasure.”



      And Jove answered, “To-morrow morning, Juno, if you choose to do

      so, you will see the son of Saturn destroying large numbers of

      the Argives, for fierce Hector shall not cease fighting till he

      has roused the son of Peleus when they are fighting in dire

      straits at their ships’ sterns about the body of Patroclus. Like

      it or no, this is how it is decreed; for aught I care, you may go

      to the lowest depths beneath earth and sea, where Iapetus and

      Saturn dwell in lone Tartarus with neither ray of light nor

      breath of wind to cheer them. You may go on and on till you get

      there, and I shall not care one whit for your displeasure; you

      are the greatest vixen living.”



      Juno made him no answer. The sun’s glorious orb now sank into

      Oceanus and drew down night over the land. Sorry indeed were the

      Trojans when light failed them, but welcome and thrice prayed for

      did darkness fall upon the Achaeans.



      Then Hector led the Trojans back from the ships, and held a

      council on the open space near the river, where there was a spot

      clear of corpses. They left their chariots and sat down on the

      ground to hear the speech he made them. He grasped a spear eleven

      cubits long, the bronze point of which gleamed in front of it,

      while the ring round the spear-head was of gold. Spear in hand he

      spoke. “Hear me,” said he, “Trojans, Dardanians, and allies. I

      deemed but now that I should destroy the ships and all the

      Achaeans with them ere I went back to Ilius, but darkness came on

      too soon. It was this alone that saved them and their ships upon

      the sea-shore. Now, therefore, let us obey the behests of night,

      and prepare our suppers. Take your horses out of their chariots

      and give them their feeds of corn; then make speed to bring sheep

      and cattle from the city; bring wine also and corn for your

      horses and gather much wood, that from dark till dawn we may burn

      watchfires whose flare may reach to heaven. For the Achaeans may

      try to fly beyond the sea by night, and they must not embark

      scatheless and unmolested; many a man among them must take a dart

      with him to nurse at home, hit with spear or arrow as he is

      leaping on board his ship, that others may fear to bring war and

      weeping upon the Trojans. Moreover let the heralds tell it about

      the city that the growing youths and grey-bearded men are to camp

      upon its heaven-built walls. Let the women each of them light a

      great fire in her house, and let watch be safely kept lest the

      town be entered by surprise while the host is outside. See to it,

      brave Trojans, as I have said, and let this suffice for the

      moment; at daybreak I will instruct you further. I pray in hope

      to Jove and to the gods that we may then drive those fate-sped

      hounds from our land, for ’tis the fates that have borne them and

      their ships hither. This night, therefore, let us keep watch, but

      with early morning let us put on our armour and rouse fierce war

      at the ships of the Achaeans; I shall then know whether brave

      Diomed the son of Tydeus will drive me back from the ships to the

      wall, or whether I shall myself slay him and carry off his

      blood-stained spoils. To-morrow let him show his mettle, abide my

      spear if he dare. I ween that at break of day, he shall be among

      the first to fall and many another of his comrades round him.

      Would that I were as sure of being immortal and never growing

      old, and of being worshipped like Minerva and Apollo, as I am

      that this day will bring evil to the Argives.”



      Thus spoke Hector and the Trojans shouted applause. They took

      their sweating steeds from under the yoke, and made them fast

      each by his own chariot. They made haste to bring sheep and

      cattle from the city, they brought wine also and corn from their

      houses and gathered much wood. They then offered unblemished

      hecatombs to the immortals, and the wind carried the sweet savour

      of sacrifice to heaven—but the blessed gods partook not thereof,

      for they bitterly hated Ilius with Priam and Priam’s people. Thus

      high in hope they sat through the livelong night by the highways

      of war, and many a watchfire did they kindle. As when the stars

      shine clear, and the moon is bright—there is not a breath of air,

      not a peak nor glade nor jutting headland but it stands out in

      the ineffable radiance that breaks from the serene of heaven; the

      stars can all of them be told and the heart of the shepherd is

      glad—even thus shone the watchfires of the Trojans before Ilius

      midway between the ships and the river Xanthus. A thousand

      camp-fires gleamed upon the plain, and in the glow of each there

      sat fifty men, while the horses, champing oats and corn beside

      their chariots, waited till dawn should come.