The Iliad: Book 7

Quick in the jolting onset
Lycia's captain Glaucus son of Hippolochus skewered
Dexius' son Iphinous just as he leapt behind
his fast mares—he stabbed his shoulder, hard,
and down from his car Iphinous crashed to earth
and his limbs went slack with death.

Rampaging Trojans!

"We'll spur his nerve and strength, that breaker of horses,
see if he'll challenge one of the Argives man-to-man
and they will duel in bloody combat to the death.
Achaeans armed in bronze will thrill to his call,
they'll put up a man to battle shining Hector."

When Hector heard that challenge he rejoiced
and right in the no man's land along his lines he strode,
gripping his spear mid-haft, staving men to a standstill
while Agamemnon seated his Argives geared for combat.

And Apollo lord of the silver bow and Queen Athena,
for all the world like carrion birds, like vultures,
slowly settled atop the broad towering oak
sacred to Zeus whose battle-shield is thunder,
relishing those men.

And Apollo lord of the silver bow and Queen Athena,
for all the world like carrion birds, like vultures,
slowly settled atop the broad towering oak
sacred to Zeus whose battle-shield is thunder,
relishing those men.

But now,
seeing the best of all Achaeans fill your ranks,
let one whose nerve impels him to fight with me
come striding from your lines, a lone champion
pitted against Prince Hector.

Oh no—
your threats, your bluster—women, not men of Achaea!
What disgrace it will be—shame, cringing shame
if not one Danaan now steps up to battle Hector.

His aides, elated, lifted the armor off his shoulders.

He donned it himself, for years of grueling war,
but then, when Lycurgus grew too old in his halls,
he passed it on to a favorite henchman, Ereuthalion,
and sporting that gear he challenged all our best.

First by far Agamemnon lord of men sprang up
and following him Tydides, powerful Diomedes,
next the Great and Little Ajax armed in fury,
Idomeneus after them and Idomeneus' good aide,
Meriones, a match for the butcher god of war,
Eurypylus after them, Euaemon's gallant son,
Thoas son of Andraemon, Odysseus out for exploit:
all were roused to go up against Prince Hector.

And the herald took it round
through all the ranks, left to right for luck,
and showed it to all Achaea's bravest men.

So Great Ajax vaunted
and men prayed to the son of Cronus, King Zeus.

So they prayed
as Ajax harnessed himself in burnished, gleaming bronze
and once he had strapped his legs and chest in armor,
out he marched like the giant god of battle wading
into the wars of men when Zeus drives them hard
to clash and soldier on with heart-devouring hate.

The men of Argos exulted at the sight of him there
but terrible tremors shook each Trojan fighter's knees—
Hector himself, his heart pounding against his ribs.

But how could he shrink before the enemy, slip back
into a crowd of cohorts now?

Tychius made it for him,
laboring long, the finest leather-smith by far:
over in Hyle where the master had his home
he crafted that famous gleaming shield for Ajax,
layering seven welted hides of sturdy well-fed bulls
and hammered an eighth layer of bronze to top it off.

Hector, now you'll learn, once and for all,
in combat man-to-man, what kind of champions
range the Argive ranks, even besides Achilles,
that lionheart who mauls battalions wholesale.

A flash of his helmet as rangy Hector shook his head:
"Ajax, royal son of Telamon, captain of armies,
don't toy with me like a puny, weak-kneed boy
or a woman never trained in works of war!..."

On guard!
Big and bluff as you are, I've no desire to hit you
sniping in on the sly—
I'd strike you out in the open, strike you now!

Both seized their lances, wrenched them from the shields
and went for each other now like lions rending flesh
or a pair of wild boars whose power never flags.

Both seized their lances, wrenched them from the shields
and went for each other now like lions rending flesh
or a pair of wild boars whose power never flags.

But not even then did Hector quit the battle…
backing, helmet flashing, his strong hand hefting
a rock from the field, dark, jagged, a ton weight—
he hurled it at Ajax, struck the gigantic shield,
seven oxhides thick, struck right on the jutting boss
and the bronze clanged...

But the giant Ajax answered briskly, “Wait,
Idaeus, tell Hector here to call the truce.
Mad for a fight, he challenged all our bravest.
Let him lead off. I'll take his lead, you'll see."

With that he gave him his silver-studded sword,
slung in its sheath on a supple, well-cut sword-strap,
and Ajax gave his war-belt, glistening purple.

So both men parted, Ajax back to Achaea's armies,
Hector back to his thronging Trojans—overjoyed
to see him still alive, unharmed, striding back,
free of the rage and hands of Ajax still unconquered.

And let us heap a single great barrow over the pyre,
one great communal grave stretched out across the plain
and fronting it throw up looming ramparts quickly,
a landward wall for ships and troops themselves.

And let us heap a single great barrow over the pyre,
one great communal grave stretched out across the plain
and fronting it throw up looming ramparts quickly,
a landward wall for ships and troops themselves.

All the warlords sounded their assent.

With that concession the prince sat down again.

But about the dead. I'd never grudge their burning.
No holding back for the bodies of the fallen:
once they are gone, let fire soothe them quickly.
That is my sworn pledge.

God of the earthquake,
you with your massive power, why are you moaning so?
Another god might fear their wall—their idle whim—
one far weaker than you in strength of hand and fury.

God of the earthquake,
you with your massive power, why are you moaning so?
Another god might fear their wall—their idle whim—
one far weaker than you in strength of hand and fury.

And the ships pulled in from Lemnos bringing wine,
a big convoy sent across by Euneus, Jason's son
whom Hypsipyle bore the seasoned lord of armies.

Yes, but all night long the Master Strategist Zeus
plotted fresh disaster for both opposing armies—
his thunder striking terror—
and blanching panic swept across the ranks.