Achilles (Mythological character); Epic poetry, Greek -- Translations into English; Trojan War
Thus having said, under his chariot he yoked his brazen-footed,
swift-flying steeds, adorned with golden manes. He himself put on gold
about his person, and took his golden well-made whip, and ascended the
chariot; and lashed them on to proceed, and they, not unwilling, flew
midway between the earth and starry heaven. He came to spring-fed Ida,
the mother of wild beasts, to Gargarus, where he had a consecrated
enclosure, and a fragrant altar. There the father of gods and men
stopped his steeds, having loosed them from the chariot, and poured a
thick haze around. But he sat upon the summits, exulting in glory,
looking upon the city of the Trojans and the ships of the Greeks.
Meanwhile the long-haired Greeks were taking their repast in a hurried
manner through the tents, and after that they put on their armour. But
the Trojans, on the other side, were arming themselves through the
city, fewer in number; yet even thus, they were eager to fight in
battle, compelled by necessity, in defence of their children and their
wives. And the gates were opened wide, and the forces rushed out, both
chariot warriors and foot, and much tumult arose. But when these
collecting together came into one place, they clashed together shields
and spears, and the might of brazen-mailed men; but the bossy shields
approached one another, and much tumult arose. There at the same time
were both lamentation and boasting of men destroying and destroyed, and
the earth flowed with blood. As long as the forenoon lasted, and the
sacred day was in progress, so long did the weapons touch both, and the
people fell. But when the sun had ascended the middle heaven, then at
length did Father Jove raise the golden scales, and placed in them two
destinies of long-reposing death, [the destinies] both of the
horse-breaking Trojans and of the brazen-mailed Greeks, and holding
them in the middle, he poised them; but the fatal day of the Greeks
inclined low. The destinies of the Greeks, indeed, rested on the
bounteous earth, but those of the Trojans on the contrary were elevated
to the wide heaven.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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