The Greecians, Peleus' matchless son except. I, seeking to appease him, thus began. O Ajax, son of glorious Telamon! Canst thou remember, even after death, Thy wrath against me, kindled for the sake Of those pernicious arms? arms which the Gods Ordain'd of such dire consequence to Greece, 680 Which caused thy death, our bulwark! Thee we mourn With grief perpetual, nor the death lament Of Peleus' son, Achilles, more than thine. Yet none is blameable; Jove evermore With bitt'rest hate pursued Achaia's host, And he ordain'd thy death. Hero! approach, That thou may'st hear the words with which I seek To sooth thee; let thy long displeasure cease! Quell all resentment in thy gen'rous breast! I spake; nought answer'd he, but sullen join'd 690 His fellow-ghosts; yet, angry as he was, I had prevail'd even on him to speak, Or had, at least, accosted him again, But that my bosom teem'd with strong desire Urgent, to see yet others of the dead. There saw I Minos, offspring famed of Jove; His golden sceptre in his hand, he sat Judge of the dead; they, pleading each in turn, His cause, some stood, some sat, filling the house Whose spacious folding-gates are never closed. 700 Orion next, huge ghost, engaged my view, Droves urging o'er the grassy mead, of beasts Which he had slain, himself, on the wild hills, With strong club arm'd of ever-during brass. There also Tityus on the ground I saw Extended, offspring of the glorious earth; Nine acres he o'erspread, and, at his side Station'd, two vultures on his liver prey'd, Scooping his entrails; nor sufficed his hands To fray them thence; for he had sought to force 710 Latona, illustrious concubine of Jove, What time the Goddess journey'd o'er the rocks Of Pytho into pleasant Panopeus. Next, suff'ring grievous torments, I beheld Tantalus; in a pool he stood, his chin Wash'd by the wave; thirst-parch'd he seem'd, but found Nought to assuage his thirst; for when he bow'd His hoary head, ardent to quaff, the flood Vanish'd absorb'd, and, at his feet, adust The soil appear'd, dried, instant, by the Gods. 720 Tall trees, fruit-laden, with inflected heads Stoop'd to him, pomegranates, apples bright, The luscious fig, and unctuous olive smooth; Which when with sudden grasp he would have seized, Winds hurl'd them high into the dusky clouds. There, too, the hard-task'd Sisyphus I saw, Thrusting before him, strenuous, a vast rock.[53] With hands and feet struggling, he shoved the stone Up to a hill-top; but the steep well-nigh Vanquish'd, by some great force repulsed,[54] the mass 730 Rush'd again, obstinate, down to the plain. Again, stretch'd prone, severe he toiled, the sweat