O Muses, goddesses who dwell on high, Tell me,--for all things ye behold and know, While we know nothing and may only hear The random tales of rumor,--tell me who Were chiefs and princes of the Greeks; for I Should fail to number and to name them all,-- Had I ten tongues, ten throats, a voice unapt To weary, uttered from a heart of brass,-- Unless the Muses aided me. BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book II. The allies and leaders of the Trojans are also named and described in the "Catalogue of the Ships," for they too were marshaling their forces within the city. From their walls they had observed the movements of the Greeks, and, moreover, Jupiter had sent down his swift-footed messenger, Iʹris, to bid them get ready for battle. The goddess found Priam and Hector and others of the chiefs of Troy sitting in council, and she told them of the vast host of the Greeks that was just then marching towards the city. "I have seen many battles, yet have ne'er Beheld such armies, and so vast as these,-- In number like the sands and summer leaves. They march across the plain, prepared to give Battle beneath the city walls. To thee, O Hector, it belongs to heed my voice And counsel. Many are the allies within The walls of this great town of Priam, men Of diverse race and speech. Let every chief Of these array his countrymen for war, And give them orders for the coming fight." BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book II. Hector promptly obeyed the command of the goddess. Dismissing the council, he and the other chiefs at once placed themselves at the head of their troops and marched forth through the gates into the plain. VII. THE COMBAT BETWEEN MENELAUS AND PARIS. The two great armies, now in battle array on the plain before the city walls, began to advance towards each other. The Trojans moved along with great clatter, which Homer compares to the noise of flocks of cranes: The Trojan host moved on With shouts and clang of arms, as when the cry Of cranes is in the air, that, flying south From winter and its mighty breadth of rain, Wing their way over ocean. BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book III. The Greeks, on the other hand, advanced in deep silence. But silently the Greeks Went forward, breathing valor, mindful still To aid each other in the coming fray. As when the south wind shrouds a mountain-top In vapors that awake the shepherd's fear,-- A surer covert for the thief than night,-- And round him one can only see as far As one can hurl a stone,--such was the cloud Of dust that from the warriors' trampling feet Rose round their rapid march and filled the air. BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book III.