Hector had not yet taken part in the battle; Jupiter having sent him an order by the messenger Iris not to begin fighting until Agamemnon should retire wounded from the field. This soon happened. The king was wounded in the arm by the Trojan chief Coʹon, whose brother, I-phidʹa-mas, Agamemnon had slain. These two chiefs were sons of the venerable Antenor. But Agamemnon, before withdrawing, rushed upon Coön and slew him also. Then, leaping into his chariot, he ordered his charioteer to drive him quickly to his ships, for he was suffering much from the pain of his wound. Hector, seeing the flight of the Greek leader, called loudly to the Trojans to advance upon their foes, at the same time setting them the example. Himself, inspired With fiery valor, rushed among the foes In the mid-battle foremost, like a storm That swoops from heaven, and on the dark-blue sea Falls suddenly, and stirs it to its depths. BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XI. The fortune of battle now turned in favor of the men of Troy. Nine warrior princes of the Greeks were struck down, one after another, by the sword of Hector. The brave Diomede, wounded by an arrow from the bow of Paris, was obliged to retire to his tent. A spear hurled by the Trojan chief, Soʹcus, pierced the corselet of Ulysses, and wounded him in the side. But the Trojan did not long survive this exploit, for as he turned to flee, Ulysses sent a javelin through his body, felling him lifeless to the earth. A serious misfortune had almost happened to the Greeks at the hand of Paris, who shot a triple barbed arrow at the hero and physician, Machaon, wounding him in the shoulder. The life of the great son of Æsculapius being worth many men, Idomeneus cried to Nestor to come and take him away in his chariot. "Haste, mount thy chariot; let Machaon take A place beside thee; urge thy firm-paced steeds Rapidly toward the fleet; a leech like him, Who cuts the arrow from the wound and soothes The pain with balms, is worth a host to us." BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XI. Many of their leaders being now disabled, the Greeks were driven from the field and forced to take refuge behind their fortifications. At the trench a terrible conflict took place. The Trojan warriors made efforts to pass it in their chariots, while the Greeks fought with desperate fury to force the invaders back. Many heroes on both sides were wounded and many slain. The towers and battlements were steeped in blood Of heroes,--Greeks and Trojans. BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XII.