Achilles (Mythological character) -- Juvenile literature; Epic poetry, Greek -- Adaptations; Readers; Trojan War -- Juvenile literature
For thus fleeing from the fight the Trojan chief was severely rebuked by
Glauʹcus, a Lycian warrior, who had been the comrade of the brave
Sarpedon. Glaucus wished to get the body of Patroclus so that with it he
might ransom Sarpedon's armor from the Greeks. Hector answered Glaucus,
saying that he feared not the battle's fury, as he would presently show.
Then he put on the armor of Achilles and he called to the Trojans to
follow him, promising a rich reward to the warrior who should carry off
the body for which they were going to fight.
"To him who from the field will drag and bring
The slain Patroclus to the Trojan knights,
Compelling Ajax to give way,--to him
I yield up half the spoil; the other half
I keep, and let his glory equal mine."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVII.
With Hector at their head the Trojans now rushed forward. Ajax, seeing
them advance, bade Menelaus summon the other Greek warriors to help in
defending the body of their countryman. Quickly they were called and
quickly they came. Then hand to hand and sword to sword both armies
fought, and the battle raged furiously round the corpse of Patroclus.
They of Ilium strove
To drag it to the city, they of Greece,
To bear it to the fleet.
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVII.
At last Menelaus and a brother warrior lifted up the body and bore it
away towards the trench. The Trojans followed, but the two Ajaxes turned
around and, facing the pursuers, fought with heroic bravery to hold them
back.
Thus, in hot pursuit
And close array, the Trojans following strook
With swords and two-edged spears; but when the twain
Turned and stood firm to meet them, every cheek
Grew pale, and not a single Trojan dared
Draw near the Greeks to combat for the corse.
Thus rapidly they bore away the dead
Toward their good galleys from the battlefield.
Onward with them the furious battle swept.
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVII.
Meanwhile Antilochus, the son of Nestor, was sent from the field to
carry to Achilles the sad news of the death of Patroclus. The chief was
just then sitting near his ships thinking over the event which he feared
had already happened, for the shouts of the Greeks as they fled from the
plain pursued by the Trojans, had reached his ears. Upon learning the
tidings brought by Antilochus, the hero burst into a fit of grief,
tearing his hair, throwing himself on the earth, and uttering loud
lamentations. His goddess mother, Thetis, in her father's palace beneath
the waves, heard his cries. She hastened up, attended by a number of sea
nymphs, and, embracing her son, inquired the cause of his grief.
Achilles told her of the death of his dear friend, and then said:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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