Iliad by Homer - Join iZDOT

Homer’s Iliad
Ajax son of Telamon answered, “Idaeus, bid Hector say so, for it
was he that challenged our princes. Let him speak first and I will
accept his saying.”
Then Hector said, “Ajax, heaven has vouchsafed you stature and
strength, and judgement; and in wielding the spear you excel all
others of the Achaeans. Let us for this day cease fighting; hereafter
we will fight anew till heaven decide between us, and give victory
to one or to the other; night is now falling, and the behests of night
may not be well gainsaid. Gladden, then, the hearts of the Achaeans
at your ships, and more especially those of your own followers and
clansmen, while I, in the great city of King Priam, bring comfort to
the Trojans and their women, who vie with one another in their
prayers on my behalf. Let us, moreover, exchange presents that it
may be said among the Achaeans and Trojans, ‘They fought with
might and main, but were reconciled and parted in friendship.’
On this he gave Ajax a silver-studded sword with its sheath and
leathern baldric, and in return Ajax gave him a girdle dyed with
purple. Thus they parted, the one going to the host of the
Achaeans, and the other to that of the Trojans, who rejoiced when
they saw their hero come to them safe and unharmed from the
strong hands of mighty Ajax. They led him, therefore, to the city as
one that had been saved beyond their hopes. On the other side the
Achaeans brought Ajax elated with victory to Agamemnon.
When they reached the quarters of the son of Atreus, Agamemnon
sacrificed for them a five-year-old bull in honour of Jove the son of
Saturn. They flayed the carcass, made it ready, and divided it into
joints; these they cut carefully up into smaller pieces, putting them
135