Iliad by Homer - Join iZDOT

Homer’s Iliad
to Ilius. He it was that naw met Agamemnon son of Atreus. When
they were close up with one another, the son of Atreus missed his
aim, and Iphidamas hit him on the girdle below the cuirass and
then flung himself upon him, trusting to his strength of arm; the
girdle, however, was not pierced, nor nearly so, for the point of the
spear struck against the silver and was turned aside as though it
had been lead: King Agamemnon caught it from his hand, and
drew it towards him with the fury of a lion; he then drew his
sword, and killed Iphidamas by striking him on the neck. So there
the poor fellow lay, sleeping a sleep as it were of bronze, killed in
the defence of his fellow-citizens, far from his wedded wife, of
whom he had had no joy though he had given much for her: he had
given a hundred-head of cattle down, and had promised later on to
give a thousand sheep and goats mixed, from the countless flocks
of which he was possessed. Agamemnon son of Atreus then
despoiled him, and carried off his armour into the host of the
Achaeans.
When noble Coon, Antenor’s eldest son, saw this, sore indeed were
his eyes at the sight of his fallen brother. Unseen by Agamemnon he
got beside him, spear in hand, and wounded him in the middle of
his arm below the elbow, the point of the spear going right through
the arm. Agamemnon was convulsed with pain, but still not even
for this did he leave off struggling and fighting, but grasped his
spear that flew as fleet as the wind, and sprang upon Coon who
was trying to drag off the body of his brother- his father’s son- by
the foot, and was crying for help to all the bravest of his comrades;
but Agamemnon struck him with a bronze-shod spear and killed
him as he was dragging the dead body through the press of men
under cover of his shield: he then cut off his head, standing over
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