Iliad by Homer - Join iZDOT

Homer’s Iliad
Ajax son of Telamon will yield to no man who is in mortal mould
and eats the grain of Ceres, if bronze and great stones can
overthrow him. He would not yield even to Achilles in hand-tohand
fight, and in fleetness of foot there is none to beat him; let us
turn therefore towards the left wing, that we may know forthwith
whether we are to give glory to some other, or he to us.”
Meriones, peer of fleet Mars, then led the way till they came to the
part of the host which Idomeneus had named.
Now when the Trojans saw Idomeneus coming on like a flame of
fire, him and his squire clad in their richly wrought armour, they
shouted and made towards him all in a body, and a furious handto-hand
fight raged under the ships’ sterns. Fierce as the shrill
winds that whistle upon a day when dust lies deep on the roads,
and the gusts raise it into a thick cloud- even such was the fury of
the combat, and might and main did they hack at each other with
spear and sword throughout the host. The field bristled with the
long and deadly spears which they bore. Dazzling was the sheen of
their gleaming helmets, their fresh-burnished breastplates, and
glittering shields as they joined battle with one another. Iron
indeed must be his courage who could take pleasure in the sight of
such a turmoil, and look on it without being dismayed.
Thus did the two mighty sons of Saturn devise evil for mortal
heroes. Jove was minded to give victory to the Trojans and to
Hector, so as to do honour to fleet Achilles, nevertheless he did not
mean to utterly overthrow the Achaean host before Ilius, and only
wanted to glorify Thetis and her valiant son. Neptune on the other
hand went about among the Argives to incite them, having come
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