Page 128 - the-iliad

Achaeans upon the plain. And Hector spoke thus:—
‘Hear me, Trojans and Achaeans, that I may speak even as
I am minded; Jove on his high throne has brought our oaths
and covenants to nothing, and foreshadows ill for both of
us, till you either take the towers of Troy, or are yourselves
vanquished at your ships. The princes of the Achaeans are
here present in the midst of you; let him, then, that will fight
me stand forward as your champion against Hector. Thus I
say, and may Jove be witness between us. If your champion
slay me, let him strip me of my armour and take it to your
ships, but let him send my body home that the Trojans and
their wives may give me my dues of fire when I am dead. In
like manner, if Apollo vouchsafe me glory and I slay your
champion, I will strip him of his armour and take it to the
city of Ilius, where I will hang it in the temple of Apollo, but
I will give up his body, that the Achaeans may bury him at
their ships, and the build him a mound by the wide waters
of the Hellespont. Then will one say hereafter as he sails his
ship over the sea, ‘This is the monument of one who died
long since a champion who was slain by mighty Hector.’
Thus will one say, and my fame shall not be lost.’
Thus did he speak, but they all held their peace, ashamed
to decline the challenge, yet fearing to accept it, till at last
Menelaus rose and rebuked them, for he was angry. ‘Alas,’
he cried, ‘vain braggarts, women forsooth not men, dou-
ble-dyed indeed will be the stain upon us if no man of the
Danaans will now face Hector. May you be turned every
man of you into earth and water as you sit spiritless and
inglorious in your places. I will myself go out against this

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