Page 188 - the-iliad

wished to go among the host of the Trojans, for he was ever
full of daring, and thereon Agamemnon king of men spoke
thus: ‘Diomed,’ said he, ‘son of Tydeus, man after my own
heart, choose your comrade for yourself—take the best man
of those that have offered, for many would now go with you.
Do not through delicacy reject the better man, and take the
worst out of respect for his lineage, because he is of more
royal blood.’
He said this because he feared for Menelaus. Diomed an-
swered, ‘If you bid me take the man of my own choice, how
in that case can I fail to think of Ulysses, than whom there
is no man more eager to face all kinds of danger—and Pal-
las Minerva loves him well? If he were to go with me we
should pass safely through fire itself, for he is quick to see
and understand.’
‘Son of Tydeus,’ replied Ulysses, ‘say neither good nor ill
about me, for you are among Argives who know me well.
Let us be going, for the night wanes and dawn is at hand.
The stars have gone forward, two-thirds of the night are al-
ready spent, and the third is alone left us.’
They then put on their armour. Brave Thrasymedes pro-
vided the son of Tydeus with a sword and a shield (for he
had left his own at his ship) and on his head he set a helmet
of bull’s hide without either peak or crest; it is called a skull-
cap and is a common headgear. Meriones found a bow and
quiver for Ulysses, and on his head he set a leathern hel-
met that was lined with a strong plaiting of leathern thongs,
while on the outside it was thickly studded with boar’s teeth,
well and skilfully set into it; next the head there was an in-

1