Page 204 - the-iliad

Then King Agamemnon took the two sons of Antima-
chus, Pisander and brave Hippolochus. It was Antimachus
who had been foremost in preventing Helen’s being restored
to Menelaus, for he was largely bribed by Alexandrus; and
now Agamemnon took his two sons, both in the same char-
iot, trying to bring their horses to a stand—for they had lost
hold of the reins and the horses were mad with fear. The
son of Atreus sprang upon them like a lion, and the pair
besought him from their chariot. ‘Take us alive,’ they cried,
‘son of Atreus, and you shall receive a great ransom for us.
Our father Antimachus has great store of gold, bronze, and
wrought iron, and from this he will satisfy you with a very
large ransom should he hear of our being alive at the ships
of the Achaeans.’
With such piteous words and tears did they beseech the
king, but they heard no pitiful answer in return. ‘If,’ said
Agamemnon, ‘you are sons of Antimachus, who once at a
council of Trojans proposed that Menelaus and Ulysses,
who had come to you as envoys, should be killed and not
suffered to return, you shall now pay for the foul iniquity
of your father.’
As he spoke he felled Pisander from his chariot to the
earth, smiting him on the chest with his spear, so that he
lay face uppermost upon the ground. Hippolochus fled, but
him too did Agamemnon smite; he cut off his hands and his
head—which he sent rolling in among the crowd as though
it were a ball. There he let them both lie, and wherever the
ranks were thickest thither he flew, while the other Achae-
ans followed. Foot soldiers drove the foot soldiers of the

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