Page 232 - the-iliad

might be flying towards the ships. Hither of set purpose did
he direct his horses, and his men followed him with a loud
cry, for they felt sure that the Achaeans would not hold out
longer, and that they should now fall upon the ships. Little
did they know that at the gates they should find two of the
bravest chieftains, proud sons of the fighting Lapithae—the
one, Polypoetes, mighty son of Pirithous, and the oth-
er Leonteus, peer of murderous Mars. These stood before
the gates like two high oak trees upon the mountains, that
tower from their wide-spreading roots, and year after year
battle with wind and rain—even so did these two men await
the onset of great Asius confidently and without flinching.
The Trojans led by him and by Iamenus, Orestes, Adamas
the son of Asius, Thoon and Oenomaus, raised a loud cry of
battle and made straight for the wall, holding their shields
of dry ox-hide above their heads; for a while the two de-
fenders remained inside and cheered the Achaeans on to
stand firm in the defence of their ships; when, however, they
saw that the Trojans were attacking the wall, while the Dan-
aans were crying out for help and being routed, they rushed
outside and fought in front of the gates like two wild boars
upon the mountains that abide the attack of men and dogs,
and charging on either side break down the wood all round
them tearing it up by the roots, and one can hear the clat-
tering of their tusks, till some one hits them and makes an
end of them—even so did the gleaming bronze rattle about
their breasts, as the weapons fell upon them; for they fought
with great fury, trusting to their own prowess and to those
who were on the wall above them. These threw great stones

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