Page 248 - the-iliad

finest soldiers in our whole army. I blame no man for keep-
ing out of battle if he is a weakling, but I am indignant with
such men as you are. My good friends, matters will soon
become even worse through this slackness; think, each one
of you, of his own honour and credit, for the hazard of the
fight is extreme. Great Hector is now fighting at our ships;
he has broken through the gates and the strong bolt that
held them.’
Thus did the earth-encircler address the Achaeans and
urge them on. Thereon round the two Ajaxes there gathered
strong bands of men, of whom not even Mars nor Minerva,
marshaller of hosts could make light if they went among
them, for they were the picked men of all those who were
now awaiting the onset of Hector and the Trojans. They
made a living fence, spear to spear, shield to shield, buckler
to buckler, helmet to helmet, and man to man. The horse-
hair crests on their gleaming helmets touched one another
as they nodded forward, so closely serried were they; the
spears they brandished in their strong hands were inter-
laced, and their hearts were set on battle.
The Trojans advanced in a dense body, with Hector at
their head pressing right on as a rock that comes thunder-
ing down the side of some mountain from whose brow the
winter torrents have torn it; the foundations of the dull
thing have been loosened by floods of rain, and as it bounds
headlong on its way it sets the whole forest in an uproar; it
swerves neither to right nor left till it reaches level ground,
but then for all its fury it can go no further—even so eas-
ily did Hector for a while seem as though he would career