Page 254 - the-iliad

selves among the Ephyri or the brave Phlegyans, but they
will not listen to both the contending hosts, and will give
victory to one side or to the other—even so did Meriones
and Idomeneus, captains of men, go out to battle clad in
their bronze armour. Meriones was first to speak. ‘Son of
Deucalion,’ said he, ‘where would you have us begin fight-
ing? On the right wing of the host, in the centre, or on the
left wing, where I take it the Achaeans will be weakest?’
Idomeneus answered, ‘There are others to defend the
centre—the two Ajaxes and Teucer, who is the finest archer
of all the Achaeans, and is good also in a hand-to-hand fight.
These will give Hector son of Priam enough to do; fight as he
may, he will find it hard to vanquish their indomitable fury,
and fire the ships, unless the son of Saturn fling a firebrand
upon them with his own hand. Great Ajax son of Telamon
will yield to no man who is in mortal mould and eats the
grain of Ceres, if bronze and great stones can overthrow
him. He would not yield even to Achilles in hand-to-hand
fight, and in fleetness of foot there is none to beat him; let
us turn therefore towards the left wing, that we may know
forthwith whether we are to give glory to some other, or he
to us.’
Meriones, peer of fleet Mars, then led the way till they
came to the part of the host which Idomeneus had named.
Now when the Trojans saw Idomeneus coming on like a
flame of fire, him and his squire clad in their richly wrought
armour, they shouted and made towards him all in a body,
and a furious hand-to-hand fight raged under the ships’
sterns. Fierce as the shrill winds that whistle upon a day