Page 267 - the-iliad

was bastard son to Oileus and brother of Ajax, but he lived
in Phylace away from his own country, for he had killed the
brother of his stepmother Eriopis, the wife of Oileus; the
other, Podarces, was the son of Iphiclus, son of Phylacus.
These two stood in the van of the Phthians, and defended
the ships along with the Boeotians.
Ajax son of Oileus, never for a moment left the side of Ajax,
son of Telamon, but as two swart oxen both strain their ut-
most at the plough which they are drawing in a fallow field,
and the sweat steams upwards from about the roots of their
horns—nothing but the yoke divides them as they break up
the ground till they reach the end of the field—even so did
the two Ajaxes stand shoulder to shoulder by one another.
Many and brave comrades followed the son of Telamon, to
relieve him of his shield when he was overcome with sweat
and toil, but the Locrians did not follow so close after the
son of Oileus, for they could not hold their own in a hand-
to-hand fight. They had no bronze helmets with plumes of
horse-hair, neither had they shields nor ashen spears, but
they had come to Troy armed with bows, and with slings
of twisted wool from which they showered their missiles to
break the ranks of the Trojans. The others, therefore, with
their heavy armour bore the brunt of the fight with the Tro-
jans and with Hector, while the Locrians shot from behind,
under their cover; and thus the Trojans began to lose heart,
for the arrows threw them into confusion.
The Trojans would now have been driven in sorry
plight from the ships and tents back to windy Ilius, had
not Polydamas presently said to Hector, ‘Hector, there is

The Iliad