Page 271 - the-iliad

hand, and the host of the Achaeans shouted, for they took
heart at the omen. But Hector answered, ‘Ajax, braggart
and false of tongue, would that I were as sure of being son
for evermore to aegis-bearing Jove, with Queen Juno for my
mother, and of being held in like honour with Minerva and
Apollo, as I am that this day is big with the destruction of
the Achaeans; and you shall fall among them if you dare
abide my spear; it shall rend your fair body and bid you glut
our hounds and birds of prey with your fat and your flesh,
as you fall by the ships of the Achaeans.’
With these words he led the way and the others followed
after with a cry that rent the air, while the host shouted be-
hind them. The Argives on their part raised a shout likewise,
nor did they forget their prowess, but stood firm against the
onslaught of the Trojan chieftains, and the cry from both
the hosts rose up to heaven and to the brightness of Jove’s
presence.

0 The Iliad