Page 287 - the-iliad

en close beside him; so he aimed at Polydamas as he was
retreating, but Polydamas saved himself by swerving aside
and the spear struck Archelochus son of Antenor, for heav-
en counselled his destruction; it struck him where the head
springs from the neck at the top joint of the spine, and sev-
ered both the tendons at the back of the head. His head,
mouth, and nostrils reached the ground long before his legs
and knees could do so, and Ajax shouted to Polydamas say-
ing, ‘Think, Polydamas, and tell me truly whether this man
is not as well worth killing as Prothoenor was: he seems
rich, and of rich family, a brother, it may be, or son of the
knight Antenor, for he is very like him.’
But he knew well who it was, and the Trojans were great-
ly angered. Acamas then bestrode his brother’s body and
wounded Promachus the Boeotian with his spear, for he
was trying to drag his brother’s body away. Acamas vaunted
loudly over him saying, ‘Argive archers, braggarts that you
are, toil and suffering shall not be for us only, but some of
you too shall fall here as well as ourselves. See how Proma-
chus now sleeps, vanquished by my spear; payment for my
brother’s blood has not been long delayed; a man, therefore,
may well be thankful if he leaves a kinsman in his house be-
hind him to avenge his fall.’
His taunts infuriated the Argives, and Peneleos was more
enraged than any of them. He sprang towards Acamas, but
Acamas did not stand his ground, and he killed Ilioneus
son of the rich flock-master Phorbas, whom Mercury had
favoured and endowed with greater wealth than any oth-
er of the Trojans. Ilioneus was his only son, and Peneleos

The Iliad