Page 363 - the-iliad

not a hare that runs can escape him by crouching under
bush or thicket, for he will swoop down upon it and make
an end of it—even so, O Menelaus, did your keen eyes range
round the mighty host of your followers to see if you could
find the son of Nestor still alive. Presently Menelaus saw
him on the extreme left of the battle cheering on his men
and exhorting them to fight boldly. Menelaus went up to
him and said, ‘Antilochus, come here and listen to sad news,
which I would indeed were untrue. You must see with your
own eyes that heaven is heaping calamity upon the Dan-
aans, and giving victory to the Trojans. Patroclus has fallen,
who was the bravest of the Achaeans, and sorely will the Da-
naans miss him. Run instantly to the ships and tell Achilles,
that he may come to rescue the body and bear it to the ships.
As for the armour, Hector already has it.’
Antilochus was struck with horror. For a long time he
was speechless; his eyes filled with tears and he could find
no utterance, but he did as Menelaus had said, and set off
running as soon as he had given his armour to a comrade,
Laodocus, who was wheeling his horses round, close beside
him.
Thus, then, did he run weeping from the field, to carry
the bad news to Achilles son of Peleus. Nor were you, O
Menelaus, minded to succour his harassed comrades, when
Antilochus had left the Pylians—and greatly did they miss
him—but he sent them noble Thrasymedes, and himself
went back to Patroclus. He came running up to the two
Ajaxes and said, ‘I have sent Antilochus to the ships to tell
Achilles, but rage against Hector as he may, he cannot come,

The Iliad