Page 76 - the-iliad

bleating of their lambs; for they had not one speech nor lan-
guage, but their tongues were diverse, and they came from
many different places. These were inspired of Mars, but the
others by Minerva—and with them came Panic, Rout, and
Strife whose fury never tires, sister and friend of murder-
ous Mars, who, from being at first but low in stature, grows
till she uprears her head to heaven, though her feet are still
on earth. She it was that went about among them and flung
down discord to the waxing of sorrow with even hand be-
tween them.
When they were got together in one place shield clashed
with shield and spear with spear in the rage of battle. The
bossed shields beat one upon another, and there was a
tramp as of a great multitude—death-cry and shout of tri-
umph of slain and slayers, and the earth ran red with blood.
As torrents swollen with rain course madly down their deep
channels till the angry floods meet in some gorge, and the
shepherd on the hillside hears their roaring from afar—
even such was the toil and uproar of the hosts as they joined
in battle.
First Antilochus slew an armed warrior of the Trojans,
Echepolus, son of Thalysius, fighting in the foremost ranks.
He struck at the projecting part of his helmet and drove the
spear into his brow; the point of bronze pierced the bone,
and darkness veiled his eyes; headlong as a tower he fell
amid the press of the fight, and as he dropped King Elephe-
nor, son of Chalcodon and captain of the proud Abantes
began dragging him out of reach of the darts that were fall-
ing around him, in haste to strip him of his armour. But