Page 86 - the-iliad

He has killed many a brave man—unless indeed he is some
god who is angry with the Trojans about their sacrifices,
and and has set his hand against them in his displeasure.’
And the son of Lycaon answered, ‘Aeneas, I take him for
none other than the son of Tydeus. I know him by his shield,
the visor of his helmet, and by his horses. It is possible that
he may be a god, but if he is the man I say he is, he is not
making all this havoc without heaven’s help, but has some
god by his side who is shrouded in a cloud of darkness, and
who turned my arrow aside when it had hit him. I have tak-
en aim at him already and hit him on the right shoulder;
my arrow went through the breastpiece of his cuirass; and
I made sure I should send him hurrying to the world be-
low, but it seems that I have not killed him. There must be
a god who is angry with me. Moreover I have neither horse
nor chariot. In my father’s stables there are eleven excel-
lent chariots, fresh from the builder, quite new, with cloths
spread over them; and by each of them there stand a pair
of horses, champing barley and rye; my old father Lycaon
urged me again and again when I was at home and on the
point of starting, to take chariots and horses with me that
I might lead the Trojans in battle, but I would not listen to
him; it would have been much better if I had done so, but I
was thinking about the horses, which had been used to eat
their fill, and I was afraid that in such a great gathering of
men they might be ill-fed, so I left them at home and came
on foot to Ilius armed only with my bow and arrows. These
it seems, are of no use, for I have already hit two chieftains,
the sons of Atreus and of Tydeus, and though I drew blood