Page 320 - the-iliad

each one of you to do battle with the Trojans.’
With these words he put heart and soul into them all,
and they serried their companies yet more closely when
they heard the of their king. As the stones which a builder
sets in the wall of some high house which is to give shel-
ter from the winds—even so closely were the helmets and
bossed shields set against one another. Shield pressed on
shield, helm on helm, and man on man; so close were they
that the horse-hair plumes on the gleaming ridges of their
helmets touched each other as they bent their heads.
In front of them all two men put on their armour—Pa-
troclus and Automedon—two men, with but one mind to
lead the Myrmidons. Then Achilles went inside his tent
and opened the lid of the strong chest which silver-footed
Thetis had given him to take on board ship, and which she
had filled with shirts, cloaks to keep out the cold, and good
thick rugs. In this chest he had a cup of rare workmanship,
from which no man but himself might drink, nor would
he make offering from it to any other god save only to fa-
ther Jove. He took the cup from the chest and cleansed it
with sulphur; this done he rinsed it clean water, and after
he had washed his hands he drew wine. Then he stood in
the middle of the court and prayed, looking towards heaven,
and making his drink-offering of wine; nor was he unseen
of Jove whose joy is in thunder. ‘King Jove,’ he cried, ‘lord
of Dodona, god of the Pelasgi, who dwellest afar, you who
hold wintry Dodona in your sway, where your prophets the
Selli dwell around you with their feet unwashed and their
couches made upon the ground—if you heard me when

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