Chapter 10
Hector replied in words of defiance, and then brandished and hurled forth his spear. But Minerva turned it aside, and it missed its aim. Then Achilles, with a wild shout, rushed against his enemy. Apollo now came to the rescue, covering the Trojan hero in a veil of clouds, and taking him away from the conflict. The enraged Achilles struck into the dense mist with his sword again and again, and in loud voice reproached Hector for what seemed to be his cowardly flight.
"Hound as thou art, thou hast once more escaped Thy death; for it was near. Again the hand Of Phœbus rescues thee. I shall meet thee yet And end thee utterly, if any god Favor me also. I will now pursue And strike the other Trojan warriors down."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XX.
The enraged hero then attacked the Trojans so furiously that they fled before him in dismay. Some rushed towards the gates of the city, others to the Xanthus, into which they leaped in such numbers that the river was soon filled with a crowd of steeds and men.
So, plunged in Xanthus by Achilles' force, Roars the resounding surge with men and horse.
POPE, _Iliad_, Book XXI.
But now the terrible Myrmidonian chief descended from his chariot, and with sword in hand pursued the Trojans into the water. There he slew so many that the stream became blocked with the bodies of the dead. The river god, roused to anger, called to Achilles in a loud voice from the depths of the Xanthus, saying that if he meant to destroy the whole Trojan race, he must do it on the plain, and not stop the waters in their course to the sea.
"For now my pleasant waters, in their flow, Are choked with heaps of dead, and I no more Can pour them into the great deep, so thick The corpses clog my bed, while thou dost slay And sparest not."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXI.
Achilles answered that he would not cease to slay the treaty-breaking Trojans until they were punished as they deserved. At this the river god was so enraged that he sent his waters with tremendous force against the hero. The waves now surged around Achilles, beating upon his shield, and buffeting him so violently that he was in danger of being overwhelmed. He saved himself only by grasping the bough of an elm tree which grew on the river's edge, and so gaining the bank. Then the angry god, rising in greater fury, swept his mighty billows out upon the plain. The Greek hero bravely attempted to fight this new enemy, but his valor and his weapons were powerless against such an attack.
As often as the noble son Of Peleus made a stand in hope to know Whether the deathless gods of the great heaven Conspired to make him flee, so often came A mighty billow of the Jove-born stream And drenched his shoulders. Then again he sprang Away; the rapid torrent made his knees To tremble, while it swept, where'er he trod, The earth from underneath his feet.
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXI.
Achilles now prayed to the gods for help, and Neptune and Minerva came and encouraged him, saying that he was not to be thus conquered. Still as Xanthus called upon his brother river, Simois, to join him in defense of King Priam's noble city, it might have fared badly with the Greeks, had not Vulcan come to their help. At the request of Juno the god of fire sent down a vast quantity of flames, which scorched and dried up the plain, and burned the trees and reeds on the banks of the rivers. Vulcan began to dry up even the rivers themselves. Then Xanthus became terrified and begged for mercy, promising that he would not again interfere in the fight on either side.
"Oh Vulcan! oh! what power resists thy might? I faint, I sink, unequal to the fight-- I yield--Let Ilion fall; if fate decree-- Ah--bend no more thy fiery arms on me!"
POPE, _Iliad_, Book XXI.
It was not, however, until Juno entreated him to do so, that Vulcan withdrew his flames, and the rivers were permitted to flow on again in peace and safety. Achilles now renewed his attack on the Trojans. The gods also rushed into the conflict. Mars launched his brazen spear at Minerva, but, with the terrible ægis, the goddess warded off the blow. Then Minerva lifted up a great rough stone and hurled it at Mars, striking him on the neck, and stretching him senseless on the ground.
He fell With nerveless limbs, and covered, as he lay, Seven acres of the field.
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXI.
Venus hastened to the relief of the wounded god, and, taking him by the hand, led him away groaning with pain. Juno, who had been a spectator of the fight, now approached Minerva, and urged her to attack Venus. She gladly consented to do as the queen of heaven desired. Following up the goddess of beauty, Minerva gave her a mighty blow on the breast, throwing her prostrate on the earth. At the same time Neptune challenged Apollo to fight. He reminded him, too, of King Laomedon's conduct toward both of them, many years before, and reproached him for being now on the side of the descendants of that faithless king. But Apollo refused to fight with the ocean god.
"Thou wouldst not deem me wise, should I contend With thee, O Neptune, for the sake of men, Who flourish like the forest leaves awhile, And feed upon the fruits of earth and then Decay and perish."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXI.
But though Apollo would not fight with Neptune, he continued to help the Trojans. Achilles had driven them in terror up under their walls, and King Priam had ordered the gates to be thrown open to admit the flying hosts. Multitudes of them rushed in, while the furious son of Thetis pressed on behind. It was a moment of danger for Troy, and the Greeks might soon have taken the city, if Apollo had not encouraged young Agenor, the son of Antenor, to attack Achilles. The brave youth advanced, and cast his spear, striking the hero at the knee. But it could not pierce the armor Vulcan had made. Then the Greek chief aimed at Agenor, and again Apollo came to the rescue, concealing the Trojan youth in a veil of darkness, and carrying him safely away. But in an instant the god returned, and, taking upon himself Agenor's shape and appearance, stood for a moment in front of Achilles. Then he turned and fled along the plain, followed fast by the enraged Greek. Thus Apollo gave the Trojans time to get within the city and shut their gates.
Achilles chased the god Ever before him, yet still near, across The fruitful fields, to the deep-eddied stream Of Xanthus; for Apollo artfully Made it to seem that he should soon o'ertake His flying foe, and thus beguiled him on. Meanwhile the routed Trojans gladly thronged Into the city, filled the streets, and closed The portals.
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXI.
Hector alone of all the Trojans remained outside the walls, standing in front of the Scæan Gate. Achilles still pursued Apollo, thinking that he was Agenor, but at last the god made himself known to his pursuer. The hero reproached him angrily for his deception, and then with the utmost speed he hastened across the plain towards the city. From the ramparts the aged King Priam beheld him coming, and in piteous words he cried out to Hector, imploring him to take refuge within the walls. Queen Hecuba, too, with tears in her eyes, begged her son to withdraw, and not be so mad as to encounter the terrible Greek chief alone. But Hector would not yield to the entreaties of his weeping parents. He had refused to take the advice of Polydamas to withdraw into the city on the previous night, and if he should pass within the walls now, after Achilles had slain so many of the Trojans, Polydamas would be the first to reproach him. Thus the hero reasoned with himself and so he resolved to stand and face his foe.
"No--if I e'er return, return I must Glorious, my country's terror laid in dust: Or if I perish, let her see me fall In field at least, and fighting for her wall."
POPE, _Iliad_, Book XXII.
Achilles now approached. Terrible he was in appearance. His great javelin quivered fearfully on his shoulder, and a light as of blazing fire, or of the rising sun, shone from his heavenly armor. Hector trembled with fear when he looked upon the Grecian leader. So great was his terror that he did not dare to wait, but fled away round the city wall. Achilles quickly pursued him, as a hawk pursues a dove. They ran till they came to two springs where the stream of the Xanthus rose. From one of these springs a hot vapor ascended, like smoke from fire, and from the other a current cold as ice issued even in summer. Past these the warriors swept on.
One fled, and one pursued,-- A brave man fled, a braver followed close, And swiftly both. Not for a common prize, A victim from the herd, a bullock's hide, Such as reward the fleet of foot, they ran,-- The race was for the knightly Hector's life.
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXII.
Three times they ran round the walls, in sight of the Greeks and Trojans. The gods of heaven, too, were looking on from the top of Mount Olympus, and Jupiter, taking pity on Hector, thought that they should save him from death. But Minerva protested. His doom, she said, had been fixed by the Fates, and even Jupiter could not alter it--at least not with the approval of the other gods. The cloud-compelling king was obliged to give way, and so the Trojan chief was left to his fate. Then Minerva rushed down to the field, and still Hector fled and Achilles pursued. As often as they passed around, Hector attempted to approach the gates, hoping for help from his friends. But each time Achilles got before him and turned him away towards the plain; and he made a sign to the Greeks that none of them should cast a spear, for he wished that he alone should have all the glory of slaying the greatest of the Trojan heroes.
Now Apollo had been helping Hector, giving him strength and speed, but when, for the fourth time, the heroes reached the Xanthus springs, Jupiter raised high the golden balance of fate. There were two lots in the scales, one for the son of Peleus, the other for the Trojan chief. By the middle the king of heaven held the balance, and the lot of Hector sank down. Immediately Apollo departed from the field, for he could no longer go against the Fates. Then Minerva came close to Hector's side, and, taking the form and voice of his brother Deiphobus, she urged him to stand and fight Achilles.
"Hard pressed I find thee, brother, by the swift Achilles, who, with feet that never rest, Pursues thee round the walls of Priam's town. But let us make a stand and beat him back."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXII.
Thus encouraged, as he thought by his brother, whom he was surprised to see at his side, for he believed him to be in the city, the Trojan hero turned around, and was soon face to face with his great foe. Knowing that the hour had now come when one of them must die, Hector proposed to Achilles that they should make a covenant, or agreement, between them that the victor in the fight should give the other's body to his friends, so that funeral rites might be performed. But the wrathful Achilles refused. He would have no covenant with his enemy.
"Accursed Hector, never talk to me Of covenants. Men and lions plight no faith, Nor wolves agree with lambs, but each must plan Evil against the other. So between Thyself and me no compact can exist, Or understood intent. First, one of us Must fall and yield his life blood to the god Of battles."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXII.
Then the fight began, Achilles first cast his spear. It was a weapon heavy, huge, and strong, that no mortal arm but his own could wield. Its shaft was made of a tree which the famous Chiʹron, instructor of heroes in the art of war, had cut on Mount Peʹli-on and given to the father of Achilles.
His strength Alone sufficed to wield it. 'Twas an ash Which Chiron felled in Pelion's top, and gave To Peleus, that it yet might be the death Of heroes.
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVI.
The Trojan chief stooped to avoid the blow, and the spear, passing over him, sunk in the earth. Minerva, unseen by Hector, plucked it out and gave it back to Achilles. Hector now launched his weapon. With true aim he hurled it, for it struck the center of his antagonist's shield, but the workmanship of Vulcan was not to be pierced, and so the javelin of the Trojan hero bounded from the brazen armor and fell to the ground. He called loudly to Deiphobus for another spear. There was no answer, and then looking around him he discovered that he had been deceived.
All comfortless he stands; then, with a sigh: "'Tis so--Heaven wills it, and my hour is nigh. I deem'd Deiphobus had heard my call, But he secure lies guarded in the wall. A god deceived me; Pallas, 'twas thy deed, Death and black fate approach! 'tis I must bleed."
POPE, _Iliad_, Book XXII.
Nevertheless, Hector resolved to fight bravely to the end, and so he drew his sword and rushed upon Achilles. The Greek warrior, watching his foe closely as he approached, noticed an opening in his armor, where the collar of the corselet joined the shoulder. At that spot he furiously thrust his speat, and pierced the Trojan hero through the neck. Hector fell to the ground, mortally wounded. In his dying moments he begged Achilles to send his body to his parents, telling him that they would give large ransom in gold. But his entreaties were in vain. Neither by prayers nor by promise of gold could the conqueror be moved. The last words of Hector were words warning Achilles of his own doom:
"A day will come when fate's decree And angry gods shall wreak this wrong on thee; Phœbus and Paris shall avenge my fate, And stretch thee here before the Scæan Gate." He ceased. The Fates suppress'd his laboring breath, And his eyes stiffen'd at the hand of death.
POPE, _Iliad_, Book XXII.
So died the great champion of the Trojans. The Greeks crowded around the dead hero, admiring his stature and beautiful figure, and remarking one to another that Hector was far less dangerous to touch now than when he was setting fire to their fleet.
But the anger of Achilles was not appeased even by the death of his foe. Eager for still more vengeance, he bound the feet of the dead hero with leather thongs to the back of his chariot, leaving the head to trail along the ground, and thus he drove to the ships, dragging the noble Hector in the dust.
The Trojans, beholding this dreadful spectacle from the walls of the city, broke out into loud lamentations, and King Priam and Queen Hecuba were almost distracted with grief. Andromache had not been a witness of the combat. She was at home with her maids, making preparations for Hector's return from the battle, and was therefore unaware of the terrible events which had taken place. But the sound of the wailing on the ramparts having reached her ears, she rushed forth from the palace, fearful that some evil had happened to her husband. Hastening through the streets to the Scæan Gate, she ascended the tower, and looking out on the plain, saw the body of her beloved Hector dragged behind the wheels of the chariot of Achilles. Overpowered with grief at the sight, the unhappy woman sank fainting into the arms of her attendants.
A sudden darkness shades her swimming eyes: She faints, she falls; her breath, her color flies. Her hair's fair ornaments, the braids that bound, The net that held them, and the wreath that crown'd, The veil and diadem flew far away (The gift of Venus on her bridal day). Around a train of weeping sisters stands To raise her sinking with assistant hands.
POPE, _Iliad_, Book XXII.
While the Trojans thus mourned the loss of their chief, his body was dragged into the Grecian camp and flung on the beach beside the ships. Preparations were then made for funeral services in honor of Patroclus. The ceremonies occupied three days. A vast quantity of wood was cut down on Mount Ida, and carried to the plain, where the logs were heaped together in an immense pile, a hundred feet square. Upon this they placed the corpse. They next put upon the pile the fat of several oxen, that it might the more easily burn, and they slew and laid upon it the dead man's horses. Achilles cut off a lock of his own hair and put it in the dead hero's hand, and each of the other warriors placed a lock of his hair on the body.
Torches were now applied, and they prayed to the wind gods, Boʹre-as and Zephʹy-rus, to send strong breezes to fan the flames. All through the night the pile blazed with a mighty roar, and in the morning, when it was consumed, the embers were quenched with wine, and the bones of Patroclus were gathered up and inclosed in a golden urn. On the spot where the pyre had stood they raised a mound of earth as a monument to the hero.
Then there were funeral games at which valuable prizes, given by Achilles, were competed for,--prizes of gold and silver, and shining weapons, and vases, and steeds, and oxen. Diomede won the prize in the chariot race, for he ran with the immortal horses he had taken in battle from Æneas. In the wrestling match Ulysses and Ajax Telamon were the rival champions. Both displayed such strength and skill that it could not be decided which was the victor, and so a prize of equal value was given to each. Ajax Telamon also competed with Diomede in a combat with swords, and both were declared equal and received each a prize.
In the contest with bow and arrows, Teuʹcer and Me-riʹo-nes were the competitors, and a dove tied to the top of a mast fixed in the ground, was the object aimed at. Teucer missed the bird, but he struck and cut the cord that fastened her to the pole, and she flew up into the heavens. Then Meriones shot at her with his arrow. The weapon pierced the dove beneath the wing and she fell to the earth. This feat was greatly admired by the spectators, and Meriones received as his prize ten double-bladed battle-axes. To Teucer, whose performance was also much applauded, a prize of ten single-bladed axes was given.
Thus did Achilles honor his dead friend by funeral rites and funeral games. But his wrath against Hector still continued, even when he had dragged the hero's body at his chariot wheels three times round the tomb of Patroclus. This cruel insult he repeated at dawn for several days. But Apollo watched the body.
Apollo, moved With pity for the hero, kept him free From soil or stain, though dead, and o'er him held The golden ægis, lest, when roughly dragged Along the ground, the body might be torn.
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXIV.
But at last the gods, with the exception of Juno, were moved to pity, and on the twelfth day from the death of the Trojan hero, Jupiter summoned Thetis to Olympus, and bade her command Achilles to restore Hector's body to his parents. He also sent Iris with a message to King Priam, telling him to go to the Greek fleet, bearing with him a suitable ransom for his son. Thetis promptly carried out the order of Jupiter. She told her son of the command of the king of heaven, and Achilles answered that since it was the will of Jove he was ready to obey.
"Let him who brings the ransom come and take The body, if it be the will of Jove."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXIV.
Joyfully the aged Priam received the message of Iris, and he made haste to set out for the Grecian camp. He took with him costly things as ransom,--ten talents of gold, and precious vases and goblets, and many beautiful robes of state. These were carried in a wagon drawn by four mules, which were driven by the herald Idæus. The king rode in his own chariot and he himself was the charioteer. As they crossed the plain they were met by the god Mercury, whom Jupiter had sent to conduct them safely to the tent of the Greek warrior.
"Haste, guide King Priam to the Grecian fleet, Yet so that none may see him, and no Greek Know of his coming, till he stand before Pelides."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXIV.
Mercury mounted the chariot of Priam, and taking in his hands the reins, he drove rapidly towards the ships. When they came to the trenches the god cast the guards into a deep slumber, and so the Trojan king and his companion reached the tent of the chief of the Myrmidons, unseen by any of the Greeks. Then Mercury departed, and ascended to Olympus.
Achilles received his visitors respectfully, and the aged king, kissing the hero's hand, knelt down before him and begged him have pity on a father mourning for his son.
"For his sake I come To the Greek fleet, and to redeem his corse I bring uncounted ransom. O, revere The gods, Achilles, and be merciful, Calling to mind thy father! happier he Than I; for I have borne what no man else That dwells on earth could bear,--have laid my lips Upon the hand of him who slew my son."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXIV.
The Greek chief, moved by this appeal, replied in kind words and accepted the ransom, after which he caused Priam and Idæus to sit down and refresh themselves with food and drink, and invited them to remain with him for the night. He also granted a truce of twelve days for funeral rites in honor of Hector.
Early in the morning the Trojan king and his herald arose, and Mercury again descended from Olympus to conduct them safely from the Grecian camp. Quickly they yoked their steeds, and mournfully they drove across the plain to the city. Cassandra, who stood watching on the citadel of Pergamus, saw them coming, and she cried out in a loud voice to the people, bidding them go and meet their dead hero.
"If e'er ye rush'd in crowds, with vast delight, To hail your hero glorious from the fight, Now meet him dead, and let your sorrows flow; Your common triumph, and your common woe."
POPE, _Iliad_, Book XXIV.
Amid the lamentations of the people the corpse was borne through the streets to the royal palace, where it was placed on a magnificent couch. Then Andromache and Queen Hecuba approached the body and wept aloud, each in turn uttering words of grief. Helen, too, came to mourn over Hector, and she spoke of his constant kindness and tenderness to her.
"O Hector, who wert dearest to my heart Of all my husband's brothers,--for the wife Am I of godlike Paris, him whose fleet Brought me to Troy,--would I had sooner died! And now the twentieth year is past since first I came a stranger from my native shore, Yet have I never heard from thee a word Of anger or reproach. And when the sons Of Priam, and his daughters, and the wives Of Priam's sons, in all their fair array, Taunted me grievously, or Hecuba Herself,--for Priam ever was to me A gracious father,--thou didst take my part With kindly admonitions, and restrain Their tongues with soft address and gentle words. Therefore my heart is grieved, and I bewail Thee and myself at once,--unhappy me! For now I have no friend in all wide Troy,-- None to be kind to me: they hate me all."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXIV.
With the funeral of Hector the Iliad of Homer ends. The poet's subject, as has been said, was the Wrath of Achilles, and the poem properly closes when the results of the hero's wrath have been related. The concluding lines of the twenty-fourth, and last, book of the Iliad describe the funeral ceremonies of Hector, which were the same as those performed by the Greeks in honor of Patroclus.
Nine days they toiled To bring the trunks of trees, and when the tenth Arose to light the abodes of men, they brought The corse of valiant Hector from the town With many tears, and laid it on the wood High up, and flung the fire to light the pile.
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XXIV.