friend. He hurries to the tent of Achilles, and begs that he may be permitted to lead the Myrmidons to the aid of their hardly pressed countrymen. Achilles consents, endows Patroclus with his own armor, mounts him in his own chariot, charging him, however, to do nothing more than save the ships, and not to attempt to follow the Trojans into the open plain. The Trojans, seeing the well-known armor of Achilles, believe that he is heading the reinforcements advancing against them. They rush distractedly out of the intrenchments, up to the very gates of Troy, pursued by Patroclus, who has forgotten the parting injunction of Achilles. Here he is confronted by Apollo, who warns him back. Patroclus refusing to go, Apollo strikes him down, and despoils him of the armor of Achilles. Patroclus tries to make good his retreat; but the Trojan Euphorbus stabs him in the back, and Hector, coming up, runs his spear through his body. A fierce fight ensues over the body; but his comrades, locking shields, keep off the enemy, and bear the corpse toward the ships. In the meanwhile the charioteer of Patroclus puts whip to his horses, and carries to Achilles the tidings of the death of his friend. THE GRIEF OF ACHILLES FOR THE DEATH OF PATROCLUS. Grief darkened all his powers. With both his hands he rent The black mould from the forced earth, and poured it on his head, Smear'd all his lovely face; his weeds divinely fashioned, All filed and mangled; and himself he threw upon the shore ; Lay as laid out for funeral, then tumbled round and tore His gracious curls. His ecstasy he did so far extend, His lowering brow, great Hector sprang within; He called aloud to scale the lofty wall. They heard, and straight obeyed; some scaled the wall; Some through the strong-built gates continuous poured; While in confusion irretrievable Fled to their ships the panic-stricken Greeks. -Translation of LORD DERBY. The Neptune, who had been overlooking the fight from the wooded heights of Samothrace, hurries to the relief of his friends, the Grecians. Assuming the form of Calchas, the seer, he inspires them with fresh courage. Hector's course is stayed. The Locrian bowmen of Ajax, the son of Oileus, pour their arrow-flights into the Trojan masses. fight rages more furiously than ever. The foremost Grecian chiefs-Agamemnon, Ulysses, and Diomed-are disabled. The two Ajaxes, and Idomedus of Crete, barely maintain the conflict; but the Grecian intrenchments have been forced, and the fight is around the ships. If the Trojans succeed in burning these, all is lost. Neptune now heads the Grecians in his own proper form. The tide of battle is turned. Ajax, the son of Telamon, fells Hector to the earth with a huge rock, and he is with difficulty saved from death or capture, and borne senseless to his chariot, while the Trojans are pushed out of the Grecian intrenchments, the enemy in hot pursuit. Patroclus, the bosom-friend of Achilles, has been sitting in his tent watching over a wounded friend. He hurries to the tent of Achilles, and begs that he may be permitted to lead the Myrmidons to the aid of their hardly pressed countrymen. Achilles consents, endows Patroclus with his own armor, mounts him in his own chariot, charging him, however, to do nothing more than save the ships, and not to attempt to follow the Trojans into the open plain. The Trojans, seeing the well-known armor of Achilles, believe that he is heading the reinforcements advancing against them. They rush distractedly out of the intrenchments, up to the very gates of Troy, pursued by Patroclus, who has forgotten the parting injunc tion of Achilles. Here he is confronted by Apollo, who warns him back. Patroclus refusing to go, Apollo strikes him down, and despoils him of the armor of Achilles. Patroclus tries to make good his retreat; but the Trojan Euphorbus stabs him in the back, and Hector, coming up, runs his spear through his body. A fierce fight ensues over the body; but his comrades, locking shields, keep off the enemy, and bear the corpse toward the ships. In the meanwhile the charioteer of Patroclus puts whip to his horses, and carries to Achilles the tidings of the death of his friend. THE GRIEF OF ACHILLES FOR THE DEATH OF PATROCLUS. Grief darkened all his powers. With both his hands he rent The black mould from the forced earth, and poured it on his head, Smear'd all his lovely face; his weeds divinely fashioned, All filed and mangled; and himself he threw upon the shore; Lay as laid out for funeral, then tumbled round and tore His gracious curls. His ecstasy he did so far extend, That all the ladies won by him and his now slaughtered friend, Afflicted strangely for his plight, came shrieking from the tents, And fell about him, beat their breasts, their tender lineaments Dissolved with sorrow. And with them wept Nestor's warlike son, Fell by him, holding his fair hands, in fear he would have done His person violence; his heart extremely straitened, burn'd, Beat, swelled, and sigh'd as it would burst: so terribly he mourn'd, That Thetis, sitting in the deeps of her old father's seas, heard and lamented. -Translation of CHAPMAN. Vulcan forges new armor for Achilles, who mounts his chariot, and starts forth at the head of his eager Myrmidons. Zeus has now removed his prohibition, and given all the gods full permission to take part in the battle on whichever side they pleased. Juno, Neptune, Pallas, Mercury, and Vulcan join the Grecians; while Mars, Apollo, Venus, Latona, and Diana take part with the Trojans. Achilles urges his chariot through the Trojan ranks, driving many of the enemy before him into the shallows of the river Scamander. Leaping from his chariot he wades into the river, slaughtering everyone who comes in his way, save twelve Trojan youths, whom he holds as prisoners to be offered up on the funeral pyre of Patroclus. For the rest, mercy or respite is granted to no one. Lycaon, a young son of Priam, whom Achilles had before known, begs for his life; he is only a half-brother of Hector, and his brother, Polydorus, has just been slain-surely that was enough to satisfy the |