Hector

“Now when Hector reached the Scaean gates and the oak tree”

“So long as I fought the Achaeans Hector suffered not the battle range far from the city walls; he would come to the Scaean gates and to the oak tree, but no further.”

“Now when Hector reached the Scaean gates and the oak tree”

“When he had gone through the city and had reached the Scaean gates through which he would go out on to the plain”

“So long as I fought the Achaeans Hector suffered not the battle range far from the city walls; he would come to the Scaean gates and to the oak tree, but no further.”

“Hector was waiting with his horses inside the Scaean gates, in doubt whether to drive out again”

“But stern fate bade Hector stay where he was before Ilius and the Scaean gates”

“but Hector still stayed before the gates, for his heart was set upon doing battle with Achilles”

“Presently he reached the splendid palace of King Priam, adorned with colonnades of hewn stone”

“‘Woe is me, O Hector; woe, indeed, that to share a common lot we were born, you at Troy in the house of Priam”

“Here Hector entered, with a spear eleven cubits long in his hand; the bronze point gleamed in front of him, and was fastened to the shaft of the spear by a ring of gold”

“And Alexandrus answered, ‘Hector, your rebuke is just; listen therefore, and believe me when I tell you that I am not here so much through rancour or ill-will towards the Trojans, as from a desire to indulge my grief. My wife was even now gently urging me to battle, and I hold it better that I should go, for victory is ever fickle. Wait, then, while I put on my armour, or go first and I will follow.”

“let him make haste to overtake me before I am out of the city”

“When he had gone through the city and had reached the Scaean gates”

“the other to that of the Trojans, who rejoiced when they saw their hero come to them safe and unharmed from the strong hands of mighty Ajax. They led him, therefore, to the city as one that had been saved beyond their hopes”

“Down she went to strong Ilius from the crests of Ida, and found Hector son of Priam standing by his chariot and horses”

“‘Woe is me, O Hector; woe, indeed, that to share a common lot we were born, you at Troy in the house of Priam”

“Then Hector left her, and forthwith was at his own house”

“should Jove vouchsafe us to set the cup of our deliverance before ever-living gods of heaven in our own homes, when we have chased the Achaeans from Troy.”

“Hector was glad when he heard this saying, and went in among the Trojans, grasping his spear by the middle to hold them back, and they all sat down. Agamemnon also bade the Achaeans be seated. But Minerva and Apollo, in the likeness of vultures, perched on father Jove’s high oak tree, proud of their men; and the ranks sat close ranged together, bristling with shield and helmet and spear. As when the rising west wind furs the face of the sea and the waters grow dark beneath it, so sat the companies of Trojans and Achaeans upon the plain. And Hector spoke thus:—”

“he gave ground, and with his brawny hand seized a stone, rugged and huge, that was lying upon the plain”

“The Trojans, on the other side upon the rising slope of the plain, were gathered round great Hector, noble Polydamas, Aeneas who was honoured by the Trojans like an immortal, and the three sons of Antenor, Polybus, Agenor, and young Acamas beauteous as a god.”

“I greatly fear that Achilles has cut off the retreat of brave Hector and has chased him on to the plain where he was singlehanded”

“Go, then, and deliver your message; say that I will have no concern with fighting till Hector, son of noble Priam, reaches the tents of the Myrmidons in his murderous course, and flings fire upon their ships. For all his lust of battle, I take it he will be held in check when he is at my own tent and ship.”

“Achilles himself lifted it on to a bier, and he and his men then laid it on the waggon”

“Go, then, and deliver your message; say that I will have no concern with fighting till Hector, son of noble Priam, reaches the tents of the Myrmidons in his murderous course, and flings fire upon their ships.”

“he keeps Hector at the ships”

“Is my son still at the ships”

“he is still just lying at the tents by the ship of Achilles, and though it is now twelve days that he has lain there”

“Hector is still lying uncared for in your tents”

“Hector and the other councillors are now holding conference by the monument of great Ilus”

“Still the Trojans and brave Hector would not yet have broken down the gates and the great bar”

“Hector laid hold of a stone that lay just outside the gates”

“But Hector had not yet heard, and did not know that the Argives were making havoc of his men on the left wing of the battle, where the Achaeans ere long would have triumphed over them, so vigorously did Neptune cheer them on and help them. He therefore held on at the point where he had first forced his way through the gates and the wall, after breaking through the serried ranks of Danaan warriors.”

“But Hector had not yet heard, and did not know that the Argives were making havoc of his men on the left wing of the battle, where the Achaeans ere long would have triumphed over them, so vigorously did Neptune cheer them on and help them. He therefore held on at the point where he had first forced his way through the gates and the wall, after breaking through the serried ranks of Danaan warriors.”

“She told me I was to fall under the walls of Troy by the flying arrows of Apollo; would that Hector, the best man among the Trojans, might there slay me”

“even so Hector leaned his shield against a tower that jutted out from the wall and stood where he was, undaunted”

“Fear fell upon Hector as he beheld him, and he dared not stay longer where he was but fled in dismay from before the gates, while Achilles darted after him at his utmost speed. As a mountain falcon, swiftest of all birds, swoops down upon some cowering dove—the dove flies before him but the falcon with a shrill scream follows close after, resolved to have her—even so did Achilles make straight for Hector with all his might, while Hector fled under the Trojan wall as fast as his limbs could take him”

“On they flew along the waggon-road that ran hard by under the wall”

“my eyes behold a man who is dear to me being pursued round the walls of Troy; my heart is full of pity for Hector, who has burned the thigh-bones of many a heifer in my honour, one while on the crests of manyvalleyed Ida, and again on the citadel of Troy; and now I see noble Achilles in full pursuit of him round the city of Priam”

“On they flew along the waggon-road that ran hard by under the wall, past the lookout station, and past the weather-beaten wild fig-tree, till they came to two fair springs which feed the river Scamander. One of these two springs is warm, and steam rises from it as smoke from a burning fire, but the other even in summer is as cold as hail or snow, or the ice that forms on water”

“Then, at last, as they were nearing the fountains for the fourth time”

“On they flew along the waggon-road that ran hard by under the wall, past the lookout station, and past the weather-beaten wild fig-tree, till they came to two fair springs which feed the river Scamander. One of these two springs is warm”

“Then, at last, as they were nearing the fountains for the fourth time”

“Hector, who has burned the thigh-bones of many a heifer in my honour, one while on the crests of manyvalleyed Ida”

“There they made ready their supper, and then bethought them of the blessed boon of sleep; but Achilles still wept for thinking of his dear comrade, and sleep, before whom all things bow, could take no hold upon him. This way and that did he turn as he yearned after the might and manfulness of Patroclus; he thought of all they had done together, and all they had gone through both on the field of battle and on the waves of the weary sea. As he dwelt on these things he wept bitterly and lay now on his side, now on his back, and now face downwards, till at last he rose and went out as one distraught to wander upon the seashore. Then, when he saw dawn breaking over beach and sea, he yoked his horses to his chariot, and bound the body of Hector behind it that he might drag it about. Thrice did he drag it round the tomb of the son of Menoetius”

“whereas Achilles, now that he has slain noble Hector, drags him behind his chariot round the tomb of his comrade”

“At daybreak Achilles drags him cruelly round the sepulchre of his dear comrade”

“for when Achilles took any other of my sons, he would sell him beyond the seas, to Samos Imbrus or rugged Lemnos; and when he had slain you too with his sword, many a time did he drag you round the sepulchre of his comrade”

“When they came to the ford of eddying Xanthus, begotten of immortal Jove, Mercury went back to high Olympus, and dawn in robe of saffron began to break over all the land. Priam and Idaeus then drove on toward the city lamenting and making moan, and the mules drew the body of Hector”