The Story of Troy Part 16

_Painting by Regnault._]

The Greek fleet was soon out of danger, for Patroclus and his Myrmidons, having furiously attacked the Trojans, quickly drove them away from the burning vessel and put out the fire. Having thus saved the s.h.i.+ps, the Myrmidonian warriors, aided by the other Greeks, then drove the Trojans with great slaughter from the camp into the plain, and on towards the walls of the city.

In that scattered conflict of the chiefs Each Argive slew a warrior.

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVI.

Even the mighty Hector was not able to stop the flight of the panic-stricken Trojans, who seemed for the moment to have lost all their courage, so great was their fear at the name of Achilles. The hero Sarpedon at the head of his brave Lycians attempted to turn back the onset of the Myrmidons, and he sought out their leader to engage him in single combat. Both warriors sprang from their chariots at the same moment, and rushed at each other, hurling their spears. Twice Sarpedon missed his foe, but one of the weapons killed Pedasus, the horse of "mortal stock." The leader of the Myrmidons cast his javelin with truer aim, for it pierced the Lycian chief right in the breast, and the hero fell like a tall pine tree falling in the forest at the last blow of the woodman's ax.

Then a fierce conflict took place over the body, the Greeks seeking to obtain possession of the warrior's armor, which they did after many on both sides had been slain in the struggle. The body itself was sent by Apollo, at Jupiter's command, to Lycia, that the hero's kinsmen there might perform funeral rites in his honor.

In robes of heaven He clothed him, giving him to Sleep and Death, Twin brothers, and swift bearers of the dead, And they, with speed conveying it, laid down The corpse in Lycia's broad and opulent realm.

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVI.

Jupiter thus honored Sarpedon because the hero was his own son. He would have saved him from the spear of Patroclus, but the Fates had decreed that Sarpedon should die in the battle, and the decrees of the Fates were not to be set aside even by Jove himself.

Patroclus, too, was doomed to fall in the conflict of the day, and the moment was now at hand. Forgetting the warning Achilles had given him, he pursued the Trojans up to the very gates of the city. Then he attempted to scale the wall, but he was driven back by Apollo, who spoke to him in threatening voice, saying that not by him should Troy be taken, nor by his chief, though mightier far than he. Hastily Patroclus withdrew from the walls, fearing the wrath of the archer G.o.d, but he continued to deal death among the Trojans as they came within reach of his weapons.

At last Hector, urged by Apollo, rushed forward in his chariot to encounter Patroclus. The Myrmidon leader lifted a large stone, and flung it with all his force at the Trojan chief as he approached. It missed Hector, but killed Ce-bri'o-nes, his charioteer, and while they fought over the body, each helped by brave comrades, many more on both sides were laid in the dust. Again the archer G.o.d interfered, this time coming unseen behind Patroclus, and striking him with his open palm between the shoulders. The hero staggered under the blow, his huge spear was shattered in his hands, and his s.h.i.+eld dropped to the ground. Then Eu-phor'bus, a Dardanian chief, hurried forward, and with his lance wounded him in the back. Thus disarmed and almost overpowered, Patroclus turned to seek refuge in the ranks of his friends. As he was retreating, Hector rushed upon him, and thrusting a spear deep into his body, gave the brave warrior his death wound.

The hero fell With clas.h.i.+ng mail, and all the Greeks beheld His fall with grief.

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVI.

Then there was a long and terrific fight around the corpse of the fallen champion. The description of it occupies a whole book of the Iliad. The armor Patroclus wore was, as we have seen, the rich armor of Achilles, and the Trojans were eager to get possession of it. They wished also to get possession of the hero's body, that his friends might not have the satisfaction of performing the usual funeral rites in his honor.

Menelaus was the first to stand guard over the body, and Euphorbus was the first to fall in the fight. Hector had gone in pursuit of the charioteer, Automedon, thinking to slay him, and capture the immortal horses of Achilles. But Apollo warned him against the attempt.

"Hector, thou art pursuing what thy feet Will never overtake, the steeds which draw The chariot of Achilles. Hard it were For mortal man to tame them or to guide, Save for Achilles, G.o.ddess-born. Meanwhile Hath warlike Menelaus, Atreus' son, Guarding the slain Patroclus, overthrown Euphorbus, bravest of the Trojan host."

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVII.

Hearing these words Hector hastened back to where the corpse of the Greek hero was lying. When Menelaus saw him approaching, he withdrew, and hurried off to seek help, for he feared to encounter the terrible Trojan leader. Then Hector stripped Patroclus of the splendid armor of Achilles, and he was about dragging away the body, but just at that moment Ajax rushed up. Hector now retreated, leaping into his chariot and giving the glittering armor to his friends to be carried away to Troy.

For thus fleeing from the fight the Trojan chief was severely rebuked by Glau'cus, a Lycian warrior, who had been the comrade of the brave Sarpedon. Glaucus wished to get the body of Patroclus so that with it he might ransom Sarpedon's armor from the Greeks. Hector answered Glaucus, saying that he feared not the battle's fury, as he would presently show.

Then he put on the armor of Achilles and he called to the Trojans to follow him, promising a rich reward to the warrior who should carry off the body for which they were going to fight.

"To him who from the field will drag and bring The slain Patroclus to the Trojan knights, Compelling Ajax to give way,--to him I yield up half the spoil; the other half I keep, and let his glory equal mine."

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVII.

With Hector at their head the Trojans now rushed forward. Ajax, seeing them advance, bade Menelaus summon the other Greek warriors to help in defending the body of their countryman. Quickly they were called and quickly they came. Then hand to hand and sword to sword both armies fought, and the battle raged furiously round the corpse of Patroclus.

They of Ilium strove To drag it to the city, they of Greece, To bear it to the fleet.

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVII.

At last Menelaus and a brother warrior lifted up the body and bore it away towards the trench. The Trojans followed, but the two Ajaxes turned around and, facing the pursuers, fought with heroic bravery to hold them back.

Thus, in hot pursuit And close array, the Trojans following strook With swords and two-edged spears; but when the twain Turned and stood firm to meet them, every cheek Grew pale, and not a single Trojan dared Draw near the Greeks to combat for the corse.

Thus rapidly they bore away the dead Toward their good galleys from the battlefield.

Onward with them the furious battle swept.

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVII.

Meanwhile Antilochus, the son of Nestor, was sent from the field to carry to Achilles the sad news of the death of Patroclus. The chief was just then sitting near his s.h.i.+ps thinking over the event which he feared had already happened, for the shouts of the Greeks as they fled from the plain pursued by the Trojans, had reached his ears. Upon learning the tidings brought by Antilochus, the hero burst into a fit of grief, tearing his hair, throwing himself on the earth, and uttering loud lamentations. His G.o.ddess mother, Thetis, in her father's palace beneath the waves, heard his cries. She hastened up, attended by a number of sea nymphs, and, embracing her son, inquired the cause of his grief.

Achilles told her of the death of his dear friend, and then said:

"No wish Have I to live or to concern myself In men's affairs, save this: that Hector first, Pierced by my spear, shall yield his life, and pay The debt of vengeance for Patroclus slain."

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVIII.

The weeping mother, wis.h.i.+ng to save her son, told him of the fate which had decreed that his own death should soon follow that of Hector.

"Ah then, I see thee dying, see thee dead!

When Hector falls, thou diest."

POPE, _Iliad_, Book XVIII.

But the warning of Thetis was in vain. "Let my death come," said he, "when the G.o.ds will it. I shall have revenge on Hector, by whose hand my friend has been slain."

Seeing that she could not induce him to alter his purpose, his mother reminded him that his bright armor had been seized by the Trojans. She bade him therefore not go to battle until she should bring him new armor made by Vulcan, which she promised to do early next morning. Then she commanded the other nymphs to return to their ocean home, and she herself ascended to Olympus, to ask the G.o.d of smiths to forge glittering armor for her son.

Meantime the fight over the body of Patroclus still continued. The Greeks were now driven to their s.h.i.+ps, and in danger of being totally defeated. Three times Hector seized the body by the feet, to drag it away, and three times the mighty Ajaxes forced him back. Still again he seized it, and this time he would have borne it away, had not Juno sent Iris down to Achilles to bid him hasten to the relief of his friends.

"But how," he asked, "can I go forth to the battle, since the enemy have my arms?" Iris answered:

"Go thou to the trench, and show thyself To them of Troy, that, haply smit with fear, They may desist from battle."

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVIII.

Then the G.o.ddess Minerva spread a golden cloud around the head of Achilles, and she kindled in it a bright flame that streamed upward to the sky. And the hero went out beyond the wall, and stood beside the trench, and he shouted in a voice loud as a trumpet sound,--a shout that carried dismay into the ranks of the Trojans.

The hearts of all who heard that brazen voice Were troubled, and their steeds with flowing manes Turned backward with the chariots,--such the dread Of coming slaughter.

Thrice o'er the trench Achilles shouted; thrice The men of Troy and their renowned allies Fell into wild disorder. Then there died, Entangled midst the chariots, and transfixed By their own spears, twelve of their bravest chiefs.

The Greeks bore off Patroclus from the field With eager haste, and placed him on a bier, And there the friends that loved him gathered round Lamenting.

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book XVIII

So ended the long and terrible battle of the day, for Juno now commanded the sun to set. In obedience to the queen of heaven the G.o.d of light descended into the ocean streams, though unwillingly he did so, as it was earlier than the proper time for sunset.

The Trojan leaders, meanwhile, a.s.sembled in council on the plain to consider what preparations should be made for the battle of the morrow, in which, they knew, the terrible Achilles would take part.

Po-lyd'a-mas, a prudent chief, proposed that they should withdraw into the city. There they might defend themselves from their ramparts, for even Achilles, with all his valor, would not be able to force his way through their strong walls. But Hector rejected this wise advice. He resolved to risk the chance of war in the open field, and let the G.o.d of battles decide who should win.

"Soon as the morn the purple orient warms, Fierce on yon navy will we pour our arms.

If great Achilles rise in all his might, His be the danger: I shall stand the fight.

Honor, ye G.o.ds! or let me gain or give; And live he glorious, whosoe'er shall live!"