10
BOOK SIXTEEN
Patroclus
Fights and Dies
S o they fought to the death around that benched beaked ship
as Patroclus reached Achilles, his great commander,
and wept warm tears like a dark spring running down
some desolate rock face, its shaded currents flowing.
And the brilliant runner Achilles saw him coming,
filled with pity and spoke out' winging words:
"Why in tears, Patroclus?
Like a girl. a baby running after her mother.
begging to be picked up, and she tugs her skirts,
h.olding her back as she tries to hurry off-all tears.
fawning up at her. tin she takes her in her arms ...
That's how you look, Patroclus. streaming live tears.
But why? Some news for the Myrmidons. news for me?
Some message from Phtbia that you alone have heard?
They tell me Menoetius. Actor's son, is still alive,
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and Peleus. Aeacus' son, lives on among his Myrmidonsif both our fathers had died. we'd have some cause for grief.
Or weeping over the Argives, are you? Seeing them die
against the hollow ships, repaid for their offenses?
Out with it now! Don't harbor it deep inside you.
We must share it all."
With a wrenching groan
you answered your friend, Patroclus 0 my rider:
"Achilles, son of Peleus. greatest of the Achaeans.
spare me your anger, please-such heavy blows have overwhelmed the troops.
Our former champions. all laid up in the ships,
all are hit by arrows or run through by spears.
There's powerful Diomedes brought down by an archer,
Odysseus wounded, and Agamemnon too, the famous spearman.
and Eurypylus took an arrow-shot in the thigh . ..
Healers are working over them, using all their drugs,
trying to bind the wounds-
But you are intractable, Achilles!
Pray god such anger never seizes me. such rage you nurse.
Cursed in your own courage! What good will a man,
even one in the next generation. get from you
_unless you defend the Argives from disaster?
You heart of iron! He was not your father.
the horseman Peleus-Thetis was not your mother.
Never. The salt gray sunless ocean gave you birth
and the towering blank rocks-your temper's so relentless.
But still, if down deep some prophecy makes you balk,
some doom your noble mother revealed to you from Zeus,
well and good: at least send me into battle. quickly.
Let the whole Myrmidon army follow my command1 inight bring some light of victory to our Argives!
And give me your own fine armor to buckle on my back.
so the Trojans might take ·me for you, Achilles. yes,
hold off from attack, and Achaea's fighting sons
get second wind, exhausted as they are ..
Breathing r.oom in war is all too brief.
We're fresh, unbroken. The enemy's
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we could roll ·those broken Trojans back to Troy.
dear of the ships and shelters!"
So he pleaded.
lost in his own great innocence ...
condemned to beg for his ow.p death and brutal doom.
And moved now to his depths. the famous runner cried.
"No. no. my prince, Patroclus. what are you saying?
Prophecies? None that touch me. None I know of.
No doom my n oble mother revealed to me from Zeus.
just this terrible pain that wounds me to the quick. when one man attempts to plunder a man his equal.
to commandeer a prize. exulting so in his own power.
That's the pain that wounds me. suffering such humiliation.
That girl-the sons of Achaea picked her as my prize.
and I'd sacked a walled dty. won her with my spear
but right from my grasp he tears her. mighty Agamemnon.
that son of Atreus! Treating me like some vagabond.
some outcast stripped of all my rights ...
Enough.
Let bygones be bygones now. Done is done.
How on earth can a man rage on forever?
Still. by god. I said I would not relax my anger.
not till the cries and carnage reached my own ships.
So you. you strap my splendid armor on your back.
you lead our battle-hungry Myrmidons into actionlif now. in fact, the black cloud of the Trojans
blasts down on the ships with full gale force.
our backs to the breaking surf but clinging still
to a cramped strip of land-the Argives. lost.
The whole city of Troy comes trampling down on us.
daring. wild-why? They cannot see the brow of my helmet
flash before their eyes-Oh they' d soon run for their lives
and choke the torrent-beds of the field with all their corpses
if only the mighty Agamemnon met me with respect:
now. as it is. they're fighting round our campi
No spear rages now in the hand of Diomedes.
keen to save the Argives from disaster . . .
I can't even hear the battle cry of Agamemnon
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break from his hated skull. But it's man-killing Hector
calling his Trojans on. his war cries crashing round me.
savage cries of his Trojans sweeping the whole plain.
victors bringing the Argive armies to their knees.
Even so. Patrodus. fight disaster off the ships.
fling yourself at the Trojans full forcebefore they gut our hulls With leaping fire
and tear away the beloved day of our return.
But take this command to heart-obey it to the end. ·
So you can win great honor. great g_lory for me
in the eyes.of all the Argive ranks, and they,
they'll send her back. my lithe and lovely girl.
top it off with troves of glitteling gifts.
Once you have whipped the enemy from the fleet
you must come back, Patrodus. Even if Zeus
the thundering lord of Hera lets you seize your glory.
you must not bum for war against these Trojans,
madmen lusting for battle-not without
you will only make my glory that much less .. .
You must not, lost in the flush and fire of triumph,
slaughtering Trojans outright, drive your troops to Troywhat if one of the gods who never die comes down
from Olympus heights to intervene in battle?
The deaclly Archer loves his Trojans dearly.
No, you must tum backsoon as you bring the light of victory to the shi1
Let the rest of them cut themselves to pieces on the plain!
Oh would to god-Father Zeus. Athena and lord Apollonot one of all these Trojans could flee his death, not one,
no Argive either. but we could stride from the slaughter
so we could bring Troy's hallowed crown of towers
toppling down around us-you and I alone!"
And so the comrades roused each other now.
But Ajax could hold his post on the decks no longer.
He was overwhelmed by the latest salvos. driven back
by the will of Zeus and the fearless Trojan spearmen
hurling blows nonstop-a terrific din at. his temples.
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his shining helmet dashing under repeated blows,
relentless blows beating his forged cheek-irons.
And the joint of his left shoulder ached with labor,
forever bracing his huge burnished shield rock-steady,
but they could not wrench it loose from round his body
for all their pelting weapons. Again and again
he fought for breath, gasping, bathed in sweat
rivering down hi-s body, his limbs soaked and sleek ...
where could he find some breathing room in battle?
Wherev.er he looked, pains heaped on pains.
Sing to me now,
you Muses, you who hold Olympus' vaulting halls,
how fire was first pitched on Achaea's ships!
Hector lunged at Ajax toe-to-toe,
hacked his ash-wood pike with a heavy sword
and striking the socket just behind the point
he slashed the head dean off, leaving the shaft,
the lopped stump dangling in Ajax' fist, useless,
bronze head bounding away, clanging along the ground.
And deep in his hean brave Ajax knew and shudderedhere was work of the gods, thundering Zeus on high,
cutting him off from battle, dashing all his plans,
Zeus, determined to grant the Trojans triumph now.
So Ajax drew back, out of range, and thenthey flung their tireless fire at a fast trim ship.
She was up in flames at once, engulfed in quenchless fire,
in a flash the blaze went swirling round the stem
and Achilles slapped his thighs and urged Patrodus;
"To arms-Patroclus, prince and master horseman!
I can see the blaze go roaring up the ships.
They must not destroy them. No escape-route then.
Quick, strap on my gear-1'11 rouse the troops·::
That was all,
and Patroclus armed himself in Achilles' gleaming bronze.
First he wrapped his legs with the well-made greaves,
fastened behind the heels with silver ankle-clasps,
next he strapped the breastplate round his chest,
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blazoned with stars-swift Achilles' ownthen over his shoulder Patroclus slung the sword,
the fine bronze blade with its silver-studded hilt,
and then the shield-sLrap and the sturdy, massive shield
and over his powerful head he set the well-forged helmet,
the horsehair crest atop it tossing, bristling terror.
and he took two rugged spears that fit his grip.
And Achilles' only weapon Patroclus did not take
was the great man's spear, weighted, heavy, tough.
No other Achaean fighter could heft that shaft,
only Achilles had the skill to wield it well:
Pelian ash it was, a gift to his father Peleus
presented by Chiron once, hewn on Pelion's crest
to be the death of heroes.
Now the war-team.
Patrodus ordered Automedon to yoke them quicklya man he honored next w Achilles breaker of men,
always firmest in battle, nerved to wait the call.
So at his command Automedon yoked the horses,
'the rapid stallions Roan Beauty and Dapple,
the team that raced the gales, magnificent team
the storm-wind filly Lightfoot foaled for the West Wind,
grazing the lush green grass along the Ocean's tides.
And into the traces he ran the purebred Bold DancerAchilles seized him once when he stormed Eetion's city,
a mona! war-horse pacing immortal horses now.
Prince Achilles, ranging his ranks of Myrmidons
arrayed them along the shelters, all in armor.
Hungry as wolves that rend and bolt raw flesh,
hearts filled with battle-frenzy that never diesoff on the cliffs, ripping apart some big antlered stag
they gorge on the kill till all their jaws drip red with blood,
then down in a pack they lope to a pooling, dark spring,
their lean sharp tongues lappi.ng the water's surface,
belching bloody meat, but the fury, never shaken,
builds inside their chests though their glutted bellies burstso wild the Myrmidon captains, Myrmidon field commanders
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nor would Achilles pour the wine to any other god.
none but Fath er Zeus. Lifting it from the chest
he purified it with sulphur crystals first
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then rinsed it out with water running dear.
washed his hands and filled it bright with wine.
And then. taking a stand before his lodge. he prayed.
pouring the wine to earth and scanning the high skies
and the god who loves the lightning never missed a word:
"King Zeus- Pelasgian Zeus. lord of Dodona's holy shrine.
dwelling far away. brooding over Dodona's bitter winters!
Your prophets dwelling round you, Zeus. the Selli
sleeping along the ground with unwashed feet ...
If you honored me last- time and heard my prayer
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and rained destruction down on all Achaea's ranks,
now. once more. I beg you, bring my prayer LO pass!
1 myself hold out on shore with the beached ships here
but 1 send my comrade fonh to war with troops of MymtidonsLaunch glory along with him. high lord of thunder. Zeus!
Fill his hean with courage-so even Hector learns
if Patroclus has the skill to fight his wars alone,
my friend-in-arms. or his hands can rage unvanquished
only when I go wading in and face the grind of battle.
But once he repels the roaring onslaught from the ships
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let him come back to me and our fast fleet- unharmedwith all my armor round him, all our comrades
fighti ng round my friend! "
So Achilles prayed
and Zeus in all his wisdom heard those prayers.
One prayer the Father granted, the other he denied:
Patroclus would drive the onslaught off the shipsthat much Zeus granted, true,
but denied him safe and sound return from battle.
Once Achilles had poured the wine and prayed to Zeus.
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he returned to his shelter. stowed the cup in the chest
then took his stand outside, his spirit yearning still
to watch Achaeans and Trojans struggle to the death.
Myrmidons,
battalions ranged in armor with greathearted Patroclus,
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moving out now, the fury bursting inside them,
suddenl y charged the Trojansthey swarmed forth like wasps from a roadside nest
when boys have made it their spon to set them seething,
day after day tormenting them round their wayside hive·idiot boys! they make a menace for every man in sight.
Any innocent traveler passing them on that road
can stir them accidentally-up in arms in a nash,
all in a swarm come pouring. each one raging down
to fight for home and children-
Such frenzy seized their heans.
Mymtidons pouring out of the ships, ceaseless shouts rising
and over them all Patroclus' war cries rousing comrades:
"Myrmidons! Brothers-in-arms of Peleus' son Achilles!
Fight like men. my friends. call up your battle-fury!
Now we must win high honor for Peleus' royal son.
far the greatest fighter among the Argive fleet,
and we who fight beside him the bravest troopsso even mighty Atrides can see how mad he was
to disgrace Achilles, the best of the Achaeans!"
He dosed with a shout and fired each fighter's hean
and down in a mass they launched against the Trojans.
ships, around them echoing back their shattering cries.
The Trojans, soon as they saw
gallant son,
himself and his loyal driver flare in brazen gearall their courage quaked, their columns buckled,
thinking swift Achilles had tossed to the winds
his hard rage that held him back by the ships
and chosen friendship toward the Argives now.
Each Trojan soldier glancing left and righthow could he run from sudden, plunging death?
Patroclus was first to hurl his glinting spear,
right at the center mass-the fighters milling
round the stern of Protesilaus' blazing shipand hit Pyraechmes. firebrand who led the Paeonians,
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the master riders from Amydon, from Aldus'
currents.
Patroclus slashed his right shoulder and down he went,
his back slamming the dust with a jolting groan
as companions panicked round him-brave PaeoniansPatroclus whipped the terror in all their hearts
when he killed the chief who topped them all in battle.
He rode them off the ships. he quenched the leaping fire,
leaving Protesilaus' hulk half-burnt but upright still
and the Trojans scattered baclc with high. shriU cries.
The Argives poured against them, back by the hollow hulls.
the din of battle incessantan Argive breakthroughbright as the moment Zeus the lord of lightning moves
from a craggy mountain ridge a storm cloud massing dense
and all the lookout peaks stand out and the jutting cliffs
and the steep ravines and down from the high heavens bursts
· the boundless bright air ... So now the Argives
drove the ravening fire clear of the warships,
winning a little breathing room, not much,
no real halt to the buck-and-rush of battle.
For despite the surge of the Argives primed for war
the Trojans were still not wheeling round in headlong rout
away from the black hulls. Forced back from them. true,
they braced for battle still. and made a stand.
Deadlock:
there man killed man in the pell-mell dash of battle,
captains going at captains. Brave Patrodus firstjust as Areilycus swerved in sudden flight
he gored him in the hip with a slashing spear
and the bronze lancehead hammered through his flesh,
the shaft splintering bone as he pitched face-first.
pounding the groundAnd veteran Menelaus wounded Thoas,
raking his chest where the shield-rim left it bare,
and loosed his limbsAnd Amphiclus went for Meges
but Meges saw him coming and got in first by far,
spearing him up. the thigh where it joins the body.
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BOOK 16 : . PATROCLUS FIGHTS ANI> DIES
the spot where a man's muscle bunches thickest:
the tough sinews shredded around the weapon's point
as the dark swirled down his eyesNestor's sons on attack!
Antilochus struck Atymnius hard with a whetted spear.
the bronze ripping into his flank and clean throughhe crashed at his feetBut Maris charged Antilochus,
sweeping in with his lance, enraged for his brother.
planted himself before his corpse but Thrasymedes.
quick as a· god, beat him to it-he
before Maris stabbed-no miss! right in ·the shoulder,
the Argive's spearpoint cracked through the bony socket,
shearing away the tendons, wrenched the whole arm out
and down he thundered. darkness blanked his eyes.
So these two brothers. laid low by the two brothers,
dropped to the world of night: Sarpedon's stalwart cohorts,
spearmen sons of Amisodarus-he who bred the Chimaera,
the grim monster that
so many men to death.
Oilean Ajax rushed Cleobulus,
took him alive, stumbling blind in the rout
but took his life at once, snapped his strength
to the hilt
with a sword that hewed his
so the whole blade ran hot with blood. and red death
came flooding down his eyes, and the strong force of fate.
And now in a breakneck charge Peneleos dosed with Lyconthey'd missed each other with spears, two wasted casts,
so now both clashed with swords. Lycon. flailing,
chopped the hom of Peneleos' horsehair-crested helmet
but round the socket the sword-blade smashed to bitsjust as Peneleos hacked his neck below the ear
and the blade sank clean through, nothing held
but a flap of skin. the head swung loose to the side
as Lycon slumped down to the ground ...
at a dead run Meriones ran down Acamas, Acamas
mounting behind his team, and gouged his right shoulderhe pitched from the car and the mist whirled down his eyes.
Idomeneus skewered Erymas straight through the mouth,
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the merciless brazen spearpoint raking through,
up under the brain to split his glistening skullteeth shattered out, both eyes brimmed to the lids
with a gush of blood and both nostrils spurting,
mouth gaping, blowing convulsive sprays of blood
and death's dark cloud closed down around his corpse.
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So in a rush each Argive captain killed his man.
As ravenous wolves come swooping down on lambs or kids
to snatch them away from right amidst their flock- all lost
when a careless shepherd leaves them straggling down the hills
and quickly spoiling a chance the wolf pack picks them off,
no heart for the fight-so the Achaeans mauled the Trojans.
Shrieking flight the one thing on the Trojans' minds,
they forgot their fighting-fury ...
Great Ajax now-forever aiming at Hector,
trying to strike his helmet flashing bronze
but Hector was far too seasoned, combat-tested.
broad shoulders hunching under his bull's-hide shield.
his eyes peeled for a whistling shaft or thudding spear.
Hector knew full well the tide of battle had turned
but still stood firm, defending die-hard comrades.
Wild as a storm cloud moving off Olympus into heaven
out of a clear blue sky when Zeus brings cyclones onso wild the rout, the cries that came from the ships
as back through the trench they ran, formations wrecked.
And Hector? Hector's speeding horses swept him away,
armor and aiL leaving his men to face their fate,
Trojans trapped but struggling on in the deep trench.
Hundreds of plunging war-teams dragging chariots down,
snapping the yoke-poles, ditched their masters' cars
and Patroclus charged them, heart afire for the kill,
shouting his Argives forward-"Slaughter Trojans!"
Cries of terror breaking as Trojans choked all roads.
their Jines ripped to pieces, up from under the hoofs
a dust storm swirling into the clouds as rearing horses
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broke into stride again and galloped back to Troy,
leaving ships and shelters in their wake. Patrocluswherever he saw the biggest masses dashing before him,
there he steered, plowing ahead with savage cries
and fighters tumbled out of their chariots headfirst,
crushed under their axles, war-cars crashing over, yes, .
but straight across the trench went his own careering team
at a superhuman bound. Magnificent racing stallions,
gifts of the gods tO Peleus, shining immonal gifts.
straining breakneck on as Patroclus' high courage
urged him against Prince Hector. keen for the kill
but Hector's veering horses swept him clear.
And all in an onrush dark as autumn days
when the whole eanh flanens black beneath a gale,
when Zeus flings down his pelting, punishing rainsup in arms, furious, storming against those men
who brawl in the courts and render crooked judgments,
men who throw all rights to the winds with no regard
for the vengeful eyes of the gods-so all their rivers
crest into flood spate, ravines overflowing cut the hilltops
off into lonely islands, the roaring flood tide rolling down
to the storm-torn sea, headlong down from the foothills
washes away the good plowed work of men-
in
Rampaging so.
the gasping Trojan war-teams hurtled on.
Patroclussoon as the fighter cut their front battalions off
he swerved back to pin them against the warships,
never letting the Trojans stream back up to Troy
as they struggled madly on-but there mid-field
between the ships, the river and beetling wall
Patroclus kept on sweeping in, hacking them down,
making them pay the price for Argives slaughtered.
There, Pronous first to fail-a glint of the spear
and Patroclus tore his chest left bare by the shield-rim,
loosed his knees and the man went crashing down.
And next he went for Thestor the son of Enops
cowering, crouched
his fine polished chariot,
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crazed with fear, and the reins flew from his gripPatroclus rising beside him stabbed his right jawbone,
ramming the spearhead square between his teeth so hard
he hooked him by that spearhead over the chariot-rail,
hoisted, dragged the Trojan out as an angler perched
on a jutting rock ledge drags some fish from the sea,
some noble catch, with line and glittering bronze hook.
So with the spear Patrodus gaffed him off his car,
his mouth gaping round the glittering point
and flipped him down facefirst,
dead as he fell, his life breath blown away.
·And next he caught Erylaus closing, lunging inhe flung a rock and it struck between his eyes
and the man's whole skull split in his heavy helmet,
down the Trojan slammed on the ground, .head-down
and courage-shattering Death engulfed his corpse.
Then in a blur of kills, Amphoterus. Eryrnas. Epaltes.
Tlepolemus son of Damastor. and Echius and Pyris.
lpheus and Euippus and Polymelus the son of Argeashe crowded corpse on corpse on the earth that rears us alL
But now Sarpedon, watching his comrades drop and die,
war-shirts. billowing free as Patrodus killed them,
dressed his godlike Lycians down with a harsh shout:
"Lycians, where's your pride? Where are you running?
Now be fast to attack! I'll take him on myself,
see who he is who routs us, wreaking havoc against uscutting the legs from under squads of good brave men."
With that he leapt from his chariot fully armed
and hit the ground and Patroclus straight across,
as soon as he saw him, leapt from his car too.
As a pair of crook-clawed, hook-beaked vultures
swoop to fight. screaming above some jagged rockso with their battle cries they rushed each other there.
And Zeus the son of Cronus with Cronus' twisting ways.
filling with pity now to see the two great fighters.
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said to Hera, his sister and his wit , "My cruel fate ...
my Sarpedon, the man· I love the most, my own sondoomed to die at the hands of Menoetius' son Patrodus.
My heart is tom in two as I try to weigh aU this.
ShaH I pluck him up, now, while he's still alive
and set him down in the rich green land of Lyda,
far from the war at Troy and all its tears?
Or beat him down at Patroclus' hands at last?"
But Queen Hera, her eyes wide, protested strongly:
"Dread majesty, son of Cronus-what are you saying?
A man, a mere morral, his dpom sealed ·long ago?
You'd set him free from all the pains of death?
Do as you please, Zeus ...
but none of the deathless gods will ever praise you . .
I tell you this- take it to heart, I urge youIf you send Sarpedon home, living stilL beware!
surely some other god .will want to sweep
h1s own son clear of the heavy fighting too.
Look down. Many who battle round King Priam's
mighty walls are sons of the deathless godS:you will inspire lethal anger in them all.
·
No,
dear as he is to you. and your heart grieves for him,
leave Sarpedon there tq die in the brutal onslaught,
beaten down at the hands of Menoetius' son Patroclus
But once his soul and the life force have left him,
send Death to carry him home, send soothing Sleep,
all the way till they reach the broad land of Lyda.
his brothers and countrymen will bury the prince
With full royal rites, with mounded tomb and pillar.
These are the solemn honors owed the dead."
So she pressed
and Zeus the father of men and gods complied at once.
But he showered tears of blood that drenched the earth
showers in praise of him, his own dear son,
'
the man Patrodus was just about to kill
on Troy's fertile soil, fat from his fatherland.
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Now as the two came closing on each other
Patroclus suddenly picked off Thrasymelus
the famous driver, the aide who flanked Sarpedonhe speared him down the guts and loosed his limbs.
But Sarpedon hurled next with a flashing lance
and missed his man but he hit the horse Bold Dancer,
stabbing his right shoulder and down the stallion went,
screaming his life out, shrieking down in the dust
as his life breath winged away. And the paired horses
reared apan-a raspy creak of the yoke, the reins flying ,
fouled as the trace horse thrashed the dust in death-throes.
But the fine spearman Automedon found a cure for thatdrawing his long sharp sword from his sturdy thigh
he leapt with a stroke to cut the trace horse free-it worked. The team righted, pulled at the reins
and again both fighters closed with savage frenzy,
dueling now to the death.
Again Sarpedon missedover Patroclus' left shoulder his spearhead streaked,
it never touched his body. Patroclus hurled next,
the· bronze launched from his hand-no miss, a monal hit.
He struck him right where the midriff packs the pounding hean
and down Sa rpedon fell as an oak or white poplar falls
or towering pine that shipwrights up on a mountain
hew down with whetted axes for sturdy ship timberso he stretched in front of his team and chariot,
sprawled and roaring, clawing the bloody dust. ·
As the bull a marauding lion cuts from the herd,
tawny and greatheaned among the shambling cattle,
dies bellowing under the lion's killing jawsso now Sarpedon, captain of Lycia's shieldsmen,
died at Patroclus' hands and died raging stilL
crying ou t his beloved comrade's name: "Glaucusoh dear friend, dear fighter, soldier's soldier!
Now is the time to prove yourself a spearman,
a daring man of war- now, if you are brave,
make grueling battle your one consuming passion.
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First find Lycia's captains, range the ranks,
spur them to fi ght and shield Sarpedon's body.
Then you, Glaucus, you fight. for me with bronze!
You'll hang your head in shame--every day of your lifeif the Argives strip my armor here at the anchored ships
where I have gone down fighting. Hold on, full force-spur all our men to battle!"
Death cut him shon.
The end closed in around him, swirling down his eyes,
choking off his breath. Patroclus planted a heel
· against his chest, wrenched the spear from his wound
and the midriff came out with it-so he dragged out both
the man's life breath and the weapon's point together.
Close by, the Myrmidons clung to the panting stallions
straining to bolt away, free of their masters' chariot.
But grief came over Glaucus, hearing his comrade's call.
His hean was racing-what could he do to help him?
Wounded himself. he gripped his right arm hard,
aching where Teucer's arrow had hit him squarely,
assaulting the Argive wall, when Teucer saved his men.
Glaucus cried a prayer to the distant deadly Archer:
" Hear me, Lord Apollo! Wherever you are nowin Lyda's rich green country or here in Troy,
wherever on earth, you can hear a man in pain,
you have that power, and pain comes on me now.
Look at this ugly woundmy whole arm rings with the stabbing pangs,
the blood won't clot, my shoulder's a dead weight.
I can't take up my spear, can't hold it steadyno wading into enemy ranks to fight it out ...
and our bravest man is dead, Sarpedon, Zeus's sondid Zeus stand by him? Not even his own son!
I beg you, Apollo, heal this throbbing wound,
lull the pain now, lend me power in battleso I can rally our Lycians, drive them into war
and fight to save my comrade's corpse myself."
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So Glaucus prayed and Apollo heard his prayer.
He stopped the pains at once, stanched the dark blood
in his throbbing wound and filled his hean with courage.
And Glaucus sensed it all and the man glowed with joy
that the mighty god had heard his prayer so quickly.
First he hurried to spur his Lydan captains on.
ranging his own ranks, to fight around Sarpedon.
then he ran for the Trojan lines with long strides.
He found Polydamas, Panthous· son. and Prince Agenor
and reaching Aeneas and Heaor helmed in bronze,
shoulder-to-shoulder let his challenge fly:
" Heaor, you've wiped your allies from your mind!
And all for you, Heaor, far from their loved ones,
far from native land they bleed their lives away.
But you won't lift a hand to fight beside them.
There lies Sarpedon, lord of Lycia's shieldsmen,
who defended his realm with just decrees and powerAres has cut him down with Patrodus' brazen spear.
Quick, my friends. stand by him! Cringe with shame
at the thought they'll strip his gear and maim his corpsethese Myrmidons. seething for all the Argive troops we killed.
we speared to death against their fast trim ships!"
Hard grief came sweeping over the Trojans' headsunbearable, irrepressible. He was their dry's bastion.
always, even though he came from foreign pans,
and a mass of allies marched at his command
but he excelled them all in battle. always.
So now they went at the Argives. out for blood,
and furious for Sarpedon Hector swung them round.
But the Argives surged to Patroclus' savage spirithe spurred the Aeantes first. both ablaze for battle:
" Ajax, Ajax! Come-now thrill to fight as before.
brave among the brave, but now be braver still!
Their captain's down. the first to storm our wall.
the great Sarpedon. If only we could seize his body,
mutilate him, shame him, tear his gear from his back
and any comrade of his who tries to shield his corpse-
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BOOK 16:
PATROCLUS FIGHTS AND DIES
bring that enemy down with ruthless bronze!"
Urging so
but his men already burned to drive the Trojans off.
And both armies now, pulling their lines tighter,
Trojans and Lydans. Myrmidons and Achaeans
closed around the corpse to lunge in battJeterrible war cries, stark clashing of armored men.
And across the onslaught Zeus swept murderous night
to make the pltched battle over his own dear son
a brutal, blinding struggle.
Here at the first assault
the Trojans shouJdered back the fiery-eyed Achaean.sa Myrmidon had been hit, and not their least man,
dauntJess Agades' son. renowned Epigeus ...
He ruled Budion's fonress town in the old days
but then. having killed some highborn cousin, fled
to Peleus and glistening Thetis, begged for his own life
and they sent him off with Achilles. breaker of men,
east to stallion-country to fight and die in Troy.
He had just grasped the corpse
when shining Heaor smashed his head with a rock
and his whole skull split in his massive helmetdown he slammed on Sarpedon's body. facefirst
and courage-shattering Death engulfed his corpse:
Grief for his dead companion seized Patroclus now.
he tore through frontline fighters swift as a hawk
diving to scatter crows and fear-struck starlings-straight at the Lydans, Patroclus 0 my rider.
straight at the pressing Trojan ranks you swooped.
enraged at your comrade's death! and struck Sthenelaus.
Ithaemenes' favorite son-a big rock to the neck
snapped the tendons strung to the skuU's base.
So the front gave ground and flashing Hector too,
though only as far as a long slim spear can fly
when a man tests his hurling strength in the games
or in war when enemy fighters close to crush his lifeso far the Trojans gave as the Argives drove them back.
·But Glaucus was first. lord of Lyda's shieldsmen now,
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the first to tum and he killed the gallant Bathycles,
Chalcon's prize son who had made his home in Hellas,
excelling the Myrmidons aU in wealth and fortune.
Now, just as the man was about to catch Glaucus
Glaucus suddenly spun and struck, he stabbed his chest.
ripped him down with a crash. A heavy blow to the Argives,
one of the brave ones down. A great joy to the Trojans,
massing packs of them swarming round the corpse
but Achaean forces never slacked their drive,
their juggernaut fury bore them breakneck on.
And there-Meriones kiJled a Trojan captain,
Laogonus, daring son of Onetor, priest of Zeus,
Idaean Zeus. and his land revered him like a godMeriones gouged him under the jaw.and ear, his spirit
flew from his limbs and the hateful darkness gripped him.
Just then Aeneas hurled his brazen spear at Meriones,
hoping to hit the man as he charged behind his shield
But he eyed Aeneas straight on, he dodged the bronze,
ducking down with a quick lunge, and behind his back
the heavy ·spearshaft plunged and stuck in the earth,
the butt end quivering into the air tilJ suddenly
rugged Ares snuffed its fury out. dead still.
The weapon shaking, planted fast in the ground,
his whole arm's power poured in a wasted shot,
Aeneas flared in anger, shouting out, " Merionesgreat dancer as you are, my spear would have stopped
your dancing days for good if only 1 had hit you!"
The hardy spearman Meriones shot back, "Aeneasgreat man of war as you are, you'll
it hard
to quench the fire of every man who fights you.
You too are made of m ortal stuff, I'd say. And I.
if I'd lanced your guts with bronze-strong as you are
and cocksure of your hands-you'd give me glory now,
you'd give your life to the famous horseman Death!"
But Patroclus nerved for battle dressed him down:
" Meriones, brave as you are, why bluster on this way?
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PATRO C LUS FIGHTS AND DIES
Trust me, my friend, you'll never force "the Trojans
back from this corpse with a few stinging tauntsEarth will bury many a man before that. Comethe proof of battle is action, proof of words, debate.
No time for speeches now, it's time to fight."
Breaking off, he led the way as Meriones followed,
staunch as a god. And loud as the roar goes up
when men cut timber deep in the mountain glades
and the pounding din of axes echoes miles awayso the pound and thud of blows came rising up
from the broad earth, from the trampled paths of war
and the bronze shields and tough plied hides struck hard
as the swords and two-edged spearheads stabbed against them.
Not even a hawk-eyed scout could still make out Sarpedon,
the man's magnificent body covered over head to toe,
buried under a mass of weapons, blood and dust.
But they still kept swarming round and round the corpse
like flies in a sheepfold buzzing over the brimming pails
in the first spring days when the buckets flood with milk.
So veteran troops kept swarming round that corpse,
never pausing-nor did mighty Zeus for a moment
turn his shining eyes from the clash of battle.
He kept them fixed on the struggling mass forever,
the Father's spirit churning, thrashing out the ways,
the numberless ways to cause Patrodus' slaughter ...
To kill him too In this present bloody rampage
over Sarpedon's splendid body? Hector in glory
cutting Patroclus down with hacking bronze
then tearing the handsome war-gear off his back?
·Or let him take still more, piling up his kills?
As Zeus turned things over, that way seemed the best:
the valiant friend-in-arms of Peleus' son Achilles
would drive the Trojans and Hector helmed in bronze
back to Troy once more, kilJing them by platoonsand Zeus began with Hector, he made the man a coward.
Hector leaping back in his chariot, swerving to fly,
shouted out fresh orders-"Retreat, Trojans, now!"
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He knew that Ze.u s had tipped the scales against him.
A rout-not even the die-har
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