I lag not idly at the ships; yet ne'er Have my eyes looked on coursers like to these. Of ægis-bearing Jove, ye both are dear." Then sage Ulysses answered: "Pride of Greece! Neleian Nestor, truly might a god Have given us nobler steeds than even these. 650 All power is with the gods. But these of which A spy whom, near our ships, we put to death,- 655 660 Went with him. When they reached the stately tent 665 Of Diomed, they led the coursers on To stalls where Diomed's fleet horses stood Champing the wholesome corn, and bound them there With halters neatly shaped. Ulysses placed Upon his galley's stern the bloody spoil 670 Of Dolon, to be made an offering To Pallas. Then, descending to the sea, They washed from knees and neck and thighs the grime And, having bathed and rubbed with fragrant oil 676 680 BOOK XI. OW did the Morning from her couch beside Now Renowned Tithonus rise, that she might bring The light to gods and men, when Jupiter To the swift galleys of the Grecian host Sent baleful Strife, who bore in hand aloft War's ensigns. On the huge black ship that brought She stood, where she might shout to either side, To Telamonian Ajax in his tents And to Achilles, who had ranged their ships At each extreme of the Achaian camp, And never yield. The battle now to them Seemed more to be desired than the return To their dear country in their roomy ships. Atrides called aloud, exhorting them To gird themselves for battle. Then he clad Himself in glittering brass. First to his thighs For, when he heard in Cyprus that the Greeks Were three bronze serpents stretching toward the neck, Sets in the clouds, a sign to men. He hung His sword, all glittering with its golden studs, 20 25 30 35 40 Of tawny bronze just in the midst, where glared A Gorgon's-head with angry eyes, round which Were sculptured Fear and Flight. Along its band Of silver twined a serpent wrought in bronze, With three heads springing from one neck and formed 45 A helmet rough with studs on every side, In hand two massive spears, brass-tipped and sharp, 50 Where Juno and Minerva made a sound At once arose, Ere yet the sun was up, a mighty din. The Trojans, on their side, in the mid-plain Drew 55 60 65 |