Then the son of Tydeus spake: "Old sir, thou sayest well; but this goeth to my heart, that Hector will say, 'Diomed fled before me, seeking the ships.' Then may the earth swallow me up!"

But Nestor made reply, "Though Hector call thee coward, yet will not the sons of Troy believe him, nor the daughters whose gallant husbands thou hast tumbled in the dust."

Then he turned his horses, and fled. But Hector cried after Diomed: "Art thou the man to whom the Greeks give high place in the feast, and plenteous cups of wine? Not so will they honour thee hereafter. Run, girl! run, coward! Shalt thou climb our walls, and carry away our daughters in thy ships?"

Then Diomed was very wroth, doubting whether to flee or to turn; but when he turned Zeus thundered from on high, making him afraid. And Hector bade the hosts of Troy be of good courage, for that Zeus was with them, and called to his horses: "Come, now, Bayard, and Whitefoot, and Flame of Fire, and Brilliant; forget not how the fair Andromache has cared for you; aye, even before me, who am her husband. Carry me fast, that I may win old Nestor's shield, which men say is all of gold, and strip from the shoulders of Diomed the breastplate which Hephæstus wrought."

So the Greeks fled headlong within the wall which they had built, Hector driving them before him, and all the space between the wall and the ships was crowded with chariots and with men. Then would Hector have burned the ships, had not Hera put it in the heart of King Agamemnon to urge the Greeks to battle. On the ship of Ulysses, that was midmost of all, he stood, so that he could shout to either end, to where Ajax the Greater on one side, and Achilles on the other, had drawn up their ships. And he cried aloud:—

"Shame on you, ye Greeks! Where are now your boasts that one man of you would outmatch five score, yea, ten score, of the sons of Troy? And now one single man is of more worth than you all! O Father Zeus, grant us that we may at least escape with our lives."

And Zeus hearkened to his prayer, and sent a sign from heaven, an eagle that held a kid in his claw; by the altar of Zeus did he drop it, and the Greeks, when they saw it, took heart, and leaped upon the men of Troy, and rejoiced again in the battle.

Foremost of all was Diomed. After him came the sons of Atreus, and either Ajax, and all the chiefs, and among them Teucer, who stood beneath the shield of Ajax son of Telamon, as he bent his bow. Ajax would lift his shield a little, and Teucer, peering out, would shoot a warrior in the throng. Then would he go back as a child to his mother, and Ajax would hide him beneath his shield. Eight warriors did he slay; and when Agamemnon saw him, he came near, and spake, saying: "Shoot on, Teucer, and be a light to thy people and to thy father Telamon. Surely when Zeus and Athene shall grant me the spoil of Troy, to thee, first after myself, will I give a goodly gift."

Teu'-cer. Tel'-a-mon.

Teucer made reply: "Eight shafts have I launched, and every shaft has been buried in a warrior's flesh; but that man I cannot strike."