"Nay, great Achilles," said Agamemnon, "thou shalt not cheat me thus. If the Greeks will give me such a share as I should have, well and good. But if not, I will take one for myself, whether it be from thee, or from Ajax, or from Ulysses; for my share I will have. But of this hereafter. Now let us see that this maiden be sent back. Let them get ready a ship, and put her therein, and with her a hundred victims for sacrifice, and let some chief go with the ship, and see that all things be rightly done."

A'-jax.

Then cried Achilles, and his face was black as a thunder-storm: "Surely thou art altogether shameless and greedy, and, in truth, an ill ruler of men. No quarrel have I with the Trojans. They never seized oxen or sheep of mine in my native land, for many mountains lie between, and a great breadth of roaring sea. But I have been fighting in thy cause, and that of thy brother. Naught carest thou for that. Thou leavest me to fight, and sittest in thy tent at ease. But when the spoil is divided, thine is always the lion's share. Small indeed is my part, and this, forsooth, thou wilt take away! Now am I resolved to go home. I have no mind to heap up goods and gold for thee, and be myself dishonoured."

And King Agamemnon answered: "Go, and thy Myrmidons with thee! I have other chieftains as good as thou art, and ready, as thou art not, to pay me due respect; and Zeus is with me. I hate thee, for thou always lovest war and strife. And as for the matter of the spoil, know that I will take thy share, the girl Briseis, and fetch her myself, if need be, that all may know that I am sovereign lord here in the host of the Greeks."

Myr-mi-dons, the soldiers of Achilles. Bri-se'-is.

Then Achilles was mad with anger, and he thought in his heart, "Shall I arise and slay him, or shall I keep down the wrath in my breast?" And as he thought he laid his hand on his sword-hilt, and had half drawn his sword from the scabbard, when lo! the goddess Athene stood behind him (for Hera, who loved both chieftains had sent her), and caught him by the long locks of his yellow hair. Achilles marvelled much to feel the mighty grasp, and turned, and looked, and knew the goddess, but no one else in the assembly could see her. Terrible was the flash of his eyes as he cried: "Art thou come, child of Zeus, to see the insolence of Agamemnon? Of a truth, I think that he will perish for his folly."

A-the'-ne.

But Athene said: "Nay, I am come from heaven to calm thy wrath, if thou wilt hear me; white-armed Hera sent me, for she loveth and cherisheth you both alike. Draw not thy sword; but use bitter words, even as thou wilt. Of a truth, I tell thee that for this insolence of to-day he will bring thee hereafter splendid gifts, threefold and fourfold for all that he may take away. Only restrain thyself and do my bidding."

Then Achilles answered: "I will abide by thy command in spite of my wrath, for the man who hearkens to the immortal gods is also heard by them." And as he spake he laid his heavy hand upon the hilt, and thrust back the sword into the scabbard, and Athene went her way to Olympus.

Then he turned him to King Agamemnon, and spake again, for his anger was not spent: "Drunkard, with the eyes of a dog and the heart of a deer! never fighting in the front of the battle, nor daring to lie in the ambush! This I tell thee, and confirm my words with a mighty oath—by this sceptre do I swear. Once it was the branch of a tree; and as surely as it shall never again have bark, or leaves, or shoots, so surely shall the Greeks one day miss Achilles, when they fall in heaps before the dreadful Hector; and thou shalt eat thy heart for rage, to think that thou hast wronged the bravest of thy host."