Then did Achilles make answer:
‘Hateful to me as are the gates of death, O great Odysseus, is the man who hideth in his heart one thing and sayeth another. So will I speak to thee as seemeth me best. Hard have I laboured, fiercely have I fought for Agamemnon, yet what is my gain after it all? Hateful to me are the gifts of Agamemnon. Wealth and power can be mine without aid from him, yet know I well, for my mother, Thetis the silver-footed, hath told me, that death swiftly draweth nigh. Let the Greeks seek help elsewhere, for fierce is my anger, and no help shall ye gain from me.’
Then said Ajax:
‘Let us go hence, Odysseus. Our embassy is vain. Yet evil though the news we carry with speed must we bear it back to the Greek host. Merciless art thou, Achilles! Anger hath made thee set at naught thy comrades’ love and the love of thine own dear land.’
And to Ajax did Achilles make answer:
‘Take ye, then, my message, brave Ajax! Tell Agamemnon that until the day that the men of Troy come even to my ships and my huts and smirch them with fire, no finger will I raise for Greece. But on that day, then, surely, will the power of the Trojans be stayed.’
Then did Odysseus and Ajax and the others return in sorrow to the host of the Greeks, and gave to them the message of Achilles.
In silence did the warriors listen.
Then said Diomedes:
‘Achilles, then, must bide his time. When his heart is aroused again within him, he will fight. But let us now take meat and drink and sleep, and when rosy-fingered Dawn doth come, strength shall be ours for the battle, and with courage shall we fight for the cause of Agamemnon our king!’