"Let no man, too vain of horsemanship,
And trusting in his valor, dare advance
Beyond the rest to attack the men of Troy,
Nor let him fall behind the rest, to make
Our ranks the weaker. Whoso from his car
Can reach an enemy's, let him stand and strike
With his long spear, for 'tis the shrewder way."
Bryant, Iliad, Book IV.
VIII. THE FIRST GREAT BATTLE.
Design by Burne-Jones.
Nearly three books of the Iliad are occupied in telling about the battle that now followed, though it lasted only one day. But it was a fierce and mighty conflict in which many brave warriors fought and fell.
For that day
Saw many a Trojan slain, and many a Greek,
Stretched side by side upon the bloody field.