The fortune of battle now turned in favor of the men of Troy. Nine warrior princes of the Greeks were struck down, one after another, by the sword of Hector. The brave Diomede, wounded by an arrow from the bow of Paris, was obliged to retire to his tent. A spear hurled by the Trojan chief, Soʹcus, pierced the corselet of Ulysses, and wounded him in the side. But the Trojan did not long survive this exploit, for as he turned to flee, Ulysses sent a javelin through his body, felling him lifeless to the earth. A serious misfortune had almost happened to the Greeks at the hand of Paris, who shot a triple barbed arrow at the hero and physician, Machaon, wounding him in the shoulder. The life of the great son of Æsculapius being worth many men, Idomeneus cried to Nestor to come and take him away in his chariot.
"Haste, mount thy chariot; let Machaon take
A place beside thee; urge thy firm-paced steeds
Rapidly toward the fleet; a leech like him,
Who cuts the arrow from the wound and soothes
The pain with balms, is worth a host to us."
Bryant, Iliad, Book XI.
Many of their leaders being now disabled, the Greeks were driven from the field and forced to take refuge behind their fortifications. At the trench a terrible conflict took place. The Trojan warriors made efforts to pass it in their chariots, while the Greeks fought with desperate fury to force the invaders back. Many heroes on both sides were wounded and many slain.
The towers and battlements were steeped in blood
Of heroes,—Greeks and Trojans.
Bryant, Iliad, Book XII.
At last Hector took up a large stone and hurled it with tremendous force against one of the gates. It tore off the strong hinges, and shattered the massive beams, so mighty was the blow. Then through the wide opening the Trojan leader sprang into the Grecian camp, brandishing two spears in his hands, and calling on his men to follow. Promptly they obeyed. Some rushed in by the gateway, and some over the wall, while the terrified Greeks fled in disorder and dismay to their ships.
So far none of the gods had taken part in the battle. But Neptune now resolved to come to the rescue of the Greeks, having observed that Jupiter, though still seated in his sacred inclosure on Mount Ida, was no longer watching the conflict.
On Troy no more
He turned those glorious eyes, for now he deemed
That none of all the gods would seek to aid
Either the Greeks or Trojans in the strife.
Bryant, Iliad, Book XIII.