Seeing that she could not induce him to alter his purpose, his mother reminded him that his bright armor had been seized by the Trojans. She bade him therefore not go to battle until she should bring him new armor made by Vulcan, which she promised to do early next morning. Then she commanded the other nymphs to return to their ocean home, and she herself ascended to Olympus, to ask the god of smiths to forge glittering armor for her son.
Meantime the fight over the body of Patroclus still continued. The Greeks were now driven to their ships, and in danger of being totally defeated. Three times Hector seized the body by the feet, to drag it away, and three times the mighty Ajaxes forced him back. Still again he seized it, and this time he would have borne it away, had not Juno sent Iris down to Achilles to bid him hasten to the relief of his friends.
"But how," he asked, "can I go forth to the battle, since the enemy have my arms?" Iris answered:
"Go thou to the trench, and show thyself
To them of Troy, that, haply smit with fear,
They may desist from battle."
Bryant, Iliad, Book XVIII.
Then the goddess Minerva spread a golden cloud around the head of Achilles, and she kindled in it a bright flame that streamed upward to the sky. And the hero went out beyond the wall, and stood beside the trench, and he shouted in a voice loud as a trumpet sound,—a shout that carried dismay into the ranks of the Trojans.
The hearts of all who heard that brazen voice
Were troubled, and their steeds with flowing manes
Turned backward with the chariots,—such the dread
Of coming slaughter.
. . . . . . . .
Thrice o'er the trench Achilles shouted; thrice
The men of Troy and their renowned allies
Fell into wild disorder. Then there died,
Entangled midst the chariots, and transfixed
By their own spears, twelve of their bravest chiefs.
The Greeks bore off Patroclus from the field
With eager haste, and placed him on a bier,
And there the friends that loved him gathered round
Lamenting.
Bryant, Iliad, Book XVIII
So ended the long and terrible battle of the day, for Juno now commanded the sun to set. In obedience to the queen of heaven the god of light descended into the ocean streams, though unwillingly he did so, as it was earlier than the proper time for sunset.
The Trojan leaders, meanwhile, assembled in council on the plain to consider what preparations should be made for the battle of the morrow, in which, they knew, the terrible Achilles would take part. Po-lydʹa-mas, a prudent chief, proposed that they should withdraw into the city. There they might defend themselves from their ramparts, for even Achilles, with all his valor, would not be able to force his way through their strong walls. But Hector rejected this wise advice. He resolved to risk the chance of war in the open field, and let the god of battles decide who should win.