ACHILLES.
But securely done,
A little proudly, and great deal misprising
The knight oppos’d.
AENEAS.
If not Achilles, sir,
What is your name?
ACHILLES.
If not Achilles, nothing.
AENEAS.
Therefore Achilles. But whate’er, know this:
In the extremity of great and little
Valour and pride excel themselves in Hector;
The one almost as infinite as all,
The other blank as nothing. Weigh him well,
And that which looks like pride is courtesy.
This Ajax is half made of Hector’s blood;
In love whereof half Hector stays at home;
Half heart, half hand, half Hector comes to seek
This blended knight, half Trojan and half Greek.
ACHILLES.
A maiden battle then? O! I perceive you.
Re-enter Diomedes.
AGAMEMNON.
Here is Sir Diomed. Go, gentle knight,
Stand by our Ajax. As you and Lord Aeneas
Consent upon the order of their fight,
So be it; either to the uttermost,
Or else a breath. The combatants being kin
Half stints their strife before their strokes begin.
Ajax and Hector enter the lists.
ULYSSES.
They are oppos’d already.
AGAMEMNON.
What Trojan is that same that looks so heavy?