The Iliad, Page 40

  "Idomeneus, captain of Cretans under arms--

  where have the threats all gone

  that sons of Achaea leveled at these Trojans?"

  The Cretan captain Idomeneus answered, "Thoas--

  no man's to blame now, so far as I can tell.

  Every one of us knows the ropes in war.

  No one here's in the grip of bloodless fear,

  collapsing in cowardice, ducking the grim assault.

  No, this is the pleasure of overweening Zeus, it seems--

  to kill the Achaeans here, our memory blotted out

  a world away from Argos. But you, Thoas,

  you who were always rock-steady in battle

  and braced the ones you saw go slack and flinch--

  don't quit now, Thoas, urge each man you find!"

  The god of earthquakes answered back, "Idomeneus--

  may that man, that coward never get home from Troy--

  let him linger here, ripping sport for the dogs,

  whoever shirks the fight while this day lasts.

  Quick, take up your gear and off we go.

  Shoulder-to-shoulder, swing to the work, we must--

  just two as we are--if we hope to make some headway.

  The worst cowards, banded together, have their power

  but you and I have got the skill to fight their best!"

  With that he strode away, a god in the wars of men.

  As soon as Idomeneus reached his well-built shelter

  he strapped his burnished armor round his body,

  grasped two spears and out he ran like a lightning bolt

  the Father grips and flings from brilliant Olympus,

  a dazzling sign to men--a blinding forked flash.

  So the bronze flared on his chest as out he rushed

  but his rough-and-ready aide-in-arms Meriones

  intercepted him just outside the tent ...

  He was on his way for a new bronze spear to use

  and staunch Idomeneus shouted out, "Meriones--

  racing son of Molus, brother-in-arms, old friend,

  why back from the lines, why leave the fight behind?

  Taken a wound, some spearhead sapped your strength?

  Or come with a word for me? Does someone need me?

  I have no mind to sit it out in the shelters--

  what I love is battle!"

  Never flustered,

  the cool-headed Meriones took his point:

  "Idomeneus, captain of Cretans under arms,

  I've come for a spear to fight with,

  if you still have one left inside your tents.

  I've just splintered the lance I used to carry,

  smashed it against his shield--swaggering Deiphobus."

  But the Cretan captain Idomeneus countered, "Spears?

  If it's spears you want, you'll find not one but twenty,

  all propped on my shelter's shining inner wall:

  Trojan weapons, stripped from the men I kill.

  It's not my way, I'd say, to fight at a distance,

  out of enemy range.

  So I take my plunder--spears, bossed shields,

  helmets and breastplates, gleaming, polished bright."

  "And so do I, by god!"--the cool Meriones blazed up

  in his own defense--"They crowd my ship and shelter,

  hoards of Trojan plunder, but out of reach just now.

  Though I never forgot my courage, I can tell you--

  not I, there at the front where we win glory,

  there I take my stand whenever a pitched battle

  rears its head. Another Achaean armed in bronze

  may well be blind to the way I fight. Not you--

  you are the one who knows me best, I'd say."

  And the Cretan captain Idomeneus answered warn.ly,

  "I know your style, your courage. No need for you to tell it.

  If we all formed up along the ships right now,

  our best men picked for an ambush--

  that's where you really spot a fighter's mettle,

  where the brave and craven always show their stripes.

  The skin of the coward changes color all the time,

  he can't get a grip on himself, he can't sit still,

  he squats and rocks, shifting his weight from foot to foot,

  his heart racing, pounding inside the fellow's ribs,

  his teeth chattering--he dreads some grisly death.

  But the skin of the brave soldier never blanches.

  He's all control. Tense but no great fear.

  The moment he joins his comrades packed in ambush

  he prays to wade in carnage, cut-and-thrust at once.

  Who could deny your nerve there, your fighting hands?

  Why, even if you were badly wounded in battle,

  winged by a shaft or gored by a blade close-up,

  the weapon would never hit you behind, in neck or back--

  it would pierce your chest or guts as you press forward,

  lusting for all the champions' lovely give-and-take.

  On with it! No more standing round like bragging boys--

  someone will dress us down, and roughly too.

  Off you go to my shelter. Choose a sturdy spear."

  Meriones a match for the rapid god of battles

  ran for the tent, seized a fine bronze lance

  and hot for action rushed to catch his captain.

  And he went on to war as grim as murderous Ares,

  his good son Panic stalking beside him, tough, fearless,

  striking terror in even the combat-hardened veteran, yes,

  both of them marching out of Thrace, geared to fight the Ephyri

  or Phlegians great with heart, but they turn deaf ears

  to the prayers of both sides at once, handing glory

  to either side they choose. So on they marched,

  Meriones and Idomeneus commanders of armies

  strode to battle helmed in gleaming bronze,

  Meriones first to ask, "Son of Deucalion,

  where do you say we join the fighting now?

  Right of the whole engagement, work the center

  or go at the left flank? That's the place, I think--

  nowhere else are the long-haired Argives so outfought."

  The Cretan captain Idomeneus answered quickly,

  "Plenty of others can shield the ships mid-line,

  the two Aeantes, Teucer the best Achaean archer,

  an expert too at fighting head-to-head.

  They'll give royal Hector his fill of blows,

  strong on attack, glutton for battle as he is.

  Berserk for blood, he'll find it uphill work

  to beat their valor down, matchless hands at war,

  and gut our ships with fire--unless almighty Zeus

  should fling a torch at the fast trim ships himself.

  When it comes to men, Great Ajax yields to no one,

  no mortal who eats Demeter's grain, I tell you,

  one you can break with bronze and volleyed rocks.

  Not even Achilles who smashes whole battalions--

  he would never yield to him in a stand-up fight

  though in downfield racing none can touch the man.

  So lead us on to the left flank-we'll soon see

  if we give our enemy glory or win it for ourselves."

  And quick as the god of war Meriones led the way

  till they reached the front his captain pointed out.

  When the Trojans saw Idomeneus fierce as fire,

  him and his aide-in-arms in handsome blazoned gear,

  they all cried out and charged them through the press

  and a sudden, pitched battle broke at the ships' stems.

  As gale-winds swirl and shatter under the shrilling gusts

  on days when drifts of dust lie piled thick on the roads

  and winds whip up the dirt in a dense whirling cloud--

  so the battle broke, sto
rming chaos, troops inflamed,

  slashing each other with bronze, carnage mounting,

  manslaughtering combat bristling with rangy spears,

  the honed lances brandished in hand and ripping flesh

  and the eyes dazzled now, blind with the glare of bronze,

  glittering helmets flashing, breastplates freshly burnished,

  shields fiery in sunlight, fighters plowing on in a mass.

  Only a veteran steeled at heart could watch that struggle

  and still thrill with joy and never feel the terror.

  The two powerful sons of Cronus, Zeus and Poseidon,

  their deathless spirits warring against each other,

  were building mortal pains for seasoned heroes.

  Zeus willing a Trojan victory, Hector's victory,

  lifting the famous runner Achilles' glory higher,

  but he had no lust to destroy the whole Argive force

  before the walls of Troy--all the Father wanted

  was glory for Thetis and Thetis' strong-willed son.

  But Poseidon surging in secret out of the gray surf

  went driving into the Argive ranks and lashed them on,

  agonized for the fighters beaten down by Trojans,

  and his churning outrage rose against great Zeus.

  Both were gods of the same line, a single father,

  but Zeus was the elder-born and Zeus knew more.

  And so Poseidon shrank from defending allies

  out in the open--all in secret, always

  armed like a man the god kept urging armies on.

  Both gods knotted the rope of strife and leveling war,

  strangling both sides at once by stretching the mighty cable,

  never broken, never slipped, that snapped the knees of thousands.

  And there, grizzled gray as he was, he spurred his men,

  Idomeneus ramping amidst the Trojans, striking panic.

  He finished Othryoneus, a man who'd lived in Cabesus,

  one who had just come at the rousing word of war

  and asked for Priam's loveliest daughter, Cassandra--

  with no bride-price offered--

  but Othryoneus promised a mighty work of battle:

  he would rout the unwilling Argives out of Troy.

  And old King Priam bent his head in assent,

  promised the man his daughter, so on he fought,

  trusting his life to oaths taken, promises struck--

  till Idomeneus took his life with a glinting spear,

  struck him coming on with his high, swaggering strides.

  His breastplate could not save him, the bronze he always wore,

  and the shaft pierced his bowels. He fell with a crash

  as Idomeneus boasted, shouting over him, "Bravo,

  Othryoneus, bravo to you beyond all men alive!

  If you can really keep your promise to Priam now,

  who promised his daughter--a true blood-wedding day!

  Look, we'll make you a promise--we'll keep it too.

  We'll hand you Agamemnon's loveliest daughter,

  lead her here from Argos, marry her off to you

  if you'll just help us raze the walls of Troy.

  Just step this way! So we can come to terms

  by the deep-sea ships and strike our marriage pact--

  you'll find our price for brides not quite so killing!"

  The hero seized his foot, dragging him through the rout.

  But Asius leapt down to defend his comrade, just ahead

  of his chariot-horses still held close by a driver,

  the team snorting, panting over his shoulders--

  Asius strained in fury to spear Idomeneus

  but the Cretan took him first.

  A spearhead punched his gullet under the chin

  and the bronze point went ripping through his nape

  and down the Trojan fell as an oak or white poplar falls

  or towering pine that shipwrights up on a mountain

  hew down with whetted axes for sturdy ship timber--

  so he stretched in front of his team and chariot,

  sprawled and roaring, clawing the bloody dust.

  His driver out of his mind, what mind he had,

  lost all nerve to wheel his horses round

  and give the slip to his enemy's deadly hands

  and staunch Antilochus speared him through the midriff.

  His breastplate could not save him, the bronze he always wore,

  and the lance impaled his guts--he gasped, convulsed

  and out of his well-made car the Trojan pitched--

  and as for his team, proud Nestor's son Antilochus

  drove them out of the Trojans into Argive lines.

  But raging in tears for Asius came Deiphobus

  charging against Idomeneus, heaving a flashing spear--

  but Idomeneus saw it coming, dodged the bronze point

  by crouching under his buckler's full round cover.

  He always carried it, layered with hide and ringed

  with gleaming bronze, fitted with double cross-stays

  under it low he hunched and the brazen spear flew past

  with a grating screech as the shaft grazed the shield.

  But Deiphobus' strong swift hurl was not for nothing,

  no, he caught Hypsenor, Hippasus' son the captain,

  struck him under the midriff, slit his liver

  and that instant the man's knees went limp.

  Deiphobus shouted, vaunting in wild glory,

  "Asius dies, but not without revenge!

  Down to the god of death he goes, I tell you,

  down to the mighty gates but thrilled at heart--

  look at the escort I have sent him for the journey!"

  The more he gloried, the more grief swept the Argives,

  brave Antilochus most, his battle-passion rising,

  stunned with pain but he would not fail Hypsenor.

  He ran to straddle and hide him with his shield

  as a brace of comrades shouldered up the fighter:

  Echius' son Mecisteus helping good Alastor

  bore him back to the hollow warships, groaning hard.

  But Idomeneus never slacked his fury, always struggling

  to plunge some Trojan soldier in deep shrouding night

  or fall himself, beating disaster off his lines.

  And here was a royal kill, the son of Aesyetes,

  the hero Alcathous, son-in-law to Anchises,

  wed to his eldest daughter, Hippodamia ...

  Her father and noble mother loved her dearly,

  the pride of their halls excelling all her age

  in beauty, works of the loom and good clear sense.

  So the bravest man in the broad realm of Troy

  took her hand in marriage, true, the very man

  Poseidon crushed at the hands of Idomeneus here,

  spellbinding his shining eyes, crippling his fine legs.

  He couldn't escape--no retreat, no dodging the stroke,

  like a pillar or tree crowned with leaves, rearing,

  standing there stock-still as the hero Idomeneus

  stabbed him square in the chest

  and split the bronze plate that cased his ribs,

  gear that had always kept destruction off his flesh

  but it cracked and rang out now, ripped by the spear.

  Down Alcathous crashed and the point stuck in his heart

  and the heart in its last throes jerked and shook the lance--

  the butt-end quivering into the air till suddenly

  rugged Ares snuffed its fury out, dead still.

  And Idomeneus shouted, vaunting in wild glory,

  "Now, Deiphobus, now shall we call it quits at last?

  Three men killed for the one you bragged about so much!

  Come here, you idiot--stand up to me yourself

  so you can see what cut of man I am. Look,

  a
son of Zeus come here to face you down.

  He first bore Minos, watch and ward of Crete,

  then Minos bore an illustrious son Deucalion, yes,

  and Deucalion fathered me to command a race of men

  through the length and breadth of Crete, and now our ships

  have borne me here to your shores to be your curse,

  a curse to your father, curse to the men of Troy!"

  So he taunted. Deiphobus' mind was torn--

  should he pull back and call a friend to his side,

  some hardy Trojan, or take the Argive on alone?

  As he thought it out, the first way seemed the best.

  He went for Aeneas, found him out on the flank

  and fringe of battle, standing idle, forever

  angered at Priam who always scrimped his honors,

  brave as Aeneas was among the Trojan fighters.

  Deiphobus reached him soon with winging words:

  "Aeneas, captain, counselor, how we need you now!

  Shield your sister's husband--if grief can touch your heart.

  Follow me, fight for Alcathous, your brother-in-law

  who reared you at home when you were just a boy.

  The famous spearman Idomeneus cut him down."

  Fighting words--

  that began to stir the rage inside Aeneas' chest

  and out for blood he charged Idomeneus now.

  But nothing could make him panic--no green boy,

  he stood his ground like a wild mountain boar,

  trusting his strength, standing up to a rout of men

  that scream and swoop against him off in a lonely copse,

  the ridge of his back bristling, his eyes flashing fire,

  he grinds his teeth, champing to beat back dogs and men.

  So Idomeneus, famous spearman, stood his ground,

  he never gave an inch with Aeneas charging in,

  quick to the rescue. Idomeneus called his comrades,

  glancing fast at Ascalaphus, Aphareus, Deipyrus,

  Meriones and Antilochus, both strong with the war cry--

  he called them closer, his winging orders flying:

  "Over here, my friends! I'm all alone, defend me!

  I fear Aeneas--terribly--coming on, top speed,

  bearing down on me now and filled with power,

  enormous power to take men down in battle.

  He's just in the first flush of youth, what's more,

  the greatest power of all. If we were the same age,

  I tell you, just as the same fury fills us both--

  at a single stroke he'd bear off glory now

  or I'd bear it off myself!"

  So the Cretan yelled

  and all his comrades came in a pack with one will,

  massing round him, bracing shields to shoulders.

  But across the lines Aeneas called his comrades,

  glancing fast at Deiphobus, Paris, brave Agenor,

  all the Trojan captains who backed Aeneas here,

  and fighters followed close behind like flocks

  that follow the lead ram, leaving the pastureland

  to drink at springs, and the shepherd's heart exults.

  So now the heart of Aeneas leapt inside his chest