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most warlike, both the sons of Priam and 1.226 the Trojans, and the whole army being commanded by him, riding splendidly on a chariot, went out onto the plain. But the Greeks were astounded, seeing swords and terrible weapons and slings and square shields and many Ethiopians rushing against them, terrible and frightful. And the Trojans too, attacking with much shouting and leaping, themselves also killed very many of the Achaeans. But the leaders, not enduring the violence of the multitude, were retreating toward the ships, which the barbarians would have burned, if night, coming on, had not checked their charge. When night therefore had come, having cremated the bodies of the slain and having taken care of the wounded, as was fitting, the best of the Achaeans took counsel who would dare to strike against Memnon, since the others were occupied with other matters. Ajax, son of Telamon, is accordingly chosen by lot. And before the sun rose, having armed themselves, they went out, the Greeks first, and straightway also Memnon and all the soldiers under him. So some fought against others, but Ajax, with Achilles himself supporting him from behind, rushes against Memnon. But Memnon, dismounting from his chariot, tested Ajax with his spear. But Ajax, first turning aside his shield, attacked him heavily; and while all the Indians with him were attending to Ajax, casting his spear into the bared neck of Memnon, Achilles kills him beyond all expectation. And from there, for the barbarians, utter flight and slaughter and wailing, but for the Greeks, a war-cry and an undisputed and splendid victory, at which time also Polydamas, the most valiant 1.227 king of the Phoenicians, pierced in the groin by the spear of Ajax, falls. And an untold swarm of Ethiopians and barbarians dies there, so that the plain was filled with corpses, with the foot-soldiers being terribly trampled and killed by the horsemen. After this, with Achilles challenging the Trojans to battle, the leaders went forth, Paris and Deiphobus, sons of Priam, and their brothers Troilus and Lycaon, with the entire rest of the Trojan army; whom Achilles, having pursued with the Achaeans fighting beside him, took some alive, and drowned others in the Scamander river, and killed Troilus and Lycaon. After this arose the festival of offerings, bringing a truce from war, at which time, when all, Danaans and Trojans, were sacrificing in peace to Thymbraean Apollo, in the grove a short distance from the city, with Polyxena having gone out with her mother Hecuba to the temple, Achilles marvelled upon seeing her. But Priam, having seen Achilles, sends Idaeus to him in the grove, bearing words concerning Polyxena. The best of the Greeks, seeing him speaking privately with Achilles, and being alarmed, send Ajax and Diomedes and Odysseus, urging him not to yield to the barbarians, nor to entrust himself to the enemy. And they themselves waited outside the grove, awaiting Achilles, so as to instruct him in private. But he had promised Idaeus to take Polyxena in marriage; for which reason he also remained in the grove, deceiving them. And after a short while, Paris and Deiphobus arrived, supposedly summoning him about the wedding. But he, 1.228 suspecting no evil, standing in the temple of Apollo, received them. And Paris stood by the altar, confirming by an oath the things spoken between them both, and while Deiphobus was embracing Achilles and kissing him, he plunged the sword which he carried into his entrails; and while he was still holding him, Paris immediately inflicts a second blow upon him. And he, having become faint, falls. And they, leaving unsuspected through another part of the grove, when they were a short distance away, running with great speed, entered the city. But Odysseus and his companions, seeing them running, ran in and find Achilles lying blood-stained beside the altar. To whom Ajax said, "Was there a man able to kill you? No, only your own rashness destroyed you." To whom Achilles

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πολεμικωτάτου, οἵ τε Πριαμίδαι καὶ 1.226 Τρῶες, καὶ πᾶς ὁ στρατὸς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ διαταττόμενος ἐφ' ἅρματος λαμπρῶς ὀχουμένου εἰς τὸ δάπεδον ἐξῄεσαν. ἐξέστησαν δὲ Ἕλλη νες, ξίφη καὶ ὅπλα φοβερὰ καὶ σφενδόνας καὶ ἀσπίδας τετραγώ νους καὶ Αἰθίοπας πολλοὺς κατ' αὐτῶν ὁρῶντες ὁρμῶντας φοβεροὺς καὶ φρικτούς. καὶ οἱ Τρῶες δὲ σὺν βοῇ πολλῇ καὶ ἅλμασιν ἐπιτιθέμενοι πλείστους ἀνῄρουν καὶ αὐτοὶ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν. οἱ ἡγε μόνες δὲ τὴν βίαν τοῦ πλήθους οὐ φέροντες ὑπεχώρουν πρὸς τὰς ναῦς, ἃς καὶ αὐτὰς οἱ βάρβαροι κατέκαυσαν ἄν, εἰ μὴ νὺξ ἐπι οῦσα τὴν αὐτῶν κατέσχεν ὁρμήν. ἐπιγενομένης οὖν τῆς νυκτὸς τὰ τῶν ἀνῃρημένων τεφρώσαντες σώματα καὶ τῶν τραυματιῶν ἐπιμελησάμενοι, ὡς εἰκός, οἱ ἄριστοι τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἐβουλεύσαντο τίς ἂν τολμήσῃ κατὰ τοῦ Μέμνονος βαλεῖν, τῶν ἄλλων περὶ ἄλ λους ἀσχολουμένων. κληροῦται τοίνυν Αἴας ὁ Τελαμώνιος. καὶ πρὶν ἥλιον ἀνελθεῖν ὁπλισάμενοι ἐξῄεσαν, Ἕλληνες μὲν πρῶτοι, εὐθὺς δὲ καὶ ὁ Μέμνων καὶ πάντες οἱ ὑπ' αὐτὸν στρατιῶται. ἄλλοι μὲν οὖν πρὸς ἄλλους, ὁ Αἴας δὲ Ἀχιλλέως αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν ὄπι σθεν συνεπισχύοντος κατὰ τοῦ Μέμνονος ὁρμᾷ. Μέμνων δὲ τοῦ ἅρματος καταβὰς τῷ δόρατι ἐπείραζεν Αἴαντα. Αἴας δὲ πρῶτος τὴν αὐτοῦ ἀναστρέψας ἀσπίδα ἐπέθετο βαρέως αὐτῷ· πάντων δὲ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ Ἰνδῶν προσεχόντων τῷ Αἴαντι, τὸ δόρυ βαλὼν εἰς τὸν Μέμνονος τράχηλον γυμνωθέντα κτείνει τοῦτον ὑπὲρ ἐλπίδα πᾶσαν ὁ Ἀχιλλεύς. κἀντεῦθεν βαρβάρων μὲν κατὰ κράτος φυγὴ καὶ φόνος καὶ οἰμωγή, Ἑλλήνων δὲ ἀλαλαγμὸς καὶ νίκη ἀναμφή ριστος καὶ λαμπρά, ὅτε καὶ Πολυδάμας ὁ τῶν Φοινίκων ἀλκιμώ 1.227 τατος βασιλεὺς τῷ Αἴαντος δόρατι τὸν βουβῶνα κεντηθεὶς πίπτει. Αἰθιόπων τε καὶ βαρβάρων ἀμύθητος ἐσμὸς ἐκεῖ θνήσκει, ὡς πλησθῆναι τὸ δάπεδον νεκρῶν, ὑπὸ τῶν ἱππέων δεινῶς τῶν πεζῶν συμπατουμένων καὶ ἀναιρουμένων. μετὰ ταῦτα τοὺς Τρῶας Ἀχιλλέως εἰς πόλεμον προσκαλουμένου, ἄρχοντες ἐξῆλθον ὁ Πάρις καὶ ∆ηΐφοβος υἱοὶ Πριάμου, καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τούτου Τρωΐλος καὶ Λυκάων, σὺν τῷ λοιπῷ παντὶ τῶν Τρώων στρατῷ· οὓς Ἀχιλλεὺς μετὰ τῶν συνασπιζομένων αὐτῷ Ἀχαιῶν καταδιώξας τοὺς μὲν ζῶν τας εἷλε, τοὺς δὲ εἰς τὸν Σκάμανδρον ποταμὸν ἐναπέπνιξε, Τρωΐλον δὲ καὶ Λυκάονα ἀνεῖλε. μετὰ ταῦτα ἀνέστη ἡ τῶν ἀναθημάτων ἑορτή, ἀνοχὴν φέρουσα πολέμου, ὅτε δὴ πάντων ἐν εἰρήνῃ θυόν των τῷ Θυμβραίῳ Ἀπόλλωνι, ∆αναῶν καὶ Τρώων, ἐν τῷ ἀπὸ μικροῦ τῆς πόλεως ἄλσει, ἐξελθούσης Πολυξένης μετὰ τῆς μητρὸς Ἑκάβης εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν ὁ Ἀχιλλεὺς ταύτην ἐθαύμασεν ἰδών. ἑωρακὼς δὲ ὁ Πρίαμος τὸν Ἀχιλλέα, πέμπει τὸν Ἰδαῖον πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐν ἄλσει φέροντα λόγους περὶ Πολυξένης. τοῦτον ἰδιαζόντως ὁμι λοῦντα τῷ Ἀχιλλεῖ τῶν Ἑλλήνων οἱ ἄριστοι ἰδόντες, καὶ θορυβηθέντες, Αἴαντα καὶ ∆ιομήδην καὶ Ὀδυσσέα πέμπουσι, μὴ ἐπι διδόναι παρεγγυῶντες τοῖς βαρβάροις, μηδὲ πιστεύειν ἑαυτὸν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς. καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔμενον ἔξω τοῦ ἄλσους, ἐκδεχόμενοι τὸν Ἀχιλλέα, ὥστε κατ' ἰδίαν παραγγεῖλαι αὐτῷ. ὁ δ' ἦν ὑποσχό μενος τῷ Ἰδαίῳ πρὸς γάμον τὴν Πολυξένην λαβεῖν· διὸ καὶ προσέ μενεν ἐν τῷ ἄλσει ἀναπατῶν. μετὰ βραχὺ δὲ ὁ Πάρις καὶ ὁ ∆ηΐ φοβος ἧκον, παρακαλοῦντες αὐτὸν δῆθεν περὶ τοῦ γάμου. ὁ δὲ 1.228 φαῦλον μηδὲν ὑπονοῶν, ἐν τῷ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἑστὼς ἱερῷ κατεδέ ξατο αὐτούς. καὶ ὁ μὲν Πάρις ὅρκῳ τὰ μεταξὺ ἀμφοτέρων λεγό μενα βεβαιῶν παρὰ τὸν βωμὸν ἵστατο, περιπλεκομένου δὲ ∆ηϊφό βου τὸν Ἀχιλλέα καὶ καταφιλοῦντος ἐβάπτισεν ὃ ἐπεφέρετο ξίφος κατὰ τῶν αὐτοῦ σπλάγχνων· καὶ ἔτι κρατοῦντος αὐτοῦ δευτέραν εὐθὺς ὁ Πάρις ἐπάγει κατ' αὐτοῦ πληγήν. καὶ ὃς ἔκλυτος γεγο νὼς πίπτει. ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ἀνυπόπτως δι' ἄλλης τοῦ ἄλσους ἐξελθόν τες, ὡς μικρὸν ἀπεῖχον, δρόμῳ πολλῷ χρησάμενοι εἰσῆλθον εἰς τὴν πόλιν. οἱ περὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα δὲ ἰδόντες αὐτοὺς τρέχοντας, εἰσδραμόντες εὑρίσκουσι τὸν Ἀχιλλέα ᾑμαγμένον κείμενον παρὰ τὸν βωμόν. πρὸς ὃν ὁ Αἴας "ἆρ' ἦν ἄνθρωπος δυνάμενος κτεῖ ναί σε; ἀλλ' ἡ σὴ προπέτεια μόνη σε ἀπώλεσε." πρὸς ὃν ὁ Ἀχιλλεὺς