Book V

for anxiously He feared mischance might overtake the king, To make the toils of their long warfare vain; And there he found the combatants prepared For battle, with their trusty spears in hand, And standing face to face. At once he took His stand beside the monarch of the Greeks. At sight of the two warriors side by side, All valiant as he was, Aeneas shunned The encounter. They, when they had drawn the dead Among the Grecian ranks, and to their friends Given up the hapless brothers, turned to take Their place among the foremost in the fight. Then, too, Pykemenes, a chief like Mars, And leader of the Paphlagonian host⁠— A valiant squadron armed with shields⁠—was slain. Atrides Menelaus, skilled to wield The javelin, gave his death-wound. He transfixed The shoulder at the collar-bone. Meanwhile Antilochus against his charioteer, Mydon, the brave son of Atymnias, hurled A stone that smote his elbow as he wheeled His firm-paced steeds in flight. He dropped the reins, Gleaming with ivory as they trailed in dust. Antilochus leaped forward, smiting him Upon the temples with his sword. He fell Gasping amidst the sand, his head immersed Up to his shoulders⁠—for the sand was deep⁠— And there remained till he was beaten down Before the horses’ hoofs. Antilochus, Lashing the horses, drave them to the Greeks.