So spake the king, and with the cruel steel Cut the lambs’ throats, and laid them on the ground, Panting and powerless, for the dagger took Their lives away. Then over them they poured Wine from the chalice, drawn in golden cups, And prayed to the ever-living gods; and thus Were Trojans and Achaians heard to say:⁠—

“O Jupiter most mighty and august! Whoever first shall break these solemn oaths, So may their brains flow down upon the earth⁠— Theirs and their children’s⁠—like the wine we pour, And be their wives the wives of other men.”

Such was the people’s vow. Saturnian Jove Confirmed it not. Then Priam, of the line Of Dardanus, addressed the armies thus:⁠—