would he uplift His hands and pray the gods that from his limbs The parted soul might pass to the abode Of Pluto! Would to Father Jupiter And Pallas and Apollo that again I were as young as when the Pylian host And the Arcadians, mighty with the spear, Fought on the banks of rapid Celadon And near to Phaea and Iardan’s streams. There godlike Ereuthalion stood among Our foremost foes, and on his shoulders bore The armor of King Areïthoüs— The noble Areïthoüs, whom men And graceful women called the Mace-bearer; For not with bow he fought, nor ponderous lance, But broke the phalanxes with iron mace. Lycurgus slew him, but by stratagem, And not by strength; he from a narrow way, Where was no room to wield the iron mace, Through Areïthoüs thrust the spear: he fell Backward; the victor took his arms, which Mars The war-god gave, and which in after-time Lycurgus wore on many a battle-field. And when within his palace he grew old, He gave them to be worn by one he loved— To Ereuthalion, who attended him In battle, and who, wearing them, defied The bravest of our host. All trembled; all Held back in fear, nor dared encounter him. But me a daring trust in my own strength Impelled to meet him. I was youngest then Of all the chiefs; I fought, and Pallas gave The victory over him, and thus I slew The hugest and most strong of men; he lay Extended in vast bulk upon the ground. Would I were young as then, my frame unworn By years! And Hector of the beamy helm Should meet an adversary soon; but now No one of all the chieftains here, renowned To be the bravest of the Achaian race, Hastens to meet in arms the Trojan chief.”
Thus with upbraiding words the old man spake; And straight arose nine warriors from their seats. The first was Agamemnon, king of men; The second, brave Tydides Diomed; And then the chieftains Ajax, bold and strong; And then Idomeneus, with whom arose Meriones, his armor-bearer, great As Mars himself in battle. After them, Eurypylus, Evaemon’s valiant son, And Thoas, offspring of Androemon, rose, And the divine Ulysses—claiming all To encounter noble Hector in the lists. But then spake Nestor the Gerenian knight:—