Sarpedon spake; and Hector, all in arms, Stung by his words, and leaping from his car, Brandished his spears, and went among the hosts And rallied them to battle. Terrible The conflict that ensued. The men of Troy Made head against the Greeks: the Greeks stood firm, Nor ever thought of flight. As when the wind Strews chaff about the sacred threshing-floors While wheat is winnowed, and before the breeze The yellow Ceres separates the grain From its light husk, which gathers in white heaps⁠— Even so the Greeks were whitened o’er with dust Raised in that tumult by the horses’ hoofs And rising to the brazen firmament, As toward the fight the charioteers again Urged on their coursers. Yet the Greeks withstood The onset, and struck forward with strong arms. Meantime the furious Mars involved the field In darkness, to befriend the sons of Troy, And went through all the ranks, and well fulfilled The mandate which Apollo gave the god Who wields the golden falchion, bidding him Kindle the courage of the Trojan host Whene’er he saw the auxiliar of the Greeks,