Book XII

Before them, and must fall by their black ships. Then all the other Trojans, and the allies From foreign shores, obeyed the counsel given By good Polydamas; but Asius, son Of Hyrtacus, and prince of men, chose not To leave his chariot and his charioteer, But drave with them against the roomy ships. Vain youth!⁠—he was not destined to return, Borne by his steeds and chariot, from the fleet, And from the fate he braved, to wind-swept Troy. His evil fate o’ertook him from the spear Of great Idomeneus, Deucalion’s son; For toward the galleys moored upon the left He hastened by the way in which the Greeks, With steeds and cars, retreated from the plain. Thither he drave his coursers; there he found The gates not closed, nor the long bar across, But warriors held them open to receive In safety their companions as they fled From battle to the fleet. Exultingly He turned his coursers thither, and his men Followed him, shouting; for they thought the Greeks Could not abide their onset, but must yield, And perish by their ships. Deluded men!⁠— They met two mighty warriors at the gate⁠— The brave descendants of the Lapithae, That warlike tribe: Pirithoüs’ gallant son Was one, named Polypoetes; with him stood Leonteus, strong as Mars the slayer of men. By the tall gates they stood, as giant oaks Stand on the mountains and abide the wind And the tempestuous rains of all the year, Firm-planted on their strong and spreading roots. So they, confiding in their strength of arm, Waited for mighty Asius hasting on, And fled not. Onward came the hostile troop, With their tough shields uplifted, and with shouts: All rushing toward the massive wall they came, Following King Asius, and Iamenus, Orestes, Thoön, Acamas the son Of Asius, and Oenomaüs. Meanwhile Leonteus and his comrade had retired Within, encouraging the well-armed Greeks To combat for the fleet; but when they saw The rout and panic of their flying host, They darted forth and fought before the gates⁠— Fought like wild boars that in the mountains meet A clamorous troop of men and dogs, and dart Sideway at their assailants, break the trees Close to the root, and fiercely gnash their tusks, Until some javelin strikes them, and they die. So on the breasts of the two