And why do we possess Broad, beautiful enclosures, full of vines And wheat, beside the Xanthus? Then it well Becomes us, foremost in the Lycian ranks To stand against the foe, where’er the fight Is hottest; so our well-armed Lycian men Shall say, and truly: ‘Not ingloriously Our kings bear rule in Lycia, where they feast On fatlings of the flock, and drink choice wine; For they excel in valor, and they fight Among our foremost.’ O my friend, if we, Leaving this war, could flee from age and death, I should not here be fighting in the van, Nor would I send thee to the glorious war But now, since many are the modes of death Impending o’er us, which no man can hope To shun, let us press on and give renown To other men, or win it for ourselves!”
He spake; and Glaucus not unwillingly Heard and obeyed. Right on the warriors pressed, Leading the Lycian host. Menestheus, son Of Peteus, saw, and trembled; for they came With evil menace toward his tower. He looked Along the Grecian lines in hope to see Some chieftain there whose ready help might save His comrades from their danger. He beheld The rulers Ajax, never tired of war, Standing with Teucer, who just then had left His tent; and yet they could not hear his shout, So fearful was the din that rose to heaven From all the shields, and crested helms, and gates, Smitten with missiles—for at all the gates The Lycians thundered, struggling hard to break A passage through them. Then Menestheus called A herald near, and bade Thoötes bear A message to the leaders Ajax, thus:—
“Go, nobly born Thoötes, and in haste Call Ajax—call them both, for that were best— Since terrible will be the slaughter here, So fiercely are the Lycians pressing on, Impetuous ever in assault. If there The fight be also urgent, then at least Let the brave Telamonian Ajax come, And Teucer, the great archer, follow him.
He spake. The herald listened and obeyed, And flew along the summit of the wall Built by the Greeks. He reached, and stood beside, The chieftains Ajax, and addressed them thus:—