and there Was eminent among her chiefs, and dwelt With Priam, and was honored as his son. The son of Telamon beneath the ear Pierced him with his long javelin, and drew forth The weapon. Headlong to the earth he fell. As on a mountain height, descried from far, Hewn by a brazen axe, an ash is felled And lays its tender sprays upon the ground, Thus Imbrius fell, and round him in his fall Clashed his bright armor. Teucer sprang in haste To spoil the dead, but Hector hurled at him His shining spear; the wary Teucer stepped Aside, and just escaped the brazen blade. It struck Amphiniachus, Cteatus’ son, And Actor’s grandson; as he came to join The battle, he was smitten in the breast, And fell, his armor clashing round his limbs. Then Hector flew in haste to tear away From the large-souled Amphimachus the helm That cased his temples. Ajax saw, and hurled His glittering spear at Hector as he came: It made no wound; for Hector stood equipped All o’er in formidable brass. The spear Struck on the bossy shield with such a shock As forced him to recoil, and leave unspoiled The bodies, which the Achaians dragged away. For Stichius and Menestheus, chief among The Athenians, bore the dead Amphimachus To the Greek camp, while the two men of might, The chieftains Ajax, lifted Imbrius up; And as two lions, bearing off among The close-grown shrubs a goat, which they have snatched From sharp-toothed dogs, uplift it in their jaws Above the ground, so the two warriors raised The corpse of Imbrius, and stripped off the mail, While, angered that Amphilochus was slain, Oileus’ son struck from the tender neck The head, and sent it far among the crowd, Whirled like a ball, to fall at Hector’s feet.
Meantime was Neptune moved with grief to see His grandson perish in that desperate fray, And passed among the Achaian tents and ships Encouraging the men, and planning woes For Ilium. There he met Idomeneus, Expert to wield the spear, as he returned From caring for a comrade who had left The battle, wounded in the knee, and whom His friends had carried in. Idomeneus Had called the surgeons to his aid, and now Was hastening to the field, intent to bear His part in battle. Him the