So spake the chief. Meriones, the peer Of Mars in swiftness, hastened till he joined The army where his comrade bade. The foe Beheld Idomeneus, who like a flame Swept on with his companion all in arms Gloriously wrought; they raised from rank to rank The battle-cry, and met him as he came, And hand to hand, before the galleys’ sterns Was waged the combat. As when storms arise, Blown up by piping winds, when dust lies loose Along the roads, a spreading cloud of dust Fills the wide air, so came the battle on Between the bands that struggled eagerly To slay each other. All along the line The murderous conflict bristled with long spears That tore the flesh; the brazen splendor, shot From gleaming helmets and from burnished mail And shining bucklers, all in narrow space Dazzled the eyes. Brave-hearted would he be, The man who, gazing on it, could have seen The furious strife rejoicing or unmoved.
Meantime the potent sons of Saturn each Favored a different side, and planned new toils For all the warriors, Jupiter had willed That Hector and the Trojans should prevail, Yet had he not decreed the Achaian host To perish before Troy; he only sought To honor Thetis and her large-souled son. But Neptune, mingling with the Greeks, aroused Their martial spirit. From the hoary deep He came unmarked, for deeply was he grieved To see the Greeks give way before the host Of Troy, and he was wroth with Jupiter. Both gods were of one race, and owed their birth To the same parents; but the elder-born Was Jupiter, and wiser. For that cause Not openly did Neptune aid the Greeks, But, as by stealth, disguised in human form, Moved through their army and encouraged them To combat. Thus it was the potent twain Each drew, with equal hand, the net of strife And fearful havoc, which no power could break Or loosen, stretched o’er both the warring hosts, And laying many a warrior low in death. And now, although his brows were strewn with gray. Idomeneus, encouraging the Greeks, Rushed on the Trojans, and revived the fight. He slew Orthryoneus, who just before, Drawn by the rumor of the war, had left Cabesus, and now made a lover’s suit For Priam’s fairest daughter. Without dower He sought to wed Cassandra,