By Jupiter. Thou thinkest in thy heart That thou shalt make our ships thy spoil; but we Have also our strong arms to drive thee back, And far more soon the populous town of Troy, Captured and sacked, shall fall by Grecian hands. And now I warn thee that the hour is near When, fleeing, thou shalt pray to Father Jove And all the immortals, that thy long-maned steeds, Bearing thee townward mid a cloud of dust Along the plain, may be more swift than hawks.”
As thus he spake, an eagle, to the right, High in the middle heaven, flew over him, And, gladdened by the omen, all the Greeks Shouted; but then illustrious Hector spake:—
“Babbler and boaster, what wild words are these? O Ajax! Would that I were but as sure To be the child of aegis-bearing Jove, Brought forth by Juno the august, and held In honor everywhere like that which crowns Apollo and Minerva, as I know That to the Greeks this very day will bring Destruction, and that thou shalt also lie Slain with the others, if thou dare abide The stroke of my long spear, which yet shall tear Thy dainty flesh, and thou, with thy full limbs, Shalt be the feast of Trojan dogs and birds, Unburied by the galleys of the Greeks.”