And then the royal Agamemnon said:— “Since at our ships, beneath their very sterns, The combat rages; since the wall we built Avails not, nor the trench, at which the Greeks Labored and suffered, hoping it might be A sure defence for us and for our fleet, Certain it is that to Almighty Jove It hath seemed good that here the Greeks, afar From Argos, should be shamefully cut off; For well was I aware when he designed To aid the Greeks, and well can I perceive That he is honoring now the men of Troy Like to the blessed gods, and fettering Our valor and our hands. Hear my advice, And follow it. Let us draw down the ships Nearest the sea, and launch them on the deep, And moor them, anchored, till the lonely night Shall come, when, if the Trojans pause from war, Haply we may draw down the other barques; For he who flees from danger, even by night, Deserves no blame; and better is his fate Who flees from harm than his whom harm o’ertakes.”
Then wise Ulysses, with stern look, replied:— “What words, Atrides, have escaped thy lips? Unhappy man, thou shouldst have held command O’er some effeminate army, and not ours— Ours to whom Jupiter, from youth to age, Hath granted to accomplish difficult wars, Until we pass away. And wouldst thou then Depart from Troy, the city of broad streets, For which we have endured so much and long? Nay, be thou silent, lest the other Greeks Hear words that never should be said by one Who knows to speak with wisdom, and who bears The sceptre, and who rules so many Greeks As thou dost. I contemn with my whole soul The counsel thou hast given, commanding us, While yet the battle rages, to draw down Our good ships to the sea, that so the foe May see his wish more easily fulfilled, Even in the hour of triumph, and our fate Be certain ruin; for the Greeks no more Will combat when they draw their galleys down, But, looking backward to the shore, will leave The battle there; and thus, O king of men! Will mischief flow from what thou counsellest.”