“Thy labors are too constant, aged man; Thou shrinkest from no hardship. Are there not Young men among the Greeks to walk the camp And call the kings? Thou never takest rest.”

And Nestor, the Gerenian knight, replied:⁠— “Well hast thou said, my friend, for I have sons Without reproach, and I have many troops; And any one of these might walk the camp And give the summons. But tonight there lies A hard necessity upon the Greeks, And their destruction and their rescue hang Balanced on a knife’s edge. Come then, since thou Art younger, call swift Ajax and the son Of Phyleus, if thou wouldst relieve my age.”

He spake; and Diomed around him flung A tawny lion’s ample hide, that reached Down to his feet, and took his spear and went And summoned the two kings, and brought them forth.