“Nestor, my resolute spirit urges me To explore the Trojan camp, that lies so near; Yet, were another warrior by my side, I should go forth with a far surer hope, And greater were my daring. For when two Join in the same adventure, one perceives Before the other how they ought to act; While one alone, however prompt, resolves More tardily and with a weaker will.”

He spake; and many a chief made suit to share The risk with Diomed. The ministers Of Mars, the chieftains Ajax, asked to go; Meriones desired it; Nestor’s son Greatly desired to join the enterprise; Atrides Menelaus, skilled to wield The spear, desired it; and that hardy chief, Ulysses, longed to explore the Trojan camp, For full of daring aims was the great soul Within his bosom. Agamemnon then, The king of men, took up the word and said:⁠—