“O friends, the chiefs and leaders of the Greeks, Am I the sole one that descries the steeds, Or do ye also? Those who lead the race, I think, are not the same, and with them comes A different charioteer. The mares, which late Were foremost, may have somewhere come to harm. I saw them first to turn the goal, and now I can no more discern them, though my sight Sweeps the whole Trojan plain from side to side. Either the charioteer has dropped the reins, And could not duly round the goal, or else Met with disaster at the turn, o’erthrown, His chariot broken, and the affrighted mares Darting, unmastered, madly from the way. But rise: look forth yourselves. I cannot well Discern, but think the charioteer is one Who, born of an Aetolian stock, commands Among the Argives—valiant Diomed, A son of Tydeus, tamer of wild steeds.”
And Ajax, swift of foot, Oileus’ son, Answered with bitter words: “Idomeneus, Why this perpetual prating? Far away The mares with rapid hoofs are traversing The plain, and thou art not the youngest here Among the Argives, nor hast such sharp eyes Beneath thy brows, yet must thou chatter still. Among thy betters here it ill becomes A man like thee to be so free of tongue. The coursers of Eumelus, which at first Outran the rest, are yet before them all, And he is drawing near and holds the reins.”
The Cretan leader angrily rejoined: “Ajax, thou railer, first in brawls, yet known As in all else below the other Greeks, A man of brutal mood, come, let us stake A tripod or a cauldron, and appoint As umpire Agamemnon, to decide Which horses are the foremost in the race, That when thou losest thou mayst be convinced.”
He spake: Oilean Ajax, swift of foot, Started in anger from his seat, to cast Reproaches back, and long and fierce had been The quarrel if