He spake, and went before; and all his band Followed with fearful clamor. Jupiter, The God of thunders, sending a strong wind From the Idaean summits, drave the dust Full on the galleys, and made faint the hearts Of the Greek warriors, and gave new renown To Hector and the men of Troy. For these, Trusting in portents sent from Jupiter, And their own valor, labored to break through The massive rampart of the Greeks: they tore The galleries from the towers, and levelled down The breastworks, heaved with levers from their place The jutting buttresses which Argive hands Had firmly planted to support the towers, And brought them to the ground; and thus they hoped To force a passage to the Grecian camp. Not yet did they of Greece give way: they fenced The rampart with their ox-hide shields, and smote The enemy from behind them as he came Under the wall. The chieftains Ajax flew From tower to tower, and cheered the Achaians on, And roused their valor⁠—some with gentle words, And some with harsh rebuke⁠—whome’er they saw Skulk from the toils and dangers of the fight.