If haply they might yield to his assault, Made from beneath that buckler; but the Greeks In spirit or in order wavered not. And Ajax, striding forth, defied him thus:⁠—

“Draw nearer, friend! Think’st thou to frighten thus The Greeks? We are not quite so inexpert In war, although so cruelly chastised By Jupiter. Thou thinkest in thy heart That thou shalt make our ships thy spoil; but we Have also our strong arms to drive thee back, And far more soon the populous town of Troy, Captured and sacked, shall fall by Grecian hands. And now I warn thee that the hour is near When, fleeing, thou shalt pray to Father Jove And all the immortals, that thy long-maned steeds, Bearing thee townward mid a cloud of dust Along the plain, may be more swift than hawks.”

As thus he spake, an eagle, to the right, High in the middle heaven, flew over him, And, gladdened by the omen, all the Greeks Shouted; but then illustrious Hector spake:⁠—