And then the royal Agamemnon said:⁠— “Since at our ships, beneath their very sterns, The combat rages; since the wall we built Avails not, nor the trench, at which the Greeks Labored and suffered, hoping it might be A sure defence for us and for our fleet, Certain it is that to Almighty Jove It hath seemed good that here the Greeks, afar From Argos, should be shamefully cut off; For well was I aware when he designed To aid the Greeks, and well can I perceive That he is honoring now the men of Troy Like to the blessed gods, and fettering Our valor and our hands. Hear my advice, And follow it. Let us draw down the ships Nearest the sea, and launch them on the deep, And moor them, anchored, till the lonely night Shall come, when, if the Trojans pause from war, Haply we may draw down the other barques; For he who flees from danger, even by night, Deserves no blame; and better is his fate Who flees from harm than his whom harm o’ertakes.”