Taunting the shepherd of the people thus, Thersites shouted to the king of men. But great Ulysses, coming quickly up, Rebuked him with a frown: “Thou garrulous wretch! Glib as thou art of tongue, Thersites, cease, Nor singly dare to seek dispute with kings. There came, I deem, no viler wretch than thou To Troy with Agamemnon. Prate no more Of kings, reviling them, and keeping watch For pretexts to return. We know not yet Whether to go or to remain were best. Thou railest at the shepherd of the host, Atrides Agamemnon, for thou seest The Grecian heroes load him with rewards, While thou insultest him with scurrilous words. I tell thee now⁠—and I shall keep my word⁠— If e’er again I find thee railing on, As now thou dost, then let Ulysses wear His head no longer, let me not be called The father of Telemachus, if I Shall fail to seize thee, and to strip thee bare Of cloak and tunic, and whatever else Covers thy carcass, and to send thee forth, Howling, to our swift barques upon the shore, Scourged from the council with a storm of blows.”