He spake; the Argives raised a mighty shout, Loud as when billows lash the beetling shore, Rolled by the south-wind toward some jutting rock On which the waves, whatever wind may blow, Beat ceaselessly. In haste the people rose And went among the ships, and kindled fires Within their tents and took their meal. And one Made offerings to one god; another paid Vows to another of the immortal race; And all implored deliverance from death And danger. Agamemnon, king of men, Offered a fatted ox of five years old To Jupiter Almighty, summoning The elder princes of the Grecian host⁠— Nestor the first, the king Idomeneus, And then the warriors Ajax and the son Of Tydeus, with Ulysses, like to Jove In council, sixth and last. Unbidden came The valiant Menelaus, for he knew The cares that weighed upon his brother’s heart. Then, as they stood around the fatted ox And took in hand the salted barley-meal, King Agamemnon in the circle prayed:⁠—