Yet Menelaus, foster-child of Jove, Thy spirit did not prompt thee to remain And aid thy hard-pressed comrades at the spot Whence thou didst send Antilochus, and where The Pyleans longed to keep him. Yet he sent The noble Thrasymedes to their aid, While he returned to where Patroclus lay, And stood beside the warriors there, and said:⁠—

“I sent to swift Achilles at the fleet A messenger, yet think he will not come. Though royal Hector’s deed hath roused his rage, Unarmed he cannot meet the sons of Troy. Consult we then how we may best convey The body to the ships, and how ourselves Escape the doom of death by Trojan hands.”