within the well-wrought corselet stood, Yet reached the plated quilt which next his skin The hero wore—his surest guard against The weapon’s force—and broke through that alike; And there the arrow gashed the part below, And the dark blood came gushing from the wound. As when some Carian or Maeonian dame Tinges with purple the white ivory, To form a trapping for the cheeks of steeds— And many a horseman covets it, yet still It lies within her chamber, to become The ornament of some great monarch’s steed And make its rider proud—thy shapely thighs, Thy legs, and thy fair ankles thus were stained, O Menelaus! with thy purple blood.
When Agamemnon, king of men, beheld The dark blood flowing from his brother’s wound, He shuddered. Menelaus, great in war, Felt the like horror; yet, when he perceived That still the arrow, neck and barb, remained Without the mail, the courage rose again That filled his bosom. Agamemnon, then, The monarch, sighing deeply, took the hand Of Menelaus—while his comrades round Like him lamented—sighing as he spake:—
“Dear brother, when I sent thee forth alone To combat with the Trojans for the Greeks, I ratified a treaty for thy death, Since now the Trojans smite and under foot Trample the league. Yet not in vain shall be The treaty, nor the blood of lambs, nor wine Poured to the gods, nor right hands firmly pledged; For though it please not now Olympian Jove To make the treaty good, he will in time Cause it to be fulfilled, and they shall pay Dearly with their own heads and with their wives And children for this wrong. And this I know In my undoubting mind—a day will come When sacred Troy and Priam and the race Governed by Priam, mighty with the spear, Shall perish all. Saturnian Jove, who sits On high, a dweller of the upper air, Shall shake his dreadful aegis in the sight Of all, indignant at this treachery. Such the event will be; but I shall grieve Bitterly, Menelaus, if thou die, Thy term of life cut short. I shall go back To my dear Argos with a brand of shame Upon me. For the Greeks will