Paris was deeply grieved by the death of Harpalion,
who was his host when he went among the Paphlagonians;
he aimed an arrow, therefore, in order to avenge him.
Now there was a certain man named Euchenor, son of
Polyidus the prophet, a brave man and wealthy, whose
home was in Corinth. This Euchenor had set sail
for Troy well knowing that it would be the death of
him, for his good old father Polyidus had often told
him that he must either stay at home and die of a
terrible disease, or go with the Achaeans and perish
at the hands of the Trojans; he chose, therefore,
to avoid incurring the heavy fine the Achaeans would
have laid upon him, and at the same time to escape
the pain and suffering of disease. Paris now
smote him on the jaw under his ear, whereon the life
went out of him and he was enshrouded in the darkness
of death.
Thus then did they fight as it were a flaming fire.
But Hector had not yet heard, and did not know that
the Argives were making havoc of his men on the left
wing of the battle, where the Achaeans ere long would
have triumphed over them, so vigorously did Neptune
cheer them on and help them. He therefore held
on at the point where he had first forced his way
through the gates and the wall, after breaking through
the serried ranks of Danaan warriors. It was
here that the ships of Ajax and Protesilaus were drawn
up by the sea-shore; here the wall was at its lowest,
and the fight both of man and horse raged most fiercely.
The Boeotians and the Ionians with their long tunics,
the Locrians, the men of Phthia, and the famous force
of the Epeans could hardly stay Hector as he rushed
on towards the ships, nor could they drive him from
them, for he was as a wall of fire. The chosen
men of the Athenians were in the van, led by Menestheus
son of Peteos, with whom were also Pheidas, Stichius,
and stalwart Bias; Meges son of Phyleus, Amphion,
and Dracius commanded the Epeans, while Medon and
staunch Podarces led the men of Phthia. Of these,
Medon was bastard son to Oileus and brother of Ajax,
but he lived in Phylace away from his own country,
for he had killed the brother of his stepmother Eriopis,
the wife of Oileus; the other, Podarces, was the son
of Iphiclus, son of Phylacus. These two stood
in the van of the Phthians, and defended the ships
along with the Boeotians.
Ajax son of Oileus, never for a moment left the side
of Ajax, son of Telamon, but as two swart oxen both
strain their utmost at the plough which they are drawing
in a fallow field, and the sweat steams upwards from
about the roots of their horns—nothing but
the yoke divides them as they break up the ground till
they reach the end of the field—even so
did the two Ajaxes stand shoulder to shoulder by one
another. Many and brave comrades followed the
son of Telamon, to relieve him of his shield when he
was overcome with sweat and toil, but the Locrians
did not follow so close after the son of Oileus, for
they could not hold their own in a hand-to-hand fight.
