Guneus brought two and twenty ships from Cyphus, and
he was followed by the Enienes and the valiant Peraebi,
who dwelt about wintry Dodona, and held the lands
round the lovely river Titaresius, which sends its
waters into the Peneus. They do not mingle with
the silver eddies of the Peneus, but flow on the top
of them like oil; for the Titaresius is a branch of
dread Orcus and of the river Styx.
Of the Magnetes, Prothous son of Tenthredon was commander.
They were they that dwelt about the river Peneus and
Mt. Pelion. Prothous, fleet of foot, was
their leader, and with him there came forty ships.
Such were the chiefs and princes of the Danaans.
Who, then, O Muse, was the foremost, whether man or
horse, among those that followed after the sons of
Atreus?
Of the horses, those of the son of Pheres were by
far the finest. They were driven by Eumelus,
and were as fleet as birds. They were of the
same age and colour, and perfectly matched in height.
Apollo, of the silver bow, had bred them in Perea—both
of them mares, and terrible as Mars in battle.
Of the men, Ajax, son of Telamon, was much the foremost
so long as Achilles’ anger lasted, for Achilles
excelled him greatly and he had also better horses;
but Achilles was now holding aloof at his ships by
reason of his quarrel with Agamemnon, and his people
passed their time upon the sea shore, throwing discs
or aiming with spears at a mark, and in archery.
Their horses stood each by his own chariot, champing
lotus and wild celery. The chariots were housed
under cover, but their owners, for lack of leadership,
wandered hither and thither about the host and went
not forth to fight.
Thus marched the host like a consuming fire, and the
earth groaned beneath them when the lord of thunder
is angry and lashes the land about Typhoeus among
the Arimi, where they say Typhoeus lies. Even
so did the earth groan beneath them as they sped over
the plain.
And now Iris, fleet as the wind, was sent by Jove
to tell the bad news among the Trojans. They
were gathered in assembly, old and young, at Priam’s
gates, and Iris came close up to Priam, speaking with
the voice of Priam’s son Polites, who, being
fleet of foot, was stationed as watchman for the Trojans
on the tomb of old Aesyetes, to look out for any sally
of the Achaeans. In his likeness Iris spoke,
saying, “Old man, you talk idly, as in time
of peace, while war is at hand. I have been in
many a battle, but never yet saw such a host as is
now advancing. They are crossing the plain to
attack the city as thick as leaves or as the sands
of the sea. Hector, I charge you above all others,
do as I say. There are many allies dispersed
about the city of Priam from distant places and speaking
divers tongues. Therefore, let each chief give
orders to his own people, setting them severally in
array and leading them forth to battle.”
Thus she spoke, but Hector knew that it was the goddess,
and at once broke up the assembly. The men flew
to arms; all the gates were opened, and the people
thronged through them, horse and foot, with the tramp
as of a great multitude.
