"Atrides, lie not, when thou know'st the truth;
We hold ourselves far better than our sires;
We took the strength of seven-gated Thebes,
Though with a smaller host we stormed her towers,
Strong in heaven's omens and the help of Jove;
For them—their own presumption was their fall."
All the leaders of the Greeks eagerly marshal their forces at the King's call. Nestor's experienced counsel orders the line of battle—so well, that subsequent commanders were fain to take a lesson from it.
"In the front rank, with chariot and with horse,
He placed the mounted warriors; in the rear,
Num'rous and brave, a cloud of infantry,
Compactly massed, to stem the tide of war.
Between the two he placed th' inferior troops,
That e'en against their will they needs must fight.
The horsemen first he charged, and bade them keep
Their horses well in hand, nor wildly rush
Amid the tumult: 'See,' he said, 'that none,
In skill or valour over-confident,
Advance before his comrades, nor alone
Retire; for so your lines were easier forced;
But ranging each beside a hostile car,
Thrust with your spears; for such the better way;
By men so disciplined, in elder days,
Were lofty walls and fenced towers destroyed.'" (D.)
