Page:Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902).djvu/43

And then the crested Hector, dying, said:
"I know thee, and too clearly I foresaw
I should not move thee, for thou hast a heart
Of iron. Yet reflect that for my sake
The anger of the gods may fall on thee, 445
When Paris and Apollo strike thee down,
Strong as thou art, before the Scaean gates."
Thus Hector spake, and straightway o'er him closed
The night of death; the soul forsook bis limbs,
And flew to Hades, grieving for its fate,— 450
So soon divorced from youth and youthful might.
Then said the great Achilles to the dead:
"Die thou; and I, whenever it shall please
Jove and the other gods, will meet my fate."
He spake, and plucking forth his brazen lance 455
He laid it by, and from the body stripped
The bloody mail. The thronging Greeks beheld
With wonder Hector's tall and stately form,
And no one came who did not add a wound;
And looking to each other thus they said: 460
"How much more tamely Hector now endures
Our touch than when he set the fleet on fire!"
Such were the words of those who smote the dead.
But now, when swift Achilles from the corpse
Had stripped the armor, he stood forth among 465
The Achaian host, and spake these wingèd words:
"Leaders and princes of the Grecian host!
Since we, my friends, by favor of the gods,
Have overcome the chief who wrought more harm
To us than all the rest, let us assault 470
The town, and learn what they of Troy intend;—
Whether their troops will leave the citadel
Since he is slain, or hold it with strong hand,
Though Hector is no more. But why give thought