This page has been validated.
THE BATTLE AT THE WALL.
175

see that he was wounded. But Sarpedon saw that he had departed, and it grieved him. Nevertheless he ceased not from the battle, but first slew Alcmaon, the son of Mestor, and next caught one of the battlements in his hands, and dragged it down. So the wall was laid open, and a way was made for the Trojans to enter. Then did both Ajax and Teucer aim at him together. And Teucer smote the strap of the shield, but harmed him not, and Ajax drove his spear through his shield and stayed him, so that he fell back a space from the battlement, yet would not cease from the fight. Loud he shouted to the Lycians, crying:—

"Men of Lycia, why do ye abate your courage? Hard is it for me, for all that my strength is great, to break down the wall with my own hands only, and to clear the road to the ships."

So spake Sarpedon, and his people shrank from the reproach, and crowded close about their King. And on the other hand the Greeks strengthened their ranks within the wall, for the matter was of life or death. Long time they fought with equal might, for neither could