Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/426

424 Who first the jointed armour shall explore,

And stain his rival's mail with issuing gore;

The sword Asteropseus possessed of old,

A Thracian blade, distinct with studs of gold,

Shall pay the stroke, and grace the striker's side;

These arms in common let the chiefs divide:

For each brave champion, when the combat ends,

A sumptuous banquet at our tents attends."

Fierce at the word, up rose great Tydeus' son,

And the huge bulk of Ajax Telamon:

Clad in refulgent steel, on either hand,

The dreadful chiefs amid the circle stand:

Lowering they meet, tremendous to the sight;

Each Argive bosom beats with fierce delight.

Opposed in arms not long they idly stood,

But thrice they closed, and thrice the charge renewed.

A furious pass the spear of Ajax made

Through the broad shield, but at the corselet stayed:

Not thus the foe; his javelin aimed above

The buckler's margin, at the neck he drove.

But Greece now trembling for her hero's life,

Bade share the honours, and surcease the strife;

Yet still the victor's due Tydides gains,

With him the sword and studded belt remains.

Then hurled the hero, thundering on the ground,

A mass of iron, an enormous round,

Whose weight and size the circling Greeks admire,

Rude from the furnace, and but shaped by fire.

This mighty quoit Eetion wont to rear,

And from his whirling arm dismiss in air;

The giant by Achilles slain, he stowed

Among his spoils this memorable load.

For this he bids those nervous artists vie,

That teach the disc to sound along the sky:

"Let him whose might can hurl this bowl, arise:

Who farthest hurls it, takes it as his prize:

If he be one enriched with large domain

Of downs for flocks, and arable for grain,

Small stock of iron needs that man provide;

His hinds and swains whole years shall be supplied

From hence; nor ask the neighbouring city's aid

For ploughshares, wheels, and all the rural trade."

Stern Polypcetes stepped before the throng,

And great Leonteus, more than mortal strong:

Whose force with rival forces to oppose,

Up rose great Ajax; up Epeus rose.

Each stood in order: first Epeus threw;

High o'er the wondering crowds the whirling circle flew.

Leonteus next a little space surpassed,