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96—124. said; who commandest us, whilst the war and battle are waged, to draw down the well-benched ships to the sea, in order that the wishes of the Trojans may be still better fulfilled, victorious though they be, and dire destruction fall upon us: for the Greeks will not maintain the fight while the ships are being dragged to the sea, but will look back, and retire from the combat. Then will thy counsel be injurious, O leader of the people."

But him Agamemnon, the king of men, then answered: "Much, O Ulysses, hast thou touched me to the soul with thy severe reproof; yet I commanded not the sons of the Greeks against their will to draw the well-benched ships down to the sea. But now would that there were one, either young or old, who would deliver an opinion better than this; it would be to my joy."

But among them Diomede, valiant in the din of battle, also spoke: "The man is near, we need not seek, far, if indeed ye are willing to be persuaded; and do not find fault each through wrath, because I am by birth the youngest among you; for I boast that my race is from a noble sire, Tydeus, whom the heaped-up earth covers at Thebes. For to Portheus were born three distinguished sons, and they dwelt in Pleuron and lofty Calydon: Agrius and Melas, but the third was the knight Œneus, the father of my father, who was conspicuous among them for valor. He indeed remained there, but my father, as an exile, dwelt at Argos, for so Jove willed and the other gods. But he married [one] of the daughters of Adrastus, and he inhabited a mansion opulent in resources, and corn-bearing fields were his in abundance, and there were many rows of plants around him. Numerous were his herds, and he surpassed the Greeks