Still, with quick steps, the fleet Achilles pressed
On Hector's flight. As when a hound has roused
A fawn from its retreat among the hills, 235
And chases it through glen and forest ground,
And to close thickets, where it skulks in fear
Until he overtakes it. Hector thus
Sought vainly to elude the fleet pursuit
Of Peleus' son. As often as he thought, 240
By springing toward the gates of Troy, to gain
Aid from the weapons of his friends who stood
On the tall towers, so often was the Greek
Before him, forcing him to turn away.
| · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
When the twain had come
For the fourth time beside Scamander's springs, 260
The All-Father raised the golden balance high,
And, placing in the scales two lots which bring
Death's long dark sleep,—one lot for Peleus' son,
And one for knightly Hector,—by the midst
He poised the balance. Hector's fate sank down 265
To Hades, and Apollo left the field.
The blue-eyed goddess Pallas[1] then approached
The son of Peleus with these winged words:
"Renowned Achilles, dear to Jupiter!
Now may we, as I hope, at last return 270
To the Achaian army and the fleet
With glory, Hector slain, the terrible
In war. Escape he cannot, even though
The archer-god Apollo fling himself
- ↑ Pallas was hostile to the Trojans because of the slight put upon her charms by Paris, in awarding the golden apple to Aphrodite.
