Thus then did they fight as it were a flaming fire. Meanwhile the fleet runner Antilochus,
who had been sent as messenger, reached Achilles, and found him sitting by his tall
ships and boding that which was indeed too surely true. "Alas," said he to himself in the
heaviness of his heart, "why are the Achaeans again scouring the plain and flocking
towards the ships? Heaven grant the gods be not now bringing that sorrow upon me of
which my mother Thetis spoke, saying that while I was yet alive the bravest of the
Myrmidons should fall before the Trojans, and see the light of the sun no longer. I fear
the brave son of Menoetius has fallen through his own daring and yet I bade him return
to the ships as soon as he had driven back those that were bringing fire against them,
and not join battle with Hector."
As he was thus pondering, the son of Nestor came up to him and told his sad tale,
weeping bitterly the while. "Alas," he cried, "son of noble Peleus, I bring you bad
tidings, would indeed that they were untrue. Patroclus has fallen, and a fight is raging
about his naked body- for Hector holds his armour."
A dark cloud of grief fell upon Achilles as he listened. He filled both hands with dust
from off the ground, and poured it over his head, disfiguring his comely face, and letting
the refuse settle over his shirt so fair and new. He flung himself down all huge and hugely
at full length, and tore his hair with his hands. The bondswomen whom Achilles and
Patroclus had taken captive screamed aloud for grief, beating their breasts, and with
their limbs failing them for sorrow. Antilochus bent over him the while, weeping and
holding both his hands as he lay groaning for he feared that he might plunge a knife into
his own throat. Then Achilles gave a loud cry and his mother heard him as she was
sitting in the depths of the sea by the old man her father, whereon she screamed, and all
the goddesses daughters of Nereus that dwelt at the bottom of the sea, came gathering
round her. There were Glauce, Thalia and Cymodoce, Nesaia, Speo, thoe and
dark-eyed Halie, Cymothoe, Actaea and Limnorea, Melite, Iaera, Amphithoe and
Agave, Doto and Proto, Pherusa and Dynamene, Dexamene, Amphinome and
Callianeira, Doris, Panope, and the famous sea-nymph Galatea, Nemertes, Apseudes
and Callianassa. There were also Clymene, Ianeira and Ianassa, Maera, Oreithuia and
Amatheia of the lovely locks, with other Nereids who dwell in the depths of the sea.
The crystal cave was filled with their multitude and they all beat their breasts while
Thetis led them in their lament.
"Listen," she cried, "sisters, daughters of Nereus, that you may hear the burden of my
sorrows. Alas, woe is me, woe in that I have borne the most glorious of offspring. I
bore him fair and strong, hero among heroes, and he shot up as a sapling; I tended him
as a plant in a goodly garden, and sent him with his ships to Ilius to fight the Trojans, but
never shall I welcome him back to the house of Peleus. So long as he lives to look upon
the light of the sun he is in heaviness, and though I go to him I cannot help him.
Nevertheless I will go, that I may see my dear son and learn what sorrow has befallen
him though he is still holding aloof from battle."
She left the cave as she spoke, while the others followed weeping after, and the waves
opened a path before them. When they reached the rich plain of Troy, they came up out
of the sea in a long line on to the sands, at the place where the ships of the Myrmidons
were drawn up in close order round the tents of Achilles. His mother went up to him as
he lay groaning; she laid her hand upon his head and spoke piteously, saying, "My son,
why are you thus weeping? What sorrow has now befallen you? Tell me; hide it not
from me. Surely Jove has granted you the prayer you made him, when you lifted up
your hands and besought him that the Achaeans might all of them be pent up at their
ships, and rue it bitterly in that you were no longer with them."
Achilles groaned and answered, "Mother, Olympian Jove has indeed vouchsafed me
the fulfilment of my prayer, but what boots it to me, seeing that my dear comrade
Patroclus has fallen- he whom I valued more than all others, and loved as dearly as my
own life? I have lost him; aye, and Hector when he had killed him stripped the
wondrous armour, so glorious to behold, which the gods gave to Peleus when they laid
you in the couch of a mortal man. Would that you were still dwelling among the
immortal sea-nymphs, and that Peleus had taken to himself some mortal bride. For now
you shall have grief infinite by reason of the death of that son whom you can never
welcome home- nay, I will not live nor go about among mankind unless Hector fall by
my spear, and thus pay me for having slain Patroclus son of Menoetius."
Thetis wept and answered, "Then, my son, is your end near at hand- for your own
death awaits you full soon after that of Hector."
Then said Achilles in his great grief, "I would die here and now, in that I could not save
my comrade. He has fallen far from home, and in his hour of need my hand was not
there to help him. What is there for me? Return to my own land I shall not, and I have
brought no saving neither to Patroclus nor to my other comrades of whom so many
have been slain by mighty Hector; I stay here by my ships a bootless burden upon the
earth, I, who in fight have no peer among the Achaeans, though in council there are
better than I. Therefore, perish strife both from among gods and men, and anger,
wherein even a righteous man will harden his heart- which rises up in the soul of a man
like smoke, and the taste thereof is sweeter than drops of honey. Even so has
Agamemnon angered me. And yet- so be it, for it is over; I will force my soul into
subjection as I needs must; I will go; I will pursue Hector who has slain him whom I
loved so dearly, and will then abide my doom when it may please Jove and the other
gods to send it. Even Hercules, the best beloved of Jove- even he could not escape the
hand of death, but fate and Juno's fierce anger laid him low, as I too shall lie when I am
dead if a like doom awaits me. Till then I will win fame, and will bid Trojan and
Dardanian women wring tears from their tender cheeks with both their hands in the
grievousness of their great sorrow; thus shall they know that he who has held aloof so
long will hold aloof no longer. Hold me not back, therefore, in the love you bear me, for
you shall not move me."
Then silver-footed Thetis answered, "My son, what you have said is true. It is well to
save your comrades from destruction, but your armour is in the hands of the Trojans;
Hector bears it in triumph upon his own shoulders. Full well I know that his vaunt shall
not be lasting, for his end is close at hand; go not, however, into the press of battle till
you see me return hither; to-morrow at break of day I shall be here, and will bring you
goodly armour from King Vulcan."
On this she left her brave son, and as she turned away she said to the sea-nymphs her
sisters, "Dive into the bosom of the sea and go to the house of the old sea-god my
father. Tell him everything; as for me, I will go to the cunning workman Vulcan on high
Olympus, and ask him to provide my son with a suit of splendid armour."
When she had so said, they dived forthwith beneath the waves, while silver-footed
Thetis went her way that she might bring the armour for her son.
Thus, then, did her feet bear the goddess to Olympus, and meanwhile the Achaeans
were flying with loud cries before murderous Hector till they reached the ships and the
Hellespont, and they could not draw the body of Mars's servant Patroclus out of reach
of the weapons that were showered upon him, for Hector son of Priam with his host
and horsemen had again caught up to him like the flame of a fiery furnace; thrice did
brave Hector seize him by the feet, striving with might and main to draw him away and
calling loudly on the Trojans, and thrice did the two Ajaxes, clothed in valour as with a
garment, beat him from off the body; but all undaunted he would now charge into the
thick of the fight, and now again he would stand still and cry aloud, but he would give
no ground. As upland shepherds that cannot chase some famished lion from a carcase,
even so could not the two Ajaxes scare Hector son of Priam from the body of
Patroclus.
And now he would even have dragged it off and have won imperishable glory, had not
Iris fleet as the wind, winged her way as messenger from Olympus to the son of Peleus
and bidden him arm. She came secretly without the knowledge of Jove and of the other
gods, for Juno sent her, and when she had got close to him she said, "Up, son of
Peleus, mightiest of all mankind; rescue Patroclus about whom this fearful fight is now
raging by the ships. Men are killing one another, the Danaans in defence of the dead
body, while the Trojans are trying to hale it away, and take it to wind Ilius: Hector is the
most furious of them all; he is for cutting the head from the body and fixing it on the
stakes of the wall. Up, then, and bide here no longer; shrink from the thought that
Patroclus may become meat for the dogs of Troy. Shame on you, should his body
suffer any kind of outrage."
And Achilles said, "Iris, which of the gods was it that sent you to me?"
Iris answered, "It was Juno the royal spouse of Jove, but the son of Saturn does not
know of my coming, nor yet does any other of the immortals who dwell on the snowy
summits of Olympus."
Then fleet Achilles answered her saying, "How can I go up into the battle? They have
my armour. My mother forbade me to arm till I should see her come, for she promised
to bring me goodly armour from Vulcan; I know no man whose arms I can put on, save
only the shield of Ajax son of Telamon, and he surely must be fighting in the front rank
and wielding his spear about the body of dead Patroclus."
Iris said, 'We know that your armour has been taken, but go as you are; go to the deep
trench and show yourelf before the Trojans, that they may fear you and cease fighting.
Thus will the fainting sons of the Achaeans gain some brief breathing-time, which in
battle may hardly be."
Iris left him when she had so spoken. But Achilles dear to Jove arose, and Minerva
flung her tasselled aegis round his strong shoulders; she crowned his head with a halo of
golden cloud from which she kindled a glow of gleaming fire. As the smoke that goes up
into heaven from some city that is being beleaguered on an island far out at sea- all day
long do men sally from the city and fight their hardest, and at the going down of the sun
the line of beacon-fires blazes forth, flaring high for those that dwell near them to
behold, if so be that they may come with their ships and succour them- even so did the
light flare from the head of Achilles, as he stood by the trench, going beyond the wall-
but he aid not join the Achaeans for he heeded the charge which his mother laid upon
him.
There did he stand and shout aloud. Minerva also raised her voice from afar, and
spread terror unspeakable among the Trojans. Ringing as the note of a trumpet that
sounds alarm then the foe is at the gates of a city, even so brazen was the voice of the
son of Aeacus, and when the Trojans heard its clarion tones they were dismayed; the
horses turned back with their chariots for they boded mischief, and their drivers were
awe-struck by the steady flame which the grey-eyed goddess had kindled above the
head of the great son of Peleus.
Thrice did Achilles raise his loud cry as he stood by the trench, and thrice were the
Trojans and their brave allies thrown into confusion; whereon twelve of their noblest
champions fell beneath the wheels of their chariots and perished by their own spears.
The Achaeans to their great joy then drew Patroclus out of reach of the weapons, and
laid him on a litter: his comrades stood mourning round him, and among them fleet
Achilles who wept bitterly as he saw his true comrade lying dead upon his bier. He had
sent him out with horses and chariots into battle, but his return he was not to welcome.
Then Juno sent the busy sun, loth though he was, into the waters of Oceanus; so he set,
and the Achaeans had rest from the tug and turmoil of war.
Now the Trojans when they had come out of the fight, unyoked their horses and
gathered in assembly before preparing their supper. They kept their feet, nor would any
dare to sit down, for fear had fallen upon them all because Achilles had shown himself
after having held aloof so long from battle. Polydamas son of Panthous was first to
speak, a man of judgement, who alone among them could look both before and after.
He was comrade to Hector, and they had been born upon the same night; with all
sincerity and goodwill, therefore, he addressed them thus:-
"Look to it well, my friends; I would urge you to go back now to your city and not wait
here by the ships till morning, for we are far from our walls. So long as this man was at
enmity with Agamemnon the Achaeans were easier to deal with, and I would have
gladly camped by the ships in the hope of taking them; but now I go in great fear of the
fleet son of Peleus; he is so daring that he will never bide here on the plain whereon the
Trojans and Achaeans fight with equal valour, but he will try to storm our city and carry
off our women. Do then as I say, and let us retreat. For this is what will happen. The
darkness of night will for a time stay the son of Peleus, but if he find us here in the
morning when he sallies forth in full armour, we shall have knowledge of him in good
earnest. Glad indeed will he be who can escape and get back to Ilius, and many a
Trojan will become meat for dogs and vultures may I never live to hear it. If we do as I
say, little though we may like it, we shall have strength in counsel during the night, and
the great gates with the doors that close them will protect the city. At dawn we can arm
and take our stand on the walls; he will then rue it if he sallies from the ships to fight us.
He will go back when he has given his horses their fill of being driven all whithers under
our walls, and will be in no mind to try and force his way into the city. Neither will he
ever sack it, dogs shall devour him ere he do so."
Hector looked fiercely at him and answered, "Polydamas, your words are not to my
liking in that you bid us go back and be pent within the city. Have you not had enough
of being cooped up behind walls? In the old-days the city of Priam was famous the
whole world over for its wealth of gold and bronze, but our treasures are wasted out of
our houses, and much goods have been sold away to Phrygia and fair Meonia, for the
hand of Jove has been laid heavily upon us. Now, therefore, that the son of scheming
Saturn has vouchsafed me to win glory here and to hem the Achaeans in at their ships,
prate no more in this fool's wise among the people. You will have no man with you; it
shall not be; do all of you as I now say;- take your suppers in your companies
throughout the host, and keep your watches and be wakeful every man of you. If any
Trojan is uneasy about his possessions, let him gather them and give them out among
the people. Better let these, rather than the Achaeans, have them. At daybreak we will
arm and fight about the ships; granted that Achilles has again come forward to defend
them, let it be as he will, but it shall go hard with him. I shall not shun him, but will fight
him, to fall or conquer. The god of war deals out like measure to all, and the slayer may
yet be slain."
Thus spoke Hector; and the Trojans, fools that they were, shouted in applause, for
Pallas Minerva had robbed them of their understanding. They gave ear to Hector with
his evil counsel, but the wise words of Polydamas no man would heed. They took their
supper throughout the host, and meanwhile through the whole night the Achaeans
mourned Patroclus, and the son of Peleus led them in their lament. He laid his
murderous hands upon the breast of his comrade, groaning again and again as a
bearded lion when a man who was chasing deer has robbed him of his young in some
dense forest; when the lion comes back he is furious, and searches dingle and dell to
track the hunter if he can find him, for he is mad with rage- even so with many a sigh did
Achilles speak among the Myrmidons saying, "Alas! vain were the words with which I
cheered the hero Menoetius in his own house; I said that I would bring his brave son
back again to Opoeis after he had sacked Ilius and taken his share of the spoils- but
Jove does not give all men their heart's desire. The same soil shall be reddened here at
Troy by the blood of us both, for I too shall never be welcomed home by the old knight
Peleus, nor by my mother Thetis, but even in this place shall the earth cover me.
Nevertheless, O Patroclus, now that I am left behind you, I will not bury you, till I have
brought hither the head and armour of mighty Hector who has slain you. Twelve noble
sons of Trojans will I behead before your bier to avenge you; till I have done so you
shall lie as you are by the ships, and fair women of Troy and Dardanus, whom we have
taken with spear and strength of arm when we sacked men's goodly cities, shall weep
over you both night and day."
Then Achilles told his men to set a large tripod upon the fire that they might wash the
clotted gore from off Patroclus. Thereon they set a tripod full of bath water on to a clear
fire: they threw sticks on to it to make it blaze, and the water became hot as the flame
played about the belly of the tripod. When the water in the cauldron was boiling they
washed the body, anointed it with oil, and closed its wounds with ointment that had
been kept nine years. Then they laid it on a bier and covered it with a linen cloth from
head to foot, and over this they laid a fair white robe. Thus all night long did the
Myrmidons gather round Achilles to mourn Patroclus.
Then Jove said to Juno his sister-wife, "So, Queen Juno, you have gained your end, and
have roused fleet Achilles. One would think that the Achaeans were of your own flesh
and blood."
And Juno answered, "Dread son of Saturn, why should you say this thing? May not a
man though he be only mortal and knows less than we do, do what he can for another
person? And shall not I- foremost of all goddesses both by descent and as wife to you
who reign in heaven- devise evil for the Trojans if I am angry with them?"
Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Thetis came to the house of Vulcan, imperishable,
star-bespangled, fairest of the abodes in heaven, a house of bronze wrought by the lame
god's own hands. She found him busy with his bellows, sweating and hard at work, for
he was making twenty tripods that were to stand by the wall of his house, and he set
wheels of gold under them all that they might go of their own selves to the assemblies of
the gods, and come back again- marvels indeed to see. They were finished all but the
ears of cunning workmanship which yet remained to be fixed to them: these he was now
fixing, and he was hammering at the rivets. While he was thus at work silver-footed
Thetis came to the house. Charis, of graceful head-dress, wife to the far-famed lame
god, came towards her as soon as she saw her, and took her hand in her own, saying,
"Why have you come to our house, Thetis, honoured and ever welcome- for you do not
visit us often? Come inside and let me set refreshment before you."
The goddess led the way as she spoke, and bade Thetis sit on a richly decorated seat
inlaid with silver; there was a footstool also under her feet. Then she called Vulcan and
said, "Vulcan, come here, Thetis wants you"; and the far-famed lame god answered,
"Then it is indeed an august and honoured goddess who has come here; she it was that
took care of me when I was suffering from the heavy fall which I had through my cruel
mother's anger- for she would have got rid of me because I was lame. It would have
gone hardly with me had not Eurynome, daughter of the ever-encircling waters of
Oceanus, and Thetis, taken me to their bosom. Nine years did I stay with them, and
many beautiful works in bronze, brooches, spiral armlets, cups, and chains, did I make
for them in their cave, with the roaring waters of Oceanus foaming as they rushed ever
past it; and no one knew, neither of gods nor men, save only Thetis and Eurynome who
took care of me. If, then, Thetis has come to my house I must make her due requital for
having saved me; entertain her, therefore, with all hospitality, while I put by my bellows
and all my tools."
On this the mighty monster hobbled off from his anvil, his thin legs plying lustily under
him. He set the bellows away from the fire, and gathered his tools into a silver chest.
Then he took a sponge and washed his face and hands, his shaggy chest and brawny
neck; he donned his shirt, grasped his strong staff, and limped towards the door. There
were golden handmaids also who worked for him, and were like real young women,
with sense and reason, voice also and strength, and all the learning of the immortals;
these busied themselves as the king bade them, while he drew near to Thetis, seated her
upon a goodly seat, and took her hand in his own, saying, "Why have you come to our
house, Thetis honoured and ever welcome- for you do not visit us often? Say what you
want, and I will do it for you at once if I can, and if it can be done at all."
Thetis wept and answered, "Vulcan, is there another goddess in Olympus whom the son
of Saturn has been pleased to try with so much affliction as he has me? Me alone of the
marine goddesses did he make subject to a mortal husband, Peleus son of Aeacus, and
sorely against my will did I submit to the embraces of one who was but mortal, and who
now stays at home worn out with age. Neither is this all. Heaven vouchsafed me a son,
hero among heroes, and he shot up as a sapling. I tended him as a plant in a goodly
garden and sent him with his ships to Ilius to fight the Trojans, but never shall I welcome
him back to the house of Peleus. So long as he lives to look upon the light of the sun, he
is in heaviness, and though I go to him I cannot help him; King Agamemnon has made
him give up the maiden whom the sons of the Achaeans had awarded him, and he
wastes with sorrow for her sake. Then the Trojans hemmed the Achaeans in at their
ships' sterns and would not let them come forth; the elders, therefore, of the Argives
besought Achilles and offered him great treasure, whereon he refused to bring
deliverance to them himself, but put his own armour on Patroclus and sent him into the
fight with much people after him. All day long they fought by the Scaean gates and
would have taken the city there and then, had not Apollo vouchsafed glory to Hector
and slain the valiant son of Menoetius after he had done the Trojans much evil.
Therefore I am suppliant at your knees if haply you may be pleased to provide my son,
whose end is near at hand, with helmet and shield, with goodly greaves fitted with
ancle-clasps, and with a breastplate, for he lost his own when his true comrade fell at
the hands of the Trojans, and he now lies stretched on earth in the bitterness of his
soul."
And Vulcan answered, "Take heart, and be no more disquieted about this matter;
would that I could hide him from death's sight when his hour is come, so surely as I can
find him armour that shall amaze the eyes of all who behold it."
When he had so said he left her and went to his bellows, turning them towards the fire
and bidding them do their office. Twenty bellows blew upon the melting-pots, and they
blew blasts of every kind, some fierce to help him when he had need of them, and
others less strong as Vulcan willed it in the course of his work. He threw tough copper
into the fire, and tin, with silver and gold; he set his great anvil on its block, and with one
hand grasped his mighty hammer while he took the tongs in the other.
First he shaped the shield so great and strong, adorning it all over and binding it round
with a gleaming circuit in three layers; and the baldric was made of silver. He made the
shield in five thicknesses, and with many a wonder did his cunning hand enrich it.
He wrought the earth, the heavens, and the sea; the moon also at her full and the untiring
sun, with all the signs that glorify the face of heaven- the Pleiads, the Hyads, huge
Orion, and the Bear, which men also call the Wain and which turns round ever in one
place, facing. Orion, and alone never dips into the stream of Oceanus.
He wrought also two cities, fair to see and busy with the hum of men. In the one were
weddings and wedding-feasts, and they were going about the city with brides whom
they were escorting by torchlight from their chambers. Loud rose the cry of Hymen, and
the youths danced to the music of flute and lyre, while the women stood each at her
house door to see them.
Meanwhile the people were gathered in assembly, for there was a quarrel, and two men
were wrangling about the blood-money for a man who had been killed, the one saying
before the people that he had paid damages in full, and the other that he had not been
paid. Each was trying to make his own case good, and the people took sides, each man
backing the side that he had taken; but the heralds kept them back, and the elders sate
on their seats of stone in a solemn circle, holding the staves which the heralds had put
into their hands. Then they rose and each in his turn gave judgement, and there were
two talents laid down, to be given to him whose judgement should be deemed the
fairest.
About the other city there lay encamped two hosts in gleaming armour, and they were
divided whether to sack it, or to spare it and accept the half of what it contained. But
the men of the city would not yet consent, and armed themselves for a surprise; their
wives and little children kept guard upon the walls, and with them were the men who
were past fighting through age; but the others sallied forth with Mars and Pallas Minerva
at their head- both of them wrought in gold and clad in golden raiment, great and fair
with their armour as befitting gods, while they that followed were smaller. When they
reached the place where they would lay their ambush, it was on a riverbed to which live
stock of all kinds would come from far and near to water; here, then, they lay
concealed, clad in full armour. Some way off them there were two scouts who were on
the look-out for the coming of sheep or cattle, which presently came, followed by two
shepherds who were playing on their pipes, and had not so much as a thought of
danger. When those who were in ambush saw this, they cut off the flocks and herds and
killed the shepherds. Meanwhile the besiegers, when they heard much noise among the
cattle as they sat in council, sprang to their horses, and made with all speed towards
them; when they reached them they set battle in array by the banks of the river, and the
hosts aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another. With them were Strife and Riot,
and fell Fate who was dragging three men after her, one with a fresh wound, and the
other unwounded, while the third was dead, and she was dragging him along by his heel:
and her robe was bedrabbled in men's blood. They went in and out with one another
and fought as though they were living people haling away one another's dead.
He wrought also a fair fallow field, large and thrice ploughed already. Many men were
working at the plough within it, turning their oxen to and fro, furrow after furrow. Each
time that they turned on reaching the headland a man would come up to them and give
them a cup of wine, and they would go back to their furrows looking forward to the
time when they should again reach the headland. The part that they had ploughed was
dark behind them, so that the field, though it was of gold, still looked as if it were being
ploughed- very curious to behold.
He wrought also a field of harvest corn, and the reapers were reaping with sharp sickles
in their hands. Swathe after swathe fell to the ground in a straight line behind them, and
the binders bound them in bands of twisted straw. There were three binders, and
behind them there were boys who gathered the cut corn in armfuls and kept on bringing
them to be bound: among them all the owner of the land stood by in silence and was
glad. The servants were getting a meal ready under an oak, for they had sacrificed a
great ox, and were busy cutting him up, while the women were making a porridge of
much white barley for the labourers' dinner.
He wrought also a vineyard, golden and fair to see, and the vines were loaded with
grapes. The bunches overhead were black, but the vines were trained on poles of silver.
He ran a ditch of dark metal all round it, and fenced it with a fence of tin; there was only
one path to it, and by this the vintagers went when they would gather the vintage.
Youths and maidens all blithe and full of glee, carried the luscious fruit in plaited
baskets; and with them there went a boy who made sweet music with his lyre, and sang
the Linus-song with his clear boyish voice.
He wrought also a herd of homed cattle. He made the cows of gold and tin, and they
lowed as they came full speed out of the yards to go and feed among the waving reeds
that grow by the banks of the river. Along with the cattle there went four shepherds, all
of them in gold, and their nine fleet dogs went with them. Two terrible lions had fastened
on a bellowing bull that was with the foremost cows, and bellow as he might they haled
him, while the dogs and men gave chase: the lions tore through the bull's thick hide and
were gorging on his blood and bowels, but the herdsmen were afraid to do anything,
and only hounded on their dogs; the dogs dared not fasten on the lions but stood by
barking and keeping out of harm's way.
The god wrought also a pasture in a fair mountain dell, and large flock of sheep, with a
homestead and huts, and sheltered sheepfolds.
Furthermore he wrought a green, like that which Daedalus once made in Cnossus for
lovely Ariadne. Hereon there danced youths and maidens whom all would woo, with
their hands on one another's wrists. The maidens wore robes of light linen, and the
youths well woven shirts that were slightly oiled. The girls were crowned with garlands,
while the young men had daggers of gold that hung by silver baldrics; sometimes they
would dance deftly in a ring with merry twinkling feet, as it were a potter sitting at his
work and making trial of his wheel to see whether it will run, and sometimes they would
go all in line with one another, and much people was gathered joyously about the green.
There was a bard also to sing to them and play his lyre, while two tumblers went about
performing in the midst of them when the man struck up with his tune.
All round the outermost rim of the shield he set the mighty stream of the river Oceanus.
Then when he had fashioned the shield so great and strong, he made a breastplate also
that shone brighter than fire. He made helmet, close fitting to the brow, and richly
worked, with a golden plume overhanging it; and he made greaves also of beaten tin.
Lastly, when the famed lame god had made all the armour, he took it and set it before
the mother of Achilles; whereon she darted like a falcon from the snowy summits of
Olympus and bore away the gleaming armour from the house of Vulcan.