e
great chiefs of the Achaians. Now let one of these be your champion, to
fight with me, Hector: and I call Zeus to witness, that if he slay me, you
shall let him carry off my armor, but give my body to the Trojans, that
they may render to me the honor of the funeral pyre. But if the Far-Darter
shall grant me glory, that I may slay _him_, then will I strip him of his
armor, and hang it in the Temple of Apollo; but his lifeless body I will
give back to the long-haired Achaians, that they may bury him, and build
him a barrow by the Hellespont."

Thus spake the glorious Hector; but all were silent; for they were afraid
to meet him. Then, at last, Menelaus, groaning deeply, reproached the
Achaians, and said, "O ye women of Achaia, no longer _men!_ surely this
will be an everlasting shame to us, if none of the Greeks dare to fight
with the noble Hector! But I myself will arm me; for the issues of victory
are with the Gods."

And he began to put on his dazzling armor. And now wouldst thou, Menelaus,
have yielded up thy life at the hands of Hector; but the great ruler,
Agamemnon, rose up and stayed thee. "Art thou mad, O foster-son of Zeus?
Draw back, though with grief and pain; and think not to fight with Hector,
the man-slaying son of Priam; for he is a far better man than thou, even
godlike Achilles feareth to meet this man in battle. Go then and sit down;
and we will choose another champion."

And the fair-haired Menelaus obeyed his brother's words, and his henchmen
gladly took off his bright armor. And the wise Nestor arose, and upbraided
all the Achaian chiefs: "Fie on us! Shame and lamentation have come upon
us all. Surely the aged Peleus, the goodly king of the Myrmidons, would
deeply groan, if he heard that we are all cowering before great Hector; he
would pray that his soul might leave his body and go down to Hades. Would
to Zeus, and to Athene and Apollo, that I were young, as when the Pylians
met the Arcadians in battle, and Ereuthalion, the squire of King Lycurgus
of Arcadia, wearing the divine armor of Areithous, of the iron mace,
before the walls of Pheia, by the waters of Iardanus, challenged all our
host; and they were afraid and trembled. Then I, the youngest of all,
stood up and fought with him, and Athene gave me great glory; for he was
the tallest man, and of the greatest bulk, that I have ever slain. Would
that I were still so young and strong! But of you, leaders of the
Achaians, not one has heart enou