n a body; and Achilles led the way.
Thrice they drove their fair-maned steeds around the body,[721]
grieving; and among them Thetis kindled a longing for lamentation.
Moistened were the sands, and moistened were the arms of the men with
tears; for so brave a master of the flight they longed. But among them
the son of Peleus led the abundant lamentation, laying his
man-slaughtering hands upon the breast of his companion:

[Footnote 720: Excellently paraphrased by Gaza: [Greek: Epeidan
de tou olethriou threnou apolausomen]. Ernesti well observes that
[Greek: tetarpomestha] implies "delight mingled with satiety."]

[Footnote 721: This was a frequent rite at funerals. Cf. Apollon.
Rh. i. 1059; Virg. AEn. xi. 188, sqq.; Heliodor. Ethiop. iii. p.
136: [Greek: Epeide to mnema tou Neoptolemou periestoichesato e
pompe, kai triton oi epeboi ten ippon perielasan, eloluxan men ai
gunaikes, lalaxan de oi andres]. Among the Romans this rite was
called _decursio_. Cf. Liv. xxv. 17: Tacit. Ann. ii. 7; Sueton.
Claud. Sec. i. According to Plutarch, Alexander the Great performed
the same honours at the tomb of Achilles, that Achilles had
bestowed upon the manes of his friend Patroclus. See also Bernart
on Stat. Theb. vi. 217.]

"Hail! O Patroclus, even in the dwellings of Hades; for now shall I
accomplish all those things which formerly I promised, that having
dragged Hector hither, I would give him to the dogs to be devoured raw;
and that before thy pile I would cut the necks of twelve illustrious
sons of the Trojans, enraged on account of thee slain."

He spoke, and meditated unworthy deeds against noble Hector, having
stretched him prone in the dust before the bier of Menoetiades; but they
each stripped off his brazen, glittering armour, and unyoked their
high-sounding steeds. They sat also in crowds at the ship of
swift-footed AEacides; but he afforded to them an agreeable funeral
feast.[722] Many white bulls[723] were stretched around by the axe,
having their throats cut, and many sheep and bleating goats. Many
white-tusked swine also, abounding in fat, were extended for roasting in
the flame of Vulcan; and on every side around the dead body flowed
abundant blood. But the chiefs of the Greeks led the king, the
swift-footed son of Peleus, to noble Agamemnon, hardly persuading him
enraged at heart on account of his companion. But when advancing they
reached the tent of Agamemnon, he straightwa