t, cautious lest the Greeks
Seeing him wounded should insult his pain.
Grief seized, at sight of his retiring friend,
Sarpedon, who forgat not yet the fight,
But piercing with his lance Alcmaon, son 480
Of Thestor, suddenly reversed the beam,
Which following, Alcmaon to the earth
Fell prone, with clangor of his brazen arms.
Sarpedon, then, strenuous with both hands
Tugg'd, and down fell the battlement entire; 485
The wall, dismantled at the summit, stood
A ruin, and wide chasm was open'd through.
Then Ajax him and Teucer at one time
Struck both; an arrow struck from Teucer's bow
The belt that cross'd his bosom, by which hung 490
His ample shield; yet lest his son should fall
Among the ships, Jove turn'd the death aside.
But Ajax, springing to his thrust, a spear
Drove through his shield. Sarpedon at the shock
With backward step short interval recoil'd, 495
But not retired, for in his bosom lived
The hope of glory still, and, looking back
On all his godlike Lycians, he exclaim'd,
Oh Lycians! where is your heroic might?
Brave as I boast myself, I feel the task 500
Arduous, through the breach made by myself
To win a passage to the ships, alone.
Follow me all--Most laborers, most dispatch.[4]
So he; at whose sharp reprimand abash'd
The embattled host to closer conflict moved, 505
Obedient to their counsellor and King.
On the other side the Greeks within the wall
Made firm the phalanx, seeing urgent need;
Nor could the valiant Lycians through the breach
Admittance to the Grecian fleet obtain, 510
Nor since they first approach'd it, had the Greeks
With all their efforts, thrust the Lycians back.
But as two claimants of one common field,
Each with his rod of measurement in hand,
Dispute the boundaries, litigating warm 515
Their right in some small portion of the soil,
So they, divided by the barrier, struck
With hostile rage the bull-hide bucklers round,
And the light targets on each other's breast.
Then many a wound the ruthless weapons made. 520
Pierced through the unarm'd back, if any turn'd,
He died, and numerous even through the shield.
The battlements from end to end with blood
Of Grecians and of Trojans on both sides
Were sprinkled;