Poseidon was exceedingly angry that his grandson Amphimakhos should have fallen; he therefore went to the tents and ships of the Achaeans to urge the Danaans still further, and to devise evil for the Trojans. Idomeneus met him, as he was taking leave of a comrade, who had just come to him from the fight, wounded in the knee. His fellow-warriors bore him off the field, and Idomeneus having given orders to the physicians went on to his tent, for he was still thirsting for battle. Poseidon spoke in the likeness and with the voice of Thoas son of Andraimon who ruled the Aetolians of all Pleuron and high Calydon, and was honored in his district [dêmos] as though he were a god. "Idomeneus," said he, "lawgiver to the Cretans, what has now become of the threats with which the sons of the Achaeans used to threaten the Trojans?"
And Idomeneus chief among the Cretans answered, "Thoas, no one, so far as I know, is responsible [aitios], for we can all fight. None are held back neither by fear nor slackness, but it seems to be the of almighty Zeus that the Achaeans should perish ingloriously here far from Argos: you, Thoas, have been always staunch, and you keep others in heart if you see any fail in duty; be not then remiss now, but exhort all to do their utmost."
To this Poseidon lord of the earthquake made answer, "Idomeneus, may he never return from Troy, but remain here for dogs to batten upon, who is this day willfully slack in fighting. Get your armor and go, we must make all haste together if we may be of any use, though we are only two. Even cowards gain a sense of striving [aretê] from companionship, and we two can hold our own with the bravest."
Therewith the god went back into the thick of the fight [ponos], and Idomeneus when he had reached his tent donned his armor, grasped his two spears, and sallied forth. As the lightning which the son of Kronos brandishes from bright Olympus when he would show a sign [sêma] to mortals, and its gleam flashes far and wide -
even so did his armor gleam about him as he ran. Meriones his sturdy squire [therapôn] met him while he was still near his tent (for he was going to fetch his spear) and Idomeneus said
"Meriones, fleet son of Molos, best of comrades, why have you left the field? Are you wounded, and is the point of the weapon hurting you? or have you been sent to fetch me? I want no fetching; I had far rather fight than stay in my tent."
"Idomeneus," answered Meriones, "I come for a spear, if I can find one in my tent; I have broken the one I had, in throwing it at the shield of Deiphobos."
And Idomeneus leader of the Cretans answered, "You will find one spear, or twenty if you so please, standing up against the end wall of my tent. I have taken them from Trojans whom I have killed, for I am not one to keep my enemy at arm's length; therefore I have spears, bossed shields, helmets, and burnished corselets."
Homer. The Iliad of Homer. Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Samuel Butler. Longmans, Green and Co. 39 Paternoster Row, London. New York and Bombay. 1898 (?).
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