Victory of the Trojans
Early in the morning, when the goddess of dawn took off into the sky Eos and the east lit up with a scarlet light, Zeus-the thunderer, having gathered the gods on the bright Olympus, told them:
- Listen to me, immortal gods! Let none of you dare to descend from the high Olympus today to help either the Greeks or the Trojans. I will cast the disobedient into the deepest abyss of Tartarus so that he knows how much stronger I am than the immortal gods. If you want to experience my power, then take a gold chain, lower it to the ground, stand on the ground and try to pull me off Olympus. I will take hold of this chain with one hand and lift all of you and the whole earth and seas with it.
The gods were struck with fear by the terrible speech of Zeus. The goddess answered Zeus Athena:
- Oh, great thunderer, we all know that your power is boundless, but we all grieve for the Greeks. Are they doomed to perish?
"My daughter," Zeus replied, "I do not intend to destroy all the Greeks. Having said this, Zeus harnessed golden-maned horses to the chariot, took a golden whip in his hands and, dressed in golden robes, stood on the chariot. He quickly drove the horses, and they rushed between earth and sky to a high Coming. There Zeus sat down on the very top and began to watch how the Greeks and citizens of Troy were preparing for battle.The troops marched into the field and quickly converged. The terrible battle began again. It was noon. Zeus took the golden scales and weighed the lot of the Trojans and Greeks on them. The lot of the Trojans rose to the sky, promising them good luck, while the lot of the Greeks sank to the ground, threatening the death of many of them. The thunder of the great Zeus burst from Ida, and he threw a sparkling lightning into the army of the Greeks. Terror seized the warriors. All of them took to flight, hurrying to hide behind the walls of the camp. Only Nestor remained in the field. One of his horses was wounded by an arrow Paris and reared up. Nestor tried in vain to cut the horse's harness, he failed. Hector was already approaching him on his chariot. The elder Nestor would have died, but Diomed came to his aid. He called and Odysseus to help, but Odysseus did not hear his call. Diomedes took Nestor into his chariot and rushed to meet Hector. Diomedes threw a spear at Hector, but missed: he hit the chest of Hector's charioteer and struck him to death. They rushed towards Hector's horses. Instead of the driver, the hero got on the chariot Archeptolem. Perhaps, having seen the feat of Diomedes, the fleeing Greeks would have stopped. But Zeus threw a flashing lightning bolt before the horses of Diomedes. The lightning flashed terribly, and the horses rushed back. Nestor began to convince Diomedes to leave the battlefield, since Zeus does not foretell victory for him. No matter how much Diomedes wanted to continue the battle, he obeyed Nestor and sent his horses towards the crowds of fleeing Greeks. The Trojans raised a terrible cry and bombarded the Greeks with a cloud of arrows. Hector mocked Diomedes, who had fled. Three times Diomedes wanted to return, and three times there were terrible thunderclaps of Zeus. Hector realized that Zeus was foreshadowing victory to the Trojans with his thunders. He encouraged them to pursue the Greeks and threatened to break into their camp and burn the ships. Got angry Hera, having heard Hector's threats. She began to ask the earth's oscillator, God Poseidon, to help the Greeks, but the great lord of the seas refused. And the battle was already raging at the very wall surrounding the camp of the Greeks. Hera inspired Agamemnon with the idea of inspiring the Greeks. Standing on the ship of Odysseus, Agamemnon appealed to the soldiers and urged them to defend themselves courageously. Agamemnon also prayed to Zeus to send help and not let the Greeks die at the hands of the Trojans. Zeus was merciful and sent a sign to the Greeks. An eagle soared over the altar of Zeus and threw a deer on the altar, which he held in his claws. Seeing the sign, the Greeks took heart and repelled the Trojans. King Diomedes fought bravely of all. He then struck down many Trojan heroes. Other heroes of the Greeks also fought bravely. But the stepbrother of Telamonides Ajax, tevkr, especially distinguished himself. With his bow, he struck down many Trojan heroes one by one. He also struck his son Priam, beautiful Gorgifion. As the poppy bends its red flower under the weight of the dew that has covered it, so the Gorgyphion bowed his head, crowned with a helmet, and fell to the ground. Teucer also killed Hector's charioteer, his friend Archeptolemus. Hector boiled with anger and rushed at Teucer. He wounded him with a heavy stone in the shoulder near the neck. Teucer groaned. Hector would have killed him if Ajax had not covered his brother with a shield and ordered the servants to carry the wounded man to the ships.
Zeus aroused the Trojans' courage again. The Trojans pushed the Greeks back to the ships. Hector was running menacingly through the ranks. It was a pity Here the Greeks, she begged Athena to hurry to their aid. Athena agreed. She put on her armor and together with the Hero rushed in a chariot from the bright Olympus. Zeus saw the rushing goddesses from the high Ida. Full of anger, he sent a messenger of the gods Iris to stop the goddesses, threatening them with his anger. The goddesses Hera and Athena were afraid of the wrath of Zeus, and they returned to Olympus full of sadness. Soon Zeus the Thunderer also returned to Olympus. When Zeus asked why the goddesses were so saddened, and Hera answered Zeus' threats that they were grieving for the Greeks. Zeus told Hera that the Trojans would win until Agamemnon reconciled with Achilles and sent him rich gifts for the insult he had inflicted on him.
The sun has set. Night covered the earth with its cover. The bloody battle stopped. On the advice of Hector, the Trojans did not return to holy Troy. They settled down for the night in a field, and the city was ordered to be guarded by youths and elders. Hector hoped that he would be able to win the final victory over the Greeks the next day and expel them from the Troad. A lot of bonfires were lit by the Trojans on the field. Like stars, these bonfires sparkled in the darkness of the night.