ort life, ere he met the death he knew
awaited him under the walls of Troy. Hector, calm, resolute, patriotic;
sustaining by his single arm the conflict with a host of heroes; retaining
by his single suavity the confederacy of many jealous and discordant
nations; unconquerable in the field; undaunted in council; ever watching
over his country; ever forgetful of himself; overflowing with domestic
affection, yet prodigal of self-sacrifice; singly awaiting before the
Scaean Gate the approach of Achilles, when his celestial armour shone like
the setting sun, and all Troy in terror had sought refuge within the
walls; deaf to the wailing even of Andromache and Priam, at the call of
patriotic duty; and when betrayed by Minerva in the last conflict, and
deprived of his home, yet drawing his sword to do deeds of which men might
speak thereafter! Diomede, unsubdued even amidst the wreck of Grecian
fortunes during the absence of Achilles, alone sustaining the war, when
all around him quailed before the spear of Hector; and resolute to hold
his ground with a few followers, even though the whole of his Grecian
leaders fled in their ships. Agamemnon, proud, imperious, passionate;
doing injustice in anger, yet willing to repair it on reflection; wresting
the blue-eyed maid from Achilles in the first burst of fury, yet publicly
acknowledging his fault in the council of the chiefs; sending embassies,
and offering his own daughter, to obtain a reconciliation with the son of
Peleus. Ulysses, wary alike in council and in action; provident in forming
designs, intrepid in carrying them into execution; sparing of the blood of
his soldiers, but unconquerable in the resolution with which they were
led; ever counselling prudent measures, but ever ruled by invincible
determination. Ajax, singly resisting the onset of the Trojan multitude;
slowly retreating, covered by his broad shield; midway between the two
armies, when all around him fled; striving with desperate resolution for
the body of Patroclus, and covering the retreat of his followers who
dragged along the lifeless hero, when Hector, clad in the shining panoply
he had wrested from the Myrmidonian chief, was thundering in close
pursuit. What has Virgil to exhibit as a set-off to this band of
heroes--"Fortem Gyan, fortemque Cloanthum"--the boyish eagerness of
Ascanius, the savage wrath of Turnus when bereaved of his bride! We seem,
in passing from the _Iliad_ to the _AEneid_, to have fallen,