marry, if you will sack the goodly city of Ilius in company with
ourselves; so come along with me, that we may make a covenant at the
ships about the marriage, and we will not be hard upon you about gifts
of wooing."

With this Idomeneus began dragging him by the foot through the thick of
the fight, but Asius came up to protect the body, on foot, in front of
his horses which his esquire drove so close behind him that he could
feel their breath upon his shoulder. He was longing to strike down
Idomeneus, but ere he could do so Idomeneus smote him with his spear in
the throat under the chin, and the bronze point went clean through it.
He fell as an oak, or poplar, or pine which shipwrights have felled for
ship's timber upon the mountains with whetted axes--even thus did he
lie full length in front of his chariot and horses, grinding his teeth
and clutching at the bloodstained dust. His charioteer was struck with
panic and did not dare turn his horses round and escape: thereupon
Antilochus hit him in the middle of his body with a spear; his cuirass
of bronze did not protect him, and the spear stuck in his belly. He
fell gasping from his chariot and Antilochus, great Nestor's son, drove
his horses from the Trojans to the Achaeans.

Deiphobus then came close up to Idomeneus to avenge Asius, and took aim
at him with a spear, but Idomeneus was on the look-out and avoided it,
for he was covered by the round shield he always bore--a shield of
oxhide and bronze with two arm-rods on the inside. He crouched under
cover of this, and the spear flew over him, but the shield rang out as
the spear grazed it, and the weapon sped not in vain from the strong
hand of Deiphobus, for it struck Hypsenor son of Hippasus, shepherd of
his people, in the liver under the midriff, and his limbs failed
beneath him. Deiphobus vaunted over him and cried with a loud voice
saying, "Of a truth Asius has not fallen unavenged; he will be glad
even while passing into the house of Hades, strong warden of the gate,
that I have sent some one to escort him."

Thus did he vaunt, and the Argives were stung by his saying. Noble
Antilochus was more angry than any one, but grief did not make him
forget his friend and comrade. He ran up to him, bestrode him, and
covered him with his shield; then two of his staunch comrades,
Mecisteus son of Echius, and Alastor, stooped down, and bore him away
groaning heavily to the ships. But Idomeneus ceased not his fury. He
kept