ground as a
wild boar at bay upon the mountains, who abides the coming of a great
crowd of men in some lonely place--the bristles stand upright on his
back, his eyes flash fire, and he whets his tusks in his eagerness to
defend himself against hounds and men--even so did famed Idomeneus hold
his ground and budge not at the coming of Aeneas. He cried aloud to his
comrades looking towards Ascalaphus, Aphareus, Deipyrus, Meriones, and
Antilochus, all of them brave soldiers--"Hither my friends," he cried,
"and leave me not single-handed--I go in great fear by fleet Aeneas,
who is coming against me, and is a redoubtable dispenser of death
battle. Moreover he is in the flower of youth when a man's strength is
greatest; if I was of the same age as he is and in my present mind,
either he or I should soon bear away the prize of victory."

On this, all of them as one man stood near him, shield on shoulder.
Aeneas on the other side called to his comrades, looking towards
Deiphobus, Paris, and Agenor, who were leaders of the Trojans along
with himself, and the people followed them as sheep follow the ram when
they go down to drink after they have been feeding, and the heart of
the shepherd is glad--even so was the heart of Aeneas gladdened when he
saw his people follow him.

Then they fought furiously in close combat about the body of Alcathous,
wielding their long spears; and the bronze armour about their bodies
rang fearfully as they took aim at one another in the press of the
fight, while the two heroes Aeneas and Idomeneus, peers of Mars,
outvied everyone in their desire to hack at each other with sword and
spear. Aeneas took aim first, but Idomeneus was on the lookout and
avoided the spear, so that it sped from Aeneas' strong hand in vain,
and fell quivering in the ground. Idomeneus meanwhile smote Oenomaus in
the middle of his belly, and broke the plate of his corslet, whereon
his bowels came gushing out and he clutched the earth in the palms of
his hands as he fell sprawling in the dust. Idomeneus drew his spear
out of the body, but could not strip him of the rest of his armour for
the rain of darts that were showered upon him: moreover his strength
was now beginning to fail him so that he could no longer charge, and
could neither spring forward to recover his own weapon nor swerve aside
to avoid one that was aimed at him; therefore, though he still defended
himself in hand-to-hand fight, his heavy feet could not bear him