in which they were--the Achaeans did
not believe they should escape destruction but thought themselves
doomed, while there was not a Trojan but his heart beat high with the
hope of firing the ships and putting the Achaean heroes to the sword.

Thus were the two sides minded. Then Hector seized the stern of the
good ship that had brought Protesilaus to Troy, but never bore him back
to his native land. Round this ship there raged a close hand-to-hand
fight between Danaans and Trojans. They did not fight at a distance
with bows and javelins, but with one mind hacked at one another in
close combat with their mighty swords and spears pointed at both ends;
they fought moreover with keen battle-axes and with hatchets. Many a
good stout blade hilted and scabbarded with iron, fell from hand or
shoulder as they fought, and the earth ran red with blood. Hector, when
he had seized the ship, would not loose his hold but held on to its
curved stern and shouted to the Trojans, "Bring fire, and raise the
battle-cry all of you with a single voice. Now has Jove vouchsafed us a
day that will pay us for all the rest; this day we shall take the ships
which came hither against heaven's will, and which have caused us such
infinite suffering through the cowardice of our councillors, who when I
would have done battle at the ships held me back and forbade the host
to follow me; if Jove did then indeed warp our judgements, himself now
commands me and cheers me on."

As he spoke thus the Trojans sprang yet more fiercely on the Achaeans,
and Ajax no longer held his ground, for he was overcome by the darts
that were flung at him, and made sure that he was doomed. Therefore he
left the raised deck at the stern, and stepped back on to the
seven-foot bench of the oarsmen. Here he stood on the look-out, and
with his spear held back any Trojan whom he saw bringing fire to the
ships. All the time he kept on shouting at the top of his voice and
exhorting the Danaans. "My friends," he cried, "Danaan heroes, servants
of Mars, be men my friends, and fight with might and with main. Can we
hope to find helpers hereafter, or a wall to shield us more surely than
the one we have? There is no strong city within reach, whence we may
draw fresh forces to turn the scales in our favour. We are on the plain
of the armed Trojans with the sea behind us, and far from our own
country. Our salvation, therefore, is in the might of our hands and in
hard fighting."

As he sp