ector a broad sword-belt, wrought with gold. This
sword, Hector's gift, Aias took, and went towards the hut of Ulysses,
meaning to carve him limb from limb, for madness had come upon him in his
great grief. Rushing through the night to slay Ulysses he fell upon the
flock of sheep that the Greeks kept for their meat. And up and down
among them he went, smiting blindly till the dawn came, and, lo! his
senses returned to him, and he saw that he had not smitten Ulysses, but
stood in a pool of blood among the sheep that he had slain. He could not
endure the disgrace of his madness, and he fixed the sword, Hector's
gift, with its hilt firmly in the ground, and went back a little way, and
ran and fell upon the sword, which pierced his heart, and so died the
great Aias, choosing death before a dishonoured life.

ULYSSES SAILS TO SEEK THE SON OF ACHILLES.--THE VALOUR OF EURYPYLUS

When the Greeks found Aias lying dead, slain by his own hand, they made
great lament, and above all the brother of Aias, and his wife Tecmessa
bewailed him, and the shores of the sea rang with their sorrow. But of
all no man was more grieved than Ulysses, and he stood up and said:
"Would that the sons of the Trojans had never awarded to me the arms of
Achilles, for far rather would I have given them to Aias than that this
loss should have befallen the whole army of the Greeks. Let no man blame
me, or be angry with me, for I have not sought for wealth, to enrich
myself, but for honour only, and to win a name that will be remembered
among men in times to come." Then they made a great fire of wood, and
burned the body of Aias, lamenting him as they had sorrowed for Achilles.

Now it seemed that though the Greeks had won the Luck of Troy and had
defeated the Amazons and the army of Memnon, they were no nearer taking
Troy than ever. They had slain Hector, indeed, and many other Trojans,
but they had lost the great Achilles, and Aias, and Patroclus, and
Antilochus, with the princes whom Penthesilea and Memnon slew, and the
bands of the dead chiefs were weary of fighting, and eager to go home.
The chiefs met in council, and Menelaus arose and said that his heart was
wasted with sorrow for the death of so many brave men who had sailed to
Troy for his sake. "Would that death had come upon me before I gathered
this host," he said, "but come, let the rest of us launch our swift
ships, and return each to our own country."

He spoke thus to try t