The Story of the Iliad by Alfred John Church

And when Zeus had brought the Trojans near to the ships, he turned / away his eyes, and looked upon them no more, for he deemed that none / of the immortal gods would come to help either Trojan or Greek. But / Poseidon was watching the battle from the wooded height of / Samothrace, whence he could see Ida and Troy and the ships. And he / pitied the Greeks, when he saw how they fled before Hector, and / purposed in his heart to help them. So he left the height of / Samothrace, and came with four strides to his palace in the depths of / the sea. There he harnessed the horses to his chariot, and rode, / passing over the waves, and the great beasts of the sea gambolled / about him as he went, knowing their king.

/ Po-sei'-don. Sa-mo-thrace'.

His horses he stabled in a cavern of the sea, and loosed them from / the car, and gave them immortal food to eat, and put shackles of gold / about their feet.

And all the while the men of Troy came on, following Hector, like a / storm or a great flame, for they thought to take the ships and to / slay the Greeks beside them.

But Poseidon came to the camp of the Greeks, taking upon him the / shape of Calchas the herald. First he spake to either Ajax, saying: / "Hold fast, ye men of might, so that ye save the people. For the / rest of the wall I fear not, but only for the place where Hector / rages."

/ Cal'-chas.

And as he spake, he smote each with his staff, and filled them with / courage, and gave strength to hands and feet. Then he passed from / them even as a hawk that riseth from a cliff, chasing a bird.

And the Lesser Ajax knew him, and spake to his comrade, saying: "This / is some god that bids us fight for the ships; he was not Calchas, for / I marked the goings of his legs and his feet as he went. The gods / are easily discerned. And verily my heart within me is eager for the / fight."

The Greater Ajax answered him, "Even so do my own hands yearn about / the spear, and my heart is on fire, and my feet carry me away, and I / am eager to fight with Hector, even I alone, for all his fury."

Then Poseidon went to the other chiefs, going up and down the ranks, / and urged them to stand fast against their enemies. But not the less / did the men of Troy press on, Hector leading the way.

And so loud was the cry of battle that it roused old Nestor where he / sat in his tent, tending the wounded Machaon. So he went forth from / the tent, seeking King Agamemnon. And as he went, the King met him, / and with him were Diomed and Ulysses, who also had been wounded that / day. So they held counsel together. And Agamemnon -- for it troubled / him sore that the people were slain -- would that they should draw down / the ships into the sea, and should flee homewards, as soon as the / darkness should cover them and the Trojans should cease from the / battle.

But Ulysses would have none of such counsel, saying: "Now surely, son / of Atreus, thou art not worthy to rule over us, who have been men of / war from our youth. Wilt thou leave this city, for the taking of / which we have suffered so much? That may not be; let not any one of / the Greeks hear thee say such words. And what is this, that thou / wouldst have us launch our ships now, whilst the hosts are fighting? / Surely, so doing, we should perish together, for the Greeks would not / fight any more, seeing that the ships were being launched, and the / men of Troy would slay us altogether."

Then King Agamemnon said, "Thou speakest well. " And he went through / the host, bidding the men bear themselves bravely; and all the while / Poseidon put courage and strength into their hearts; and, on the / other hand, Hera lulled Zeus to sleep on the heights of Olympus, so / that now the battle went against the men of Troy.

And Ajax took a great stone -- now were there many such which they had / as props for the ships -- and smote Hector above the rim of his shield, / on the neck. As an oak falls, stricken by the thunder of Zeus, so he / fell, and the Greeks rushed with a great cry to drag him to them, but / could not, for all the bravest of the sons of Troy held their shields / before him. Then they carried him to the river, and poured water / upon him. And after a while he sat up, and then again his spirit / left him, for the blow had been very grievous. But when the Greeks / saw that Hector had been carried out of the battle, they pressed on / the more, slaying the men of Troy, and driving them back even out of / the camp and across the trench. But when they came to their / chariots, where they had left them on the other side of the trench, / there they stood trembling and pale with fear, as men that flee in / the day of battle.

And now Zeus woke from his sleep, and he looked upon the earth; and / he saw how the Greeks were driving the men of Troy before them, and / Hector lay upon the plain, and vomited blood, and his friends knelt / about him. Senseless he lay, for it was no puny hand that had dealt / the blow. Very wroth was Zeus to see such a sight, and he said to / Hera: "What is this that thou hast done, sending Hector from the / battle? Rememberest thou not how I hung thee amid the clouds with a / band of gold about thy hands and an anvil of gold on either foot? / Make an end of thy deceits, or verily nothing shall protect thee from / my wrath. " to

Then Hera answered: "It is Poseidon that afflicts the Trojans, and / bears up the Greeks."

Then said Zeus: "Call hither Iris and Apollo the Archer; let Iris go / to Poseidon, and bid him cease from the battle, and let Apollo / strengthen Hector, that he may go back to the battle; so shall my / will be accomplished, fulfilling the oath that I sware to Thetis of / the sea that I would do honour to her son."