The Story of the Iliad by Alfred John Church

Thus did Achilles go again into the battle, eager above all things to / meet with Hector and to slay him.

But Apollo stood by Æneas, and spake to him, "Æneas, where are now / thy boastings that thou wouldst meet Achilles face to face?"

Then Æneas answered: "Nay, I have stood up against him in the day / when he took the town of Lyrnessus. But I fled before him, and only / my nimble feet saved me from falling by his spear. Surely a god is / ever with him, making his spear to fly aright."

/ Lyr-nes'-sus.

Him Apollo answered again: "Thou, too, art the son of a goddess, and / thy mother is greater than his, for she is but a daughter of the Sea. / Drive straight at him with thy spear, and let not his threats dismay / thee."

Then Æneas cast his spear, and it struck the shield of Achilles with / so dreadful a sound that the hero feared lest it should pierce it / through, knowing not that the gifts of the gods are not easy for / mortal man to vanquish. Two folds, indeed, it pierced, that were of / bronze, but in the gold it was stayed, and there were yet two of tin / within. Then Achilles cast his spear. Through the shield of Æneas / it passed, and though it wounded him not, yet was he sore dismayed, / so near it came. Then Achilles drew his sword, and rushed on Æneas, / and Æneas caught up a great stone to cast at him. But it was not the / will of the gods that Æneas should perish, seeing that he and his / sons after him should rule over the men of Troy in the ages to come. / Therefore Poseidon lifted him up, and bore him over the ranks of men / to the left of the battle, but first he drew the spear out of the / shield, and laid it at the feet of Achilles. Much the hero marvelled / to see it, crying: "This is a great wonder that I behold with mine / eyes. For I see my spear before me, but the man whom I sought to / slay I see not. Of a truth Æneas spake truth, saying that he was / dear to the immortal gods."

Then he rushed into the battle, slaying as he went. And Hector would / have met him, but Apollo stood by him, and said, "Fight not with / Achilles, lest he slay thee. " Therefore he went back among the men / of Troy. Many did Achilles slay, and among them Polydorus, son of / Priam, who, because he was the youngest and very dear, his father / suffered not to go to the battle. Yet he went, in his folly, and / being very swift of foot, he trusted in his speed, running through / the foremost of the fighters. But as he ran, Achilles smote him, and / wounded him to the death. When Hector saw it, he could not bear any / more to stand apart. Therefore he rushed at Achilles, and Achilles / rejoiced to see him, saying, "This is the man who slew my comrade. " / And to Hector he cried, "Come hither, and taste of death."

/ Pol-y-do'-rus.

And Hector made answer: "Son of Peleus, seek not to make me afraid / with words. For though I be weaker than thou, yet victory lieth on / the knees of the gods, and I, too, bear a spear."

Then he cast his spear; but Athene turned it aside with her breath, / and laid it again at his feet. And when Achilles leapt upon Hector / with a shout, Apollo snatched him away. Three times did Achilles / leap upon him, and three times he struck only the mist. But the / fourth time he cried with a terrible voice, "Dog, thou hast escaped / from death, Apollo helping thee; but I shall meet thee again, and / make an end of thee."

Then Achilles turned to the others, and slew multitudes of them, so / that they fled, some across the plain, and some to the river, the / eddying Xanthus. And these leapt into the water as locusts leap into / a river when a fire which men light drives them from the fields. And / all the river was full of horses and men. Then Achilles leapt into / the stream, leaving his spear on the bank, resting on the tamarisk / trees. Only his sword had he, and with this he slew many; and they / were as fishes which fly from some great dolphin in the sea. And / when Achilles was weary of slaying, he took twelve alive, whom he / would slay on the tomb of Patroclus.

Then there met him Asteropeus, who was the grandson of a river-god / Axius. And Achilles wondered to see him, and said, "Who art thou, / that standest against me?"

/ As-ter-o-pe'-us. Ax'-i-us.

And he said, "I am the grandson of the river-god Axius, fairest of / all the streams on the earth."

And as he spake he cast two spears, one with each hand, for he could / use either alike; and the one struck the shield, nor pierced it / through, for the gold stayed it, and the other grazed the right hand / so that the blood spurted forth. Then did Achilles cast his spear, / but missed his aim, and the great spear stood fast in the bank. And / thrice Asteropeus strove to draw it forth. Thrice he strove in vain, / and the fourth time he strove to break the spear. But as he strove / Achilles smote him so that he died. Yet had he some glory, for he / had wounded the great Achilles.