Windstorm

Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows spake to him Hector of the flashing helm: "Polydamas, this that thou sayest is no longer to my pleasure; yea, thou knowest how to devise better words than these. But if thou verily speakest thus in earnest, then of a surety have the gods themselves destroyed thy wits, seeing thou biddest me forget the counsels of loud-thundering Zeus, that himself promised me and bowed his head thereto. But thou biddest us be obedient to birds long of wing, that I regard not, nor take thought thereof, whether they fare to the right, toward the Dawn and the sun, or to the left toward the murky darkness. nay, for us, let us be obedient to the counsel of great Zeus, that is king over all mortals and immortals. One omen is best, to fight for one's country. Wherefore dost thou fear war and battle? For if the rest of us be slain one and all at the ships of the Argives, yet is there no fear that thou shouldest perish,—for thy heart is—not staunch in fight nor warlike. Howbeit, if thou shalt hold aloof from battle, or shalt beguile with thy words an other, and turn him from war, forthwith smitten by my spear shalt thou lose thy life."

So spake he and led the way; and they followed after with a wondrous din; and thereat Zeus, that hurleth the thunderbolt, roused from the mountains of Ida a blast of wind, that bare the dust straight against the ships and he bewildered the mind of the Achaeans, but vouchsafed glory to the Trojans and to Hector. Trusting therefore in his portents and in their might they sought to break the great wall of the Achaeans. The pinnets of the fortifications they dragged down and overthrew the battlements, and pried out the supporting beams that the Achaeans had set first in the earth as buttresses for the wall. These they sought to drag out, and hoped to break the wall of the Achaeans. Howbeit not even now did the Danaans give ground from the path, but closed up the battlements with bull's-hides, and therefrom cast at the foemen, as they came up against the wall.

And the two Aiantes ranged everywhere along the walls urging men on, and arousing the might of the Achaeans. One man with gentle words, another with harsh would they chide, whomsoever they saw giving ground utterly from the fight: "Friends, whoso is pre-eminent among the Danaans, whoso holds a middle place, or whoso is lesser, for in nowise are all men equal in war, now is there a work for all, and this, I ween, ye know even of yourselves. Let no man turn him back to the ships now that he has heard one that cheers him on; nay, press ye forward, and urge ye one the other, in hope that Olympian Zeus, lord of the lightning, may grant us to thrust back the assault and drive our foes to the city."


- Homer, The Iliad, Book 12 (A. T. Murray translation)


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Looking darkly at him tall Hektor of the shining helm answered:
“Poulydamas, these things that you argue please me no longer.
Your mind knows how to contrive a saying better than this one.
But if in all seriousness this is your true argument, then
it is the very gods who ruined the brain within you,
you who are telling me to forget the counsels of thunderous
Zeus, in which he himself nodded his head to me and assented.
But you: you tell me to put my trust in birds, who spread
wide their wings. I care nothing for these, I think nothing of them,
nor whether they go by on our right against dawn and sunrise
or go by to the left against the glooming mist and the darkness.
No, let us put our trust in the counsel of great Zeus, he who
is lord over all mortal men and all the immortals.
One bird sign is best: to fight in defense of our country.
Why are you so afraid of war and hostility? Even
though all the rest of us were to be cut down around you
among the Argive ships, you would run no danger of dying
since your heart is not enduring in battle nor a fighter’s.
But if you shrink away from the murderous work, or turn back
some other man from the fighting, beguiling him with your arguments,
at once beaten down under my spear you will lose your own life.”
He spoke, and led the way, and the rest of them came on after him
with unearthly clamor, and over them Zeus who delights in the thunder
drove down from among the hills of Ida the blast of a windstorm
which swept the dust straight against the ships. He was mazing the minds
of the Achaians, and giving glory to the Trojans and Hektor,
and they in the confidence of the portents shown, and their own strength,
worked to break down the great wall of the Achaians. They tore
at the projections on the outworks, and broke down the battlements
and shook with levers the jut of the buttresses the Achaians
had stuck in the earth on the outer face to shore their defenses.
They tore at these, in hope of breaking down the Achaians’
wall, but now the Danaäns did not give way in front of them,
but they, fencing the battlements with the hides of oxen,
hurled from the wall at the enemy who came on beneath it.
The two Aiantes, walking up and down the length of the ramparts,
urged the men on, stirring up the warcraft of the Achaians,
and stung them along, using kind words to one, to another
hard ones, whenever they saw a man hang back from the fighting:
“Dear friends, you who are pre-eminent among the Argives, you who
are of middle estate, you who are of low account, since
all of us are not alike in battle, this is work for all now,
and you yourselves can see it. Now let no man let himself
be turned back upon the ships for the sound of their blustering
but keep forever forward calling out courage to each other.
So may Olympian Zeus who grips the thunderbolt grant us
a way to the city, when we beat off the attack of our enemies.”


- Homer, The Iliad, Book 12 (Richmond Lattimore translation)