Verse
Iliad
Book 15, Line 312 by Samuel Butler (English)
The Argives held together and stood their ground. The cry of battle rose high from either side, and the arrows flew from the bowstrings. Many a spear sped from strong hands and fastened in the bodies of many a valiant warrior, while others fell to earth midway, before they could taste of man's fair flesh and glut themselves with blood. So long as Phoebus Apollo held his aegis quietly and without shaking it, the weapons on either side took effect and the people fell, but when he shook it straight in the face of the Danaans and raised his mighty battle-cry their hearts fainted within them and they forgot their former prowess. As when two wild beasts spring in the dead of night on a herd of cattle or a large flock of sheep when the herdsman is not there - even so were the Danaans struck helpless, for Apollo filled them with panic and gave victory to Hektor and the Trojans.
IliadBook 15, Line 312Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 15
HomerProseID iliad-iliad-butler-en-prose-15-312