The Greeks armed themselves. One after another, detachments of Greeks came out from the camp. Like flakes of snow carried by the wind, so they went into battle. There were many of them. Helmets, spears and shields sparkled in the sun. The seashore shook under the feet of the warriors. The son of Peleus also armed himself. He put on the armor forged by Hephaestus, hung a sword over his shoulder, took a shield shining like a moon and took out from the chest his huge spear, with which only he could fight. He put on his helmet, which shone like a star, and left the tent. His eyes sparkled with anger, but his heart was still tormented by unbearable sadness. Achilles' horses were harnessed to the chariot. His charioteer Automedon mounted the chariot and took the whip and reins in his hands. Achilles also mounted the chariot. Going into battle, he called out to the horses:
- Oh, Xanth and Baliy, children of the divine Podarga! Take me out of the battle alive, not like Patroclus, don’t leave me dead on the battlefield!
Suddenly Xanth, the prophetic Hero created, turned to Achilles with his muzzle down and said in a human voice:
“Today, great Achilles, we will take you out of the battle alive, but your last day is near.” It is not our fault that Patroclus died. He was defeated by the arrowhead Apollo, who granted victory to Hector. Even if we fly like Zephyr, you are still destined to die at the hands of the god Apollo and a mortal husband.
Achilles cried angrily:
- Why are you prophesying death for me, Xanth! I myself know that fate is destined for me to die here, far from my father and mother. But I will not leave the battle until I water the earth with the blood of the Trojans, avenging Patroclus!
So Achilles exclaimed and drove his horses into battle. And the Greeks had already lined up in the field and were advancing on the Trojans, who had occupied the hill in front of Troy.
At this time, the thunderer Zeus ordered the goddess Themis to convene the gods for a council. All the gods gathered in the halls of Zeus, even the gods of rivers and streams gathered, nymphs and goddesses of springs gathered. The thunder god told the assembled gods that he himself would not interfere in the battle, but would watch the battle from the top of Olympus. Yet the gods can take part in the battle, on which side each of them wants. Zeus was afraid that the Trojans would not withstand the stormy onslaught of Achilles and that he might, contrary to fate, take possession of Troy. The gods immediately descended to earth. The goddess Hera and Pallas Athena, the gods Poseidon, Hermes and Hephaestus took the side of the Greeks, and the goddess Aphrodite, Artemis and Latona, the gods Ares, Apollo and the river god Xanthus [1] took the side of the Trojans.
As soon as the Olympian gods approached the troops, the goddess Eris immediately started a fight. Pallas Athena cried out menacingly, sweeping through the Greek troops. In response, the cry of the god of war Ares was heard, like a menacing storm. The troops collided. The thunder of Zeus rumbled and rolled across the sky. The god Poseidon shook the whole earth. The mountains shook from the base to the top, the great Troy and the ships of the Greeks trembled. Hades, the ruler of the kingdom of the souls of the dead, was horrified. He jumped up from his throne, fearing that the earth would open up and reveal his kingdom of horrors that would make even the immortal gods tremble. A terrible battle began. Achilles only longed for a meeting in battle with Hector.
The archer Apollo, under the guise of Lycaon, the son of Priam, appeared to Aeneas and told him that he, the son of Aphrodite, had nothing to fear from entering into battle with the son of the lower goddess Thetis, Achilles. With this he inspired Aeneas to fight, and the son of Anchises bravely stepped forward. The goddess Hera saw this and was afraid that Apollo would help Aeneas in battle. Poseidon advised the gods not to interfere in the battle now, but to sit on the rampart that was once built by Hercules on the seashore, and only then take part in the battle when the god Ares and the god Apollo intervene in it. The gods who helped the Greeks heeded Poseidon's advice and sat down away from the battle. The gods, who helped the Trojans, sat on the stones of the Kallikolon hills.
Aeneas and Achilles met. Achilles greeted the son of Anchises with ridicule: he reminded him how he had already fled from him, and advised him to quickly take refuge in the ranks of the soldiers. But Aeneas answered Achilles that it was in vain that he scared him like a baby. Aeneas reminded the son of Thetis what family, famous for heroes, he came from. Aeneas wanted to start the battle as soon as possible. With his mighty hand he threw a spear at Achilles’ shield, but it did not penetrate the shield. It was in vain that Achilles rejected the shield; he did not think that the hand of a man could not pierce the shield made by God. Achilles hit Aeneas's shield with his spear. The spear pierced the shield, but Aeneas bent down and the spear flew over him. Aeneas’s eyes darkened with horror, he was so close to death. Achilles drew his sword, and Aeneas grabbed a huge stone. Aeneas would have died, but the god Poseidon did not want him to die. He quickly came to his aid. He picked up the spear of Achilles and laid it at his feet. Before the eyes of Achilles, the earth shaker poured out thick darkness, and with a mighty hand he threw Aeneas far beyond the boundaries of the seething battle. There Poseidon appeared to Aeneas and forbade him to join the front ranks of the warriors as long as Achilles lived. Poseidon dispelled the darkness before the eyes of Achilles. The son of Thetis was amazed when he saw a spear lying at his feet, but Aeneas was no longer in front of him. Achilles realized that the gods were protecting Aeneas; Now he was sure that Aeneas would no longer dare to fight him.
Achilles furiously rushed into battle, he killed many heroes, looking for Hector. God Apollo did not allow Hector to attack Achilles and ordered him to stay in the back ranks of the soldiers. But then Achilles killed Priam’s son, Polydorus, with his spear. He was the youngest of the remaining sons of the king of Troy and was dearly loved by his father. Hector saw the death of his brother, he forgot Apollo’s instructions and rushed to where Achilles was fighting. Achilles saw Hector, his menacing eyes lit up with joy.
“Here is the one who struck my heart with deep sadness!” - Achilles exclaimed. - Will! Let's no longer run from each other across the battlefield. Come closer so that I can quickly send you to the kingdom of Hades.
But Hector answered Achilles:
“It remains to be seen which of us will be killed.” Although I am not as powerful as you, Achilles, the gods alone know which of us is destined to fall. Know that my spear is sharp too.
Hector threw the spear. But Pallas Athena deflected the spear with her breath, and it fell at the feet of Achilles. Achilles rushed at Hector, but the god Apollo came to the rescue and shrouded Hector in darkness. Three times Achilles rushed at Hector, but each time he struck only darkness with his spear. Having swooped in for the fourth time, he shouted menacingly:
- You have escaped death again, dog! Apollo saved you again! But soon I will overtake you, if only I have a patron among the gods.
In anger, Achilles rushed at the other Trojan heroes, and many of them fell from his destructive spear. Like a raging fire, it raged through the ranks of the Trojans. Just as ears of corn are threshed under the feet of oxen, when a farmer threshes barley on the threshing floor, so under the feet of Achilles’ horses bodies, shields and helmets were crushed. The frantic Achilles was all ablaze with a thirst for military glory; he covered his hands with blood. The Trojans took flight. But on the banks of the Scamander Achilles overtook them. Crashing into their ranks, he separated the fleeing. Some of them rushed towards Troy, but Hera blocked their path with thick darkness. The other part rushed to the river. Many Trojans sought salvation in Scamander. Waves came down the river from the warriors rushing into it. Some wanted to escape by swimming, others tried to hide under the steep banks. Achilles, sword in hand, rushed into the waters of Scamander and began to cut down the fleeing Trojans. He captured twelve Trojan youths, tied their hands with belts and ordered his Myrmidons to take them to the camp, and he himself again rushed to beat the Trojans.
On the shore of Scamander he also overtook the young son of Priam, Lycaon, the same one whom he had once captured in the vineyards and sold into slavery on Lemnos. The unfortunate Lycaon hugged Achilles’ legs and begged for mercy, promising a huge ransom. But Achilles, burning with revenge for his friend Patroclus, did not spare Lycaon. After all, the more famous warrior Patroclus died, Achilles himself will die, killed by the enemy, why should Achilles spare Lycaon? The son of Peleus pierced Lycaon's neck with a sharp sword, and he fell dead. The son of Thetis grabbed the corpse by the leg and threw it into Scamander so that the fish could feed on it.
Achilles became even more furious. He threatened the Trojans that Scamander would not save them from his wrath, no matter what sacrifices they made to him; he will kill them all, avenging Patroclus and the fallen Greeks. The god of the river Scamander, Xanthus, became angry at the proud speeches of Achilles. Meanwhile, Asteropeus, the son of the river god Axius, decided to speak out against Achilles. Asteropeus threw two spears at Achilles at once. With one of his spears he easily wounded the hero in the right arm at the elbow. Achilles also threw his huge spear at Asteropeia. A spear rushed past and pierced deep into the shore. Asteropeus tried to snatch the spear of Achilles, but he could not, he would not have had the strength to even lift the spear of Achilles. The mighty son of Peleus flew at him with a drawn sword and struck him to death. Achilles also threw the corpse of Asteropeus into the waters of Scamander. Many heroes were also defeated by Achilles. The god of the river Scamander, Xanthus, exclaimed loudly from the abyss:
- Achilles! Drive the Trojans out of my waters, kill them in the field, not in my waters! The corpses of the Trojans blocked my path to the sea. Refrain from killing the Trojans in my channel!
- Xanth! “I won’t stop killing the Trojans,” Achilles answered the god, “not before I drive them to Troy and fight Hector!”
Xanth then loudly called out to the god Apollo:
- Oh, far-reaching god! You are not doing what Zeus the Thunderer commanded you to do! Was it not you who he commanded to protect the Trojans until the night covered the hills and fields with darkness?
The waters of Scamander raged and with a menacing roar they began to carry the corpses of the dead ashore, while the god of the river hid the living in a cave. The waves began to bubble around Achilles, who had thrown himself into the river. He could no longer stand on his feet. Achilles grabbed with his hand a tall plane tree that stood on the bank of the river, but the plane tree fell, washed away by Scamander, and lay across the river like a bridge. Achilles jumped out of the waves of the river and ran across the field. Behind him rolled the formidable shaft of the Scamander River, threatening to drown him. Achilles tried several times to fight this shaft, but how could he, a mortal, fight the immortal god of the river! The waves flooded him, they violently whipped around his shoulders, tearing the earth out from under his feet. Finally Achilles exclaimed, turning his gaze to the sky:
- Zeus the Thunderer! Will I, who was destined to die at Troy only from the arrows of Apollo, die an inglorious death, like a young swineherd who drowned in a stormy mountain stream while trying to ford it? Oh, it would be better if Hector, the most glorious of the sons of the great Troy, killed me!
As soon as the son of Peleus said this, Poseidon and Pallas Athena appeared before him. The gods encouraged Achilles and ordered him to fight bravely until he drove the Trojans into the city and defeated Hector. He will return to the camp with glory after victory. Pallas Athena breathed an irresistible force into the chest of Achilles. Scamander could not fight him and called on the god of the stream, Simois, his brother, to help him. The mud-covered water shaft erected against Achilles by Scamander rose even higher. Like a wall, he began to surround Achilles. The goddess Hera was afraid that the son of Peleus would die. She sent her son, the god Hephaestus, to help Achilles in battle against Simois. The stormy flame of the god Hephaestus flared up on the field. The corpses of the Trojans killed by Achilles caught fire. The field, flooded by the waves of Simois, quickly dried up. Hephaestus also lit the river. Plane trees, beeches and willows began to burn along the banks, and wet green reeds and lotuses caught fire. The fish in the water darted in all directions and tried to hide in the depths of the river from the all-consuming flame. Simois flared up and loudly called out to the god Hephaestus:
- Oh, Hephaestus! None of the gods can fight you! I will never dare to fight with you! Put out the fire, I will never help the Trojans again! Let their son Peleus destroy them!
The water was getting hotter and hotter from the fire, it was bubbling with terrible heat. The flow of the river stopped, the heat exhausted Scamander. The god Xanthus began to pray to the goddess Hera so that she would tame her son. Xanth swore with a great oath of the gods never to help the Trojans again, even when Troy broke out, set on fire by the Greeks. Hera stopped the god Hephaestus, and he extinguished the fire.
A strong feud also broke out between the gods. They rushed into battle. The ground groaned under their feet. Zeus laughed when he saw how the gods began to fight each other. The god of war Ares attacked the goddess Pallas Athena, wanting to take revenge on her for having recently helped the hero Diomedes wound him. Ares struck the goddess on the aegis with his spear, but could not pierce it. Athena grabbed a huge stone and hit Ares in the neck with it and threw him to the ground. Ares's armor rattled and his hair became covered in dust. The goddess of love Aphrodite came to the aid of Ares and tried to take him away from the battlefield. But Athena struck her in the chest with her spear, and Aphrodite fell to the ground. The god of the sea, Poseidon, challenged Apollo to battle. But the far-sighting god did not enter into battle with him. Apollo was afraid to raise his hand against the mighty brother Zeus, the earth shaker Poseidon. The goddess Artemis reproached her brother Apollo for avoiding the battle with Poseidon. The goddess Hera heard this and became angry. She grabbed Artemis by the hands, snatched the bow from her and hit the young goddess with it. Artemis's arrows scattered, and she ran away in tears, like a dove fleeing from a hawk. The goddess Latona collected arrows, picked up her daughter’s bow and followed her. Artemis ascended to Olympus and bitterly complained to Zeus about how Hera had insulted her. Other gods also returned to Olympus, some proud of their victory, others filled with anger. Apollo quickly rushed to Troy: he feared that, contrary to fate, the Greeks would destroy the walls of Troy.
From a high tower, Elder Priam saw Achilles driving the Trojans across the field. He ordered the city gates to be opened so that the Trojans could take refuge in them. Apollo, having inspired great courage in the hero Agenor, prompted him to speak out against Achilles, and he himself, covered with a thick cloud, stood next to him to save him from Achilles’ spear. Shaking his spear, Agenor waited for the approaching Achilles. With a strong hand he threw a spear at him. The spear hit the leggings, but bounced off. Achilles rushed towards Agenor. The god Apollo surrounded Agenor in darkness and helped him avoid inevitable death. Apollo took on the image of Agenor and began to run across the field. Achilles began to pursue him, not knowing that he was pursuing a god. By this Apollo saved the Trojans and gave them time to take refuge in sacred Troy.
The Trojans took refuge in the city. Tired of fighting and fleeing, they quenched their thirst and wiped off their sweat while standing on the walls. Only Hector remained in the field. As if shackled by inevitable fate, he stood at the Skei Gate.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru