Hector and Paris left the Scaean Gate together. The Trojans rejoiced when they saw both heroes. They perked up again, and a fierce battle began again. Many heroes were defeated by Hector, Paris and Glaucus. The Greeks began to retreat. The bright-eyed daughter of Zeus saw this and rushed to sacred Troy. The goddess rushing from Olympus was met by the god Apollo at a hundred-year-old oak tree growing on the edge of the field. He asked the goddess Athena if she was rushing to the aid of the Greeks, and convinced her to help him stop the battle. Athena agreed. In order to stop the battle, the gods decided to inspire Hector to challenge the most glorious of the Greek heroes to single combat. As soon as the gods decided this, the prophetic son of Priam, Helen, immediately saw their decision. He approached his brother Hector and advised him to challenge the Greek hero to single combat. Gehlen revealed to Hector that he heard the voice of the celestials commanding him to do this, and that it was not fate for Hector to die in this single combat.
Hector immediately stopped the battle, stopping the Trojans; Agamemnon did the same. The battlefield calmed down, and the warriors, tired of the battle, sat down on the ground. Pallas Athena and Apollo, having taken off like predatory hawks, sat on a hundred-year-old oak tree, admiring the troops of the Trojans and Greeks. When everyone calmed down, Hector loudly challenged one of the Greek heroes to single combat. He promised not to desecrate the corpse of the murdered man and not to remove his armor and demanded that the hero of the Greeks promise this if he were victorious. The Greeks listened to Hector’s challenge, but everyone was silent, no one dared to go against Hector. Menelaus was terribly angry with them; he himself wanted to engage in single combat with Hector, but Agamemnon restrained him: he was afraid that his brother would die at the hands of Hector, with whom even Achilles was afraid to fight. Elder Nestor also shamed the Greeks. As soon as his angry speech ceased, nine heroes immediately stepped forward: King Agamemnon, Diomedes, both Ajaxes, Idomeneo, Merion, Eurypylus, Foant and Odysseus. On the advice of Nestor, they decided to cast lots between the heroes. When the lots were placed in the helmet, Nestor began to shake it so that someone else's lot would fall out.
The heroes prayed to the gods that the lot would fall to Ajax Telamonides, Diomedes or Agamemnon. The lot fell on Ajax. The mighty Telamonides Ajax rejoiced. He put on his armor and went forward to the place of the duel. He walked like the god of war Ares, huge, powerful and formidable. In front of him he carried a copper-bound shield, large as a tower, and shook a heavy spear. The Trojans were horrified when they saw Ajax, and fear penetrated Hector’s chest. The fighters looked at each other menacingly. Hector threw the spear first. He did not penetrate Ajax's shield. Ajax threw his spear and pierced Hector’s shield. It pierced Hector’s spear and armor and tore his tunic. Hector saved himself from death only by jumping to the side. The heroes pulled out their spears and collided again. Hector again struck Telamonides’s shield with his spear, but the tip of his spear bent. Ajax once again pierced Hector’s shield and easily wounded him in the neck. Hectare did not interrupt the battle, he picked up a huge stone and threw it at Ajax’s shield; The copper that covered the huge shield thundered, Ajax grabbed an even heavier stone and threw it at Hector’s shield with such force that it broke the shield and wounded Hector in the leg. Hector fell to the ground, but the god Apollo quickly raised him.
The heroes grabbed their swords, they would have cut each other down if the heralds had not arrived and stretched out the rods between them.
- End the fight, heroes! - exclaimed the heralds, - we see that you are great warriors, Zeus loves both of you equally. Night is coming, everyone needs rest.
“Herald,” Ajax turned to the herald of the Trojans, “what you said should have been said by Hector himself, because he challenged him to single combat.” I'm ready to stop fighting if he wants. Hector immediately answered Ajax:
- Oh, Telamonides, the gods gave you great height, strength, and intelligence, you are the most glorious of the Greek heroes. Let's finish our fight today. We can meet you later on the battlefield. But as we disperse, let us honor each other with a gift in memory of our combat. Let the warriors of Troy and Greece remember that the heroes fought, burning with enmity against each other, but parted reconciled, like friends.
Having said this, Hector took off his sword decorated with silver and gave it to Ajax, and Ajax gave Hector a purple precious belt as a gift. Thus ended the duel of heroes. The Trojans rejoiced that Hector emerged unharmed from the single combat with the mighty Ajax, and triumphantly escorted him to Troy. The Greeks also rejoiced when they saw what a mighty hero Telamonides Ajax was. King Agamemnon arranged a feast in honor of Ajax, calling all the leaders to it. The leaders feasted until evening.
When the feast was over, Elder Nestor, at a meeting of Greek leaders, gave advice to stop the battle for a day in order to bury the fallen heroes and build a wall with towers around the camp and ships, so that this wall would protect the Greeks, and dig a deep ditch near the wall. The leaders agreed with Nestor’s advice and dispersed to their tents until morning.
A council of leaders and the Trojans gathered. At this council, Antenor advised handing over the beautiful Helen and the stolen treasures to the Greeks. But Paris never agreed to hand over Helen; he agreed to return only the treasures of Menelaus, adding gifts from himself to them. King Priam gave advice to send a messenger to the Greeks in the morning, who was supposed to convey to them Paris's proposal, but if the Greeks do not agree with this proposal, then continue the battle until the gods give final victory to one side or the other. The Trojans agreed with Priam's proposal. When morning came, the Trojans sent a messenger to the Greeks, but they rejected Paris's offer; they only agreed to interrupt the battle for a day to bury the dead soldiers.
Even before sunrise, the Trojans and Greeks began burying the fallen soldiers. They took the bodies to the fires and burned them. Then the Greeks built a high wall with towers around the camp in one day and dug a deep ditch in front of it. Even the Olympian gods marveled at this work of the Greeks. Only the god Poseidon was angry with the Greeks because they did not make sacrifices to the gods when erecting the wall. But the thunderer Zeus calmed Poseidon. He gave him advice to then destroy the wall of the Greeks and again cover the shore with sea sand.
The Greeks, having finished their work, began to prepare their own dinner. At this time, ships with wine arrived from Lemnos. The Greeks were delighted, they quickly bought up the wine, and a feast began in the camp. The feast of the Greeks was not calm. The Thunderer Zeus, with peals of thunder, foreshadowed many troubles for them. Fear often overcame the feasters, and they spilled wine from their goblets. None of the Greeks dared to drink without making a libation in honor of the formidable Zeus. Finally, the feast was over, and the entire Greek camp fell into sleep.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru