Of Hector, and till numerous Chiefs, his friends,
Around him, prone in dust, shall bite the ground.
So prayed he, but with none effect, The God 505
Received his offering, but to double toil
Doom'd them, and sorrow more than all the past.
They then, the triturated barley grain
First duly sprinkling, the sharp steel infix'd
Deep in the victim's neck reversed, then stripp'd 510
The carcase, and divided at their joint
The thighs, which in the double caul involved
They spread with slices crude, and burn'd with fire
Ascending fierce from billets sere and dry.
The spitted entrails next they o'er the coals 515
Suspended held. The thighs with fire consumed,
They gave to each his portion of the maw,
Then slash'd the remnant, pierced it with the spits,
And managing with culinary skill
The roast, withdrew it from the spits again. 520
Thus, all their task accomplished, and the board
Set forth, they feasted, and were all sufficed.
When neither hunger more nor thirst remain'd
Unsatisfied, Gerenian Nestor spake.
Atrides! Agamemnon! King of men! 525
No longer waste we time in useless words,
Nor to a distant hour postpone the work
To which heaven calls thee. Send thine heralds forth.
Who shall convene the Achaians at the fleet,
That we, the Chiefs assembled here, may range, 530
Together, the imbattled multitude,
And edge their spirits for immediate fight.