Of the horses, those of the son of Pheres were by far the finest.
They were driven by Eumelus, and were as fleet as birds. They
were of the same age and colour, and perfectly matched in height.
Apollo, of the silver bow, had bred them in Perea--both of them
mares, and terrible as Mars in battle. Of the men, Ajax, son of
Telamon, was much the foremost so long as Achilles' anger lasted,
for Achilles excelled him greatly and he had also better horses;
but Achilles was now holding aloof at his ships by reason of his
quarrel with Agamemnon, and his people passed their time upon the
sea shore, throwing discs or aiming with spears at a mark, and in
archery. Their horses stood each by his own chariot, champing
lotus and wild celery. The chariots were housed under cover, but
their owners, for lack of leadership, wandered hither and thither
about the host and went not forth to fight.

Thus marched the host like a consuming fire, and the earth
groaned beneath them when the lord of thunder is angry and lashes
the land about Typhoeus among the Arimi, where they say Typhoeus
lies. Even so did the earth groan beneath them as they sped over
the plain.

And now Iris, fleet as the wind, was sent by Jove to tell the bad
news among the Trojans. They were gathered in assembly, old and
young, at Priam's gates, and Iris came close up to Priam,
speaking with the voice of Priam's son Polites, who, being fleet
of foot, was stationed as watchman for the Trojans on the tomb of
old Aesyetes, to look out for any sally of the Achaeans. In his
likeness Iris spoke, saying, "Old man, you talk idly, as in time
of peace, while war is at hand. I have been in many a battle, but