quartered; at the extremity of it was Rhesus, the newly arrived
Thracian King, whose white horses were a marvel of beauty and
swiftness. In return for his information Dolon begged them to spare
his life, but Diomedes deemed it safer to slay him. The two Greeks
penetrated the Thracian encampment, where they slew many warriors and
escaped with the horses back to the Greek armament.

When the fighting opened on the next day, Agamemnon distinguished
himself by deeds of great bravery, but retired at length wounded in
the hand. Zeus had warned Hector to wait for that very moment before
pushing home his attack. One after another the Greek leaders were
wounded, Diomedes, Odysseus, Machaon; Ajax alone held up the Trojan
onset, retiring slowly and stubbornly towards the sea. Achilles,
seeing the return of the wounded warrior Machaon, sent his friend
Patroclus to find out who he was. Nestor meeting Patroclus, told him
of the rout of the army, and advised him to beg Achilles at least to
allow the Myrmidons to sally forth under Patroclus' leadership, if he
would not fight in person. The importance of this episode is
emphasised in the poem. The dispatch of Patroclus is called "the
beginning of his undoing", it foreshadows the intervention which was
later to bring Achilles himself back into the conflict.

The Trojan host after an attempt to drive their horses over the trench
stormed it in five bodies. As they streamed towards the wall, an omen
of a doubtful nature filled Polydamas with some misgivings about the
wisdom of bursting through to the sea. It was possible that they might
be routed and that they would accordingly be caught in a trap, leaving
many of their dead behind them. His advice to remain content with the
success they had won roused the anger of Hector, whose headstrong
character is well portrayed in his speech.