along;

Fear seiz'd alike the feeble and the strong: Each Greek was an Ulysses; such a dread Th' approach, and ev'n the sound of Hector bred;

Him, flesh'd with slaughter, and with conquest crown'd,

I met, and overturn'd him to the ground. When after, matchless as he deem'd in might,

He challeng'd all our host to single fight, 143 All eyes were fix'd on me; the lots were thrown,

But for your champion I was wish'd alone: Your vows were heard, we fought, and neither yield;

Yet I return'd unvanquish'd from the field. With Jove to friend th' insulting Trojan came,

And menac'd us with force, our fleet with flame:

Was it the strength of this tongue-valiant lord,

In that black hour, that sav'd you from the sword?

Or was my breast expos'd alone, to brave A thousand swords, a thousand ships to

It would not frighten, but allure the foe. Why asks he what avails him not in fight, And would but cumber and retard his flight, In which his only excellence is plac'd? You give him death, that intercept his haste. Add, that his own is yet a maiden shield, Nor the least dint has suffer'd in the field, Guiltless of fight; mine, batter'd, hew'd, and bor'd,

Worn out of service, must forsake his lord. What farther need of words our right to scan?

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These arms had caus'd no quarrel for an heir;

Still great Achilles had his own possess'd, And we with great Achilles had been blest.

But since hard fate, and Heav'n's severe decree

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Have ravish'd him away from you and me, (At this he sigh'd, and wip'd his eyes, and drew,

Or seem'd to draw, some drops of kindly dew,)

Who better can succeed Achilles lost,
Than he who gave Achilles to your host?
This only I request, that neither he
May gain, by being what he seems to be,
A stupid thing, nor I may lose the prize,
By having sense, which Heav'n to him denies;
Since, great or small, the talent I enjoy'd
Was ever in the common cause employ❜d.
Nor let my wit, and wonted eloquence, 221
Which often has been us'd in your defense
And in my own, this only time be brought
To bear against myself, and deem'd a fault.
Make not a crime, where nature made it

From Jove, like him, I claim my pedigree,
And am descended in the same degree:
My sire Laertes was Arcesius' heir,
Arcesius was the son of Jupiter;
No parricide, no banish'd man, is known
In all my line; let him excuse his own.
Hermes ennobles too my mother's side
By both my parents to the gods allied;

But not because that on the female part
My blood is better, dare I claim desert, 240
Or that my sire from parricide is free;
But judge by merit betwixt him and me.
The prize be to the best; provided yet,
That Ajax for a while his kin forget,
And his great sire, and greater uncle's name,
To fortify by them his feeble claim:
Be kindred and relation laid aside,
And honor's cause by laws of honor tried;
For, if he plead proximity of blood,
That empty title is with ease withstood. 250
Peleus, the hero's sire, more nigh than he,
And Pyrrhus his undoubted progeny,
Inherit first these trophies of the field:
To Scyros, or to Phthia, send the shield:
And Teucer has an uncle's right; yet he
Waives his pretensions, nor contends with

Grasp'd in her warlike hand, a javelin shook;

Whom, by this act reveal'd, I thus bespoke:

"O goddess-born! resist not Heav'n's decree,
The fall of Ilium is reserv'd for thee;'
Then seiz'd him, and, produc'd in open light,
Sent blushing to the field the fatal knight.
Mine then are all his actions of the war;
Great Telephus was conquer'd by my spear,
And after cur'd: to me the Thebans owe
Lesbos and Tenedos their overthrow,
Scyros and Cilla: not on all to dwell,
By me Lyrnesus and strong Chrysa fell;
And, since I sent the man who Hector slew,
To me the noble Hector's death is due:

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