SWIFT AND OLD-GOLD 1 95 



their heads bowed to the ground, they wept hot 

 tears for Patroclus, and their shining manes were 

 covered with dust. At length, however, as if 

 new courage had been put into their knees, they 

 rallied and made a fierce onset upon the enemy, 

 and behind them Automedon fought wildly, 

 sweeping upon his foes as a vulture upon wild 

 geese. Being alone in the car, however, he could 

 do small harm, for he was unable to wield his 

 spear and at the same time guide his fiery team. 

 So the fighting went on over the body of 

 Patroclus, from which Hector had already 

 stripped the gory armor, and it was not until 

 the evening that the Greeks were at last able to 

 bear it from the field, and, with the stress of war 

 waxing fierce behind them, carry it in sorrow 

 back to the ships. And Swift and Old-Gold, their 

 heads drooping and their manes bedraggled in 

 dust and blood, returned with Automedon and the 

 battered chariot to the tent of their master 

 Achilles. 



FIFTH HEAT — ^THON AND GALATHE 



The proudest of all the steeds that went out of 

 the battle that day were Hector's royal horses, 



