Aeneas - what god on high commands you to play the madman? Fighting against Achilles' overwhelming fury! - both a better soldier and more loved by the gods. Pull back at once, whenever you're thrown against him - or go down to the House of Death

Aeneas –
what god on high commands you to play the madman?
Fighting against Achilles’ overwhelming fury! –
both a better soldier and more loved by the gods.
Pull back at once, whenever you’re thrown against him –
or go down to the House of Death against the will of fate.
But once Achilles has met his death, his certain doom,
take courage then, go fight on the front lines then –
no other Achaean can bring you down in war.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 20, lines 378-386. Poseidon, god of earthquakes and the sea, intervenes to help Trojan warrior Aeneas, who is facing defeat and death in combat with Achilles. He warns Aeneas that if doesn’t retreat, he will go down to the House of Death against the will of fate. Poseidon temporarily covers Achilles’s eyes with a mist and lifts Aeneas away to safety.

Homer Quotes