His son who once led Hellas' glorious host,
The mighty Agamemnon. So far well.
But when a God will injure, none can 'scape,
Strong though he be. For lo! another day,
When, as the sun was rising, came the race
Swift-footed, of the chariot and the horse,
He entered there, with many charioteers;700
One an Achæan, one from Sparta, two
From Libya, who with four-horsed chariots came,
And he with these, with swift Thessalian mares,
Came as the fifth; a sixth with bright bay colts
Came from Ætolia ; and the seventh was born
In far Magnesia; and the eighth, by race
An Ænian, with white horses; and the ninth
From Athens came, the city built of God;
Last, a Bœotian, tenth in order, came,
And made the list complete.[1] And so they stood—
When the appointed umpires fixed by lot,710
And placed the cars in order; and with sound
Of brazen trump they started. Cheering all
Their steeds at once, they shook the reins, and then
The course was filled with all the clash and din
Of rattling chariots, and the dust rose high;
And all commingled, sparing not the goad,
That each might pass his neighbour's axle-trees,
And horses' hot, hard breathings; for their backs
And chariot-wheels were white with foam, and still
The breath of horses smote them; and he, come
- ↑ The choice of nations mentioned by the poet was doubtless far from being capricious. Some are named (the Achæan, Magnesian, Ænian, Thessalian, Bœotian, Argive) as conspicuous in the Amphictyonic league. The Spartan, as the rival of the Achæan, though having a more favourable start, falls into the background. The Libyans and Ætolians are named as famous for their chariot-races, and so enhancing the glory of the Athenian victor.
