Meanwhile Agelaus son of Damastor, Eurynomus, Amphimedon, Demoptolemus, Pisander, and Polybus son of Polyctor bore the brunt of the fight upon the suitors’ side; of all those who were still fighting for their lives they were by far the most valiant, for the others had already fallen under the arrows of Ulysses.  Agelaus shouted to them and said, “My friends, he will soon have to leave off, for Mentor has gone away after having done nothing for him but brag.  They are standing at the doors unsupported.  Do not aim at him all at once, but six of you throw your spears first, and see if you cannot cover yourselves with glory by killing him.  When he has fallen we need not be uneasy about the others.”

They threw their spears as he bade them, but Minerva made them all of no effect.  One hit the door post; another went against the door; the pointed shaft of another struck the wall; and as soon as they had avoided all the spears of the suitors Ulysses said to his own men, “My friends, I should say we too had better let drive into the middle of them, or they will crown all the harm they have done us by killing us outright.”

They therefore aimed straight in front of them and threw their spears.  Ulysses killed Demoptolemus, Telemachus Euryades, Eumaeus Elatus, while the stockman killed Pisander.  These all bit the dust, and as the others drew back into a corner Ulysses and his men rushed forward and regained their spears by drawing them from the bodies of the dead.

The suitors now aimed a second time, but again Minerva made their weapons for the most part without effect.  One hit a bearing-post of the cloister; another went against the door; while the pointed shaft of another struck the wall.  Still, Amphimedon just took a piece of the top skin from off Telemachus’s wrist, and Ctesippus managed to graze Eumaeus’s shoulder above his shield; but the spear went on and fell to the ground.  Then Ulysses and his men let drive into the crowd of suitors.  Ulysses hit Eurydamas, Telemachus Amphimedon, and Eumaeus Polybus.  After this the stockman hit Ctesippus in the breast, and taunted him saying, “Foul-mouthed son of Polytherses, do not be so foolish as to talk wickedly another time, but let heaven direct your speech, for the gods are far stronger than men.  I make you a present of this advice to repay you for the foot which you gave Ulysses when he was begging about in his own house.”

Thus spoke the stockman, and Ulysses struck the son of Damastor with a spear in close fight, while Telemachus hit Leocritus son of Evenor in the belly, and the dart went clean through him, so that he fell forward full on his face upon the ground.  Then Minerva from her seat on the rafter held up her deadly aegis, and the hearts of the suitors quailed.  They fled to the other end of the court like a herd of cattle maddened by the gadfly in early summer when the days are at their longest.  As eagle-beaked, crook-taloned vultures from the mountains swoop down on the smaller birds that cower in flocks upon the ground, and kill them, for they cannot either fight or fly, and lookers on enjoy the sport—­even so did Ulysses and his men fall upon the suitors and smite them on every side.  They made a horrible groaning as their brains were being battered in, and the ground seethed with their blood.