So saying, he kindled the strength and spirit of each: and Ajax again, on the other side, animated his companions:
"Shame, oh Argives! now is the moment for us either to perish, or to be preserved and to repel destruction from the ships. Do ye expect that if crest-tossing Hector capture the ships, ye will reach on foot each his native land? Do ye not hear Hector, who now rages to fire the ships, inciting all his people? Nor indeed does he invite them to come to a dance, but to battle. But for us there is no opinion or design better than this, to join in close fight our hands and strength. Better, either to perish at once, or live, rather than thus uselessly to be wasted away[497] for a length of time in dire contention at the ships, by inferior men."
[Footnote 497: The verb [Greek: streygesthai], which may be compared with [Greek: apolibazein] in Od. xii. 351, is interpreted by Apollonius [Greek: kataponeisthai]. Cf. Hesych. t. i. p. 1603, t. ii. p. 1278.]