Besmear'd with filth, and blotted o'er with clay, Obscene to sight, the rueful racer lay; The well-fed bull (the second prize) he shared, And left the urn Ulysses' rich reward. Then, grasping by the horn the mighty beast, The baffled hero thus the Greeks address'd: "Accursed fate! the conquest I forego; A mortal I, a goddess was my foe; She urged her favourite on the rapid way, And Pallas, not Ulysses, won the day." Thus sourly wail'd he, sputtering dirt and gore; A burst of laughter echoed through the shore. Antilochus, more humorous than the rest, Takes the last prize, and takes it with a jest: "Why with our wiser elders should we strive? The gods still love them, and they always thrive. Ye see, to Ajax I must yield the prize: He to Ulysses, still more aged and wise; (A green old age unconscious of decays, That proves the hero born in better days!) Behold his vigour in this active race! Achilles only boasts a swifter pace: For who can match Achilles? He who can, Must yet be more than hero, more than man." The effect succeeds the speech. Pelides cries, "Thy artful praise deserves a better prize. Nor Greece in vain shall hear thy friend extoll'd; Receive a talent of the purest gold." The youth departs content. The host admire The son of Nestor, worthy of his sire. Next these a buckler, spear, and helm, he brings; Cast on the plain, the brazen burden rings: Arms which of late divine Sarpedon wore, And great Patroclus in short triumph bore. "Stand forth the bravest of our host! (he cries) Whoever dares deserve so rich a prize, Now grace the lists before our army's sight, And sheathed in steel, provoke his foe to fight. Who first the jointed armour shall explore, And stain his rival's mail with issuing gore, The sword Asteropaeus possess'd of old, (A Thracian blade, distinct with studs of gold,) Shall pay the stroke, and grace the striker's side: These arms in common let the c