Matheson Collection > Togail na Tebe

THE THEBAID
there. And after these deeds they returned joyfully and with
lasting gladness to their camp.
And there were two greatly virulent soldiers with them there,
to wit, Hopleus of the followers of Tydeus, son of the king of
Calydon, and Dymas of the following of Parthenopaeus, king of
Arcadia ; and neither of those twain preferred to live after their
lords, and Hopleus said to Dymas : " O comrade," said he,
" dost thou take ill the end of thy lord, to wit, Parthenopaeus,
that his body should lie under the dogs and birds of Thebes ?
Yet mightily has it overwhelmed me, and tortured my heart, that
my own lord should be thus, to wit, Tydeus, son of the king of
Calydon ; and let me not go alive to Calydon without his body
being with me." " Alas for that," said Dymas, " I am sadder for
my lord than any man, and I shall go there whether thou go
or not."
Then they proceeded to search the battlefield in order to
bring the bodies of their lords with them, aud they continued
searching for them till the radiance of the pure-bright sun arose
on the morrow, and every full view about them was clear to
them. And there each of them found the body of his lord,
raised them up and carried them with them as very great
burdens requiring very great effort. And they proceeded silently,
sadly, hastily to their camp. They thought it hard, however,
that the full glare of day should come with these doings.
Now when they had reached the neighbourhood of their camp,
they heard a brisk sound and a big din behind them. And
Amphion, a Theban, was there, and with him his band of a goodly
host for whom they had no watches set ; and they used to spy
on the camp of the Greeks early in the morning. And Amphion
saw there some Greeks with the bodies of their champions
upon them, and he urged his horse till he overtook them, and
this is what he said to them : " Stay, O men," said he, " till we
find out who ye are. Yet as regards you it is clear to us that
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