Of their battle-rousing sons I shall sing, and of swift Achilles, and the high-spirited son of beautiful Eriboea, Aias, the shield-bearing hero, who stood on the stern of his ship and stopped bold-hearted, bronze [helmeted] Hector in his rush to burn the ships with dread fire, at the time when the son of Peleus stirred fierce wrath [in his breast] and released the [Dardanians from ruin]. Before they had not left the [many-towered] marvellous town of Ilium , but had cowered, dazed by fear, before the fierce battle, when Achilles raged destructively across the plain, shaking his murderous spear. But when the fearless son of the violet-garlanded Nereid withdrew from battle,