Book XXII

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Nevertheless, Hector resolved to fight bravely to the end, and so he drew his sword and rushed upon Achilles. The Greek warrior, watching his foe closely as he approached, noticed an opening in his armor, where the collar of the corselet joined the shoulder. At that spot he furiously thrust his speat, and pierced the Trojan hero through the neck. Hector fell to the ground, mortally wounded. In his dying moments he begged Achilles to send his body to his parents, telling him that they would give large ransom in gold. But his entreaties were in vain. Neither by prayers nor by promise of gold could the conqueror be moved. The last words of Hector were words warning Achilles of his own doom:

"A day will come when fate's decree And angry gods shall wreak this wrong on thee; Phœbus and Paris shall avenge my fate, And stretch thee here before the Scæan Gate." He ceased. The Fates suppress'd his laboring breath, And his eyes stiffen'd at the hand of death.

POPE, _Iliad_,