[11,90] ἐνταῦθα γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν Αἰνείας ὑπὸ Ἀφροδίτης ἁρπαζόμενος οὐδὲ Ἄρης ὑπὸ ἀνδρὸς τιτρωσκόμενος οὐδὲ ἄλλο τοιοῦτον οὐθὲν ἀπίθανον, ἀλλὰ πράγματα ἀληθῆ καὶ ὅμοια γεγονόσι. μεθ´ ἣν ἧτταν οὐκέτι ἦν ἀναμάχεσθαι δυνατὸν οὐδὲ θαρρῆσαί ποτε τοὺς οὕτως ἀπειρηκότας ὡς μήτε ὑπὸ τῆς τάφρου μήτε ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐρύματος ὠφεληθῆναι μηθὲν μήτε αὐτὰς διαφυλάξαι τὰς ναῦς. (91) ποία γὰρ ἔτι τηλικαύτη δύναμις ἢ τίς οὕτως ἀνὴρ ἄμαχος καὶ θεοῦ ῥώμην ἔχων, ὃς ἐπιφανεὶς ἐδύνατο σῶσαι τοὺς ἀπολωλότας ἤδη; τὸ γὰρ τῶν Μυρμιδόνων πλῆθος πόσον τι πρὸς τὴν σύμπασαν ἦν στρατιάν; ἢ τὸ τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως σθένος, οὐ δήπου τότε πρῶτον μέλλοντος μάχεσθαι, πολλάκις δὲ ἐν πολλοῖς τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἔτεσιν εἰς χεῖρας ἐλθόντος, καὶ μήτε τὸν Ἕκτορα ἀποκτείναντος μήτε ἄλλο μηθὲν εἰργασμένου μέγα, εἰ μή γε Τρωίλον παῖδα ἔτι ὄντα τὴν ἡλικίαν ἑλόντος; (92) ἐνταῦθα δὲ γενόμενος Ὅμηρος οὐδὲν ἔτι τἀληθοῦς ἐφρόντισεν, ἀλλ´ εἰς ἅπαν ἧκεν ἀναισχυντίας καὶ πάντα τὰ πράγματα ἁπλῶς ἀνέτρεψε καὶ μετέστησεν εἰς τοὐναντίον, καταπεφρονηκὼς μὲν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι καὶ τἄλλα ἑώρα πάνυ ῥᾳδίως πειθομένους αὐτοὺς καὶ περὶ τῶν θεῶν, οὐκ ὄντων δὲ ἑτέρων ποιητῶν οὐδὲ συγγραφέων, παρ´ οἷς ἐλέγετο τἀληθές, ἀλλ´ αὐτὸς πρῶτος ἐπιθέμενος ὑπὲρ τούτων γράφειν, γενεαῖς δὲ ὕστερον ξυνθεὶς πολλαῖς, τῶν εἰδότων αὐτὰ ἠφανισμένων καὶ τῶν ἐξ ἐκείνων {ἔτι}, ἀμαυρᾶς δὲ καὶ ἀσθενοῦς ἔτι φήμης ἀπολειπομένης, ὡς εἰκὸς περὶ τῶν σφόδρα παλαιῶν, ἔτι δὲ πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ ἰδιώτας μέλλων διηγεῖσθαι τὰ ἔπη, καὶ ταῦτα βελτίω ποιῶν τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ὡς μηδὲ τοὺς γιγνώσκοντας ἐξελέγχειν. οὕτως δὴ ἐτόλμησε τἀναντία τοῖς γενομένοις ποιῆσαι· (93) Τοῦ γὰρ Ἀχιλλέως ἐπιβοηθήσαντος ἐν τῇ καταλήψει τῶν νεῶν ὑπ´ ἀνάγκης τὸ πλέον καὶ τῆς αὑτοῦ σωτηρίας ἕνεκεν, τροπὴν μέν τινα γενέσθαι τῶν Τρώων καὶ ἀναχωρῆσαι παραχρῆμα ἀπὸ τῶν νεῶν αὐτοὺς καὶ σβεσθῆναι τὸ πῦρ, ἅτε ἐξαπίνης ἐπιπεσόντος τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως, καὶ τούς τε ἄλλους ἀποχωρεῖν καὶ τὸν Ἕκτορα ὑπάγειν αὑτὸν ἔξω τῆς τάφρου καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον στενοχωρίας, (94) σχέδην δὲ καὶ ἐφιστάμενον, ὥσπερ αὐτός φησιν Ὅμηρος. συμπεσόντων δὲ καὶ μαχομένων πάλιν, τὸν Ἀχιλλέα κάλλιστα ἀγωνίσασθαι μετὰ τῶν αὑτοῦ, καὶ πολλοὺς ἀποκτεῖναι τῶν Τρώων καὶ τῶν ἐπικούρων, ἄλλους τε καὶ τὸν Σαρπηδόνα τὸν τοῦ Διὸς υἱὸν λεγόμενον εἶναι, βασιλέα Λυκίων· καὶ περὶ τὴν τοῦ ποταμοῦ διάβασιν ἀποχωρούντων γενέσθαι φόνον πολύν, οὐ μέντοι προτροπάδην φεύγειν αὐτούς, ἀλλὰ πολλὰς ἑκάστοτε ὑποστροφὰς γίγνεσθαι.

[11,90] For here there is no Aeneas snatched away by Aphrodite, no Ares wounded by a mortal, nor any other such incredible tales ; nay, here are true events, and they resemble actual occurrences. After this defeat the men who had been so completely crushed could by no possibility have renewed the struggle or even regained courage so as to be helped at all by the trench or the rampart, or even so as to save their ships. For where now was any such strength to be found or any hero so invincible and possessed of a god's might, that they who were already lost could have been saved by his appearance ? How insignificant, for instance, was the number of the Myrmidons compared with that of the entire Trojan army !—or the strength of Achilles, who was certainly not going to fight then for the first time, but had time and again in the many years preceding engaged in conflict, and yet neither slain Hector nor performed any other great exploit beyond capturing Troïlus, who was still a boy in years ! (92) "However, on reaching this point in his narrative Homer had no further concern for the truth but carried his shamelessness to extremes. He simply turned all the events topsy-turvy and reversed them, holding his hearers in contempt because he saw how easily they were duped in other matters, and particularly about the gods. Besides, there were no other poets or authors where one could read the truth, but he was the first who applied himself to the recording of these events, though he composed his poem many generations after the actual occurrences, when those who had known the facts had passed away along with their descendants, and only an obscure and uncertain tradition survived, as is to be expected in the case of events that have occurred in the distant past. Moreover, he intended to recite his epics to the masses and the common people, at the same time overstating the achievements of the Greeks, so that even the wiser persons would not refute him. Thus it was that he went so far as to represent the opposite of what actually occurred. For instance, when Achilles came to their aid during the assault on the ships, of necessity for the most part and to save his own skin, there was,"so the Egyptian claimed," a partial rout of the Trojans, who withdrew from the ships forthwith, and the fire was quenched because Achilles had fallen upon them by surprise ; and, in addition to the general retreat, Hector himself withdrew beyond the trench and the narrow space about the encampment, stoutly contesting each step, however, as Homer himself admits. Then when they clashed and engaged again, Achilles and his followers fought most brilliantly and slew great numbers of the Trojans and their allies, notably Sarpedon, king of the Lycians and a reputed child of Zeus ; and at the river ford there was a great slaughter of the fleeing Trojans, not fleeing in headlong confusion, however, but repeatedly turning to make a stand.