Dolon slung a curved bow over his shoulder, put on a gray wolf skin, set a marten cap on his head, took a sharp javelin, and went from the camp toward the ships. He would not return with news. Odysseus heard his feet and told Diomedes that someone was coming from the Trojans, either to spy or to strip the dead.
They lay down among the corpses and let Dolon pass. When he had gone a little beyond them, they sprang up and chased him. He ran toward the ships, but Athena put strength in Diomedes so no other Achaean could boast of striking him first. Diomedes hurled his spear past Dolon's shoulder and fixed it in the ground before him.
Dolon stopped trembling, teeth chattering. The two came up breathing hard, seized his hands, and he begged for life. His father would pay bronze, gold, and worked iron if they spared him. Odysseus told him to take heart but answer truly: why was he walking alone in the night, toward the ships?
Dolon confessed everything. Hector had sent him to learn whether the Achaeans guarded the ships or planned flight, and had promised Achilles' horses. Odysseus smiled at the huge reward and said those horses were hard for mortal men to manage except Achilles, whose mother was a goddess.
They asked where Hector lay, where the horses and weapons were, where the watches stood, and whether the Trojans meant to stay or return to the city.
Dolon told them Hector held council by Ilos's tomb; the watches were not well ordered, for allies slept apart and trusted the Trojans to keep guard.
The Thracians had just arrived at the edge of the camp, led by Rhesos, with the finest horses Dolon had ever seen, whiter than snow and swift as winds, and a chariot bright with gold and silver.
Dolon begged them to bind him and leave him by the ships while they tested his words.
Diomedes answered that he had given useful news, but if they released or ransomed him he would come again to spy or fight. With that he struck Dolon in the neck as the man reached for his chin, and the head rolled in the dust while he was still speaking.