Glaukos followed, and the Lycians moved like a dark cloud. Menestheus, son of Peteos, saw them coming against his tower and trembled. He looked for the Aiantes and Teucer. Seeing them far off, he sent Thootes to call them quickly: if they ever cared for the Achaeans, come now, for the Lycian leaders were forcing his wall.
Thootes ran and spoke the message. Aias son of Telamon told the lesser Aias to stay with Lykomedes and the others, while he and Teucer went to help Menestheus. They crossed the wall, and the Lycians met them with no fear.
Teucer shot Epikles, a comrade of Sarpedon, as he tried to tear down a battlement. The arrow struck under the collarbone, and Epikles fell from the tower like a diver. Sarpedon did not forget his fury; he threw at Aias and missed, but struck Alkmaon son of Thestor, who fell dying as the spear was pulled out.
Sarpedon seized the battlement with his strong hands and dragged. The whole section came away, opening the wall above and making a path for many. Aias and Teucer struck him together: Teucer hit the shining strap of his shield and Zeus kept death away from his son; Aias thrust at the shield and forced him back a little.
Sarpedon called to the Lycians not to fail him. Alone, he said, he could not break the wall and make a road to the ships, but many hands could. The Lycians pressed closer, and the Argives strengthened their line within. Neither side could drive the other back at once.
As a careful woman holds the balance even while weighing wool to earn a poor wage for her children, so the fight hung level. Then Zeus gave Hector greater strength.
Hector sprang at the gate, holding a stone broad at the base and sharp at the top, so heavy that two strong men of a later age could hardly lift it onto a wagon. He swung it easily alone.
As a shepherd carries a ram's fleece lightly in one hand, so Hector carried the stone. He stood close, planted his feet, and hurled it at the double gates. The hinges burst, the bars snapped, and the stone crashed through.
Hector leapt in, face like dark night, bronze flashing around him, holding two spears. No one but the gods could have stopped him. He shouted for the Trojans to climb the wall, and they poured through, some by the broken gate and some over the battlements, while the Danaans fled among the hollow ships.