For the winner there was a great tripod ready for setting upon the fire, and the Achaeans valued it among themselves at twelve oxen.

For the loser he brought out a woman skilled in all manner of arts, and they valued her at four oxen.

He rose and said among the Argives, "Stand forward, you who will essay this contest." Forthwith uprose great Ajax the son of Telamon, and crafty Ulysses, full of wiles, rose also.

The two girded themselves and went into the middle of the ring.

They gripped each other in their strong hands like the rafters which some master-builder frames for the roof of a high house to keep the wind out.