The ship of Protesilaos, which had been the first of all the Achaean ships to be beached on the shores of the bay of the Hellespont, now becomes the prime target for the fire of Hector. What follows is an epitome of further analysis from Nagy 2011c:193. In the course of leading the attack, Hector grabs hold of the prumnē ‘stern’ of one of the beached ships—the ship that had belonged to the hero Protesilaos, I.15.705–706, who was first of the Achaeans to be killed at Troy. On Protesilaos, see the earlier comment on I.02.695–709 and I.13.681, also the later comment below on I.15.704–706. Holding on to the prumnē ‘stern’ of this ship, I.15.716, Hector now shouts to his fellow Trojans and calls on them to bring him fire so that he may set this specially prized ship ablaze, I.15.718. In this context, Hector describes himself as fighting next to the prumnai ‘sterns’of the ships, I.15.722, which had been pulled ashore with their backs facing away from the sea and facing toward the attacking Trojans, I.15.718–725. The view of the narrative now shifts to Ajax, who is shown to be unable to hold off the attacking Trojans any longer, I.15.727: Αἴας δ’ οὐκέτ’ ἔμιμνε ‘Ajax could not hold them off any longer’. Now Ajax makes a strategic partial withdrawal, I.15.728, stepping off the ikria ‘deck’ of the ship of Protesilaos, I.15.729, which is where he had been standing, I.15.730. So, Ajax now fights on a lower level, I.15.729, and from further back inside the ship, I.15.728, but at least he continues to fight back, I.15.743–746, encouraging his fellow Achaeans to fight back as well, I.15.732, and his words of encouragement, as quoted at I.15.733–741, are uttered in the form of a ritual shout, as expressed by the verb boân, I.15.732. The focusing at I.15.696–746 on the stern of the ship of Protesilaos will become an essential narrative link in later phases of the narration about the Battle of the Ships. Already at I.15.704–706, Hector’s action in grabbing the stern of the ship of Protesilaos signals a tipping point: the defenses of the Achaeans, especially as represented by Ajax, are about to fail. In Bacchylides Ode 13.105–108, on the other hand, there is a reference to an alternative epic tradition about the role of Ajax. In this version, Ajax stands his ground on the stern of the beached ship: |105 ὅστ’ ἐπὶ πρύμναι σταθ[εὶς] |106 ἔσχεν θρασυκάρδιον [ὁρ]|107 μαίνοντα ν[ᾶας]|108 θεσπεσίωι πυ[ρὶ ––]| ‘(Ajax,) the one who, standing on the stern of the ship, held off Hector of the bold heart. (Hector) was attacking the ships with his fire [pūr], wondrous to tell about, […]’.