Four kinds. — The sword, as the direct instrument of death, is followed by those that follow up its work, the beasts and birds of prey that feed on the corpses of the slain. The latter feature has naturally been from the earliest stages of human history the crowning horror of defeat. So Homer, Il. i. 4 : —
“And many mighty souls of heroes sent
To Hades, and their bodies made a prey
To dogs and to all birds.”