The story of Troy

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HEAD OF HOMER.

ECLECTIC SCHOOL READINGS

THE STORY OF TROY

BY

M. CLARKE

RAfty

TTN

NEW YORK •:- CINCINNATI •: CHICAGO
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY,

Story of Troy.
W. P. 2

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION — HOMER, THE FATHER OF POETRY .... 7
THE GODS AND GODDESSES n

I. TROY BEFORE THE SlEGE IQ

II. THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS 33

III. THE LEAGUE AGAINST TROY 46

IV. BEGINNING OF THE WAR 63

V. THE WRATH OF ACHILLES 76 \s

VI. THE DREAM OF AGAMEMNON 92

VII. THE COMBAT BETWEEN MENELAUS AND PARIS 109

VIII. THE FIRST GREAT BATTLE 124

IX. THE SECOND BATTLE — EXPLOIT OF DIOMEDE AND ULYSSES 149

X. THE BATTLE AT THE SHIPS — DEATH OF PATROCLUS . . 166

XI. END OF THE WRATH OF ACHILLES — DEATH OF HECTOR . 193 \s

XII. DEATH OF ACHILLES — FALL AND DESTRUCTION OF TROY . 220

XIII. THE GREEK CHIEFS AFTER THE WAR 240

5

'TY

INTRODUCTION.

I. HOMER, THE FATHER OF POETRY.

IN this book we are to tell the story of Troy,
and particularly of the famous siege which ended
in the total destruction of that renowned city. It
is a story of brave warriors and heroes of 3000
years ago, about whose exploits the greatest poets
and historians of ancient times have written.
Some of the wonderful events of the memorable
siege are related in a celebrated poem called the
iri-ad, written in the Greek language. The author
of this poem was Ho'mer, who was the author
of another great poem, the Od'ys-sey, which tells of
the voyages and adventures of the Greek hero,
U-lys'ses, after the taking of Troy.

Homer has been called the Father of Poetry,
because he was the first and greatest of poets. He
lived so long ago that very little is known about
him. We do not even know for a certainty when
or where he was born. It is believed, however,
that he lived in the ninth century before Christ, and

7

that his native place was Smyr'na, in Asia Minor.
But long after his death several other cities claimed
the honor of being his birthplace.

Seven Grecian cities vied for Homer dead,
Through which the living Homer begged his bread.

LEONIDAS.

It is perhaps not true that Homer was so poor
as to be obliged to beg for his bread ; but it is prob-
able that he earned his living by traveling from city
to city through many parts of Greece and Asia
Minor, reciting his poems in the palaces of princes,
and at public assemblies. This was one of the
customs of ancient times, when the art of writing
was either not known, or very little practiced. The
poets, or bards, of those days committed their com-
positions to memory, and repeated them aloud at
gatherings of the people, particularly at ^stivals
and athletic games, of which the ancient Greeks
were very fond. At those games prizes and rewards
Were given to the bards as well as to the athletes.

It is said that in the latter part of his life $he
great poet became blind, and that this was why he
received the name of Homer, which signified a
blind person. The name first given to him, we are
told, was Mel-e-sig'e-nes, from the river Me'les, a
small stream on the banks of which his native city
of Smyrna was situated.

So little being known of Homer's life, there has
been much difference of opinion about him among
learned men. Many have believed that Homer
never existed. Others have thought that the Iliad
and Odyssey were composed not by one author,
but by several. " Some," says the English poet,
Walter Savage Landor, " tell us that there were
twenty Homers, some deny that there was ever
one." Those who believe that there were " twenty
Homers " think that different parts of the two great
poems — the Iliad and Odyssey — were composed
by different persons, and that all the parts were
afterwards put together in the form in which they
now appear. The opinion of most scholars at
present, however, is that Homer did really exist,
that he was a wandering bard, or minstrel, who sang
or recited verses or ballads composed by himself,
about the great deeds of heroes and warriors, and
that those ballads, collected and arranged in after
years in two separate books, form the poems known
as the Iliad and Odyssey.

Homer's poetry is what is called epic poetry, that
is, it tells about heroes and heroic actions. The
Iliad and Odyssey are the first and greatest of epic
poems. In all ages since Homer's time, scholars
have agreed in declaring them to be the finest
poetic productions of human genius. No nation in

10

the world has ever produced poems so beautiful or
so perfect. They have been read and admired by
learned men for more than 2000 years. They have
been translated into the languages of all civilized
countries. In this book we make many quotations
from the fine translation of the Iliad by our Ameri-
can poet, William Cullen Bryant. We quote also
from the well-known translation by the English poet,
Alexander Pope.

The ancients had a very great admiration for the
poetry of Homer. We are told that every educated
Greek could repeat from memory any passage in
the Iliad or Odyssey. Alexander the Great was so
fond of Homer's poems that he always had them
under his pillow while he slept. He kept the Iliad
in a richly ornamented casket, saying that " the
most perfect work of human genius ought to be
preserved in a box the most valuable and precious
in the world."

So great was the veneration the Greeks had for
Homer, that they erected temples and altars to him,
and worshiped him as a god. They held festivals
in his honor, and made medals bearing the figure
of the poet sitting on a throne and holding in his
hands the Iliad and Odyssey. One of the kings of
E'gypt built in that country a magnificent temple,
in which was set up a statue of Homer, surrounded

II

with a beautiful representation of the seven cities
that contended for the honor of being the place of
his -birth.

Great bard of Greece, whose ever-during verse
All ages venerate, all tongues rehearse;
Could blind idolatry be justly paid
To aught of mental power by man display'd,
To thee, thou sire of soul-exalting song,
That boundless worship might to thee belong.

HAYLEY.

II. THE GODS AND GODDESSES.

To understand the Story of Troy it is necessary
to know something about the gods and goddesses,
who played so important a part in the events we
are to relate. We shall see that in the Tro'jan War
nearly everything was ordered or directed by a god
or goddess. The gods, indeed, had much to do in
the causing of the war, and they took sides in the
great struggle, some of them helping the Greeks
and some helping the Trojans.

The ancient Greeks believed that there were a
great many gods. According to their religion all
parts of the universe, — the heavens and the earth,
the sun and the moon, the ocean, seas, and rivers,
the mountains and forests, the winds and storms,
— were ruled by different gods. The gods, too, it

12

was supposed, controlled all the affairs of human
life. There were a god of war and a god of peace,
and gods of music, and poetry, and dancing, and
hunting, and of all the other arts or occupations in
which men engaged.

The gods, it was believed, were in some respects
like human beings. In form they usually appeared
as men and women. They were passionate and
vindictive, and often quarreled among themselves.
They married and had children, and needed food
and drink and sleep. Sometimes they married
human beings, and the sons of such marriages were
the heroes of antiquity, men of giant strength who
performed daring and wonderful feats. The food
of the gods was Am-bro'sia, which conferred immor-
tality and perpetual youth on those who partook of
it ; their drink was a delicious wine called Nec'tar.

The gods, then, were immortal beings. They
never died ; they never grew old, and they possessed
immense power. They could change themselves,
or human beings, into any form, and they could
make themselves visible or invisible at pleasure.
They could travel through the skies, or over earth
or ocean, with the rapidity of lightning, often riding
in gorgeous golden chariots drawn by horses of im-
mortal breed. They were greatly feared by men,
and when any disaster occurred, — if lives were lost

13

by earthquake, or shipwreck, or any other calamity,
- it was attributed to the anger of some god.

Though immortal beings, however, the gods were
subject to some of the physical infirmities of hu-
manity. They could not die, but they might be
wounded and suffer bodily pain the same as men.
They often took part in the quarrels and wars of
people on earth, and they had weapons and armor
like human warriors.

The usual place of residence of the principal gods
was on the top of Mount O-lym'pus in Greece.
Here they dwelt in golden palaces, and they had a
Council Chamber where they frequently feasted to-
gether at grand banquets, celestial music being
rendered by A-pol'lo, the god of minstrelsy, and the
Muses, who were the divinities of poetry and song.

In all the chief cities grand temples were erected
for the worship of the gods. One of the most fa-
mous was the Par'the-non, at Athens. At the shrines
of the gods costly gifts in gold and silver were pre-
sented, and on their altars, often built in the open
air, beasts were killed and burned as sacrifices,
which were thought to be very pleasing to the
divine beings to whom they were offered.

The greatest and most powerful of the gods was
Ju'pi-ter, also called Jove or Zeus. To him all the
rest were subject. He was the king of the gods,

the mighty Thunderer, at whose nod Olympus
shook, and at whose word the heavens trembled.
From his great power in the regions of the sky he
was sometimes called the " cloud-compelling Jove."

He, whose all-conscious eyes the world behold,
The eternal Thunderer sat, enthroned in gold.
High heaven the footstool of his feet he makes,
And wide beneath him all Olympus shakes.

POPE, Iliad, Book VIII.

The wife of Jupiter, and the queen of heaven, was
Ju'no, who, as we shall see, was the great enemy of
Troy and the Trojans. One of the daughters of
Jupiter, called Ve'nus, or Aph-ro-di'te, was the god-
dess of beauty and love. Nep'tune was the god of
the sea. He usually carried in his hand a trident,
or three-pronged scepter, the emblem of his au-
thority.

His sumptuous palace-halls were built
Deep down in ocean, golden, glittering, proof
Against decay of time.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XIII.

Mars was the god of war, and Plu'to, also called
Dis and Ha'des, was god of the regions of the
dead. One of the most glorious and powerful of
the gods was Apollo, or Phoe'btis, or Smin'theus,
for he had many names. He was god of the sun,
and of medicine, music, and poetry. He is repre-

i6

sented as holding in his hand a bow, and sometimes
a lyre. Homer calls him the " god of the silver
bow," and the " far-darting Apollo," for the ancients
believed that with the dart of his arrow he sent down
plagues upon men whenever they offended him.

The other principal deities mentioned by Homer
are Mi-ner'va, or Pal'las, the goddess of wisdom ;
Vul'can, the god of fire ; and Mer'cu-ry, or Her'mes,
the messenger of Jupiter. Vulcan was also the patron,
or god, of smiths. He had several forges ; one was
on Mount Olympus, and another was supposed to
be under Mount ^t'na in Sic'i-ly. Here, with his
giant workmen, the Cy'clops, he made thunderbolts
for Jupiter, and sometimes armor and weapons of
war for earthly heroes.

The gods, it was believed, made their will known
to men in various ways, — sometimes by the flight of
birds, frequently by dreams, and sometimes by
appearing on earth under different forms, and
speaking directly to kings and warriors. Very
often men learned the will of the gods by consult-
ing seers and soothsayers, or augurs, — persons who
were supposed to have the power of foretelling
events. There were temples also where the gods
gave answers through priests. Such answers were
called Or'a-cles, arid this name was also given to
the priests. The most celebrated oracle of ancient

17

times was in the temple of Apollo at Del'phi, in
Greece. To this place people came from all parts
of the world to consult the god, whose answers
were given by a priestess called Pyth'i-a.

The ancients never engaged in war or any other
important undertaking without sacrificing to the
gods or consulting their oracles or soothsayers.
Before going to battle they made sacrifices to the
gods. If they were defeated in battle they regarded
it as a sign of the anger of Jupiter, or Juno, or
Minerva, or Apollo, or some of the other great
beings who dwelt on Olympus. When making
leagues or treaties of peace, they called the gods as
witnesses, and prayed to Father Jupiter to send ter-
rible punishments on any who should take false
oaths, or break their promises. In the story of the
Trojan War we shall find many examples of such
appeals to the gods by the chiefs on both sides.

" O Father Jove, who rulest from the top
Of Ida, mightiest one and most august!
Whichever of these twain has done the wrong,
Grant that he pass to Pluto's dwelling, slain,
While friendship and a faithful league are ours.

" O Jupiter most mighty and august!
Whoever first shall break these solemn oaths,
So may their brains flow down upon the earth,—
Theirs and their children's."

BRYANT, 7//W, Book III.
STO. OF TROY — 2

Painting by Gaudemaris.
(18)

OFFERING TO MINERVA.

THE STORY OF TROY.

Design by Burne-Jones.

I. TROY BEFORE THE
SIEGE.

THAT part of Asia Minor
which borders the narrow
channel now known as the
Dar-da-nelles', was in ancient
times called Tro'as. Its capi-
tal was the city of Troy, which
stood about three miles from
the shore of the /£-ge'an Sea,
at the foot of Mount Ida, near
the junction of two rivers, the
Sim'o-is, and the Sca-man'der
or Xan'thus. The people of
Troy and Troas were called
Trojans.

Some of the first settlers
in northwestern Asia Minor,
before it was called Troas,

19

20

came from Thrace, a country lying to the north of
Greece. The king of these Thra'cian colonists was
Teu'cer. During his reign a prince named Dar'da-
nus arrived in the new settlement. He was a son of
Jupiter, and he came from Sam'o-thrace, one of the
many islands of the ^Egean Sea. It is said that he
escaped from a great flood which swept over his
native island, and that he was carried on a raft of
wood to the coast of the kingdom of Teucer. Soon
afterwards he married Teucer's daughter. He then
built a city for himself amongst the hills of Mount
Ida, and called it Dar-da'ni-a; and on the death of
Teucer he became king of the whole country, to
which he gave the same name, Dardania.

Jove was the father, cloud-compelling Jove,

Of Dardanus, by whom Dardania first

Was peopled, ere our sacred Troy was built

On the great plain, — a populous town; for men

Dwelt still upon the roots of Ida fresh

With many springs.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XX.

Dardanus was the ancestor of the Trojan line of
kings. He had a grandson named Tros, and from
him the city Troy, as well as the country Troas,
took its name. The successor of King Tros was
his son rius. By him Troy was built, and it was
therefore also called iri-um or Il'i-on ; hence the

21

title of Homer's great poem, — the Iliad. From
the names Dardanus and Teucer the city of Troy
has also been sometimes called Dardania and
Teu'cri-a, and the Trojans are often referred to
as Dardanians and Teucrians. Ilus was succeeded
by his son La-om'e-don, and Laomedon's son
Pri'am was king of Troy during the famous siege.

The story of the founding of Troy is a very
interesting one. Ilus went forth from his father's
city of Dardania, in search of adventures, as was
the custom of young princes and heroes in those
days ; and he traveled on until he arrived at the
court of the king of Phryg'i-a, a country lying east
of Troas. Here he found the people engaged in
athletic games, at which the king gave -valuable
prizes for competition. Ilus took part in a wrest-
ling match, and he won fifty young men and fifty
maidens, — a strange sort of prize we may well
think, but not at all strange or unusual in ancient
times, when there were many slaves everywhere.
During his stay in Phrygia the young Dardanian
prince was hospitably entertained at the royal
palace. When he was about to depart, the king
gave him a spotted heifer, telling him to follow the
animal, and to build a city for himself at the place
where she should first lie down to rest.

Ilus did as he was directed. With his fifty

22

youths and fifty maidens he set out to follow the
heifer, leaving her free to go along at her pleasure.
She marched on for many miles, and at last lay
down at the foot of Mount Ida on a beautiful plain
watered by two rivers, and here Ilus encamped for
the night. Before going to sleep he prayed to
Jupiter to send him a sign that that was the site
meant for his city. In the morning he found
standing in front of his tent a wooden statue of the
goddess Minerva, also called Pallas. The figure
was three cubits high. In its right hand it held a
spear, and in the left, a distaff and spindle.

This was the Pal-la'di-um of Troy, which after-
wards became very famous. The Trojans believed
that it had been sent down from heaven, and that
the safety of their city depended upon its preserva-
tion. Hence it was guarded with the greatest care
in a temple specially built for the purpose.

Ilus, being satisfied that the statue was the sign
for which he had prayed, immediately set about
building his city, and thus Troy was founded. It
soon became the capital of Troas and the richest
and most powerful city in that part of the world.
During the reign of Laomedon, son of Ilus, its
mighty walls were erected, which in the next reign
withstood for ten years all the assaults of the
Greeks. These walls were the work of no human

23

hands. They were built by the ocean god Nep-
tune. 'This god had conspired against Jupiter and
attempted to dethrone him, and, as a punishment,
his kingdom of the sea was taken away from him
for one year, and he was ordered to spend that time
in the service of the king of Troy.

In building the great walls, Neptune was assisted
by Apollo, who had also been driven from Olympus
for an offense against Jupiter. Apollo had a son
named ^Es-cu-la'pi-us, who was so skilled a physi-
cian that he could, and did, raise people from death
to life. Jupiter was very angry at this. He feared
that men might forget him and worship ^sculapius.
He therefore hurled a thunderbolt at the great
physician and killed him. Enraged at the death of
his son, Apollo threatened to destroy the Cyclops,
the giant workmen of Vulcan, who had forged the
terrible thunderbolt. Before he could carry out his
threat, however, Jupiter expelled him from heaven.
He remained on earth for several years, after which
he was permitted to return to his place among the
gods on the top of Mount Olympus.

Though Neptune was bound to serve Laomedon
for one year, there was an agreement between them
that the god should get a certain reward for build-
ing the walls.. But when the work was finished the
Trojan king refused to keep his part of the bar-

National Museum^ Athens.

NEPTUNE.

25

gain. Apollo had assisted by his powers of music.
He played such tunes that he charmed even the
huge blocks of stone, so that they moved themselves
into their proper places, after Neptune had wrenched
them from the mountain sides and had hewn them
into shape. Moreover, Apollo had taken care of
Laomedon's numerous flocks on Mount Ida. Dur-
ing the siege, Neptune, in a conversation with
Apollo before the walls of Troy, spoke of their
labors in the service of the Trojan king:

" Hast thou forgot, how, at the monarch's prayer,
We shared the lengthen 'd labors of a year ?
Troy walls I raised (for such were Jove's commands),
And yon proud bulwarks grew beneath my hands:
Thy task it was to feed the bellowing droves
Along fair Ida's vales and pendant groves."

POPE, Iliad, Book XXI.

Long before this, however, the two gods had
punished Laomedon very severely for breaking his
promise. Apollo, after being restored to heaven,
sent a plague upon the city of Troy, and Neptune
sent up from the sea an enormous serpent which
killed many of the people.

A great serpent from the deep,
Lifting his horrible head above their homes,
Devoured the children.

LEWIS MORRIS.

26

In this terrible calamity the king asked an oracle
in what way the anger of the two gods might be
appeased. The answer of the oracle was that a
Trojan maiden must each year be given to the
monster to be devoured. Every year, therefore,
a young girl, chosen by lot, was taken down to the
seashore and chained to a rock to become the prey
of the serpent. And every year the monster came
and swallowed up a Trojan maiden, and then went
away and troubled the city no more until the fol-
lowing year, when he returned for another victim.
At last the lot fell on He-si'o-ne, the daughter of
the king. Deep was Laomedon's grief at the
thought of the awful fate to which his child was
thus doomed.

But help came at an unexpected moment. While,
amid the lamentations of her family and friends,
preparations were being made to chain Hesione to
the rock, the great hero, Her'cu-les, happened to
visit Troy. He was on his way home to Greece,
after performing in a distant eastern country one of
those great exploits which made him famous in
ancient story. The hero undertook to destroy the
serpent, and thus save the princess, on condition
that he should receive as a reward certain wonder-
ful horses which Laomedon just then had in his
possession. These horses were given to Laome-

27

don's grandfather, Tros, on a very interesting occa-
sion. Tros had a son named Gan'y-mede, a youth
of wonderful beauty, and Jupiter admired Gany-
mede so much that he had him carried up to
heaven to be cupbearer to the gods — to serve the
divine nectar at the banquets on Mount Olympus.

Godlike Ganymede, most beautiful
Of men; the gods beheld and caught him up
To heaven, so beautiful was he, to pour
The wine to Jove, and ever dwell with them.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XX.

To compensate Tros for the loss of his son,
Jupiter gave him four magnificent horses of im-
mortal breed and marvelous fleetness. These were
the horses which Hercules asked as his reward for
destroying the serpent. As there was no other way
of saving the life of his daughter, Laomedon con-
sented. Hercules then went down to the seashore,
bearing in his hand the huge club which he usually
carried, and wearing his lion-skin over his shoulders.
This was the skin of a fierce lion he had strangled
to death in a forest in Greece, and he always wore
it when going to perform any of his heroic feats.

When Hesione had been bound to the rock, the
hero stood beside her and awaited the coming of
the serpent. In a short time its hideous form
emerged from beneath the waves< and darting for-

28

ward it was about to seize the princess, when Her-
cules rushed upon it, and with mighty strokes of
his club beat the monster to death. Thus was the
king's daughter saved and all Troy delivered from a
terrible scourge. But when the hero claimed the
reward that had been agreed upon, and which he
had so well earned, Laomedon again proved him-
self to be a man who was neither honest nor grate-
ful. Disregarding his promise, and forgetful, too,
of what he and his people had already suffered as a
result of his breach of faith with the two gods,
he refused to give Hercules the horses.

The hero at once went away from Troy, but not
without resolving to return at a convenient time
and punish Laomedon. This he did, not long after-
wards, when he had completed the celebrated
" twelve labors " at which he had been set by a
Grecian king, whom Jupiter commanded him to
serve for a period of years because of an offense he
had committed. One of these labors was the killing
of the lion. Another was the destroying of the
Ler'nae-an hydra, a frightful serpent with many
heads, which for a long time had been devouring
man and beast in the district of Ler'na in Greece.

Having accomplished his twelve great labors and
ended his term of service, Hercules collected an
army and a fleet, and sailed to the shores of Troas.

29

He then marched against the city, took it by sur-
prise, and slew Laomedon and all his sons, with the
exception of Po-dar'ces, afterwards called Priam.
This prince had tried to persuade his father to ful-
fill the engagement with Hercules, for which reason
his life was spared. He was made a slave, how-
ever, as was done in ancient times with prisoners
taken in war. But Hesione ransomed her brother,
giving her gold-embroidered veil as the price of his
freedom. From this time he was called Priam, a
word which in the Greek language means " pur-
chased." Hesione also prevailed upon Hercules to
restore Priam to his right as heir to his father's
throne, and so he became king of Troy. Hesione
herself was carried off to Greece, where she was
given in marriage to Tera-mon, king of Sal'a-mis,
a friend of Hercules.

Priam reigned over his kingdom of Troas many
years in peace and prosperity. His wife and queen,
the virtuous Hec'u-ba, was a daughter of a Thracian
king. They had nineteen children, many of whom
became famous during the great siege. Their eldest
son, Hec'tor, was the bravest of the Trojan heroes.
Their son Par'is it was, as we shall see, who brought
upon his country the disastrous war. Another son,
Hel'e-nus, and his sister Cas-san'dra, were cele-
brated soothsayers.

30

Cassandra was a maiden of remarkable beauty.
The god Apollo loved her so much that he offered
to grant her any request if she would accept him as
her husband. Cassandra consented and asked for
the power of foretelling events, but when she
received it, she slighted the god and refused to
perform her promise. Apollo was enraged at her
conduct, yet he could not take back the gift he had
bestowed. He decreed, however, that no one should
believe or pay any attention to her predictions, true
though they should be. And so when Cassandra
foretold the evils that were to come upon Troy, even
her own people would not credit her words. They
spoke of her as the " mad prophetess."

Cassandra cried, and cursed the unhappy hour;
Foretold our fate; but by the god's decree,
All heard, and none believed the prophecy.

VERGIL.

The first sorrow in the lives of King Priam and
his good queen came a short time before the birth
of Paris, when Hecuba dreamed that her next child
would bring ruin upon his family and native city.
This caused the deepest distress to Priam and
Hecuba, especially when the soothsayer ^s'a-cus
declared that the dream would certainly be fulfilled.
Then, though they were tender and loving parents,
they made up their minds to sacrifice their own feel-

ings rather than that such a caAamity should befall
their country. When the child was born, the king,
therefore, ordered it to be given to Ar-che-la'us, one
of the shepherds of Mount Ida, with instructions to
expose it in a place where it might be destroyed by
wild beasts. The shepherd, though very unwilling
to do so cruel a thing, was obliged to obey, but on
returning to the spot a few days afterwards he found
the infant boy alive and unhurt. Some say that the
child had been nursed and carefully tended by a
she-bear. Archelaus was so touched with pity at
the sight of the innocent babe smiling in his face,
that he took the boy to his cottage, and, giving him
the name Paris, brought him up as one of his own
family.

With the herdsmen on Mount Ida, Paris spent
his early years, not knowing that he was King
Priam's son. He was a brave youth, and of ex-
ceeding beauty.

" His sunny hair
Cluster'd about his temples like a god's."

TENNYSON, CEnone.

He was skilled, too, in all athletic exercises, he
was a bold huntsman, and so brave in defending
the shepherds against the attacks of robbers that
they called him Alexander, a name which means a
protector of men. Thus the young prince became

32

a favorite with the people who lived on the hills.
Very happy he was amongst them, and amongst
the flocks which his good friend and foster father,
•Archelaus, gave him to be his own. He was still
more happy in the company of the charming nymph
CE-no'ne, the daughter of a river god ; and he loved
her and made her his wife. But this happiness was
destined not to be of long duration. The Fates*
had decreed it otherwise. CEnone the beautiful,
whose sorrows have been the theme of many poets,
was to lose the love of the young shepherd prince,
and the dream of Hecuba was to have its fulfillment.

The Fate

That rules the will of Jove had spun the days
Of Paris and GEnone.

QUINTUS SMYRN^US.

*The F.itcs were the three sisters, Clo tho, Lach'e-sis, and At'ro-pos,
powerful goddesses who controlled the birth and life of mankind.
Clotho, the youngest, presided over the moment of birth, and held a
distaff in her hand; Lachesis spun out the thread of human existence
(all the events and action's of man's life); and Atropos, with a pair of
shears which she always carried, cut this thread at the moment of
death.

II. THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS.

IT was through a quarrel among the three god-
desses, Juno, Venus, and Minerva, that CEnone, the
fair nymph of Mount Ida, met her sad fate, and that
the destruction of Troy was brought about. The
strife arose on the occasion of the marriage of Pe'leus
and The'tis. Peleus was a king of Thes'sa-ly, in
Greece, and one of the great heroes of those days.
Thetis was a daughter of the sea god Ne're-us, who
had fifty daughters, all beautiful sea nymphs, called
" Ne-re'i-des," from the name of their father. Their
duty was to attend upon the greater sea gods, and
especially to obey the orders of Neptune.

Thetis was so beautiful that Jupiter himself wished
to marry her, but the Fates told him she was destined
to have a son who would be greater than his father.
The king of heaven having no desire that a son of
his should be greater than himself, gave up the idea
of wedding the fair nymph of the sea, and consented
that she should be the wife of Peleus, who had long
loved and wooed her. But Thetis, being a goddess,
was unwilling to marry a mortal man. However, she

STO. OF TROY — 3 33

34

at last consented, and all the gods and goddesses, with
one exception, were present at the marriage feast.
For in the elder time, when truth and worth
Were still revered and cherished here on earth,
The tenants of the skies would oft descend
To heroes' spotless homes, as friend to friend;
There meet them face to face, and freely share
In all that stirred the hearts of mortals there.

CATULLUS (Martin's tr.).

The one exception was E'ris, or Dis-cor'di-a, the
goddess of discord. This evil-minded deity had at
one time been a resident of Olympus, but she caused
so much dissension and quarreling there that Jupi-
ter banished her forever from the heavenly mansions.
The presence of such a being as a guest on so happy
an occasion was not very desirable, and therefore no
invitation was sent to her.

Thus slighted, the goddess of discord resolved to
have revenge by doing all that she could to disturb
the peace and harmony of the marriage feast. With
this evil purpose she suddenly appeared in the midst
of the company, and threw on the table a beautiful
golden apple, on which were inscribed the words,
" Let it be given to the fairest."

" This was cast upon the board,
When all the full-faced presence of the gods
Ranged in the halls of Peleus; whereupon
Rose feud, with question unto whom 'twere due."

TENNYSON. (Enone.

35

At once all the goddesses began to claim the
glittering prize of beauty. Each contended that
she was the "fairest," and therefore should have the

" fruit of pure Hesperian gold
That smelt ambrosially."

But soon the only competitors were Juno, Venus,
and Minerva, the other goddesses having withdrawn
their claims. The contest then became more bitter,
and at last Jupiter was called upon to act as judge
in the dispute. This delicate task the king of
heaven declined to undertake. He knew that what-
ever way he might decide, he would be sure to
offend two of the three goddesses, and thereby
destroy the peace of his own household. It was
necessary, however, that an umpire should be chosen
to put an end to the strife, and doubtless it was the
decree of the Fates that the lot should fall on the
handsome young shepherd of Mount Ida. His wis-
dom and prudence were well known to the gods,
and all seemed to agree that he was a fit person to
decide so great a contest.

Paris was therefore appointed umpire. By Jupi-
ter's command the golden apple was sent to him, to
be given to that one of the three goddesses whom
he should judge to be the most beautiful. The
goddesses themselves were directed to appear before

36

him on Mount Ida, so that, beholding their charms,
he might be able to give a just decision. The
English poet, Tennyson, in his poem "CEnone,"
gives a fine description of the three contending
deities standing in the presence of the Trojan
prince, each in her turn trying, by promise of great
reward, to persuade him to declare in her favor.
Juno spoke first, and she offered to bestow kingly
power and immense wealth upon Paris, if he would
award the prize to her.

" She to Paris made
Proffer of royal power, ample rule -

Unquestion'd

'Honor,' she said, 'and homage, tax and toll,
From many an inland town and haven large.' '

Minerva next addressed the judge, and she prom-
ised him great wisdom and knowledge, as well as
success in war, if he would give the apple to her.

.Then Venus approached the young prince, who
all the while held the golden prize in his hand.
She had but few words to say, for she was confident
in the power of her beauty and the tempting bribe
she was about to offer.

" She with a subtle smile in her mild eyes,
The herald of her triumph, drawing nigh
Half-whisper'd in his ear, ' I promise thee

37

The fairest and most loving wife in Greece.'
She spoke and laugh 'd."

The subtle smile and the whispered promise won
the heart of Paris. Forgetful of GEnone, and disre-
garding the promises of the other goddesses, he
awarded the prize to Venus.

He consign'd

To her soft hand the fruit of burnished rind;
And foam-born Venus grasp'd the graceful meed,
Of war, of evil war, the quickening seed.

COLUTHUS (Elton's tr.).

Such was the famous judgment of Paris. It was
perhaps a just decision, for it may be supposed
that Venus, being the goddess of beauty, was
really the most beautiful of the three. But the
story does not give us a very high idea of the
character of Paris, who now no longer took pleas-
ure in the company of CEnone. All his thoughts
and affections were turned away from her by the
promise of Venus. He had grown weary, too,
of his simple and innocent life among his flocks
and herds on the mountain. He therefore wished
much for some adventure that would take him
away from scenes which had become distasteful
to him.

The opportunity soon came. A member of King
Priam's family having died, it was announced that

Vatican^ Rome,
(38)

PARIS.

39

the funeral would be celebrated by athletic games,
as was the custom in ancient times. Paris resolved
to go down to the city and take part in these
games. Prizes were to be offered for competition,
and one of the prizes was to be the finest bull that
could be picked from the herds on Mount Ida.
Now it happened that the bull selected belonged to
Paris himself, but it could not be taken without his
consent. He was willing, however, to give it for
the games on condition that he should be permitted
to enter the list of competitors.

The condition was agreed to, and so the shepherd
prince parted from CEnone and went to the funeral
games at Troy. He intended, perhaps, to return
sometime, but it was many years before he saw the
fair nymph of Mount Ida again, — not until he was
about to die of a wound received from one of the
Greeks in the Trojan War. QEnone knew what was
to happen, for Apollo had conferred upon her the
gift of prophecy, and she warned Paris that if he
should go away from her he would bring ruin on
himself and his country, telling him also that he
would seek for her help when it would be too late
to save him. These predictions, as we shall see,
were fulfilled. GEnone's grief and despair in her
loneliness after the departure of Paris are touch-
ingly described in Tennyson's poem :

40

11 O happy Heaven, how canst thou see my face ?
O happy earth, how canst thou bear my weight ?

0 death, death, death, thou ever-floating cloud,
There are enough unhappy on this earth,

Pass by the happy souls, that love to live:

1 pray thee, pass before my light of life,
And shadow all my soul, that I may die.
Thou weighest heavy on the heart within,
Weigh heavy on my eyelids: let me die."

At the athletic games in Troy everybody ad-
mired the noble appearance of Paris, but nobody
knew who he was. In the competitions he won all
the first prizes, for Venus had given him godlike
strength and swiftness. He defeated even Hector,
who was the greatest athlete of Troy. Hector,
angry at finding himself and all the highborn
young men of the city beaten by an unknown
stranger, resolved to put him to death, and Paris
would probably have been killed, had he not fled for
safety into the temple of Jupiter. Cassandra, who
happened to be in the temple at the time, noticed
Paris closely, and observing that he bore a strong
resemblance to her brothers, she asked him about
his birth and age. From his answers she was satis-
fied that he was her brother, and she at once intro-
duced him to the king. Further inquiries were
then made. The old shepherd, Archelaus, to whom
Paris had been delivered in his infancy to be ex-

41

posed on Mount Ida, was still living, and he came
and told his story. Then King Priam and Queen
Hecuba joyfully embraced and welcomed their son,
never thinking of the terrible dream or of the
prophecy of yEsacus. Hector, no longer angry or
jealous, was glad to see his brother, and proud of
his victories in the games. Everybody rejoiced
except Cassandra. She knew the evil which
was to come to Troy through Paris, but nobody
would give credit to what the " mad prophetess "
said.

Thus restored to his high position as a prince of
the royal house of Troy, Paris now resided in his
father's palace, apparently contented and happy.
But the promise made to him on Mount Ida, which
he carefully concealed from his family, was always
in his mind. His thoughts were ever turned toward
Greece, where dwelt the fairest woman of those
times. This was Helen, wife of Men-e-la'us, king
of Spar'ta, celebrated throughout the ancient world
for her matchless beauty. Paris had been promised
the fairest woman for his wife, and he felt sure that
it could be no other than the far-famed Helen. To
Greece therefore he resolved to go, as soon as there
should be an excuse for undertaking what was then
a long and dangerous voyage of many weeks, though
in our day it is no more than a few hours' sail.

42

The occasion was found when King Priam re-
solved to send ambassadors to the island of Salamis
to demand the restoration of his sister Hesione,
whom Hercules had carried off many years before.
Her husband, Telamon, was now dead, but his son
A'jax still held her as a prisoner at his court. Priam
had never forgotten his sister's love for himself, for
she it was, as will be remembered, who redeemed him
from slavery and placed him on his father's throne.
He now determined that she should be brought
back to her native country, and Paris earnestly
begged permission to take charge of the expedition
which was to be sent to Salamis for that purpose.
Priam consented, and a fleet worthy to convey the
son of the king of Troy and his retinue to Greece
was built by Pher'e-clus, a skillful Trojan craftsman,
whom the goddess Minerva (Pallas) had instructed
in all kinds of workmanship.

For loved by Pallas, Pallas did impart
To him the shipwright's and the builder's art.
Beneath his hand the fleet of Paris rose,
The fatal cause of all his country's woes.

POPE, Iliad, Book V.

Before the departure of the fleet, Cassandra
raised her voice of warning, but as usual her
words were not heeded, and so Paris set sail. He
reached the shores of Greece in safety ; but instead

43

of proceeding to Salamis to demand Hesione from
King Ajax, he steered his vessels to the coast of
Sparta. This he did under the guidance and direction
of Venus, who was now about to fulfill the promise
by which she had won the golden prize on Mount Ida.

Landing in Sparta, Paris hastened to the court of
Menelaus, where he was hospitably received. The
king gave banquets in his honor and invited him to
prolong his stay in Sparta, and the beautiful Queen
Helen joined in her husband's kind attentions to
their guest.

Soon after the arrival of Paris, the king of Sparta
received an invitation to take part in a hunting expe-
dition in the island of Crete. Having no suspicion
of the evil design of Paris, he accepted the invita-
tion. He departed for Crete, leaving to his queen
the duty of entertaining the Trojan prince until his
return. Then Paris, taking advantage of the ab-
sence of Menelaus, induced Helen to desert her
husband and her home, and go with him to Troy.
He told her of the promise of Venus, and assured
her that she would be received with great honor in
his father's palace, and protected against the anger
of Menelaus.

From her husband's stranger-sheltering home
He tempted Helen o'er the ocean foam.

COLUTHUS (Elton's tr.).

Painting by Dcutsck.

(44)

ABDUCTION OF HELEN.

45

Helen having consented, Paris carried her off in
his fleet. At the same time he carried away a vast
quantity of treasure in gold and other costly things
which belonged to King Menelaus. On the voyage
homeward the ships were driven by a storm to the
shores of the island of Cran'a-e, where Paris and
Helen remained for some time. When at last
they reached the Trojan capital they were cordially
welcomed by King Priam and Queen Hecuba, and
in a short time they were married, and the event
was celebrated with great rejoicing.

But all the people of Troy did not take part in
this rejoicing. Hector, the son of Priam, and others
of his wisest counselors, strongly censured the con-
duct of Paris, and they advised the king to send
Helen back to Sparta. But Priam would not listen
to their prudent advice, and so she remained in
Troy.

The great beauty of Helen has been celebrated
-by poets in ancient and modern times. Tennyson,
in his " Dream of Fair Women," introduces her as
one of the forms of the vision he describes :

" I saw a lady within call,
Stiller than chisell'd marble, standing there;
A daughter of the gods, divinely tall,
And most divinely fair."

III. THE LEAGUE AGAINST TROY.

The carrying off of Helen was the cause of the
Trojan War. Menelaus, upon hearing what Paris
had done, immediately returned to Sparta, and
began to make preparations to avenge the wrong.
He called upon the other kings and princes of
Greece to join him with their armies and fleets in a
war against Troy. They were bound to do this by
an oath they had taken at the time of the marriage
of Helen and Menelaus.

Helen was ,the daughter of Tyn'da-rus, who was
king of Sparta before Menelaus. Some say that
she was the daughter of Jupiter, and that Tyndarus
was her stepfather. But from her infancy she was
brought up at the royal palace of Sparta as the
daughter of Tyndarus and his wife, Le'da. When
she became old enough to marry, the fame of her
great beauty drew many of the young princes of
Greece to Sparta, all competing for her favor, and
each hoping to win her for his wife. This placed
Tyndarus in a difficulty. He was alarmed at the
sight of so many suitors for the hand of his

47

daughter, for he knew that he could not give her to
one without offending all the rest. He therefore
resolved to adopt the advice of Ulysses, the prince
of Ith'a-ca (an island on the west coast of Greece).
Ulysses, also named O-dys'seus, was famed for great
wisdom as well as valor in war.

Ulysses, man of many arts,
Son of Laertes, reared in Ithaca,
That rugged isle, and skilled in every form
Of shrewd device and action wisely planned.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book III.

Ulysses -had himself been one of the suitors for
Helen, but he saw that among so many competitors
he had little chance of success. Besides, he had
fallen in love with Pe-nel'o-pe, the niece of Tyn-
darus. He therefore withdrew from the contest,
and he offered to suggest a plan for settling the
difficulty about Helen, if Tyndarus would give him
Penelope to be his wife. Tyndarus consented.
Ulysses then advised that Helen should choose
for herself which of the princes she would have
for her husband, but that before she did so, all
the suitors should pledge themselves by oath to
submit to her decision, and engage that if any
one should take her away from the husband of
her choice, they would all join in punishing the
offender.

48

If any dared to seize and bear her off,
All would unite in arms, and lay his town
Level with the ground.

EURIPIDES (Potter's tr.).

The Grecian princes consented to this proposal
They all, including Ulysses himself, took the
required oath. Helen then made choice of Mene-
laus, to whom she was immediately married with
great pomp and popular rejoicing. On the death
of Tyndarus, Menelaus became king of Sparta, and
he and his beautiful queen lived and reigned
together in prosperity and happiness until the ill-
fated visit of Paris.

Menelaus was the brother of Ag-a-mem'non,
king of My-ce'nae, one of the most powerful and
wealthy of the kings of Hel'las, as Greece was
anciently called. Their father, A'treus, was a son
of the hero Pe'lops, who conquered the greater part
of the peninsula named from him the Pel-o-pon-
ne'sus, and who was the grandson of Jupiter.
Agamemnon, or A-tri'des (son of Atreus), as he is
often called, was commander in chief of all the
Greek armies during the siege of Troy. From his
high rank and authority Homer calls him the
" king of men " and the " king of kings." He
is sometimes also called " king of all Ar'gos," a
powerful kingdom near Mycenae, and from this
name the Greeks are sometimes called " Ar'gives.'

49

The royal scepter which Agamemnon bore in his
hands when addressing his soldiers was made by
Vulcan for Jupiter.

The king of kings his awful figure raised;
High in his hand the golden sceptre blazed;
The golden sceptre, of celestial flame,
By Vulcan formed, from Jove to Hermes came:
To Pelops he the immortal gift resign'd;
The immortal gift great Pelops left behind.

POPE, Iliad, Book II.

The kings and princes of Hellas, who met at the
call of Menelaus, decided, after some discussion of
the matter, that before declaring war against Troy
it would be well to try to obtain satisfaction by
peaceful means. They therefore sent ambassadors
to Troy to demand the restoration of Helen and the
treasures which Paris had carried off. Di'o-mede,
king of v^E-to'lia, and the wise Ulysses, were chosen
for this mission. Menelaus volunteered to accom-
pany them, thinking that he might be able to per-
suade his wife to return to her home.

When the Greek ambassadors arrived in the
Trojan capital they were respectfully received by
the king. During their stay in the city they were
entertained at the residence of An-te'nor, one of
Priam's ministers of state, who had the wisdom
to disapprove of the action of Paris, and to

STO. OF TROY — 4

50

advise that the Spartan queen should be given
back to her husband. Antenor much admired the
appearance and eloquence of Ulysses, which are thus
described in the Iliad:

" But when Ulysses rose, in thought profound,
His modest eyes he fixed upon the ground;
As one unskilled or dumb, he seem'd to stand,
Nor raised his head, nor stretch'd his sceptred hand;
But, when he speaks, what elocution flows!
Soft as the fleeces of descending snows,
The copious accents fall, with easy art;
Melting they fall, and sink into the heart! "

POPE, Iliad, Book III.

But the eloquence of Ulysses was of no avail.
King Priam, blinded by his love for his son, saw
not the threatened danger, and he refused the de-
mand of the ambassadors. Menelaus was not even
permitted to see his wife. Ulysses and his com-
panions then returned to Greece, and at once
preparations for war with Troy were commenced.

These preparations occupied a very long time.
Ten years were spent in getting together the vast
force, which in more than a thousand ships was
carried across the ^gean Sea to the Trojan shores,
from the port of Au'lis on the east coast of Greece.
Some of the Hel-len'ic (Greek) princes were very
unwilling to join the expedition, as they knew that

the struggle would be a tedious and perilous one.
Even Ulysses, who, as we have seen, had first pro-
posed the suitors' oath at Sparta, was at the last
moment unwilling to go. He had now become
king of Ithaca, his father, La-er'tes, having retired
from the cares of government, and he would gladly
have remained in his happy island home with his
young wife, Penelope, and his infant son, Te-
lem'a-chus, both of whom he tenderly loved.

But the man of many arts could not be spared
from the Trojan War. He paid no heed, however,
to the messages sent to him asking him to join the
army at Aulis. Agamemnon resolved, therefore, to
go himself to Ithaca to persuade Ulysses to take part
in the expedition. He was accompanied by his
brother Menelaus, and by a chief named Pal-a-me'des,
a very wise and learned man as well as a brave
warrior. As soon as Ulysses heard of their arrival
in Ithaca, he pretended to be insane, and he tried
by a very amusing stratagem to make them believe
that he was really mad. Dressing himself in his
best clothes, and going down to the seashore, he
began to plow the beach with a horse and an ox
yoked together, and to scatter salt upon the sand
instead of seed.

Palamedes, however, was more than a match in
artifice for the Ithacan king. Taking Telemachus

(53)

53

from the arms of his nurse, he placed the infant on
the sand in front of the plowing team. Ulysses
quickly turned the animals aside to avoid injuring
his child, thus proving that he was not mad but in
full possession of his senses. The king of Ithaca
was therefore obliged to join the expedition to Troy.
With twelve ships well manned he sailed from his
rugged island, which he did not again see for twenty
years. Ten years he spent at the siege, and ten on
his homeward voyage, during which he met with
the wonderful adventures that Homer describes in
the Odyssey.

Ulysses had his revenge upon Palamedes in a
manner very unworthy of a brave man. In the
camp before Troy, during the siege, he bribed one
of the servants of Palamedes to conceal a sum of
money in his master's tent. He then forged a letter,
which he read before a council of the Greek generals,
saying that Palamedes had taken it from a Trojan
prisoner. This letter was written as if by King
Priam to Palamedes, thanking him for the infor-
mation he had given regarding the plans of the
Greeks, and mentioning money as having been
sent him in reward for his services. The Greek
generals at once ordered a search to be made in the
tent of Palamedes, and the money being found
where it had been hidden by direction of Ulysses,

54

the unfortunate Palamedes was immediately put to
death as a traitor.

Palamedes, not unknown to fame,

Who suffered from the malice of the times,

Accused and sentenced for pretended crimes.

VERGIL.

It is said that Palamedes was the inventor of
weights and measures, and of the games of chess
and backgammon, and that it was he who first
placed sentinels round a camp and gave them a
watchword.

There was another of the Greek princes whose
help in the Trojan War was obtained only by an
ingenious trick. This was the famous A-chil'les.
He was the son of Peleus and Thetis, at whose
marriage feast Eris threw the apple of discord on
the table. The prophecy that Thetis would have a
son greater than his father was fulfilled in Achilles,
the bravest of the Greeks at the Trojan War, and
the principal hero of Homer's Iliad.

Thetis educated her son with great care. She
had him instructed in all the accomplishments fitting
for princes of those times. When he was an infant
she dipped him in the river Styx, which, it was be-
lieved, made it impossible for any weapon wielded
by mortal hands to wound him. But the water did
not touch the child's heel by which his mother held

55

him when she plunged him in the river, and it was
in this part that he received the wound of which he
died.

Notwithstanding his being dipped in the Styx,
Thetis was afraid to let Achilles go to the Trojan
War, for Jupiter had told her that he would be killed
if he took part in it. For this reason, as soon as
she heard that the Grecian princes were gathering
their forces, she secretly sent the youth to the court
of Lyc-o-me'des, king of the island of Scy'ros.
Here Achilles, dressed like a young girl, resided as
a companion of the king's daughters. But Cal'chas,
the soothsayer of the Grecian army, told the chiefs
that without the help of Achilles Troy could not be
taken.

Calchas the wise, the Grecian priest and guide,
That sacred seer, whose comprehensive view,
The past, the present, and the future knew.

POPE. Iliad* Book I.

Calchas, however, could not tell where Achilles
was to be found, and when they applied to Peleus,
he too was unable or unwilling to tell them.
In this difficulty the wily king of Ithaca did
good service. After much inquiry he discovered
that Achilles was at Scyros with the king's daugh-
ters. He soon made his way to the island, but here
there was a new difficulty. He had never seen the

fainting by Battoni.

ACHILLES AT THE COURT OF LYCOMEDES.
(56)

57

young prince, and how was he to know him ? But
he devised a scheme which proved entirely success-
ful. Equipping himself as a peddler, he went to the
royal palace, exhibiting jewelry and other fancy
articles to attract the attention of the ladies of the
family. He also had some beautiful weapons of
war among his wares.

As soon as he appeared, the maidens gathered
about him and began examining the jewels. But
one of the group eagerly seized a weapon, and
handled it with much skill and pleasure. Satisfied
that this was the young prince of whom he was
in search, the pretended peddler announced his
name and told why he had come. Achilles, for it
was he, gladly agreed to take part with his country-
men in their great expedition, and he immediately
returned to Phthi'a, the capital of his father's king-
dom of Thessaly. There he lost no time in making
all necessary preparations. Soon afterwards he
sailed for Aulis with the brave Myr'mi-dons, as his
soldiers were called, accompanied also by his de-
voted friend and constant companion, Pa-tro'clus.

Full fifty ships beneath Achilles' care,
The Achaians, Myrmidons, Hellenians bear;
Thessalians all, though various in their name;
The same their nation, and their chief the same.

POPE, Iliad, Book II.

58

Agamemnon, the commander in chief of the great
host, sailed with a hundred ships from his kingdom
of Mycenae, and his brother Menelaus, eager for
vengeance upon the Trojans, sailed with sixty ships
and a strong force of brave Spartans.

Great Agamemnon rules the numerous band,
A hundred vessels in long order stand,
And crowded nations wait his dread command.
Kigh on the deck the king of men appears,
And his refulgent arms in triumph wears ;
Proud of his host, unrivall'd in his reign,
In silent pomp he moves along the main.

His brother follows, and to vengeance warms,
The hardy Spartans, exercised in arms:

These, o'er the bending ocean, Helen's cause,
In sixty ships with Menelaus draws.

POPE, Iliad, Book II.

Among the other great warriors of Hellas who
joined the expedition was Nes'tor, the venerable
king of Py'los, distinguished for his eloquence, wis-
dom, and prudence.

In ninety sail, from Pylos' sandy coast,
Nestor the sage conducts his chosen host.

I'OPK, Iliad, Book II.

The ancients believed that Nestor outlived
three generations of men, which some suppose
to have been three hundred years. From this

59

it was a custom of the ancient Greeks and
Romans, when wishing a long and happy life to
their friends, to wish them to live as long as
Nestor.

Experienced Nestor, in persuasion skill'd;
Words, sweet as honey, from his lips distill'd;
Two generations now had pass'd away,
Wise by his rules, and happy by his sway;
Two ages o'er his native realm he reign'd,
And now the example of the third remain'd.

POPE, Iliad, Book I.

The two Ajaxes were also renowned warriors of
the Grecian army, — Ajax Telamon and Ajax
O-i'leus, so called from the names of their fathers.
Telamon was the king of Salamis, to whom, as has
been told, Hercules gave Laomedon's daughter,
Hesione. His son Ajax, a man of huge stature
and giant strength, was, next to Achilles, the
bravest of all the Greeks who went to the Trojan
War.

With these appear the Salaminian bands,

Whom the gigantic Telamon commands;

In twelve black ships to Troy they steer their course,

And with the great Athenians join their force.

POPE, Iliad, Book II.

Ajax Oileus, king of Lo'cris, was less in stature
than his namesake, but few excelled him in the use

6o

of the spear or in swiftness of foot. He com-
manded forty ships in the great expedition.

Fierce Ajax led the Locrian squadrons on,
Ajax the less, Oileus' valiant son;
Skill'd to direct the flying dart aright;
Swift in pursuit, and active in the fight.

POPE, Iliad, Book II.

Two other valiant warriors, who led eighty ships
each to the- great muster, were Diomede, king of
Argos, and I-dom'e-neus, king of Crete, — the
" spear-renowned Idomeneus."

Crete's hundred cities pour forth all her sons.
These march'd, Idomeneus, beneath thy care.

POPE, Iliad, Book II.

When at length all the kings and princes were
assembled at Aulis, the vast fleet numbered 1185
ships, according to the account given by Homer.
The total number of men which the ships carried
is not known, but it is probable that it was not less
than 100,000, as the largest of the vessels contained
about 1 20, and the smallest 50 men each.

Such was the mighty host that Hellas marshaled
to punish Troy for the crime committed by Paris.
Before setting out on so important an expedition
the Greek chiefs deemed it proper, according to the
custom of the ancients, to offer sacrifices to the

6i

gods, that their undertaking might have the favor
of heaven. Altars were therefore erected, and the
sacred services were carried out in due order. On
these occasions animals — very frequently oxen —
were killed, and portions of their flesh consumed
by fire, such sacrifices being supposed to be very
pleasing to the gods.

While the Grecian chiefs were engaged in their
religious ceremonies, the greater part of the army
having already gone aboard the ships, they were
startled at beholding a serpent dart out from
beneath one of the altars, and, gliding along the
ground, ascend a plane tree which grew close by.
At the top of the tree was a nest containing eight
young birds. The serpent devoured them, and
immediately afterwards seized and devoured the
mother bird, which had been fluttering around the
nest. Then suddenly, before the eyes of the aston-
ished Greeks, the reptile turned into stone. Amazed
at this occurrence, and believing it to have some
connection with their expedition, the assembled
chiefs asked the soothsayer Calchas to explain
what it meant. The seer replied, telling them that
it was a sign that the war upon which they were
about to enter would last ten years.

" For us, indeed," said he, " Jupiter has shown a
great sign. As this serpent has devoured the

62

young of the sparrow, eight in number, and herself,
the mother of the brood, was the ninth, so must we
for as many years wage war, but in the tenth year
we shall take the city."

This story was eloquently told by Ulysses in the
Greek camp before Troy, when in the tenth year of
the siege, many of the troops, having grown weary
of the war, desired to return to their homes.

IV. BEGINNING OF THE WAR.

THE Greek chiefs, nothing daunted by the words
of Calchas, now set sail with their immense fleet.
Though the war was to be a long one, they were
encouraged by the prophecy that they were to be
the conquerors.

Their first experience was not very fortunate.
They safely crossed the ^Egean Sea, but instead
of steering for Troy, the pilots, through either
ignorance or mistake, brought the vessels to the
shore on the coast of Teu-thra'ni-a, a district in the
kingdom of Mys'i-a, lying southeast of Troas. Here
the Greeks landed, but they were at once attacked
by Tel'e-phus, the king of that country, who came
down upon them with a strong force, and drove
them back to their ships after a battle in which
many of them were killed. They would probably
have fared much worse had it not been for the
friendly aid of Bac'chus, the god of wine. While
Telephus wras fighting at the head of his men he
tripped and fell over a vine, which the god had
caused to spring up suddenly from the earth at his

63

64

feet. As he lay flat on the ground Achilles rushed
forward and severely wounded him with a thrust of
his spear.

The Greeks, however, were obliged to take to
the sea, and soon afterward a great storm arose,
which destroyed many of their vessels. Owing to
this misfortune they had to return to Aulis, where
they set about repairing their damaged ships and
getting ready to start again. While the Greeks
were thus engaged, they were surprised by the
appearance of King Telephus, who came to their
camp to beg Achilles to cure his wound, an
oracle he had consulted having told him that he
could be cured only by the person who had wounded
him.

Achilles was at first unwilling to comply with
the request of Telephus, but Ulysses advised him
to do so. Telephus was one of the sons of Her-
cules, and it had been decreed that without the
help of a son of that hero Troy could not be taken.
Moreover, he was a son-in-law of Priam, and his
country lay close to where the war was to be car-
ried on. For these reasons Ulysses wished to
make him friendly to the Greeks, and so he per-
suaded Achilles to cure the Teuthranian king.
Achilles did this by dropping into the wound por-
tions of the rust from the point of his spear.

65

Telephus was so grateful that he joined the expe-
dition against Troy, and undertook to pilot the
Grecian fleet to the Trojan coast.

But another difficulty now stood in the way
of the Greeks. Their fleet was once more ready
for departure, but the winds were unfavorable.
In ancient times they could not make a sea
voyage when the winds were against them. Their
ships were very small, and were moved only
by oars and sails. Homer gives us a good idea
of the ancient system of navigation, where he
tells, in the Odyssey, about young Telemachus
setting out on a voyage in search of his father,
Ulysses :

Telemachus went up

The vessel's side, but Pallas first embarked,
And at the stern sat down, while next to her
Telemachus was seated. Then the crew
Cast loose the fastenings and went all on board,
And took their places on the rowers' seats,
While blue-eyed Pallas sent a favoring breeze,
A fresh wind from the west, that murmuring swept
The dark-blue main. Telemachus gave forth
The word to wield the tackle; they obeyed,
And raised the fir-tree mast, and, fitting it
Into its socket, bound it fast with cords,
And drew and spread with firmly twisted ropes
The shining sails on high. The steady wind
Swelled out the canvas in the midst; the ship

STO. OF TROY — 5 65

66

Moved on, the dark sea roaring round her keel,
As swiftly through the waves she cleft her way.

BRYANT, Odyssey, Book II.

For many days the Greek chiefs at Aulis waited
for favoring breezes, but none came.

" The troops

Collected and embodied, here we sit
Inactive, and from Aulis wish to sail
In vain."

EURIPIDES (Potter's tr.).

At last the soothsayer Calchas told them that the
easterly winds which prevented them from sailing
were caused by the anger of Di-an'a. Diana was
the goddess of hunting, and there was one of her
sacred groves in the neighborhood of Aulis. In
this grove King Agamemnon went hunting during
the time the ships were being repaired after the
storm, and he killed one of Diana's favorite deer.
He even boasted that he was a greater hunter than
Diana herself. This enraged the goddess, and
Calchas said that her anger could be appeased only
by the offering up of Agamemnon's daughter,
Iph-i-ge-ni'a, as a sacrifice.

The feelings of the father may be easily imagined.
He heard the announcement of the soothsayer with
the utmost horror, and he declared that he would
withdraw from the expedition rather than permit
his child to be put to death. But Ulysses and the

Painting by Makart, (Fragment.)

DIANA HUNTING.

(67)

68

other princes begged him to remember that the
honor of their country was at stake. They said
that if he should withdraw, the great cause for
which they had labored for ten years would be lost,
and the Trojan insult to his own family and to all
Greece would remain unpunished.

At last Agamemnon consented, and messen-
gers were sent to Mycenae to bring Iphigenia to
Aulis. The king was even persuaded to deceive
his wife, Clyt-em-nes'tra. Knowing that she would
not allow her daughter to be taken away for such
a purpose, he wrote a letter to the queen, saying
that Iphigenia had been chosen to be the wife
of Achilles, and that he wished the marriage
ceremony to be performed before the departure
of the young prince for Troy.

" I wrote, I seal'd

A letter to my wife, that she should send
Her daughter to Achilles as a bride
Affianc'd."

EURIPIDES (Potter's tr.).

Clytemnestra agreed to the proposal, happy at the
thought of her daughter being married to so great
a prince as Achilles. Iphigenia accordingly accom-
panied the messengers to the Greek camp at Aulis.
When she learned of the terrible fate to which she
had been doomed, she threw herself at her father's

69

feet and piteously implored his protection. But
her tears and entreaties were in vain. The agonized
father had now no power to save her, for the whole
army demanded that the will of the goddess should
be obeyed. Preparations for the awful sacrifice were
therefore made, and when everything was ready,
the beautiful young princess was led to the altar.
Tennyson, in his " Dream of Fair Women," has
these lines about Iphigenia at Aulis:

" I was cut off from hope in that sad place,

Which men called Aulis in those iron years:
My father held his hand upon his face;
I, blinded with my tears,

Still strove to speak: my voice was thick with sighs

As in a dream. Dimly I could descry
The stern, black-bearded kings with wolfish eyes,

Waiting to see me die."

But Iphigenia was not sacrificed after all. Her
innocence excited the pity even of Diana, and at
the last moment. the goddess snatched the weeping
maiden away in a cloud, and left in her place a
beautiful deer to be offered up as a sacrifice. She
carried the princess off to Tau'ri-ca, a country bor-
dering the Black Sea, and there Iphigenia remained
for many years, serving as a priestess in Diana's
temple.

The anger of Diana being appeased, favorable
winds now began to blow, and the Greeks again
set sail. This time they had a more fortunate
voyage. Piloted by Telephus, the fleet crossed the
^gean Sea, and safely reached the coast of Troas.
But here Calchas made another discouraging
prophecy. He declared that the first Greek who
stepped on Trojan soil would be killed in the first
fight with the enemy. This the oracle at Delphi
had also foretold. There was some hesitation,
therefore, about landing, for the army of King
Priam was ranged along the beach prepared for
battle with the invaders.

This was the occasion of an heroic act by Pro-
tes-i-la'us, king of Phyl'a-ce in Thessaly, who
boldly leaped ashore as soon as the vessels touched
the land. The prediction of Calchas was soon
fulfilled. Protesilaus was struck dead in the first
fight by a spear launched by the hands of the
Trojan leader, Hector. The bravery of the Thes-
salian king, and the grief of his queen, La-od-a-mi'a,
when she heard of his death, have been much
celebrated in song and story.

Protesilaus the brave,
Who now lay silent in the gloomy grave:
The first who boldly touch'd the Trojan shore,
And dyed a Phrygian lance with Grecian gore;

There lies, far distant from his native plain;
And his sad consort beats her breast in vain.

POPE, Iliad, Book II.

Laodamia in her sorrow prayed to the gods that
she might see her husband again on earth. Jupiter
heard her prayer, and he ordered Mercury to con-
duct Protesilaus from Hades, the land of the dead,
to Thessaly, to remain with Laodamia for the space
of three hours.

Laodamia was happy for the brief time allowed
her to enjoy again the companionship of her beloved
Protesilaus, and she listened with pride to the story
of his brave deed on the Trojan shore.

" Thou know'st, the Delphic oracle foretold
That the first Greek who touched the Trojan strand
Should die; but me the threat could not withhold:
A generous cause a victim did demand ;
And forth I leapt upon the sandy plain;
A self-devoted chief — by Hector slain."

WORDSWORTH, Laodamia.

But the happy moments flew swiftly by, and
when the three hours had passed, Mercury returned
to take the hero back to the world of shades. The
parting was too much for the fond Laodamia. She
died of grief as her husband disappeared from her
sight.

Protesilaus was buried on the Trojan shore, and
around his grave, it is said, there grew very wonder-

72

ful trees. These trees withered away as soon as
their tops reached high enough to be seen from the
city of Troy. Then fresh trees sprang up from
their roots, and withered in like manner when they
reached the same height, and so this marvelous
growth and decay continued for ages.

Upon the side

Of Hellespont (such faith was entertained)
A knot of spiry trees for ages grew
From out the tomb of him for whom she died ;
And ever, when such sfature they had gained
That Ilium's walls were subject to their view,
The trees' tall summits withered at the sight;
A constant interchange of growth and blight!

WORDSWORTH, Laodatnia.

The heroic act of Protesilaus was the beginning
of the great war. Before he fell himself he slew
many of the enemy, and hosts of his countrymen,
encouraged by his example, poured from their ships
and encountered the Trojans in fierce conflict. In
this first battle the Greeks were victorious. Though
Hector and his brave troops fought valiantly they
were driven back from the shore, and compelled to
take refuge within the strong walls of the city.

The Trojans were well prepared for the war.
King Priam had not been idle while the Greek
leaders were mustering their forces. From all parts
of his kingdom he had gathered immense supplies

73

of provisions, and the princes and chiefs of Troas
came with large armies to defend their king and
country. The most celebrated of these chiefs was
the hero ^-ne'as, son of An-chi'ses and the goddess
Venus. He commanded the Dardanian forces, and
had as his lieutenants the two brave warriors, Ac'a-
mas and Ar-chil'o-chus.

Divine y£neas brings the Dardan race.
Archilochus and Acamas divide
The warrior's toils, and combat by his side.

POPE, Iliad, Book II.

The Trojans had numerous and powerful allies.
Troops were sent to them from the neighboring
countries of Phrygia, Mysia, Lyc'i-a and Ca'ri-a.
The Lycian forces were led by Sar-pe'don, a son of
Jupiter, and a renowned warrior.

A chief, who led to Troy's beleaguer 'd wall
A host of heroes, and outshined them all.

POPE, Iliad, Book XVI.

But the greatest of the heroes who defended Troy,
and, with the exception of Achilles, the greatest and
bravest of all who took part in the Trojan War, was
the famous Hector.

The boast of nations, the defense of Troy!
To whom her safety and her fame she owed ;
Her chief, her hero, and almost her god!

POPE, Iliad. Book XXII.

74

So long as Hector lived Troy was safe. When
he died, his great rival, Achilles, by whose hand he
was slain, rejoiced with the Greeks as if Troy had
already fallen.

"Ye sons of Greece, in triumph bring
The corpse of Hector, and your paeans sing.
Be this the song, slow-moving toward the shore,
' Hector is dead, and Ilion is no more.' '

POPE, Iliad, Book XXII.

But though led by the great Hector, the Trojans,
after their first defeat, were unable to keep up the
fight in the open field against the vast numbers of
the Greeks. Seeing, therefore, that they must de-
pend for safety on the strong walls which Neptune
had built, they drew all their forces into the city,
leaving the enemy in possession of the surrounding
country.

Then the famous siege of ten years began. The
Greeks hauled their ships out of the water, and fixed
them on the beach in an upright position supported
by props. Close to the vessels, on the land side,
they erected their tents, which extended in a long
line, one wing, or end, of which was guarded by
Achilles, and the other by Ajax Telamon. Between
this encampment and the walls of Troy — a distance
of three or four miles — many a fierce conflict took
place, and many a brave warrior fell during the

75

great contest. For the Trojans, headed by Hector
or some other of their chiefs, often came out from
the city through the principal gate, called the
Scas'an Gate, which faced the Grecian camp, and
fought the enemy in the open plain, on the bank of
the celebrated river Simois.

And from the walls of strong-besieged Troy,
When their brave hope, bold Hector, march'd to field,
Stood many Trojan mothers, sharing joy
To see their youthful sons bright weapons wield;
And to their hope they such odd action yield,
That through their light joy seemed to appear,
Like bright things stain 'd, a kind of heavy fear.

And from the strond of Dardan, where they fought,

To Simois' reedy banks the red blood ran,

Whose waves to imitate the battle sought

With swelling ridges; and their ranks began

To break upon the galled shore, and then
Retire again, till, meeting greater ranks,
They join and shoot their foam at Simois' banks.

SHAKESPEARE, Lucrece.

V. THE WRATH OF ACHILLES.

FOR over nine years the siege was carried on
without one side or the other gaining any important
victory. The Trojans were protected by their walls,
which the Greeks were unable to break down, for
the ancients had no such powerful engines of war
as those used in armies of the present day. The
strongest buildings may now be easily destroyed by
cannon ; but in those days they had no cannon or
gunpowder or dynamite. Success in war in ancient
times depended almost entirely on the bravery of
the soldiers or on strategy and artifice, in which, as
we shall see, the king of Ithaca was much skilled.

The Greek and Trojan warriors fought with
swords, axes, bows and arrows, and javelins, or long
spears tipped with sharp iron points. Sometimes
they used huge stones which the heroes hurled at
the foe with the full strength of their powerful arms.
They had shields of circular or oval shape, which
they wore on the arm to ward off blows, and which
could be moved at pleasure so as to cover almost
any part of the body. Their chests were protected

76

77

by corselets or breastplates made of metal, and
metal greaves, or boots, incased their legs from the
knees to the feet. On their heads they wore
helmets, usually of brass.

The chiefs fought in chariots, from which they
darted their spears at the enemy with such force
and so true an aim as to wound or kill at a con-
siderable distance. The chariots were two-wheeled,
open at the back, and often drawn by three horses.
They usually carried two warriors, both standing,
and the charioteer, or driver, was generally the com-
panion or friend, and not the servant, of the fighters
who stood behind him. Sometimes the warriors
came down from their chariots and fought hand to
hand at close quarters with the enemy. The com-
mon soldiers always fought on foot. There were
no horse soldiers.

But in the Trojan War success or defeat did not
always depend on the bravery of the soldiers or on
the skill or strategy of the generals. Very much
depended on the gods. We have seen how those
divine beings had to do with the events that led to
the war. We shall also see them taking part in the
battles, sometimes giving victory to one side and
sometimes to the other. The Trojan War was in
fact as much a war of the gods as of men, and in
Homer's story we find Jupiter and Juno and Apollo

78

and Neptune and Venus and Minerva mentioned
almost as frequently as the Greek and Trojan
heroes. In the beginning of the Iliad we find
Apollo sending a plague among the Greeks because
of an insult offered to his priest, Chry'ses; for the
daughter of Chryses, a beautiful maiden named
Chry-se'is, was carried off by Achilles after the
taking of The'be, a town of Mysia.

During the long siege the Grecian chiefs ex-
tended the war into the surrounding districts.
While part of their forces was left at the camp to
protect the ships and keep the Trojans cooped up
within their walls, expeditions were sent out against
many of the towns of Troas, or of the neighboring
countries which were allies and supporters of Troy.
When the Greeks captured a town they carried off
not only the provisions and riches it contained, but
also many of its inhabitants, whom they sold as
slaves, according to the custom of the time, or kept
as slaves in their own service. In one of these
expeditions Priam's youngest son, Tro'i-lus, the
hero of Shakespeare's play of " Troilus and Cres'-
si-da," was slain by Achilles.

It was in the tenth year of the war that Thebe
was taken, and the maiden Chryseis was captured.
About the same time the town of Lyr-nes'sus was
seized by an expedition, also led by Achilles, and

79

among the prisoners was a beautiful woman named
Bri-se'is. In the division of the spoils among the
chiefs, Chryseis fell to the share of Agamemnon,
and the maiden Briseis was given to Achilles, who
took her to his tent with the intention of making
her his wife. But the priest Chryses was deeply
grieved at the taking away of his daughter, and he
came to the Grecian camp to beg the chiefs to
restore her to him. In his hand he bore a golden
scepter bcund with fillets, or green branches,
the emblems of his priestly office, and he also car-
ried with him valuable gifts for King Agamemnon.
Being admitted to the presence of the warrior chiefs
assembled in council, he begged them to release his
child.

He sued to all, but chief implored for grace
The brother-kings, of Atreus' royal race.

" Ye kings and warriors! may your vows be crown'd,
And Troy's proud walls lie level with the ground.
May Jove restore you when your toils are o'er
Safe to the pleasures of your native shore.
But, oh! relieve a wretched parent's pain,
And give Chryseis to these arms again."

POPE, Iliad, Book I.

Hearing the prayer of the venerable priest, many
of the chiefs were moved to pity, and they advised
that his request should be granted, but Agamemnon
angrily refusedo

Berlin

APOLLO.

8i

He dismissed
The priest with scorn, and added threatening words: —

" Old man, let me not find thee loitering here,
Beside the roomy ships, or coming back
Hereafter, lest the fillet thou dost bear
And scepter of thy god protect thee not.
This maiden I release not till old age
Shall overtake her in my Argive home,
Far from her native country."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book I.

Chryses then departed from the Grecian camp,
and as he returned home in sorrow, walking along
the shores of the sea, he prayed to Apollo to punish
the insult thus offered to his priest.

11 O Smintheus! if I ever helped to deck
Thy glorious temple, if I ever burned
Upon thy altar the fat thighs of goats
And bullocks, grant my prayer, and let thy shafts
Avenge upon the Greeks the tears I shed."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book I.

Apollo heard the prayer of Chryses, and he sent
a deadly plague upon the Grecian army. With his
silver bow, every clang of which was heard through-
out the camp, the archer god darted his terrible
arrows among the Greeks, smiting them down in
great numbers.

He came as comes the night,
And, seated from the ships aloof, sent forth

STO. OF TROY — 6

82

An arrow; terrible was heard the clang
Of that resplendent bow. At first he smote
The mules and the swift dogs, and then on man
He turned the deadly arrow. All around
Glared evermore the frequent funeral piles.

« BRYANT, Iliad, Book I.

For nine days the arrows of death were sent upon
the Greek army, and the funeral piles of the victims
were continually burning, for it was the custom in
those times to burn the bodies of the dead. On the
tenth day of the plague Achilles called a council
of the chiefs to consider how the anger of the god
might be appeased, and he spoke before them,
saying:

" Let us consult some prophet or priest who will
tell us why Phoebus Apollo is so much enraged with
us, and whether he may, when we shall have offered
sacrifices upon his altar, take away this pestilence
which is destroying our people."

Then Calchas, the soothsayer, arose and said:

UO Achilles, I can tell why the god is wroth
against us, and willing I am to tell it, but perhaps I
may irritate the king who rules over all the Argives,
and in his anger he may clo evil to me. Promise
me, therefore, your protection, and I will declare
why this plague has come upon the Greeks."

" Fear nothing, O Calchas," answered Achilles.

83

"While I am alive not one of all the Greeks, not
even Agamemnon himself, shall harm you."

" Fear nothing, but speak boldly out whate'er
Thou knowest, and declare the will of heaven.
For by Apollo, dear to Jove, whom thou,
Calchas, dost pray to, when thou givest forth
The sacred oracles to men of Greece,
No man, while yet I live, and see the light
Of day, shall lay a violent hand on thee."

BRYANT, Iliad^ Book I.

Thus encouraged, Calchas announced to the chiefs
that Apollo was angry because his priest had been
dishonored and insulted by Agamemnon. This was
why the people were perishing, and the wrath of the
god could be appeased only by restoring Chryseis to
her father, and sending a hundred victims to be
offered in sacrifice to the god. Upon hearing these
words Agamemnon was filled with anger against
Calchas.

" Prophet of evil," he exclaimed, " never have you
spoken anything good for me. And now you say I
must give up the maiden. I shall do so, since I
wish not the destruction of the people, but another
I must have, for it is not fitting that I alone of all
the Argives shall be without a prize."

To this Achilles answered that there was no prize
just then that Agamemnon could have. " How can

84

we give you a prize," said he, "since all the spoils
have already been divided? We cannot ask the
people to return what has been given to them. Be
satisfied then to let the maiden go. When we have
taken the strong city of Troy we will compensate
you fourfold."

" Not so," replied Agamemnon. " If the Greeks
give me a suitable prize, I shall be content, but if
not, I will seize yours or that of Ajax or Ulysses.
This matter, however, we will attend to afterwards.
For the present let the maid be sent back to her
father, that the wrath of the Far-darter may be
appeased."

At this Achilles was very angry, and he said:

" Impudent and greedy man, how can the Greeks
fight bravely under your command? As for me, I
did not come here to make war against the Trojans
because of any quarrel of my own. The Trojans
have done no wrong to me. It is to get satisfaction
for your brother we have come here in our ships,
and we do most of the fighting while to you is given
most of the spoils. But now I will return home to
Phthia. Perhaps you will then have little treasure
to share."

Greatly enraged at this speech, Agamemnon re-
plied in wrathful words : " Go home, by all means,
with your ships and your Myrmidons. Other chiefs

85

«

there are here who will honor me, and I care not
for your anger."

"Thus, in turn,

I threaten thee ; since Phoebus takes away
Chryseis, I will send her in my ship
And with my friends, and, coming to thy tent,
Will bear away the fair-cheeked maid, thy prize,
Briseis, that thou learn how far I stand
Above thee, and that other chiefs may fear
To measure strength with me, and brave my power.'

BRYANT, Iliad, Book I.

Furious at this threat, Achilles put his hand to
his sword with the intention of slaying Agamem-
non, and he had half drawn the weapon from its
scabbard, but just at that moment the goddess
Minerva stood behind him. and caught him by his
yellow hair. She had been sent down from heaven
by JpmcTto pacify the hero, for Juno*"and Minerva '
were friendly to the Greeks. Ever since the judg-
ment on Mount Ida they hated Paris, and the city
and country to which he belonged, and therefore
they wished that there should be no strife amongst
the Greek chiefs, which would prevent them from
taking and destroying the hated city.

Achilles was astonished when he beheld the god-
dess, who appeared to him alone, being invisible to
all the rest. He instantly knew who she was, and
he said to her : " O goddess, have you come to wit-

86

ness the insolence of the son of Atreus? You
shall also witness the punishment I shall inflict upon
him for his haughtiness."

But Minerva spoke soothing words to the hero:

"I came from heaven to pacify thy wrath,
If thou wilt heed my counsel. I am sent
By Juno the white-armed, to whom ye both
Are dear, who ever watches o'er you both.
Refrain from violence ; let not thy hand
Unsheath the sword, but utter with thy tongue
Reproaches, as occasion may arise,
For I declare what time shall bring to pass;
Threefold amends shall yet be offered thee,
In gifts of princely cost, for this day's wrong.
Now calm thy angry spirit, and obey."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book I.

Thus Minerva spoke, and Achilles, answering her,
said : " Willingly, O goddess, shall I observe your
command, though in my soul much enraged, for so
it is better, since the gods are ever favorable to
those who obey them."

So speaking he put his sword back into its scab-
bard, while the goddess swiftly returned to Olympus.
Then the hero again addressed Agamemnon in bit-
ter words, and he took a solemn oath on the scepter
he held in his hand, that he would refuse to help
the Greeks when they next should seek his aid for
battle with the Trojans.

8;

"Tremendous oath! inviolate to kings;
By this 1 swear: — when bleeding Greece again
Shall call Achilles, she shall call in vain."

POPE, Iliad, Book I.

The venerable Nestor then arose to speak, and he
begged the two chiefs to cease quarreling with each
other, for the Trojans, he said, would greatly rejoice
to hear of strife between the bravest men of the
Greeks. He advised Achilles, though of a goddess-
mother born, not to contend against his superior in
authority, and he entreated Agamemnon not to dis-
honor Achilles, the bulwark of the Greeks, by tak-
ing away the prize which had been allotted to him.

"Forbid it, gods! Achilles should be lost,
The pride of Greece, and bulwark of our host."-

POPF-, Iliad, Book I.

But the wise Nestor advised and entreated in
vain. Agamemnon would not yield from his pur-
pose of taking away the prize of Achilles, and so
the council of the chiefs came to an end.

Rising from that strife of words, the twain
Dissolved the assembly at the Grecian fleet.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book I.

Immediately afterwards, by order of the king, the
maiden Chryseis was conducted to her father's
home, and sacrifices were offered to Apollo. The
anger of the god being thus appeased, the army

(88)

was relieved from the plague. Then Agamemnon
proceeded to carry out his threat against Achilles.
Calling two of his officers, or heralds, Tal-thyb'i-us
and Eu-ryb'a-tes, he commanded them thus :

"Go ye to where Achilles holds his tent,
And take the fair Briseis by the hand,
And bring her hither. If he yield her not,
I shall come forth to claim her with a band
Of warriors, and it shall be worse for him."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book I.

Achilles received the heralds respectfully. He
had no blame for them, since they were but messen-
gers. Nor did he refuse to obey the command of
the king. He delivered Briseis to the heralds, and
they conducted her to the tent of Agamemnon.
Thus was committed the deed which brought count-
less woes upon the Greeks, for Achilles, in deep
grief and anger, vowed that he would no more lead
his Myrmidons to battle for a king who had so dis-
honored and insulted him.

" Let these heralds," said he, " be the witnesses
before gods and men of the insult offered to me by
this tyrant king, and when there shall be need of me
again to save the Greeks from destruction, appeal
to me shall be in vain."

Such was the origin of the wrath of Achilles,
which is the subject of Homer's Iliad. The Iliad

9o

is not a complete story of the Trojan War, but an
account of the disasters which happened to the
Greeks through the anger of Achilles. The poem,
indeed, relates the events of only fifty-eight days, but
they were events of the highest interest and they
were very numerous. It is remarked by Pope that
the subject of the Iliad is the shortest and most
single ever chosen by any poet. Yet Homer has
supplied a vaster variety of incidents, a greater
number of councils, speeches, battles, and events of
all kinds, than are to be found in any other poem.

The Iliad begins with the wrath of Achilles,
which in the first line of the first book is announced
as the poet's theme :

Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring

Of woes unnumber'd, heavenly goddess, sing!

That wrath which hurl'd to Pluto's gloomy reign

The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain;

Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore,

Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore:

Since great Achilles and Atrides strove,

Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove!

POPE, ///«</, Book I.

The heavenly goddess here invoked was Cal-
li'o-pe, the patroness of epic song, and one of the
nine Muses. These were sister deities, daughters
of Jupiter, who presided over poetry, science, music,

and dancing. Apollo, as god of music and the fine
arts, was their leader. They held their meetings on
the top of Mount Par-nas'sus in Greece. On the
slope of this mount was the celebrated spring or
fountain of Cas-ta'li-a, whose waters were supposed to
give the true poetic spirit to all who drank of them.

The epic poets usually began their poems by in-
voking the aid of the Muse. Homer does this in
the very first line of the Iliad, the word for word
translation of which is : " O goddess, sing the wrath
of Achilles, the son of Peleus."

So also the English poet, Milton, begins his great
epic poem, " Paradise Lost," which tells about the
disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of
Eden :

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit

Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste

Brought death into the world, and all our woe,

With loss of Eden, till one greater.Man

Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,

Sing, heavenly Muse, that, on the secret top

Of Oreb or of Sinai, didst inspire

That shepherd who first taught the chosen seed

In the beginning how the heavens and earth

Rose out of Chaos; or, if Sion hill

Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd

Fast by the oracle of God, I thence

Invoke thy aid to my advent' rous song.

VI. THE DREAM OF AGAMEMNON.

VERY soon great evils came upon the Greeks
because of the strife between the chiefs. When
Chryseis was restored to her father, Apollo stopped
the plague ; but the wrong done to Achilles pro-
voked the anger of another deity. This was Thetis,
who, having much power with Jupiter, was able to
persuade him to take up the cause of her injured son.

For as soon as the heralds departed from his
tent, leading away the fair-cheeked Briseis, Achilles
withdrew from his friends, retired to the seashore,
and sitting there alone he bitterly wept, and with
outstretched hands prayed to his mother, Thetis.
The goddess heard his voice, and ascending from
the depths of the ocean, where she dwelt in the
palace of her aged father, Nereus, she sat down
beside the hero, and soothing him with her hand,
she inquired the cause of his distress. " Why do
you weep, my son? What grief has come upon
thy mind?"

Then Achilles related to his mother what

Agamemnon had done, and he begged her to go to

92

93

Mount Olympus and entreat Jupiter to punish the
insult that had been offered to her son. He spoke
of the service she had done for Jupiter long before,
when Juno, Neptune, and Minerva had made a plot
to bind him, and cast him from the throne of
heaven. They might have succeeded in doing this
if Thetis had not called Bri'a-reus up from Pluto's
kingdom to help Jupiter. Briareus was a mighty
giant who had a hundred hands, and his appearance
in Olympus so terrified the conspirators that they
did not attempt to carry out their wicked plot.

" Now," said Achilles to his mother, " remind
Jupiter of this, and beg him to aid the Trojans and
give them victory in battle, so that Agamemnon
may feel the effects of his folly in dishonoring me."

" Ascend to heaven and bring thy prayer to Jove,
If e'er by word or act thou gav'st him aid.
For I remember, in my father's halls
I often heard thee, glorying, tell how thou,
Alone of all the gods, didst interpose
To save the cloud-compeller, Saturn's son,
From shameful overthrow, when all the rest
Who dwell upon Olympus had conspired
To bind him, — Juno, Neptune, and with them
Pallas Athene. Thou didst come and loose
His bonds, and call up to the Olympian heights
The hundred-handed, whom the immortal gods
Have named Briareus."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book 1.

94

Thetis readily consented to do as her son desired.

" Not now, however ! " said she, " for yesterday
Jupiter went to E-thi-o'pi-a to a banquet, and all
the gods went with him. But in twelve days he
will return. Then I will go to Olympus and tell
your words to thunder-delighting Jove, and I think
I shall be able to persuade him to grant your
request."

" Thou, meanwhile, abide

By thy swift ships, incensed against the Greeks,
And take no part in all their battles more."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book I.

Thetis did not forget her promise. On the
twelfth day, at the dawn of morning, she emerged
from beneath the waves, and went up to Olympus.
There she threw herself at the feet of Jupiter, as he
sat on the summit of the mount apart from the
other gods, and earnestly prayed him to grant vic-
tory to the Trojans until the Greeks should make
amends to her son for the injury that had been
done him.

Now it may seem that it was not just to ask that
the whole Greek army should be punished for the
act of their general. But the other chiefs and their
people were hardly less to blame than Agamemnon,
for they did not try to prevent him from doing the
wrong. If they had opposed him very much, he

95

would not perhaps have dared to insult their greatest
warrior, the man without whose help they knew
Troy could not be taken. Therefore Thetis begged
Jupiter to punish all the Greeks by giving victory
to the Trojans.

" O Jupiter, my father, if among
The immortals I have ever given thee aid
By word or act, deny not my request.
Honor my son whose life is doomed to end
So soon; for Agamemnon, king of men,
Hath done him shameful wrong: he takes from him
And keeps the prize he won in war. But thou,
Olympian Jupiter, supremely wise,
Honor him thou, and give the Trojan host
The victory, until the humbled Greeks
Heap large increase of honors on my son."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book I.

Jupiter hesitated for some time before consenting
to grant the prayer of Thetis.

" This," said he, " is a serious matter, for by doing
as you desire I may give offense to Juno, who has
already been blaming me among the gods, saying
that I aid the Trojans in battle. However, since
you will have it so, I shall grant your request."

"And that thou

Mayst be assured, behold, I give the nod ;
For this, with me, the immortals know, portends
The highest certainty; no word of mine

96

Which once my nod confirms can be revoked,
Or prove untrue, or fail to be fulfilled."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book I.

The awful nod was then given, and mighty
Olympus trembled. Thetis, rejoicing at the success
of her mission, departed from the heavenly regions
and plunged into the depths of the sea, while
Jupiter went to his golden palace where the other
gods were sitting around the banqueting table. As
he entered all rose up to do him honor, and met
him as he advanced to his throne. But his talk
with Thetis had not escaped the notice of Juno,
and suspecting what it was about, she addressed her
spouse in harsh words.

" Thou art ever," said she, " plotting secret things
apart from me, and now I greatly fear that the
silver-footed Thetis has persuaded thee to do some
evil to the Greeks."

" Thou hast promised her, I cannot doubt,
To give Achilles honor and to cause
Myriads of Greeks to perish by their fleet."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book I.

"You are always suspecting," answered Jupiter,
"but now it will avail you nothing. Even though
I have done what you say, such is my sovereign
pleasure. Be silent, and sit down in peace, and
take care not to provoke my anger."

National Museum, Naples.
STO. OF TROY — 7

JUNO.

(97)

98

At this point Vulcan interfered, entreating his
mother, Juno, to submit to the will of almighty
Jove; "for," said he, "if the Thunderer wishes to
hurl us from our seats in heaven he can easily do it,
since his power is far greater than that of all the
other gods."

Vulcan then reminded her how she and he had
both been punished on a former occasion for an
offense against Jupiter. When Hercules was
returning to Greece from Troy after capturing that
city, Juno, who hated the great hero, caused a storm
to be raised in the ^gean Sea, which drove his
ships out of their course and almost destroyed them.
That she might do this without Jupiter knowing it,
she contrived to cast him into a deep sleep. When
he awoke and found out what she had done, he was
so angry that he hung her from the heavens by a
golden chain, and tied two heavy iron anvils to her
feet. Vulcan tried to loose the chains and set his
mother free, and for this offense Jupiter hurled him
from the abode of the gods. He fell on the island
of Lem'nos in the yEgean Sea, but some of the
inhabitants, seeing him descend, caught him in
their arms. Nevertheless, he broke his leg by the
fall and was ever afterwards lame.

How he fell
From heaven they fabled, thrown by angry Jove

99

Sheer o'er the crystal battlements; from morn
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
A summer's day; and with the setting sun
Dropped from the zenith, like a falling star,
On Lemnos, the ./Egean isle.

MILTON, Paradise Lost, Book I.

After reminding Juno of these things, and restor-
ing peace between her and the king of heaven,
Vulcan took upon himself the office of cupbearer.
He poured nectar into golden goblets and served
it round to the gods and goddesses, all of whom
laughed at the sight of the lame god bustling
through the banqueting hall performing the work
of Ganymede. They feasted till sunset, Apollo
giving them sweet music from his lyre, while the
goddesses of song accompanied him with their
voices.

Thus the blest gods the genial day prolong,
In feasts ambrosial, and celestial song.
Apollo tuned the lyre ; the Muses round
With voice alternate aid the silver sound.

POPE, Iliad, Book I.

When the banquet was over, the gocls and god-
desses retired to their palaces, — golden palaces built
by Vulcan, — and they sought repose in sleep. But
Jupiter did not sleep, for he was thinking how he
might carry out his promise to Thetis. After much
thought he resolved to send a message to Agamem-

100

non by means of a dream, telling him to lead his
forces at once against Troy, as it was the will of the
gods that the city should now fall into the hands of
the Greeks. And so this false Dream or Lying
Spirit was sent on its deceitful errand. It took the
form of the venerable Nestor, and, appearing to
Agamemnon while he was sleeping in his tent, de-
livered to him the command of Jupiter :

"Monarch, awake! 'tis Jove's command I bear;
Thou and thy glory claim his heavenly care.
In just array draw forth the embattled train,
Lead all thy Grecians to the dusty plain ;
E'en now, O king! 'tis given thee to destroy
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy."

POPE, Iliad, Book II.

As soon as Agamemnon awoke he hastily called
a council of the chiefs to meet at the ships of Nes-
tor. There he told them of the command of Jove,
as sent to him in his dream. All agreed that the
divine will should be obeyed, but Agamemnon, like
a prudent general, thought it would be well, before
going to battle, to find out whether the troops, after
their toils of nine years, were still willing to support
him in carrying on the war. With this object he
resolved to tr^Jjip plan nf prpj-ondino- to them thai-
he had made up his mind to stop the siegp nnH_rp-
turn at once to Greece. But he directed the chiefs

101

to advise their followers not to consent to the pro-
posal, and to encourage them to make one more fight
for the honor of their country. Then the heralds
summoned the whole army to assemble, and the vast
host gathered together on the plain before the camp,
to listen to the words of their commander. Homer's
description of the muster of the forces on this occa-
sion is very beautiful :

The sceptred rulers lead; the following host,
Pour'd forth by thousands, darkens all the coast.
As from some rocky cleft the shepherd sees
Clustering in heaps on heaps the driving bees,
Rolling and blackening, swarms succeeding swarms,
With deeper murmurs and more hoarse alarms ;
Dusky they spread, a close embodied crowd,
And o'er the vale descends the living cloud.
So, from the tents and ships, a lengthen'd train
Spreads all the beach, and wide o'ershades the plain:
Along the region runs a deafening sound ;
Beneath their footsteps groans the trembling ground.

POPE, Iliad, Book II.

The whole Greek army being thus assembled, with
the exception of the wrathful Achilles and his Myr-
midons, Agamemnon then addressed them, leaning
on his scepter. He told them he now believed that
Troy could not be taken, and that Jupiter, who be-
fore promised victory to the Greeks, now commanded
them to return to Argos.

102

"Let us therefore," said he, "get ready our ships
and hasten to set sail for our dear native land, where
our wives with our beloved children sit within their
dwellings expecting us." The proposal was received
with a loud shout of joy, and the moment the king
finished speaking, the vast multitude began at once
to make preparations for launching the vessels into
the sea.

So was the whole assembly swayed ; they ran
With tumult to the ships; beneath their feet
Rose clouds of dust, and each exhorted each
To seize the ships and drag them to the deep.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book II.

But Juno, from her seat on high Olympus, was
watching these movements, and she resolved that
the war against the hated Trojans should not thus
come to an end. She therefore sent M i ne rva ob wn
with a message to Ulysses. The azure-eyed god-
dess, as Minerva is often called by Homer, hastened
to the Grecian camp, and approached the Ithacan
king, who was standing near his ships, much grieved
at seeing his countrymen preparing to depart.
Minerva addressed him in earnest words, begging
him to use his influence with the Greeks and per-
suade them not to go.

" It cannot be," said she, " that you, brave chiefs,
will leave to Priam the glory of victory, and to the

103

Trojans possession of Helen, on whose account so
many of your people have perished, far from their
native land."

Ulysses _knew the voice of the goddess, and
promptly he complied with her request. He went
among the ships and talked to the leaders, remind-
ing them that it was not Agamemnon's wish that
they should give up the war, and entreating them to
set an example of courage to their followers.

"Warriors like you, with strength and wisdom bless'd,
By brave examples should confirm the rest."

POPE, Iliad, Book II.

He also spoke to the soldiers, reproving them for
their hasty flight, and bidding them listen to the
words of their leaders, who knew better than they
when and how to act. His efforts were successful.
As speedily as they had fled to their ships the Greeks
now rushed back, and again assembled to await the
orders of their commander.

Back to the assembly roll the thronging train,
Desert the ships, and pour upon the plain.

POPE, Iliad^ Book II.

But there was one evil-minded individual who
tried to incite the others to rebellion. This was
Ther-si'tes, a vulgar brawler, and the ugliest man in
the whole Greek army.

104

Of the multitude

Who came to Ilium, none so base as he, —
Squint-eyed, with one lame foot, and on his back
A lump, and shoulders curving towards the chest;
His head was sharp, and over it the hairs
Were thinly scattered.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book II.

This ill-conditioned grumbler, as deformed in mind
as in body, took much pleasure in abusing the brav-
est warriors of the army, particularly Achilles and
Ulysses. But on the present occasion he raised his
shrill voice in words of insult against Agamemnon.

" Your tents," cried he to the king, " are full of
money and prizes bestowed upon you by us. Do
you want still more gold, which we by our valor must
win for you from the enemy ? If the Greeks were
not women instead of men, they would return home
in their ships and leave you here to fight the Trojans.
Little honor and few prizes would you then have !"

"O ye coward race!

Ye abject Greeklings, Greeks no longer, haste
Homeward with all the fleet, and let us leave
This man at Troy to win his trophies here."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book II.

Thus did Thersites revile Agamemnon, but his
insolent speech brought speedy punishment upon
him. Ulysses, who was close at hand, turned with
angry looks upon the offender and rebuked him in

stern language. Then with his scepter he smote
Thersites on the back and shoulders, until he wept
with pain and crouched down upon his seat in fear
and trembling.

Trembling he sat, and shrunk in abject fears,
From his vile visage wiped the scalding tears.

POPE, Iliad, Book II.

All the Greeks laughed heartily at the cowering
wretch as he wiped his face, and they loudly applauded
the act of the Ithacan chief. " Surely," said they,
" Ulysses has performed many good deeds, but now
he has done the best thing of all in punishing this
foul-mouthed reviler as he deserved."

Then Ulysses, taking in his hand the famous
scepter of Agamemnon, made an eloquent speech to
the army, Minerva, the azure-eyed, in the appearance
of a herald, having commanded the people to be
silent, that they might hear the words of the wisest
of their leaders. It was upon this occasion that the
Ithacan king told the story of the serpent devouring
the birds at Aulis, as already related. Many of the
Greeks had forgotten the marvelous occurrence,
and the prediction of Calchas that in the tenth
year of the siege Troy would be taken. Beingjnow
reminded of it,they were filled with fresh hope and
courage, for the tenth year had come, and the end
of the contest was not far off, which was to be for

io6

them a great victory, as the soothsayer had declared.
" Therefore, brave Greeks," said Ulysses, after telling
the story, " since the prophecy is so near its fulfill-
ment, let us all remain here until we have captured
the city of Priam."

He spake, and loud applause thereon ensued
From all the Greeks, and fearfully the ships
Rang with the clamorous voices uttering
The praises of Ulysses, and his words.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book II.

The venerable Nestor and King Agamemnon
then addressed the troops, after which they all went
to their tents and ships to prepare for battle. They
began by making the customary sacrifices to the
gods. Agamemnon offered up a fat ox five years old.
Homer fully describes how this was done. First the
king and his chiefs stood around the ox, holding
pounded barley cakes in their upraised hands, and
praying to Jupiter to grant them victory in the ap-
proaching battle. After the prayer the ox was
killed, and the carcass cut into pieces. Portions
of the flesh were then burned on leafless billets,
while other portions were roasted for the banquet
which followed.

After the banquet the loud-voiced heralds sum-
moned all the warriors and their followers to assem-
ble. Immediately they came from their ships and

tents, and then, on the advice of Nestor, there was a
review of the whole army. The azure-eyed Minerva
moved amongst them, bearing in her hand the aegis,
or shield of Jupiter, from which hung a hundred
golden fringes, each " worth a hundred oxen in
price." She went through the hosts of the Greeks
encouraging them to fight bravely, and so they were
now more eager for battle than to return to their
native land.

It is at this part of his story — the review of the
forces — that Homer gives the remarkable account
known as the " Catalogue of the Ships." In it he
tells the names of all the Greek kings and princes
and chiefs, the Grecian states from which they
came, and the number of ships which each brought
to the war. To do this was no easy task, and so
the poet, before undertaking it, again seeks the
aid of the Muses:

O Muses, goddesses who dwell on high,
Tell me, — for all things ye behold and know,
While we know nothing and may only hear
The random tales of rumor, — tell me who
Were chiefs and princes of the Greeks ; for I
Should fail to number and to name them all, —
Had I ten tongues, ten throats, a voice unapt
To weary, uttered from a heart of brass, —
Unless the Muses aided me.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book II.

io8

The allies and leaders of the Trojans are also
named and described in the " Catalogue of the Ships,"
for they too were marshaling their forces within the
city. From their walls they had observed the move-
ments of the Greeks, and, moreover, Jupiter had
sent down his swift-footed messenger, I'ris, to bid
them get ready for battle. The goddess found
Priam and Hector and others of the chiefs of Troy
sitting in council, and she told them of the vast
host of the Greeks that was just then marching
towards the city.

" I have seen many battles, yet have ne'er
Beheld such armies, and so vast as these, —
In' number like the sands and summer leaves.
They march across the plain, prepared to give
Battle beneath the city walls. To thee,
O Hector, it belongs to heed my voice
And counsel. Many are the allies within
The walls of this great town of Priam, men
Of diverse race and speech. Let every chief
Of these array his countrymen for war,
And give them orders for the coming fight."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book II.

Hector promptly obeyed the command of the
goddess. Dismissing the council, he and the other
chiefs at once placed themselves at the head of their
troops and marched forth through the gates into the
plain.

VII. THE COMBAT BETWEEN MENELAUS
AND PARIS.

THE two great armies, now in battle array on the
plain before the city walls, began to advance
towards each other. The Trojans moved along
with great clatter, which Homer compares to the
noise of flocks of cranes:

The Trojan host moved on

With shouts and clang of arms, as when the cry
Of cranes is in the air, that, flying south
From winter and its mighty breadth of rain,
Wing their way over ocean.

BRYANT, Iliad^ Book III.

The Greeks, on the other hand, advanced in deep

silence.

But silently the Greeks

Went forward, breathing valor, mindful still
To aid each other in the coming fray.

As when the south wind shrouds a mountain-top
In vapors that awake the shepherd's fear, —
A surer covert for the thief than night, —
And round him one can only see as far
As one can hurl a stone, — such was the cloud
109

1 10

Of dust that from the warriors' trampling feet
Rose round their rapid march and filled the air.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book III.

As soon as the armies approached each other,
almost front to front, Paris rushed forward from the
Trojan lines, and challenged the Greeks to send
their bravest warrior to fight him in single combat.
In appearance he was beautiful as a god. Over
his shoulders he wore a panther's skin. His
weapons were a bow, a sword, and two spears tipped
with brass, which he brandished in his hands. The
challenge was speedily answered by Menelaus, who
bounded from his chariot the moment he beheld
Paris,reioicing that at last the time had come to
hayerevenge on the man who had so greatly
wrongedjiim.

As a hungry lion who has made
A prey of some large beast — a horned stag
Or mountain goat — rejoices, and with speed
Devours it, though swift hounds and sturdy youths
Press on his flank, so Menelaus felt
Great joy when Paris, of the godlike form,
Appeared in sight, for now he thought to wreak
His vengence on the guilty one, and straight
Sprang from his car to earth with all his arms.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book III.

But when Paris saw who it wasjthat had come
forth_to_fight him, he was seized with a great fear,

Ill

and he shrank back into the ranks of his^ com-
panions.

As one who meets within a mountain glade
A serpent, starts aside with sudden fright,
And takes the backward way with trembling limbs.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book III.

Though Paris was really a brave man, his feeling
of his own guilt and the sight of Menelaus, whom
he had injured, made him a coward for the moment,
and so he fled from before the face of the enraged
king of Sparta. The noble Hector was deeply
vexed at seeing his brother's flight, and in angry
words upbraided him for his shameful conduct.

" Better would it have been," said he, " if you
had never been born than thus to bring disgrace
upon us all. Well may the Greeks laugh at finding
that you, whom they supposed to be a hero, possess
neither spirit nor courage. You have brought evil on
your father, your city, and your people, by carrying
away a beautiful woman from her husband, yet you
now fear to meet that warrior in battle. The Tro-
jans are but a weak-minded race, else they would
have long since given you the death you deserve."

Paris admitted that his brother's rebuke was just,
ancf he now declared that he was willing tc meet
Menelaus in single combat, Helen and her treas-
ures to be the prize of the victor.

112

" Cause the Trojans and the Greeks
To pause from battle, while, between the hosts,
I and the warlike Menelaus strive
In single fight for Helen and her wealth.
Whoever shall prevail and prove himself
The better warrior, let him take with him ..
The treasure and the woman, and depart;
While all the other Trojans, having made
A faithful league of amity, shall dwell
On Ilium's fertile plain, and all the Greeks
Return to Argos."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book III.

Hector rejoiced at his brother's words, and,
immediately going forward into the center of the
open space between the two armies, he spoke in a
loud voice to the Greeks and Trojans, telling them
of the proposal which Paris had made. The brave
Menelaus heard the challenge with delight, and
promptly accepted it.

" Now hear me also, — me whose spirit feels
The wrong most keenly. I propose that now
The Greeks and Trojans separate reconciled,
For greatly have ye suffered for the sake
Of this my quarrel, and the original fault
Of Paris. Whomsoever fate ordains
To perish, let him die; but let the rest
Be from this moment reconciled, and part."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book III.

The Greeks and Trojans were happy at the hope

thus offered of a speedy end to the war. Hector
sent for King Priam, that he and Agamemnon and,
the other leaders on both sides might declare their
approval of the proposed conditions, and pledge
themselves in the presence of both armies to abide
by the result of the combat between the two heroes.
Just then the Trojan monarch was seated on one of
the watchtowers of the walls, looking down on the
plain where the great hosts were assembled. With
him were several of his venerable chiefs, now too
old to take part in fighting.

While they sat there the beautiful Helen came
out from the palace to witness the approaching con-
flict. .. She had been told of it by the messenger
Iris, who, descending from heaven, and taking the
form of La-od'i-ce, one of Priam's daughters, ap-
peared to Helen in her chamber. There she was
busy at her loom, making in golden tapestry a
representation of some of the great events of the
war. In those days, as we read in many parts of
Homer, the noblest ladies, even queens and their
daughters, did not think it beneath them to work at
spinning and weaving and other useful occupations,
and so Helen was employed when Iris came to tell
her that Paris and Menelaus were about to fight for
her and her treasure.

From her spinning Helen rose up and went to the

STO OF TROY — 8

Painting by Lord

HELEN OF TROY.

("4)

walls to view the combat. As she came near the
place where Priam sat, even the venerable chiefs
were compelled to admire her wondrous beauty.
" Fair as the immortal goddesses she is," said they;
" yet much better would it be if she would return to
her own country, and not remain here to bring ruin
upon us and our children." But Priam called to her
to sit by his side, and said to her:

" No crime of thine our present sufferings draws,
Not thou, but Heaven's disposing will, the cause
The gods these armies and this force employ,
The hostile gods conspire the fate of Troy."

POPE, Iliad, Book III.

Then King Priam asked Helen to name for him
some of the Greek leaders whom he saw before hi m ,
not far from the city walls.

" Who is that tall and gallant hero," he asked,
" who seems like unto a king? Never have I beheld
a man so graceful, nor so venerable." " Revered
and honored father," answered Helen, " would that
death had taken me before I left my husband and
home to come with your son hither, but the Fates did
not will it so, therefore am I here. That hero whom
you see is the wide-ruling Agamemnon, the son of

»>_^ALJ^V»-^,iJN,<J'W>_<x3^s_/>(ir| —,, — )_

Atreus, both a good king and a brave warrior, and
once my brother-in-law."

" My brother once, before my days of shame,
And oh! that still he bore a brother's name! "

POPE, Iliad, Book III.

" O happy Agamemnon," exclaimed Priam, " for-
tunate in ruling over so mighty a host ! But who is
this other chief, less in height than Agamemnon,
though broader in the shoulders? His arms lie on
the ground, while he himself moves from rank to
rank like a thick-fleeced ram which wanders through
a great flock of sheep."

" The stately ram thus measures o'er the ground,
And, master of the flock, surveys them round."

POPE, Iliad, Book III.

" That," said Helen, " is the wjseUl^sses, man of
many arts. Though nursed in a rugged island, yet
is he skilled in all kinds of stratagem and prudent
counsel." Ajax and Idomeneus were next noticed
by King Priam, — Ajax the mighty, who overtopped
the Argives by his head and shoulders, and IdomerL:
ens the valiant k"i^ nf f^ofp Helen knew them
\\v11, for she had seen them at her Spartan home.

" Ajax the great," the beauteous queen replied,
" Himself a host; tin- C.recian strength and pride.
See! bold Idomeneus superior towers
Amid yon circle of his Cretan powers,
Great as a jnxl! 1 saw him once before,

ii;

With Menelaus on the Spartan shore.

The rest I know, and could in order name;

All valiant chiefs, and men of mighty fame."

POPE, Iliad, Book III.

But at this point the heralds sent by Hector came
to tell Priam that he was wanted on the plain below
to approve the terms of the challenge. Immediately
the king, descending from the ramparts, mounted
his chariot, accompanied by his wise counselor, An-
tenor. They drove through the Scaean Gate into
the space between both armies, and there, with the
ceremonies usual on such occasions, a solemn league
was formed between the two monarchs. First, they
mixed in a bowl wine brought by both parties. This
was an emblem of reconciliation. Next, water was
poured on the hands of the kings, after which Aga-
memnon cut with his dagger hairs from the heads of
three lambs. These were divided among the chiefs
on both sides, so that all might be bound by the
pledge about to be made. Then Agamemnon,
stretching forth his hands, prayed thus aloud :

" O father Jupiter, most glorious, most mighty,
and thou, O Sun, who beholdest all things, and ye
rivers, and thou earth, and ye in the regions of the
dead that punish those who swear false oaths, be ye
witnesses of this league. If, on the one hand, Paris
slay Menelaus, let him keep Helen and all her pos-

sessions, and let us return home in our ships. But
if, on the contrary, Menelaus slay Paris, let the Tro-
jans restore Helen and all her treasures, and pay a
fine to the Argives such as may be just."

Then the lambs were sacrificed, and the kings
drank of the mixed wine. Some of it was also
poured on the earth, while the Greeks and Trojans
joined in praying that terrible punishment might be
sent upon any person who should violate the league :

" Hear, mighty Jove! and hear, ye gods on high!
And may their blood, who first the league confound,
Shed like this wine, disdain the thirsty ground."

POPE, Iliad, Book III.

Such was the league formed between the kings
and chiefs of the two great armies. Priam then
went back to the city, for he could not bear to wit-
ness a conflict in which his son might be slain. Lots
were now drawn to decide which of the warriors
should cast his spear first. Paris won, and immedi-
ately the champions, putting on their armor and tak-
ing up their weapons, advanced into the middle of
the ground that Hector and Ulysses had measured
out for the combat.

Then the fight began. Paris hurled his javelin,
but Menelaus warded off the blow with his strong
brazen shield. In his turn the Spartan king poised
his long spear for a throw at his enemy. At the

H9

same time he prayed to Jupiter to give him strength
and victory:

" O Sovereign Jove! vouchsafe that I avenge
On guilty Paris wrongs which he was first
To offer; let him fall beneath my hand,
That men may dread hereafter to requite
The friendship of a host with injury."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book III.

Then Menelaus cast his spear. It pierced the
shield and corselet of Paris, and might have made
a fatal wound had he not bent himself sideways, and
so escaped the full force of the weapon. Instantly
Menelaus rushed forward, sword in hand, and dealt
a powerful blow at his enemy's head. This time
Paris was saved by the brazen helmet he wore, for
when Menelaus struck it, the blade of his sword
broke in pieces.

Angry at his ill luck, the Spartan warrior seized
his foe by the horsehair crest of his helmet, and
began to drag him towards the Grecian lines; but
aTThis point Veffu^ame to the aid of her favorite.
Standing unseen beside him, she broke the helmet
strap under his chin, and thus released him from
the grasp of the wrathful Menelaus. Therusi^jcast
a thick mist around the Trojan prince, and, _carry-
ing him off to the city, set him down in his cham-
ber, within his own palace. The goddess also

120

conducted Helen to the palace, from the watchtower
in which, after her conversation with Priam, she
had remained to witness the combat on the plain.
As soon as Helen beheld Paris she spoke to him in
harsh words:

" Com'st thou from battle? Rather would that thou
Hadst perished by the mighty hand of him
Who was my husband. It was once, I know,
Thy boast that thou wert more than peer in strength
And power of hand, and practice with the spear,
To warlike Menelaus. Go then now,
Defy him to the combat once again.
And yet I counsel thee to stand aloof,
Nor rashly seek a combat, hand to hand,
With fair-haired Menelaus, lest perchance
He smite thee with his spear and thou be slain."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book III.

Meanwhile the Spartan king, furious as a lion,
paced up and down the field searching for Paris,
but not even the Trojans could tell where he was.
If he were amongst them they would not have con-
cealed him, for they loved him not, knowing that he
was the cause of all the sufferings which the long
war had brought upon them.

None of all

Yin- Trojans, or <>f their renowned allies,
Could point him out to Menelaus, loved
Of Mars; and had they known his lurking-place

121

They would not for his sake have kept him hid,
For like black death they hated him.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book III.

Paris having disappeared from the field, the
Greeks claimed the victory for their champion, and
Agamemnon called upon the Trojans to give up
Helen and her treasures, in accordance with the
conditions of the league. But" the gods did not
thus will it. The Fates had decreed the destruc-

tion of Troy, and so the war could not have a
peaceful ending. Besides, the Greeks were doomed
to.juffer as lupiter had promised Thetis, because
of the wrong that had been done to Achilles.
Therefore, after the matter had been discussed in a
council of the gods in their golden palace on
Olympus, Minerva was sent down to urge the
Trojans to attack the Greeks, so that the league
might be broken, and the war renewed. According
to the custom of heavenly messengers in such cases,
the goddess took, the form of La-od'o-cus, son of
Antenor. Then,- approaching Pan'cla-rus, a famous
archer of the Yrojan allies, she persuaded him to
aim an arrow at Menelaus^

" Great honor," she said, " you will have from all
the Trojans, if you slay the son of Atreus, and from
Paris you may expect splendid gifts."

But Minerva, being friendly to the Greeks, did

122

not really wish that Menelaus should be killed;
therefore, when Pandarus bent his bow and with
true aim let fly his arrow, she took care to turn the
deadly weapon aside.

Pallas assists, and (weakened in its force)
Diverts the weapon from its destined course:
So from her babe, when slumber seals his eye,
The watchful mother wafts the envenom'd fly.

POPE. Iliad^ Book IV.

Nevertheless the arrow pierced the Spartan
king's belt and made a slight wound, but the skill-
ful surgeon, Ma-cha'on, son of the famous physician,
^Esculapius, stanched the blood and applied sooth-
ing balsams which his father had taught him to use.

The league being thus broken by the treacherous
act of Pandarus. both sides at once prepared for
battle^. Agamemnon went on foot through his
army, speaking words of praise to the chiefs, whom
he found active in marshaling and encouraging
their men. "Father Jupiter," he said, "will not
help those Trojans who have so basely broken their
solemn pledges. When we have taken their city
we shall carry away rich spoils in our ships." Of
all the leaders none arranged and directed his
troops more wisely than the venerable Nestor.

The cavalry with steeds and cars he placed
Jn front. A vast and valiant multitude

123

Of infantry he stationed in the rear,
To be the bulwark of the war. Between
He made the faint of spirit take their place,
That, though unwillingly, they might be forced
To combat with the rest.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book IV.

Then he gave strict orders to the charioteers,
warning them not to trust too much to their valor,
or rashly advance in front of their comrades.

" Let no man, too vain of horsemanship,
And trusting in his valor, dare advance
Beyond the rest to attack the men of Troy,
Nor let him fall behind the rest, to make
Our ranks the weaker. Whoso from his car
Can reach an enemy's, let him stand and strike
With his long spear, for 'tis the shrewder way."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book IV.

VIII. THE FIRST GREAT BATTLE.

Design by Burn<--J»n. ...

NEARLY three books of the
Iliad are occupied in telling
about the battle that now fol-
lowed, though it lasted only
one day. But it was a fierce
and mighty conflict in which
many brave warriors fought
and fell.

For that day
Saw many a Trojan slain, and

many a Greek,
Stretched side by side upon the

bloody field.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book IV.

All the chiefs of both armies
took part in this battle, except
Achilles, who still remained
inactive at his ships, "indig-
nant for the sake of the fair-
haired Briseis." The heroes
of the day on the Trojan side_

124

125

were Hector and ^Eneas. Of the Greeks (also some-
times called A-cha'ians) none performed so many
feats of valor as Diomede (or Diomed), also called
Ty-di'des, from the name of his father, Ty'deus.
He was the particular favorite of Minerva, who
caused a bright light to shine from his shield and
helmet, which made him a striking figure in the
field, and very terrible to the enemy.

Pallas to Tydides Diomed

Gave strength and courage, that he might appear
Among the Achaians greatly eminent,
And win a glorious name. Upon his head
And shield she caused a constant flame to play,
Like to the autumnal star that shines in heaven
Most brightly when new-bathed in ocean tides.
Such light she caused to beam upon his crest
And shoulders, as she sent the warrior forth
Into the thick and tumult of the fight.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book V.

Diomede slew many brave warriors, and often,
breaking through the close ranks of the Trojans,
drove them back towards their walls, before he him-
self was smitten with an arrow sent flying at him
by the archer Pandarus. The weapon pierced his
shoulder right through, and the blood came stream-
ing down his armor. Then Pandarus shouted to
his comrades to advance, boasting that now the

MINERVA.

127

bravest of the Greeks was fatally wounded. But
Diomede prayed to Minerva for aid, and his prayer
was heard. Immediately the goddess appeared and
stood beside him, and in an instant healed his wound.
Then she encouraged him, saying: "Henceforth
fight with confidence, O Diomede. I have given you
great strength. I have also removed from your eyes
the mortal mists which heretofore were upon them,
so that now you may know gods from men. Be-
ware, however, of using your weapons against any
god, unless Venus should come into the battle.
Her I desire and command you to wound."

With fresh courage and increased fury Diomede
again rushed into the conflict, striking down a Tro-
jan with every blow of his huge sword. ^Eneas,
noticing his exploits, hastily sought out Pandarus
and begged him to aim an arrow at the man who was
thus destroying their ranks.

"That man," said PaiSarus, "very much resem-
bles the warlike son of Tydeus, and if it be he, some
god is surely at his side to protect him, for only a
little ago I smote him in the shoulder, and I thought
I had sent him to Pluto's kingdom. Of small use
it seems is this bow of mine. Already I have aimed
at two chiefs, Menelaus and Diomede, and wounded
both, but I have only roused them the more to
heroic deeds."

128

" In an evil hour

I took my bow and quiver from the wall
And came to lead the Trojans for the sake
Of Hector. But if ever I return
To see my native country and my wife
And my tall spacious mansion, may some foe
Strike off my head if with these hands I fail
To break my bow in pieces, casting it
Into the flames, a useless weapon now."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book V.

But ^neas made the great archer try his skill
once more. Taking Pandarus with him in his own
chariot, he drove rapidly to where Diomede was
dealing death amongst the Trojans with his terrible
sword. Sthen'e-lus, the companion and charioteer
of Diomede, saw them coming, and he advised his
friend to retreat, and not risk his life in a contest
with two such heroes as ^neas and Pandarus, one
the son of a goddess, and the other excelling all
men in the use of the bow. But Diomede sternly
refused to retire from the conflict. Nor would he
even consent to mount his chariot as Sthenelus
urged him to do.

"As I am," said he, " I shall advance against
them, for Minerva has made me fearless. And if it
be my fortune to slay both, do you, Stnemehis?seize
the horses of /Knra> and 'drive them into the ranks
of the Greeks. Valuable- prizes they will be, for they

I29

are of that heavenly breed which Jupiter gave to
King Tros as the price of his son Ganymede."

But now the chariot of /Eneas was close at hand.
This time Pandarus used his spear, which he
launched with great force. It struck the shield of
Diomede and, piercing it through, fixed itself in his
breastplate. With a shout of joy Pandarus ex-
claimed, " Now, I think, I have given you your
death wound."

" Not so," replied the son of Tydeus, " thou hast
missed thy aim, but one of you, at least, shall die."
As he spoke he hurled his lance. Directed by
Minerva, the weapon flew right into the face of the
unfortunate Pandarus, striking him lifeless to the
earth.

Headlong he falls, his helmet knocks the ground;
Earth groans beneath him, and his arms resound.

POPE, Iliad. Book V.

Instantly ^neas leaped down from his chariot,
with his shield and spear, to defend the body of his
heroic comrade against being despoiled by the
Greeks. This was one of the customs of war in
those times. When a hero was slain in battle the
enemy carried off his arms and armor as trophies of
victory. But ./Eneas did his best to protect the
corpse of his fallen friend from being thus dis-
honored.

STO. OF TROY — Q

1 3o

Watchful he wheels, protects it every way,

As the grim lion stalks around his prey.

O'er the fall'n trunk his ample shield display'd,

He hides the hero with his mighty shade,

And threats aloud! the Greeks with longing eyes

Behold at distance, but forbear the prize.

POPE, Iliad, Book V.

But Diomede, braver than the rest, took up a
great stone and hurled it at ^neas.

Not two strong men the enormous weight could raise,
Such men as live in these degenerate days.

POPE, Iliad, Book. V.

It struck the Trojan hero on the hip, tearing the
flesh and crushing the joint. He sank upon his knees,
a dark mist covering his eyes. And now ^Eneas
would have perished by the sword of the furious
Diomede had not his mother, Venus, come quickly
to his aid. With her shining robe the goddess
shielded his body, and spreading her arms about
him she bore him away from the battle. Then
Sthenelus, not forgetting the bidding of his friend,
rushed forward, and, seizing the fleet steeds of the
Dardan prince, drove them off to the Grecian camp.
But Diomede went in pursuit of Venus. He had
seen and recognized her as she descended on the
field, Minerva having given him power of sight to
know gods from men. The goddess also, as we have

seen, commanded him to wound Venus should she
come into the field. Diomede, therefore, when he
had overtaken Venus, as she was bearing away the
Trojan hero, thrust at her with his lance, and pierced
the skin of her tender hand. From the wound out
gushed the I'chor, as the blood of the gods was called.

The ichor, — such

As from the blessed gods may flow ; for they
Eat not the wheaten loaf, nor drink dark wine;
And therefore they are bloodless, and are called
Immortal.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book V.

Crying aloud with pain, the goddess dropped her
son from her arms, but Apollo enveloped him in a
thick cloud, thus saving him from the wrath of the
furious Greeks. Meanwhile the swift-footed Iris
hastened down from heaven to the aid of Venus,
whom she conducted to where Marssat on the left
of the battlefield, watching the conflict. At the
entreaty of his wounded sister,

Mars resigned to her his steeds

With trappings of bright gold. She climbed the car,
Still grieving, and, beside her, Iris took
Her seat, and caught the reins and plied the lash.
On flew the coursers, on, with willing speed,
And soon were at the mansion of the gods
On high Olympus.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book V.

132

There the goddess was affectionately received rjy
her mother, Di-o'ne, who begged her to be patient,
reminding her that in times past others of the gods
had suffered by the hands of men. Mars, she said,
was chained in a brazen cell for fifteen months by
the giants O'tus and Eph-i-al'tes, and he would per-
haps have perished there but that Mercury set him
free by stealing into the cell, and slipping the chains
out of the rings to which they were fastened. Juno
herself, and Pluto, the god of Hades, were wounded
by Hercules. "As for this son of Tydeus," said
Dione, "who has dared to war upon an immortal,
he shall be punished for his crime."

"The fool!

He knew not that the man who dares to meet
The gods in combat lives not long. No child
Shall prattling call him father when he comes
Returning from the dreadful tasks of war."

POPE, Iliad, Book V.

Dione then wiped the ichor from the hand of Venus,
and at her touch the wound healed and the pain
ceased.

Meanwhile, on the plain before Troy Diomede
still eagerly pursued yEneas, though knowing that
the hero was under divine protection. Thrice did
he rush on, and thrice did Apollo drive him back,
but when ho made the fourth attempt,

133

The archer of the skies, Apollo, thus

With menacing words rebuked him: " Diomed,

Beware; desist, nor think to make thyself

The equal of a god. The deathless race

Of gods is not as those who walk the earth."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book V,

Diomede shrank back, fearmg the wrath of the
Far-darter, and Apollo bore ^Eneas away, and set
him down in his own temple in sacred Per'ga-mus,
the citadel of Troy. There Diana and La-to'na, the
mother of Apollo, healed his wound and restored
his health and strength. Then Apollo begged Mars
to assist the Trojans in the battle, and particularly
to drive from the field the impious son of Tydeus,
who had dared to attack the immortals with his
spear, and would now fight even with Jupiter him-
self. The god of war consented, and assuming the
form of Ac a-mas, a Thracian leader, he went
through the Trojan ranks encouraging the chiefs to
fight bravely.

" O sons of Priam, him who claims descent
From Jupiter! how long will ye submit
To see your people slaughtered by the Greeks?
Is it until the battle-storm shall reach
Your city's stately portals? "

POPE, Iliad, Book V.

The hero Sarpedon also appealed to Hector, and
then the Trojan commander in chief, leaping from

134

his chariot, and brandishing his javelins, rushed
among his troops exhorting them to battle.

Terrible

The conflict that ensued. The men of Troy
Made head against the Greeks: the Greeks stood firm,
Nor ever thought of flight.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book V.

Soon, however, the Greeks were forced to fall
back. Their great chiefs, Agamemnon and Mene-
laus, and the two Ajaxes and Ulysses, performed
wondrous deeds of courage, slaying many Trojan
warriors. But Minerva had left the field, and Mars
was fighting on the Trojan side. ^Eneas, too, had
returned to the battle with renewed strength and
courage, and Hector and Sarpedon were in the front,
dealing death among the enemy. The fierce god of
war and mighty Hector fought side by side, and they
slew numbers of Argive warriors.

Such destruction of her beloved Greeks was not
pleasing to Juno, who was watching the conflict
from her place on high Olympus, and she begged of
Jupiter to permit her to drive Mars from the battle.
Jupiter consented, but he advised her to intrust that
work to Minerva, who had often before " brought
grievous troubles on the god of war." Juno obeyed.
Then the two goddesses, who had already mounted
the queen of heaven's own grand chariot, glittering

135

with gold and silver and brass, set out for the Gre-
cian camp.

Eight brazen spokes in radiant order flame;
The circles gold, of uncorrupted frame,
Such as the heavens produce: and round the gold
Two brazen rings of work divine were roll'd.
The bossy naves of solid silver shone;
Braces of gold suspend the moving throne;
The car, behind, an arching figure bore;
The bending concave form'd an arch before.
Silver the beam, the extended yoke was gold,
And golden reins the immortal coursers hold.

POPE, Iliad, Book V,

Riding in this magnificent chariot, driven by Juno
herself, " midway between the earth and the starry
heaven," the goddesses descended upon the plain of
Troy, near where the Simois and the Scamander
united their streams. There they alighted, and cast
a dense mist around the chariot and the steeds to
hide them from mortal view. Then they hastened
to where the bravest of the Greek chiefs were stand-
ing around the warrior Diomede, Juno likening her-
self to the herald Sten'tor, who had a voice louder
than the shout of fifty men.

Stentor the strong, endued with brazen lungs,
Whose throat surpass'd the force of fifty tongues.

POPE, Iliad, Book V.

Appearing before the Greek chiefs in the form of

136

the loud-voiced herald, the queen of heaven cried out
in words of reproof:

" Shame upon you, Argives ! You are heroes only
in name. While the divine Achilles was with you,
fighting at the front, the Trojans dared not advance
beyond their gates, for they dreaded his mighty
spear ; but now they are almost at your ships."

Minerva, too, severely censured Diomede for hold-
ing back from the battle, but the warrior answered
that it was by her command that he had refrained
from attacking Mars. " You did not permit me,"
said he, " to fight with any of the gods except Venus."

" Fear not this Mars at all," answered Minerva,
" nor any of the immortals. Come now and direct
your steeds against the war god, and I will be with
you." So saying, and putting on her head the hel-
met of Pluto, which made any person who wore it
invisible, she mounted the chariot beside the brave
Diomede, and, seizing the reins, drove rapidly to
where the fierce Mars was slaying Greek warriors.

As soon as Mars beheld Diomede approaching, he
rushed against him, and hurled his brazen spear;
but Minerva grasped the weapon and turned it aside
from the chariot. Diomede now thrust forward his
lance, Minerva directing it, and adding her strength
to give force to the blow. It pierced the loin of the
war god, making a deep wound.

137

Mars bellows with the pain:
Loud as the roar encountering armies yield,
When shouting millions shake the thundering field.
Both armies start, and trembling gaze around ;
And earth and heaven rebellow to the sound.

POPE, Iliad, Book V.

The wounded god disappeared in a dark cloud,
and, quickly ascending to Olympus, made bitter com-
plaint to Jupiter against Minerva. But the king of
heaven sternly reproved him, saying that he had
brought his sufferings upon himself, for discord and
wars were always his delight. Nevertheless he or-
dered Pae'on, the physician of the gods, to heal the
wound, which was immediately done.

Meanwhile Juno and Minerva returned to Olym-
pus, Mars being removed from the battlefield. And
now the fortune of war began to favor the Greeks.
The Trojans, no longer aided by a god fighting on
their side, were driven back to their walls, and it
seemed as if they were about to be totally defeated.
In this perilous situation Helenas, the prophet and
soothsayer, advised his brother Hector to go quickly
into the city, and request their mother, the queen, to
call together the matrons of Troy, and with them to
offer up sacrifices and prayers in the temple of Min-
erva, begging the help and protection of that god-
dess. The advice seemed good to Hector. Leaping
from his chariot, he went through the army bidding

138

the warriors to fight bravely during his absence.
Then he hastened to the city. At the Scaean Gate
he was met by crowds of anxious wives and mothers
and daughters, who eagerly inquired for their hus-
bands, sons, and brothers.

He admonished all

Duly to importune the gods in prayer,
For woe, he said, was near to many a one.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VI.

Arriving at the royal palace Hector was met by
his mother, who offered him wine to refresh him-
self with. But the hero would not taste the liquor.
" Do not ask me to drink wine, dear mother," he
said, " for it would enfeeble me, and deprive me of
my strength and valor."

" Inflaming wine, pernicious to mankind,
Unnerves the limbs, and dulls the noble mind."

POPE, Iliad, Book VI.

Then Hector told his mother why he had come
from the field of battle. She gladly consented to
do as her son requested, and so Queen Hecuba and
the matrons of Troy went to the temple of Minerva,
and prayed and offered sacrifices. But the goddess
refused to hear their prayers, for she still hated |he
Trojans because of the never-forgotten judgment
onJMoimt Ida.

Meantime the hero went to the palace of Paris,

139

whom he found in his chamber, handling and pre-
paring his armor, while Helen sat near him with
her maids, directing their various tasks. Angry at
seeing his brother thus engaged, instead of being in
the front of the fight, Hector reproached him in
sharp and bitter words.

" The people," said he, " are perishing, the conflict
rages round the walls, and all on your account.
Arise, then, and act, lest our city soon be in flames."
Paris answered mildly, saying that he deserved his
brother's censure, and promising that he would im-
mediately repair to the field of battle.

Hector next proceeded to his own home to visit
his dear wife, An-drom'a-che, and his infant son;
"for I know not," said he, "whether I shall ever
return to them again." Arriving at the palace, he
learned from Andromache's maids that their mis-
tress had just gone towards the city walls.

" To the lofty tower of Troy she went
When it was told her that the Trojan troops
Lost heart, and that the valor of the Greeks
Prevailed. She now is hurrying toward the walls,
Like one distracted, with her son and nurse."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VI.

Leaving the palace, Hector hastened through the
city, and, arriving at the Scaean Gate, he there met
Andromache and her nurse, the latter bearing in

140

her arms the infant Sca-man'dri-us. His father had
given the child this name, from the name of the
river, but the people called him As-ty'a-nax, mean-
ing "city-king." The lines in which Homer
describes the interview which here took place
between the noble Hector and his loving wife, are
among the most beautiful of the whole Iliad.
Andromache was a daughter of E-e'ti-on, king of
Thebe, the town from which the maiden Chryseis
was carried away. Eetion and all his family had
been slain, with the exception of Andromache, who
therefore had now neither parents nor brothers nor
sisters. Of this she spoke in touching words, while
entreating Hector to remain within the city and not
again risk his life in battle.

11 Too brave! thy valor yet will cause thy death:
Thou hast no pity on thy tender child,
Nor me, unhappy one, who soon must be
Thy widow. All the Greeks will rush on thee
To take thy life. A happier lot were mine,
If I must lose thee, t» go down to earth,
For I shall have no hope when thou art gone,—
Nothing but sorrow. Father I have none,
And no dear mother. Great Achilles slew
My father when he sacked the populous town
Of the Cilicians, — Thebe with high gates.

Hector, thou

Art father and dear mother now to me,
And brother and my youthful spouse besides.

In pity keep within the fortress here,

Nor make thy child an orphan nor thy wife

A widow."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VI.

Hector was deeply moved by these words, but he
could not think of deserting his brave companions.

"All this

I bear in mind, dear wife; but I should stand
Ashamed before the men and long-robed dames
Of Troy, were I to keep aloof and shun
The conflict, cowardlike. Not thus my heart
Prompts me, for greatly have I learned to dare
And strike among the foremost sons of Troy,
Upholding my great father's fame and mine;
Yet well in my undoubting mind I know
The day shall come in which our sacred Troy,
And Priam, and the people over whom
Spear-bearing Priam rules, shall perish all."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VI.

But it was not the dark prospect of his country's
ruin that grieved the loving husband so much as
the thought that his wife might some day be car-
ried off as a slave by the conquering Greeks.

''But not the sorrows of the Trojan race,
Nor those of Hecuba herself, nor those
Of royal Priam, nor the woes that wait
My brothers many and brave, — who all at last,
Slain by the pitiless foe, shall lie in dust, —
Grieve me so much as thine, when some mailed Greek

&fBI

H3

Shall lead thee weeping hence, and take from thee
Thy day of freedom. . . .

O let the earth

Be heaped above my head in death before
I hear thy cries as thou art borne away! "

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VI.

Then Hector stretched out his hands to embrace
his son, but the little fellow shrank back and
screamed in fright at the nodding crest on his
father's helmet. Both parents gently smiled, and
Hector, taking off his helmet, and placing it on the
ground, kissed his boy, and fondled him in his arms,
praying to the gods that he might become a brave
warrior, and the defender of his country.

" O Jupiter and all ye deities,
Vouchsafe that this my son may yet become
Among the Trojans eminent like me,
And nobly rule in Ilium. May they say,
'This man is greater than his father was.' '

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VI.

The parting between the hero and his sorrowing
wife was very affecting. Andromache received the
infant from his father's arms, mingling tears with
her smiles as she looked into the face of her child.

The chief

Beheld, and, moved with tender pity, smoothed
Her forehead gently with his hand and said:

144

" Sorrow not thus, beloved one, for me.
No living man can send me to the shades
Before my time ; no man of woman born,
Coward or brave, can shun his destiny.
But go thou home, and tend thy labors there, —
The web, the distaff, — and command thy maids
To speed the work. The cares of war pertain
To all men born in Troy, and most to me."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VI.

Then Hector took his helmet from the ground,
and Andromache departed for her home, "oft look-
ing back, and shedding many tears."

As the hero went out at the Scaean Gate, after
taking leave of his wife, he met Paris, arrayedJn his
shining armor, and eager to join the battle. To-
gether they rushed into the plain, and slew many of
the enemy. The goddess Minerva, observing that
the battle was going against the Greeks, quickly
descended from the top of Olympus. Apollo, see-
ing her from the Trojan citadel, hastened to meet
her, and he proposed that they should now bring
the conflict to an end for the day. With this object,
Minerva having consented, they both agreed to cause
Hector to challenge one of the Greek warriors to
engage with him in single combat. Helenus, being
a soothsayer, knew the purpose of the gods, and he
told his brother. " But," said he, "you shall not fall
in the fight, for it is not thy fate yet to perish.

145

Thus have the immortal gods spoken, and I have
heard their voice."

Hector rejoiced at his brother's words, and imme-
diately advancing to the front of the army he com-
manded the Trojans to cease fighting.

He bore his spear,

Holding it in the middle, and pressed back
The ranks of Trojans, and they all sat down.
And Agamemnon caused the well-armed Greeks
To sit down also.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VII.

Then the Trojan chief, standing between the two
hosts, spoke in a loud voice, and challenged the
bravest of the Greeks to engage with him in mortal
combat. For a few moments there was silence in
the ranks of the Argives. Even the boldest of them
hesitated at the thought of fighting such a warrior
as Hector. At length Menelaus, rising from his
seat, declared that he was ready to accept the chal-
lenge, and so he put on his armor. But Agamem-
non held him back, warning him against rashly
venturing into a conflict with a man who was much
stronger and braver than he, and whom every other
chief, even Achilles himself, regarded with fear.

Nestor then arose, and in severe words upbraided
his countrymen for their want of courage. " Would
that my frame were unworn with years," he ex-

STO. OF TROY — IO

146

claimed, "then Hector should soon find a foe to
meet him ; but now among the bravest of the
Achaians there is no one to meet the Trojan leader

in arms."

The venerable Nestor had no sooner ceased
speaking than nine warriors started to their feet,
every one eager for the honor of being permitted to
accept the challenge of Hector. Among them were
Agamemnon, the two Ajaxes, Diomede, and Ulysses.
Nestor then proposed that one should be chosen
by lot. This was agreed to, and lots being cast, the
honor fell to Ajax Telamon, the mightiest and most
valiant of the Greeks except Achilles. The hero
greatly rejoiced, believing that he would conquer
Hector, and so he quickly put on his armor, and
went forward to the ground marked out for the
combat.

His massy javelin quivering in his hand,
He stood, the bulwark of the Grecian band.

POPE, Iliad, Book VII.

Hector having also taken his place on the ground,
the combat began. First the Trojan chief, brand-
ishing his long spear, hurled it at his foe. Ajax
received it on his shield, which was made of seven
folds of oxhides and an eighth fold of solid brass.
Through six of the hides the weapon of Hector
pierced, but it stuck fast in the seventh.

147

Then the Grecian champion sent forth his javelin.
It passed right through Hector's shield and corselet,
and might have proved fatal, had the hero not
quickly bent aside his body. Again both cham-
pions launched spears, one after the other. This
time Hector was slightly wounded in the neck.
Nothing daunted, however, he seized a huge stone
which lay at his feet, and hurled it at Ajax. It
struck the hero's shield and the brass resounded
with the blow. Quickly the Argive warrior took
up a much larger stone, and flung it at his antago-
nist with tremendous force. The stone crashed
through Hector's shield, and, striking him on the
knee, stretched him flat on the ground. But Apollo
instantly raised him up, renewing his strength, and
then with their swords the two heroes fell upon each
other, fighting hand to hand. At this point, night
having come on, two heralds, one from the Trojan
army, the other from the Greek, approached the cham-
pions, and ordered them to cease fighting, I-dae'us, the
Trojan herald, giving the command in a loud voice:

''Cease to contend, dear sons, in deadly fray;
Ye both are loved by cloud-compelling Jove,
And both are great in war, as all men know.
The night is come; be then the night obeyed."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VII.

Ajax answered that as it was Hector who gave

148

the challenge, it was for him first to speak of truce.
Hector replied, speaking words of praise and ad-
miration for his antagonist, and saying that they
should now cease from battle for the day.

" Since, then, the night extends her gloomy shade,
And heaven enjoins it, be the night obey'd.
Return, brave Ajax, to thy Grecian friends,
And joy the nations whom thy arm defends;
But let us, on this memorable day,
Exchange some gift: that Greece and Troy may say
* Not hate, but glory, made these chiefs contend;
And each brave foe was in his soul a friend.' '

POPE, Iliad, Book VII.

Then Hector gave Ajax a silver-studded sword
with scabbard, and Ajax presented to Hector a belt
of rich purple. Thus ended the terrible conflict
which had raged throughout the day, and the two
heroes retired, each joyfully welcomed by his com-
rades and friends.

Then they both departed, — one
To join the Grecian host, and one to meet
The Trojan people, who rejoiced to see
Hector alive, unwounded, and now safe
From the great might and irresistible arm
Of Ajax. Straightway to the town they led
Him for whose life they scarce had dared to hope.
And Ajax also by the well-armed Greeks,
Exulting in his feats of arms, was brought
To noble Agamemnon.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VII.

IX. THE SECOND BATTLE — EXPLOIT OF
DIOMEDE AND ULYSSES.

Before the Greek leaders retired to rest for the
night, they held a council in the tent of Agamem-
non, at which they resolved to perform funeral rites,
early in the morning, in honor of their comrades
who had been slain in the battle. They also
resolved, on the advice of Nestor, to build a strong
wall and dig a deep trench in front of their camp,
that their ships might be secure against the attacks
of the enemy.

The Trojan chiefs, too, held a council. They
were discouraged by their losses in the battle, and
many of them thought that they could not now
succeed in the war, because of the treacherous act
of Pandarus in breaking the league. The wise
Antenor was of this opinion, and in his speech at
the council he advised that Helen and her treasures
should be given up to the Greeks.

" Send we the Argive Helen back with all
Her treasures; let the sons of Atreus lead
The dame away; for now we wage the war
149

150

After our faith is broken, and I deem
We cannot prosper till we make amends."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VII.

But Paris would not agree to this. He was will-
ing to give up Helen's treasures, and to give treasure
of his own as compensation to the Greeks, but
he would not consent to restore Helen herself.
King Priam weakly gave way to his son, and
ordered that a herald should be sent to the Greek
leaders to tell them of the offer of Paris, and to re-
quest that fighting should not be resumed until the
dead should be taken from the battlefield, and funeral
services performed.

Accordingly the Trojan herald Idaeus went next
morning to the tent of Agamemnon. There he
found the Argive chiefs assembled. Upon hearing
his message, they scornfully rejected the terms pro-
posed by Paris, but they agreed to a truce for the
funeral ceremonies. Idaeus returned to the city, and
told the Trojan leaders of the answer he had re-
ceived. Both Greeks and Trojans then began col-
lecting their dead from the field and building great
piles of wood, or pyres, to burn the bodies upon.

All wailing, silently they bore away

Their slaughtered friends, and heaped them on the pyre
With aching hearts, and, when they had consumed
The dead with fire, returned to hallowed Troy.

The nobly-armed Achaians also heaped
Their slaughtered warriors on the funeral pile
With aching hearts; and when they had consumed
Their dead with fire they sought their hollow ships.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VII.

Before dawn next morning the Greeks set about
building a wall and digging a trench on the side
of their camp facing Troy, as Nestor had advised.
They finished the work in one day, and a mighty
work it was. The wall was strengthened with lofty
towers, and the gates were so large that chariots
could pass through. The trench was broad and
deep, and on the outer edge it was defended by
.strong, sharp stakes. The gods, looking down from
Olympus, admired these labors, but Neptune, much
displeased, made bitter complaint to Jupiter:

" Now will the fame

Of this their work go forth wherever shines
The light of day, and men will quite forget
The wall which once we built with toiling hands —
Phoebus Apollo and myself — around
The city of renowned Laomedon."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VII.

But Jupiter relieved the anxiety of the ocean
god by telling him that when the war was over,
and the Greeks had departed from Troy, he might
overthrow the great wall with his waves, and

152

cover the shore with sand. Thus the Grecian bul-
wark would vanish from the plain.

After their great labors on the wall and trench
the Greeks feasted in their tents, and next day, the
truce being now ended, both armies prepared for
battle. Meanwhile Jupiter held a council on high
Olympus, at which he gave strict command that
none of the gods should take part on either side in
the fight before Troy; and he declared that if
any of them should disobey this order, he would
hurl the offender down into the dark pit of Tar'-
ta-rus, in the gloomy kingdom of Pluto.

Deep, deep in the great gulf below the earth,
With iron gates and threshold forged of brass.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VIII.

But Minerva begged that she might be permitted
to assist the Greeks by her advice. To this the king
of heaven assented. Then mounting his chariot, to
which were yoked his brazen-footed, swift-flying
steeds, adorned with golden manes, he sped through
the skies between the earth and starry heaven to the
summit of Mount Ida. There in a sacred inclosure
in which was an altar erected to him, the father of
the gods sat looking down upon the towers of Ilium
and the ships of the Greeks. The two hosts, led by
their great chiefs, were now engaged in fierce battle.

Drawn by Hubbcll.

JUPITER ON MOUNT IDA.

(153)

154

The sounding darts in iron tempests flew;
Victors and vanquished join promiscuous cries,
Triumphant shouts and dying groans arise;
With streaming blood the slippery fields are dyed,
And slaughter'd heroes swell the dreadful tide.

POPE, Iliad, Book VIII.

Thus the terrible conflict went on until midday,
when Jupiter, taking in his hand the golden scales
of fate, weighed the fortunes of the Trojans and

Greeks.

By the midst

He held the balance, and, behold, the fate
Of Greece in that day's fight sank down until
It touched the nourishing earth, while that of Troy
Rose and flew upward toward the spacious heaven.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VIII.

Then the mighty god thundered from Mount Ida,
and sent his lightnings burning and flashing down
against the army of the Greeks. In amazement and
terror the Argive chiefs fled from the field. Nestor
alone remained, though not willingly, for he too was
seeking safety in flight when one of the horses of his
chariot was killed by an arrow from the bow of Paris.
The venerable king himself might have perished at
the hands of Hector, had not Diomede hastened up
and taken him into his own chariot.

Both warriors then advanced against the Trojan
chief, and Diomede hurled his javelin. The weapon

155

missed Hector, but killed his charioteer. Still rush-
ing on, the brave son of Tydeus was about to cast
another spear, when a terrific bolt of lightning
flashed from the heavens and tore up the earth in
front of his steeds. Looking upon this as a sign of
the anger of Jupiter, the two heroes hastily retreated
towards their camp. Hector pursued them, and the
Trojans, encouraged by his example, now pressed
forward until the Greeks were driven in behind their
trench and wall. Then Agamemnon, in deep de-
spair, prayed to almighty Jove that he would at least
permit him and his people to get away in safety
with their ships.

" Now be at least one wish of mine fulfilled, —
That we may yet escape and get us hence ;
Nor let the Trojans thus destroy the Greeks."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VIII.

Jupiter heard the prayer of the king, and in pity
for his distress sent a favorable omen. This was an
eagle bearing in its talons a fawn, which it dropped
down by the side of the altar where the Greek chiefs
were just then offering sacrifice. Believing that the
bird had come from Jove, the Greeks took courage,
and rushing out through their gates, with Diomede
and Agamemnon and Menelaus and Ajax at their
head, they furiously attacked the Trojans and slew
many of them. Teucer, the brother of Ajax Tela-

1 56

mon, did great destruction with his bow and arrows,
in the use of which he was as skillful even as Pan-
darus. After killing several of the enemy, he aimed
twice at Hector, missing him, however, each time,
but at the second shot he slew the Trojan leader's
charioteer. Hector then jumped to the ground, and,
seizing a great stone, hurled it with mighty force,
striking the unfortunate Teucer on the neck, and
felling him to the earth. And now the Trojans,
rushing once more upon the Greeks, again drove
them back to their camp.

They drave

The Achaians backward to the yawning trench.
Then Hector came, with fury in his eyes,
Among the foremost warriors. As a hound,
Sure of his own swift feet, attacks behind
The lion or wild boar, and tears his flank,
Yet warily observes him as he turns,
So Hector followed close the long-haired Greeks,
And ever slew the hindmost as they fled.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VIII.

• But night now put an end to the battle. This
was a most welcome relief to the Greek leaders,
thoroughly disheartened as they were at the sight
of the enemy almost at their ships. On the other
hand the warriors of Troy " most unwillingly beheld
the sunset," for it prevented them from following up
their victory. But Hector was confident that on

157

«,

the next day he would be able to destroy the
Achaian host and fleet, and so end the war. He
therefore addressed his troops, commanding them to
remain on the field for the night, that they might
be ready to fall upon the Greeks, should they
attempt to go aboard their vessels, and "escape
across the mighty deep."

So, high in hope, they sat the whole night through
In warlike lines, and many watch fires blazed.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book VIII.

Meanwhile the Grecian leaders held a council of
war, and Agamemnon advised that they should take
to their ships, and set sail for Greece, as it now
seemed to be the will of Jupiter that they should
never capture Troy. Upon hearing this the chiefs
sat for a time in gloomy silence. At length
Diomede spoke out, censuring the king for his
cowardly counsel.

" The gods," said he, " have given you, O son of
Atreus, high rank and great power, but not much of
courage. Return home if you are so inclined, but
the other Greeks will remain until they have over-
thrown Troy, for it was by the direction of the im-
mortals that we came here."

These words were loudly applauded by the as-
sembled leaders. Then guards were placed to

i58

watch the wall and trench, after which Agamemnon
gave the chiefs a banquet in his tent. When all
had partaken of the good things set before them,
the wise Nestor advised that an effort be made to
appease the anger of Achilles. This proposal even
Agamemnon warmly approved* for he now admitted
that he had done a great wrong in taking away
Briseis, and he declared that he would restore the
maiden at once to Achilles, and send him rich gifts

besides.

" I erred, and I deny it not.
That man indeed is equal to a host,
Whom Jupiter doth love and honor thus,
Humbling the Achaian people for his sake.
And now, since, yielding to my wayward mood
I erred, let me appease him, if I may,
With gifts of priceless worth."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book IX.

Agamemnon then promised that he would send
to Achilles a large sum in gold, with twenty shining
caldrons, and twelve steeds which had won many
prizes by their fleetness. Moreover, when they
should return to Greece after having conquered the
Trojans, he would give him one of his daughters to
be his wife, and with her, as a marriage portion,
seven rich cities of Argos.

The Greek chiefs were very glad to hear these
proposals, and they resolved to appoint ambassadors

'59

to send to Achilles to beg him to accept these gifts
and make peace with Agamemnon. On the advice
of Nestor they chose for this important mission the
prudent Ulysses, an aged chief named Phce'nix, and
the valiant warrior Ajax. Phoenix had been the
instructor of Achilles in his youth, and had been
sent by King Peleus with the expedition to Troy to
be his son's friend and counselor. The three
ambassadors, with two heralds, accordingly set out for
the camp of the Myrmidonian chief. They found
him sitting in his tent with his friend Patroclus.

Amused at ease, the godlike man they found,

Pleased with the solemn harp's harmonious sound.

(The well wrought harp from conquered Thebae came;

Of polish'd silver was its costly frame).

With this he soothes his angry soul, and sings

The immortal deeds of heroes and of kings.

POPE, Iliad, Book IX.

The ambassadors were received with great re-
spect. Achilles rose from his seat and welcomed
them as warriors and friends. Then food and
drink were placed before them, and after they had
refreshed themselves, Ulysses stated the object of
their visit. He described the danger of the Grecian
army, threatened with destruction by the terrible
Hector and his victorious hosts. He next told of
the many gifts which Agamemnon had offered, and

i6o

then in earnest words he begged Achilles to lay
aside his anger, and come to the relief of his coun-
trymen in their great peril.

But the wrath of the son of Peleus was not thus
to be appeased. He replied to Ulysses in a long
speech, recounting his services during the war, and
bitterly complaining of the ingratitude and selfish-
ness of Agamemnon.

" Twelve cities have I with my fleet laid waste,
And with my Myrmidons have I o'erthrown
Eleven upon this fertije Trojan coast.
Full many a precious spoil from these I bore,
And to Atrides Agamemnon gave.
He, loitering in his fleet, received them all;
Few he distributed, and many kept."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book IX.

As for the apologies which Agamemnon now
made, the wrathful hero declared that he could
have no confidence in a man who had deceived
him, nor would he accept the offered gifts.

'* Let him ne'er again,

Though shameless, dare to look me in the face.
I will not join in council nor in act
With him: he has deceived and wronged me once,
And now he cannot wheedle me with words.
Let once suffice. I leave him to himself,
To perish. All-providing Jupiter

Hath made him mad. I hate his gifts; I hold
In utter scorn me giver."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book IX.

In vain also were the entreaties of Pncenix and
Ajax* They too tried to persuade the hero to dis-
miss from his mind the thought of his wrongs, and
lead his brave Myrmidons once more into the field
for the honor of his country. But Achilles persisted
in his refusal to take further part in the war, and so
there was nothing left for the ambassadors but to re-
turn to the tent of Agamemnon and report the fail-
ure of their mission.

In deep disappointment and distress the chiefs
heard the story. Then again they held counsel to-
gether to consider what was best to do, — whether
to prepare for another battle, or to betake them-
selves at once to their ships and set sail for Greece.
Nestor proposed that some brave and prudent chief
should venture into the Trojan camp, and, if possible,
find out what were the plans of Hector.

" Is there (said he) a chief so greatly brave,
His life to hazard, and his country save?
Lives there a man, who singly dares to go
To yonder camp, or seize some straggling foe?
Or favor'd by the night approach so near,
Their speech, their counsels, and designs to hear?"

POPE, Iliad, Book X.

Diomede offered himself for this service, and being

STO. OF TROY — II

162

permitted to select a companion, he made choice of
Ulysses. The two warriors at once put on their ar-
mor, and took up their weapons. Then they went
out into the plain, each praying to Minerva to grant
them success. Cautiously they moved forward to-
wards the camp of the enemy.

With dreadful thoughts they trace the dreary way,
Through the black horrors of the ensanguined plain,
Through dust, through blood, o'er arms, and hills of slain.

POPE, Iliad, Book X.

Now it happened that about the same time Hec-
tor had sent a young Trojan chief, Do'lon by name,
on a similar errand, — to make his way into the Gre-
cian camp, and find out the designs of the Argive
leaders. Dolon offered to undertake the dangerous
task on condition that he should have as his reward
the chariot and horses of Achilles, when the Greeks
should be conquered. Hector agreed to the condi-
tion, and the Trojan spy, arming himself, set forth
for the Greek camp. He had not gone far when
Ulysses and Diomede saw him advancing, where-
upon they lay down among the dead bodies and al-
lowed him to go forward a considerable distance.
Then they rose up and followed him.

At first Dolon supposed that they were Trojans
sent by Hector to call him back, but, soon seeing
that they were enemies, ne fled with great speed in

103

the direction of the ships. The two Greeks hastened
in pursuit, and Diomede hurled a spear after the fu-
gitive. He purposely missed him, however, for their
object was to take the Trojan alive, that they might
get from him the information they desired. The
weapon passed over the shoulder of Dolon, and sank
into the ground in front of him. Instantly he stood
still, trembling with fear, and the Greek warriors,
hurrying up, seized him by the hands. The fright-
ened Trojan flung himself on his knees, and begged
them to spare his life, promising that his father, who
was rich, would pay a high ransom. Ulysses com-
manded him to tell what his errand was to the Gre-
cian camp, and also to tell them all about the Trojan
army, and of the plans of Hector.

" Tell me, — and tell the truth, — where hast thou left
Hector, the leader of the host, and where
Are laid his warlike arms; where stand his steeds;
Where are the sentinels, and where the tents
Of other chiefs? On what do they consult?
Will they remain beside our galleys here,
Or do they meditate, since, as they say,
The Greeks are beaten, a return to Troy? "

BRYANT, Iliad, Book X.

The terrified Dolon, hoping to move the Greeks
to mercy, told even more than he was asked to tell.
There was a Thracian king, he said, who had that

164

very day arrived with a troop of soldiers to help the
Trojans. Kne^us^was his name. He had steeds
beautiful to behold, and fleet as the wind, his char-
iot shone with gold and silver, and the armor he
wore was all of gold.

" Even now," said Dolon, " Rhesus and his follow-
ers are in a camp by themselves separated from the
others, and it will be easy to take them by surprise
as they lie asleep, and carry off the rich things they
possess."

This news was joyfully received by the Greek
heroes. They had heard of an oracle which declared
that Troy could never be captured if these same
horses of Rhesus should once drink of the water of
X an thus or feed on the grass of the Trojan plain.
They therefore resolved to rob Rhesus of his mag-
nificent steeds. But first they killed the unhappy
Dolon, paying no heed to his prayers for mercy.
Then they hurried on to the Thracian camp, where
they found the warriors sunk in deep repose, after
the fatigues of the day's journey.

There slept the warriors, overpowered with toil;
Their glittering arms were near them, fairly ranged
In triple rows, and by each suit of arms
Two coursers. Rhesus slumbered in the midst.
Near him were his fleet horses, which were made
Fast to the chariot's border by the reins.

BRYANT, Iliad^ Book X.

i65

Diomede slew Rhesus and twelve of his compan-
ions, while Ulysses untied the king's steeds, and led
them forth into the field. Then, hastening across
the plain with their rich prize, they soon reached the
Grecian camp, where Nestor and the other chiefs
joyfully welcomed them.

Their friends, rejoicing, flocked
. Around them, greeting them with grasp of hands
And with glad words.

BRYANT, 7//W, Book X.

X. THE BATTLE AT THE SHIPS — DEATH
OF PATROCLUS.

AT dawn the Achaian leaders resolved to try again
the fortunes of war. They were encouraged by the
exploit of Ulysses and Diomede, and Jupiter sent
down Eris, the goddess of strife, to incite them to
ardor for battle. The goddess stood on the ship of
Ulysses, which was in the center of the fleet, and
shouted so loud that she was heard all over the
Greek camp.

Loud was the voice, and terrible, in which
She shouted from her station to the Greeks,
And into every heart it carried strength,
And the resolve to combat manfully,
And never yield. The battle now to them
Seemed more to be desired than the return
To their dear country in their roomy ships.

~BRYANT, Iliad, Book XI.

Then began the greatest battle of the siege. So
numerous were the exploits of heroes in this mighty
conflict that the account of it occupies nearly eight
books of the Iliad.

Agamemnon led the Grecian warriors during the,

~~

i67

earlier part of the day. He was arrayed in brilliant
armor, his breastplate^ being of gold and bronze
and tin.

Ten were its bars of tawny bronze, and twelve

Were gold, and twenty tin; and on each side

Were three bronze serpents stretching toward the neck.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XI.

His sword, glittering with golden studs, hung from
his shoulder in a silver sheath, and in his hands he
bore two great spears, brass-tipped and sharp. As
he went forth to meet the foe, Juno and Minerva
made a sound as of thunder in the sky, " honoring
the king of Mycenae, rich in gold." Thus did the
Argive chief enter the field at the head of his war-
riors.

The Trojans were already on the ground, their
great leader, Hector, clad in shining brazen armor.
giving his commands, now in the front and now in
the rear. Like wolves rushing to combat the two
hosts sprang against each other, and soon the battle
raged furiously, the heroes on both sides fighting
with equal valor.

They of Troy

And they of Argos smote each other down,
And neither thought of ignominious flight.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XI.

But about midday the Greeks prevailed against

Pointing by Watts.

IRIS.

(168)

169

the Trojans, and drove them back to the city gates.
Agamemnon slew with his sword two of King
Priam's sons, I'sus and An'ti-phus, and with his
spear he struck down many of the Trojan heroes.
Hector had not yet taken part in the battle, Jupiter
having sent him an order by the messenger Iris not
to__begin fighting until Agamemnon should retire
wounded from the field^ This soon happened. The
king was wounded in the arm by the Trojan chief

^Jm 4VA^t^

Co on, whose brother, I-phid'a-mas, Agamemnon
had slain. These two chiefs were sons of the vener-
able Antenor. But Agamemnon, before withdraw-
ing,rushed upon Coon and slew him also. Then,
leaping into his chariot, he ordered his charioteer to
drive him quickly to his ships, for he was suffering
much from the pain of his wound.

Hector, seeing the flight of the Greek leader,
called loudly to the Trojans to advance upon their
foes, at the same time setting them the example.

Himself, inspired

With fiery valor, rushed among the foes
In the mid-battle foremost, like a storm
That swoops from heaven, and on the dark-blue sea
Falls suddenly, and stirs it to its depths.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XI.

The fortune of battle now turned in favor ot
the men of Troy. Nine warrior princes of the

i ;o

Greeks were struck down, one after another, by the
sword of Hector. The brave JDiomede, wounded
by an arrow from the bow of Paris, was obliged to
retire to his tent. A spear hurled by the Trojan
chief, So'cus, pierced the corselet of Ulysses, and
wounded him in the side. But the Trojan did not
long survive this exploit, for as he turned to flee,
Ulysses sent a javelin through his body, felling him
lifeless to the earth. A serious misfortune had al-
most happened to the Greeks at the hand of Paris,
who shot a triple barbed arrow at the hero and phy-
sician, Machaon, wounding him in the shoulder. The
life of the great son of ^sculapius being worth many
men, Idomeneus cried to Nestor to come and take
him away in his chariot.

"Haste, mount thy chariot; let Machaon take
A place beside thee ; urge thy firm-paced steeds
Rapidly toward the fleet; a leech like him,
Who cuts the arrow from the wound and soothes
The pain with balms, is worth a host to us."

BRYANT, Iliad^ Book XI.

Many of their leaders being now disabled, the
Greeks were driven trom the field and forced to^ake
refuge behind their fortifications. At the trench a
terrible conflict took place. The Trojan warriors
made efforts to pass it in their chariots, while the
Greeks fought with desperate fury to force the in-

vaders back. Many heroes on both sides were
wounded and many slain.

The towers and battlements were steeped in blood
Of heroes, — Greeks and Trojans.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XII.

At last Hector took up a large stone and hurled
it with tremendous force against one of the gates. It
tore off the strong hinges, and shattered the massive
beams, so mighty was the blow. Then through the
wide opening the Trojan leader sprang into the Gre-
cian camp, brandishing two spears in his hands, and
calling on his men to follow. Promptly they obeyed.
Some rushed in by the gateway, and some over the
wall, while the terrified Greeks fled in disorder and
dismay to their ships.

So far none of the gods had taken part in the
battle. But Neptune now resolved to come to the
rescue of the Greeks, having observed that Jupiter,
though still seated in his sacred inclosure on Mount
Ida, was no longer watching the conflict.

On Troy no more

He turned those glorious eyes, for now he deemed
That none of all the gods would seek to aid
Either the Greeks or Trojans in the strife.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XIII.

The ocean god, however, resolved to make the
attempt. From the wooded height of Samothrace

he had been viewing the fight, and had seen that
the Achaian army and fleet were threatened with
destruction. Quickly, therefore, descending to the
sea, he plunged down to his golden mansion beneath
the waves, and there put on his armor and mounted
his chariot.

He yoked his swift and brazen-footed steeds,

With manes of flowing gold, to draw his car,

And put on golden mail, and took his scourge,

Wrought of fine gold, and climbed the chariot-seat,

And rode upon the waves. The whales came forth

From their deep haunts, and frolicked round his way:

They knew their king. The waves rejoicing smoothed

A path, and rapidly the coursers flew;

Nor was the brazen axle wet below.

And thus they brought him to the Greecian fleet.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XIII.

Arrived at the fleet, Neptune assumed the shape
and voice of the soothsayer Calchas, and, going
amongst the Grecian leaders, urged them to battle.
With his scepter he touched the two Ajaxes, thereby
giving more than mortal strength to their limbs, and
filling their breasts with valor. Thus encouraged
the Greek heroes turned fiercely upon the Trojans,
and again great feats of war were performed by the
chiefs on both sides. Hector, Paris, Helenus, De-
iph'o-bus, and y^neas fought in front of the Trojan
lines, while Menelaus, Idomeneus, Teucer, the two

173

Ajaxes, and An-til'ochus, the son of Nestor, bravely
led the conflict at the head of the Greeks.

All along the line
The murderous conflict bristled with long spears.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XIII.

.

Juno rejoiced exceedingly at seeing the monarch

of the ocean aiding the Greeks, but she much feared

&tfi\\i*
that Jifpiter might notice him, and order him off the

field. This he would be sure to do, if he should
again turn his eyes on the battle. Juno therefore
went to the island of Les'bos, where Som'nus, the
god of sleep, resided, and she entreated that deity to
hasten to Mount Ida, and cause her royal spouse to
fall into a deep slumber. Somnus consented, and
having done as Juno desired, he hurried down to the
Grecian fleet with a message to Neptune.

" Now, Neptune, give the Greeks thy earnest aid,
And though it be but for a little space,
While Jupiter yet slumbers, let them win
The glory of the day ; for I have wrapt
His senses in a gentle lethargy."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XIV.

Hearing these words, Neptune rushed to the
front of the Greek lines and again urged the leaders
to stand bravely against the enemy. Then, grasp-
ing in his hand a sword "of fearful length and

174

flashing blade like lightning," he led them on to
battle.

And now the warriors of both sides were once
more in deadly conflict. Hector cast a spear
at Ajax, but the weapon struck where two belts
crossed upon the hero's breast, overlapping each
other, and he escaped unhurt. Then the son of Tela-
mon struck at the Trojan leader. His weapon was a
heavy stone, one of many that lay around, which
were used as props for the ships. The missile,
hurled with giant force and true aim, smote the
Trojan on the breast and felled him like a tree

struck by lightning.

As when beneath
The stroke of Father Jupiter an oak

Falls broken at the root,

So dropped the valiant Hector to the earth
Amid the dust; his hand let fall the spear;
His shield and helm fell with him, and his mail
Of shining brass clashed round him.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XIV.

With shouts of triumph the Greeks rushed for-
ward, hoping to slay the fallen warrior, and despoil
him of his armor. But his comrades, y^Eneas and
A-ge'nor and SaqDedon and many others, crowded
around him, and protected him with their shields.
He was then carried to the bank of the Xanthus and
bathed in its waters, which revived him a little.

'" O

When the Greeks saw Hector borne away asjf
dead, they fought with increased valor, and soon
drove the Trojans back across the trench, slaying
many of their chiefs.

Meanwhile Jupiter, awaking from his slumber,
and looking down upon the battlefield, beheld the
men of Troy put to flight, and Neptune at the head
of the pursuing Greeks. Turning angrily upon
Juno, who was at his side, he rebuked her in severe
words, for he now saw the trick that had been
played upon him. He reminded her of how he had
punished her on a former occasion for her ill
treatment of his son Hercules.

" Dost thou forget

When thou didst swing suspended, and I tied
Two anvils to thy feet, and bound a chain
Of gold that none could break around thy wrists?
Then didst thou hang in air amid the clouds,
And all the gods of high Olympus saw
With pity. They stood near, but none of them
Were able to release thee."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XV.

Juno pleaded that it was not at her request that
Neptune had gone to the aid of the Greeks. He had
done that without consulting her. She indeed, she
said, would rather advise Neptune to obey the com-
mand of the king of heaven and submit to his will.

The anger of the father of the gods was appeased

by Juno's mild words. Then he bade her hasten to
Olympus^ and send the messenger Iris down to
order Neptune'roieave the battle. He bade her
also to direct Apollo to restore Hector's strength
and prepare him for the fight.^ But he explained to
Juno why he wished that for the present the
Trojans should be victorious. It was because he
had promised Thetis that the Greeks should be
punished for the wrong Agamemnon had done to
her son. Yet the time would come, he said, when
the great Hector would be slain by the hand of
Achilles, and when by Minerva's aid the lofty
towers of Troy would be overthrown. Juno was
therefore glad to obey the command of her royal

spouse.

As the thought of man

Flies rapidly, when, having traveled far,
He thinks, " Here would I be, I would be there,"
And flits from place to place, so swiftly flew
Imperial Juno to the Olympian mount.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XV.

There she informed Iris and Apollo of the will of
Father Jove. Forthwith the two gods hastened to
Mount Ida to receive their orders from Jupiter him-
self. The orders were quickly given. Then with
the speed of the winds the messenger of heaven
and the god of the silver bow darted down from
Ida's top to the plain of Troy.

177

Neptune, on hearing of the command of Jupiter,
was at first unwilling to obey. Jupiter, he said, had
no authority over him.

" We are three brothers,
The sons of Saturn, — Jupiter and I,
And Pluto, regent of the realm below.
Three parts were made of all existing things,
And each of us received his heritage.
The lots were shaken; and to me it fell
To dwell forever in the hoary deep,
And Pluto took the gloomy realm of night,
And lastly, Jupiter the ample heaven
And air and clouds. Yet doth the earth remain,
With high Olympus, common to us all.
Therefore I yield me not to do his will,
Great as he is; and let him be content
With his third part."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XV.

But Iris advised Neptune to obey, reminding him
that Jupiter had power of punishing those who
offended him. At last Neptune yielded, and, quit-
ting the Grecian army, took his way to the sea, and
plunged beneath the waves to his palace in the
ocean depths^

Meanwhile Apollo hastened to the side of the
Trojan prince, who was still weak from the blow of
Ajax. Quickly the god restored the hero's strength
and breathed fresh courage into his breast^ Then

STO. OF TROY — 12

I78

he commanded Hector to hasten forward and lead
his warriors against the enemy. In an instant the
Trojan prince was on his feet, hurrying to the front.
When the Greek chiefs saw him they were aston-
ished as well as terrified, for they had thought him
dead, and now they believed he had been rescued
from death by some god. They resolved, however,
to fight bravely, and so they stood firmly together.
Hector meanwhile advanced, Apollo moving before
him with the shield of Jupiter, the te"rfible aegis,
which Jupiter had given him to shake before the
Greeks and fill their hearts with fear.

" Hector led

The van in rapid march. Before him walked
Phoebus, the terrible aegis in his hands,
Dazzlingly bright within its shaggy fringe,
By Vulcan forged, the great artificer,
And given to Jupiter, with which to rout
Armies of men. With this in hand he led
The assailants on."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XV.

Against an attack so led the bravery of. the
Greeks was of little avail. Numbers of their war-
riors were slain, and the rest fled back to their
camp, pursued by Hector and his triumphant hosts.
This time the Trojans were not hindered by the
trench or the wall, for ^jjollo, with his mighty feet

179

trampled down the earth banks, and overthrew the
crreat wall as easily as a child at play on the beach
overthrows a tiny mound of sand.

Then a fierce struggle took place, the Greeks
fighting with desperate fury to defend their ships,
which the Trojans, with lighted torches in their
hands, tried to set on fire. At one of the galleys
there was a terrific conflict. Hector, having grasped
the vessel by the stern, called to his men to bring
on their flaming brands, while the mighty Ajax
stood on the rowers' bench, ready with his long
spear to strike the assailants back.

On the blade of that long spear
The hero took them as they came, and slew
In close encounter twelve before the fleet.

BRYANT, Iliad. Book XV.

But at last the brave son of Telamon was forced
to give way, Hector having cut his spear shaft in
two by a stroke of his huge sword. Then the
Trojans hurled forward their blazing torches, and
the ship was soon wrapped in flames. The Greeks
were now in the greatest peril. No hope seemed
left to them to save their fleet from destruction.
But help came from an unexpected quarter. Patro-
clus, the friend and companion of Achilles, had
been watching the terrible conflict at the ships. As

i8o

soon as he saw the vessel on fire he hurried to the
tent of the Myrmidonian chief, and with tears in
his eyes implored him fo have pity on his perishing
countryjmen.

'; The Greeks," said he, " are sorely pressed.
Their bravest leaders are wounded, while you sit
here, giving way to your wrath. If you will not
yourself go to their rescue, at least permit me to
lead the Myrmidons to battle, and let me wear your
armor. The Trojans at the sight of it may think I
am Achilles, and be so terrified that our people
may have a little breathing time."

To this proposal Achilles assented3 but he warned
Patroclus not to pursue the Trojans too far, lest he
might meet his death at the hands of one of the
gods. " Rescue our good ships," said he, " but
when you have driven the enemy from the fleet,
return hither."

With joy and eager haste Patroclus put on the
armor of Achilles. Then the great chief himself
marshaled his Myrmidons in battle array, after
which he addressed them, bidding them fight val-
iantly. The occasion, he said, had now come which
they had so long desired, for they had often blamed
him because he had kept them from joining their
countrymen in the field. Fierce and fearless these
Myrmidons werer and oyer two thousand strong.

Achilles, dear to Jupiter, had led
Fifty swift barks to Ilium, and in each
Were fifty men, companions at the oar.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVI.

Patroclus now mounted the chariot of Achilles,
with the brave Au-tom'e-don as charioteer, a hero
next in valor to the renowned son of Peleus himself.
There were three horses in the team, Xanthus and
Bali-us, both of immortal breed, and fleet as the
wind, and Ped'a-sus, which, though of mortal stock,
was a match for the others in speed.

Like in strength, in swiftness and in grace,
A mortal courser match'd the immortal race.

POPE, Iliad, Book XVI.

Great was the terror of the Trojans when they
beheld the Myrmidons march forth to battle.

Every heart grew faint

With fear; the close ranks wavered; for they thought
That the swift son of Peleus at the fleet
Had laid aside his wrath, and was again
The friend of Agamemnon. Eagerly
They looked around for an escape from death.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVI.

The Greek fleet was soon out of danger, for _Pa-
troclus and his Myrmidons, having furiously .at-
tacked the Trojans, quickly drove them away from
the burning vessel and put out the fire. Having

ng l>y Ri'gnault.

AUTOMEDON AND THE HORSES OF ACHILLES.
(182)

thus saved the ships, the Myrmidonian warriors,
aided by the other Greeks, then drove the Trojans
with great slaughter from the camp into the plain,
and on towards the walls of the city.

In that scattered conflict of the chiefs
Each Argive slew a warrior.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVI.

Even the mighty Hector was not able to stop the
flight of the panic-stricken Trojans, who seemed for
the moment to have lost all their courage, so great
was their fear at the name of Achilles. The hero
Sarpedon at the head of his brave Lycians at-
tempted to turn back the onset of the Myrmidons,
and he sought out their leader to engage him ir^
single combat. Both warriors sprang from their
chariots at the same moment, and rushed at each
other, hurling their spears. Twice Sarpedon missed
his foe, but one of the weapons killed Pedasus, the
horse of " mortal stock." The leader of the Myrmi-
dons cast his javelin with truer aim, for it pierced
the Lycian chief right in the breast, and the hero
fell like a tall pine tree falling in the forest at the
last blow of the woodman's ax.

Then a fierce conflict took place over the body,
the Greeks seeking to obtain possession of the
warriors armor, which they did after many on both
sides had been slain in the struggle. The body

1 84

itself was sent by Apollo, at Jupiter's command, to
Lycia, that the hero's kinsmen there might perform
funeral rites in his honor.

In robes of heaven

He clothed him, giving him to Sleep and Death,
Twin brothers, and swift bearers of the dead,
And they, with speed conveying it, laid down
The corpse in Lycia's broad and opulent realm.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVI.

Jupiter thus honored Sarpedon because the hero
was his own son. He would have saved him from
the spear of Patroclus, but the Fates had decreed
that Sarpedon should die in the battle, and the
decrees of the Fates were not to be set aside even
by Jove himself.

Patroclus, too, was doomed to fall in the conflict
of the day, and the moment was now at hand.
Forgetting the warning Achilles had given him, he
pursued the Trojans up to the very gates of the
city. Then he attempted to scale the wall, but he
was driven back by Apollo, who spoke to him in
threatening voice, saying that not by him should
Troy be taken, nor by his chief, though mightier
far than he. Hastily Patroclus withdrew from the
walls, fearing the wrath of the archer god, but he
continued to deal death among the Trojans as they
came within reach of his weapons.

i85

At last Hector, urged by Apollo, rushed forward
in his chariot to encounter Patroclus. The Myrmi-
don leader lifted a large stone, and flung it with all
his force at the Trojan chief as he approached. It
missed Hector, but killed Ce-bri'o-nes, his charioteer,
and while they fought over the body, each helped
by brave comrades, many more on both sides were
laid in the dust. Again the archer god interfered,
this time coming unseen behind Patroclus, and
striking him with his open palm between the
shoulders. The hero staggered under the blow, his
huge spear was shattered in his hands, and his
shield dropped to the ground. Then Eu-phor'bus,
a Dardanian chief, hurried forward, and with_his
lance wounded him the back. Thus disarmed and
almost overpowered, Patroclus turned to seek refuge
in the ranks of his friends. As he was retreating,
Hector rushed upon him, and thrusting a sj>ear
deep into his body, gave the brave warrior hisoieath

wound^

The hero fell

With clashing mail, and all the Greeks beheld
His fall with grief.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVI.

Then there was a long and terrific fight around
the corpse of the fallen champion. The description
of it occupies a whole book of the Iliad. The armor
Patroclus wore was, as we have seen, the rich armor

1 86

of Achilles, and the Trojans were eager to get pos-
session of it. They wished also to get possession
of the hero's body, that his friends might not have
the satisfaction of performing the usual funeral rites
in his honor. Menelaus was the first to stand guard
over the body, and Euphorbus was the first to fall
in the fight. Hector had gone in pursuit of the
charioteer, Automedon, thinking to slay him, and
capture the immortal horses of Achilles. But
Apollo warned him against the attempt.

11 Hector, thou art pursuing what thy feet
Will never overtake, the steeds which draw
The chariot of Achilles. Hard it were
For mortal man to tame them or to guide,
Save for Achilles, goddess-born. Meanwhile
Hath warlike Menelaus, Atreus' son,
Guarding the slain Patroclus, overthrown
Euphorbus, bravest of the Trojan host."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVII.

Hearing these words Hector hastened back to
where the corpse of the Greek hero was lying.
When Menelaus saw him approaching, he withdrew,
and hurried off to seek help, for he feared to en-
counter the terrible Trojan leader. Then Hector
stripped Patroclus of the splendid armor of
Achilles, and he was about dragging away the
body, but just at that moment Ajax rushed up.
Hector now retreated, leaping into his chariot and

187

giving the glittering armor to his friends to be
carried away to Troy.

For thus fleeing from the fight the Trojan chief
was severely rebuked by Glau'cus, a Lycian warrior,
who had been the comrade of the brave Sarpedon.
Glaucus wished to get the body of Patroclus so
that with it he might ransom Sarpedon's armor
from the Greeks. Hector answered Glaucus, say-
ing that he feared not the battle's fury, as he would
presently show. Then he put on the armor of
Achilles and he called to the Trojans to follow him,
promising a rich reward to the warrior who should
carry off the body for which they were going to fight.

' To him who from the field will drag and bring
The slain Patroclus to the Trojan knights,
Compelling Ajax to give way, — to him
I yield up half the spoil; the other half
I keep, and let his glory equal mine."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVII.

With Hector at their head the Trojans now
rushed forward. Ajax, seeing them advance, bade
Menelaus summon the other Greek warriors to
help in defending the body of their countryman.
Quickly they were called and quickly they came.
Then hand to hand and sword to sword both
armies fought, and the battle raged furiously round
the corpse of Patroclus.

1 88

They of Ilium strove
To drag it to the city, they of Greece,
To bear it to the fleet.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVII.

At last Menelaus and a brother warrior lifted jap
the body and bore it away towards the trench.
The Trojans followed, but the two Ajaxes turned
around and, facing the pursuers, fought with heroic
bravery to hold them back.

Thus, in hot pursuit

And close array, the Trojans following strook
With swords and two-edged spears ; but when the twain
Turned and stood firm to meet them, every cheek
Grew pale, and not a single Trojan dared
Draw near the Greeks to combat for the corse.

Thus rapidly they bore away the dead
Toward their good galleys from the battlefield.
Onward with them the furious battle swept.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVII.

Meanwhile Antilochus, the son of Nestor, was
sent from the field to carry to Achilles the sad news
of the death of Patroclus. The chief was just then
sitting near his ships thinking over the event which
he feared had already happened, for the shouts of
the Greeks as they fled from the plain pursued by
the Trojans, had reached his ears. Upon learning
the tidings brought by Antilochus, the hero burst
into a fit of grief, tearing his hair, throwing himself

1 89

on the earth, and uttering loud lamentations. His
goddess mother, Thetis, in her father's palace be-
neath the waves, heard his cries. She hastened up,
attended by a number of sea nymphs, and, embrac-
ing her son, inquired the cause of his grief. Achilles
told her of the death of his dear friend, and then

said:

" No wish

Have I to live or to concern myself
In men's affairs, save this: that Hector first,
Pierced by my spear, shall yield his life, and pay
The debt of vengeance for Patroclus slain."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVIII.

The weeping mother, wishing to save her son,
told him of the fate which had decreed that his own
death should soon follow that of Hector.

" Ah then, I see thee dying, see thee dead!
When Hector falls, thou diest."

POPE, Iliad, Book XVIII.

But the warning of Thetis was in vain. " Let my
death come," said he, " when the gods will it. I shall
have revenge on Hector, by whose hand my friend
has been slain."

Seeing that she could not induce him to alter his
purpose, his mother reminded him that his bright
armor had been seized by the Trojans. She bade
him therefore not go to battle until she should bring
him new armor made by Vulcan, which she prom-

190

ised to do early next morning. Then she com-
manded the other nymphs to return to their ocean
home, and she herself ascended to Olympus, to ask
the god of smiths to forge glittering armor for her
son.

Meantime the fight over the body of Patroclus
still continued. The Greeks were now driven to
their ships, and in danger of being totally defeated.
Three times Hector seized the body by the feet, to
drag it away, and three times the mighty A i axes
forced him back. Still again he seized it, and this
time he would have borne it away, had not Juno
sent Iris down to Achilles to bid him hasten to the
relief of his friends.

" But how," he asked, " can I go forth to the battle,
since the enemy have my arms ? " Iris answered :

" Go thou to the trench, and show thyself
To them of Troy, that, haply smit with fear,
They may desist from battle."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVIII.

Then the goddess Minerva spread a golden cloud
around the head of Achilles, and she kindled in it
a bright flame that streamed upward to the sky.
And the hero went out beyond the wall, and stood
beside the trench, and he shouted in a voice loud as
a trumpet sound, — a shout that carried dismay into
the ranks of the Trojans.

igl

The hearts of all who heard that brazen voice
Were troubled, and their steeds with flowing manes
Turned backward with the chariots, — such the dread
Of coming slaughter.

Thrice o'er the trench Achilles shouted; thrice

The men of Troy and their renowned allies

Fell into wild disorder. Then there died,

Entangled midst the chariots, and transfixed

By their own spears, twelve of their bravest chiefs.

The Greeks bore off Patroclus from the field

With eager haste, and placed him on a bier,

And there the friends that loved him gathered round

Lamenting.

BRYANT, Jliad, Book XVIJI.

So ended the long and terrible battle of the day,
for Juno now commanded the sun to set. In obedi-
ence to the queen of heaven the god of light de-
scended into the ocean streams, though unwillingly
he did so, as it was earlier than the proper time for
sunset.

The Trojan leaders, meanwhile, assembled in
council on the plain to consider what preparations
should be made for the battle of the morrow, in
which, they knew, the terrible Achilles would take
part. Po-lyd'a-mas, a prudent chief, proposed that
they should withdraw into the city. There they
might defend themselves from their ramparts, for
even Achilles, with all his valor, would not be able to

192

force his way through their strong walls. But Hec-
tor rejected this wise advice. He resolved to risk
the chance of war in the open field, and let the god
of battles decide who should win.

" Soon as the morn the purple orient warms,
Fierce on yon navy will we pour our arms.
If great Achilles rise in all his might,
His be the danger: I shall stand the fight.
Honor, ye gods! or let me gain or give;
And live he glorious, whosoe'er shall live!

POPE. Iliad, Book XVIII.

XL END OF THE WRATH OF ACHILLES —
DEATH OF HECTOR.

Design by Burns- f ones.

STO. OF TROY — 13

THETIS faithfully performed
her promise to Achilles.
Having ascended to the top
of Olympus, she found the god
of smiths busy in his forge, a
workshop so magnificent that
it was a wonder to the gods
themselves.

Silver-footed Thetis came

Meanwhile to Vulcan's halls,
eternal, gemmed

Wjth stars, a wonder to the im-
mortals, wrought

Of brass by the lame god. She
found him there

Sweating and toiling, and with
busy hand

Plying the bellows.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVIII.

Vulcan willingly con-
sented to make the armor

1 03

194

as Thetis requested, for she had been his friend
and had protected him in his infancy, when his
mother Juno threw him out of heaven into the sea.
Juno did this because Vulcan was not a good-looking
child. He was, in fact, so ugly that his mother could
not bear the sight of him, and so she cast him out
of Olympus. But Thetis and her sister Eu-ryn'o-me
received him in their arms as he fell, and for nine
years they nursed and took care of him in their
father's palace beneath the waves. Gladly, therefore,
Vulcan set to work at the request of his old friend.
In his workshop were immense furnaces, and he had
plenty of precious material in store.

Upon the fire

He laid impenetrable brass, and tin,
And precious gold and silver; on its block
Placed the huge anvil, took the ponderous sledge,
And held the pincers in the other hand.

BJYANT, Iliad, Book XVIII.

And first he made a shield, large and massive,
upon which he wrought figures of the earth and the
sky, the sun, moon, and stars, with many other beau-
tiful designs. He wrought upon it numerous scenes
of human life, — representations of war and peace, of
battles and sieges, of reapers in the harvest fields, of
shepherds tending their flocks, of vintagers gather-
ing their grapes; and scenes of festivity with music,

Painting by Gerard.

THETIS BRINGING ARMOR TO ACHILLES.

(195)

196

song, and dancing. Homer gives a long and splen-
did description of this wonderful shield. When
Vulcan had finished it, he forged a corselet brighter
than fire, and greaves of tin, and a helmet with crest
of gold. Then he laid the magnificent armor at the
feet of Thetis, and the goddess bore it away and
carried it down to the Grecian camp in the early
morning to present it to her son.

Like a falcon in her flight,

Down plunging from Olympus capped with snow,
She bore the shining armor Vulcan gave.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVIII.

Great was the delight of Achilles on seeing the
beautiful armor and the marvelous workmanship of
its various parts. And nowjie hastened to prepare
for battle. First he went along the beach from tent
to tent, calling with a mighty shout on his brother
chiefs to assemble. When all were together Jie
spoke friendly w^rr]^ to Agamemnon. expressing
sorrow that strife had come between them, and
declarin that his wrath was now ended.

tlu-n my anger ends; let war succeed,
And even as Greece has bled, let Ilion bleed.
Now call tin- hosts, and try if in our sight
Troy yet shall dare to camp a second night! "

I'oi'K, ///W, Book XIX.

Agamemnon, too, spoke words of peace and
friendship, and all the chiefs rejoiced that the anger

197

of Achilles, which had brought so many woes upon
the Greeks, was at length appeased. Then the
troops took their morning meal, and when they had
refreshed themselves with food and drink, they
marched forth to the field. Achilles, having put
on his bright armor, mounted his chariot, to which
were yoked the two immortal and swift-footed steeds,
Xanthus and Balius.

And here a wonderful thing occurred. When the
hero spoke to the animals, charging them in loud
and terrible voice to bring him back safely from the
battle, and not leave him dead on the plain, as they
had left Patroclus, Xanthus, to whom Juno had,
for the moment, given the power of speech, replied
to the words of his master, saying that it was not
through any fault of himself and his comrade that
Patroclus had been slain, but by the interference of
Apollo. He also warned Achilles that the hour of
his own death was near at hand.

" Not through our crime, or slowness in the course,
Fell thy Patroclus, but by heavenly force;
The bright far-shooting god who gilds the day
(Confess'd we saw him) tore his arms away.
No — could our swiftness o'er the winds prevail,
Or beat the pinions of the western gale,
All were in vain — the Fates thy death demand,
Due to a mortal and immortal hand."

POPS, Iliad, Hook XIX.

But Achilles already knew his fate, and he was
prepared to meet it with courage.

" I know my fate: to die, to see no more
My much-loved parents, and my native shore —
Enough — when heaven ordains, I sink in night:
Now perish Troy! " He said, and rush'd to fight.

POPE, Iliad, Book XIX.

In the battle which now be^an many of the gods
took active part, Jupiter, at a council on Mount
Olympus, having given them permission to do so.
Down to the plain before Troy they sped with
haste, Juno, Minerva, Neptune, Mercury, and Vul-
can taking the side of the Greeks, and Mars,
Apollo, Venus, Diana, Latona, and the river god,
Xanthus, going to the assistance of the Trojans.

Meantime Achilles, having rushed forth to the
field, plunged into the thick of the fight, eagerly
seeking for Hector. But first he met ^Eneas,
whom Apollo had urged to encounter him. Achilles
warned the Trojan hero to withdraw from the battle.

" Once already," said he, " I forced you to flee
before my spear, running fast down Ida's slopes. I
counsel you now to retire, lest evil happen to you."

^Eneas answered that he was not to be thus
frightened, as if he were a beardless boy. " I am
the son of the goddess Venus," said he, "and my
father, Anchises, was descended from Jove himself.

199

We are not here, however, to talk, but to fight, and
words will not turn me from my purpose."

So saying, /Eneas hurled his spear. It struck
the shield of Achilles with a ringing sound, and
passed through two of its folds.

Vulcan's skill

Fenced with five folds the disk, — the outer two
Of brass, the inner two of tin; between
Was one of gold, and there the brazen spear
Was stayed.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XX.

Achilles now cast his heavy javelin. Through the
shield of /Eneas it crashed, but, as the hero stooped
to avoid it, the spear passed over his shoulder, and
plunged deep into the earth. Then with sword
in hand, the Myrmidonian chief rushed furiously
upon ^neas. He would probably have slain him,
had not Neptune interfered. But the ocean god
spread a mist over the eyes of the Greek warrior,
and carried /Eneas away in safety to the rear of the
battlefield. The Trojan prince was thus preserved
because the Dardan race, to which he belonged ,
was beloved by Jupiter. Moreover it was decreed
by the Fates that the son of Anchises should, in
later times, rule over a Trojan people, and that his
sons' sons should rule after him.

Having placed /Eneaa out of danger, Neptune

200

removed the mist from the eyes of Achilles. The
heroT on looking about him, was amazed at not
seeing the foe with whom, only an instant before,
he had been in fierce conflict. But he did not wait
to think over this strange occurrence. Rushing
into the midst of the Trojans, he smote down wa.r-
rior after warrior, as they came within reach of his
spear. Amongst them was Pol-v-do'rus, the young-
est son of Priam. His father had forbidden him to
go into the battle, because he loved him most of all
his sons. But Polydorus was a brave youth, and
he wished to show his swiftness, for in speed of foot
he excelled all the young men of Troy.

He ranged the field, until he lost his life.
Him with a javelin the swift-footed son
Of Peleus smote as he was hurrying by.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XX.

Now Hector had been warned by Apollo to
avoid meeting Achilles, but when he saw his young
brother slain, he could no longer stand aloof. He
therefore sprang forward to attack the son of The-
tis. As soon as Achilles saw the Trojan chief, he
bounded towards him, crying out:

" Draw nearer that thou mayst the sooner die."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XX.

Hector replied in words of defiance, and then

201

brandished and hurled forth his spear. But Min-
erva turned it aside, and it missed its aim. Then
Achilles, with a wild shout, rushed against his
enemy. Apollo now came to the rescue, covering
the Trojan hero in a veil of clouds, and taking him
away from the conflict. The enraged Achilles
struck into the dense mist with his sword again and
again, and in loud voice reproached Hector for what
seemed to be his cowardly flight.

" Hound as thou art, thou hast once more escaped
Thy death; for it was near. Again the hand
Of Phoebus rescues theg. I shall meet thee yet
And end thee utterly, if any god
Favor me also. I will now pursue
And strike the other Trojan warriors down."

BKYANT, Iliad. Book XX.

The enraged hero then attacked t}ie Trojans so
furiously that they fled before him in dismay.
Some rushed towards the gates of the city, others
to the Xanthus, into which they leaped in such
numbers that the river was soon filled with a crowd
of steeds and men.

So, plunged in Xanthus by Achilles' force,
Roars the resounding surge with men and horse.

POPE, Iliad, Book XXI.

But now the terrible Myrmidonian chief descended

202

from his chariot, and with sword in hand pursued
the Trojans into the water. There he slew so
many that the stream became blocked with the
bodies of the dead. The river god, roused to
anger, called to Achilles in a loud voice from the
depths of the Xanthus, saying that if he meant to
destroy the whole Trojan race, he must do it on the
plain, and not stop the waters in their course to the
sea.

" For now my pleasant waters, in their flow,
Are choked with heaps of dead, and I no more
Can pour them into the great deep, so thick
The corpses clog my bed, while thou dost slay
And sparest not."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XXI.

Achilles answered that he would not cease to
slay the treaty-breaking Trojans until they were
punished as they deserved. At this the river god
was so enraged that HP sent his waters with tre-
mendous force against the hero. The waves now
surged around Achilles, beating upon his shield,
and buffeting him so violently that he was in dan-
ger of being overwhelmed. He saved himself only
by grasping the bough of an elm tree which grew
on the river's edge, and so gaining the bank.
Then the angry god, rising in greater fury, swept
his mighty billows out upon the plain. The Greek

2O3

hero bravely attempted to fight this new enemy, but
his valor and his weapons were powerless against
such an attack.

As often as the noble son
Of Peleus made a stand in hope to know
Whether the deathless gods of the great heaven
Conspired to make him flee, so often came
A mighty billow of the Jove-born stream
And drenched his shoulders. Then again he sprang
Away; the rapid torrent made his knees
To tremble, while it swept, where'er he trod,
The earth from underneath his feet.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XXI.

Achilles now prayed to the gods for help, and
Neptune and Minerva came and encouraged him,
saying that he was not to be thus -conquered^ Still
as Xanthus called upon his brother river, Simois, to
join him in defense of King Priam's noble city, it
might have fared badly with the Greeks, had not
Vulcan come to their help. At the request of Juno
the god of lire sent down a vast quantity of flames,
which scorched and dried up the plain, and burned
the trees and reeds on the banks of the rivers.
Vulcan began to dry up even the rivers themselves.
Then Xanthus became terrified and begged for
mercy, promising that he would not again interfere
in the fight on either side.

204

" Oh Vulcan! oh! what power resists thy might?
I faint, I sink, unequal to the fight —
I yield — Let Ilion fall; if fate decree —
Ah — bend no more thy fiery arms on me! "

POI-E, Iliad^ Book XXI.

It was not, however, until Juno entreated him jo
do so, that Vulcan withdrew his flames, and the
rivers were permitted to flow on again in peace and
safety. Achilles now renewed his attack on the
Trojans. The gods also rushed into the conflict.
Mars launched his brazen spear at Minerva, but;
with the terrible ecgis, the goddess warded off the
blow. Then Minerva lifted up a great rough stone
and hurled it at Mars, striking him on the neck, and
stretching him senseless on the ground.

He felt
With nerveless limbs, and covered, as he lay,

Seven acres of the field.

HKVXNT, ///W, Rook XXI.

Venus hastened to the relief of the wounded god,
and, taking him by the hand, led him away groaning
with pain. Juno, \vho had been a spectator of the

fight, no\v approached Minrrfci^arid urged her to
C2~fcJ^c0 jit^^r

attack Venus. She gladly consented to do as the
fjiu-rn ofheavcn desired. Following up the goddess
of beauty, Minerva gave her a mighty blow on the
breast, throwing her prostrate on the earth. At the

(Janova.

VENUS.

206

same time Neptune challenged Apollo to fight.
He reminded him, too, of King Laomedon's conduct
toward both of them, many years before, and re-
proached him for being now on the side of the
descendants of that faithless king. But Apollo
refused to fight with the ocean god.

" Thou wouldst not deem me wise, should I contend
With thee, O Neptune, for the sake of men,
Who flourish like the forest leaves awhile,
And feed upon the fruits of earth and then
Decay and perish."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XXI.

But though Apollo would not fight with Nep-
tune, he continued to help the Trojans. Achilles
had driven them in terror up under their walls, and
King Priam had ordered the gates to be thrown
open to admit the flying hosts. Multitudes of them
rushed in, while the furious son of Thetis pressed
on behind. It was a moment of danger for Troy,
and the Greeks might soon have taken the city, if
Apollo had not encouraged young Agenor, the son
of Antenor, to attack Achilles. The brave youth
advanced, and cast his spear, striking the hero at the
knee. But it could not pierce the armor Vulcan
had made. Then the Greek chief aimed at
Agenor, and again Apollo came to the rescue, con-
cealing the Trojan youth in a veil of darkness, and
carrying him safely away. But in an instant the

207

god returned, and, taking upon himself Agenor's
shape and appearance, stood for a moment in front
of Achilles Then he turned and fled along the
plain, followed fast by the enraged Greek. Thus
Apollo gave the Trojans time to get within the city
and shut their gates.

Achilles chased the god
Ever before him, yet still near, across
The fruitful fields, to the deep-eddied stream
Of Xanthus ; for Apollo artfully
Made it to seem that he should soon o'ertake
His flying foe, and thus beguiled him on.
Meanwhile the routed Trojans gladly thronged
Into the city, filled the streets, and closed
The portals.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XXI.

Hector alone of all the Trojans remained outside
the walls, standing in front of the Scaean Gate.
Achilles still pursued Apollo, thinking that he was
Agenor, but at last the god made himself knowELto
his pursuer. The hero reproached him angrily for
his deception, and then with the utmost speed he
hastened across the plain towards the city. From
the ramparts the aged King Priam beheld him com-
ing, and in piteous words he cried out to Hector,
imploring him to take refuge within the walls.
Queen Hecuba, too, with tears in her eyes, begged
her son to withdraw, and not be so mad as to en-

208

counter the terrible Greek chief alone. But Hector
would not yield to the entreaties of his weeping par-
ents. He had refused to take the advice of Poly-
clamas to withdraw into the city on the previous
night, and if he should pass within the walls now,
after Achilles had slain so many of the Trojans,
Polydamas would be the first to reproach him.
Thus the hero reasoned with himself and so he re-
solved to stand and face his foe.

" No — if I e'er return, return I must
Glorious, my country's terror laid in dust:
Or if I perish, let her see me fall
In field at least, and fighting for her wall."

POPE, Iliad, Book XXII.

Achilles now approached. Terrible he was in ap-
pearance. His great javelin quivered fearfully on
his shoulder, and a light as of blazing fire, or of the
rising sun, shone from his heavenly armor. Hector
trembled with fear when he looked upon the Grecian
leader. So great was his terror that he did not dare
to wait, but fled away round the city wall. Achilles
quickly pursued him,__as a hawk pursues a dove.
They ran till they came to two springs where the
stream of the Xanthus rose. From one of these
springs a hot vapor ascended, like smoke from fire,
and from the other a current cold as ice issued even
in summer. Past these the warriors swept on.

209

One fled, and one pursued, —
A brave man fled, a braver followed close,
And swiftly both. Not for a common prize,
A victim from the herd, a bullock's hide,
Such as reward the fleet of foot, they ran, —
The race was for the knightly Hector's life.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XXII.

Three times they ran round the walls, in sight of
the Greeks and Trojans. The gods of heaven, too,
were looking on from the top of Mount Olympus,
and Jupiter, taking pity on Hector, thought that
they should save him from death. But Minerva
protested. His doom, she said, had been fixed by
the Fates, and even Jupiter could not alter it — at
least not with the approval of the other gods. The
cloud-compelling king was obliged to give way, and
so the Trojan chief was left to his fate. Then Min-
erva rushed down to the field, and still Hector fled
and Achilles pursued: As often as they passed
around, Hector attempted to approach the gates,
hoping for help from his friends. But each time
Achilles got before him and turned him away to-
wards the plain ; s and he made a sign to the Greeks
that none of them should cast a spear, for he wished
that he alone should have all the glory of slaying
the greatest of the Trojan heroes.

Now Apollo had been helping Hector, giving him
strength and speed, but when, for the fourth time,

STO. OF TROY — 14

2IO

the heroes reached the Xanthus springs, Jupiter
raised high the golden balance of fate. There were
two lots in the scales, one for the son of Peleus, the
other for the Trojan chief. By the middle the king
of heaven held the balance, and the lot of Hector
sank down. Immediately Apollo departed from the
field, for he could no longer go against the Fates.
Then Minerva came close to Hector's side, and,
taking the form and voice of his brother Deiphobus,
she urged him to stand and fight Achilles.

" Hard pressed I find thee, brother, by the swift
Achilles, who, with feet that never rest,
Pursues thee round the walls of Priam's town.
But let us make a stand and beat him back."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XXII.

Thus encouraged, as he thought by his brother,
whom he was surprised to see at his side, for he be-
lieved him to be in the city, the Trojan hero turned
around, and was soon face to face with his great foe.
Knowing that the hour had now come when one of
them must die, Hector proposed to Achilles that
they should make a covenant, or agreement, between
them that the victor in the fight should give the
other's body to his friends, so that funeral rites
might be performed. But the wrathful Achilles
refused. He would have no covenant with his
enemy.

211

"Accursed Hector, never talk to me
Of covenants. Men and lions plight no faith,
Nor wolves agree with lambs, but each must plan
Evil against the other. So between
Thyself and me no compact can exist,
Or understood intent. First, one of us
Must fall and yield his life blood to the god
Of battles."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XXII.

Then the fight began. Achilles first cast his
spear. It was a weapon heavy, huge, and strong,
that no mortal arm but his own could wield. Its
shaft was made of a tree which the famous Chi'ron,
instructor of heroes in the art of war, had cut on
Mount Pe'li-on and given to the father of Achilles.

His strength

Alone sufficed to wield it. 'Twas an ash
Which Chiron felled in Pelion's top, and gave
To Peleus, that it yet might be the death
Of heroes.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XVI.

The Trojan chief stooped to avoid the blow, and
the spear, passing over him, sunk in the earth.
Minerva, unseen by Hector, plucked it out and
gave it back to Achilles. Hector now launched
his weapon. With true aim he hurled it, for it
struck the center of his antagonist's shield, but the
workmanship of Vulcan was not to be pierced, and

212

so the javelin of the Trojan hero bounded from the
brazen armor and fell to the ground. He called
loudly to Deiphobus for another spear. There was
no answer, and then looking around him he dis-
covered that he had been deceived.

All comfortless he stands; then, with a sigh:
" 'Tis so — Heaven wills it, and my hour is nigh.
I deem'd Deiphobus had heard my call,
But he secure lies guarded in the wall.
A god deceived me; Pallas, 'twas thy deed,
Death and black fate approach! 'tis I must bleed."

POPE, Iliad, Book XXII.

Nevertheless, Hector resolved to fight bravely to
the end, and so he drew his sword and rushed upon
Achilles., The Greek warrior, watching his foe
closely as he approached, noticed an opening in his
armor, where the collar of the corselet joined the
shoulder. At that spot he furiously thrust his
spear, and pierced the Trojan hero through jthe
neck^ Hector fell to the ground, mortally wounded.
In his dying moments he begged Achilles to send
his body to his parents, telling him that they would
give large ransom in gold. But his entreaties were
in vain. Neither by prayers nor by promise of gold
could the conqueror be moved. The last words of
Hector were words warning Achilles of his own
doom:

213

"A day will come when fate's decree
And angry gods shall wreak this wrong on thee;
Phoebus and Paris shall avenge my fate,
And stretch thee here before the Scaean Gate."
He ceased. The Fates suppress'd his laboring breath,
And his eyes stiffen 'd at the hand of death.

POPE, Iliad, Book XXII.

So died the great champion of the Trojans. The
Greeks crowded around the dead hero, admiring
his stature and beautiful figure, and remarking one
to another that Hector was far less dangerous to
touch now than when he was setting fire to their
fleet.

But the anger of Achilles was not appeased even
by the death of his foe. Eager for still more ven-
geance, he bound the feet of the dead hero with
leather thongs to the back of his chariot, leaving
the head to trail along the ground, and thus he
drove to jtheT ships, dragging the~noble Hector in
the dust.

The Trojans, beholding this dreadful spectacle
from the walls of the city, broke out into loud
lamentations, and King Priam and Queen Hecuba
were almost distracted with grief. Andromache
had not been a witness of the combat. She was at
home with her maids, making preparations for Hec-
tor's return from the battle, and was therefore un-
aware of the terrible events which had taken place.

214

But the sound of the wailing on the ramparts
having reached her ears, she rushed forth from the
palace, fearful that some evil had happened to her
husband. Hastening through the streets to the
Scaean Gate, she ascended the tower, and looking
out on the plain, saw the body of her beloved Hec-
tor dragged behind the wheels of the chariot of
Achilles. Overpowered with grief at the sight, the
unhappy woman sank fainting into the arms of her
attendants.

A sudden darkness shades her swimming eyes:
She faints, she falls; her breath, her color flies.
Her hair's fair ornaments, the braids that bound,
The net that held them, and the wreath that crown'd,
The veil and diadem flew far away
(The gift of Venus on her bridal day).
Around a train of weeping sisters stands
To raise her sinking with assistant hands.

POPE, Iliad, Book XXII.

While the Trojans thus mourned the loss of their
chief, his body was dragged into the Grecian camp
and flung on the beach beside the ships. Prepara-
tions were then made for funeral services in honor
of Patroclus. The ceremonies occupied three days.
A vast quantity of wood was cut down on Mount
Ida, and carried to the plain, where the logs were
heaped together in an immense pile, a hundred feet

215

square. Upon this they placed the corpse. They
next put upon the pile the fat of several oxen, that
it might the more easily burn, and they slew and
laid upon it the dead man's horses. Achilles cut
off a lock of his own hair and put it in the dead
hero's hand, and each of the other warriors placed
a lock of his hair on the body.

Torches were now applied, and they prayed to
the wind gods, Bo're-as and Zeph'y-rus, to send
strong breezes to fan the flames. All through the
night the pile blazed with a mighty roar, and in the
morning, when it was consumed, the embers were
quenched with wine, and the bones of Patroclus
were gathered up and inclosed in a golden urn.
On the spot where the pyre had stood they raised a
mound of earth as a monument to the hero.

Then there were funeral games at which valuable
prizes, given by Achilles, were competed for, — prizes
of gold and silver, and shining weapons, and vases,
and steeds, and oxen. Diomede won the prize in
the chariot race, for he ran with the immortal horses
he had taken in battle from ^neas. In the wrest-
ling match Ulysses and Ajax Telamon were the
rival champions. Both displayed such strength and
skill that it could not be decided which was the
victor, and so a prize of equal value was given to
each. Ajax Telamon also competed with Diomede

216

in a combat with swords, and both were declared
equal and received each a prize.

In the contest with bow and arrows, Teu'cer and
Me-ri'o-nes were the competitors, and a dove tied to
the top of a mast fixed in the ground, was the
object aimed at. Teucer missed the bird, but he
struck and cut the cord that fastened her to the pole,
and she flew up into the heavens. Then Meriones
shot at her with his arrow. The weapon pierced
the dove beneath the wing and she fell to the earth.
This feat was greatly admired by the spectators,
and Meriones received as his prize ten double-
bladed battle-axes. To Teucer, whose performance
was also much applauded, a prize of ten single-
bladed axes was given.

Thus did Achilles honor his dead friend by fune-
ral rites and funeral games. But his wrath against
Hector still continued, even when he had dragged
the hero's body at his chariot wheels three times
round the tomb of Patroclus. This cruel insult he

repeated at dawn for several days. But Apollo
watched the body.

Apollo, moved

With pity for the hero, kept him free
From soil or stain, though dead, and o'er him held
The golden aegis, lest, when roughly dragged
Along the ground, the body might be torn.

BRYANT, Iliad. Book XXIV.

MERIONKS" WOI\DERFUL SHOT.

(217)

218

But at last the gods, with the exception of Juno,
were moved to pity, and on the twelfth day from the
death of the Trojan hero, Jupiter summoned Thetis
to Olympus, and bade her command Achilles jo
restore Hector's body to his parents. He also sent
Iris with a message to King Priam, telling hirn^to
go to the Greek fleet, bearing with him a suitable
ransom for his sori^ Thetis promptly carried out
the order of Jupiter. She told her son of the com-
mand of the king of heaven, and Achilles answered
that since it was the will of Jove he was ready to
obey.

" Let him who brings the ransom come and take
The body, if it be the will of Jove."

BRYANT, Hiad, Book XXIV.

Joyfully the aged Priam received the message of
Iris, and he made haste to set out for the Grecian
camp. He took with him costly things as ransom, —
ten talents of gold, and precious vases and goblets,
and many beautiful robes of state. These were
carried in a wagon drawn by four mules, which
were driven by the herald Idaeus. The king rode
in his own chariot and he himself was the charioteer.
As they crossed the plain they were met by the god
Mercury, whom Jupiter had sent to conduct them
safely to the tent of the Greek warrior.

2I9

"Haste, guide King Priam to the Grecian fleet,
Yet so that none may see him, and no Greek
Know of his coming, till he stand before
Pelides."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XXIV.

Mercury mounted the chariot of Priam, and tak-
ing in his hands the reins, he drove rapidly towards
the ships. When they came to the trenches the god
cast the guards into a deep slumber, and so the
Trojan king and his companion reached the tent of
the chief of the Myrmidons, unseen by any of the
Greeks. Then Mercury departed, and ascended to
Olympus.

Achilles received his visitors respectfully, and the
aged king, kissing the hero's hand, knelt down be-
fore him and begged him have pity on a father
mourning for his son.

" For his sake, I come

To the Greek fleet, and to redeem his corse
I bring uncounted ransom. O, revere
The gods, Achilles, and be merciful,
Calling to mind thy father! happier he
Than I; for I have borne what no man else
That dwells on earth could bear, — have laid my lips
Upon the hand of him who slew my son."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XXIV.

The Greek chief, moved by this appeal, replied in
kind words and accepted the ransom, after which he

220

caused Priam and Idaeus to sit down and refresh
themselves with food and drink, and invited them to
remain with him for the night He al'so granted a
truce of twelve days for funeral rites in honor of
Hector.

Early in the morning the Trojan king and his
herald arose, and Mercury again descended from
Olympus to conduct them safely from the Grecian
camp. Quickly they yoked their steeds, and mourn-
fully they drove across the plain to the city. Cas-
sandra, who stood watching on the citadel of Per-
gamus, saw them coming, and she cried out in a
loud voice to the people, bidding them go and meet
their dead hero.

" If e'er ye rush'd in crowds, with vast delight,
To hail your hero glorious from the fight,
Now meet him dead, and let your sorrows flow;
Your common triumph, and your common woe."

POPE, Iliad, Book XXIV.

Amid the lamentations of the people the corpse
was borne through the streets to the royal palace,
where it was placed on a magnificent couch. Then
Andromache and Queen Hecuba approached the
body and wept aloud, each in turn uttering words of
grief. Helen, too, came to mourn over Hector, and
she spoke of his constant kindness and tenderness to
her.

221

"O Hector, who wert dearest to my heart
Of all my husband's brothers, — for the wife
Am I of godlike Paris, him whose fleet
Brought me to Troy, — would I had sooner died!
And now the twentieth year is past since first
I came a stranger from my native shore,
Yet have I never heard from thee a word
Of anger or reproach. And when the sons
Of Priam, and his daughters, and the wives
Of Priam's sons, in all their fair array,
Taunted me grievously, or Hecuba
Herself f — for Priam ever was to me
A gracious father, — thou didst take my part
With kindly admonitions, and restrain
Their tongues with soft address and gentle words.
Therefore my heart is grieved, and I bewail
Thee and myself at once, — unhappy me!
For now I have no friend in all wide Troy, —
None to be kind to me: they hate me all."

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XXIV.

With the funeral of Hector the Iliad of Homer
ends. The poet's subject, as has been said, was the
Wrath of Achilles, and the poem properly closes
when the results of the hero's wrath have been re-
lated. The concluding lines of the twenty-fourth,
and last, book of the Iliad describe the funeral cere-
monies of Hector, which were the same as those per-
formed by the Greeks in honor of Patroclus.

Nine days they toiled
To bring the trunks of trees, and when the tenth

222

Arose to light the abodes of men, they brought
The corse of valiant Hector from the town
With many tears, and laid it on the wood
High up, and flung the fire to light the pile.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XXIV.

The fire burned all night, and next day they gath-
ered the bones of Hector and placed them in a
golden urn. Then they buried the urn and erected
a tomb over the grave.

In haste they reared the tomb, with sentries set
On every side, lest all too soon the Greeks
Should come in armor to renew the war.
When now the tomb was built, the multitude
Returned, and in the halls where Priam dwelt,
Nursling of Jove, were feasted royally.
Such was the mighty Hector's burial rite.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book XXIV

XII. DEATH OF ACHILLES — FALL AND DE-
STRUCTION OF TROY.

AFTER the funeral of Hector the war was renewed.
For a time the Trojans remained within the walls of
their city, which were strong enough to resist all the
assaults of the enemy. But some allies having come
to their assistance, they were encouraged to sally
forth again and fight the Greeks in the open plain.
The famous and beautiful Queen Pen-the-si-le'a
came with an army of her Am'a-zons, a nation of fe-
male warriors who dwelt on the shores of the Black
Sea.

Penthesilea there with haughty grace,
Leads to the wars an Amazonian race;
In their right hands a pointed dart they wield;
The left for ward, sustains the lunar shield.

VERGIL,

Brave as she was beautiful, the queen of the Ama-
zons scorned to remain behind the shelter of walls,
and so, leading her valiant band of women out through
the gates, she made a fierce attack on the Greeks.

A terrific battle then began, and many warriors on

223

225

both sides were laid in the dust. Penthesilea her-
self was slain by Achilles. The hero was unwilling
to fight with a woman, and he tried to avoid meet-
ing the queen, but she attacked him so furiously,
first hurling her spear, and then rushing upon him
sword in hand, that he was obliged to strike in self-
defense. With a thrust of his lance he gave her a
mortal wound, and the brave heroine fell, begging
Achilles to permit her body to be taken away by her
own people.

Filled with pity for the unfortunate queen, and
with admiration for her courage and beauty, the hero
granted the request. He even proposed that the
Greeks should perform funeral rites and build a tomb
in her honor. The foul-mouthed Thersites (men-
tioned in a previous chapter as having been chas-
tised by Ulysses) scoffed at this proposal, and ridi-
culed Achilles, saying that he was not so soft-hearted
in his treatment of Hector. Enraged at his insult-
ing words, the chief of the Myrmidons struck him
dead with a mighty blow of his fist.

Now Diomede was a relative of the unfortunate
Thersites, and he demanded that Achilles should
pay to the family of the dead man the fine required
by Greek law for such offenses. Achilles refused,
and he was about to retire again in anger from the
war, and even to return home. But Ulysses

STO. OF TROY — 15

226

persuaded Diomede to withdraw his claim, and so
made peace between the two chiefs.

Another ally, and a very powerful one, now came
to help the Trojans. This was Mem'non, king of
Ethiopia, and nephew of Priam, being the son of
Priam's brother Ti-tho'nus, and Au-ro'ra, goddess of
the dawn. With an army of ten thousand men he
arrived at Troy, and immediately entered the field to
do battle with the Greeks. Again there was great
slaughter of heroes on both sides. Memnon killed
Antilochus, the son of Nestor, and Nestor challenged
Memnon to single combat. But on account of the
great age of the venerable Greek, the Ethiopian war-
rior declined to fight him. Achilles then challenged
Memnon, and the two heroes fought in presence of
both armies. The conflict was long and furious, for
Memnon, too, had a suit of armor made for him by
Vulcan, at the request of his goddess mother Aurora,!
and in strength and courage he was almost equal to
Achilles. Once more, however, fortune favored the
chief of the Myrmidons. The brave Memnon was
slain, and Aurora bore away his body that funeral
rites might be performed.

But the time was now at hand when the great
warrior who so far had conquered in every fight was
to meet his own doom. We have seen that Hector,
as he lay dying in front of the Scaean Gate, warned *

227

Achilles that he himself should fall by the hand of
Paris. This prophecy was fulfilled.

By the death of Memnon the Trojans were much
discouraged. Their powerful allies had been de-
feated, and they were no longer able to hold the field
against the enemy. Soon after the death of Mem-
non there was a great battle, in which the Greeks,
headed by Achilles, drove them back to the city
walls. Through the Scaean Gate, which lay open,
the Trojans rushed in terror and confusion, the
Greeks pressing on close behind. Achilles reached
the gate, and was about to enter, when Paris aimed
at him with an arrow. Guided by Apollo, the
weapon struck the hero in the heel, the only part
in \vhich he could be fatally wounded.

The warrior fell to the ground, whereupon the
Trojan prince hastened up and slew him with his
sword. A terrific struggle took place over the body
of the dead chief, but by mighty efforts Ajax Tela-
mon and Ulysses succeeded in gaining possession of
it, and carrying it to the Grecian camp. Deep was
the grief of the Greeks at the death of their great
champion. Magnificent funeral rites and games
were celebrated in his honor, his goddess mother,
Thetis, presiding over the ceremonies. After the
body had been burned in the customary manner, the
bones were placed in a vase of gold, made by Vul-

228

can, and a vast mound was raised on the shore as a
monument to the hero.

The sacred army of the warlike Greeks
Built up a tomb magnificently vast
Upon a cape of the broad Hellespont,
There to be seen, far off upon the deep,
By those who now are born, or shall be born
In future years.

BRYANT, Odyssey * Book XXIV.

The armor of Achilles was offered as a reward
for the warrior who had fought most bravely in res-
cuing the body, and who had done most harm to
the Trojans. To decide the question which of the
Greek chiefs deserved this honor, it was resolved to
take the votes of the Trojan prisoners then in the
Greek camp, who had witnessed the struggle at the
Scaean Gate. The majority of votes were in favor
of Ulysses, and to him, therefore, the splendid
shield and corselet and helmet and greaves, made
by Vulcan for the son of Thetis, were given. Ajax
was so disappointed and grieved at not having ob-
tained the coveted prize that he became insane,
and in his frenzy he slew himself with his own
sword.

The Greeks had now lost their two most power-
ful warriors, and they began to think that it was
impossible for them to take Troy by force, and that

229

they must try other methods. So the wise Ulysses
then set his brain to work to devise some stratagem
by which the city might be taken. The first thing
he did was to capture the Trojan prince and sooth-
sayer, Helenus, who had gone out from the city to
offer sacrifices in the temple of Apollo on Mount
Ida. Calchas, the Greek soothsayer, had said that
Helenus was the only mortal who knew by what
means Troy could be conquered, and so Ulysses
made him prisoner and threatened him with death
if he did not tell.

Then Helenus told the Ithacan chief that before
Troy could be taken three things must be done.
First, he said, the Greeks must get the arrows of
Hercules; next, they must carry away the sacred
Palladium, for as long as it remained within the
walls the city was safe ; and, lastly, they must have
the help of the son of Achilles.

Now the arrows of Hercules could be obtained
only from Phil-oc-te'tes, a Greek chief who received
them from Hercules himself. These arrows had
been dipped in the blood of the hydra, a monster
Hercules had slain. This made them poisonous,
so that wounds inflicted by them were fatal. Phil-
octetes was with his countrymen at Aulis when
they set sail for Troy, but he was bitten on the foot
by a serpent, and the smell of the injured part

230

being so offensive that his comrades could not en-
dure it, he had been left behind, on the advice of
Ulysses.

Far in an island, suffering grievous pangs, —
The hallowed isle of Lemnos. There the Greeks
Left him, in torture from a venomed wound
Made by a serpent's fangs. He lay and pined.

BRYANT, Iliad, Book II.

Ulysses now resolved to get Philoctetes to come
to Troy, if he were still alive, and so, taking Dio-
mede with him, he set out for Lemnos. They
found him at the cave where they had left him ten
years before. The wound was not yet healed, and
he had suffered much, having had no means of exist-
ence except game which he had to procure himself.

Exposed to the inclement skies,

Deserted and forlorn he lies;

No friend or fellow-mourner there,

To soothe his sorrows and divide his care.

SOPHOCLES (Francklin's tr.)

Still enraged at their former ill-treatment of him,
Philoctetes at first refused the request of the two
chiefs. Their mission would have failed had not
Hercules appeared to him in a dream and advised
him to go to Troy, telling him that his wound
would be healed by the famous Machaon. He
then gladly went with Ulysses and Diomede. On
his arrival at the Grecian camp the great physician

231

cured him by casting him into a deep sleep and
cutting away the diseased flesh from the injured
foot He awoke in perfect health and strength, and
at once joined his countrymen in the war, resolved
to make good use of his fatal arrows.

An opportunity soon offered, for the Trojans now
began again to venture out in the open plain, think-
ing that the Greeks were not so dangerous since
the terrible Achilles was no longer at their head.
Their new general in chief was Paris, and Philoc-
tetes, happening to encounter him in battle, aimed
at him with one of his poisoned arrows and pierced
him through the shoulder. Paris was immediately
carried back to the city, suffering intense pain, for
the poison quickly began to take effect. Then at
last the thoughts of Paris turned to the fair CEnone,
whom, twenty years before, he had left in sorrow
and loneliness on Mount Ida. He remembered
her words, that he would one day have recourse to
her for help. Hoping, therefore, that she might
take pity on him, and perhaps cure him of his
wound, for she had been instructed in medicine by
Apollo, he ordered his attendants to carry him to
where she still dwelt on the slopes of Ida. CEnone
had not forgotten his cruel desertion of her, and
so she refused to use her skill in his behalf. But
when she heard that he was dead, she came down

232

to Troy, and in her grief threw herself on his funeral
pyre, and perished by his side.

She rose, and slowly down,
By 'the long torrent's ever-deepen'd roar,
Paced, following, as in trance, the silent cry.

Then moving quickly forward till the heat

Smote on her brow, she lifted up a voice

Of shrill command, ''Who burns upon the pyre?"

Whereon their oldest and their boldest said,

" He whom thou wouldst not heal ! " and all at once

The morning light of happy marriage broke

Thro' all the clouded years of widowhood,

And muffling up her comely head, and crying

" Husband! " she leapt upon the funeral pile,

And mixt herself with him and past in fire.

TENNYSON, Death of CEnone.

Meanwhile the Ithacan king, not forgetting the
other conditions mentioned by Helenas, set sail for
the island of Scyros, where the son of Achilles
resided. His name was Pyr'rhus, or Ne-op-tore-mus,
and, as he was a brave youth, he rejoiced at having
an opportunity of fighting the Trojans, by whom
his father had been killed. Ulysses gave him his
father's armor, and by many heroic deeds in the war
he proved that he was worthy to wear it.

The Palladium was now to be carried off from
Troy, and this was a task by no means easy to per-

233

form. But the man of many arts succeeded in
accomplishing it. Putting on the garments of a
beggar, and scourging his body so as to leave marks,
he went to the Scaean Gate, and entreated the
guards to admit him. He told them that he was a
Greek slave, and that he wished to escape from his
master who had cruelly ill-used him. The guards,
believing his story, permitted him to enter the city.

"He had given himself

Unseemly stripes, and o'er his shoulders flung
Vile garments like a slave's, and entered thus
The enemy's town, and walked its spacious streets.
Another man he seemed in that disguise. —
A beggar, though when at the Achaian fleet
So different was the semblance that he wore.
He entered Ilium thus transformed, and none
Knew who it was that passed."

BRYANT, Odyssey, Book IV.

But Helen, happening to pass by at a place near
the king's palace, where the pretended beggar sat
down to rest, immediately recognized him. He
made a sign to her to keep silent, thinking that
Paris being now dead, Helen perhaps was friendly
to the Greeks, and wished them to take Troy, so
that she might return to her own country. In this
Ulysses was right, as very soon appeared, and as
Helen declared years afterwards, when telling to his

234

own son, Telemachus, the story of the Ithacan king's
adventure within the walls of Troy.

" For I already longed
For my old home, and deeply I deplored
The evil fate that Venus brought on me,
Who led me thither from my own dear land."

BRYANT, Odyssey. Book IV.

Helen passed on without uttering a word, but in
the evening she sent one of her maids to bring
Ulysses secretly to her apartment in the palace.
There she expressed her joy at meeting her country-
man, and after hospitably entertaining him, she
listened with pleasure to his plans. She then told
him of the plans of the Trojans, and where and how
the Palladium was to be got. Having thus obtained
the information he desired, Ulysses contrived to
make his way back unobserved to the Greek camp.
In a few days he returned, accompanied by Dio-
mede. They got into the city by scaling the walls,
and Diomede, climbing on the shoulders of Ulysses,
entered the citadel. Here, by following the direc-
tions given by Helen, he found the famous statue,
and he and his companion carried it off to their
friends at the ships, who rejoiced at the success of
the undertaking.

Troy was now no longer under the protection of
Pallas Minerva. Though that goddess helped the

235

Greeks in their battles, she was obliged to save the
city itself while it contained her sacred statue. But
the Palladium being no longer within the walls, she
was now at liberty to help the Greeks to capture
and destroy the city. She therefore put into the
mind of Ulysses the idea of the wooden horse, and
she instructed the Greek chief E-pe'us how to make
it. This horse was of vast size, large enough to
contain about a hundred men, for it was hollow
within.

By Minerva's aid, a fabric reared,

Which like a steed of monstrous height appeared;

The sides were flanked with pine.

VERGIL.

When it was finished, provisions were put into it.
Then Ulysses, and Pyrrhus, and Menelaus, and
Epeus, and a number of other Greek warriors,
mounted into it by means of a ladder, after which
the opening was fastened by strong bolts.

In the hollow side,

Selected numbers of their soldiers hide;
With inward arms the dire machine they load;
And iron bowels stuff the dark abode.

VERGIL.

Meanwhile the other Greeks broke up their camp,
and all going aboard their ships, they set sail, as if
they had given up the siege, and were about to re-
turn to Greece. But they went no farther than

230

the island of Ten'e-dos, about three miles from the
shore.

In sight of Troy lies Tenedos, an isle
(While Fortune did on Priam's empire smile)
Renowned for wealth; but since, a faithless bay,
Where ships exposed to wind and weather lay.
There was their fleet concealed.

VERGIL.

As soon as the Trojans saw from their walls that
the tents of the enemy were removed, and that
their fleet had departed, they were filled with sur-
prise and delight. They believed that the Greeks
had given up the war, and so, throwing open their
gates, they rushed out in multitudes upon the plain,
King Priam riding in his chariot at their head.

The Trojans, cooped within their walls so long,
Unbar their gates, and issue in a throng
Like swarming bees, and with delight survey
The camp deserted, where the Grecians lay.

VERGIL.

But soon their attention was attracted by the huge
wooden horse, and they gathered about it, astonished
at its great size, and wondering what it meant.
Some thought that it meant evil to Troy, and ad-
vised that it should be burned ; others proposed that
it should be hauled into the city and placed within
the citadel. La-oc'o-on, one of Priam's sons, who
was also a priest of Apollo, cried out in a loud voice,

237

warning the king and people against doing this.
" Are you so foolish," he exclaimed, " as to suppose
that the enemy are gone ? Put no faith in this
horse. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when
offering gifts."

' This hollow fabric either must enclose
Within its blind recess, our secret foes;
Or 'tis an engine raised above the town
To overlook the walls, and then to batter down.
Somewhat is sure designed by fraud or force:
Trust not their presents, nor admit the horse."

VERGIL.

Thus saying, Laocoon hurled his spear against
the side of the horse, and it sent forth a hollow
sound like a deep groan. But at this moment a
stranger, having the appearance of a Greek, was
brought before the king. Some Trojan shepherds,
finding him loitering on the river bank, had made
him prisoner. Being asked who he was and why
he was there, he told an artful story. His name, he
said, was Si'non, and he was a Greek. His coun-
trymen, having decided to give up the war, resolved
to offer one of themselves as a sacrifice to the gods,
that they might get fair winds to return home, and
they selected him to be the victim. To escape that
terrible fate he concealed himself among the reeds
by the side of the Scamander until the fleet de-

parted. This was Sinon's account of himself. The
Trojans believed it, and the prisoner was set free.
But the king asked him to tell them about the
wooden horse, — why it had been made, and left
there upon the plain.

Then Sinon told another false story. He said that
the horse was a peace offering to Minerva, who had
been angry because the Palladium was taken from
Troy. For that insult to her, the goddess com-
manded the Greeks to return to their own country,
and Calchas ordered them to build the horse as an
atonement for their crime. He also told them to
make it so large that the Trojans might not be able
to drag it within their gates ; for if it were brought
into the city, it would be a protection to Troy, but
if any harm were done to it, ruin would come on the
kingdom of Priam.

"We raised and dedicate this wondrous frame,
So lofty, lest through your forbidden gates
It pass, and intercept our better fates;
For, once admitted there, our hopes are lost;
And Troy may then a new Palladium boast:
For so religion and the gods ordain,
That, if you violate with hands profane
Minerva's gift, your town in flames shall burn;
(Which omen, O ye gods, on Graecia turn!)
But if it climb, with your assisting hands,
The Trojan walls, and in the city stands;

239

Then Troy shall Argos and Mycenae burn,
And the reverse of fate on us return."

VERGIL.

King Priam and the Trojans believed this story
too, and a terrible thing which just then happened
made them believe it all the more. After Laocoon
had hurled his spear at the wooden horse, he and
his two sons went to offer sacrifice to the gods at an
altar erected on the beach. While they were thus
engaged, two enormous serpents, darting out from
the sea, glided up to the altar, seized the priest and
his sons, and crushed all three to death in their tre-
mendous coils.

First around the tender boys they wind,

Then with their sharpened fangs their limbs and bodies grind.

The wretched father, running to their aid

With pious haste, but vain, they next invade:

Twice round his waist their winding volumes rolled;

And twice about his gasping throat they fold.

The priest thus doubly choked — their crests divide,

And towering o'er his head in triumph ride.

VERGIL.

The terrified Trojans regarded this awful event
as a punishment sent by the gods upon Laocoon for
insulting Minerva by casting his spear at her gift,
which they now believed the horse to be. They
therefore resolved to take the huge figure into the
city in spite of the advice of Cassandra, who also

240

warned them that it woul4 bring ruin upon Troy.
And so they made a great breach in the walls, for
none of their gates were large enough to admit the
vast image, and fastening strong ropes to its feet
they dragged it into the citadel. Then they deco-
rated the temples with garlands of green boughs,
and spent the remainder of the day in festivity and
rejoicing.

But in the dead of the night, when they were all
sunk in deep repose, the treacherous Sinon drew the
bolts from the trapdoor in the side of the wooden
horse, and out came the Greek warriors, rejoicing
at the success of their stratagem.

Sinon next hurried down to the beach, and there
kindled a fire as a signal to his countrymen on the
ships. They knew what it meant, for it was part of
the plan that had been agreed on. Quickly plying
their oars, they soon reached the shore, and, march-
ing across the plain, the Greeks poured in thousands
into the streets, through the breach that had been
made in the walls.

The Trojans, startled from their sleep by the
noise, understood at once what had happened.
Hastily they rushed to arms, and, led and encour-
aged by /Eneas and other chiefs, they fought val-
iantly to drive out the enemy, but all their valor was
in vain. Troy was at last taken. The victorious

241

Greeks swept through the city, dealing death and
destruction around them. King Priam was slain
by Pyrrhus, at the foot of the altar in one of the
temples, to which he fled for safety. His son Dei-
phobus, who had married Helen after the death of
Paris, was slain by Menelaus. The Spartan king,
believing that what his wife had done had been de-
creed by the Fates and the will of the gods, par-
doned her and took her with him to his ships.
The women of the Trojan royal family were carried
off as slaves.

^Eneas, with his father Anchises and his son
I-u'lus, escaped from the city, and sailed from Troas
with a fleet and a number of warlike followers.
After many adventures by sea and land, which the
Roman poet, Ver'gil, tells about in his poem called
the ^-ne'id, he reached Italy. There he estab-
lished a settlement, and his descendants, it is said,
were the founders of Rome.

Having completed their work of destruction and
carried off to their ships all the riches of Troy, the
Greeks set fire to the city, and in a few hours
nothing remained but a mass of smouldering ruins.
So ended the famous Trojan War. The prophecy
of the soothsayer, ^Esacus, at the birth of Paris, was
fulfilled. Paris had brought destruction upon his
family and country.

STO. OF TROY — l6

(242)

XIII. THE GREEK CHIEFS AFTER THE WAR.

GREAT was the rejoicing of the Greeks at having
at last brought the long and terrible war to a suc-
cessful end. They had lost heavily in men and
treasure, but they had defeated and destroyed the
enemy, and taken possession of all the wealth of
the rich city of Troy. They now looked forward
with pleasure to the prospect of a safe return to their
homes and families, which they had not seen for ten
years. But for some of them, as we shall see, this
happy hope was never realized.

The most unfortunate of them all was Agamem-
non. He reached his kingdom and city of Mycenae
in safety, but he was there cruelly murdered by
^-gis'thus, a relative of his, whom his wife, Clytem-
nestra, had married during his absence.

yEgisthus planned a snare.
He chose among the people twenty men,
The bravest, whom he stationed out of sight,
And gave command that others should prepare
A banquet. Then with chariots and with steeds,
And with a deadly purpose in his heart,
243

244

He went, and, meeting Agamemnon, bade
The shepherd of the people to the feast,
And slew him at the board.

B RYANT, Odyssey, Book IV.

The Trojan princess, Cassandra, who accompanied
Agamemnon to Mycenae, had warned him of his
doom, but as usual her words were disregarded, and
she herself was slain at the same time as the ill-fated
king. Agamemnon had a son named O-res'tes, who
was then but a boy, and y£gisthus intended to kill
him also, but the youth's sister, E-lec'tra, contrived
to have him sent secretly to the court of his uncle,
Stro'phi-us, king of Pho'cis. Here he was affec-
tionately received and tenderly cared for. His con-
stant companion was his cousin, Pyl'a-des, the son of
Strophius, and so strong was their friendship for
each other that it became famous in song and story.

When Orestes reached the years of manhood, he
resolved to punish the murderers of his father.
With this object he went to Mycenae, taking with
him his friend and companion, Pylades ; and having
obtained admission to the royal palace, he slew
/Egisthus.

Seven years in rich Mycenae he bore rule,
And on the eighth, to his destruction, came
The nobly-born Orestes, just returned
From Athens, and cut off that man of blood,

245

The crafty wretch ^Egisthus, by whose hand
Fell his illustrious father.

BRYANT, Odyssey, Book III.

As Clytemnestra had taken part in the murder of
Agamemnon, Orestes slew her also. This killing of
his own mother provoked the anger of the gods, and
Orestes was commanded to go to the oracle of
Apollo, at Delphi, to learn there what punishment
he should suffer for his crime. He obeyed, and the
oracle told him that he must bring to Greece a
statue of Diana which was then in the temple of
that goddess in Taurica.

This was a dangerous enterprise, for the king of
Taurica had a practice of sacrificing in that very
temple any foreigners found in his country. Never-
theless Orestes undertook the task. He went to
Taurica, accompanied, as usual, by his ever faithful
friend Pylades. No sooner had they arrived than
they were seized and carried before the king, and
condemned to be sacrificed. But Orestes discov-
ered, to his surprise and delight, that the priestess of
the temple was his own sister, Iphigenia, who, as
will be remembered, had been carried away many
years before by Diana herself, when about to be sac-
rificed by the Greeks at Aulis. By the help of
Iphigenia, the two friends not only escaped from
Taurica, but carried off the statue, and Iphigenia

246

returned with them to Greece. Orestes succeeded
to the throne of his father, and as king of Mycenae
he lived and reigned many years in prosperity and
happiness.

Menelaus returned to his kingdom of Sparta with
his wife, Helen, but he had many wanderings and
adventures. He was detained by unfavorable winds
for some time on an island near the coast of Egypt,
and he might never have reached home but for the
advice he received from Pro'teus, one of the sea
gods. It was no easy matter to get advice from Pro-
teus. It was very difficult to find him, and still
more difficult to get him to answer questions, for he
had a habit of changing himself rapidly into many
different forms, and so escaping from those who
came to consult him. But Menelaus had the good
fortune of meeting a water nymph named I-do'the-a,
a daughter of Proteus, and she directed him what to
do. There was a certain cave near the seaside, to
which the Old Man of the Sea, as Proteus was some-
times called, came every day at noon to sleep.
Idothea told Menelaus he would find the old man
there, and that he must seize him quickly in hih
arms, and hold him fast in spite of all his changes,
until he took the shape in which he had first ap-
peared. Then he would answer any question put to
him.

247

" As soon

As ye behold him stretched at length, exert
Your utmost strength to hold him there, although
He strive and struggle to escape your hands;
For he will try all stratagems, and take
The form of every reptile on the earth,
And turn to water and to raging flame, —
Yet hold him firmly still, and all the more
Make fast the bands. When he again shall take
The form in which thou sawest him asleep,
Desist from force, and loose the bands that held
The ancient prophet. Ask of him what god
Afflicts thee thus, and by what means to cross
The fishy deep and find thy home again."

BRYANT, Odyssey, Book IV.

Menelaus followed these directions, taking with
him three of his bravest warriors, as Idothea also
advised. They found Proteus, and rushing upon
him, they seized and held him firmly in their grip,
though he tried hard to escape.

First he took the shape
Of a maned lion, of a serpent next,
Then of a panther, then of a huge boar,
Then turned to flowing water, then became
A tall tree full of leaves. With resolute hearts
We held him fast, until the aged seer
Was wearied out, in spite of all his wiles.

BRYANT, Odyssey, Book IV.

The Old Man of the Sea then told Menelaus that
he must go to Egypt, to the river there, and offer

248

sacrifices to the gods, and that they would send him
forth upon his voyage home, which would be speedy
and safe. The Greek chief did as Proteus directed,
and the prophecy was fulfilled. He soon reached his
Spartan home, where, with his famous queen, Helen,
he spent the remainder of his life in happiness.

Idomeneus, the warrior king of Crete, reached
his island kingdom in safety.

Idomeneus brought also back to Crete
All his companions who survived the war;
The sea took none of them.

BRYANT, Odyssey, Book III.

But a sad event occurred on his arrival in the
island. During his voyage home there was a terri-
ble storm, and Idomeneus much feared that his fleet
might be destroyed. He then made a vow that if
his ships escaped, he would sacrifice to Neptune the
first living creature he met on landing. Unfortu-
nately this happened to be his own son, who came
down to the shore to receive and welcome his father.
Idomeneus, though overwhelmed with grief, never-
theless fulfilled his promise to the god, but the
Cre'tans were so incensed at the inhuman act that
they banished him from the island.

A flying rumor had been spread
That fierce Idomeneus from Crete was fled,
Expelled and exiled.

VERGIL.

249

Thus driven from his own country Idomeneus
sailed westward until he came to the southern coast
of Italy, where he founded the city and colony of
Sal-len'tia, and lived to an extreme old age.

The fate of Ajax Oileus, king of Locris, was al-
most as terrible as that of Agamemnon. On the
night of the destruction of Troy he had cruelly ill-
treated the princess Cassandra, whom he dragged
from the altar of the temple of Minerva, to which
she had fled for refuge. Even the Greeks them-
selves were shocked at the crime, and they threat-
ened to punish him for it. He was, however, al-
lowed to set sail for Greece. But Minerva borrowed
from Jupiter his flaming thunderbolts, and, obtain-
ing permission from Neptune, she raised a furious
tempest, which destroyed the Locrian king's ship.
He himself swam to a rock, and as he sat there he
defiantly cried out that he was safe in spite of all the
gods. This insult to the immortals brought upon
him the wrath of Neptune, who, smiting the rock
with his awful trident, hurled the impious Ajax into
the depths of the sea.

He had said

That he, in spite of all the gods, would come
Safe from those mountain waves. When Neptune heard
The boaster's challenge, instantly he laid
His strong hand on the trident, smote the rock

250

And cleft it to the base. Part stood erect,
Part fell into the deep. There Ajax sat,
And felt the shock, and with the falling mass
Was carried headlong to the billowy depths
Below, and drank the brine and perished there.

BRYANT. Odyssey^ Book IV.

The venerable Nestor reached his home without
misfortune or accident. He ended his days in
peace in his kingdom of Pylos, though he had to
mourn the loss of his brave son'Antilochus, whom
Memnon had slain.

Diomede also reached his kingdom of y^Etolia,
but he found that in his absence his home had been
seized by a stranger. This was a punishment sent
upon him by Venus, whom, as we have seen, he had
wounded in the hand at the siege of Troy.

" Mad as I was, when I, with mortal arms,
Presumed against immortal powers to move,
And violate with wounds the queen of love."

VERGIL.

Quitting his kingdom and country, the warrior
wandered to other lands. He finally settled in the
south of Italy, where he built a city, which he called
Ar-gyr'i-pa, and married the daughter of Dau'nus,
the king of the country.

Great Diomede has compassed round with walls
The city, which Argyripa he calls,
From his own Argos named.

VERGIL.

251

Neoptolemus, or Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles,
returned to Phthia, where his grandfather, Peleus,
still lived and reigned. He took with him Andro-
mache and Helenus, the only one of Priam's sons
who lived after the destruction of Troy. Pyrrhus
died a few years after his return, and Andromache
became the wife of Helenus. The Trojan prince
soon gained the friendship of Peleus, who gave him
a kingdom in E-pi'rus to rule over, and here he and
Andromache spent the remainder of their lives
together.

But no one of all the warrior chiefs of Greece who
fought at Troy met with so many dangers in return-
ing to his native land as the famous Ulysses. Ten
year elapsed after the end of the great war before
he reached his Ithacan home. There he was wel-
comed by his devoted wife, Penelope, and his
affectionate son, Telemachus, who had passed all
those years in loving remembrance of him and
anxious hope of his coming. His wonderful ad-
ventures during his many wanderings are described
in Homer's Odyssey. An account of them would
fill another book like this Story of Troy.

PERSONS AND PLACES MENTIONED.

Ac' a mas

Au ro'ra

Dis cor' di a

Iph i ge nf a

A cha'ians

Au torn' e don

Do' Ion

I' ris

(yans)

Bae'-ehus

E e" ti on

I' sus

A chil'leg

Ba' li uu

E'gypt

Ith' a ca

M ge'an

Bo' re as

E lee' tra

I u' lus

M gis'thus

Bri'a reus (rus)

E pe' us

Ju' no

M ne'as

Bri se' is

Eph i al' te§

Ju' pi ter

M ne'id

•Cal'-ehas

E pf rus

La€h' e sis

Ms' a cus

-Cal If o pe

E'ris

La er' te§

^Es €u la' pi us

Oa'ri a

E thi o' pi a

La oe' o on

^Et'na

•Cas san'dra

Eu phor' bus

La od a mi a

M to' li a

-Cas ta' li a

Eu ryl' a te§

La od' i ge

Ag a mem' non

Ce lu'o ne§

Eu ryn' o me

La od' o cus

A ge'nor

•Ghf ron

Gan' y mede

La om' e don

A'jax

•Chry se' is

Glau' cus

La to' na

Am'a zons •

•Chry'seg

Ha' de§

Le' da

An drom'a €he

€lo' tho

Hec' tor

Lem' nos

An te" nor

•Clyt eni nes' tra

Hec' u ba

LeY na

An til'o €hus

-Co'on

Hel' e nus

Les' bos

An'ti phus

Oran'a e

Hel' las

L6' cris

Aph ro df te

-Cres'si da

Her' €U le-5

Lye' i a

A pol' lo

-Cre tans

' Her' mes.

Ly€ o me' de§

Ar €he la' us

Cy'clops

He sf o ne

Lyr nes' sus

Ar chil'o €hus

Dar da nelles'

Ho' mer

Ma cha' on

Ar'gives

Dar da' ni a

I dae' us

Me' le§

Ar'gos

Dar' da nus

I dom' e neus

Mel e sig' e ne§

Ar gyr' i pa

Dau' nus

(nus)

Mem' non

As ty'a nax

De iph' o bus-

I do' the a

Men e la' us

A'treus (trus)

Del' phi

11' i on

Mer' cu ry

A tri' des

Di an' a

11' i um

Me rf o ne§

At' ro pos

Df o mede

I' lus

MI n6r' va

Au' lis

Df o ne

I phid' a mas

My ge" nae

253

254

Myr' mi dons

Pe leus (lus)

PyV rhus

Tau' ri €a

Mys' i a

Pe' li on

Pyth' i a

Tel' a mon

Ne op tol' e mus

Pel o pon ne' sus

Rhe' sus

Te lem' a chus

Nep' tune

Pe' lops

Sal' a mis

Tel' e phus

Ne re' i de§

Pe nel' of pe

Sal len' tia

Ten' e dos

Ne' re us

Pen the si le' a

Sam' o thrace

Teu' cer

Nes' tor

Per' ga mus

Sar pe' don

Teu' cri a

O dys' seus

Pher' e clus

S^a man' der

Teu thra/ ni a

(sus)

Phil o« te' te§

S«a man' dri us

The' be

OE no' ne

Pho" §is

Sgy' ros

Ther si' teg

O i' leus (lus)

Phoe' bus

SiQ' i ly

Thes' sa ly

O lym' pus

Phoe' nix

Sim' o is

The' tis

O res' tes

Phryg' i a

Sf non

Ti tho' nus

O' tus

Phthi' a

Smin' theus

Tro' as

Pae' on

Phyl' a ce

(thus)

Tro' i lus

Pal a me' de§

Plu' to

Smyr' na

Ty' deus (dus)

Pal la' di um

Po dar' ce§

So' -eus

Ty df de§

Pal' las

Po lyd' a mas

Som' nus

Tyn' da rus

Pan' da rus

Pol y do' rus

Spar' ta

U lys' se§

Par nas' sus

Prf am

Sten' tor

Ve' nus

Par' is

Pro tes i la' us

Sthen' e lus

V6r' gil

Par' the non

Pro' teus (tus)

Stro' phi us

var «an

Pa tro' clus

Pyl' a de§

Tal thyb' i us

Xan' thus

Fed' a sus

Py'los

Tar' ta rus

Zeph' y rus

>

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