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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1973-h.zip b/1973-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4efb3ab --- /dev/null +++ b/1973-h.zip diff --git a/1973-h/1973-h.htm b/1973-h/1973-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d0b400 --- /dev/null +++ b/1973-h/1973-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3070 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>Tales of Troy: Ulysses the Sacker of Cities</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4 { + text-align: left; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h2> +<a href="#startoftext">Tales of Troy: Ulysses the Sacker of Cities, by Andrew Lang</a> +</h2> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Tales of Troy: Ulysses the Sacker of Cities, +by Andrew Lang + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Tales of Troy: Ulysses the Sacker of Cities + + +Author: Andrew Lang + +Release Date: April 29, 2005 [eBook #1973] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF TROY: ULYSSES THE SACKER +OF CITIES*** +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>Transcribed from the 1912 Longmans, Green, and Co. edition by David +Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk</p> +<h1>TALES OF TROY: ULYSSES THE SACKER OF CITIES<br /> +by Andrew Lang</h1> +<p>Contents:</p> +<p>The Boyhood and Parents of Ulysses<br /> +How People Lived in the Time of Ulysses<br /> +The Wooing of Helen of the Fair Hands<br /> +The Stealing of Helen<br /> +Trojan Victories<br /> +Battle at the Ships<br /> +The Slaying and Avenging of Patroclus<br /> +The Cruelty of Achilles, and the Ransoming of Hector<br /> +How Ulysses Stole the Luck of Troy<br /> +The Battles with the Amazons and Memnon—the Death of Achilles<br /> +Ulysses Sails to seek the Son of Achilles.—The Valour of Eurypylus<br /> +The Slaying of Paris<br /> +How Ulysses Invented the Device of the Horse of Tree<br /> +The End of Troy and the Saving of Helen</p> +<h2>THE BOYHOOD AND PARENTS OF ULYSSES</h2> +<p>Long ago, in a little island called Ithaca, on the west coast of +Greece, there lived a king named Laertes. His kingdom was small +and mountainous. People used to say that Ithaca “lay like +a shield upon the sea,” which sounds as if it were a flat country. +But in those times shields were very large, and rose at the middle into +two peaks with a hollow between them, so that Ithaca, seen far off in +the sea, with her two chief mountain peaks, and a cloven valley between +them, looked exactly like a shield. The country was so rough that +men kept no horses, for, at that time, people drove, standing up in +little light chariots with two horses; they never rode, and there was +no cavalry in battle: men fought from chariots. When Ulysses, +the son of Laertes, King of Ithaca grew up, he never fought from a chariot, +for he had none, but always on foot.</p> +<p>If there were no horses in Ithaca, there was plenty of cattle. +The father of Ulysses had flocks of sheep, and herds of swine, and wild +goats, deer, and hares lived in the hills and in the plains. The +sea was full of fish of many sorts, which men caught with nets, and +with rod and line and hook.</p> +<p>Thus Ithaca was a good island to live in. The summer was long, +and there was hardly any winter; only a few cold weeks, and then the +swallows came back, and the plains were like a garden, all covered with +wild flowers—violets, lilies, narcissus, and roses. With +the blue sky and the blue sea, the island was beautiful. White +temples stood on the shores; and the Nymphs, a sort of fairies, had +their little shrines built of stone, with wild rose-bushes hanging over +them.</p> +<p>Other islands lay within sight, crowned with mountains, stretching +away, one behind the other, into the sunset. Ulysses in the course +of his life saw many rich countries, and great cities of men, but, wherever +he was, his heart was always in the little isle of Ithaca, where he +had learned how to row, and how to sail a boat, and how to shoot with +bow and arrow, and to hunt boars and stags, and manage his hounds.</p> +<p>The mother of Ulysses was called Anticleia: she was the daughter +of King Autolycus, who lived near Parnassus, a mountain on the mainland. +This King Autolycus was the most cunning of men. He was a Master +Thief, and could steal a man’s pillow from under his head, but +he does not seem to have been thought worse of for this. The Greeks +had a God of Thieves, named Hermes, whom Autolycus worshipped, and people +thought more good of his cunning tricks than harm of his dishonesty. +Perhaps these tricks of his were only practised for amusement; however +that may be, Ulysses became as artful as his grandfather; he was both +the bravest and the most cunning of men, but Ulysses never stole things, +except once, as we shall hear, from the enemy in time of war. +He showed his cunning in stratagems of war, and in many strange escapes +from giants and man-eaters.</p> +<p>Soon after Ulysses was born, his grandfather came to see his mother +and father in Ithaca. He was sitting at supper when the nurse +of Ulysses, whose name was Eurycleia, brought in the baby, and set him +on the knees of Autolycus, saying, “Find a name for your grandson, +for he is a child of many prayers.”</p> +<p>“I am very angry with many men and women in the world,” +said Autolycus, “so let the child’s name be <i>A Man of +Wrath</i>,” which, in Greek, was Odysseus. So the child +was called Odysseus by his own people, but the name was changed into +Ulysses, and we shall call him Ulysses.</p> +<p>We do not know much about Ulysses when he was a little boy, except +that he used to run about the garden with his father, asking questions, +and begging that he might have fruit trees “for his very own.” +He was a great pet, for his parents had no other son, so his father +gave him thirteen pear trees, and forty fig trees, and promised him +fifty rows of vines, all covered with grapes, which he could eat when +he liked, without asking leave of the gardener. So he was not +tempted to steal fruit, like his grandfather.</p> +<p>When Autolycus gave Ulysses his name, he said that he must come to +stay with him, when he was a big boy, and he would get splendid presents. +Ulysses was told about this, so, when he was a tall lad, he crossed +the sea and drove in his chariot to the old man’s house on Mount +Parnassus. Everybody welcomed him, and next day his uncles and +cousins and he went out to hunt a fierce wild boar, early in the morning. +Probably Ulysses took his own dog, named Argos, the best of hounds, +of which we shall hear again, long afterwards, for the dog lived to +be very old. Soon the hounds came on the scent of a wild boar, +and after them the men went, with spears in their hands, and Ulysses +ran foremost, for he was already the swiftest runner in Greece.</p> +<p>He came on a great boar lying in a tangled thicket of boughs and +bracken, a dark place where the sun never shone, nor could the rain +pierce through. Then the noise of the men’s shouts and the +barking of the dogs awakened the boar, and up he sprang, bristling all +over his back, and with fire shining from his eyes. In rushed +Ulysses first of all, with his spear raised to strike, but the boar +was too quick for him, and ran in, and drove his sharp tusk sideways, +ripping up the thigh of Ulysses. But the boar’s tusk missed +the bone, and Ulysses sent his sharp spear into the beast’s right +shoulder, and the spear went clean through, and the boar fell dead, +with a loud cry. The uncles of Ulysses bound up his wound carefully, +and sang a magical song over it, as the French soldiers wanted to do +to Joan of Arc when the arrow pierced her shoulder at the siege of Orleans. +Then the blood ceased to flow, and soon Ulysses was quite healed of +his wound. They thought that he would be a good warrior, and gave +him splendid presents, and when he went home again he told all that +had happened to his father and mother, and his nurse, Eurycleia. +But there was always a long white mark or scar above his left knee, +and about that scar we shall hear again, many years afterwards.</p> +<h2>HOW PEOPLE LIVED IN THE TIME OF ULYSSES</h2> +<p>When Ulysses was a young man he wished to marry a princess of his +own rank. Now there were at that time many kings in Greece, and +you must be told how they lived. Each king had his own little +kingdom, with his chief town, walled with huge walls of enormous stone. +Many of these walls are still standing, though the grass has grown over +the ruins of most of them, and in later years, men believed that those +walls must have been built by giants, the stones are so enormous. +Each king had nobles under him, rich men, and all had their palaces, +each with its courtyard, and its long hall, where the fire burned in +the midst, and the King and Queen sat beside it on high thrones, between +the four chief carved pillars that held up the roof. The thrones +were made of cedar wood and ivory, inlaid with gold, and there were +many other chairs and small tables for guests, and the walls and doors +were covered with bronze plates, and gold and silver, and sheets of +blue glass. Sometimes they were painted with pictures of bull +hunts, and a few of these pictures may still be seen. At night +torches were lit, and placed in the hands of golden figures of boys, +but all the smoke of fire and torches escaped by a hole in the roof, +and made the ceiling black. On the walls hung swords and spears +and helmets and shields, which needed to be often cleaned from the stains +of the smoke. The minstrel or poet sat beside the King and Queen, +and, after supper he struck his harp, and sang stories of old wars. +At night the King and Queen slept in their own place, and the women +in their own rooms; the princesses had their chambers upstairs, and +the young princes had each his room built separate in the courtyard.</p> +<p>There were bath rooms with polished baths, where guests were taken +when they arrived dirty from a journey. The guests lay at night +on beds in the portico, for the climate was warm. There were plenty +of servants, who were usually slaves taken in war, but they were very +kindly treated, and were friendly with their masters. No coined +money was used; people paid for things in cattle, or in weighed pieces +of gold. Rich men had plenty of gold cups, and gold-hilted swords, +and bracelets, and brooches. The kings were the leaders in war +and judges in peace, and did sacrifices to the Gods, killing cattle +and swine and sheep, on which they afterwards dined.</p> +<p>They dressed in a simple way, in a long smock of linen or silk, which +fell almost to the feet, but was tucked up into a belt round the waist, +and worn longer or shorter, as they happened to choose. Where +it needed fastening at the throat, golden brooches were used, beautifully +made, with safety pins. This garment was much like the plaid that +the Highlanders used to wear, with its belt and brooches. Over +it the Greeks wore great cloaks of woollen cloth when the weather was +cold, but these they did not use in battle. They fastened their +breastplates, in war, over their smocks, and had other armour covering +the lower parts of the body, and leg armour called “greaves”; +while the great shield which guarded the whole body from throat to ankles +was carried by a broad belt slung round the neck. The sword was +worn in another belt, crossing the shield belt. They had light +shoes in peace, and higher and heavier boots in war, or for walking +across country.</p> +<p>The women wore the smock, with more brooches and jewels than the +men; and had head coverings, with veils, and mantles over all, and necklaces +of gold and amber, earrings, and bracelets of gold or of bronze. +The colours of their dresses were various, chiefly white and purple; +and, when in mourning, they wore very dark blue, not black. All +the armour, and the sword blades and spearheads were made, not of steel +or iron, but of bronze, a mixture of copper and tin. The shields +were made of several thicknesses of leather, with a plating of bronze +above; tools, such as axes and ploughshares, were either of iron or +bronze; and so were the blades of knives and daggers.</p> +<p>To us the houses and way of living would have seemed very splendid, +and also, in some ways, rather rough. The palace floors, at least +in the house of Ulysses, were littered with bones and feet of the oxen +slain for food, but this happened when Ulysses had been long from home. +The floor of the hall in the house of Ulysses was not boarded with planks, +or paved with stone: it was made of clay; for he was a poor king of +small islands. The cooking was coarse: a pig or sheep was killed, +roasted and eaten immediately. We never hear of boiling meat, +and though people probably ate fish, we do not hear of their doing so, +except when no meat could be procured. Still some people must +have liked them; for in the pictures that were painted or cut in precious +stones in these times we see the half-naked fisherman walking home, +carrying large fish.</p> +<p>The people were wonderful workers of gold and bronze. Hundreds +of their golden jewels have been found in their graves, but probably +these were made and buried two or three centuries before the time of +Ulysses. The dagger blades had pictures of fights with lions, +and of flowers, inlaid on them, in gold of various colours, and in silver; +nothing so beautiful is made now. There are figures of men hunting +bulls on some of the gold cups, and these are wonderfully life-like. +The vases and pots of earthenware were painted in charming patterns: +in short, it was a splendid world to live in.</p> +<p>The people believed in many Gods, male and female, under the chief +God, Zeus. The Gods were thought to be taller than men, and immortal, +and to live in much the same way as men did, eating, drinking, and sleeping +in glorious palaces. Though they were supposed to reward good +men, and to punish people who broke their oaths and were unkind to strangers, +there were many stories told in which the Gods were fickle, cruel, selfish, +and set very bad examples to men. How far these stories were believed +is not sure; it is certain that “all men felt a need of the Gods,” +and thought that they were pleased by good actions and displeased by +evil. Yet, when a man felt that his behaviour had been bad, he +often threw the blame on the Gods, and said that they had misled him, +which really meant no more than that “he could not help it.”</p> +<p>There was a curious custom by which the princes bought wives from +the fathers of the princesses, giving cattle and gold, and bronze and +iron, but sometimes a prince got a wife as the reward for some very +brave action. A man would not give his daughter to a wooer whom +she did not love, even if he offered the highest price, at least this +must have been the general rule, for husbands and wives were very fond +of each other, and of their children, and husbands always allowed their +wives to rule the house, and give their advice on everything. +It was thought a very wicked thing for a woman to like another man better +than her husband, and there were few such wives, but among them was +the most beautiful woman who ever lived.</p> +<h2>THE WOOING OF HELEN OF THE FAIR HANDS</h2> +<p>This was the way in which people lived when Ulysses was young, and +wished to be married. The worst thing in the way of life was that +the greatest and most beautiful princesses might be taken prisoners, +and carried off as slaves to the towns of the men who had killed their +fathers and husbands. Now at that time one lady was far the fairest +in the world: namely, Helen, daughter of King Tyndarus. Every +young prince heard of her and desired to marry her; so her father invited +them all to his palace, and entertained them, and found out what they +would give. Among the rest Ulysses went, but his father had a +little kingdom, a rough island, with others near it, and Ulysses had +not a good chance. He was not tall; though very strong and active, +he was a short man with broad shoulders, but his face was handsome, +and, like all the princes, he wore long yellow hair, clustering like +a hyacinth flower. His manner was rather hesitating, and he seemed +to speak very slowly at first, though afterwards his words came freely. +He was good at everything a man can do; he could plough, and build houses, +and make ships, and he was the best archer in Greece, except one, and +could bend the great bow of a dead king, Eurytus, which no other man +could string. But he had no horses, and had no great train of +followers; and, in short, neither Helen nor her father thought of choosing +Ulysses for her husband out of so many tall, handsome young princes, +glittering with gold ornaments. Still, Helen was very kind to +Ulysses, and there was great friendship between them, which was fortunate +for her in the end.</p> +<p>Tyndarus first made all the princes take an oath that they would +stand by the prince whom he chose, and would fight for him in all his +quarrels. Then he named for her husband Menelaus, King of Lacedaemon. +He was a very brave man, but not one of the strongest; he was not such +a fighter as the gigantic Aias, the tallest and strongest of men; or +as Diomede, the friend of Ulysses; or as his own brother, Agamemnon, +the King of the rich city of Mycenae, who was chief over all other princes, +and general of the whole army in war. The great lions carved in +stone that seemed to guard his city are still standing above the gate +through which Agamemnon used to drive his chariot.</p> +<p>The man who proved to be the best fighter of all, Achilles, was not +among the lovers of Helen, for he was still a boy, and his mother, Thetis +of the silver feet, a goddess of the sea, had sent him to be brought +up as a girl, among the daughters of Lycomedes of Scyros, in an island +far away. Thetis did this because Achilles was her only child, +and there was a prophecy that, if he went to the wars, he would win +the greatest glory, but die very young, and never see his mother again. +She thought that if war broke out he would not be found hiding in girl’s +dress, among girls, far away.</p> +<p>So at last, after thinking over the matter for long, Tyndarus gave +fair Helen to Menelaus, the rich King of Lacedaemon; and her twin sister +Clytaemnestra, who was also very beautiful, was given to King Agamemnon, +the chief over all the princes. They all lived very happily together +at first, but not for long.</p> +<p>In the meantime King Tyndarus spoke to his brother Icarius, who had +a daughter named Penelope. She also was very pretty, but not nearly +so beautiful as her cousin, fair Helen, and we know that Penelope was +not very fond of her cousin. Icarius, admiring the strength and +wisdom of Ulysses, gave him his daughter Penelope to be his wife, and +Ulysses loved her very dearly, no man and wife were ever dearer to each +other. They went away together to rocky Ithaca, and perhaps Penelope +was not sorry that a wide sea lay between her home and that of Helen; +for Helen was not only the fairest woman that ever lived in the world, +but she was so kind and gracious and charming that no man could see +her without loving her. When she was only a child, the famous +prince Theseus, who was famous in Greek Story, carried her away to his +own city of Athens, meaning to marry her when she grew up, and even +at that time, there was a war for her sake, for her brothers followed +Theseus with an army, and fought him, and brought her home.</p> +<p>She had fairy gifts; for instance, she had a great red jewel, called +“the Star,” and when she wore it red drops seemed to fall +from it and vanished before they touched and stained her white breast—so +white that people called her “the Daughter of the Swan.” +She could speak in the very voice of any man or woman, so folk also +named her Echo, and it was believed that she could neither grow old +nor die, but would at last pass away to the Elysian plain and the world’s +end, where life is easiest for men. No snow comes thither, nor +great storm, nor any rain; but always the river of Ocean that rings +round the whole earth sends forth the west wind to blow cool on the +people of King Rhadamanthus of the fair hair. These were some +of the stories that men told of fair Helen, but Ulysses was never sorry +that he had not the fortune to marry her, so fond he was of her cousin, +his wife, Penelope, who was very wise and good.</p> +<p>When Ulysses brought his wife home they lived, as the custom was, +in the palace of his father, King Laertes, but Ulysses, with his own +hands, built a chamber for Penelope and himself. There grew a +great olive tree in the inner court of the palace, and its stem was +as large as one of the tall carved pillars of the hall. Round +about this tree Ulysses built the chamber, and finished it with close-set +stones, and roofed it over, and made close-fastening doors. Then +he cut off all the branches of the olive tree, and smoothed the trunk, +and shaped it into the bed-post, and made the bedstead beautiful with +inlaid work of gold and silver and ivory. There was no such bed +in Greece, and no man could move it from its place, and this bed comes +again into the story, at the very end.</p> +<p>Now time went by, and Ulysses and Penelope had one son called Telemachus; +and Eurycleia, who had been his father’s nurse, took care of him. +They were all very happy, and lived in peace in rocky Ithaca, and Ulysses +looked after his lands, and flocks, and herds, and went hunting with +his dog Argos, the swiftest of hounds.</p> +<h2>THE STEALING OF HELEN</h2> +<p>This happy time did not last long, and Telemachus was still a baby, +when war arose, so great and mighty and marvellous as had never been +known in the world. Far across the sea that lies on the east of +Greece, there dwelt the rich King Priam. His town was called Troy, +or Ilios, and it stood on a hill near the seashore, where are the straits +of Hellespont, between Europe and Asia; it was a great city surrounded +by strong walls, and its ruins are still standing. The kings could +make merchants who passed through the straits pay toll to them, and +they had allies in Thrace, a part of Europe opposite Troy, and Priam +was chief of all princes on his side of the sea, as Agamemnon was chief +king in Greece. Priam had many beautiful things; he had a vine +made of gold, with golden leaves and clusters, and he had the swiftest +horses, and many strong and brave sons; the strongest and bravest was +named Hector, and the youngest and most beautiful was named Paris.</p> +<p>There was a prophecy that Priam’s wife would give birth to +a burning torch, so, when Paris was born, Priam sent a servant to carry +the baby into a wild wood on Mount Ida, and leave him to die or be eaten +by wolves and wild cats. The servant left the child, but a shepherd +found him, and brought him up as his own son. The boy became as +beautiful, for a boy, as Helen was for a girl, and was the best runner, +and hunter, and archer among the country people. He was loved +by the beautiful Œnone, a nymph—that is, a kind of fairy—who +dwelt in a cave among the woods of Ida. The Greeks and Trojans +believed in these days that such fair nymphs haunted all beautiful woodland +places, and the mountains, and wells, and had crystal palaces, like +mermaids, beneath the waves of the sea. These fairies were not +mischievous, but gentle and kind. Sometimes they married mortal +men, and Œnone was the bride of Paris, and hoped to keep him for +her own all the days of his life.</p> +<p>It was believed that she had the magical power of healing wounded +men, however sorely they were hurt. Paris and Œnone lived +most happily together in the forest; but one day, when the servants +of Priam had driven off a beautiful bull that was in the herd of Paris, +he left the hills to seek it, and came into the town of Troy. +His mother, Hecuba, saw him, and looking at him closely, perceived that +he wore a ring which she had tied round her baby’s neck when he +was taken away from her soon after his birth. Then Hecuba, beholding +him so beautiful, and knowing him to be her son, wept for joy, and they +all forgot the prophecy that he would be a burning torch of fire, and +Priam gave him a house like those of his brothers, the Trojan princes.</p> +<p>The fame of beautiful Helen reached Troy, and Paris quite forgot +unhappy Œnone, and must needs go to see Helen for himself. +Perhaps he meant to try to win her for his wife, before her marriage. +But sailing was little understood in these times, and the water was +wide, and men were often driven for years out of their course, to Egypt, +and Africa, and far away into the unknown seas, where fairies lived +in enchanted islands, and cannibals dwelt in caves of the hills.</p> +<p>Paris came much too late to have a chance of marrying Helen; however, +he was determined to see her, and he made his way to her palace beneath +the mountain Taygetus, beside the clear swift river Eurotas. The +servants came out of the hall when they heard the sound of wheels and +horses’ feet, and some of them took the horses to the stables, +and tilted the chariots against the gateway, while others led Paris +into the hall, which shone like the sun with gold and silver. +Then Paris and his companions were led to the baths, where they were +bathed, and clad in new clothes, mantles of white, and robes of purple, +and next they were brought before King Menelaus, and he welcomed them +kindly, and meat was set before them, and wine in cups of gold. +While they were talking, Helen came forth from her fragrant chamber, +like a Goddess, her maidens following her, and carrying for her an ivory +distaff with violet-coloured wool, which she span as she sat, and heard +Paris tell how far he had travelled to see her who was so famous for +her beauty even in countries far away.</p> +<p>Then Paris knew that he had never seen, and never could see, a lady +so lovely and gracious as Helen as she sat and span, while the red drops +fell and vanished from the ruby called the Star; and Helen knew that +among all the princes in the world there was none so beautiful as Paris. +Now some say that Paris, by art magic, put on the appearance of Menelaus, +and asked Helen to come sailing with him, and that she, thinking he +was her husband, followed him, and he carried her across the wide waters +of Troy, away from her lord and her one beautiful little daughter, the +child Hermione. And others say that the Gods carried Helen herself +off to Egypt, and that they made in her likeness a beautiful ghost, +out of flowers and sunset clouds, whom Paris bore to Troy, and this +they did to cause war between Greeks and Trojans. Another story +is that Helen and her bower maiden and her jewels were seized by force, +when Menelaus was out hunting. It is only certain that Paris and +Helen did cross the seas together, and that Menelaus and little Hermione +were left alone in the melancholy palace beside the Eurotas. Penelope, +we know for certain, made no excuses for her beautiful cousin, but hated +her as the cause of her own sorrows and of the deaths of thousands of +men in war, for all the Greek princes were bound by their oath to fight +for Menelaus against any one who injured him and stole his wife away. +But Helen was very unhappy in Troy, and blamed herself as bitterly as +all the other women blamed her, and most of all Œnone, who had +been the love of Paris. The men were much more kind to Helen, +and were determined to fight to the death rather than lose the sight +of her beauty among them.</p> +<p>The news of the dishonour done to Menelaus and to all the princes +of Greece ran through the country like fire through a forest. +East and west and south and north went the news: to kings in their castles +on the hills, and beside the rivers and on cliffs above the sea. +The cry came to ancient Nestor of the white beard at Pylos, Nestor who +had reigned over two generations of men, who had fought against the +wild folk of the hills, and remembered the strong Heracles, and Eurytus +of the black bow that sang before the day of battle.</p> +<p>The cry came to black-bearded Agamemnon, in his strong town called +“golden Mycenae,” because it was so rich; it came to the +people in Thisbe, where the wild doves haunt; and it came to rocky Pytho, +where is the sacred temple of Apollo and the maid who prophesies. +It came to Aias, the tallest and strongest of men, in his little isle +of Salamis; and to Diomede of the loud war-cry, the bravest of warriors, +who held Argos and Tiryns of the black walls of huge, stones, that are +still standing. The summons came to the western islands and to +Ulysses in Ithaca, and even far south to the great island of Crete of +the hundred cities, where Idomeneus ruled in Cnossos; Idomeneus, whose +ruined palace may still be seen with the throne of the king, and pictures +painted on the walls, and the King’s own draught-board of gold +and silver, and hundreds of tablets of clay, on which are written the +lists of royal treasures. Far north went the news to Pelasgian +Argos, and Hellas, where the people of Peleus dwelt, the Myrmidons; +but Peleus was too old to fight, and his boy, Achilles, dwelt far away, +in the island of Scyros, dressed as a girl, among the daughters of King +Lycomedes. To many another town and to a hundred islands went +the bitter news of approaching war, for all princes knew that their +honour and their oaths compelled them to gather their spearmen, and +bowmen, and slingers from the fields and the fishing, and to make ready +their ships, and meet King Agamemnon in the harbour of Aulis, and cross +the wide sea to besiege Troy town.</p> +<p>Now the story is told that Ulysses was very unwilling to leave his +island and his wife Penelope, and little Telemachus; while Penelope +had no wish that he should pass into danger, and into the sight of Helen +of the fair hands. So it is said that when two of the princes +came to summon Ulysses, he pretended to be mad, and went ploughing the +sea sand with oxen, and sowing the sand with salt. Then the prince +Palamedes took the baby Telemachus from the arms of his nurse, Eurycleia, +and laid him in the line of the furrow, where the ploughshare would +strike him and kill him. But Ulysses turned the plough aside, +and they cried that he was not mad, but sane, and he must keep his oath, +and join the fleet at Aulis, a long voyage for him to sail, round the +stormy southern Cape of Maleia.</p> +<p>Whether this tale be true or not, Ulysses did go, leading twelve +black ships, with high beaks painted red at prow and stern. The +ships had oars, and the warriors manned the oars, to row when there +was no wind. There was a small raised deck at each end of the +ships; on these decks men stood to fight with sword and spear when there +was a battle at sea. Each ship had but one mast, with a broad +lugger sail, and for anchors they had only heavy stones attached to +cables. They generally landed at night, and slept on the shore +of one of the many islands, when they could, for they greatly feared +to sail out of sight of land.</p> +<p>The fleet consisted of more than a thousand ships, each with fifty +warriors, so the army was of more than fifty thousand men. Agamemnon +had a hundred ships, Diomede had eighty, Nestor had ninety, the Cretans +with Idomeneus, had eighty, Menelaus had sixty; but Aias and Ulysses, +who lived in small islands, had only twelve ships apiece. Yet +Aias was so brave and strong, and Ulysses so brave and wise, that they +were ranked among the greatest chiefs and advisers of Agamemnon, with +Menelaus, Diomede, Idomeneus, Nestor, Menestheus of Athens, and two +or three others. These chiefs were called the Council, and gave +advice to Agamemnon, who was commander-in-chief. He was a brave +fighter, but so anxious and fearful of losing the lives of his soldiers +that Ulysses and Diomede were often obliged to speak to him very severely. +Agamemnon was also very insolent and greedy, though, when anybody stood +up to him, he was ready to apologise, for fear the injured chief should +renounce his service and take away his soldiers.</p> +<p>Nestor was much respected because he remained brave, though he was +too old to be very useful in battle. He generally tried to make +peace when the princes quarrelled with Agamemnon. He loved to +tell long stories about his great deeds when he was young, and he wished +the chiefs to fight in old-fashioned ways.</p> +<p>For instance, in his time the Greeks had fought in clan regiments, +and the princely men had never dismounted in battle, but had fought +in squadrons of chariots, but now the owners of chariots fought on foot, +each man for himself, while his squire kept the chariot near him to +escape on if he had to retreat. Nestor wished to go back to the +good old way of chariot charges against the crowds of foot soldiers +of the enemy. In short, he was a fine example of the old-fashioned +soldier.</p> +<p>Aias, though so very tall, strong, and brave, was rather stupid. +He seldom spoke, but he was always ready to fight, and the last to retreat. +Menelaus was weak of body, but as brave as the best, or more brave, +for he had a keen sense of honour, and would attempt what he had not +the strength to do. Diomede and Ulysses were great friends, and +always fought side by side, when they could, and helped each other in +the most dangerous adventures.</p> +<p>These were the chiefs who led the great Greek armada from the harbour +of Aulis. A long time had passed, after the flight of Helen, before +the large fleet could be collected, and more time went by in the attempt +to cross the sea to Troy. There were tempests that scattered the +ships, so they were driven back to Aulis to refit; and they fought, +as they went out again, with the peoples of unfriendly islands, and +besieged their towns. What they wanted most of all was to have +Achilles with them, for he was the leader of fifty ships and 2,500 men, +and he had magical armour made, men said, for his father, by Hephaestus, +the God of armour-making and smithy work.</p> +<p>At last the fleet came to the Isle of Scyros, where they suspected +that Achilles was concealed. King Lycomedes received the chiefs +kindly, and they saw all his beautiful daughters dancing and playing +at ball, but Achilles was still so young and slim and so beautiful that +they did not know him among the others. There was a prophecy that +they could not take Troy without him, and yet they could not find him +out. Then Ulysses had a plan. He blackened his eyebrows +and beard and put on the dress of a Phoenician merchant. The Phoenicians +were a people who lived near the Jews, and were of the same race, and +spoke much the same language, but, unlike the Jews, who, at that time +were farmers in Palestine, tilling the ground, and keeping flocks and +herds, the Phoenicians were the greatest of traders and sailors, and +stealers of slaves. They carried cargoes of beautiful cloths, +and embroideries, and jewels of gold, and necklaces of amber, and sold +these everywhere about the shores of Greece and the islands.</p> +<p>Ulysses then dressed himself like a Phoenician pedlar, with his pack +on his back: he only took a stick in his hand, his long hair was turned +up, and hidden under a red sailor’s cap, and in this figure he +came, stooping beneath his pack, into the courtyard of King Lycomedes. +The girls heard that a pedlar had come, and out they all ran, Achilles +with the rest to watch the pedlar undo his pack. Each chose what +she liked best: one took a wreath of gold; another a necklace of gold +and amber; another earrings; a fourth a set of brooches, another a dress +of embroidered scarlet cloth; another a veil; another a pair of bracelets; +but at the bottom of the pack lay a great sword of bronze, the hilt +studded with golden nails. Achilles seized the sword. “This +is for me!” he said, and drew the sword from the gilded sheath, +and made it whistle round his head.</p> +<p>“You are Achilles, Peleus’ son!” said Ulysses; +“and you are to be the chief warrior of the Achaeans,” for +the Greeks then called themselves Achaeans. Achilles was only +too glad to hear these words, for he was quite tired of living among +maidens. Ulysses led him into the hall where the chiefs were sitting +at their wine, and Achilles was blushing like any girl.</p> +<p>“Here is the Queen of the Amazons,” said Ulysses—for +the Amazons were a race of warlike maidens—“or rather here +is Achilles, Peleus’ son, with sword in hand.” Then +they all took his hand, and welcomed him, and he was clothed in man’s +dress, with the sword by his side, and presently they sent him back +with ten ships to his home. There his mother, Thetis, of the silver +feet, the goddess of the sea, wept over him, saying, “My child, +thou hast the choice of a long and happy and peaceful life here with +me, or of a brief time of war and undying renown. Never shall +I see thee again in Argos if thy choice is for war.” But +Achilles chose to die young, and to be famous as long as the world stands. +So his father gave him fifty ships, with Patroclus, who was older than +he, to be his friend, and with an old man, Phoenix, to advise him; and +his mother gave him the glorious armour that the God had made for his +father, and the heavy ashen spear that none but he could wield, and +he sailed to join the host of the Achaeans, who all praised and thanked +Ulysses that had found for them such a prince. For Achilles was +the fiercest fighter of them all, and the swiftest-footed man, and the +most courteous prince, and the gentlest with women and children, but +he was proud and high of heart, and when he was angered his anger was +terrible.</p> +<p>The Trojans would have had no chance against the Greeks if only the +men of the city of Troy had fought to keep Helen of the fair hands. +But they had allies, who spoke different languages, and came to fight +for them both from Europe and from Asia. On the Trojan as well +as on the Greek side were people called Pelasgians, who seem to have +lived on both shores of the sea. There were Thracians, too, who +dwelt much further north than Achilles, in Europe and beside the strait +of Hellespont, where the narrow sea runs like a river. There were +warriors of Lycia, led by Sarpedon and Glaucus; there were Carians, +who spoke in a strange tongue; there were Mysians and men from Alybe, +which was called “the birthplace of silver,” and many other +peoples sent their armies, so that the war was between Eastern Europe, +on one side, and Western Asia Minor on the other. The people of +Egypt took no part in the war: the Greeks and Islesmen used to come +down in their ships and attack the Egyptians as the Danes used to invade +England. You may see the warriors from the islands, with their +horned helmets, in old Egyptian pictures.</p> +<p>The commander-in-chief, as we say now, of the Trojans was Hector, +the son of Priam. He was thought a match for any one of the Greeks, +and was brave and good. His brothers also were leaders, but Paris +preferred to fight from a distance with bow and arrows. He and +Pandarus, who dwelt on the slopes of Mount Ida, were the best archers +in the Trojan army. The princes usually fought with heavy spears, +which they threw at each other, and with swords, leaving archery to +the common soldiers who had no armour of bronze. But Teucer, Meriones, +and Ulysses were the best archers of the Achaeans. People called +Dardanians were led by Aeneas, who was said to be the son of the most +beautiful of the goddesses. These, with Sarpedon and Glaucus, +were the most famous of the men who fought for Troy.</p> +<p>Troy was a strong town on a hill. Mount Ida lay behind it, +and in front was a plain sloping to the sea shore. Through this +plain ran two beautiful clear rivers, and there were scattered here +and there what you would have taken for steep knolls, but they were +really mounds piled up over the ashes of warriors who had died long +ago. On these mounds sentinels used to stand and look across the +water to give warning if the Greek fleet drew near, for the Trojans +had heard that it was on its way. At last the fleet came in view, +and the sea was black with ships, the oarsmen pulling with all their +might for the honour of being the first to land. The race was +won by the ship of the prince Protesilaus, who was first of all to leap +on shore, but as he leaped he was struck to the heart by an arrow from +the bow of Paris. This must have seemed a good omen to the Trojans, +and to the Greeks evil, but we do not hear that the landing was resisted +in great force, any more than that of Norman William was, when he invaded +England.</p> +<p>The Greeks drew up all their ships on shore, and the men camped in +huts built in front of the ships. There was thus a long row of +huts with the ships behind them, and in these huts the Greeks lived +all through the ten years that the siege of Troy lasted. In these +days they do not seem to have understood how to conduct a siege. +You would have expected the Greeks to build towers and dig trenches +all round Troy, and from the towers watch the roads, so that provisions +might not be brought in from the country. This is called “investing” +a town, but the Greeks never invested Troy. Perhaps they had not +men enough; at all events the place remained open, and cattle could +always be driven in to feed the warriors and the women and children.</p> +<p>Moreover, the Greeks for long never seem to have tried to break down +one of the gates, nor to scale the walls, which were very high, with +ladders. On the other hand, the Trojans and allies never ventured +to drive the Greeks into the sea; they commonly remained within the +walls or skirmished just beneath them. The older men insisted +on this way of fighting, in spite of Hector, who always wished to attack +and storm the camp of the Greeks. Neither side had machines for +throwing heavy stones, such as the Romans used later, and the most that +the Greeks did was to follow Achilles and capture small neighbouring +cities, and take the women for slaves, and drive the cattle. They +got provisions and wine from the Phoenicians, who came in ships, and +made much profit out of the war.</p> +<p>It was not till the tenth year that the war began in real earnest, +and scarcely any of the chief leaders had fallen. Fever came upon +the Greeks, and all day the camp was black with smoke, and all night +shone with fire from the great piles of burning wood, on which the Greeks +burned their dead, whose bones they then buried under hillocks of earth. +Many of these hillocks are still standing on the plain of Troy. +When the plague had raged for ten days, Achilles called an assembly +of the whole army, to try to find out why the Gods were angry. +They thought that the beautiful God Apollo (who took the Trojan side) +was shooting invisible arrows at them from his silver bow, though fevers +in armies are usually caused by dirt and drinking bad water. The +great heat of the sun, too, may have helped to cause the disease; but +we must tell the story as the Greeks told it themselves. So Achilles +spoke in the assembly, and proposed to ask some prophet why Apollo was +angry. The chief prophet was Calchas. He rose and said that +he would declare the truth if Achilles would promise to protect him +from the anger of any prince whom the truth might offend.</p> +<p>Achilles knew well whom Calchas meant. Ten days before, a priest +of Apollo had come to the camp and offered ransom for his daughter Chryseis, +a beautiful girl, whom Achilles had taken prisoner, with many others, +when he captured a small town. Chryseis had been given as a slave +to Agamemnon, who always got the best of the plunder because he was +chief king, whether he had taken part in the fighting or not. +As a rule he did not. To Achilles had been given another girl, +Briseis, of whom he was very fond. Now when Achilles had promised +to protect Calchas, the prophet spoke out, and boldly said, what all +men knew already, that Apollo caused the plague because Agamemnon would +not return Chryseis, and had insulted her father, the priest of the +God.</p> +<p>On hearing this, Agamemnon was very angry. He said that he +would send Chryseis home, but that he would take Briseis away from Achilles. +Then Achilles was drawing his great sword from the sheath to kill Agamemnon, +but even in his anger he knew that this was wrong, so he merely called +Agamemnon a greedy coward, “with face of dog and heart of deer,” +and he swore that he and his men would fight no more against the Trojans. +Old Nestor tried to make peace, and swords were not drawn, but Briseis +was taken away from Achilles, and Ulysses put Chryseis on board of his +ship and sailed away with her to her father’s town, and gave her +up to her father. Then her father prayed to Apollo that the plague +might cease, and it did cease—when the Greeks had cleansed their +camp, and purified themselves and cast their filth into the sea.</p> +<p>We know how fierce and brave Achilles was, and we may wonder that +he did not challenge Agamemnon to fight a duel. But the Greeks +never fought duels, and Agamemnon was believed to be chief king by right +divine. Achilles went alone to the sea shore when his dear Briseis +was led away, and he wept, and called to his mother, the silver-footed +lady of the waters. Then she arose from the grey sea, like a mist, +and sat down beside her son, and stroked his hair with her hand, and +he told her all his sorrows. So she said that she would go up +to the dwelling of the Gods, and pray Zeus, the chief of them all, to +make the Trojans win a great battle, so that Agamemnon should feel his +need of Achilles, and make amends for his insolence, and do him honour.</p> +<p>Thetis kept her promise, and Zeus gave his word that the Trojans +should defeat the Greeks. That night Zeus sent a deceitful dream +to Agamemnon. The dream took the shape of old Nestor, and said +that Zeus would give him victory that day. While he was still +asleep, Agamemnon was fun of hope that he would instantly take Troy, +but, when he woke, he seems not to have been nearly so confident, for +in place of putting on his armour, and bidding the Greeks arm themselves, +he merely dressed in his robe and mantle, took his sceptre, and went +and told the chiefs about his dream. They did not feel much encouraged, +so he said that he would try the temper of the army. He would +call them together, and propose to return to Greece; but, if the soldiers +took him at his word, the other chiefs were to stop them. This +was a foolish plan, for the soldiers were wearying for beautiful Greece, +and their homes, and wives and children. Therefore, when Agamemnon +did as he had said, the whole army rose, like the sea under the west +wind, and, with a shout, they rushed to the ships, while the dust blew +in clouds from under their feet. Then they began to launch their +ships, and it seems that the princes were carried away in the rush, +and were as eager as the rest to go home.</p> +<p>But Ulysses only stood in sorrow and anger beside his ship, and never +put hand to it, for he felt how disgraceful it was to run away. +At last he threw down his mantle, which his herald Eurybates of Ithaca, +a round-shouldered, brown, curly-haired man, picked up, and he ran to +find Agamemnon, and took his sceptre, a gold-studded staff, like a marshal’s +baton, and he gently told the chiefs whom he met that they were doing +a shameful thing; but he drove the common soldiers back to the place +of meeting with the sceptre. They all returned, puzzled and chattering, +but one lame, bandy-legged, bald, round-shouldered, impudent fellow, +named Thersites, jumped up and made an insolent speech, insulting the +princes, and advising the army to run away. Then Ulysses took +him and beat him till the blood came, and he sat down, wiping away his +tears, and looking so foolish that the whole army laughed at him, and +cheered Ulysses when he and Nestor bade them arm and fight. Agamemnon +still believed a good deal in his dream, and prayed that he might take +Troy that very day, and kill Hector. Thus Ulysses alone saved +the army from a cowardly retreat; but for him the ships would have been +launched in an hour. But the Greeks armed and advanced in full +force, all except Achilles and his friend Patroclus with their two or +three thousand men. The Trojans also took heart, knowing that +Achilles would not fight, and the armies approached each other. +Paris himself, with two spears and a bow, and without armour, walked +into the space between the hosts, and challenged any Greek prince to +single combat. Menelaus, whose wife Paris had carried away, was +as glad as a hungry lion when he finds a stag or a goat, and leaped +in armour from his chariot, but Paris turned and slunk away, like a +man when he meets a great serpent on a narrow path in the hills. +Then Hector rebuked Paris for his cowardice, and Paris was ashamed and +offered to end the war by fighting Menelaus. If he himself fell, +the Trojans must give up Helen and all her jewels; if Menelaus fell, +the Greeks were to return without fair Helen. The Greeks accepted +this plan, and both sides disarmed themselves to look on at the fight +in comfort, and they meant to take the most solemn oaths to keep peace +till the combat was lost and won, and the quarrel settled. Hector +sent into Troy for two lambs, which were to be sacrificed when the oaths +were taken.</p> +<p>In the meantime Helen of the fair hands was at home working at a +great purple tapestry on which she embroidered the battles of the Greeks +and Trojans. It was just like the tapestry at Bayeux on which +Norman ladies embroidered the battles in the Norman Conquest of England. +Helen was very fond of embroidering, like poor Mary, Queen of Scots, +when a prisoner in Loch Leven Castle. Probably the work kept both +Helen and Mary from thinking of their past lives and their sorrows.</p> +<p>When Helen heard that her husband was to fight Paris, she wept, and +threw a shining veil over her head, and with her two bower maidens went +to the roof of the gate tower, where king Priam was sitting with the +old Trojan chiefs. They saw her and said that it was small blame +to fight for so beautiful a lady, and Priam called her “dear child,” +and said, “I do not blame you, I blame the Gods who brought about +this war.” But Helen said that she wished she had died before +she left her little daughter and her husband, and her home: “Alas! +shameless me!” Then she told Priam the names of the chief +Greek warriors, and of Ulysses, who was shorter by a head than Agamemnon, +but broader in chest and shoulders. She wondered that she could +not see her own two brothers, Castor and Polydeuces, and thought that +they kept aloof in shame for her sin; but the green grass covered their +graves, for they had both died in battle, far away in Lacedaemon, their +own country.</p> +<p>Then the lambs were sacrificed, and the oaths were taken, and Paris +put on his brother’s armour, helmet, breastplate, shield, and +leg-armour. Lots were drawn to decide whether Paris or Menelaus +should throw his spear first, and, as Paris won, he threw his spear, +but the point was blunted against the shield of Menelaus. But +when Menelaus threw his spear it went clean through the shield of Paris, +and through the side of his breastplate, but only grazed his robe. +Menelaus drew his sword, and rushed in, and smote at the crest of the +helmet of Paris, but his bronze blade broke into four pieces. +Menelaus caught Paris by the horsehair crest of his helmet, and dragged +him towards the Greeks, but the chin-strap broke, and Menelaus turning +round threw the helmet into the ranks of the Greeks. But when +Menelaus looked again for Paris, with a spear in his hand, he could +see him nowhere! The Greeks believed that the beautiful goddess +Aphrodite, whom the Romans called Venus, hid him in a thick cloud of +darkness and carried him to his own house, where Helen of the fair hands +found him and said to him, “Would that thou hadst perished, conquered +by that great warrior who was my lord! Go forth again and challenge +him to fight thee face to face.” But Paris had no more desire +to fight, and the Goddess threatened Helen, and compelled her to remain +with him in Troy, coward as he had proved himself. Yet on other +days Paris fought well; it seems that he was afraid of Menelaus because, +in his heart, he was ashamed of himself.</p> +<p>Meanwhile Menelaus was seeking for Paris everywhere, and the Trojans, +who hated him, would have shown his hiding place. But they knew +not where he was, and the Greeks claimed the victory, and thought that, +as Paris had the worst of the fight, Helen would be restored to them, +and they would all sail home.</p> +<h2>TROJAN VICTORIES</h2> +<p>The war might now have ended, but an evil and foolish thought came +to Pandarus, a prince of Ida, who fought for the Trojans. He chose +to shoot an arrow at Menelaus, contrary to the sworn vows of peace, +and the arrow pierced the breastplate of Menelaus through the place +where the clasped plates meet, and drew his blood. Then Agamemnon, +who loved his brother dearly, began to lament, saying that if he died, +the army would all go home and Trojans would dance on the grave of Menelaus. +“Do not alarm all our army,” said Menelaus, “the arrow +has done me little harm;” and so it proved, for the surgeon easily +drew the arrow out of the wound.</p> +<p>Then Agamemnon hastened here and there, bidding the Greeks arm and +attack the Trojans, who would certainly be defeated, for they had broken +the oaths of peace. But with his usual insolence he chose to accuse +Ulysses and Diomede of cowardice, though Diomede was as brave as any +man, and Ulysses had just prevented the whole army from launching their +ships and going home. Ulysses answered him with spirit, but Diomede +said nothing at the moment; later he spoke his mind. He leaped +from his chariot, and all the chiefs leaped down and advanced in line, +the chariots following them, while the spearmen and bowmen followed +the chariots. The Trojan army advanced, all shouting in their +different languages, but the Greeks came on silently. Then the +two front lines clashed, shield against shield, and the noise was like +the roaring of many flooded torrents among the hills. When a man +fell he who had slain him tried to strip off his armour, and his friends +fought over his body to save the dead from this dishonour.</p> +<p>Ulysses fought above a wounded friend, and drove his spear through +head and helmet of a Trojan prince, and everywhere men were falling +beneath spears and arrows and heavy stones which the warriors threw. +Here Menelaus speared the man who built the ships with which Paris had +sailed to Greece; and the dust rose like a cloud, and a mist went up +from the fighting men, while Diomede stormed across the plain like a +river in flood, leaving dead bodies behind him as the river leaves boughs +of trees and grass to mark its course. Pandarus wounded Diomede +with an arrow, but Diomede slew him, and the Trojans were being driven +in flight, when Sarpedon and Hector turned and hurled themselves on +the Greeks; and even Diomede shuddered when Hector came on, and charged +at Ulysses, who was slaying Trojans as he went, and the battle swayed +this way and that, and the arrows fell like rain.</p> +<p>But Hector was sent into the city to bid the women pray to the goddess +Athênê for help, and he went to the house of Paris, whom +Helen was imploring to go and fight like a man, saying: “Would +that the winds had wafted me away, and the tides drowned me, shameless +that I am, before these things came to pass!”</p> +<p>Then Hector went to see his dear wife, Andromache, whose father had +been slain by Achilles early in the siege, and he found her and her +nurse carrying her little boy, Hector’s son, and like a star upon +her bosom lay his beautiful and shining golden head. Now, while +Helen urged Paris to go into the fight, Andromache prayed Hector to +stay with her in the town, and fight no more lest he should be slain +and leave her a widow, and the boy an orphan, with none to protect him. +The army she said, should come back within the walls, where they had +so long been safe, not fight in the open plain. But Hector answered +that he would never shrink from battle, “yet I know this in my +heart, the day shall come for holy Troy to be laid low, and Priam and +the people of Priam. But this and my own death do not trouble +me so much as the thought of you, when you shall be carried as a slave +to Greece, to spin at another woman’s bidding, and bear water +from a Grecian well. May the heaped up earth of my tomb cover +me ere I hear thy cries and the tale of thy captivity.”</p> +<p>Then Hector stretched out his hands to his little boy, but the child +was afraid when he saw the great glittering helmet of his father and +the nodding horsehair crest. So Hector laid his helmet on the +ground and dandled the child in his arms, and tried to comfort his wife, +and said good-bye for the last time, for he never came back to Troy +alive. He went on his way back to the battle, and Paris went with +him, in glorious armour, and soon they were slaying the princes of the +Greeks.</p> +<p>The battle raged till nightfall, and in the night the Greeks and +Trojans burned their dead; and the Greeks made a trench and wall round +their camp, which they needed for safety now that the Trojans came from +their town and fought in the open plain.</p> +<p>Next day the Trojans were so successful that they did not retreat +behind their walls at night, but lit great fires on the plain: a thousand +fires, with fifty men taking supper round each of them, and drinking +their wine to the music of flutes. But the Greeks were much discouraged, +and Agamemnon called the whole army together, and proposed that they +should launch their ships in the night and sail away home. Then +Diomede stood up, and said: “You called me a coward lately. +You are the coward! Sail away if you are afraid to remain here, +but all the rest of us will fight till we take Troy town.”</p> +<p>Then all shouted in praise of Diomede, and Nestor advised them to +send five hundred young men, under his own son, Thrasymedes, to watch +the Trojans, and guard the new wall and the ditch, in case the Trojans +attacked them in the darkness. Next Nestor counselled Agamemnon +to send Ulysses and Aias to Achilles, and promise to give back Briseis, +and rich presents of gold, and beg pardon for his insolence. If +Achilles would be friends again with Agamemnon, and fight as he used +to fight, the Trojans would soon be driven back into the town.</p> +<p>Agamemnon was very ready to beg pardon, for he feared that the whole +army would be defeated, and cut off from their ships, and killed or +kept as slaves. So Ulysses and Aias and the old tutor of Achilles, +Phoenix, went to Achilles and argued with him, praying him to accept +the rich presents, and help the Greeks. But Achilles answered +that he did not believe a word that Agamemnon said; Agamemnon had always +hated him, and always would hate him. No; he would not cease to +be angry, he would sail away next day with all his men, and he advised +the rest to come with him. “Why be so fierce?” said +tall Aias, who seldom spoke. “Why make so much trouble about +one girl? We offer you seven girls, and plenty of other gifts.”</p> +<p>Then Achilles said that he would not sail away next day, but he would +not fight till the Trojans tried to burn his own ships, and there he +thought that Hector would find work enough to do. This was the +most that Achilles would promise, and all the Greeks were silent when +Ulysses delivered his message. But Diomede arose and said that, +with or without Achilles, fight they must; and all men, heavy at heart, +went to sleep in their huts or in the open air at their doors.</p> +<p>Agamemnon was much too anxious to sleep. He saw the glow of +the thousand fires of the Trojans in the dark, and heard their merry +flutes, and he groaned and pulled out his long hair by handfuls. +When he was tired of crying and groaning and tearing his hair, he thought +that he would go for advice to old Nestor. He threw a lion skin, +the coverlet of his bed, over his shoulder, took his spear, went out +and met Menelaus—for he, too, could not sleep—and Menelaus +proposed to send a spy among the Trojans, if any man were brave enough +to go, for the Trojan camp was all alight with fires, and the adventure +was dangerous. Therefore the two wakened Nestor and the other +chiefs, who came just as they were, wrapped in the fur coverlets of +their beds, without any armour. First they visited the five hundred +young men set to watch the wall, and then they crossed the ditch and +sat down outside and considered what might be done. “Will +nobody go as a spy among the Trojans?” said Nestor; he meant would +none of the young men go. Diomede said that he would take the +risk if any other man would share it with him, and, if he might choose +a companion, he would take Ulysses.</p> +<p>“Come, then, let us be going,” said Ulysses, “for +the night is late, and the dawn is near.” As these two chiefs +had no armour on, they borrowed shields and leather caps from the young +men of the guard, for leather would not shine as bronze helmets shine +in the firelight. The cap lent to Ulysses was strengthened outside +with rows of boars’ tusks. Many of these tusks, shaped for +this purpose, have been found, with swords and armour, in a tomb in +Mycenae, the town of Agamemnon. This cap which was lent to Ulysses +had once been stolen by his grandfather, Autolycus, who was a Master +Thief, and he gave it as a present to a friend, and so, through several +hands, it had come to young Meriones of Crete, one of the five hundred +guards, who now lent it to Ulysses. So the two princes set forth +in the dark, so dark it was that though they heard a heron cry, they +could not see it as it flew away.</p> +<p>While Ulysses and Diomede stole through the night silently, like +two wolves among the bodies of dead men, the Trojan leaders met and +considered what they ought to do. They did not know whether the +Greeks had set sentinels and outposts, as usual, to give warning if +the enemy were approaching; or whether they were too weary to keep a +good watch; or whether perhaps they were getting ready their ships to +sail homewards in the dawn. So Hector offered a reward to any +man who would creep through the night and spy on the Greeks; he said +he would give the spy the two best horses in the Greek camp.</p> +<p>Now among the Trojans there was a young man named Dolon, the son +of a rich father, and he was the only boy in a family of five sisters. +He was ugly, but a very swift runner, and he cared for horses more than +for anything else in the world. Dolon arose and said, “If +you will swear to give me the horses and chariot of Achilles, son of +Peleus, I will steal to the hut of Agamemnon and listen and find out +whether the Greeks mean to fight or flee.” Hector swore +to give these horses, which were the best in the world, to Dolon, so +he took his bow and threw a grey wolf’s hide over his shoulders, +and ran towards the ships of the Greeks.</p> +<p>Now Ulysses saw Dolon as he came, and said to Diomede, “Let +us suffer him to pass us, and then do you keep driving him with your +spear towards the ships, and away from Troy.” So Ulysses +and Diomede lay down among the dead men who had fallen in the battle, +and Dolon ran on past them towards the Greeks. Then they rose +and chased him as two greyhounds course a hare, and, when Dolon was +near the sentinels, Diomede cried “Stand, or I will slay you with +my spear!” and he threw his spear just over Dolon’s shoulder. +So Dolon stood still, green with fear, and with his teeth chattering. +When the two came up, he cried, and said that his father was a rich +man, who would pay much gold, and bronze, and iron for his ransom.</p> +<p>Ulysses said, “Take heart, and put death out of your mind, +and tell us what you are doing here.” Dolon said that Hector +had promised him the horses of Achilles if he would go and spy on the +Greeks. “You set your hopes high,” said Ulysses, “for +the horses of Achilles are not earthly steeds, but divine; a gift of +the Gods, and Achilles alone can drive them. But, tell me, do +the Trojans keep good watch, and where is Hector with his horses?” +for Ulysses thought that it would be a great adventure to drive away +the horses of Hector.</p> +<p>“Hector is with the chiefs, holding council at the tomb of +Ilus,” said Dolon; “but no regular guard is set. The +people of Troy, indeed, are round their watch fires, for they have to +think of the safety of their wives and children; but the allies from +far lands keep no watch, for their wives and children are safe at home.” +Then he told where all the different peoples who fought for Priam had +their stations; but, said he, “if you want to steal horses, the +best are those of Rhesus, King of the Thracians, who has only joined +us to-night. He and his men are asleep at the furthest end of +the line, and his horses are the best and greatest that ever I saw: +tall, white as snow, and swift as the wind, and his chariot is adorned +with gold and silver, and golden is his armour. Now take me prisoner +to the ships, or bind me and leave me here while you go and try whether +I have told you truth or lies.”</p> +<p>“No,” said Diomede, “if I spare your life you may +come spying again,” and he drew his sword and smote off the head +of Dolon. They hid his cap and bow and spear where they could +find them easily, and marked the spot, and went through the night to +the dark camp of King Rhesus, who had no watch-fire and no guards. +Then Diomede silently stabbed each sleeping man to the heart, and Ulysses +seized the dead by the feet and threw them aside lest they should frighten +the horses, which had never been in battle, and would shy if they were +led over the bodies of dead men. Last of all Diomede killed King +Rhesus, and Ulysses led forth his horses, beating them with his bow, +for he had forgotten to take the whip from the chariot. Then Ulysses +and Diomede leaped on the backs of the horses, as they had not time +to bring away the chariot, and they galloped to the ships, stopping +to pick up the spear, and bow, and cap of Dolon. They rode to +the princes, who welcomed them, and all laughed for glee when they saw +the white horses and heard that King Rhesus was dead, for they guessed +that all his army would now go home to Thrace. This they must +have done, for we never hear of them in the battles that followed, so +Ulysses and Diomede deprived the Trojans of thousands of men. +The other princes went to bed in good spirits, but Ulysses and Diomede +took a swim in the sea, and then went into hot baths, and so to breakfast, +for rosy-fingered Dawn was coming up the sky.</p> +<h2>BATTLE AT THE SHIPS</h2> +<p>With dawn Agamemnon awoke, and fear had gone out of his heart. +He put on his armour, and arrayed the chiefs on foot in front of their +chariots, and behind them came the spearmen, with the bowmen and slingers +on the wings of the army. Then a great black cloud spread over +the sky, and red was the rain that fell from it. The Trojans gathered +on a height in the plain, and Hector, shining in armour, went here and +there, in front and rear, like a star that now gleams forth and now +is hidden in a cloud.</p> +<p>The armies rushed on each other and hewed each other down, as reapers +cut their way through a field of tall corn. Neither side gave +ground, though the helmets of the bravest Trojans might be seen deep +in the ranks of the Greeks; and the swords of the bravest Greeks rose +and fell in the ranks of the Trojans, and all the while the arrows showered +like rain. But at noon-day, when the weary woodman rests from +cutting trees, and takes his dinner in the quiet hills, the Greeks of +the first line made a charge, Agamemnon running in front of them, and +he speared two Trojans, and took their breastplates, which he laid in +his chariot, and then he speared one brother of Hector and struck another +down with his sword, and killed two more who vainly asked to be made +prisoners of war. Footmen slew footmen, and chariot men slew chariot +men, and they broke into the Trojan line as fire falls on a forest in +a windy day, leaping and roaring and racing through the trees. +Many an empty chariot did the horses hurry madly through the field, +for the charioteers were lying dead, with the greedy vultures hovering +above them, flapping their wide wings. Still Agamemnon followed +and slew the hindmost Trojans, but the rest fled till they came to the +gates, and the oak tree that grew outside the gates, and there they +stopped.</p> +<p>But Hector held his hands from fighting, for in the meantime he was +making his men face the enemy and form up in line and take breath, and +was encouraging them, for they had retreated from the wall of the Greeks +across the whole plain, past the hill that was the tomb of Ilus, a king +of old, and past the place of the wild fig-tree. Much ado had +Hector to rally the Trojans, but he knew that when men do turn again +they are hard to beat. So it proved, for when the Trojans had +rallied and formed in line, Agamemnon slew a Thracian chief who had +come to fight for Troy before King Rhesus came. But the eldest +brother of the slain man smote Agamemnon through the arm with his spear, +and, though Agamemnon slew him in turn, his wound bled much and he was +in great pain, so he leaped into his chariot and was driven back to +the ships.</p> +<p>Then Hector gave the word to charge, as a huntsman cries on his hounds +against a lion, and he rushed forward at the head of the Trojan line, +slaying as he went. Nine chiefs of the Greeks he slew, and fell +upon the spearmen and scattered them, as the spray of the waves is scattered +by the wandering wind.</p> +<p>Now the ranks of the Greeks were broken, and they would have been +driven among their ships and killed without mercy, had not Ulysses and +Diomede stood firm in the centre, and slain four Trojan leaders. +The Greeks began to come back and face their enemies in line of battle +again, though Hector, who had been fighting on the Trojan right, rushed +against them. But Diomede took good aim with his spear at the +helmet of Hector, and struck it fairly. The spear-point did not +go through the helmet, but Hector was stunned and fell; and, when he +came to himself, he leaped into his chariot, and his squire drove him +against the Pylians and Cretans, under Nestor and Idomeneus, who were +on the left wing of the Greek army. Then Diomede fought on till +Paris, who stood beside the pillar on the hillock that was the tomb +of old King Ilus, sent an arrow clean through his foot. Ulysses +went and stood in front of Diomede, who sat down, and Ulysses drew the +arrow from his foot, and Diomede stepped into his chariot and was driven +back to the ships.</p> +<p>Ulysses was now the only Greek chief that still fought in the centre. +The Greeks all fled, and he was alone in the crowd of Trojans, who rushed +on him as hounds and hunters press round a wild boar that stands at +bay in a wood. “They are cowards that flee from the fight,” +said Ulysses to himself; “but I will stand here, one man against +a multitude.” He covered the front of his body with his +great shield, that hung by a belt round his neck, and he smote four +Trojans and wounded a fifth. But the brother of the wounded man +drove a spear through the shield and breastplate of Ulysses, and tore +clean through his side. Then Ulysses turned on this Trojan, and +he fled, and Ulysses sent a spear through his shoulder and out at his +breast, and he died. Ulysses dragged from his own side the spear +that had wounded him, and called thrice with a great voice to the other +Greeks, and Menelaus and Aias rushed to rescue him, for many Trojans +were round him, like jackals round a wounded stag that a man has struck +with an arrow. But Aias ran and covered the wounded Ulysses with +his huge shield till he could climb into the chariot of Menelaus, who +drove him back to the ships.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, Hector was slaying the Greeks on the left of their battle, +and Paris struck the Greek surgeon, Machaon, with an arrow; and Idomeneus +bade Nestor put Machaon in his chariot and drive him to Nestor’s +hut, where his wound might be tended. Meanwhile, Hector sped to +the centre of the line, where Aias was slaying the Trojans; but Eurypylus, +a Greek chief, was wounded by an arrow from the bow of Paris, and his +friends guarded him with their shields and spears.</p> +<p>Thus the best of the Greeks were wounded and out of the battle, save +Aias, and the spearmen were in flight. Meanwhile Achilles was +standing by the stern of his ship watching the defeat of the Greeks, +but when he saw Machaon being carried past, sorely wounded, in the chariot +of Nestor, he bade his friend Patroclus, whom he loved better than all +the rest, to go and ask how Machaon did. He was sitting drinking +wine with Nestor when Patroclus came, and Nestor told Patroclus how +many of the chiefs were wounded, and though Patroclus was in a hurry +Nestor began a very long story about his own great deeds of war, done +when he was a young man. At last he bade Patroclus tell Achilles +that, if he would not fight himself, he should at least send out his +men under Patroclus, who should wear the splendid armour of Achilles. +Then the Trojans would think that Achilles himself had returned to the +battle, and they would be afraid, for none of them dared to meet Achilles +hand to hand.</p> +<p>So Patroclus ran off to Achilles; but, on his way, he met the wounded +Eurypylus, and he took him to his hut and cut the arrow out of his thigh +with a knife, and washed the wound with warm water, and rubbed over +it a bitter root to take the pain away. Thus he waited for some +time with Eurypylus, but the advice of Nestor was in the end to cause +the death of Patroclus. The battle now raged more fiercely, while +Agamemnon and Diomede and Ulysses could only limp about leaning on their +spears; and again Agamemnon wished to moor the ships near shore, and +embark in the night and run away. But Ulysses was very angry with +him, and said: “You should lead some other inglorious army, not +us, who will fight on till every soul of us perish, rather than flee +like cowards! Be silent, lest the soldiers hear you speaking of +flight, such words as no man should utter. I wholly scorn your +counsel, for the Greeks will lose heart if, in the midst of battle, +you bid them launch the ships.”</p> +<p>Agamemnon was ashamed, and, by Diomede’s advice, the wounded +kings went down to the verge of the war to encourage the others, though +they were themselves unable to fight. They rallied the Greeks, +and Aias led them and struck Hector full in the breast with a great +rock, so that his friends carried him out of the battle to the river +side, where they poured water over him, but he lay fainting on the ground, +the black blood gushing up from his mouth. While Hector lay there, +and all men thought that he would die, Aias and Idomeneus were driving +back the Trojans, and it seemed that, even without Achilles and his +men, the Greeks were able to hold their own against the Trojans. +But the battle was never lost while Hector lived. People in those +days believed in “omens:” they thought that the appearance +of birds on the right or left hand meant good or bad luck. Once +during the battle a Trojan showed Hector an unlucky bird, and wanted +him to retreat into the town. But Hector said, “One omen +is the best: to fight for our own country.” While Hector +lay between death and life the Greeks were winning, for the Trojans +had no other great chief to lead them. But Hector awoke from his +faint, and leaped to his feet and ran here and there, encouraging the +men of Troy. Then the most of the Greeks fled when they saw him; +but Aias and Idomeneus, and the rest of the bravest, formed in a square +between the Trojans and the ships, and down on them came Hector and +Aeneas and Paris, throwing their spears, and slaying on every hand. +The Greeks turned and ran, and the Trojans would have stopped to strip +the armour from the slain men, but Hector cried: “Haste to the +ships and leave the spoils of war. I will slay any man who lags +behind!”</p> +<p>On this, all the Trojans drove their chariots down into the ditch +that guarded the ships of the Greeks, as when a great wave sweeps at +sea over the side of a vessel; and the Greeks were on the ship decks, +thrusting with very long spears, used in sea fights, and the Trojans +were boarding the ships, and striking with swords and axes. Hector +had a lighted torch and tried to set fire to the ship of Aias; but Aias +kept him back with the long spear, and slew a Trojan, whose lighted +torch fell from his hand. And Aias kept shouting: “Come +on, and drive away Hector; it is not to a dance that he is calling his +men, but to battle.”</p> +<p>The dead fell in heaps, and the living ran over them to mount the +heaps of slain and climb the ships. Hector rushed forward like +a sea wave against a great steep rock, but like the rock stood the Greeks; +still the Trojans charged past the beaks of the foremost ships, while +Aias, thrusting with a spear more than twenty feet long, leaped from +deck to deck like a man that drives four horses abreast, and leaps from +the back of one to the back of another. Hector seized with his +hand the stern of the ship of Protesilaus, the prince whom Paris shot +when he leaped ashore on the day when the Greeks first landed; and Hector +kept calling: “Bring fire!” and even Aias, in this strange +sea fight on land, left the decks and went below, thrusting with his +spear through the portholes. Twelve men lay dead who had brought +fire against the ship which Aias guarded.</p> +<h2>THE SLAYING AND AVENGING OF PATROCLUS</h2> +<p>At this moment, when torches were blazing round the ships, and all +seemed lost, Patroclus came out of the hut of Eurypylus, whose wound +he had been tending, and he saw that the Greeks were in great danger, +and ran weeping to Achilles. “Why do you weep,” said +Achilles, “like a little girl that runs by her mother’s +side, and plucks at her gown and looks at her with tears in her eyes, +till her mother takes her up in her arms? Is there bad news from +home that your father is dead, or mine; or are you sorry that the Greeks +are getting what they deserve for their folly?” Then Patroclus +told Achilles how Ulysses and many other princes were wounded and could +not fight, and begged to be allowed to put on Achilles’ armour +and lead his men, who were all fresh and unwearied, into the battle, +for a charge of two thousand fresh warriors might turn the fortune of +the day.</p> +<p>Then Achilles was sorry that he had sworn not to fight himself till +Hector brought fire to his own ships. He would lend Patroclus +his armour, and his horses, and his men; but Patroclus must only drive +the Trojans from the ships, and not pursue them. At this moment +Aias was weary, so many spears smote his armour, and he could hardly +hold up his great shield, and Hector cut off his spear-head with the +sword; the bronze head fell ringing on the ground, and Aias brandished +only the pointless shaft. So he shrank back and fire blazed all +over his ship; and Achilles saw it, and smote his thigh, and bade Patroclus +make haste. Patroclus armed himself in the shining armour of Achilles, +which all Trojans feared, and leaped into the chariot where Automedon, +the squire, had harnessed Xanthus and Balius, two horses that were the +children, men said, of the West Wind, and a led horse was harnessed +beside them in the side traces. Meanwhile the two thousand men +of Achilles, who were called Myrmidons, had met in armour, five companies +of four hundred apiece, under five chiefs of noble names. Forth +they came, as eager as a pack of wolves that have eaten a great red +deer and run to slake their thirst with the dark water of a well in +the hills.</p> +<p>So all in close array, helmet touching helmet and shield touching +shield, like a moving wall of shining bronze, the men of Achilles charged, +and Patroclus, in the chariot led the way. Down they came at full +speed on the flank of the Trojans, who saw the leader, and knew the +bright armour and the horses of the terrible Achilles, and thought that +he had returned to the war. Then each Trojan looked round to see +by what way he could escape, and when men do that in battle they soon +run by the way they have chosen. Patroclus rushed to the ship +of Protesilaus, and slew the leader of the Trojans there, and drove +them out, and quenched the fire; while they of Troy drew back from the +ships, and Aias and the other unwounded Greek princes leaped among them, +smiting with sword and spear. Well did Hector know that the break +in the battle had come again; but even so he stood, and did what he +might, while the Trojans were driven back in disorder across the ditch, +where the poles of many chariots were broken and the horses fled loose +across the plain.</p> +<p>The horses of Achilles cleared the ditch, and Patroclus drove them +between the Trojans and the wall of their own town, slaying many men, +and, chief of all, Sarpedon, king of the Lycians; and round the body +of Sarpedon the Trojans rallied under Hector, and the fight swayed this +way and that, and there was such a noise of spears and swords smiting +shields and helmets as when many woodcutters fell trees in a glen of +the hills. At last the Trojans gave way, and the Greeks stripped +the armour from the body of brave Sarpedon; but men say that Sleep and +Death, like two winged angels, bore his body away to his own country. +Now Patroclus forgot how Achilles had told him not to pursue the Trojans +across the plain, but to return when he had driven them from the ships. +On he raced, slaying as he went, even till he reached the foot of the +wall of Troy. Thrice he tried to climb it, but thrice he fell +back.</p> +<p>Hector was in his chariot in the gateway, and he bade his squire +lash his horses into the war, and struck at no other man, great or small, +but drove straight against Patroclus, who stood and threw a heavy stone +at Hector; which missed him, but killed his charioteer. Then Patroclus +leaped on the charioteer to strip his armour, but Hector stood over +the body, grasping it by the head, while Patroclus dragged at the feet, +and spears and arrows flew in clouds around the fallen man. At +last, towards sunset, the Greeks drew him out of the war, and Patroclus +thrice charged into the thick of the Trojans. But the helmet of +Achilles was loosened in the fight, and fell from the head of Patroclus, +and he was wounded from behind, and Hector, in front, drove his spear +clean through his body. With his last breath Patroclus prophesied: +“Death stands near thee, Hector, at the hands of noble Achilles.” +But Automedon was driving back the swift horses, carrying to Achilles +the news that his dearest friend was slain.</p> +<p>After Ulysses was wounded, early in this great battle, he was not +able to fight for several days, and, as the story is about Ulysses, +we must tell quite shortly how Achilles returned to the war to take +vengeance for Patroclus, and how he slew Hector. When Patroclus +fell, Hector seized the armour which the Gods had given to Peleus, and +Peleus to his son Achilles, while Achilles had lent it to Patroclus +that he might terrify the Trojans. Retiring out of reach of spears, +Hector took off his own armour and put on that of Achilles, and Greeks +and Trojans fought for the dead body of Patroclus. Then Zeus, +the chief of the Gods, looked down and said that Hector should never +come home out of the battle to his wife, Andromache. But Hector +returned into the fight around the dead Patroclus, and here all the +best men fought, and even Automedon, who had been driving the chariot +of Patroclus. Now when the Trojans seemed to have the better of +the fight, the Greeks sent Antilochus, a son of old Nestor, to tell +Achilles that his friend was slain, and Antilochus ran, and Aias and +his brother protected the Greeks who were trying to carry the body of +Patroclus back to the ships.</p> +<p>Swiftly Antilochus came running to Achilles, saying: “Fallen +is Patroclus, and they are fighting round his naked body, for Hector +has his armour.” Then Achilles said never a word, but fell +on the floor of his hut, and threw black ashes on his yellow hair, till +Antilochus seized his hands, fearing that he would cut his own throat +with his dagger, for very sorrow. His mother, Thetis, arose from +the sea to comfort him, but he said that he desired to die if he could +not slay Hector, who had slain his friend. Then Thetis told him +that he could not fight without armour, and now he had none; but she +would go to the God of armour-making and bring from him such a shield +and helmet and breastplate as had never been seen by men.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the fight raged round the dead body of Patroclus, which +was defiled with blood and dust, near the ships, and was being dragged +this way and that, and torn and wounded. Achilles could not bear +this sight, yet his mother had warned him not to enter without armour +the battle where stones and arrows and spears were flying like hail; +and he was so tall and broad that he could put on the arms of no other +man. So he went down to the ditch as he was, unarmed, and as he +stood high above it, against the red sunset, fire seemed to flow from +his golden hair like the beacon blaze that soars into the dark sky when +an island town is attacked at night, and men light beacons that their +neighbours may see them and come to their help from other isles. +There Achilles stood in a splendour of fire, and he shouted aloud, as +clear as a clarion rings when men fall on to attack a besieged city +wall. Thrice Achilles shouted mightily, and thrice the horses +of the Trojans shuddered for fear and turned back from the onslaught,—and +thrice the men of Troy were confounded and shaken with terror. +Then the Greeks drew the body of Patroclus out of the dust and the arrows, +and laid him on a bier, and Achilles followed, weeping, for he had sent +his friend with chariot and horses to the war; but home again he welcomed +him never more. Then the sun set and it was night.</p> +<p>Now one of the Trojans wished Hector to retire within the walls of +Troy, for certainly Achilles would to-morrow be foremost in the war. +But Hector said, “Have ye not had your fill of being shut up behind +walls? Let Achilles fight; I will meet him in the open field.” +The Trojans cheered, and they camped in the plain, while in the hut +of Achilles women washed the dead body of Patroclus, and Achilles swore +that he would slay Hector.</p> +<p>In the dawn came Thetis, bearing to Achilles the new splendid armour +that the God had made for him. Then Achilles put on that armour, +and roused his men; but Ulysses, who knew all the rules of honour, would +not let him fight till peace had been made, with a sacrifice and other +ceremonies, between him and Agamemnon, and till Agamemnon had given +him all the presents which Achilles had before refused. Achilles +did not want them; he wanted only to fight, but Ulysses made him obey, +and do what was usual. Then the gifts were brought, and Agamemnon +stood up, and said that he was sorry for his insolence, and the men +took breakfast, but Achilles would neither eat nor drink. He mounted +his chariot, but the horse Xanthus bowed his head till his long mane +touched the ground, and, being a fairy horse, the child of the West +Wind, he spoke (or so men said), and these were his words: “We +shall bear thee swiftly and speedily, but thou shalt be slain in fight, +and thy dying day is near at hand.” “Well I know it,” +said Achilles, “but I will not cease from fighting till I have +given the Trojans their fill of war.”</p> +<p>So all that day he chased and slew the Trojans. He drove them +into the river, and, though the river came down in a red flood, he crossed, +and slew them on the plain. The plain caught fire, the bushes +and long dry grass blazed round him, but he fought his way through the +fire, and drove the Trojans to their walls. The gates were thrown +open, and the Trojans rushed through like frightened fawns, and then +they climbed to the battlements, and looked down in safety, while the +whole Greek army advanced in line under their shields.</p> +<p>But Hector stood still, alone, in front of the gate, and old Priam, +who saw Achilles rushing on, shining like a star in his new armour, +called with tears to Hector, “Come within the gate! This +man has slain many of my sons, and if he slays thee whom have I to help +me in my old age?” His mother also called to Hector, but +he stood firm, waiting for Achilles. Now the story says that he +was afraid, and ran thrice in full armour round Troy, with Achilles +in pursuit. But this cannot be true, for no mortal men could run +thrice, in heavy armour, with great shields that clanked against their +ankles, round the town of Troy: moreover Hector was the bravest of men, +and all the Trojan women were looking down at him from the walls.</p> +<p>We cannot believe that he ran away, and the story goes on to tell +that he asked Achilles to make an agreement with him. The conqueror +in the fight should give back the body of the fallen to be buried by +his friends, but should keep his armour. But Achilles said that +he could make no agreement with Hector, and threw his spear, which flew +over Hector’s shoulder. Then Hector threw his spear, but +it could not pierce the shield which the God had made for Achilles. +Hector had no other spear, and Achilles had one, so Hector cried, “Let +me not die without honour!” and drew his sword, and rushed at +Achilles, who sprang to meet him, but before Hector could come within +a sword-stroke Achilles had sent his spear clean through the neck of +Hector. He fell in the dust and Achilles said, “Dogs and +birds shall tear your flesh unburied.” With his dying breath +Hector prayed him to take gold from Priam, and give back his body to +be burned in Troy. But Achilles said, “Hound! would that +I could bring myself to carve and eat thy raw flesh, but dogs shall +devour it, even if thy father offered me thy weight in gold.” +With his last words Hector prophesied and said, “Remember me in +the day when Paris shall slay thee in the Scaean gate.” +Then his brave soul went to the land of the Dead, which the Greeks called +Hades. To that land Ulysses sailed while he was still a living +man, as the story tells later.</p> +<p>Then Achilles did a dreadful deed; he slit the feet of dead Hector +from heel to ankle, and thrust thongs through, and bound him by the +thongs to his chariot and trailed the body in the dust. All the +women of Troy who were on the walls raised a shriek, and Hector’s +wife, Andromache, heard the sound. She had been in an inner room +of her house, weaving a purple web, and embroidering flowers on it, +and she was calling her bower maidens to make ready a bath for Hector +when he should come back tired from battle. But when she heard +the cry from the wall she trembled, and the shuttle with which she was +weaving fell from her hands. “Surely I heard the cry of +my husband’s mother,” she said, and she bade two of her +maidens come with her to see why the people lamented.</p> +<p>She ran swiftly, and reached the battlements, and thence she saw +her dear husband’s body being whirled through the dust towards +the ships, behind the chariot of Achilles. Then night came over +her eyes and she fainted. But when she returned to herself she +cried out that now none would defend her little boy, and other children +would push him away from feasts, saying, “Out with you; no father +of thine is at our table,” and his father, Hector, would lie naked +at the ships, unclad, unburned, unlamented. To be unburned and +unburied was thought the greatest of misfortunes, because the dead man +unburned could not go into the House of Hades, God of the Dead, but +must always wander, alone and comfortless, in the dark borderland between +the dead and the living.</p> +<h2>THE CRUELTY OF ACHILLES, AND THE RANSOMING OF HECTOR</h2> +<p>When Achilles was asleep that night the ghost of Patroclus came, +saying, “Why dost thou not burn and bury me? for the other shadows +of dead men suffer me not to come near them, and lonely I wander along +the dark dwelling of Hades.” Then Achilles awoke, and he +sent men to cut down trees, and make a huge pile of fagots and logs. +On this they laid Patroclus, covered with white linen, and then they +slew many cattle, and Achilles cut the throats of twelve Trojan prisoners +of war, meaning to burn them with Patroclus to do him honour. +This was a deed of shame, for Achilles was mad with sorrow and anger +for the death of his friend. Then they drenched with wine the +great pile of wood, which was thirty yards long and broad, and set fire +to it, and the fire blazed all through the night and died down in the +morning. They put the white bones of Patroclus in a golden casket, +and laid it in the hut of Achilles, who said that, when he died, they +must burn his body, and mix the ashes with the ashes of his friend, +and build over it a chamber of stone, and cover the chamber with a great +hill of earth, and set a pillar of stone above it. This is one +of the hills on the plain of Troy, but the pillar has fallen from the +tomb, long ago.</p> +<p>Then, as the custom was, Achilles held games—chariot races, +foot races, boxing, wrestling, and archery—in honour of Patroclus. +Ulysses won the prize for the foot race, and for the wrestling, so now +his wound must have been healed.</p> +<p>But Achilles still kept trailing Hector’s dead body each day +round the hill that had been raised for the tomb of Patroclus, till +the Gods in heaven were angry, and bade Thetis tell her son that he +must give back the dead body to Priam, and take ransom for it, and they +sent a messenger to Priam to bid him redeem the body of his son. +It was terrible for Priam to have to go and humble himself before Achilles, +whose hands had been red with the blood of his sons, but he did not +disobey the Gods. He opened his chests, and took out twenty-four +beautiful embroidered changes of raiment; and he weighed out ten heavy +bars, or talents, of gold, and chose a beautiful golden cup, and he +called nine of his sons, Paris, and Helenus, and Deiphobus, and the +rest, saying, “Go, ye bad sons, my shame; would that Hector lived +and all of you were dead!” for sorrow made him angry; “go, +and get ready for me a wain, and lay on it these treasures.” +So they harnessed mules to the wain, and placed in it the treasures, +and, after praying, Priam drove through the night to the hut of Achilles. +In he went, when no man looked for him, and kneeled to Achilles, and +kissed his terrible death-dealing hands. “Have pity on me, +and fear the Gods, and give me back my dead son,” he said, “and +remember thine own father. Have pity on me, who have endured to +do what no man born has ever done before, to kiss the hands that slew +my sons.”</p> +<p>Then Achilles remembered his own father, far away, who now was old +and weak: and he wept, and Priam wept with him, and then Achilles raised +Priam from his knees and spoke kindly to him, admiring how beautiful +he still was in his old age, and Priam himself wondered at the beauty +of Achilles. And Achilles thought how Priam had long been rich +and happy, like his own father, Peleus, and now old age and weakness +and sorrow were laid upon both of them, for Achilles knew that his own +day of death was at hand, even at the doors. So Achilles bade +the women make ready the body of Hector for burial, and they clothed +him in a white mantle that Priam had brought, and laid him in the wain; +and supper was made ready, and Priam and Achilles ate and drank together, +and the women spread a bed for Priam, who would not stay long, but stole +away back to Troy while Achilles was asleep.</p> +<p>All the women came out to meet him, and to lament for Hector. +They carried the body into the house of Andromache and laid it on a +bed, and the women gathered around, and each in turn sang her song over +the great dead warrior. His mother bewailed him, and his wife, +and Helen of the fair hands, clad in dark mourning raiment, lifted up +her white arms, and said: “Hector, of all my brethren in Troy +thou wert the dearest, since Paris brought me hither. Would that +ere that day I had died! For this is now the twentieth year since +I came, and in all these twenty years never heard I a word from thee +that was bitter and unkind; others might upbraid me, thy sisters or +thy mother, for thy father was good to me as if he had been my own; +but then thou wouldst restrain them that spoke evil by the courtesy +of thy heart and thy gentle words. Ah! woe for thee, and woe for +me, whom all men shudder at, for there is now none in wide Troyland +to be my friend like thee, my brother and my friend!”</p> +<p>So Helen lamented, but now was done all that men might do; a great +pile of wood was raised, and Hector was burned, and his ashes were placed +in a golden urn, in a dark chamber of stone, within a hollow hill.</p> +<h2>HOW ULYSSES STOLE THE LUCK OF TROY</h2> +<p>After Hector was buried, the siege went on slowly, as it had done +during the first nine years of the war. The Greeks did not know +at that time how to besiege a city, as we saw, by way of digging trenches +and building towers, and battering the walls with machines that threw +heavy stones. The Trojans had lost courage, and dared not go into +the open plain, and they were waiting for the coming up of new armies +of allies—the Amazons, who were girl warriors from far away, and +an Eastern people called the Khita, whose king was Memnon, the son of +the Bright Dawn.</p> +<p>Now everyone knew that, in the temple of the Goddess Pallas Athênê, +in Troy, was a sacred image, which fell from heaven, called the Palladium, +and this very ancient image was the Luck of Troy. While it remained +safe in the temple people believed that Troy could never be taken, but +as it was in a guarded temple in the middle of the town, and was watched +by priestesses day and night, it seemed impossible that the Greeks should +ever enter the city secretly and steal the Luck away.</p> +<p>As Ulysses was the grandson of Autolycus, the Master Thief, he often +wished that the old man was with the Greeks, for if there was a thing +to steal Autolycus could steal it. But by this time Autolycus +was dead, and so Ulysses could only puzzle over the way to steal the +Luck of Troy, and wonder how his grandfather would have set about it. +He prayed for help secretly to Hermes, the God of Thieves, when he sacrificed +goats to him, and at last he had a plan.</p> +<p>There was a story that Anius, the King of the Isle of Delos, had +three daughters, named Œno, Spermo, and Elais, and that Œno +could turn water into wine, while Spermo could turn stones into bread, +and Elais could change mud into olive oil. Those fairy gifts, +people said, were given to the maidens by the Wine God, Dionysus, and +by the Goddess of Corn, Demeter. Now corn, and wine, and oil were +sorely needed by the Greeks, who were tired of paying much gold and +bronze to the Phoenician merchants for their supplies. Ulysses +therefore went to Agamemnon one day, and asked leave to take his ship +and voyage to Delos, to bring, if he could, the three maidens to the +camp, if indeed they could do these miracles. As no fighting was +going on, Agamemnon gave Ulysses leave to depart, so he went on board +his ship, with a crew of fifty men of Ithaca, and away they sailed, +promising to return in a month.</p> +<p>Two or three days after that, a dirty old beggar man began to be +seen in the Greek camp. He had crawled in late one evening, dressed +in a dirty smock and a very dirty old cloak, full of holes, and stained +with smoke. Over everything he wore the skin of a stag, with half +the hair worn off, and he carried a staff, and a filthy tattered wallet, +to put food in, which swung from his neck by a cord. He came crouching +and smiling up to the door of the hut of Diomede, and sat down just +within the doorway, where beggars still sit in the East. Diomede +saw him, and sent him a loaf and two handfuls of flesh, which the beggar +laid on his wallet, between his feet, and he made his supper greedily, +gnawing a bone like a dog.</p> +<p>After supper Diomede asked him who he was and whence he came, and +he told a long story about how he had been a Cretan pirate, and had +been taken prisoner by the Egyptians when he was robbing there, and +how he had worked for many years in their stone quarries, where the +sun had burned him brown, and had escaped by hiding among the great +stones, carried down the Nile in a raft, for building a temple on the +seashore. The raft arrived at night, and the beggar said that +he stole out from it in the dark and found a Phoenician ship in the +harbour, and the Phoenicians took him on board, meaning to sell him +somewhere as a slave. But a tempest came on and wrecked the ship +off the Isle of Tenedos, which is near Troy, and the beggar alone escaped +to the island on a plank of the ship. From Tenedos he had come +to Troy in a fisher’s boat, hoping to make himself useful in the +camp, and earn enough to keep body and soul together till he could find +a ship sailing to Crete.</p> +<p>He made his story rather amusing, describing the strange ways of +the Egyptians; how they worshipped cats and bulls, and did everything +in just the opposite of the Greek way of doing things. So Diomede +let him have a rug and blankets to sleep on in the portico of the hut, +and next day the old wretch went begging about the camp and talking +with the soldiers. Now he was a most impudent and annoying old +vagabond, and was always in quarrels. If there was a disagreeable +story about the father or grandfather of any of the princes, he knew +it and told it, so that he got a blow from the baton of Agamemnon, and +Aias gave him a kick, and Idomeneus drubbed him with the butt of his +spear for a tale about his grandmother, and everybody hated him and +called him a nuisance. He was for ever jeering at Ulysses, who +was far away, and telling tales about Autolycus, and at last he stole +a gold cup, a very large cup, with two handles, and a dove sitting on +each handle, from the hut of Nestor. The old chief was fond of +this cup, which he had brought from home, and, when it was found in +the beggar’s dirty wallet, everybody cried that he must be driven +out of the camp and well whipped. So Nestor’s son, young +Thrasymedes, with other young men, laughing and shouting, pushed and +dragged the beggar close up to the Scaean gate of Troy, where Thrasymedes +called with a loud voice, “O Trojans, we are sick of this shameless +beggar. First we shall whip him well, and if he comes back we +shall put out his eyes and cut off his hands and feet, and give him +to the dogs to eat. He may go to you, if he likes; if not, he +must wander till he dies of hunger.”</p> +<p>The young men of Troy heard this and laughed, and a crowd gathered +on the wall to see the beggar punished. So Thrasymedes whipped +him with his bowstring till he was tired, and they did not leave off +beating the beggar till he ceased howling and fell, all bleeding, and +lay still. Then Thrasymedes gave him a parting kick, and went +away with his friends. The beggar lay quiet for some time, then +he began to stir, and sat up, wiping the tears from his eyes, and shouting +curses and bad words after the Greeks, praying that they might be speared +in the back, and eaten by dogs.</p> +<p>At last he tried to stand up, but fell down again, and began to crawl +on hands and knees towards the Scaean gate. There he sat down, +within the two side walls of the gate, where he cried and lamented. +Now Helen of the fair hands came down from the gate tower, being sorry +to see any man treated so much worse than a beast, and she spoke to +the beggar and asked him why he had been used in this cruel way?</p> +<p>At first he only moaned, and rubbed his sore sides, but at last he +said that he was an unhappy man, who had been shipwrecked, and was begging +his way home, and that the Greeks suspected him of being a spy sent +out by the Trojans. But he had been in Lacedaemon, her own country, +he said, and could tell her about her father, if she were, as he supposed, +the beautiful Helen, and about her brothers, Castor and Polydeuces, +and her little daughter, Hermione.</p> +<p>“But perhaps,” he said, “you are no mortal woman, +but some goddess who favours the Trojans, and if indeed you are a goddess +then I liken you to Aphrodite, for beauty, and stature, and shapeliness.” +Then Helen wept; for many a year had passed since she had heard any +word of her father, and daughter, and her brothers, who were dead, though +she knew it not. So she stretched out her white hand, and raised +the beggar, who was kneeling at her feet, and bade him follow her to +her own house, within the palace garden of King Priam.</p> +<p>Helen walked forward, with a bower maiden at either side, and the +beggar crawling after her. When she had entered her house, Paris +was not there, so she ordered the bath to be filled with warm water, +and new clothes to be brought, and she herself washed the old beggar +and anointed him with oil. This appears very strange to us, for +though Saint Elizabeth of Hungary used to wash and clothe beggars, we +are surprised that Helen should do so, who was not a saint. But +long afterwards she herself told the son of Ulysses, Telemachus, that +she had washed his father when he came into Troy disguised as a beggar +who had been sorely beaten.</p> +<p>You must have guessed that the beggar was Ulysses, who had not gone +to Delos in his ship, but stolen back in a boat, and appeared disguised +among the Greeks. He did all this to make sure that nobody could +recognise him, and he behaved so as to deserve a whipping that he might +not be suspected as a Greek spy by the Trojans, but rather be pitied +by them. Certainly he deserved his name of “the much-enduring +Ulysses.”</p> +<p>Meanwhile he sat in his bath and Helen washed his feet. But +when she had done, and had anointed his wounds with olive oil, and when +she had clothed him in a white tunic and a purple mantle, then she opened +her lips to cry out with amazement, for she knew Ulysses; but he laid +his finger on her lips, saying “Hush!” Then she remembered +how great danger he was in, for the Trojans, if they found him, would +put him to some cruel death, and she sat down, trembling and weeping, +while he watched her.</p> +<p>“Oh thou strange one,” she said, “how enduring +is thy heart and how cunning beyond measure! How hast thou borne +to be thus beaten and disgraced, and to come within the walls of Troy? +Well it is for thee that Paris, my lord, is far from home, having gone +to guide Penthesilea, the Queen of the warrior maids whom men call Amazons, +who is on her way to help the Trojans.”</p> +<p>Then Ulysses smiled, and Helen saw that she had said a word which +she ought not to have spoken, and had revealed the secret hope of the +Trojans. Then she wept, and said, “Oh cruel and cunning! +You have made me betray the people with whom I live, though woe is me +that ever I left my own people, and my husband dear, and my child! +And now if you escape alive out of Troy, you will tell the Greeks, and +they will lie in ambush by night for the Amazons on the way to Troy +and will slay them all. If you and I were not friends long ago, +I would tell the Trojans that you are here, and they would give your +body to the dogs to eat, and fix your head on the palisade above the +wall. Woe is me that ever I was born.”</p> +<p>Ulysses answered, “Lady, as you have said, we two are friends +from of old, and your friend I will be till the last, when the Greeks +break into Troy, and slay the men, and carry the women captives. +If I live till that hour no man shall harm you, but safely and in honour +you shall come to your palace in Lacedaemon of the rifted hills. +Moreover, I swear to you a great oath, by Zeus above, and by Them that +under earth punish the souls of men who swear falsely, that I shall +tell no man the thing which you have spoken.”</p> +<p>So when he had sworn and done that oath, Helen was comforted and +dried her tears. Then she told him how unhappy she was, and how +she had lost her last comfort when Hector died. “Always +am I wretched,” she said, “save when sweet sleep falls on +me. Now the wife of Thon, King of Egypt, gave me this gift when +we were in Egypt, on our way to Troy, namely, a drug that brings sleep +even to the most unhappy, and it is pressed from the poppy heads of +the garland of the God of Sleep.” Then she showed him strange +phials of gold, full of this drug: phials wrought by the Egyptians, +and covered with magic spells and shapes of beasts and flowers. +“One of these I will give you,” she said, “that even +from Troy town you may not go without a gift in memory of the hands +of Helen.” So Ulysses took the phial of gold, and was glad +in his heart, and Helen set before him meat and wine. When he +had eaten and drunk, and his strength had come back to him, he said:</p> +<p>“Now I must dress me again in my old rags, and take my wallet, +and my staff, and go forth, and beg through Troy town. For here +I must abide for some days as a beggar man, lest if I now escape from +your house in the night the Trojans may think that you have told me +the secrets of their counsel, which I am carrying to the Greeks, and +may be angry with you.” So he clothed himself again as a +beggar, and took his staff, and hid the phial of gold with the Egyptian +drug in his rags, and in his wallet also he put the new clothes that +Helen had given him, and a sword, and he took farewell, saying, “Be +of good heart, for the end of your sorrows is at hand. But if +you see me among the beggars in the street, or by the well, take no +heed of me, only I will salute you as a beggar who has been kindly treated +by a Queen.”</p> +<p>So they parted, and Ulysses went out, and when it was day he was +with the beggars in the streets, but by night he commonly slept near +the fire of a smithy forge, as is the way of beggars. So for some +days he begged, saying that he was gathering food to eat while he walked +to some town far away that was at peace, where he might find work to +do. He was not impudent now, and did not go to rich men’s +houses or tell evil tales, or laugh, but he was much in the temples, +praying to the Gods, and above all in the temple of Pallas Athênê. +The Trojans thought that he was a pious man for a beggar.</p> +<p>Now there was a custom in these times that men and women who were +sick or in distress, should sleep at night on the floors of the temples. +They did this hoping that the God would send them a dream to show them +how their diseases might be cured, or how they might find what they +had lost, or might escape from their distresses.</p> +<p>Ulysses slept in more than one temple, and once in that of Pallas +Athênê, and the priests and priestesses were kind to him, +and gave him food in the morning when the gates of the temple were opened.</p> +<p>In the temple of Pallas Athênê, where the Luck of Troy +lay always on her altar, the custom was that priestesses kept watch, +each for two hours, all through the night, and soldiers kept guard within +call. So one night Ulysses slept there, on the floor, with other +distressed people, seeking for dreams from the Gods. He lay still +all through the night till the turn of the last priestess came to watch. +The priestess used to walk up and down with bare feet among the dreaming +people, having a torch in her hand, and muttering hymns to the Goddess. +Then Ulysses, when her back was turned, slipped the gold phial out of +his rags, and let it lie on the polished floor beside him. When +the priestess came back again, the light from her torch fell on the +glittering phial, and she stooped and picked it up, and looked at it +curiously. There came from it a sweet fragrance, and she opened +it, and tasted the drug. It seemed to her the sweetest thing that +ever she had tasted, and she took more and more, and then closed the +phial and laid it down, and went along murmuring her hymn.</p> +<p>But soon a great drowsiness came over her, and she sat down on the +step of the altar, and fell sound asleep, and the torch sunk in her +hand, and went out, and all was dark. Then Ulysses put the phial +in his wallet, and crept very cautiously to the altar, in the dark, +and stole the Luck of Troy. It was only a small black mass of +what is now called meteoric iron, which sometimes comes down with meteorites +from the sky, but it was shaped like a shield, and the people thought +it an image of the warlike shielded Goddess, fallen from Heaven. +Such sacred shields, made of glass and ivory, are found deep in the +earth in the ruined cities of Ulysses’ time. Swiftly Ulysses +hid the Luck in his rags and left in its place on the altar a copy of +the Luck, which he had made of blackened clay. Then he stole back +to the place where he had lain, and remained there till dawn appeared, +and the sleepers who sought for dreams awoke, and the temple gates were +opened, and Ulysses walked out with the rest of them.</p> +<p>He stole down a lane, where as yet no people were stirring, and crept +along, leaning on his staff, till he came to the eastern gate, at the +back of the city, which the Greeks never attacked, for they had never +drawn their army in a circle round the town. There Ulysses explained +to the sentinels that he had gathered food enough to last for a long +journey to some other town, and opened his bag, which seemed full of +bread and broken meat. The soldiers said he was a lucky beggar, +and let him out. He walked slowly along the waggon road by which +wood was brought into Troy from the forests on Mount Ida, and when he +found that nobody was within sight he slipped into the forest, and stole +into a dark thicket, hiding beneath the tangled boughs. Here he +lay and slept till evening, and then took the new clothes which Helen +had given him out of his wallet, and put them on, and threw the belt +of the sword over his shoulder, and hid the Luck of Troy in his bosom. +He washed himself clean in a mountain brook, and now all who saw him +must have known that he was no beggar, but Ulysses of Ithaca, Laertes’ +son.</p> +<p>So he walked cautiously down the side of the brook which ran between +high banks deep in trees, and followed it till it reached the river +Xanthus, on the left of the Greek lines. Here he found Greek sentinels +set to guard the camp, who cried aloud in joy and surprise, for his +ship had not yet returned from Delos, and they could not guess how Ulysses +had come back alone across the sea. So two of the sentinels guarded +Ulysses to the hut of Agamemnon, where he and Achilles and all the chiefs +were sitting at a feast. They all leaped up, but when Ulysses +took the Luck of Troy from within his mantle, they cried that this was +the bravest deed that had been done in the war, and they sacrificed +ten oxen to Zeus.</p> +<p>“So you were the old beggar,” said young Thrasymedes.</p> +<p>“Yes,” said Ulysses, “and when next you beat a +beggar, Thrasymedes, do not strike so hard and so long.”</p> +<p>That night all the Greeks were full of hope, for now they had the +Luck of Troy, but the Trojans were in despair, and guessed that the +beggar was the thief, and that Ulysses had been the beggar. The +priestess, Theano, could tell them nothing; they found her, with the +extinguished torch drooping in her hand, asleep, as she sat on the step +of the altar, and she never woke again.</p> +<h2>THE BATTLES WITH THE AMAZONS AND MEMNON—THE DEATH OF ACHILLES</h2> +<p>Ulysses thought much and often of Helen, without whose kindness he +could not have saved the Greeks by stealing the Luck of Troy. +He saw that, though she remained as beautiful as when the princes all +sought her hand, she was most unhappy, knowing herself to be the cause +of so much misery, and fearing what the future might bring. Ulysses +told nobody about the secret which she had let fall, the coming of the +Amazons.</p> +<p>The Amazons were a race of warlike maids, who lived far away on the +banks of the river Thermodon. They had fought against Troy in +former times, and one of the great hill-graves on the plain of Troy +covered the ashes of an Amazon, swift-footed Myrinê. People +believed that they were the daughters of the God of War, and they were +reckoned equal in battle to the bravest men. Their young Queen, +Penthesilea, had two reasons for coming to fight at Troy: one was her +ambition to win renown, and the other her sleepless sorrow for having +accidentally killed her sister, Hippolytê, when hunting. +The spear which she threw at a stag struck Hippolytê and slew +her, and Penthesilea cared no longer for her own life, and desired to +fall gloriously in battle. So Penthesilea and her bodyguard of +twelve Amazons set forth from the wide streams of Thermodon, and rode +into Troy. The story says that they did not drive in chariots, +like all the Greek and Trojan chiefs, but rode horses, which must have +been the manner of their country.</p> +<p>Penthesilea was the tallest and most beautiful of the Amazons, and +shone among her twelve maidens like the moon among the stars, or the +bright Dawn among the Hours which follow her chariot wheels. The +Trojans rejoiced when they beheld her, for she looked both terrible +and beautiful, with a frown on her brow, and fair shining eyes, and +a blush on her cheeks. To the Trojans she came like Iris, the +Rainbow, after a storm, and they gathered round her cheering, and throwing +flowers and kissing her stirrup, as the people of Orleans welcomed Joan +of Arc when she came to deliver them. Even Priam was glad, as +is a man long blind, when he has been healed, and again looks upon the +light of the sun. Priam held a great feast, and gave to Penthesilea +many beautiful gifts: cups of gold, and embroideries, and a sword with +a hilt of silver, and she vowed that she would slay Achilles. +But when Andromache, the wife of Hector, heard her she said within herself, +“Ah, unhappy girl, what is this boast of thine! Thou hast +not the strength to fight the unconquerable son of Peleus, for if Hector +could not slay him, what chance hast thou? But the piled-up earth +covers Hector!”</p> +<p>In the morning Penthesilea sprang up from sleep and put on her glorious +armour, with spear in hand, and sword at side, and bow and quiver hung +behind her back, and her great shield covering her side from neck to +stirrup, and mounted her horse, and galloped to the plain. Beside +her charged the twelve maidens of her bodyguard, and all the company +of Hector’s brothers and kinsfolk. These headed the Trojan +lines, and they rushed towards the ships of the Greeks.</p> +<p>Then the Greeks asked each other, “Who is this that leads the +Trojans as Hector led them, surely some God rides in the van of the +charioteers!” Ulysses could have told them who the new leader +of the Trojans was, but it seems that he had not the heart to fight +against women, for his name is not mentioned in this day’s battle. +So the two lines clashed, and the plain of Troy ran red with blood, +for Penthesilea slew Molios, and Persinoos, and Eilissos, and Antiphates, +and Lernos high of heart, and Hippalmos of the loud warcry, and Haemonides, +and strong Elasippus, while her maidens Derinoê and Cloniê +slew each a chief of the Greeks. But Cloniê fell beneath +the spear of Podarkes, whose hand Penthesilea cut off with the sword, +while Idomeneus speared the Amazon Bremousa, and Meriones of Crete slew +Evadrê, and Diomede killed Alcibiê and Derimacheia in close +fight with the sword, so the company of the Twelve were thinned, the +bodyguard of Penthesilea.</p> +<p>The Trojans and Greeks kept slaying each other, but Penthesilea avenged +her maidens, driving the ranks of Greece as a lioness drives the cattle +on the hills, for they could not stand before her. Then she shouted, +“Dogs! to-day shall you pay for the sorrows of Priam! Where +is Diomede, where is Achilles, where is Aias, that, men say, are your +bravest? Will none of them stand before my spear?” +Then she charged again, at the head of the Household of Priam, brothers +and kinsmen of Hector, and where they came the Greeks fell like yellow +leaves before the wind of autumn. The white horse that Penthesilea +rode, a gift from the wife of the North Wind, flashed like lightning +through a dark cloud among the companies of the Greeks, and the chariots +that followed the charge of the Amazon rocked as they swept over the +bodies of the slain. Then the old Trojans, watching from the walls, +cried: “This is no mortal maiden but a Goddess, and to-day she +will burn the ships of the Greeks, and they will all perish in Troyland, +and see Greece never more again.”</p> +<p>Now it so was that Aias and Achilles had not heard the din and the +cry of war, for both had gone to weep over the great new grave of Patroclus. +Penthesilea and the Trojans had driven back the Greeks within their +ditch, and they were hiding here and there among the ships, and torches +were blazing in men’s hands to burn the ships, as in the day of +the valour of Hector: when Aias heard the din of battle, and called +to Achilles to make speed towards the ships.</p> +<p>So they ran swiftly to their huts, and armed themselves, and Aias +fell smiting and slaying upon the Trojans, but Achilles slew five of +the bodyguard of Penthesilea. She, beholding her maidens fallen, +rode straight against Aias and Achilles, like a dove defying two falcons, +and cast her spear, but it fell back blunted from the glorious shield +that the God had made for the son of Peleus. Then she threw another +spear at Aias, crying, “I am the daughter of the God of War,” +but his armour kept out the spear, and he and Achilles laughed aloud. +Aias paid no more heed to the Amazon, but rushed against the Trojan +men; while Achilles raised the heavy spear that none but he could throw, +and drove it down through breastplate and breast of Penthesilea, yet +still her hand grasped her sword-hilt. But, ere she could draw +her sword, Achilles speared her horse, and horse and rider fell, and +died in their fall.</p> +<p>There lay fair Penthesilea in the dust, like a tall poplar tree that +the wind has overthrown, and her helmet fell, and the Greeks who gathered +round marvelled to see her lie so beautiful in death, like Artemis, +the Goddess of the Woods, when she sleeps alone, weary with hunting +on the hills. Then the heart of Achilles was pierced with pity +and sorrow, thinking how she might have been his wife in his own country, +had he spared her, but he was never to see pleasant Phthia, his native +land, again. So Achilles stood and wept over Penthesilea dead.</p> +<p>Now the Greeks, in pity and sorrow, held their hands, and did not +pursue the Trojans who had fled, nor did they strip the armour from +Penthesilea and her twelve maidens, but laid the bodies on biers, and +sent them back in peace to Priam. Then the Trojans burned Penthesilea +in the midst of her dead maidens, on a great pile of dry wood, and placed +their ashes in a golden casket, and buried them all in the great hill-grave +of Laomedon, an ancient King of Troy, while the Greeks with lamentation +buried them whom the Amazon had slain.</p> +<p>The old men of Troy and the chiefs now held a council, and Priam +said that they must not yet despair, for, if they had lost many of their +bravest warriors, many of the Greeks had also fallen. Their best +plan was to fight only with arrows from the walls and towers, till King +Memnon came to their rescue with a great army of Aethiopes. Now +Memnon was the son of the bright Dawn, a beautiful Goddess who had loved +and married a mortal man, Tithonus. She had asked Zeus, the chief +of the Gods, to make her lover immortal, and her prayer was granted. +Tithonus could not die, but he began to grow grey, and then white haired, +with a long white beard, and very weak, till nothing of him seemed to +be left but his voice, always feebly chattering like the grasshoppers +on a summer day.</p> +<p>Memnon was the most beautiful of men, except Paris and Achilles, +and his home was in a country that borders on the land of sunrising. +There he was reared by the lily maidens called Hesperides, till he came +to his full strength, and commanded the whole army of the Aethiopes. +For their arrival Priam wished to wait, but Polydamas advised that the +Trojans should give back Helen to the Greeks, with jewels twice as valuable +as those which she had brought from the house of Menelaus. Then +Paris was very angry, and said that Polydamas was a coward, for it was +little to Paris that Troy should be taken and burned in a month if for +a month he could keep Helen of the fair hands.</p> +<p>At length Memnon came, leading a great army of men who had nothing +white about them but the teeth, so fiercely the sun burned on them in +their own country. The Trojans had all the more hopes of Memnon +because, on his long journey from the land of sunrising, and the river +Oceanus that girdles the round world, he had been obliged to cross the +country of the Solymi. Now the Solymi were the fiercest of men +and rose up against Memnon, but he and his army fought them for a whole +day, and defeated them, and drove them to the hills. When Memnon +came, Priam gave him a great cup of gold, full of wine to the brim, +and Memnon drank the wine at one draught. But he did not make +great boasts of what he could do, like poor Penthesilea, “for,” +said he, “whether I am a good man at arms will be known in battle, +where the strength of men is tried. So now let us turn to sleep, +for to wake and drink wine all through the night is an ill beginning +of war.”</p> +<p>Then Priam praised his wisdom, and all men betook them to bed, but +the bright Dawn rose unwillingly next day, to throw light on the battle +where her son was to risk his fife. Then Memnon led out the dark +clouds of his men into the plain, and the Greeks foreboded evil when +they saw so great a new army of fresh and unwearied warriors, but Achilles, +leading them in his shining armour, gave them courage. Memnon +fell upon the left wing of the Greeks, and on the men of Nestor, and +first he slew Ereuthus, and then attacked Nestor’s young son, +Antilochus, who, now that Patroclus had fallen, was the dearest friend +of Achilles. On him Memnon leaped, like a lion on a kid, but Antilochus +lifted a huge stone from the plain, a pillar that had been set on the +tomb of some great warrior long ago, and the stone smote full on the +helmet of Memnon, who reeled beneath the stroke. But Memnon seized +his heavy spear, and drove it through shield and corselet of Antilochus, +even into his heart, and he fell and died beneath his father’s +eyes. Then Nestor in great sorrow and anger strode across the +body of Antilochus and called to his other son, Thrasymedes, “Come +and drive afar this man that has slain thy brother, for if fear be in +thy heart thou art no son of mine, nor of the race of Periclymenus, +who stood up in battle even against the strong man Heracles!”</p> +<p>But Memnon was too strong for Thrasymedes, and drove him off, while +old Nestor himself charged sword in hand, though Memnon bade him begone, +for he was not minded to strike so aged a man, and Nestor drew back, +for he was weak with age. Then Memnon and his army charged the +Greeks, slaying and stripping the dead. But Nestor had mounted +his chariot and driven to Achilles, weeping, and imploring him to come +swiftly and save the body of Antilochus, and he sped to meet Memnon, +who lifted a great stone, the landmark of a field, and drove it against +the shield of the son of Peleus. But Achilles was not shaken by +the blow; he ran forward, and wounded Memnon over the rim of his shield. +Yet wounded as he was Memnon fought on and struck his spear through +the arm of Achilles, for the Greeks fought with no sleeves of bronze +to protect their arms.</p> +<p>Then Achilles drew his great sword, and flew on Memnon, and with +sword-strokes they lashed at each other on shield and helmet, and the +long horsehair crests of the helmets were shorn off, and flew down the +wind, and their shields rang terribly beneath the sword strokes. +They thrust at each others’ throats between shield and visor of +the helmet, they smote at knee, and thrust at breast, and the armour +rang about their bodies, and the dust from beneath their feet rose up +in a cloud around them, like mist round the falls of a great river in +flood. So they fought, neither of them yielding a step, till Achilles +made so rapid a thrust that Memnon could not parry it, and the bronze +sword passed clean through his body beneath the breast-bone, and he +fell, and his armour clashed as he fell.</p> +<p>Then Achilles, wounded as he was and weak from loss of blood, did +not stay to strip the golden armour of Memnon, but shouted his warcry, +and pressed on, for he hoped to enter the gate of Troy with the fleeing +Trojans, and all the Greeks followed after him. So they pursued, +slaying as they went, and the Scaean gate was choked with the crowd +of men, pursuing and pursued. In that hour would the Greeks have +entered Troy, and burned the city, and taken the women captive, but +Paris stood on the tower above the gate, and in his mind was anger for +the death of his brother Hector. He tried the string of his bow, +and found it frayed, for all day he had showered his arrows on the Greeks; +so he chose a new bowstring, and fitted it, and strung the bow, and +chose an arrow from his quiver, and aimed at the ankle of Achilles, +where it was bare beneath the greave, or leg-guard of metal, that the +God had fashioned for him. Through the ankle flew the arrow, and +Achilles wheeled round, weak as he was, and stumbled, and fell, and +the armour that the God had wrought was defiled with dust and blood.</p> +<p>Then Achilles rose again, and cried: “What coward has smitten +me with a secret arrow from afar? Let him stand forth and meet +me with sword and spear!” So speaking he seized the shaft +with his strong hands and tore it out of the wound, and much blood gushed, +and darkness came over his eyes. Yet he staggered forward, striking +blindly, and smote Orythaon, a dear friend of Hector, through the helmet, +and others he smote, but now his force failed him, and he leaned on +his spear, and cried his warcry, and said, “Cowards of Troy, ye +shall not all escape my spear, dying as I am.” But as he +spoke he fell, and all his armour rang around him, yet the Trojans stood +apart and watched; and as hunters watch a dying lion not daring to go +nigh him, so the Trojans stood in fear till Achilles drew his latest +breath. Then from the wall the Trojan women raised a great cry +of joy over him who had slain the noble Hector: and thus was fulfilled +the prophecy of Hector, that Achilles should fall in the Scaean gateway, +by the hand of Paris.</p> +<p>Then the best of the Trojans rushed forth from the gate to seize +the body of Achilles, and his glorious armour, but the Greeks were as +eager to carry the body to the ships that it might have due burial. +Round the dead Achilles men fought long and sore, and both sides were +mixed, Greeks and Trojans, so that men dared not shoot arrows from the +walls of Troy lest they should kill their own friends. Paris, +and Aeneas, and Glaucus, who had been the friend of Sarpedon, led the +Trojans, and Aias and Ulysses led the Greeks, for we are not told that +Agamemnon was fighting in this great battle of the war. Now as +angry wild bees flock round a man who is taking their honeycombs, so +the Trojans gathered round Aias, striving to stab him, but he set his +great shield in front, and smote and slew all that came within reach +of his spear. Ulysses, too, struck down many, and though a spear +was thrown and pierced his leg near the knee he stood firm, protecting +the body of Achilles. At last Ulysses caught the body of Achilles +by the hands, and heaved it upon his back, and so limped towards the +ships, but Aias and the men of Aias followed, turning round if ever +the Trojans ventured to come near, and charging into the midst of them. +Thus very slowly they bore the dead Achilles across the plain, through +the bodies of the fallen and the blood, till they met Nestor in his +chariot and placed Achilles therein, and swiftly Nestor drove to the +ships.</p> +<p>There the women, weeping, washed Achilles’ comely body, and +laid him on a bier with a great white mantle over him, and all the women +lamented and sang dirges, and the first was Briseis, who loved Achilles +better than her own country, and her father, and her brothers whom he +had slain in war. The Greek princes, too, stood round the body, +weeping and cutting off their long locks of yellow hair, a token of +grief and an offering to the dead.</p> +<p>Men say that forth from the sea came Thetis of the silver feet, the +mother of Achilles, with her ladies, the deathless maidens of the waters. +They rose up from their glassy chambers below the sea, moving on, many +and beautiful, like the waves on a summer day, and their sweet song +echoed along the shores, and fear came upon the Greeks. Then they +would have fled, but Nestor cried: “Hold, flee not, young lords +of the Achaeans! Lo, she that comes from the sea is his mother, +with the deathless maidens of the waters, to look on the face of her +dead son.” Then the sea nymphs stood around the dead Achilles +and clothed him in the garments of the Gods, fragrant raiment, and all +the Nine Muses, one to the other replying with sweet voices, began their +lament.</p> +<p>Next the Greeks made a great pile of dry wood, and laid Achilles +on it, and set fire to it, till the flames had consumed his body except +the white ashes. These they placed in a great golden cup and mingled +with them the ashes of Patroclus, and above all they built a tomb like +a hill, high on a headland above the sea, that men for all time may +see it as they go sailing by, and may remember Achilles. Next +they held in his honour foot races and chariot races, and other games, +and Thetis gave splendid prizes. Last of all, when the games were +ended, Thetis placed before the chiefs the glorious armour that the +God had made for her son on the night after the slaying of Patroclus +by Hector. “Let these arms be the prize of the best of the +Greeks,” she said, “and of him that saved the body of Achilles +out of the hands of the Trojans.”</p> +<p>Then stood up on one side Aias and on the other Ulysses, for these +two had rescued the body, and neither thought himself a worse warrior +than the other. Both were the bravest of the brave, and if Aias +was the taller and stronger, and upheld the fight at the ships on the +day of the valour of Hector; Ulysses had alone withstood the Trojans, +and refused to retreat even when wounded, and his courage and cunning +had won for the Greeks the Luck of Troy. Therefore old Nestor +arose and said: "This is a luckless day, when the best of the Greeks +are rivals for such a prize. He who is not the winner will be +heavy at heart, and will not stand firm by us in battle, as of old, +and hence will come great loss to the Greeks. Who can be a just +judge in this question, for some men will love Aias better, and some +will prefer Ulysses, and thus will arise disputes among ourselves. +Lo! have we not here among us many Trojan prisoners, waiting till their +friends pay their ransom in cattle and gold and bronze and iron? +These hate all the Greeks alike, and will favour neither Aias nor Ulysses. +Let <i>them</i> be the judges, and decide who is the best of the Greeks, +and the man who has done most harm to the Trojans.”</p> +<p>Agamemnon said that Nestor had spoken wisely. The Trojans were +then made to sit as judges in the midst of the Assembly, and Aias and +Ulysses spoke, and told the stories of their own great deeds, of which +we have heard already, but Aias spoke roughly and discourteously, calling +Ulysses a coward and a weakling. “Perhaps the Trojans know,” +said Ulysses quietly, “whether they think that I deserve what +Aias has said about me, that I am a coward; and perhaps Aias may remember +that he did not find me so weak when we wrestled for a prize at the +funeral of Patroclus.”</p> +<p>Then the Trojans all with one voice said that Ulysses was the best +man among the Greeks, and the most feared by them, both for his courage +and his skill in stratagems of war. On this, the blood of Aias +flew into his face, and he stood silent and unmoving, and could not +speak a word, till his friends came round him and led him away to his +hut, and there he sat down and would not eat or drink, and the night +fell.</p> +<p>Long he sat, musing in his mind, and then rose and put on all his +armour, and seized a sword that Hector had given him one day when they +two fought in a gentle passage of arms, and took courteous farewell +of each other, and Aias had given Hector a broad sword-belt, wrought +with gold. This sword, Hector’s gift, Aias took, and went +towards the hut of Ulysses, meaning to carve him limb from limb, for +madness had come upon him in his great grief. Rushing through +the night to slay Ulysses he fell upon the flock of sheep that the Greeks +kept for their meat. And up and down among them he went, smiting +blindly till the dawn came, and, lo! his senses returned to him, and +he saw that he had not smitten Ulysses, but stood in a pool of blood +among the sheep that he had slain. He could not endure the disgrace +of his madness, and he fixed the sword, Hector’s gift, with its +hilt firmly in the ground, and went back a little way, and ran and fell +upon the sword, which pierced his heart, and so died the great Aias, +choosing death before a dishonoured life.</p> +<h2>ULYSSES SAILS TO SEEK THE SON OF ACHILLES.—THE VALOUR OF EURYPYLUS</h2> +<p>When the Greeks found Aias lying dead, slain by his own hand, they +made great lament, and above all the brother of Aias, and his wife Tecmessa +bewailed him, and the shores of the sea rang with their sorrow. +But of all no man was more grieved than Ulysses, and he stood up and +said: “Would that the sons of the Trojans had never awarded to +me the arms of Achilles, for far rather would I have given them to Aias +than that this loss should have befallen the whole army of the Greeks. +Let no man blame me, or be angry with me, for I have not sought for +wealth, to enrich myself, but for honour only, and to win a name that +will be remembered among men in times to come.” Then they +made a great fire of wood, and burned the body of Aias, lamenting him +as they had sorrowed for Achilles.</p> +<p>Now it seemed that though the Greeks had won the Luck of Troy and +had defeated the Amazons and the army of Memnon, they were no nearer +taking Troy than ever. They had slain Hector, indeed, and many +other Trojans, but they had lost the great Achilles, and Aias, and Patroclus, +and Antilochus, with the princes whom Penthesilea and Memnon slew, and +the bands of the dead chiefs were weary of fighting, and eager to go +home. The chiefs met in council, and Menelaus arose and said that +his heart was wasted with sorrow for the death of so many brave men +who had sailed to Troy for his sake. “Would that death had +come upon me before I gathered this host,” he said, “but +come, let the rest of us launch our swift ships, and return each to +our own country.”</p> +<p>He spoke thus to try the Greeks, and see of what courage they were, +for his desire was still to burn Troy town and to slay Paris with his +own hand. Then up rose Diomede, and swore that never would the +Greeks turn cowards. No! he bade them sharpen their swords, and +make ready for battle. The prophet Calchas, too, arose and reminded +the Greeks how he had always foretold that they would take Troy in the +tenth year of the siege, and how the tenth year had come, and victory +was almost in their hands. Next Ulysses stood up and said that, +though Achilles was dead, and there was no prince to lead his men, yet +a son had been born to Achilles, while he was in the isle of Scyros, +and that son he would bring to fill his father’s place.</p> +<p>“Surely he will come, and for a token I will carry to him those +unhappy arms of the great Achilles. Unworthy am I to wear them, +and they bring back to my mind our sorrow for Aias. But his son +will wear them, in the front of the spearmen of Greece and in the thickest +ranks of Troy shall the helmet of Achilles shine, as it was wont to +do, for always he fought among the foremost.” Thus Ulysses +spoke, and he and Diomede, with fifty oarsmen, went on board a swift +ship, and sitting all in order on the benches they smote the grey sea +into foam, and Ulysses held the helm and steered them towards the isle +of Scyros.</p> +<p>Now the Trojans had rest from war for a while, and Priam, with a +heavy heart, bade men take his chief treasure, the great golden vine, +with leaves and clusters of gold, and carry it to the mother of Eurypylus, +the king of the people who dwell where the wide marshlands of the river +Cayster clang with the cries of the cranes and herons and wild swans. +For the mother of Eurypylus had sworn that never would she let her son +go to the war unless Priam sent her the vine of gold, a gift of the +gods to an ancient King of Troy.</p> +<p>With a heavy heart, then, Priam sent the golden vine, but Eurypylus +was glad when he saw it, and bade all his men arm, and harness the horses +to the chariots, and glad were the Trojans when the long line of the +new army wound along the road and into the town. Then Paris welcomed +Eurypylus who was his nephew, son of his sister Astyochê, a daughter +of Priam; but the grandfather of Eurypylus was the famous Heracles, +the strongest man who ever lived on earth. So Paris brought Eurypylus +to his house, where Helen sat working at her embroideries with her four +bower maidens, and Eurypylus marvelled when he saw her, she was so beautiful. +But the Khita, the people of Eurypylus, feasted in the open air among +the Trojans, by the light of great fires burning, and to the music of +pipes and flutes. The Greeks saw the fires, and heard the merry +music, and they watched all night lest the Trojans should attack the +ships before the dawn. But in the dawn Eurypylus rose from sleep +and put on his armour, and hung from his neck by the belt the great +shield on which were fashioned, in gold of many colours and in silver, +the Twelve Adventures of Heracles, his grandfather; strange deeds that +he did, fighting with monsters and giants and with the Hound of Hades, +who guards the dwellings of the dead. Then Eurypylus led on his +whole army, and with the brothers of Hector he charged against the Greeks, +who were led by Agamemnon.</p> +<p>In that battle Eurypylus first smote Nireus, who was the most beautiful +of the Greeks now that Achilles had fallen. There lay Nireus, +like an apple tree, all covered with blossoms red and white, that the +wind has overthrown in a rich man’s orchard. Then Eurypylus +would have stripped off his armour, but Machaon rushed in, Machaon who +had been wounded and taken to the tent of Nestor, on the day of the +Valour of Hector, when he brought fire against the ships. Machaon +drove his spear through the left shoulder of Eurypylus, but Eurypylus +struck at his shoulder with his sword, and the blood flowed; nevertheless, +Machaon stooped, and grasped a great stone, and sent it against the +helmet of Eurypylus. He was shaken, but he did not fall, he drove +his spear through breastplate and breast of Machaon, who fell and died. +With his last breath he said, “Thou, too, shalt fall,” but +Eurypylus made answer, “So let it be! Men cannot live for +ever, and such is the fortune of war.”</p> +<p>Thus the battle rang, and shone, and shifted, till few of the Greeks +kept steadfast, except those with Menelaus and Agamemnon, for Diomede +and Ulysses were far away upon the sea, bringing from Scyros the son +of Achilles. But Teucer slew Polydamas, who had warned Hector +to come within the walls of Troy; and Menelaus wounded Deiphobus, the +bravest of the sons of Priam who were still in arms, for many had fallen; +and Agamemnon slew certain spearmen of the Trojans. Round Eurypylus +fought Paris, and Aeneas, who wounded Teucer with a great stone, breaking +in his helmet, but he drove back in his chariot to the ships. +Menelaus and Agamemnon stood alone and fought in the crowd of Trojans, +like two wild boars that a circle of hunters surrounds with spears, +so fiercely they stood at bay. There they would both have fallen, +but Idomeneus, and Meriones of Crete, and Thrasymedes, Nestor’s +son, ran to their rescue, and fiercer grew the fighting. Eurypylus +desired to slay Agamemnon and Menelaus, and end the war, but, as the +spears of the Scots encompassed King James at Flodden Field till he +ran forward, and fell within a lance’s length of the English general, +so the men of Crete and Pylos guarded the two princes with their spears.</p> +<p>There Paris was wounded in the thigh with a spear, and he retreated +a little way, and showered his arrows among the Greeks; and Idomeneus +lifted and hurled a great stone at Eurypylus which struck his spear +out of his hand, and he went back to find it, and Menelaus and Agamemnon +had a breathing space in the battle. But soon Eurypylus returned, +crying on his men, and they drove back foot by foot the ring of spears +round Agamemnon, and Aeneas and Paris slew men of Crete and of Mycenae +till the Greeks were pushed to the ditch round the camp; and then great +stones and spears and arrows rained down on the Trojans and the people +of Eurypylus from the battlements and towers of the Grecian wall. +Now night fell, and Eurypylus knew that he could not win the wall in +the dark, so he withdrew his men, and they built great fires, and camped +upon the plain.</p> +<p>The case of the Greeks was now like that of the Trojans after the +death of Hector. They buried Machaon and the other chiefs who +had fallen, and they remained within their ditch and their wall, for +they dared not come out into the open plain. They knew not whether +Ulysses and Diomede had come safely to Scyros, or whether their ship +had been wrecked or driven into unknown seas. So they sent a herald +to Eurypylus, asking for a truce, that they might gather their dead +and burn them, and the Trojans and Khita also buried their dead.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the swift ship of Ulysses had swept through the sea to +Scyros, and to the palace of King Lycomedes. There they found +Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, in the court before the doors. +He was as tall as his father, and very like him in face and shape, and +he was practising the throwing of the spear at a mark. Right glad +were Ulysses and Diomede to behold him, and Ulysses told Neoptolemus +who they were, and why they came, and implored him to take pity on the +Greeks and help them.</p> +<p>“My friend is Diomede, Prince of Argos,” said Ulysses, +“and I am Ulysses of Ithaca. Come with us, and we Greeks +will give you countless gifts, and I myself will present you with the +armour of your father, such as it is not lawful for any other mortal +man to wear, seeing that it is golden, and wrought by the hands of a +God. Moreover, when we have taken Troy, and gone home, Menelaus +will give you his daughter, the beautiful Hermione, to be your wife, +with gold in great plenty.”</p> +<p>Then Neoptolemus answered: “It is enough that the Greeks need +my sword. To-morrow we shall sail for Troy.” He led +them into the palace to dine, and there they found his mother, beautiful +Deidamia, in mourning raiment, and she wept when she heard that they +had come to take her son away. But Neoptolemus comforted her, +promising to return safely with the spoils of Troy, “or, even +if I fall,” he said, “it will be after doing deeds worthy +of my father’s name.” So next day they sailed, leaving +Deidamia mournful, like a swallow whose nest a serpent has found, and +has killed her young ones; even so she wailed, and went up and down +in the house. But the ship ran swiftly on her way, cleaving the +dark waves till Ulysses showed Neoptolemus the far off snowy crest of +Mount Ida; and Tenedos, the island near Troy; and they passed the plain +where the tomb of Achilles stands, but Ulysses did not tell the son +that it was his father’s tomb.</p> +<p>Now all this time the Greeks, shut up within their wall and fighting +from their towers, were looking back across the sea, eager to spy the +ship of Ulysses, like men wrecked on a desert island, who keep watch +every day for a sail afar off, hoping that the seamen will touch at +their isle and have pity upon them, and carry them home, so the Greeks +kept watch for the ship bearing Neoptolemus.</p> +<p>Diomede, too, had been watching the shore, and when they came in +sight of the ships of the Greeks, he saw that they were being besieged +by the Trojans, and that all the Greek army was penned up within the +wall, and was fighting from the towers. Then he cried aloud to +Ulysses and Neoptolemus, “Make haste, friends, let us arm before +we land, for some great evil has fallen upon the Greeks. The Trojans +are attacking our wall, and soon they will burn our ships, and for us +there will be no return.”</p> +<p>Then all the men on the ship of Ulysses armed themselves, and Neoptolemus, +in the splendid armour of his father, was the first to leap ashore. +The Greeks could not come from the wall to welcome him, for they were +fighting hard and hand-to-hand with Eurypylus and his men. But +they glanced back over their shoulders and it seemed to them that they +saw Achilles himself, spear and sword in hand, rushing to help them. +They raised a great battle-cry, and, when Neoptolemus reached the battlements, +he and Ulysses, and Diomede leaped down to the plain, the Greeks following +them, and they all charged at once on the men of Eurypylus, with levelled +spears, and drove them from the wall.</p> +<p>Then the Trojans trembled, for they knew the shields of Diomede and +Ulysses, and they thought that the tall chief in the armour of Achilles +was Achilles himself, come back from the land of the dead to take vengeance +for Antilochus. The Trojans fled, and gathered round Eurypylus, +as in a thunderstorm little children, afraid of the lightning and the +noise, run and cluster round their father, and hide their faces on his +knees.</p> +<p>But Neoptolemus was spearing the Trojans, as a man who carries at +night a beacon of fire in his boat on the sea spears the fishes that +flock around, drawn by the blaze of the flame. Cruelly he avenged +his father’s death on many a Trojan, and the men whom Achilles +had led followed Achilles’ son, slaying to right and left, and +smiting the Trojans, as they ran, between the shoulders with the spear. +Thus they fought and followed while daylight lasted, but when night +fell, they led Neoptolemus to his father’s hut, where the women +washed him in the bath, and then he was taken to feast with Agamemnon +and Menelaus and the princes. They all welcomed him, and gave +him glorious gifts, swords with silver hilts, and cups of gold and silver, +and they were glad, for they had driven the Trojans from their wall, +and hoped that to-morrow they would slay Eurypylus, and take Troy town.</p> +<p>But their hope was not to be fulfilled, for though next day Eurypylus +met Neoptolemus in the battle, and was slain by him, when the Greeks +chased the Trojans into their city so great a storm of lightning and +thunder and rain fell upon them that they retreated again to their camp. +They believed that Zeus, the chief of the Gods, was angry with them, +and the days went by, and Troy still stood unconquered.</p> +<h2>THE SLAYING OF PARIS</h2> +<p>When the Greeks were disheartened, as they often were, they consulted +Calchas the prophet. He usually found that they must do something, +or send for somebody, and in doing so they diverted their minds from +their many misfortunes. Now, as the Trojans were fighting more +bravely than before, under Deiphobus, a brother of Hector, the Greeks +went to Calchas for advice, and he told them that they must send Ulysses +and Diomede to bring Philoctetes the bowman from the isle of Lemnos. +This was an unhappy deserted island, in which the married women, some +years before, had murdered all their husbands, out of jealousy, in a +single night. The Greeks had landed in Lemnos, on their way to +Troy, and there Philoctetes had shot an arrow at a great water dragon +which lived in a well within a cave in the lonely hills. But when +he entered the cave the dragon bit him, and, though he killed it at +last, its poisonous teeth wounded his foot. The wound never healed, +but dripped with venom, and Philoctetes, in terrible pain, kept all +the camp awake at night by his cries.</p> +<p>The Greeks were sorry for him, but he was not a pleasant companion, +shrieking as he did, and exuding poison wherever he came. So they +left him on the lonely island, and did not know whether he was alive +or dead. Calchas ought to have told the Greeks not to desert Philoctetes +at the time, if he was so important that Troy, as the prophet now said, +could not be taken without him. But now, as he must give some +advice, Calchas said that Philoctetes must be brought back, so Ulysses +and Diomede went to bring him. They sailed to Lemnos, a melancholy +place they found it, with no smoke rising from the ruinous houses along +the shore. As they were landing they learned that Philoctetes +was not dead, for his dismal old cries of pain, <i>ototototoi, ai, ai; +pheu, pheu; ototototoi</i>, came echoing from a cave on the beach. +To this cave the princes went, and found a terrible-looking man, with +long, dirty, dry hair and beard; he was worn to a skeleton, with hollow +eyes, and lay moaning in a mass of the feathers of sea birds. +His great bow and his arrows lay ready to his hand: with these he used +to shoot the sea birds, which were all that he had to eat, and their +feathers littered all the floor of his cave, and they were none the +better for the poison that dripped from his wounded foot.</p> +<p>When this horrible creature saw Ulysses and Diomede coming near, +he seized his bow and fitted a poisonous arrow to the string, for he +hated the Greeks, because they had left him in the desert isle. +But the princes held up their hands in sign of peace, and cried out +that they had come to do him kindness, so he laid down his bow, and +they came in and sat on the rocks, and promised that his wound should +be healed, for the Greeks were very much ashamed of having deserted +him. It was difficult to resist Ulysses when he wished to persuade +any one, and at last Philoctetes consented to sail with them to Troy. +The oarsmen carried him down to the ship on a litter, and there his +dreadful wound was washed with warm water, and oil was poured into it, +and it was bound up with soft linen, so that his pain grew less fierce, +and they gave him a good supper and wine enough, which he had not tasted +for many years.</p> +<p>Next morning they sailed, and had a fair west wind, so that they +soon landed among the Greeks and carried Philoctetes on shore. +Here Podaleirius, the brother of Machaon, being a physician, did all +that could be done to heal the wound, and the pain left Philoctetes. +He was taken to the hut of Agamemnon, who welcomed him, and said that +the Greeks repented of their cruelty. They gave him seven female +slaves to take care of him, and twenty swift horses, and twelve great +vessels of bronze, and told him that he was always to live with the +greatest chiefs and feed at their table. So he was bathed, and +his hair was cut and combed and anointed with oil, and soon he was eager +and ready to fight, and to use his great bow and poisoned arrows on +the Trojans. The use of poisoned arrow-tips was thought unfair, +but Philoctetes had no scruples.</p> +<p>Now in the next battle Paris was shooting down the Greeks with his +arrows, when Philoctetes saw him, and cried: “Dog, you are proud +of your archery and of the arrow that slew the great Achilles. +But, behold, I am a better bowman than you, by far, and the bow in my +hands was borne by the strong man Heracles!” So he cried +and drew the bowstring to his breast and the poisoned arrowhead to the +bow, and the bowstring rang, and the arrow flew, and did but graze the +hand of Paris. Then the bitter pain of the poison came upon him, +and the Trojans carried him into their city, where the physicians tended +him all night. But he never slept, and lay tossing in agony till +dawn, when he said: “There is but one hope. Take me to Œnone, +the nymph of Mount Ida!”</p> +<p>Then his friends laid Paris on a litter, and bore him up the steep +path to Mount Ida. Often had he climbed it swiftly, when he was +young, and went to see the nymph who loved him; but for many a day he +had not trod the path where he was now carried in great pain and fear, +for the poison turned his blood to fire. Little hope he had, for +he knew how cruelly he had deserted Œnone, and he saw that all +the birds which were disturbed in the wood flew away to the left hand, +an omen of evil.</p> +<p>At last the bearers reached the cave where the nymph Œnone +lived, and they smelled the sweet fragrance of the cedar fire that burned +on the floor of the cave, and they heard the nymph singing a melancholy +song. Then Paris called to her in the voice which she had once +loved to hear, and she grew very pale, and rose up, saying to herself, +“The day has come for which I have prayed. He is sore hurt, +and has come to bid me heal his wound.” So she came and +stood in the doorway of the dark cave, white against the darkness, and +the bearers laid Paris on the litter at the feet of Œnone, and +he stretched forth his hands to touch her knees, as was the manner of +suppliants. But she drew back and gathered her robe about her, +that he might not touch it with his hands.</p> +<p>Then he said: “Lady, despise me not, and hate me not, for my +pain is more than I can bear. Truly it was by no will of mine +that I left you lonely here, for the Fates that no man may escape led +me to Helen. Would that I had died in your arms before I saw her +face! But now I beseech you in the name of the Gods, and for the +memory of our love, that you will have pity on me and heal my hurt, +and not refuse your grace and let me die here at your feet.”</p> +<p>Then Œnone answered scornfully: “Why have you come here +to me? Surely for years you have not come this way, where the +path was once worn with your feet. But long ago you left me lonely +and lamenting, for the love of Helen of the fair hands. Surely +she is much more beautiful than the love of your youth, and far more +able to help you, for men say that she can never know old age and death. +Go home to Helen and let her take away your pain.”</p> +<p>Thus Œnone spoke, and went within the cave, where she threw +herself down among the ashes of the hearth and sobbed for anger and +sorrow. In a little while she rose and went to the door of the +cave, thinking that Paris had not been borne away back to Troy, but +she found him not; for his bearers had carried him by another path, +till he died beneath the boughs of the oak trees. Then his bearers +carried him swiftly down to Troy, where his mother bewailed him, and +Helen sang over him as she had sung over Hector, remembering many things, +and fearing to think of what her own end might be. But the Trojans +hastily built a great pile of dry wood, and thereon laid the body of +Paris and set fire to it, and the flame went up through the darkness, +for now night had fallen.</p> +<p>But Œnone was roaming in the dark woods, crying and calling +after Paris, like a lioness whose cubs the hunters have carried away. +The moon rose to give her light, and the flame of the funeral fire shone +against the sky, and then Œnone knew that Paris had died—beautiful +Paris—and that the Trojans were burning his body on the plain +at the foot of Mount Ida. Then she cried that now Paris was all +her own, and that Helen had no more hold on him: “And though when +he was living he left me, in death we shall not be divided,” she +said, and she sped down the hill, and through the thickets where the +wood nymphs were wailing for Paris, and she reached the plain, and, +covering her head with her veil like a bride, she rushed through the +throng of Trojans. She leaped upon the burning pile of wood, she +clasped the body of Paris in her arms, and the flame of fire consumed +the bridegroom and the bride, and their ashes mingled. No man +could divide them any more, and the ashes were placed in a golden cup, +within a chamber of stone, and the earth was mounded above them. +On that grave the wood nymphs planted two rose trees, and their branches +met and plaited together.</p> +<p>This was the end of Paris and Œnone.</p> +<h2>HOW ULYSSES INVENTED THE DEVICE OF THE HORSE OF TREE</h2> +<p>After Paris died, Helen was not given back to Menelaus. We +are often told that only fear of the anger of Paris had prevented the +Trojans from surrendering Helen and making peace. Now Paris could +not terrify them, yet for all that the men of the town would not part +with Helen, whether because she was so beautiful, or because they thought +it dishonourable to yield her to the Greeks, who might put her to a +cruel death. So Helen was taken by Deiphobus, the brother of Paris, +to live in his own house, and Deiphobus was at this time the best warrior +and the chief captain of the men of Troy.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, the Greeks made an assault against the Trojan walls and +fought long and hardily; but, being safe behind the battlements, and +shooting through loopholes, the Trojans drove them back with loss of +many of their men. It was in vain that Philoctetes shot his poisoned +arrows, they fell back from the stone walls, or stuck in the palisades +of wood above the walls, and the Greeks who tried to climb over were +speared, or crushed with heavy stones. When night fell, they retreated +to the ships and held a council, and, as usual, they asked the advice +of the prophet Calchas. It was the business of Calchas to go about +looking at birds, and taking omens from what he saw them doing, a way +of prophesying which the Romans also used, and some savages do the same +to this day. Calchas said that yesterday he had seen a hawk pursuing +a dove, which hid herself in a hole in a rocky cliff. For a long +while the hawk tried to find the hole, and follow the dove into it, +but he could not reach her. So he flew away for a short distance +and hid himself; then the dove fluttered out into the sunlight, and +the hawk swooped on her and killed her.</p> +<p>The Greeks, said Calchas, ought to learn a lesson from the hawk, +and take Troy by cunning, as by force they could do nothing. Then +Ulysses stood up and described a trick which it is not easy to understand. +The Greeks, he said, ought to make an enormous hollow horse of wood, +and place the bravest men in the horse. Then all the rest of the +Greeks should embark in their ships and sail to the Isle of Tenedos, +and lie hidden behind the island. The Trojans would then come +out of the city, like the dove out of her hole in the rock, and would +wander about the Greek camp, and wonder why the great horse of tree +had been made, and why it had been left behind. Lest they should +set fire to the horse, when they would soon have found out the warriors +hidden in it, a cunning Greek, whom the Trojans did not know by sight, +should be left in the camp or near it. He would tell the Trojans +that the Greeks had given up all hope and gone home, and he was to say +that they feared the Goddess Pallas was angry with them, because they +had stolen her image that fell from heaven, and was called the Luck +of Troy. To soothe Pallas and prevent her from sending great storms +against the ships, the Trojans (so the man was to say) had built this +wooden horse as an offering to the Goddess. The Trojans, believing +this story, would drag the horse into Troy, and, in the night, the princes +would come out, set fire to the city, and open the gates to the army, +which would return from Tenedos as soon as darkness came on.</p> +<p>The prophet was much pleased with the plan of Ulysses, and, as two +birds happened to fly away on the right hand, he declared that the stratagem +would certainly be lucky. Neoptolemus, on the other hand, voted +for taking Troy, without any trick, by sheer hard fighting. Ulysses +replied that if Achilles could not do that, it could not be done at +all, and that Epeius, a famous carpenter, had better set about making +the horse at once.</p> +<p>Next day half the army, with axes in their hands, were sent to cut +down trees on Mount Ida, and thousands of planks were cut from the trees +by Epeius and his workmen, and in three days he had finished the horse. +Ulysses then asked the best of the Greeks to come forward and go inside +the machine; while one, whom the Greeks did not know by sight, should +volunteer to stay behind in the camp and deceive the Trojans. +Then a young man called Sinon stood up and said that he would risk himself +and take the chance that the Trojans might disbelieve him, and burn +him alive. Certainly, none of the Greeks did anything more courageous, +yet Sinon had not been considered brave.</p> +<p>Had he fought in the front ranks, the Trojans would have known him; +but there were many brave fighters who would not have dared to do what +Sinon undertook.</p> +<p>Then old Nestor was the first that volunteered to go into the horse; +but Neoptolemus said that, brave as he was, he was too old, and that +he must depart with the army to Tenedos. Neoptolemus himself would +go into the horse, for he would rather die than turn his back on Troy. +So Neoptolemus armed himself and climbed into the horse, as did Menelaus, +Ulysses, Diomede, Thrasymedes (Nestor’s son), Idomeneus, Philoctetes, +Meriones, and all the best men except Agamemnon, while Epeius himself +entered last of all. Agamemnon was not allowed by the other Greeks +to share their adventure, as he was to command the army when they returned +from Tenedos. They meanwhile launched their ships and sailed away.</p> +<p>But first Menelaus had led Ulysses apart, and told him that if they +took Troy (and now they must either take it or die at the hands of the +Trojans), he would owe to Ulysses the glory. When they came back +to Greece, he wished to give Ulysses one of his own cities, that they +might always be near each other. Ulysses smiled and shook his +head; he could not leave Ithaca, his own rough island kingdom. +“But if we both live through the night that is coming,” +he said, “I may ask you for one gift, and giving it will make +you none the poorer.” Then Menelaus swore by the splendour +of Zeus that Ulysses could ask him for no gift that he would not gladly +give; so they embraced, and both armed themselves and went up into the +horse. With them were all the chiefs except Nestor, whom they +would not allow to come, and Agamemnon, who, as chief general, had to +command the army. They swathed themselves and their arms in soft +silks, that they might not ring and clash, when the Trojans, if they +were so foolish, dragged the horse up into their town, and there they +sat in the dark waiting. Meanwhile, the army burned their huts +and launched their ships, and with oars and sails made their way to +the back of the isle of Tenedos.</p> +<h2>THE END OF TROY AND THE SAVING OF HELEN</h2> +<p>From the walls the Trojans saw the black smoke go up thick into the +sky, and the whole fleet of the Greeks sailing out to sea. Never +were men so glad, and they armed themselves for fear of an ambush, and +went cautiously, sending forth scouts in front of them, down to the +seashore. Here they found the huts burned down and the camp deserted, +and some of the scouts also caught Sinon, who had hid himself in a place +where he was likely to be found. They rushed on him with fierce +cries, and bound his hands with a rope, and kicked and dragged him along +to the place where Priam and the princes were wondering at the great +horse of tree. Sinon looked round upon them, while some were saying +that he ought to be tortured with fire to make him tell all the truth +about the horse. The chiefs in the horse must have trembled for +fear lest torture should wring the truth out of Sinon, for then the +Trojans would simply burn the machine and them within it.</p> +<p>But Sinon said: “Miserable man that I am, whom the Greeks hate +and the Trojans are eager to slay!” When the Trojans heard +that the Greeks hated him, they were curious, and asked who he was, +and how he came to be there. “I will tell you all, oh King!” +he answered Priam. “I was a friend and squire of an unhappy +chief, Palamedes, whom the wicked Ulysses hated and slew secretly one +day, when he found him alone, fishing in the sea. I was angry, +and in my folly I did not hide my anger, and my words came to the ears +of Ulysses. From that hour he sought occasion to slay me. +Then Calchas—” here he stopped, saying: “But why tell +a long tale? If you hate all Greeks alike, then slay me; this +is what Agamemnon and Ulysses desire; Menelaus would thank you for my +head.”</p> +<p>The Trojans were now more curious than before. They bade him +go on, and he said that the Greeks had consulted an Oracle, which advised +them to sacrifice one of their army to appease the anger of the Gods +and gain a fair wind homewards. “But who was to be sacrificed? +They asked Calchas, who for fifteen days refused to speak. At +last, being bribed by Ulysses, he pointed to me, Sinon, and said that +I must be the victim. I was bound and kept in prison, while they +built their great horse as a present for Pallas Athênê the +Goddess. They made it so large that you Trojans might never be +able to drag it into your city; while, if you destroyed it, the Goddess +might turn her anger against you. And now they have gone home +to bring back the image that fell from heaven, which they had sent to +Greece, and to restore it to the Temple of Pallas Athênê, +when they have taken your town, for the Goddess is angry with them for +that theft of Ulysses.”</p> +<p>The Trojans were foolish enough to believe the story of Sinon, and +they pitied him and unbound his hands. Then they tied ropes to +the wooden horse, and laid rollers in front of it, like men launching +a ship, and they all took turns to drag the horse up to the Scaean gate. +Children and women put their hands to the ropes and hauled, and with +shouts and dances, and hymns they toiled, till about nightfall the horse +stood in the courtyard of the inmost castle.</p> +<p>Then all the people of Troy began to dance, and drink, and sing. +Such sentinels as were set at the gates got as drunk as all the rest, +who danced about the city till after midnight, and then they went to +their homes and slept heavily.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the Greek ships were returning from behind Tenedos as fast +as the oarsmen could row them.</p> +<p>One Trojan did not drink or sleep; this was Deiphobus, at whose house +Helen was now living. He bade her come with them, for he knew +that she was able to speak in the very voice of all men and women whom +she had ever seen, and he armed a few of his friends and went with them +to the citadel. Then he stood beside the horse, holding Helen’s +hand, and whispered to her that she must call each of the chiefs in +the voice of his wife. She was obliged to obey, and she called +Menelaus in her own voice, and Diomede in the voice of his wife, and +Ulysses in the very voice of Penelope. Then Menelaus and Diomede +were eager to answer, but Ulysses grasped their hands and whispered +the word “Echo!” Then they remembered that this was +a name of Helen, because she could speak in all voices, and they were +silent; but Anticlus was still eager to answer, till Ulysses held his +strong hand over his mouth. There was only silence, and Deiphobus +led Helen back to his house. When they had gone away Epeius opened +the side of the horse, and all the chiefs let themselves down softly +to the ground. Some rushed to the gate, to open it, and they killed +the sleeping sentinels and let in the Greeks. Others sped with +torches to burn the houses of the Trojan princes, and terrible was the +slaughter of men, unarmed and half awake, and loud were the cries of +the women. But Ulysses had slipped away at the first, none knew +where. Neoptolemus ran to the palace of Priam, who was sitting +at the altar in his courtyard, praying vainly to the Gods, for Neoptolemus +slew the old man cruelly, and his white hair was dabbled in his blood. +All through the city was fighting and slaying; but Menelaus went to +the house of Deiphobus, knowing that Helen was there.</p> +<p>In the doorway he found Deiphobus lying dead in all his armour, a +spear standing in his breast. There were footprints marked in +blood, leading through the portico and into the hall. There Menelaus +went, and found Ulysses leaning, wounded, against one of the central +pillars of the great chamber, the firelight shining on his armour.</p> +<p>“Why hast thou slain Deiphobus and robbed me of my revenge?” +said Menelaus. “You swore to give me a gift,” said +Ulysses, “and will you keep your oath?” “Ask +what you will,” said Menelaus; “it is yours and my oath +cannot be broken.” “I ask the life of Helen of the +fair hands,” said Ulysses “this is my own life-price that +I pay back to her, for she saved my life when I took the Luck of Troy, +and I swore that hers should be saved.”</p> +<p>Then Helen stole, glimmering in white robes, from a recess in the +dark hall, and fell at the feet of Menelaus; her golden hair lay in +the dust of the hearth, and her hands moved to touch his knees. +His drawn sword fell from the hands of Menelaus, and pity and love came +into his heart, and he raised her from the dust and her white arms were +round his neck, and they both wept. That night Menelaus fought +no more, but they tended the wound of Ulysses, for the sword of Deiphobus +had bitten through his helmet.</p> +<p>When dawn came Troy lay in ashes, and the women were being driven +with spear shafts to the ships, and the men were left unburied, a prey +to dogs and all manner of birds. Thus the grey city fell, that +had lorded it for many centuries. All the gold and silver and +rich embroideries, and ivory and amber, the horses and chariots, were +divided among the army; all but a treasure of silver and gold, hidden +in a chest within a hollow of the wall, and this treasure was found, +not very many years ago, by men digging deep on the hill where Troy +once stood. The women, too, were given to the princes, and Neoptolemus +took Andromache to his home in Argos, to draw water from the well and +to be the slave of a master, and Agamemnon carried beautiful Cassandra, +the daughter of Priam, to his palace in Mycenae, where they were both +slain in one night. Only Helen was led with honour to the ship +of Menelaus.</p> +<p>The story of all that happened to Ulysses on his way home from Troy +is told in another book, “Tales of the Greek Seas.”</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF TROY: ULYSSES THE SACKER OF</p> +<pre> +CITIES*** + + +***** This file should be named 1973-h.htm or 1973-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/7/1973 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Tales of Troy: Ulysses the Sacker of Cities + + +Author: Andrew Lang + +Release Date: April 29, 2005 [eBook #1973] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF TROY: ULYSSES THE SACKER +OF CITIES*** + + + + + +Transcribed from the 1912 Longmans, Green, and Co. edition by David +Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + + +TALES OF TROY: ULYSSES THE SACKER OF CITIES +by Andrew Lang + + +Contents: + +The Boyhood and Parents of Ulysses +How People Lived in the Time of Ulysses +The Wooing of Helen of the Fair Hands +The Stealing of Helen +Trojan Victories +Battle at the Ships +The Slaying and Avenging of Patroclus +The Cruelty of Achilles, and the Ransoming of Hector +How Ulysses Stole the Luck of Troy +The Battles with the Amazons and Memnon--the Death of Achilles +Ulysses Sails to seek the Son of Achilles.--The Valour of Eurypylus +The Slaying of Paris +How Ulysses Invented the Device of the Horse of Tree +The End of Troy and the Saving of Helen + + + + +THE BOYHOOD AND PARENTS OF ULYSSES + + +Long ago, in a little island called Ithaca, on the west coast of Greece, +there lived a king named Laertes. His kingdom was small and mountainous. +People used to say that Ithaca "lay like a shield upon the sea," which +sounds as if it were a flat country. But in those times shields were +very large, and rose at the middle into two peaks with a hollow between +them, so that Ithaca, seen far off in the sea, with her two chief +mountain peaks, and a cloven valley between them, looked exactly like a +shield. The country was so rough that men kept no horses, for, at that +time, people drove, standing up in little light chariots with two horses; +they never rode, and there was no cavalry in battle: men fought from +chariots. When Ulysses, the son of Laertes, King of Ithaca grew up, he +never fought from a chariot, for he had none, but always on foot. + +If there were no horses in Ithaca, there was plenty of cattle. The +father of Ulysses had flocks of sheep, and herds of swine, and wild +goats, deer, and hares lived in the hills and in the plains. The sea was +full of fish of many sorts, which men caught with nets, and with rod and +line and hook. + +Thus Ithaca was a good island to live in. The summer was long, and there +was hardly any winter; only a few cold weeks, and then the swallows came +back, and the plains were like a garden, all covered with wild +flowers--violets, lilies, narcissus, and roses. With the blue sky and +the blue sea, the island was beautiful. White temples stood on the +shores; and the Nymphs, a sort of fairies, had their little shrines built +of stone, with wild rose-bushes hanging over them. + +Other islands lay within sight, crowned with mountains, stretching away, +one behind the other, into the sunset. Ulysses in the course of his life +saw many rich countries, and great cities of men, but, wherever he was, +his heart was always in the little isle of Ithaca, where he had learned +how to row, and how to sail a boat, and how to shoot with bow and arrow, +and to hunt boars and stags, and manage his hounds. + +The mother of Ulysses was called Anticleia: she was the daughter of King +Autolycus, who lived near Parnassus, a mountain on the mainland. This +King Autolycus was the most cunning of men. He was a Master Thief, and +could steal a man's pillow from under his head, but he does not seem to +have been thought worse of for this. The Greeks had a God of Thieves, +named Hermes, whom Autolycus worshipped, and people thought more good of +his cunning tricks than harm of his dishonesty. Perhaps these tricks of +his were only practised for amusement; however that may be, Ulysses +became as artful as his grandfather; he was both the bravest and the most +cunning of men, but Ulysses never stole things, except once, as we shall +hear, from the enemy in time of war. He showed his cunning in stratagems +of war, and in many strange escapes from giants and man-eaters. + +Soon after Ulysses was born, his grandfather came to see his mother and +father in Ithaca. He was sitting at supper when the nurse of Ulysses, +whose name was Eurycleia, brought in the baby, and set him on the knees +of Autolycus, saying, "Find a name for your grandson, for he is a child +of many prayers." + +"I am very angry with many men and women in the world," said Autolycus, +"so let the child's name be _A Man of Wrath_," which, in Greek, was +Odysseus. So the child was called Odysseus by his own people, but the +name was changed into Ulysses, and we shall call him Ulysses. + +We do not know much about Ulysses when he was a little boy, except that +he used to run about the garden with his father, asking questions, and +begging that he might have fruit trees "for his very own." He was a +great pet, for his parents had no other son, so his father gave him +thirteen pear trees, and forty fig trees, and promised him fifty rows of +vines, all covered with grapes, which he could eat when he liked, without +asking leave of the gardener. So he was not tempted to steal fruit, like +his grandfather. + +When Autolycus gave Ulysses his name, he said that he must come to stay +with him, when he was a big boy, and he would get splendid presents. +Ulysses was told about this, so, when he was a tall lad, he crossed the +sea and drove in his chariot to the old man's house on Mount Parnassus. +Everybody welcomed him, and next day his uncles and cousins and he went +out to hunt a fierce wild boar, early in the morning. Probably Ulysses +took his own dog, named Argos, the best of hounds, of which we shall hear +again, long afterwards, for the dog lived to be very old. Soon the +hounds came on the scent of a wild boar, and after them the men went, +with spears in their hands, and Ulysses ran foremost, for he was already +the swiftest runner in Greece. + +He came on a great boar lying in a tangled thicket of boughs and bracken, +a dark place where the sun never shone, nor could the rain pierce +through. Then the noise of the men's shouts and the barking of the dogs +awakened the boar, and up he sprang, bristling all over his back, and +with fire shining from his eyes. In rushed Ulysses first of all, with +his spear raised to strike, but the boar was too quick for him, and ran +in, and drove his sharp tusk sideways, ripping up the thigh of Ulysses. +But the boar's tusk missed the bone, and Ulysses sent his sharp spear +into the beast's right shoulder, and the spear went clean through, and +the boar fell dead, with a loud cry. The uncles of Ulysses bound up his +wound carefully, and sang a magical song over it, as the French soldiers +wanted to do to Joan of Arc when the arrow pierced her shoulder at the +siege of Orleans. Then the blood ceased to flow, and soon Ulysses was +quite healed of his wound. They thought that he would be a good warrior, +and gave him splendid presents, and when he went home again he told all +that had happened to his father and mother, and his nurse, Eurycleia. But +there was always a long white mark or scar above his left knee, and about +that scar we shall hear again, many years afterwards. + + + + +HOW PEOPLE LIVED IN THE TIME OF ULYSSES + + +When Ulysses was a young man he wished to marry a princess of his own +rank. Now there were at that time many kings in Greece, and you must be +told how they lived. Each king had his own little kingdom, with his +chief town, walled with huge walls of enormous stone. Many of these +walls are still standing, though the grass has grown over the ruins of +most of them, and in later years, men believed that those walls must have +been built by giants, the stones are so enormous. Each king had nobles +under him, rich men, and all had their palaces, each with its courtyard, +and its long hall, where the fire burned in the midst, and the King and +Queen sat beside it on high thrones, between the four chief carved +pillars that held up the roof. The thrones were made of cedar wood and +ivory, inlaid with gold, and there were many other chairs and small +tables for guests, and the walls and doors were covered with bronze +plates, and gold and silver, and sheets of blue glass. Sometimes they +were painted with pictures of bull hunts, and a few of these pictures may +still be seen. At night torches were lit, and placed in the hands of +golden figures of boys, but all the smoke of fire and torches escaped by +a hole in the roof, and made the ceiling black. On the walls hung swords +and spears and helmets and shields, which needed to be often cleaned from +the stains of the smoke. The minstrel or poet sat beside the King and +Queen, and, after supper he struck his harp, and sang stories of old +wars. At night the King and Queen slept in their own place, and the +women in their own rooms; the princesses had their chambers upstairs, and +the young princes had each his room built separate in the courtyard. + +There were bath rooms with polished baths, where guests were taken when +they arrived dirty from a journey. The guests lay at night on beds in +the portico, for the climate was warm. There were plenty of servants, +who were usually slaves taken in war, but they were very kindly treated, +and were friendly with their masters. No coined money was used; people +paid for things in cattle, or in weighed pieces of gold. Rich men had +plenty of gold cups, and gold-hilted swords, and bracelets, and brooches. +The kings were the leaders in war and judges in peace, and did sacrifices +to the Gods, killing cattle and swine and sheep, on which they afterwards +dined. + +They dressed in a simple way, in a long smock of linen or silk, which +fell almost to the feet, but was tucked up into a belt round the waist, +and worn longer or shorter, as they happened to choose. Where it needed +fastening at the throat, golden brooches were used, beautifully made, +with safety pins. This garment was much like the plaid that the +Highlanders used to wear, with its belt and brooches. Over it the Greeks +wore great cloaks of woollen cloth when the weather was cold, but these +they did not use in battle. They fastened their breastplates, in war, +over their smocks, and had other armour covering the lower parts of the +body, and leg armour called "greaves"; while the great shield which +guarded the whole body from throat to ankles was carried by a broad belt +slung round the neck. The sword was worn in another belt, crossing the +shield belt. They had light shoes in peace, and higher and heavier boots +in war, or for walking across country. + +The women wore the smock, with more brooches and jewels than the men; and +had head coverings, with veils, and mantles over all, and necklaces of +gold and amber, earrings, and bracelets of gold or of bronze. The +colours of their dresses were various, chiefly white and purple; and, +when in mourning, they wore very dark blue, not black. All the armour, +and the sword blades and spearheads were made, not of steel or iron, but +of bronze, a mixture of copper and tin. The shields were made of several +thicknesses of leather, with a plating of bronze above; tools, such as +axes and ploughshares, were either of iron or bronze; and so were the +blades of knives and daggers. + +To us the houses and way of living would have seemed very splendid, and +also, in some ways, rather rough. The palace floors, at least in the +house of Ulysses, were littered with bones and feet of the oxen slain for +food, but this happened when Ulysses had been long from home. The floor +of the hall in the house of Ulysses was not boarded with planks, or paved +with stone: it was made of clay; for he was a poor king of small islands. +The cooking was coarse: a pig or sheep was killed, roasted and eaten +immediately. We never hear of boiling meat, and though people probably +ate fish, we do not hear of their doing so, except when no meat could be +procured. Still some people must have liked them; for in the pictures +that were painted or cut in precious stones in these times we see the +half-naked fisherman walking home, carrying large fish. + +The people were wonderful workers of gold and bronze. Hundreds of their +golden jewels have been found in their graves, but probably these were +made and buried two or three centuries before the time of Ulysses. The +dagger blades had pictures of fights with lions, and of flowers, inlaid +on them, in gold of various colours, and in silver; nothing so beautiful +is made now. There are figures of men hunting bulls on some of the gold +cups, and these are wonderfully life-like. The vases and pots of +earthenware were painted in charming patterns: in short, it was a +splendid world to live in. + +The people believed in many Gods, male and female, under the chief God, +Zeus. The Gods were thought to be taller than men, and immortal, and to +live in much the same way as men did, eating, drinking, and sleeping in +glorious palaces. Though they were supposed to reward good men, and to +punish people who broke their oaths and were unkind to strangers, there +were many stories told in which the Gods were fickle, cruel, selfish, and +set very bad examples to men. How far these stories were believed is not +sure; it is certain that "all men felt a need of the Gods," and thought +that they were pleased by good actions and displeased by evil. Yet, when +a man felt that his behaviour had been bad, he often threw the blame on +the Gods, and said that they had misled him, which really meant no more +than that "he could not help it." + +There was a curious custom by which the princes bought wives from the +fathers of the princesses, giving cattle and gold, and bronze and iron, +but sometimes a prince got a wife as the reward for some very brave +action. A man would not give his daughter to a wooer whom she did not +love, even if he offered the highest price, at least this must have been +the general rule, for husbands and wives were very fond of each other, +and of their children, and husbands always allowed their wives to rule +the house, and give their advice on everything. It was thought a very +wicked thing for a woman to like another man better than her husband, and +there were few such wives, but among them was the most beautiful woman +who ever lived. + + + + +THE WOOING OF HELEN OF THE FAIR HANDS + + +This was the way in which people lived when Ulysses was young, and wished +to be married. The worst thing in the way of life was that the greatest +and most beautiful princesses might be taken prisoners, and carried off +as slaves to the towns of the men who had killed their fathers and +husbands. Now at that time one lady was far the fairest in the world: +namely, Helen, daughter of King Tyndarus. Every young prince heard of +her and desired to marry her; so her father invited them all to his +palace, and entertained them, and found out what they would give. Among +the rest Ulysses went, but his father had a little kingdom, a rough +island, with others near it, and Ulysses had not a good chance. He was +not tall; though very strong and active, he was a short man with broad +shoulders, but his face was handsome, and, like all the princes, he wore +long yellow hair, clustering like a hyacinth flower. His manner was +rather hesitating, and he seemed to speak very slowly at first, though +afterwards his words came freely. He was good at everything a man can +do; he could plough, and build houses, and make ships, and he was the +best archer in Greece, except one, and could bend the great bow of a dead +king, Eurytus, which no other man could string. But he had no horses, +and had no great train of followers; and, in short, neither Helen nor her +father thought of choosing Ulysses for her husband out of so many tall, +handsome young princes, glittering with gold ornaments. Still, Helen was +very kind to Ulysses, and there was great friendship between them, which +was fortunate for her in the end. + +Tyndarus first made all the princes take an oath that they would stand by +the prince whom he chose, and would fight for him in all his quarrels. +Then he named for her husband Menelaus, King of Lacedaemon. He was a +very brave man, but not one of the strongest; he was not such a fighter +as the gigantic Aias, the tallest and strongest of men; or as Diomede, +the friend of Ulysses; or as his own brother, Agamemnon, the King of the +rich city of Mycenae, who was chief over all other princes, and general +of the whole army in war. The great lions carved in stone that seemed to +guard his city are still standing above the gate through which Agamemnon +used to drive his chariot. + +The man who proved to be the best fighter of all, Achilles, was not among +the lovers of Helen, for he was still a boy, and his mother, Thetis of +the silver feet, a goddess of the sea, had sent him to be brought up as a +girl, among the daughters of Lycomedes of Scyros, in an island far away. +Thetis did this because Achilles was her only child, and there was a +prophecy that, if he went to the wars, he would win the greatest glory, +but die very young, and never see his mother again. She thought that if +war broke out he would not be found hiding in girl's dress, among girls, +far away. + +So at last, after thinking over the matter for long, Tyndarus gave fair +Helen to Menelaus, the rich King of Lacedaemon; and her twin sister +Clytaemnestra, who was also very beautiful, was given to King Agamemnon, +the chief over all the princes. They all lived very happily together at +first, but not for long. + +In the meantime King Tyndarus spoke to his brother Icarius, who had a +daughter named Penelope. She also was very pretty, but not nearly so +beautiful as her cousin, fair Helen, and we know that Penelope was not +very fond of her cousin. Icarius, admiring the strength and wisdom of +Ulysses, gave him his daughter Penelope to be his wife, and Ulysses loved +her very dearly, no man and wife were ever dearer to each other. They +went away together to rocky Ithaca, and perhaps Penelope was not sorry +that a wide sea lay between her home and that of Helen; for Helen was not +only the fairest woman that ever lived in the world, but she was so kind +and gracious and charming that no man could see her without loving her. +When she was only a child, the famous prince Theseus, who was famous in +Greek Story, carried her away to his own city of Athens, meaning to marry +her when she grew up, and even at that time, there was a war for her +sake, for her brothers followed Theseus with an army, and fought him, and +brought her home. + +She had fairy gifts; for instance, she had a great red jewel, called "the +Star," and when she wore it red drops seemed to fall from it and vanished +before they touched and stained her white breast--so white that people +called her "the Daughter of the Swan." She could speak in the very voice +of any man or woman, so folk also named her Echo, and it was believed +that she could neither grow old nor die, but would at last pass away to +the Elysian plain and the world's end, where life is easiest for men. No +snow comes thither, nor great storm, nor any rain; but always the river +of Ocean that rings round the whole earth sends forth the west wind to +blow cool on the people of King Rhadamanthus of the fair hair. These +were some of the stories that men told of fair Helen, but Ulysses was +never sorry that he had not the fortune to marry her, so fond he was of +her cousin, his wife, Penelope, who was very wise and good. + +When Ulysses brought his wife home they lived, as the custom was, in the +palace of his father, King Laertes, but Ulysses, with his own hands, +built a chamber for Penelope and himself. There grew a great olive tree +in the inner court of the palace, and its stem was as large as one of the +tall carved pillars of the hall. Round about this tree Ulysses built the +chamber, and finished it with close-set stones, and roofed it over, and +made close-fastening doors. Then he cut off all the branches of the +olive tree, and smoothed the trunk, and shaped it into the bed-post, and +made the bedstead beautiful with inlaid work of gold and silver and +ivory. There was no such bed in Greece, and no man could move it from +its place, and this bed comes again into the story, at the very end. + +Now time went by, and Ulysses and Penelope had one son called Telemachus; +and Eurycleia, who had been his father's nurse, took care of him. They +were all very happy, and lived in peace in rocky Ithaca, and Ulysses +looked after his lands, and flocks, and herds, and went hunting with his +dog Argos, the swiftest of hounds. + + + + +THE STEALING OF HELEN + + +This happy time did not last long, and Telemachus was still a baby, when +war arose, so great and mighty and marvellous as had never been known in +the world. Far across the sea that lies on the east of Greece, there +dwelt the rich King Priam. His town was called Troy, or Ilios, and it +stood on a hill near the seashore, where are the straits of Hellespont, +between Europe and Asia; it was a great city surrounded by strong walls, +and its ruins are still standing. The kings could make merchants who +passed through the straits pay toll to them, and they had allies in +Thrace, a part of Europe opposite Troy, and Priam was chief of all +princes on his side of the sea, as Agamemnon was chief king in Greece. +Priam had many beautiful things; he had a vine made of gold, with golden +leaves and clusters, and he had the swiftest horses, and many strong and +brave sons; the strongest and bravest was named Hector, and the youngest +and most beautiful was named Paris. + +There was a prophecy that Priam's wife would give birth to a burning +torch, so, when Paris was born, Priam sent a servant to carry the baby +into a wild wood on Mount Ida, and leave him to die or be eaten by wolves +and wild cats. The servant left the child, but a shepherd found him, and +brought him up as his own son. The boy became as beautiful, for a boy, +as Helen was for a girl, and was the best runner, and hunter, and archer +among the country people. He was loved by the beautiful OEnone, a +nymph--that is, a kind of fairy--who dwelt in a cave among the woods of +Ida. The Greeks and Trojans believed in these days that such fair nymphs +haunted all beautiful woodland places, and the mountains, and wells, and +had crystal palaces, like mermaids, beneath the waves of the sea. These +fairies were not mischievous, but gentle and kind. Sometimes they +married mortal men, and OEnone was the bride of Paris, and hoped to keep +him for her own all the days of his life. + +It was believed that she had the magical power of healing wounded men, +however sorely they were hurt. Paris and OEnone lived most happily +together in the forest; but one day, when the servants of Priam had +driven off a beautiful bull that was in the herd of Paris, he left the +hills to seek it, and came into the town of Troy. His mother, Hecuba, +saw him, and looking at him closely, perceived that he wore a ring which +she had tied round her baby's neck when he was taken away from her soon +after his birth. Then Hecuba, beholding him so beautiful, and knowing +him to be her son, wept for joy, and they all forgot the prophecy that he +would be a burning torch of fire, and Priam gave him a house like those +of his brothers, the Trojan princes. + +The fame of beautiful Helen reached Troy, and Paris quite forgot unhappy +OEnone, and must needs go to see Helen for himself. Perhaps he meant to +try to win her for his wife, before her marriage. But sailing was little +understood in these times, and the water was wide, and men were often +driven for years out of their course, to Egypt, and Africa, and far away +into the unknown seas, where fairies lived in enchanted islands, and +cannibals dwelt in caves of the hills. + +Paris came much too late to have a chance of marrying Helen; however, he +was determined to see her, and he made his way to her palace beneath the +mountain Taygetus, beside the clear swift river Eurotas. The servants +came out of the hall when they heard the sound of wheels and horses' +feet, and some of them took the horses to the stables, and tilted the +chariots against the gateway, while others led Paris into the hall, which +shone like the sun with gold and silver. Then Paris and his companions +were led to the baths, where they were bathed, and clad in new clothes, +mantles of white, and robes of purple, and next they were brought before +King Menelaus, and he welcomed them kindly, and meat was set before them, +and wine in cups of gold. While they were talking, Helen came forth from +her fragrant chamber, like a Goddess, her maidens following her, and +carrying for her an ivory distaff with violet-coloured wool, which she +span as she sat, and heard Paris tell how far he had travelled to see her +who was so famous for her beauty even in countries far away. + +Then Paris knew that he had never seen, and never could see, a lady so +lovely and gracious as Helen as she sat and span, while the red drops +fell and vanished from the ruby called the Star; and Helen knew that +among all the princes in the world there was none so beautiful as Paris. +Now some say that Paris, by art magic, put on the appearance of Menelaus, +and asked Helen to come sailing with him, and that she, thinking he was +her husband, followed him, and he carried her across the wide waters of +Troy, away from her lord and her one beautiful little daughter, the child +Hermione. And others say that the Gods carried Helen herself off to +Egypt, and that they made in her likeness a beautiful ghost, out of +flowers and sunset clouds, whom Paris bore to Troy, and this they did to +cause war between Greeks and Trojans. Another story is that Helen and +her bower maiden and her jewels were seized by force, when Menelaus was +out hunting. It is only certain that Paris and Helen did cross the seas +together, and that Menelaus and little Hermione were left alone in the +melancholy palace beside the Eurotas. Penelope, we know for certain, +made no excuses for her beautiful cousin, but hated her as the cause of +her own sorrows and of the deaths of thousands of men in war, for all the +Greek princes were bound by their oath to fight for Menelaus against any +one who injured him and stole his wife away. But Helen was very unhappy +in Troy, and blamed herself as bitterly as all the other women blamed +her, and most of all OEnone, who had been the love of Paris. The men +were much more kind to Helen, and were determined to fight to the death +rather than lose the sight of her beauty among them. + +The news of the dishonour done to Menelaus and to all the princes of +Greece ran through the country like fire through a forest. East and west +and south and north went the news: to kings in their castles on the +hills, and beside the rivers and on cliffs above the sea. The cry came +to ancient Nestor of the white beard at Pylos, Nestor who had reigned +over two generations of men, who had fought against the wild folk of the +hills, and remembered the strong Heracles, and Eurytus of the black bow +that sang before the day of battle. + +The cry came to black-bearded Agamemnon, in his strong town called +"golden Mycenae," because it was so rich; it came to the people in +Thisbe, where the wild doves haunt; and it came to rocky Pytho, where is +the sacred temple of Apollo and the maid who prophesies. It came to +Aias, the tallest and strongest of men, in his little isle of Salamis; +and to Diomede of the loud war-cry, the bravest of warriors, who held +Argos and Tiryns of the black walls of huge, stones, that are still +standing. The summons came to the western islands and to Ulysses in +Ithaca, and even far south to the great island of Crete of the hundred +cities, where Idomeneus ruled in Cnossos; Idomeneus, whose ruined palace +may still be seen with the throne of the king, and pictures painted on +the walls, and the King's own draught-board of gold and silver, and +hundreds of tablets of clay, on which are written the lists of royal +treasures. Far north went the news to Pelasgian Argos, and Hellas, where +the people of Peleus dwelt, the Myrmidons; but Peleus was too old to +fight, and his boy, Achilles, dwelt far away, in the island of Scyros, +dressed as a girl, among the daughters of King Lycomedes. To many +another town and to a hundred islands went the bitter news of approaching +war, for all princes knew that their honour and their oaths compelled +them to gather their spearmen, and bowmen, and slingers from the fields +and the fishing, and to make ready their ships, and meet King Agamemnon +in the harbour of Aulis, and cross the wide sea to besiege Troy town. + +Now the story is told that Ulysses was very unwilling to leave his island +and his wife Penelope, and little Telemachus; while Penelope had no wish +that he should pass into danger, and into the sight of Helen of the fair +hands. So it is said that when two of the princes came to summon +Ulysses, he pretended to be mad, and went ploughing the sea sand with +oxen, and sowing the sand with salt. Then the prince Palamedes took the +baby Telemachus from the arms of his nurse, Eurycleia, and laid him in +the line of the furrow, where the ploughshare would strike him and kill +him. But Ulysses turned the plough aside, and they cried that he was not +mad, but sane, and he must keep his oath, and join the fleet at Aulis, a +long voyage for him to sail, round the stormy southern Cape of Maleia. + +Whether this tale be true or not, Ulysses did go, leading twelve black +ships, with high beaks painted red at prow and stern. The ships had +oars, and the warriors manned the oars, to row when there was no wind. +There was a small raised deck at each end of the ships; on these decks +men stood to fight with sword and spear when there was a battle at sea. +Each ship had but one mast, with a broad lugger sail, and for anchors +they had only heavy stones attached to cables. They generally landed at +night, and slept on the shore of one of the many islands, when they +could, for they greatly feared to sail out of sight of land. + +The fleet consisted of more than a thousand ships, each with fifty +warriors, so the army was of more than fifty thousand men. Agamemnon had +a hundred ships, Diomede had eighty, Nestor had ninety, the Cretans with +Idomeneus, had eighty, Menelaus had sixty; but Aias and Ulysses, who +lived in small islands, had only twelve ships apiece. Yet Aias was so +brave and strong, and Ulysses so brave and wise, that they were ranked +among the greatest chiefs and advisers of Agamemnon, with Menelaus, +Diomede, Idomeneus, Nestor, Menestheus of Athens, and two or three +others. These chiefs were called the Council, and gave advice to +Agamemnon, who was commander-in-chief. He was a brave fighter, but so +anxious and fearful of losing the lives of his soldiers that Ulysses and +Diomede were often obliged to speak to him very severely. Agamemnon was +also very insolent and greedy, though, when anybody stood up to him, he +was ready to apologise, for fear the injured chief should renounce his +service and take away his soldiers. + +Nestor was much respected because he remained brave, though he was too +old to be very useful in battle. He generally tried to make peace when +the princes quarrelled with Agamemnon. He loved to tell long stories +about his great deeds when he was young, and he wished the chiefs to +fight in old-fashioned ways. + +For instance, in his time the Greeks had fought in clan regiments, and +the princely men had never dismounted in battle, but had fought in +squadrons of chariots, but now the owners of chariots fought on foot, +each man for himself, while his squire kept the chariot near him to +escape on if he had to retreat. Nestor wished to go back to the good old +way of chariot charges against the crowds of foot soldiers of the enemy. +In short, he was a fine example of the old-fashioned soldier. + +Aias, though so very tall, strong, and brave, was rather stupid. He +seldom spoke, but he was always ready to fight, and the last to retreat. +Menelaus was weak of body, but as brave as the best, or more brave, for +he had a keen sense of honour, and would attempt what he had not the +strength to do. Diomede and Ulysses were great friends, and always +fought side by side, when they could, and helped each other in the most +dangerous adventures. + +These were the chiefs who led the great Greek armada from the harbour of +Aulis. A long time had passed, after the flight of Helen, before the +large fleet could be collected, and more time went by in the attempt to +cross the sea to Troy. There were tempests that scattered the ships, so +they were driven back to Aulis to refit; and they fought, as they went +out again, with the peoples of unfriendly islands, and besieged their +towns. What they wanted most of all was to have Achilles with them, for +he was the leader of fifty ships and 2,500 men, and he had magical armour +made, men said, for his father, by Hephaestus, the God of armour-making +and smithy work. + +At last the fleet came to the Isle of Scyros, where they suspected that +Achilles was concealed. King Lycomedes received the chiefs kindly, and +they saw all his beautiful daughters dancing and playing at ball, but +Achilles was still so young and slim and so beautiful that they did not +know him among the others. There was a prophecy that they could not take +Troy without him, and yet they could not find him out. Then Ulysses had +a plan. He blackened his eyebrows and beard and put on the dress of a +Phoenician merchant. The Phoenicians were a people who lived near the +Jews, and were of the same race, and spoke much the same language, but, +unlike the Jews, who, at that time were farmers in Palestine, tilling the +ground, and keeping flocks and herds, the Phoenicians were the greatest +of traders and sailors, and stealers of slaves. They carried cargoes of +beautiful cloths, and embroideries, and jewels of gold, and necklaces of +amber, and sold these everywhere about the shores of Greece and the +islands. + +Ulysses then dressed himself like a Phoenician pedlar, with his pack on +his back: he only took a stick in his hand, his long hair was turned up, +and hidden under a red sailor's cap, and in this figure he came, stooping +beneath his pack, into the courtyard of King Lycomedes. The girls heard +that a pedlar had come, and out they all ran, Achilles with the rest to +watch the pedlar undo his pack. Each chose what she liked best: one took +a wreath of gold; another a necklace of gold and amber; another earrings; +a fourth a set of brooches, another a dress of embroidered scarlet cloth; +another a veil; another a pair of bracelets; but at the bottom of the +pack lay a great sword of bronze, the hilt studded with golden nails. +Achilles seized the sword. "This is for me!" he said, and drew the sword +from the gilded sheath, and made it whistle round his head. + +"You are Achilles, Peleus' son!" said Ulysses; "and you are to be the +chief warrior of the Achaeans," for the Greeks then called themselves +Achaeans. Achilles was only too glad to hear these words, for he was +quite tired of living among maidens. Ulysses led him into the hall where +the chiefs were sitting at their wine, and Achilles was blushing like any +girl. + +"Here is the Queen of the Amazons," said Ulysses--for the Amazons were a +race of warlike maidens--"or rather here is Achilles, Peleus' son, with +sword in hand." Then they all took his hand, and welcomed him, and he +was clothed in man's dress, with the sword by his side, and presently +they sent him back with ten ships to his home. There his mother, Thetis, +of the silver feet, the goddess of the sea, wept over him, saying, "My +child, thou hast the choice of a long and happy and peaceful life here +with me, or of a brief time of war and undying renown. Never shall I see +thee again in Argos if thy choice is for war." But Achilles chose to die +young, and to be famous as long as the world stands. So his father gave +him fifty ships, with Patroclus, who was older than he, to be his friend, +and with an old man, Phoenix, to advise him; and his mother gave him the +glorious armour that the God had made for his father, and the heavy ashen +spear that none but he could wield, and he sailed to join the host of the +Achaeans, who all praised and thanked Ulysses that had found for them +such a prince. For Achilles was the fiercest fighter of them all, and +the swiftest-footed man, and the most courteous prince, and the gentlest +with women and children, but he was proud and high of heart, and when he +was angered his anger was terrible. + +The Trojans would have had no chance against the Greeks if only the men +of the city of Troy had fought to keep Helen of the fair hands. But they +had allies, who spoke different languages, and came to fight for them +both from Europe and from Asia. On the Trojan as well as on the Greek +side were people called Pelasgians, who seem to have lived on both shores +of the sea. There were Thracians, too, who dwelt much further north than +Achilles, in Europe and beside the strait of Hellespont, where the narrow +sea runs like a river. There were warriors of Lycia, led by Sarpedon and +Glaucus; there were Carians, who spoke in a strange tongue; there were +Mysians and men from Alybe, which was called "the birthplace of silver," +and many other peoples sent their armies, so that the war was between +Eastern Europe, on one side, and Western Asia Minor on the other. The +people of Egypt took no part in the war: the Greeks and Islesmen used to +come down in their ships and attack the Egyptians as the Danes used to +invade England. You may see the warriors from the islands, with their +horned helmets, in old Egyptian pictures. + +The commander-in-chief, as we say now, of the Trojans was Hector, the son +of Priam. He was thought a match for any one of the Greeks, and was +brave and good. His brothers also were leaders, but Paris preferred to +fight from a distance with bow and arrows. He and Pandarus, who dwelt on +the slopes of Mount Ida, were the best archers in the Trojan army. The +princes usually fought with heavy spears, which they threw at each other, +and with swords, leaving archery to the common soldiers who had no armour +of bronze. But Teucer, Meriones, and Ulysses were the best archers of +the Achaeans. People called Dardanians were led by Aeneas, who was said +to be the son of the most beautiful of the goddesses. These, with +Sarpedon and Glaucus, were the most famous of the men who fought for +Troy. + +Troy was a strong town on a hill. Mount Ida lay behind it, and in front +was a plain sloping to the sea shore. Through this plain ran two +beautiful clear rivers, and there were scattered here and there what you +would have taken for steep knolls, but they were really mounds piled up +over the ashes of warriors who had died long ago. On these mounds +sentinels used to stand and look across the water to give warning if the +Greek fleet drew near, for the Trojans had heard that it was on its way. +At last the fleet came in view, and the sea was black with ships, the +oarsmen pulling with all their might for the honour of being the first to +land. The race was won by the ship of the prince Protesilaus, who was +first of all to leap on shore, but as he leaped he was struck to the +heart by an arrow from the bow of Paris. This must have seemed a good +omen to the Trojans, and to the Greeks evil, but we do not hear that the +landing was resisted in great force, any more than that of Norman William +was, when he invaded England. + +The Greeks drew up all their ships on shore, and the men camped in huts +built in front of the ships. There was thus a long row of huts with the +ships behind them, and in these huts the Greeks lived all through the ten +years that the siege of Troy lasted. In these days they do not seem to +have understood how to conduct a siege. You would have expected the +Greeks to build towers and dig trenches all round Troy, and from the +towers watch the roads, so that provisions might not be brought in from +the country. This is called "investing" a town, but the Greeks never +invested Troy. Perhaps they had not men enough; at all events the place +remained open, and cattle could always be driven in to feed the warriors +and the women and children. + +Moreover, the Greeks for long never seem to have tried to break down one +of the gates, nor to scale the walls, which were very high, with ladders. +On the other hand, the Trojans and allies never ventured to drive the +Greeks into the sea; they commonly remained within the walls or +skirmished just beneath them. The older men insisted on this way of +fighting, in spite of Hector, who always wished to attack and storm the +camp of the Greeks. Neither side had machines for throwing heavy stones, +such as the Romans used later, and the most that the Greeks did was to +follow Achilles and capture small neighbouring cities, and take the women +for slaves, and drive the cattle. They got provisions and wine from the +Phoenicians, who came in ships, and made much profit out of the war. + +It was not till the tenth year that the war began in real earnest, and +scarcely any of the chief leaders had fallen. Fever came upon the +Greeks, and all day the camp was black with smoke, and all night shone +with fire from the great piles of burning wood, on which the Greeks +burned their dead, whose bones they then buried under hillocks of earth. +Many of these hillocks are still standing on the plain of Troy. When the +plague had raged for ten days, Achilles called an assembly of the whole +army, to try to find out why the Gods were angry. They thought that the +beautiful God Apollo (who took the Trojan side) was shooting invisible +arrows at them from his silver bow, though fevers in armies are usually +caused by dirt and drinking bad water. The great heat of the sun, too, +may have helped to cause the disease; but we must tell the story as the +Greeks told it themselves. So Achilles spoke in the assembly, and +proposed to ask some prophet why Apollo was angry. The chief prophet was +Calchas. He rose and said that he would declare the truth if Achilles +would promise to protect him from the anger of any prince whom the truth +might offend. + +Achilles knew well whom Calchas meant. Ten days before, a priest of +Apollo had come to the camp and offered ransom for his daughter Chryseis, +a beautiful girl, whom Achilles had taken prisoner, with many others, +when he captured a small town. Chryseis had been given as a slave to +Agamemnon, who always got the best of the plunder because he was chief +king, whether he had taken part in the fighting or not. As a rule he did +not. To Achilles had been given another girl, Briseis, of whom he was +very fond. Now when Achilles had promised to protect Calchas, the +prophet spoke out, and boldly said, what all men knew already, that +Apollo caused the plague because Agamemnon would not return Chryseis, and +had insulted her father, the priest of the God. + +On hearing this, Agamemnon was very angry. He said that he would send +Chryseis home, but that he would take Briseis away from Achilles. Then +Achilles was drawing his great sword from the sheath to kill Agamemnon, +but even in his anger he knew that this was wrong, so he merely called +Agamemnon a greedy coward, "with face of dog and heart of deer," and he +swore that he and his men would fight no more against the Trojans. Old +Nestor tried to make peace, and swords were not drawn, but Briseis was +taken away from Achilles, and Ulysses put Chryseis on board of his ship +and sailed away with her to her father's town, and gave her up to her +father. Then her father prayed to Apollo that the plague might cease, +and it did cease--when the Greeks had cleansed their camp, and purified +themselves and cast their filth into the sea. + +We know how fierce and brave Achilles was, and we may wonder that he did +not challenge Agamemnon to fight a duel. But the Greeks never fought +duels, and Agamemnon was believed to be chief king by right divine. +Achilles went alone to the sea shore when his dear Briseis was led away, +and he wept, and called to his mother, the silver-footed lady of the +waters. Then she arose from the grey sea, like a mist, and sat down +beside her son, and stroked his hair with her hand, and he told her all +his sorrows. So she said that she would go up to the dwelling of the +Gods, and pray Zeus, the chief of them all, to make the Trojans win a +great battle, so that Agamemnon should feel his need of Achilles, and +make amends for his insolence, and do him honour. + +Thetis kept her promise, and Zeus gave his word that the Trojans should +defeat the Greeks. That night Zeus sent a deceitful dream to Agamemnon. +The dream took the shape of old Nestor, and said that Zeus would give him +victory that day. While he was still asleep, Agamemnon was fun of hope +that he would instantly take Troy, but, when he woke, he seems not to +have been nearly so confident, for in place of putting on his armour, and +bidding the Greeks arm themselves, he merely dressed in his robe and +mantle, took his sceptre, and went and told the chiefs about his dream. +They did not feel much encouraged, so he said that he would try the +temper of the army. He would call them together, and propose to return +to Greece; but, if the soldiers took him at his word, the other chiefs +were to stop them. This was a foolish plan, for the soldiers were +wearying for beautiful Greece, and their homes, and wives and children. +Therefore, when Agamemnon did as he had said, the whole army rose, like +the sea under the west wind, and, with a shout, they rushed to the ships, +while the dust blew in clouds from under their feet. Then they began to +launch their ships, and it seems that the princes were carried away in +the rush, and were as eager as the rest to go home. + +But Ulysses only stood in sorrow and anger beside his ship, and never put +hand to it, for he felt how disgraceful it was to run away. At last he +threw down his mantle, which his herald Eurybates of Ithaca, a +round-shouldered, brown, curly-haired man, picked up, and he ran to find +Agamemnon, and took his sceptre, a gold-studded staff, like a marshal's +baton, and he gently told the chiefs whom he met that they were doing a +shameful thing; but he drove the common soldiers back to the place of +meeting with the sceptre. They all returned, puzzled and chattering, but +one lame, bandy-legged, bald, round-shouldered, impudent fellow, named +Thersites, jumped up and made an insolent speech, insulting the princes, +and advising the army to run away. Then Ulysses took him and beat him +till the blood came, and he sat down, wiping away his tears, and looking +so foolish that the whole army laughed at him, and cheered Ulysses when +he and Nestor bade them arm and fight. Agamemnon still believed a good +deal in his dream, and prayed that he might take Troy that very day, and +kill Hector. Thus Ulysses alone saved the army from a cowardly retreat; +but for him the ships would have been launched in an hour. But the +Greeks armed and advanced in full force, all except Achilles and his +friend Patroclus with their two or three thousand men. The Trojans also +took heart, knowing that Achilles would not fight, and the armies +approached each other. Paris himself, with two spears and a bow, and +without armour, walked into the space between the hosts, and challenged +any Greek prince to single combat. Menelaus, whose wife Paris had +carried away, was as glad as a hungry lion when he finds a stag or a +goat, and leaped in armour from his chariot, but Paris turned and slunk +away, like a man when he meets a great serpent on a narrow path in the +hills. Then Hector rebuked Paris for his cowardice, and Paris was +ashamed and offered to end the war by fighting Menelaus. If he himself +fell, the Trojans must give up Helen and all her jewels; if Menelaus +fell, the Greeks were to return without fair Helen. The Greeks accepted +this plan, and both sides disarmed themselves to look on at the fight in +comfort, and they meant to take the most solemn oaths to keep peace till +the combat was lost and won, and the quarrel settled. Hector sent into +Troy for two lambs, which were to be sacrificed when the oaths were +taken. + +In the meantime Helen of the fair hands was at home working at a great +purple tapestry on which she embroidered the battles of the Greeks and +Trojans. It was just like the tapestry at Bayeux on which Norman ladies +embroidered the battles in the Norman Conquest of England. Helen was +very fond of embroidering, like poor Mary, Queen of Scots, when a +prisoner in Loch Leven Castle. Probably the work kept both Helen and +Mary from thinking of their past lives and their sorrows. + +When Helen heard that her husband was to fight Paris, she wept, and threw +a shining veil over her head, and with her two bower maidens went to the +roof of the gate tower, where king Priam was sitting with the old Trojan +chiefs. They saw her and said that it was small blame to fight for so +beautiful a lady, and Priam called her "dear child," and said, "I do not +blame you, I blame the Gods who brought about this war." But Helen said +that she wished she had died before she left her little daughter and her +husband, and her home: "Alas! shameless me!" Then she told Priam the +names of the chief Greek warriors, and of Ulysses, who was shorter by a +head than Agamemnon, but broader in chest and shoulders. She wondered +that she could not see her own two brothers, Castor and Polydeuces, and +thought that they kept aloof in shame for her sin; but the green grass +covered their graves, for they had both died in battle, far away in +Lacedaemon, their own country. + +Then the lambs were sacrificed, and the oaths were taken, and Paris put +on his brother's armour, helmet, breastplate, shield, and leg-armour. +Lots were drawn to decide whether Paris or Menelaus should throw his +spear first, and, as Paris won, he threw his spear, but the point was +blunted against the shield of Menelaus. But when Menelaus threw his +spear it went clean through the shield of Paris, and through the side of +his breastplate, but only grazed his robe. Menelaus drew his sword, and +rushed in, and smote at the crest of the helmet of Paris, but his bronze +blade broke into four pieces. Menelaus caught Paris by the horsehair +crest of his helmet, and dragged him towards the Greeks, but the chin- +strap broke, and Menelaus turning round threw the helmet into the ranks +of the Greeks. But when Menelaus looked again for Paris, with a spear in +his hand, he could see him nowhere! The Greeks believed that the +beautiful goddess Aphrodite, whom the Romans called Venus, hid him in a +thick cloud of darkness and carried him to his own house, where Helen of +the fair hands found him and said to him, "Would that thou hadst +perished, conquered by that great warrior who was my lord! Go forth +again and challenge him to fight thee face to face." But Paris had no +more desire to fight, and the Goddess threatened Helen, and compelled her +to remain with him in Troy, coward as he had proved himself. Yet on +other days Paris fought well; it seems that he was afraid of Menelaus +because, in his heart, he was ashamed of himself. + +Meanwhile Menelaus was seeking for Paris everywhere, and the Trojans, who +hated him, would have shown his hiding place. But they knew not where he +was, and the Greeks claimed the victory, and thought that, as Paris had +the worst of the fight, Helen would be restored to them, and they would +all sail home. + + + + +TROJAN VICTORIES + + +The war might now have ended, but an evil and foolish thought came to +Pandarus, a prince of Ida, who fought for the Trojans. He chose to shoot +an arrow at Menelaus, contrary to the sworn vows of peace, and the arrow +pierced the breastplate of Menelaus through the place where the clasped +plates meet, and drew his blood. Then Agamemnon, who loved his brother +dearly, began to lament, saying that if he died, the army would all go +home and Trojans would dance on the grave of Menelaus. "Do not alarm all +our army," said Menelaus, "the arrow has done me little harm;" and so it +proved, for the surgeon easily drew the arrow out of the wound. + +Then Agamemnon hastened here and there, bidding the Greeks arm and attack +the Trojans, who would certainly be defeated, for they had broken the +oaths of peace. But with his usual insolence he chose to accuse Ulysses +and Diomede of cowardice, though Diomede was as brave as any man, and +Ulysses had just prevented the whole army from launching their ships and +going home. Ulysses answered him with spirit, but Diomede said nothing +at the moment; later he spoke his mind. He leaped from his chariot, and +all the chiefs leaped down and advanced in line, the chariots following +them, while the spearmen and bowmen followed the chariots. The Trojan +army advanced, all shouting in their different languages, but the Greeks +came on silently. Then the two front lines clashed, shield against +shield, and the noise was like the roaring of many flooded torrents among +the hills. When a man fell he who had slain him tried to strip off his +armour, and his friends fought over his body to save the dead from this +dishonour. + +Ulysses fought above a wounded friend, and drove his spear through head +and helmet of a Trojan prince, and everywhere men were falling beneath +spears and arrows and heavy stones which the warriors threw. Here +Menelaus speared the man who built the ships with which Paris had sailed +to Greece; and the dust rose like a cloud, and a mist went up from the +fighting men, while Diomede stormed across the plain like a river in +flood, leaving dead bodies behind him as the river leaves boughs of trees +and grass to mark its course. Pandarus wounded Diomede with an arrow, +but Diomede slew him, and the Trojans were being driven in flight, when +Sarpedon and Hector turned and hurled themselves on the Greeks; and even +Diomede shuddered when Hector came on, and charged at Ulysses, who was +slaying Trojans as he went, and the battle swayed this way and that, and +the arrows fell like rain. + +But Hector was sent into the city to bid the women pray to the goddess +Athene for help, and he went to the house of Paris, whom Helen was +imploring to go and fight like a man, saying: "Would that the winds had +wafted me away, and the tides drowned me, shameless that I am, before +these things came to pass!" + +Then Hector went to see his dear wife, Andromache, whose father had been +slain by Achilles early in the siege, and he found her and her nurse +carrying her little boy, Hector's son, and like a star upon her bosom lay +his beautiful and shining golden head. Now, while Helen urged Paris to +go into the fight, Andromache prayed Hector to stay with her in the town, +and fight no more lest he should be slain and leave her a widow, and the +boy an orphan, with none to protect him. The army she said, should come +back within the walls, where they had so long been safe, not fight in the +open plain. But Hector answered that he would never shrink from battle, +"yet I know this in my heart, the day shall come for holy Troy to be laid +low, and Priam and the people of Priam. But this and my own death do not +trouble me so much as the thought of you, when you shall be carried as a +slave to Greece, to spin at another woman's bidding, and bear water from +a Grecian well. May the heaped up earth of my tomb cover me ere I hear +thy cries and the tale of thy captivity." + +Then Hector stretched out his hands to his little boy, but the child was +afraid when he saw the great glittering helmet of his father and the +nodding horsehair crest. So Hector laid his helmet on the ground and +dandled the child in his arms, and tried to comfort his wife, and said +good-bye for the last time, for he never came back to Troy alive. He +went on his way back to the battle, and Paris went with him, in glorious +armour, and soon they were slaying the princes of the Greeks. + +The battle raged till nightfall, and in the night the Greeks and Trojans +burned their dead; and the Greeks made a trench and wall round their +camp, which they needed for safety now that the Trojans came from their +town and fought in the open plain. + +Next day the Trojans were so successful that they did not retreat behind +their walls at night, but lit great fires on the plain: a thousand fires, +with fifty men taking supper round each of them, and drinking their wine +to the music of flutes. But the Greeks were much discouraged, and +Agamemnon called the whole army together, and proposed that they should +launch their ships in the night and sail away home. Then Diomede stood +up, and said: "You called me a coward lately. You are the coward! Sail +away if you are afraid to remain here, but all the rest of us will fight +till we take Troy town." + +Then all shouted in praise of Diomede, and Nestor advised them to send +five hundred young men, under his own son, Thrasymedes, to watch the +Trojans, and guard the new wall and the ditch, in case the Trojans +attacked them in the darkness. Next Nestor counselled Agamemnon to send +Ulysses and Aias to Achilles, and promise to give back Briseis, and rich +presents of gold, and beg pardon for his insolence. If Achilles would be +friends again with Agamemnon, and fight as he used to fight, the Trojans +would soon be driven back into the town. + +Agamemnon was very ready to beg pardon, for he feared that the whole army +would be defeated, and cut off from their ships, and killed or kept as +slaves. So Ulysses and Aias and the old tutor of Achilles, Phoenix, went +to Achilles and argued with him, praying him to accept the rich presents, +and help the Greeks. But Achilles answered that he did not believe a +word that Agamemnon said; Agamemnon had always hated him, and always +would hate him. No; he would not cease to be angry, he would sail away +next day with all his men, and he advised the rest to come with him. "Why +be so fierce?" said tall Aias, who seldom spoke. "Why make so much +trouble about one girl? We offer you seven girls, and plenty of other +gifts." + +Then Achilles said that he would not sail away next day, but he would not +fight till the Trojans tried to burn his own ships, and there he thought +that Hector would find work enough to do. This was the most that +Achilles would promise, and all the Greeks were silent when Ulysses +delivered his message. But Diomede arose and said that, with or without +Achilles, fight they must; and all men, heavy at heart, went to sleep in +their huts or in the open air at their doors. + +Agamemnon was much too anxious to sleep. He saw the glow of the thousand +fires of the Trojans in the dark, and heard their merry flutes, and he +groaned and pulled out his long hair by handfuls. When he was tired of +crying and groaning and tearing his hair, he thought that he would go for +advice to old Nestor. He threw a lion skin, the coverlet of his bed, +over his shoulder, took his spear, went out and met Menelaus--for he, +too, could not sleep--and Menelaus proposed to send a spy among the +Trojans, if any man were brave enough to go, for the Trojan camp was all +alight with fires, and the adventure was dangerous. Therefore the two +wakened Nestor and the other chiefs, who came just as they were, wrapped +in the fur coverlets of their beds, without any armour. First they +visited the five hundred young men set to watch the wall, and then they +crossed the ditch and sat down outside and considered what might be done. +"Will nobody go as a spy among the Trojans?" said Nestor; he meant would +none of the young men go. Diomede said that he would take the risk if +any other man would share it with him, and, if he might choose a +companion, he would take Ulysses. + +"Come, then, let us be going," said Ulysses, "for the night is late, and +the dawn is near." As these two chiefs had no armour on, they borrowed +shields and leather caps from the young men of the guard, for leather +would not shine as bronze helmets shine in the firelight. The cap lent +to Ulysses was strengthened outside with rows of boars' tusks. Many of +these tusks, shaped for this purpose, have been found, with swords and +armour, in a tomb in Mycenae, the town of Agamemnon. This cap which was +lent to Ulysses had once been stolen by his grandfather, Autolycus, who +was a Master Thief, and he gave it as a present to a friend, and so, +through several hands, it had come to young Meriones of Crete, one of the +five hundred guards, who now lent it to Ulysses. So the two princes set +forth in the dark, so dark it was that though they heard a heron cry, +they could not see it as it flew away. + +While Ulysses and Diomede stole through the night silently, like two +wolves among the bodies of dead men, the Trojan leaders met and +considered what they ought to do. They did not know whether the Greeks +had set sentinels and outposts, as usual, to give warning if the enemy +were approaching; or whether they were too weary to keep a good watch; or +whether perhaps they were getting ready their ships to sail homewards in +the dawn. So Hector offered a reward to any man who would creep through +the night and spy on the Greeks; he said he would give the spy the two +best horses in the Greek camp. + +Now among the Trojans there was a young man named Dolon, the son of a +rich father, and he was the only boy in a family of five sisters. He was +ugly, but a very swift runner, and he cared for horses more than for +anything else in the world. Dolon arose and said, "If you will swear to +give me the horses and chariot of Achilles, son of Peleus, I will steal +to the hut of Agamemnon and listen and find out whether the Greeks mean +to fight or flee." Hector swore to give these horses, which were the +best in the world, to Dolon, so he took his bow and threw a grey wolf's +hide over his shoulders, and ran towards the ships of the Greeks. + +Now Ulysses saw Dolon as he came, and said to Diomede, "Let us suffer him +to pass us, and then do you keep driving him with your spear towards the +ships, and away from Troy." So Ulysses and Diomede lay down among the +dead men who had fallen in the battle, and Dolon ran on past them towards +the Greeks. Then they rose and chased him as two greyhounds course a +hare, and, when Dolon was near the sentinels, Diomede cried "Stand, or I +will slay you with my spear!" and he threw his spear just over Dolon's +shoulder. So Dolon stood still, green with fear, and with his teeth +chattering. When the two came up, he cried, and said that his father was +a rich man, who would pay much gold, and bronze, and iron for his ransom. + +Ulysses said, "Take heart, and put death out of your mind, and tell us +what you are doing here." Dolon said that Hector had promised him the +horses of Achilles if he would go and spy on the Greeks. "You set your +hopes high," said Ulysses, "for the horses of Achilles are not earthly +steeds, but divine; a gift of the Gods, and Achilles alone can drive +them. But, tell me, do the Trojans keep good watch, and where is Hector +with his horses?" for Ulysses thought that it would be a great adventure +to drive away the horses of Hector. + +"Hector is with the chiefs, holding council at the tomb of Ilus," said +Dolon; "but no regular guard is set. The people of Troy, indeed, are +round their watch fires, for they have to think of the safety of their +wives and children; but the allies from far lands keep no watch, for +their wives and children are safe at home." Then he told where all the +different peoples who fought for Priam had their stations; but, said he, +"if you want to steal horses, the best are those of Rhesus, King of the +Thracians, who has only joined us to-night. He and his men are asleep at +the furthest end of the line, and his horses are the best and greatest +that ever I saw: tall, white as snow, and swift as the wind, and his +chariot is adorned with gold and silver, and golden is his armour. Now +take me prisoner to the ships, or bind me and leave me here while you go +and try whether I have told you truth or lies." + +"No," said Diomede, "if I spare your life you may come spying again," and +he drew his sword and smote off the head of Dolon. They hid his cap and +bow and spear where they could find them easily, and marked the spot, and +went through the night to the dark camp of King Rhesus, who had no watch- +fire and no guards. Then Diomede silently stabbed each sleeping man to +the heart, and Ulysses seized the dead by the feet and threw them aside +lest they should frighten the horses, which had never been in battle, and +would shy if they were led over the bodies of dead men. Last of all +Diomede killed King Rhesus, and Ulysses led forth his horses, beating +them with his bow, for he had forgotten to take the whip from the +chariot. Then Ulysses and Diomede leaped on the backs of the horses, as +they had not time to bring away the chariot, and they galloped to the +ships, stopping to pick up the spear, and bow, and cap of Dolon. They +rode to the princes, who welcomed them, and all laughed for glee when +they saw the white horses and heard that King Rhesus was dead, for they +guessed that all his army would now go home to Thrace. This they must +have done, for we never hear of them in the battles that followed, so +Ulysses and Diomede deprived the Trojans of thousands of men. The other +princes went to bed in good spirits, but Ulysses and Diomede took a swim +in the sea, and then went into hot baths, and so to breakfast, for rosy- +fingered Dawn was coming up the sky. + + + + +BATTLE AT THE SHIPS + + +With dawn Agamemnon awoke, and fear had gone out of his heart. He put on +his armour, and arrayed the chiefs on foot in front of their chariots, +and behind them came the spearmen, with the bowmen and slingers on the +wings of the army. Then a great black cloud spread over the sky, and red +was the rain that fell from it. The Trojans gathered on a height in the +plain, and Hector, shining in armour, went here and there, in front and +rear, like a star that now gleams forth and now is hidden in a cloud. + +The armies rushed on each other and hewed each other down, as reapers cut +their way through a field of tall corn. Neither side gave ground, though +the helmets of the bravest Trojans might be seen deep in the ranks of the +Greeks; and the swords of the bravest Greeks rose and fell in the ranks +of the Trojans, and all the while the arrows showered like rain. But at +noon-day, when the weary woodman rests from cutting trees, and takes his +dinner in the quiet hills, the Greeks of the first line made a charge, +Agamemnon running in front of them, and he speared two Trojans, and took +their breastplates, which he laid in his chariot, and then he speared one +brother of Hector and struck another down with his sword, and killed two +more who vainly asked to be made prisoners of war. Footmen slew footmen, +and chariot men slew chariot men, and they broke into the Trojan line as +fire falls on a forest in a windy day, leaping and roaring and racing +through the trees. Many an empty chariot did the horses hurry madly +through the field, for the charioteers were lying dead, with the greedy +vultures hovering above them, flapping their wide wings. Still Agamemnon +followed and slew the hindmost Trojans, but the rest fled till they came +to the gates, and the oak tree that grew outside the gates, and there +they stopped. + +But Hector held his hands from fighting, for in the meantime he was +making his men face the enemy and form up in line and take breath, and +was encouraging them, for they had retreated from the wall of the Greeks +across the whole plain, past the hill that was the tomb of Ilus, a king +of old, and past the place of the wild fig-tree. Much ado had Hector to +rally the Trojans, but he knew that when men do turn again they are hard +to beat. So it proved, for when the Trojans had rallied and formed in +line, Agamemnon slew a Thracian chief who had come to fight for Troy +before King Rhesus came. But the eldest brother of the slain man smote +Agamemnon through the arm with his spear, and, though Agamemnon slew him +in turn, his wound bled much and he was in great pain, so he leaped into +his chariot and was driven back to the ships. + +Then Hector gave the word to charge, as a huntsman cries on his hounds +against a lion, and he rushed forward at the head of the Trojan line, +slaying as he went. Nine chiefs of the Greeks he slew, and fell upon the +spearmen and scattered them, as the spray of the waves is scattered by +the wandering wind. + +Now the ranks of the Greeks were broken, and they would have been driven +among their ships and killed without mercy, had not Ulysses and Diomede +stood firm in the centre, and slain four Trojan leaders. The Greeks +began to come back and face their enemies in line of battle again, though +Hector, who had been fighting on the Trojan right, rushed against them. +But Diomede took good aim with his spear at the helmet of Hector, and +struck it fairly. The spear-point did not go through the helmet, but +Hector was stunned and fell; and, when he came to himself, he leaped into +his chariot, and his squire drove him against the Pylians and Cretans, +under Nestor and Idomeneus, who were on the left wing of the Greek army. +Then Diomede fought on till Paris, who stood beside the pillar on the +hillock that was the tomb of old King Ilus, sent an arrow clean through +his foot. Ulysses went and stood in front of Diomede, who sat down, and +Ulysses drew the arrow from his foot, and Diomede stepped into his +chariot and was driven back to the ships. + +Ulysses was now the only Greek chief that still fought in the centre. The +Greeks all fled, and he was alone in the crowd of Trojans, who rushed on +him as hounds and hunters press round a wild boar that stands at bay in a +wood. "They are cowards that flee from the fight," said Ulysses to +himself; "but I will stand here, one man against a multitude." He +covered the front of his body with his great shield, that hung by a belt +round his neck, and he smote four Trojans and wounded a fifth. But the +brother of the wounded man drove a spear through the shield and +breastplate of Ulysses, and tore clean through his side. Then Ulysses +turned on this Trojan, and he fled, and Ulysses sent a spear through his +shoulder and out at his breast, and he died. Ulysses dragged from his +own side the spear that had wounded him, and called thrice with a great +voice to the other Greeks, and Menelaus and Aias rushed to rescue him, +for many Trojans were round him, like jackals round a wounded stag that a +man has struck with an arrow. But Aias ran and covered the wounded +Ulysses with his huge shield till he could climb into the chariot of +Menelaus, who drove him back to the ships. + +Meanwhile, Hector was slaying the Greeks on the left of their battle, and +Paris struck the Greek surgeon, Machaon, with an arrow; and Idomeneus +bade Nestor put Machaon in his chariot and drive him to Nestor's hut, +where his wound might be tended. Meanwhile, Hector sped to the centre of +the line, where Aias was slaying the Trojans; but Eurypylus, a Greek +chief, was wounded by an arrow from the bow of Paris, and his friends +guarded him with their shields and spears. + +Thus the best of the Greeks were wounded and out of the battle, save +Aias, and the spearmen were in flight. Meanwhile Achilles was standing +by the stern of his ship watching the defeat of the Greeks, but when he +saw Machaon being carried past, sorely wounded, in the chariot of Nestor, +he bade his friend Patroclus, whom he loved better than all the rest, to +go and ask how Machaon did. He was sitting drinking wine with Nestor +when Patroclus came, and Nestor told Patroclus how many of the chiefs +were wounded, and though Patroclus was in a hurry Nestor began a very +long story about his own great deeds of war, done when he was a young +man. At last he bade Patroclus tell Achilles that, if he would not fight +himself, he should at least send out his men under Patroclus, who should +wear the splendid armour of Achilles. Then the Trojans would think that +Achilles himself had returned to the battle, and they would be afraid, +for none of them dared to meet Achilles hand to hand. + +So Patroclus ran off to Achilles; but, on his way, he met the wounded +Eurypylus, and he took him to his hut and cut the arrow out of his thigh +with a knife, and washed the wound with warm water, and rubbed over it a +bitter root to take the pain away. Thus he waited for some time with +Eurypylus, but the advice of Nestor was in the end to cause the death of +Patroclus. The battle now raged more fiercely, while Agamemnon and +Diomede and Ulysses could only limp about leaning on their spears; and +again Agamemnon wished to moor the ships near shore, and embark in the +night and run away. But Ulysses was very angry with him, and said: "You +should lead some other inglorious army, not us, who will fight on till +every soul of us perish, rather than flee like cowards! Be silent, lest +the soldiers hear you speaking of flight, such words as no man should +utter. I wholly scorn your counsel, for the Greeks will lose heart if, +in the midst of battle, you bid them launch the ships." + +Agamemnon was ashamed, and, by Diomede's advice, the wounded kings went +down to the verge of the war to encourage the others, though they were +themselves unable to fight. They rallied the Greeks, and Aias led them +and struck Hector full in the breast with a great rock, so that his +friends carried him out of the battle to the river side, where they +poured water over him, but he lay fainting on the ground, the black blood +gushing up from his mouth. While Hector lay there, and all men thought +that he would die, Aias and Idomeneus were driving back the Trojans, and +it seemed that, even without Achilles and his men, the Greeks were able +to hold their own against the Trojans. But the battle was never lost +while Hector lived. People in those days believed in "omens:" they +thought that the appearance of birds on the right or left hand meant good +or bad luck. Once during the battle a Trojan showed Hector an unlucky +bird, and wanted him to retreat into the town. But Hector said, "One +omen is the best: to fight for our own country." While Hector lay +between death and life the Greeks were winning, for the Trojans had no +other great chief to lead them. But Hector awoke from his faint, and +leaped to his feet and ran here and there, encouraging the men of Troy. +Then the most of the Greeks fled when they saw him; but Aias and +Idomeneus, and the rest of the bravest, formed in a square between the +Trojans and the ships, and down on them came Hector and Aeneas and Paris, +throwing their spears, and slaying on every hand. The Greeks turned and +ran, and the Trojans would have stopped to strip the armour from the +slain men, but Hector cried: "Haste to the ships and leave the spoils of +war. I will slay any man who lags behind!" + +On this, all the Trojans drove their chariots down into the ditch that +guarded the ships of the Greeks, as when a great wave sweeps at sea over +the side of a vessel; and the Greeks were on the ship decks, thrusting +with very long spears, used in sea fights, and the Trojans were boarding +the ships, and striking with swords and axes. Hector had a lighted torch +and tried to set fire to the ship of Aias; but Aias kept him back with +the long spear, and slew a Trojan, whose lighted torch fell from his +hand. And Aias kept shouting: "Come on, and drive away Hector; it is not +to a dance that he is calling his men, but to battle." + +The dead fell in heaps, and the living ran over them to mount the heaps +of slain and climb the ships. Hector rushed forward like a sea wave +against a great steep rock, but like the rock stood the Greeks; still the +Trojans charged past the beaks of the foremost ships, while Aias, +thrusting with a spear more than twenty feet long, leaped from deck to +deck like a man that drives four horses abreast, and leaps from the back +of one to the back of another. Hector seized with his hand the stern of +the ship of Protesilaus, the prince whom Paris shot when he leaped ashore +on the day when the Greeks first landed; and Hector kept calling: "Bring +fire!" and even Aias, in this strange sea fight on land, left the decks +and went below, thrusting with his spear through the portholes. Twelve +men lay dead who had brought fire against the ship which Aias guarded. + + + + +THE SLAYING AND AVENGING OF PATROCLUS + + +At this moment, when torches were blazing round the ships, and all seemed +lost, Patroclus came out of the hut of Eurypylus, whose wound he had been +tending, and he saw that the Greeks were in great danger, and ran weeping +to Achilles. "Why do you weep," said Achilles, "like a little girl that +runs by her mother's side, and plucks at her gown and looks at her with +tears in her eyes, till her mother takes her up in her arms? Is there +bad news from home that your father is dead, or mine; or are you sorry +that the Greeks are getting what they deserve for their folly?" Then +Patroclus told Achilles how Ulysses and many other princes were wounded +and could not fight, and begged to be allowed to put on Achilles' armour +and lead his men, who were all fresh and unwearied, into the battle, for +a charge of two thousand fresh warriors might turn the fortune of the +day. + +Then Achilles was sorry that he had sworn not to fight himself till +Hector brought fire to his own ships. He would lend Patroclus his +armour, and his horses, and his men; but Patroclus must only drive the +Trojans from the ships, and not pursue them. At this moment Aias was +weary, so many spears smote his armour, and he could hardly hold up his +great shield, and Hector cut off his spear-head with the sword; the +bronze head fell ringing on the ground, and Aias brandished only the +pointless shaft. So he shrank back and fire blazed all over his ship; +and Achilles saw it, and smote his thigh, and bade Patroclus make haste. +Patroclus armed himself in the shining armour of Achilles, which all +Trojans feared, and leaped into the chariot where Automedon, the squire, +had harnessed Xanthus and Balius, two horses that were the children, men +said, of the West Wind, and a led horse was harnessed beside them in the +side traces. Meanwhile the two thousand men of Achilles, who were called +Myrmidons, had met in armour, five companies of four hundred apiece, +under five chiefs of noble names. Forth they came, as eager as a pack of +wolves that have eaten a great red deer and run to slake their thirst +with the dark water of a well in the hills. + +So all in close array, helmet touching helmet and shield touching shield, +like a moving wall of shining bronze, the men of Achilles charged, and +Patroclus, in the chariot led the way. Down they came at full speed on +the flank of the Trojans, who saw the leader, and knew the bright armour +and the horses of the terrible Achilles, and thought that he had returned +to the war. Then each Trojan looked round to see by what way he could +escape, and when men do that in battle they soon run by the way they have +chosen. Patroclus rushed to the ship of Protesilaus, and slew the leader +of the Trojans there, and drove them out, and quenched the fire; while +they of Troy drew back from the ships, and Aias and the other unwounded +Greek princes leaped among them, smiting with sword and spear. Well did +Hector know that the break in the battle had come again; but even so he +stood, and did what he might, while the Trojans were driven back in +disorder across the ditch, where the poles of many chariots were broken +and the horses fled loose across the plain. + +The horses of Achilles cleared the ditch, and Patroclus drove them +between the Trojans and the wall of their own town, slaying many men, +and, chief of all, Sarpedon, king of the Lycians; and round the body of +Sarpedon the Trojans rallied under Hector, and the fight swayed this way +and that, and there was such a noise of spears and swords smiting shields +and helmets as when many woodcutters fell trees in a glen of the hills. +At last the Trojans gave way, and the Greeks stripped the armour from the +body of brave Sarpedon; but men say that Sleep and Death, like two winged +angels, bore his body away to his own country. Now Patroclus forgot how +Achilles had told him not to pursue the Trojans across the plain, but to +return when he had driven them from the ships. On he raced, slaying as +he went, even till he reached the foot of the wall of Troy. Thrice he +tried to climb it, but thrice he fell back. + +Hector was in his chariot in the gateway, and he bade his squire lash his +horses into the war, and struck at no other man, great or small, but +drove straight against Patroclus, who stood and threw a heavy stone at +Hector; which missed him, but killed his charioteer. Then Patroclus +leaped on the charioteer to strip his armour, but Hector stood over the +body, grasping it by the head, while Patroclus dragged at the feet, and +spears and arrows flew in clouds around the fallen man. At last, towards +sunset, the Greeks drew him out of the war, and Patroclus thrice charged +into the thick of the Trojans. But the helmet of Achilles was loosened +in the fight, and fell from the head of Patroclus, and he was wounded +from behind, and Hector, in front, drove his spear clean through his +body. With his last breath Patroclus prophesied: "Death stands near +thee, Hector, at the hands of noble Achilles." But Automedon was driving +back the swift horses, carrying to Achilles the news that his dearest +friend was slain. + +After Ulysses was wounded, early in this great battle, he was not able to +fight for several days, and, as the story is about Ulysses, we must tell +quite shortly how Achilles returned to the war to take vengeance for +Patroclus, and how he slew Hector. When Patroclus fell, Hector seized +the armour which the Gods had given to Peleus, and Peleus to his son +Achilles, while Achilles had lent it to Patroclus that he might terrify +the Trojans. Retiring out of reach of spears, Hector took off his own +armour and put on that of Achilles, and Greeks and Trojans fought for the +dead body of Patroclus. Then Zeus, the chief of the Gods, looked down +and said that Hector should never come home out of the battle to his +wife, Andromache. But Hector returned into the fight around the dead +Patroclus, and here all the best men fought, and even Automedon, who had +been driving the chariot of Patroclus. Now when the Trojans seemed to +have the better of the fight, the Greeks sent Antilochus, a son of old +Nestor, to tell Achilles that his friend was slain, and Antilochus ran, +and Aias and his brother protected the Greeks who were trying to carry +the body of Patroclus back to the ships. + +Swiftly Antilochus came running to Achilles, saying: "Fallen is +Patroclus, and they are fighting round his naked body, for Hector has his +armour." Then Achilles said never a word, but fell on the floor of his +hut, and threw black ashes on his yellow hair, till Antilochus seized his +hands, fearing that he would cut his own throat with his dagger, for very +sorrow. His mother, Thetis, arose from the sea to comfort him, but he +said that he desired to die if he could not slay Hector, who had slain +his friend. Then Thetis told him that he could not fight without armour, +and now he had none; but she would go to the God of armour-making and +bring from him such a shield and helmet and breastplate as had never been +seen by men. + +Meanwhile the fight raged round the dead body of Patroclus, which was +defiled with blood and dust, near the ships, and was being dragged this +way and that, and torn and wounded. Achilles could not bear this sight, +yet his mother had warned him not to enter without armour the battle +where stones and arrows and spears were flying like hail; and he was so +tall and broad that he could put on the arms of no other man. So he went +down to the ditch as he was, unarmed, and as he stood high above it, +against the red sunset, fire seemed to flow from his golden hair like the +beacon blaze that soars into the dark sky when an island town is attacked +at night, and men light beacons that their neighbours may see them and +come to their help from other isles. There Achilles stood in a splendour +of fire, and he shouted aloud, as clear as a clarion rings when men fall +on to attack a besieged city wall. Thrice Achilles shouted mightily, and +thrice the horses of the Trojans shuddered for fear and turned back from +the onslaught,--and thrice the men of Troy were confounded and shaken +with terror. Then the Greeks drew the body of Patroclus out of the dust +and the arrows, and laid him on a bier, and Achilles followed, weeping, +for he had sent his friend with chariot and horses to the war; but home +again he welcomed him never more. Then the sun set and it was night. + +Now one of the Trojans wished Hector to retire within the walls of Troy, +for certainly Achilles would to-morrow be foremost in the war. But +Hector said, "Have ye not had your fill of being shut up behind walls? +Let Achilles fight; I will meet him in the open field." The Trojans +cheered, and they camped in the plain, while in the hut of Achilles women +washed the dead body of Patroclus, and Achilles swore that he would slay +Hector. + +In the dawn came Thetis, bearing to Achilles the new splendid armour that +the God had made for him. Then Achilles put on that armour, and roused +his men; but Ulysses, who knew all the rules of honour, would not let him +fight till peace had been made, with a sacrifice and other ceremonies, +between him and Agamemnon, and till Agamemnon had given him all the +presents which Achilles had before refused. Achilles did not want them; +he wanted only to fight, but Ulysses made him obey, and do what was +usual. Then the gifts were brought, and Agamemnon stood up, and said +that he was sorry for his insolence, and the men took breakfast, but +Achilles would neither eat nor drink. He mounted his chariot, but the +horse Xanthus bowed his head till his long mane touched the ground, and, +being a fairy horse, the child of the West Wind, he spoke (or so men +said), and these were his words: "We shall bear thee swiftly and +speedily, but thou shalt be slain in fight, and thy dying day is near at +hand." "Well I know it," said Achilles, "but I will not cease from +fighting till I have given the Trojans their fill of war." + +So all that day he chased and slew the Trojans. He drove them into the +river, and, though the river came down in a red flood, he crossed, and +slew them on the plain. The plain caught fire, the bushes and long dry +grass blazed round him, but he fought his way through the fire, and drove +the Trojans to their walls. The gates were thrown open, and the Trojans +rushed through like frightened fawns, and then they climbed to the +battlements, and looked down in safety, while the whole Greek army +advanced in line under their shields. + +But Hector stood still, alone, in front of the gate, and old Priam, who +saw Achilles rushing on, shining like a star in his new armour, called +with tears to Hector, "Come within the gate! This man has slain many of +my sons, and if he slays thee whom have I to help me in my old age?" His +mother also called to Hector, but he stood firm, waiting for Achilles. +Now the story says that he was afraid, and ran thrice in full armour +round Troy, with Achilles in pursuit. But this cannot be true, for no +mortal men could run thrice, in heavy armour, with great shields that +clanked against their ankles, round the town of Troy: moreover Hector was +the bravest of men, and all the Trojan women were looking down at him +from the walls. + +We cannot believe that he ran away, and the story goes on to tell that he +asked Achilles to make an agreement with him. The conqueror in the fight +should give back the body of the fallen to be buried by his friends, but +should keep his armour. But Achilles said that he could make no +agreement with Hector, and threw his spear, which flew over Hector's +shoulder. Then Hector threw his spear, but it could not pierce the +shield which the God had made for Achilles. Hector had no other spear, +and Achilles had one, so Hector cried, "Let me not die without honour!" +and drew his sword, and rushed at Achilles, who sprang to meet him, but +before Hector could come within a sword-stroke Achilles had sent his +spear clean through the neck of Hector. He fell in the dust and Achilles +said, "Dogs and birds shall tear your flesh unburied." With his dying +breath Hector prayed him to take gold from Priam, and give back his body +to be burned in Troy. But Achilles said, "Hound! would that I could +bring myself to carve and eat thy raw flesh, but dogs shall devour it, +even if thy father offered me thy weight in gold." With his last words +Hector prophesied and said, "Remember me in the day when Paris shall slay +thee in the Scaean gate." Then his brave soul went to the land of the +Dead, which the Greeks called Hades. To that land Ulysses sailed while +he was still a living man, as the story tells later. + +Then Achilles did a dreadful deed; he slit the feet of dead Hector from +heel to ankle, and thrust thongs through, and bound him by the thongs to +his chariot and trailed the body in the dust. All the women of Troy who +were on the walls raised a shriek, and Hector's wife, Andromache, heard +the sound. She had been in an inner room of her house, weaving a purple +web, and embroidering flowers on it, and she was calling her bower +maidens to make ready a bath for Hector when he should come back tired +from battle. But when she heard the cry from the wall she trembled, and +the shuttle with which she was weaving fell from her hands. "Surely I +heard the cry of my husband's mother," she said, and she bade two of her +maidens come with her to see why the people lamented. + +She ran swiftly, and reached the battlements, and thence she saw her dear +husband's body being whirled through the dust towards the ships, behind +the chariot of Achilles. Then night came over her eyes and she fainted. +But when she returned to herself she cried out that now none would defend +her little boy, and other children would push him away from feasts, +saying, "Out with you; no father of thine is at our table," and his +father, Hector, would lie naked at the ships, unclad, unburned, +unlamented. To be unburned and unburied was thought the greatest of +misfortunes, because the dead man unburned could not go into the House of +Hades, God of the Dead, but must always wander, alone and comfortless, in +the dark borderland between the dead and the living. + + + + +THE CRUELTY OF ACHILLES, AND THE RANSOMING OF HECTOR + + +When Achilles was asleep that night the ghost of Patroclus came, saying, +"Why dost thou not burn and bury me? for the other shadows of dead men +suffer me not to come near them, and lonely I wander along the dark +dwelling of Hades." Then Achilles awoke, and he sent men to cut down +trees, and make a huge pile of fagots and logs. On this they laid +Patroclus, covered with white linen, and then they slew many cattle, and +Achilles cut the throats of twelve Trojan prisoners of war, meaning to +burn them with Patroclus to do him honour. This was a deed of shame, for +Achilles was mad with sorrow and anger for the death of his friend. Then +they drenched with wine the great pile of wood, which was thirty yards +long and broad, and set fire to it, and the fire blazed all through the +night and died down in the morning. They put the white bones of +Patroclus in a golden casket, and laid it in the hut of Achilles, who +said that, when he died, they must burn his body, and mix the ashes with +the ashes of his friend, and build over it a chamber of stone, and cover +the chamber with a great hill of earth, and set a pillar of stone above +it. This is one of the hills on the plain of Troy, but the pillar has +fallen from the tomb, long ago. + +Then, as the custom was, Achilles held games--chariot races, foot races, +boxing, wrestling, and archery--in honour of Patroclus. Ulysses won the +prize for the foot race, and for the wrestling, so now his wound must +have been healed. + +But Achilles still kept trailing Hector's dead body each day round the +hill that had been raised for the tomb of Patroclus, till the Gods in +heaven were angry, and bade Thetis tell her son that he must give back +the dead body to Priam, and take ransom for it, and they sent a messenger +to Priam to bid him redeem the body of his son. It was terrible for +Priam to have to go and humble himself before Achilles, whose hands had +been red with the blood of his sons, but he did not disobey the Gods. He +opened his chests, and took out twenty-four beautiful embroidered changes +of raiment; and he weighed out ten heavy bars, or talents, of gold, and +chose a beautiful golden cup, and he called nine of his sons, Paris, and +Helenus, and Deiphobus, and the rest, saying, "Go, ye bad sons, my shame; +would that Hector lived and all of you were dead!" for sorrow made him +angry; "go, and get ready for me a wain, and lay on it these treasures." +So they harnessed mules to the wain, and placed in it the treasures, and, +after praying, Priam drove through the night to the hut of Achilles. In +he went, when no man looked for him, and kneeled to Achilles, and kissed +his terrible death-dealing hands. "Have pity on me, and fear the Gods, +and give me back my dead son," he said, "and remember thine own father. +Have pity on me, who have endured to do what no man born has ever done +before, to kiss the hands that slew my sons." + +Then Achilles remembered his own father, far away, who now was old and +weak: and he wept, and Priam wept with him, and then Achilles raised +Priam from his knees and spoke kindly to him, admiring how beautiful he +still was in his old age, and Priam himself wondered at the beauty of +Achilles. And Achilles thought how Priam had long been rich and happy, +like his own father, Peleus, and now old age and weakness and sorrow were +laid upon both of them, for Achilles knew that his own day of death was +at hand, even at the doors. So Achilles bade the women make ready the +body of Hector for burial, and they clothed him in a white mantle that +Priam had brought, and laid him in the wain; and supper was made ready, +and Priam and Achilles ate and drank together, and the women spread a bed +for Priam, who would not stay long, but stole away back to Troy while +Achilles was asleep. + +All the women came out to meet him, and to lament for Hector. They +carried the body into the house of Andromache and laid it on a bed, and +the women gathered around, and each in turn sang her song over the great +dead warrior. His mother bewailed him, and his wife, and Helen of the +fair hands, clad in dark mourning raiment, lifted up her white arms, and +said: "Hector, of all my brethren in Troy thou wert the dearest, since +Paris brought me hither. Would that ere that day I had died! For this +is now the twentieth year since I came, and in all these twenty years +never heard I a word from thee that was bitter and unkind; others might +upbraid me, thy sisters or thy mother, for thy father was good to me as +if he had been my own; but then thou wouldst restrain them that spoke +evil by the courtesy of thy heart and thy gentle words. Ah! woe for +thee, and woe for me, whom all men shudder at, for there is now none in +wide Troyland to be my friend like thee, my brother and my friend!" + +So Helen lamented, but now was done all that men might do; a great pile +of wood was raised, and Hector was burned, and his ashes were placed in a +golden urn, in a dark chamber of stone, within a hollow hill. + + + + +HOW ULYSSES STOLE THE LUCK OF TROY + + +After Hector was buried, the siege went on slowly, as it had done during +the first nine years of the war. The Greeks did not know at that time +how to besiege a city, as we saw, by way of digging trenches and building +towers, and battering the walls with machines that threw heavy stones. +The Trojans had lost courage, and dared not go into the open plain, and +they were waiting for the coming up of new armies of allies--the Amazons, +who were girl warriors from far away, and an Eastern people called the +Khita, whose king was Memnon, the son of the Bright Dawn. + +Now everyone knew that, in the temple of the Goddess Pallas Athene, in +Troy, was a sacred image, which fell from heaven, called the Palladium, +and this very ancient image was the Luck of Troy. While it remained safe +in the temple people believed that Troy could never be taken, but as it +was in a guarded temple in the middle of the town, and was watched by +priestesses day and night, it seemed impossible that the Greeks should +ever enter the city secretly and steal the Luck away. + +As Ulysses was the grandson of Autolycus, the Master Thief, he often +wished that the old man was with the Greeks, for if there was a thing to +steal Autolycus could steal it. But by this time Autolycus was dead, and +so Ulysses could only puzzle over the way to steal the Luck of Troy, and +wonder how his grandfather would have set about it. He prayed for help +secretly to Hermes, the God of Thieves, when he sacrificed goats to him, +and at last he had a plan. + +There was a story that Anius, the King of the Isle of Delos, had three +daughters, named OEno, Spermo, and Elais, and that OEno could turn water +into wine, while Spermo could turn stones into bread, and Elais could +change mud into olive oil. Those fairy gifts, people said, were given to +the maidens by the Wine God, Dionysus, and by the Goddess of Corn, +Demeter. Now corn, and wine, and oil were sorely needed by the Greeks, +who were tired of paying much gold and bronze to the Phoenician merchants +for their supplies. Ulysses therefore went to Agamemnon one day, and +asked leave to take his ship and voyage to Delos, to bring, if he could, +the three maidens to the camp, if indeed they could do these miracles. As +no fighting was going on, Agamemnon gave Ulysses leave to depart, so he +went on board his ship, with a crew of fifty men of Ithaca, and away they +sailed, promising to return in a month. + +Two or three days after that, a dirty old beggar man began to be seen in +the Greek camp. He had crawled in late one evening, dressed in a dirty +smock and a very dirty old cloak, full of holes, and stained with smoke. +Over everything he wore the skin of a stag, with half the hair worn off, +and he carried a staff, and a filthy tattered wallet, to put food in, +which swung from his neck by a cord. He came crouching and smiling up to +the door of the hut of Diomede, and sat down just within the doorway, +where beggars still sit in the East. Diomede saw him, and sent him a +loaf and two handfuls of flesh, which the beggar laid on his wallet, +between his feet, and he made his supper greedily, gnawing a bone like a +dog. + +After supper Diomede asked him who he was and whence he came, and he told +a long story about how he had been a Cretan pirate, and had been taken +prisoner by the Egyptians when he was robbing there, and how he had +worked for many years in their stone quarries, where the sun had burned +him brown, and had escaped by hiding among the great stones, carried down +the Nile in a raft, for building a temple on the seashore. The raft +arrived at night, and the beggar said that he stole out from it in the +dark and found a Phoenician ship in the harbour, and the Phoenicians took +him on board, meaning to sell him somewhere as a slave. But a tempest +came on and wrecked the ship off the Isle of Tenedos, which is near Troy, +and the beggar alone escaped to the island on a plank of the ship. From +Tenedos he had come to Troy in a fisher's boat, hoping to make himself +useful in the camp, and earn enough to keep body and soul together till +he could find a ship sailing to Crete. + +He made his story rather amusing, describing the strange ways of the +Egyptians; how they worshipped cats and bulls, and did everything in just +the opposite of the Greek way of doing things. So Diomede let him have a +rug and blankets to sleep on in the portico of the hut, and next day the +old wretch went begging about the camp and talking with the soldiers. Now +he was a most impudent and annoying old vagabond, and was always in +quarrels. If there was a disagreeable story about the father or +grandfather of any of the princes, he knew it and told it, so that he got +a blow from the baton of Agamemnon, and Aias gave him a kick, and +Idomeneus drubbed him with the butt of his spear for a tale about his +grandmother, and everybody hated him and called him a nuisance. He was +for ever jeering at Ulysses, who was far away, and telling tales about +Autolycus, and at last he stole a gold cup, a very large cup, with two +handles, and a dove sitting on each handle, from the hut of Nestor. The +old chief was fond of this cup, which he had brought from home, and, when +it was found in the beggar's dirty wallet, everybody cried that he must +be driven out of the camp and well whipped. So Nestor's son, young +Thrasymedes, with other young men, laughing and shouting, pushed and +dragged the beggar close up to the Scaean gate of Troy, where Thrasymedes +called with a loud voice, "O Trojans, we are sick of this shameless +beggar. First we shall whip him well, and if he comes back we shall put +out his eyes and cut off his hands and feet, and give him to the dogs to +eat. He may go to you, if he likes; if not, he must wander till he dies +of hunger." + +The young men of Troy heard this and laughed, and a crowd gathered on the +wall to see the beggar punished. So Thrasymedes whipped him with his +bowstring till he was tired, and they did not leave off beating the +beggar till he ceased howling and fell, all bleeding, and lay still. Then +Thrasymedes gave him a parting kick, and went away with his friends. The +beggar lay quiet for some time, then he began to stir, and sat up, wiping +the tears from his eyes, and shouting curses and bad words after the +Greeks, praying that they might be speared in the back, and eaten by +dogs. + +At last he tried to stand up, but fell down again, and began to crawl on +hands and knees towards the Scaean gate. There he sat down, within the +two side walls of the gate, where he cried and lamented. Now Helen of +the fair hands came down from the gate tower, being sorry to see any man +treated so much worse than a beast, and she spoke to the beggar and asked +him why he had been used in this cruel way? + +At first he only moaned, and rubbed his sore sides, but at last he said +that he was an unhappy man, who had been shipwrecked, and was begging his +way home, and that the Greeks suspected him of being a spy sent out by +the Trojans. But he had been in Lacedaemon, her own country, he said, +and could tell her about her father, if she were, as he supposed, the +beautiful Helen, and about her brothers, Castor and Polydeuces, and her +little daughter, Hermione. + +"But perhaps," he said, "you are no mortal woman, but some goddess who +favours the Trojans, and if indeed you are a goddess then I liken you to +Aphrodite, for beauty, and stature, and shapeliness." Then Helen wept; +for many a year had passed since she had heard any word of her father, +and daughter, and her brothers, who were dead, though she knew it not. So +she stretched out her white hand, and raised the beggar, who was kneeling +at her feet, and bade him follow her to her own house, within the palace +garden of King Priam. + +Helen walked forward, with a bower maiden at either side, and the beggar +crawling after her. When she had entered her house, Paris was not there, +so she ordered the bath to be filled with warm water, and new clothes to +be brought, and she herself washed the old beggar and anointed him with +oil. This appears very strange to us, for though Saint Elizabeth of +Hungary used to wash and clothe beggars, we are surprised that Helen +should do so, who was not a saint. But long afterwards she herself told +the son of Ulysses, Telemachus, that she had washed his father when he +came into Troy disguised as a beggar who had been sorely beaten. + +You must have guessed that the beggar was Ulysses, who had not gone to +Delos in his ship, but stolen back in a boat, and appeared disguised +among the Greeks. He did all this to make sure that nobody could +recognise him, and he behaved so as to deserve a whipping that he might +not be suspected as a Greek spy by the Trojans, but rather be pitied by +them. Certainly he deserved his name of "the much-enduring Ulysses." + +Meanwhile he sat in his bath and Helen washed his feet. But when she had +done, and had anointed his wounds with olive oil, and when she had +clothed him in a white tunic and a purple mantle, then she opened her +lips to cry out with amazement, for she knew Ulysses; but he laid his +finger on her lips, saying "Hush!" Then she remembered how great danger +he was in, for the Trojans, if they found him, would put him to some +cruel death, and she sat down, trembling and weeping, while he watched +her. + +"Oh thou strange one," she said, "how enduring is thy heart and how +cunning beyond measure! How hast thou borne to be thus beaten and +disgraced, and to come within the walls of Troy? Well it is for thee +that Paris, my lord, is far from home, having gone to guide Penthesilea, +the Queen of the warrior maids whom men call Amazons, who is on her way +to help the Trojans." + +Then Ulysses smiled, and Helen saw that she had said a word which she +ought not to have spoken, and had revealed the secret hope of the +Trojans. Then she wept, and said, "Oh cruel and cunning! You have made +me betray the people with whom I live, though woe is me that ever I left +my own people, and my husband dear, and my child! And now if you escape +alive out of Troy, you will tell the Greeks, and they will lie in ambush +by night for the Amazons on the way to Troy and will slay them all. If +you and I were not friends long ago, I would tell the Trojans that you +are here, and they would give your body to the dogs to eat, and fix your +head on the palisade above the wall. Woe is me that ever I was born." + +Ulysses answered, "Lady, as you have said, we two are friends from of +old, and your friend I will be till the last, when the Greeks break into +Troy, and slay the men, and carry the women captives. If I live till +that hour no man shall harm you, but safely and in honour you shall come +to your palace in Lacedaemon of the rifted hills. Moreover, I swear to +you a great oath, by Zeus above, and by Them that under earth punish the +souls of men who swear falsely, that I shall tell no man the thing which +you have spoken." + +So when he had sworn and done that oath, Helen was comforted and dried +her tears. Then she told him how unhappy she was, and how she had lost +her last comfort when Hector died. "Always am I wretched," she said, +"save when sweet sleep falls on me. Now the wife of Thon, King of Egypt, +gave me this gift when we were in Egypt, on our way to Troy, namely, a +drug that brings sleep even to the most unhappy, and it is pressed from +the poppy heads of the garland of the God of Sleep." Then she showed him +strange phials of gold, full of this drug: phials wrought by the +Egyptians, and covered with magic spells and shapes of beasts and +flowers. "One of these I will give you," she said, "that even from Troy +town you may not go without a gift in memory of the hands of Helen." So +Ulysses took the phial of gold, and was glad in his heart, and Helen set +before him meat and wine. When he had eaten and drunk, and his strength +had come back to him, he said: + +"Now I must dress me again in my old rags, and take my wallet, and my +staff, and go forth, and beg through Troy town. For here I must abide +for some days as a beggar man, lest if I now escape from your house in +the night the Trojans may think that you have told me the secrets of +their counsel, which I am carrying to the Greeks, and may be angry with +you." So he clothed himself again as a beggar, and took his staff, and +hid the phial of gold with the Egyptian drug in his rags, and in his +wallet also he put the new clothes that Helen had given him, and a sword, +and he took farewell, saying, "Be of good heart, for the end of your +sorrows is at hand. But if you see me among the beggars in the street, +or by the well, take no heed of me, only I will salute you as a beggar +who has been kindly treated by a Queen." + +So they parted, and Ulysses went out, and when it was day he was with the +beggars in the streets, but by night he commonly slept near the fire of a +smithy forge, as is the way of beggars. So for some days he begged, +saying that he was gathering food to eat while he walked to some town far +away that was at peace, where he might find work to do. He was not +impudent now, and did not go to rich men's houses or tell evil tales, or +laugh, but he was much in the temples, praying to the Gods, and above all +in the temple of Pallas Athene. The Trojans thought that he was a pious +man for a beggar. + +Now there was a custom in these times that men and women who were sick or +in distress, should sleep at night on the floors of the temples. They +did this hoping that the God would send them a dream to show them how +their diseases might be cured, or how they might find what they had lost, +or might escape from their distresses. + +Ulysses slept in more than one temple, and once in that of Pallas Athene, +and the priests and priestesses were kind to him, and gave him food in +the morning when the gates of the temple were opened. + +In the temple of Pallas Athene, where the Luck of Troy lay always on her +altar, the custom was that priestesses kept watch, each for two hours, +all through the night, and soldiers kept guard within call. So one night +Ulysses slept there, on the floor, with other distressed people, seeking +for dreams from the Gods. He lay still all through the night till the +turn of the last priestess came to watch. The priestess used to walk up +and down with bare feet among the dreaming people, having a torch in her +hand, and muttering hymns to the Goddess. Then Ulysses, when her back +was turned, slipped the gold phial out of his rags, and let it lie on the +polished floor beside him. When the priestess came back again, the light +from her torch fell on the glittering phial, and she stooped and picked +it up, and looked at it curiously. There came from it a sweet fragrance, +and she opened it, and tasted the drug. It seemed to her the sweetest +thing that ever she had tasted, and she took more and more, and then +closed the phial and laid it down, and went along murmuring her hymn. + +But soon a great drowsiness came over her, and she sat down on the step +of the altar, and fell sound asleep, and the torch sunk in her hand, and +went out, and all was dark. Then Ulysses put the phial in his wallet, +and crept very cautiously to the altar, in the dark, and stole the Luck +of Troy. It was only a small black mass of what is now called meteoric +iron, which sometimes comes down with meteorites from the sky, but it was +shaped like a shield, and the people thought it an image of the warlike +shielded Goddess, fallen from Heaven. Such sacred shields, made of glass +and ivory, are found deep in the earth in the ruined cities of Ulysses' +time. Swiftly Ulysses hid the Luck in his rags and left in its place on +the altar a copy of the Luck, which he had made of blackened clay. Then +he stole back to the place where he had lain, and remained there till +dawn appeared, and the sleepers who sought for dreams awoke, and the +temple gates were opened, and Ulysses walked out with the rest of them. + +He stole down a lane, where as yet no people were stirring, and crept +along, leaning on his staff, till he came to the eastern gate, at the +back of the city, which the Greeks never attacked, for they had never +drawn their army in a circle round the town. There Ulysses explained to +the sentinels that he had gathered food enough to last for a long journey +to some other town, and opened his bag, which seemed full of bread and +broken meat. The soldiers said he was a lucky beggar, and let him out. +He walked slowly along the waggon road by which wood was brought into +Troy from the forests on Mount Ida, and when he found that nobody was +within sight he slipped into the forest, and stole into a dark thicket, +hiding beneath the tangled boughs. Here he lay and slept till evening, +and then took the new clothes which Helen had given him out of his +wallet, and put them on, and threw the belt of the sword over his +shoulder, and hid the Luck of Troy in his bosom. He washed himself clean +in a mountain brook, and now all who saw him must have known that he was +no beggar, but Ulysses of Ithaca, Laertes' son. + +So he walked cautiously down the side of the brook which ran between high +banks deep in trees, and followed it till it reached the river Xanthus, +on the left of the Greek lines. Here he found Greek sentinels set to +guard the camp, who cried aloud in joy and surprise, for his ship had not +yet returned from Delos, and they could not guess how Ulysses had come +back alone across the sea. So two of the sentinels guarded Ulysses to +the hut of Agamemnon, where he and Achilles and all the chiefs were +sitting at a feast. They all leaped up, but when Ulysses took the Luck +of Troy from within his mantle, they cried that this was the bravest deed +that had been done in the war, and they sacrificed ten oxen to Zeus. + +"So you were the old beggar," said young Thrasymedes. + +"Yes," said Ulysses, "and when next you beat a beggar, Thrasymedes, do +not strike so hard and so long." + +That night all the Greeks were full of hope, for now they had the Luck of +Troy, but the Trojans were in despair, and guessed that the beggar was +the thief, and that Ulysses had been the beggar. The priestess, Theano, +could tell them nothing; they found her, with the extinguished torch +drooping in her hand, asleep, as she sat on the step of the altar, and +she never woke again. + + + + +THE BATTLES WITH THE AMAZONS AND MEMNON--THE DEATH OF ACHILLES + + +Ulysses thought much and often of Helen, without whose kindness he could +not have saved the Greeks by stealing the Luck of Troy. He saw that, +though she remained as beautiful as when the princes all sought her hand, +she was most unhappy, knowing herself to be the cause of so much misery, +and fearing what the future might bring. Ulysses told nobody about the +secret which she had let fall, the coming of the Amazons. + +The Amazons were a race of warlike maids, who lived far away on the banks +of the river Thermodon. They had fought against Troy in former times, +and one of the great hill-graves on the plain of Troy covered the ashes +of an Amazon, swift-footed Myrine. People believed that they were the +daughters of the God of War, and they were reckoned equal in battle to +the bravest men. Their young Queen, Penthesilea, had two reasons for +coming to fight at Troy: one was her ambition to win renown, and the +other her sleepless sorrow for having accidentally killed her sister, +Hippolyte, when hunting. The spear which she threw at a stag struck +Hippolyte and slew her, and Penthesilea cared no longer for her own life, +and desired to fall gloriously in battle. So Penthesilea and her +bodyguard of twelve Amazons set forth from the wide streams of Thermodon, +and rode into Troy. The story says that they did not drive in chariots, +like all the Greek and Trojan chiefs, but rode horses, which must have +been the manner of their country. + +Penthesilea was the tallest and most beautiful of the Amazons, and shone +among her twelve maidens like the moon among the stars, or the bright +Dawn among the Hours which follow her chariot wheels. The Trojans +rejoiced when they beheld her, for she looked both terrible and +beautiful, with a frown on her brow, and fair shining eyes, and a blush +on her cheeks. To the Trojans she came like Iris, the Rainbow, after a +storm, and they gathered round her cheering, and throwing flowers and +kissing her stirrup, as the people of Orleans welcomed Joan of Arc when +she came to deliver them. Even Priam was glad, as is a man long blind, +when he has been healed, and again looks upon the light of the sun. Priam +held a great feast, and gave to Penthesilea many beautiful gifts: cups of +gold, and embroideries, and a sword with a hilt of silver, and she vowed +that she would slay Achilles. But when Andromache, the wife of Hector, +heard her she said within herself, "Ah, unhappy girl, what is this boast +of thine! Thou hast not the strength to fight the unconquerable son of +Peleus, for if Hector could not slay him, what chance hast thou? But the +piled-up earth covers Hector!" + +In the morning Penthesilea sprang up from sleep and put on her glorious +armour, with spear in hand, and sword at side, and bow and quiver hung +behind her back, and her great shield covering her side from neck to +stirrup, and mounted her horse, and galloped to the plain. Beside her +charged the twelve maidens of her bodyguard, and all the company of +Hector's brothers and kinsfolk. These headed the Trojan lines, and they +rushed towards the ships of the Greeks. + +Then the Greeks asked each other, "Who is this that leads the Trojans as +Hector led them, surely some God rides in the van of the charioteers!" +Ulysses could have told them who the new leader of the Trojans was, but +it seems that he had not the heart to fight against women, for his name +is not mentioned in this day's battle. So the two lines clashed, and the +plain of Troy ran red with blood, for Penthesilea slew Molios, and +Persinoos, and Eilissos, and Antiphates, and Lernos high of heart, and +Hippalmos of the loud warcry, and Haemonides, and strong Elasippus, while +her maidens Derinoe and Clonie slew each a chief of the Greeks. But +Clonie fell beneath the spear of Podarkes, whose hand Penthesilea cut off +with the sword, while Idomeneus speared the Amazon Bremousa, and Meriones +of Crete slew Evadre, and Diomede killed Alcibie and Derimacheia in close +fight with the sword, so the company of the Twelve were thinned, the +bodyguard of Penthesilea. + +The Trojans and Greeks kept slaying each other, but Penthesilea avenged +her maidens, driving the ranks of Greece as a lioness drives the cattle +on the hills, for they could not stand before her. Then she shouted, +"Dogs! to-day shall you pay for the sorrows of Priam! Where is Diomede, +where is Achilles, where is Aias, that, men say, are your bravest? Will +none of them stand before my spear?" Then she charged again, at the head +of the Household of Priam, brothers and kinsmen of Hector, and where they +came the Greeks fell like yellow leaves before the wind of autumn. The +white horse that Penthesilea rode, a gift from the wife of the North +Wind, flashed like lightning through a dark cloud among the companies of +the Greeks, and the chariots that followed the charge of the Amazon +rocked as they swept over the bodies of the slain. Then the old Trojans, +watching from the walls, cried: "This is no mortal maiden but a Goddess, +and to-day she will burn the ships of the Greeks, and they will all +perish in Troyland, and see Greece never more again." + +Now it so was that Aias and Achilles had not heard the din and the cry of +war, for both had gone to weep over the great new grave of Patroclus. +Penthesilea and the Trojans had driven back the Greeks within their +ditch, and they were hiding here and there among the ships, and torches +were blazing in men's hands to burn the ships, as in the day of the +valour of Hector: when Aias heard the din of battle, and called to +Achilles to make speed towards the ships. + +So they ran swiftly to their huts, and armed themselves, and Aias fell +smiting and slaying upon the Trojans, but Achilles slew five of the +bodyguard of Penthesilea. She, beholding her maidens fallen, rode +straight against Aias and Achilles, like a dove defying two falcons, and +cast her spear, but it fell back blunted from the glorious shield that +the God had made for the son of Peleus. Then she threw another spear at +Aias, crying, "I am the daughter of the God of War," but his armour kept +out the spear, and he and Achilles laughed aloud. Aias paid no more heed +to the Amazon, but rushed against the Trojan men; while Achilles raised +the heavy spear that none but he could throw, and drove it down through +breastplate and breast of Penthesilea, yet still her hand grasped her +sword-hilt. But, ere she could draw her sword, Achilles speared her +horse, and horse and rider fell, and died in their fall. + +There lay fair Penthesilea in the dust, like a tall poplar tree that the +wind has overthrown, and her helmet fell, and the Greeks who gathered +round marvelled to see her lie so beautiful in death, like Artemis, the +Goddess of the Woods, when she sleeps alone, weary with hunting on the +hills. Then the heart of Achilles was pierced with pity and sorrow, +thinking how she might have been his wife in his own country, had he +spared her, but he was never to see pleasant Phthia, his native land, +again. So Achilles stood and wept over Penthesilea dead. + +Now the Greeks, in pity and sorrow, held their hands, and did not pursue +the Trojans who had fled, nor did they strip the armour from Penthesilea +and her twelve maidens, but laid the bodies on biers, and sent them back +in peace to Priam. Then the Trojans burned Penthesilea in the midst of +her dead maidens, on a great pile of dry wood, and placed their ashes in +a golden casket, and buried them all in the great hill-grave of Laomedon, +an ancient King of Troy, while the Greeks with lamentation buried them +whom the Amazon had slain. + +The old men of Troy and the chiefs now held a council, and Priam said +that they must not yet despair, for, if they had lost many of their +bravest warriors, many of the Greeks had also fallen. Their best plan +was to fight only with arrows from the walls and towers, till King Memnon +came to their rescue with a great army of Aethiopes. Now Memnon was the +son of the bright Dawn, a beautiful Goddess who had loved and married a +mortal man, Tithonus. She had asked Zeus, the chief of the Gods, to make +her lover immortal, and her prayer was granted. Tithonus could not die, +but he began to grow grey, and then white haired, with a long white +beard, and very weak, till nothing of him seemed to be left but his +voice, always feebly chattering like the grasshoppers on a summer day. + +Memnon was the most beautiful of men, except Paris and Achilles, and his +home was in a country that borders on the land of sunrising. There he +was reared by the lily maidens called Hesperides, till he came to his +full strength, and commanded the whole army of the Aethiopes. For their +arrival Priam wished to wait, but Polydamas advised that the Trojans +should give back Helen to the Greeks, with jewels twice as valuable as +those which she had brought from the house of Menelaus. Then Paris was +very angry, and said that Polydamas was a coward, for it was little to +Paris that Troy should be taken and burned in a month if for a month he +could keep Helen of the fair hands. + +At length Memnon came, leading a great army of men who had nothing white +about them but the teeth, so fiercely the sun burned on them in their own +country. The Trojans had all the more hopes of Memnon because, on his +long journey from the land of sunrising, and the river Oceanus that +girdles the round world, he had been obliged to cross the country of the +Solymi. Now the Solymi were the fiercest of men and rose up against +Memnon, but he and his army fought them for a whole day, and defeated +them, and drove them to the hills. When Memnon came, Priam gave him a +great cup of gold, full of wine to the brim, and Memnon drank the wine at +one draught. But he did not make great boasts of what he could do, like +poor Penthesilea, "for," said he, "whether I am a good man at arms will +be known in battle, where the strength of men is tried. So now let us +turn to sleep, for to wake and drink wine all through the night is an ill +beginning of war." + +Then Priam praised his wisdom, and all men betook them to bed, but the +bright Dawn rose unwillingly next day, to throw light on the battle where +her son was to risk his fife. Then Memnon led out the dark clouds of his +men into the plain, and the Greeks foreboded evil when they saw so great +a new army of fresh and unwearied warriors, but Achilles, leading them in +his shining armour, gave them courage. Memnon fell upon the left wing of +the Greeks, and on the men of Nestor, and first he slew Ereuthus, and +then attacked Nestor's young son, Antilochus, who, now that Patroclus had +fallen, was the dearest friend of Achilles. On him Memnon leaped, like a +lion on a kid, but Antilochus lifted a huge stone from the plain, a +pillar that had been set on the tomb of some great warrior long ago, and +the stone smote full on the helmet of Memnon, who reeled beneath the +stroke. But Memnon seized his heavy spear, and drove it through shield +and corselet of Antilochus, even into his heart, and he fell and died +beneath his father's eyes. Then Nestor in great sorrow and anger strode +across the body of Antilochus and called to his other son, Thrasymedes, +"Come and drive afar this man that has slain thy brother, for if fear be +in thy heart thou art no son of mine, nor of the race of Periclymenus, +who stood up in battle even against the strong man Heracles!" + +But Memnon was too strong for Thrasymedes, and drove him off, while old +Nestor himself charged sword in hand, though Memnon bade him begone, for +he was not minded to strike so aged a man, and Nestor drew back, for he +was weak with age. Then Memnon and his army charged the Greeks, slaying +and stripping the dead. But Nestor had mounted his chariot and driven to +Achilles, weeping, and imploring him to come swiftly and save the body of +Antilochus, and he sped to meet Memnon, who lifted a great stone, the +landmark of a field, and drove it against the shield of the son of +Peleus. But Achilles was not shaken by the blow; he ran forward, and +wounded Memnon over the rim of his shield. Yet wounded as he was Memnon +fought on and struck his spear through the arm of Achilles, for the +Greeks fought with no sleeves of bronze to protect their arms. + +Then Achilles drew his great sword, and flew on Memnon, and with sword- +strokes they lashed at each other on shield and helmet, and the long +horsehair crests of the helmets were shorn off, and flew down the wind, +and their shields rang terribly beneath the sword strokes. They thrust +at each others' throats between shield and visor of the helmet, they +smote at knee, and thrust at breast, and the armour rang about their +bodies, and the dust from beneath their feet rose up in a cloud around +them, like mist round the falls of a great river in flood. So they +fought, neither of them yielding a step, till Achilles made so rapid a +thrust that Memnon could not parry it, and the bronze sword passed clean +through his body beneath the breast-bone, and he fell, and his armour +clashed as he fell. + +Then Achilles, wounded as he was and weak from loss of blood, did not +stay to strip the golden armour of Memnon, but shouted his warcry, and +pressed on, for he hoped to enter the gate of Troy with the fleeing +Trojans, and all the Greeks followed after him. So they pursued, slaying +as they went, and the Scaean gate was choked with the crowd of men, +pursuing and pursued. In that hour would the Greeks have entered Troy, +and burned the city, and taken the women captive, but Paris stood on the +tower above the gate, and in his mind was anger for the death of his +brother Hector. He tried the string of his bow, and found it frayed, for +all day he had showered his arrows on the Greeks; so he chose a new +bowstring, and fitted it, and strung the bow, and chose an arrow from his +quiver, and aimed at the ankle of Achilles, where it was bare beneath the +greave, or leg-guard of metal, that the God had fashioned for him. +Through the ankle flew the arrow, and Achilles wheeled round, weak as he +was, and stumbled, and fell, and the armour that the God had wrought was +defiled with dust and blood. + +Then Achilles rose again, and cried: "What coward has smitten me with a +secret arrow from afar? Let him stand forth and meet me with sword and +spear!" So speaking he seized the shaft with his strong hands and tore +it out of the wound, and much blood gushed, and darkness came over his +eyes. Yet he staggered forward, striking blindly, and smote Orythaon, a +dear friend of Hector, through the helmet, and others he smote, but now +his force failed him, and he leaned on his spear, and cried his warcry, +and said, "Cowards of Troy, ye shall not all escape my spear, dying as I +am." But as he spoke he fell, and all his armour rang around him, yet +the Trojans stood apart and watched; and as hunters watch a dying lion +not daring to go nigh him, so the Trojans stood in fear till Achilles +drew his latest breath. Then from the wall the Trojan women raised a +great cry of joy over him who had slain the noble Hector: and thus was +fulfilled the prophecy of Hector, that Achilles should fall in the Scaean +gateway, by the hand of Paris. + +Then the best of the Trojans rushed forth from the gate to seize the body +of Achilles, and his glorious armour, but the Greeks were as eager to +carry the body to the ships that it might have due burial. Round the +dead Achilles men fought long and sore, and both sides were mixed, Greeks +and Trojans, so that men dared not shoot arrows from the walls of Troy +lest they should kill their own friends. Paris, and Aeneas, and Glaucus, +who had been the friend of Sarpedon, led the Trojans, and Aias and +Ulysses led the Greeks, for we are not told that Agamemnon was fighting +in this great battle of the war. Now as angry wild bees flock round a +man who is taking their honeycombs, so the Trojans gathered round Aias, +striving to stab him, but he set his great shield in front, and smote and +slew all that came within reach of his spear. Ulysses, too, struck down +many, and though a spear was thrown and pierced his leg near the knee he +stood firm, protecting the body of Achilles. At last Ulysses caught the +body of Achilles by the hands, and heaved it upon his back, and so limped +towards the ships, but Aias and the men of Aias followed, turning round +if ever the Trojans ventured to come near, and charging into the midst of +them. Thus very slowly they bore the dead Achilles across the plain, +through the bodies of the fallen and the blood, till they met Nestor in +his chariot and placed Achilles therein, and swiftly Nestor drove to the +ships. + +There the women, weeping, washed Achilles' comely body, and laid him on a +bier with a great white mantle over him, and all the women lamented and +sang dirges, and the first was Briseis, who loved Achilles better than +her own country, and her father, and her brothers whom he had slain in +war. The Greek princes, too, stood round the body, weeping and cutting +off their long locks of yellow hair, a token of grief and an offering to +the dead. + +Men say that forth from the sea came Thetis of the silver feet, the +mother of Achilles, with her ladies, the deathless maidens of the waters. +They rose up from their glassy chambers below the sea, moving on, many +and beautiful, like the waves on a summer day, and their sweet song +echoed along the shores, and fear came upon the Greeks. Then they would +have fled, but Nestor cried: "Hold, flee not, young lords of the +Achaeans! Lo, she that comes from the sea is his mother, with the +deathless maidens of the waters, to look on the face of her dead son." +Then the sea nymphs stood around the dead Achilles and clothed him in the +garments of the Gods, fragrant raiment, and all the Nine Muses, one to +the other replying with sweet voices, began their lament. + +Next the Greeks made a great pile of dry wood, and laid Achilles on it, +and set fire to it, till the flames had consumed his body except the +white ashes. These they placed in a great golden cup and mingled with +them the ashes of Patroclus, and above all they built a tomb like a hill, +high on a headland above the sea, that men for all time may see it as +they go sailing by, and may remember Achilles. Next they held in his +honour foot races and chariot races, and other games, and Thetis gave +splendid prizes. Last of all, when the games were ended, Thetis placed +before the chiefs the glorious armour that the God had made for her son +on the night after the slaying of Patroclus by Hector. "Let these arms +be the prize of the best of the Greeks," she said, "and of him that saved +the body of Achilles out of the hands of the Trojans." + +Then stood up on one side Aias and on the other Ulysses, for these two +had rescued the body, and neither thought himself a worse warrior than +the other. Both were the bravest of the brave, and if Aias was the +taller and stronger, and upheld the fight at the ships on the day of the +valour of Hector; Ulysses had alone withstood the Trojans, and refused to +retreat even when wounded, and his courage and cunning had won for the +Greeks the Luck of Troy. Therefore old Nestor arose and said: "This is a +luckless day, when the best of the Greeks are rivals for such a prize. He +who is not the winner will be heavy at heart, and will not stand firm by +us in battle, as of old, and hence will come great loss to the Greeks. +Who can be a just judge in this question, for some men will love Aias +better, and some will prefer Ulysses, and thus will arise disputes among +ourselves. Lo! have we not here among us many Trojan prisoners, waiting +till their friends pay their ransom in cattle and gold and bronze and +iron? These hate all the Greeks alike, and will favour neither Aias nor +Ulysses. Let _them_ be the judges, and decide who is the best of the +Greeks, and the man who has done most harm to the Trojans." + +Agamemnon said that Nestor had spoken wisely. The Trojans were then made +to sit as judges in the midst of the Assembly, and Aias and Ulysses +spoke, and told the stories of their own great deeds, of which we have +heard already, but Aias spoke roughly and discourteously, calling Ulysses +a coward and a weakling. "Perhaps the Trojans know," said Ulysses +quietly, "whether they think that I deserve what Aias has said about me, +that I am a coward; and perhaps Aias may remember that he did not find me +so weak when we wrestled for a prize at the funeral of Patroclus." + +Then the Trojans all with one voice said that Ulysses was the best man +among the Greeks, and the most feared by them, both for his courage and +his skill in stratagems of war. On this, the blood of Aias flew into his +face, and he stood silent and unmoving, and could not speak a word, till +his friends came round him and led him away to his hut, and there he sat +down and would not eat or drink, and the night fell. + +Long he sat, musing in his mind, and then rose and put on all his armour, +and seized a sword that Hector had given him one day when they two fought +in a gentle passage of arms, and took courteous farewell of each other, +and Aias had given Hector a broad sword-belt, wrought with gold. This +sword, Hector's gift, Aias took, and went towards the hut of Ulysses, +meaning to carve him limb from limb, for madness had come upon him in his +great grief. Rushing through the night to slay Ulysses he fell upon the +flock of sheep that the Greeks kept for their meat. And up and down +among them he went, smiting blindly till the dawn came, and, lo! his +senses returned to him, and he saw that he had not smitten Ulysses, but +stood in a pool of blood among the sheep that he had slain. He could not +endure the disgrace of his madness, and he fixed the sword, Hector's +gift, with its hilt firmly in the ground, and went back a little way, and +ran and fell upon the sword, which pierced his heart, and so died the +great Aias, choosing death before a dishonoured life. + + + + +ULYSSES SAILS TO SEEK THE SON OF ACHILLES.--THE VALOUR OF EURYPYLUS + + +When the Greeks found Aias lying dead, slain by his own hand, they made +great lament, and above all the brother of Aias, and his wife Tecmessa +bewailed him, and the shores of the sea rang with their sorrow. But of +all no man was more grieved than Ulysses, and he stood up and said: +"Would that the sons of the Trojans had never awarded to me the arms of +Achilles, for far rather would I have given them to Aias than that this +loss should have befallen the whole army of the Greeks. Let no man blame +me, or be angry with me, for I have not sought for wealth, to enrich +myself, but for honour only, and to win a name that will be remembered +among men in times to come." Then they made a great fire of wood, and +burned the body of Aias, lamenting him as they had sorrowed for Achilles. + +Now it seemed that though the Greeks had won the Luck of Troy and had +defeated the Amazons and the army of Memnon, they were no nearer taking +Troy than ever. They had slain Hector, indeed, and many other Trojans, +but they had lost the great Achilles, and Aias, and Patroclus, and +Antilochus, with the princes whom Penthesilea and Memnon slew, and the +bands of the dead chiefs were weary of fighting, and eager to go home. +The chiefs met in council, and Menelaus arose and said that his heart was +wasted with sorrow for the death of so many brave men who had sailed to +Troy for his sake. "Would that death had come upon me before I gathered +this host," he said, "but come, let the rest of us launch our swift +ships, and return each to our own country." + +He spoke thus to try the Greeks, and see of what courage they were, for +his desire was still to burn Troy town and to slay Paris with his own +hand. Then up rose Diomede, and swore that never would the Greeks turn +cowards. No! he bade them sharpen their swords, and make ready for +battle. The prophet Calchas, too, arose and reminded the Greeks how he +had always foretold that they would take Troy in the tenth year of the +siege, and how the tenth year had come, and victory was almost in their +hands. Next Ulysses stood up and said that, though Achilles was dead, +and there was no prince to lead his men, yet a son had been born to +Achilles, while he was in the isle of Scyros, and that son he would bring +to fill his father's place. + +"Surely he will come, and for a token I will carry to him those unhappy +arms of the great Achilles. Unworthy am I to wear them, and they bring +back to my mind our sorrow for Aias. But his son will wear them, in the +front of the spearmen of Greece and in the thickest ranks of Troy shall +the helmet of Achilles shine, as it was wont to do, for always he fought +among the foremost." Thus Ulysses spoke, and he and Diomede, with fifty +oarsmen, went on board a swift ship, and sitting all in order on the +benches they smote the grey sea into foam, and Ulysses held the helm and +steered them towards the isle of Scyros. + +Now the Trojans had rest from war for a while, and Priam, with a heavy +heart, bade men take his chief treasure, the great golden vine, with +leaves and clusters of gold, and carry it to the mother of Eurypylus, the +king of the people who dwell where the wide marshlands of the river +Cayster clang with the cries of the cranes and herons and wild swans. For +the mother of Eurypylus had sworn that never would she let her son go to +the war unless Priam sent her the vine of gold, a gift of the gods to an +ancient King of Troy. + +With a heavy heart, then, Priam sent the golden vine, but Eurypylus was +glad when he saw it, and bade all his men arm, and harness the horses to +the chariots, and glad were the Trojans when the long line of the new +army wound along the road and into the town. Then Paris welcomed +Eurypylus who was his nephew, son of his sister Astyoche, a daughter of +Priam; but the grandfather of Eurypylus was the famous Heracles, the +strongest man who ever lived on earth. So Paris brought Eurypylus to his +house, where Helen sat working at her embroideries with her four bower +maidens, and Eurypylus marvelled when he saw her, she was so beautiful. +But the Khita, the people of Eurypylus, feasted in the open air among the +Trojans, by the light of great fires burning, and to the music of pipes +and flutes. The Greeks saw the fires, and heard the merry music, and +they watched all night lest the Trojans should attack the ships before +the dawn. But in the dawn Eurypylus rose from sleep and put on his +armour, and hung from his neck by the belt the great shield on which were +fashioned, in gold of many colours and in silver, the Twelve Adventures +of Heracles, his grandfather; strange deeds that he did, fighting with +monsters and giants and with the Hound of Hades, who guards the dwellings +of the dead. Then Eurypylus led on his whole army, and with the brothers +of Hector he charged against the Greeks, who were led by Agamemnon. + +In that battle Eurypylus first smote Nireus, who was the most beautiful +of the Greeks now that Achilles had fallen. There lay Nireus, like an +apple tree, all covered with blossoms red and white, that the wind has +overthrown in a rich man's orchard. Then Eurypylus would have stripped +off his armour, but Machaon rushed in, Machaon who had been wounded and +taken to the tent of Nestor, on the day of the Valour of Hector, when he +brought fire against the ships. Machaon drove his spear through the left +shoulder of Eurypylus, but Eurypylus struck at his shoulder with his +sword, and the blood flowed; nevertheless, Machaon stooped, and grasped a +great stone, and sent it against the helmet of Eurypylus. He was shaken, +but he did not fall, he drove his spear through breastplate and breast of +Machaon, who fell and died. With his last breath he said, "Thou, too, +shalt fall," but Eurypylus made answer, "So let it be! Men cannot live +for ever, and such is the fortune of war." + +Thus the battle rang, and shone, and shifted, till few of the Greeks kept +steadfast, except those with Menelaus and Agamemnon, for Diomede and +Ulysses were far away upon the sea, bringing from Scyros the son of +Achilles. But Teucer slew Polydamas, who had warned Hector to come +within the walls of Troy; and Menelaus wounded Deiphobus, the bravest of +the sons of Priam who were still in arms, for many had fallen; and +Agamemnon slew certain spearmen of the Trojans. Round Eurypylus fought +Paris, and Aeneas, who wounded Teucer with a great stone, breaking in his +helmet, but he drove back in his chariot to the ships. Menelaus and +Agamemnon stood alone and fought in the crowd of Trojans, like two wild +boars that a circle of hunters surrounds with spears, so fiercely they +stood at bay. There they would both have fallen, but Idomeneus, and +Meriones of Crete, and Thrasymedes, Nestor's son, ran to their rescue, +and fiercer grew the fighting. Eurypylus desired to slay Agamemnon and +Menelaus, and end the war, but, as the spears of the Scots encompassed +King James at Flodden Field till he ran forward, and fell within a +lance's length of the English general, so the men of Crete and Pylos +guarded the two princes with their spears. + +There Paris was wounded in the thigh with a spear, and he retreated a +little way, and showered his arrows among the Greeks; and Idomeneus +lifted and hurled a great stone at Eurypylus which struck his spear out +of his hand, and he went back to find it, and Menelaus and Agamemnon had +a breathing space in the battle. But soon Eurypylus returned, crying on +his men, and they drove back foot by foot the ring of spears round +Agamemnon, and Aeneas and Paris slew men of Crete and of Mycenae till the +Greeks were pushed to the ditch round the camp; and then great stones and +spears and arrows rained down on the Trojans and the people of Eurypylus +from the battlements and towers of the Grecian wall. Now night fell, and +Eurypylus knew that he could not win the wall in the dark, so he withdrew +his men, and they built great fires, and camped upon the plain. + +The case of the Greeks was now like that of the Trojans after the death +of Hector. They buried Machaon and the other chiefs who had fallen, and +they remained within their ditch and their wall, for they dared not come +out into the open plain. They knew not whether Ulysses and Diomede had +come safely to Scyros, or whether their ship had been wrecked or driven +into unknown seas. So they sent a herald to Eurypylus, asking for a +truce, that they might gather their dead and burn them, and the Trojans +and Khita also buried their dead. + +Meanwhile the swift ship of Ulysses had swept through the sea to Scyros, +and to the palace of King Lycomedes. There they found Neoptolemus, the +son of Achilles, in the court before the doors. He was as tall as his +father, and very like him in face and shape, and he was practising the +throwing of the spear at a mark. Right glad were Ulysses and Diomede to +behold him, and Ulysses told Neoptolemus who they were, and why they +came, and implored him to take pity on the Greeks and help them. + +"My friend is Diomede, Prince of Argos," said Ulysses, "and I am Ulysses +of Ithaca. Come with us, and we Greeks will give you countless gifts, +and I myself will present you with the armour of your father, such as it +is not lawful for any other mortal man to wear, seeing that it is golden, +and wrought by the hands of a God. Moreover, when we have taken Troy, +and gone home, Menelaus will give you his daughter, the beautiful +Hermione, to be your wife, with gold in great plenty." + +Then Neoptolemus answered: "It is enough that the Greeks need my sword. +To-morrow we shall sail for Troy." He led them into the palace to dine, +and there they found his mother, beautiful Deidamia, in mourning raiment, +and she wept when she heard that they had come to take her son away. But +Neoptolemus comforted her, promising to return safely with the spoils of +Troy, "or, even if I fall," he said, "it will be after doing deeds worthy +of my father's name." So next day they sailed, leaving Deidamia +mournful, like a swallow whose nest a serpent has found, and has killed +her young ones; even so she wailed, and went up and down in the house. +But the ship ran swiftly on her way, cleaving the dark waves till Ulysses +showed Neoptolemus the far off snowy crest of Mount Ida; and Tenedos, the +island near Troy; and they passed the plain where the tomb of Achilles +stands, but Ulysses did not tell the son that it was his father's tomb. + +Now all this time the Greeks, shut up within their wall and fighting from +their towers, were looking back across the sea, eager to spy the ship of +Ulysses, like men wrecked on a desert island, who keep watch every day +for a sail afar off, hoping that the seamen will touch at their isle and +have pity upon them, and carry them home, so the Greeks kept watch for +the ship bearing Neoptolemus. + +Diomede, too, had been watching the shore, and when they came in sight of +the ships of the Greeks, he saw that they were being besieged by the +Trojans, and that all the Greek army was penned up within the wall, and +was fighting from the towers. Then he cried aloud to Ulysses and +Neoptolemus, "Make haste, friends, let us arm before we land, for some +great evil has fallen upon the Greeks. The Trojans are attacking our +wall, and soon they will burn our ships, and for us there will be no +return." + +Then all the men on the ship of Ulysses armed themselves, and +Neoptolemus, in the splendid armour of his father, was the first to leap +ashore. The Greeks could not come from the wall to welcome him, for they +were fighting hard and hand-to-hand with Eurypylus and his men. But they +glanced back over their shoulders and it seemed to them that they saw +Achilles himself, spear and sword in hand, rushing to help them. They +raised a great battle-cry, and, when Neoptolemus reached the battlements, +he and Ulysses, and Diomede leaped down to the plain, the Greeks +following them, and they all charged at once on the men of Eurypylus, +with levelled spears, and drove them from the wall. + +Then the Trojans trembled, for they knew the shields of Diomede and +Ulysses, and they thought that the tall chief in the armour of Achilles +was Achilles himself, come back from the land of the dead to take +vengeance for Antilochus. The Trojans fled, and gathered round +Eurypylus, as in a thunderstorm little children, afraid of the lightning +and the noise, run and cluster round their father, and hide their faces +on his knees. + +But Neoptolemus was spearing the Trojans, as a man who carries at night a +beacon of fire in his boat on the sea spears the fishes that flock +around, drawn by the blaze of the flame. Cruelly he avenged his father's +death on many a Trojan, and the men whom Achilles had led followed +Achilles' son, slaying to right and left, and smiting the Trojans, as +they ran, between the shoulders with the spear. Thus they fought and +followed while daylight lasted, but when night fell, they led Neoptolemus +to his father's hut, where the women washed him in the bath, and then he +was taken to feast with Agamemnon and Menelaus and the princes. They all +welcomed him, and gave him glorious gifts, swords with silver hilts, and +cups of gold and silver, and they were glad, for they had driven the +Trojans from their wall, and hoped that to-morrow they would slay +Eurypylus, and take Troy town. + +But their hope was not to be fulfilled, for though next day Eurypylus met +Neoptolemus in the battle, and was slain by him, when the Greeks chased +the Trojans into their city so great a storm of lightning and thunder and +rain fell upon them that they retreated again to their camp. They +believed that Zeus, the chief of the Gods, was angry with them, and the +days went by, and Troy still stood unconquered. + + + + +THE SLAYING OF PARIS + + +When the Greeks were disheartened, as they often were, they consulted +Calchas the prophet. He usually found that they must do something, or +send for somebody, and in doing so they diverted their minds from their +many misfortunes. Now, as the Trojans were fighting more bravely than +before, under Deiphobus, a brother of Hector, the Greeks went to Calchas +for advice, and he told them that they must send Ulysses and Diomede to +bring Philoctetes the bowman from the isle of Lemnos. This was an +unhappy deserted island, in which the married women, some years before, +had murdered all their husbands, out of jealousy, in a single night. The +Greeks had landed in Lemnos, on their way to Troy, and there Philoctetes +had shot an arrow at a great water dragon which lived in a well within a +cave in the lonely hills. But when he entered the cave the dragon bit +him, and, though he killed it at last, its poisonous teeth wounded his +foot. The wound never healed, but dripped with venom, and Philoctetes, +in terrible pain, kept all the camp awake at night by his cries. + +The Greeks were sorry for him, but he was not a pleasant companion, +shrieking as he did, and exuding poison wherever he came. So they left +him on the lonely island, and did not know whether he was alive or dead. +Calchas ought to have told the Greeks not to desert Philoctetes at the +time, if he was so important that Troy, as the prophet now said, could +not be taken without him. But now, as he must give some advice, Calchas +said that Philoctetes must be brought back, so Ulysses and Diomede went +to bring him. They sailed to Lemnos, a melancholy place they found it, +with no smoke rising from the ruinous houses along the shore. As they +were landing they learned that Philoctetes was not dead, for his dismal +old cries of pain, _ototototoi, ai, ai; pheu, pheu; ototototoi_, came +echoing from a cave on the beach. To this cave the princes went, and +found a terrible-looking man, with long, dirty, dry hair and beard; he +was worn to a skeleton, with hollow eyes, and lay moaning in a mass of +the feathers of sea birds. His great bow and his arrows lay ready to his +hand: with these he used to shoot the sea birds, which were all that he +had to eat, and their feathers littered all the floor of his cave, and +they were none the better for the poison that dripped from his wounded +foot. + +When this horrible creature saw Ulysses and Diomede coming near, he +seized his bow and fitted a poisonous arrow to the string, for he hated +the Greeks, because they had left him in the desert isle. But the +princes held up their hands in sign of peace, and cried out that they had +come to do him kindness, so he laid down his bow, and they came in and +sat on the rocks, and promised that his wound should be healed, for the +Greeks were very much ashamed of having deserted him. It was difficult +to resist Ulysses when he wished to persuade any one, and at last +Philoctetes consented to sail with them to Troy. The oarsmen carried him +down to the ship on a litter, and there his dreadful wound was washed +with warm water, and oil was poured into it, and it was bound up with +soft linen, so that his pain grew less fierce, and they gave him a good +supper and wine enough, which he had not tasted for many years. + +Next morning they sailed, and had a fair west wind, so that they soon +landed among the Greeks and carried Philoctetes on shore. Here +Podaleirius, the brother of Machaon, being a physician, did all that +could be done to heal the wound, and the pain left Philoctetes. He was +taken to the hut of Agamemnon, who welcomed him, and said that the Greeks +repented of their cruelty. They gave him seven female slaves to take +care of him, and twenty swift horses, and twelve great vessels of bronze, +and told him that he was always to live with the greatest chiefs and feed +at their table. So he was bathed, and his hair was cut and combed and +anointed with oil, and soon he was eager and ready to fight, and to use +his great bow and poisoned arrows on the Trojans. The use of poisoned +arrow-tips was thought unfair, but Philoctetes had no scruples. + +Now in the next battle Paris was shooting down the Greeks with his +arrows, when Philoctetes saw him, and cried: "Dog, you are proud of your +archery and of the arrow that slew the great Achilles. But, behold, I am +a better bowman than you, by far, and the bow in my hands was borne by +the strong man Heracles!" So he cried and drew the bowstring to his +breast and the poisoned arrowhead to the bow, and the bowstring rang, and +the arrow flew, and did but graze the hand of Paris. Then the bitter +pain of the poison came upon him, and the Trojans carried him into their +city, where the physicians tended him all night. But he never slept, and +lay tossing in agony till dawn, when he said: "There is but one hope. +Take me to OEnone, the nymph of Mount Ida!" + +Then his friends laid Paris on a litter, and bore him up the steep path +to Mount Ida. Often had he climbed it swiftly, when he was young, and +went to see the nymph who loved him; but for many a day he had not trod +the path where he was now carried in great pain and fear, for the poison +turned his blood to fire. Little hope he had, for he knew how cruelly he +had deserted OEnone, and he saw that all the birds which were disturbed +in the wood flew away to the left hand, an omen of evil. + +At last the bearers reached the cave where the nymph OEnone lived, and +they smelled the sweet fragrance of the cedar fire that burned on the +floor of the cave, and they heard the nymph singing a melancholy song. +Then Paris called to her in the voice which she had once loved to hear, +and she grew very pale, and rose up, saying to herself, "The day has come +for which I have prayed. He is sore hurt, and has come to bid me heal +his wound." So she came and stood in the doorway of the dark cave, white +against the darkness, and the bearers laid Paris on the litter at the +feet of OEnone, and he stretched forth his hands to touch her knees, as +was the manner of suppliants. But she drew back and gathered her robe +about her, that he might not touch it with his hands. + +Then he said: "Lady, despise me not, and hate me not, for my pain is more +than I can bear. Truly it was by no will of mine that I left you lonely +here, for the Fates that no man may escape led me to Helen. Would that I +had died in your arms before I saw her face! But now I beseech you in +the name of the Gods, and for the memory of our love, that you will have +pity on me and heal my hurt, and not refuse your grace and let me die +here at your feet." + +Then OEnone answered scornfully: "Why have you come here to me? Surely +for years you have not come this way, where the path was once worn with +your feet. But long ago you left me lonely and lamenting, for the love +of Helen of the fair hands. Surely she is much more beautiful than the +love of your youth, and far more able to help you, for men say that she +can never know old age and death. Go home to Helen and let her take away +your pain." + +Thus OEnone spoke, and went within the cave, where she threw herself down +among the ashes of the hearth and sobbed for anger and sorrow. In a +little while she rose and went to the door of the cave, thinking that +Paris had not been borne away back to Troy, but she found him not; for +his bearers had carried him by another path, till he died beneath the +boughs of the oak trees. Then his bearers carried him swiftly down to +Troy, where his mother bewailed him, and Helen sang over him as she had +sung over Hector, remembering many things, and fearing to think of what +her own end might be. But the Trojans hastily built a great pile of dry +wood, and thereon laid the body of Paris and set fire to it, and the +flame went up through the darkness, for now night had fallen. + +But OEnone was roaming in the dark woods, crying and calling after Paris, +like a lioness whose cubs the hunters have carried away. The moon rose +to give her light, and the flame of the funeral fire shone against the +sky, and then OEnone knew that Paris had died--beautiful Paris--and that +the Trojans were burning his body on the plain at the foot of Mount Ida. +Then she cried that now Paris was all her own, and that Helen had no more +hold on him: "And though when he was living he left me, in death we shall +not be divided," she said, and she sped down the hill, and through the +thickets where the wood nymphs were wailing for Paris, and she reached +the plain, and, covering her head with her veil like a bride, she rushed +through the throng of Trojans. She leaped upon the burning pile of wood, +she clasped the body of Paris in her arms, and the flame of fire consumed +the bridegroom and the bride, and their ashes mingled. No man could +divide them any more, and the ashes were placed in a golden cup, within a +chamber of stone, and the earth was mounded above them. On that grave +the wood nymphs planted two rose trees, and their branches met and +plaited together. + +This was the end of Paris and OEnone. + + + + +HOW ULYSSES INVENTED THE DEVICE OF THE HORSE OF TREE + + +After Paris died, Helen was not given back to Menelaus. We are often +told that only fear of the anger of Paris had prevented the Trojans from +surrendering Helen and making peace. Now Paris could not terrify them, +yet for all that the men of the town would not part with Helen, whether +because she was so beautiful, or because they thought it dishonourable to +yield her to the Greeks, who might put her to a cruel death. So Helen +was taken by Deiphobus, the brother of Paris, to live in his own house, +and Deiphobus was at this time the best warrior and the chief captain of +the men of Troy. + +Meanwhile, the Greeks made an assault against the Trojan walls and fought +long and hardily; but, being safe behind the battlements, and shooting +through loopholes, the Trojans drove them back with loss of many of their +men. It was in vain that Philoctetes shot his poisoned arrows, they fell +back from the stone walls, or stuck in the palisades of wood above the +walls, and the Greeks who tried to climb over were speared, or crushed +with heavy stones. When night fell, they retreated to the ships and held +a council, and, as usual, they asked the advice of the prophet Calchas. +It was the business of Calchas to go about looking at birds, and taking +omens from what he saw them doing, a way of prophesying which the Romans +also used, and some savages do the same to this day. Calchas said that +yesterday he had seen a hawk pursuing a dove, which hid herself in a hole +in a rocky cliff. For a long while the hawk tried to find the hole, and +follow the dove into it, but he could not reach her. So he flew away for +a short distance and hid himself; then the dove fluttered out into the +sunlight, and the hawk swooped on her and killed her. + +The Greeks, said Calchas, ought to learn a lesson from the hawk, and take +Troy by cunning, as by force they could do nothing. Then Ulysses stood +up and described a trick which it is not easy to understand. The Greeks, +he said, ought to make an enormous hollow horse of wood, and place the +bravest men in the horse. Then all the rest of the Greeks should embark +in their ships and sail to the Isle of Tenedos, and lie hidden behind the +island. The Trojans would then come out of the city, like the dove out +of her hole in the rock, and would wander about the Greek camp, and +wonder why the great horse of tree had been made, and why it had been +left behind. Lest they should set fire to the horse, when they would +soon have found out the warriors hidden in it, a cunning Greek, whom the +Trojans did not know by sight, should be left in the camp or near it. He +would tell the Trojans that the Greeks had given up all hope and gone +home, and he was to say that they feared the Goddess Pallas was angry +with them, because they had stolen her image that fell from heaven, and +was called the Luck of Troy. To soothe Pallas and prevent her from +sending great storms against the ships, the Trojans (so the man was to +say) had built this wooden horse as an offering to the Goddess. The +Trojans, believing this story, would drag the horse into Troy, and, in +the night, the princes would come out, set fire to the city, and open the +gates to the army, which would return from Tenedos as soon as darkness +came on. + +The prophet was much pleased with the plan of Ulysses, and, as two birds +happened to fly away on the right hand, he declared that the stratagem +would certainly be lucky. Neoptolemus, on the other hand, voted for +taking Troy, without any trick, by sheer hard fighting. Ulysses replied +that if Achilles could not do that, it could not be done at all, and that +Epeius, a famous carpenter, had better set about making the horse at +once. + +Next day half the army, with axes in their hands, were sent to cut down +trees on Mount Ida, and thousands of planks were cut from the trees by +Epeius and his workmen, and in three days he had finished the horse. +Ulysses then asked the best of the Greeks to come forward and go inside +the machine; while one, whom the Greeks did not know by sight, should +volunteer to stay behind in the camp and deceive the Trojans. Then a +young man called Sinon stood up and said that he would risk himself and +take the chance that the Trojans might disbelieve him, and burn him +alive. Certainly, none of the Greeks did anything more courageous, yet +Sinon had not been considered brave. + +Had he fought in the front ranks, the Trojans would have known him; but +there were many brave fighters who would not have dared to do what Sinon +undertook. + +Then old Nestor was the first that volunteered to go into the horse; but +Neoptolemus said that, brave as he was, he was too old, and that he must +depart with the army to Tenedos. Neoptolemus himself would go into the +horse, for he would rather die than turn his back on Troy. So +Neoptolemus armed himself and climbed into the horse, as did Menelaus, +Ulysses, Diomede, Thrasymedes (Nestor's son), Idomeneus, Philoctetes, +Meriones, and all the best men except Agamemnon, while Epeius himself +entered last of all. Agamemnon was not allowed by the other Greeks to +share their adventure, as he was to command the army when they returned +from Tenedos. They meanwhile launched their ships and sailed away. + +But first Menelaus had led Ulysses apart, and told him that if they took +Troy (and now they must either take it or die at the hands of the +Trojans), he would owe to Ulysses the glory. When they came back to +Greece, he wished to give Ulysses one of his own cities, that they might +always be near each other. Ulysses smiled and shook his head; he could +not leave Ithaca, his own rough island kingdom. "But if we both live +through the night that is coming," he said, "I may ask you for one gift, +and giving it will make you none the poorer." Then Menelaus swore by the +splendour of Zeus that Ulysses could ask him for no gift that he would +not gladly give; so they embraced, and both armed themselves and went up +into the horse. With them were all the chiefs except Nestor, whom they +would not allow to come, and Agamemnon, who, as chief general, had to +command the army. They swathed themselves and their arms in soft silks, +that they might not ring and clash, when the Trojans, if they were so +foolish, dragged the horse up into their town, and there they sat in the +dark waiting. Meanwhile, the army burned their huts and launched their +ships, and with oars and sails made their way to the back of the isle of +Tenedos. + + + + +THE END OF TROY AND THE SAVING OF HELEN + + +From the walls the Trojans saw the black smoke go up thick into the sky, +and the whole fleet of the Greeks sailing out to sea. Never were men so +glad, and they armed themselves for fear of an ambush, and went +cautiously, sending forth scouts in front of them, down to the seashore. +Here they found the huts burned down and the camp deserted, and some of +the scouts also caught Sinon, who had hid himself in a place where he was +likely to be found. They rushed on him with fierce cries, and bound his +hands with a rope, and kicked and dragged him along to the place where +Priam and the princes were wondering at the great horse of tree. Sinon +looked round upon them, while some were saying that he ought to be +tortured with fire to make him tell all the truth about the horse. The +chiefs in the horse must have trembled for fear lest torture should wring +the truth out of Sinon, for then the Trojans would simply burn the +machine and them within it. + +But Sinon said: "Miserable man that I am, whom the Greeks hate and the +Trojans are eager to slay!" When the Trojans heard that the Greeks hated +him, they were curious, and asked who he was, and how he came to be +there. "I will tell you all, oh King!" he answered Priam. "I was a +friend and squire of an unhappy chief, Palamedes, whom the wicked Ulysses +hated and slew secretly one day, when he found him alone, fishing in the +sea. I was angry, and in my folly I did not hide my anger, and my words +came to the ears of Ulysses. From that hour he sought occasion to slay +me. Then Calchas--" here he stopped, saying: "But why tell a long tale? +If you hate all Greeks alike, then slay me; this is what Agamemnon and +Ulysses desire; Menelaus would thank you for my head." + +The Trojans were now more curious than before. They bade him go on, and +he said that the Greeks had consulted an Oracle, which advised them to +sacrifice one of their army to appease the anger of the Gods and gain a +fair wind homewards. "But who was to be sacrificed? They asked Calchas, +who for fifteen days refused to speak. At last, being bribed by Ulysses, +he pointed to me, Sinon, and said that I must be the victim. I was bound +and kept in prison, while they built their great horse as a present for +Pallas Athene the Goddess. They made it so large that you Trojans might +never be able to drag it into your city; while, if you destroyed it, the +Goddess might turn her anger against you. And now they have gone home to +bring back the image that fell from heaven, which they had sent to +Greece, and to restore it to the Temple of Pallas Athene, when they have +taken your town, for the Goddess is angry with them for that theft of +Ulysses." + +The Trojans were foolish enough to believe the story of Sinon, and they +pitied him and unbound his hands. Then they tied ropes to the wooden +horse, and laid rollers in front of it, like men launching a ship, and +they all took turns to drag the horse up to the Scaean gate. Children +and women put their hands to the ropes and hauled, and with shouts and +dances, and hymns they toiled, till about nightfall the horse stood in +the courtyard of the inmost castle. + +Then all the people of Troy began to dance, and drink, and sing. Such +sentinels as were set at the gates got as drunk as all the rest, who +danced about the city till after midnight, and then they went to their +homes and slept heavily. + +Meanwhile the Greek ships were returning from behind Tenedos as fast as +the oarsmen could row them. + +One Trojan did not drink or sleep; this was Deiphobus, at whose house +Helen was now living. He bade her come with them, for he knew that she +was able to speak in the very voice of all men and women whom she had +ever seen, and he armed a few of his friends and went with them to the +citadel. Then he stood beside the horse, holding Helen's hand, and +whispered to her that she must call each of the chiefs in the voice of +his wife. She was obliged to obey, and she called Menelaus in her own +voice, and Diomede in the voice of his wife, and Ulysses in the very +voice of Penelope. Then Menelaus and Diomede were eager to answer, but +Ulysses grasped their hands and whispered the word "Echo!" Then they +remembered that this was a name of Helen, because she could speak in all +voices, and they were silent; but Anticlus was still eager to answer, +till Ulysses held his strong hand over his mouth. There was only +silence, and Deiphobus led Helen back to his house. When they had gone +away Epeius opened the side of the horse, and all the chiefs let +themselves down softly to the ground. Some rushed to the gate, to open +it, and they killed the sleeping sentinels and let in the Greeks. Others +sped with torches to burn the houses of the Trojan princes, and terrible +was the slaughter of men, unarmed and half awake, and loud were the cries +of the women. But Ulysses had slipped away at the first, none knew +where. Neoptolemus ran to the palace of Priam, who was sitting at the +altar in his courtyard, praying vainly to the Gods, for Neoptolemus slew +the old man cruelly, and his white hair was dabbled in his blood. All +through the city was fighting and slaying; but Menelaus went to the house +of Deiphobus, knowing that Helen was there. + +In the doorway he found Deiphobus lying dead in all his armour, a spear +standing in his breast. There were footprints marked in blood, leading +through the portico and into the hall. There Menelaus went, and found +Ulysses leaning, wounded, against one of the central pillars of the great +chamber, the firelight shining on his armour. + +"Why hast thou slain Deiphobus and robbed me of my revenge?" said +Menelaus. "You swore to give me a gift," said Ulysses, "and will you +keep your oath?" "Ask what you will," said Menelaus; "it is yours and my +oath cannot be broken." "I ask the life of Helen of the fair hands," +said Ulysses "this is my own life-price that I pay back to her, for she +saved my life when I took the Luck of Troy, and I swore that hers should +be saved." + +Then Helen stole, glimmering in white robes, from a recess in the dark +hall, and fell at the feet of Menelaus; her golden hair lay in the dust +of the hearth, and her hands moved to touch his knees. His drawn sword +fell from the hands of Menelaus, and pity and love came into his heart, +and he raised her from the dust and her white arms were round his neck, +and they both wept. That night Menelaus fought no more, but they tended +the wound of Ulysses, for the sword of Deiphobus had bitten through his +helmet. + +When dawn came Troy lay in ashes, and the women were being driven with +spear shafts to the ships, and the men were left unburied, a prey to dogs +and all manner of birds. Thus the grey city fell, that had lorded it for +many centuries. All the gold and silver and rich embroideries, and ivory +and amber, the horses and chariots, were divided among the army; all but +a treasure of silver and gold, hidden in a chest within a hollow of the +wall, and this treasure was found, not very many years ago, by men +digging deep on the hill where Troy once stood. The women, too, were +given to the princes, and Neoptolemus took Andromache to his home in +Argos, to draw water from the well and to be the slave of a master, and +Agamemnon carried beautiful Cassandra, the daughter of Priam, to his +palace in Mycenae, where they were both slain in one night. Only Helen +was led with honour to the ship of Menelaus. + +The story of all that happened to Ulysses on his way home from Troy is +told in another book, "Tales of the Greek Seas." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF TROY: ULYSSES THE SACKER OF +CITIES*** + + +******* This file should be named 1973.txt or 1973.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/7/1973 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk +from the 1912 Longmans, Green, and Co. edition. + + + + + +Tales of Troy + +by Andrew Lang + + + + + +TALES OF TROY: ULYSSES THE SACKER OF CITIES + + + + +Contents: + +The Boyhood and Parents of Ulysses +How People Lived in the Time of Ulysses +The Wooing of Helen of the Fair Hands +The Stealing of Helen +Trojan Victories +Battle at the Ships +The Slaying and Avenging of Patroclus +The Cruelty of Achilles, and the Ransoming of Hector +How Ulysses Stole the Luck of Troy +The Battles with the Amazons and Memnon--the Death of Achilles +Ulysses Sails to seek the Son of Achilles.--The Valour of Eurypylus +The Slaying of Paris +How Ulysses Invented the Device of the Horse of Tree +The End of Troy and the Saving of Helen + + + + +THE BOYHOOD AND PARENTS OF ULYSSES + + + +Long ago, in a little island called Ithaca, on the west coast of +Greece, there lived a king named Laertes. His kingdom was small +and mountainous. People used to say that Ithaca "lay like a shield +upon the sea," which sounds as if it were a flat country. But in +those times shields were very large, and rose at the middle into +two peaks with a hollow between them, so that Ithaca, seen far off +in the sea, with her two chief mountain peaks, and a cloven valley +between them, looked exactly like a shield. The country was so +rough that men kept no horses, for, at that time, people drove, +standing up in little light chariots with two horses; they never +rode, and there was no cavalry in battle: men fought from +chariots. When Ulysses, the son of Laertes, King of Ithaca grew +up, he never fought from a chariot, for he had none, but always on +foot. + +If there were no horses in Ithaca, there was plenty of cattle. The +father of Ulysses had flocks of sheep, and herds of swine, and wild +goats, deer, and hares lived in the hills and in the plains. The +sea was full of fish of many sorts, which men caught with nets, and +with rod and line and hook. + +Thus Ithaca was a good island to live in. The summer was long, and +there was hardly any winter; only a few cold weeks, and then the +swallows came back, and the plains were like a garden, all covered +with wild flowers--violets, lilies, narcissus, and roses. With the +blue sky and the blue sea, the island was beautiful. White temples +stood on the shores; and the Nymphs, a sort of fairies, had their +little shrines built of stone, with wild rose-bushes hanging over +them. + +Other islands lay within sight, crowned with mountains, stretching +away, one behind the other, into the sunset. Ulysses in the course +of his life saw many rich countries, and great cities of men, but, +wherever he was, his heart was always in the little isle of Ithaca, +where he had learned how to row, and how to sail a boat, and how to +shoot with bow and arrow, and to hunt boars and stags, and manage +his hounds. + +The mother of Ulysses was called Anticleia: she was the daughter +of King Autolycus, who lived near Parnassus, a mountain on the +mainland. This King Autolycus was the most cunning of men. He was +a Master Thief, and could steal a man's pillow from under his head, +but he does not seem to have been thought worse of for this. The +Greeks had a God of Thieves, named Hermes, whom Autolycus +worshipped, and people thought more good of his cunning tricks than +harm of his dishonesty. Perhaps these tricks of his were only +practised for amusement; however that may be, Ulysses became as +artful as his grandfather; he was both the bravest and the most +cunning of men, but Ulysses never stole things, except once, as we +shall hear, from the enemy in time of war. He showed his cunning +in stratagems of war, and in many strange escapes from giants and +man-eaters. + +Soon after Ulysses was born, his grandfather came to see his mother +and father in Ithaca. He was sitting at supper when the nurse of +Ulysses, whose name was Eurycleia, brought in the baby, and set him +on the knees of Autolycus, saying, "Find a name for your grandson, +for he is a child of many prayers." + +"I am very angry with many men and women in the world," said +Autolycus, "so let the child's name be A MAN OF WRATH," which, in +Greek, was Odysseus. So the child was called Odysseus by his own +people, but the name was changed into Ulysses, and we shall call +him Ulysses. + +We do not know much about Ulysses when he was a little boy, except +that he used to run about the garden with his father, asking +questions, and begging that he might have fruit trees "for his very +own." He was a great pet, for his parents had no other son, so his +father gave him thirteen pear trees, and forty fig trees, and +promised him fifty rows of vines, all covered with grapes, which he +could eat when he liked, without asking leave of the gardener. So +he was not tempted to steal fruit, like his grandfather. + +When Autolycus gave Ulysses his name, he said that he must come to +stay with him, when he was a big boy, and he would get splendid +presents. Ulysses was told about this, so, when he was a tall lad, +he crossed the sea and drove in his chariot to the old man's house +on Mount Parnassus. Everybody welcomed him, and next day his +uncles and cousins and he went out to hunt a fierce wild boar, +early in the morning. Probably Ulysses took his own dog, named +Argos, the best of hounds, of which we shall hear again, long +afterwards, for the dog lived to be very old. Soon the hounds came +on the scent of a wild boar, and after them the men went, with +spears in their hands, and Ulysses ran foremost, for he was already +the swiftest runner in Greece. + +He came on a great boar lying in a tangled thicket of boughs and +bracken, a dark place where the sun never shone, nor could the rain +pierce through. Then the noise of the men's shouts and the barking +of the dogs awakened the boar, and up he sprang, bristling all over +his back, and with fire shining from his eyes. In rushed Ulysses +first of all, with his spear raised to strike, but the boar was too +quick for him, and ran in, and drove his sharp tusk sideways, +ripping up the thigh of Ulysses. But the boar's tusk missed the +bone, and Ulysses sent his sharp spear into the beast's right +shoulder, and the spear went clean through, and the boar fell dead, +with a loud cry. The uncles of Ulysses bound up his wound +carefully, and sang a magical song over it, as the French soldiers +wanted to do to Joan of Arc when the arrow pierced her shoulder at +the siege of Orleans. Then the blood ceased to flow, and soon +Ulysses was quite healed of his wound. They thought that he would +be a good warrior, and gave him splendid presents, and when he went +home again he told all that had happened to his father and mother, +and his nurse, Eurycleia. But there was always a long white mark +or scar above his left knee, and about that scar we shall hear +again, many years afterwards. + + + +HOW PEOPLE LIVED IN THE TIME OF ULYSSES + + + +When Ulysses was a young man he wished to marry a princess of his +own rank. Now there were at that time many kings in Greece, and +you must be told how they lived. Each king had his own little +kingdom, with his chief town, walled with huge walls of enormous +stone. Many of these walls are still standing, though the grass +has grown over the ruins of most of them, and in later years, men +believed that those walls must have been built by giants, the +stones are so enormous. Each king had nobles under him, rich men, +and all had their palaces, each with its courtyard, and its long +hall, where the fire burned in the midst, and the King and Queen +sat beside it on high thrones, between the four chief carved +pillars that held up the roof. The thrones were made of cedar wood +and ivory, inlaid with gold, and there were many other chairs and +small tables for guests, and the walls and doors were covered with +bronze plates, and gold and silver, and sheets of blue glass. +Sometimes they were painted with pictures of bull hunts, and a few +of these pictures may still be seen. At night torches were lit, +and placed in the hands of golden figures of boys, but all the +smoke of fire and torches escaped by a hole in the roof, and made +the ceiling black. On the walls hung swords and spears and helmets +and shields, which needed to be often cleaned from the stains of +the smoke. The minstrel or poet sat beside the King and Queen, +and, after supper he struck his harp, and sang stories of old wars. +At night the King and Queen slept in their own place, and the women +in their own rooms; the princesses had their chambers upstairs, and +the young princes had each his room built separate in the +courtyard. + +There were bath rooms with polished baths, where guests were taken +when they arrived dirty from a journey. The guests lay at night on +beds in the portico, for the climate was warm. There were plenty +of servants, who were usually slaves taken in war, but they were +very kindly treated, and were friendly with their masters. No +coined money was used; people paid for things in cattle, or in +weighed pieces of gold. Rich men had plenty of gold cups, and +gold-hilted swords, and bracelets, and brooches. The kings were +the leaders in war and judges in peace, and did sacrifices to the +Gods, killing cattle and swine and sheep, on which they afterwards +dined. + +They dressed in a simple way, in a long smock of linen or silk, +which fell almost to the feet, but was tucked up into a belt round +the waist, and worn longer or shorter, as they happened to choose. +Where it needed fastening at the throat, golden brooches were used, +beautifully made, with safety pins. This garment was much like the +plaid that the Highlanders used to wear, with its belt and +brooches. Over it the Greeks wore great cloaks of woollen cloth +when the weather was cold, but these they did not use in battle. +They fastened their breastplates, in war, over their smocks, and +had other armour covering the lower parts of the body, and leg +armour called "greaves"; while the great shield which guarded the +whole body from throat to ankles was carried by a broad belt slung +round the neck. The sword was worn in another belt, crossing the +shield belt. They had light shoes in peace, and higher and heavier +boots in war, or for walking across country. + +The women wore the smock, with more brooches and jewels than the +men; and had head coverings, with veils, and mantles over all, and +necklaces of gold and amber, earrings, and bracelets of gold or of +bronze. The colours of their dresses were various, chiefly white +and purple; and, when in mourning, they wore very dark blue, not +black. All the armour, and the sword blades and spearheads were +made, not of steel or iron, but of bronze, a mixture of copper and +tin. The shields were made of several thicknesses of leather, with +a plating of bronze above; tools, such as axes and ploughshares, +were either of iron or bronze; and so were the blades of knives and +daggers. + +To us the houses and way of living would have seemed very splendid, +and also, in some ways, rather rough. The palace floors, at least +in the house of Ulysses, were littered with bones and feet of the +oxen slain for food, but this happened when Ulysses had been long +from home. The floor of the hall in the house of Ulysses was not +boarded with planks, or paved with stone: it was made of clay; for +he was a poor king of small islands. The cooking was coarse: a +pig or sheep was killed, roasted and eaten immediately. We never +hear of boiling meat, and though people probably ate fish, we do +not hear of their doing so, except when no meat could be procured. +Still some people must have liked them; for in the pictures that +were painted or cut in precious stones in these times we see the +half-naked fisherman walking home, carrying large fish. + +The people were wonderful workers of gold and bronze. Hundreds of +their golden jewels have been found in their graves, but probably +these were made and buried two or three centuries before the time +of Ulysses. The dagger blades had pictures of fights with lions, +and of flowers, inlaid on them, in gold of various colours, and in +silver; nothing so beautiful is made now. There are figures of men +hunting bulls on some of the gold cups, and these are wonderfully +life-like. The vases and pots of earthenware were painted in +charming patterns: in short, it was a splendid world to live in. + +The people believed in many Gods, male and female, under the chief +God, Zeus. The Gods were thought to be taller than men, and +immortal, and to live in much the same way as men did, eating, +drinking, and sleeping in glorious palaces. Though they were +supposed to reward good men, and to punish people who broke their +oaths and were unkind to strangers, there were many stories told in +which the Gods were fickle, cruel, selfish, and set very bad +examples to men. How far these stories were believed is not sure; +it is certain that "all men felt a need of the Gods," and thought +that they were pleased by good actions and displeased by evil. +Yet, when a man felt that his behaviour had been bad, he often +threw the blame on the Gods, and said that they had misled him, +which really meant no more than that "he could not help it." + +There was a curious custom by which the princes bought wives from +the fathers of the princesses, giving cattle and gold, and bronze +and iron, but sometimes a prince got a wife as the reward for some +very brave action. A man would not give his daughter to a wooer +whom she did not love, even if he offered the highest price, at +least this must have been the general rule, for husbands and wives +were very fond of each other, and of their children, and husbands +always allowed their wives to rule the house, and give their advice +on everything. It was thought a very wicked thing for a woman to +like another man better than her husband, and there were few such +wives, but among them was the most beautiful woman who ever lived. + + + +THE WOOING OF HELEN OF THE FAIR HANDS + + + +This was the way in which people lived when Ulysses was young, and +wished to be married. The worst thing in the way of life was that +the greatest and most beautiful princesses might be taken +prisoners, and carried off as slaves to the towns of the men who +had killed their fathers and husbands. Now at that time one lady +was far the fairest in the world: namely, Helen, daughter of King +Tyndarus. Every young prince heard of her and desired to marry +her; so her father invited them all to his palace, and entertained +them, and found out what they would give. Among the rest Ulysses +went, but his father had a little kingdom, a rough island, with +others near it, and Ulysses had not a good chance. He was not +tall; though very strong and active, he was a short man with broad +shoulders, but his face was handsome, and, like all the princes, he +wore long yellow hair, clustering like a hyacinth flower. His +manner was rather hesitating, and he seemed to speak very slowly at +first, though afterwards his words came freely. He was good at +everything a man can do; he could plough, and build houses, and +make ships, and he was the best archer in Greece, except one, and +could bend the great bow of a dead king, Eurytus, which no other +man could string. But he had no horses, and had no great train of +followers; and, in short, neither Helen nor her father thought of +choosing Ulysses for her husband out of so many tall, handsome +young princes, glittering with gold ornaments. Still, Helen was +very kind to Ulysses, and there was great friendship between them, +which was fortunate for her in the end. + +Tyndarus first made all the princes take an oath that they would +stand by the prince whom he chose, and would fight for him in all +his quarrels. Then he named for her husband Menelaus, King of +Lacedaemon. He was a very brave man, but not one of the strongest; +he was not such a fighter as the gigantic Aias, the tallest and +strongest of men; or as Diomede, the friend of Ulysses; or as his +own brother, Agamemnon, the King of the rich city of Mycenae, who +was chief over all other princes, and general of the whole army in +war. The great lions carved in stone that seemed to guard his city +are still standing above the gate through which Agamemnon used to +drive his chariot. + +The man who proved to be the best fighter of all, Achilles, was not +among the lovers of Helen, for he was still a boy, and his mother, +Thetis of the silver feet, a goddess of the sea, had sent him to be +brought up as a girl, among the daughters of Lycomedes of Scyros, +in an island far away. Thetis did this because Achilles was her +only child, and there was a prophecy that, if he went to the wars, +he would win the greatest glory, but die very young, and never see +his mother again. She thought that if war broke out he would not +be found hiding in girl's dress, among girls, far away. + +So at last, after thinking over the matter for long, Tyndarus gave +fair Helen to Menelaus, the rich King of Lacedaemon; and her twin +sister Clytaemnestra, who was also very beautiful, was given to +King Agamemnon, the chief over all the princes. They all lived +very happily together at first, but not for long. + +In the meantime King Tyndarus spoke to his brother Icarius, who had +a daughter named Penelope. She also was very pretty, but not +nearly so beautiful as her cousin, fair Helen, and we know that +Penelope was not very fond of her cousin. Icarius, admiring the +strength and wisdom of Ulysses, gave him his daughter Penelope to +be his wife, and Ulysses loved her very dearly, no man and wife +were ever dearer to each other. They went away together to rocky +Ithaca, and perhaps Penelope was not sorry that a wide sea lay +between her home and that of Helen; for Helen was not only the +fairest woman that ever lived in the world, but she was so kind and +gracious and charming that no man could see her without loving her. +When she was only a child, the famous prince Theseus, who was +famous in Greek Story, carried her away to his own city of Athens, +meaning to marry her when she grew up, and even at that time, there +was a war for her sake, for her brothers followed Theseus with an +army, and fought him, and brought her home. + +She had fairy gifts; for instance, she had a great red jewel, +called "the Star," and when she wore it red drops seemed to fall +from it and vanished before they touched and stained her white +breast--so white that people called her "the Daughter of the Swan." +She could speak in the very voice of any man or woman, so folk also +named her Echo, and it was believed that she could neither grow old +nor die, but would at last pass away to the Elysian plain and the +world's end, where life is easiest for men. No snow comes thither, +nor great storm, nor any rain; but always the river of Ocean that +rings round the whole earth sends forth the west wind to blow cool +on the people of King Rhadamanthus of the fair hair. These were +some of the stories that men told of fair Helen, but Ulysses was +never sorry that he had not the fortune to marry her, so fond he +was of her cousin, his wife, Penelope, who was very wise and good. + +When Ulysses brought his wife home they lived, as the custom was, +in the palace of his father, King Laertes, but Ulysses, with his +own hands, built a chamber for Penelope and himself. There grew a +great olive tree in the inner court of the palace, and its stem was +as large as one of the tall carved pillars of the hall. Round +about this tree Ulysses built the chamber, and finished it with +close-set stones, and roofed it over, and made close-fastening +doors. Then he cut off all the branches of the olive tree, and +smoothed the trunk, and shaped it into the bed-post, and made the +bedstead beautiful with inlaid work of gold and silver and ivory. +There was no such bed in Greece, and no man could move it from its +place, and this bed comes again into the story, at the very end. + +Now time went by, and Ulysses and Penelope had one son called +Telemachus; and Eurycleia, who had been his father's nurse, took +care of him. They were all very happy, and lived in peace in rocky +Ithaca, and Ulysses looked after his lands, and flocks, and herds, +and went hunting with his dog Argos, the swiftest of hounds. + + + +THE STEALING OF HELEN + + + +This happy time did not last long, and Telemachus was still a baby, +when war arose, so great and mighty and marvellous as had never +been known in the world. Far across the sea that lies on the east +of Greece, there dwelt the rich King Priam. His town was called +Troy, or Ilios, and it stood on a hill near the seashore, where are +the straits of Hellespont, between Europe and Asia; it was a great +city surrounded by strong walls, and its ruins are still standing. +The kings could make merchants who passed through the straits pay +toll to them, and they had allies in Thrace, a part of Europe +opposite Troy, and Priam was chief of all princes on his side of +the sea, as Agamemnon was chief king in Greece. Priam had many +beautiful things; he had a vine made of gold, with golden leaves +and clusters, and he had the swiftest horses, and many strong and +brave sons; the strongest and bravest was named Hector, and the +youngest and most beautiful was named Paris. + +There was a prophecy that Priam's wife would give birth to a +burning torch, so, when Paris was born, Priam sent a servant to +carry the baby into a wild wood on Mount Ida, and leave him to die +or be eaten by wolves and wild cats. The servant left the child, +but a shepherd found him, and brought him up as his own son. The +boy became as beautiful, for a boy, as Helen was for a girl, and +was the best runner, and hunter, and archer among the country +people. He was loved by the beautiful OEnone, a nymph--that is, a +kind of fairy--who dwelt in a cave among the woods of Ida. The +Greeks and Trojans believed in these days that such fair nymphs +haunted all beautiful woodland places, and the mountains, and +wells, and had crystal palaces, like mermaids, beneath the waves of +the sea. These fairies were not mischievous, but gentle and kind. +Sometimes they married mortal men, and OEnone was the bride of +Paris, and hoped to keep him for her own all the days of his life. + +It was believed that she had the magical power of healing wounded +men, however sorely they were hurt. Paris and OEnone lived most +happily together in the forest; but one day, when the servants of +Priam had driven off a beautiful bull that was in the herd of +Paris, he left the hills to seek it, and came into the town of +Troy. His mother, Hecuba, saw him, and looking at him closely, +perceived that he wore a ring which she had tied round her baby's +neck when he was taken away from her soon after his birth. Then +Hecuba, beholding him so beautiful, and knowing him to be her son, +wept for joy, and they all forgot the prophecy that he would be a +burning torch of fire, and Priam gave him a house like those of his +brothers, the Trojan princes. + +The fame of beautiful Helen reached Troy, and Paris quite forgot +unhappy OEnone, and must needs go to see Helen for himself. +Perhaps he meant to try to win her for his wife, before her +marriage. But sailing was little understood in these times, and +the water was wide, and men were often driven for years out of +their course, to Egypt, and Africa, and far away into the unknown +seas, where fairies lived in enchanted islands, and cannibals dwelt +in caves of the hills. + +Paris came much too late to have a chance of marrying Helen; +however, he was determined to see her, and he made his way to her +palace beneath the mountain Taygetus, beside the clear swift river +Eurotas. The servants came out of the hall when they heard the +sound of wheels and horses' feet, and some of them took the horses +to the stables, and tilted the chariots against the gateway, while +others led Paris into the hall, which shone like the sun with gold +and silver. Then Paris and his companions were led to the baths, +where they were bathed, and clad in new clothes, mantles of white, +and robes of purple, and next they were brought before King +Menelaus, and he welcomed them kindly, and meat was set before +them, and wine in cups of gold. While they were talking, Helen +came forth from her fragrant chamber, like a Goddess, her maidens +following her, and carrying for her an ivory distaff with violet- +coloured wool, which she span as she sat, and heard Paris tell how +far he had travelled to see her who was so famous for her beauty +even in countries far away. + +Then Paris knew that he had never seen, and never could see, a lady +so lovely and gracious as Helen as she sat and span, while the red +drops fell and vanished from the ruby called the Star; and Helen +knew that among all the princes in the world there was none so +beautiful as Paris. Now some say that Paris, by art magic, put on +the appearance of Menelaus, and asked Helen to come sailing with +him, and that she, thinking he was her husband, followed him, and +he carried her across the wide waters of Troy, away from her lord +and her one beautiful little daughter, the child Hermione. And +others say that the Gods carried Helen herself off to Egypt, and +that they made in her likeness a beautiful ghost, out of flowers +and sunset clouds, whom Paris bore to Troy, and this they did to +cause war between Greeks and Trojans. Another story is that Helen +and her bower maiden and her jewels were seized by force, when +Menelaus was out hunting. It is only certain that Paris and Helen +did cross the seas together, and that Menelaus and little Hermione +were left alone in the melancholy palace beside the Eurotas. +Penelope, we know for certain, made no excuses for her beautiful +cousin, but hated her as the cause of her own sorrows and of the +deaths of thousands of men in war, for all the Greek princes were +bound by their oath to fight for Menelaus against any one who +injured him and stole his wife away. But Helen was very unhappy in +Troy, and blamed herself as bitterly as all the other women blamed +her, and most of all OEnone, who had been the love of Paris. The +men were much more kind to Helen, and were determined to fight to +the death rather than lose the sight of her beauty among them. + +The news of the dishonour done to Menelaus and to all the princes +of Greece ran through the country like fire through a forest. East +and west and south and north went the news: to kings in their +castles on the hills, and beside the rivers and on cliffs above the +sea. The cry came to ancient Nestor of the white beard at Pylos, +Nestor who had reigned over two generations of men, who had fought +against the wild folk of the hills, and remembered the strong +Heracles, and Eurytus of the black bow that sang before the day of +battle. + +The cry came to black-bearded Agamemnon, in his strong town called +"golden Mycenae," because it was so rich; it came to the people in +Thisbe, where the wild doves haunt; and it came to rocky Pytho, +where is the sacred temple of Apollo and the maid who prophesies. +It came to Aias, the tallest and strongest of men, in his little +isle of Salamis; and to Diomede of the loud war-cry, the bravest of +warriors, who held Argos and Tiryns of the black walls of huge, +stones, that are still standing. The summons came to the western +islands and to Ulysses in Ithaca, and even far south to the great +island of Crete of the hundred cities, where Idomeneus ruled in +Cnossos; Idomeneus, whose ruined palace may still be seen with the +throne of the king, and pictures painted on the walls, and the +King's own draught-board of gold and silver, and hundreds of +tablets of clay, on which are written the lists of royal treasures. +Far north went the news to Pelasgian Argos, and Hellas, where the +people of Peleus dwelt, the Myrmidons; but Peleus was too old to +fight, and his boy, Achilles, dwelt far away, in the island of +Scyros, dressed as a girl, among the daughters of King Lycomedes. +To many another town and to a hundred islands went the bitter news +of approaching war, for all princes knew that their honour and +their oaths compelled them to gather their spearmen, and bowmen, +and slingers from the fields and the fishing, and to make ready +their ships, and meet King Agamemnon in the harbour of Aulis, and +cross the wide sea to besiege Troy town. + +Now the story is told that Ulysses was very unwilling to leave his +island and his wife Penelope, and little Telemachus; while Penelope +had no wish that he should pass into danger, and into the sight of +Helen of the fair hands. So it is said that when two of the +princes came to summon Ulysses, he pretended to be mad, and went +ploughing the sea sand with oxen, and sowing the sand with salt. +Then the prince Palamedes took the baby Telemachus from the arms of +his nurse, Eurycleia, and laid him in the line of the furrow, where +the ploughshare would strike him and kill him. But Ulysses turned +the plough aside, and they cried that he was not mad, but sane, and +he must keep his oath, and join the fleet at Aulis, a long voyage +for him to sail, round the stormy southern Cape of Maleia. + +Whether this tale be true or not, Ulysses did go, leading twelve +black ships, with high beaks painted red at prow and stern. The +ships had oars, and the warriors manned the oars, to row when there +was no wind. There was a small raised deck at each end of the +ships; on these decks men stood to fight with sword and spear when +there was a battle at sea. Each ship had but one mast, with a +broad lugger sail, and for anchors they had only heavy stones +attached to cables. They generally landed at night, and slept on +the shore of one of the many islands, when they could, for they +greatly feared to sail out of sight of land. + +The fleet consisted of more than a thousand ships, each with fifty +warriors, so the army was of more than fifty thousand men. +Agamemnon had a hundred ships, Diomede had eighty, Nestor had +ninety, the Cretans with Idomeneus, had eighty, Menelaus had sixty; +but Aias and Ulysses, who lived in small islands, had only twelve +ships apiece. Yet Aias was so brave and strong, and Ulysses so +brave and wise, that they were ranked among the greatest chiefs and +advisers of Agamemnon, with Menelaus, Diomede, Idomeneus, Nestor, +Menestheus of Athens, and two or three others. These chiefs were +called the Council, and gave advice to Agamemnon, who was +commander-in-chief. He was a brave fighter, but so anxious and +fearful of losing the lives of his soldiers that Ulysses and +Diomede were often obliged to speak to him very severely. +Agamemnon was also very insolent and greedy, though, when anybody +stood up to him, he was ready to apologise, for fear the injured +chief should renounce his service and take away his soldiers. + +Nestor was much respected because he remained brave, though he was +too old to be very useful in battle. He generally tried to make +peace when the princes quarrelled with Agamemnon. He loved to tell +long stories about his great deeds when he was young, and he wished +the chiefs to fight in old-fashioned ways. + +For instance, in his time the Greeks had fought in clan regiments, +and the princely men had never dismounted in battle, but had fought +in squadrons of chariots, but now the owners of chariots fought on +foot, each man for himself, while his squire kept the chariot near +him to escape on if he had to retreat. Nestor wished to go back to +the good old way of chariot charges against the crowds of foot +soldiers of the enemy. In short, he was a fine example of the old- +fashioned soldier. + +Aias, though so very tall, strong, and brave, was rather stupid. +He seldom spoke, but he was always ready to fight, and the last to +retreat. Menelaus was weak of body, but as brave as the best, or +more brave, for he had a keen sense of honour, and would attempt +what he had not the strength to do. Diomede and Ulysses were great +friends, and always fought side by side, when they could, and +helped each other in the most dangerous adventures. + +These were the chiefs who led the great Greek armada from the +harbour of Aulis. A long time had passed, after the flight of +Helen, before the large fleet could be collected, and more time +went by in the attempt to cross the sea to Troy. There were +tempests that scattered the ships, so they were driven back to +Aulis to refit; and they fought, as they went out again, with the +peoples of unfriendly islands, and besieged their towns. What they +wanted most of all was to have Achilles with them, for he was the +leader of fifty ships and 2,500 men, and he had magical armour +made, men said, for his father, by Hephaestus, the God of armour- +making and smithy work. + +At last the fleet came to the Isle of Scyros, where they suspected +that Achilles was concealed. King Lycomedes received the chiefs +kindly, and they saw all his beautiful daughters dancing and +playing at ball, but Achilles was still so young and slim and so +beautiful that they did not know him among the others. There was a +prophecy that they could not take Troy without him, and yet they +could not find him out. Then Ulysses had a plan. He blackened his +eyebrows and beard and put on the dress of a Phoenician merchant. +The Phoenicians were a people who lived near the Jews, and were of +the same race, and spoke much the same language, but, unlike the +Jews, who, at that time were farmers in Palestine, tilling the +ground, and keeping flocks and herds, the Phoenicians were the +greatest of traders and sailors, and stealers of slaves. They +carried cargoes of beautiful cloths, and embroideries, and jewels +of gold, and necklaces of amber, and sold these everywhere about +the shores of Greece and the islands. + +Ulysses then dressed himself like a Phoenician pedlar, with his +pack on his back: he only took a stick in his hand, his long hair +was turned up, and hidden under a red sailor's cap, and in this +figure he came, stooping beneath his pack, into the courtyard of +King Lycomedes. The girls heard that a pedlar had come, and out +they all ran, Achilles with the rest to watch the pedlar undo his +pack. Each chose what she liked best: one took a wreath of gold; +another a necklace of gold and amber; another earrings; a fourth a +set of brooches, another a dress of embroidered scarlet cloth; +another a veil; another a pair of bracelets; but at the bottom of +the pack lay a great sword of bronze, the hilt studded with golden +nails. Achilles seized the sword. "This is for me!" he said, and +drew the sword from the gilded sheath, and made it whistle round +his head. + +"You are Achilles, Peleus' son!" said Ulysses; "and you are to be +the chief warrior of the Achaeans," for the Greeks then called +themselves Achaeans. Achilles was only too glad to hear these +words, for he was quite tired of living among maidens. Ulysses led +him into the hall where the chiefs were sitting at their wine, and +Achilles was blushing like any girl. + +"Here is the Queen of the Amazons," said Ulysses--for the Amazons +were a race of warlike maidens--"or rather here is Achilles, +Peleus' son, with sword in hand." Then they all took his hand, and +welcomed him, and he was clothed in man's dress, with the sword by +his side, and presently they sent him back with ten ships to his +home. There his mother, Thetis, of the silver feet, the goddess of +the sea, wept over him, saying, "My child, thou hast the choice of +a long and happy and peaceful life here with me, or of a brief time +of war and undying renown. Never shall I see thee again in Argos +if thy choice is for war." But Achilles chose to die young, and to +be famous as long as the world stands. So his father gave him +fifty ships, with Patroclus, who was older than he, to be his +friend, and with an old man, Phoenix, to advise him; and his mother +gave him the glorious armour that the God had made for his father, +and the heavy ashen spear that none but he could wield, and he +sailed to join the host of the Achaeans, who all praised and +thanked Ulysses that had found for them such a prince. For +Achilles was the fiercest fighter of them all, and the swiftest- +footed man, and the most courteous prince, and the gentlest with +women and children, but he was proud and high of heart, and when he +was angered his anger was terrible. + +The Trojans would have had no chance against the Greeks if only the +men of the city of Troy had fought to keep Helen of the fair hands. +But they had allies, who spoke different languages, and came to +fight for them both from Europe and from Asia. On the Trojan as +well as on the Greek side were people called Pelasgians, who seem +to have lived on both shores of the sea. There were Thracians, +too, who dwelt much further north than Achilles, in Europe and +beside the strait of Hellespont, where the narrow sea runs like a +river. There were warriors of Lycia, led by Sarpedon and Glaucus; +there were Carians, who spoke in a strange tongue; there were +Mysians and men from Alybe, which was called "the birthplace of +silver," and many other peoples sent their armies, so that the war +was between Eastern Europe, on one side, and Western Asia Minor on +the other. The people of Egypt took no part in the war: the +Greeks and Islesmen used to come down in their ships and attack the +Egyptians as the Danes used to invade England. You may see the +warriors from the islands, with their horned helmets, in old +Egyptian pictures. + +The commander-in-chief, as we say now, of the Trojans was Hector, +the son of Priam. He was thought a match for any one of the +Greeks, and was brave and good. His brothers also were leaders, +but Paris preferred to fight from a distance with bow and arrows. +He and Pandarus, who dwelt on the slopes of Mount Ida, were the +best archers in the Trojan army. The princes usually fought with +heavy spears, which they threw at each other, and with swords, +leaving archery to the common soldiers who had no armour of bronze. +But Teucer, Meriones, and Ulysses were the best archers of the +Achaeans. People called Dardanians were led by Aeneas, who was +said to be the son of the most beautiful of the goddesses. These, +with Sarpedon and Glaucus, were the most famous of the men who +fought for Troy. + +Troy was a strong town on a hill. Mount Ida lay behind it, and in +front was a plain sloping to the sea shore. Through this plain ran +two beautiful clear rivers, and there were scattered here and there +what you would have taken for steep knolls, but they were really +mounds piled up over the ashes of warriors who had died long ago. +On these mounds sentinels used to stand and look across the water +to give warning if the Greek fleet drew near, for the Trojans had +heard that it was on its way. At last the fleet came in view, and +the sea was black with ships, the oarsmen pulling with all their +might for the honour of being the first to land. The race was won +by the ship of the prince Protesilaus, who was first of all to leap +on shore, but as he leaped he was struck to the heart by an arrow +from the bow of Paris. This must have seemed a good omen to the +Trojans, and to the Greeks evil, but we do not hear that the +landing was resisted in great force, any more than that of Norman +William was, when he invaded England. + +The Greeks drew up all their ships on shore, and the men camped in +huts built in front of the ships. There was thus a long row of +huts with the ships behind them, and in these huts the Greeks lived +all through the ten years that the siege of Troy lasted. In these +days they do not seem to have understood how to conduct a siege. +You would have expected the Greeks to build towers and dig trenches +all round Troy, and from the towers watch the roads, so that +provisions might not be brought in from the country. This is +called "investing" a town, but the Greeks never invested Troy. +Perhaps they had not men enough; at all events the place remained +open, and cattle could always be driven in to feed the warriors and +the women and children. + +Moreover, the Greeks for long never seem to have tried to break +down one of the gates, nor to scale the walls, which were very +high, with ladders. On the other hand, the Trojans and allies +never ventured to drive the Greeks into the sea; they commonly +remained within the walls or skirmished just beneath them. The +older men insisted on this way of fighting, in spite of Hector, who +always wished to attack and storm the camp of the Greeks. Neither +side had machines for throwing heavy stones, such as the Romans +used later, and the most that the Greeks did was to follow Achilles +and capture small neighbouring cities, and take the women for +slaves, and drive the cattle. They got provisions and wine from +the Phoenicians, who came in ships, and made much profit out of the +war. + +It was not till the tenth year that the war began in real earnest, +and scarcely any of the chief leaders had fallen. Fever came upon +the Greeks, and all day the camp was black with smoke, and all +night shone with fire from the great piles of burning wood, on +which the Greeks burned their dead, whose bones they then buried +under hillocks of earth. Many of these hillocks are still standing +on the plain of Troy. When the plague had raged for ten days, +Achilles called an assembly of the whole army, to try to find out +why the Gods were angry. They thought that the beautiful God +Apollo (who took the Trojan side) was shooting invisible arrows at +them from his silver bow, though fevers in armies are usually +caused by dirt and drinking bad water. The great heat of the sun, +too, may have helped to cause the disease; but we must tell the +story as the Greeks told it themselves. So Achilles spoke in the +assembly, and proposed to ask some prophet why Apollo was angry. +The chief prophet was Calchas. He rose and said that he would +declare the truth if Achilles would promise to protect him from the +anger of any prince whom the truth might offend. + +Achilles knew well whom Calchas meant. Ten days before, a priest +of Apollo had come to the camp and offered ransom for his daughter +Chryseis, a beautiful girl, whom Achilles had taken prisoner, with +many others, when he captured a small town. Chryseis had been +given as a slave to Agamemnon, who always got the best of the +plunder because he was chief king, whether he had taken part in the +fighting or not. As a rule he did not. To Achilles had been given +another girl, Briseis, of whom he was very fond. Now when Achilles +had promised to protect Calchas, the prophet spoke out, and boldly +said, what all men knew already, that Apollo caused the plague +because Agamemnon would not return Chryseis, and had insulted her +father, the priest of the God. + +On hearing this, Agamemnon was very angry. He said that he would +send Chryseis home, but that he would take Briseis away from +Achilles. Then Achilles was drawing his great sword from the +sheath to kill Agamemnon, but even in his anger he knew that this +was wrong, so he merely called Agamemnon a greedy coward, "with +face of dog and heart of deer," and he swore that he and his men +would fight no more against the Trojans. Old Nestor tried to make +peace, and swords were not drawn, but Briseis was taken away from +Achilles, and Ulysses put Chryseis on board of his ship and sailed +away with her to her father's town, and gave her up to her father. +Then her father prayed to Apollo that the plague might cease, and +it did cease--when the Greeks had cleansed their camp, and purified +themselves and cast their filth into the sea. + +We know how fierce and brave Achilles was, and we may wonder that +he did not challenge Agamemnon to fight a duel. But the Greeks +never fought duels, and Agamemnon was believed to be chief king by +right divine. Achilles went alone to the sea shore when his dear +Briseis was led away, and he wept, and called to his mother, the +silver-footed lady of the waters. Then she arose from the grey +sea, like a mist, and sat down beside her son, and stroked his hair +with her hand, and he told her all his sorrows. So she said that +she would go up to the dwelling of the Gods, and pray Zeus, the +chief of them all, to make the Trojans win a great battle, so that +Agamemnon should feel his need of Achilles, and make amends for his +insolence, and do him honour. + +Thetis kept her promise, and Zeus gave his word that the Trojans +should defeat the Greeks. That night Zeus sent a deceitful dream +to Agamemnon. The dream took the shape of old Nestor, and said +that Zeus would give him victory that day. While he was still +asleep, Agamemnon was fun of hope that he would instantly take +Troy, but, when he woke, he seems not to have been nearly so +confident, for in place of putting on his armour, and bidding the +Greeks arm themselves, he merely dressed in his robe and mantle, +took his sceptre, and went and told the chiefs about his dream. +They did not feel much encouraged, so he said that he would try the +temper of the army. He would call them together, and propose to +return to Greece; but, if the soldiers took him at his word, the +other chiefs were to stop them. This was a foolish plan, for the +soldiers were wearying for beautiful Greece, and their homes, and +wives and children. Therefore, when Agamemnon did as he had said, +the whole army rose, like the sea under the west wind, and, with a +shout, they rushed to the ships, while the dust blew in clouds from +under their feet. Then they began to launch their ships, and it +seems that the princes were carried away in the rush, and were as +eager as the rest to go home. + +But Ulysses only stood in sorrow and anger beside his ship, and +never put hand to it, for he felt how disgraceful it was to run +away. At last he threw down his mantle, which his herald Eurybates +of Ithaca, a round-shouldered, brown, curly-haired man, picked up, +and he ran to find Agamemnon, and took his sceptre, a gold-studded +staff, like a marshal's baton, and he gently told the chiefs whom +he met that they were doing a shameful thing; but he drove the +common soldiers back to the place of meeting with the sceptre. +They all returned, puzzled and chattering, but one lame, bandy- +legged, bald, round-shouldered, impudent fellow, named Thersites, +jumped up and made an insolent speech, insulting the princes, and +advising the army to run away. Then Ulysses took him and beat him +till the blood came, and he sat down, wiping away his tears, and +looking so foolish that the whole army laughed at him, and cheered +Ulysses when he and Nestor bade them arm and fight. Agamemnon +still believed a good deal in his dream, and prayed that he might +take Troy that very day, and kill Hector. Thus Ulysses alone saved +the army from a cowardly retreat; but for him the ships would have +been launched in an hour. But the Greeks armed and advanced in +full force, all except Achilles and his friend Patroclus with their +two or three thousand men. The Trojans also took heart, knowing +that Achilles would not fight, and the armies approached each +other. Paris himself, with two spears and a bow, and without +armour, walked into the space between the hosts, and challenged any +Greek prince to single combat. Menelaus, whose wife Paris had +carried away, was as glad as a hungry lion when he finds a stag or +a goat, and leaped in armour from his chariot, but Paris turned and +slunk away, like a man when he meets a great serpent on a narrow +path in the hills. Then Hector rebuked Paris for his cowardice, +and Paris was ashamed and offered to end the war by fighting +Menelaus. If he himself fell, the Trojans must give up Helen and +all her jewels; if Menelaus fell, the Greeks were to return without +fair Helen. The Greeks accepted this plan, and both sides disarmed +themselves to look on at the fight in comfort, and they meant to +take the most solemn oaths to keep peace till the combat was lost +and won, and the quarrel settled. Hector sent into Troy for two +lambs, which were to be sacrificed when the oaths were taken. + +In the meantime Helen of the fair hands was at home working at a +great purple tapestry on which she embroidered the battles of the +Greeks and Trojans. It was just like the tapestry at Bayeux on +which Norman ladies embroidered the battles in the Norman Conquest +of England. Helen was very fond of embroidering, like poor Mary, +Queen of Scots, when a prisoner in Loch Leven Castle. Probably the +work kept both Helen and Mary from thinking of their past lives and +their sorrows. + +When Helen heard that her husband was to fight Paris, she wept, and +threw a shining veil over her head, and with her two bower maidens +went to the roof of the gate tower, where king Priam was sitting +with the old Trojan chiefs. They saw her and said that it was +small blame to fight for so beautiful a lady, and Priam called her +"dear child," and said, "I do not blame you, I blame the Gods who +brought about this war." But Helen said that she wished she had +died before she left her little daughter and her husband, and her +home: "Alas! shameless me!" Then she told Priam the names of the +chief Greek warriors, and of Ulysses, who was shorter by a head +than Agamemnon, but broader in chest and shoulders. She wondered +that she could not see her own two brothers, Castor and Polydeuces, +and thought that they kept aloof in shame for her sin; but the +green grass covered their graves, for they had both died in battle, +far away in Lacedaemon, their own country. + +Then the lambs were sacrificed, and the oaths were taken, and Paris +put on his brother's armour, helmet, breastplate, shield, and leg- +armour. Lots were drawn to decide whether Paris or Menelaus should +throw his spear first, and, as Paris won, he threw his spear, but +the point was blunted against the shield of Menelaus. But when +Menelaus threw his spear it went clean through the shield of Paris, +and through the side of his breastplate, but only grazed his robe. +Menelaus drew his sword, and rushed in, and smote at the crest of +the helmet of Paris, but his bronze blade broke into four pieces. +Menelaus caught Paris by the horsehair crest of his helmet, and +dragged him towards the Greeks, but the chin-strap broke, and +Menelaus turning round threw the helmet into the ranks of the +Greeks. But when Menelaus looked again for Paris, with a spear in +his hand, he could see him nowhere! The Greeks believed that the +beautiful goddess Aphrodite, whom the Romans called Venus, hid him +in a thick cloud of darkness and carried him to his own house, +where Helen of the fair hands found him and said to him, "Would +that thou hadst perished, conquered by that great warrior who was +my lord! Go forth again and challenge him to fight thee face to +face." But Paris had no more desire to fight, and the Goddess +threatened Helen, and compelled her to remain with him in Troy, +coward as he had proved himself. Yet on other days Paris fought +well; it seems that he was afraid of Menelaus because, in his +heart, he was ashamed of himself. + +Meanwhile Menelaus was seeking for Paris everywhere, and the +Trojans, who hated him, would have shown his hiding place. But +they knew not where he was, and the Greeks claimed the victory, and +thought that, as Paris had the worst of the fight, Helen would be +restored to them, and they would all sail home. + + + +TROJAN VICTORIES + + + +The war might now have ended, but an evil and foolish thought came +to Pandarus, a prince of Ida, who fought for the Trojans. He chose +to shoot an arrow at Menelaus, contrary to the sworn vows of peace, +and the arrow pierced the breastplate of Menelaus through the place +where the clasped plates meet, and drew his blood. Then Agamemnon, +who loved his brother dearly, began to lament, saying that if he +died, the army would all go home and Trojans would dance on the +grave of Menelaus. "Do not alarm all our army," said Menelaus, +"the arrow has done me little harm;" and so it proved, for the +surgeon easily drew the arrow out of the wound. + +Then Agamemnon hastened here and there, bidding the Greeks arm and +attack the Trojans, who would certainly be defeated, for they had +broken the oaths of peace. But with his usual insolence he chose +to accuse Ulysses and Diomede of cowardice, though Diomede was as +brave as any man, and Ulysses had just prevented the whole army +from launching their ships and going home. Ulysses answered him +with spirit, but Diomede said nothing at the moment; later he spoke +his mind. He leaped from his chariot, and all the chiefs leaped +down and advanced in line, the chariots following them, while the +spearmen and bowmen followed the chariots. The Trojan army +advanced, all shouting in their different languages, but the Greeks +came on silently. Then the two front lines clashed, shield against +shield, and the noise was like the roaring of many flooded torrents +among the hills. When a man fell he who had slain him tried to +strip off his armour, and his friends fought over his body to save +the dead from this dishonour. + +Ulysses fought above a wounded friend, and drove his spear through +head and helmet of a Trojan prince, and everywhere men were falling +beneath spears and arrows and heavy stones which the warriors +threw. Here Menelaus speared the man who built the ships with +which Paris had sailed to Greece; and the dust rose like a cloud, +and a mist went up from the fighting men, while Diomede stormed +across the plain like a river in flood, leaving dead bodies behind +him as the river leaves boughs of trees and grass to mark its +course. Pandarus wounded Diomede with an arrow, but Diomede slew +him, and the Trojans were being driven in flight, when Sarpedon and +Hector turned and hurled themselves on the Greeks; and even Diomede +shuddered when Hector came on, and charged at Ulysses, who was +slaying Trojans as he went, and the battle swayed this way and +that, and the arrows fell like rain. + +But Hector was sent into the city to bid the women pray to the +goddess Athene for help, and he went to the house of Paris, whom +Helen was imploring to go and fight like a man, saying: "Would +that the winds had wafted me away, and the tides drowned me, +shameless that I am, before these things came to pass!" + +Then Hector went to see his dear wife, Andromache, whose father had +been slain by Achilles early in the siege, and he found her and her +nurse carrying her little boy, Hector's son, and like a star upon +her bosom lay his beautiful and shining golden head. Now, while +Helen urged Paris to go into the fight, Andromache prayed Hector to +stay with her in the town, and fight no more lest he should be +slain and leave her a widow, and the boy an orphan, with none to +protect him. The army she said, should come back within the walls, +where they had so long been safe, not fight in the open plain. But +Hector answered that he would never shrink from battle, "yet I know +this in my heart, the day shall come for holy Troy to be laid low, +and Priam and the people of Priam. But this and my own death do +not trouble me so much as the thought of you, when you shall be +carried as a slave to Greece, to spin at another woman's bidding, +and bear water from a Grecian well. May the heaped up earth of my +tomb cover me ere I hear thy cries and the tale of thy captivity." + +Then Hector stretched out his hands to his little boy, but the +child was afraid when he saw the great glittering helmet of his +father and the nodding horsehair crest. So Hector laid his helmet +on the ground and dandled the child in his arms, and tried to +comfort his wife, and said good-bye for the last time, for he never +came back to Troy alive. He went on his way back to the battle, +and Paris went with him, in glorious armour, and soon they were +slaying the princes of the Greeks. + +The battle raged till nightfall, and in the night the Greeks and +Trojans burned their dead; and the Greeks made a trench and wall +round their camp, which they needed for safety now that the Trojans +came from their town and fought in the open plain. + +Next day the Trojans were so successful that they did not retreat +behind their walls at night, but lit great fires on the plain: a +thousand fires, with fifty men taking supper round each of them, +and drinking their wine to the music of flutes. But the Greeks +were much discouraged, and Agamemnon called the whole army +together, and proposed that they should launch their ships in the +night and sail away home. Then Diomede stood up, and said: "You +called me a coward lately. You are the coward! Sail away if you +are afraid to remain here, but all the rest of us will fight till +we take Troy town." + +Then all shouted in praise of Diomede, and Nestor advised them to +send five hundred young men, under his own son, Thrasymedes, to +watch the Trojans, and guard the new wall and the ditch, in case +the Trojans attacked them in the darkness. Next Nestor counselled +Agamemnon to send Ulysses and Aias to Achilles, and promise to give +back Briseis, and rich presents of gold, and beg pardon for his +insolence. If Achilles would be friends again with Agamemnon, and +fight as he used to fight, the Trojans would soon be driven back +into the town. + +Agamemnon was very ready to beg pardon, for he feared that the +whole army would be defeated, and cut off from their ships, and +killed or kept as slaves. So Ulysses and Aias and the old tutor of +Achilles, Phoenix, went to Achilles and argued with him, praying +him to accept the rich presents, and help the Greeks. But Achilles +answered that he did not believe a word that Agamemnon said; +Agamemnon had always hated him, and always would hate him. No; he +would not cease to be angry, he would sail away next day with all +his men, and he advised the rest to come with him. "Why be so +fierce?" said tall Aias, who seldom spoke. "Why make so much +trouble about one girl? We offer you seven girls, and plenty of +other gifts." + +Then Achilles said that he would not sail away next day, but he +would not fight till the Trojans tried to burn his own ships, and +there he thought that Hector would find work enough to do. This +was the most that Achilles would promise, and all the Greeks were +silent when Ulysses delivered his message. But Diomede arose and +said that, with or without Achilles, fight they must; and all men, +heavy at heart, went to sleep in their huts or in the open air at +their doors. + +Agamemnon was much too anxious to sleep. He saw the glow of the +thousand fires of the Trojans in the dark, and heard their merry +flutes, and he groaned and pulled out his long hair by handfuls. +When he was tired of crying and groaning and tearing his hair, he +thought that he would go for advice to old Nestor. He threw a lion +skin, the coverlet of his bed, over his shoulder, took his spear, +went out and met Menelaus--for he, too, could not sleep--and +Menelaus proposed to send a spy among the Trojans, if any man were +brave enough to go, for the Trojan camp was all alight with fires, +and the adventure was dangerous. Therefore the two wakened Nestor +and the other chiefs, who came just as they were, wrapped in the +fur coverlets of their beds, without any armour. First they +visited the five hundred young men set to watch the wall, and then +they crossed the ditch and sat down outside and considered what +might be done. "Will nobody go as a spy among the Trojans?" said +Nestor; he meant would none of the young men go. Diomede said that +he would take the risk if any other man would share it with him, +and, if he might choose a companion, he would take Ulysses. + +"Come, then, let us be going," said Ulysses, "for the night is +late, and the dawn is near." As these two chiefs had no armour on, +they borrowed shields and leather caps from the young men of the +guard, for leather would not shine as bronze helmets shine in the +firelight. The cap lent to Ulysses was strengthened outside with +rows of boars' tusks. Many of these tusks, shaped for this +purpose, have been found, with swords and armour, in a tomb in +Mycenae, the town of Agamemnon. This cap which was lent to Ulysses +had once been stolen by his grandfather, Autolycus, who was a +Master Thief, and he gave it as a present to a friend, and so, +through several hands, it had come to young Meriones of Crete, one +of the five hundred guards, who now lent it to Ulysses. So the two +princes set forth in the dark, so dark it was that though they +heard a heron cry, they could not see it as it flew away. + +While Ulysses and Diomede stole through the night silently, like +two wolves among the bodies of dead men, the Trojan leaders met and +considered what they ought to do. They did not know whether the +Greeks had set sentinels and outposts, as usual, to give warning if +the enemy were approaching; or whether they were too weary to keep +a good watch; or whether perhaps they were getting ready their +ships to sail homewards in the dawn. So Hector offered a reward to +any man who would creep through the night and spy on the Greeks; he +said he would give the spy the two best horses in the Greek camp. + +Now among the Trojans there was a young man named Dolon, the son of +a rich father, and he was the only boy in a family of five sisters. +He was ugly, but a very swift runner, and he cared for horses more +than for anything else in the world. Dolon arose and said, "If you +will swear to give me the horses and chariot of Achilles, son of +Peleus, I will steal to the hut of Agamemnon and listen and find +out whether the Greeks mean to fight or flee." Hector swore to +give these horses, which were the best in the world, to Dolon, so +he took his bow and threw a grey wolf's hide over his shoulders, +and ran towards the ships of the Greeks. + +Now Ulysses saw Dolon as he came, and said to Diomede, "Let us +suffer him to pass us, and then do you keep driving him with your +spear towards the ships, and away from Troy." So Ulysses and +Diomede lay down among the dead men who had fallen in the battle, +and Dolon ran on past them towards the Greeks. Then they rose and +chased him as two greyhounds course a hare, and, when Dolon was +near the sentinels, Diomede cried "Stand, or I will slay you with +my spear!" and he threw his spear just over Dolon's shoulder. So +Dolon stood still, green with fear, and with his teeth chattering. +When the two came up, he cried, and said that his father was a rich +man, who would pay much gold, and bronze, and iron for his ransom. + +Ulysses said, "Take heart, and put death out of your mind, and tell +us what you are doing here." Dolon said that Hector had promised +him the horses of Achilles if he would go and spy on the Greeks. +"You set your hopes high," said Ulysses, "for the horses of +Achilles are not earthly steeds, but divine; a gift of the Gods, +and Achilles alone can drive them. But, tell me, do the Trojans +keep good watch, and where is Hector with his horses?" for Ulysses +thought that it would be a great adventure to drive away the horses +of Hector. + +"Hector is with the chiefs, holding council at the tomb of Ilus," +said Dolon; "but no regular guard is set. The people of Troy, +indeed, are round their watch fires, for they have to think of the +safety of their wives and children; but the allies from far lands +keep no watch, for their wives and children are safe at home." +Then he told where all the different peoples who fought for Priam +had their stations; but, said he, "if you want to steal horses, the +best are those of Rhesus, King of the Thracians, who has only +joined us to-night. He and his men are asleep at the furthest end +of the line, and his horses are the best and greatest that ever I +saw: tall, white as snow, and swift as the wind, and his chariot +is adorned with gold and silver, and golden is his armour. Now +take me prisoner to the ships, or bind me and leave me here while +you go and try whether I have told you truth or lies." + +"No," said Diomede, "if I spare your life you may come spying +again," and he drew his sword and smote off the head of Dolon. +They hid his cap and bow and spear where they could find them +easily, and marked the spot, and went through the night to the dark +camp of King Rhesus, who had no watch-fire and no guards. Then +Diomede silently stabbed each sleeping man to the heart, and +Ulysses seized the dead by the feet and threw them aside lest they +should frighten the horses, which had never been in battle, and +would shy if they were led over the bodies of dead men. Last of +all Diomede killed King Rhesus, and Ulysses led forth his horses, +beating them with his bow, for he had forgotten to take the whip +from the chariot. Then Ulysses and Diomede leaped on the backs of +the horses, as they had not time to bring away the chariot, and +they galloped to the ships, stopping to pick up the spear, and bow, +and cap of Dolon. They rode to the princes, who welcomed them, and +all laughed for glee when they saw the white horses and heard that +King Rhesus was dead, for they guessed that all his army would now +go home to Thrace. This they must have done, for we never hear of +them in the battles that followed, so Ulysses and Diomede deprived +the Trojans of thousands of men. The other princes went to bed in +good spirits, but Ulysses and Diomede took a swim in the sea, and +then went into hot baths, and so to breakfast, for rosy-fingered +Dawn was coming up the sky. + + + +BATTLE AT THE SHIPS + + + +With dawn Agamemnon awoke, and fear had gone out of his heart. He +put on his armour, and arrayed the chiefs on foot in front of their +chariots, and behind them came the spearmen, with the bowmen and +slingers on the wings of the army. Then a great black cloud spread +over the sky, and red was the rain that fell from it. The Trojans +gathered on a height in the plain, and Hector, shining in armour, +went here and there, in front and rear, like a star that now gleams +forth and now is hidden in a cloud. + +The armies rushed on each other and hewed each other down, as +reapers cut their way through a field of tall corn. Neither side +gave ground, though the helmets of the bravest Trojans might be +seen deep in the ranks of the Greeks; and the swords of the bravest +Greeks rose and fell in the ranks of the Trojans, and all the while +the arrows showered like rain. But at noon-day, when the weary +woodman rests from cutting trees, and takes his dinner in the quiet +hills, the Greeks of the first line made a charge, Agamemnon +running in front of them, and he speared two Trojans, and took +their breastplates, which he laid in his chariot, and then he +speared one brother of Hector and struck another down with his +sword, and killed two more who vainly asked to be made prisoners of +war. Footmen slew footmen, and chariot men slew chariot men, and +they broke into the Trojan line as fire falls on a forest in a +windy day, leaping and roaring and racing through the trees. Many +an empty chariot did the horses hurry madly through the field, for +the charioteers were lying dead, with the greedy vultures hovering +above them, flapping their wide wings. Still Agamemnon followed +and slew the hindmost Trojans, but the rest fled till they came to +the gates, and the oak tree that grew outside the gates, and there +they stopped. + +But Hector held his hands from fighting, for in the meantime he was +making his men face the enemy and form up in line and take breath, +and was encouraging them, for they had retreated from the wall of +the Greeks across the whole plain, past the hill that was the tomb +of Ilus, a king of old, and past the place of the wild fig-tree. +Much ado had Hector to rally the Trojans, but he knew that when men +do turn again they are hard to beat. So it proved, for when the +Trojans had rallied and formed in line, Agamemnon slew a Thracian +chief who had come to fight for Troy before King Rhesus came. But +the eldest brother of the slain man smote Agamemnon through the arm +with his spear, and, though Agamemnon slew him in turn, his wound +bled much and he was in great pain, so he leaped into his chariot +and was driven back to the ships. + +Then Hector gave the word to charge, as a huntsman cries on his +hounds against a lion, and he rushed forward at the head of the +Trojan line, slaying as he went. Nine chiefs of the Greeks he +slew, and fell upon the spearmen and scattered them, as the spray +of the waves is scattered by the wandering wind. + +Now the ranks of the Greeks were broken, and they would have been +driven among their ships and killed without mercy, had not Ulysses +and Diomede stood firm in the centre, and slain four Trojan +leaders. The Greeks began to come back and face their enemies in +line of battle again, though Hector, who had been fighting on the +Trojan right, rushed against them. But Diomede took good aim with +his spear at the helmet of Hector, and struck it fairly. The +spear-point did not go through the helmet, but Hector was stunned +and fell; and, when he came to himself, he leaped into his chariot, +and his squire drove him against the Pylians and Cretans, under +Nestor and Idomeneus, who were on the left wing of the Greek army. +Then Diomede fought on till Paris, who stood beside the pillar on +the hillock that was the tomb of old King Ilus, sent an arrow clean +through his foot. Ulysses went and stood in front of Diomede, who +sat down, and Ulysses drew the arrow from his foot, and Diomede +stepped into his chariot and was driven back to the ships. + +Ulysses was now the only Greek chief that still fought in the +centre. The Greeks all fled, and he was alone in the crowd of +Trojans, who rushed on him as hounds and hunters press round a wild +boar that stands at bay in a wood. "They are cowards that flee +from the fight," said Ulysses to himself; "but I will stand here, +one man against a multitude." He covered the front of his body +with his great shield, that hung by a belt round his neck, and he +smote four Trojans and wounded a fifth. But the brother of the +wounded man drove a spear through the shield and breastplate of +Ulysses, and tore clean through his side. Then Ulysses turned on +this Trojan, and he fled, and Ulysses sent a spear through his +shoulder and out at his breast, and he died. Ulysses dragged from +his own side the spear that had wounded him, and called thrice with +a great voice to the other Greeks, and Menelaus and Aias rushed to +rescue him, for many Trojans were round him, like jackals round a +wounded stag that a man has struck with an arrow. But Aias ran and +covered the wounded Ulysses with his huge shield till he could +climb into the chariot of Menelaus, who drove him back to the +ships. + +Meanwhile, Hector was slaying the Greeks on the left of their +battle, and Paris struck the Greek surgeon, Machaon, with an arrow; +and Idomeneus bade Nestor put Machaon in his chariot and drive him +to Nestor's hut, where his wound might be tended. Meanwhile, +Hector sped to the centre of the line, where Aias was slaying the +Trojans; but Eurypylus, a Greek chief, was wounded by an arrow from +the bow of Paris, and his friends guarded him with their shields +and spears. + +Thus the best of the Greeks were wounded and out of the battle, +save Aias, and the spearmen were in flight. Meanwhile Achilles was +standing by the stern of his ship watching the defeat of the +Greeks, but when he saw Machaon being carried past, sorely wounded, +in the chariot of Nestor, he bade his friend Patroclus, whom he +loved better than all the rest, to go and ask how Machaon did. He +was sitting drinking wine with Nestor when Patroclus came, and +Nestor told Patroclus how many of the chiefs were wounded, and +though Patroclus was in a hurry Nestor began a very long story +about his own great deeds of war, done when he was a young man. At +last he bade Patroclus tell Achilles that, if he would not fight +himself, he should at least send out his men under Patroclus, who +should wear the splendid armour of Achilles. Then the Trojans +would think that Achilles himself had returned to the battle, and +they would be afraid, for none of them dared to meet Achilles hand +to hand. + +So Patroclus ran off to Achilles; but, on his way, he met the +wounded Eurypylus, and he took him to his hut and cut the arrow out +of his thigh with a knife, and washed the wound with warm water, +and rubbed over it a bitter root to take the pain away. Thus he +waited for some time with Eurypylus, but the advice of Nestor was +in the end to cause the death of Patroclus. The battle now raged +more fiercely, while Agamemnon and Diomede and Ulysses could only +limp about leaning on their spears; and again Agamemnon wished to +moor the ships near shore, and embark in the night and run away. +But Ulysses was very angry with him, and said: "You should lead +some other inglorious army, not us, who will fight on till every +soul of us perish, rather than flee like cowards! Be silent, lest +the soldiers hear you speaking of flight, such words as no man +should utter. I wholly scorn your counsel, for the Greeks will +lose heart if, in the midst of battle, you bid them launch the +ships." + +Agamemnon was ashamed, and, by Diomede's advice, the wounded kings +went down to the verge of the war to encourage the others, though +they were themselves unable to fight. They rallied the Greeks, and +Aias led them and struck Hector full in the breast with a great +rock, so that his friends carried him out of the battle to the +river side, where they poured water over him, but he lay fainting +on the ground, the black blood gushing up from his mouth. While +Hector lay there, and all men thought that he would die, Aias and +Idomeneus were driving back the Trojans, and it seemed that, even +without Achilles and his men, the Greeks were able to hold their +own against the Trojans. But the battle was never lost while +Hector lived. People in those days believed in "omens:" they +thought that the appearance of birds on the right or left hand +meant good or bad luck. Once during the battle a Trojan showed +Hector an unlucky bird, and wanted him to retreat into the town. +But Hector said, "One omen is the best: to fight for our own +country." While Hector lay between death and life the Greeks were +winning, for the Trojans had no other great chief to lead them. +But Hector awoke from his faint, and leaped to his feet and ran +here and there, encouraging the men of Troy. Then the most of the +Greeks fled when they saw him; but Aias and Idomeneus, and the rest +of the bravest, formed in a square between the Trojans and the +ships, and down on them came Hector and Aeneas and Paris, throwing +their spears, and slaying on every hand. The Greeks turned and +ran, and the Trojans would have stopped to strip the armour from +the slain men, but Hector cried: "Haste to the ships and leave the +spoils of war. I will slay any man who lags behind!" + +On this, all the Trojans drove their chariots down into the ditch +that guarded the ships of the Greeks, as when a great wave sweeps +at sea over the side of a vessel; and the Greeks were on the ship +decks, thrusting with very long spears, used in sea fights, and the +Trojans were boarding the ships, and striking with swords and axes. +Hector had a lighted torch and tried to set fire to the ship of +Aias; but Aias kept him back with the long spear, and slew a +Trojan, whose lighted torch fell from his hand. And Aias kept +shouting: "Come on, and drive away Hector; it is not to a dance +that he is calling his men, but to battle." + +The dead fell in heaps, and the living ran over them to mount the +heaps of slain and climb the ships. Hector rushed forward like a +sea wave against a great steep rock, but like the rock stood the +Greeks; still the Trojans charged past the beaks of the foremost +ships, while Aias, thrusting with a spear more than twenty feet +long, leaped from deck to deck like a man that drives four horses +abreast, and leaps from the back of one to the back of another. +Hector seized with his hand the stern of the ship of Protesilaus, +the prince whom Paris shot when he leaped ashore on the day when +the Greeks first landed; and Hector kept calling: "Bring fire!" +and even Aias, in this strange sea fight on land, left the decks +and went below, thrusting with his spear through the portholes. +Twelve men lay dead who had brought fire against the ship which +Aias guarded. + + + +THE SLAYING AND AVENGING OF PATROCLUS + + + +At this moment, when torches were blazing round the ships, and all +seemed lost, Patroclus came out of the hut of Eurypylus, whose +wound he had been tending, and he saw that the Greeks were in great +danger, and ran weeping to Achilles. "Why do you weep," said +Achilles, "like a little girl that runs by her mother's side, and +plucks at her gown and looks at her with tears in her eyes, till +her mother takes her up in her arms? Is there bad news from home +that your father is dead, or mine; or are you sorry that the Greeks +are getting what they deserve for their folly?" Then Patroclus +told Achilles how Ulysses and many other princes were wounded and +could not fight, and begged to be allowed to put on Achilles' +armour and lead his men, who were all fresh and unwearied, into the +battle, for a charge of two thousand fresh warriors might turn the +fortune of the day. + +Then Achilles was sorry that he had sworn not to fight himself till +Hector brought fire to his own ships. He would lend Patroclus his +armour, and his horses, and his men; but Patroclus must only drive +the Trojans from the ships, and not pursue them. At this moment +Aias was weary, so many spears smote his armour, and he could +hardly hold up his great shield, and Hector cut off his spear-head +with the sword; the bronze head fell ringing on the ground, and +Aias brandished only the pointless shaft. So he shrank back and +fire blazed all over his ship; and Achilles saw it, and smote his +thigh, and bade Patroclus make haste. Patroclus armed himself in +the shining armour of Achilles, which all Trojans feared, and +leaped into the chariot where Automedon, the squire, had harnessed +Xanthus and Balius, two horses that were the children, men said, of +the West Wind, and a led horse was harnessed beside them in the +side traces. Meanwhile the two thousand men of Achilles, who were +called Myrmidons, had met in armour, five companies of four hundred +apiece, under five chiefs of noble names. Forth they came, as +eager as a pack of wolves that have eaten a great red deer and run +to slake their thirst with the dark water of a well in the hills. + +So all in close array, helmet touching helmet and shield touching +shield, like a moving wall of shining bronze, the men of Achilles +charged, and Patroclus, in the chariot led the way. Down they came +at full speed on the flank of the Trojans, who saw the leader, and +knew the bright armour and the horses of the terrible Achilles, and +thought that he had returned to the war. Then each Trojan looked +round to see by what way he could escape, and when men do that in +battle they soon run by the way they have chosen. Patroclus rushed +to the ship of Protesilaus, and slew the leader of the Trojans +there, and drove them out, and quenched the fire; while they of +Troy drew back from the ships, and Aias and the other unwounded +Greek princes leaped among them, smiting with sword and spear. +Well did Hector know that the break in the battle had come again; +but even so he stood, and did what he might, while the Trojans were +driven back in disorder across the ditch, where the poles of many +chariots were broken and the horses fled loose across the plain. + +The horses of Achilles cleared the ditch, and Patroclus drove them +between the Trojans and the wall of their own town, slaying many +men, and, chief of all, Sarpedon, king of the Lycians; and round +the body of Sarpedon the Trojans rallied under Hector, and the +fight swayed this way and that, and there was such a noise of +spears and swords smiting shields and helmets as when many +woodcutters fell trees in a glen of the hills. At last the Trojans +gave way, and the Greeks stripped the armour from the body of brave +Sarpedon; but men say that Sleep and Death, like two winged angels, +bore his body away to his own country. Now Patroclus forgot how +Achilles had told him not to pursue the Trojans across the plain, +but to return when he had driven them from the ships. On he raced, +slaying as he went, even till he reached the foot of the wall of +Troy. Thrice he tried to climb it, but thrice he fell back. + +Hector was in his chariot in the gateway, and he bade his squire +lash his horses into the war, and struck at no other man, great or +small, but drove straight against Patroclus, who stood and threw a +heavy stone at Hector; which missed him, but killed his charioteer. +Then Patroclus leaped on the charioteer to strip his armour, but +Hector stood over the body, grasping it by the head, while +Patroclus dragged at the feet, and spears and arrows flew in clouds +around the fallen man. At last, towards sunset, the Greeks drew +him out of the war, and Patroclus thrice charged into the thick of +the Trojans. But the helmet of Achilles was loosened in the fight, +and fell from the head of Patroclus, and he was wounded from +behind, and Hector, in front, drove his spear clean through his +body. With his last breath Patroclus prophesied: "Death stands +near thee, Hector, at the hands of noble Achilles." But Automedon +was driving back the swift horses, carrying to Achilles the news +that his dearest friend was slain. + +After Ulysses was wounded, early in this great battle, he was not +able to fight for several days, and, as the story is about Ulysses, +we must tell quite shortly how Achilles returned to the war to take +vengeance for Patroclus, and how he slew Hector. When Patroclus +fell, Hector seized the armour which the Gods had given to Peleus, +and Peleus to his son Achilles, while Achilles had lent it to +Patroclus that he might terrify the Trojans. Retiring out of reach +of spears, Hector took off his own armour and put on that of +Achilles, and Greeks and Trojans fought for the dead body of +Patroclus. Then Zeus, the chief of the Gods, looked down and said +that Hector should never come home out of the battle to his wife, +Andromache. But Hector returned into the fight around the dead +Patroclus, and here all the best men fought, and even Automedon, +who had been driving the chariot of Patroclus. Now when the +Trojans seemed to have the better of the fight, the Greeks sent +Antilochus, a son of old Nestor, to tell Achilles that his friend +was slain, and Antilochus ran, and Aias and his brother protected +the Greeks who were trying to carry the body of Patroclus back to +the ships. + +Swiftly Antilochus came running to Achilles, saying: "Fallen is +Patroclus, and they are fighting round his naked body, for Hector +has his armour." Then Achilles said never a word, but fell on the +floor of his hut, and threw black ashes on his yellow hair, till +Antilochus seized his hands, fearing that he would cut his own +throat with his dagger, for very sorrow. His mother, Thetis, arose +from the sea to comfort him, but he said that he desired to die if +he could not slay Hector, who had slain his friend. Then Thetis +told him that he could not fight without armour, and now he had +none; but she would go to the God of armour-making and bring from +him such a shield and helmet and breastplate as had never been seen +by men. + +Meanwhile the fight raged round the dead body of Patroclus, which +was defiled with blood and dust, near the ships, and was being +dragged this way and that, and torn and wounded. Achilles could +not bear this sight, yet his mother had warned him not to enter +without armour the battle where stones and arrows and spears were +flying like hail; and he was so tall and broad that he could put on +the arms of no other man. So he went down to the ditch as he was, +unarmed, and as he stood high above it, against the red sunset, +fire seemed to flow from his golden hair like the beacon blaze that +soars into the dark sky when an island town is attacked at night, +and men light beacons that their neighbours may see them and come +to their help from other isles. There Achilles stood in a +splendour of fire, and he shouted aloud, as clear as a clarion +rings when men fall on to attack a besieged city wall. Thrice +Achilles shouted mightily, and thrice the horses of the Trojans +shuddered for fear and turned back from the onslaught,--and thrice +the men of Troy were confounded and shaken with terror. Then the +Greeks drew the body of Patroclus out of the dust and the arrows, +and laid him on a bier, and Achilles followed, weeping, for he had +sent his friend with chariot and horses to the war; but home again +he welcomed him never more. Then the sun set and it was night. + +Now one of the Trojans wished Hector to retire within the walls of +Troy, for certainly Achilles would to-morrow be foremost in the +war. But Hector said, "Have ye not had your fill of being shut up +behind walls? Let Achilles fight; I will meet him in the open +field." The Trojans cheered, and they camped in the plain, while +in the hut of Achilles women washed the dead body of Patroclus, and +Achilles swore that he would slay Hector. + +In the dawn came Thetis, bearing to Achilles the new splendid +armour that the God had made for him. Then Achilles put on that +armour, and roused his men; but Ulysses, who knew all the rules of +honour, would not let him fight till peace had been made, with a +sacrifice and other ceremonies, between him and Agamemnon, and till +Agamemnon had given him all the presents which Achilles had before +refused. Achilles did not want them; he wanted only to fight, but +Ulysses made him obey, and do what was usual. Then the gifts were +brought, and Agamemnon stood up, and said that he was sorry for his +insolence, and the men took breakfast, but Achilles would neither +eat nor drink. He mounted his chariot, but the horse Xanthus bowed +his head till his long mane touched the ground, and, being a fairy +horse, the child of the West Wind, he spoke (or so men said), and +these were his words: "We shall bear thee swiftly and speedily, +but thou shalt be slain in fight, and thy dying day is near at +hand." "Well I know it," said Achilles, "but I will not cease from +fighting till I have given the Trojans their fill of war." + +So all that day he chased and slew the Trojans. He drove them into +the river, and, though the river came down in a red flood, he +crossed, and slew them on the plain. The plain caught fire, the +bushes and long dry grass blazed round him, but he fought his way +through the fire, and drove the Trojans to their walls. The gates +were thrown open, and the Trojans rushed through like frightened +fawns, and then they climbed to the battlements, and looked down in +safety, while the whole Greek army advanced in line under their +shields. + +But Hector stood still, alone, in front of the gate, and old Priam, +who saw Achilles rushing on, shining like a star in his new armour, +called with tears to Hector, "Come within the gate! This man has +slain many of my sons, and if he slays thee whom have I to help me +in my old age?" His mother also called to Hector, but he stood +firm, waiting for Achilles. Now the story says that he was afraid, +and ran thrice in full armour round Troy, with Achilles in pursuit. +But this cannot be true, for no mortal men could run thrice, in +heavy armour, with great shields that clanked against their ankles, +round the town of Troy: moreover Hector was the bravest of men, +and all the Trojan women were looking down at him from the walls. + +We cannot believe that he ran away, and the story goes on to tell +that he asked Achilles to make an agreement with him. The +conqueror in the fight should give back the body of the fallen to +be buried by his friends, but should keep his armour. But Achilles +said that he could make no agreement with Hector, and threw his +spear, which flew over Hector's shoulder. Then Hector threw his +spear, but it could not pierce the shield which the God had made +for Achilles. Hector had no other spear, and Achilles had one, so +Hector cried, "Let me not die without honour!" and drew his sword, +and rushed at Achilles, who sprang to meet him, but before Hector +could come within a sword-stroke Achilles had sent his spear clean +through the neck of Hector. He fell in the dust and Achilles said, +"Dogs and birds shall tear your flesh unburied." With his dying +breath Hector prayed him to take gold from Priam, and give back his +body to be burned in Troy. But Achilles said, "Hound! would that I +could bring myself to carve and eat thy raw flesh, but dogs shall +devour it, even if thy father offered me thy weight in gold." With +his last words Hector prophesied and said, "Remember me in the day +when Paris shall slay thee in the Scaean gate." Then his brave +soul went to the land of the Dead, which the Greeks called Hades. +To that land Ulysses sailed while he was still a living man, as the +story tells later. + +Then Achilles did a dreadful deed; he slit the feet of dead Hector +from heel to ankle, and thrust thongs through, and bound him by the +thongs to his chariot and trailed the body in the dust. All the +women of Troy who were on the walls raised a shriek, and Hector's +wife, Andromache, heard the sound. She had been in an inner room +of her house, weaving a purple web, and embroidering flowers on it, +and she was calling her bower maidens to make ready a bath for +Hector when he should come back tired from battle. But when she +heard the cry from the wall she trembled, and the shuttle with +which she was weaving fell from her hands. "Surely I heard the cry +of my husband's mother," she said, and she bade two of her maidens +come with her to see why the people lamented. + +She ran swiftly, and reached the battlements, and thence she saw +her dear husband's body being whirled through the dust towards the +ships, behind the chariot of Achilles. Then night came over her +eyes and she fainted. But when she returned to herself she cried +out that now none would defend her little boy, and other children +would push him away from feasts, saying, "Out with you; no father +of thine is at our table," and his father, Hector, would lie naked +at the ships, unclad, unburned, unlamented. To be unburned and +unburied was thought the greatest of misfortunes, because the dead +man unburned could not go into the House of Hades, God of the Dead, +but must always wander, alone and comfortless, in the dark +borderland between the dead and the living. + + + +THE CRUELTY OF ACHILLES, AND THE RANSOMING OF HECTOR + + + +When Achilles was asleep that night the ghost of Patroclus came, +saying, "Why dost thou not burn and bury me? for the other shadows +of dead men suffer me not to come near them, and lonely I wander +along the dark dwelling of Hades." Then Achilles awoke, and he +sent men to cut down trees, and make a huge pile of fagots and +logs. On this they laid Patroclus, covered with white linen, and +then they slew many cattle, and Achilles cut the throats of twelve +Trojan prisoners of war, meaning to burn them with Patroclus to do +him honour. This was a deed of shame, for Achilles was mad with +sorrow and anger for the death of his friend. Then they drenched +with wine the great pile of wood, which was thirty yards long and +broad, and set fire to it, and the fire blazed all through the +night and died down in the morning. They put the white bones of +Patroclus in a golden casket, and laid it in the hut of Achilles, +who said that, when he died, they must burn his body, and mix the +ashes with the ashes of his friend, and build over it a chamber of +stone, and cover the chamber with a great hill of earth, and set a +pillar of stone above it. This is one of the hills on the plain of +Troy, but the pillar has fallen from the tomb, long ago. + +Then, as the custom was, Achilles held games--chariot races, foot +races, boxing, wrestling, and archery--in honour of Patroclus. +Ulysses won the prize for the foot race, and for the wrestling, so +now his wound must have been healed. + +But Achilles still kept trailing Hector's dead body each day round +the hill that had been raised for the tomb of Patroclus, till the +Gods in heaven were angry, and bade Thetis tell her son that he +must give back the dead body to Priam, and take ransom for it, and +they sent a messenger to Priam to bid him redeem the body of his +son. It was terrible for Priam to have to go and humble himself +before Achilles, whose hands had been red with the blood of his +sons, but he did not disobey the Gods. He opened his chests, and +took out twenty-four beautiful embroidered changes of raiment; and +he weighed out ten heavy bars, or talents, of gold, and chose a +beautiful golden cup, and he called nine of his sons, Paris, and +Helenus, and Deiphobus, and the rest, saying, "Go, ye bad sons, my +shame; would that Hector lived and all of you were dead!" for +sorrow made him angry; "go, and get ready for me a wain, and lay on +it these treasures." So they harnessed mules to the wain, and +placed in it the treasures, and, after praying, Priam drove through +the night to the hut of Achilles. In he went, when no man looked +for him, and kneeled to Achilles, and kissed his terrible death- +dealing hands. "Have pity on me, and fear the Gods, and give me +back my dead son," he said, "and remember thine own father. Have +pity on me, who have endured to do what no man born has ever done +before, to kiss the hands that slew my sons." + +Then Achilles remembered his own father, far away, who now was old +and weak: and he wept, and Priam wept with him, and then Achilles +raised Priam from his knees and spoke kindly to him, admiring how +beautiful he still was in his old age, and Priam himself wondered +at the beauty of Achilles. And Achilles thought how Priam had long +been rich and happy, like his own father, Peleus, and now old age +and weakness and sorrow were laid upon both of them, for Achilles +knew that his own day of death was at hand, even at the doors. So +Achilles bade the women make ready the body of Hector for burial, +and they clothed him in a white mantle that Priam had brought, and +laid him in the wain; and supper was made ready, and Priam and +Achilles ate and drank together, and the women spread a bed for +Priam, who would not stay long, but stole away back to Troy while +Achilles was asleep. + +All the women came out to meet him, and to lament for Hector. They +carried the body into the house of Andromache and laid it on a bed, +and the women gathered around, and each in turn sang her song over +the great dead warrior. His mother bewailed him, and his wife, and +Helen of the fair hands, clad in dark mourning raiment, lifted up +her white arms, and said: "Hector, of all my brethren in Troy thou +wert the dearest, since Paris brought me hither. Would that ere +that day I had died! For this is now the twentieth year since I +came, and in all these twenty years never heard I a word from thee +that was bitter and unkind; others might upbraid me, thy sisters or +thy mother, for thy father was good to me as if he had been my own; +but then thou wouldst restrain them that spoke evil by the courtesy +of thy heart and thy gentle words. Ah! woe for thee, and woe for +me, whom all men shudder at, for there is now none in wide Troyland +to be my friend like thee, my brother and my friend!" + +So Helen lamented, but now was done all that men might do; a great +pile of wood was raised, and Hector was burned, and his ashes were +placed in a golden urn, in a dark chamber of stone, within a hollow +hill. + + + +HOW ULYSSES STOLE THE LUCK OF TROY + + + +After Hector was buried, the siege went on slowly, as it had done +during the first nine years of the war. The Greeks did not know at +that time how to besiege a city, as we saw, by way of digging +trenches and building towers, and battering the walls with machines +that threw heavy stones. The Trojans had lost courage, and dared +not go into the open plain, and they were waiting for the coming up +of new armies of allies--the Amazons, who were girl warriors from +far away, and an Eastern people called the Khita, whose king was +Memnon, the son of the Bright Dawn. + +Now everyone knew that, in the temple of the Goddess Pallas Athene, +in Troy, was a sacred image, which fell from heaven, called the +Palladium, and this very ancient image was the Luck of Troy. While +it remained safe in the temple people believed that Troy could +never be taken, but as it was in a guarded temple in the middle of +the town, and was watched by priestesses day and night, it seemed +impossible that the Greeks should ever enter the city secretly and +steal the Luck away. + +As Ulysses was the grandson of Autolycus, the Master Thief, he +often wished that the old man was with the Greeks, for if there was +a thing to steal Autolycus could steal it. But by this time +Autolycus was dead, and so Ulysses could only puzzle over the way +to steal the Luck of Troy, and wonder how his grandfather would +have set about it. He prayed for help secretly to Hermes, the God +of Thieves, when he sacrificed goats to him, and at last he had a +plan. + +There was a story that Anius, the King of the Isle of Delos, had +three daughters, named OEno, Spermo, and Elais, and that OEno could +turn water into wine, while Spermo could turn stones into bread, +and Elais could change mud into olive oil. Those fairy gifts, +people said, were given to the maidens by the Wine God, Dionysus, +and by the Goddess of Corn, Demeter. Now corn, and wine, and oil +were sorely needed by the Greeks, who were tired of paying much +gold and bronze to the Phoenician merchants for their supplies. +Ulysses therefore went to Agamemnon one day, and asked leave to +take his ship and voyage to Delos, to bring, if he could, the three +maidens to the camp, if indeed they could do these miracles. As no +fighting was going on, Agamemnon gave Ulysses leave to depart, so +he went on board his ship, with a crew of fifty men of Ithaca, and +away they sailed, promising to return in a month. + +Two or three days after that, a dirty old beggar man began to be +seen in the Greek camp. He had crawled in late one evening, +dressed in a dirty smock and a very dirty old cloak, full of holes, +and stained with smoke. Over everything he wore the skin of a +stag, with half the hair worn off, and he carried a staff, and a +filthy tattered wallet, to put food in, which swung from his neck +by a cord. He came crouching and smiling up to the door of the hut +of Diomede, and sat down just within the doorway, where beggars +still sit in the East. Diomede saw him, and sent him a loaf and +two handfuls of flesh, which the beggar laid on his wallet, between +his feet, and he made his supper greedily, gnawing a bone like a +dog. + +After supper Diomede asked him who he was and whence he came, and +he told a long story about how he had been a Cretan pirate, and had +been taken prisoner by the Egyptians when he was robbing there, and +how he had worked for many years in their stone quarries, where the +sun had burned him brown, and had escaped by hiding among the great +stones, carried down the Nile in a raft, for building a temple on +the seashore. The raft arrived at night, and the beggar said that +he stole out from it in the dark and found a Phoenician ship in the +harbour, and the Phoenicians took him on board, meaning to sell him +somewhere as a slave. But a tempest came on and wrecked the ship +off the Isle of Tenedos, which is near Troy, and the beggar alone +escaped to the island on a plank of the ship. From Tenedos he had +come to Troy in a fisher's boat, hoping to make himself useful in +the camp, and earn enough to keep body and soul together till he +could find a ship sailing to Crete. + +He made his story rather amusing, describing the strange ways of +the Egyptians; how they worshipped cats and bulls, and did +everything in just the opposite of the Greek way of doing things. +So Diomede let him have a rug and blankets to sleep on in the +portico of the hut, and next day the old wretch went begging about +the camp and talking with the soldiers. Now he was a most impudent +and annoying old vagabond, and was always in quarrels. If there +was a disagreeable story about the father or grandfather of any of +the princes, he knew it and told it, so that he got a blow from the +baton of Agamemnon, and Aias gave him a kick, and Idomeneus drubbed +him with the butt of his spear for a tale about his grandmother, +and everybody hated him and called him a nuisance. He was for ever +jeering at Ulysses, who was far away, and telling tales about +Autolycus, and at last he stole a gold cup, a very large cup, with +two handles, and a dove sitting on each handle, from the hut of +Nestor. The old chief was fond of this cup, which he had brought +from home, and, when it was found in the beggar's dirty wallet, +everybody cried that he must be driven out of the camp and well +whipped. So Nestor's son, young Thrasymedes, with other young men, +laughing and shouting, pushed and dragged the beggar close up to +the Scaean gate of Troy, where Thrasymedes called with a loud +voice, "O Trojans, we are sick of this shameless beggar. First we +shall whip him well, and if he comes back we shall put out his eyes +and cut off his hands and feet, and give him to the dogs to eat. +He may go to you, if he likes; if not, he must wander till he dies +of hunger." + +The young men of Troy heard this and laughed, and a crowd gathered +on the wall to see the beggar punished. So Thrasymedes whipped him +with his bowstring till he was tired, and they did not leave off +beating the beggar till he ceased howling and fell, all bleeding, +and lay still. Then Thrasymedes gave him a parting kick, and went +away with his friends. The beggar lay quiet for some time, then he +began to stir, and sat up, wiping the tears from his eyes, and +shouting curses and bad words after the Greeks, praying that they +might be speared in the back, and eaten by dogs. + +At last he tried to stand up, but fell down again, and began to +crawl on hands and knees towards the Scaean gate. There he sat +down, within the two side walls of the gate, where he cried and +lamented. Now Helen of the fair hands came down from the gate +tower, being sorry to see any man treated so much worse than a +beast, and she spoke to the beggar and asked him why he had been +used in this cruel way? + +At first he only moaned, and rubbed his sore sides, but at last he +said that he was an unhappy man, who had been shipwrecked, and was +begging his way home, and that the Greeks suspected him of being a +spy sent out by the Trojans. But he had been in Lacedaemon, her +own country, he said, and could tell her about her father, if she +were, as he supposed, the beautiful Helen, and about her brothers, +Castor and Polydeuces, and her little daughter, Hermione. + +"But perhaps," he said, "you are no mortal woman, but some goddess +who favours the Trojans, and if indeed you are a goddess then I +liken you to Aphrodite, for beauty, and stature, and shapeliness." +Then Helen wept; for many a year had passed since she had heard any +word of her father, and daughter, and her brothers, who were dead, +though she knew it not. So she stretched out her white hand, and +raised the beggar, who was kneeling at her feet, and bade him +follow her to her own house, within the palace garden of King +Priam. + +Helen walked forward, with a bower maiden at either side, and the +beggar crawling after her. When she had entered her house, Paris +was not there, so she ordered the bath to be filled with warm +water, and new clothes to be brought, and she herself washed the +old beggar and anointed him with oil. This appears very strange to +us, for though Saint Elizabeth of Hungary used to wash and clothe +beggars, we are surprised that Helen should do so, who was not a +saint. But long afterwards she herself told the son of Ulysses, +Telemachus, that she had washed his father when he came into Troy +disguised as a beggar who had been sorely beaten. + +You must have guessed that the beggar was Ulysses, who had not gone +to Delos in his ship, but stolen back in a boat, and appeared +disguised among the Greeks. He did all this to make sure that +nobody could recognise him, and he behaved so as to deserve a +whipping that he might not be suspected as a Greek spy by the +Trojans, but rather be pitied by them. Certainly he deserved his +name of "the much-enduring Ulysses." + +Meanwhile he sat in his bath and Helen washed his feet. But when +she had done, and had anointed his wounds with olive oil, and when +she had clothed him in a white tunic and a purple mantle, then she +opened her lips to cry out with amazement, for she knew Ulysses; +but he laid his finger on her lips, saying "Hush!" Then she +remembered how great danger he was in, for the Trojans, if they +found him, would put him to some cruel death, and she sat down, +trembling and weeping, while he watched her. + +"Oh thou strange one," she said, "how enduring is thy heart and how +cunning beyond measure! How hast thou borne to be thus beaten and +disgraced, and to come within the walls of Troy? Well it is for +thee that Paris, my lord, is far from home, having gone to guide +Penthesilea, the Queen of the warrior maids whom men call Amazons, +who is on her way to help the Trojans." + +Then Ulysses smiled, and Helen saw that she had said a word which +she ought not to have spoken, and had revealed the secret hope of +the Trojans. Then she wept, and said, "Oh cruel and cunning! You +have made me betray the people with whom I live, though woe is me +that ever I left my own people, and my husband dear, and my child! +And now if you escape alive out of Troy, you will tell the Greeks, +and they will lie in ambush by night for the Amazons on the way to +Troy and will slay them all. If you and I were not friends long +ago, I would tell the Trojans that you are here, and they would +give your body to the dogs to eat, and fix your head on the +palisade above the wall. Woe is me that ever I was born." + +Ulysses answered, "Lady, as you have said, we two are friends from +of old, and your friend I will be till the last, when the Greeks +break into Troy, and slay the men, and carry the women captives. +If I live till that hour no man shall harm you, but safely and in +honour you shall come to your palace in Lacedaemon of the rifted +hills. Moreover, I swear to you a great oath, by Zeus above, and +by Them that under earth punish the souls of men who swear falsely, +that I shall tell no man the thing which you have spoken." + +So when he had sworn and done that oath, Helen was comforted and +dried her tears. Then she told him how unhappy she was, and how +she had lost her last comfort when Hector died. "Always am I +wretched," she said, "save when sweet sleep falls on me. Now the +wife of Thon, King of Egypt, gave me this gift when we were in +Egypt, on our way to Troy, namely, a drug that brings sleep even to +the most unhappy, and it is pressed from the poppy heads of the +garland of the God of Sleep." Then she showed him strange phials +of gold, full of this drug: phials wrought by the Egyptians, and +covered with magic spells and shapes of beasts and flowers. "One +of these I will give you," she said, "that even from Troy town you +may not go without a gift in memory of the hands of Helen." So +Ulysses took the phial of gold, and was glad in his heart, and +Helen set before him meat and wine. When he had eaten and drunk, +and his strength had come back to him, he said: + +"Now I must dress me again in my old rags, and take my wallet, and +my staff, and go forth, and beg through Troy town. For here I must +abide for some days as a beggar man, lest if I now escape from your +house in the night the Trojans may think that you have told me the +secrets of their counsel, which I am carrying to the Greeks, and +may be angry with you." So he clothed himself again as a beggar, +and took his staff, and hid the phial of gold with the Egyptian +drug in his rags, and in his wallet also he put the new clothes +that Helen had given him, and a sword, and he took farewell, +saying, "Be of good heart, for the end of your sorrows is at hand. +But if you see me among the beggars in the street, or by the well, +take no heed of me, only I will salute you as a beggar who has been +kindly treated by a Queen." + +So they parted, and Ulysses went out, and when it was day he was +with the beggars in the streets, but by night he commonly slept +near the fire of a smithy forge, as is the way of beggars. So for +some days he begged, saying that he was gathering food to eat while +he walked to some town far away that was at peace, where he might +find work to do. He was not impudent now, and did not go to rich +men's houses or tell evil tales, or laugh, but he was much in the +temples, praying to the Gods, and above all in the temple of Pallas +Athene. The Trojans thought that he was a pious man for a beggar. + +Now there was a custom in these times that men and women who were +sick or in distress, should sleep at night on the floors of the +temples. They did this hoping that the God would send them a dream +to show them how their diseases might be cured, or how they might +find what they had lost, or might escape from their distresses. + +Ulysses slept in more than one temple, and once in that of Pallas +Athene, and the priests and priestesses were kind to him, and gave +him food in the morning when the gates of the temple were opened. + +In the temple of Pallas Athene, where the Luck of Troy lay always +on her altar, the custom was that priestesses kept watch, each for +two hours, all through the night, and soldiers kept guard within +call. So one night Ulysses slept there, on the floor, with other +distressed people, seeking for dreams from the Gods. He lay still +all through the night till the turn of the last priestess came to +watch. The priestess used to walk up and down with bare feet among +the dreaming people, having a torch in her hand, and muttering +hymns to the Goddess. Then Ulysses, when her back was turned, +slipped the gold phial out of his rags, and let it lie on the +polished floor beside him. When the priestess came back again, the +light from her torch fell on the glittering phial, and she stooped +and picked it up, and looked at it curiously. There came from it a +sweet fragrance, and she opened it, and tasted the drug. It seemed +to her the sweetest thing that ever she had tasted, and she took +more and more, and then closed the phial and laid it down, and went +along murmuring her hymn. + +But soon a great drowsiness came over her, and she sat down on the +step of the altar, and fell sound asleep, and the torch sunk in her +hand, and went out, and all was dark. Then Ulysses put the phial +in his wallet, and crept very cautiously to the altar, in the dark, +and stole the Luck of Troy. It was only a small black mass of what +is now called meteoric iron, which sometimes comes down with +meteorites from the sky, but it was shaped like a shield, and the +people thought it an image of the warlike shielded Goddess, fallen +from Heaven. Such sacred shields, made of glass and ivory, are +found deep in the earth in the ruined cities of Ulysses' time. +Swiftly Ulysses hid the Luck in his rags and left in its place on +the altar a copy of the Luck, which he had made of blackened clay. +Then he stole back to the place where he had lain, and remained +there till dawn appeared, and the sleepers who sought for dreams +awoke, and the temple gates were opened, and Ulysses walked out +with the rest of them. + +He stole down a lane, where as yet no people were stirring, and +crept along, leaning on his staff, till he came to the eastern +gate, at the back of the city, which the Greeks never attacked, for +they had never drawn their army in a circle round the town. There +Ulysses explained to the sentinels that he had gathered food enough +to last for a long journey to some other town, and opened his bag, +which seemed full of bread and broken meat. The soldiers said he +was a lucky beggar, and let him out. He walked slowly along the +waggon road by which wood was brought into Troy from the forests on +Mount Ida, and when he found that nobody was within sight he +slipped into the forest, and stole into a dark thicket, hiding +beneath the tangled boughs. Here he lay and slept till evening, +and then took the new clothes which Helen had given him out of his +wallet, and put them on, and threw the belt of the sword over his +shoulder, and hid the Luck of Troy in his bosom. He washed himself +clean in a mountain brook, and now all who saw him must have known +that he was no beggar, but Ulysses of Ithaca, Laertes' son. + +So he walked cautiously down the side of the brook which ran +between high banks deep in trees, and followed it till it reached +the river Xanthus, on the left of the Greek lines. Here he found +Greek sentinels set to guard the camp, who cried aloud in joy and +surprise, for his ship had not yet returned from Delos, and they +could not guess how Ulysses had come back alone across the sea. So +two of the sentinels guarded Ulysses to the hut of Agamemnon, where +he and Achilles and all the chiefs were sitting at a feast. They +all leaped up, but when Ulysses took the Luck of Troy from within +his mantle, they cried that this was the bravest deed that had been +done in the war, and they sacrificed ten oxen to Zeus. + +"So you were the old beggar," said young Thrasymedes. + +"Yes," said Ulysses, "and when next you beat a beggar, Thrasymedes, +do not strike so hard and so long." + +That night all the Greeks were full of hope, for now they had the +Luck of Troy, but the Trojans were in despair, and guessed that the +beggar was the thief, and that Ulysses had been the beggar. The +priestess, Theano, could tell them nothing; they found her, with +the extinguished torch drooping in her hand, asleep, as she sat on +the step of the altar, and she never woke again. + + + +THE BATTLES WITH THE AMAZONS AND MEMNON--THE DEATH OF ACHILLES + + + +Ulysses thought much and often of Helen, without whose kindness he +could not have saved the Greeks by stealing the Luck of Troy. He +saw that, though she remained as beautiful as when the princes all +sought her hand, she was most unhappy, knowing herself to be the +cause of so much misery, and fearing what the future might bring. +Ulysses told nobody about the secret which she had let fall, the +coming of the Amazons. + +The Amazons were a race of warlike maids, who lived far away on the +banks of the river Thermodon. They had fought against Troy in +former times, and one of the great hill-graves on the plain of Troy +covered the ashes of an Amazon, swift-footed Myrine. People +believed that they were the daughters of the God of War, and they +were reckoned equal in battle to the bravest men. Their young +Queen, Penthesilea, had two reasons for coming to fight at Troy: +one was her ambition to win renown, and the other her sleepless +sorrow for having accidentally killed her sister, Hippolyte, when +hunting. The spear which she threw at a stag struck Hippolyte and +slew her, and Penthesilea cared no longer for her own life, and +desired to fall gloriously in battle. So Penthesilea and her +bodyguard of twelve Amazons set forth from the wide streams of +Thermodon, and rode into Troy. The story says that they did not +drive in chariots, like all the Greek and Trojan chiefs, but rode +horses, which must have been the manner of their country. + +Penthesilea was the tallest and most beautiful of the Amazons, and +shone among her twelve maidens like the moon among the stars, or +the bright Dawn among the Hours which follow her chariot wheels. +The Trojans rejoiced when they beheld her, for she looked both +terrible and beautiful, with a frown on her brow, and fair shining +eyes, and a blush on her cheeks. To the Trojans she came like +Iris, the Rainbow, after a storm, and they gathered round her +cheering, and throwing flowers and kissing her stirrup, as the +people of Orleans welcomed Joan of Arc when she came to deliver +them. Even Priam was glad, as is a man long blind, when he has +been healed, and again looks upon the light of the sun. Priam held +a great feast, and gave to Penthesilea many beautiful gifts: cups +of gold, and embroideries, and a sword with a hilt of silver, and +she vowed that she would slay Achilles. But when Andromache, the +wife of Hector, heard her she said within herself, "Ah, unhappy +girl, what is this boast of thine! Thou hast not the strength to +fight the unconquerable son of Peleus, for if Hector could not slay +him, what chance hast thou? But the piled-up earth covers Hector!" + +In the morning Penthesilea sprang up from sleep and put on her +glorious armour, with spear in hand, and sword at side, and bow and +quiver hung behind her back, and her great shield covering her side +from neck to stirrup, and mounted her horse, and galloped to the +plain. Beside her charged the twelve maidens of her bodyguard, and +all the company of Hector's brothers and kinsfolk. These headed +the Trojan lines, and they rushed towards the ships of the Greeks. + +Then the Greeks asked each other, "Who is this that leads the +Trojans as Hector led them, surely some God rides in the van of the +charioteers!" Ulysses could have told them who the new leader of +the Trojans was, but it seems that he had not the heart to fight +against women, for his name is not mentioned in this day's battle. +So the two lines clashed, and the plain of Troy ran red with blood, +for Penthesilea slew Molios, and Persinoos, and Eilissos, and +Antiphates, and Lernos high of heart, and Hippalmos of the loud +warcry, and Haemonides, and strong Elasippus, while her maidens +Derinoe and Clonie slew each a chief of the Greeks. But Clonie +fell beneath the spear of Podarkes, whose hand Penthesilea cut off +with the sword, while Idomeneus speared the Amazon Bremousa, and +Meriones of Crete slew Evadre, and Diomede killed Alcibie and +Derimacheia in close fight with the sword, so the company of the +Twelve were thinned, the bodyguard of Penthesilea. + +The Trojans and Greeks kept slaying each other, but Penthesilea +avenged her maidens, driving the ranks of Greece as a lioness +drives the cattle on the hills, for they could not stand before +her. Then she shouted, "Dogs! to-day shall you pay for the sorrows +of Priam! Where is Diomede, where is Achilles, where is Aias, +that, men say, are your bravest? Will none of them stand before my +spear?" Then she charged again, at the head of the Household of +Priam, brothers and kinsmen of Hector, and where they came the +Greeks fell like yellow leaves before the wind of autumn. The +white horse that Penthesilea rode, a gift from the wife of the +North Wind, flashed like lightning through a dark cloud among the +companies of the Greeks, and the chariots that followed the charge +of the Amazon rocked as they swept over the bodies of the slain. +Then the old Trojans, watching from the walls, cried: "This is no +mortal maiden but a Goddess, and to-day she will burn the ships of +the Greeks, and they will all perish in Troyland, and see Greece +never more again." + +Now it so was that Aias and Achilles had not heard the din and the +cry of war, for both had gone to weep over the great new grave of +Patroclus. Penthesilea and the Trojans had driven back the Greeks +within their ditch, and they were hiding here and there among the +ships, and torches were blazing in men's hands to burn the ships, +as in the day of the valour of Hector: when Aias heard the din of +battle, and called to Achilles to make speed towards the ships. + +So they ran swiftly to their huts, and armed themselves, and Aias +fell smiting and slaying upon the Trojans, but Achilles slew five +of the bodyguard of Penthesilea. She, beholding her maidens +fallen, rode straight against Aias and Achilles, like a dove +defying two falcons, and cast her spear, but it fell back blunted +from the glorious shield that the God had made for the son of +Peleus. Then she threw another spear at Aias, crying, "I am the +daughter of the God of War," but his armour kept out the spear, and +he and Achilles laughed aloud. Aias paid no more heed to the +Amazon, but rushed against the Trojan men; while Achilles raised +the heavy spear that none but he could throw, and drove it down +through breastplate and breast of Penthesilea, yet still her hand +grasped her sword-hilt. But, ere she could draw her sword, +Achilles speared her horse, and horse and rider fell, and died in +their fall. + +There lay fair Penthesilea in the dust, like a tall poplar tree +that the wind has overthrown, and her helmet fell, and the Greeks +who gathered round marvelled to see her lie so beautiful in death, +like Artemis, the Goddess of the Woods, when she sleeps alone, +weary with hunting on the hills. Then the heart of Achilles was +pierced with pity and sorrow, thinking how she might have been his +wife in his own country, had he spared her, but he was never to see +pleasant Phthia, his native land, again. So Achilles stood and +wept over Penthesilea dead. + +Now the Greeks, in pity and sorrow, held their hands, and did not +pursue the Trojans who had fled, nor did they strip the armour from +Penthesilea and her twelve maidens, but laid the bodies on biers, +and sent them back in peace to Priam. Then the Trojans burned +Penthesilea in the midst of her dead maidens, on a great pile of +dry wood, and placed their ashes in a golden casket, and buried +them all in the great hill-grave of Laomedon, an ancient King of +Troy, while the Greeks with lamentation buried them whom the Amazon +had slain. + +The old men of Troy and the chiefs now held a council, and Priam +said that they must not yet despair, for, if they had lost many of +their bravest warriors, many of the Greeks had also fallen. Their +best plan was to fight only with arrows from the walls and towers, +till King Memnon came to their rescue with a great army of +Aethiopes. Now Memnon was the son of the bright Dawn, a beautiful +Goddess who had loved and married a mortal man, Tithonus. She had +asked Zeus, the chief of the Gods, to make her lover immortal, and +her prayer was granted. Tithonus could not die, but he began to +grow grey, and then white haired, with a long white beard, and very +weak, till nothing of him seemed to be left but his voice, always +feebly chattering like the grasshoppers on a summer day. + +Memnon was the most beautiful of men, except Paris and Achilles, +and his home was in a country that borders on the land of +sunrising. There he was reared by the lily maidens called +Hesperides, till he came to his full strength, and commanded the +whole army of the Aethiopes. For their arrival Priam wished to +wait, but Polydamas advised that the Trojans should give back Helen +to the Greeks, with jewels twice as valuable as those which she had +brought from the house of Menelaus. Then Paris was very angry, and +said that Polydamas was a coward, for it was little to Paris that +Troy should be taken and burned in a month if for a month he could +keep Helen of the fair hands. + +At length Memnon came, leading a great army of men who had nothing +white about them but the teeth, so fiercely the sun burned on them +in their own country. The Trojans had all the more hopes of Memnon +because, on his long journey from the land of sunrising, and the +river Oceanus that girdles the round world, he had been obliged to +cross the country of the Solymi. Now the Solymi were the fiercest +of men and rose up against Memnon, but he and his army fought them +for a whole day, and defeated them, and drove them to the hills. +When Memnon came, Priam gave him a great cup of gold, full of wine +to the brim, and Memnon drank the wine at one draught. But he did +not make great boasts of what he could do, like poor Penthesilea, +"for," said he, "whether I am a good man at arms will be known in +battle, where the strength of men is tried. So now let us turn to +sleep, for to wake and drink wine all through the night is an ill +beginning of war." + +Then Priam praised his wisdom, and all men betook them to bed, but +the bright Dawn rose unwillingly next day, to throw light on the +battle where her son was to risk his fife. Then Memnon led out the +dark clouds of his men into the plain, and the Greeks foreboded +evil when they saw so great a new army of fresh and unwearied +warriors, but Achilles, leading them in his shining armour, gave +them courage. Memnon fell upon the left wing of the Greeks, and on +the men of Nestor, and first he slew Ereuthus, and then attacked +Nestor's young son, Antilochus, who, now that Patroclus had fallen, +was the dearest friend of Achilles. On him Memnon leaped, like a +lion on a kid, but Antilochus lifted a huge stone from the plain, a +pillar that had been set on the tomb of some great warrior long +ago, and the stone smote full on the helmet of Memnon, who reeled +beneath the stroke. But Memnon seized his heavy spear, and drove +it through shield and corselet of Antilochus, even into his heart, +and he fell and died beneath his father's eyes. Then Nestor in +great sorrow and anger strode across the body of Antilochus and +called to his other son, Thrasymedes, "Come and drive afar this man +that has slain thy brother, for if fear be in thy heart thou art no +son of mine, nor of the race of Periclymenus, who stood up in +battle even against the strong man Heracles!" + +But Memnon was too strong for Thrasymedes, and drove him off, while +old Nestor himself charged sword in hand, though Memnon bade him +begone, for he was not minded to strike so aged a man, and Nestor +drew back, for he was weak with age. Then Memnon and his army +charged the Greeks, slaying and stripping the dead. But Nestor had +mounted his chariot and driven to Achilles, weeping, and imploring +him to come swiftly and save the body of Antilochus, and he sped to +meet Memnon, who lifted a great stone, the landmark of a field, and +drove it against the shield of the son of Peleus. But Achilles was +not shaken by the blow; he ran forward, and wounded Memnon over the +rim of his shield. Yet wounded as he was Memnon fought on and +struck his spear through the arm of Achilles, for the Greeks fought +with no sleeves of bronze to protect their arms. + +Then Achilles drew his great sword, and flew on Memnon, and with +sword-strokes they lashed at each other on shield and helmet, and +the long horsehair crests of the helmets were shorn off, and flew +down the wind, and their shields rang terribly beneath the sword +strokes. They thrust at each others' throats between shield and +visor of the helmet, they smote at knee, and thrust at breast, and +the armour rang about their bodies, and the dust from beneath their +feet rose up in a cloud around them, like mist round the falls of a +great river in flood. So they fought, neither of them yielding a +step, till Achilles made so rapid a thrust that Memnon could not +parry it, and the bronze sword passed clean through his body +beneath the breast-bone, and he fell, and his armour clashed as he +fell. + +Then Achilles, wounded as he was and weak from loss of blood, did +not stay to strip the golden armour of Memnon, but shouted his +warcry, and pressed on, for he hoped to enter the gate of Troy with +the fleeing Trojans, and all the Greeks followed after him. So +they pursued, slaying as they went, and the Scaean gate was choked +with the crowd of men, pursuing and pursued. In that hour would +the Greeks have entered Troy, and burned the city, and taken the +women captive, but Paris stood on the tower above the gate, and in +his mind was anger for the death of his brother Hector. He tried +the string of his bow, and found it frayed, for all day he had +showered his arrows on the Greeks; so he chose a new bowstring, and +fitted it, and strung the bow, and chose an arrow from his quiver, +and aimed at the ankle of Achilles, where it was bare beneath the +greave, or leg-guard of metal, that the God had fashioned for him. +Through the ankle flew the arrow, and Achilles wheeled round, weak +as he was, and stumbled, and fell, and the armour that the God had +wrought was defiled with dust and blood. + +Then Achilles rose again, and cried: "What coward has smitten me +with a secret arrow from afar? Let him stand forth and meet me +with sword and spear!" So speaking he seized the shaft with his +strong hands and tore it out of the wound, and much blood gushed, +and darkness came over his eyes. Yet he staggered forward, +striking blindly, and smote Orythaon, a dear friend of Hector, +through the helmet, and others he smote, but now his force failed +him, and he leaned on his spear, and cried his warcry, and said, +"Cowards of Troy, ye shall not all escape my spear, dying as I am." +But as he spoke he fell, and all his armour rang around him, yet +the Trojans stood apart and watched; and as hunters watch a dying +lion not daring to go nigh him, so the Trojans stood in fear till +Achilles drew his latest breath. Then from the wall the Trojan +women raised a great cry of joy over him who had slain the noble +Hector: and thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Hector, that +Achilles should fall in the Scaean gateway, by the hand of Paris. + +Then the best of the Trojans rushed forth from the gate to seize +the body of Achilles, and his glorious armour, but the Greeks were +as eager to carry the body to the ships that it might have due +burial. Round the dead Achilles men fought long and sore, and both +sides were mixed, Greeks and Trojans, so that men dared not shoot +arrows from the walls of Troy lest they should kill their own +friends. Paris, and Aeneas, and Glaucus, who had been the friend +of Sarpedon, led the Trojans, and Aias and Ulysses led the Greeks, +for we are not told that Agamemnon was fighting in this great +battle of the war. Now as angry wild bees flock round a man who is +taking their honeycombs, so the Trojans gathered round Aias, +striving to stab him, but he set his great shield in front, and +smote and slew all that came within reach of his spear. Ulysses, +too, struck down many, and though a spear was thrown and pierced +his leg near the knee he stood firm, protecting the body of +Achilles. At last Ulysses caught the body of Achilles by the +hands, and heaved it upon his back, and so limped towards the +ships, but Aias and the men of Aias followed, turning round if ever +the Trojans ventured to come near, and charging into the midst of +them. Thus very slowly they bore the dead Achilles across the +plain, through the bodies of the fallen and the blood, till they +met Nestor in his chariot and placed Achilles therein, and swiftly +Nestor drove to the ships. + +There the women, weeping, washed Achilles' comely body, and laid +him on a bier with a great white mantle over him, and all the women +lamented and sang dirges, and the first was Briseis, who loved +Achilles better than her own country, and her father, and her +brothers whom he had slain in war. The Greek princes, too, stood +round the body, weeping and cutting off their long locks of yellow +hair, a token of grief and an offering to the dead. + +Men say that forth from the sea came Thetis of the silver feet, the +mother of Achilles, with her ladies, the deathless maidens of the +waters. They rose up from their glassy chambers below the sea, +moving on, many and beautiful, like the waves on a summer day, and +their sweet song echoed along the shores, and fear came upon the +Greeks. Then they would have fled, but Nestor cried: "Hold, flee +not, young lords of the Achaeans! Lo, she that comes from the sea +is his mother, with the deathless maidens of the waters, to look on +the face of her dead son." Then the sea nymphs stood around the +dead Achilles and clothed him in the garments of the Gods, fragrant +raiment, and all the Nine Muses, one to the other replying with +sweet voices, began their lament. + +Next the Greeks made a great pile of dry wood, and laid Achilles on +it, and set fire to it, till the flames had consumed his body +except the white ashes. These they placed in a great golden cup +and mingled with them the ashes of Patroclus, and above all they +built a tomb like a hill, high on a headland above the sea, that +men for all time may see it as they go sailing by, and may remember +Achilles. Next they held in his honour foot races and chariot +races, and other games, and Thetis gave splendid prizes. Last of +all, when the games were ended, Thetis placed before the chiefs the +glorious armour that the God had made for her son on the night +after the slaying of Patroclus by Hector. "Let these arms be the +prize of the best of the Greeks," she said, "and of him that saved +the body of Achilles out of the hands of the Trojans." + +Then stood up on one side Aias and on the other Ulysses, for these +two had rescued the body, and neither thought himself a worse +warrior than the other. Both were the bravest of the brave, and if +Aias was the taller and stronger, and upheld the fight at the ships +on the day of the valour of Hector; Ulysses had alone withstood the +Trojans, and refused to retreat even when wounded, and his courage +and cunning had won for the Greeks the Luck of Troy. Therefore old +Nestor arose and said: "This is a luckless day, when the best of +the Greeks are rivals for such a prize. He who is not the winner +will be heavy at heart, and will not stand firm by us in battle, as +of old, and hence will come great loss to the Greeks. Who can be a +just judge in this question, for some men will love Aias better, +and some will prefer Ulysses, and thus will arise disputes among +ourselves. Lo! have we not here among us many Trojan prisoners, +waiting till their friends pay their ransom in cattle and gold and +bronze and iron? These hate all the Greeks alike, and will favour +neither Aias nor Ulysses. Let THEM be the judges, and decide who +is the best of the Greeks, and the man who has done most harm to +the Trojans." + +Agamemnon said that Nestor had spoken wisely. The Trojans were +then made to sit as judges in the midst of the Assembly, and Aias +and Ulysses spoke, and told the stories of their own great deeds, +of which we have heard already, but Aias spoke roughly and +discourteously, calling Ulysses a coward and a weakling. "Perhaps +the Trojans know," said Ulysses quietly, "whether they think that I +deserve what Aias has said about me, that I am a coward; and +perhaps Aias may remember that he did not find me so weak when we +wrestled for a prize at the funeral of Patroclus." + +Then the Trojans all with one voice said that Ulysses was the best +man among the Greeks, and the most feared by them, both for his +courage and his skill in stratagems of war. On this, the blood of +Aias flew into his face, and he stood silent and unmoving, and +could not speak a word, till his friends came round him and led him +away to his hut, and there he sat down and would not eat or drink, +and the night fell. + +Long he sat, musing in his mind, and then rose and put on all his +armour, and seized a sword that Hector had given him one day when +they two fought in a gentle passage of arms, and took courteous +farewell of each other, and Aias had given Hector a broad sword- +belt, wrought with gold. This sword, Hector's gift, Aias took, and +went towards the hut of Ulysses, meaning to carve him limb from +limb, for madness had come upon him in his great grief. Rushing +through the night to slay Ulysses he fell upon the flock of sheep +that the Greeks kept for their meat. And up and down among them he +went, smiting blindly till the dawn came, and, lo! his senses +returned to him, and he saw that he had not smitten Ulysses, but +stood in a pool of blood among the sheep that he had slain. He +could not endure the disgrace of his madness, and he fixed the +sword, Hector's gift, with its hilt firmly in the ground, and went +back a little way, and ran and fell upon the sword, which pierced +his heart, and so died the great Aias, choosing death before a +dishonoured life. + + + +ULYSSES SAILS TO SEEK THE SON OF ACHILLES.--THE VALOUR OF EURYPYLUS + + + +When the Greeks found Aias lying dead, slain by his own hand, they +made great lament, and above all the brother of Aias, and his wife +Tecmessa bewailed him, and the shores of the sea rang with their +sorrow. But of all no man was more grieved than Ulysses, and he +stood up and said: "Would that the sons of the Trojans had never +awarded to me the arms of Achilles, for far rather would I have +given them to Aias than that this loss should have befallen the +whole army of the Greeks. Let no man blame me, or be angry with +me, for I have not sought for wealth, to enrich myself, but for +honour only, and to win a name that will be remembered among men in +times to come." Then they made a great fire of wood, and burned +the body of Aias, lamenting him as they had sorrowed for Achilles. + +Now it seemed that though the Greeks had won the Luck of Troy and +had defeated the Amazons and the army of Memnon, they were no +nearer taking Troy than ever. They had slain Hector, indeed, and +many other Trojans, but they had lost the great Achilles, and Aias, +and Patroclus, and Antilochus, with the princes whom Penthesilea +and Memnon slew, and the bands of the dead chiefs were weary of +fighting, and eager to go home. The chiefs met in council, and +Menelaus arose and said that his heart was wasted with sorrow for +the death of so many brave men who had sailed to Troy for his sake. +"Would that death had come upon me before I gathered this host," he +said, "but come, let the rest of us launch our swift ships, and +return each to our own country." + +He spoke thus to try the Greeks, and see of what courage they were, +for his desire was still to burn Troy town and to slay Paris with +his own hand. Then up rose Diomede, and swore that never would the +Greeks turn cowards. No! he bade them sharpen their swords, and +make ready for battle. The prophet Calchas, too, arose and +reminded the Greeks how he had always foretold that they would take +Troy in the tenth year of the siege, and how the tenth year had +come, and victory was almost in their hands. Next Ulysses stood up +and said that, though Achilles was dead, and there was no prince to +lead his men, yet a son had been born to Achilles, while he was in +the isle of Scyros, and that son he would bring to fill his +father's place. + +"Surely he will come, and for a token I will carry to him those +unhappy arms of the great Achilles. Unworthy am I to wear them, +and they bring back to my mind our sorrow for Aias. But his son +will wear them, in the front of the spearmen of Greece and in the +thickest ranks of Troy shall the helmet of Achilles shine, as it +was wont to do, for always he fought among the foremost." Thus +Ulysses spoke, and he and Diomede, with fifty oarsmen, went on +board a swift ship, and sitting all in order on the benches they +smote the grey sea into foam, and Ulysses held the helm and steered +them towards the isle of Scyros. + +Now the Trojans had rest from war for a while, and Priam, with a +heavy heart, bade men take his chief treasure, the great golden +vine, with leaves and clusters of gold, and carry it to the mother +of Eurypylus, the king of the people who dwell where the wide +marshlands of the river Cayster clang with the cries of the cranes +and herons and wild swans. For the mother of Eurypylus had sworn +that never would she let her son go to the war unless Priam sent +her the vine of gold, a gift of the gods to an ancient King of +Troy. + +With a heavy heart, then, Priam sent the golden vine, but Eurypylus +was glad when he saw it, and bade all his men arm, and harness the +horses to the chariots, and glad were the Trojans when the long +line of the new army wound along the road and into the town. Then +Paris welcomed Eurypylus who was his nephew, son of his sister +Astyoche, a daughter of Priam; but the grandfather of Eurypylus was +the famous Heracles, the strongest man who ever lived on earth. So +Paris brought Eurypylus to his house, where Helen sat working at +her embroideries with her four bower maidens, and Eurypylus +marvelled when he saw her, she was so beautiful. But the Khita, +the people of Eurypylus, feasted in the open air among the Trojans, +by the light of great fires burning, and to the music of pipes and +flutes. The Greeks saw the fires, and heard the merry music, and +they watched all night lest the Trojans should attack the ships +before the dawn. But in the dawn Eurypylus rose from sleep and put +on his armour, and hung from his neck by the belt the great shield +on which were fashioned, in gold of many colours and in silver, the +Twelve Adventures of Heracles, his grandfather; strange deeds that +he did, fighting with monsters and giants and with the Hound of +Hades, who guards the dwellings of the dead. Then Eurypylus led on +his whole army, and with the brothers of Hector he charged against +the Greeks, who were led by Agamemnon. + +In that battle Eurypylus first smote Nireus, who was the most +beautiful of the Greeks now that Achilles had fallen. There lay +Nireus, like an apple tree, all covered with blossoms red and +white, that the wind has overthrown in a rich man's orchard. Then +Eurypylus would have stripped off his armour, but Machaon rushed +in, Machaon who had been wounded and taken to the tent of Nestor, +on the day of the Valour of Hector, when he brought fire against +the ships. Machaon drove his spear through the left shoulder of +Eurypylus, but Eurypylus struck at his shoulder with his sword, and +the blood flowed; nevertheless, Machaon stooped, and grasped a +great stone, and sent it against the helmet of Eurypylus. He was +shaken, but he did not fall, he drove his spear through breastplate +and breast of Machaon, who fell and died. With his last breath he +said, "Thou, too, shalt fall," but Eurypylus made answer, "So let +it be! Men cannot live for ever, and such is the fortune of war." + +Thus the battle rang, and shone, and shifted, till few of the +Greeks kept steadfast, except those with Menelaus and Agamemnon, +for Diomede and Ulysses were far away upon the sea, bringing from +Scyros the son of Achilles. But Teucer slew Polydamas, who had +warned Hector to come within the walls of Troy; and Menelaus +wounded Deiphobus, the bravest of the sons of Priam who were still +in arms, for many had fallen; and Agamemnon slew certain spearmen +of the Trojans. Round Eurypylus fought Paris, and Aeneas, who +wounded Teucer with a great stone, breaking in his helmet, but he +drove back in his chariot to the ships. Menelaus and Agamemnon +stood alone and fought in the crowd of Trojans, like two wild boars +that a circle of hunters surrounds with spears, so fiercely they +stood at bay. There they would both have fallen, but Idomeneus, +and Meriones of Crete, and Thrasymedes, Nestor's son, ran to their +rescue, and fiercer grew the fighting. Eurypylus desired to slay +Agamemnon and Menelaus, and end the war, but, as the spears of the +Scots encompassed King James at Flodden Field till he ran forward, +and fell within a lance's length of the English general, so the men +of Crete and Pylos guarded the two princes with their spears. + +There Paris was wounded in the thigh with a spear, and he retreated +a little way, and showered his arrows among the Greeks; and +Idomeneus lifted and hurled a great stone at Eurypylus which struck +his spear out of his hand, and he went back to find it, and +Menelaus and Agamemnon had a breathing space in the battle. But +soon Eurypylus returned, crying on his men, and they drove back +foot by foot the ring of spears round Agamemnon, and Aeneas and +Paris slew men of Crete and of Mycenae till the Greeks were pushed +to the ditch round the camp; and then great stones and spears and +arrows rained down on the Trojans and the people of Eurypylus from +the battlements and towers of the Grecian wall. Now night fell, +and Eurypylus knew that he could not win the wall in the dark, so +he withdrew his men, and they built great fires, and camped upon +the plain. + +The case of the Greeks was now like that of the Trojans after the +death of Hector. They buried Machaon and the other chiefs who had +fallen, and they remained within their ditch and their wall, for +they dared not come out into the open plain. They knew not whether +Ulysses and Diomede had come safely to Scyros, or whether their +ship had been wrecked or driven into unknown seas. So they sent a +herald to Eurypylus, asking for a truce, that they might gather +their dead and burn them, and the Trojans and Khita also buried +their dead. + +Meanwhile the swift ship of Ulysses had swept through the sea to +Scyros, and to the palace of King Lycomedes. There they found +Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, in the court before the doors. +He was as tall as his father, and very like him in face and shape, +and he was practising the throwing of the spear at a mark. Right +glad were Ulysses and Diomede to behold him, and Ulysses told +Neoptolemus who they were, and why they came, and implored him to +take pity on the Greeks and help them. + +"My friend is Diomede, Prince of Argos," said Ulysses, "and I am +Ulysses of Ithaca. Come with us, and we Greeks will give you +countless gifts, and I myself will present you with the armour of +your father, such as it is not lawful for any other mortal man to +wear, seeing that it is golden, and wrought by the hands of a God. +Moreover, when we have taken Troy, and gone home, Menelaus will +give you his daughter, the beautiful Hermione, to be your wife, +with gold in great plenty." + +Then Neoptolemus answered: "It is enough that the Greeks need my +sword. To-morrow we shall sail for Troy." He led them into the +palace to dine, and there they found his mother, beautiful +Deidamia, in mourning raiment, and she wept when she heard that +they had come to take her son away. But Neoptolemus comforted her, +promising to return safely with the spoils of Troy, "or, even if I +fall," he said, "it will be after doing deeds worthy of my father's +name." So next day they sailed, leaving Deidamia mournful, like a +swallow whose nest a serpent has found, and has killed her young +ones; even so she wailed, and went up and down in the house. But +the ship ran swiftly on her way, cleaving the dark waves till +Ulysses showed Neoptolemus the far off snowy crest of Mount Ida; +and Tenedos, the island near Troy; and they passed the plain where +the tomb of Achilles stands, but Ulysses did not tell the son that +it was his father's tomb. + +Now all this time the Greeks, shut up within their wall and +fighting from their towers, were looking back across the sea, eager +to spy the ship of Ulysses, like men wrecked on a desert island, +who keep watch every day for a sail afar off, hoping that the +seamen will touch at their isle and have pity upon them, and carry +them home, so the Greeks kept watch for the ship bearing +Neoptolemus. + +Diomede, too, had been watching the shore, and when they came in +sight of the ships of the Greeks, he saw that they were being +besieged by the Trojans, and that all the Greek army was penned up +within the wall, and was fighting from the towers. Then he cried +aloud to Ulysses and Neoptolemus, "Make haste, friends, let us arm +before we land, for some great evil has fallen upon the Greeks. +The Trojans are attacking our wall, and soon they will burn our +ships, and for us there will be no return." + +Then all the men on the ship of Ulysses armed themselves, and +Neoptolemus, in the splendid armour of his father, was the first to +leap ashore. The Greeks could not come from the wall to welcome +him, for they were fighting hard and hand-to-hand with Eurypylus +and his men. But they glanced back over their shoulders and it +seemed to them that they saw Achilles himself, spear and sword in +hand, rushing to help them. They raised a great battle-cry, and, +when Neoptolemus reached the battlements, he and Ulysses, and +Diomede leaped down to the plain, the Greeks following them, and +they all charged at once on the men of Eurypylus, with levelled +spears, and drove them from the wall. + +Then the Trojans trembled, for they knew the shields of Diomede and +Ulysses, and they thought that the tall chief in the armour of +Achilles was Achilles himself, come back from the land of the dead +to take vengeance for Antilochus. The Trojans fled, and gathered +round Eurypylus, as in a thunderstorm little children, afraid of +the lightning and the noise, run and cluster round their father, +and hide their faces on his knees. + +But Neoptolemus was spearing the Trojans, as a man who carries at +night a beacon of fire in his boat on the sea spears the fishes +that flock around, drawn by the blaze of the flame. Cruelly he +avenged his father's death on many a Trojan, and the men whom +Achilles had led followed Achilles' son, slaying to right and left, +and smiting the Trojans, as they ran, between the shoulders with +the spear. Thus they fought and followed while daylight lasted, +but when night fell, they led Neoptolemus to his father's hut, +where the women washed him in the bath, and then he was taken to +feast with Agamemnon and Menelaus and the princes. They all +welcomed him, and gave him glorious gifts, swords with silver +hilts, and cups of gold and silver, and they were glad, for they +had driven the Trojans from their wall, and hoped that to-morrow +they would slay Eurypylus, and take Troy town. + +But their hope was not to be fulfilled, for though next day +Eurypylus met Neoptolemus in the battle, and was slain by him, when +the Greeks chased the Trojans into their city so great a storm of +lightning and thunder and rain fell upon them that they retreated +again to their camp. They believed that Zeus, the chief of the +Gods, was angry with them, and the days went by, and Troy still +stood unconquered. + + + +THE SLAYING OF PARIS + + + +When the Greeks were disheartened, as they often were, they +consulted Calchas the prophet. He usually found that they must do +something, or send for somebody, and in doing so they diverted +their minds from their many misfortunes. Now, as the Trojans were +fighting more bravely than before, under Deiphobus, a brother of +Hector, the Greeks went to Calchas for advice, and he told them +that they must send Ulysses and Diomede to bring Philoctetes the +bowman from the isle of Lemnos. This was an unhappy deserted +island, in which the married women, some years before, had murdered +all their husbands, out of jealousy, in a single night. The Greeks +had landed in Lemnos, on their way to Troy, and there Philoctetes +had shot an arrow at a great water dragon which lived in a well +within a cave in the lonely hills. But when he entered the cave +the dragon bit him, and, though he killed it at last, its poisonous +teeth wounded his foot. The wound never healed, but dripped with +venom, and Philoctetes, in terrible pain, kept all the camp awake +at night by his cries. + +The Greeks were sorry for him, but he was not a pleasant companion, +shrieking as he did, and exuding poison wherever he came. So they +left him on the lonely island, and did not know whether he was +alive or dead. Calchas ought to have told the Greeks not to desert +Philoctetes at the time, if he was so important that Troy, as the +prophet now said, could not be taken without him. But now, as he +must give some advice, Calchas said that Philoctetes must be +brought back, so Ulysses and Diomede went to bring him. They +sailed to Lemnos, a melancholy place they found it, with no smoke +rising from the ruinous houses along the shore. As they were +landing they learned that Philoctetes was not dead, for his dismal +old cries of pain, ototototoi, ai, ai; pheu, pheu; ototototoi, came +echoing from a cave on the beach. To this cave the princes went, +and found a terrible-looking man, with long, dirty, dry hair and +beard; he was worn to a skeleton, with hollow eyes, and lay moaning +in a mass of the feathers of sea birds. His great bow and his +arrows lay ready to his hand: with these he used to shoot the sea +birds, which were all that he had to eat, and their feathers +littered all the floor of his cave, and they were none the better +for the poison that dripped from his wounded foot. + +When this horrible creature saw Ulysses and Diomede coming near, he +seized his bow and fitted a poisonous arrow to the string, for he +hated the Greeks, because they had left him in the desert isle. +But the princes held up their hands in sign of peace, and cried out +that they had come to do him kindness, so he laid down his bow, and +they came in and sat on the rocks, and promised that his wound +should be healed, for the Greeks were very much ashamed of having +deserted him. It was difficult to resist Ulysses when he wished to +persuade any one, and at last Philoctetes consented to sail with +them to Troy. The oarsmen carried him down to the ship on a +litter, and there his dreadful wound was washed with warm water, +and oil was poured into it, and it was bound up with soft linen, so +that his pain grew less fierce, and they gave him a good supper and +wine enough, which he had not tasted for many years. + +Next morning they sailed, and had a fair west wind, so that they +soon landed among the Greeks and carried Philoctetes on shore. +Here Podaleirius, the brother of Machaon, being a physician, did +all that could be done to heal the wound, and the pain left +Philoctetes. He was taken to the hut of Agamemnon, who welcomed +him, and said that the Greeks repented of their cruelty. They gave +him seven female slaves to take care of him, and twenty swift +horses, and twelve great vessels of bronze, and told him that he +was always to live with the greatest chiefs and feed at their +table. So he was bathed, and his hair was cut and combed and +anointed with oil, and soon he was eager and ready to fight, and to +use his great bow and poisoned arrows on the Trojans. The use of +poisoned arrow-tips was thought unfair, but Philoctetes had no +scruples. + +Now in the next battle Paris was shooting down the Greeks with his +arrows, when Philoctetes saw him, and cried: "Dog, you are proud +of your archery and of the arrow that slew the great Achilles. +But, behold, I am a better bowman than you, by far, and the bow in +my hands was borne by the strong man Heracles!" So he cried and +drew the bowstring to his breast and the poisoned arrowhead to the +bow, and the bowstring rang, and the arrow flew, and did but graze +the hand of Paris. Then the bitter pain of the poison came upon +him, and the Trojans carried him into their city, where the +physicians tended him all night. But he never slept, and lay +tossing in agony till dawn, when he said: "There is but one hope. +Take me to OEnone, the nymph of Mount Ida!" + +"Then his friends laid Paris on a litter, and bore him up the steep +path to Mount Ida. Often had he climbed it swiftly, when he was +young, and went to see the nymph who loved him; but for many a day +he had not trod the path where he was now carried in great pain and +fear, for the poison turned his blood to fire. Little hope he had, +for he knew how cruelly he had deserted OEnone, and he saw that all +the birds which were disturbed in the wood flew away to the left +hand, an omen of evil. + +At last the bearers reached the cave where the nymph OEnone lived, +and they smelled the sweet fragrance of the cedar fire that burned +on the floor of the cave, and they heard the nymph singing a +melancholy song. Then Paris called to her in the voice which she +had once loved to hear, and she grew very pale, and rose up, saying +to herself, "The day has come for which I have prayed. He is sore +hurt, and has come to bid me heal his wound." So she came and +stood in the doorway of the dark cave, white against the darkness, +and the bearers laid Paris on the litter at the feet of OEnone, and +he stretched forth his hands to touch her knees, as was the manner +of suppliants. But she drew back and gathered her robe about her, +that he might not touch it with his hands. + +Then he said: "Lady, despise me not, and hate me not, for my pain +is more than I can bear. Truly it was by no will of mine that I +left you lonely here, for the Fates that no man may escape led me +to Helen. Would that I had died in your arms before I saw her +face! But now I beseech you in the name of the Gods, and for the +memory of our love, that you will have pity on me and heal my hurt, +and not refuse your grace and let me die here at your feet." + +Then OEnone answered scornfully: "Why have you come here to me? +Surely for years you have not come this way, where the path was +once worn with your feet. But long ago you left me lonely and +lamenting, for the love of Helen of the fair hands. Surely she is +much more beautiful than the love of your youth, and far more able +to help you, for men say that she can never know old age and death. +Go home to Helen and let her take away your pain." + +Thus OEnone spoke, and went within the cave, where she threw +herself down among the ashes of the hearth and sobbed for anger and +sorrow. In a little while she rose and went to the door of the +cave, thinking that Paris had not been borne away back to Troy, but +she found him not; for his bearers had carried him by another path, +till he died beneath the boughs of the oak trees. Then his bearers +carried him swiftly down to Troy, where his mother bewailed him, +and Helen sang over him as she had sung over Hector, remembering +many things, and fearing to think of what her own end might be. +But the Trojans hastily built a great pile of dry wood, and thereon +laid the body of Paris and set fire to it, and the flame went up +through the darkness, for now night had fallen. + +But OEnone was roaming in the dark woods, crying and calling after +Paris, like a lioness whose cubs the hunters have carried away. +The moon rose to give her light, and the flame of the funeral fire +shone against the sky, and then OEnone knew that Paris had died-- +beautiful Paris--and that the Trojans were burning his body on the +plain at the foot of Mount Ida. Then she cried that now Paris was +all her own, and that Helen had no more hold on him: "And though +when he was living he left me, in death we shall not be divided," +she said, and she sped down the hill, and through the thickets +where the wood nymphs were wailing for Paris, and she reached the +plain, and, covering her head with her veil like a bride, she +rushed through the throng of Trojans. She leaped upon the burning +pile of wood, she clasped the body of Paris in her arms, and the +flame of fire consumed the bridegroom and the bride, and their +ashes mingled. No man could divide them any more, and the ashes +were placed in a golden cup, within a chamber of stone, and the +earth was mounded above them. On that grave the wood nymphs +planted two rose trees, and their branches met and plaited +together. + +This was the end of Paris and OEnone. + + + +HOW ULYSSES INVENTED THE DEVICE OF THE HORSE OF TREE + + + +After Paris died, Helen was not given back to Menelaus. We are +often told that only fear of the anger of Paris had prevented the +Trojans from surrendering Helen and making peace. Now Paris could +not terrify them, yet for all that the men of the town would not +part with Helen, whether because she was so beautiful, or because +they thought it dishonourable to yield her to the Greeks, who might +put her to a cruel death. So Helen was taken by Deiphobus, the +brother of Paris, to live in his own house, and Deiphobus was at +this time the best warrior and the chief captain of the men of +Troy. + +Meanwhile, the Greeks made an assault against the Trojan walls and +fought long and hardily; but, being safe behind the battlements, +and shooting through loopholes, the Trojans drove them back with +loss of many of their men. It was in vain that Philoctetes shot +his poisoned arrows, they fell back from the stone walls, or stuck +in the palisades of wood above the walls, and the Greeks who tried +to climb over were speared, or crushed with heavy stones. When +night fell, they retreated to the ships and held a council, and, as +usual, they asked the advice of the prophet Calchas. It was the +business of Calchas to go about looking at birds, and taking omens +from what he saw them doing, a way of prophesying which the Romans +also used, and some savages do the same to this day. Calchas said +that yesterday he had seen a hawk pursuing a dove, which hid +herself in a hole in a rocky cliff. For a long while the hawk +tried to find the hole, and follow the dove into it, but he could +not reach her. So he flew away for a short distance and hid +himself; then the dove fluttered out into the sunlight, and the +hawk swooped on her and killed her. + +The Greeks, said Calchas, ought to learn a lesson from the hawk, +and take Troy by cunning, as by force they could do nothing. Then +Ulysses stood up and described a trick which it is not easy to +understand. The Greeks, he said, ought to make an enormous hollow +horse of wood, and place the bravest men in the horse. Then all +the rest of the Greeks should embark in their ships and sail to the +Isle of Tenedos, and lie hidden behind the island. The Trojans +would then come out of the city, like the dove out of her hole in +the rock, and would wander about the Greek camp, and wonder why the +great horse of tree had been made, and why it had been left behind. +Lest they should set fire to the horse, when they would soon have +found out the warriors hidden in it, a cunning Greek, whom the +Trojans did not know by sight, should be left in the camp or near +it. He would tell the Trojans that the Greeks had given up all +hope and gone home, and he was to say that they feared the Goddess +Pallas was angry with them, because they had stolen her image that +fell from heaven, and was called the Luck of Troy. To soothe +Pallas and prevent her from sending great storms against the ships, +the Trojans (so the man was to say) had built this wooden horse as +an offering to the Goddess. The Trojans, believing this story, +would drag the horse into Troy, and, in the night, the princes +would come out, set fire to the city, and open the gates to the +army, which would return from Tenedos as soon as darkness came on. + +The prophet was much pleased with the plan of Ulysses, and, as two +birds happened to fly away on the right hand, he declared that the +stratagem would certainly be lucky. Neoptolemus, on the other +hand, voted for taking Troy, without any trick, by sheer hard +fighting. Ulysses replied that if Achilles could not do that, it +could not be done at all, and that Epeius, a famous carpenter, had +better set about making the horse at once. + +Next day half the army, with axes in their hands, were sent to cut +down trees on Mount Ida, and thousands of planks were cut from the +trees by Epeius and his workmen, and in three days he had finished +the horse. Ulysses then asked the best of the Greeks to come +forward and go inside the machine; while one, whom the Greeks did +not know by sight, should volunteer to stay behind in the camp and +deceive the Trojans. Then a young man called Sinon stood up and +said that he would risk himself and take the chance that the +Trojans might disbelieve him, and burn him alive. Certainly, none +of the Greeks did anything more courageous, yet Sinon had not been +considered brave. + +Had he fought in the front ranks, the Trojans would have known him; +but there were many brave fighters who would not have dared to do +what Sinon undertook. + +Then old Nestor was the first that volunteered to go into the +horse; but Neoptolemus said that, brave as he was, he was too old, +and that he must depart with the army to Tenedos. Neoptolemus +himself would go into the horse, for he would rather die than turn +his back on Troy. So Neoptolemus armed himself and climbed into +the horse, as did Menelaus, Ulysses, Diomede, Thrasymedes (Nestor's +son), Idomeneus, Philoctetes, Meriones, and all the best men except +Agamemnon, while Epeius himself entered last of all. Agamemnon was +not allowed by the other Greeks to share their adventure, as he was +to command the army when they returned from Tenedos. They +meanwhile launched their ships and sailed away. + +But first Menelaus had led Ulysses apart, and told him that if they +took Troy (and now they must either take it or die at the hands of +the Trojans), he would owe to Ulysses the glory. When they came +back to Greece, he wished to give Ulysses one of his own cities, +that they might always be near each other. Ulysses smiled and +shook his head; he could not leave Ithaca, his own rough island +kingdom. "But if we both live through the night that is coming," +he said, "I may ask you for one gift, and giving it will make you +none the poorer." Then Menelaus swore by the splendour of Zeus +that Ulysses could ask him for no gift that he would not gladly +give; so they embraced, and both armed themselves and went up into +the horse. With them were all the chiefs except Nestor, whom they +would not allow to come, and Agamemnon, who, as chief general, had +to command the army. They swathed themselves and their arms in +soft silks, that they might not ring and clash, when the Trojans, +if they were so foolish, dragged the horse up into their town, and +there they sat in the dark waiting. Meanwhile, the army burned +their huts and launched their ships, and with oars and sails made +their way to the back of the isle of Tenedos. + + + +THE END OF TROY AND THE SAVING OF HELEN + + + +From the walls the Trojans saw the black smoke go up thick into the +sky, and the whole fleet of the Greeks sailing out to sea. Never +were men so glad, and they armed themselves for fear of an ambush, +and went cautiously, sending forth scouts in front of them, down to +the seashore. Here they found the huts burned down and the camp +deserted, and some of the scouts also caught Sinon, who had hid +himself in a place where he was likely to be found. They rushed on +him with fierce cries, and bound his hands with a rope, and kicked +and dragged him along to the place where Priam and the princes were +wondering at the great horse of tree. Sinon looked round upon +them, while some were saying that he ought to be tortured with fire +to make him tell all the truth about the horse. The chiefs in the +horse must have trembled for fear lest torture should wring the +truth out of Sinon, for then the Trojans would simply burn the +machine and them within it. + +But Sinon said: "Miserable man that I am, whom the Greeks hate and +the Trojans are eager to slay!" When the Trojans heard that the +Greeks hated him, they were curious, and asked who he was, and how +he came to be there. "I will tell you all, oh King!" he answered +Priam. "I was a friend and squire of an unhappy chief, Palamedes, +whom the wicked Ulysses hated and slew secretly one day, when he +found him alone, fishing in the sea. I was angry, and in my folly +I did not hide my anger, and my words came to the ears of Ulysses. +From that hour he sought occasion to slay me. Then Calchas--" here +he stopped, saying: "But why tell a long tale? If you hate all +Greeks alike, then slay me; this is what Agamemnon and Ulysses +desire; Menelaus would thank you for my head." + +The Trojans were now more curious than before. They bade him go +on, and he said that the Greeks had consulted an Oracle, which +advised them to sacrifice one of their army to appease the anger of +the Gods and gain a fair wind homewards. "But who was to be +sacrificed? They asked Calchas, who for fifteen days refused to +speak. At last, being bribed by Ulysses, he pointed to me, Sinon, +and said that I must be the victim. I was bound and kept in +prison, while they built their great horse as a present for Pallas +Athene the Goddess. They made it so large that you Trojans might +never be able to drag it into your city; while, if you destroyed +it, the Goddess might turn her anger against you. And now they +have gone home to bring back the image that fell from heaven, which +they had sent to Greece, and to restore it to the Temple of Pallas +Athene, when they have taken your town, for the Goddess is angry +with them for that theft of Ulysses." + +The Trojans were foolish enough to believe the story of Sinon, and +they pitied him and unbound his hands. Then they tied ropes to the +wooden horse, and laid rollers in front of it, like men launching a +ship, and they all took turns to drag the horse up to the Scaean +gate. Children and women put their hands to the ropes and hauled, +and with shouts and dances, and hymns they toiled, till about +nightfall the horse stood in the courtyard of the inmost castle. + +Then all the people of Troy began to dance, and drink, and sing. +Such sentinels as were set at the gates got as drunk as all the +rest, who danced about the city till after midnight, and then they +went to their homes and slept heavily. + +Meanwhile the Greek ships were returning from behind Tenedos as +fast as the oarsmen could row them. + +One Trojan did not drink or sleep; this was Deiphobus, at whose +house Helen was now living. He bade her come with them, for he +knew that she was able to speak in the very voice of all men and +women whom she had ever seen, and he armed a few of his friends and +went with them to the citadel. Then he stood beside the horse, +holding Helen's hand, and whispered to her that she must call each +of the chiefs in the voice of his wife. She was obliged to obey, +and she called Menelaus in her own voice, and Diomede in the voice +of his wife, and Ulysses in the very voice of Penelope. Then +Menelaus and Diomede were eager to answer, but Ulysses grasped +their hands and whispered the word "Echo!" Then they remembered +that this was a name of Helen, because she could speak in all +voices, and they were silent; but Anticlus was still eager to +answer, till Ulysses held his strong hand over his mouth. There +was only silence, and Deiphobus led Helen back to his house. When +they had gone away Epeius opened the side of the horse, and all the +chiefs let themselves down softly to the ground. Some rushed to +the gate, to open it, and they killed the sleeping sentinels and +let in the Greeks. Others sped with torches to burn the houses of +the Trojan princes, and terrible was the slaughter of men, unarmed +and half awake, and loud were the cries of the women. But Ulysses +had slipped away at the first, none knew where. Neoptolemus ran to +the palace of Priam, who was sitting at the altar in his courtyard, +praying vainly to the Gods, for Neoptolemus slew the old man +cruelly, and his white hair was dabbled in his blood. All through +the city was fighting and slaying; but Menelaus went to the house +of Deiphobus, knowing that Helen was there. + +In the doorway he found Deiphobus lying dead in all his armour, a +spear standing in his breast. There were footprints marked in +blood, leading through the portico and into the hall. There +Menelaus went, and found Ulysses leaning, wounded, against one of +the central pillars of the great chamber, the firelight shining on +his armour. + +"Why hast thou slain Deiphobus and robbed me of my revenge?" said +Menelaus. "You swore to give me a gift," said Ulysses, "and will +you keep your oath?" "Ask what you will," said Menelaus; "it is +yours and my oath cannot be broken." "I ask the life of Helen of +the fair hands," said Ulysses "this is my own life-price that I pay +back to her, for she saved my life when I took the Luck of Troy, +and I swore that hers should be saved." + +Then Helen stole, glimmering in white robes, from a recess in the +dark hall, and fell at the feet of Menelaus; her golden hair lay in +the dust of the hearth, and her hands moved to touch his knees. +His drawn sword fell from the hands of Menelaus, and pity and love +came into his heart, and he raised her from the dust and her white +arms were round his neck, and they both wept. That night Menelaus +fought no more, but they tended the wound of Ulysses, for the sword +of Deiphobus had bitten through his helmet. + +When dawn came Troy lay in ashes, and the women were being driven +with spear shafts to the ships, and the men were left unburied, a +prey to dogs and all manner of birds. Thus the grey city fell, +that had lorded it for many centuries. All the gold and silver and +rich embroideries, and ivory and amber, the horses and chariots, +were divided among the army; all but a treasure of silver and gold, +hidden in a chest within a hollow of the wall, and this treasure +was found, not very many years ago, by men digging deep on the hill +where Troy once stood. The women, too, were given to the princes, +and Neoptolemus took Andromache to his home in Argos, to draw water +from the well and to be the slave of a master, and Agamemnon +carried beautiful Cassandra, the daughter of Priam, to his palace +in Mycenae, where they were both slain in one night. Only Helen +was led with honour to the ship of Menelaus. + +The story of all that happened to Ulysses on his way home from Troy +is told in another book, "Tales of the Greek Seas." + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Tales of Troy, by Andrew Lang + + diff --git a/old/tltry10.zip b/old/tltry10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e8eb3cb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tltry10.zip |