the victor's prize, every one noticed his likeness to the royal family;
and his sister Cas-san'dra, who was able to foretell future events, said
that he was the son of Priam and Hecuba, and that he would bring great
misfortunes upon Troy.
The king and queen paid no heed to these words, but gladly welcomed
Paris home, and lavished all kinds of gifts upon him to make up for
their cruelty and long neglect.
Paris was so fond of change and adventure, that he soon grew tired of
court life, and asked Priam for a ship, so that he might sail off to
Greece.
This request was readily granted, and Paris went away. The young prince
sailed from island to island, and came at last to the southern part of
the Peloponnesus, where the descendants of Hercules had founded the city
of Sparta. Here he was warmly welcomed by King Men-e-la'us; but this
king was obliged to leave home shortly after the arrival of Paris, and
he bade Helen, his wife, the most beautiful woman in the world, do all
she could to entertain the noble stranger.
Helen was so kind to Paris that he soon fell in love with her. His
greatest wish was to have her as his wife: so he began to tell her that
Ve'nus, the goddess of love, had promised him that he should marry the
most beautiful woman in the world.
Talking thus day after day, the handsome young Paris finally persuaded
Helen to leave her husband and home. She got on board of his vessel, and
went with him to Troy as his wife. Of course, this wrongdoing could not
bring happiness; and not only were they duly punished, but, as you will
soon see, the crime of Paris brought suffering and death to his friends
as well.
[Illustration: Menelaus.]
When Menelaus came home and found that his guest had run away with his
wife, he was very angry, and vowed that he would not rest until he had
punished Paris and won back the beautiful Helen.
He therefore made ready for war, and sent word to his friends and
relatives to come and help him, telling them to meet him at Au'lis, a
seaport, where they would find swift-sailing vessels to carry them
across the sea to Troy.
XIV. THE MUSTER OF THE TROOPS.
When the neighboring kings and chiefs received Menelaus' message, they
were delighted; for fighting was their only occupation, and they enjoyed
the din of battle more than anything else. They began to collect their
soldiers, polish their arms, and man their vessels. Then, inviting all
who wished to join them, they started out for Aulis, where they formed a
huge army.
Each of the parties was led by its own king or chief. Some of these
chiefs were very brave, and their names are still well known. The
leading ones among them were Nes'tor, the wisest man of his day, to whom
every one came for good advice; and U-lys'ses, the crafty or sly king,
who was so clever that he could easily outwit all men.
There were also A'jax, the strongest man of his time; Thersander, the
new king of Thebes, who came with the Epigoni; and Ag-a-mem'non, King of
Mycenae, Menelaus' brother, who was chosen chief of the whole army.
The Greeks never began any undertaking without consulting the oracles to
find out how it would end. Agamemnon, therefore, consulted one of these
soothsayers, who said that Troy would never be taken unless A-chil'les
fought with the Greeks.
When they heard this answer, the chiefs immediately asked who Achilles
was, and they soon learned all about him. He was a young prince of whom
it had been foretold at the time of his birth that he would be the
greatest warrior of his age, and that he would die young. His mother,
who loved him dearly, shed many tears when she heard these words, and
made up her mind to do all she could to prevent this prophecy from
coming true.
She first carried Achilles, when but a baby, to the river Styx, for it
was said that those who bathed in its waters could never be wounded.
Afraid to let go of her child for fear he might drown, but anxious to
make sure that the waters should touch every part of him, the mother
plunged him into the rushing tide, holding him fast by one heel.
This she held so tight that the waters never even wet it; and it was
only long after, when too late to remedy it, that an oracle told her
that Achilles could be wounded in his heel, which the waters of the Styx
had not touched. As soon as this good mother heard the first news of the
coming war, her heart was troubled; for she knew that Achilles, who was
now a young man, would want to join the army, and she was afraid of
losing him.
To prevent his hearing anything about the war, she persuaded him to
visit the King of Scyros. There, under pretext of a joke, he was induced
to put on girl's clothes, and to pretend that he was a woman.
The Greeks, after hearing the oracle's words, sent messengers for
Achilles; but they could not find him, as he had left home, and no one
would tell them where he had gone. As it was of no use to set out
without him, according to the oracle's answer, which they thoroughly
believed, the army lingered at Aulis in despair.
Ulysses, seeing that they would never start unless Achilles were found,
now offered to go and get him. Disguised as a peddler, with a pack upon
his back, he went first to Achilles' home, where the chattering maids
told him all he wished to know, and thence he went to the Island of
Scyros.
Achilles was so well disguised that Ulysses could not tell him from the
king's daughters and their maids: so he made use of a trick to find him
out. Among the trinkets in his pack, he put a sword of fine workmanship,
and, entering the palace, spread out his wares before the admiring
maidens. They all gathered about him; but, while the real girls went
into raptures over his ornaments, Achilles grasped the sword, drew it
from the scabbard, carefully tested the blade, and swung it with a
strong arm.
Of course, Ulysses then easily saw that he was not a girl, and, slipping
up to him, managed to whisper news of the coming war, and won his
promise to join the army at Aulis in a few days.
XV. THE SACRIFICE OF IPHIGENIA.
True to his promise, Achilles soon came to Aulis with his well-trained
soldiers, the Myr'mi-dons, and with him came his friend Pa-tro'clus. All
were now eager to start, and ready to embark; but unfortunately there
was no favorable wind to fill their sails and waft them over to Asia
Minor.
Day after day they waited, and offered sacrifices to the gods, but all
in vain. At last they again consulted the oracle, who said that the
wind would not blow until Iph-i-ge-ni'a, Agamemnon's daughter, were
offered up in sacrifice to Di-an'a, goddess of the moon and the chase,
whom this king had once offended.
Agamemnon at first said that he would not sacrifice his daughter, but
finally his companions persuaded him to do so. Just as the priest was
about to kill the maiden on the altar, however, the goddess Diana came,
and carried her off unharmed, leaving a deer to be sacrificed in her
stead.
The deer was killed, the wind rose, the sails filled, and the Greek
fleet soon came within sight of the high walls and towers of Troy.
There, contrary to their expectations, the Greeks found the people ready
to fight them; but, after many days' struggle, they saw that they had
made no great advance.
On the wide plain which stretched out between the city and the sea, the
Greek and Tro'jan armies fought many a battle; and sometimes one party,
and sometimes the other, had the victory. The men on both sides had been
trained to handle their weapons with great skill, and there were many
fights in which the Greek heroes met the bravest Trojans.
[Illustration]
Nine years passed thus in continual warfare, but even then the Greeks
were as far from taking the town as on the first day; and the Trojans,
in spite of all their courage, had not been able to drive their enemies
away.
XVI. THE WRATH OF ACHILLES.
In all their battles, the booty won by the Greeks from the enemy had
been divided among the chiefs and soldiers, and on one occasion female
slaves were given to Agamemnon and Achilles. These girls were not born
slaves, but were captives of war reduced to slavery, as was then the
custom; for, while the men and boys were always killed, the women and
girls were forced to be the servants of the victors.
Now, it happened that the slave given to Agamemnon was the daughter of a
priest of A-pol'lo. He was very sorry when he heard she had fallen into
the hands of the Greeks, and sent a message to Agamemnon, offering to
give him a large sum of money if he would only set her free.
Agamemnon would not accept the money, and sent a rude message to the
priest, who, in anger, asked Apollo to avenge this insult by sending a
plague upon the Greeks. The god heard and granted this prayer, and soon
all the soldiers in the Greek camp were suffering from a terrible
disease, of which many of them died.
As no remedy could relieve the sufferers, the Greek leaders consulted an
oracle, to find out how the plague might be stopped. Then they learned
that Apollo was angry with Agamemnon because he had refused to give up
his slave, and that the Greeks would continue to suffer until he made up
his mind to give her back to her father.
Thus forced to give her up to save his men from further suffering and
even from death, Agamemnon angrily said he would take Achilles' slave
instead, and he had her brought to wait upon him in his tent.
Achilles, who wanted to save the Greeks from the plague, allowed the
maiden to depart, warning Agamemnon, however, that he would no longer
fight for a chief who could be so selfish and unjust. As soon as the
girl had gone, therefore, he laid aside his fine armor; and although he
heard the call for battle, and the din of fighting, he staid quietly
within his tent.
While Achilles sat thus sulking day after day, his companions were
bravely fighting. In spite of their bravery, however, the Trojans were
gaining the advantage; for, now that Achilles was no longer there to
fill their hearts with terror, they fought with new courage.
The Greeks, missing the bright young leader who always led them into the
midst of the fray, were gradually driven back by the Trojans, who
pressed eagerly forward, and even began to set fire to some of the Greek
ships.
Achilles' friend, Patroclus, who was fighting at the head of the Greeks,
now saw that the Trojans, unless they were checked, would soon destroy
the whole army, and he rushed into Achilles' tent to beg him to come and
help them once more.
His entreaties were vain. Achilles refused to move a step; but he
consented at last to let Patroclus wear his armor, and, thus disguised,
make a last attempt to rally the Greeks and drive back the Trojans.
Patroclus started out, and, when the Trojans saw the well-known armor,
they shrank back in terror, for they greatly feared Achilles. They soon
saw their mistake, however; and Hector, rushing forward, killed
Patroclus, tore the armor off his body, and retired to put it on in
honor of his victory.
Then a terrible struggle took place between the Trojans and the Greeks
for the possession of Patroclus' body. The news of his friend's death
had quickly been carried to Achilles, and had roused him from his
indifferent state. Springing upon the wall that stretched before the
camp, he gave a mighty shout, at the sound of which the Trojans fled,
while Ajax and Ulysses brought back the body of Patroclus.
XVII. DEATH OF HECTOR AND ACHILLES.
The next day, having secured armor and weapons, Achilles again went out
to fight. His purpose was to meet Hector, and, by killing him, to avenge
his dead friend, Patroclus. He therefore rushed up and down the
battlefield; and when at last he came face to face with his foe, they
closed in deadly fight. The two young men, each the champion warrior of
his army, were now fighting with the courage of despair; for, while
Achilles was thirsting to avenge his friend, Hector knew that the fate
of Troy depended mostly upon his arm. The struggle was terrible. It was
watched with breathless interest by the armies on both sides, and by
aged Priam and the Trojan women from the walls of Troy. In spite of
Hector's courage, in spite of all his skill, he was doomed to die, and
soon he fell under the blows of Achilles.
Then, in sight of both armies and of Hector's weeping family, Achilles
took off his enemy's armor, bound the dead body by the feet to his
chariot, and dragged it three times around the city walls before he went
back to camp to mourn over the remains of Patroclus.
That night, guided by one of the gods, old King Priam came secretly into
the Greek camp, and, stealing into Achilles' tent, fell at his feet. He
had come to beg Achilles to give back the body of Hector, that he might
weep over it, and bury it with all the usual ceremonies and honors.
Touched by the old man's tears, and ready now to listen to his better
feelings, Achilles kindly raised the old king, comforted him with gentle
words, and not only gave back the body, but also promised that there
should be a truce of a few days, so that both armies could bury their
dead in peace.
The funerals were held, the bodies burned, the usual games celebrated;
and when the truce was over, the long war was begun again. After several
other great fights, Achilles died from a wound in his heel caused by a
poisoned arrow that was treacherously shot by Paris.
The sorrowing Greeks then buried the young hero on the wide plain
between Troy and the sea. This spot has been visited by many people who
admired the brave young hero of the Il'i-ad (see p. 60).
[Illustration]
XVIII. THE BURNING OF TROY.
As the valor of the Greeks had proved of no avail during the ten-years'
war, and as they were still as far as ever from taking Troy, Ulysses the
crafty now proposed to take the city by a stratagem, or trick.
The Greeks, obeying his directions, built a wooden horse of very large
size. It was hollow, and the space inside it was large enough to hold a
number of armed men. When this horse was finished, and the men were
hidden in it, the Greeks all embarked as if to sail home.
The Trojans, who had watched them embark and sail out of sight, rushed
down to the shore shouting for joy, and began to wander around the
deserted camp. They soon found the huge wooden horse, and were staring
wonderingly at it, when they were joined by a Greek who had purposely
been left behind, and who now crept out of his hiding place.
In answer to their questions, this man said that his companions had
deserted him, and that the wooden horse had been built and left there as
an offering to Po-sei'don (or Nep'tune), god of the sea. The Trojans,
believing all this, now decided to keep the wooden horse in memory of
their long siege, and the useless attempt of the Greeks to take Troy.
They therefore joyfully dragged the huge animal into the city; and, as
the gates were not large enough for it to pass through, they tore down
part of their strong walls.
That very night, while all the Trojans were sleeping peacefully for the
first time in many years, without any fear of a midnight attack, the
Greek vessels noiselessly sailed back to their old moorings. The
soldiers landed in silence, and, marching up softly, joined their
companions, who had crept out of the wooden horse, and had opened all
the gates to receive them.
Pouring into Troy on all sides at once, the Greeks now began their work
of destruction, killing, burning, and stealing everywhere. The Trojan
warriors, awakening from sleep, vainly tried to defend themselves; but
all were killed except Prince AE-ne'as, who escaped with his family and a
few faithful friends, to form a new kingdom in Italy.
All the women, including even the queen and her daughters, were made
prisoners and carried away by the Greek heroes. The men were now very
anxious to return home with the booty they had won; for they had done
what they had long wished to do, and Troy, the beautiful city, was
burned to the ground.
All this, as you know, happened many years ago,--so many that no one
knows just how long. The city thus destroyed was never rebuilt. Some
years ago a German traveler began to dig on the spot where it once
stood. Deep down under the ground he found the remains of beautiful
buildings, some pottery, household utensils, weapons, and a great deal
of gold, silver, brass, and bronze. All these things were blackened or
partly melted by fire, showing that the Greeks had set fire to the city,
as their famous old poems relate.
The Greeks said, however, that their gods were very angry with many of
their warriors on account of the cruelty they showed on that dreadful
night, and that many of them had to suffer great hardships before they
reached home. Some were tossed about by the winds and waves for many
long years, and suffered shipwrecks. Others reached home safely, only to
be murdered by relatives who had taken possession of their thrones
during their long absence.
[Illustration: Vase.]
[Illustration: Jug.]
[Illustration: Cup.]
Only a few among these heroes escaped with their lives, and wandered off
to other countries to found new cities. Thus arose many Greek colonies
in Sicily and southern Italy, which were called Great Greece, in honor
of the country from which the first settlers had come.
As you have already seen, Prince AEneas was among these Trojans. After
many exciting adventures, which you will be able to read in the "Story
of Rome," he sailed up the Ti'ber River, and landed near the place where
one of his descendants was to found the present capital of Italy, which
is one of the most famous cities in the world.
XIX. HEROIC DEATH OF CODRUS.
You remember, do you not, how the sons of Pelops had driven the
Heraclidae, or sons of Hercules, out of the peninsula which was called
the Peloponnesus? This same peninsula is now called Mo-re'a, or the
mulberry leaf, because it is shaped something like such a leaf, as you
will see by looking at your map.
The Heraclidae had not gone away willingly, but were staying in Thessaly,
in the northern part of Greece, where they promised to remain one
hundred years without making any attempt to come back.
Shortly after the end of the Trojan War, this truce of a hundred years
came to an end; and the Heraclidae called upon their neighbors the
Dorians to join them, and help them win back their former lands.
Led by three brave chiefs, the allies passed through Greece proper,
along the Isthmus of Corinth, and, spreading all over the Peloponnesus,
soon took possession of the principal towns. The leading members of the
family of Hercules took the title of kings, and ruled over the cities of
Argos, Mycenae, and Spar'ta.
The Dorians, who had helped the Heraclidae win back their former
possessions, now saw that the land here was better than their home in
the mountains, so they drove all the rest of the Ionians out of the
country, and settled there also.
Thus driven away by the Dorians and the Heraclidae, these Ionians went to
Athens, to the neighboring islands, and even to the coast of Asia Minor,
south of the ruined city of Troy, where they settled in great numbers.
They called the strip of land which they occupied Ionia, and founded
many towns, some of which, such as Eph'e-sus and Mi-le'tus, were
destined to become famous.
Of course, the Ionians were very angry at thus being driven away from
home; and those who had gone to live in Athens soon asked Co'drus, the
Athenian king, to make war against the Heraclidae of Sparta.
The two armies soon met, and prepared for battle. Codrus, having
consulted an oracle, had learned that the victory would be given to the
army whose king should be killed, so he nobly made up his mind to die
for the good of his people.
Instead of going into battle in royal dress, with his guards all around
him, as was his habit, he dressed himself like an ordinary soldier, and
went forward until he stood in the very first rank of the army. Then he
rushed boldly into the midst of the foe.
Of course, he was soon cut down; but the Athenians, seeing his courage,
and learning why he had thus risked his life, fought with such valor
that they defeated the Spar'tan forces, and forced them to retreat.
The victory had been won; but the Athenians were so sorry to lose their
beloved king, that they could not rejoice, and sadly returned home,
carrying the body of Codrus. Such was the admiration of all the people
for this act of royal courage, that they vowed they would never again
call any one by the name of king.
When Codrus had been buried, therefore, the Athenians gave his son and
heir the government of the city, calling him archon, or chief for
life,--a title which was borne by many rulers after him.
The Spartans, who had come into Attica to fight the Athenians, retreated
hastily after their defeat, and returned to their city, where they
settled, forcing all the people who dwelt in the neighborhood either to
leave the country or to serve them as their slaves.
The return of the Heraclidae into the Peloponnesus is the last event of
the Heroic Age, and now real history begins. After this, it is no longer
necessary to try to find out the truth hidden in the old tales which
were handed down from father to son, and which were the only fairy
stories the Greek children knew; for henceforth records were kept of all
the principal events.
XX. THE BLIND POET.
Three or four centuries after the siege of Troy, there lived a poor old
blind poet who wandered about from place to place, playing upon his
lyre, and reciting wonderful verses which told about the adventures of
the Greek heroes, and their great deeds during the Trojan War.
We are told that this old man, whose name was Ho'mer, had not always
been poor and blind, but that, having embarked by mistake upon a vessel
manned by pirates, he not only had been robbed of all his wealth, and
blinded, but had been left upon a lonely shore.
By some happy chance, poor blind Homer found his way to the inhabited
parts of the country, where he soon won many friends. Instead of
spending all his time in weeping over his troubles, Homer tried to think
of some way in which he could earn his living, and at the same time give
pleasure to others. He soon found such a way in telling the stories of
the past to all who cared to listen to them.
[Illustration: Homer.]
As the people in those days had no books, no schools, and no theaters,
these stories seemed very wonderful. Little by little Homer turned them
into verses so grand and beautiful that we admire them still; and these
he recited, accompanying himself on a lyre, which he handled with much
skill. As he wandered thus from place to place, old and young crowded
around him to listen to his tales; and some young men were so struck by
them that they followed him everywhere, until they too could repeat
them. This was quite easy to do, because Homer had put them into the
most beautiful and harmonious language the world has ever known. As soon
as these young men had learned a few of the tales, they too began to
travel from place to place, telling them to all they met; and thus
Homer's verses became well known throughout all Greece.
[Illustration: Telling Homer's Tales.]
The Greeks who could recite Homer's poems went next to the islands and
Asia Minor, stopping at every place where Greek was spoken, to tell
about the wrath of Achilles, the death of Patroclus, Hector, or old
Priam, the burning of Troy, the wanderings of Ulysses, and the return of
the Greeks. Other youths learned the poems; and so, although they were
not written down for many a year, they were constantly recited and sung,
and thus kept alive in the memory of the people.
As for Homer, their author, we know but little about him. We are told
that he lived to be very old, and that although he was poor as long as
he lived, and forced to earn his living by reciting his songs, he was
greatly honored after his death.
His two great heroic poems--the Iliad, telling all about the Trojan War,
and the Od'ys-sey, relating how Ulysses sailed about for ten years on
his way home from Troy--were finally written down, and kept so carefully
that they can still be read to-day. Such was the admiration felt for
these poems, that some years after Homer's death an attempt was made to
find out more about him, and about the place where he was born.
Fifty cities claimed the honor of giving him birth; but, although it was
never positively found out where he was born, most people thought the
Island of Chi'os was his birthplace. The Greek towns, wishing to show
how much they admired the works of Homer, used to send yearly gifts to
this place, the native land of the grandest poet the world has ever
known.
XXI. THE RISE OF SPARTA.