For over nine years the siege was carried on without one side or the
other gaining any important victory. The Trojans were protected by their
walls, which the Greeks were unable to break down, for the ancients had
no such powerful engines of war as those used in armies of the present
day. The strongest buildings may now be easily destroyed by cannon; but
in those days they had no cannon or gunpowder or dynamite. Success in
war in ancient times depended almost entirely on the bravery of the
soldiers or on strategy and artifice, in which, as we shall see, the
king of Ithaca was much skilled.
The Greek and Trojan warriors fought with swords, axes, bows and arrows,
and javelins, or long spears tipped with sharp iron points. Sometimes
they used huge stones which the heroes hurled at the foe with the full
strength of their powerful arms. They had shields of circular or oval
shape, which they wore on the arm to ward off blows, and which could be
moved at pleasure so as to cover almost any part of the body. Their
chests were protected by corselets or breastplates made of metal, and
metal greaves, or boots, incased their legs from the knees to the feet.
On their heads they wore helmets, usually of brass.
The chiefs fought in chariots, from which they darted their spears at
the enemy with such force and so true an aim as to wound or kill at a
considerable distance. The chariots were two-wheeled, open at the back,
and often drawn by three horses. They usually carried two warriors, both
standing, and the charioteer, or driver, was generally the companion or
friend, and not the servant, of the fighters who stood behind him.
Sometimes the warriors came down from their chariots and fought hand to
hand at close quarters with the enemy. The common soldiers always fought
on foot. There were no horse soldiers.
But in the Trojan War success or defeat did not always depend on the
bravery of the soldiers or on the skill or strategy of the generals.
Very much depended on the gods. We have seen how those divine beings had
to do with the events that led to the war. We shall also see them taking
part in the battles, sometimes giving victory to one side and sometimes
to the other. The Trojan War was in fact as much a war of the gods as of
men, and in Homer's story we find Jupiter and Juno and Apollo and
Neptune and Venus and Minerva mentioned almost as frequently as the
Greek and Trojan heroes. In the beginning of the Iliad we find Apollo
sending a plague among the Greeks because of an insult offered to his
priest, Chryʹses; for the daughter of Chryses, a beautiful maiden named
Chry-seʹis, was carried off by Achilles after the taking of Theʹbe, a
town of Mysia.
During the long siege the Grecian chiefs extended the war into the
surrounding districts. While part of their forces was left at the camp
to protect the ships and keep the Trojans cooped up within their walls,
expeditions were sent out against many of the towns of Troas, or of the
neighboring countries which were allies and supporters of Troy. When the
Greeks captured a town they carried off not only the provisions and
riches it contained, but also many of its inhabitants, whom they sold as
slaves, according to the custom of the time, or kept as slaves in their
own service. In one of these expeditions Priam's youngest son,
Troʹi-lus, the hero of Shakespeare's play of "Troilus and Cresʹsi-da,"
was slain by Achilles.
It was in the tenth year of the war that Thebe was taken, and the maiden
Chryseis was captured. About the same time the town of Lyr-nesʹsus was
seized by an expedition, also led by Achilles, and among the prisoners
was a beautiful woman named Bri-seʹis. In the division of the spoils
among the chiefs, Chryseis fell to the share of Agamemnon, and the
maiden Briseis was given to Achilles, who took her to his tent with the
intention of making her his wife. But the priest Chryses was deeply
grieved at the taking away of his daughter, and he came to the Grecian
camp to beg the chiefs to restore her to him. In his hand he bore a
golden scepter bound with fillets, or green branches, the emblems of his
priestly office, and he also carried with him valuable gifts for King
Agamemnon. Being admitted to the presence of the warrior chiefs
assembled in council, he begged them to release his child.
He sued to all, but chief implored for grace
The brother-kings, of Atreus' royal race.
"Ye kings and warriors! may your vows be crown'd,
And Troy's proud walls lie level with the ground.
May Jove restore you when your toils are o'er
Safe to the pleasures of your native shore.
But, oh! relieve a wretched parent's pain,
And give Chryseis to these arms again."
POPE, _Iliad_, Book I.
Hearing the prayer of the venerable priest, many of the chiefs were
moved to pity, and they advised that his request should be granted, but
Agamemnon angrily refused.
[Illustration: APOLLO.
_Berlin Museum._]
He dismissed
The priest with scorn, and added threatening words:--
"Old man, let me not find thee loitering here,
Beside the roomy ships, or coming back
Hereafter, lest the fillet thou dost bear
And scepter of thy god protect thee not.
This maiden I release not till old age
Shall overtake her in my Argive home,
Far from her native country."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.
Chryses then departed from the Grecian camp, and as he returned home in
sorrow, walking along the shores of the sea, he prayed to Apollo to
punish the insult thus offered to his priest.
"O Smintheus! if I ever helped to deck
Thy glorious temple, if I ever burned
Upon thy altar the fat thighs of goats
And bullocks, grant my prayer, and let thy shafts
Avenge upon the Greeks the tears I shed."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.
Apollo heard the prayer of Chryses, and he sent a deadly plague upon the
Grecian army. With his silver bow, every clang of which was heard
throughout the camp, the archer god darted his terrible arrows among the
Greeks, smiting them down in great numbers.
He came as comes the night,
And, seated from the ships aloof, sent forth
An arrow; terrible was heard the clang
Of that resplendent bow. At first he smote
The mules and the swift dogs, and then on man
He turned the deadly arrow. All around
Glared evermore the frequent funeral piles.
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.
For nine days the arrows of death were sent upon the Greek army, and the
funeral piles of the victims were continually burning, for it was the
custom in those times to burn the bodies of the dead. On the tenth day
of the plague Achilles called a council of the chiefs to consider how
the anger of the god might be appeased, and he spoke before them,
saying:
"Let us consult some prophet or priest who will tell us why Phœbus
Apollo is so much enraged with us, and whether he may, when we shall
have offered sacrifices upon his altar, take away this pestilence which
is destroying our people."
Then Calchas, the soothsayer, arose and said:
"O Achilles, I can tell why the god is wroth against us, and willing I
am to tell it, but perhaps I may irritate the king who rules over all
the Argives, and in his anger he may do evil to me. Promise me,
therefore, your protection, and I will declare why this plague has come
upon the Greeks."
"Fear nothing, O Calchas," answered Achilles. "While I am alive not one
of all the Greeks, not even Agamemnon himself, shall harm you."
"Fear nothing, but speak boldly out whate'er
Thou knowest, and declare the will of heaven.
For by Apollo, dear to Jove, whom thou,
Calchas, dost pray to, when thou givest forth
The sacred oracles to men of Greece,
No man, while yet I live, and see the light
Of day, shall lay a violent hand on thee."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.
Thus encouraged, Calchas announced to the chiefs that Apollo was angry
because his priest had been dishonored and insulted by Agamemnon. This
was why the people were perishing, and the wrath of the god could be
appeased only by restoring Chryseis to her father, and sending a hundred
victims to be offered in sacrifice to the god. Upon hearing these words
Agamemnon was filled with anger against Calchas.
"Prophet of evil," he exclaimed, "never have you spoken anything good
for me. And now you say I must give up the maiden. I shall do so, since
I wish not the destruction of the people, but another I must have, for
it is not fitting that I alone of all the Argives shall be without a
prize."
To this Achilles answered that there was no prize just then that
Agamemnon could have. "How can we give you a prize," said he, "since
all the spoils have already been divided? We cannot ask the people to
return what has been given to them. Be satisfied then to let the maiden
go. When we have taken the strong city of Troy we will compensate you
fourfold."
"Not so," replied Agamemnon. "If the Greeks give me a suitable prize, I
shall be content, but if not, I will seize yours or that of Ajax or
Ulysses. This matter, however, we will attend to afterwards. For the
present let the maid be sent back to her father, that the wrath of the
Far-darter may be appeased."
At this Achilles was very angry, and he said:
"Impudent and greedy man, how can the Greeks fight bravely under your
command? As for me, I did not come here to make war against the Trojans
because of any quarrel of my own. The Trojans have done no wrong to me.
It is to get satisfaction for your brother we have come here in our
ships, and we do most of the fighting while to you is given most of the
spoils. But now I will return home to Phthia. Perhaps you will then have
little treasure to share."
Greatly enraged at this speech, Agamemnon replied in wrathful words: "Go
home, by all means, with your ships and your Myrmidons. Other chiefs
there are here who will honor me, and I care not for your anger."
"Thus, in turn,
I threaten thee; since Phœbus takes away
Chryseis, I will send her in my ship
And with my friends, and, coming to thy tent,
Will bear away the fair-cheeked maid, thy prize,
Briseis, that thou learn how far I stand
Above thee, and that other chiefs may fear
To measure strength with me, and brave my power."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.
Furious at this threat, Achilles put his hand to his sword with the
intention of slaying Agamemnon, and he had half drawn the weapon from
its scabbard, but just at that moment the goddess Minerva stood behind
him and caught him by his yellow hair. She had been sent down from
heaven by Juno to pacify the hero, for Juno and Minerva were friendly to
the Greeks. Ever since the judgment on Mount Ida they hated Paris, and
the city and country to which he belonged, and therefore they wished
that there should be no strife amongst the Greek chiefs, which would
prevent them from taking and destroying the hated city.
Achilles was astonished when he beheld the goddess, who appeared to him
alone, being invisible to all the rest. He instantly knew who she was,
and he said to her: "O goddess, have you come to witness the insolence
of the son of Atreus? You shall also witness the punishment I shall
inflict upon him for his haughtiness."
But Minerva spoke soothing words to the hero:
"I came from heaven to pacify thy wrath,
If thou wilt heed my counsel. I am sent
By Juno the white-armed, to whom ye both
Are dear, who ever watches o'er you both.
Refrain from violence; let not thy hand
Unsheath the sword, but utter with thy tongue
Reproaches, as occasion may arise,
For I declare what time shall bring to pass;
Threefold amends shall yet be offered thee,
In gifts of princely cost, for this day's wrong.
Now calm thy angry spirit, and obey."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.
Thus Minerva spoke, and Achilles, answering her, said: "Willingly, O
goddess, shall I observe your command, though in my soul much enraged,
for so it is better, since the gods are ever favorable to those who obey
them."
So speaking he put his sword back into its scabbard, while the goddess
swiftly returned to Olympus. Then the hero again addressed Agamemnon in
bitter words, and he took a solemn oath on the scepter he held in his
hand, that he would refuse to help the Greeks when they next should seek
his aid for battle with the Trojans.
"Tremendous oath! inviolate to kings;
By this I swear:--when bleeding Greece again
Shall call Achilles, she shall call in vain."
POPE, _Iliad_, Book I.
The venerable Nestor then arose to speak, and he begged the two chiefs
to cease quarreling with each other, for the Trojans, he said, would
greatly rejoice to hear of strife between the bravest men of the Greeks.
He advised Achilles, though of a goddess-mother born, not to contend
against his superior in authority, and he entreated Agamemnon not to
dishonor Achilles, the bulwark of the Greeks, by taking away the prize
which had been allotted to him.
"Forbid it, gods! Achilles should be lost,
The pride of Greece, and bulwark of our host."
POPE, _Iliad_, Book I.
But the wise Nestor advised and entreated in vain. Agamemnon would not
yield from his purpose of taking away the prize of Achilles, and so the
council of the chiefs came to an end.
Rising from that strife of words, the twain
Dissolved the assembly at the Grecian fleet.
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.
[Illustration: ACHILLES DEPRIVED OF BRISEIS.
_Drawn by Hubbell._]
Immediately afterwards, by order of the king, the maiden Chryseis was
conducted to her father's home, and sacrifices were offered to Apollo.
The anger of the god being thus appeased, the army was relieved from
the plague. Then Agamemnon proceeded to carry out his threat against
Achilles. Calling two of his officers, or heralds, Tal-thybʹi-us and
Eu-rybʹa-tes, he commanded them thus:
"Go ye to where Achilles holds his tent,
And take the fair Briseis by the hand,
And bring her hither. If he yield her not,
I shall come forth to claim her with a band
Of warriors, and it shall be worse for him."
BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.
Achilles received the heralds respectfully. He had no blame for them,
since they were but messengers. Nor did he refuse to obey the command of
the king. He delivered Briseis to the heralds, and they conducted her to
the tent of Agamemnon. Thus was committed the deed which brought
countless woes upon the Greeks, for Achilles, in deep grief and anger,
vowed that he would no more lead his Myrmidons to battle for a king who
had so dishonored and insulted him.
"Let these heralds," said he, "be the witnesses before gods and men of
the insult offered to me by this tyrant king, and when there shall be
need of me again to save the Greeks from destruction, appeal to me shall
be in vain."
Such was the origin of the wrath of Achilles, which is the subject of
Homer's Iliad. The Iliad is not a complete story of the Trojan War, but
an account of the disasters which happened to the Greeks through the
anger of Achilles. The poem, indeed, relates the events of only
fifty-eight days, but they were events of the highest interest and they
were very numerous. It is remarked by Pope that the subject of the Iliad
is the shortest and most single ever chosen by any poet. Yet Homer has
supplied a vaster variety of incidents, a greater number of councils,
speeches, battles, and events of all kinds, than are to be found in any
other poem.
The Iliad begins with the wrath of Achilles, which in the first line of
the first book is announced as the poet's theme:
Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber'd, heavenly goddess, sing!
That wrath which hurl'd to Pluto's gloomy reign
The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain;
Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore,
Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore:
Since great Achilles and Atrides strove,
Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove!
POPE, _Iliad_, Book I.
The heavenly goddess here invoked was Calliʹope, the patroness of epic
song, and one of the nine Muses. These were sister deities, daughters of
Jupiter, who presided over poetry, science, music, and dancing. Apollo,
as god of music and the fine arts, was their leader. They held their
meetings on the top of Mount Par-nas'sus in Greece. On the slope of this
mount was the celebrated spring or fountain of Cas-taʹli-a, whose waters
were supposed to give the true poetic spirit to all who drank of them.
The epic poets usually began their poems by invoking the aid of the
Muse. Homer does this in the very first line of the Iliad, the word for
word translation of which is: "O goddess, sing the wrath of Achilles,
the son of Peleus."
So also the English poet, Milton, begins his great epic poem, "Paradise
Lost," which tells about the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden
of Eden:
Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
_Sing, heavenly Muse_, that, on the secret top
Of Oreb or of Sinai, didst inspire
That shepherd who first taught the chosen seed
In the beginning how the heavens and earth
Rose out of Chaos; or, if Sion hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd
Fast by the oracle of God, _I thence_
_Invoke thy aid_ to my advent'rous song.