accompanied by awful peals of thunder, Pallas-Athene descended in a cloud,
and bore her favourite hero in a chariot to Olympus.
Heracles became admitted among the immortals; and Hera, in token of her
reconciliation, bestowed upon him the hand of her beautiful daughter Hebe,
the goddess of eternal youth.
BELLEROPHON.
Bellerophon, or Bellerophontes, was the son of Glaucus, king of Corinth,
and grandson of Sisyphus. In consequence of an unpremeditated murder
Bellerophon fled to Tiryns, where he was kindly received by King Proetus,
who purified him from his crime. Antea, the wife of Proetus, was so charmed
with the comely youth that she fell in love with him; but Bellerophon did
not return her affection, and she, in revenge, slandered him to the king by
a gross misrepresentation of the facts. {257}
The first impulse of Proetus, when informed of the conduct of Bellerophon,
was to kill him; but the youth, with his gentle and winning manners, had so
endeared himself to his host that he felt it impossible to take his life
with his own hands. He therefore sent him to his father-in-law, Iobates,
king of Lycia, with a kind of letter or tablet which contained mysterious
signs, indicating his desire that the bearer of the missive should be put
to death. But the gods watched over the true and loyal youth, and inclined
the heart of Iobates, who was an amiable prince, towards his guest. Judging
by his appearance that he was of noble birth, he entertained him, according
to the hospitable custom of the Greeks, in the most princely manner for
nine days, and not until the morning of the tenth did he inquire his name
and errand.
Bellerophon now presented to him the letter intrusted to him by Proetus.
Iobates, who had become greatly attached to the youth, was horror-struck at
its contents. Nevertheless he concluded that Proetus must have good reasons
for his conduct, and that probably Bellerophon had committed a crime which
deserved death. But as he could not make up his mind to murder the guest he
had grown to esteem, he decided to despatch him upon dangerous enterprises,
in which he would in all probability lose his life.
[Illustration]
He first sent him to kill the Chimaera, a monster which was at this time
devastating the country. The fore part of its body was that of a lion, the
centre of a goat, and the hind part of a dragon; whilst out of its jaws
issued flames of fire.
Before starting on this difficult task Bellerophon invoked the protection
of the gods, and in answer to his prayer they despatched to his aid the
immortal-winged horse Pegasus, the offspring of Poseidon and Medusa. But
the divine animal would not suffer himself to be {258} caught, and at last,
worn out with his fruitless exertions, Bellerophon fell into a deep sleep
beside the sacred spring Pirene. Here Pallas-Athene appeared to him in a
dream, and presented him with a magic bridle for the purpose of capturing
the divine steed. On awaking Bellerophon instinctively put out his hand to
grasp it, when, to his amazement, there lay beside him the bridle of his
dream, whilst Pegasus was quietly drinking at the fountain close by.
Seizing him by the mane Bellerophon threw the bridle over his head, and
succeeded in mounting him without further difficulty; then rising with him
into the air he slew the Chimaera with his arrows.
[Illustration]
Iobates next sent him on an expedition against the Solymans, a fierce
neighbouring tribe with whom he was at enmity. Bellerophon succeeded in
vanquishing them, and was then despatched against the much-dreaded Amazons;
but greatly to the astonishment of Iobates the hero again returned
victorious.
Finally, Iobates placed a number of the bravest Lycians in ambush for the
purpose of destroying him, but not one returned alive, for Bellerophon
bravely defended himself and slew them all. Convinced at length that
Bellerophon, far from deserving death, was the special favourite of the
gods, who had evidently protected him throughout his perilous exploits, the
king now ceased his persecutions.
Iobates admitted him to a share in the government, and gave him his
daughter in marriage. But Bellerophon having attained the summit of earthly
prosperity became intoxicated with pride and vanity, and incurred the
displeasure of the gods by endeavouring to mount to heaven on his winged
horse, for the purpose of gratifying his idle curiosity. Zeus punished him
for his impiety by sending {259} a gadfly to sting the horse, who became so
restive that he threw his rider, who was precipitated to the earth. Filled
with remorse at having offended the gods Bellerophon fell a prey to the
deepest melancholy, and wandered about for the remainder of his life in the
loneliest and most desolate places.
After death he was honoured in Corinth as a hero, and an altar was erected
to him in the grove of Poseidon.
THESEUS.
Aegeus, king of Athens, being twice married, and having no children, was so
desirous of an heir to his throne that he made a pilgrimage to Delphi in
order to consult the oracle. But the response being ambiguous, he repaired
to Troezen to consult his wise friend Pittheus, who reigned over that city,
by whose advice he contracted a secret marriage with his friend's daughter
Aethra.
After passing some time with his bride, Aegeus prepared to take his
departure for his own dominions; but before doing so he led Aethra to the
sea-shore, where, after depositing his sword and sandals under a huge rock,
he thus addressed her: "Should the gods bless our union with a son, do not
reveal to him the name and rank of his father until he is old enough to
possess the strength requisite for moving this stone. Then send him to my
palace at Athens bearing these tokens of his identity."
A son was born to Aethra, whom she called Theseus, and who was carefully
trained and educated by his grandfather Pittheus. When he had developed
into a strong and manly youth his mother conducted him to the spot where
the rock had been placed by Aegeus, and at her command he rolled away the
stone, and took possession of the sword and sandals which had lain there
for sixteen years, and which she now desired him to convey to his father
Aegeus, king of Athens.
His mother and grandfather were anxious that the youth should travel by the
safe sea route, the road between Troezen and Athens being at this time
infested {260} with robbers of great ferocity and enormous strength. But
feeling within himself the spirit of a hero, Theseus resolved to emulate
the deeds of Heracles, with whose fame all Greece resounded, and therefore
chose the more dangerous journey by land, as calculated to afford him an
opportunity of distinguishing himself by feats of valour.
His first adventure occurred at Epidaurus, where he met Periphetes, a son
of Hephaestus, who was armed with an iron club, with which he killed all
travellers. Having received from his grandfather a full description of this
savage, Theseus at once recognized him, and rushing upon him with his
sword, succeeded after a desperate encounter in killing him. He
appropriated the club as a trophy of his victory, and proceeded on his
journey without hinderance until he arrived at the Isthmus of Corinth.
Here the people warned him to beware of Sinnis the robber, who forced all
travellers to bend with him one of the branches of a tall pine-tree. Having
dragged it to the ground, the cruel Sinnis suddenly released his hold,
whereupon the bough rebounding high up into the air, the unfortunate victim
was dashed to the ground and killed. When Theseus beheld Sinnis advancing
towards him he steadily awaited his approach; then seizing his powerful
club, he killed the inhuman wretch with one blow.
Passing through the woody district of Crommyon Theseus next slew a wild and
dangerous sow which had long ravaged the country.
He then continued his journey and approached the borders of Megara, where,
on a narrow path overhanging the sea, dwelt the wicked Scyron, another
terror to travellers. It was his custom to compel all strangers who passed
his abode to wash his feet, during which operation he kicked them over the
rock into the sea. Theseus boldly attacked the giant, overcame him, and
then flung his body over the cliff where so many of his victims had
perished.
Theseus now journeyed on to Eleusis, where he found {261} another adversary
in the person of King Cercyon, who forced all comers to wrestle with him,
and killed those whom he vanquished; but Theseus overcame the mighty
wrestler and slew him.
Near Eleusis, on the banks of the river Cephissus, Theseus met with a new
adventure. Here lived the giant Damastes, called Procrustes or the
Stretcher, who had two iron beds, one being long and the other short, into
which he forced all strangers; In the short one he placed the tall men,
whose limbs he cut to the size of the bed, whilst to the short ones he
assigned the large bed, stretching them out to fit it; and thus he left his
victims to expire in the most cruel torments. Theseus freed the country
from this inhuman monster by serving him as he had done his unfortunate
victims.
The hero now continued his journey, and at length reached Athens without
meeting with any further adventures. When he arrived at his destination he
found his father a helpless tool in the hands of the sorceress Medea, whom
he had married after her departure from Corinth. Knowing, by means of her
supernatural powers, that Theseus was the king's son, and fearing that her
influence might be weakened by his presence, she poisoned the mind of the
old king against the stranger, whom she represented as being a spy. It was
accordingly arranged that Theseus should be invited to a banquet, and a
strong poison mixed with his wine.
Now Theseus had resolved to reveal himself at this feast to the father whom
he yearned to embrace. Before tasting the wine he put his plan into
execution, and drew out his sword so that the eyes of the king might rest
upon it. When Aegeus beheld once more the well-known weapon which he had so
often wielded, he knew that it was his son who stood before him. He warmly
embraced him, presented him as his heir to his courtiers and subjects, and
then, no longer able to endure the sight of Medea, he banished her for ever
from his dominions.
When Theseus was acknowledged as the rightful heir to the throne he was
opposed by the fifty sons of Pallas, {262} the king's brother, who had
confidently expected that on the demise of the old king the government of
the country would devolve upon them. They therefore resolved to put Theseus
to death; but their plans becoming known to him, he surprised them as they
lay in ambush awaiting his approach, and destroyed them all.
Fearing, however, lest the Athenians might entertain a prejudice against
him on account of his extermination of their fellow-citizens, the
Pallantids, Theseus resolved to perform some signal service for the state,
which should gain for him the hearts of the people. He accordingly decided
to rid the country of the famous bull of Marathon, which had become a
terror to the cultivators of the land. He captured the animal and brought
him in chains to Athens, where, after publicly exhibiting him to the
astonished multitude, he solemnly sacrificed him to Apollo.
The next enterprise undertaken by Theseus far surpassed all his other feats
of heroic daring, and secured to him the universal admiration and gratitude
of his fellow-citizens. This was the slaying of the Minotaur, which put an
end for ever to the shameful tribute of seven youths and seven maidens
which was exacted from the Athenians every nine years.
The origin of this barbarous tribute was as follows: Androgeos, the
youthful son of Minos, king of Crete, having been treacherously murdered by
the Athenians, his father, anxious to avenge the death of his son, declared
war against their king Aegeus, and conquered Athens and the villages in its
vicinity. The conqueror henceforth compelled the Athenians to send to him
every nine years a tribute of seven youths and seven maidens of the noblest
families of the land, who became the prey of the Minotaur, a monster,
half-man, half-bull, whose lair was in the wonderful labyrinth, constructed
by Daedalus for the Cretan king.
When Theseus informed his father of his heroic determination, he was
overwhelmed with grief, and endeavoured, by every means in his power, to
shake his son's resolution, but, confident of success, Theseus assured his
{263} father that he would slay the Minotaur and return home victorious.
It was customary for the vessel bearing its unhappy freight of human
victims to use on this voyage black sails only; but Theseus promised his
father that, should he return in safety, he would hoist white ones in their
place.
Before leaving Athens Theseus, by the advice of an oracle, chose Aphrodite
as his guardian and protectress, and accordingly offered up a sacrifice to
her. When he arrived in the presence of king Minos, the goddess of Love
inspired Ariadne, the beautiful daughter of the king, with an ardent
attachment for the noble young hero. During a secret interview, in which a
mutual confession of affection took place, Ariadne furnished him with a
sharp sword and a clue of thread, the end of which she desired him to
fasten at the entrance to the labyrinth and to continue to unwind it till
he reached the lair of the Minotaur. Full of hope as to the successful
issue of his undertaking, Theseus took leave of the kind maiden, after
expressing his gratitude for her timely aid.
At the head of his companions he was now conducted by Minos to the entrance
of the labyrinth. Strictly adhering to the injunctions of the fair Ariadne
he succeeded in finding the Minotaur, whom, after a fierce and violent
struggle, he defeated and killed; then carefully feeling his way, by means
of the clue of thread, he led his companions safely out of the labyrinth.
They then fled to their ship, taking with them the lovely maiden to whose
affection for their deliverer they owed their safety.
Arrived at the island of Naxos, Theseus had a dream, in which Dionysus, the
wine-god, appeared to him, and informed him that the Fates had decreed that
Ariadne should be his bride, at the same time menacing the hero with all
kinds of misfortunes should he refuse to resign her. Now Theseus, having
been taught from his youth to reverence the gods, feared to disobey the
wishes of Dionysus. He accordingly took a sad farewell of the {264}
beautiful maiden who so tenderly loved him, and left her on the lonely
island, where she was found and wooed by the wine-god.
Theseus and his companions felt keenly the loss of their benefactress, and
in their grief at parting with her, forgot that the ship still bore the
black sails with which she had left the Attic coast. As she neared the port
of Athens, Aegeus, who was anxiously awaiting the return of his son on the
beach, caught sight of the vessel with its black sails, and concluding that
his gallant son had perished, threw himself in despair into the sea.
With the unanimous approval of the Athenians, Theseus now ascended the
vacant throne, and soon proved himself to be not only a valiant hero but
also a wise prince and prudent legislator. Athens was at this time but a
small city surrounded by a number of villages, each of which possessed its
own separate form of government; but by means of kind and conciliatory
measures Theseus induced the heads of these different communities to resign
their sovereignty, and to intrust the administration of public affairs to a
court which should sit constantly at Athens, and exercise jurisdiction over
all the inhabitants of Attica. The result of these judicious measures was,
that the Athenians became a united and powerful people, and that numbers of
strangers and foreigners flocked to Athens, which became a flourishing
maritime port and a commercial centre of great importance.
Theseus renewed the Isthmian Games, and also instituted numerous festivals,
the principal of which was the Panathenaea, held in honour of Athene-Polias.
It is related that Theseus upon one occasion arrived during a voyage at the
Amazonian coast. Anxious to ascertain the object of his visit, the Amazons
sent Hippolyte, one of their number, with presents to the stranger; but no
sooner did the fair herald set foot on board his vessel than Theseus set
sail and carried her off to Athens, where he made her his queen. Enraged at
this indignity the Amazons determined to be revenged. Some time afterwards,
when the whole affair would {265} appear to have been forgotten, they
seized the opportunity when the city of Athens was in a defenceless
condition and landed an army in Attica. So sudden was their attack that
they had penetrated into the very heart of the city before the Athenians
could organize their forces; but Theseus expeditiously collected his troops
and commenced such a furious onslaught upon the invaders that, after a
desperate encounter, they were driven from the city. Peace was then
concluded, whereupon the Amazons evacuated the country. During this
engagement Hippolyte, forgetful of her origin, fought valiantly by the side
of her husband against her own kinsfolk, and perished on the field of
battle.
[Illustration]
It was soon after this sad event that Theseus joined the world-renowned
Calydonian Boar-hunt, in which he took a leading part. He also formed one
of the brave band who shared in the perils of the Argonautic expedition.
The remarkable friendship which existed between Theseus and Pirithoeus
originated under such peculiar circumstances that it is worthy of mention.
Hearing upon one occasion that his herds, pasturing in the plains of
Marathon, had been carried off by Pirithoeus, Theseus collected together an
armed force and sallied forth to punish the plunderer. But, when the two
heroes met face to face, both were seized with an impulse of sympathetic
admiration for each other. Pirithoeus, holding out his hand in token of
peace, exclaimed, "What satisfaction shall I render thee, oh Theseus? Be
thou thyself the judge." Theseus seized the proffered hand and replied, "I
ask nought save thy {266} friendship;" whereupon the heroes embraced each
other and swore eternal fidelity.
When, soon afterwards, Pirithoeus became united to Hippodamia, a Thessalian
princess, he invited Theseus to the wedding-feast, which was also attended,
among other guests, by a large number of Centaurs, who were friends of
Pirithoeus. Towards the end of the banquet Eurytion, a young Centaur, heated
and flushed with wine, seized the lovely bride and sought by force to carry
her off. The other Centaurs, following his example, each endeavoured to
capture a maiden. Pirithoeus and his followers, aided by Theseus, who
rendered most valuable assistance, attacked the Centaurs, and after a
violent hand-to-hand struggle in which many perished, forced them to
relinquish their prey.
After the death of Hippolyte Theseus sought the hand of Phaedra, the sister
of his former bride Ariadne, to whom he became united. For some years they
lived happily together, and their union was blessed by the birth of two
sons. During this time Hippolytus, the son of the Amazonian queen, had been
absent from home, having been placed under the care of the king's uncles in
order to be educated. When, having grown to manhood, he now returned to his
father's palace, his young stepmother, Phaedra, fell violently in love with
him; but Hippolytus failed to return her affection, and treated her with
contempt and indifference. Filled with rage and despair at his coldness
Phaedra put an end to her existence; and when she was discovered by her
husband she held in her hand a letter, accusing Hippolytus of being the
cause of her death, and of having conspired against the honour of the king.
Now Poseidon had upon one occasion promised to grant Theseus whatever
request he should demand; he therefore called upon the sea-god to destroy
Hippolytus, whom he cursed in the most solemn manner. The father's awful
malediction fell but too soon upon his innocent son; for, as the latter was
driving his chariot along the sea-shore, between Troezen and Athens, a
{267} monster, sent by Poseidon, rose out of the deep, and so frightened
the horses that they became altogether unmanageable. As they rushed on in
their mad career the chariot was dashed to pieces, and the unfortunate
youth, whose feet had become entangled in the reins, was dragged along
until life was nearly extinct.
In this condition he was found by the unhappy Theseus, who, having
ascertained the true facts of the case from an old servant of Phaedra, had
hastened to prevent the catastrophe. But he arrived too late, and was only
able to soothe the last moments of his dying son by acknowledging the sad
mistake which he had committed, and declaring his firm belief in his honour
and innocence.
After these events Theseus was persuaded by his friend Pirithoeus, who had
also about this time lost his young wife, Hippodamia, to join him in a
journey through Greece, with the object of carrying off by force the most
beautiful maidens whom they should chance to meet.
Arrived at Sparta they beheld, in the temple of Artemis, Helen, the
daughter of Zeus and Leda, who was engaged in performing sacred dances in
honour of the goddess. Although the maiden was only nine years old the fame
of her beauty, which was destined to play so important a part in the
history of Greece, had already spread far and wide. Theseus and Pirithoeus
forcibly abducted her, and then having cast lots for her, she fell to
Theseus, who placed her under the charge of his mother AEthra.
Pirithoeus now requested Theseus to assist him in his ambitious scheme of
descending to the lower world and carrying off Persephone, the queen of
Hades. Though fully alive to the perils of the undertaking Theseus would
not forsake his friend, and together they sought the gloomy realm of
Shades. But Aides had been forewarned of their approach, and scarcely had
the two friends set foot within his dominions when, by his orders, they
were seized, bound with chains, and secured to an enchanted rock at the
entrance of Hades. Here the two {268} friends languished for many years,
until Heracles passed by in his search for Cerberus, when he released
Theseus; but in obedience to an injunction of the gods, left Pirithoeus to
endure for ever the punishment of his too daring ambition.
While Theseus was imprisoned in the under world Castor and Pollux, the
brothers of Helen, invaded Athens, and demanded the restoration of their
young sister. Seeing his country threatened with the horrors of warfare, an
Athenian citizen named Academus, who knew of Helen's place of concealment,
repaired to the camp of the Dioscuri, and informed them where they would
find her. AEthra at once resigned her charge, whereupon the brothers took
leave of Athens, and, accompanied by Helen, returned to their native
country.
But the prolonged absence of Theseus gave rise to other troubles of a more
serious character. Thinking the opportunity favourable for a revolt, a
faction, headed by Menesthius, a descendant of Erechtheus, arrogated to
themselves supreme power, and seized the reins of government.
Returned to Athens, Theseus at once took active measures to quell the
insubordination which existed on all sides. He expelled Menesthius from
office, rigorously punished the ringleaders of the revolt, and placed
himself once more upon the throne. But his hold upon the people was gone.
His former services were all forgotten, and, finding at length that
dissensions and revolts were rife, he voluntarily abdicated the throne, and
retired to his estates in the island of Scyros. Here Lycomedes, king of the
island, feigned to receive him with the utmost friendship; but being, as it
is supposed, in league with Menesthius, he led the old king to the summit
of a high rock, under pretence of showing him his estates, and
treacherously killed him by pushing him over the cliff.
Many centuries after his death, by the command of the oracle of Delphi,
Cimon, the father of Miltiades, at the conclusion of the Persian war,
brought the remains of Theseus, the great benefactor of Athens, to that
city, {269} and in his honour a temple was erected, which exists to the
present day, and serves as a museum of art.
OEDIPUS.
Laius, king of Thebes, the son of Labdacus, and a direct descendant of
Cadmus, was married to Jocaste, the daughter of a noble Theban. An oracle
having foretold that he would perish by the hand of his own son, he
determined to destroy the infant to whom Jocaste had just given birth. With
the consent of his wife, whose affection for her husband overcame her love
for her child, he pierced the feet of the babe, bound them together, and
handed the infant over to a servant, with instructions to expose him on
Mount Cithaeron to perish. But instead of obeying this cruel command, the
servant intrusted him to a shepherd who was tending the flocks of Polybus,
king of Corinth, and then returned to Laius and Jocaste, and informed them
that their orders had been obeyed. The parents were satisfied with the
intelligence, and quieted their conscience by the reflection that they had
thus prevented their son from committing the crime of parricide.
Meanwhile the shepherd of king Polybus had unbound the feet of the infant,
and in consequence of their being much swollen he called him Oedipus, or
Swollen-foot. He then carried him to the king, his master, who, pitying the
poor little waif, enlisted for him the kind offices of his wife, Merope.
Oedipus was adopted by the king and queen as their own son, and grew up in
the belief that they were his parents, until one day a Corinthian noble
taunted him at a banquet with not being the son of the king. Stung at this
reproach the youth appealed to Merope, but receiving an equivocal, though
kindly answer, he repaired to Delphi to consult the oracle. The Pythia
vouchsafed no reply to his inquiry, but informed him, to his horror, that
he was fated to kill his father and to marry his own mother.
Filled with dismay, for he was tenderly attached to Polybus and Merope,
Oedipus determined not to return {270} to Corinth, and took instead the
road leading to Boeotia. On his way a chariot passed him, in which sat an
old man with two servants, who rudely pushed the pedestrian out of the
path. In the scuffle which ensued Oedipus struck the old man with his heavy
stick, and he fell back dead on the seat of the chariot. Struck with dismay
at the unpremeditated murder which he had committed, the youth fled, and
left the spot without learning that the old man whom he had killed was his
father, Laius, king of Thebes.
Not long after this occurrence the Sphinx (full details of whom have
already been given) was sent by the goddess Hera as a punishment to the
Thebans. Stationed on a rocky height just outside the city, she propounded
to the passers by riddles which she had been taught by the Muses, and
whoever failed to solve them was torn in pieces and devoured by the
monster, and in this manner great numbers of the inhabitants of Thebes had
perished.
Now on the death of the old king Laius, Creon, the brother of the widowed
queen, had seized the reins of government and mounted the vacant throne;
and when at length his own son fell a victim to the Sphinx, he resolved at
all costs to rid the country of this fearful scourge. He accordingly issued
a proclamation, that the kingdom and the hand of his sister Jocaste should
be awarded to him who should succeed in solving one of the riddles of the
Sphinx, it having been foretold by an oracle that only then would the
country be freed from the monster.
Just as this proclamation was being made in the streets of Thebes Oedipus,
with his pilgrim's staff in his hand, entered the city. Tempted by the
prospect of so magnificent a reward he repaired to the rock, and boldly
requested the Sphinx to propound to him one of her riddles. She proposed to
him one which she deemed impossible of solution, but Oedipus at once solved
it; whereupon the Sphinx, full of rage and despair, precipitated herself
into the abyss and perished. Oedipus {271} received the promised reward. He
became king of Thebes and the husband of Jocaste, the widow of his father,
king Laius.
For many years Oedipus enjoyed the greatest happiness and tranquillity.
Four children were born to him--two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, and two
daughters, Antigone and Ismene. But at last the gods afflicted the country
with a grievous pestilence, which made terrible havoc among the people. In
their distress they entreated the help of the king, who was regarded by his
subjects as a special favourite of the gods. Oedipus consulted an oracle,
and the response was that the pestilence would continue to rage until the
land was purified of the blood of king Laius, whose murderer was living
unpunished at Thebes.
The king now invoked the most solemn imprecations on the head of the
murderer, and offered a reward for any information concerning him. He then
sent for the blind old seer Tiresias, and implored him, by means of his
prophetic powers, to reveal to him the author of the crime. Tiresias at
first hesitated, but yielding to the earnest solicitations of the king, the
old prophet thus addressed him: "Thou thyself art the murderer of the old
king Laius, who was thy father; and thou art wedded to his widow, thine own
mother." In order to convince Oedipus of the truth of his words, he brought
forward the old servant who had exposed him as a babe on Mount Cithaeron,
and the shepherd who had conveyed him to king Polybus. Horrified at this
awful revelation Oedipus, in a fit of despair, deprived himself of sight,
and the unfortunate Jocaste, unable to survive her disgrace, hanged
herself.
Accompanied by his faithful and devoted daughter Antigone, Oedipus quitted
Thebes and became a miserable and homeless outcast, begging his bread from
place to place. At length, after a long and painful pilgrimage, he found a
place of refuge in the grove of the Eumenides (at Colonus, near Athens),
where his last moments were soothed and tended by the care and devotion of
the faithful Antigone.
{272}
THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES.
After the voluntary abdication of Oedipus, his two sons, Eteocles and
Polynices, took possession of the crown and reigned over the city of
Thebes. But Eteocles, being an ambitious prince, soon seized the reins of
government himself, and expelled his brother from the throne.
Polynices now repaired to Argos, where he arrived in the dead of night.
Outside the gates of the royal palace he encountered Tydeus, the son of
Oeneus, king of Calydon. Having accidentally killed a relative in the
chase, Tydeus was also a fugitive; but being mistaken by Polynices in the
darkness for an enemy, a quarrel ensued, which might have ended fatally,
had not king Adrastus, aroused by the clamour, appeared on the scene and
parted the combatants.
By the light of the torches borne by his attendants Adrastus observed, to
his surprise, that on the shield of Polynices a lion was depicted, and on
that of Tydeus a boar. The former bore this insignia in honour of the
renowned hero Heracles, the latter in memory of the famous Calydonian
boar-hunt. This circumstance reminded the king of an extraordinary oracular
prediction concerning his two beautiful daughters, Argia and Deipyle, which
was to the effect that he would give them in marriage to a lion and a boar.
Hailing with delight what he regarded as an auspicious solution of the
mysterious prophecy, he invited the strangers into his palace; and when he
heard their history, and had convinced himself that they were of noble
birth, he bestowed upon Polynices his beautiful daughter Argia, and upon
Tydeus the fair Deipyle, promising at the same time that he would assist
both his sons-in-law to regain their rightful patrimony.
The first care of Adrastus was to aid Polynices in regaining possession of
his lawful share in the government of Thebes. He accordingly invited the
most powerful chiefs in his kingdom to join in the expedition, {273} all of
whom readily obeyed the call with the exception of the king's
brother-in-law, Amphiaraus, the seer. As he foresaw a disastrous
termination to the enterprise, and knew that not one of the heroes, save
Adrastus himself, would return alive, he earnestly dissuaded the king from
carrying out his project, and declined to take any part in the undertaking.
But Adrastus, seconded by Polynices and Tydeus, was obstinately bent on the
achievement of his purpose, and Amphiaraus, in order to escape from their
importunities, concealed himself in a hiding-place known only to his wife
Eriphyle.
Now on the occasion of the marriage of Amphiaraus it had been agreed, that
if he ever differed in opinion with the king, his wife should decide the
question. As the presence of Amphiaraus was indispensable to the success of
the undertaking, and, moreover, as Adrastus would not enter upon it without
"the eye of the army," as he called his brother-in-law, Polynices, bent on
securing his services, determined to bribe Eriphyle to use her influence
with her husband and to decide the question in accordance with his wishes.
He bethought himself of the beautiful necklace of Harmonia, wife of Cadmus,
which he had brought with him in his flight from Thebes. Without loss of
time he presented himself before the wife of Amphiaraus, and held up to her
admiring gaze the glittering bauble, promising that if she revealed the
hiding-place of her husband and induced him to join the expedition, the
necklace should be hers. Eriphyle, unable to withstand the tempting bait,
accepted the bribe, and thus Amphiaraus was compelled to join the army. But
before leaving his home he extorted a solemn promise from his son Alcmaeon
that, should he perish on the field of battle, he would avenge his death on
his mother, the perfidious Eriphyle.
Seven leaders were now chosen, each at the head of a separate detachment of
troops. These were Adrastus the king, his two brothers Hippomedon and
Parthenopaeus, Capaneus his nephew, Polynices and Tydeus, and Amphiaraus.
{274}
When the army was collected they set out for Nemea, which was at this time
governed by king Lycurgus. Here the Argives, being short of water, halted
on the outskirts of a forest in order to search for a spring, when they saw
a majestic and beautiful woman seated on the trunk of a tree, nursing an
infant. They concluded from her noble and queenly appearance that she must
be a goddess, but were informed by her that she was Hypsipile, queen of the
Lemnians, who had been carried away captive by pirates, and sold as a slave
to king Lycurgus, and that she was now acting as nurse to his infant son.
When the warriors told her that they were in search of water, she laid the
child down in the grass, and led them to a secret spring in the forest,
with which she alone was acquainted. But on their return they found, to
their grief, that the unfortunate babe had been killed during their
absence, by a serpent. They slew the reptile, and then collecting the
remains of the infant, they buried them with funereal honours and proceeded
on their way.
The warlike host now appeared before the walls of Thebes, and each leader
placed himself before one of the seven gates of the city in readiness for
the attack. Eteocles, in conjunction with Creon, had made due preparations
to repel the invaders, and had stationed troops, under the command of
trusty leaders, to guard each of the gates. Then, according to the practice
of the ancients of consulting soothsayers before entering upon any
undertaking, the blind old seer Tiresias was sent for, who, after carefully
taking the auguries from the flight of birds, declared that all efforts to
defend the city would prove unavailing, unless the youngest descendant of
the house of Cadmus would offer himself as a voluntary sacrifice for the
good of the state.
When Creon heard the words of the seer his first thought was of his
favourite son Menoeceus, the youngest scion of the royal house, who was
present at the interview. He therefore earnestly implored him to leave the
city, and to repair for safety to Delphi. But the gallant youth heroically
resolved to sacrifice his life for the {275} benefit of his country, and
after taking leave of his old father, mounted the city walls, and plunging
a dagger into his heart, perished in the sight of the contending hosts.
Adrastus now gave his troops the word of command to storm the city, and
they rushed forward to the attack with great valour. The battle raged long
and furiously, and after heavy losses on both sides the Argives were routed
and put to flight.
After the lapse of some days they reorganized their forces, and again
appeared before the gates of Thebes, when Eteocles, grieved to think that
there should be such a terrible loss of life on his account, sent a herald
into the opposite camp, with a proposition that the fate of the campaign
should be decided by single combat between himself and his brother
Polynices. The challenge was readily accepted, and in the duel which took
place outside the city walls, in the sight of the rival forces, Eteocles
and Polynices were both fatally wounded and expired on the field of battle.
Both sides now claimed the day, and the result was that hostilities
recommenced, and soon the battle raged with greater fury than ever. But
victory at last declared itself for the Thebans. In their flight the
Argives lost all their leaders, Adrastus excepted, who owed his safety to
the fleetness of his horse Arion.
By the death of the brothers, Creon became once more king of Thebes, and in
order to show his abhorrence of the conduct of Polynices in fighting
against his country, he strictly forbade any one to bury either his remains
or those of his allies. But the faithful Antigone, who had returned to
Thebes on the death of her father, could not endure that the body of her
brother should remain unburied. She therefore bravely disregarded the
orders of the king, and endeavoured to give sepulture to the remains of
Polynices.
When Creon discovered that his commands had been set at defiance, he
inhumanly condemned the devoted maiden to be entombed alive in a
subterranean vault. {276} But retribution was at hand. His son, Haemon, who
was betrothed to Antigone, having contrived to effect an entrance into the
vault, was horrified to find that Antigone had hanged herself by her veil.
Feeling that life without her would be intolerable, he threw himself in
despair on his own sword, and after solemnly invoking the malediction of
the gods on the head of his father, expired beside the dead body of his
betrothed.
Hardly had the news of the tragic fate of his son reached the king, before
another messenger appeared, bearing the tidings that his wife Eurydice, on
hearing of the death of Haemon, had put an end to her existence, and thus
the king found himself in his old age both widowed and childless.
Nor did he succeed in the execution of his vindictive designs; for
Adrastus, who, after his flight from Thebes, had taken refuge at Athens,
induced Theseus to lead an army against the Thebans, to compel them to
restore the dead bodies of the Argive warriors to their friends, in order
that they might perform due funereal rites in honour of the slain. This
undertaking was successfully accomplished, and the remains of the fallen
heroes were interred with due honours.
THE EPIGONI.
Ten years after these events the sons of the slain heroes, who were called
Epigoni, or descendants, resolved to avenge the death of their fathers, and
with this object entered upon a new expedition against the city of Thebes.
By the advice of the Delphic oracle the command was intrusted to Alcmaeon,
the son of Amphiaraus; but remembering the injunction of his father he
hesitated to accept this post before executing vengeance on his mother
Eriphyle. Thersander, however, the son of Polynices, adopting similar
tactics to those of his father, bribed Eriphyle with the beautiful veil of
Harmonia, bequeathed to him by Polynices, to induce her son {277} Alcmaeon
and his brother Amphilochus to join in this second war against Thebes.
Now the mother of Alcmaeon was gifted with that rare fascination which
renders its possessor irresistible to all who may chance to come within its
influence; nor was her own son able to withstand her blandishments.
Yielding therefore to her wily representations he accepted the command of
the troops, and at the head of a large and powerful army advanced upon
Thebes.
Before the gates of the city Alcmaeon encountered the Thebans under the
command of Laodamas, the son of Eteocles. A fierce battle ensued, in which
the Theban leader, after performing prodigies of valour, perished by the
hand of Alcmaeon.
After losing their chief and the flower of their army, the Thebans
retreated behind the city walls, and the enemy now pressed them hard on
every side. In their distress they appealed to the blind old seer Tiresias,
who was over a hundred years old. With trembling lips and in broken
accents, he informed them that they could only save their lives by
abandoning their native city with their wives and families. Upon this they
despatched ambassadors into the enemy's camp; and whilst these were
protracting negotiations during the night, the Thebans, with their wives
and children, evacuated the city. Next morning the Argives entered Thebes
and plundered it, placing Thersander, the son of Polynices (who was a
descendant of Cadmus), on the throne which his father had so vainly
contested.
ALCMAEON AND THE NECKLACE.
When Alcmaeon returned from his expedition against the Thebans he determined
to fulfil the last injunction of his father Amphiaraus, who had desired him
to be revenged on his mother Eriphyle for her perfidy in accepting a bribe
to betray him. This resolution was further strengthened by the discovery
that his unprincipled mother had urged him also to join the expedition
{278} in return for the much-coveted veil of Harmonia. He therefore put her
to death; and taking with him the ill-fated necklace and veil, abandoned
for ever the home of his fathers.
But the gods, who could not suffer so unnatural a crime to go unpunished,
afflicted him with madness, and sent one of the Furies to pursue him
unceasingly. In this unhappy condition he wandered about from place to
place, until at last having reached Psophis in Arcadia, Phegeus, king of
the country, not only purified him of his crime, but also bestowed upon him
the hand of his daughter Arsinoe, to whom Alcmaeon presented the necklace
and veil, which had already been the cause of so much unhappiness.
Though now released from his mental affliction, the curse which hung over
him was not entirely removed, and on his account the country of his
adoption was visited with a severe drought. On consulting the oracle of
Delphi he was informed that any land which offered him shelter would be
cursed by the gods, and that the malediction would continue to follow him
till he came to a country which was not in existence at the time he had
murdered his mother. Bereft of hope, and resolved no longer to cast the
shadow of his dark fate over those he loved, Alcmaeon took a tender leave of
his wife and little son, and became once more an outcast and wanderer.
Arrived after a long and painful pilgrimage at the river Achelous, he
discovered, to his unspeakable joy, a beautiful and fertile island, which
had but lately emerged from beneath the water. Here he took up his abode;
and in this haven of rest he was at length freed from his sufferings, and
finally purified of his crime by the river-god Achelous. But in his
new-found home where prosperity smiled upon him, Alcmaeon soon forgot the
loving wife and child he had left behind, and wooed Calirrhoe, the
beautiful daughter of the river-god, who became united to him in marriage.
For many years Alcmaeon and Calirrhoe lived happily together, and two sons
were born to them. But {279} unfortunately for the peace of her husband,
the daughter of Achelous had heard of the celebrated necklace and veil of
Harmonia, and became seized with a violent desire to become the possessor
of these precious treasures.
Now the necklace and veil were in the safe-keeping of Arsinoe; but as
Alcmaeon had carefully concealed the fact of his former marriage from his
young wife, he informed her, when no longer able to combat her
importunities, that he had concealed them in a cave in his native country,
and promised to hasten thither and procure them for her. He accordingly
took leave of Calirrhoe and his children, and proceeded to Psophis, where
he presented himself before his deserted wife and her father, king Phegeus.
To them he excused his absence by the fact of his having suffered from a
fresh attack of madness, and added that an oracle had foretold to him that
his malady would only be cured when he had deposited the necklace and veil
of Harmonia in the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Arsinoe, deceived by his
artful representations, unhesitatingly restored to him his bridal gifts,
whereupon Alcmaeon set out on his homeward journey, well satisfied with the
successful issue of his expedition.
But the fatal necklace and veil were doomed to bring ruin and disaster to
all who possessed them. During his sojourn at the court of king Phegeus,
one of the servants who had accompanied Alcmaeon betrayed the secret of his
union with the daughter of the river-god; and when the king informed his
sons of his treacherous conduct, they determined to avenge the wrongs of
their sister Arsinoe. They accordingly concealed themselves at a point of
the road which Alcmaeon was compelled to pass, and as he neared the spot
they suddenly emerged from their place of ambush, fell upon him and
despatched him.
When Arsinoe, who still loved her faithless husband, heard of the murder,
she bitterly reproached her brothers for the crime which they had
perpetrated, at which they were so incensed, that they placed her in a
chest, and conveyed her to Agapenor, son of Ancaeus, at Tegea. {280} Here
they accused her of the murder of which they themselves were guilty, and
she suffered a painful death.
Calirrhoe, on learning the sad fate of Alcmaeon, implored Zeus that her
infant sons might grow at once to manhood, and avenge the death of their
father. The ruler of Olympus heard the petition of the bereaved wife, and,
in answer to her prayer, the children of yesterday became transformed into
bearded men, full of strength and courage, and thirsting for revenge.
Hastening to Tegea, they there encountered the sons of Phegeus, who were
about to repair to Delphi, in order to deposit the necklace and veil in the
sanctuary of Apollo; and before the brothers had time to defend themselves,
the stalwart sons of Calirrhoe rushed upon them and slew them. They then
proceeded to Psophis, where they killed king Phegeus and his wife, after
which they returned to their mother with the necklace and veil, which, by
the command of her father Achelous, were deposited as sacred offerings in
the temple of Apollo at Delphi.
THE HERACLIDAE.
After the apotheosis of Heracles, his children were so cruelly persecuted
by Eurystheus, that they fled for protection to king Ceyx at Trachin,
accompanied by the aged Iolaus, the nephew and life-long friend of their
father, who constituted himself their guide and protector. But on
Eurystheus demanding the surrender of the fugitives, the Heraclidae, knowing
that the small force at the disposal of king Ceyx would be altogether
inadequate to protect them against the powerful king of Argos, abandoned
his territory, and sought refuge at Athens, where they were hospitably
received by king Demophoon, the son of the great hero Theseus. He warmly
espoused their cause, and determined to protect them at all costs against
Eurystheus, who had despatched a numerous force in pursuit of them.
When the Athenians had made all necessary preparations to repel the
invaders, an oracle announced that the {281} sacrifice of a maiden of noble
birth was necessary to ensure to them victory; whereupon Macaria, the
beautiful daughter of Heracles and Deianira, magnanimously offered herself
as a sacrifice, and, surrounded by the noblest matrons and maidens of
Athens, voluntarily devoted herself to death.
While these events were transpiring in Athens, Hyllus, the eldest son of
Heracles and Deianira, had advanced with a large army to the assistance of
his brothers, and having sent a messenger to the king announcing his
arrival, Demophoon, with his army, joined his forces.
In the thick of the battle which ensued, Iolaus, following a sudden
impulse, borrowed the chariot of Hyllus, and earnestly entreated Zeus and
Hebe to restore to him, for this one day only, the vigour and strength of
his youth. His prayer was heard. A thick cloud descended from heaven and
enveloped the chariot, and when it disappeared, Iolaus, in the full
plenitude of manly vigour, stood revealed before the astonished gaze of the
combatants. He then led on his valiant band of warriors, and soon the enemy
was in headlong flight; and Eurystheus, who was taken prisoner, was put to
death by the command of king Demophoon.
After gratefully acknowledging the timely aid of the Athenians, Hyllus,
accompanied by the faithful Iolaus and his brothers, took leave of king
Demophoon, and proceeded to invade the Peloponnesus, which they regarded as
their lawful patrimony; for, according to the will of Zeus, it should have
been the rightful possession of their father, the great hero Heracles, had
not Hera maliciously defeated his plans by causing his cousin Eurystheus to
precede him into the world.
For the space of twelve months the Heraclidae contrived to maintain
themselves in the Peloponnesus; but at the expiration of that time a
pestilence broke out, which spread over the entire peninsula, and compelled
the Heraclidae to evacuate the country and return to Attica, where for a
time they settled.
After the lapse of three years Hyllus resolved on {282} making another
effort to obtain his paternal inheritance. Before setting out on the
expedition, however, he consulted the oracle of Delphi, and the response
was, that he must wait for the third fruit before the enterprise would
prove successful. Interpreting this ambiguous reply to signify the third
summer, Hyllus controlled his impatience for three years, when, having
collected a powerful army, he once more entered the Peloponnesus.
At the isthmus of Corinth he was opposed by Atreus, the son of Pelops, who
at the death of Eurystheus had inherited the kingdom. In order to save
bloodshed, Hyllus offered to decide his claims by single combat, the
conditions being, that if he were victorious, he and his brothers should
obtain undisputed possession of their rights; but if defeated, the
Heraclidae were to desist for fifty years from attempting to press their
claim.
The challenge was accepted by Echemon, king of Tegea, and Hyllus lost his
life in the encounter, whereupon the sons of Heracles, in virtue of their
agreement, abandoned the Peloponnesus and retired to Marathon.
Hyllus was succeeded by his son Cleodaeus, who, at the expiration of the
appointed time, collected a large army and invaded the Peloponnesus; but he
was not more successful than his father had been, and perished there with
all his forces.
Twenty years later his son Aristomachus consulted an oracle, which promised
him victory if he went by way of the defile. The Heraclidae once more set
out, but were again defeated, and Aristomachus shared the fate of his
father and grandfather, and fell on the field of battle.
When, at the expiration of thirty years, the sons of Aristomachus, Temenus,
Cresphontes, and Aristodemus again consulted the oracle, the answer was
still the same; but this time the following explanation accompanied the
response: the third fruit signified the third generation, to which they
themselves belonged, and not the third fruit of the earth; and by the
defile was indicated, not the isthmus of Corinth, but the straits on the
right of the isthmus.
{283}
Temenus lost no time in collecting an army and building ships of war; but
just as all was ready and the fleet about to sail, Aristodemus, the
youngest of the brothers, was struck by lightning. To add to their
misfortunes, Hippolytes, a descendant of Heracles, who had joined in the
expedition, killed a soothsayer whom he mistook for a spy, and the gods, in
their displeasure, sent violent tempests, by means of which the entire
fleet was destroyed, whilst famine and pestilence decimated the ranks of
the army.
The oracle, on being again consulted, advised that Hippolytes, being the
offender, should be banished from the country for ten years, and that the
command of the troops should be delegated to a man having three eyes. A
search was at once instituted by the Heraclidae for a man answering to this
description, who was found at length in the person of Oxylus, a descendant
of the AEtolian race of kings. In obedience to the command of the oracle,
Hippolytes was banished, an army and fleet once more equipped, and Oxylus
elected commander-in-chief.
And now success at length crowned the efforts of the long-suffering
descendants of the great hero. They obtained possession of the
Peloponnesus, which was divided among them by lot. Argos fell to Temenus,
Lacedaemon to Aristodemus, and Messene to Cresphontes. In gratitude for the
services of their able leader, Oxylus, the kingdom of Elis, was conferred
upon him by the Heraclidae.
THE SIEGE OF TROY.
Troy or Ilion was the capital of a kingdom in Asia Minor, situated near the
Hellespont, and founded by Ilus, son of Tros. At the time of the famous
Trojan war this city was under the government of Priam, a direct descendant
of Ilus. Priam was married to Hecuba, daughter of Dymas, king of Thrace;
and among the most celebrated of their children were the renowned and {284}
valiant Hector, the prophetess Cassandra, and Paris, the cause of the
Trojan war.
Before the birth of her second son Paris, Hecuba dreamt that she had given
birth to a flaming brand, which was interpreted by AEsacus the seer (a son
of Priam by a former marriage) to signify that she would bear a son who
would cause the destruction of the city of Troy. Anxious to prevent the
fulfilment of the prophecy, Hecuba caused her new-born babe to be exposed
on Mount Ida to perish; but being found by some kind-hearted shepherds, the
child was reared by them, and grew up unconscious of his noble birth.
As the boy approached manhood he became remarkable, not only for his
wonderful beauty of form and feature, but also for his strength and
courage, which he exercised in defending the flocks from the attacks of
robbers and wild beasts; hence he was called Alexander, or helper of men.
It was about this time that he settled the famous dispute concerning the
golden apple, thrown by the goddess of Discord into the assembly of the
gods. As we have already seen, he gave his decision in favour of Aphrodite;
thus creating for himself two implacable enemies, for Hera and Athene never
forgave the slight.
Paris became united to a beautiful nymph named Oenone, with whom he lived
happily in the seclusion and tranquillity of a pastoral life; but to her
deep grief this peaceful existence was not fated to be of long duration.
Hearing that some funereal games were about to be held in Troy in honour of
a departed relative of the king, Paris resolved to visit the capital and
take part in them himself. There he so greatly distinguished himself in a
contest with his unknown brothers, Hector and Deiphobus, that the proud
young princes, enraged that an obscure shepherd should snatch from them the
prize of victory, were about to create a disturbance, when Cassandra, who
had been a spectator of the proceedings, stepped forward, and announced to
them that the humble peasant who had so signally defeated them was their
own {285} brother Paris. He was then conducted to the presence of his
parents, who joyfully acknowledged him as their child; and amidst the
festivities and rejoicings in honour of their new-found son the ominous
prediction of the past was forgotten.
As a proof of his confidence, the king now intrusted Paris with a somewhat
delicate mission. As we have already seen in the Legend of Heracles, that
great hero conquered Troy, and after killing king Laomedon, carried away
captive his beautiful daughter Hesione, whom he bestowed in marriage on his
friend Telamon. But although she became princess of Salamis, and lived
happily with her husband, her brother Priam never ceased to regret her
loss, and the indignity which had been passed upon his house; and it was
now proposed that Paris should be equipped with a numerous fleet, and
proceed to Greece in order to demand the restoration of the king's sister.
Before setting out on this expedition, Paris was warned by Cassandra
against bringing home a wife from Greece, and she predicted that if he
disregarded her injunction he would bring inevitable ruin upon the city of
Troy, and destruction to the house of Priam.
Under the command of Paris the fleet set sail, and arrived safely in
Greece. Here the young Trojan prince first beheld Helen, the daughter of
Zeus and Leda, and sister of the Dioscuri, who was the wife of Menelaus,
king of Sparta, and the loveliest woman of her time. The most renowned
heroes in Greece had sought the honour of her hand; but her stepfather,
Tyndareus, king of Sparta, fearing that if he bestowed her in marriage on
one of her numerous lovers he would make enemies of the rest, made it a
stipulation that all suitors should solemnly swear to assist and defend the
successful candidate, with all the means at their command, in any feud
which might hereafter arise in connection with the marriage. He at length
conferred the hand of Helen upon Menelaus, a warlike prince, devoted to
martial exercises and the pleasures of the chase, to whom he resigned his
throne and kingdom.
{286}
When Paris arrived at Sparta, and sought hospitality at the royal palace,
he was kindly received by king Menelaus. At the banquet given in his
honour, he charmed both host and hostess by his graceful manner and varied
accomplishments, and specially ingratiated himself with the fair Helen, to
whom he presented some rare and chaste trinkets of Asiatic manufacture.
Whilst Paris was still a guest at the court of the king of Sparta, the
latter received an invitation from his friend Idomeneus, king of Crete, to
join him in a hunting expedition; and Menelaus, being of an unsuspicious
and easy temperament, accepted the invitation, leaving to Helen the duty of
entertaining the distinguished stranger. Captivated by her surpassing
loveliness, the Trojan prince forgot every sense of honour and duty, and
resolved to rob his absent host of his beautiful wife. He accordingly
collected his followers, and with their assistance stormed the royal
castle, possessed himself of the rich treasures which it contained, and
succeeded in carrying off its beautiful, and not altogether unwilling
mistress.
They at once set sail, but were driven by stress of weather to the island
of Crania, where they cast anchor; and it was not until some years had
elapsed, during which time home and country were forgotten, that Paris and
Helen proceeded to Troy.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE WAR.--When Menelaus heard of the violation of his
hearth and home he proceeded to Pylos, accompanied by his brother
Agamemnon, in order to consult the wise old king Nestor, who was renowned
for his great experience and state-craft. On hearing the facts of the case
Nestor expressed it as his opinion that only by means of the combined
efforts of all the states of Greece could Menelaus hope to regain Helen in
defiance of so powerful a kingdom as that of Troy.
Menelaus and Agamemnon now raised the war-cry, which was unanimously
responded to from one end of Greece to the other. Many of those who
volunteered {287} their services were former suitors of the fair Helen, and
were therefore bound by their oath to support the cause of Menelaus; others
joined from pure love of adventure, but one and all were deeply impressed
with the disgrace which would attach to their country should such a crime
be suffered to go unpunished. Thus a powerful army was collected in which
few names of note were missing.
Only in the case of two great heroes, Odysseus (Ulysses) and Achilles, did
Menelaus experience any difficulty.
Odysseus, famed for his wisdom and great astuteness, was at this time
living happily in Ithaca with his fair young wife Penelope and his little
son Telemachus, and was loath to leave his happy home for a perilous
foreign expedition of uncertain duration. When therefore his services were
solicited he feigned madness; but the shrewd Palamedes, a distinguished
hero in the suite of Menelaus, detected and exposed the ruse, and thus
Odysseus was forced to join in the war. But he never forgave the
interference of Palamedes, and, as we shall see, eventually revenged
himself upon him in a most cruel manner.
Achilles was the son of Peleus and the sea-goddess Thetis, who is said to
have dipped her son, when a babe, in the river Styx, and thereby rendered
him invulnerable, except in the right heel, by which she held him. When the
boy was nine years old it was foretold to Thetis that he would either enjoy
a long life of inglorious ease and inactivity, or that after a brief career
of victory he would die the death of a hero. Naturally desirous of
prolonging the life of her son, the fond mother devoutly hoped that the
former fate might be allotted to him. With this view she conveyed him to
the island of Scyros, in the AEgean Sea, where, disguised as a girl, he was
brought up among the daughters of Lycomedes, king of the country.
Now that the presence of Achilles was required, owing to an oracular
prediction that Troy could not be taken without him, Menelaus consulted
Calchas the soothsayer, who revealed to him the place of his concealment.
Odysseus was accordingly despatched to Scyros, where, by {288} means of a
clever device, he soon discovered which among the maidens was the object of
his search. Disguising himself as a merchant, Odysseus obtained an
introduction to the royal palace, where he offered to the king's daughters
various trinkets for sale. The girls, with one exception, all examined his
wares with unfeigned interest. Observing this circumstance Odysseus
shrewdly concluded that the one who held aloof must be none other than the
young Achilles himself. But in order further to test the correctness of his
deduction, he now exhibited a beautiful set of warlike accoutrements,
whilst, at a given signal, stirring strains of martial music were heard
outside; whereupon Achilles, fired with warlike ardour, seized the weapons,
and thus revealed his identity. He now joined the cause of the Greeks,
accompanied at the request of his father by his kinsman Patroclus, and
contributed to the expedition a large force of Thessalian troops, or
Myrmidons, as they were called, and also fifty ships.
For ten long years Agamemnon and the other chiefs devoted all their energy
and means in preparing for the expedition against Troy. But during these
warlike preparations an attempt at a peaceful solution of the difficulty
was not neglected. An embassy consisting of Menelaus, Odysseus, &c., was
despatched to king Priam demanding the surrender of Helen; but though the
embassy was received with the utmost pomp and ceremony, the demand was
nevertheless rejected; upon which the ambassadors returned to Greece, and
the order was given for the fleet to assemble at Aulis, in Boeotia.
Never before in the annals of Greece had so large an army been collected. A
hundred thousand warriors were assembled at Aulis, and in its bay floated
over a thousand ships, ready to convey them to the Trojan coast. The
command of this mighty host was intrusted to Agamemnon, king of Argos, the
most powerful of all the Greek princes.
Before the fleet set sail solemn sacrifices were offered to the gods on the
sea-shore, when suddenly a serpent was seen to ascend a plane-tree, in
which was a sparrow's {289} nest containing nine young ones. The reptile
first devoured the young birds and then their mother, after which it was
turned by Zeus into stone. Calchas the soothsayer, on being consulted,
interpreted the miracle to signify that the war with Troy would last for
nine years, and that only in the tenth would the city be taken.
DEPARTURE OF THE GREEK FLEET.--The fleet then set sail; but mistaking the
Mysian coast for that of Troy, they landed troops and commenced to ravage
the country. Telephus, king of the Mysians, who was a son of the great hero
Heracles, opposed them with a large army, and succeeded in driving them
back to their ships, but was himself wounded in the engagement by the spear
of Achilles. Patroclus, who fought valiantly by the side of his kinsman,
was also wounded in this battle; but Achilles, who was a pupil of Chiron,
carefully bound up the wound, which he succeeded in healing; and from this
incident dates the celebrated friendship which ever after existed between
the two heroes, who even in death remained united.
The Greeks now returned to Aulis. Meanwhile, the wound of Telephus proving
incurable, he consulted an oracle, and the response was, that he alone who
had inflicted the wound possessed the power of curing it. Telephus
accordingly proceeded to the Greek camp, where he was healed by Achilles,
and, at the solicitation of Odysseus, consented to act as guide in the
voyage to Troy.
Just as the expedition was about to start for the second time, Agamemnon
had the misfortune to kill a hind sacred to Artemis, who, in her anger,
sent continuous calms, which prevented the fleet from setting sail. Calchas
on being consulted announced that the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the daughter
of Agamemnon, would alone appease the incensed goddess. How Agamemnon at
length overcame his feelings as a father, and how Iphigenia was saved by
Artemis herself, has been already related in a previous chapter.
A fair wind having at length sprung up, the fleet {290} once more set sail.
They first stopped at the island of Tenedos, where the famous archer
Philoctetes--who possessed the bow and arrows of Heracles, given to him by
the dying hero--was bitten in the foot by a venomous snake. So unbearable
was the odour emitted by the wound, that, at the suggestion of Odysseus,
Philoctetes was conveyed to the island of Lesbos, where, to his great
chagrin, he was abandoned to his fate, and the fleet proceeded on their
journey to Troy.
COMMENCEMENT OF HOSTILITIES.--Having received early intelligence of the
impending invasion of their country, the Trojans sought the assistance of
the neighbouring states, who all gallantly responded to their call for
help, and thus ample preparations were made to receive the enemy. King
Priam being himself too advanced in years for active service, the command
of the army devolved upon his eldest son, the brave and valiant Hector.
At the approach of the Greek fleet the Trojans appeared on the coast in
order to prevent their landing. But great hesitation prevailed among the
troops as to who should be the first to set foot on the enemy's soil, it
having been predicted that whoever did so would fall a sacrifice to the
Fates. Protesilaus of Phylace, however, nobly disregarding the ominous
prediction, leaped on shore, and fell by the hand of Hector.
The Greeks then succeeded in effecting a landing, and in the engagement
which ensued the Trojans were signally defeated, and driven to seek safety
behind the walls of their city. With Achilles at their head the Greeks now
made a desperate attempt to take the city by storm, but were repulsed with
terrible losses. After this defeat the invaders, foreseeing a long and
wearisome campaign, drew up their ships on land, erected tents, huts, &c.,
and formed an intrenched camp on the coast.
Between the Greek camp and the city of Troy was a plain watered by the
rivers Scamander and Simois, and it was on this plain, afterwards so
renowned in history, {291} that the ever memorable battles between the
Greeks and Trojans were fought.
The impossibility of taking the city by storm was now recognized by the
leaders of the Greek forces. The Trojans, on their side, being less
numerous than the enemy, dared not venture on a great battle in the open
field; hence the war dragged on for many weary years without any decisive
engagement taking place.
It was about this time that Odysseus carried out his long meditated revenge
against Palamedes. Palamedes was one of the wisest, most energetic, and
most upright of all the Greek heroes, and it was in consequence of his
unflagging zeal and wonderful eloquence that most of the chiefs had been
induced to join the expedition. But the very qualities which endeared him
to the hearts of his countrymen rendered him hateful in the eyes of his
implacable enemy, Odysseus, who never forgave his having detected his
scheme to avoid joining the army.
In order to effect the ruin of Palamedes, Odysseus concealed in his tent a
vast sum of money. He next wrote a letter, purporting to be from king Priam
to Palamedes, in which the former thanked the Greek hero effusively for the
valuable information received from him, referring at the same time to a
large sum of money which he had sent to him as a reward. This letter, which
was found upon the person of a Phrygian prisoner, was read aloud in a
council of the Greek princes. Palamedes was arraigned before the chiefs of
the army and accused of betraying his country to the enemy, whereupon a
search was instituted, and a large sum of money being found in his tent, he
was pronounced guilty and sentenced to be stoned to death. Though fully
aware of the base treachery practised against him, Palamedes offered not a
word in self-defence, knowing but too well that, in the face of such
damning evidence, the attempt to prove his innocence would be vain.
DEFECTION OF ACHILLES.--During the first year of the campaign the Greeks
ravaged the surrounding country, {292} and pillaged the neighbouring
villages. Upon one of these foraging expeditions the city of Pedasus was
sacked, and Agamemnon, as commander-in-chief, received as his share of the
spoil the beautiful Chryseis, daughter of Chryses, the priest of Apollo;
whilst to Achilles was allotted another captive, the fair Briseis. The
following day Chryses, anxious to ransom his daughter, repaired to the
Greek camp; but Agamemnon refused to accede to his proposal, and with rude
and insulting words drove the old man away. Full of grief at the loss of
his child Chryses called upon Apollo for vengeance on her captor. His
prayer was heard, and the god sent a dreadful pestilence which raged for
ten days in the camp of the Greeks. Achilles at length called together a
council, and inquired of Calchas the soothsayer how to arrest this terrible
visitation of the gods. The seer replied that Apollo, incensed at the
insult offered to his priest, had sent the plague, and that only by the
surrender of Chryseis could his anger be appeased.
On hearing this Agamemnon agreed to resign the maiden; but being already
embittered against Calchas for his prediction with regard to his own
daughter Iphigenia, he now heaped insults upon the soothsayer and accused
him of plotting against his interests. Achilles espoused the cause of
Calchas, and a violent dispute arose, in which the son of Thetis would have
killed his chief but for the timely interference of Pallas-Athene, who
suddenly appeared beside him, unseen by the rest, and recalled him to a
sense of the duty he owed to his commander. Agamemnon revenged himself on
Achilles by depriving him of his beautiful captive, the fair Briseis, who
had become so attached to her kind and noble captor that she wept bitterly
on being removed from his charge. Achilles, now fairly disgusted with the
ungenerous conduct of his chief, withdrew himself to his tent, and
obstinately declined to take further part in the war.
Heart-sore and dejected he repaired to the sea-shore, and there invoked the
presence of his divine mother. In answer to his prayer Thetis emerged from
beneath {293} the waves, and comforted her gallant son with the assurance
that she would entreat the mighty Zeus to avenge his wrongs by giving
victory to the Trojans, so that the Greeks might learn to realize the great
loss which they had sustained by his withdrawal from the army. The Trojans
being informed by one of their spies of the defection of Achilles, became
emboldened by the absence of this brave and intrepid leader, whom they
feared above all the other Greek heroes; they accordingly sallied forth,
and made a bold and eminently successful attack upon the Greeks, who,
although they most bravely and obstinately defended their position, were
completely routed, and driven back to their intrenchments, Agamemnon and
most of the other Greek leaders being wounded in the engagement.
Encouraged by this marked and signal success the Trojans now commenced to
besiege the Greeks in their own camp. At this juncture Agamemnon, seeing
the danger which threatened the army, sunk for the moment all personal
grievances, and despatched an embassy to Achilles consisting of many noble
and distinguished chiefs, urgently entreating him to come to the assistance
of his countrymen in this their hour of peril; promising that not only
should the fair Briseis be restored to him, but also that the hand of his
own daughter should be bestowed on him in marriage, with seven towns as her
dowry. But the obstinate determination of the proud hero was not to be
moved; and though he listened courteously to the arguments and
representations of the messengers of Agamemnon, his resolution to take no
further part in the war remained unshaken.
In one of the engagements which took place soon afterwards, the Trojans,
under the command of Hector, penetrated into the heart of the Greek camp,
and had already commenced to burn their ships, when Patroclus, seeing the
distress of his countrymen, earnestly besought Achilles to send him to the
rescue at the head of the Myrmidons. The better nature of the hero
prevailed, and he not only intrusted to his friend the command of {294} his
brave band of warriors, but lent him also his own suit of armour.
Patroclus having mounted the war-chariot of the hero, Achilles lifted on
high a golden goblet and poured out a libation of wine to the gods,
accompanied by an earnest petition for victory, and the safe return of his
beloved comrade. As a parting injunction he warned Patroclus against
advancing too far into the territory of the enemy, and entreated him to be
content with rescuing the galleys.
At the head of the Myrmidons Patroclus now made a desperate attack upon the
enemy, who, thinking that the invincible Achilles was himself in command of
his battalions, became disheartened, and were put to flight. Patroclus
followed up his victory and pursued the Trojans as far as the walls of
their city, altogether forgetting in the excitement of battle the
injunction of his friend Achilles. But his temerity cost the young hero his
life, for he now encountered the mighty Hector himself, and fell by his
hands. Hector stripped the armour from his dead foe, and would have dragged
the body into the city had not Menelaus and Ajax the Greater rushed
forward, and after a long and fierce struggle succeeded in rescuing it from
desecration.
DEATH OF HECTOR.--And now came the mournful task of informing Achilles of
the fate of his friend. He wept bitterly over the dead body of his comrade,
and solemnly vowed that the funereal rites should not be solemnized in his
honour until he had slain Hector with his own hands, and captured twelve
Trojans to be immolated on his funeral pyre. All other considerations
vanished before the burning desire to avenge the death of his friend; and
Achilles, now thoroughly aroused from his apathy, became reconciled to
Agamemnon, and rejoined the Greek army. At the request of the goddess
Thetis, Hephaestus forged for him a new suit of armour, which far surpassed
in magnificence that of all the other heroes.
Thus gloriously arrayed he was soon seen striding {295} along, calling the
Greeks to arms. He now led the troops against the enemy, who were defeated
and put to flight until, near the gates of the city, Achilles and Hector
encountered each other. But here, for the first time throughout his whole
career, the courage of the Trojan hero deserted him. At the near approach
of his redoubtable antagonist he turned and fled for his life. Achilles
pursued him; and thrice round the walls of the city was the terrible race
run, in sight of the old king and queen, who had mounted the walls to watch
the battle. Hector endeavoured, during each course, to reach the city
gates, so that his comrades might open them to admit him or cover him with
their missiles; but his adversary, seeing his design, forced him into the
open plain, at the same time calling to his friends to hurl no spear upon
his foe, but to leave to him the vengeance he had so long panted for. At
length, wearied with the hot pursuit, Hector made a stand and challenged
his foe to single combat. A desperate encounter took place, in which Hector
succumbed to his powerful adversary at the Scaean gate; and with his last
dying breath the Trojan hero foretold to his conqueror that he himself
would soon perish on the same spot.
The infuriated victor bound the lifeless corse of his fallen foe to his
chariot, and dragged it three times round the city walls and thence to the
Greek camp. Overwhelmed with horror at this terrible scene the aged parents
of Hector uttered such heart-rending cries of anguish that they reached the
ears of Andromache, his faithful wife, who, rushing to the walls, beheld
the dead body of her husband, bound to the conqueror's car.
Achilles now solemnized the funereal rites in honour of his friend
Patroclus. The dead body of the hero was borne to the funeral pile by the
Myrmidons in full panoply. His dogs and horses were then slain to accompany
him, in case he should need them in the realm of shades; after which
Achilles, in fulfilment of his savage vow, slaughtered twelve brave Trojan
captives, who were {296} laid on the funeral pyre, which was now lighted.
When all was consumed the bones of Patroclus were carefully collected and
inclosed in a golden urn. Then followed the funereal games, which consisted
of chariot-races, fighting with the cestus (a sort of boxing-glove),
wrestling matches, foot-races, and single combats with shield and spear, in
all of which the most distinguished heroes took part, and contended for the
prizes.
PENTHESILEA.--After the death of Hector, their great hope and bulwark, the
Trojans did not venture beyond the walls of their city. But soon their
hopes were revived by the appearance of a powerful army of Amazons under
the command of their queen Penthesilea, a daughter of Ares, whose great
ambition was to measure swords with the renowned Achilles himself, and to
avenge the death of the valiant Hector.
Hostilities now recommenced in the open plain. Penthesilea led the Trojan
host; the Greeks on their side being under the command of Achilles and
Ajax. Whilst the latter succeeded in putting the enemy to flight, Achilles
was challenged by Penthesilea to single combat. With heroic courage she
went forth to the fight; but even the strongest men failed before the power
of the great Achilles, and though a daughter of Ares, Penthesilea was but a
woman. With generous chivalry the hero endeavoured to spare the brave and
beautiful maiden-warrior, and only when his own life was in imminent danger
did he make a serious effort to vanquish his enemy, when Penthesilea shared
the fate of all who ventured to oppose the spear of Achilles, and fell by
his hand.
Feeling herself fatally wounded, she remembered the desecration of the dead
body of Hector, and earnestly entreated the forbearance of the hero. But
the petition was hardly necessary, for Achilles, full of compassion for his
brave but unfortunate adversary, lifted her gently from the ground, and she
expired in his arms.
On beholding the dead body of their leader in the {297} possession of
Achilles, the Amazons and Trojans prepared for a fresh attack in order to
wrest it from his hands; but observing their purpose, Achilles stepped
forward and loudly called upon them to halt. Then in a few well-chosen
words he praised the great valour and intrepidity of the fallen queen, and
expressed his willingness to resign the body at once.
The chivalrous conduct of Achilles was fully appreciated by both Greeks and
Trojans. Thersites alone, a base and cowardly wretch, attributed unworthy
motives to the gracious proceedings of the hero; and, not content with
these insinuations, he savagely pierced with his lance the dead body of the
Amazonian queen; whereupon Achilles, with one blow of his powerful arm,
felled him to the ground, and killed him on the spot.
The well-merited death of Thersites excited no commiseration, but his
kinsman Diomedes came forward and claimed compensation for the murder of
his relative; and as Agamemnon, who, as commander-in-chief, might easily
have settled the difficulty, refrained from interfering, the proud nature
of Achilles resented the implied condemnation of his conduct, and he once
more abandoned the Greek army and took ship for Lesbos. Odysseus, however,
followed him to the island, and, with his usual tact, succeeded in inducing
the hero to return to the camp.
DEATH OF ACHILLES.--A new ally of the Trojans now appeared on the field in
the person of Memnon, the AEthiopian, a son of Eos and Tithonus, who brought
with him a powerful reinforcement of negroes. Memnon was the first opponent
who had yet encountered Achilles on an equal footing; for like the great
hero himself he was the son of a goddess, and possessed also, like
Achilles, a suit of armour made for him by Hephaestus.
Before the heroes encountered each other in single combat, the two
goddesses, Thetis and Eos, hastened to Olympus to intercede with its mighty
ruler for the life of their sons. Resolved even in this instance not to act
in opposition to the Moirae, Zeus seized the golden scales {298} in which he
weighed the lot of mortals, and placed in it the respective fates of the
two heroes, whereupon that of Memnon weighed down the balance, thus
portending his death.
Eos abandoned Olympus in despair. Arrived on the battlefield she beheld the
lifeless body of her son, who, after a long and brave defence, had at
length succumbed to the all-conquering arm of Achilles. At her command her
children, the Winds, flew down to the plain, and seizing the body of the
slain hero conveyed it through the air safe from the desecration of the
enemy.
The triumph of Achilles was not of long duration. Intoxicated with success
he attempted, at the head of the Greek army, to storm the city of Troy,
when Paris, by the aid of Phoebus-Apollo, aimed a well-directed dart at the
hero, which pierced his vulnerable heel, and he fell to the ground fatally
wounded before the Scaean gate. But though face to face with death, the
intrepid hero, raising himself from the ground, still performed prodigies
of valour, and not until his tottering limbs refused their office was the
enemy aware that the wound was mortal.
By the combined efforts of Ajax and Odysseus the body of Achilles was
wrested from the enemy after a long and terrible fight, and conveyed to the
Greek camp. Weeping bitterly over the untimely fate of her gallant son,
Thetis came to embrace him for the last time, and mingled her regrets and
lamentations with those of the whole Greek army. The funeral pyre was then
lighted, and the voices of the Muses were heard chanting his funeral dirge.
When, according to the custom of the ancients, the body had been burned on
the pyre, the bones of the hero were collected, inclosed in a golden urn,
and deposited beside the remains of his beloved friend Patroclus.
In the funereal games celebrated in honour of the fallen hero, the property
of her son was offered by Thetis as the prize of victory. But it was
unanimously agreed that the beautiful suit of armour made by Hephaestus
should be awarded to him who had contributed the most to the {299} rescue
of the body from the hands of the enemy. Popular opinion unanimously
decided in favour of Odysseus, which verdict was confirmed by the Trojan
prisoners who were present at the engagement. Unable to endure the slight,
the unfortunate Ajax lost his reason, and in this condition put an end to
his existence.
FINAL MEASURES.--Thus were the Greeks deprived at one and the same time of
their bravest and most powerful leader, and of him also who approached the
nearest to this distinction. For a time operations were at a standstill,
until Odysseus at length, contrived by means of a cleverly-arranged ambush
to capture Helenus, the son of Priam. Like his sister Cassandra, Helenus
possessed the gift of prophecy, and the unfortunate youth was now coerced
by Odysseus into using this gift against the welfare of his native city.
The Greeks learned from the Trojan prince that three conditions were
indispensable to the conquest of Troy:--In the first place the son of
Achilles must fight in their ranks; secondly, the arrows of Heracles must
be used against the enemy; and thirdly, they must obtain possession of the
wooden image of Pallas-Athene, the famous Palladium of Troy.
The first condition was easily fulfilled. Ever ready to serve the interests
of the community, Odysseus repaired to the island of Scyros, where he found
Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles. Having succeeded in arousing the ambition
of the fiery youth, he generously resigned to him the magnificent armour of
his father, and then conveyed him to the Greek camp, where he immediately
distinguished himself in single combat with Eurypylus, the son of Telephus,
who had come to the aid of the Trojans.
To procure the poison-dipped arrows of Heracles was a matter of greater
difficulty. They were still in the possession of the much-aggrieved
Philoctetes, who had remained in the island of Lemnos, his wound still
unhealed, suffering the most abject misery. But the {300} judicious zeal of
the indefatigable and ever-active Odysseus, who was accompanied in this
undertaking by Diomedes, at length gained the day, and he induced
Philoctetes to accompany him to the camp, where the skilful leech Machaon,
the son of Asclepias, healed him of his wound.
Philoctetes became reconciled to Agamemnon, and in an engagement which took
place soon after, he mortally wounded Paris, the son of Priam. But though
pierced by the fatal arrow of the demi-god, death did not immediately
ensue; and Paris, calling to mind the prediction of an oracle, that his
deserted wife Oenone could alone cure him if wounded, caused himself to be
transported to her abode on Mount Ida, where he implored her by the memory
of their past love to save his life. But mindful only of her wrongs, Oenone
crushed out of her heart every womanly feeling of pity and compassion, and
sternly bade him depart. Soon, however, all her former affection for her
husband awoke within her. With frantic haste she followed him; but on her
arrival in the city she found the dead body of Paris already laid on the
lighted funeral pile, and, in her remorse and despair, Oenone threw herself
on the lifeless form of her husband and perished in the flames.
The Trojans were now shut up within their walls and closely besieged; but
the third and most difficult condition being still unfulfilled, all efforts
to take the city were unavailing. In this emergency the wise and devoted
Odysseus came once more to the aid of his comrades. Having disfigured
himself with self-inflicted wounds, he assumed the disguise of a wretched
old mendicant, and then crept stealthily into the city in order to discover
where the Palladium was preserved. He succeeded in his object, and was
recognized by no one save the fair Helen, who after the death of Paris had
been given in marriage to his brother Deiphobus. But since death had robbed
her of her lover, the heart of the Greek princess had turned yearningly
towards her native country and her husband Menelaus, and Odysseus now found
in her a most unlooked-for ally. On his return to the camp {301} Odysseus
called to his aid the valiant Diomedes, and with his assistance the
perilous task of abstracting the Palladium from its sacred precincts was,
after some difficulty, effected.
The conditions of conquest being now fulfilled, a council was called to
decide on final proceedings. Epeios, a Greek sculptor, who had accompanied
the expedition, was desired to construct a colossal wooden horse large
enough to contain a number of able and distinguished heroes. On its
completion a band of warriors concealed themselves within, whereupon the
Greek army broke up their camp, and then set fire to it, as though, wearied
of the long and tedious ten years' siege, they had abandoned the enterprise
as hopeless.
Accompanied by Agamemnon and the sage Nestor, the fleet set sail for the
island of Tenedos, where they cast anchor, anxiously awaiting the torch
signal to hasten back to the Trojan coast.
DESTRUCTION OF TROY.--When the Trojans saw the enemy depart, and the Greek
camp in flames, they believed themselves safe at last, and streamed in
great numbers out of the town in order to view the site where the Greeks
had so long encamped. Here they found the gigantic wooden horse, which they
examined with wondering curiosity, various opinions being expressed with
regard to its utility. Some supposed it to be an engine of war, and were in
favour of destroying it, others regarded it as a sacred idol, and proposed
that it should be brought into the city. Two circumstances which now
occurred induced the Trojans to incline towards the latter opinion.
Chief among those who suspected a treacherous design in this huge
contrivance was Laocoon, a priest of Apollo, who, in company with his two
young sons, had issued from the city with the Trojans in order to offer a
sacrifice to the gods. With all the eloquence at his command he urged his
countrymen not to place confidence in any gift of the Greeks, and even went
so far as to pierce the {302} side of the horse with a spear which he took
from a warrior beside him, whereupon the arms of the heroes were heard to
rattle. The hearts of the brave men concealed inside the horse quailed
within them, and they had already given themselves up for lost, when
Pallas-Athene, who ever watched over the cause of the Greeks, now came to
their aid, and a miracle occurred in order to blind and deceive the devoted
Trojans;--for the fall of Troy was decreed by the gods.
[Illustration]
Whilst Laocoon with his two sons stood prepared to perform the sacrifice,
two enormous serpents suddenly rose out of the sea, and made direct for the
altar. They entwined themselves first round the tender limbs of the
helpless youths, and then encircled their father who rushed to their
assistance, and thus all three were destroyed in sight of the horrified
multitude. The Trojans naturally interpreted the fate of Laocoon and his
sons to be a punishment sent by Zeus for his sacrilege against the wooden
horse, and were now fully convinced that it must be consecrated to the
gods.
The crafty Odysseus had left behind his trusty friend Sinon with full
instructions as to his course of action. Assuming the role assigned to him,
he now approached king Priam with fettered hands and piteous entreaties,
alleging that the Greeks, in obedience to the command of an oracle, had
attempted to immolate him as a sacrifice; but that he had contrived to
escape from their hands, and now sought protection from the king.
The kind-hearted monarch, believing his story, released {303} his bonds,
assured him of his favour, and then begged him to explain the true meaning
of the wooden horse. Sinon willingly complied. He informed the king that
Pallas-Athene, who had hitherto been the hope and stay of the Greeks
throughout the war, was so deeply offended at the removal of her sacred
image, the Palladium, from her temple in Troy, that she had withdrawn her
protection from the Greeks, and refused all further aid till it was
restored to its rightful place. Hence the Greeks had returned home in order
to seek fresh instructions from an oracle. But before leaving, Calchas the
seer had advised their building this gigantic wooden horse as a tribute to
the offended goddess, hoping thereby to appease her just anger. He further
explained that it had been constructed of such colossal proportions in
order to prevent its being brought into the city, so that the favour of
Pallas-Athene might not be transferred to the Trojans.
Hardly had the crafty Sinon ceased speaking when the Trojans, with one
accord, urged that the wooden horse should be brought into their city
without delay. The gates being too low to admit its entrance, a breach was
made in the walls, and the horse was conveyed in triumph into the very
heart of Troy; whereupon the Trojans, overjoyed at what they deemed the
successful issue of the campaign, abandoned themselves to feasting and
rioting.
Amidst the universal rejoicing the unhappy Cassandra, foreseeing the result
of the admission of the wooden horse into the city, was seen rushing
through the streets with wild gestures and dishevelled hair, warning her
people against the dangers which awaited them. But her eloquent words fell
on deaf ears; for it was ever the fate of the unfortunate prophetess that
her predictions should find no credence.
When, after the day's excitement, the Trojans had retired to rest, and all
was hushed and silent, Sinon, in the dead of night, released the heroes
from their voluntary imprisonment. The signal was then given to the Greek
fleet lying off Tenedos, and the whole army in unbroken silence once more
landed on the Trojan coast. {304}
To enter the city was now an easy matter, and a fearful slaughter ensued.
Aroused from their slumbers, the Trojans, under the command of their
bravest leaders, made a gallant defence, but were easily overcome. All
their most valiant heroes fell in the fight, and soon the whole city was
wrapt in flames.
Priam fell by the hand of Neoptolemus, who killed him as he lay prostrate
before the altar of Zeus, praying for divine assistance in this awful hour
of peril. The unfortunate Andromache with her young son Astyanax had taken
refuge on the summit of a tower, where she was discovered by the victors,
who, fearing lest the son of Hector might one day rise against them to
avenge the death of his father, tore him from her arms and hurled him over
the battlements.
AEneas alone, the son of Aphrodite, the beloved of gods and men, escaped the
universal carnage with his son and his old father Anchises, whom he carried
on his shoulders out of the city. He first sought refuge on Mount Ida, and
afterwards fled to Italy, where he became the ancestral hero of the Roman
people.
Menelaus now sought Helen in the royal palace, who, being immortal, still
retained all her former beauty and fascination. A reconciliation took
place, and she accompanied her husband on his homeward voyage. Andromache,
the widow of the brave Hector, was given in marriage to Neoptolemus,
Cassandra fell to the share of Agamemnon, and Hecuba, the gray-haired and
widowed queen, was made prisoner by Odysseus.
The boundless treasures of the wealthy Trojan king fell into the hands of
the Greek heroes, who, after having levelled the city of Troy to the
ground, prepared for their homeward voyage.
RETURN OF THE GREEKS FROM TROY.
During the sacking of the city of Troy the Greeks, in the hour of victory,
committed many acts of desecration and cruelty, which called down upon them
the wrath of the {305} gods, for which reason their homeward voyage was
beset with manifold dangers and disasters, and many perished before they
reached their native land.
Nestor, Diomedes, Philoctetes, and Neoptolemus were among those who arrived
safely in Greece after a prosperous voyage. The vessel which carried
Menelaus and Helen was driven by violent tempests to the coast of Egypt,
and only after many years of weary wanderings and vicissitudes did they
succeed in reaching their home at Sparta.
Ajax the Lesser having offended Pallas-Athene by desecrating her temple on
the night of the destruction of Troy, was shipwrecked off Cape Caphareus.
He succeeded, however, in clinging to a rock, and his life might have been
spared but for his impious boast that he needed not the help of the gods.
No sooner had he uttered the sacrilegious words than Poseidon, enraged at
his audacity, split with his trident the rock to which the hero was
clinging, and the unfortunate Ajax was overwhelmed by the waves.
FATE OF AGAMEMNON.--The homeward voyage of Agamemnon was tolerably
uneventful and prosperous; but on his arrival at Mycenae misfortune and ruin
awaited him.
His wife Clytemnestra, in revenge for the sacrifice of her beloved daughter
Iphigenia, had formed a secret alliance during his absence with AEgisthus,
the son of Thyestes, and on the return of Agamemnon they both conspired to
compass his destruction. Clytemnestra feigned the greatest joy on beholding
her husband, and in spite of the urgent warnings of Cassandra, who was now
a captive in his train, he received her protestations of affection with the
most trusting confidence. In her well-assumed anxiety for the comfort of
the weary traveller, she prepared a warm bath for his refreshment, and at a
given signal from the treacherous queen, AEgisthus, who was concealed in an
adjoining chamber, rushed upon the defenceless hero and slew him. {306}
During the massacre of the retainers of Agamemnon which followed, his
daughter Electra, with great presence of mind, contrived to save her young
brother Orestes. He fled for refuge to his uncle Strophius, king of Phocis,
who educated him with his own son Pylades, and an ardent friendship sprung
up between the youths, which, from its constancy and disinterestedness, has
become proverbial.
As Orestes grew up to manhood, his one great all-absorbing desire was to
avenge the death of his father. Accompanied by his faithful friend Pylades,
he repaired in disguise to Mycenae, where AEgisthus and Clytemnestra reigned
conjointly over the kingdom of Argos. In order to disarm suspicion he had
taken the precaution to despatch a messenger to Clytemnestra, purporting to
be sent by king Strophius, to announce to her the untimely death of her son
Orestes through an accident during a chariot-race at Delphi.
Arrived at Mycenae, he found his sister Electra so overwhelmed with grief at
the news of her brother's death that to her he revealed his identity. When
he heard from her lips how cruelly she had been treated by her mother, and
how joyfully the news of his demise had been received, his long pent-up
passion completely overpowered him, and rushing into the presence of the
king and queen, he first pierced Clytemnestra to the heart, and afterwards
her guilty partner.
But the crime of murdering his own mother was not long unavenged by the
gods. Hardly was the fatal act committed when the Furies appeared and
unceasingly pursued the unfortunate Orestes wherever he went. In this
wretched plight he sought refuge in the temple of Delphi, where he
earnestly besought Apollo to release him from his cruel tormentors. The god
commanded him, in expiation of his crime, to repair to Taurica-Chersonnesus
and convey the statue of Artemis from thence to the kingdom of Attica, an
expedition fraught with extreme peril. We have already seen in a former
chapter how Orestes escaped the fate which befell all strangers {307} who
landed on the Taurian coast, and how, with the aid of his sister Iphigenia,
the priestess of the temple, he succeeded in conveying the statue of the
goddess to his native country.
But the Furies did not so easily relinquish their prey, and only by means
of the interposition of the just and powerful goddess Pallas-Athene was
Orestes finally liberated from their persecution. His peace of mind being
at length restored, Orestes assumed the government of the kingdom of Argos,
and became united to the beautiful Hermione, daughter of Helen and
Menelaus. On his faithful friend Pylades he bestowed the hand of his
beloved sister, the good and faithful Electra.
HOMEWARD VOYAGE OF ODYSSEUS.--With his twelve ships laden with enormous
treasures, captured during the sacking of Troy, Odysseus set sail with a
light heart for his rocky island home of Ithaca. At length the happy hour
had arrived which for ten long years the hero had so anxiously awaited, and
he little dreamt that ten more must elapse before he would be permitted by
the Fates to clasp to his heart his beloved wife and child.
During his homeward voyage his little fleet was driven by stress of weather
to a land whose inhabitants subsisted entirely on a curious plant called
the lotus, which was sweet as honey to the taste, but had the effect of
causing utter oblivion of home and country, and of creating an irresistible
longing to remain for ever in the land of the lotus-eaters. Odysseus and
his companions were hospitably received by the inhabitants, who regaled
them freely with their peculiar and very delicious food; after partaking of
which, however, the comrades of the hero refused to leave the country, and
it was only by sheer force that he at length succeeded in bringing them
back to their ships.
POLYPHEMUS.--Continuing their journey, they next arrived at the country of
the Cyclops, a race of giants remarkable for having only one eye, which was
placed in the centre of their foreheads. Here Odysseus, whose love of
adventure overcame more prudent considerations, {308} left his fleet safely
anchored in the bay of a neighbouring island, and with twelve chosen
companions set out to explore the country.
Near the shore they found a vast cave, into which they boldly entered. In
the interior they saw to their surprise huge piles of cheese and great
pails of milk ranged round the walls. After partaking freely of these
provisions his companions endeavoured to persuade Odysseus to return to the
ship; but the hero being curious to make the acquaintance of the owner of
this extraordinary abode, ordered them to remain and await his pleasure.
Towards evening a fierce giant made his appearance, bearing an enormous
load of wood upon his shoulders, and driving before him a large flock of
sheep. This was Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon, the owner of the cave.
After all his sheep had entered, the giant rolled before the entrance to
the cave an enormous rock, which the combined strength of a hundred men
would have been powerless to move.
Having kindled a fire of great logs of pine-wood he was about to prepare
his supper when the flames revealed to him, in a corner of the cavern, its
new occupants, who now came forward and informed him that they were
shipwrecked mariners, and claimed his hospitality in the name of Zeus. But
the fierce monster railed at the great ruler of Olympus--for the lawless
Cyclops knew no fear of the gods--and hardly vouchsafed a reply to the
demand of the hero. To the consternation of Odysseus the giant seized two
of his companions, and, after dashing them to the ground, consumed their
remains, washing down the ghastly meal with huge draughts of milk. He then
stretched his gigantic limbs on the ground, and soon fell fast asleep
beside the fire.
Thinking the opportunity a favourable one to rid himself and his companions
of their terrible enemy, Odysseus drew his sword, and, creeping stealthily
forward, was about to slay the giant when he suddenly remembered that the
aperture of the cave was effectually closed by the immense rock, which
rendered egress impossible. He {309} therefore wisely determined to wait
until the following day, and set his wits to work in the meantime to devise
a scheme by which he and his companions might make their escape.
When, early next morning, the giant awoke, two more unfortunate companions
of the hero were seized by him and devoured; after which Polyphemus
leisurely drove out his flock, taking care to secure the entrance of the
cave as before.
Next evening the giant devoured two more of his victims, and when he had
finished his revolting meal Odysseus stepped forward and presented him with
a large measure of wine which he had brought with him from his ship in a
goat's skin. Delighted with the delicious beverage the giant inquired the
name of the donor. Odysseus replied that his name was Noman, whereupon
Polyphemus, graciously announced that he would evince his gratitude by
eating him the last.
The monster, thoroughly overcome with the powerful old liquor, soon fell
into a heavy sleep, and Odysseus lost no time in putting his plans into
execution. He had cut during the day a large piece of the giant's own
olive-staff, which he now heated in the fire, and, aided by his companions,
thrust it into the eye-ball of Polyphemus, and in this manner effectually
blinded him.