There is no need that I should speak of my long voyage to Troy, or of
the causes which persuaded me to undertake it. When I drew near the
lofty walls of the city, and through the gate, which is called Scaean,
could see the rows of stately dwellings and the busy market-place and
the crowds of people, I stopped there in wonder, hesitating to venture
farther.
Then I sent a herald to the gate, who should make known my name and
lineage and the errand upon which I had come; but I waited without in
the shade of a spreading beech, not far from the towering wall. Before
me stood the mighty city; behind me the fertile plain sloped gently to
the sea; on my right hand flowed the sparkling waters of the river
Scamander; while much farther, and on the other side, the wooded peak
of Ida lifted itself toward the clouds.
But I had not long to view this scene; for a noble company of men led
by Paris himself, handsome as Apollo, came out of the gate to welcome
me. With words of greeting from the king, they bade me enter within
the walls. They led me through the Scaean gate and along the
well-paved streets, until we came, at last, to King Priam's hall.
It was a splendid house with broad doorways and polished porticos, and
marble columns richly carved. Within were fifty chambers, joining one
another, all walled with polished stone; in these abode the fifty sons
of Priam with their wedded wives. On the other side, and opening into
the court, were twelve chambers built for his daughters; while over all
were the sleeping-rooms for that noble household, and around were
galleries and stairways leading to the king's great hall below.
King Priam received me kindly, and, when he understood my errand, left
naught undone to help me forward with my wishes. Ten days I abode as a
guest in his halls, and when I would return to Greece he pressed me to
tarry yet a month in Troy. But the winds were fair, and the oracles
promised a pleasant voyage, and I begged that on the twelfth day he
would let me depart. So he and his sons brought many gifts, rich and
beautiful, and laid them at my feet--a fair mantle, and a doublet, and
a talent of fine gold, and a sword with a silver-studded hilt, and a
drinking-cup richly engraved that I might remember them when I pour
libations to the gods.
"Take these gifts," said Priam, "as tokens of our friendship for you,
and not only for you, but for all who dwell in distant Greece. For we
too are the children of the immortals. Our mighty ancestor, Dardanus,
was the son of Zeus. He it was who built Dardania on the slopes of
Ida, where the waters gush in many silvery streams from underneath the
rocky earth.
"A grandson of Dardanus was Ilus, famous in song and story, and to him
was born Laomedon, who in his old age became my father. He, though my
sire, did many unwise things, and brought sore distress upon the people
of this land.
"One day Apollo and Poseidon came to Troy, disguised as humble
wayfarers seeking some employment. This they did because so ordered by
mighty Zeus.
"'What can you do?' asked my father, when the two had told their wishes.
"Poseidon answered, 'I am a builder of walls.'
"And Apollo answered, 'I am a shepherd, and a tender of herds.'
"'It is well,' answered Laomedon. 'The wall-builder shall build a wall
around this Troy so high and strong that no enemy can pass it. The
shepherd shall tend my herds of crook-horned kine on the wooded slopes
of Ida. If at the end of a twelvemonth, the wall be built, and if the
cattle thrive without loss of one, then I will pay you your hire: a
talent of gold, two tripods of silver, rich robes, and armor such as
heroes wear.'
"So the two served my father through the year for the hire which he had
promised. Poseidon built a wall, high and fair, around the city; and
Apollo tended the shambling kine, and lost not one. But when they
claimed their hire, Laomedon drove them away with threats, telling them
that he would bind their feet and hands together, and sell them as
slaves into some distant land, having first sheared off their ears with
his sharp sword. And they went away with angry hearts, planning in
their minds how they might avenge themselves.
"Back to his watery kingdom, and his golden palace beneath the sea,
went great Poseidon. He harnessed his steeds to his chariot, and rode
forth upon the waves. He loosed the winds from their prison house, and
sent them raging over the sea. The angry waters rushed in upon the
land; they covered the pastures and the rich plain of Troy, and
threatened even to beat down the walls which their king had built.
"Then little by little, the flood shrank back again; and the people
went out of the city to see the waste of slime and black mud which
covered their meadows. While they were gazing upon the scene, a
fearful monster, sent by angry Poseidon, came up out of the sea, and
fell upon them, and drove them with hideous slaughter back to the city
gates; neither would he allow any one to come outside of the walls.
"Then my father, in his great distress, clad himself in mourning, and
went in deep humility to the temple of Athena. In much distress, he
called unto the goddess, and besought to know the means whereby the
anger of Poseidon might be assuaged. And in solemn tones a voice
replied, saying:
"'Every day one of the maidens of Troy must be fed to the monster
outside of the walls. The shaker of the earth has spoken. Disobey him
not, lest more cruel punishments befall thee.'
"Then in every house of Troy there was sore dismay and lamentation, for
no one knew upon whom the doom would soonest fall. And every day a
hapless maiden, young and fair, was chained to the great rock by the
shore, and left there to be the food of the pitiless monster. And the
people cried aloud in their distress, and cursed the mighty walls and
the high towers which had been reared by the unpaid labors of Poseidon;
and my father sat upon his high seat, and trembled because of the
calamities which his own deeds had brought upon his people.
"At last, after many humbler victims had perished, the lot fell upon
the fairest of my sisters, Hesione, my father's best-loved daughter.
In sorrow we arrayed her in garments befitting one doomed to an
untimely death; and when we had bidden her a last farewell, we gave her
to the heralds and the priests to lead forth to the place of sacrifice.
"Just then, however, a noble stranger, taller and more stately than any
man in Troy, came down the street. Fair-haired and blue-eyed, handsome
and strong, he seemed a very god to all who looked upon him. Over his
shoulder he wore the tawny skin of a lion, while in his hand he carried
a club most wonderful to behold. And the people, as he passed, prayed
him that he would free our city from the monster that was robbing us of
our loved ones.
"'I know that thou art a god!' cried my father, when he saw the
stranger. 'I pray thee, save my daughter, who even now is being led
forth to a cruel death!'
"'You make mistake,' answered the fair stranger. 'I am not one of the
gods. My name is Hercules, and like you I am mortal. Yet I may help
you in this your time of need.'
"Now, in my father's stables there were twelve fair steeds, the best
that the earth ever knew. So light of foot were they, that when they
bounded over the land, they might run upon the topmost ears of ripened
corn, and break them not; and when they bounded over the sea, not even
Poseidon's steeds could glide so lightly upon the crests of the waves.
Some say they were the steeds of North Wind given to my grandfather by
the powers above. These steeds, my father promised to give to Hercules
if he would save Hesione.
"Then the heralds led my fair sister to the shore, and chained her to
the rock, there to wait for the coming of the monster. But Hercules
stood near her, fearless in his strength. Soon the waves began to
rise; the waters were disturbed, and the beast, with hoarse bellowings,
lifted his head above the breakers, and rushed forward to seize his
prey. Then the hero sprang to meet him. With blow upon blow from his
mighty club, he felled the monster; the waters of the sea were reddened
with blood; Hesione was saved, and Troy was freed from the dreadful
curse.
"'Behold thy daughter!' said Hercules, leading her gently back to the
city, and giving her to her father. 'I have saved her from the jaws of
death, and delivered your country from the dread scourge. Give me now
my hire.'
"Shame fills my heart as I tell this story, for thanklessness was the
bane of my father's life. Ungrateful to the hero who had risked so
much and done so much that our homes and our country might be saved
from ruin, he turned coldly away from Hercules; then he shut the great
gates in his face, and barred him out of the city, and taunted him from
the walls, saying, 'I owe thee no hire! Begone from our coasts, ere I
scourge thee hence!'
"Full of wrath, the hero turned away. 'I go, but I will come again,'
he said.
"Then peace and plenty blessed once more the city of Troy, and men
forgot the perils from which they had been delivered. But ere long,
great Hercules returned, as he had promised; and with him came a fleet
of white-sailed ships and many warriors. Neither gates nor strong
walls could stand against him. Into the city he marched, and straight
to my father's palace. All fled before him, and the strongest warriors
quailed beneath his glance. Here, in this very court, he slew my
father and my brothers with his terrible arrows. I myself would have
fallen before his wrath, had not my sister, fair Hesione, pleaded for
my life.
"'I spare his life,' said Hercules, in answer to her prayers, 'for he
is but a lad. Yet he must be my slave until you have paid a price for
him, and thus redeemed him.'
"Then Hesione took the golden veil from her head, and gave it to the
hero as my purchase price. And thenceforward I was called Priam, or
the purchased; for the name which my mother gave me was Podarkes, or
the fleet-footed.
"After this Hercules and his heroes went on board their ships and
sailed back across the sea, leaving me alone in my father's halls. For
they took fair Hesione with them, and carried her to Salamis, to be the
wife of Telamon, the father of mighty Ajax. There, through these long
years she has lived in sorrow, far removed from home and friends and
the scenes of her happy childhood. And now that the hero Telamon, to
whom she was wedded, lives no longer, I ween that her life is indeed a
cheerless one."
"When Priam had finished his tale, he drew his seat still nearer mine,
and looked into my face with anxious, beseeching eyes. Then he said,
'I have long wished to send a ship across the sea to bring my sister
back to Troy. A dark-prowed vessel, built for speed and safety, lies
now at anchor in the harbor, and a picked crew is ready to embark at
any moment. And here is my son Paris, handsome and brave, who is
anxious to make voyage to Salamis, to seek unhappy Hesione. Yet our
seamen have never ventured far from home, and they know nothing of the
dangers of the deep, nor do they feel sure they can find their way to
Greece. And so we have a favor to ask of you; and that is, that when
your ship sails to-morrow, ours may follow in its wake across the sea."
Here Menelaus paused as if in deep thought, and not until his listeners
begged him to go on, did he resume his story.
[1]Menelaus, king of Lacedaemon, was the husband of Helen, the most
beautiful woman in the world. At the time of his marriage to Helen all
the princes of Greece had vowed to support him against any enemy who
should attempt to defraud him of his rights. This and the following
story tell of his visit to Troy and its results.