Читать книгу The Story of Troy - Carl Witt - Страница 4

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Agamemnon went from one princely house to another, and demanded of all that they should speedily make ready to come to the help of his brother ; and he found everywhere a willing ear, for besides the oath they had sworn, the princes were one and all outraged by the shameful way in which Paris had returned the hospitality of Menelaüs, and they were eager to set out to punish him. They were all to assemble in the harbour of Aulis with their followers and as many ships as they could get together; and when they had all arrived, it was such a fleet as had never been seen before in Greece. There were many more than a thousand ships, and the men who filled them could not be counted.

There were still however, two heroes missing, without whom Agamemnon was not willing to begin the war,—the wise Ulysses and the strong Achilles.

Ulysses was by no means afraid of war, and never shrank from a gallant fight, but just now he was unwilling to leave his home, for he loved tenderly his wife Penelope ; and a year ago a little son had been born to him, whom he had named Telemachus. As he had not come to Aulis, Agamemnon sent two heroes—Menelaüs and the wise Palamedes—to Ithaca, to induce him to come and take his part in the war. Ulysses heard of the guests who had landed in his island, and knowing their errand, he immediately thought of a device by which he hoped to escape. He went out into the field, harnessed an ox and an ass together in a plough, and drove the strange pair up and down, making grimaces and gestures as if he were mad ; and then he sowed the furrows he had made with salt instead of corn. Menelaüs thought he was really out of his mind, but Palamedes knew it was only an artifice. The nurse was standing by with the little Telemachus in her arms, and he took the child from her and laid him down just in front of the advancing plough. If Ulysses had been really mad he would have driven over the child without knowing what he was doing, but instead of that he pulled up quickly, took the boy up in his arms and covered him with kisses. Thus one sharp-witted man outdid another, and as Ulysses had no longer any excuse, he yielded to the wish of the heroes, took leave of his wife and child, and set off with twelve ships to the help of the Greeks.

Achilles was the son of King Peleus and of the goddess Thetis, and it had been decreed by Fate that his life should either be long and uneventful, or else short and glorious. His mother had no hesitation as to the choice she would make for him, and was quite willing to renounce the honour of being mother to a hero whose name would be honoured by all men, if only she could keep him alive for many years. So when she heard that the Greeks were preparing to make war against Troy, she took the young hero to an island and kept him hidden there ; for she knew that at the first call from the Greeks he would joyfully go with them and take his part in the perils of the war.

But the Greeks, who were now assembled at Aulis, were told by Calchas the priest, who understood the meaning of the signs vouchsafed, by the gods, that unless Achilles went with them to the war they would not gain the victory, and Agamemnon sent therefore Ulysses and some other heroes to find out where he was. They made many inquiries, and at last discovered that he was living, dressed as a maiden, in the house of Ly-comedes, king of the island of Scyros, who had a great many daughters. The spies went to Scyros, and gave themselves out as merchants travelling with beautiful stuffs suitable for ladies' dresses. They were taken to the palace, and Ulysses spread out his stuffs before the king's daughters, and bargained with them about the price. He had also brought a spear and a shield with him which he placed in a corner of the room. Presently there was heard, on a sudden without, the sound of a war trumpet, as if some enemies had entered the country and were about to make an attack upon the house. The maidens were all seized with panic and ran away shrieking ; only one remained, who with a manly step strode towards the corner where the shield and spear were standing, took them up, and hastened to the door to encounter the enemy. It was, however, only a contrivance of Ulysses, in order to discover which of the supposed maidens was the young hero ; and now he smilingly held him back and said, 'You are Achilles, and we are no traders, but heroes sent by Agamemnon to find out your hiding-place and invite you to join us in our expedition against Troy.' Willingly did Achilles accept the invitation, and he went home to his father's house to prepare for the war. Peleus gave him ships and a troop of brave followers to accompany him; and he admonished him at parting to make himself renowned as the bravest of all the Greeks, and to fight always in the forefront of the battle.

But before the Greeks actually set out, they wished to know whether the Trojans would restore Helen and her treasures peaceably, so Menelaüs and Ulysses were chosen to go and ascertain this,— Menelaüs because he was the husband who had been injured, and Ulysses because he excelled all men in wise and prudent speech. They went to Troy and proclaimed that a great host was assembled who had sworn to take and utterly destroy the city, unless the Trojans would consent to give up the wife and the treasures that Paris had carried off. There were many men in Troy who wished for peace, but Paris declared that he would never part with the treasures of which he had possessed himself; and his father, the king, and most of the Trojans were so captivated with the marvellous beauty of Helen, that they were ready to embark in a dangerous war rather than part with her. The messengers were therefore able to effect nothing, and soon left the city. Whilst they were there, they were hospitably entertained by Prince Antenor; but the people bore them no goodwill, and they would not have been secure from violence and outrage if Antenor had not protected them from the mob.

Meanwhile at Aulis the preparations were all complete, and the fleet was now quite ready to depart ; but day after day there blew steadily contrary winds, so that it was impossible to set out. At last the Greeks desired the priest Calchas to inquire of the gods why they were angry, and how their wrath might be appeased. He told them that it was because Agamemnon had once in hunting killed a hind which was sacred to Artemis, the goddess of the chase, and that nothing could atone for this but the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon. The king was seized with fear and horror, but he would not hear of making such an atonement; his daughter was dearer to him than anything in the world, and he said that he would let anything happen rather than consent to her being offered up as a victim. So the time went by; the contrary winds continued to blow, and the Greeks became more and more impatient. Then all the other princes said to Agamemnon that for the sake of his brother and of the rest of the Greeks, he must obey the will of the gods ; and they so worked upon him, that at last he consented to do as they wished, and sent to fetch the maiden from her home. But the mother of Iphigenia would not have parted with her for any consideration if she had known of the fate that lay in store for her; so Agamemnon deceived his wife, and sent word to her that she was to bring Iphigenia immediately to the camp of the Greeks, because he wanted to betroth her to the young Achilles, before they set sail for Troy. Clytemnestra was glad to hear of this, and hastened to Aulis with her daughter, in festal array, followed by a noble train of attendants ; but when she knew the truth, she was filled with rage and despair, and she cursed her husband for having consented to this dark deed. Iphigenia would gladly have lived longer ; but, as there could be no escape for the Greeks except through her death, she submitted to the hard necessity, and allowed herself to be led to the altar as a willing victim. The sacrificial fire flamed high and bright; beside the altar stood the maiden, and close to her the priest, with the sacrificial knife in his hand. First he prayed to Artemis, and then he raised the knife to plunge it into the heart of the maiden ; but at that moment a cloud suddenly descended, and produced a complete darkness ;—and when the cloud raised itself again, there lay upon the step of the altar a hind instead of Iphigenia, and the maiden had disappeared. The priest recognised the will of the goddess, and slaughtered the hind for the sacrifice; and no sooner was it accomplished than the sails of the ships were already flapping with the favourable wind. Iphigenia had meanwhile been borne through the air to a far distant country, where there was a temple of Artemis, in which she served the goddess as a priestess ; and after many years had passed by she was allowed once more to return to her home in the beautiful land of Greece.