Heroes of Olympus

by Philip Freeman

  One day men from the court of the Trojan king came to take the bull. Priam needed it as a prize for funeral games in honor of a long-dead son he had been forced to abandon.

  Paris decided to compete in the games to win his bull back. He went down to Troy and won every contest of strength and skill. The many sons of Priam were furious. One, named Deiphobus, drew his sword to kill the peasant, and Paris jumped on an altar of Zeus for protection. At that moment Cassandra, the soothsaying daughter of Priam, declared that the young stranger was the long-lost son. Everyone was so glad to see Paris alive that they forgot about the prophecy and welcomed him into the palace.

  As much as he enjoyed life in the Trojan court, Paris still enjoyed the countryside. One night while he was playing his flute for his sheep, Hermes appeared along with three of the most beautiful beings Paris had ever seen. Hermes explained that Zeus wanted Paris to decide which of the three goddesses was the most beautiful. Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite were all perfect, so he could not choose. The goddesses whispered in his ear.

  “Choose me,” said Hera, “and I will make you king of all the lands.”

  “Choose me,” said Athena, “and I will make you the greatest warrior men have ever seen.”

  “Choose me,” said Aphrodite, “and I will give you the most beautiful woman in the world.”

  Paris declared that Aphrodite was the fairest. Hera and Athena stormed off, swearing vengeance. Aphrodite told the young shepherd that his bride waited across the sea in Greece. She was Helen, the daughter of Leda and Zeus, sister of Castor and Pollux. She was his—except for the fact that she was already married to King Menelaus of Sparta. The goddess of love assured Paris that Helen’s marriage wasn’t a problem.

  The prince raced back to Troy and told everyone he was sailing to Greece. He arrived at the palace of Menelaus, brother of the great king Agamemnon, and was welcomed as a royal guest. Menelaus trusted Paris. But when Menelaus sailed to Crete for a funeral, Paris told the beautiful Queen Helen that he wanted to make her the happiest woman in the world. That night, with her young daughter Hermione, she left Sparta and sailed for Troy with Paris.

  A few years earlier, the greatest kings and warriors from all of Greece had sought to win Helen’s hand with magnificent gifts. Her mortal father, Tyndareus, had a problem. Helen’s powerful suitors would be angry if they were not chosen.

  Odysseus, the king of the tiny island of Ithaca, had a solution. If Tyndareus would arrange for Odysseus to marry Tyndareus’s niece Penelope, he would draw up an oath for Helen’s suitors. They would swear to accept the choice of Tyndareus, and if any man ever took Helen by force, they would fight to regain her for her husband.

  This seemed like the perfect solution to Tyndareus, so he arranged for his niece to marry Odysseus. Then he made every suitor take the oath. Menelaus, who had given Tyndareus the most valuable gifts, was chosen as Helen’s husband. The rest of the suitors sailed home and married other women.

  When these powerful men heard that Paris had taken Helen to Troy, they realized they had vowed to go to war to get her back. Some were angry, but others were pleased. They were warriors with a thirst for battle, and Troy was rich beyond anyone’s dreams. Agamemnon, the greatest of the Greek kings, was especially thrilled. He had long dreamed of gathering an army to take Troy and its treasures.

  Agamemnon sent word to all those who had taken the oath to gather their armies at the Greek port of Aulis on the coast of Boeotia. Most came gladly. Odysseus, who had settled into married life, enjoyed spending time with Penelope and his newborn son, Telemachus. The walls of Troy were strong and the men of the city were great fighters. The war would be long and difficult. Odysseus knew that many men would not return home, and he did not want to be one of them.

  When Menelaus and his comrade Palamedes arrived at Ithaca to collect Odysseus, they found the young king sowing a field with salt. Penelope said her husband had gone mad, but Palamedes suspected a trick. He grabbed Telemachus from Penelope’s arms and placed the infant in the path of Odysseus’s plow. Odysseus headed straight for his son, but at the last moment he turned the plow aside and picked up his baby. Menelaus and Palamedes knew that Odysseus was sane and fit for duty.

  Once he was discovered, Odysseus prepared for war. He gathered twelve shiploads of men and outfitted them for a long fight. He made Penelope promise that she would wed again if he did not return by the time Telemachus began to grow a beard. He then kissed his wife and son, took one last look at Ithaca, and sailed away. He knew in his heart it would be a long time before he gazed on its shores again, but he swore he would make it home.

  The marriage of the sea goddess Thetis and her mortal husband Peleus had been a happy one until their son Achilles was born. Some say that Peleus discovered his wife was secretly dipping their son in ambrosia and roasting him in a fire to make him immortal. When Peleus saw them, he cried out in terror and grabbed the boy from the flames. Thetis was so angry that she left her husband and returned to the sea. Others say that the goddess tried to make her son immortal by dipping him into the river Styx, but she held Achilles by his heel so that this one part of his body did not get wet and could be hurt.

  Peleus took his young son to Mount Pelion to be raised by the wise centaur Chiron, just as Jason had been. His half-human, half-horse teacher instructed Achilles in music and poetry, athletics and war. While he was still a youth, Achilles returned to his father and completed his education under an aged tutor named Phoenix. While there, he met a young man named Patroclus, who became his best friend.

  When preparations for the Trojan War began, the Greek leaders received an oracle that they needed Achilles on their side to take Troy. Thetis knew that if her son sailed to Troy, he would die. The Fates had said that Achilles would either live a long, quiet life, or he would become the greatest hero of the age and be remembered forever, even though his life would be short. Thetis sent her son to the small island of Scyros and dressed him up like a girl to keep his identity a secret.

  Odysseus received word that Achilles was hiding there and set out to find him. He came as a merchant to the palace and spread out his wares in the courtyard for the king’s daughters to examine. Among the jewelry and perfumes he placed a fine sword and spear. At a prearranged signal, his herald sounded a trumpet as if the palace were being attacked. The girls screamed and ran, but one tall young woman grabbed the weapons and ran to the walls to fight. Odysseus knew he had found Achilles. Achilles was relieved—he longed to prove himself in battle. Childhood was over and he was going to war.

  The men who had sworn the oath to Tyndareus formed the heart of the Greek expedition, but many others flocked to Aulis. They all hoped for fortune and glory. Agamemnon brought a hundred ships full of men from Mycenae. His brother Menelaus came with sixty from Sparta. Young Achilles brought many brave warriors from the kingdom of his father Peleus, including his friend Patroclus. Ajax, the son of Telamon, was there along with the son of Oileus known as Little Ajax. Old King Nestor led ninety ships from Pylos, while the great warrior Diomedes of Argos came with thirty ships. Menestheus brought fifty long black ships from Athens. Agapenor led enough men to fill sixty ships from the mountains of Arcadia. Idomeneus, king of Crete, arrived with eighty ships. Philoctetes, who had once kindled the funeral pyre of Hercules, brought the weapons he had received as a gift from the great hero. Agamemnon also brought Calchas, the great prophet from Megara. Besides these, there were countless other kings, princes, and warriors gathered on the beach at Aulis to launch a thousand ships for the sake of a beautiful woman.

  The vast armada set sail across the Aegean and in a few days arrived on the coast of Asia Minor near the Hellespont. They immediately began to lay waste to the countryside. But they were not at Troy at all. They were somewhere on the shore of Mysia to the south. By the time they started back to the ships, the king of Mysia, a son of Hercules named Telephus, launched an attack and killed many of the invaders. Achilles did manage to wound Telephus with his spear when the kin
g tripped on a vine, but it was not a good beginning for the Greeks.

  The ships were tossed by storms on their retreat. At last they made their way back to Aulis where the men grumbled that this was no way to start a war. To make matters worse, the winds had begun to blow against them so that they could not set out to sea again.

  One day they were surprised to see King Telephus arrive on the beach. He explained to Agamemnon that he was in terrible pain from the wound Achilles had given him. The oracle of Apollo had told him he could only be healed by that which had harmed him. Achilles said that he was no doctor, but Odysseus suggested they scrape the rust from Achilles’ spear into the wound. Soon the pain stopped and the injury began to heal.

  The Greeks had just received their own oracle saying that they could not win the war unless the Mysian king came with them. Telephus owed a debt to the Greeks for healing him, but also had family duties to the Trojans. He agreed to guide the armada to Troy, but not to fight on their side. So Telephus readied himself to lead the ships across the Aegean—if only the wind would stop blowing.

  Weeks went by in the Greek camp. Food ran short, disease set in, and the soldiers grew restless. Agamemnon knew they would have to sail soon or the army would go home. He prayed and sacrificed to the gods, but the wind still blew.

  At last Agamemnon sent for the seer Calchas. He said that Artemis was angry because Agamemnon had boasted that he could hurl a spear better than the goddess. Agamemnon demanded to know what he must do to make peace with Artemis. Calchas begged him to send the army home instead. The king threatened to strangle Calchas unless he spoke. The soothsayer finally declared that the only way to win the favor of Artemis was for Agamemnon to sacrifice his own daughter, the beautiful Iphigenia.

  The other captains demanded Agamemnon sacrifice the girl. The king reluctantly agreed. He sent a message to his wife, Clytemnestra, that he had decided to marry Iphigenia to handsome Achilles. The queen brought their daughter to Aulis. When they arrived, Agamemnon bound Iphigenia for the altar. The priests placed a gag around her mouth so she could not curse them.

  Agamemnon recited prayers to the goddess of the hunt. The priests lifted the maiden in her wedding dress, a bride of death, onto the altar. The girl pleaded with Agamemnon with her eyes. With tears rolling down his cheeks, Agamemnon raised the knife and slit his daughter’s throat.

  Some say that at the last moment Artemis rescued the girl. But most agree that the maiden met her end on a bloody altar at Aulis, a sacrifice to the ambition of men.

  The wind died away, and the Greeks sailed once again to Troy. They stopped at the island of Lemnos to offer sacrifices to the gods. Philoctetes helped with the preparation of the sheep, goats, and oxen, but a snake bit him on the foot. It swelled to twice its normal size and began to ooze smelly pus. The men could not stand the stench and abandoned Philoctetes on the island.

  The fleet made its way past the small island of Tenedos just off the Asian coast, then to the mouth of the Scamander River that flowed near Troy. The men could see the great city on its hilltop overlooking the plain above the sea. Few had ever gazed at walls so tall and strong, and none had ever seen an army like the one that had gathered to meet them. More than one brave man in the Greek army wondered why he had ever left home.

  The Greeks had received an oracle that the first man to land on Trojan soil would die. Everyone hung back, afraid to be the first. At last Protesilaus, king of Phylace, jumped onto the beach. Hector met him with a spear through his heart, shedding the first blood of the war. Achilles was there in an instant to drive Hector away, then he attacked Cycnus, a ruler of a nearby town. Poseidon had made it impossible to harm Cycnus with weapons, so Achilles strangled him with his own helmet strap.

  The rest of the Greeks soon reached the shore and began to drive the Trojans back. It was slow, bloody work. By nightfall the Trojans had withdrawn into their city. The Greeks made camp on the shore. Priam and his subjects knew the walls of Troy could not be breached by any man. It was going to be a long war.

  The Greeks were unable to take the city, and the Trojans were unable to drive the Greeks from their shores. Battles were fought on the plain in front of the town, but neither side was winning. The Greeks began to attack the lands of the city’s allies, hoping to keep Troy from getting supplies. The Greeks, led by Achilles, raided over twenty cities, killing their men, taking their treasure, and marching their women and children back to camp as slaves.

  For nine years the war continued. The Trojans were able to bring food and luxuries into the city in spite of Greek efforts to stop them. Everyone grew weary.

  One of Agamemnon’s favorite slaves was the daughter of Chryses, a priest of Apollo. It was the custom of the time to ransom slaves for gold if there were any relatives alive to make a payment. Chryses made his way to the Greek camp bearing gifts and holding the sacred staff of Apollo. He asked Agamemnon to release his daughter, as it would be pleasing to the god. Agamemnon rose from his throne and knocked the ransom from the priest’s hands: “Get out of my sight, old man, and never let me see you in this camp again! I will never give up the girl!”

  Chryses prayed to the god: “Apollo, god of the silver bow, if ever I have offered pleasing sacrifices to you, hear my prayer! Strike down these Greeks who mock your priest. Rain your arrows down upon them!”

  Apollo heard the prayer and flew down from Olympus. He knelt on a hill above the Greek camp and shot arrows of plague among the tents. The men began to fall, then die. Soon the funeral fires burned day and night.

  At last Achilles called an assembly of the Greek leaders and said they should sail home unless they could find out why the gods were punishing them. The seer Calchas said he would reveal the truth, but first Achilles had to promise to protect him from the wrath of the one at fault. The young warrior agreed, then Calchas said that Agamemnon was to blame. If the king would return the daughter of Chryses, Apollo would stop the plague.

  Agamemnon complained that it wasn’t fair that he should have to give up his favorite slave: “I like this young woman even better than my own wife, Clytemnestra. But I’m a reasonable man. I’ll give up the girl if I receive a slave of equal beauty and quality from one of you.”

  Achilles shot back: “And just who do you expect to give up his slave, you greedy pig? For once think of the troops more than yourself. Surrender the girl.”

  Agamemnon would not change his mind: “You’re telling me how to lead an army? I was killing men on the battlefield while you were still wetting your pants. I’m going to take your slave, Achilles. Have the girl made ready and I’ll send my men for her.”

  Achilles was about to kill Agamemnon when Athena appeared, visible only to him, and ordered him to stop. So Achilles obeyed Athena and sent his slave to Agamemnon. He said he was leaving the war along with all his men. The other leaders begged him to reconsider, but he would not. He urged his divine mother, Thetis, to ask Zeus to help the Trojans. He wanted to see thousands of Greeks lying dead on the plains of Troy so that Agamemnon would beg him to fight for them again. Thetis flew to Olympus and asked Zeus to help the Trojans. Zeus agreed, even though he knew it would get him into trouble with Hera, who supported the Greeks.

  Zeus sent a misleading dream to Agamemnon telling him that if he attacked the Trojans at once, a great victory would be his. The Greek leader jumped from his bed and told the soldiers that they would crush the Trojans that very day. After years of waiting, the Greek warriors cheered and put on their armor. The great battle was upon them at last.

  Hector was watching from the walls of Troy and saw the rush of activity in the Greek camp. He gathered the Trojan army to meet the enemy. Both sides faced each other across a narrow no-man’s-land between the armies. Agamemnon stood in his chariot at the center of the Greek lines. His brother Menelaus was beside him. Ajax, Odysseus, Diomedes, and all the other Greek captains—except Achilles—waited at the front of their own troops. Hector and his brother Paris faced them with Trojan troops and allies gather
ed all around.

  For nine years Menelaus had fought against the young Trojan who had charmed Helen away. The Spartan hated Paris. When he saw the prince standing opposite him, he jumped from his chariot. Paris ran behind Hector to hide from the Greek warrior, but Hector called him a coward and a fool. Paris answered: “Ah, Hector, you’re right. I know this war is because of me, so I should end it. Send a herald to the Greeks telling Menelaus that I will fight him to the death in single combat. The winner takes Helen, and everyone can go home at last.”

  Both armies rejoiced at the idea of the war ending. Sacrifices were made and oaths taken that Greeks and Trojans alike would respect the outcome of the fight. Then the armies watched as the warrior of Sparta marched to face the young prince of Troy. Helen stood on the walls beside King Priam to see what her fate would be.

  Menelaus hurled his oak spear straight at Paris. The shaft flew so fast it broke through the Trojan’s shield and struck his breastplate, but Paris turned aside at the last moment and avoided the deadly point. Then Menelaus drew his silverstudded sword and ran at Paris, bringing the blade down on his helmet. The sword broke into pieces. Paris was stunned, and Menelaus was without a weapon. Then Menelaus rushed at Paris and grabbed his helmet strap. He began to drag Paris back to the Greek lines to kill him, but Aphrodite whisked Paris to safety.

  Paris woke to find himself on his bed and knew the goddess had helped him. Menelaus meanwhile stalked up and down the lines looking for Paris. A Trojan archer named Pandarus saw his chance for glory and shot his deadly arrow at the Spartan king. It was only a glancing blow, but the Greeks shouted that the Trojans had broken the truce. All hope of a peaceful end to the war vanished as both armies rushed together like two giant waves crashing. Soon the field was littered with bodies.