The prophetess Cassandra declared that Sinon was lying, but no one believed her. Laocoon, the Trojan priest of Poseidon, warned they should never trust Greeks, especially when they were bearing gifts. But Poseidon sent a sea serpent to devour Laocoon and his sons on the beach, a sign to all to reject his words. The Trojans then dragged the giant horse into the city.
At the victory feast that night there was music, dancing, and more wine than anyone had ever seen. Everyone sang and drank long into the night before stumbling back to their homes to sleep.
When the city was finally quiet, a door opened under the belly of the horse. Ropes were lowered and orders given to unbar the gates of the city. Sinon had already kindled a fire on the tomb of Achilles to signal the fleet. The Greek army had quickly sailed back and were waiting outside the walls.
The Greeks spread throughout the city to slaughter the Trojans and set fire to their homes. Aeneas, son of Aphrodite, gathered what men, women, and children he could and escaped. Most Trojans were not so lucky. King Priam was cut down at the altar of Zeus. Little Ajax found Cassandra in the temple of Athena and gave her to Agamemnon as a slave. Hector’s mother, Hecuba, was led away in chains as was his wife, Andromache, but not before his young son, Astyanax, was thrown to his death. The Greeks took Priam’s youngest daughter, Polyxena, and cut her throat over the tomb of Achilles, a sacrifice to the spirit of their friend. At last, when the city was a smoking ruin, Menelaus killed Helen’s new husband, Deiphobus. He was ready to plunge his sword into his former wife, but Helen begged to be allowed to return to Sparta where she would make him a happy man. Menelaus hesitated, thinking of all the good men who had died for her sake. Then he took her by the hand and led her back to his ship.
The long war was finally over.
Mycenae
Many years before Agamemnon led the Greeks to Troy, his ancestor Tantalus ruled as king in Lydia. Tantalus was a mortal son of Zeus and one of his favorites. He took advantage of his father, stealing ambrosia and telling the gods’ secrets to mortals. When Zeus overlooked this bad behavior, his son became more and more bold.
One day Tantalus invited the gods to dinner at his palace. Tantalus had slaughtered his own son Pelops and served him to his divine guests. The king was curious to see if the gods would recognize human flesh. Only Demeter was fooled because she was mourning the loss of her daughter, Persephone. She ate a shoulder of young Pelops before anyone could stop her.
Zeus rose up in anger and ordered Hermes to place the pieces of his grandson back into the stewpot. He then pulled out a living Pelops, minus a shoulder that Hephaestus later replaced with one made of ivory. Zeus then cast Tantalus down into the darkest corner of Hades. Tantalus stood in a pool of fresh water, but when he stooped down to drink, the water vanished. When he tried to grasp the fruits over his head, the wind blew them out of his reach. Thus for eternity Tantalus was tormented by food and drink he could not have.
Pelops was even more handsome after he was restored to life than he had been before. His good looks caught the eye of the god Poseidon, who took him to Mount Olympus to serve as his cupbearer. When he grew tired of the youth, Poseidon sent him away with a chariot so fast some said it could fly across the top of the sea.
Pelops used the chariot when he heard that King Oenomaus of Pisa was holding races to see who could win his daughter Hippodamia as a bride. The king had no desire to part with her, so he came up with an impossible contest to keep her unwed. Interested men had to race from Pisa to the Isthmus of Corinth before the king caught up with them. Oenomaus owned horses he received from the god Ares. When he caught up with the suitors—which he always did—he cut off their heads. Hippodamia was so beautiful that twelve warriors had already died trying to win her hand.
Pelops made his way across the Aegean Sea and knocked on the palace door. The heads of a dozen suitors hung from the palace walls. Hippodamia fell in love with Pelops. She asked her father’s charioteer, named Myrtilus, to loosen the pins from the axel of her father’s chariot. Myrtilus was desperately in love with the princess and did as she asked. Soon after the race began, the chariot collapsed. Oenomaus was thrown to the rocks beside the road and died.
Myrtilus went with the newly married couple as they made their way back to Lydia. At their first stop, he tried to force himself on Hippodamia while Pelops was fetching water. The prince caught him and tossed him off a cliff, but not before Myrtilus uttered the curse of a dying man upon Pelops and his descendants. Pelops later returned to Pisa with Hippodamia and took the crown. He was fond of his new land and named the entire peninsula for himself, calling it the Peloponnesus or “Pelops Island.” He had many children with Hippodamia, including two sons, Atreus and Thyestes.
After the sons of Hercules killed Eurystheus, king of Mycenae, the people of the town received an oracle that they should choose one of the sons of Pelops as their new ruler. The Mycenaeans did not know which one to pick, so they sent for both. Atreus, as the eldest, said that he was the natural choice. Thyestes argued that whoever was able to present the citizens with the fleece of a golden lamb should be the new king.
Atreus thought this was a wonderful idea. Several years earlier he had made a vow to sacrifice the finest lamb born to his flock to Artemis. A ewe gave birth to a lamb with fleece of gold. Atreus knew he should offer the lamb to Artemis, but he couldn’t bring himself to part with such a miraculous gift. He strangled the golden lamb and hid its fleece.
Unknown to Atreus, his wife, Aerope, was in love with Thyestes. Aerope had secretly given the golden fleece to her lover. When Atreus tried to prove to the Mycenaeans that he should be king, the fleece was gone. Thyestes then presented it to the city elders, who offered him the crown. Atreus was furious. So was his great-grandfather, Zeus.
Zeus sent Hermes to Mycenae. He told him to ask Thyestes if he would give up the throne if Atreus could make the sun move backward. Thyestes laughed at such a silly idea and agreed. The next day, after the sun traveled halfway across the sky, it began to move backward. The people of Mycenae wanted a king who could change the course of the heavens. Atreus became ruler and banished Thyestes from the land.
The new king could not forget his brother’s dishonesty. He lured him and his family back to Mycenae with an offer to make peace. Atreus invited his brother to join him at the head of the table at a great banquet. Atreus had killed his brother’s three young sons. He had cut off their heads and limbs and boiled the rest in a stewpot. After much wine, song, and tender meat, Atreus asked his brother how he liked his dinner. Thyestes replied it was the best he had ever eaten. Atreus clapped his hands and had a platter brought out with the heads and limbs of Thyestes’s sons. He had just dined on their flesh. The younger brother cursed Atreus and his sons, and was cast out of the kingdom once again.
Alone and wretched, Thyestes traveled to Delphi to find out how he could have revenge. The oracle told him he had to father a child by his own daughter Pelopia, whom he had not seen in years. Thyestes dismissed the idea and traveled to the land of Sicyon in the northern Peloponnesus. As he passed by a forest he happened upon a group of young women celebrating the rites of Artemis. He hid behind a tree and watched. The leader of the dancers was a particularly pretty girl who slipped on sheep’s blood and left the group to wash her robes in a nearby stream. Thyestes followed her and forced himself upon her. The girl could not fight back against such a powerful stranger. She stole his sword before he left and placed the weapon under the altar at the temple of Artemis.
Back in Mycenae, the crops were failing because of the blood-guilt Atreus had brought on the land when he killed his nephews. Atreus traveled to an oracle near Sicyon to seek relief for his kingdom and was told that he must bring Thyestes back. The oracle did not say dead or alive, and Atreus did not ask. Before he left, he saw a beautiful young woman standing near a temple. He didn’t realize that she was his niece, Pelopia, and that she was pregnant by her own father, Thyestes. He asked if she would become his wife. The woman agreed. A
little less than nine months later, she bore a son named Aegisthus.
Years went by as Atreus searched for Thyestes. At last he sent his two sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, to Delphi to ask the oracle where he could find his brother. Miraculously, Thyestes was also there and still seeking a way to have revenge. Agamemnon and Menelaus took their uncle back to Mycenae by force. Atreus threw his brother into prison. He then ordered his other son, Aegisthus, to take a sword and kill the man.
Aegisthus unwrapped the fine sword he had recently received from his mother. He went down to the palace dungeon and ordered the prisoner to kneel. Thyestes recognized the sword and asked where he gotten it. When Aegisthus told him, Thyestes revealed that Aegisthus was his son and that Pelopia was his own daughter. Aegisthus called his mother to the prison and she confirmed the story, then took the sword and plunged it into her heart. This was shocking to Aegisthus. He took the sword stained by his mother’s blood and presented it to Atreus. The king believed that Thyestes at last was dead, but in his excitement did not notice Aegisthus come up from behind. Aegisthus stabbed him in the back.
Aegisthus then released Thyestes from prison and helped him seize the throne. Agamemnon and Menelaus took refuge with King Tyndareus in Sparta. In time they returned and drove their uncle Thyestes from Mycenae once again. Agamemnon became king and forgave his half-brother for murdering his father. Aegisthus seemed grateful and lived a quiet life serving Agamemnon loyally. His devotion was rewarded when Agamemnon sailed to Troy. The king left Aegisthus in charge of the kingdom until he returned. Aegisthus, whose anger at the family of Atreus boiled just below the surface, gladly agreed.
At Aulis, Agamemnon sacrificed Iphigenia, leaving only his daughter, Electra, and his son, Orestes, to comfort their mother. Anger grew inside Clytemnestra. Whatever love she had once had for Agamemnon died the day he killed their daughter. Now she turned to Aegisthus and found in him a willing partner in her revenge.
At last word reached Mycenae that Troy had fallen. Clytemnestra had long ago set up a series of signal fires to be lighted when Troy was taken so that she might know that Agamemnon was on his way back. Before the burning embers of Troy had died away, Clytemnestra prepared to welcome her husband home.
After a few weeks, Agamemnon landed at the port near Argos and made his way by chariot to his palace at Mycenae. Cheering crowds lined the way to admire the treasure he brought from Troy. Slave women marched behind to their grim, new life. But Cassandra, the daughter of King Priam, rode beside Agamemnon.
Clytemnestra welcomed Agamemnon home. She spread precious tapestries before him so that his feet would not have to touch the ground on the way to his throne room. Agamemnon objected that such honors were more fitting to a god, but his wife said that his victory at Troy had earned him this reward.
The royal party entered the palace except for Cassandra, who was left on the porch by the queen. Suddenly Cassandra cried that she saw blood everywhere. She saw babies butchered, murder and murder again, and even her own death. The people of the town assured her that the family of Atreus was now at peace. Cassandra heard none of these words but entered the chambers of the king to meet her fate.
Then, from inside the palace, there was a horrible cry. The citizens of the city gathered outside until Clytemnestra came out with a bloody sword: “The king is dead. Long have I waited for this day, ever since he killed my precious girl to fight his war. I struck him three times, a sacrifice to the restless spirit of my daughter. And I killed his little slave as well. Justice is done at last.”
Aegisthus stood beside Clytemnestra with armed men and declared that they would rule together. The people could do nothing except bow to the new king and queen, but in their hearts they called on the gods for vengeance.
Before Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon, she had sent her son, Orestes, to a kingdom near Delphi to remove any threat to her plans. Clytemnestra buried her husband near the palace, but first made sure his ghost was helpless to seek revenge. As the years passed no one dared to honor his grave except for Electra, who came in secret to pour wine for his troubled spirit.
One day two strangers appeared to lay a lock of hair on the grave. One was named Pylades, while the other was Orestes. While the two stood praying beside the mound, Orestes saw Electra approach and hid himself behind a tree. She was startled to see footprints and an offering of hair on the grave. She knew her brother had returned.
Orestes asked for news of what had happened in the long years of his absence. Electra told him their mother had been troubled by dreams of late. In her dreams she gave birth to a snake that slashed her with its fangs. Orestes said that he was that snake, sent by Apollo. The prince had come to kill his wicked mother and the man who had stolen his father’s throne. He told Electra to tell no one what she had seen. He would come to the palace in disguise to carry out his plan.
Soon Orestes and Pylades appeared before the gate disguised as travelers and speaking the language of Delphi. They asked to see the queen, for they had a sad message to give her. When they were led to the presence of Clytemnestra, they told her that Orestes was dead. Clytemnestra ran into the palace weeping, but beneath her tears she smiled. The one person who could avenge Agamemnon was now dead. She and Aegisthus could live out the rest of their days without worry.
But then Clytemnestra heard a cry from across the palace courtyard. She ran out to see the young stranger with a bloody sword. He revealed that he was Orestes and that he had just killed Aegisthus. Clytemnestra begged for her life: “I nursed you when you were a baby, cradled you in my arms. Yes, I killed your father, but only because he murdered your sister. I sought revenge for the blood of my own child!”
Orestes was torn. He had been ordered by the god Apollo to slay this woman, yet how could he kill his mother?
He raised his sword and brought it down on Clytemnestra, judging that the will of the god was greater than his own ties of blood. Yet as he stood over her body, he could not believe what he had done. Would this cycle of vengeance go on forever? His great-great-grandfather killed his own son and served him for dinner to the gods. Then Pelops had two sons who spent their lives plotting revenge on each other. His father killed his sister, and then his mother slayed his father. He had joined in by killing her. Who would now seek his life?
When the priestess of Apollo at Delphi arose that morning and purified herself, it seemed like it would be just another day at the temple. After praying to the earth mother, Gaia, to Themis, the guardian of justice, and to Apollo himself, she would sit on her stool above a fissure in the earth while she breathed in the sacred fumes that allowed her to commune with the god. There would be farmers asking whether or not to buy an olive grove, or fathers seeking advice on which suitor was the best choice for their daughters. The questions were always the same.
But when she entered the doors of the temple, she saw a man sleeping on the central stone, the very navel of the earth, with a bloody sword in one hand and an olive branch in the other. Around this altar were female creatures wrapped in black rags and a stench of death. They were the Furies, come to haunt Orestes for slaying his mother.
Apollo quietly entered and woke Orestes, telling him to make his way to Athens and the goddess Athena. When the young man had gone, the ghost of Clytemnestra woke the sleeping Furies. It was their sacred job to seek vengeance against those who had shed the blood of family. Apollo ordered them all out of his sanctuary. He told them to get to Athens where Athena would hear their case.
Athena called a trial on the hill of the Areopagus next to the Acropolis at Athens. Select men of Athens would be the jury, with Athena as judge. The Furies argued that without anger at the shedding of blood, there would be no reason for justice. What could be worse than a son killing his own mother? Allow him to go free, and the world would descend into chaos.
Apollo argued that Orestes had only sought revenge against the woman who had killed Agamemnon. Wasn’t it justified to kill a woman who had murdered his father?
The
Furies said that Clytemnestra’s crime was wicked, but she did not kill someone related to her. Husbands and wives were joined by promises, not by blood. Orestes killed his mother and was therefore guilty of the greater crime.
Then Apollo made a shameless argument. He said that a child is not related to its mother. A woman carries her husband’s baby until it is ready to be born. The baker makes bread, not the oven, he said. Likewise, a father is the true source of life, not the mother. He declared that his point could be proven by Athena, who was born from the forehead of her father, Zeus.
Athena considered the arguments. She judged that Apollo was right and that Orestes should be freed. She also said that there was a place for anger in a system of justice. She therefore invited the Furies to live in Athens, dwelling in honor under the Areopagus. They would be the basis of justice for her city.
Athena then declared that the long cycle of murder and revenge that had haunted the family of Tantalus for five generations had ended at last.
Odysseus
After ten long years of war at Troy, the Greek heroes sailed for home. Some returned to their families. Others met their deaths in the wine-dark sea.
Almost ten years had passed since the Greek ships sailed away from the ruins of Troy, but still Odysseus had not come home to his wife, Penelope, and his now-grown son, Telemachus. No one knew the fate of the king of Ithaca. Some said he had perished at sea, while others said he had founded a new kingdom in a distant land.
Heroes of Olympus Page 18
