The Tale of Troy

by Roger Green

  ‘None of the sons of men have ever visited me here while still alive,’ he said grimly. For Orpheus was the son of Apollo, while Dionysus and Heracles both had Zeus for their father. ‘And, being still mortal, only those three have ever returned living to the world above… Therefore, daring humans, come now and feast with me!’

  But Theseus, knowing that those who eat of the food of the Dead can never return to the land of the Living, refused the invitation politely, appealing to Persephone who had eaten six seeds of the pomegranate when Hades carried her off, and so could only return to earth for six months of the year.

  ‘Then at least come and sit with me,’ said Hades, and he led them to a royal throne by the side of the softly moving Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness. All unsuspecting, Theseus and Pirithous seated themselves on the carven stone – and at once it held them and they became part of it, so that there was no way of rising without tearing away their own flesh.

  Then Hades laughed grimly: ‘Here is my Queen, Persephone, daughter of Zeus!’ he said. ‘Come, take her if you can, you rash and impious men!’ But they could not move, though weaving coils of serpents hissed about them, and the Furies, servants of Hades, tormented them; nor did Cerberus, the triple Hound of Hell, fail to fasten his teeth in them from time to time.

  It is said that some years later Heracles, while on a visit to Hades and Persephone, begged for the release of his friend and managed to tear him from his terrible seat. But after his return Theseus did not become King of Athens again; and he soon perished miserably in exile. Certainly Pirithous never again saw the light of day, and Hades moved his terrible seat near to the wheel on which his father Ixion suffered.

  Meanwhile Helen was still a prisoner at Aphidna so her brothers Castor and Polydeuces collected an army and set out to rescue her. They laid siege to Aphidna, captured it and razed it to the ground, after they had recovered Helen and taken Aethra, the mother of Theseus, to be her slave.

  Then they marched to Athens to punish Theseus himself; but not finding him, and being welcomed as deliverers by the citizens, they made peace and set Menestheus, the rightful king, on the throne.

  Helen, safe again in Sparta, grew up into the loveliest girl ever seen, as Zeus had intended, and King Tyndareus became anxious about her. For just as Theseus had carried her off, so he feared that some other king or prince of Greece might steal her also. He became even more anxious when his brave sons Castor and Polydeuces were no longer there to protect her.

  For on a time a bitter quarrel broke out between them and their cousins Idas and Lynceus, the sons of Aphareus brother of King Tyndareus, who reigned at Messene near Sparta. His third brother, Leucippus, had promised his daughters in marriage to Castor and Polydeuces, but Lynceus and Idas obtained possession of them, either by bribery or by force, and carried them off into Arcadia.

  Castor and Polydeuces therefore set out with a band of followers to punish their cousins and retrieve their brides. When the two armies met, a truce was called, and Lynceus said:

  ‘Let us not shed blood unnecessarily. We both want these same girls, cannot we decide the question by single combat? I will fight with Castor, and who ever slays the other shall lead away both maidens without let or hindrance.’

  The Spartan twins agreed to this, and all men gathered round to watch the battle as Castor and Lynceus made ready for their deadly combat. With the crests nodding above their helmets they approached one another, their great shields held ready and their spear-points quivering.

  Then they tilted at each other, trying vainly to get past the protective shields, but their spears stuck at last in the tough bronze and leather, and snapped off the points. Then they flung away the useless shafts, snatched out their glittering swords, and lashed at one another.

  Many a time did Castor smite on his enemy's broad shield and horse-hair crest; and many a time keen-eyed Lynceus smote back, and once even shore away the scarlet plume. Then, as he aimed the sharp sword at the left knee, Castor drew back his left foot, and hacked off the fingers from the hand of Lynceus. At this Lynceus cast away his sword and fled towards the tomb of his father Aphareus behind which Idas had concealed himself.

  But as he reached it, Castor's sword pierced his body and he fell dead to the ground.

  Joyfully Castor turned to claim the victory and clasp his bride. But as he did so, Idas rose up from behind the tomb, where he had been hiding, and tore away a great stone from it, which he dashed down upon Castor's head.

  Brave Castor fell dying to the ground; but Idas did not live long to rejoice in his treachery, for Zeus hurled down a thunderbolt from Olympus, and blotted him from the face of the earth.

  In desperate sorrow Polydeuces bent over his dying brother; and when he saw that there was no hope for him, he prayed:

  ‘Father Zeus, Immortal son of Cronos, when, oh when will there come a release from this sorrow? Let me die also, king of life and death; let me not survive my beloved brother!’

  Zeus, deeply moved, spoke out of the thunder cloud in which he had drawn nigh:

  ‘My son, I had thought to make you immortal, to be a guide to men at sea in times of trouble. Do you now prefer death, and the dim land of Hades where your brother must dwell, rather than immortality, with a seat at the heavenly banquet on Olympus? There you were to sit between Athena and Ares, while dainty Hebe served you with the food and wine of the Immortals.’

  But Polydeuces answered: ‘If Castor cannot share it with me, then I would rather renounce the banquet of the Immortals, and wander in the shadowy realm where Hades is king.’

  Then said Zeus: ‘For this great love of yours, I decree that both of you shall sit on Olympus and go forth to do my bidding on the deep. But Hades cannot be deprived of his due, so day and day about, you must be as the dead in the world of shadows; and day and day about you may tread the sky with us the Immortals.’

  So it came about that neither Castor nor Polydeuces dwelt any longer among men, but became the ‘Dioscuri’, the ‘Striplings of Zeus’, and had their Twin Stars in heaven, and brought kindly succour and guidance to those in peril on the sea.

  King Tyndareus mourned the death of his two brave sons, and was troubled more and more as to what should chance on account of his beautiful daughter, Helen.

  Then at last he sent heralds throughout Greece and the Islands, proclaiming that the time had come when he would choose her a husband; and that her husband should also rule over Sparta and defend it against all invaders.

  The kings and princes of Hellas, the sons of those who had fared with Jason in Quest of the Golden Fleece, and of those who had stood beside Meleager when the Boar of Calydon was slain, came hastening to Sparta.

  There came Odysseus the wise son of Laertes, King of Ithaca: and Diomedes son of Tydeus; Menestheus of Athens came, and Aias the son of Oileus. From rich Mycenae and Tiryns came Agamemnon and Menelaus, whose father was a cousin of Eurystheus and had succeeded to his throne; Eumelus was there also, the son of Admetus and Alcestis, and Philoctetes who now owned the bow and arrows of Heracles. There was Ajax the son of Telamon, the old friend of Heracles who had helped him to sack Troy; and there was Ajax's half-brother, young Teucer, whose mother was that Hesione whom Heracles had saved from the sea-monster, and many others whose names were soon to become famous.

  Seeing the numbers of them, Tyndareus grew afraid lest if he chose one, some of the others might try to steal the bride and start a disastrous war. Not knowing what to do, he consulted Odysseus the Prince of Ithaca, who, though only a young man, was already famous for his wisdom and cunning.

  ‘Why,’ said Odysseus, ‘the obvious thing is to make all the suitors swear a most solemn oath before you announce your choice. Make them swear to abide by your choice; to defend whoever you choose and come to his aid with a good array of men and ships if anyone, whoever he may be, should steal Helen or carry her off.’

  Tyndareus thought this an excellent scheme, and the suitors all agreed to it, swearing, most solemnly, an oath that
none of them would dare to break.

  Tyndareus chose Menelaus as the husband of Helen; the young, brave prince of Mycenae, whose elder brother, Agamemnon, would soon be king. To make still more certain alliance with Mycenae, Tyndareus gave his other daughter Clytemnestra to be Agamemnon's wife. And in gratitude to Odysseus he persuaded his brother Icarius to give him his daughter, Penelope, in marriage.

  When all these things were settled, and Helen was married to Menelaus, the kings and princes departed to their own homes, and peace descended upon the lovely land of Lacedaemon of which Sparta was the chief city. And very soon Tyndareus gave up the throne and retired to enjoy his old age in peace and quiet, and Menelaus and Helen became King and Queen. They had a lovely daughter called Hermione and a son Nicostratus, and lived in great happiness for some years in beautiful Lacedaemon – until Paris the Trojan came.

  To begin with, all seemed fair and honest. Paris told them that he was visiting Greece on an embassy from King Priam, to inquire after his aunt, Hesione, who was now the wife of King Telamon of Salamis. So Menelaus greeted his guest kindly, and he and Helen entertained the Trojan strangers for nine days.

  On the tenth a message came for Menelaus that his mother's father Catreus had died in Crete, and he was wanted at the funeral. Suspecting no evil, he sailed away, leaving Helen to entertain the guests until they were ready to leave for Salamis.

  Next day Paris said farewell to Helen and embarked with Aeneas and all his followers. But that night he returned to Sparta, and next morning he was on the high seas with Helen aboard his ship.

  For once Paris had seen the beauty of Helen, he cared for nothing in the world but to win her – by fair means or foul. And Aphrodite, having promised, was ready to help him with her magic arts.

  Some say that he carried off Helen by main force, and robbed the palace of all its treasures at the same time; others, that by the spells of Aphrodite Paris was able to assume the form of Menelaus, and that Helen went with him readily, leaving her beloved daughter Hermione without a thought, and accompanying him as one in a dream, but taking the baby Nicostratus with her.

  Away they sailed, and Hera called up a storm-wind to blow them out of their course. But they landed on Aphrodite's island of Cyprus; and afterwards visited Sidon (where Paris treacherously slew the king and stole his treasure), and so back to Troy by way of Phoenicia and Egypt.

  And when Paris reached Troy at last, bringing the beautiful Helen with him, their wedding took place amid the rejoicing of the Trojans. For when Cassandra stood on the citadel, tearing her hair and crying: ‘Woe, woe to Troy! Helen has come, who will bring ruin and death to us all,’ Priam replied that death and ruin were worth risking merely to look upon the beauty of Helen and to

  have her at Troy. All the Trojans agreed with him, and vowed never to give her up.

  But she dwelt among them in sadness and shame, once the magic of Aphrodite had faded. And from that day forth Helen wore on her breast the shining Star-stone which she found waiting for her in the citadel of Troy. Moment by moment the red drops from the ruby heart of the Star fell on her snowy raiment, fell and vanished - fell and vanished – and left no stain: even as if the drops were the drops of blood shed for her, the innocent cause of so much war and sorrow.

  CHAPTER 4

  THE GATHERING OF THE HEROES

  *

  In Troy, there lies the scene. From isles of Greece

  The princes orgulous… their vow is made

  To ransack Troy; within whose strong immures

  The ravisht Helen, Menelaus' queen,

  With wanton Paris sleeps; and that's the quarrel.

  SHAKESPEARE

  Troilus and Cressida

  4

  No sooner had Paris the Trojan sailed away carrying Helen with him, than Hera, Queen of the Immortals and his sworn enemy, sent her messenger Iris to tell Menelaus of his loss. Iris was the bright sister of the evil Harpies, and the sworn servant of the Immortals, and of Hera in particular; and when she went on a message, Zeus spread his rainbow as a bridge for her from heaven to earth.

  Full of sorrow at the loss of Helen, and anger against the daring Trojan thief, Menelaus hastened back to Greece. First of all he went to his brother Agamemnon, lord of rich Mycenae, who was the husband of Helen's sister, Clytemnestra.

  ‘The beautiful Helen has been stolen away by Trojan Paris!’ he cried. ‘Now is the time to gather all the kings and princes of Greece, according to their oath when all were her suitors at Sparta, and set sail for Troy to exact vengeance!’

  Agamemnon was not quite as eager to go to war as his brother was, and first of all sent a swift ship to Troy, demanding Helen's instant return. But the ship, making the crossing in three days, reached Troy long before Paris, and Priam sent back an insolent answer:

  ‘How can you Greeks make so much fuss about one missing woman? First of all return the women of Asia whom you have stolen – Medea of Colchis, and my own sister Hesione!’

  This reply angered Agamemnon: for Medea had come to Greece of her own wish, and brought much evil to Jason by so doing. As for Hesione, Laomedon had promised her to Heracles if he could save her from the sea-monster. But the theft of Helen was a crime committed by a guest against his host – one of the worst of sins in Greek eyes.

  So Agamemnon sent out heralds through all Greece bidding the kings and princes gather men and ships, and meet at the port of Aulis, on the coast not very far from Thebes.

  Presently the heralds began to return, bringing news of the eagerness with which the heroes were answering the summons. But one startling piece of news brought back by them was that Odysseus of Ithaca, son of Laertes the Argonaut, the very man who had suggested the oath which bound the suitors of Helen, could not come – for he had gone mad.

  Anxious to investigate this extraordinary rumour, Agamemnon and Menelaus set out for Ithaca, accompanied by Palamedes the young prince of Nauplia. Sure enough, when they landed it was to find Odysseus ploughing the sand on the sea-shore, with an ox and a horse harnessed to his plough, and sowing salt instead of seed.

  He seemed to be very mad indeed: but Palamedes had a suspicious mind, and thought he would test this madness. So he seized Telemachus, the infant son of Odysseus and Penelope and placed him in front of the plough. Sure enough, when Odysseus saw his beloved son in such danger, he reined in his strange team and made haste to pick up the baby.

  After that, his pretence of madness was at an end, and he explained that he had only done so because of an oracle which warned him that if he went to Troy he would not return home for twenty years.

  Odysseus loved his island home, and adored his wife and child, so he could never forgive Palamedes for having ruined his clever scheme for avoiding the summons to Troy. Nevertheless he went now with a smile and a shrug, and not one of the heroes did better service in the war than he.

  On their voyage to Aulis, Odysseus and Palamedes went out of their way to visit Cyprus, to persuade King Cinyras to join the Greek Allies against Troy. In the end Cinyras promised solemnly to send fifty ships, and Menelaus sailed on to Aulis with the good news. But when the contingent from Cyprus arrived, it consisted of one ship only – which carried forty-nine others, modelled in clay. It was believed by many of the Greeks that Cinyras had in fact bribed Palamedes to relieve him from his promise.

  Odysseus also visited Delos, accompanied this time by Menelaus, to beg the aid of the three daughters of King Anius, the son of Apollo. These three wonderful maidens were called ‘The Wine-growers’, for Dionysus, whose daughter Rhoio was their mother, had given them the magic touch. One of the maidens could turn what she would into wine: the second could produce corn in the same fashion, and the third olives.

  King Anius, who had a gift of prophecy from his father, would not at first allow his daughters to go:

  ‘But,’ said he, ‘why not come and live here – all of you – for nine years? Then I'll see what I can do; for it has been revealed to me that Troy will not fall until the tenth ye
ar! And my daughters can feed you here just as well as at Troy!’

  Menelaus would not believe this: however he returned with the message. But Agamemnon was already beginning to feel the corrupting joys of absolute power, and he sent Palamedes to fetch the Wine-growers by force – and the maidens fed the Greek army for nine years. In the end they escaped, but were pursued by Agamemnon's orders, and when they were overtaken, prayed to Dionysus for aid, and he turned them into doves – which were ever afterwards held sacred on the lovely little island of Delos.

  It was some time before the kings and princes of Greece were all assembled at Aulis with their fleets and armies; but in the end there were one thousand and thirteen ships, with forty-three leaders. And when they were all assembled, there was no wind to waft them across the sea.

  Then Calchas, a priest of Apollo, began to prophesy. He was a Trojan traitor who had come to Agamemnon saying that he had left Troy because his foresight told him that Troy must fall: moreover, he said, he could not remain in a city guilty of such a crime as the theft of Helen.

  Agamemnon believed everything that Calchas told, for he was very superstitious, and Calchas began by prophesying that Troy would never fall unless Achilles, the young son of the hero Peleus who was too old to come in person, led his people, the Myrmidons, to the war. It was rumoured that young Achilles, aged fifteen by this time, was concealed at the court of King Lycomedes on the island of Scyros, and Odysseus set out at once to find him, accompanied by Diomedes.

  On the way Odysseus laid his plans, and Diomedes made ready to play his part. They arrived at Scyros dressed as merchants, though Odysseus drew King Lycomedes aside and gave him a message from Agamemnon demanding that Achilles should be given up to them.

  ‘He is not here,’ answered Lycomedes boldly. ‘You may look anywhere you like in my palace.’

  As search proved of no avail, Odysseus put his scheme into action. Still disguised as a merchant, he visited Princess Deidamia and her maidens carrying a goodly roll of merchandise, which he spread out before them.