The Oracles of Troy (The Adventures of Odysseus)

by Iliffe, Glyn

  PRAISE FOR GLYN ILIFFE

  ‘The world of this novel appears as many scholars see that of Homer: a rich melange of different eras … It has suspense, treachery and bone-crunching action … It will leave fans of the genre eagerly awaiting the rest of the series’

  Harry Sidebottom,

  author of the best selling Warrior of Rome series

  ‘Iliffe is a talented storyteller’

  Times Literary Supplement

  ‘A ripping swords-and-sandals treatment of The Iliad’

  The Telegraph

  ‘A thrilling adventure full of bloody battles, vibrant characters and the heart-stopping romance that makes ancient Greece so universally appealing. Dazzling drama on a grand scale’

  Lancashire Evening Post

  ‘A must read for those who enjoy good old epic battles, chilling death scenes and the extravagance of ancient Greece’

  Lifestyle Magazine

  ‘The reader does not need to be a classicist by any means to enjoy this epic and stirring tale. It makes a great novel and would be an even better film’

  Historical Novels Review

  ‘Another gripping and thrilling tale from the new demi-god of the genre, one which fans will relish getting stuck into’

  The Catholic Herald

  THE ORACLES OF TROY

  Glyn Iliffe studied English and Classics at Reading University, where he developed a passion for the stories of ancient Greek mythology. Well travelled, Glyn has visited nearly forty countries, trekked in the Himalayas, spent six weeks hitchhiking across North America and had his collarbone broken by a bull in Pamplona.

  He is married with two daughters and lives in Leicestershire. King of Ithaca was his first novel, followed by The Gates of Troy and The Armour of Achilles. He is currently working on the fifth book in the series, The Voyage of Odysseus.

  1st Kindle Edition

  Copyright © Glyn Iliffe 2013

  The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

  This book is a work of fiction. It has been written for entertainment purposes only. All references to characters and countries should be seen in this light.

  ebook formatting by EBooks by Design

  www.ebooksbydesign.co

  Also by Glyn Iliffe

  King of Ithaca

  The Gates of Troy

  The Armour of Achilles

  Visit www.glyniliffe.com to read more about

  The Adventures of Odysseus.

  GLYN ILIFFE

  THE ORACLES

  OF TROY

  FOR TABITHA

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  As ever, I am grateful to my wife, Jane, for her patience and encouragement.

  My thanks also go to Richard Sheehan, Steven A McKay, Maureen Corderoy, Deven Kanal, Jane Davies, Kevin Marlow and Bruce Villas for their proof reading skills and improvements to the original text.

  CONTENTS

  Glossary

  Book One

  1. Lemnos

  2. Philoctetes

  3. Heracles

  4. Reconciliation and Healing

  5. The Eye of Apollo

  6. Nisus of Dulichium

  7. Helenus

  8. The Return of the Outcast

  9. Death in the Morning

  Book Two

  10. A Way Out

  11. A Widow’s Fate

  12. In Apheidas’s House

  13. The Oracles of Troy

  14. The Legend of Pelops

  15. The Golden Vine

  16. Pelop’s Tomb

  17. The Maze

  18. The Guardian of the Tomb

  19. Eurypylus Arrives

  20. Neoptolemus

  21. The Greeks at Bay

  22. The Shadow of Achilles

  23. Neoptolemus and Eurypylus

  Book Three

  24. The Kerosia

  25. Prisoner of Apheidas

  26. An Unwelcome Visitor

  27. An Ultimatum

  28. Odysseus Unmasked

  29. Temptations of the Flesh

  30. Unexpected Help

  31. The Palladium

  32. The Insanity of Kings

  33. Hope out of Defeat

  Book Four

  34. The Wooden Horse

  35. Cassandra’s Woe

  36. Voices From Home

  37. The Gate Falls

  38. Inside the Palace

  39. Helen and Menelaus

  40. Love and Vengeance

  41. At the Temple of Zeus

  42. The Snake Pit

  43. The Rape of Cassandra

  44. Ambition’s End

  45. At the Ships

  46. The Last King of Troy

  47. The Dead Child

  Author's Note

  GLOSSARY

  A

  Achilles

  –

  Myrmidon prince, killed by Paris

  Aeneas

  –

  Dardanian prince, the son of Anchises

  Agamemnon

  –

  king of Mycenae, leader of the Greeks

  Ajax (greater)

  –

  king of Salamis, killed himself after being sent mad by the gods

  Ajax (lesser)

  –

  king of Locris

  Alybas

  –

  home city of Eperitus, in northern Greece

  Anchises

  –

  king of the Dardanians, allies of Troy

  Andromache

  –

  wife of Hector

  Antenor

  –

  Trojan elder

  Anticleia

  –

  Odysseus’s mother

  Antinous

  –

  Ithacan noble, son of Eupeithes

  Antiphus

  –

  Ithacan guardsman

  Apheidas

  –

  Trojan commander, father of Eperitus

  Aphrodite

  –

  goddess of love

  Apollo

  –

  archer god, associated with music, song and healing

  Arceisius

  –

  Ithacan soldier, murdered by Apheidas

  Ares

  –

  god of war

  Artemis

  –

  moon-goddess associated with childbirth, noted for her virginity and vengefulness

  Astyanax

  –

  infant son of Hector and Andromache

  Astynome

  –

  daughter of Chryses, a priest of Apollo

  Astyoche

  –

  daughter of Priam and mother of Eurypylus

  Athena

  –

  goddess of wisdom and warfare

  Aulis

  –

  sheltered bay in the Euboean Straits

  C

  Calchas

  –

  priest of Apollo, adviser to Agamemnon

  Cassandra

  –

  Trojan princess, daughter of Priam

  Clymene

  –

  servant to Apheidas and mother of Palamedes

  Clytaemnestra

  –

  queen of Mycenae and wife of Agamemnon

  D

>   Dardanus

  –

  city to the north of Troy

  Deidameia

  –

  mother of Neoptolemus and widow of Achilles

  Deiphobus

  –

  Trojan prince, younger brother of Hector and Paris

  Demeter

  –

  goddess of agriculture

  Diocles

  –

  Spartan soldier

  Diomedes

  –

  king of Argos

  E

  Elpenor

  –

  Ithacan soldier

  Epaltes

  –

  Argive soldier

  Epeius

  –

  Greek craftsman and notorious coward

  Eperitus

  –

  captain of Odysseus’s guard

  Eumaeus

  –

  swineherd and faithful slave to Laertes

  Eupeithes

  –

  member of the Kerosia

  Euryalus

  –

  companion of Diomedes

  Eurybates

  –

  Odysseus’s squire

  Eurylochus

  –

  Ithacan soldier, cousin of Odysseus

  Eurypylus

  –

  Mysian king, grandson of Priam

  H

  Hades

  –

  god of the Underworld

  Halitherses

  –

  former captain of Ithacan royal guard, given joint charge of Ithaca in Odysseus’s absence

  Hecabe

  –

  Trojan queen, wife of King Priam

  Hector

  –

  Trojan prince, killed by Achilles

  Helen

  –

  former queen of Sparta, now wife of Paris

  Helenus

  –

  son of Priam and Hecabe

  Hephaistos

  –

  god of fire; blacksmith to the Olympians

  Heracles

  –

  greatest of all Greek heroes

  Hestia

  –

  the goddess of the hearth

  Hippodameia

  –

  wife of Pelops

  I

  Idaeus

  –

  herald to King Priam

  Idomeneus

  –

  king of Crete

  Ilium

  –

  the region of which Troy was the capital

  Ilus

  –

  founder of Troy, grandfather of Priam

  Iphigenia

  –

  daughter of Eperitus and Clytaemnestra, sacrificed by Agamemnon

  Ithaca

  –

  island in the Ionian Sea

  K

  Kerosia

  –

  Ithacan council meeting

  L

  Laertes

  –

  Odysseus’s father

  Lemnos

  –

  island in the Aegean Sea

  M

  Menelaus

  –

  king of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon and cuckolded husband of Helen

  Menestheus

  –

  king of Athens

  Mentor

  –

  close friend of Odysseus, given joint charge of Ithaca in Odysseus’s absence

  Mycenae

  –

  most powerful city in Greece, situated in north-eastern Peloponnese

  Myrmidons

  –

  the followers of Achilles

  Myrtilus

  –

  King Oenomaus’s charioteer

  Mysia

  –

  region to the south-east of Troy

  N

  Neoptolemus

  –

  son of Achilles and Deidameia

  Neriton (Mount)

  –

  highest point on Ithaca

  Nestor

  –

  king of Pylos

  Nisus

  –

  Ithacan elder

  O

  Odysseus

  –

  king of Ithaca

  Oenomaus

  –

  king of Pisa, killed in a chariot race against Pelops

  Oenops

  –

  member of the Kerosia

  Omeros

  –

  Ithacan soldier and bard

  P

  Palamedes

  –

  Nauplian prince, executed for treason

  Palladium

  –

  sacred image of Athena’s companion, Pallas

  Pandion

  –

  murdered king of Alybas

  Paris

  –

  Trojan prince, eldest remaining son of King Priam

  Parnassus (Mount)

  –

  mountain in central Greece and home of the Pythian oracle

  Peisandros

  –

  Myrmidon commander

  Peloponnese

  –

  southernmost landmass of Greek mainland, named after Pelops

  Pelops

  –

  grandfather of Agamemnon and Menelaus

  Penelope

  –

  queen of Ithaca and wife of Odysseus

  Penthesilea

  –

  queen of the Amazons, slain by Achilles

  Pergamos

  –

  the citadel of Troy

  Philoctetes

  –

  Malian archer, deserted by the Greeks on Lemnos

  Pisa

  –

  region in the north-western Peloponnese

  Pleisthenes

  –

  youngest son of Menelaus and Helen

  Podaleirius

  –

  famed healer, son of Asclepius

  Polites

  –

  Ithacan warrior

  Polyctor

  –

  member of the Kerosia

  Poseidon

  –

  god of the sea

  Priam

  –

  king of Troy

  Pythoness

  –

  high priestess of the Pythian oracle

  S

  Scamander

  –

  river on the Trojan plain

  Simöeis

  –

  river on the Trojan plain

  Sthenelaus

  –

  companion of Diomedes

  T

  Talthybius

  –

  squire to Agamemnon

  Taphians

  –

  pirate race from Taphos

  Telemachus

  –

  son of Odysseus and Penelope

  Tenedos

  –

  island off the coast of Ilium

  Teucer

  –

  famed archer, half-brother and companion to Great Ajax

  Theano

  –

  priestess of Athena and wife of Antenor

  Thebes

  –

  northern Greek city, sacked by Diomedes

  Thetis

  –

  chief of the Nereids and mother of Achilles

  Trechos

  –

  Argive soldier

  Troy

  –

  chief city of Ilium

  X

  xenia

  –

  the custom of friendship towards strangers

  Z

  Zacynthos

  –

  southernmost of the Ionian islands under Odysseus’s rule

  Zeus

/>   –

  the king of the gods

  BOOK

  ONE

  Chapter One

  LEMNOS

  Odysseus, king of Ithaca, stood at the stern of the galley, his short legs planted firmly apart on the deck and his muscular, top-heavy torso rolling gently with the subdued motion of the sea. His green eyes were impassive as they studied the walls of dense fog that surrounded the ship, seemingly unconcerned at the possibility they could be creeping towards their doom on a rocky shoal or drifting past their destination altogether. King Diomedes showed less patience, beseeching and cursing the gods with alternate breaths as he stood at Odysseus’s left shoulder, his blue cloak swept back to reveal a gleaming breastplate and the golden pommel of a sword hanging at his side. Eperitus, captain of the Ithacan guard, was at Odysseus’s other shoulder, his eyes on the crew as they pulled at the oars.

  ‘What do your senses tell you, Eperitus?’ Odysseus asked, his smooth voice amplified by the silence. ‘Are we near to Lemnos?’

  Eperitus stared out at the thick mist, raising his chin a little as he focussed his hearing on sounds that were beyond the gentle creaking of the long oars in their leather loops and the swish and trickle of water across the blades. As he concentrated he began to hear things the others could not, noises diminished by distance that took a few moments to understand. With them came odours and aromas, and different tastes carried on the air, all of them delicate and insubstantial, but nevertheless distinct to his raised perceptivity.