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031 - Legends The Siege of Troy · Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome

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Speaker 1: Section twenty nine of Myths and Legends. This is a
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Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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Speaker 1: Recording by Lucillafaro. Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and
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Speaker 1: Rome by E. M. Barons, Section twenty nine, The Siege
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Speaker 1: of Troy. Troy or Ilion was the capital of a
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Speaker 1: kingdom in Asia Minor, situated near the Hellespont and founded
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Speaker 1: by Illis, son of Tross. At the time of the
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Speaker 1: famous Trojan War, this city was under the government of Priam,
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Speaker 1: a direct descendant of Ilis. Priam was married to Hecuba,
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Speaker 1: daughter of Dimus, king of Thrace, and among the most
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Speaker 1: celebrated of their children were the renowned and valiant Hector,
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Speaker 1: the Prophetesque, Cassandra, and Paris, the cause of the Trojan War.
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Speaker 1: Before the birth of her second son, Paris, her Cuba
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Speaker 1: dreamt that she had given birth to a flaming brand,
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Speaker 1: which was interpreted by Isacus the Seer, a son of
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Speaker 1: Priam by a former marriage, to signify that she would
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Speaker 1: bear a son who would cause the destruction of the
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Speaker 1: city of Troy. Anxious to prevent the fulfillment of the prophecy,
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Speaker 1: her Cuba caused her new born babe to be exposed
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Speaker 1: on Mount Ida to perish, but being found by some
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Speaker 1: kind hearted shepherds, the child was reared by them and
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Speaker 1: grew up unconscious of his noble birth. As the boy
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Speaker 1: approached manhood, he became remarkable not only for his wonderful
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Speaker 1: beauty of form and feature, but also for his strength
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Speaker 1: and courage, which he exercised in defending the flocks from
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Speaker 1: the attacks of robbers and wild beasts. Hence he was
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Speaker 1: called Alexander, or Helper of men. It was about this
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Speaker 1: time that his settled the famous dispute concerning the Golden Apple,
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Speaker 1: thrown by the Goddess of Discord into the assembly of
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Speaker 1: the gods. As we have already seen, he gave his
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Speaker 1: decision in favor of Aphrodite, thus creating for himself two
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Speaker 1: implacable enemies for Hera and Athene never forgave the slight.
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Speaker 1: Paris became united to a beautiful nymph named Sononi, with
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Speaker 1: whom he lived happily in the seclusion and tranquility of
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Speaker 1: a pastoral life. But to her deep grief, this peaceful
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Speaker 1: existence was not fated to be of long duration. Hearing
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Speaker 1: that some funereal games were about to be held in
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Speaker 1: Troy in honor of a departed relative of the king,
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Speaker 1: Paris resolved to visit the capital and take part in
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Speaker 1: them himself. There he so greatly distinguished himself in a
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Speaker 1: contest with his unknown brothers Hector and Dephobus, that the
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Speaker 1: proud young princes, enraged that an obscure shepherd should snatch
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Speaker 1: from them the prize of victory, were about to create
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Speaker 1: a disturbance when Cassandra, who had been a spectator of
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Speaker 1: the proceedings, stepped forward and announced to them that the
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Speaker 1: humble peasant who had so signally defeated them was their
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Speaker 1: own brother, Paris. He was then conducted to the presence
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Speaker 1: of his parents, who joyfully acknowledged him as their child, and,
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Speaker 1: amidst the festivities and rejoicings in honor of their newfound son,
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Speaker 1: the ominous prediction of the past was forgotten. As a
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Speaker 1: proof of his confidence, the king now entrusted Paris with
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Speaker 1: a somewhat delicate mission. As we have already seen in
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Speaker 1: the legend of Heracles, that great hero conquered Troy, and
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Speaker 1: after killing King Lea Meedan carried away captive his beautiful
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Speaker 1: daughter Hessione, whom he bestowed in marriage to his dead
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Speaker 1: friend Telamon. But although she became Princess of Salamus and
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Speaker 1: lived happily with her husband, her brother Priam never ceased
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Speaker 1: to regret her loss and the indignity which had been
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Speaker 1: passed upon his house, and it was now proposed that
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Speaker 1: Paris should be equipped with a numerous fleet and proceed
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Speaker 1: to Greece in order to demand the restoration of the
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Speaker 1: king's sister. Before setting out on this expedition, Paris was
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Speaker 1: warned by Cassandra against bringing home a wife from Greece,
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Speaker 1: and she predicted that if he disregarded her injunction, he
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Speaker 1: would bring inevitable ruin upon the city of Troy and
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Speaker 1: destruction to the house of Priam. Under the command of Paris,
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Speaker 1: the fleet set sail and arrived safely in Greece. Here,
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Speaker 1: the young Trojan prince first beheld Helen, the daughter of
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Speaker 1: Zeus and leader and sister of the Dioscurie, who was
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Speaker 1: the wife of Menelaeus, king of Sparta, and the loveliest
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Speaker 1: woman of her time. The most renowned heroes in Greece
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Speaker 1: had sought the honor of her hand, but her stepfather, Tyndareus,
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Speaker 1: King of Sparta, fearing that if he bestowed her in
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Speaker 1: marriage on one of her numerous lovers, he would make
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Speaker 1: enemies of the rest, made it a stipulation that all
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Speaker 1: suitors should solemnly swear to assist and defend the successful
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Speaker 1: candidate with all the means at their command, in any
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Speaker 1: feud which might hereafter arise in connection with the marriage.
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Speaker 1: He at length conferred the hand of Helen upon Menelaeus,
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Speaker 1: a warlike prince devoted to martial exercises and the pleasure
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Speaker 1: of the chase, to whom he resigned his throne and kingdom.
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Speaker 1: When Paris arrived at Sparta and sought hospitality at the
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Speaker 1: royal palace, he was kindly received by King Menelaeus. At
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Speaker 1: the banquet given in his honor, he charmed both host
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Speaker 1: and hostess by his graceful manner, and varied accomplishments, and
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Speaker 1: specially ingratiated himself with the fair Helen, to whom he
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Speaker 1: presented some rare and chaste trinkets of Asiatic manufacture. Whilst
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Speaker 1: Paris was still a guest at the court of the
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Speaker 1: King of Sparta. The latter received an invitation from his
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Speaker 1: friend Idominius, King of Crete, to join him in a
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Speaker 1: hunting expedition, and Menelaeus, being of an unsuspicious and easy temperament,
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Speaker 1: accepted the invitation, leaving to Helen the duty of entertaining
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Speaker 1: the distinguished stranger. Captivated by her surpassing loveliness, the Trojan
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Speaker 1: prince forgot every sense of honor and duty, and resolved
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Speaker 1: to rob his absent host of his beautiful wife. He
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Speaker 1: accordingly collected his followers, and with their assistance, stormed the
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Speaker 1: royal castle, possessed himself of the rich treasures which it contained,
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Speaker 1: and succeeded in carrying off its beautiful and not altogether
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Speaker 1: unwilling mistress. They at once set sail, but were driven
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Speaker 1: by stress of weather to the island of Crania, where
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Speaker 1: they cast anchor. And it was not until some years
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Speaker 1: had elapsed, during which time home and country were forgotten,
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Speaker 1: that Paris and Helen proceeded to Troy preparations for the war.
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Speaker 1: When Menelaeus heard of the violation of his hearth and home,
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Speaker 1: he proceeded to Pylos, accompanied by his brother Agamemnon, in
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Speaker 1: order to consult the wise old king Nestor, who was
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Speaker 1: renowned for his great experience and state craft. On hearing
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Speaker 1: the facts of the case, Nestor expressed it as his
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Speaker 1: opinion that only by means of the combined efforts of
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Speaker 1: all the states of Greece could Menelaeus hope to regain
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Speaker 1: Helen in defiance of so powerful a kingdom as that
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Speaker 1: of Troy. Menelaeus and Agamemnon now raised the war cry,
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Speaker 1: which was unanimously responded to from one end of Greece
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Speaker 1: to the other. Many of those who volunteered their services
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Speaker 1: were former suitors of the fair Helen, and were therefore
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Speaker 1: bound by their oath to support the cause of Menelaeus.
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Speaker 1: Others joined from pure love of adventure, but one and
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Speaker 1: all were deeply impressed with the disgrace which would attached
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Speaker 1: to their country should such a crime be suffered to
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Speaker 1: go unpunished. Thus a powerful army was collected, in which
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Speaker 1: few names of note were missing. Only in the case
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Speaker 1: of two great heroes, Odysseus, Ulysses and Achilles, did Menilaeus
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Speaker 1: experience any difficulty. Odysseus, famed for his wisdom and great astuteness,
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Speaker 1: was at this time living happily in Ithaca with his
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Speaker 1: fair young wife Penelope and his little son Telemachus, and
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Speaker 1: was loath to leave his happy home for a perilous
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Speaker 1: foreign expedition of uncertain duration. When therefore his services were solicited,
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Speaker 1: he feigned madness. But the shrewd Palomides, a distinguished hero
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Speaker 1: in the suit of Menilaeus, detected and exposed the ruse,
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Speaker 1: and thus Odysseus was forced to join in the war.
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Speaker 1: But he never forgave the interference of Palamedes, and, as
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Speaker 1: we shall see, eventually revenged himself upon him in a
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Speaker 1: most cruel manner. Achilles was the son of Pelias and
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Speaker 1: the sea goddess Thetis, who is said to have dipped
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Speaker 1: her son when a babe in the river Stykes, and
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Speaker 1: thereby rendered him invulnerable except in the right heel by
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Speaker 1: which she held him. When the boy was nine years old,
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Speaker 1: it was foretold to Thetis that he would either enjoy
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Speaker 1: a long life of inglorious ease and inactivity, or that,
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Speaker 1: after a brief career of victory, he would die the
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Speaker 1: death of a hero. Naturally desirous of prolonging the life
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Speaker 1: of her son, the fond mother devoutly hoped that the
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Speaker 1: former fate might be allotted to him. With this view,
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Speaker 1: she conveyed him to the island of Scyros in the
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Speaker 1: Aegean Sea, where, disguised as a girl, he was brought
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Speaker 1: up among the daughters of Lycomedes, king of the country.
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Speaker 1: Now that the presence of Achilles was required, owing to
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Speaker 1: an oracular prediction that Troy could not be taken with
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Speaker 1: without him, Menelaeus consulted Calcas, the soothsayer, who revealed to
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Speaker 1: him the place of his concealment. Odysseus was accordingly dispatched
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Speaker 1: to Scyros, where, by means of a clever device, he
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Speaker 1: soon discovered which among the maidens was the object of
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Speaker 1: his search. Disguising himself as a merchant, Odysseus obtained an
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Speaker 1: introduction to the royal palace, where he offered to the
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Speaker 1: king's daughters various trinkets for sale. The girls, with one exception,
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Speaker 1: all examined his wares with unfeigned interest. Observing this circumstance,
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Speaker 1: Odysseus shrewdly concluded that the one who held aloof must
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Speaker 1: be none other than the young Achilles himself. But in
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Speaker 1: order further to test the correctness of his deduction. He
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Speaker 1: now exhibited a beautiful set of warlike accountments. Whilst at
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Speaker 1: a given signal, stirring strains of martial music were heard outside,
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Speaker 1: whereupon Achilles fired with warlike arda, seized the weapons, and
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Speaker 1: thus revealed his identity. He now joined the cause of
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Speaker 1: the Greeks, accompanied at the request of his father by
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Speaker 1: his kinsman Patroclus, and contributed to the expedition a large
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Speaker 1: force of the Salian troops or Mamidans as they were called,
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Speaker 1: and also fifty ships. For ten long years, Agamemnon and
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Speaker 1: the other chiefs devoted all their energy and means in
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Speaker 1: preparing for the expedition against Troy. But during these warlike preparations,
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Speaker 1: an attempt at a peaceful solution of the difficulty was
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Speaker 1: not neglected. An embassy consisting of Menelaeus, Odysseus, etc. Was
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Speaker 1: dispatched to King Priam, demanding the surrender of Helen, But
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Speaker 1: though the embassy was received with the utmost pomp and ceremony,
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Speaker 1: the demand was nevertheless rejected, upon which the ambassadors returned
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Speaker 1: to Greece, and the order was given for the fleet
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Speaker 1: to assemble at Orlis in Boetia. Never before in the
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Speaker 1: annals of Greece had so large an army been collected.
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Speaker 1: A hundred thousand warriors were assembled at Orlis, and in
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Speaker 1: its bay floated over a thousand ships, ready to convey
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Speaker 1: them to the Trojan coast. The command of this mighty
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Speaker 1: host was entrusted to Agamemnon, King of Argos, the most
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Speaker 1: powerful of all the Greek princes. Before the fleet set sail,
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Speaker 1: solemn sacrifices were offered to the gods on the seashore,
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Speaker 1: when suddenly a serpent was seen to ascend a plane tree,
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Speaker 1: in which was a sparrow's nest containing nine young ones.
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Speaker 1: The reptile first avowed the young birds and then their mother,
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Speaker 1: after which it was turned by Zeus into stone. Chalcas,
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Speaker 1: the soothsayer, on being consulted, interpreted the miracle to signify
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Speaker 1: that the war with Troy would last for nine years,
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Speaker 1: and that only in the tenth would the city be
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Speaker 1: taken departure of the Greek fleet. The fleet then set sail,
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Speaker 1: but mistaking the Mesian coast for that of Troy, they
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Speaker 1: landed troops and commenced to ravage the country. Telephus, king
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Speaker 1: of the Misians, who had a son of the great
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Speaker 1: hero Heracles opposed them with a large army and succeeded
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Speaker 1: in driving them back to their ships, but was himself
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Speaker 1: wounded in the engagement by the spear of Achilles. Patroclus,
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Speaker 1: who fought valiantly by the side of his kinsman, was
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Speaker 1: also wounded in this battle, but Achilles, who was a
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Speaker 1: pupil of Cairn, carefully bound up the wound, which he
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Speaker 1: succeeded in healing, and from this incident dates the celebrated
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Speaker 1: friendship which ever existed between the two heroes, who even
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Speaker 1: in death, remained united. The Greeks now returned to Orlis. Meanwhile,
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Speaker 1: the wound of Telephus proving incurable, he consulted an oracle,
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Speaker 1: and the response was that he alone, who had inflicted
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Speaker 1: the wound, possessed the power of curing it. Telephus accordingly
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Speaker 1: proceeded to the Greek camp, where he was healed by Achilles, and,
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Speaker 1: at the solicitation of Odysseus, consented to act as guide
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Speaker 1: in the voyage Detroit. Just as the expedition was about
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Speaker 1: to start for the second time, Agamemnon had the misfortune
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Speaker 1: to kill a high and sacred to Artemis, who, in
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Speaker 1: her anger sent continuous calms which prevented the fleet from
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Speaker 1: setting sail. Calcus, on being consulted, announced that the sacrifice
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Speaker 1: of Iphiginia, the daughter of Agamemnon, would alone appease the
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Speaker 1: incensed goddess. How Agamemnon at length overcame his feeling as
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Speaker 1: a father, and how Ephiginia was saved by Artemis himself
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Speaker 1: has been already related in a previous chapter. A fair wind,
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Speaker 1: having at length sprung up, the fleet once more set sail.
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Speaker 1: They first stopped at the island of ten Nidos, where
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Speaker 1: the famous archer Philoctides, who possessed the bow and arrows
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Speaker 1: of Heracles given to him by the dying Hero, was
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Speaker 1: bidden in the foot by a venomous snake. So unbearable
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Speaker 1: was the odor emitted by that wound, that, at the
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Speaker 1: suggestion of Odysseus, Philoctides was conveyed to the island of Lesbos, where,
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Speaker 1: to his great chagrin, he was abandoned to his fate,
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Speaker 1: and the fleet proceeded on their journey to Troy commencement
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Speaker 1: of hostilities. Having received early intelligence of the impending invasion
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Speaker 1: of their country, the Trojans sought the assistance of their
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Speaker 1: neighboring states, who all gallantly responded to their call for help,
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Speaker 1: and thus ample preparations were made to receive the enemy.
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Speaker 1: King Priam, being himself to advancing years for active service,
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Speaker 1: the command of the army devolved upon his eldest son,
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Speaker 1: the brave and valiant Hector. At the approach of the
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Speaker 1: Greek fleet, the Trojans appeared on the coast in order
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Speaker 1: to prevent their landing, but great hesitation prevailed among the
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Speaker 1: troops as to who should be the first to set
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Speaker 1: foot on the enemy's soil, it having been predicted that
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Speaker 1: whoever did so would for a sacrifice to the fates.
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Speaker 1: Protestilaeus of Phyleus, however, nobly disregarding the ominous prediction, leapt
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Speaker 1: on shore and fell by the hand of Hector. The
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Speaker 1: Greeks then succeeded in effecting a landing, and in the
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Speaker 1: engagement which ensued, the Trojans were signally defeated and driven
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Speaker 1: to seek safety behind the walls of their city. With
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Speaker 1: Achilles at their head, the Greeks now made a desperate
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Speaker 1: attempt to take the city by storm, but were repulsed
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Speaker 1: with terrible losses. After this defeat, the invaders foreseeing a
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Speaker 1: long and wearisome campaign, drew up their ships on land,
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Speaker 1: erected tents, huts, et cetera, and formed an entrenched camp.
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Speaker 1: On the coast. Between the Greek camp and the city
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Speaker 1: of Troy was a plain watered by the rivers Scamander
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Speaker 1: and Simois, and it was on this plain, afterwards so
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Speaker 1: renowned in history, that the ever memorable battles between the
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Speaker 1: Greeks and Trojans were fought. The impossibility of taking the
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Speaker 1: city by storm was now recognized by the leaders of
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Speaker 1: the Greek forces. The Trojans, on their side, being less
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Speaker 1: numerous than the enemy, did not venture on a great
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Speaker 1: battle in the open field. Hence the war dragged on
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Speaker 1: for many weary years without any decisive engagement taking place.
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Speaker 1: It was about this time that Odysseus carried out his
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Speaker 1: long meditated revenge against Palamedes. Palamedes was one of the wisest,
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Speaker 1: most energetic, and most upright of all the Greek heroes,
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Speaker 1: and it was in consequence of his unflagging zeal and
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Speaker 1: wonderful eloquence that most of the chiefs had been induced
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Speaker 1: to join the expedition. But the very qualities which endeared
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Speaker 1: him to the hearts of his Lias countrymen, rendered him
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Speaker 1: hateful in the eyes of his implacable enemy, Odysseus, who
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Speaker 1: never forgave his Having detected his scheme to avoid joining
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Speaker 1: the army. In order to effect the ruin of Palamedes,
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Speaker 1: Odysseus concealed in his tent a vast sum of money.
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Speaker 1: He next wrote a letter purporting to be from King
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Speaker 1: Priam to Palamedes, in which the former thanked the Greek
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Speaker 1: hero effusively for the valuable information received from him, referring
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Speaker 1: at the same time to a large sum of money
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Speaker 1: which he had sent to him as a reward. This letter,
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Speaker 1: which was found upon the person of a Phrygian prisoner,
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Speaker 1: was read aloud in a council of the Greek princes.
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Speaker 1: Palamedes was arraigned before the chiefs of the army and
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Speaker 1: accused of betraying his country to the enemy, whereupon a
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Speaker 1: search was instituted, and a large sum of money being
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Speaker 1: found in his tent, he was pronounced guilty and sentenced
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Speaker 1: to bestowed to death. Though fully aware of the base
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Speaker 1: treachery practiced against him, Palamedes offered not a word in
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Speaker 1: self defense, knowing but too well that in the face
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Speaker 1: of such damning evidence, the attempt to prove his innocence
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Speaker 1: would be vain. Defection of Achilles. During the first year
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Speaker 1: of the campaign, the Greeks ravaged the surrounding country and
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Speaker 1: pillaged the neighboring villages. Upon one of these foraging expeditions,
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Speaker 1: the city of Pedasus was sacked, and Agamemnon, as commander
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Speaker 1: in chief, received as his share of the spoil the
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Speaker 1: beautiful Chrisus, daughter of Crisis the priests of Apollo, whilst
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Speaker 1: to Achilles was allotted another captive, the fair Bryseus. The
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Speaker 1: following day, Chrisus, anxious to ransom his daughter, repaired to
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Speaker 1: the Greek camp, but Agamemnon refused to accede to his proposal,
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Speaker 1: and with rude and insulting words, drove the old man away.
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Speaker 1: Full of grief at the loss of his child, Chrisus
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Speaker 1: called upon Apollo for vengeance on her captor. His prayer
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Speaker 1: was heard, and the gods sent a dreadful pestilence, which
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Speaker 1: raged for ten days in the camp of the Greeks.
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Speaker 1: Achilles at length called together a council and inquired of Calcas,
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Speaker 1: the soothsayer, how to arrest this terrible visitation of the gods.
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Speaker 1: The seer replied that Apollo, incensed at the insult offered
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Speaker 1: to his priest, had sent the plague, and that only
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Speaker 1: by the surrender of Chryseus could his anger be appeased.
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Speaker 1: On hearing this, Agamemnon agreed to resign the maiden, But,
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Speaker 1: being already embittered against Calcas for his prediction with regard
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Speaker 1: to his own daughter Ephrginia, he now heaped insults upon
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Speaker 1: the soothsayer and accused him of plotting against his interests.
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Speaker 1: Achilles espoused the cause of Calcas, and a violent dispute arose,
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Speaker 1: in which the son of Thetis would have killed his chief,
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Speaker 1: but for the timely interference of pallas Athene, who suddenly
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Speaker 1: appeared beside him, unseen by the rest, and recalled him
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Speaker 1: to a sense of the duty he owed to his commander.
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Speaker 1: Agamemnon revenged himself on Achilles by depriving him of his
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Speaker 1: beautiful captive, the fair Brysis, who had become so attached
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Speaker 1: to her kind and noble captor that she wept bitterly
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Speaker 1: on being removed from his charge. Achilles, now fairly disgusted
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Speaker 1: with the ungenerous conduct of his chief withdrew himself to
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Speaker 1: his tent and obstinately declined to take further part in
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Speaker 1: the war. Heartsaw and dejected, he repaired to the sea shore,
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Speaker 1: and there invoked the presence of his divine mother. In
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Speaker 1: answer to his prayer, Thetus emerged from beneath the waves
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Speaker 1: and comforted her gallant son with the assurance that she
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Speaker 1: would entreat the mighty Zeus to avenge his wrongs by
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Speaker 1: giving victory to the Trojans, so that the Greeks might
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Speaker 1: learn to reed the great loss which they had sustained
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Speaker 1: by his withdrawal from the army. The Trojans, being informed
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Speaker 1: by one of their spies of the defection of Achilles,
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Speaker 1: became emboldened by the absence of this brave and intrepid leader,
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Speaker 1: whom they feared above all the other Greek heroes. They
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Speaker 1: accordingly sallied forth and made a bold and eminently successful
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Speaker 1: attack upon the Greeks, who, although they most bravely and
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Speaker 1: obstinately defended their position, were completely routed and driven back
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Speaker 1: to their entrenchments. Agamemnon and most of the other Greek
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Speaker 1: leaders being wounded in the engagement, Encouraged by this marked
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Speaker 1: and signal success, the Trojans now commenced to besiege the
22:44
Speaker 1: Greeks in their own camp. At this juncture, Agamemnon, seeing
22:48
Speaker 1: the danger which threatened the army, sunk for the moment
22:51
Speaker 1: all personal grievances, and dispatched an embassy to Achilles, consisting
22:57
Speaker 1: of many noble and distinguished chiefs, urging gently entreating him
23:01
Speaker 1: to come to the assistance of his countrymen in this
23:04
Speaker 1: their hour of peril, promising that not only should the
23:07
Speaker 1: fair Brysius be restored to him, but also that the
23:10
Speaker 1: hand of his own daughter should be bestowed on him
23:13
Speaker 1: in marriage, with seven towns as her dowry. But the
23:17
Speaker 1: obstinate determination of the proud hero was not to be moved,
23:21
Speaker 1: and though he listened courteously to the arrangements and representations
23:25
Speaker 1: of the messengers of Agamemnon, his resolution to take no
23:29
Speaker 1: further part in the war remained unshaken. In one of
23:33
Speaker 1: the engagements which took place soon afterwards, the Trojans, under
23:37
Speaker 1: the command of Hector, penetrated into the heart of the
23:40
Speaker 1: Greek camp and had already commenced to burn their ships
23:44
Speaker 1: when Petroclus, seeing the distress of his countrymen, earnestly besought
23:48
Speaker 1: Achilles to send him to the rescue at the head
23:51
Speaker 1: of the Mamiddans. The better nature of the hero prevailed,
23:55
Speaker 1: and he not only intrusted to his friend the command
23:58
Speaker 1: of his brave band of war, but lent him also
24:02
Speaker 1: his own suit of armor. Petroclus, having mounted the war
24:05
Speaker 1: chariot of the hero, Achilles lifted on high a golden
24:09
Speaker 1: goblet and poured out a libation of wine to the gods,
24:13
Speaker 1: accompanied by an earnest petition for victory and the safe
24:17
Speaker 1: return of his beloved comrade. As a parting injunction, he
24:21
Speaker 1: warned Petroclus against advancing too far into the territory of
24:25
Speaker 1: the enemy, and entreated him to be content with rescuing
24:29
Speaker 1: the galleys at the head of the Mermidons. Petroclus now
24:33
Speaker 1: made a desperate attack upon the enemy, who, thinking that
24:37
Speaker 1: the invincible Achilles was himself in command of his battalions,
24:41
Speaker 1: became disheartened and were put to fight. Petroclus followed up
24:45
Speaker 1: his victory and pursued the Trojans as far as the
24:48
Speaker 1: walls of their city, altogether forgetting in the excitement of
24:51
Speaker 1: the battle that injunction of his friend Achilles, but his
24:55
Speaker 1: temerity cost the young hero his life, for he now
24:59
Speaker 1: encountered the min Hector himself, and fell by his hands.
25:03
Speaker 1: Hector stripped the armor from his dead foe and would
25:06
Speaker 1: have dragged the body into the city had not Menelaeus
25:09
Speaker 1: and Ajax the Greater rushed forward, and after a long
25:13
Speaker 1: and fierce struggle, succeeded in rescuing it from desecration. Death
25:18
Speaker 1: of Hector and now came the mournful task of informing
25:21
Speaker 1: Achilles of the fate of his friend. He wept bitterly
25:24
Speaker 1: over the dead body of his comrade and solemnly vowed
25:28
Speaker 1: that the funeral rites should not be solemnized in his
25:31
Speaker 1: honor until he had slain Hector with his own hands
25:35
Speaker 1: and captured twelve Trojans to be immolated on his funeral Pyre.
25:40
Speaker 1: Or other considerations vanished before the burning desire to avenge
25:44
Speaker 1: the death of his friend, and Achilles, now thoroughly aroused
25:48
Speaker 1: from his apathy, became reconciled to Agamemnon and rejoined the
25:53
Speaker 1: Greek army. At the request of the goddess, thetus Hephaestus
25:57
Speaker 1: forged for him a new suit of Amah, which fas
26:00
Speaker 1: surpassed in magnificence that of all the other heroes. Thus
26:05
Speaker 1: gloriously arrayed, he was soon seen striding along, calling the
26:10
Speaker 1: Greeks to arms. He now led the troops against the enemy,
26:13
Speaker 1: who were defeated and put to fight until near the
26:17
Speaker 1: gates of the city. Achilles and Hector encountered each other.
26:21
Speaker 1: But here, for the first time throughout his whole career,
26:24
Speaker 1: the courage of the Trojan hero deserted him. At the
26:27
Speaker 1: near approach of his redoubtable antagonist, he turned and fled
26:32
Speaker 1: for his life. Achilles pursued him, and thrice round the
26:35
Speaker 1: walls of the city. Was the terrible race, run in
26:39
Speaker 1: sight of the old king and Queen, who had mounted
26:42
Speaker 1: the walls to watch the battle. Hector endeavored during each
26:46
Speaker 1: course to reach the city gates so that his comrades
26:50
Speaker 1: might open them to admit him or cover him with
26:53
Speaker 1: their missiles, but his adversary, seeing his design, forced him
26:57
Speaker 1: into the open plain, at the same time, calling to
27:01
Speaker 1: his friends to hurl no spear upon his foe, but
27:04
Speaker 1: to leave to him the vengeance he had so long
27:08
Speaker 1: panted for. At length, wearied with the hot pursuit, Hector
27:11
Speaker 1: made a stand and challenged his foe to single combat.
27:15
Speaker 1: A desperate encounter took place in which Hector succumbed to
27:18
Speaker 1: his powerful adversary at the skiing gate, and with his
27:22
Speaker 1: last dying breath, the trojan hereforetold to his conqueror that
27:27
Speaker 1: he himself would soon perish on the same spot. The
27:30
Speaker 1: infuriated victor bound the lifeless corpse of his fallen foe
27:34
Speaker 1: to his chariot and dragged it three times round the
27:37
Speaker 1: city walls and thence to the Greek camp. Overwhelmed with
27:41
Speaker 1: horror at this terrible scene, the aged parents of Hector
27:45
Speaker 1: uttered such heartrending cries of anguish that they reached the
27:49
Speaker 1: ears of Andromache, his faithful wife, who, rushing to the walls,
27:55
Speaker 1: beheld the dead body of her husband bound to the
27:58
Speaker 1: conqueror's caries, now solemnized the funeral rites in honor of
28:03
Speaker 1: his friend Petroclus. The dead body of the hero was
28:06
Speaker 1: borne to the funeral pile by the mermidons in full paniply.
28:10
Speaker 1: His dogs and horses were then slain to accompany him
28:14
Speaker 1: in case he should need them. In the Realm of Shades,
28:17
Speaker 1: after which Achilles, in fulfillment of his savage toower slaughtered
28:21
Speaker 1: twelve brave Trojan captives, who were laid on the funeral pile,
28:26
Speaker 1: which was now lighted. When all was consumed, the bones
28:29
Speaker 1: of Patroclus were carefully collected and enclosed in the golden urn.
28:33
Speaker 1: Then followed the funereal games, which consisted of chariot races,
28:38
Speaker 1: fighting with the cestus, a sort of boxing, glove wrestling matches,
28:43
Speaker 1: foot racers, and single combats with shield and spear, in
28:47
Speaker 1: all of which the most distinguished heroes took part and
28:51
Speaker 1: contended for the prizes. Penthesilia. After the death of Hector,
28:56
Speaker 1: their great hope and bolwark, the Trojans did not venture
28:59
Speaker 1: beyond the walls of their city, but soon their hopes
29:02
Speaker 1: were revived by the appearance of a powerful army of
29:05
Speaker 1: Amazons under the command of their queen Penthesilia, a daughter
29:10
Speaker 1: of Ares, whose great ambition was to measure swords with
29:14
Speaker 1: the renowned Achilles himself and to avenge the death of
29:17
Speaker 1: the valiant Hector. Hostilities now recommenced in the open plain.
29:21
Speaker 1: Panthersilia led the Trojan host, the Greeks on their side
29:26
Speaker 1: being under the command of Achilles and Ajax, whilst the
29:29
Speaker 1: latter succeeded in putting the enemy to flight. Achilles was
29:33
Speaker 1: challenged by Penthesilia to single combat. With heroic courage, she
29:37
Speaker 1: went forth to the fight, but even the strongest men
29:41
Speaker 1: failed before the power of the great Achilles. And though
29:44
Speaker 1: a daughter of Ares Panthersilia was but a woman with
29:48
Speaker 1: generous chivalry, the hero endeavored to spare the brave and
29:51
Speaker 1: beautiful maiden warrior, and only when his own life was
29:54
Speaker 1: in imminent danger did he make a serious effort to
29:57
Speaker 1: vanquish his enemy. When penthesile La shared the fate of
30:01
Speaker 1: all who ventured to oppose the spear of Achilles and
30:04
Speaker 1: fell by his hand, Feeling herself fatally wounded, she remembered
30:09
Speaker 1: the desecration of the dead body of Hector and earnestly
30:13
Speaker 1: entreated the forbearance of the hero. But the petition was
30:16
Speaker 1: hardly necessary, for Achilles, full of compassion for his brave
30:20
Speaker 1: but unfortunate adversary, lifted her gently from the ground, and
30:24
Speaker 1: she expired in his arms. On beholding the dead body
30:28
Speaker 1: of their leader in the possession of Achilles, the Amazons
30:31
Speaker 1: and Trojans prepared for a fresh attack in order to
30:34
Speaker 1: wrest it from his hands. But observing their purpose, Achilles
30:38
Speaker 1: stepped forward and loudly called upon them to halt. Then,
30:41
Speaker 1: in a few well chosen words, he praised the great
30:45
Speaker 1: valor and intrepidity of the fallen queen and express his
30:50
Speaker 1: willingness to resign the body at once. The chivalrous conduct
30:54
Speaker 1: of Achilles was fully appreciated by both Greeks and Trojans.
30:58
Speaker 1: Thirst cities alone, a base and cowardly wretch, attributed unworthy
31:04
Speaker 1: motives to the gracious proceedings of the hero, and not
31:08
Speaker 1: content with these insinuations, he savagely pierced with his lance
31:13
Speaker 1: the dead body of the Amazonian queen, whereupon Achilles, with
31:17
Speaker 1: one blow of his powerful arm, felled him to the
31:20
Speaker 1: ground and killed him on the spot. The well merited
31:24
Speaker 1: death of Thirsites excited no commiseration, but his kinsmen Diomedes
31:31
Speaker 1: came forward and claimed compensation for the murder of his relative,
31:35
Speaker 1: and as Agamemnon, who as commander in chief, might easily
31:40
Speaker 1: have settled the difficulty, refrained from interfering. The proud nature
31:45
Speaker 1: of Achilles resented the implied condemnation of his conduct, and
31:49
Speaker 1: he once more abandoned the Greek army and took ship
31:53
Speaker 1: for Levs. Boss Odysseus, however, followed him to the island and,
31:58
Speaker 1: with his usual tact sects sedd In, inducing the hero
32:01
Speaker 1: to return to the camp death of Achilles. A new
32:05
Speaker 1: ally of the Trojans now appeared on the field in
32:08
Speaker 1: the person of Memnon the Ethiopian, a son of Eos
32:13
Speaker 1: and Tythhanus, who brought with him a powerful reinforcement of Negroes.
32:19
Speaker 1: Memnon was the first opponent who had yet encountered Achilles
32:23
Speaker 1: on an equal footing, for like the great hero himself,
32:27
Speaker 1: he was the son of a goddess and possessed, also
32:31
Speaker 1: like Achilles, a suit of armor made for him by Hephaestus.
32:36
Speaker 1: Before the heroes encountered each other in single combat, the
32:40
Speaker 1: two goddesses, Thetus and Eos, hastened to Olympus to intercede
32:46
Speaker 1: with its mighty ruler for the life of their sons.
32:49
Speaker 1: Resolved even in this instance not to act in opposition
32:54
Speaker 1: to the Moirae, Zeus seized the golden scales in which
32:58
Speaker 1: he weighed the lot of mortals, and placed it in
33:02
Speaker 1: the respective fates of the two heroes, whereupon that of
33:06
Speaker 1: Memnon weighed down the balance. Thus portending his death, Eos
33:13
Speaker 1: abandoned Olympus in despair, arrived on the battlefield, she beheld
33:18
Speaker 1: the lifeless body of her son, who, after a long
33:22
Speaker 1: and brave defense, had at length succumbed to the awe
33:26
Speaker 1: conquering arm of Achilles. At her command, her children the
33:30
Speaker 1: winds flew down to the plane, and, seizing the body
33:34
Speaker 1: of the slain Hero, conveyed it through the air, safe
33:37
Speaker 1: from the desecration of the enemy. The triumph of Achilles
33:41
Speaker 1: was not of long duration. Intoxicated with success, he attempted,
33:46
Speaker 1: at the head of the Greek army to storm the
33:49
Speaker 1: city of Troy when Paris, by the aid of Phoebus,
33:53
Speaker 1: Apollo aimed a well directed dart at the Hero, which
33:57
Speaker 1: pierced his vulnerable heel, and he fell to the ground,
34:01
Speaker 1: fatally wounded before the SKay and gait. But though face
34:05
Speaker 1: to face with death, the intrepid Hero, raising himself from
34:09
Speaker 1: the ground, still performed prodigies of valor. And not until
34:13
Speaker 1: his tottering limbs refused their office was the enemy aware
34:17
Speaker 1: that the wound was mortal. By the combined efforts of
34:20
Speaker 1: Ajax and Odysseus, the body of Achilles was wrested from
34:24
Speaker 1: the enemy after a long and terrible fight, and conveyed
34:29
Speaker 1: to the Greek camp. Weeping bitterly over the untimely fate
34:33
Speaker 1: of her gallant son, Thetus came to embrace him for
34:37
Speaker 1: the last time and mingled her regrets and lamentations with
34:42
Speaker 1: those of the whole Greek army. The funeral pyre was
34:45
Speaker 1: then lighted and the voices of the muses were heard
34:48
Speaker 1: chanting his funeral dirge. When, according to the custom of
34:52
Speaker 1: the ancients, the body had been burned on the pyre,
34:56
Speaker 1: the bones of the hero were collected, enclosed in a
34:59
Speaker 1: god urn, and deposited beside the remains of his beloved
35:03
Speaker 1: friend Patroclus in the funeral games celebrated in honor of
35:08
Speaker 1: the fallen hero. The property of her son was offered
35:11
Speaker 1: by Thetus as the prize of victory, but it was
35:14
Speaker 1: unanimously agreed that the beautiful suit of armor made by
35:18
Speaker 1: Hephestus should be awarded to him who had contributed the
35:22
Speaker 1: most to the rescue of the body from the hands
35:25
Speaker 1: of the enemy. Popular opinion unanimously decided in favor of Odysseus,
35:32
Speaker 1: which verdict was confirmed by the Trojan prisoners who were
35:36
Speaker 1: present at the engagement. Unable to endure the slight, the
35:41
Speaker 1: unfortunate Ajax lost his reason, and in this condition put
35:46
Speaker 1: an end to his existence. Final measures. Thus were the
35:51
Speaker 1: Greeks deprived at one and the same time of their
35:55
Speaker 1: bravest and most powerful leader, and of him also who
35:59
Speaker 1: approached which the nearest to his distinction. For a time
36:03
Speaker 1: operations were at a standstill until Odysseus at length contrived,
36:08
Speaker 1: by means of a cleverly arranged ambush, to capture Helenus,
36:13
Speaker 1: the son of Priam. Like his sister Cassandra, Helenus possessed
36:18
Speaker 1: the gift of prophecy, and the unfortunate youth was now
36:21
Speaker 1: coerced by Odysseus into using his gift against the welfare
36:25
Speaker 1: of his native city. The Greeks learned from the Trojan
36:29
Speaker 1: prince that three conditions were indispensable to the conquest of Troy.
36:35
Speaker 1: In the first place, the son of Achilles must fight
36:39
Speaker 1: in their ranks. Secondly, the arrows of Heracles must be
36:44
Speaker 1: used against the enemy. And thirdly, they must obtain possession
36:49
Speaker 1: of the wooden image of Pallas, a theme the famous
36:53
Speaker 1: Palladium of Troy. The first condition was easily fulfilled. Ever
36:58
Speaker 1: ready to serve the interests of the commune unity, Odysseus
37:01
Speaker 1: repaired to the island of Scyros, where he found Neptolemus,
37:06
Speaker 1: the son of Achilles. Having succeeded in arousing the ambition
37:10
Speaker 1: of the fiery youth, he generously resigned to him the
37:14
Speaker 1: magnificent armor of his father, and then conveyed him to
37:18
Speaker 1: the Greek camp, where he immediately distinguished himself in single
37:22
Speaker 1: combat with Eurypolis, the son of Telephus, who had come
37:27
Speaker 1: to the aid of the Trojans. To procure the poisoned
37:31
Speaker 1: dipped arrows of Heracles was a matter of greater difficulty.
37:35
Speaker 1: They were still in the possession of the much aggrieved Pholoctites,
37:40
Speaker 1: who had remained in the island of Lemnos, his wounds
37:44
Speaker 1: still unhealed, suffering the most abject misery, But the judicious
37:50
Speaker 1: zeal of the indefatigable and ever active Odysseus, who was
37:55
Speaker 1: accompanied in this undertaking by Diomedes, at length gained the day,
38:00
Speaker 1: and he induced Pholuctitis to accompany him to the camp,
38:05
Speaker 1: where the skillful leech Machaeon the son of Asclepius, healed
38:10
Speaker 1: him of his wound. Pholuctites became reconciled to Agamemnon, and
38:15
Speaker 1: in an engagement which took place soon after, he mortally
38:19
Speaker 1: wounded Paris, the son of Priam, But though pierced by
38:23
Speaker 1: the fatal arrow of the Demi god, death did not
38:26
Speaker 1: immediately ensue, and Paris, calling to mind the prediction of
38:30
Speaker 1: an oracle that his deserted wife Sononi could alone cure
38:35
Speaker 1: him if wounded, caused himself to be transported to her
38:39
Speaker 1: abode on Mount Ida, where he implored her, by the
38:43
Speaker 1: memory of their past love, to save his life. But
38:47
Speaker 1: mindful only of her wrongs, Sononi crushed out of her
38:51
Speaker 1: heart every womanly feeling of pity and compassion, and sternly
38:56
Speaker 1: bade him depart. Soon, however, all her former affection for
39:01
Speaker 1: her husband awoke within her. With frantic haste, she followed him,
39:06
Speaker 1: but on her arrival in the city, she found the
39:09
Speaker 1: dead body of Paris already laid on the lighted funeral pile,
39:13
Speaker 1: and in her remorse and despair, Snone threw herself on
39:17
Speaker 1: the lifeless form of her husband and perished in the flames.
39:22
Speaker 1: The Trojans were now shut up within their walls and
39:25
Speaker 1: closely besieged, but the third and most difficult condition being
39:30
Speaker 1: still unfulfilled, all efforts to take the city were unavailing.
39:35
Speaker 1: In this emergency, the wires and devoted Odysseus came once
39:39
Speaker 1: more to the aid of his comrades. Having disfigured himself
39:44
Speaker 1: with self inflicted wounds, he assumed the disguise of a
39:47
Speaker 1: wretched old mendicant, and then crept stealthily into the city
39:52
Speaker 1: in order to discover where the palladium was preserved. He
39:57
Speaker 1: succeeded in his object, and was recognized by no one
40:01
Speaker 1: save the fair Helen, who, after the death of Paris,
40:05
Speaker 1: had been given in marriage to his brother Diphobus, But
40:09
Speaker 1: since death had robbed her of her lover, the heart
40:12
Speaker 1: of the Greek princess had turned yearningly towards her native country,
40:16
Speaker 1: and her husband Menelaeus and Odysseus now found in her
40:21
Speaker 1: a most unlooked for ally. On his return to the camp,
40:26
Speaker 1: Odysseus called to his aid the valiant Diomedes, and with
40:30
Speaker 1: his assistance, the perilous task of abstracting the palladium from
40:34
Speaker 1: its sacred precincts was after some difficulty effected. The conditions
40:40
Speaker 1: of conquests being now fulfilled, a council was called to
40:44
Speaker 1: decide on final proceedings. Epios, a Greek sculptor who had
40:50
Speaker 1: accompanied the expedition, was desired to construct a colossal wooden horse,
40:56
Speaker 1: large enough to contain a number of able and distinguished heroes.
41:00
Speaker 1: On its completion, a band of warriors concealed themselves within,
41:05
Speaker 1: whereupon the Greek army broke up their camp and then
41:09
Speaker 1: set fire to it. As though wearied of the long
41:12
Speaker 1: and tedious ten year siege, they had abandoned the enterprise
41:17
Speaker 1: as hopeless. Accompanied by Agamemnon and the sage Nestor, the
41:23
Speaker 1: fleet set sail for the island of Tenedos, where they
41:26
Speaker 1: cast anchor anxiously awaiting the torch signal to hasten back
41:31
Speaker 1: to the Trojan coast destruction of Troy. When the Trojans
41:35
Speaker 1: saw the enemy depart and the Greek camp in flames,
41:39
Speaker 1: they believed themselves safe at last, and streamed in great
41:42
Speaker 1: numbers out of the town in order to view the
41:45
Speaker 1: sight where the Greeks had so long encamped. Here they
41:49
Speaker 1: found the gigantic wooden horse, which they examined with wondering curiosity,
41:56
Speaker 1: various opinions being expressed with regard to its utility. Some
42:01
Speaker 1: supposed it to be an engine of war and were
42:04
Speaker 1: in favor of destroying it. Others regarded it as a
42:08
Speaker 1: sacred idol and proposed that it should be brought into
42:12
Speaker 1: the city. Two circumstances which now occurred induced the Trojans
42:18
Speaker 1: to incline towards the latter opinion. Chief among those who
42:22
Speaker 1: suspected a treacherous design in this huge contrivance was Leaokun,
42:28
Speaker 1: a priest of Apollo, who, in company with his two
42:32
Speaker 1: young sons, had issued from the city with the Trojans
42:35
Speaker 1: in order to offer a sacrifice to the gods. With
42:39
Speaker 1: all the eloquence at his command, he urged his countrymen
42:43
Speaker 1: not to place confidence in any gift of the Greeks,
42:47
Speaker 1: and even when so far as to pierce the side
42:50
Speaker 1: of the horse with a spear, which he took from
42:53
Speaker 1: a warrior beside him, whereupon the arms of the heroes
42:57
Speaker 1: were heard to rattle. The hearts of the brave men
43:00
Speaker 1: concealed inside the horse quailed within them, and they had
43:05
Speaker 1: already given themselves up for lost. When Pallas Athene, who
43:09
Speaker 1: ever watched over the cause of the Greeks now came
43:12
Speaker 1: to their aid, and a miracle occurred in order to
43:15
Speaker 1: blind and deceive the devoted Trojans, for the fall of
43:19
Speaker 1: Troy was decreed by the gods. Whilst Laocoon and his
43:24
Speaker 1: two sons stood prepared to perform the sacrifice, two enormous
43:30
Speaker 1: serpents suddenly rose out of the sea and made direct
43:33
Speaker 1: for the altar. They entwined themselves first around the tender
43:38
Speaker 1: limbs of the helpless youths, and then encircled their father,
43:43
Speaker 1: who rushed to their assistance, and thus all three were destroyed.
43:47
Speaker 1: In sight of the horrified multitude, The Trojans naturally interpreted
43:53
Speaker 1: the fate of Laocun and his sons to be a
43:57
Speaker 1: punishment sent by Zeus for his sat privilege against the
44:01
Speaker 1: wooden Horse, and were now fully convinced that it must
44:05
Speaker 1: be consecrated to the gods. The crafty Odysseus had left
44:09
Speaker 1: behind his trustive friend Sinon with full instructions as to
44:14
Speaker 1: his course of action. Assuming the role assigned to him,
44:18
Speaker 1: He now approached King Priam with fettered hands and piteous entreaties,
44:25
Speaker 1: alleging that the Greeks, in obedience to the command of
44:28
Speaker 1: an oracle, had attempted to imolate him as a sacrifice,
44:34
Speaker 1: but that he had contrived to escape from their hands
44:37
Speaker 1: and now sought protection from the king. The kind hearted monarch,
44:41
Speaker 1: believing his story, released his bonds, assured him of his favor,
44:45
Speaker 1: and then begged him to explain the true meaning of
44:48
Speaker 1: the wooden Horse. Sinon willingly complied. He informed the king
44:53
Speaker 1: that Pallisthene, who had hetherto been the hope and stay
44:57
Speaker 1: of the Greeks throughout the war, so deeply offended at
45:01
Speaker 1: the removal of her sacred image, the Palladium from her
45:04
Speaker 1: temple in Troy, that she had withdrawn her protection from
45:08
Speaker 1: the Greeks and refused all further aid till it was
45:12
Speaker 1: restored to its rightful place. Hence, the Greeks had returned
45:16
Speaker 1: home in order to seek fresh instructions from an oracle.
45:20
Speaker 1: But before leaving calcast the Sea had advised their building
45:24
Speaker 1: this gigantic wooden horse as a tribute to the offended goddess,
45:29
Speaker 1: hoping thereby to appease her just anger. He further explained
45:34
Speaker 1: that it had been constructed of such colossal proportions in
45:38
Speaker 1: order to prevent its being brought into the city, so
45:41
Speaker 1: that the favor of Palliserthene might not be transferred to
45:45
Speaker 1: the Trojans. Hardly had the crafty signed On ceased speaking,
45:50
Speaker 1: when the Trojans, with one accord, urged that the wooden
45:53
Speaker 1: horse should be brought into their city without delay, the
45:57
Speaker 1: gates being too low to admit its end trance, a
46:01
Speaker 1: breach was made in the walls, and the horse was
46:03
Speaker 1: conveyed in triumph into the very heart of Troy, whereupon
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Speaker 1: the Trojans, overjoyed at what they deemed the successful issue
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Speaker 1: of the campaign, abandoned themselves to feasting and rioting. Amidst
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Speaker 1: the universal rejoicing. The unhappy Cassandra, foreseeing the result of
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Speaker 1: the admission of the wooden horse into the city, was
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Speaker 1: seen rushing through the streets with wild gestures and disheveled hair,
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Speaker 1: warning her people against the dangers which awaited them. But
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Speaker 1: her eloquent words fell on deaf ears, for it was
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Speaker 1: ever the fate of the unfortunate prophetess that her predictions
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Speaker 1: should find no credence. When after the day's excitement, the
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Speaker 1: Trojans had retired to rest, and all was hushed and silent,
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Speaker 1: sign On in the dead of night released the heroes
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Speaker 1: from their voluntary imprisonment. The signal was then given to
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Speaker 1: the Greek fleet lying off Tenedos, and the whole army
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Speaker 1: in unbroken silence, once more landed on the Trojan coast.
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Speaker 1: To enter the city was now an easy matter, and
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Speaker 1: a fearful slaughter ensued. Aroused from their slumbers, the Trojans,
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Speaker 1: under the command of their bravest leaders, made a gallant defense,
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Speaker 1: but were easily overcome. All their most valiant heroes fell
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Speaker 1: in the fight, and soon the whole city was wrapped
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Speaker 1: in flames. Priam fell by the hand of Neptolemus, who
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Speaker 1: killed him as he lay prostrate before the altar of Zeus,
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Speaker 1: praying for divine assistance in this awful hour of peril.
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Speaker 1: The unfortunate Andromache, with her young son Astianax, had taken
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Speaker 1: refuge on the summit of a tower, where she was
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Speaker 1: discovered by the victors, who, fearing lest the son of
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Speaker 1: hadad Door might one day rise against them to avenge
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Speaker 1: the death of his father, tore him from her arms
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Speaker 1: and hurled him over the battlements. Inaeus alone, the son
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Speaker 1: of Aphrodite, the beloved of gods and men, escaped the
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Speaker 1: universal carnage with his son and his old father and cases,
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Speaker 1: whom he carried on his shoulders out of the city.
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Speaker 1: He first sought refuge on Mount Ida, and afterwards fled
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Speaker 1: to Italy, where he became the ancestral hero of the
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Speaker 1: Roman people. Menelaeus now sought Helen in the royal palace, who,
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Speaker 1: being immortal, still retained all her former beauty and fascination.
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Speaker 1: A reconciliation took place, and she accompanied her husband on
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Speaker 1: his homeward voyage, Andromachi, the widow of the brave Hector,
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Speaker 1: was given in marriage to Neptolemus. Cassandra fell to the
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Speaker 1: share of Agamemnon and her cure. Euba, the gray haired
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Speaker 1: and widowed queen, was made prisoner by Odysseus. The boundless
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Speaker 1: treasures of the wealthy Trojan king fell into the hands
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Speaker 1: of the Greek heroes, who, after having leveled the city
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Speaker 1: of Troy to the ground, prepared for their homeward voyage.
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Speaker 1: End of Section twenty nine.