{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXVII/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXVII","id":"wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXVII","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Fable/Chapter_XXVII","summary":null,"tags":["Headers_applying_DefaultSort_key","Subpages"],"text":"THE TROJAN WAR\n\nMinerva was the goddess of wisdom, but on one occasion she did a\nvery foolish thing; she entered into competition with Juno and\nVenus for the prize of beauty. It happened thus: At the nuptials\nof Peleus and Thetis all the gods were invited with the exception\nof Eris, or Discord. Enraged at her exclusion, the goddess threw a\ngolden apple among the guests, with the inscription, \"For the\nfairest.\" Thereupon Juno, Venus, and Minerva each claimed the\napple. Jupiter, not willing to decide in so delicate a matter,\nsent the goddesses to Mount Ida, where the beautiful shepherd\nParis was tending his flocks, and to him was committed the\ndecision. The goddesses accordingly appeared before him. Juno\npromised him power and riches, Minerva glory and renown in war,\nand Venus the fairest of women for his wife, each attempting to\nbias his decision in her own favor. Paris decided in favor of\nVenus and gave her the golden apple, thus making the two other\ngoddesses his enemies. Under the protection of Venus, Paris sailed\nto Greece, and was hospitably received by Menelaus, king of\nSparta. Now Helen, the wife of Menelaus, was the very woman whom\nVenus had destined for Paris, the fairest of her sex. She had been\nsought as a bride by numerous suitors, and before her decision was\nmade known, they all, at the suggestion of Ulysses, one of their\nnumber, took an oath that they would defend her from all injury\nand avenge her cause if necessary. She chose Menelaus, and was\nliving with him happily when Paris became their guest. Paris,\naided by Venus, persuaded her to elope with him, and carried her\nto Troy, whence arose the famous Trojan war, the theme of the\ngreatest poems of antiquity, those of Homer and Virgil.\n\nMenelaus called upon his brother chieftains of Greece to fulfil\ntheir pledge, and join him in his efforts to recover his wife.\nThey generally came forward, but Ulysses, who had married\nPenelope, and was very happy in his wife and child, had no\ndisposition to embark in such a troublesome affair. He therefore\nhung back and Palamedes was sent to urge him. When Palamedes\narrived at Ithaca Ulysses pretended to be mad. He yoked an ass and\nan ox together to the plough and began to sow salt. Palamedes, to\ntry him, placed the infant Telemachus before the plough, whereupon\nthe father turned the plough aside, showing plainly that he was no\nmadman, and after that could no longer refuse to fulfil his\npromise. Being now himself gained for the undertaking, he lent his\naid to bring in other reluctant chiefs, especially Achilles. This\nhero was the son of that Thetis at whose marriage the apple of\nDiscord had been thrown among the goddesses. Thetis was herself\none of the immortals, a sea-nymph, and knowing that her son was\nfated to perish before Troy if he went on the expedition, she\nendeavored to prevent his going. She sent him away to the court of\nKing Lycomedes, and induced him to conceal himself in the disguise\nof a maiden among the daughters of the king. Ulysses, hearing he\nwas there, went disguised as a merchant to the palace and offered\nfor sale female ornaments, among which he had placed some arms.\nWhile the king's daughters were engrossed with the other contents\nof the merchant's pack, Achilles handled the weapons and thereby\nbetrayed himself to the keen eye of Ulysses, who found no great\ndifficulty in persuading him to disregard his mother's prudent\ncounsels and join his countrymen in the war.\n\nPriam was king of Troy, and Paris, the shepherd and seducer of\nHelen, was his son. Paris had been brought up in obscurity,\nbecause there were certain ominous forebodings connected with him\nfrom his infancy that he would be the ruin of the state. These\nforebodings seemed at length likely to be realized, for the\nGrecian armament now in preparation was the greatest that had ever\nbeen fitted out. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and brother of the\ninjured Menelaus, was chosen commander-in-chief. Achilles was\ntheir most illustrious warrior. After him ranked Ajax, gigantic in\nsize and of great courage, but dull of intellect; Diomede, second\nonly to Achilles in all the qualities of a hero; Ulysses, famous\nfor his sagacity; and Nestor, the oldest of the Grecian chiefs,\nand one to whom they all looked up for counsel. But Troy was no\nfeeble enemy. Priam, the king, was now old, but he had been a wise\nprince and had strengthened his state by good government at home\nand numerous alliances with his neighbors. But the principal stay\nand support of his throne was his son Hector, one of the noblest\ncharacters painted by heathen antiquity. He felt, from the first,\na presentiment of the fall of his country, but still persevered in\nhis heroic resistance, yet by no means justified the wrong which\nbrought this danger upon her. He was united in marriage with\nAndromache, and as a husband and father his character was not less\nadmirable than as a warrior. The principal leaders on the side of\nthe Trojans, besides Hector, were \u00c6neas and Deiphobus, Glaucus\nand Sarpedon.\n\nAfter two years of preparation the Greek fleet and army assembled\nin the port of Aulis in Boeotia. Here Agamemnon in hunting killed\na stag which was sacred to Diana, and the goddess in return\nvisited the army with pestilence, and produced a calm which\nprevented the ships from leaving the port. Calchas, the\nsoothsayer, thereupon announced that the wrath of the virgin\ngoddess could only be appeased by the sacrifice of a virgin on her\naltar, and that none other but the daughter of the offender would\nbe acceptable. Agamemnon, however reluctant, yielded his consent,\nand the maiden Iphigenia was sent for under the pretence that she\nwas to be married to Achilles. When she was about to be sacrificed\nthe goddess relented and snatched her away, leaving a hind in her\nplace, and Iphigenia, enveloped in a cloud, was carried to Tauris,\nwhere Diana made her priestess of her temple.\n\n\u00a0\n\nTennyson, in his \"Dream of Fair Women,\" makes Iphigenia thus\ndescribe her feelings at the moment of sacrifice:\n\n\"I was cut off from hope in that sad place,\n\nWhich yet to name my spirit loathes and fears;\n\nMy father held his hand upon his face;\n\nI, blinded by my tears,\n\n\"Still strove to speak; my voice was thick with sighs,\n\nAs in a dream. Dimly I could descry\n\nThe stern black-bearded kings, with wolfish eyes,\n\nWaiting to see me die.\n\n\"The tall masts quivered as they lay afloat,\n\nThe temples and the people and the shore;\n\nOne drew a sharp knife through my tender throat\n\nSlowly,\u2014and\u2014nothing more.\"\n\nThe wind now proving fair the fleet made sail and brought the\nforces to the coast of Troy. The Trojans came to oppose their\nlanding, and at the first onset Protesilaus fell by the hand of\nHector. Protesilaus had left at home his wife, Laodamia, who was\nmost tenderly attached to him. When the news of his death reached\nher she implored the gods to be allowed to converse with him only\nthree hours. The request was granted. Mercury led Protesilaus back\nto the upper world, and when he died a second time Laodamia died\nwith him. There was a story that the nymphs planted elm trees\nround his grave which grew very well till they were high enough to\ncommand a view of Troy, and then withered away, while fresh\nbranches sprang from the roots.\n\n\"\nWordsworth has taken the story of Protesilaus and Laodamia for the\nsubject of a poem. It seems the oracle had declared that victory\nshould be the lot of that party from which should fall the first\nvictim to the war. The poet represents Protesilaus, on his brief\nreturn to earth, as relating to Laodamia the story of his fate:\n\n\"'The wished-for wind was given; I then revolved\n\nThe oracle, upon the silent sea;\n\nAnd if no worthier led the way, resolved\n\nThat of a thousand vessels mine should be\n\nThe foremost prow impressing to the strand,\u2014\n\nMine the first blood that tinged the Trojan sand.\n\n\"'Yet bitter, ofttimes bitter was the pang\n\nWhen of thy loss I thought, beloved wife!\n\nOn thee too fondly did my memory hang,\n\nAnd on the joys we shared in mortal life,\n\nThe paths which we had trod,\u2014these fountains, flowers;\n\nMy new planned cities and unfinished towers.\n\n\"'But should suspense permit the foe to cry,\n\n\"Behold they tremble! haughty their array,\n\nYet of their number no one dares to die?\"\n\nIn soul I swept the indignity away:\n\nOld frailties then recurred: but lofty thought\n\nIn act embodied my deliverance wrought.'\n\n\"... upon the side\n\nOf Hellespont (such faith was entertained)\n\nA knot of spiry trees for ages grew\n\nFrom out the tomb of him for whom she died;\n\nAnd ever when such stature they had gained\n\nThat Ilium's walls were subject to their view,\n\nThe trees' tall summits withered at the sight,\n\nA constant interchange of growth and blight!\"\n\n\"THE ILIAD\"\n\nThe war continued without decisive results for nine years. Then an\nevent occurred which seemed likely to be fatal to the cause of the\nGreeks, and that was a quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon. It\nis at this point that the great poem of Homer, \"The Iliad,\"\nbegins. The Greeks, though unsuccessful against Troy, had taken\nthe neighboring and allied cities, and in the division of the\nspoil a female captive, by name Chryseis, daughter of Chryses,\npriest of Apollo, had fallen to the share of Agamemnon. Chryses\ncame bearing the sacred emblems of his office, and begged the\nrelease of his daughter. Agamemnon refused. Thereupon Chryses\nimplored Apollo to afflict the Greeks till they should be forced\nto yield their prey. Apollo granted the prayer of his priest, and\nsent pestilence into the Grecian camp. Then a council was called\nto deliberate how to allay the wrath of the gods and avert the\nplague. Achilles boldly charged their misfortunes upon Agamemnon\nas caused by his withholding Chryseis. Agamemnon, enraged,\nconsented to relinquish his captive, but demanded that Achilles\nshould yield to him in her stead Briseis, a maiden who had fallen\nto Achilles' share in the division of the spoil. Achilles\nsubmitted, but forthwith declared that he would take no further\npart in the war. He withdrew his forces from the general camp and\nopenly avowed his intention of returning home to Greece.\n\nThe gods and goddesses interested themselves as much in this\nfamous war as the parties themselves. It was well known to them\nthat fate had decreed that Troy should fall, at last, if her\nenemies should persevere and not voluntarily abandon the\nenterprise. Yet there was room enough left for chance to excite by\nturns the hopes and fears of the powers above who took part with\neither side. Juno and Minerva, in consequence of the slight put\nupon their charms by Paris, were hostile to the Trojans; Venus for\nthe opposite cause favored them. Venus enlisted her admirer Mars\non the same side, but Neptune favored the Greeks. Apollo was\nneutral, sometimes taking one side, sometimes the other, and Jove\nhimself, though he loved the good King Priam, yet exercised a\ndegree of impartiality; not, however, without exceptions.\n\nThetis, the mother of Achilles, warmly resented the injury done to\nher son. She repaired immediately to Jove's palace and besought\nhim to make the Greeks repent of their injustice to Achilles by\ngranting success to the Trojan arms. Jupiter consented, and in the\nbattle which ensued the Trojans were completely successful. The\nGreeks were driven from the field and took refuge in their ships.\n\nThen Agamemnon called a council of his wisest and bravest chiefs.\nNestor advised that an embassy should be sent to Achilles to\npersuade him to return to the field; that Agamemnon should yield\nthe maiden, the cause of the dispute, with ample gifts to atone\nfor the wrong he had done. Agamemnon consented, and Ulysses, Ajax,\nand Phoenix were sent to carry to Achilles the penitent message.\nThey performed that duty, but Achilles was deaf to their\nentreaties. He positively refused to return to the field, and\npersisted in his resolution to embark for Greece without delay.\n\nThe Greeks had constructed a rampart around their ships, and now\ninstead of besieging Troy they were in a manner besieged\nthemselves, within their rampart. The next day after the\nunsuccessful embassy to Achilles, a battle was fought, and the\nTrojans, favored by Jove, were successful, and succeeded in\nforcing a passage through the Grecian rampart, and were about to\nset fire to the ships. Neptune, seeing the Greeks so pressed, came\nto their rescue. He appeared in the form of Calchas the prophet,\nencouraged the warriors with his shouts, and appealed to each\nindividually till he raised their ardor to such a pitch that they\nforced the Trojans to give way. Ajax performed prodigies of valor,\nand at length encountered Hector. Ajax shouted defiance, to which\nHector replied, and hurled his lance at the huge warrior. It was\nwell aimed and struck Ajax, where the belts that bore his sword\nand shield crossed each other on the breast. The double guard\nprevented its penetrating and it fell harmless. Then Ajax, seizing\na huge stone, one of those that served to prop the ships, hurled\nit at Hector. It struck him in the neck and stretched him on the\nplain. His followers instantly seized him and bore him off,\nstunned and wounded.\n\nWhile Neptune was thus aiding the Greeks and driving back the\nTrojans, Jupiter saw nothing of what was going on, for his\nattention had been drawn from the field by the wiles of Juno. That\ngoddess had arrayed herself in all her charms, and to crown all\nhad borrowed of Venus her girdle, called \"Cestus,\" which had the\neffect to heighten the wearer's charms to such a degree that they\nwere quite irresistible. So prepared, Juno went to join her\nhusband, who sat on Olympus watching the battle. When he beheld\nher she looked so charming that the fondness of his early love\nrevived, and, forgetting the contending armies and all other\naffairs of state, he thought only of her and let the battle go as\nit would.\n\nBut this absorption did not continue long, and when, upon turning\nhis eyes downward, he beheld Hector stretched on the plain almost\nlifeless from pain and bruises, he dismissed Juno in a rage,\ncommanding her to send Iris and Apollo to him. When Iris came he\nsent her with a stern message to Neptune, ordering him instantly\nto quit the field. Apollo was despatched to heal Hector's bruises\nand to inspirit his heart. These orders were obeyed with such\nspeed that, while the battle still raged, Hector returned to the\nfield and Neptune betook himself to his own dominions.\n\nAn arrow from Paris's bow wounded Machaon, son of \u00c6sculapius, who\ninherited his father's art of healing, and was therefore of great\nvalue to the Greeks as their surgeon, besides being one of their\nbravest warriors. Nestor took Machaon in his chariot and conveyed\nhim from the field. As they passed the ships of Achilles, that\nhero, looking out over the field, saw the chariot of Nestor and\nrecognized the old chief, but could not discern who the wounded\nchief was. So calling Patroclus, his companion and dearest friend,\nhe sent him to Nestor's tent to inquire.\n\nPatroclus, arriving at Nestor's tent, saw Machaon wounded, and\nhaving told the cause of his coming would have hastened away, but\nNestor detained him, to tell him the extent of the Grecian\ncalamities. He reminded him also how, at the time of departing for\nTroy, Achilles and himself had been charged by their respective\nfathers with different advice: Achilles to aspire to the highest\npitch of glory, Patroclus, as the elder, to keep watch over his\nfriend, and to guide his inexperience. \"Now,\" said Nestor, \"is the\ntime for such influence. If the gods so please, thou mayest win\nhim back to the common cause; but if not let him at least send his\nsoldiers to the field, and come thou, Patroclus, clad in his\narmor, and perhaps the very sight of it may drive back the\nTrojans.\"\n\nPatroclus was strongly moved with this address, and hastened back\nto Achilles, revolving in his mind all he had seen and heard. He\ntold the prince the sad condition of affairs at the camp of their\nlate associates: Diomede, Ulysses, Agamemnon, Machaon, all\nwounded, the rampart broken down, the enemy among the ships\npreparing to burn them, and thus to cut off all means of return to\nGreece. While they spoke the flames burst forth from one of the\nships. Achilles, at the sight, relented so far as to grant\nPatroclus his request to lead the Myrmidons (for so were Achilles'\nsoldiers called) to the field, and to lend him his armor, that he\nmight thereby strike more terror into the minds of the Trojans.\nWithout delay the soldiers were marshalled, Patroclus put on the\nradiant armor and mounted the chariot of Achilles, and led forth\nthe men ardent for battle. But before he went, Achilles strictly\ncharged him that he should be content with repelling the foe \"Seek\nnot,\" said he, \"to press the Trojans without me, lest thou add\nstill more to the disgrace already mine.\" Then exhorting the\ntroops to do their best he dismissed them full of ardor to the\nfight.\n\nPatroclus and his Myrmidons at once plunged into the contest where\nit raged hottest; at the sight of which the joyful Grecians\nshouted and the ships reechoed the acclaim. The Trojans, at the\nsight of the well-known armor, struck with terror, looked\neverywhere for refuge. First those who had got possession of the\nship and set it on fire left and allowed the Grecians to retake it\nand extinguish the flames. Then the rest of the Trojans fled in\ndismay. Ajax, Menelaus, and the two sons of Nestor performed\nprodigies of valor. Hector was forced to turn his horses' heads\nand retire from the enclosure, leaving his men entangled in the\nfosse to escape as they could. Patroclus drove them before him,\nslaying many, none daring to make a stand against him.\n\nAt last Sarpedon, son of Jove, ventured to oppose himself in fight\nto Patroclus. Jupiter looked down upon him and would have snatched\nhim from the fate which awaited him, but Juno hinted that if he\ndid so it would induce all others of the inhabitants of heaven to\ninterpose in like manner whenever any of their offspring were\nendangered; to which reason Jove yielded. Sarpedon threw his\nspear, but missed Patroclus, but Patroclus threw his with better\nsuccess. It pierced Sarpedon's breast and he fell, and, calling to\nhis friends to save his body from the foe, expired. Then a furious\ncontest arose for the possession of the corpse. The Greeks\nsucceeded and stripped Sarpedon of his armor; but Jove would not\nallow the remains of his son to be dishonored, and by his command\nApollo snatched from the midst of the combatants the body of\nSarpedon and committed it to the care of the twin brothers Death\nand Sleep, by whom it was transported to Lycia, the native land of\nSarpedon, where it received due funeral rites.\n\nThus far Patroclus had succeeded to his utmost wish in repelling\nthe Trojans and relieving his countrymen, but now came a change of\nfortune. Hector, borne in his chariot, confronted him. Patroclus\nthrew a vast stone at Hector, which missed its aim, but smote\nCebriones, the charioteer, and knocked him from the car. Hector\nleaped from the chariot to rescue his friend, and Patroclus also\ndescended to complete his victory. Thus the two heroes met face to\nface. At this decisive moment the poet, as if reluctant to give\nHector the glory, records that Phoebus took part against\nPatroclus. He struck the helmet from his head and the lance from\nhis hand. At the same moment an obscure Trojan wounded him in the\nback, and Hector, pressing forward, pierced him with his spear. He\nfell mortally wounded.\n\nThen arose a tremendous conflict for the body of Patroclus, but\nhis armor was at once taken possession of by Hector, who retiring\na short distance divested himself of his own armor and put on that\nof Achilles, then returned to the fight. Ajax and Menelaus\ndefended the body, and Hector and his bravest warriors struggled\nto capture it. The battle raged with equal fortunes, when Jove\nenveloped the whole face of heaven with a dark cloud. The\nlightning flashed, the thunder roared, and Ajax, looking round for\nsome one whom he might despatch to Achilles to tell him of the\ndeath of his friend, and of the imminent danger that his remains\nwould fall into the hands of the enemy, could see no suitable\nmessenger. It was then that he exclaimed in those famous lines so\noften quoted,\n\n\"Father of heaven and earth! deliver thou\n\nAchaia's host from darkness; clear the skies;\n\nGive day; and, since thy sovereign will is such,\n\nDestruction with it; but, O, give us day.\"\n\n\u2014Cowper.\n\nOr, as rendered by Pope,\n\n\"... Lord of earth and air!\n\nO king! O father! hear my humble prayer!\n\nDispel this cloud, the light of heaven restore;\n\nGive me to see and Ajax asks no more;\n\nIf Greece must perish we thy will obey,\n\nBut let us perish in the face of day.\"\n\nJupiter heard the prayer and dispersed the clouds. Then Ajax sent\nAntilochus to Achilles with the intelligence of Patroclus's death,\nand of the conflict raging for his remains. The Greeks at last\nsucceeded in bearing off the body to the ships, closely pursued by\nHector and \u00c6neas and the rest of the Trojans.\n\nAchilles heard the fate of his friend with such distress that\nAntilochus feared for a while that he would destroy himself. His\ngroans reached the ears of his mother, Thetis, far down in the\ndeeps of ocean where she abode, and she hastened to him to inquire\nthe cause. She found him overwhelmed with self-reproach that he\nhad indulged his resentment so far, and suffered his friend to\nfall a victim to it. But his only consolation was the hope of\nrevenge. He would fly instantly in search of Hector. But his\nmother reminded him that he was now without armor, and promised\nhim, if he would but wait till the morrow, she would procure for\nhim a suit of armor from Vulcan more than equal to that he had\nlost. He consented, and Thetis immediately repaired to Vulcan's\npalace. She found him busy at his forge making tripods for his own\nuse, so artfully constructed that they moved forward of their own\naccord when wanted, and retired again when dismissed. On hearing\nthe request of Thetis, Vulcan immediately laid aside his work and\nhastened to comply with her wishes. He fabricated a splendid suit\nof armor for Achilles, first a shield adorned with elaborate\ndevices, then a helmet crested with gold, then a corselet and\ngreaves of impenetrable temper, all perfectly adapted to his form,\nand of consummate workmanship. It was all done in one night, and\nThetis, receiving it, descended with it to earth, and laid it down\nat Achilles' feet at the dawn of day.\n\nThe first glow of pleasure that Achilles had felt since the death\nof Patroclus was at the sight of this splendid armor. And now,\narrayed in it, he went forth into the camp, calling all the chiefs\nto council. When they were all assembled he addressed them.\nRenouncing his displeasure against Agamemnon and bitterly\nlamenting the miseries that had resulted from it, he called on\nthem to proceed at once to the field. Agamemnon made a suitable\nreply, laying all the blame on Ate, the goddess of discord; and\nthereupon complete reconcilement took place between the heroes.\n\nThen Achilles went forth to battle inspired with a rage and thirst\nfor vengeance that made him irresistible. The bravest warriors\nfled before him or fell by his lance. Hector, cautioned by Apollo,\nkept aloof; but the god, assuming the form of one of Priam's sons,\nLycaon, urged \u00c6neas to encounter the terrible warrior. \u00c6neas,\nthough he felt himself unequal, did not decline the combat. He\nhurled his spear with all his force against the shield the work of\nVulcan. It was formed of five metal plates; two were of brass, two\nof tin, and one of gold. The spear pierced two thicknesses, but\nwas stopped in the third. Achilles threw his with better success.\nIt pierced through the shield of \u00c6neas, but glanced near his\nshoulder and made no wound. Then \u00c6neas seized a stone, such as\ntwo men of modern times could hardly lift, and was about to throw\nit, and Achilles, with sword drawn, was about to rush upon him,\nwhen Neptune, who looked out upon the contest, moved with pity for\n\u00c6neas, who he saw would surely fall a victim if not speedily\nrescued, spread a cloud between the combatants, and lifting \u00c6neas\nfrom the ground, bore him over the heads of warriors and steeds to\nthe rear of the battle. Achilles, when the mist cleared away,\nlooked round in vain for his adversary, and acknowledging the\nprodigy, turned his arms against other champions. But none dared\nstand before him, and Priam looking down from the city walls\nbeheld his whole army in full flight towards the city. He gave\ncommand to open wide the gates to receive the fugitives, and to\nshut them as soon as the Trojans should have passed, lest the\nenemy should enter likewise. But Achilles was so close in pursuit\nthat that would have been impossible if Apollo had not, in the\nform of Agenor, Priam's son, encountered Achilles for a while,\nthen turned to fly, and taken the way apart from the city.\nAchilles pursued and had chased his supposed victim far from the\nwalls, when Apollo disclosed himself, and Achilles, perceiving how\nhe had been deluded, gave up the chase.\n\nBut when the rest had escaped into the town Hector stood without\ndetermined to await the combat. His old father called to him from\nthe walls and begged him to retire nor tempt the encounter. His\nmother, Hecuba, also besought him to the same effect, but all in\nvain. \"How can I,\" said he to himself, \"by whose command the\npeople went to this day's contest, where so many have fallen, seek\nsafety for myself against a single foe? But what if I offer him to\nyield up Helen and all her treasures and ample of our own beside?\nAh, no! it is too late. He would not even hear me through, but\nslay me while I spoke.\" While he thus ruminated. Achilles\napproached, terrible as Mars, his armor flashing lightning as he\nmoved. At that sight Hector's heart failed him and he fled.\nAchilles swiftly pursued. They ran, still keeping near the walls,\ntill they had thrice encircled the city. As often as Hector\napproached the walls Achilles intercepted him and forced him to\nkeep out in a wider circle. But Apollo sustained Hector's strength\nand would not let him sink in weariness. Then Pallas, assuming the\nform of Deiphobus, Hector's bravest brother, appeared suddenly at\nhis side. Hector saw him with delight, and thus strengthened\nstopped his flight and turned to meet Achilles. Hector threw his\nspear, which struck the shield of Achilles and bounded back. He\nturned to receive another from the hand of Deiphobus, but\nDeiphobus was gone. Then Hector understood his doom and said,\n\"Alas! it is plain this is my hour to die! I thought Deiphobus at\nhand, but Pallas deceived me, and he is still in Troy. But I will\nnot fall inglorious,\" So saying he drew his falchion from his side\nand rushed at once to combat. Achilles, secured behind his shield,\nwaited the approach of Hector. When he came within reach of his\nspear, Achilles choosing with his eye a vulnerable part where the\narmor leaves the neck uncovered, aimed his spear at that part and\nHector fell, death-wounded, and feebly said, \"Spare my body! Let\nmy parents ransom it, and let me receive funeral rites from the\nsons and daughters of Troy.\" To which Achilles replied, \"Dog, name\nnot ransom nor pity to me, on whom you have brought such dire\ndistress. No! trust me, naught shall save thy carcass from the\ndogs. Though twenty ransoms and thy weight in gold were offered, I\nwould refuse it all.\"\n\nSo saying he stripped the body of its armor, and fastening cords\nto the feet tied them behind his chariot, leaving the body to\ntrail along the ground. Then mounting the chariot he lashed the\nsteeds and so dragged the body to and fro before the city. What\nwords can tell the grief of King Priam and Queen Hecuba at this\nsight! His people could scarce restrain the old king from rushing\nforth. He threw himself in the dust and besought them each by name\nto give him way. Hecuba's distress was not less violent. The\ncitizens stood round them weeping. The sound of the mourning\nreached the ears of Andromache, the wife of Hector, as she sat\namong her maidens at work, and anticipating evil she went forth to\nthe wall. When she saw the sight there presented, she would have\nthrown herself headlong from the wall, but fainted and fell into\nthe arms of her maidens. Recovering, she bewailed her fate,\npicturing to herself her country ruined, herself a captive, and\nher son dependent for his bread on the charity of strangers.\n\nWhen Achilles and the Greeks had taken their revenge on the killer\nof Patroclus they busied themselves in paying due funeral rites to\ntheir friend. A pile was erected, and the body burned with due\nsolemnity; and then ensued games of strength and skill, chariot\nraces, wrestling, boxing, and archery. Then the chiefs sat down to\nthe funeral banquet and after that retired to rest. But Achilles\nneither partook of the feast nor of sleep. The recollection of his\nlost friend kept him awake, remembering their companionship in\ntoil and dangers, in battle or on the perilous deep. Before the\nearliest dawn he left his tent, and joining to his chariot his\nswift steeds, he fastened Hector's body to be dragged behind.\nTwice he dragged him around the tomb of Patroclus, leaving him at\nlength stretched in the dust. But Apollo would not permit the body\nto be torn or disfigured with all this abuse, but preserved it\nfree from all taint or defilement.\n\nWhile Achilles indulged his wrath in thus disgracing brave Hector,\nJupiter in pity summoned Thetis to his presence. He told her to go\nto her son and prevail on him to restore the body of Hector to his\nfriends. Then Jupiter sent Iris to King Priam to encourage him to\ngo to Achilles and beg the body of his son. Iris delivered her\nmessage, and Priam immediately prepared to obey. He opened his\ntreasuries and took out rich garments and cloths, with ten talents\nin gold and two splendid tripods and a golden cup of matchless\nworkmanship. Then he called to his sons and bade them draw forth\nhis litter and place in it the various articles designed for a\nransom to Achilles. When all was ready, the old king with a single\ncompanion as aged as himself, the herald Idaeus, drove forth from\nthe gates, parting there with Hecuba, his queen, and all his\nfriends, who lamented him as going to certain death.\n\nBut Jupiter, beholding with compassion the venerable king, sent\nMercury to be his guide and protector. Mercury, assuming the form\nof a young warrior, presented himself to the aged couple, and\nwhile at the sight of him they hesitated whether to fly or yield,\nthe god approached, and grasping Priam's hand offered to be their\nguide to Achilles' tent. Priam gladly accepted his offered\nservice, and he, mounting the carriage, assumed the reins and soon\nconveyed them to the tent of Achilles. Mercury's wand put to sleep\nall the guards, and without hinderance he introduced Priam into\nthe tent where Achilles sat, attended by two of his warriors. The\nold king threw himself at the feet of Achilles, and kissed those\nterrible hands which had destroyed so many of his sons. \"Think, O\nAchilles,\" he said, \"of thy own father, full of days like me, and\ntrembling on the gloomy verge of life. Perhaps even now some\nneighbor chief oppresses him and there is none at hand to succor\nhim in his distress. Yet doubtless knowing that Achilles lives he\nstill rejoices, hoping that one day he shall see thy face again.\nBut no comfort cheers me, whose bravest sons, so late the flower\nof Ilium, all have fallen. Yet one I had, one more than all the\nrest the strength of my age, whom, fighting for his country, thou\nhast slain. I come to redeem his body, bringing inestimable ransom\nwith me. Achilles! reverence the gods! recollect thy father! for\nhis sake show compassion to me!\" These words moved Achilles, and\nhe wept; remembering by turns his absent father and his lost\nfriend. Moved with pity of Priam's silver locks and beard, he\nraised him from the earth, and thus spake: \"Priam, I know that\nthou hast reached this place conducted by some god, for without\naid divine no mortal even in his prime of youth had dared the\nattempt. I grant thy request, moved thereto by the evident will of\nJove.\" So saying he arose, and went forth with his two friends,\nand unloaded of its charge the litter, leaving two mantles and a\nrobe for the covering of the body, which they placed on the\nlitter, and spread the garments over it, that not unveiled it\nshould be borne back to Troy. Then Achilles dismissed the old king\nwith his attendants, having first pledged himself to allow a truce\nof twelve days for the funeral solemnities.\n\nAs the litter approached the city and was descried from the walls,\nthe people poured forth to gaze once more on the face of their\nhero. Foremost of all, the mother and the wife of Hector came, and\nat the sight of the lifeless body renewed their lamentations. The\npeople all wept with them, and to the going down of the sun there\nwas no pause or abatement of their grief.\n\nThe next day preparations were made for the funeral solemnities.\nFor nine days the people brought wood and built the pile, and on\nthe tenth they placed the body on the summit and applied the\ntorch; while all Troy thronging forth encompassed the pile. When\nit had completely burned, they quenched the cinders with wine,\ncollected the bones and placed them in a golden urn, which they\nburied in the earth, and reared a pile of stones over the spot.\n\n\"Such honors Ilium to her hero paid,\n\nAnd peaceful slept the mighty Hector's shade.\"\n\n\u2014Pope.","title":"The Age of Fable/Chapter XXVII","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":5883}