The Siege of Troy

Troy, also called Ilion, was the capital of a kingdom in Asia Minor, near the Hellespont. It was founded by Ilus, son of Tros. At the time of the famous Trojan War, the city was ruled by Priam, a direct descendant of Ilus. Priam was married to Hecuba, daughter of Dymas, king of Thrace. Among their most celebrated children were the brave and valiant Hector, the prophetess Cassandra, and Paris, who caused the Trojan War.

Before the birth of her second son Paris, Hecuba dreamed that she gave birth to a flaming torch. The seer Aesacus (a son of Priam from an earlier marriage) interpreted this to mean that she would bear a son who would cause the destruction of Troy. Eager to prevent the prophecy from coming true, Hecuba had her newborn baby left on Mount Ida to die. But some kind-hearted shepherds found the child and raised him, so he grew up not knowing his noble birth.

As the boy neared manhood, he became famous not only for his great beauty and strength but also for his courage in defending the flocks from robbers and wild beasts. For this, he was called Alexander, meaning "helper of men." Around this time, he settled the famous dispute over the golden apple that the goddess of Discord had thrown among the gods. As we have seen, he decided in favor of Aphrodite, making two implacable enemies: Hera and Athena never forgave the slight.

Paris married a beautiful nymph named Oenone, and they lived happily in the peace of pastoral life. But to her deep sorrow, this peaceful life was not meant to last long.

Hearing that funeral games would be held in Troy in honor of a departed relative of the king, Paris decided to visit the capital and take part. There he so greatly distinguished himself in a contest against his unknown brothers, Hector and Deiphobus, that the proud young princes became enraged that an obscure shepherd should take the prize from them. They were about to cause a disturbance when Cassandra, who had watched the games, stepped forward and announced that the humble peasant who had defeated them was their own brother Paris. He was then brought before his parents, who joyfully recognized him as their son. Amid the celebrations for their newfound son, the ominous prophecy of the past was forgotten.

As a sign of his trust, the king now entrusted Paris with a delicate mission. As we have seen in the legend of Heracles, that great hero had conquered Troy, killed King Laomedon, and taken captive his beautiful daughter Hesione, whom he gave in marriage to his friend Telamon. Although she became princess of Salamis and lived happily with her husband, her brother Priam never stopped regretting her loss and the insult to his house. So it was now proposed that Paris be equipped with a large fleet and go to Greece to demand the return of the king's sister.

Before setting out, Cassandra warned Paris not to bring home a wife from Greece. She predicted that if he ignored her warning, he would bring inevitable ruin upon Troy and destruction to the house of Priam.

Under Paris's command, the fleet set sail and arrived safely in Greece. There the young Trojan prince first saw Helen, daughter of Zeus and Leda, sister of the Dioscuri, and wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. She was the most beautiful woman of her time. The most famous heroes in Greece had sought her hand, but her stepfather, Tyndareus, king of Sparta, feared that if he gave her to one of her many suitors, the rest would become his enemies. So he made all suitors swear to assist and defend the successful candidate with all their means in any future quarrel over the marriage. He finally gave Helen to Menelaus, a warlike prince fond of martial exercises and the hunt, to whom he also gave his throne and kingdom.

When Paris arrived at Sparta and asked for hospitality at the royal palace, King Menelaus received him kindly. At the banquet given in his honor, Paris charmed both host and hostess with his graceful manners and varied accomplishments. He especially won the favor of fair Helen, to whom he gave some rare and beautiful trinkets from Asia.

While Paris was still a guest at the court of Sparta, Menelaus received an invitation from his friend Idomeneus, king of Crete, to join him on a hunting trip. Being unsuspicious and easygoing, Menelaus accepted, leaving Helen to entertain the distinguished stranger. Captivated by her surpassing beauty, the Trojan prince forgot all honor and duty and decided to rob his absent host of his beautiful wife. He gathered his followers, stormed the royal castle, seized the rich treasures it held, and carried off its beautiful and not entirely unwilling mistress.

They set sail at once but were driven by bad weather to the island of Crania, where they anchored. It was not until some years later, during which time home and country were forgotten, that Paris and Helen went to Troy.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE WAR

When Menelaus heard about the violation of his home, he went to Pylos with his brother Agamemnon to consult the wise old king Nestor, famous for his great experience and statecraft. After hearing the facts, Nestor said that only through the combined efforts of all the Greek states could Menelaus hope to regain Helen from such a powerful kingdom as Troy.

Menelaus and Agamemnon now raised the war cry, which was answered from one end of Greece to the other. Many who volunteered were former suitors of Helen and so were bound by their oath to support Menelaus. Others joined out of love of adventure. But all were deeply impressed by the disgrace that would fall on their country if such a crime went unpunished. Thus a powerful army was gathered, with few notable names missing.

Only in the case of two great heroes, Odysseus and Achilles, did Menelaus have any difficulty.

Odysseus, famous for his wisdom and shrewdness, was at that time living happily in Ithaca with his young wife Penelope and his little son Telemachus. He was reluctant to leave his happy home for a dangerous foreign expedition of uncertain length. So when his services were asked, he pretended to be mad. But the clever Palamedes, a distinguished hero in Menelaus's company, saw through the trick and exposed it, forcing Odysseus to join the war. But Odysseus never forgave Palamedes for interfering and eventually took a cruel revenge.

Achilles was the son of Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis. She is said to have dipped her baby son in the river Styx, making him invulnerable except in the right heel, by which she held him. When the boy was nine years old, Thetis was told that he would either live a long life of easy obscurity or die a hero's death after a brief career of victory. Naturally wanting to prolong her son's life, the loving mother hoped the first fate would be his. So she took him to the island of Scyros in the Aegean Sea, where, disguised as a girl, he grew up among the daughters of King Lycomedes.

Now that Achilles was needed—because an oracle had said Troy could not be taken without him—Menelaus consulted the soothsayer Calchas, who revealed where Achilles was hidden. Odysseus was sent to Scyros, where by a clever trick he soon discovered which of the maidens was the one he sought. Disguising himself as a merchant, Odysseus got into the royal palace and offered trinkets to the king's daughters. All the girls except one looked at his wares with real interest. Seeing this, Odysseus shrewdly concluded that the one who held back must be young Achilles himself. To test his guess, he then showed a beautiful set of weapons, while at a signal, stirring martial music was heard outside. At that, Achilles, fired with warlike passion, seized the weapons and revealed his identity. He then joined the Greek cause, accompanied at his father's request by his kinsman Patroclus.

He brought a large force of Thessalian troops, called Myrmidons, and fifty ships.

For ten long years, Agamemnon and the other chiefs devoted all their energy and resources to preparing the expedition against Troy. But even during these warlike preparations, a peaceful solution was not neglected. An embassy consisting of Menelaus, Odysseus, and others was sent to King Priam to demand the return of Helen. Though the embassy was received with great pomp, the demand was rejected. So the ambassadors returned to Greece, and the order was given for the fleet to assemble at Aulis in Boeotia.

Never before in Greek history had such a large army been gathered. A hundred thousand warriors assembled at Aulis, and in its bay floated over a thousand ships ready to carry them to the Trojan coast. The command of this great host was given to Agamemnon, king of Argos, the most powerful of the Greek princes.

Before the fleet set sail, solemn sacrifices were offered to the gods on the seashore. Suddenly a serpent was seen climbing a plane tree that held a sparrow's nest with nine young birds. The reptile first ate the young birds, then their mother, after which Zeus turned it to stone. The soothsayer Calchas was consulted and interpreted the miracle to mean that the war with Troy would last nine years and that only in the tenth year would the city be taken.

DEPARTURE OF THE GREEK FLEET

The fleet then set sail, but mistaking the Mysian coast for Troy, they landed troops and began to ravage the country. Telephus, king of Mysia and son of the great hero Heracles, opposed them with a large army and drove them back to their ships. But he was wounded in the fight by Achilles's spear. Patroclus, fighting bravely beside his kinsman, was also wounded. But Achilles, who had been taught by Chiron, carefully bound up the wound and healed it. From this incident began the famous friendship between the two heroes, which lasted even in death.

The Greeks now returned to Aulis. Meanwhile, Telephus's wound proved incurable. He consulted an oracle and was told that only the one who had inflicted the wound could cure it. So Telephus went to the Greek camp, where Achilles healed him. At Odysseus's request, Telephus agreed to guide the voyage to Troy.

Just as the expedition was about to start for the second time, Agamemnon accidentally killed a deer sacred to Artemis. In her anger, she sent continuous calm winds that kept the fleet from sailing. Calchas was consulted and announced that only the sacrifice of Agamemnon's daughter Iphigenia would appease the angry goddess. How Agamemnon finally overcame his feelings as a father, and how Artemis herself saved Iphigenia, has been told in an earlier chapter.

At last a fair wind came, and the fleet set sail again. They stopped first at the island of Tenedos, where the famous archer Philoctetes—who had the bow and arrows of Heracles, given to him by the dying hero—was bitten on the foot by a poisonous snake. The wound gave off such a terrible smell that, at Odysseus's suggestion, Philoctetes was taken to the island of Lesbos and left there to his fate, much to his distress. The fleet then continued to Troy.

COMMENCEMENT OF HOSTILITIES

Having received early news of the coming invasion, the Trojans asked for help from neighboring states, all of which answered the call. So ample preparations were made to receive the enemy. King Priam was too old for active service, so command of the army fell to his eldest son, the brave and valiant Hector.

As the Greek fleet approached, the Trojans appeared on the coast to prevent them from landing. But great hesitation arose among the troops about who should be the first to step on enemy soil, because it had been foretold that whoever did so would die. Protesilaus of Phylace, however, nobly ignored the warning and leaped ashore, only to be killed by Hector.

The Greeks then managed to land, and in the battle that followed, the Trojans were defeated and driven back behind their city walls. With Achilles at their head, the Greeks tried to storm the city but were repulsed with heavy losses. After this defeat, the invaders, seeing that a long campaign lay ahead, pulled their ships ashore, set up tents and huts, and built a fortified camp on the coast.

Between the Greek camp and Troy lay a plain watered by the rivers Scamander and Simois. It was on this plain, later so famous in history, that the memorable battles between the Greeks and Trojans were fought.

The Greek leaders now realized that taking the city by storm was impossible. The Trojans, being fewer in number, did not dare risk a major battle in the open field. So the war dragged on for many weary years without any decisive battle.

Around this time, Odysseus carried out his long-planned revenge against Palamedes. Palamedes was one of the wisest, most energetic, and most upright of the Greek heroes. Because of his tireless zeal and wonderful eloquence, most of the chiefs had been persuaded to join the expedition. But the very qualities that made him loved by his countrymen made him hateful to his implacable enemy Odysseus, who never forgave him for exposing his trick to avoid the army.

To ruin Palamedes, Odysseus hid a large sum of money in his tent. Then he wrote a letter supposedly from King Priam to Palamedes, thanking him warmly for valuable information and referring to a large sum of money sent as a reward. This letter was found on a Phrygian prisoner and read aloud to a council of Greek princes. Palamedes was brought before the chiefs, accused of betraying his country. A search was made, and the money was found in his tent. He was found guilty and sentenced to be stoned to death. Though he knew the treachery against him, Palamedes did not defend himself, knowing that in the face of such damning evidence, trying to prove his innocence would be useless.

DEFECTION OF ACHILLES

During the first year of the campaign, the Greeks raided the surrounding country and plundered nearby villages. On one of these raids, the city of Pedasus was sacked. Agamemnon, as commander in chief, received as his share the beautiful Chryseis, daughter of Chryses, a priest of Apollo. To Achilles was given another captive, the fair Briseis. The next day, Chryses came to the Greek camp to ransom his daughter. But Agamemnon refused and rudely sent the old man away. Grieving over the loss of his child, Chryses called on Apollo for vengeance. His prayer was heard, and the god sent a terrible plague that raged for ten days in the Greek camp. Finally, Achilles called a council and asked the soothsayer Calchas how to stop this terrible punishment. Calchas replied that Apollo was angry at the insult to his priest and had sent the plague, which would only end when Chryseis was returned.

Hearing this, Agamemnon agreed to give up the maiden. But he was already bitter toward Calchas because of his prediction about Iphigenia, and now he insulted the soothsayer, accusing him of plotting against him. Achilles took Calchas's side, and a violent argument broke out. The son of Thetis would have killed his commander, but Pallas Athena appeared beside him, unseen by the others, and reminded him of his duty to his leader. Agamemnon took revenge on Achilles by taking away his beautiful captive Briseis, who had grown so attached to her kind and noble captor that she wept bitterly when taken from him. Disgusted by his chief's ungenerous behavior, Achilles withdrew to his tent and stubbornly refused to take any further part in the war.

Heartbroken and dejected, he went to the seashore and called upon his divine mother. In answer to his prayer, Thetis rose from the waves and comforted her gallant son. She promised to ask mighty Zeus to avenge his wrongs by giving victory to the Trojans, so that the Greeks would realize how much they had lost by his withdrawal. When the Trojans learned through a spy that Achilles had left the army, they grew bold. They sallied forth and made a successful attack on the Greeks, who defended themselves bravely but were routed and driven back to their fortifications. Agamemnon and many other Greek leaders were wounded.

Encouraged by this success, the Trojans began to besiege the Greeks in their own camp. Seeing the danger, Agamemnon put aside his personal grievances and sent an embassy to Achilles, consisting of many noble chiefs, begging him to help his countrymen in their hour of need. They promised that Briseis would be returned and that Agamemnon's daughter would be given to him in marriage with seven towns as her dowry. But the proud hero's determination could not be moved. Though he listened courteously to the messengers, his decision not to take part in the war remained firm.

Soon after, in one of the battles, the Trojans under Hector broke into the Greek camp and began to burn the ships. Seeing his countrymen's distress, Patroclus begged Achilles to let him lead the Myrmidons to the rescue. The better side of Achilles prevailed. He not only gave his friend command of his brave warriors but also lent him his own armor.

After Patroclus mounted the hero's war chariot, Achilles lifted a golden goblet, poured out a libation of wine to the gods, and prayed earnestly for victory and the safe return of his beloved comrade. As a final warning, he told Patroclus not to advance too far into enemy territory and to be content with rescuing the ships.

At the head of the Myrmidons, Patroclus now made a desperate attack on the enemy. Thinking that the invincible Achilles himself commanded the troops, the Trojans lost heart and fled. Patroclus pursued them all the way to the walls of Troy, forgetting in the heat of battle his friend's warning. But this rashness cost the young hero his life. He now met the mighty Hector and was killed by him. Hector stripped the armor from the dead enemy and would have dragged the body into the city, but Menelaus and Ajax the Greater rushed forward and, after a long, fierce struggle, rescued it from desecration.

DEATH OF HECTOR

Now came the sad task of telling Achilles about his friend's fate. He wept bitterly over Patroclus's body and solemnly vowed that he would not hold the funeral rites until he had killed Hector with his own hands and captured twelve Trojans to be sacrificed on the funeral pyre. All other thoughts vanished before his burning desire to avenge his friend. Thoroughly awakened from his indifference, Achilles made peace with Agamemnon and rejoined the Greek army. At Thetis's request, Hephaestus forged a new suit of armor for him, far more magnificent than that of any other hero.

Thus gloriously armed, he soon strode along, calling the Greeks to battle. He led the troops against the enemy, who were defeated and fled until, near the city gates, Achilles and Hector met. But here, for the first time in his life, the Trojan hero's courage failed him. At the approach of his dreaded opponent, he turned and ran for his life. Achilles pursued him, and three times around the walls of Troy the terrible race was run, while the old king and queen watched from the walls. During each lap, Hector tried to reach the city gates so his comrades could open them or cover him with missiles. But his adversary saw his plan and forced him into the open plain, calling to his friends not to throw spears but to leave the vengeance to him. At last, tired from the chase, Hector stopped and challenged his foe to single combat. A desperate fight took place, and Hector fell to his powerful enemy at the Scaean Gate.

With his dying breath, the Trojan hero foretold that his conqueror would soon die on the same spot.

The furious victor tied the lifeless body of his fallen enemy to his chariot and dragged it three times around the city walls, then to the Greek camp. Overcome with horror, the aged parents of Hector cried out in such heartrending anguish that the sound reached Andromache, his faithful wife. She rushed to the walls and saw her husband's dead body tied to the conqueror's chariot.

Achilles now held the funeral rites for his friend Patroclus. The Myrmidons carried the hero's body to the funeral pyre in full armor. His dogs and horses were killed to accompany him in the underworld. Then Achilles, carrying out his savage vow, slaughtered twelve brave Trojan captives and laid them on the pyre, which was lit. When everything was burned, Patroclus's bones were carefully collected and placed in a golden urn. Then came the funeral games: chariot races, boxing matches, wrestling, footraces, and single combats with shield and spear, in which the most famous heroes took part and competed for prizes.

PENTHESILEA

After Hector's death, the Trojans, having lost their great hope and defender, did not venture beyond the city walls. But soon their hopes were revived by the arrival of a powerful army of Amazons under their queen Penthesilea, a daughter of Ares. Her great ambition was to fight the famous Achilles himself and avenge the death of valiant Hector.

Hostilities began again in the open plain. Penthesilea led the Trojan forces, while the Greeks were commanded by Achilles and Ajax. Ajax put the enemy to flight, while Achilles was challenged by Penthesilea to single combat. With heroic courage she went into battle, but even the strongest men could not stand against great Achilles, and though she was a daughter of Ares, Penthesilea was only a woman. With generous chivalry, Achilles tried to spare the brave, beautiful maiden warrior. Only when his own life was in grave danger did he make a serious effort to overcome his enemy. Then Penthesilea shared the fate of all who opposed Achilles's spear and fell by his hand.

Feeling herself mortally wounded, she remembered how Hector's body had been desecrated and earnestly begged the hero to spare her. But the plea was hardly necessary, for Achilles, full of pity for his brave but unlucky opponent, gently lifted her from the ground, and she died in his arms.

When the Amazons and Trojans saw their leader's body in Achilles's hands, they prepared to attack again to recover it. But Achilles saw their intention, stepped forward, and loudly told them to stop. Then in a few well-chosen words, he praised the fallen queen's great courage and bravery and said he would give up the body at once.

Achilles's chivalrous behavior was appreciated by both Greeks and Trojans. Only Thersites, a base and cowardly wretch, accused the hero of unworthy motives. Not content with these insults, he savagely pierced the dead body of the Amazon queen with his lance. At that, Achilles struck him with one blow of his powerful arm and killed him on the spot.

The well-deserved death of Thersites caused no grief, but his kinsman Diomedes came forward and demanded compensation for the murder. Since Agamemnon, who as commander in chief could have settled the matter easily, did not interfere, Achilles's proud nature took offense at the implied criticism. He left the Greek army once more and sailed to Lesbos. But Odysseus followed him to the island and, with his usual tact, persuaded the hero to return to the camp.

DEATH OF ACHILLES

A new ally now appeared for the Trojans: Memnon the Ethiopian, son of Eos and Tithonus. He brought a strong force of black warriors. Memnon was the first opponent who met Achilles on equal terms, for like the great hero, he was the son of a goddess and possessed a suit of armor made by Hephaestus.

Before the two heroes fought, the goddesses Thetis and Eos hurried to Olympus to beg Zeus to spare their sons. Not wanting to act against the Fates, Zeus took the golden scales in which he weighs the lot of mortals and placed the fates of the two heroes. Memnon's side sank, foretelling his death.

Eos left Olympus in despair. When she reached the battlefield, she saw her son's lifeless body. After a long, brave defense, he had finally fallen to the all-conquering arm of Achilles. At her command, her children, the Winds, flew down to the plain, seized the body, and carried it through the air, safe from the enemy's desecration.

Achilles's triumph did not last long. Intoxicated with success, he tried to storm the city of Troy at the head of the Greek army. But Paris, with the help of Phoebus Apollo, aimed a well-directed arrow at the hero. It struck his vulnerable heel, and he fell to the ground mortally wounded before the Scaean Gate. Though face to face with death, the fearless hero raised himself and still performed great feats of valor. Only when his legs gave way did the enemy realize the wound was fatal.

With the combined efforts of Ajax and Odysseus, Achilles's body was recovered from the enemy after a long, terrible fight and brought to the Greek camp. Weeping bitterly over her gallant son's untimely death, Thetis came to embrace him one last time, mingling her laments with those of the whole Greek army. The funeral pyre was lit, and the voices of the Muses were heard singing his funeral dirge. After the body was burned, his bones were collected, placed in a golden urn, and laid beside the remains of his beloved friend Patroclus.

At the funeral games held in honor of the fallen hero, Thetis offered her son's property as the prize. It was unanimously agreed that the beautiful armor made by Hephaestus should be given to the one who had contributed most to rescuing the body from the enemy. Popular opinion favored Odysseus, and the Trojan prisoners who had been at the battle confirmed this. Unable to bear the slight, the unfortunate Ajax lost his reason and killed himself.

FINAL MEASURES

Thus the Greeks were deprived at the same time of their bravest and most powerful leader and of the one who was closest to him in glory. For a time, operations stopped until Odysseus, by means of a clever ambush, captured Helenus, son of Priam. Like his sister Cassandra, Helenus had the gift of prophecy. Under pressure from Odysseus, he used this gift against his own city.

From the Trojan prince, the Greeks learned that three conditions were necessary to conquer Troy: first, the son of Achilles must fight in their ranks; second, the arrows of Heracles must be used against the enemy; and third, they must obtain the wooden image of Pallas Athena, the famous Palladium of Troy.

The first condition was easily met. Always ready to serve the community, Odysseus went to the island of Scyros, where he found Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles. He stirred the young man's ambition, generously gave him his father's magnificent armor, and brought him to the Greek camp. Neoptolemus immediately distinguished himself in single combat with Eurypylus, son of Telephus, who had come to aid the Trojans.

Obtaining the poison-dipped arrows of Heracles was more difficult. They were still in the possession of the much-abused Philoctetes, who had remained on the island of Lemnos, his wound still unhealed, suffering great misery. But the tireless Odysseus, accompanied by Diomedes, finally persuaded Philoctetes to come to the camp. The skilled physician Machaon, son of Asclepius, healed his wound.

Philoctetes became reconciled with Agamemnon. In a battle that soon followed, he mortally wounded Paris, the son of Priam. Though pierced by the fatal arrow of the demigod, death did not come immediately. Paris remembered an oracle's prediction that his deserted wife Oenone could alone cure him if he were wounded. He had himself carried to her home on Mount Ida, where he begged her by the memory of their past love to save his life. But Oenone, mindful only of her wrongs, crushed all pity and compassion from her heart and sternly ordered him to leave. Soon, however, all her former love for her husband returned. She followed him in frantic haste, but when she reached the city, she found Paris's dead body already on the lighted funeral pyre. In her remorse and despair, Oenone threw herself on her husband's lifeless form and died in the flames.

The Trojans were now shut up in their city and closely besieged. But since the third and most difficult condition was still unfulfilled, all efforts to take the city failed. In this emergency, the wise and devoted Odysseus once again came to his comrades' aid. He disfigured himself with self-inflicted wounds, disguised himself as a wretched beggar, and crept into the city to find where the Palladium was kept. He succeeded and was recognized by no one except fair Helen. After Paris's death, she had been given in marriage to his brother Deiphobus. But now that death had taken her lover, Helen's heart had turned longingly toward her native country and her husband Menelaus. Odysseus found in her a most unexpected ally. When he returned to the camp, he called on the valiant Diomedes, and with his help, the dangerous task of stealing the Palladium from its sacred place was accomplished after some difficulty.

Now that all conditions were fulfilled, a council was called to decide on final plans. Epeios, a Greek sculptor who had come with the expedition, was told to build a huge wooden horse large enough to hold a number of able and famous heroes. When it was finished, a band of warriors hid inside. Then the Greek army broke camp and set fire to it, as if, tired of the long ten-year siege, they had given up the enterprise as hopeless.

With Agamemnon and the wise Nestor, the fleet sailed to the island of Tenedos and dropped anchor, waiting anxiously for the torch signal to rush back to the Trojan coast.

DESTRUCTION OF TROY

When the Trojans saw the enemy depart and the Greek camp in flames, they believed themselves safe at last. They streamed out of the city in great numbers to see the place where the Greeks had camped for so long. There they found the gigantic wooden horse and examined it with wonder and curiosity, expressing various opinions about its use. Some thought it was a war engine and wanted to destroy it; others thought it was a sacred idol and proposed bringing it into the city. Two events that now occurred made the Trojans lean toward the latter view.

Chief among those who suspected a trick in this huge device was Laocoon, a priest of Apollo. He had come out of the city with his two young sons and the Trojans to offer a sacrifice to the gods. With all the eloquence he could muster, he urged his countrymen not to trust any gift from the Greeks. He even pierced the side of the horse with a spear he took from a warrior beside him, and the arms of the hidden heroes rattled. The hearts of the brave men inside the horse quailed, and they thought they were lost. But Pallas Athena, who always watched over the Greeks, came to their aid. A miracle occurred to blind and deceive the doomed Trojans, for the fall of Troy was decreed by the gods.

While Laocoon and his two sons stood ready to perform the sacrifice, two enormous serpents suddenly rose out of the sea and made straight for the altar. They first entwined themselves around the tender limbs of the helpless youths, then around their father, who rushed to help them. All three were killed before the horrified crowd. The Trojans naturally interpreted the fate of Laocoon and his sons as a punishment from Zeus for his sacrilege against the wooden horse. They now fully believed that the horse must be consecrated to the gods.

The cunning Odysseus had left behind his trusted friend Sinon with full instructions. Taking on his assigned role, Sinon approached King Priam with bound hands and piteous pleas, claiming that the Greeks, obeying an oracle, had tried to sacrifice him. He said he had escaped and now sought the king's protection.

The kind-hearted king believed his story, released his bonds, assured him of his favor, and asked him to explain the true meaning of the wooden horse. Sinon willingly explained. He told the king that Pallas Athena, who had been the Greeks' hope and support throughout the war, was deeply offended because her sacred image, the Palladium, had been removed from her temple in Troy. She had withdrawn her protection from the Greeks and refused all further help until it was restored. So the Greeks had returned home to seek fresh instructions from an oracle. But before leaving, the seer Calchas had advised them to build this huge wooden horse as a tribute to the offended goddess, hoping to appease her anger. He further explained that the horse had been made so large to prevent it from being brought into the city, so that Athena's favor would not pass to the Trojans.

Hardly had the crafty Sinon finished speaking when the Trojans, with one accord, urged that the wooden horse be brought into the city at once. The gates were too low to let it in, so a breach was made in the walls, and the horse was brought in triumph into the very heart of Troy. Overjoyed at what they thought was a successful end to the war, the Trojans gave themselves over to feasting and revelry.

Amid the universal rejoicing, the unhappy Cassandra, foreseeing the result of bringing the horse into the city, rushed through the streets with wild gestures and disheveled hair, warning her people of the danger. But her eloquent words fell on deaf ears, for it was always the fate of the unfortunate prophetess that her predictions should not be believed.

When the day's excitement was over and the Trojans had retired to rest, all was quiet. In the dead of night, Sinon released the heroes from their voluntary prison. Then the signal was given to the Greek fleet off Tenedos, and the whole army landed again on the Trojan coast in unbroken silence.

Entering the city was now easy, and a terrible slaughter began. The Trojans, awakened from sleep, fought bravely under their leaders but were easily overcome. All their bravest heroes fell, and soon the whole city was in flames.

Priam fell by the hand of Neoptolemus, who killed him as he lay before the altar of Zeus, praying for divine help in that awful hour. The unfortunate Andromache and her young son Astyanax had taken refuge on the top of a tower. The victors found them there and, fearing that Hector's son might one day rise to avenge his father, tore him from her arms and threw him over the battlements.

Only Aeneas, son of Aphrodite and beloved of gods and men, escaped the general slaughter. He fled from the city carrying his son and his old father Anchises on his shoulders. He first took refuge on Mount Ida and later went to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Roman people.

Menelaus now looked for Helen in the royal palace. Since she was immortal, she still had all her former beauty and charm. They were reconciled, and she went with him on his voyage home. Andromache, the widow of brave Hector, was given in marriage to Neoptolemus. Cassandra fell to Agamemnon's share, and Hecuba, the gray-haired widowed queen, was taken by Odysseus.

The vast treasures of the wealthy Trojan king fell into the hands of the Greek heroes. After leveling the city of Troy to the ground, they prepared for their voyage home.