The Story of Troy Part 6

"Let us consult some prophet or priest who will tell us why Phbus Apollo is so much enraged with us, and whether he may, when we shall have offered sacrifices upon his altar, take away this pestilence which is destroying our people."

Then Calchas, the soothsayer, arose and said:

"O Achilles, I can tell why the G.o.d is wroth against us, and willing I am to tell it, but perhaps I may irritate the king who rules over all the Argives, and in his anger he may do evil to me. Promise me, therefore, your protection, and I will declare why this plague has come upon the Greeks."

"Fear nothing, O Calchas," answered Achilles. "While I am alive not one of all the Greeks, not even Agamemnon himself, shall harm you."

"Fear nothing, but speak boldly out whate'er Thou knowest, and declare the will of heaven.

For by Apollo, dear to Jove, whom thou, Calchas, dost pray to, when thou givest forth The sacred oracles to men of Greece, No man, while yet I live, and see the light Of day, shall lay a violent hand on thee."

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.

Thus encouraged, Calchas announced to the chiefs that Apollo was angry because his priest had been dishonored and insulted by Agamemnon. This was why the people were perishing, and the wrath of the G.o.d could be appeased only by restoring Chryseis to her father, and sending a hundred victims to be offered in sacrifice to the G.o.d. Upon hearing these words Agamemnon was filled with anger against Calchas.

"Prophet of evil," he exclaimed, "never have you spoken anything good for me. And now you say I must give up the maiden. I shall do so, since I wish not the destruction of the people, but another I must have, for it is not fitting that I alone of all the Argives shall be without a prize."

To this Achilles answered that there was no prize just then that Agamemnon could have. "How can we give you a prize," said he, "since all the spoils have already been divided? We cannot ask the people to return what has been given to them. Be satisfied then to let the maiden go. When we have taken the strong city of Troy we will compensate you fourfold."

"Not so," replied Agamemnon. "If the Greeks give me a suitable prize, I shall be content, but if not, I will seize yours or that of Ajax or Ulysses. This matter, however, we will attend to afterwards. For the present let the maid be sent back to her father, that the wrath of the Far-darter may be appeased."

At this Achilles was very angry, and he said:

"Impudent and greedy man, how can the Greeks fight bravely under your command? As for me, I did not come here to make war against the Trojans because of any quarrel of my own. The Trojans have done no wrong to me.

It is to get satisfaction for your brother we have come here in our ships, and we do most of the fighting while to you is given most of the spoils. But now I will return home to Phthia. Perhaps you will then have little treasure to share."

Greatly enraged at this speech, Agamemnon replied in wrathful words: "Go home, by all means, with your ships and your Myrmidons. Other chiefs there are here who will honor me, and I care not for your anger."

"Thus, in turn, I threaten thee; since Phbus takes away Chryseis, I will send her in my ship And with my friends, and, coming to thy tent, Will bear away the fair-cheeked maid, thy prize, Briseis, that thou learn how far I stand Above thee, and that other chiefs may fear To measure strength with me, and brave my power."

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.

Furious at this threat, Achilles put his hand to his sword with the intention of slaying Agamemnon, and he had half drawn the weapon from its scabbard, but just at that moment the G.o.ddess Minerva stood behind him and caught him by his yellow hair. She had been sent down from heaven by Juno to pacify the hero, for Juno and Minerva were friendly to the Greeks. Ever since the judgment on Mount Ida they hated Paris, and the city and country to which he belonged, and therefore they wished that there should be no strife amongst the Greek chiefs, which would prevent them from taking and destroying the hated city.

Achilles was astonished when he beheld the G.o.ddess, who appeared to him alone, being invisible to all the rest. He instantly knew who she was, and he said to her: "O G.o.ddess, have you come to witness the insolence of the son of Atreus? You shall also witness the punishment I shall inflict upon him for his haughtiness."

But Minerva spoke soothing words to the hero:

"I came from heaven to pacify thy wrath, If thou wilt heed my counsel. I am sent By Juno the white-armed, to whom ye both Are dear, who ever watches o'er you both.

Refrain from violence; let not thy hand Unsheath the sword, but utter with thy tongue Reproaches, as occasion may arise, For I declare what time shall bring to pa.s.s; Threefold amends shall yet be offered thee, In gifts of princely cost, for this day's wrong.

Now calm thy angry spirit, and obey."

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.

Thus Minerva spoke, and Achilles, answering her, said: "Willingly, O G.o.ddess, shall I observe your command, though in my soul much enraged, for so it is better, since the G.o.ds are ever favorable to those who obey them."

So speaking he put his sword back into its scabbard, while the G.o.ddess swiftly returned to Olympus. Then the hero again addressed Agamemnon in bitter words, and he took a solemn oath on the scepter he held in his hand, that he would refuse to help the Greeks when they next should seek his aid for battle with the Trojans.

"Tremendous oath! inviolate to kings; By this I swear:--when bleeding Greece again Shall call Achilles, she shall call in vain."

POPE, _Iliad_, Book I.

The venerable Nestor then arose to speak, and he begged the two chiefs to cease quarreling with each other, for the Trojans, he said, would greatly rejoice to hear of strife between the bravest men of the Greeks.

He advised Achilles, though of a G.o.ddess-mother born, not to contend against his superior in authority, and he entreated Agamemnon not to dishonor Achilles, the bulwark of the Greeks, by taking away the prize which had been allotted to him.

"Forbid it, G.o.ds! Achilles should be lost, The pride of Greece, and bulwark of our host."

POPE, _Iliad_, Book I.

But the wise Nestor advised and entreated in vain. Agamemnon would not yield from his purpose of taking away the prize of Achilles, and so the council of the chiefs came to an end.

Rising from that strife of words, the twain Dissolved the a.s.sembly at the Grecian fleet.

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ACHILLES DEPRIVED OF BRISEIS.

_Drawn by Hubbell._]

Immediately afterwards, by order of the king, the maiden Chryseis was conducted to her father's home, and sacrifices were offered to Apollo.

The anger of the G.o.d being thus appeased, the army was relieved from the plague. Then Agamemnon proceeded to carry out his threat against Achilles. Calling two of his officers, or heralds, Tal-thyb'i-us and Eu-ryb'a-tes, he commanded them thus:

"Go ye to where Achilles holds his tent, And take the fair Briseis by the hand, And bring her hither. If he yield her not, I shall come forth to claim her with a band Of warriors, and it shall be worse for him."

BRYANT, _Iliad_, Book I.

Achilles received the heralds respectfully. He had no blame for them, since they were but messengers. Nor did he refuse to obey the command of the king. He delivered Briseis to the heralds, and they conducted her to the tent of Agamemnon. Thus was committed the deed which brought countless woes upon the Greeks, for Achilles, in deep grief and anger, vowed that he would no more lead his Myrmidons to battle for a king who had so dishonored and insulted him.

"Let these heralds," said he, "be the witnesses before G.o.ds and men of the insult offered to me by this tyrant king, and when there shall be need of me again to save the Greeks from destruction, appeal to me shall be in vain."

Such was the origin of the wrath of Achilles, which is the subject of Homer's Iliad. The Iliad is not a complete story of the Trojan War, but an account of the disasters which happened to the Greeks through the anger of Achilles. The poem, indeed, relates the events of only fifty-eight days, but they were events of the highest interest and they were very numerous. It is remarked by Pope that the subject of the Iliad is the shortest and most single ever chosen by any poet. Yet Homer has supplied a vaster variety of incidents, a greater number of councils, speeches, battles, and events of all kinds, than are to be found in any other poem.

The Iliad begins with the wrath of Achilles, which in the first line of the first book is announced as the poet's theme:

Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring Of woes unnumber'd, heavenly G.o.ddess, sing!

That wrath which hurl'd to Pluto's gloomy reign The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain; Whose limbs unburied on the naked sh.o.r.e, Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore: Since great Achilles and Atrides strove, Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove!

POPE, _Iliad_, Book I.

The heavenly G.o.ddess here invoked was Calli'ope, the patroness of epic song, and one of the nine Muses. These were sister deities, daughters of Jupiter, who presided over poetry, science, music, and dancing. Apollo, as G.o.d of music and the fine arts, was their leader. They held their meetings on the top of Mount Par-nas'sus in Greece. On the slope of this mount was the celebrated spring or fountain of Cas-ta'li-a, whose waters were supposed to give the true poetic spirit to all who drank of them.

The epic poets usually began their poems by invoking the aid of the Muse. Homer does this in the very first line of the Iliad, the word for word translation of which is: "O G.o.ddess, sing the wrath of Achilles, the son of Peleus."

So also the English poet, Milton, begins his great epic poem, "Paradise Lost," which tells about the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden:

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, _Sing, heavenly Muse_, that, on the secret top Of Oreb or of Sinai, didst inspire That shepherd who first taught the chosen seed In the beginning how the heavens and earth Rose out of Chaos; or, if Sion hill Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd Fast by the oracle of G.o.d, _I thence_ _Invoke thy aid_ to my advent'rous song.