The Story of Troy

The Story of Troy

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Troy, by Michael
Clarke This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
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Title: The Story of Troy
Author: Michael Clarke
Release Date: February 8, 2006 [EBook #16990]
Language: English
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[Illustration: HEAD OF HOMER.
British Museum.]
ECLECTIC SCHOOL READINGS

THE STORY OF TROY
BY
M. CLARKE
NEW YORK--CINCINNATI--CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK
COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

CONTENTS.
PAGE INTRODUCTION--HOMER, THE FATHER OF POETRY 7
THE GODS AND GODDESSES 11
I. TROY BEFORE THE SIEGE 19
II. THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS 33
III. THE LEAGUE AGAINST TROY 46
IV. BEGINNING OF THE WAR 63
V. THE WRATH OF ACHILLES 76
VI. THE DREAM OF AGAMEMNON 92
VII. THE COMBAT BETWEEN MENELAUS AND PARIS 109
VIII. THE FIRST GREAT BATTLE 124
IX. THE SECOND BATTLE--EXPLOIT OF DIOMEDE AND
ULYSSES 149
X. THE BATTLE AT THE SHIPS--DEATH OF PATROCLUS 166

XI. END OF THE WRATH OF ACHILLES--DEATH OF HECTOR
193
XII. DEATH OF ACHILLES--FALL AND DESTRUCTION OF
TROY 220
XIII. THE GREEK CHIEFS AFTER THE WAR 240

INTRODUCTION.
I. HOMER, THE FATHER OF POETRY.
In this book we are to tell the story of Troy, and particularly of the
famous siege which ended in the total destruction of that renowned city.
It is a story of brave warriors and heroes of 3000 years ago, about
whose exploits the greatest poets and historians of ancient times have
written. Some of the wonderful events of the memorable siege are
related in a celebrated poem called the Ilʹi-ad, written in the Greek
language. The author of this poem was Hoʹmer, who was the author
of another great poem, the Odʹys-sey, which tells of the voyages and
adventures of the Greek hero, U-lysʹses, after the taking of Troy.
Homer has been called the Father of Poetry, because he was the first
and greatest of poets. He lived so long ago that very little is known
about him. We do not even know for a certainty when or where he was
born. It is believed, however, that he lived in the ninth century before
Christ, and that his native place was Smyrʹna, in Asia Minor. But long
after his death several other cities claimed the honor of being his
birthplace.
Seven Grecian cities vied for Homer dead, Through which the living
Homer begged his bread.
LEONIDAS.
It is perhaps not true that Homer was so poor as to be obliged to beg for
his bread; but it is probable that he earned his living by traveling from

city to city through many parts of Greece and Asia Minor, reciting his
poems in the palaces of princes, and at public assemblies. This was one
of the customs of ancient times, when the art of writing was either not
known, or very little practiced. The poets, or bards, of those days
committed their compositions to memory, and repeated them aloud at
gatherings of the people, particularly at festivals and athletic games, of
which the ancient Greeks were very fond. At those games prizes and
rewards were given to the bards as well as to the athletes.
It is said that in the latter part of his life the great poet became blind,
and that this was why he received the name of Homer, which signified
a blind person. The name first given to him, we are told, was
Mel-e-sigʹe-nes, from the river Meʹles, a small stream on the banks
of which his native city of Smyrna was situated.
So little being known of Homer's life, there has been much difference
of opinion about him among learned men. Many have believed that
Homer never existed. Others have thought that the Iliad and Odyssey
were composed not by one author, but by several. "Some," says the
English poet, Walter Savage Landor, "tell us that there were twenty
Homers, some deny that there was ever one." Those who believe that
there were "twenty Homers" think that different parts of the two great
poems--the Iliad and Odyssey--were composed by different persons,
and that all the parts were afterwards put together in the form in which
they now appear. The opinion of most scholars at present, however, is
that Homer did really exist, that he was a wandering bard, or minstrel,
who sang or recited verses or ballads composed by himself, about the
great deeds of heroes and warriors, and that those ballads, collected and