were offering a sacrifice to the gods, in order to start out to the war with their good will, a great miracle happened. A fearful snake crept from under the altar and climbed a tree in which there was a sparrow's nest nearly hidden by the leaves. There were eight young sparrows in the nest, nine birds with the mother. The snake devoured the fluttering little birds, around which the mother circled as if overcome by grief.

Then the snake darted at the mother-bird and swallowed it, when Zeus changed the reptile into a stone. The Greeks wondered at the sight, but the soothsayer, Calchas, said to them: "Why do ye wonder at this? The all-powerful Zeus has sent us this sign because our deeds shall live forever in the minds of men. Just as the snake has devoured the eight little sparrows and their mother, so shall the war swallow up the nine coming years, and in the tenth we shall overcome Troy."

The ships of the Greeks lay in the bays of Aulis while the warriors waited impatiently to set sail. But the winds were contrary; they would not blow, and the boats waited there year after year; for a sacred hind had been slain by Agamemnon, one that belonged to the goddess Artemis, and it was ordered by that goddess that no wind should arise to take them on toward Troy until her wrath had been appeased.

So Agamemnon went to Calchas, the seer, and asked his advice, whereupon the old prophet told him to send for his lovely young daughter, Iphigeneia, and offer her up on the altar as the only acceptable sacrifice to Artemis. When he had placed her upon the altar and the priest was raising his knife, the goddess took pity on Agamemnon and carried the girl away in a cloud, leaving a fine white doe instead.

ODYSSEUS AND MENELAOS PERSUADING AGAMEMNON TO SACRIFICE IPHIGENEIA

And now arose a favorable wind, and the Greeks arrived safely before Troy. How they fought with the Trojans, how many of the heroes outlived the struggle, and how many fell in the battle, all this we can learn from an old book called the "Iliad." We shall select from it only those things which refer to our hero, Odysseus; and to complete the history of that hero we shall go to another book, called the "Odyssey."

Both of these books are the work of the great poet Homer, who lived many years after the war with Troy. That we may understand better what happened later on, we must give a short account of the fall of Troy and of the return of Menelaos and Agamemnon to their own country.

CHAPTER IV

THE FALL OF TROY

The war lasted nine years, and in the tenth the Greeks conquered Troy, not in battle, but by means of a trick which had come into the mind of Odysseus. He told a skilful carpenter to build a wooden horse of gigantic size, and in it he hid the bravest Greek warriors. When he had done this he advised all the other Greeks to depart without leaving anything behind them, and so lead the Trojans to believe that they had given up the fight and gone home.

So the Greeks burned their tents and put off to sea, while the Trojans from their walls watched them with great joy, thinking themselves well rid of an enemy. When the last ship had gone, the Trojans threw open the gates of their city and rushed down into the plain where the Greeks had had their camp, to see how the place looked.

There they found the wooden horse, and one of the Greeks tied to a tree, who told them he was left there as a punishment, and that the wooden horse was an offering to the gods. The Trojans made up their minds to carry it into their city and give it the best place on their highest hill.

Then Laocoön, a priest of Apollo, stepped forth, and said to them: "Unhappy people! what madness possesses you? Do ye think the enemy gone? Do ye know Odysseus so little? There are Greek warriors hidden in this horse, or else some other mischief is lurking there. Fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts."

With these words, he thrust his spear into the flank of the horse, and the arms of the hidden enemy clashed with a loud noise. Just then two snakes of great size, sent by Athena, rose from the sea, and sprang upon Laocoön and his two sons, and, coiling around them, bit them to death. The Trojans, in great fear at the sight, took this as a sign from the gods that the horse was sacred and that they must protect it, and they moved it at once into their city, breaking down a part of their wall to get it in.

Having done this, they gave themselves up to feasting and making merry, without the slightest thought that any evil was in store for them. But when night had come, and all were in a deep sleep, the ships of the Greeks, which had been hiding all the while behind a neighboring island, came back. The warriors who were concealed in the wooden horse sprang out and rushing wildly through the city, slew the Trojans right and left without mercy. From all sides came wailings and groans, and the flames of the burning city rose up to the sky.

A deadly struggle took place between the Trojans and the Greeks. Priam was slain, and Paris and many other heroes. The victory was to the Greeks. Troy fell never to rise again, and the women and children were led off to become slaves to their conquerors.

Thus was destroyed in one night the great and glorious city of Troy, all on account of the crime which Paris had committed against the laws of hospitality.

The trials of the Greeks were not yet at an end. After their victory at Troy they embarked in their ships and started eagerly for their homes. But Zeus prepared a sad fate for them, because Ajax had violently dragged Cassandra, the beautiful daughter of Priam, from the altar of Athena and had made her his slave. Thus many of the leaders perished in the sea far from home, and some were cast on foreign shores to die.

Menelaos was thrown by wind and waves on the island of Crete, and he lost many of the ships on the cliffs. Thence he strayed to the island of Cyprus, noted for its mines; and he roved through other lands until he came to Egypt, where he wandered about for eight years, when he returned to Sparta, taking Helen with him. He became reconciled to his wife, and they lived a quiet life far removed from the enchantments of the wily Aphrodite.

But the saddest fate of all overtook Agamemnon, who met his death in his own house at the hands of his wife and brother.

Agamemnon, without any accident at sea, reached his native land. Full of gratitude, he kissed the earth and wept tears of joy at the thought of meeting his wife and son.

He entered his home with a glad heart, and his faithless wife came to meet him, but she had prepared a hot bath for him, and there he met his death, entangled in a net which she threw over him, for she had not forgotten the loss of her beautiful daughter, Iphigeneia, whom she believed to have been offered up as a sacrifice on the altar of Artemis.

She was assisted in this dreadful deed by her husband's brother, who became ruler over the land, holding sway eight years, when Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, slew him and regained the kingdom.

And now we come to the return of Odysseus, the wisest of the Greeks, who wandered to the remotest part of the earth and learned the customs of many people, and who suffered terrible things by land and sea.

PART II

THE RETURN OF ODYSSEUS TO
HIS OWN COUNTRY

CHAPTER V

ODYSSEUS ON THE ISLAND OF CALYPSO