The Story of Troy

by Burn

Its capital was the city of Troy, which stood about three miles from the shore of the ?-ge?an Sea, at the foot of Mount Ida, n

tlement. He was a son of Jupiter, and he came from Sam?o-thrace, one of the many islands of the ?gean Sea. It is said that he escaped from a great flood which swept over his native island, and that he was carried on a raft of wood to the coast of the kingd

ather, cloud-c

, by whom D

re our sacred

lain,-a populo

pon the roots

iany s

Iliad,

By him Troy was built, and it was therefore also called Il?i-um or Il?i-on; hence the title of Homer's great poem,-the Iliad. From the names Dardanus and Teucer the city of Troy has also been sometimes ca

Here he found the people engaged in athletic games, at which the king gave valuable prizes for competition. Ilus took part in a wrestling match, and he won fifty young men and fifty maidens,-a strange sort of prize we may well think, but not at all strange or unusual in ancient times, when there were man

of Mount Ida on a beautiful plain watered by two rivers, and here Ilus encamped for the night. Before going to sleep he prayed to Jupiter to send him a sign that that was the site meant for his city. In the mor

at it had been sent down from heaven, and that the safety of their city depended upon its prese

e world. During the reign of Laomedon, son of Ilus, its mighty walls were erected, which in the next reign withstood for ten years all the assaults of the Greeks. These walls were the work of no human hands. They were built by the ocean

iter was very angry at this. He feared that men might forget him and worship ?sculapius. He therefore hurled a thunderbolt at the great physician and killed him. Enraged at the death of his son, Apollo threatened to destroy the Cyclops, the giant workmen of Vul

pt

Museum,

argain. Apollo had assisted by his powers of music. He played such tunes that he charmed even the huge blocks of stone, so that they moved themselves into their proper places, after Neptune had wrenched them from the mountain sides and ha

t, how, at the m

lengthen'd lab

ed (for such were

ulwarks grew be

s to feed the

's vales and p

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his promise. Apollo, after being restored to heaven, sent a plague upon the city of Tro

rpent from

rrible head ab

d the c

s Mo

efore, a young girl, chosen by lot, was taken down to the seashore and chained to a rock to become the prey of the serpent. And every year the monster came and swallowed up a Trojan maiden, and then went away and troubled the cit

one of those great exploits which made him famous in ancient story. The hero undertook to destroy the serpent, and thus save the princess, on condition that he should receive as a reward certain wonderful horses which Laomedon just then had in his possession. These horses were given to

nymede, mo

ods beheld an

beautiful wa

ve, and ever d

Iliad,

g the serpent. As there was no other way of saving the life of his daughter, Laomedon consented. Hercules then went down to the seashore, bearing in his hand the huge club which he usually carried,

, and with mighty strokes of his club beat the monster to death. Thus was the king's daughter saved and all Troy delivered from a terrible scourge. But when the hero claimed the reward that had been agreed upon, and which he had so well earned, Laomedon a

lve labors" at which he had been set by a Grecian king, whom Jupiter commanded him to serve for a period of years because of an offense he had committed. One of these labors was the killing o

ed to persuade his father to fulfill the engagement with Hercules, for which reason his life was spared. He was made a slave, however, as was done in ancient times with prisoners taken in war. But Hesione ransomed her brother, giving her gold-embroidered veil as the price of his freedom. From this time he was called P

ey had nineteen children, many of whom became famous during the great siege. Their eldest son, Hec?tor, was the bravest of the Trojan heroes. Their son Par?

, but when she received it, she slighted the god and refused to perform her promise. Apollo was enraged at her conduct, yet he could not take back the gift he had bestowed. He decreed, however, that no one should believe or

, and cursed th

ate; but by th

none believed

rg

ents, they made up their minds to sacrifice their own feelings rather than that such a calamity should befall their country. When the child was born, the king, therefore, ordered it to be given to Ar-che-la?us, one of the shepherds of Mount Ida, with instructions to expose it in a place where it might be destroyed by wild beasts. The shepherd, though very unwilling to do so cruel a thing

arly years, not knowing that he was King Priam's

sunny

t his temples

son,

d on the hills. Very happy he was amongst them, and amongst the flocks which his good friend and foster father, Archelaus, gave him to be his own. He was still more happy in the company of the charming nymph ?-no?ne, the daughter of a river god; and he loved her and made her hi

e

will of Jove ha

is and

us Sm

lotho, the youngest, presided over the moment of birth, and held a distaff in her hand; Lachesis spun out the thread of human existence (all