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How the Oath Was Broken
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The Iliad for Boys and Girls |
by Alfred J. Church |
Vigorous retelling of Homer's Iliad, relating the incidents of the great siege of Troy, from the quarrel of the chiefs to the ransoming of Hector's body. Ages 8-12 | 172 pages |
$9.95 |
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HOW THE OATH WAS BROKEN
[53] NOW, if the Trojans had kept the promise
which they made, confirming it with
an oath, it would have been well with
them. But it was not to be. And this
is how it came to pass that the oath was
broken and the promise not kept.
Among the chiefs who came from the
countries round about to help King Priam
and the Trojans there was a certain
Pandărus, son of the King of Lycia. He
was a great archer, and could shoot an
arrow as far and with as good an aim
as any man in the army. To this
Pandărus, as he stood waiting for what
should next happen, there came a youth,
a son of King Priam. Such indeed,
he seemed to be, but in truth the
goddess Athené had taken his
shape,
for she and, as has been before said,
the goddess Hera hated the city of
Troy, and desired to bring it to ruin.
[54] The false Trojan came up to Pandărus, as
he stood among his men, and said to
him: "Prince of Lycia, dare you to
shoot an arrow at Menelaüs? Truly
the Trojans would love you well, and
Paris best of all, if they could see
Menelaüs killed with an arrow from
your bow. Shoot at him as he
stands, not thinking of any danger, but
first vow to sacrifice a hundred
beasts to Zeus, so soon as you shall
get back to your own country."
Pandărus had a bow made out of the
horns of a wild goat which he had
killed. It was four feet long from end
to end, and on each end there was a
tip of gold on which the bow-string was
fixed. While he was stringing his
bow, his men stood round and hid him;
and when he had strung it, he took an
arrow from his quiver, and laid it on
the string, and drew back the string
till it touched his breast, and then let
the arrow fly.
But though none of the Greeks saw what
Pandărus was doing, Athené saw
it, and she flew to where Menelaüs
stood, and kept the arrow from doing
him deadly hurt. She
[55] would not ward it off altogether, for
she knew that the Greeks would be
angry to see the King whom they loved so
treacherously wounded, and would
have no peace with the Trojans. So she
guided it to where there was a space
between the belt and the breastplate.
There it struck the King, passing
through the edge of the belt and through
the garment that was under the belt
and piercing the skin; and the red
blood gushed out, and dyed the thighs
and the legs and the ankles of the King,
as a woman dyes a piece of white
ivory to make an ornament for a king's
war-horse.
Now Agamemnon was standing near, and
when he saw the blood gush out he
cried: "Oh, my brother, it was a
foolish thing that I did, when I made a
covenant with the Trojans, for they are
wicked men and break their oaths. I
know that they who do such things will
suffer for them. Sooner or later the
man who breaks his oath will perish
miserably. Nevertheless, it will be a
great shame and sorrow if you, my
brother, should be killed in this way.
For the Greeks will go to their homes
saying: 'Why should we
[56] fight any more for Menelaüs, seeing
that he is dead?' And the Fair
Helen for whom we have been fighting
these many years will be left behind;
and one of these false Trojans will say
when he sees the tomb of
Menelaüs: 'Surely the great
Agamemnon has not got that for which he
came. For he brought a great army to
destroy the city of Troy, but Troy
still stands, and he and his army have
gone back: only he has left his
brother behind him.' "
But Menelaüs said: "Do not trouble
yourself, my brother, for the wound
is not deep. See here is the barb of
the arrow."
Then King Agamemnon commanded that they
should fetch Machāon, the great
physician. So Machāon came, and drew
the arrow out of the wound, and wiped
away the blood, and put healing drugs
upon the place, which took away all
the pain.
After this King Agamemnon went through
the army to see that it was ready for
battle. When he found any one
bestirring himself, putting his men in
order,
and doing such things as it was his duty
to do, him he praised; and if he
saw any one idle and slow to move,
[57] him he rebuked. When all was ready,
then the host went forward. In silence
it went; but the Trojans, on the other
hand, were as noisy as a flock of
sheep, which bleats when they hear the
voice of the lambs.
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