The end of Troy
The Greeks made a great and honorable mourning for Patroclus, while the body of Hector was shamefully treated. Zeus sent for Thetis and said to her: “Bid your son to give up the body of Hector for ransom; it angers me to see him dishonor the dead.”
So Thetis went to Achilles and said: “It is the will of Zeus that you give up the body of Hector for ransom.” And Achilles said: “Let it be so, if the gods will have it.”
Zeus sent his messenger Iris to King Priam, who was weeping. Iris said to him: “I come from Zeus. He bids you take precious gifts to buy back the body of your son Hector from Achilles.”
Priam caused precious things to be put into a wagon. Then Priam went to Achilles’ tent, where Achilles, who had just ended his meal, sat at the table. Priam kissed Achilles’ hands, yea, the very hands that had slain so many of his sons. Priam said: “Have pity on me, Achilles, thinking of your own father. He is old as I am, yet it goes well with him, so long as he knows that you are alive. As for me, I am altogether miserable. Many sons have I lost, and now the best of them is dead, and I kiss the hands that slew him.”
Achilles was moved with pity and he wept, thinking of his own father and of Patroclus. He said: “How did you dare to come to my tent, old man? Surely you must have a heart of iron. But come, sit and eat and drink; for this a man must do, for all the sorrows that come upon him.”
But King Priam said: “Ask me not to eat and drink while my son lies unburied and without honor. Rather take the gifts that I have brought with which to ransom him.”
Achilles frowned and said: “Vex me not; I am minded to give back the body of Hector, but let me go my own way.” Priam held his peace, for he feared to rouse the anger of Achilles. Achilles went forth from the tent and two companions with him. First they took the gifts from the wagon; only they left two cloaks and a tunic wherewith to cover the dead. And Achilles bade the women wash and anoint Hector’s body, only that they should do this apart from the tent, lest Priam should see his son and lament aloud when the body was washed and anointed. Achilles himself lifted Hector and put his body in the wagon.
When all was finished, Achilles cried to his dead friend, saying: “Be not angry, Patroclus, that I have given the body of Hector to his father. He has given a noble ransom, and of this you shall have your share.”
Achilles went back to his tent and said: “Your son is ransomed, and to-morrow shall you see him and take him back to Troy. But now let us eat and drink.” But when this had ended they sat and looked at each other, and Achilles wondered at King Priam, so noble was he to behold, and Priam wondered to see how strong and how fair was Achilles.
Then Priam said: “Let me sleep, Achilles, for I have not slept since my son was slain.” So they made up for him a bed, but not in the tent, lest, perhaps, one of the chiefs should come in and see him. But before he slept, Priam said: “Let there be a truce for nine days between the Greeks and the Trojans, that we may bury Hector.” And Achilles said: “It shall be so; I will stay the war for so long.”
But when the king slept, Hermes the herald came to him and said: “Do not sleep among your enemies, O Priam. Awake and depart, for although Achilles has taken ransom for Hector, what might your sons have to pay for you if the Greeks should find you in the camp?”
So the old man rose up. And the wise herald yoked the mules to the wagon and the horses to the chariot. They passed through the camp of the Greeks, no man knowing, and came safe to the city of Troy.
On the ninth day the King and his people made a great burying for Hector, such as had never been seen in the land of Troy.
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After these things came Memnon, a warrior who men said was the son of Morning. He slew Antilochus, son of Nestor, and was himself slain by Achilles. Not many days afterward, Achilles himself was slain. It was by an arrow from the bow of Paris that he was killed, but Apollo guided the arrow.
Yet Troy was not taken. Then Helenus, the seer, having been taken prisoner by Ulysses, said: “You cannot take the city till you bring the man who has the arrows of Hercules.” So they fetched the man, and he killed many Trojans with the arrows. Among them was Paris, who was the cause of all this trouble.
Last of all, the Greeks devised a plan. Some of the bravest of the chiefs hid themselves in a great horse of wood, and the rest made a pretense of going away, but went no further than to an island nearby. When the Trojans had dragged the wooden horse into the city, thinking it was an offering to the gods of the city, the Greek chiefs let themselves out of the horse by night, and opened the city gates for the other Greeks who had been waiting nearby. Together they conquered the city of Troy in the tenth year from the beginning of the siege.
THE END