THE·PLIMPTON·PRESS
[W·D·O]
NORWOOD·MASS·U·S·A
Translator’s Preface
In tracing the career of Achilles in connection with the Trojan war, that inimitable classic story-teller, Carl Friedrich Becker, follows the lines of Homer’s Iliad. He gives the reader a graphic picture of the stirring events in the ten years’ siege maintained by the Greeks, under the leadership of Agamemnon, king of Mycenæ, in their finally successful effort to redress the injury done to Menelaus, king of Sparta, whose wife, Helen, was carried off by Paris. The striking points in this thrilling narrative are the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles; the exploits of Hector, noblest character of them all; the human impersonations of the gods, who take part in the strife—some on one side, some on the other; the death of Patroclus; the final reconciliation of Achilles and Agamemnon and the former’s tremendous exploits; the death of Hector, and the touching interview with the aged Priam, who seeks to recover his body.
The ultimate fate of Achilles and the fall of the city are not told, nor the wretched end of Agamemnon, who, according to Æschylus, was killed by Clytemnestra, the queen, upon his return. Hector is one of the most conspicuous figures in this great drama and appears only second to Achilles among all the warriors. The exciting Trojan war story has never been told more graphically or interestingly in modern prose than in Becker’s version. In adapting it to the series of “Life Stories” the translator has been obliged to abridge the original work somewhat, but the parts omitted do not interfere with the flow of the story.
G. P. U.
Chicago, May, 1912.
Contents
Chapter Page I [The Greeks March Against Troy—Agamemnon Quarrels with Achilles] 11 II [Thetis Promises to Aid the Angry Achilles and Begs Jupiter’s Assistance—Juno is Angry—Agamemnon and the Other Princes Summon the Greeks to Battle] 21 III [Meeting of the Armies—Menelaus and Paris—Agamemnon Leads the Greeks into Battle] 28 IV [Continuation of the Battle—The Gods Take Part] 38 V [The Greeks are Successful—Hector Hastens to the City—Glaucus and Diomedes, Hector and Andromache] 46 VI [Hector and Ajax in Single Combat—A Truce—Another Battle at the Ships] 53 VII [Agamemnon Advises Flight—Council of the Princes—A Deputation is Sent to Achilles] 63 VIII [Agamemnon in Battle—Many of the Greeks are Wounded] 71 IX [Agamemnon Consoled—The Gods Take Part in the Strife and the Trojans are Driven Back] 82 X [Jupiter’s Message to Poseidon—The Battle for the Ships] 90 XI [Patroclus Hastens into Battle and Scatters the Trojans—Hector and Patroclus] 97 XII [The Fight for Patroclus’ Body—Achilles Mourns His Fallen Friend—Thetis and Vulcan—The Shield of Achilles] 104 XIII [Achilles and Agamemnon Become Reconciled—Achilles Goes into Battle] 115 XIV [Achilles in Battle—His Fight on the River Scamander] 120 XV [Hector and Achilles—Hector’s Death] 131 XVI [Priam and Achilles—Hector’s Burial in Troy] 139
Illustrations
[Death of Hector]Frontispiece [Rescue of Paris by Aphrodite]34 [Thetis Consoling Achilles]110