CHAPTER XXIV. HOUSES CONCERNED IN THE TROJAN WAR. § 165. Three Houses Concerned. Before entering upon the causes of the war against Troy, we must notice the three Grecian families that were principally concerned, — those of Peleus, Atreus, and Tyndareus. § 165 a. Peleus1 was the son of Æacus and grandson of Jove. It was for his father Æacus, king of Phthia in Thessaly, that, as we have seen, an army of Myrmidons was created by Jupiter. Peleus joined the expedition of the Argonauts; and on that journey beheld and fell in love with the sea-nymph Thetis, daughter of Nereus and Doris. Such was the beauty of the nymph that Jupiter himself had sought her in marriage; but having learned from Prometheus, the Titan, that Thetis should bear a son who should be greater than his father, the Olympian desisted from his suit, and decreed that Thetis should be the wife of a mortal. By the aid of Chiron, the Centaur, Peleus succeeded in winning the goddess for his bride. In this marriage to be productive of momentous results for mortals, the immortals manifested a lively interest. They thronged with the Thessalians to the wedding in Pharsalia ; they honored the wedding feast with their presence, and reclining on ivory couches, gave ear while the three Sisters of Fate, in responsive strain, chanted the fortunes of Achilles, the future hero of the Trojan War, the son that should spring from this union of a goddess with a mortal. The following is from a translation of the famous poem, The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis : 1 Ovid, Metam. 11:221-265; Catullus, LXIV.; Hygin. Fab. 14; Apollon. Rhod., Argon. 1: 558; Val. Flaccus, Argon.; Statius, Achilleid. Now, on the day foreset, Aurora forsaking the ocean1 Fares to the royal seat, in populous muster exultant, Bright is the palace, though, through far retreating recesses On this coverlet of purple were embroidered various scenes illustrating the lessons of heroism and justice that the poet would inculcate to the good falleth good; to the evil, evil speedily. Therefore, the story of Theseus and Ariadne, which has already been recounted, was here displayed in cunning handiwork. For, Theseus, the false lover, bold of hand but bad of heart, gained by retributive justice undying ruth and misery; whereas Ariadne, the injured and innocent, restored to happiness, won no less a reward than Bacchus himself. Gorgeously woven with such antique and heroic figures was the famous quilt upon the couch of Thetis. For a season the wedding guests feasted their eyes upon it: Then when Thessaly's youth, long gazing, had of the wonder 1 Catullus, LXIV. From The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis : translated into hexameters, by Charles Mills Gayley. Roughens the placid deep with eager breath of the morning, Now when they were aloof, drew nigh from Pelion's summit Bore he. Flattered with odors the whole house brake into laughter. Tempe embowered deep mid superimpendent forests. And after the river-god, who bore with him nodding plane-trees and lofty beeches, straight slim laurels, the lithe poplars, and the airy cypress to plant about the palace that thick foliage might give it shade, followed Prometheus, the bold and cunning of heart, wearing still the marks of his ancient punishment on the rocks of Caucasus. Finally the father of the gods himself came, with his holy spouse and his offspring, -all, save Phoebus and his one sister, who naturally looked askance upon a union to be productive of untold misfortune to their favored town of Troy. ... When now the gods had reclined their limbs on the ivory couches, - Lo, each tremulous frame was wrapped in robe of a whiteness, Down to the ankles that fell, with nethermost border of purple, While on ambrosial brows there rested fillets like snowflakes. They, at a task eternal their hands religiously plying, Held in the left on high, with wool enfolded, a distaff, Delicate fibres wherefrom, drawn down, were shaped by the right hand Still, as they span, as they span, was the tooth kept nipping and smoothing, "Thou that exaltest renown of thy name with the name of thy valor, Bulwark Emathian, blest above sires in the offspring of promise, Hear with thine ears this day what oracles fall from the Sisters Chanting the fates for thee; - but you, ye destiny-drawing Spindles, hasten the threads of the destinies set for the future! "Rideth the orb on high that heraldeth boon to the bridegroom Hesperus, - cometh anon with star propitious the virgin, Speedeth thy soul to subdue — submerge it with love at the flood-tide. Hasten, ye spindles, and run, yea, gallop, ye thread-running spindles ! 66 'Erstwhile, never a home hath roofed like generous loving, Never before hath Love conjoinèd lovers so nearly, Never with harmony such as endureth for Thetis and Peleus. Hasten, ye spindles, and run, yea, gallop, ye thread-running spindles! "Born unto you shall be the undaunted heart of Achilles, Aye, by his brave breast known, unknown by his back to the foeman, Victor in onslaught, victor in devious reach of the race-course, Fleeter of foot than feet of the stag that lighten and vanish, Hasten, ye spindles, and run, yea, gallop, ye thread-running spindles!" So the sisters prophesied the future of the hero, Achilles. How by him the Trojans should fall, as fall the ears of corn when they are yellow before the scythe, how because of him Scamander should run red, warm with blood, choked with blind bodies, into the whirling Hellespont; how finally he, himself, in his prime, should fall, and how on his tomb should be sacrificed the fair Polyxena, daughter of Priam, whom he had loved. "So," says Catullus, "sang the Fates. For those were the days before piety and righteous action were spurned by mankind, the days when Jupiter and his immortals deigned to consort with zealous man, to enjoy the sweet odor of his burnt-offering, to march beside him to battle, to swell his shout in victory and his lament in defeat, to smile on his peaceful harvests, to recline at his banquets, and to bless the weddings of fair women and goodly heroes. But now, alas," concludes Catullus, "godliness and chastity, truth, wisdom, and honor have departed from among men": Wherefore the gods no more vouchsafe their presence to mortals, § 165 b. Atreus was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia and grandson of Tantalus, therefore great-grandson of Jove. Both by blood and by marriage he was connected with Theseus. He took to wife Aërope, granddaughter of Minos II., king of Crete, and by her had two sons, Agamemnon, the general of the Grecian army in the Trojan War, and Menelaüs, at whose solicitation the war was undertaken. Of Atreus it may be said that with cannibal atrocity like that of his grandsire, Tantalus, he on one occasion wreaked his vengeance on a brother, Thyestes, by causing him to eat the flesh of two of his own children. A son of this Thyestes, Ægisthus by name, revived, in due time, against Agamemnon the treacherous feud that had existed between their fathers. § 165 c. Tyndareus was king of Lacedæmon (Sparta). His wife was Leda, daughter of Thestius of Calydon, and sister of Althæa, the mother of Meleager and Dejanira. To Tyndareus Leda bore Castor and Clytemnestra; to Jove she bore Pollux and Helen. The two former were mortal; the two latter, immortal. Clytemnestra was married to Agamemnon of Mycenae, to whom she bore three children, Electra, Iphigenia, and Orestes. Helen, the fair immediate cause of the Trojan War, became the wife of Menelaüs, who with her obtained the kingdom of Sparta. § 166. Castor and Pollux are mentioned here because of their kinship with Helen. They had, however, disappeared from earth |