palace
Palamedes and Odysseus rushed to the palace through starry night to meet the great hero Peleus.
It was already nighttime, drizzle was drifting down in the breeze, and lamps were lit in the palace. Odysseus stood in front of the door, staring at the palace. There were crowds of people inside, a warrior reported, and two foreign princes asked to see him.
Peleus immediately gave orders to come in.
The servants came out to unload the sweaty horses and led them into the stable. The manger was filled with oats and hay, and the carriage was also taken into the shed.
The two guests were invited into the palace, bathed in warm water, washed away the dust, refreshed, and introduced to Peleus.
Odysseus walked into the hall and saw a row of soft chairs covered with cushions. The nobles were sitting here having a banquet, surrounded by bronze statues, holding torches in their hands. A merchant was saluting Peleus and then retreated. When they got out, neither of them took it seriously and passed by each other.
At the beginning of the banquet, a sacrificial ceremony was held to the gods, which was to toast the glass and pour it on the ground. After the ceremony was completed, Peleus said gently: "Two distinguished guests, please take a seat!"
Peleus is one of the Argonauts, the husband of the sea goddess Thetis, the grandson of Zeus, and the son of Aeacus. At this time, he looks like he has white hair.
There was a banquet of delicious food, fruits, and fine wine, with dancers dancing, troubadours singing poems, and noble warriors performing sword skills.
But none of this attracted the attention of Palamedes and Odysseus, who had been paying attention to Peleus's reaction since the beginning of the banquet.
When the two of them saw that Peleus was only entertaining people for food, drink and fun, without mentioning anything about the Greek coalition, they immediately knew that inviting Peleus to attack Troy this time was a bit risky.
Peleus was also observing Palamedes and Odysseus throughout the banquet. Thinking of the message from the merchant, he slowly spoke: "Prince Palamedes, King Odysseus, your I already know the purpose of coming, but I am old and cannot participate in the war."
Palamedes stood up and said: "But you have also drunk the banquet of Helen and Menelaus, and you have sworn and made promises. If anyone destroys Helen and Menelaus, marriage, we will fight against him together."
Odysseus immediately felt Palamedes' "outrageousness" again, and smiled to himself, but said nothing, watching Peleus's reaction.
"Yes, I once swore such an oath, but I am old, and even if I want to go, I am unable to do so. I believe the gods will forgive me." Perhaps it is because Palamedes is from the island of Euboea. Prince, this is the second largest island in Greece and can be called a big country, so Peleus was very polite. Seeing that Palamedes wanted to speak again, Peleus raised his right hand slightly, indicating that he would wait a moment and continued: "I I had a son who could take my place in the war, but he disappeared when he was nine years old. I asked the oracle to tell him that he was still alive, but I couldn't find him anywhere."
Achilles was the son of the Argonaut Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis. When he was born, the goddess mother also wanted to make him a god. She carried Peleus on her back at night and immersed his son in the River Styx. , during the day, she used the magic medicine to cure her son.
She did this for several nights, and once, Peleus peeped in and screamed in fear when he saw his son convulsing in the River Styx.
This hindered Thetis from completing her secret mission. She sadly abandoned her son and refused to return to the palace. Instead, she hid in the Ocean Kingdom and lived with the fairy Nereides.
Peleus thought his son was seriously injured and sent him to the famous doctor Chiron.
The centaur Chiron was a wise Centaurus who took in and raised many heroes. He kindly adopted the child and fed him lion liver, pig gallbladder, and bear marrow.
When Achilles was nine years old, the Greek prophet Calchas predicted that the future city of Troy would not be captured without the participation of Peleus's son in the war.
Achilles' mother heard about this prophecy and knew that her son's life would be sacrificed in this battle. So she quickly surfaced, sneaked into her husband's palace, dressed her son in girl's clothes, and sent him to the island of Scyros. , to King Lycomedes.
This is why Achilles disappeared when he was nine years old, and why Peleus searched for him but disappeared.
Peleus finally sighed: "Prince Palamedes, King Odysseus, if I have a son, he can go to the war in my place."
When Palamedes and Odysseus heard what Peleus said, they knew that it was useless to say anything. The most urgent thing was to find Peleus's son Achilles.
After Palamedes and Odysseus said goodbye to Peleus, they came out of the palace of Peleus and went directly to find the Greek prophet Calchas.
Calchas was a great Greek prophet. Many of the predictions he made were extremely accurate. Everyone believed in his predictions and considered him a messenger of God.
The two trekked and found Calcas' residence. Just as they were about to enter the mansion through the main entrance, they saw a veiled woman coming out of Calcas' residence.
"This woman is not a mortal." Odysseus thought to himself as he carefully felt the aura emanating from the mysterious woman.
After the woman walked away, the two met the Greek prophet Calchas.
Calkas saw the two people coming hand in hand, invited them to sit down, and said with regret: "You are here to ask about the whereabouts of Prince Achilles, right? Unfortunately, the war started too quickly, Achilles He is not yet fifteen years old and cannot participate in the war."
"But you once said that to attack Troy, Achilles must participate in the battle, otherwise Troy will not be captured." Palamedes said.
"I said that Achilles must participate in the attack on Troy, but he is too young. Maybe it will take a few years until he reaches the age of fifteen before he can be invited to participate."
"The war is progressing too fast." Calchas murmured, which was exactly the same as what Odysseus said that day. Odysseus smiled: "You also think the war is progressing too fast? I think so too. , Logically speaking, the war will not break out until a few years, and Achilles will be able to participate in the war at that time, but for some unknown reason, everything has been advanced."
"Perhaps the gods felt that development was too slow, so they accelerated the war process. It is not up to us mortals to speculate on the gods' decisions." Kalkas said.
Odysseus nodded, agreeing with Calchas' statement.
"In other words, in the war against Troy, without the participation of Achilles, our coalition forces will not be able to capture Troy. Doesn't it mean that the war will last for several years?" Palamedes asked, he always thought that , the Greeks are so powerful that they can finish the battle and go home in a few months.
"Prince Palamedes, this Trojan War has been going on for many years. Achilles' participation in the war a few years later will have little impact." Calchas said.
"Oh? It's going to last for such a long time. Is there any better way to end the war as soon as possible?" Palamedes raised his eyebrows. He was surprised. It was the first time he heard that this war would last for a long time.
Last time, Hercules gathered a small group of people and defeated Troy.
"I didn't notice it." Calkas wiped his cold sweat regretfully and said, "Now, let's go to Oris first."
He also wants to end the war as soon as possible, but all this is arranged by the gods. He is a prophet and knows more secrets, but he cannot tell outsiders.
Odysseus seemed to know something inside. He interrupted Palamedes' questioning and said, "That's fine. Let's go to Auris first. We will find out when we go there."
Calchas glanced at Odysseus gratefully. He really didn't know how to answer Palamedes' question, but fortunately Odysseus came to his rescue in time.
The three of them rushed to Oris in a warship.
port auris
At this time, many heroes have led fleets to come. The port of Auris is full of warships, and there is a steady stream of heroes leading warships to the port of Auris.
Odysseus and the three men rushed to the port of Auris after a long journey. They were overjoyed to see the unprecedentedly prosperous port of Auris. They did not expect that so many heroes had responded to the call.
Seeing the scene in front of him, Palamedes became more confident in the battle against Troy. He believed that even without Achilles' participation in the battle, it would be a matter of time to capture Troy.
No matter how strong the walls of Troy were, they could not stop the attack of so many coalition forces.
Odysseus, Palamedes, and Calchas quickly arrived in the hall and participated in the meeting of heroes and princes. After watching for a while, they loudly said: "Everyone, Paris, the prince of Troy, blatantly kidnapped Queen Helen of Sparta. , and bloodbathed the palace, which is a provocation to us as a whole in Greece."
"Paris made all of us Greeks lose face and suffered unprecedented humiliation. But even if Paris did something outrageous, we must be polite before fighting. We should send envoys to condemn Troy and protest to King Priam."
"In this way, we can send troops in line with God's will."
"Besides, our war preparations will also take a certain amount of time. Many princes have not arrived yet!"
As soon as Odysseus finished speaking, there was a heated discussion. The focus of the discussion was not to condemn Troy, but to argue over who to send.
"I think what Odysseus said is good. We should send an envoy to condemn Troy. I recommend Odysseus to be the envoy to Troy this time."
"Well, I think Palamedes is quite suitable for sending an envoy to Troy. As we all know, Palamedes is quite good at diplomacy.
"How could Menelaus be missing from this mission to Troy? There is no one more suitable than him to go to Troy."
Everyone had a heated discussion, and some even recommended King Menastheus of Athens to go as an envoy to Troy. Paris lived in Athens for a while and had a good relationship with Menastheus.
After a fierce quarrel, everyone's views gradually converged, and finally everyone elected Palamedes, Odysseus and Menelaus as envoys.
"Palmedes, Odysseus, Menelaus, I hope you will fulfill your mission, severely condemn Troy, and ask King Priam to hand over Paris." Agamemnon said fiercely. He emphasized the tone of each word and said: "Palmades, when the meeting is over, come to my place."
The messenger is sent to express his righteousness, but he does not want to achieve a truly peaceful solution. Therefore, the tone and conditions of the messenger are critical.
Go ahead and humiliate Troy!
If you really wanted to solve the problem peacefully, why would you send Menelaus, the resentful master of suffering
(End of chapter)