The Greeks were glad that their long voyage was over. But when they sailed closer to the shores, they saw that a strong army of Trojans was already waiting for them under the leadership of Hector, the mighty son of the elderly king of Troy, Priam. How could the Greeks land on the shore? How to disembark? All the heroes saw that the one who first set foot on the Trojan shore would die. The Greeks hesitated for a long time. Among them was the hero Protesilaus, he thirsted for exploits and was ready to be the first to jump ashore and start a battle with the Trojans. He did not dare because he knew the prediction: the Greek who first touches Trojan soil with his foot must die. Odysseus also knew this prediction. And so, in order to entice the heroes with him, but not to die himself, Odysseus threw his shield onto the shore and deftly jumped onto it from the ship. Protesilaus saw that Odysseus jumped onto the shore, but he did not see that Odysseus jumped not onto Trojan soil, but onto his shield. Protesilaus decided that one of the Greeks had already touched Trojan soil first. The thirst for exploits took possession of Protesilaus. He forgot everything: he forgot about his homeland, he forgot about his beautiful wife, young Laodamia. Protesilaus jumped from the ship to the shore and rushed at the enemies with a drawn sword. The great Hector shook his heavy spear and struck young Protesilaus to death. He fell dead on the shore. He was the first to stain the Trojan soil with his blood. The Greeks unanimously rushed from their ships to their enemies. A bloody battle began to boil, the Trojans wavered, fled and took refuge behind the impregnable walls of Troy. The next day, a truce was concluded between the Greeks and Trojans in order to pick up the fallen soldiers and bury them.
Having buried all those killed, the Greeks began building a fortified camp. They pulled their ships ashore and encamped in a large camp along the seashore from the mountains of Sigeion to the mountains of Roiteyon. On the Troy side, they defended their camp with a high rampart and ditch. At two opposite ends of the camp, Achilles and Ajax Telamonides pitched their tents to observe the Trojans and prevent them from unexpectedly attacking the Greeks. In the middle of the camp stood the luxurious tent of King Agamemnon, chosen by the Greeks as the leader of the entire army. Here, near the tent of Agamemnon, there was also a square for public meetings. The wise Odysseus pitched his tent near the public meeting square so that at any time he would be able to go out to those gathered and so that he would always know what was happening in the camp. He, despite the fact that he had previously been so reluctant to participate in the campaign, now became an ardent enemy of the Trojans and demanded that the Greeks take and destroy Troy at all costs.
When the Greek camp was established and fortified, the Greeks sent King Menelaus and the cunning Odysseus to Troy to negotiate with the Trojans. The wise Antenor received the Greek ambassadors in his house and arranged a luxurious feast for them. Antenor wished with all his soul that peace would be concluded and the legal demands of Menelaus would be satisfied. Upon learning of the arrival of the envoys, Priam convened a popular assembly to enforce Menelaus' demand. Menelaus and Odysseus also appeared at the meeting of the Trojans. Menelaus, in a short, strong speech, demanded that the Trojans return his wife Helen and the treasures stolen by Paris. After Menelaus, Odysseus spoke. The Trojans listened to the wondrous speech of the wise king of Ithaca. He convinced the Trojans to satisfy Menelaus' demands. The Trojan people were ready to agree to accept all the conditions of Menelaus. After all, the beautiful Elena herself already repented of her rash act and regretted that she had left the house of her hero-husband for the sake of Paris. And Antenor convinced the people to fulfill the demands of Menelaus. He saw how many troubles the war between the Trojans and Greeks would entail. But the sons of Priam did not want peace with the Greeks, and first of all, of course, Paris. Will they really force him to hand over Elena? Will they really take away all his loot? He did not want to submit to the people's decision, and his brothers supported him in this. Antimachus, bribed by Paris, even demanded that the Trojans seize King Menelaus and kill him. But Priam and Hector did not allow this; they did not allow the ambassadors, who were under the protection of the thunderer Zeus, to be insulted. The people's assembly hesitated and did not know what final decision to make.
Then the Trojan soothsayer Helen, son of Priam, stood up and said that the Trojans should not be afraid of war with the Greeks - the gods promise Troy their help. The Trojans believed Helen. They refused to satisfy Menelaus' demand. The Greek ambassadors were forced to leave Troy with nothing. Now the bloody struggle between the Trojans and the Greeks was about to begin.
The Trojans locked themselves in impregnable Troy; even Hector did not dare to leave Troy. The Greeks began a siege. They tried three times to storm Troy, but they failed. Then the Greeks began to ravage the environs of Troy and conquer all the cities that were in alliance with Troy. The Greeks undertook campaigns against them by land and sea. In all these campaigns the great Achilles especially distinguished himself. The Greeks took possession of the islands of Tenedos, Lesbos, the cities of Pedas, Lyrnessos and others. They destroyed many cities within the country. They also captured the city of Thebes, where the father of Hector Andromache’s wife, Estion, ruled. In one day, Achilles killed Andromache's seven brothers. Her father also died. But Achilles did not desecrate Estion’s corpse; fearing the wrath of the gods, he gave him up for burial. Andromache's mother was taken captive to the Greek camp. Achilles captured rich booty in Thebes. He captured the beautiful daughter of the priest Apollo Chryses, Chryseis, and the beautiful Briseis. Chryseis was given by the Greeks to King Agamemnon.
The Greeks devastated everything around Troy. The Trojans did not dare to show themselves outside the walls of Troy, since everyone was threatened with death or cruel captivity and sale into slavery.
The inhabitants of Troy had to endure a lot of grief during the nine years of the siege of Troy. They had to mourn many heroes who died in battle. But the hardest year, the tenth year, was ahead. The greatest sorrow lay ahead - the fall of Troy.
The Greeks also suffered a lot during the nine years of war. They also had many killed. Many heroes died at the hands of their enemies. The wise hero Palamedes also died, but not at the hands of the enemy. Out of hatred and envy, the cunning Odysseus destroyed him. Palamedes gave the Greeks a lot of sensible advice, and more than once he provided them with invaluable services. He healed wounds and illnesses with medicinal herbs; he built a lighthouse for the Greeks so that those sailing from the camp would know where to land on a dark night. The Greeks revered the hero Palamedes and willingly listened to his advice. For this Odysseus hated him. He saw that the Greeks listened to Palamedes more willingly than to him. Odysseus also remembered how Palamedes revealed his cunning, when he pretended to be crazy so as not to go to Troy; this memory further intensified his hatred of Palamedes. Odysseus pondered for a long time how to destroy Palamedes. Finally, he took advantage of the fact that Palamedes began to advise the Greeks to end the war and return to their homeland. Odysseus came up with a treacherous plan. At night, he hid a bag of gold in Palamedes’ tent and began to assure everyone that it was not for nothing that Palamedes advised him to stop the siege of Troy, that he gave these advice to the Greeks only because he was bribed by Priam. There were many dissatisfied with Palamedes among the Greeks. After all, if the Greeks had listened to the advice of Palamedes, they would have lost the rich booty that they would have taken possession of by taking Troy. All these dissatisfied people willingly believed Odysseus’s slander. Seeing that many Greeks were already beginning to believe in Palamedes’ treason, Odysseus, in order to convince everyone that Priam had really bribed Palamedes, informed Agamemnon that Palamedes was communicating with Priam through a captured Phrygian and that this Phrygian, when he tried to leave the Greek camp for Troy, was captured and killed by Odysseus’s servants. Odysseus also wrote a letter on behalf of Priam to Palamedes. This letter spoke of gold sent by King Priam to Palamedes as payment for persuading the Greeks to lift the siege and leave for their homeland. Odysseus gave this letter to the captive Phrygian and ordered him to take it to Priam. As soon as the Phrygian left the Greek camp, the servants of Odysseus attacked him, killed him, and brought the letter to their king. With this letter, Odysseus hurried to Agamemnon’s tent. Having received this message, Agamemnon immediately summoned all the leaders of the Greeks to his tent. He also called Palamedes, who did not suspect what danger threatened him. Here Odysseus accused Palamedes of treason. In vain Palamedes assured the leaders that he had not thought about treason, but Odysseus, in order to convict Palamedes, advised them to search his tent. They sent him to the tent and, indeed, they found a bag of gold there. Now everyone believed that Palamedes was a traitor. Palamedes was put on trial, and he was sentenced to death. They decided to stone him. They chained the innocent Palamedes in heavy chains and brought him to the seashore. In vain Palamedes begged the Greeks not to kill him, not to subject an innocent person to such a cruel execution. Nobody wanted to listen to the imaginary traitor. The execution began. Not a single groan, not a single complaint escaped Palamedes’ chest. Before his death, he quietly said only these words:
- Oh, truly, I feel sorry for you, you died before me.
With these words died the noblest and wisest of the Greek heroes; All the services he provided to the Greeks did not save him. Subsequently, the Greeks paid severely for the murder of Palamedes. Nauplius, king of Euboea, father of Palamedes, took revenge on them for the death of his son.
Not only did Agamemnon condemn Palamedes to death, but he also doomed his soul to eternal wanderings. Agamemnon did not allow Palamedes’ body to be buried; it was left on the seashore to be torn to pieces by wild animals and birds of prey. But the mighty Ajax Telamonides did not allow this. He performed funeral rites over the body of Palamedes and buried him with honor. Ajax did not believe that Palamedes had betrayed the Greeks.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru