The cause of the Troy War is said to be as follows:
Peleus, the Greek hero, made a great feast to marry Thetis, the goddess of the sea. All the gods on the sacred mountain of Olympia were present as friends and relatives of the woman. Eris, the goddess in charge of disputes, was humiliated when she realized she was the only one who had come without an official invitation. She retaliated with a golden apple engraved with the words "For the fairest of them all". Three goddesses came out and declared themselves to be the most beautiful. The first is the main god Zeus (Zeus) sister and wife, the Queen of Heaven Hera (Hera); the second is the daughter of Zeus, rich in wisdom and skill of the goddess of war Athena (Athena); the third is also the daughter of Zeus, in charge of sex Aphrodite (Aphrodite).
The three finalists are all from the first family, so it's clear that the heavenly realm is also a place of great power. The three finalists are all from the first family, so it's clear that the heavens are a place of great power over the gods," said Hera, who is so old and strong that she dared to marry her brother and compete with her daughters for beauty. Zeus was caught in the middle, the rest of the male gods are forbidden as if chilling, had to come out of the trick that only with all parties have nothing to do with the person is the most fair judgment. The hot potato was finally thrown to Paris, a Trojan prince who was tending sheep on Mount
Ida.
Paris was an unlucky man from a young age. Although he was a prince, with white teeth and red lips, he was driven by his father and brothers to herd sheep on the mountain because of a prophecy that he would lead to the end of Troy. Paris has no power and no money, so he married a forest elf, Xie Na Rui (CEnone) as his wife, and the two of them lived a happy life without any restrictions.
The three great beauties can be said to be good at their own game: Hera, the Queen of Heaven, is dignified and beautiful, full of classical beauty; Athena, the Goddess of War, has a long breast and a thin waist, and her long legs and healthy skin color are very dynamic and explosive; Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, is a smoky and charming, and is even hotter than the Playboy pin-up girl. If Paris had lived in modern times, he would have known to start with the evening gown and swimsuit preliminaries, ask some boring questions like "What would you do for humanity if you were elected the most beautiful woman in the universe", and then declare a three-way tie for the title. At the very least, there are a few "most photogenic Miss", "the most fit Miss" and other small awards, and then pull some weight loss cream, perfume ads, sign him a hundred and eighty film contracts, guaranteed to make the three ladies are smiling and happy, to achieve the so-called The so-called "win-win-win" situation. Unfortunately, a few thousand years ago, the sheep herder Paris is a bumpkin, the gods recommended the "impartial judge" immediately use their power for personal gain, engaged in corruption to Sochi.
Hera promised him power and wealth, so that he became the master of the entire Eurasian continent; Athena's offer is the supreme honor and invincible military talent; Aphrodite is straightforward - the first beauty on earth. Like any normal man or lecher, Paris decided to trade the golden apple for the beauty without hesitation.
Aphrodite, according to the legend, next took Paris on a ship to Sparta, where he was transformed into a guest of King Menelaus and Queen Helen. Helen was what Aphrodite called the first beauty. Her beauty was so outstanding that almost all the young Greek heroes fell under her spell, and even swore to fight for her when she married. This included Pelius' son Archilles. There's a timing hole here - Pelius and Syrtis had just finished marrying and their son was already available to pick up girls? Also what makes Helen claim to be the first beauty on earth? Did Aphrodite have to sift through all the human beauties?
The most reasonable explanation is to clone a beauty embryo with Aphrodite herself as the original, the clone of the first beauty in heaven is of course the first beauty on earth. Paris spot turned into futures and had to wait an extra ten years for Helen to grow up. Being shamed by God, he also became sinister and cunning from then on.
Paris eventually abducted Helen back to Troy with the help of Aphrodite. The Greeks had to march across the sea to defend their honor and oath.
(2) An Expedition Across the Sea
Sparta was only one of the many small kingdoms of ancient Greece. Knowing that he was all alone, Menelaus made a hero's post, asking everyone to honor the oath he had made to guard Helen. Mennelaus's spirit of 'let's enjoy the blessings and share the hardships' naturally lacked appeal, and the recipients of the posters went to great lengths to find a way to renege on their debt.
The most famous schemer among the Greeks was called Odysseus, the hero of Homer's second epic, the Odyssey. His wife, Penelope, is also the ancestor of Tom Cruise's sexy girlfriend. Cruise's sexy girlfriend's ancestor) is Helen's cousin. Even though they're related, Odessus thinks that the idyllic life of "thirty acres, one cow, wife and kids" is much more meaningful than traveling across the ocean to rob people. So he decided to act crazy, so he put a donkey and an ox together, and ran into the grassless saline field to plow a lot. Unfortunately, the ambassadors were no pushovers, and when they saw this, they went to bring Oedipus' newborn son and put him in front of the plow. Odyseus rushed to divert the plow, and finally the fox was caught by the tail. Seeing that it could not be pushed away, Odyseus had to decide to pull a few more cushions, and at that time recognized as the first master of the Greeks, is the possession of the Golden Bell Shield Iron Cloth Shirt God's strength of Achilles.
Achilles's mother, although Xydis originated from the world of God, but for Zeus following the male gods all day down to the womanizing, debauchery lifestyle and extreme self-centeredness, the face of the supremacy of the inferiority of the extremely disgusted, resolutely married a will be born old and sick and die ordinary people. Women are more courageous to seek change in their bones, which is probably the reason why so many Chinese ladies in Silicon Valley married foreigners, but few brothers married a foreign girl.
Because of the incident of the golden apple at the wedding, Xitis gave birth to Achilles, foreseeing that he would be in danger of his life in Troy in the future, so he grabbed his heel in the river Styx and dipped it, so that he was invulnerable to all sorts of knives and guns. It is this kind of spirit of Syrtis not to bow to fate, determined to fight to the end, so that she, a small powerless fairy, but became one of the most admired among the gods.
In order to prevent Achilles from going to Troy, Cestis simply made him into a young girl and sent him to the island kingdom of Scyros to disguise himself as one of the many daughters of King Lycomedes. When Odessus heard the news, he came to Achilles, but was unable to recognize him from the many princesses. In fact, there is a big secret that has never been known - Achilles was born incredibly handsome, since childhood has a serious homosexual tendency, although became the world's best, is the heart of all the Greek girls Prince Charming, but hated not to be born for the body of a daughter (later the East is undefeatable, walked the same way, but he led the sword to self-homicide is Ren I Xing to make a ghost). (Later, the East is undefeated, but it was Ren Wexing who made him self-inflicted). Achilles, although on the surface is also one of Helen's suitors, but in fact the two are privately like sisters, otherwise Menelaus can not hold the beauty of the return, Lecomides also dare not let him all day with his daughters to mix together.
Odysseus then entered the court disguised as a women's merchandiser, selling his perfumes, fashions, magical bras and 'winged' sanitary towels with a spit and a wink, while keeping his eyes peeled. He found that only the king's most beautiful daughter was uninterested in any of this, but played with a set of weapons he had brought with him. Recognizing who the 'Princess with Wings' was, it was relatively easy to convince Achilles. Oedipus moved with emotion and threatened to expose Achilles' secrets, and finally got the handsome man to give in.
After two years of preparation, the fleet of the 100,000-strong Greek expeditionary force was finally assembled at the port of Aulis in Boeotia. The commander-in-chief of the allied Greek forces was Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. The commander-in-chief had nothing better to do than to hunt, but he accidentally wounded the pet red deer of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. Artemis was furious and the Greek fleet was trapped in the harbor by the winds. Agamemnon had to consult the prophet Calchas. Calchas said that the only way to quell the goddess' anger was to sacrifice Agamemnon's favorite daughter, Iphigenia, alive. Agamemnon was so dumbfounded that he had no choice but to send someone to Clytemnestra to falsely claim that he would marry his daughter to Achilles. Crush Achilles for many years of Iphigenia joyfully rushed to, waiting for her is not warm ambiguous red tent in the lover's kiss, but the cold altar side of the father's dagger. In the father-daughter cruelty of the human tragedy will be staged, Atamis finally moved compassion, a gust of wind to take Iphigenia, so that she became a priestess of the hunting temple. The winds also ceased, and the Greek fleet finally set sail for port.
Then Clytemnestra, who had lost her daughter, could not forgive Agamemnon. When Agamemnon finally returned in triumph many years later, Clytemnestra lied that she wanted to take a mandarin ducks bath with him, and while he was in the bathtub with no guards or weapons around him, she tied up the Commander-in-Chief with a bath towel and smashed him to death. According to historians, there was another reason why Agamemnon took the Trojan princess Cassandra as his concubine. Cassandra was originally a beautiful woman who was looked upon by Apollo, the god of the sun. Apollo gave her the ability to be a prophet, however, Cassandra accepted the benefits, but refused to get with Apollo (a while ago was accused of hanging Kai Zi's Taiwan anchorwoman Kelly Xue walked is Cassandra's way). Apollo suffered a loss and was so angry that no one could understand or believe her prophecies (and the Japanese traitors used the news media to throw mud at them, how similar the history is).
The Greek fleet finally reached the shores of Troy, only to be met by the Trojan army, which had been waiting to land. The allied forces were a ragtag bunch, and no one was willing to fight to the death. When the situation became critical, Protesilaus, one of the noblest Greek heroes, led the charge, but was killed by Hector, the Trojan's top fighter. His wife, the warrior woman Laodamia, was inconsolable. She prayed with a sobbing heart, "Almighty God, let him come back to me, even if it is only for an hour, I have no regrets". Even Mercury, the king of the underworld whose heart was like iron, was touched by the couple's deep love and allowed Proteusilaus to be revived. The couple reunited, a thousand words turned into a hug, and then hand in hand both killed again into the battlefield, finally with their flesh and blood and life broke through the Trojan army beachhead defense.
In honor of this heroic couple, the elves planted holly trees around their graves. The lush trees grew to a height where they could see the walls of Troy, then withered, then re-sprouted again, week after week.
The Trojan War had officially begun.
(3) Extra Hollywood masterpiece "Troy"
First of all, I would like to thank you for your support of this article, but due to time constraints, I will have to return to this post later. Because a lot of friends asked about the difference between the story of my article and the movie, I had to spend eight cuts yesterday to go to the movie theater to experience one.
I admire the screenwriter of the film, who was able to condense an extremely complex story spanning more than a decade and involving countless people and gods, intertwined with love, desire, honor, war and politics, into just two and a half hours, which is a remarkable feat. The most precious thing is that he took out almost all the parts of the legend related to the gods, and interpreted it completely from the perspective that modern human beings can understand, coupled with the extremely spectacular war scenes and special effects, and the beautiful face that made countless people fall in love with (not Helen, but Brad Bitter), it's definitely worth the price of admission. Bitt), it's definitely worth the price of admission.
Personally, I think religion and gods are spiritual tools invented by man to explain the incomprehensible. With gods, many things that 'shouldn't have happened in the sense of reason, but did happen' have a reasonable cause and effect relationship, making it easier to accept. Providence and fate have never been integral to tragedy. The movie's explanation of the cause of the war as an inevitable battle for supremacy between two great powers, Greece and Troy, across the sea, is a good reward, but it is still unconvincing as the cause of the Greeks pouring out their armies to the other side's city to fight a war that lasted for more than a decade, in an environment where food and labor were in short supply in 1200 BC.
Another role of the gods is to be used to insinuate themselves into the hands of those in power. In ancient China, this was called taboo. Bai Juyi's "Song of Eternal Hatred" tells the story of Emperor Tang Minghuang and Yang Guifei, but the first line reads, "The Emperor of the Han Dynasty was a man of color and thought of his country. Even today, thousands of years later, except for a few countries (including the United States) can make fun of their own supreme head of state all day long, in most places is still extremely unwise behavior. Most of the gods of the Trojan Tale have done nothing but shake their heads in wonder, while heroes emerge everywhere from among ordinary human beings.
The most authoritative record of the Trojan War is recognized as the Iliad, the 750 BC epic poem by the blind bard Homer. Many people believed that the Trojan War was nothing more than a myth or legend made up by a blind man, and it wasn't until 1871 that German archaeologists found the ruins of the city of Troy in what is now northeastern Turkey, along with many pieces of evidence that matched the descriptions, that the controversy was put to rest. (The Chinese culture, which emphasizes the importance of being 'clear-sighted', always calls lies "blind talk" or "open-eyed talking nonsense", "blind man feeling the elephant" and other fables are more discriminatory against people with disabilities. (Homer was lucky to be born in ancient Greece).
Of course, the movie Troy in order to make the vast majority of viewers (the vast majority of working people in the United States in the logic and historical knowledge is highly Challenged) can understand, the film introduces a number of simple formulaic formula, the result is that a number of places contradict themselves, can not be self-evident, but the flaws do not cover up the jade, I will not say more, lest reduce the friends who have not yet seen the suspense.
The main return to the main story, I write this article is neither archaeological nor historical research (mainly because they do not have the material), so in the pursuit of reasonable interpretation of the premise is still interesting readability is the main focus, so it will still continue the traditional statement of the gods and men cross-cognizant.
According to a friend who is familiar with history, the idea that Achilles was gay was put forward more than two hundred years ago, and has long been the mainstream view. And I, a frog at the bottom of the well, still think I've made some amazing discovery.
Depressing
(4) No hope for peace
Homer's epic begins in the ninth year of the Trojan War. Ancient Greece was at a time when feudal society was in transition from vassalage to centralization, and compared with Troy, which was still in slavery, it had the right timing. But the war was fought in front of a high walled city far from Greece, and Troy clearly had the advantage. While the Greek allies fought for honor, Troy fought for survival, and the men and women were evenly matched.
The first nine years of the war were a back-and-forth affair, with neither side able to achieve a decisive victory. As long as the silver armor and black tassel of Achilles appeared wherever, the Greek army's morale would be doubled; and the Trojan warriors had to accept the reality and run away as fast as they could.
Then the Greeks, who had no heavy siege equipment, failed to take Troy in one fell swoop, and were instead held up against the fortified walls. After nine long years of war, Greek morale had fallen to its lowest point, and with many of their warriors sick and homesick, the allied forces were in danger of being torn apart. One of the rulers' panaceas for resolving internal conflicts was to move the goalposts. Agamemnon, together with the priests, lied that the reason why Troy could not be attacked was because Apollo, the god of the sun, was guarding Troy. The Greek allies then unexpectedly bypassed Troy and attacked their friendly neighboring city, which had the largest temple. The spoils of the victory included two stunning virgins - Briseis, a slave girl to be sacrificed to Apollo, and Chryseis, the daughter of the sun god's priests. The Greeks divided the dirt according to military service, with Achilles getting the top beauty, Briseis, and Agamemnon picking Chryseis. Agamemnon, who had not touched a fresh beauty for nine years, had long reached the point of 'a sow like a sable' and could not wait to enter the harbor. Unexpectedly, the priest of the Sun God took advantage of the Greeks' god-fearing mentality, and ran to the door to demand someone, and threatened, "If you dare to spoil my daughter, I will pray to the god of Arabo to let you all die without a burial place!" .
The pious Greeks panicked at this, and rushed to call a meeting of the elders, with Achilles leading the charge to demand Agamemnon's release. Agamemnon, who had long been a spermatozoa, said he would not release them unless Achilles exchanged them for Briseis, and openly implied that Achilles would not be able to "use them too much" anyway. The other Greek commanders, fearing that Agamemnon would try to take advantage of their spoils, all demanded in unison that Achilles give in. Such a scoundrel's behavior y hurt Achilles' pride, and he agreed to replace him, but declared that he would never fight again in the allied army. Without Achilles, the Greeks almost lost hope of victory.
Meanwhile, the Trojan side panicked for fear of divine retribution for failing to protect the temple of Arabo. So the two sides negotiated and agreed that the humiliated husband Menelaus would fight the third party, Paris, to decide where Helen belonged and avoid further unnecessary deaths and injuries. Although Menelaus was originally an old cow eating young grass, but decades of war, still very brave. And the white boy Paris from childhood shepherding, and then every day with the world's most beautiful Helen together, has long been empty body, heard to fight with Menelaus suddenly stupid eyes, said that it would be better to kill me directly. His brother Hector said to him, "You can actually defeat Menelaus and have Helen in a dignified manner. I'm going to teach you how to win in defeat. Mennelaus has a strong sword and a heavy one, so you will not be able to stop him with a shield in one hand and a javelin in the other. If you pretend to be afraid and drop your javelin on the ground, Menelaus will see that you are unarmed and will throw away your shield and use only your sword. You can use both hands to raise the shield and step back, when the time is ripe to use the shield to cover the body on the ground rolled up and picked up the javelin to stab him through the heart!" To cheer up his son, King Priam of Troy took Helen up to the city tower to watch the battle. Helen was naive enough to think that Paris, who was usually manly and valiant in front of her, would be able to defeat his decrepit ex-husband and bring this unfortunate love and war to a happy ending. She replied cheerfully to the old king's questioning of the Greek commanders, and when Priam asked why Achilles had not been seen on such an important occasion, the simple Helen replied that perhaps he had been injured by accident, that they had been close friends, and that Achilles had told Helen the secret that his heel was a practicing door. The Trojan generals around the city learned that Achilles was not invincible, and then they were reluctant to break the contract, so they hurriedly went down to make arrangements, and the opportunity for peace passed unnoticed.
At this time outside the city, the two formations faced each other round. Paris kept repeating the key points of the stance in his mouth while reminding himself that he must not lose face in front of Helen. However, saying is one thing, doing is another. When Paris saw the red-eyed Menelaus, who didn't even take his shield and rushed towards him with a huge sword, he immediately lost his mind and threw Hector's words out of the sky. He instinctively threw his javelin, but it only left a mark on the armor of Menelaus, who did not dodge. The next shield he held was knocked away by a sword. Faced with the fear of death, Paris completely collapsed, and he collapsed to the ground, begging Mennelius to spare his life with a sniffle and a tear. Looking at this weakling in front of his eyes, Menelaus y felt unworthy of those warriors who died under the city of Troy, so he grabbed Paris's helmet and dragged him back. Pandarus, a Trojan archer, shot a cold arrow and wounded Mennelaus, and the Trojan army, which had just finished the preparation for the attack, also rushed out to snatch Paris back. The Greeks, who were caught off guard, were crushed and fled for their lives. For the first time, the Trojan army took advantage of the victory to kill the Greek camp and began to set fire to the ships.
Without the ships and the food on board, the only way for the Greeks to go was to be buried all together.
(v) The Death of Hector
The army has always been a hotbed of comrades. If Achilles had only had this tendency before, the Nine Years' Trojan War turned him into a truly unapologetically gay brother. His lover was also his young cousin Patroclus. The young Patroclus adored Achilles and often fantasized about one day being as invincible as Achilles on the battlefield, fighting for victory and honor for the Greek nation.
Seeing that the Greek expeditionary force was in danger of being destroyed, Agamemnon had to ask Achilles for help, not only promising to return the beautiful women, but also a large amount of money, but the furious Achilles turned a deaf ear to it, and just would not go out. Patroclus, who was on the side, thought that Achilles had gone too far in putting his personal grudge on the survival of the whole Greek allied army. So he put on Achilles' armor and prepared to lead Achilles' men into battle. Achilles, who stood on the side and watched with cold eyes, was actually conflicted in his heart. He knew that the allied forces were in urgent need of support, but he didn't want people to think that he had broken with Agamemnon for the sake of wealth and beauty. On the way out, he deliberately and quietly urged Patklaus, "see good, do not really have to fight, to scare them away is also." Unexpectedly, this concerned words but y hurt Patklaus's self-esteem, he secretly determined to take action to prove that he is also a brave warrior.
As soon as Achilles' silver helmet and black tassel appeared, the Trojan soldiers, who had been charging bravely, were suddenly disoriented and fled. The Greek allies, on the other hand, suddenly became demoralized, and the battle was reversed, not only driving the Trojans out of the camp, but also pursuing them frantically all the way. In order to protect Troy's vital forces from being wiped out in one fell swoop, the Trojan Warrior Gate had to come to meet 'Achilles' and cover the retreat of the main force, even though they knew it was hopeless.
The first to come up was Sarpedon, the second of the Trojan warriors. This Sarpedon is actually a Greek, is said to be Zeus and the previously mentioned beach hero couple in the wife of Lodamia's illegitimate son (Lodamia can make her husband resurrected, in addition to her bone-deep love, the early years once had a leg with the main god is probably not unhelpful), because of the childhood by the family of the discriminatory, he was indignant as a volunteer to join the Trojan side. Sapidon early years and Achilles had a one-sided relationship, originally intended to use this relationship with Achilles set magnetism, strive to drag on for a while, but unexpectedly came to be do not know what he is Pat Klaus. Sapidon reported his name, but saw the other side did not have the slightest affection for the old man rushed straight over, panicked to pull out the throwing gun to fight but was Patklaus a shot to death. Knowing that the second warrior of Troy was no match for his own, Patklaus suddenly drifted up, thinking that he could be as invincible as Achilles.
After killing a few more Trojan warriors, Patklaus set his sights on Hector, the first Trojan warrior. Hector was terrified when he saw 'Achilles' rushing towards him, knowing that today was the day he would part forever with his beloved wife and child, but the honor of the warriors and Trojans would not allow him to back down, so Hector gritted his teeth and drove his chariot onwards. Patklaus had no more spears left, so he raised a large stone and threw it at him, knocking Hector's chariot over, crushing the driver's legs, and sending Hector tumbling to the ground, so far away that he could hardly get up. Patklaus jumped out of the chariot, ready to go up and give Hector a fatal blow. Desperate, the charioteer with the broken leg picks up a sword and stabs it from behind, trying to slow down Achilles, but he is not expected to get a hit. All the Trojan and Greek warriors around them couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the head of the sword and the blood gushing out of Achilles' chest. Hector was the first to react, jumped up and slit the throat of this invincible demon in the hearts of the Trojans, and stripped off his silver armor and helmet and put them on himself. "Hector has killed Achilles!" Hearing the shouts, the Trojan army, which was fleeing for their lives in disarray, had hope again, while the Greek warriors who had seen Hector strutting about in Achilles' armor turned back for their lives, and the tide of battle was dramatically reversed for the second time.
Looking at the lifeless, scarred body of Patklaus, stripped of his armor, Achilles was inconsolable. Not only because Patklaus was his cousin and lover, but because Patklaus was the first person to make him realize that being a gay man is not a shameful thing, but a trait (or Gay
men are girls best
friend, as Sanban City fluently puts it), and that it's possible to be just as honorable and proud of oneself rather than inferior. not inferiority complex. Achilles regretted that his childish actions had buried his favorite man and vowed to avenge him. He drove out of the camp alone and intercepted the Trojan generals who were riding in pursuit, claiming that he was Achilles demanding a fight to the death with Hector.
The Trojan warriors were amused, and another Trojan prince, Lycaon, laughed, "You Greek dogs are always trying to make monkeys out of people, and you're Achilles? You're Achilles? Why is that armor on my brother? If the one who just got killed wasn't Achilles, then he must be sick and dying or have slipped back to Greece to sell his ass." After saying that, he rushed forward, but was finished off by Achilles with a crisp sword. Achilles pointed his blood-dripping sword at Hector and said in a deep voice, "It was my cousin Patklaus you killed, and I swear that next year's day will be your anniversary!" Hector, who had also felt that the victory had come too easily, was even less skeptical at this point, and while motioning for the others to retreat first, he drew his sword and rushed up to meet the battle. Then only to be killed by the hateful outbursts of Achilles, who could barely fight back, adding a wound to Hector's body with every glance. Seeing that the others had gotten away, Hector also turned around and ran back. Achilles was in hot pursuit. For the third time in just one day, the tide of battle miraculously turned, and once again the Greek allies became the pursuers.
Achilles had his eye on Hector, who was wearing his own armor, and both were driving alone in their chariots so fast that Achilles caught up with the Trojans before they could get back to the city. In order not to let Achilles take advantage of the situation to kill into the city, Hector had to give up the intention of entering the city, around the city and go. The old king was burning up inside the city and begged for help, but the Greek army had already rushed to the edge of the city, and the drawbridge had already been pulled up after the defeated army entered the city. Hector, seeing that he could not be spared, turned to fight again, but was shot through the neck by Achilles. As Hector slowly fell, he said to Achilles, "We are all warriors; please have mercy on my aged parents, so that they may ransom my body and be able to enjoy the funeral of a son who gave his life for Troy."
Achilles, unmoved, broke off, "Dog genius, don't talk to me about ransom and mercy, I'm not ****ing with you. Trust me, your body will only be patronized by wild dogs. I will not hesitate to refuse even if I am given twenty times your body weight in gold ("Dog,
name not ransom nor pity to me, on whom you have brought such dire
distress. No! trust me, nought shall save thy carcass from the dogs.
Though twenty ransoms and thy weight in gold were offered, I should refuse
it all.").
Achilles stripped Hector of his armor, tied the body to the back of his chariot with a rope, and dragged his bloody body back and forth before Troy several more times before turning around and returning to the Greek camp.
__________________
(F) Achilles' Choice
Achilles returned to the camp and personally cleaned and dried the blood-stained silver helmet and black tassel that he had recaptured before gently replacing them, one by one, on Patklaus' body, as if he had merely fallen asleep. Caressing Patklaus' cold face, Achilles for the first time had doubts about that which he used to believe in so strongly. "Does revenge really mean anything? Why is it that I have slain my enemy hand-to-hand and thrown him at your feet, yet the grief in my heart has not eased in the slightest? Is there really any point in winning this war? Is it more important than the lives of countless warriors like Patklaus?" If pain is a catalyst for growth, then it was from this moment that Achilles, who had lost his beloved, began his transformation from a warrior who sought only victory and glory to a leader who acted in the best interests of the entire Greek nation.
The aged Priam saw Hector slain at the head of the city and fainted. As soon as he awoke, he questioned the high priests and the commanders of the army with tears in his eyes, "When you first decided to break the covenant, didn't you say that it was God's righteousness that had informed us of Achilles' weakness, and that the gods would give honor to Troy on this day, and bring about a complete defeat of the Greeks? Why did it turn out that our army was defeated and my favorite son Hector was slaughtered by Achilles before my eyes, and even his corpse was humiliated? Hector was the most valiant son of Troy, and I will personally ransom him myself for burial!"
Almost all the people thought the old king was mad, and that it would be less trouble to go to the camp of the Greeks at such a moment than to simply find a rope and hang himself. Only Polyxena, Priam's most beautiful youngest daughter, stepped forward, "Father, let me accompany you. You will pretend to be an envoy from another city who has come to present a beautiful woman to Achilles, and the Greeks will let us pass when they see that we are unarmed."
Polisina's beauty really left no doubt in the minds of the Greek soldiers and led them to Achilles' tent. Priam threw herself at Achilles' feet and kissed his hand with trembling tears, "Oh, Achilles. I have done what no father has ever done - I have just kissed the hands that have killed so many of my sons. Your father must have gotten older too, and though he hasn't seen you in years, he always had hope that one day he would rejoice with you again. And I have lost many sons, and now even my favorite son, Hector, has died for his country. Please, for God's sake, for your father's sake, have mercy on me, a windswept old man, and let me redeem him."
Achilles was y moved by this truth and courage, Achilles picked up the gray-haired Priam and said, "Old man, although you broke the covenant first today, the result is that we have all lost our dearest ones, you can take Hector back and no one will give you a hard time."
Standing aside, however, Polyxena suddenly knelt down and said,