to his
destiny and set out to join the heroes.

Everywhere men were banded together, building the ships and gathering
supplies. The allied forces of Greece (the Achaians, as they called
themselves) chose Agamemnon for their commander-in-chief. He was a mighty
man, king of Mycenae and Argos, and the brother of the wronged Menelaus.
Second to Achilles in strength was the giant Ajax; after him Diomedes,
then wise Ulysses, and Nestor, held in great reverence because of his
experienced age and fame. These were the chief heroes. After two years of
busy preparation, they reached the port of Aulis, whence they were to sail
for Troy.

But here delay held them. Agamemnon had chanced to kill a stag which was
sacred to Diana, and the army was visited by pestilence, while a great
calm kept the ships imprisoned. At length the oracle made known the reason
of this misfortune and demanded for atonement the maiden Iphigenia,
Agamemnon's own daughter. In helpless grief the king consented to offer
her up as a victim, and the maiden was brought, ready for sacrifice. But
at the last moment Diana caught her away in a cloud, leaving a white hind
in her place, and carried her to Tauris in Scythia, there to serve as a
priestess in the temple. In the mean time, her kinsfolk, who were at a
loss to understand how she had disappeared, mourned her as dead. But Diana
had accepted their child as an offering, and healing came to the army, and
the winds blew again. So the ships set sail.

Meanwhile, in Troy across the sea, the aged Priam and Hecuba gave shelter
to their son Paris and his stolen bride. They were not without misgivings
as to these guests, but they made ready to defend their kindred and the
citadel.

There were many heroes among the Trojans and their allies, brave and
upright men, who little deserved that such reproach should be brought upon
them by the guilt of Prince Paris. There were AEneas and Deiphobus, Glaucus
and Sarpedon, and Priam's most noble son Hector, chief of all the forces,
and the very bulwark of Troy. These and many more were bitterly to regret
the day that had brought Paris back to his home. But he had taken refuge
with his own people, and the Trojans had to take up his cause against the
hostile fleet that was coming across the sea.

Even the Gods took sides. Juno and Athene, who had never forgiven the
judgment of Paris, condemned all Troy with him and favored the Greeks, as
did also Neptune, god of the sea. But Venu