home--accursed as I am! And now do _thou_ no more return
to Olympus, but leave the dwelling of the Gods, and go and sit by Paris,
till he make _thee_ his wife--or perchance, his slave. But _I_ will not go
to him; for all the Trojan women would justly blame me hereafter; I have
innumerable griefs within my heart."

Then was the bright goddess sore displeased, and spake harshly to her.
"Beware! thou foolish woman! lest in my wrath I leave thee, and henceforth
hate thee, as I have loved thee until now!" Venus spake, and Helen,
daughter of great Zeus, trembled and obeyed, wrapping her beautiful
garments about her; and the goddess led her to the fragrant chamber in the
palace, and set her on a chair before the goodly Paris.

But Helen looked askance at her lord, and chode him with bitter words.
"Would that thou hadst never come back from the fight, but hadst perished
by the arm of the warrior who was once my husband! Thou didst boast
thyself to be a better man than Menelaus! Go then, and challenge him
again, to meet thee face to face once more!"

Yet Helen, though she could not but despise Paris, soon became reconciled
to him, partly from a remnant of her former love for him, and partly from
her fear of Venus.

In the meantime, Menelaus was raging through the field in search of him.
Nor could any of the Trojans find him, or they would have given him up;
for they hated him like death, as the cause of all their sufferings.

And King Agamemnon said to the Trojans, "Now that the Mars-loving Menelaus
hath conquered Paris do ye give back to us Helen and all her treasures!"
But this was not to be.

THE DUEL BETWEEN HECTOR AND AJAX

By Walter C. Perry

And now we must speak of Hector, the noble Trojan prince, who, after
Achilles, was the most famous warrior of the two hostile armies. Achilles,
indeed, was the son of a goddess, even silver-footed Thetis; while
Hector's mother, Hecuba, was a mortal woman.

Well knowing the dangers to which he was exposed, and how soon he might
fall in battle, Hector now bethought him of his lovely wife, Andromache,
and his little boy Astyanax. When he came to the Scaean Gate, the Trojan
women came running to him, with eager questions about their husbands,
sons, and brothers; and sorrow filled their hearts. Among them came his
fond and generous mother, Hecuba, leading by the hand the fairest of her
daughters, Laodice, and she called him by his name, and spoke: "Dear Son!
why hast thou