s oath, and join the fleet at Aulis, a
long voyage for him to sail, round the stormy southern Cape of Maleia.

Whether this tale be true or not, Ulysses did go, leading twelve black
ships, with high beaks painted red at prow and stern. The ships had
oars, and the warriors manned the oars, to row when there was no wind.
There was a small raised deck at each end of the ships; on these decks
men stood to fight with sword and spear when there was a battle at sea.
Each ship had but one mast, with a broad lugger sail, and for anchors
they had only heavy stones attached to cables. They generally landed at
night, and slept on the shore of one of the many islands, when they
could, for they greatly feared to sail out of sight of land.

The fleet consisted of more than a thousand ships, each with fifty
warriors, so the army was of more than fifty thousand men. Agamemnon had
a hundred ships, Diomede had eighty, Nestor had ninety, the Cretans with
Idomeneus, had eighty, Menelaus had sixty; but Aias and Ulysses, who
lived in small islands, had only twelve ships apiece. Yet Aias was so
brave and strong, and Ulysses so brave and wise, that they were ranked
among the greatest chiefs and advisers of Agamemnon, with Menelaus,
Diomede, Idomeneus, Nestor, Menestheus of Athens, and two or three
others. These chiefs were called the Council, and gave advice to
Agamemnon, who was commander-in-chief. He was a brave fighter, but so
anxious and fearful of losing the lives of his soldiers that Ulysses and
Diomede were often obliged to speak to him very severely. Agamemnon was
also very insolent and greedy, though, when anybody stood up to him, he
was ready to apologise, for fear the injured chief should renounce his
service and take away his soldiers.

Nestor was much respected because he remained brave, though he was too
old to be very useful in battle. He generally tried to make peace when
the princes quarrelled with Agamemnon. He loved to tell long stories
about his great deeds when he was young, and he wished the chiefs to
fight in old-fashioned ways.

For instance, in his time the Greeks had fought in clan regiments, and
the princely men had never dismounted in battle, but had fought in
squadrons of chariots, but now the owners of chariots fought on foot,
each man for himself, while his squire kept the chariot near him to
escape on if he had to retreat. Nestor wished to go back to the good old
way of chariot charges against the cr