air hands. But they
had allies, who spoke different languages, and came to fight for them
both from Europe and from Asia. On the Trojan as well as on the Greek
side were people called Pelasgians, who seem to have lived on both shores
of the sea. There were Thracians, too, who dwelt much further north than
Achilles, in Europe and beside the strait of Hellespont, where the narrow
sea runs like a river. There were warriors of Lycia, led by Sarpedon and
Glaucus; there were Carians, who spoke in a strange tongue; there were
Mysians and men from Alybe, which was called "the birthplace of silver,"
and many other peoples sent their armies, so that the war was between
Eastern Europe, on one side, and Western Asia Minor on the other. The
people of Egypt took no part in the war: the Greeks and Islesmen used to
come down in their ships and attack the Egyptians as the Danes used to
invade England. You may see the warriors from the islands, with their
horned helmets, in old Egyptian pictures.

The commander-in-chief, as we say now, of the Trojans was Hector, the son
of Priam. He was thought a match for any one of the Greeks, and was
brave and good. His brothers also were leaders, but Paris preferred to
fight from a distance with bow and arrows. He and Pandarus, who dwelt on
the slopes of Mount Ida, were the best archers in the Trojan army. The
princes usually fought with heavy spears, which they threw at each other,
and with swords, leaving archery to the common soldiers who had no armour
of bronze. But Teucer, Meriones, and Ulysses were the best archers of
the Achaeans. People called Dardanians were led by Aeneas, who was said
to be the son of the most beautiful of the goddesses. These, with
Sarpedon and Glaucus, were the most famous of the men who fought for
Troy.

Troy was a strong town on a hill. Mount Ida lay behind it, and in front
was a plain sloping to the sea shore. Through this plain ran two
beautiful clear rivers, and there were scattered here and there what you
would have taken for steep knolls, but they were really mounds piled up
over the ashes of warriors who had died long ago. On these mounds
sentinels used to stand and look across the water to give warning if the
Greek fleet drew near, for the Trojans had heard that it was on its way.
At last the fleet came in view, and the sea was black with ships, the
oarsmen pulling with all their might for the honour of being the first to
land. The race was won