Hero Tales

by James Baldwin

  HESIONE

  RELATED BY MENELAUS[1]

  With troubled brow and anxious heart, Menelaus sat in Nestor's halls,and told the story of his wrongs. Behind him stood his brother,Agamemnon, tall and strong, and with eye and forehead like mighty Zeus.Before him, seated on a fair embroidered couch, was the aged Nestor,listening with eager ears. Close by his feet two heroes sat: on thisside, Antilochus, the valiant son of Nestor; and on that, sagePalamedes, prince of Euboea's distant shores. The last had justarrived, and had not learned the errand that had brought Menelaushither.

  "Tell again the story of your visit to Troy," said Nestor. "Our guest,good Palamedes, would fain hear it; and I doubt not that he may be ofservice in your cause. Tell us the whole story, for we would all knowmore about the famous city and its kingly rulers."

  Then Menelaus began once more at the beginning.

  THE STORY

  There is no need that I should speak of my long voyage to Troy, or ofthe causes which persuaded me to undertake it. When I drew near thelofty walls of the city, and through the gate, which is called Scaean,could see the rows of stately dwellings and the busy market-place andthe crowds of people, I stopped there in wonder, hesitating to venturefarther.

  Then I sent a herald to the gate, who should make known my name andlineage and the errand upon which I had come; but I waited without inthe shade of a spreading beech, not far from the towering wall. Beforeme stood the mighty city; behind me the fertile plain sloped gently tothe sea; on my right hand flowed the sparkling waters of the riverScamander; while much farther, and on the other side, the wooded peakof Ida lifted itself toward the clouds.

  But I had not long to view this scene; for a noble company of men ledby Paris himself, handsome as Apollo, came out of the gate to welcomeme. With words of greeting from the king, they bade me enter withinthe walls. They led me through the Scaean gate and along thewell-paved streets, until we came, at last, to King Priam's hall.

  It was a splendid house with broad doorways and polished porticos, andmarble columns richly carved. Within were fifty chambers, joining oneanother, all walled with polished stone; in these abode the fifty sonsof Priam with their wedded wives. On the other side, and opening intothe court, were twelve chambers built for his daughters; while over allwere the sleeping-rooms for that noble household, and around weregalleries and stairways leading to the king's great hall below.

  King Priam received me kindly, and, when he understood my errand, leftnaught undone to help me forward with my wishes. Ten days I abode as aguest in his halls, and when I would return to Greece he pressed me totarry yet a month in Troy. But the winds were fair, and the oraclespromised a pleasant voyage, and I begged that on the twelfth day hewould let me depart. So he and his sons brought many gifts, rich andbeautiful, and laid them at my feet--a fair mantle, and a doublet, anda talent of fine gold, and a sword with a silver-studded hilt, and adrinking-cup richly engraved that I might remember them when I pourlibations to the gods.

  "Take these gifts," said Priam, "as tokens of our friendship for you,and not only for you, but for all who dwell in distant Greece. For wetoo are the children of the immortals. Our mighty ancestor, Dardanus,was the son of Zeus. He it was who built Dardania on the slopes ofIda, where the waters gush in many silvery streams from underneath therocky earth.

  "A grandson of Dardanus was Ilus, famous in song and story, and to himwas born Laomedon, who in his old age became my father. He, though mysire, did many unwise things, and brought sore distress upon the peopleof this land.

  "One day Apollo and Poseidon came to Troy, disguised as humblewayfarers seeking some employment. This they did because so ordered bymighty Zeus.

  "'What can you do?' asked my father, when the two had told their wishes.

  "Poseidon answered, 'I am a builder of walls.'

  "And Apollo answered, 'I am a shepherd, and a tender of herds.'

  "'It is well,' answered Laomedon. 'The wall-builder shall build a wallaround this Troy so high and strong that no enemy can pass it. Theshepherd shall tend my herds of crook-horned kine on the wooded slopesof Ida. If at the end of a twelvemonth, the wall be built, and if thecattle thrive without loss of one, then I will pay you your hire: atalent of gold, two tripods of silver, rich robes, and armor such asheroes wear.'

  "So the two served my father through the year for the hire which he hadpromised. Poseidon built a wall, high and fair, around the city; andApollo tended the shambling kine, and lost not one. But when theyclaimed their hire, Laomedon drove them away with threats, telling themthat he would bind their feet and hands together, and sell them asslaves into some distant land, having first sheared off their ears withhis sharp sword. And they went away with angry hearts, planning intheir minds how they might avenge themselves.

  "Back to his watery kingdom, and his golden palace beneath the sea,went great Poseidon. He harnessed his steeds to his chariot, and rodeforth upon the waves. He loosed the winds from their prison house, andsent them raging over the sea. The angry waters rushed in upon theland; they covered the pastures and the rich plain of Troy, andthreatened even to beat down the walls which their king had built.

  "Then little by little, the flood shrank back again; and the peoplewent out of the city to see the waste of slime and black mud whichcovered their meadows. While they were gazing upon the scene, afearful monster, sent by angry Poseidon, came up out of the sea, andfell upon them, and drove them with hideous slaughter back to the citygates; neither would he allow any one to come outside of the walls.

  "Then my father, in his great distress, clad himself in mourning, andwent in deep humility to the temple of Athena. In much distress, hecalled unto the goddess, and besought to know the means whereby theanger of Poseidon might be assuaged. And in solemn tones a voicereplied, saying:

  "'Every day one of the maidens of Troy must be fed to the monsteroutside of the walls. The shaker of the earth has spoken. Disobey himnot, lest more cruel punishments befall thee.'

  "Then in every house of Troy there was sore dismay and lamentation, forno one knew upon whom the doom would soonest fall. And every day ahapless maiden, young and fair, was chained to the great rock by theshore, and left there to be the food of the pitiless monster. And thepeople cried aloud in their distress, and cursed the mighty walls andthe high towers which had been reared by the unpaid labors of Poseidon;and my father sat upon his high seat, and trembled because of thecalamities which his own deeds had brought upon his people.

  "At last, after many humbler victims had perished, the lot fell uponthe fairest of my sisters, Hesione, my father's best-loved daughter.In sorrow we arrayed her in garments befitting one doomed to anuntimely death; and when we had bidden her a last farewell, we gave herto the heralds and the priests to lead forth to the place of sacrifice.

  "Just then, however, a noble stranger, taller and more stately than anyman in Troy, came down the street. Fair-haired and blue-eyed, handsomeand strong, he seemed a very god to all who looked upon him. Over hisshoulder he wore the tawny skin of a lion, while in his hand he carrieda club most wonderful to behold. And the people, as he passed, prayedhim that he would free our city from the monster that was robbing us ofour loved ones.

  "'I know that thou art a god!' cried my father, when he saw thestranger. 'I pray thee, save my daughter, who even now is being ledforth to a cruel death!'

  "'You make mistake,' answered the fair stranger. 'I am not one of thegods. My name is Hercules, and like you I am mortal. Yet I may helpyou in this your time of need.'

  "Now, in my father's stables there were twelve fair steeds, the bestthat the earth ever knew. So light of foot were they, that when theybounded over the land, they might run upon the topmost ears of ripenedcorn, and break them not; and when they bounded over the sea, not evenPoseidon's steeds could glide so lightly upon the crests of the waves.Some say they were the steeds of North Wind given to my grandfather bythe powers above. These steeds, my father promised to give to Herculesif he would
save Hesione.

  "Then the heralds led my fair sister to the shore, and chained her tothe rock, there to wait for the coming of the monster. But Herculesstood near her, fearless in his strength. Soon the waves began torise; the waters were disturbed, and the beast, with hoarse bellowings,lifted his head above the breakers, and rushed forward to seize hisprey. Then the hero sprang to meet him. With blow upon blow from hismighty club, he felled the monster; the waters of the sea were reddenedwith blood; Hesione was saved, and Troy was freed from the dreadfulcurse.

  "'Behold thy daughter!' said Hercules, leading her gently back to thecity, and giving her to her father. 'I have saved her from the jaws ofdeath, and delivered your country from the dread scourge. Give me nowmy hire.'

  "Shame fills my heart as I tell this story, for thanklessness was thebane of my father's life. Ungrateful to the hero who had risked somuch and done so much that our homes and our country might be savedfrom ruin, he turned coldly away from Hercules; then he shut the greatgates in his face, and barred him out of the city, and taunted him fromthe walls, saying, 'I owe thee no hire! Begone from our coasts, ere Iscourge thee hence!'

  "Full of wrath, the hero turned away. 'I go, but I will come again,'he said.

  "Then peace and plenty blessed once more the city of Troy, and menforgot the perils from which they had been delivered. But ere long,great Hercules returned, as he had promised; and with him came a fleetof white-sailed ships and many warriors. Neither gates nor strongwalls could stand against him. Into the city he marched, and straightto my father's palace. All fled before him, and the strongest warriorsquailed beneath his glance. Here, in this very court, he slew myfather and my brothers with his terrible arrows. I myself would havefallen before his wrath, had not my sister, fair Hesione, pleaded formy life.

  "'I spare his life,' said Hercules, in answer to her prayers, 'for heis but a lad. Yet he must be my slave until you have paid a price forhim, and thus redeemed him.'

  "Then Hesione took the golden veil from her head, and gave it to thehero as my purchase price. And thenceforward I was called Priam, orthe purchased; for the name which my mother gave me was Podarkes, orthe fleet-footed.

  "After this Hercules and his heroes went on board their ships andsailed back across the sea, leaving me alone in my father's halls. Forthey took fair Hesione with them, and carried her to Salamis, to be thewife of Telamon, the father of mighty Ajax. There, through these longyears she has lived in sorrow, far removed from home and friends andthe scenes of her happy childhood. And now that the hero Telamon, towhom she was wedded, lives no longer, I ween that her life is indeed acheerless one."

  "When Priam had finished his tale, he drew his seat still nearer mine,and looked into my face with anxious, beseeching eyes. Then he said,'I have long wished to send a ship across the sea to bring my sisterback to Troy. A dark-prowed vessel, built for speed and safety, liesnow at anchor in the harbor, and a picked crew is ready to embark atany moment. And here is my son Paris, handsome and brave, who isanxious to make voyage to Salamis, to seek unhappy Hesione. Yet ourseamen have never ventured far from home, and they know nothing of thedangers of the deep, nor do they feel sure they can find their way toGreece. And so we have a favor to ask of you; and that is, that whenyour ship sails to-morrow, ours may follow in its wake across the sea."

  Here Menelaus paused as if in deep thought, and not until his listenersbegged him to go on, did he resume his story.

  [1]Menelaus, king of Lacedaemon, was the husband of Helen, the mostbeautiful woman in the world. At the time of his marriage to Helen allthe princes of Greece had vowed to support him against any enemy whoshould attempt to defraud him of his rights. This and the followingstory tell of his visit to Troy and its results.