The Palace
Palamedes and Odysseus traveled through the night to the palace to meet the great hero, Peleus.
It was already late at night, and a light drizzled in the wind. The palace was lit, and Odysseus stood in front of the door, looking at the people inside. A warrior reported that two foreign princes were requesting an audience.
Peleus immediately invited them in.
The servants came out to unload the sweating horses and led them into the stable. The manger was filled with oats and fodder, and the carriage was sent into the shed.
The two guests were invited into the palace and bathed in warm water to wash away the dust and refreshed themselves. They were then introduced to Peleus.
Odysseus walked into the hall and saw a row of soft chairs with cushions on them. The nobles were sitting there drinking and surrounded by bronze statues, holding torches in their hands. A merchant bowed to Peleus and then left. The two did not mind and walked past each other.
The banquet began, and the first thing to do was to offer a toast to the gods, which was to raise a cup and pour it on the ground. After this was done, Peleus said gently, "My two esteemed guests, please take a seat!"
Peleus was one of the heroes of Argo. He was the husband of the sea goddess Thetis, the grandson of Zeus, and the son of Aeacus. At this moment, his hair had already turned white.
There were delicacies, fruits, and wine. Dancers danced, bards sang poems, and noble warriors performed swordsmanship.
But none of this attracted the attention of Palamedes and Odysseus. They had been paying attention to Peleus's reaction since the beginning of the banquet.
The two saw that Peleus only cared about eating and drinking, and did not mention anything about the Greek army. They knew that inviting Peleus to attack Troy was not going to be easy.
Peleus had been observing Palamedes and Odysseus throughout the banquet. He thought of the merchant's message and slowly said, "Prince Palamedes, King Odysseus, I already know why you are here, but I am old and cannot participate in the war."
Palamedes stood up and said, "But you also drank at Helen and Menelaus's banquet, and you swore and promised that if anyone tried to ruin the marriage between Helen and Menelaus, you would join forces to attack him."
Odysseus immediately sensed Palamedes's' straightforwardness' and laughed in his heart, but he did not say a word and watched Peleus's reaction.
"Yes, I once made such a vow, but I am old. Even if I wanted to go, I would not be able to. I believe the gods will forgive me." Perhaps because Palamedes was the prince of Euboea, the second largest island in Greece, Peleus was very polite. Seeing that Palamedes was about to speak again, Peleus raised his right hand slightly to signal him to wait. Then he continued, "I had a son who could fight in my place, but he disappeared when he was nine years old. I asked the oracle to tell me that he was still alive, but I couldn't find him anywhere."
Achilles was the son of Peleus, the hero of Argo, and Thetis, the goddess of the sea. When he was born, the goddess also wanted to make him a god. She carried Peleus on her back at night and dipped him into the River Styx. In the morning, she healed him with magic medicines.
She did this for several nights. One time, Peleus peeped in and cried out in fear when he saw his son convulsing in the river.
This prevented Thetis from completing her secret mission. She sadly abandoned her son and did not want to return to her palace. Instead, she hid in the Sea Kingdom and lived with the Nymph Nereides.
Peleus thought that his son had been seriously injured and sent him to the famous doctor Charon.
Charon, who was half man and half horse, was a clever Kentarosian who had taken in and raised many heroes. He kindly adopted the child and fed him lion's liver, pig's gallbladder, and bear's marrow.
When Achilles was nine years old, the Greek prophet Calchas predicted that without the participation of Peleus's son, Troy would not be conquered in the future.
Achilles's mother heard of the prophecy and knew that the battle would cost her son's life. So she quickly floated to the surface of the sea and snuck into her husband's palace. She dressed her son in girl's clothes and sent him to the island of Scylus to be handed over to King Lycomedes.
This was why Achilles disappeared when he was nine years old and why Peleus could not find him.
Peleus finally sighed and said, "Prince Palamedes, King Odysseus, if I have a son, he can take my place in the battle."
When Palamedes and Odysseus heard Peleus's words, they knew that there was no point in saying anything else. The most important thing now was to find Peleus's son, Achilles.
After Palamedes and Odysseus bade farewell to Peleus, they left the palace and went to find the Greek prophet Calchas.
Calchas was a great Greek prophet. Many of his predictions were extremely accurate. Everyone believed in his predictions and thought that he was the messenger of God.
The two of them trudged to Calchas's residence. Just as they were about to enter through the front door, they saw a veiled woman walking out of Calchas's residence.
This woman is no ordinary person, Odysseus thought to himself as he carefully sensed the mysterious woman's aura.
After the woman walked far away, the two of them saw the Greek prophet Calchas.
Calchas saw the two of them walk in together and invited them to sit. With a face full of regret, he said, "You are here to ask about Prince Achilles's whereabouts, right? Unfortunately, the war started too quickly. Achilles is not yet 15 years old and cannot participate in the war. "
"But you once said that Achilles must participate in the war to attack Troy. Otherwise, Troy will not be conquered," Palamedes said.
"I did say that Achilles must participate in the war to attack Troy, but he is too young. Perhaps in a few years, when he is 15 years old, he can be invited to participate."
"The war is progressing too quickly," Calchas muttered. This was the same as what Odysseus had said that day. Odysseus smiled and said, "You also think that the war is progressing too quickly? I think so too. Logically, the war should only break out in a few years, and by then, Achilles will be able to participate. I don't know why, but everything has been brought forward. "
"Maybe the gods feel that the development is too slow, so they sped up the war. How can we mortals guess the decisions of the gods?" Calchas said.
Odysseus nodded and agreed with Calchas.
"In other words, in the war against Troy, without Achilles' participation, our allied army will not be able to conquer Troy. Doesn't that mean that the war will last for a few years?" Palamedes asked. He had always thought that the Greeks were so powerful that they could finish the war in a few months.
"Prince Palamedes, this war of Troy has been going on for many years. Achilles joining the war a few years later will not affect it much," Calchas said.
"Oh? Is there a better way to end the war as soon as possible? "Palamedes raised his eyebrows in surprise. This was the first time he had heard that the war would last for a long time.
Last time, Hercules gathered a small group of people and defeated the Trojans.
"I didn't notice." Calchas wiped his cold sweat regretfully and said, "Now, let's go to Oris first."
He also wanted to end the war as soon as possible, but this was all arranged by the gods. He was a prophet and knew more secrets, but he could not tell outsiders.
Odysseus seemed to know some inside information and interrupted Palamedes' questioning. "Alright, let's go to Oris first. Once we get there, we will know."
Calchas looked at Odysseus gratefully. He really did not know how to answer Palamedes' question. Fortunately, Odysseus helped him in time.
The three of them took a warship and rushed to Oris.
Port of Oris
At this time, many heroes had already led their fleets there. Port of Oris was full of warships, and there was still an endless stream of heroes leading warships to the port.
Odysseus and the other two rushed to Port of Oris. Seeing the unprecedented prosperity of the port, they were overjoyed. They did not expect so many heroes to respond to the call.
Seeing the scene in front of him, Palamedes was even more confident in the war against Troy. He believed that even without Achilles' participation, it was only a matter of time before Troy was conquered.
No matter how strong the walls of Troy were, they would not be able to withstand the attack of so many allied forces.
Odysseus, Palamedes, and Calchas quickly arrived at the hall and participated in the meeting between the heroes and the princes. After watching for a while, they said loudly, "Everyone, Prince Paris of Troy has openly kidnapped Queen Helen of Sparta and bathed the palace in blood. This is a provocation to all of Greece."
"Paris has made all of us Greeks lose face and suffered unprecedented humiliation. But even if Paris has done something that angers the heavens and the people, we must first use peaceful means before resorting to force. We should send messengers to condemn Troy and protest to King Priam."
"This way, we can send troops in accordance with the will of the gods."
"Also, we need some time to prepare for war. Many princes have not arrived yet!"
As soon as Odysseus finished speaking, there was a heated discussion below. The focus of the discussion was not on condemning Troy, but on the problem of who to send.
"I think Odysseus is right. We should send messengers to condemn Troy. I recommend Odysseus to be the messenger to Troy."
"Sigh, I think Palamedes is quite suitable to go to Troy. As everyone knows, Palamedes is quite good at diplomacy."
"How can we not send Menelaus, the victim, to Troy this time? No one is more suitable than him to go to Troy. "
Everyone had a heated discussion, and someone even recommended the King of Athens, Menelaus, to go to Troy. Paris had lived in Athens for a period of time and had a good relationship with Menelaus.
After a heated discussion, everyone's opinions gradually came to a consensus. Finally, everyone elected Palamedes, Odysseus, and Menelaus as the messengers.
"Palamedes, Odysseus, Menelaus, I hope you will live up to your mission and condemn Troy harshly. Make King Priam hand over Paris." Agamemnon emphasized the word "harshly" and said, "Palamedes, when the meeting is over, come to me."
Sending messengers was to show their righteousness, but they did not really want to solve the problem peacefully. Therefore, the tone and conditions of the messengers were very important.
Go and humiliate Troy!
If they really wanted to solve the problem peacefully, why would they send the resentful Menelaus?
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