Agamemnon was greatly agitated by Calchas' words. Anger flashed in his eyes, almost bursting out of them and burning Calchas in flames.
"Damn you, Calchas. Has he already sided with Achilles?"
Thinking of this, Agamemnon aggressively said to Calchas, "You ominous prophet, you haven't said a single pleasant word to me since you came here."
Actually, Agamemnon only said this because he was furious. Calchas' prophecy had helped him a lot.
In the distant past, when Kronos was wreaking havoc in the Greek camp, Calchas had prophesied that Philoctetes would be able to eliminate the threat of Kronos. More recently, Calchas and Odysseus had invited Achilles to participate in the war. At that time, it seemed that Agamemnon was very happy to hear this.
Agamemnon continued to speak loudly, "Now you have come to mislead the people, saying that Apollo has given us the plague because I refused Chrysais' ransom for his daughter."
At this point, Agamemnon's long experience in politics allowed him to suppress his anger. He could not go against the entire army, so he immediately said, "Indeed, I am willing to keep her here, but in order to save the soldiers from the plague, I am more willing to return her to Chrysais."
At this point, Agamemnon paused and said loudly, "Of course, I can hand over Chrysais, but I have a condition. I want a gift worthy of her. You have to take out a gift and exchange it with her."
When Agamemnon finished speaking, all the princes and heroes fell silent out of respect for his prestige and royal power. Calchas did not make a sound.
The young and vigorous Achilles felt that something was wrong. He stood up and replied, "Son of Atreus, how greedy you are. Greed even drives you to demand spoils of war from the princes and heroes."
"But have you ever thought that while you are peacefully residing in the great hall, the princes and heroes have gone on a crusade against the various states for the sake of obtaining provisions for the allied army? Moreover, every harvest will be handed over to you. You have already obtained what you deserve."
"Besides, the spoils of war that we have plundered from the conquered cities have long been distributed. This is the only way to maintain morale in the long run. Of course, we can't take back the spoils of war that we have distributed to everyone."
"In that case, we will no longer support you, son of Atreus."
"Since it's impossible to get back the spoils of war, I hope you can be a little more generous and let the priestess' daughter go so that our soldiers can endure less pain."
"Of course, if Zeus blesses us to conquer Troy, we are willing to compensate you three times, four times!"
Achilles' words were powerful and reasonable. He directly expressed his intention to compensate Agamemnon, hoping that Agamemnon would consider the bigger picture.
"Brave hero, don't try to deceive me." What Achilles said actually made sense, but it was even more jarring to Agamemnon, because it showed that Achilles was not a simple warrior, but had a brain. Although he only had "reason" now, he did not understand "harmony" yet, but he would learn as he grew older, so he was even more fearful and shouted loudly. "You're right.
"You think I'll listen to you and hand over Chrysais just because you keep your spoils of war safe?"
"No, the Greeks won't compensate me, so I'll take what I need from your spoils of war."
"It doesn't matter if these things belong to Ajax, Odysseus, or you, Achilles, and no matter how angry you are, I don't care."
Agamemnon was now determined to get compensation, or he would never back down. In his view, if he took a step back, it would be a compromise to Achilles, or even to the princes, which would greatly damage his authority.
"Now, Achilles, I have to tell you that although I've promised to return Chrysais' daughter to him, I want to get a noble woman from your tent as compensation."
"And I want you to understand that I'm nobler than you, and this is a warning to others not to go against my will like you."
Agamemnon had lost his basic rationality to Achilles' words. Although this was the truth, and every prince knew it, it was not suitable to say it publicly.
The young Achilles was instantly angered by Agamemnon. He pressed his sword, already thinking of drawing it and killing the commander.
Blood splattered five steps away, no problem.
At this moment, Athena, who had already sensed the omen of fate, quickly appeared behind Achilles and whispered, "Calm down, don't use your sword. If you're obedient, I'll give you three times the reward."
If Achilles drew his sword, things would get out of hand. The Greek army would immediately fall apart, and the fate of the whole world would be reversed.
When Achilles heard this voice, he knew that the gods were talking to him. Since the gods had told him not to use his sword, he could only choose to endure for now.
Agamemnon still did not know that he had walked into the entrance to hell. If not for Athena's timely intervention, he might have had to go to the realm of Hades.
Achilles obediently pushed his sword back into its scabbard and replied angrily, "You despicable man, when did you ever think that you should fight alongside the noblest heroes of Greece on the battlefield against the enemy? If there's a problem in battle, you're always the first to hide. "
"Of course, here, snatching the spoils of war from the hands of someone who dares to contradict you is a very comfortable thing!"
Then, he pointed at the scepter in Agamemnon's hand and said to Agamemnon, "I swear by this scepter to you: Just as this scepter can no longer sprout leaves like a tree branch, from now on, you will never see me fight on the battlefield again!"
"When the fierce Hector slaughters the Greeks like cutting grass, don't expect me to come and save you."
"In the future, it will be useless for you to regret offending my dignity!"
Achilles was completely enraged by Agamemnon and did not leave any leeway in his words.
"Arrogant young man, do you think that without you, we can't fight? Do you think I'll come and beg you to save me? Let me tell you, you're daydreaming. "
"I will definitely make you understand that without an arrogant young man like you, the Greeks can still win this war and break through the city of Troy." Agamemnon was also infuriated by Achilles' words and said furiously.
The two of them were at each other's throats. None of the heroes or princes present tried to dissuade them.
Everyone watched silently because they knew that neither of them could be dissuaded. Not to mention Agamemnon, even Achilles, who was currently in a fit of anger, would not listen to any persuasion.
"Do whatever you want, but don't expect me to listen to your orders. I won't raise my hand against you or any other hero because of this girl."
"You can take it yourself, but remember, don't even think of touching the other property on my ship, or I'll take your life."
These words were clearly threatening Agamemnon with force. Everyone's expression changed. After saying this, Achilles ignored everyone present and left the barracks, returning to his ship.
Everyone looked at each other. They did not expect things to turn out this way.
"Did you see that? Did you all see that? This arrogant young man has never taken me seriously, nor has he taken anyone seriously. Don't worry, without him, I, Agamemnon, can still lead everyone to victory in the war. "
Everyone was silent. They had reservations about Agamemnon's words. Under his leadership, a few years had passed, but there had been no substantial progress in the war against Troy.
"Meeting adjourned." After Agamemnon announced that the meeting was adjourned, he returned to his barracks gloomily. Everyone dispersed as well. They were very worried about the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon.
After the meeting was adjourned, Calchas also looked worried. In the face of Agamemnon's aggressiveness, he chose to let Achilles protect him.
But in the end, Achilles and Agamemnon parted on bad terms. He could only hope that Agamemnon would compromise with Achilles. Otherwise, his good days would come to an end.
Agamemnon returned to his barracks, still sulking. Thinking of the girl in Achilles' barracks that he had yet to retrieve, he quickly called for the herald Tartipios and Eurythes.
"Both of you, go to Achilles' barracks and bring a noble girl here."
"Yes." The heralds Tartipios and Eurythes did not dare to disobey Agamemnon's orders, so they bit the bullet and agreed.
The conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon during the princes' meeting was now known by everyone in the camp. They were Agamemnon's heralds, so they were the first to know about it.
Given the current situation, they were afraid that they would be killed by Achilles if they went to Achilles' barracks to retrieve the girl.
But no matter how reluctant they were, they had to rush to Achilles' barracks. Otherwise, Agamemnon would be the first to go before Achilles did anything.
They reluctantly arrived at Achilles' barracks and saw Achilles sitting at the door of the barracks.
Because of their timidity, they did not dare to tell Achilles their purpose for coming. They could only linger far away outside Achilles' barracks.
Achilles had actually seen the two of them coming from afar and had already guessed their purpose for coming. Seeing them linger outside his barracks, looking hesitant to speak, he knew that they were afraid of him.
Achilles said, "I know why you are here. You don't have to worry. It's not your fault. It's Agamemnon's fault!"
After saying that, he said loudly, "Patroclus, invite the girl out and let them take her back."
"But I want you to be a witness in front of God and mortals. If someone asks for my help in the future and is refused, then don't blame me. You should blame the son of Atreus."
The heralds Tartipios and Eurythes looked at each other. They did not dare to answer. They could only pretend that they did not know about the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon.
At this time, Patroclus brought a noble girl out. She was reluctant and kept looking at Prince Achilles with a resentful gaze. Achilles turned his face to avoid her gaze and said, "Take her back."
The heralds Tartipios and Eurythes took the girl out. Patroclus saw Achilles' uncomfortable expression and said, "Prince Achilles, you …"
Before he could finish his words, Achilles waved his hand to stop him. "Patroclus, don't worry about me. I'm fine. Just let me sit alone."
Patroclus sighed helplessly and returned to the barracks. Achilles got up and walked towards the sea. Unknowingly, tears streamed down his face because of the humiliation.
Note 1: The Greek city-state era was different from the centralization of power in China. Most of the soldiers were citizens, and the weapons were provided by the citizens themselves. The state generally did not pay for it. As a price, one-third of the spoils of war would be given to them. Therefore, Achilles said that he could not take it back because it would offend the whole army.
Note 2: If Achilles had drawn his sword, either Agamemnon or both of them would have died. The Greeks would have failed. Therefore, in the world of the gods, the gods would not allow such internal strife to occur. It was difficult to hide from the gods and be effective by directly provoking internal strife.
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