Agamemnon said to Clytemnestra, Thy love hath carried thee too far, for thou art receiving me with honours too great for mortal man; and pride goes before a fall.' So he went on heedless to his doom. But to Casandra the Trojan maiden Phoebus Apollo had granted the gift of prophecy; only, because she would not give him her love, he added the judgment that none should believe her words. Presently a dark shade came over her face, and she clasped her hands as though from a sudden pain; and she cried out, 'O Phœbus, what a sight dost thou show me! In the blood-stained bath Agamemnon lies slain, as a wild bull in a net; and the dagger which has smitten him shall smite me also this day before the sun goes down.' But none gave heed to her wild cries until presently from within the house came a shriek loud and piercing, and then all was still again.

So the Atê of Iphigeneia came upon Agamemnon and brooded on his house, adding sin to sin and woe to woe. For the love of a child for his mother was dried up in the heart of Orestes, while he abode far away in a strange land; and when he grew to manhood and came back to Sparta, he slew his mother Clytemnestra, because she had killed his father. Then the Erinnys of

his mother fell upon him and drove him in raging madness from the land. By day and by night they gave him no rest. He felt their cold breath on his cheek as he lay down to sleep, and he heard the hiss of the deadly snakes which were coiled in their tangled hair. Over hill and dale, from city to city, from land to land, they drove him with their pitiless scourge, till, faint of heart and ready to die, he fled to the sacred hill of Athênê. There in the solemn council, when the judgment was divided whether Orestes should live or die, Athênê gave sentence that he should go free. So the Erinnys of Clytæmnêstra fled away in grief and rage, and the Atê of Iphigeneia rested no more on the house of Agamemnon." 46

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HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE.

JAR away from the strife of battle, brooding

over the wrongs which he had suffered, lay Achilles the son of Peleus; for Agamemnon had taken away the prize which the Achaians had set apart for him from the spoils of war. No more was his war-cry heard in the battle-field; and his spear smote not down the warriors who came forth to fight for Ilion. Then the other chieftains of the Achaians put forth all their strength in the battle against the Trojans; but the strongest and the bravest of all was Diomêdes, the son of Tydeus. Wherever he came, his enemies fell back before him, till all trembled at the sound of his voice and the sight of his glittering spear. One after another fell the bravest and best of the Trojan warriors, until at last Helenos spake to Hector and said, 'Brother, the Achaians are pressing us hard, and the gods favour not the Trojans; what then shall we do, if they come not to our aid in the hour of need? Hasten, then, into the city, and gather the women together, and bid them go

to the temple of Athênê and there beseech her with gifts and prayers that she may help the Trojans against the fierce Diomêdes and the other chieftains who fight in the hosts of Agamemnon.' Then Hector answered and said, 'I will do thy bidding, my brother; but, men of Troy, let not your hearts be cast down while I go to the sacred Ilion, and bid our matrons pray to the virgin daughter of Zeus to aid us in our need. It may be that she will hear our prayer; but if she hearken not, be not dismayed, for one good omen not even the gods can take away from men, when they fight for their home and the land in which they were born.' 47

So Hector hastened to the house of Priam. Very fair it was to look at in the bright sunshine which streamed into the golden chambers. Then forth from the rich hall, where the king held banquet with his chieftains, came forth the lady Hecabê, leading her child Laodikê to meet her brother. And when Hector came near to her, she took him by the hand, and called him by his name, and spake in a soft and loving voice, 'Wherefore comest thou hither, my son, from the battle-field? Are the men of Ilion so sore pressed in the fight that thou seekest the aid of the bright gods? Tarry yet a little while, and

I will bring thee wine to gladden thy fainting heart.'

But Hector said, 'Stay me not, my mother, for I have a great work to do; and if I tarry now by thy side, my heart may lose its strength, and my arm may fail me in the strife. But gather together the matrons of Ilion, and bid them hasten to the shrine of Athênê and seek her favour by gifts and prayers. I go to the house of Paris, if so be I may rouse him to go forth against the enemy. Weak of heart, and mean of soul, he lies on his golden couch, and heeds not the evils which for his sake we are suffering. Of a truth, less bitter would be our sorrow if he were gone from the land of living men to the dark kingdom of Hades.'

So Hecabê parted from her child; and with the Ilian matrons she hastened to the temple of Athênê. With rich gifts and prayers they besought her aid, and Theâno, the priestess, placed on her knees a beautiful robe 48 which Hecabe had brought; and the smoke of the sacrifice went up to the high heaven, but Athênê hearkened not to their prayer.

Then came Hector to the house of Paris, and found him in his golden chamber burnishing his weapons and his armour. Near to him sat the