palace

Palamedes and Odysseus arrived at the palace in the starry night to meet the great hero Peleus.

It was nightfall, the drizzle was falling in the breeze, the palace was lit with lights, and Odysseus stood at the door, looking at the palace, which was full of people, a warrior reported, and two foreign princes asked to see him.

Peleus immediately ordered to come in.

The servants came out to unload the sweaty horses and led them into the stables, where the mannes were filled with oats and forage, and the wagons were carried into the shed.

The two guests were invited into the palace, bathed in warm water, washed away the dust, refreshed their spirits, and were introduced to Peleus.

Odysseus entered the hall and saw a row of soft chairs with cushions on them, where the nobles sat and feasted, surrounded by bronze statues with torches in their hands, and a merchant saluting Peleus, and then withdrew, neither of them thinking of it, passing by.

At the beginning of the feast, the first sacrifice to the gods was held, that is, a toast was raised, and a slight splash was poured on the ground, and after this pouring, Peleus said gently: "Two distinguished guests, please sit down!"

Peleus was one of the heroes of Argo, the husband of the goddess of the sea, Thetis, the grandson of Zeus, and the son of Aeacus.

The feast includes food, fruits, wine, dancing girls, troubadours singing poems, and noble warriors performing swordsmanship.

But none of this caught the attention of Palamedes and Odysseus, who had been watching Peleus' reaction from the beginning of the feast.

Seeing that Peleus was only interested in entertaining, eating, drinking, and having fun, and did not mention anything about the Greek coalition, the two suddenly knew in their hearts that inviting Peleus to crusade against Troy this time was a bit hanging.

Peleus was also observing Palamedes and Odysseus throughout the feast, and when he thought of the message from the merchants, he slowly spoke, saying: "Prince Palamedes, King Odysseus, I already know the purpose of your visit, but I am too old to go to war. ”

Palamedes stood up and said, "But you have also drunk the wine of Helen and Menelaus, and have sworn and promised that if anyone destroys the marriage of Helen and Menelaus, you will fight against him together." ”

Odysseus immediately felt Palamedes' "stalk" again, and laughed secretly in his heart, but he didn't say a word, watching Peleus's reaction.

"Yes, I once made such a vow, but I am old, and even if I want to, I have no heart, and I believe that the gods will forgive me. Perhaps because Palamedes was the prince of the island of Evia (Euboea), which was the second largest island in Greece, and could be called a great power, so Peleus was still very polite, and when he saw that Palamedes wanted to speak again, Peleus raised his right hand slightly, signaled him to wait, and continued: "I had a son who could go to war in my place, but when he was nine years old he disappeared, and I begged an oracle that he was still alive, but I could not find him. ”

Achilles was the son of the Argonaut hero Peleus and the goddess of the sea, Thetis, and when he was born, the goddess mother also wanted to make him a god-man, she carried Peleus on her back at night, immersed her son in the River Styx, and during the day, she healed her son with a miracle medicine.

She did this for nights on end, and on one occasion Peleus peeked in secret, and when he saw his son twitching in the River Styx, he couldn't help but scream in fright.

This prevented Thetis from fulfilling her secret mission, and she sadly abandoned her son, and did not want to return to the palace, but took refuge in the kingdom of the sea, where she lived with the nymph Nereides.

Peleus, believing that his son was seriously injured, sent him to the famous physician Charon.

The half-man, half-horse Caron was a clever Kentaurus who had taken in and raised many heroes. He graciously adopted the child and fed him with lion liver, pig gall bladder, and bear bone marrow.

When Achilles was nine years old, the Greek prophet Calcas foretold that the future city of Troy would not be captured without the son of Peleus.

Achilles' mother heard of this prophecy and knew that the battle would cost her son's life, so she hurriedly surfaced to the sea, infiltrated her husband's palace, dressed him in girl's clothes, and sent him to the island of Sculos, where he was handed over to King Lycomedes.

That's why Achilles disappeared when he was nine years old, and Peleus searched for him everywhere.

Peleus finally sighed: "Prince Palamedes, King Odysseus, if I have a son, you can go to war in my place." ”

When Palamedes and Odysseus heard Peleus's words on this, they knew that it was useless to say anything, and that it was imperative to find Peleus' son, Achilles.

After saying goodbye to Peleus, Palamedes and Odysseus came out of the palace of Peleus and went directly to find the Greek prophet Carcas.

Karcas was a great Greek prophet, and many of his prophecies were extremely accurate, and everyone believed in his prophecies and considered him to be a messenger of God.

The two of them trekked to find Kalkas's residence, and just as they were about to enter the mansion through the main entrance, they saw a veiled woman coming out of Karcas's residence.

"This woman is not mortal. Odysseus carefully felt the aura emanating from the mysterious woman, and thought to himself.

After the woman walked away, the two met the Greek prophet Karcas.

Carcas watched the two of them come together, sat down, and said with a face full of regret: "You have come to inquire about the whereabouts of Prince Achilles? Unfortunately, the war started too quickly, and Achilles was not yet fifteen years old to participate in the war. ”

"But you once said that to attack Troy, Achilles must enter the war, otherwise, Troy will not be able to take it. Palamedes said.

"I have said that Achilles must go to war in the attack on Troy, but he is so young that he may not be invited until he is fifteen years old. ”

"The war is going too fast. Carcas muttered exactly the same as Odysseus said that day, and Odysseus smiled: "Do you also think that the war is going too fast? I also think so, it stands to reason that the war will break out in a few years, and Achilles will be able to enter the war at that time, for some reason, everything is ahead of schedule." ”

"Perhaps the gods felt that the development was too slow, so they hastened the course of the war, and the gods decided that we mortals could not speculate. Karcas said.

Odysseus nodded and agreed with Calcas.

"In other words, in the war against Troy, without the participation of Achilles, our coalition forces will not be able to capture Troy, doesn't it mean that the war will be fought for several years?" asked Palamedes, who had always thought that the Greeks were so strong that they could go home in a few months.

"Prince Palamedes, this battle of Troy has been going on for many years, and Achilles' participation in the war a few years later has little impact. Karcas said.

"Oh, is there a better way to end the war as soon as possible after such a long fight?" Palamedes raised an eyebrow, surprised, for the first time he heard that this war would be going on for a long time.

Last time, Hercules gathered a small group of people and overthrew Troy.

"I didn't notice it. Karcas wiped his cold sweat with regret and said, "Now, let's go to Oris first." ”

He also wants to end the war as soon as possible, but it is all arranged by the gods, he is a prophet and knows more secrets, but cannot tell outsiders.

Odysseus, who seemed to know something, interrupted Palamedes' questioning, and said, "Well, let's go to Oris first, and we'll know when we get there." ”

Carcas glanced at Odysseus gratefully, he really didn't know how to answer Palamedes' question, but Odysseus cleared him in time.

The three of them rushed to Orris on a warship together.

Port of Orris

At this time, many heroes had already led the fleet to come, and the port of Orris was full of warships, and there were a steady stream of heroes who led warships to the port of Orris.

Odysseus and the three of them rushed to the port of Orris, and when they saw the unprecedented prosperity of the port of Orris, they were overjoyed, but they didn't expect that so many heroes had responded to the call.

Seeing the scene in front of him, Palamedes became more confident in the crusade against Troy, believing that even without Achilles' participation, it would be a matter of time before he captured Troy.

No matter how strong the walls of Troy were, they couldn't stop the attack of such a coalition of troops.

Odysseus, Palamedes, and Carcas quickly arrived in the hall, took part in the meeting of heroes and princes, and after watching for a while, they exclaimed: "Ladies and gentlemen, the blatant abduction of Helen, the queen of Sparta, by the Trojan prince Paris, and the bloodbathing of the royal palace, is a provocation for us all of Greece. ”

"Paris has humiliated all of us Greeks in a humiliating manner like never before, but even if Paris does something that rages against us, we must salute before we fight, and we should send messengers to denounce Troy and protest to King Priam. ”

"In this way, we can send troops in accordance with God's will. ”

"Moreover, our preparations for war also take a certain amount of time, and many princes have not yet arrived!"

As soon as Odysseus finished speaking, a heated discussion ensued, and the focus of the discussion was not on condemning Troy, but on the question of who to send.

"I think Odysseus is right, we should send an envoy to denounce Troy, and I recommend Odysseus as the envoy to Troy this time. ”

"Well, I think Palamedes is quite suitable to send an envoy to Troy, and it is well known that Palamedes is quite good at diplomacy.

"How could this mission to Troy be without Menelaus, the bitter master? There is no one more suitable to go to Troy than him. ”

There was a heated discussion, and some people even recommended Menastheus, the king of Athens, to send an envoy to Troy, Paris lived in Athens for a while, and he had a good relationship with Menastheus.

After a fierce quarrel, the opinions gradually converged, and finally Palamedes, Odysseus, and Menelaus were elected as envoys.

"Palamedes, Odysseus, Menelaus, I hope you will live up to your mission, condemn Troy fiercely, and make King Priam hand over Paris. Agamemnon accentuated his tone at the harsh words, and said, "Palamedes, come to me when the meeting is over." ”

The envoy was sent to show his righteousness, but he did not want to settle it peacefully, so the tone and conditions of the envoy were very important.

Go and humiliate Troy!

If you really want a peaceful solution, how can you send the resentful bitter master Menelaus?