Story of Aeneas | Page 5

His mighty spear he cast: Quivering it stood: the sharp rebound Shook
the huge monster: and a sound Through all its caverns passed.
CONINGTON, AEneid, BOOK II.
But at this point the attention of the multitude was attracted by the
appearance of a group of Trojan shepherds dragging along a prisoner
with his hands bound behind his back, who, they said, had delivered
himself up to them of his own accord. Being taken before King Priam,
and questioned as to who he was and whence he came, the stranger told
an artful story. He was a Greek, he said, and his name was Si'non. His
countrymen had long been weary of the war, and had often resolved to
return home, but were hindered by storms from making the attempt.
And when the wooden horse was built, the tempests raged and the
thunder rolled more than ever.
"Chiefly when completed stood This horse, compact of maple wood,
Fierce thunders, pealing in our ears, Proclaimed the turmoil of the
spheres." CONINGTON, AEneid, BOOK II.
Then the Greeks sent a messenger to the shrine of Apollo to inquire
how they might obtain a safe passage to their country. The answer was
that the life of a Greek must be sacrificed on the altar of the god. All
were horror-stricken by this announcement, for each feared that the
doom might fall upon himself.
"Through every heart a shudder ran, 'Apollo's victim--who the man?'"
CONINGTON, AEneid, BOOK II.
The selection of the person to be the victim was left to Cal'chas, the
soothsayer, who fixed upon Sinon, and preparations were accordingly
made to sacrifice him on the altar of Apollo, but he contrived to escape
and conceal himself until the Grecian fleet had sailed.
"I fled, I own it, from the knife, I broke my bands and ran for life, And
in a marsh lay that night While they should sail, if sail they might."
CONINGTON, AEneid, BOOK II.
This was Sinon's story. The Trojans believed it and King Priam ordered
the prisoner to be released, and promised to give him protection in Troy.
"But tell me," said the king, "why did they make this horse? Was it for

a religious purpose or as an engine of war?" The treacherous Sinon
answered that the horse was intended as a peace offering to the gods;
that it had been built on the advice of Calchas, who had directed that it
should be made of immense size so that the Trojans should not be able
to drag it within their walls, "for," said he, "if the men of Troy do any
injury to the gift, evil will come upon the kingdom of Priam, but if they
bring it into their city, all Asia will make war against Greece, arid on
our children will come the destruction which we would have brought
upon Troy."
The Trojans believed this story also, and their belief was strengthened
by the terrible fate which just then befell Laocoon, who a little before
had pierced the side of the horse with his spear. While the priest and his
two sons were offering a sacrifice to Neptune on the shore, two
enormous serpents suddenly issued from the sea and seized and crushed
them to death in sight of the people. The Trojans were filled with fear
and astonishment at this spectacle, and they regarded the event as a
punishment from the gods upon Laocoon.
Who dared to harm with impious steel Those planks of consecrated
deal. CONINGTON, AEneid, BOOK II.
Then a cry arose that the "peace offering" should be conveyed into the
city, and accordingly a great breach was made in the walls that for ten
years had resisted all the assaults of the Greeks, and by means of rollers
attached to its feet, and ropes tied around its limbs, the horse was
dragged into the citadel, the young men and maidens singing songs of
triumph. But in the midst of the rejoicing there were portents of the
approaching evil. Four times the huge figure halted on the threshold of
the gate, and four times it gave forth a sound from within, as if of the
clash of arms.
"Four times 'twas on the threshold stayed: Four times the armor clashed
and brayed. Yet on we press with passion blind, All forethought blotted
from our mind, Till the dread monster we install Within the temple's
tower-built wall." CONINGTON. AEneid, BOOK II.
The prophetess Cas-san'dra, too, the daughter of King Priam, had
warned her countrymen of the doom that was certain to fall upon the
city if the horse were admitted. Her warning was, however, disregarded.
The fateful gift of the Greeks was placed in the citadel, and the Trojans,
thinking that their troubles were now over, and that the enemy had

departed to return no