Warranty Deed - PDF

Here is the transcription of the document in markdown format: ### The League Against Troy When he heard what Paris had done, Menelaus immediately returned to Sparta. He called upon the other kings and princes of Greece to join him in a war against Troy. He reminded them of the promise they had mad...

Here is the transcription of the document in markdown format: ### The League Against Troy When he heard what Paris had done, Menelaus immediately returned to Sparta. He called upon the other kings and princes of Greece to join him in a war against Troy. He reminded them of the promise they had made when Helen had married Menelaus. What was that promise and how did it come about? Before she married Menelaus, Helen had been **wooed** by many of the greatest heroes of Greece. Her father wanted to keep peace among all those whom Helen did not choose to marry. So he had all Helen's **suitors** pledge that they would respect her choice of a husband. Moreover, they promised that if Helen were ever stolen away from her husband, they would help to right such a wrong. * **wooed**: past tense of woo-to woo is to try to win someone's affection, with the intention of marriage * **suitors**: men who try to win a woman's hand in marriage *** ### BEFORE THE ILIAD Now that Paris had taken Helen, Menelaus asked the kings and princes of Greece to honor their promise. These men decided that before declaring war against Troy they would seek a peaceful solution. They sent **ambassadors** to Troy to demand that Paris return Helen and the treasures that he had stolen. * **ambassadors**: persons sent to represent another person, or to represent one country to another When the Greek ambassadors arrived in Troy, they were welcomed with respect. But King Priam, blinded by his love for Paris, refused the demands of the ambassadors. And so the ambassadors returned home, and at once the kings and princes of Greece began to prepare for war. ### Reluctant Odysseus Years passed as the Greeks prepared a vast force of more than a thousand ships to carry their warriors across the Aegean Sea to the Trojan shores. Some of the Greek kings were **reluctant** to join the expedition * **reluctant**: unwilling, hesitant *** ### THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY ...**expedition**, as they knew that the struggle would be long and **perilous**. * **expedition**: a journey with a mission or purpose * **perilous**: dangerous One such **reluctant** Greek leader was Odysseus, king of Ithaca. He would gladly have remained in his happy island home with his young wife, Penelope, and his infant son, Telemachus, both of whom he loved dearly. Odysseus was famed not only for **valor** in war but also for his active mind, always ready with a clever plan to meet any challenge. When the call went out for the Greek leaders to assemble their fleets at the port of Aulis on the east coast of Greece, although Odysseus paid no attention, the other Greek kings were not willing to continue without so brave and clever a man as Odysseus. * **valor**: courage, especially in battle Menelaus himself went to Ithaca to persuade Odysseus to join the expedition against Troy. Along with Menelaus went his brother, Agamemnon, "The face that launched a thousand ships" Around the year 1600, an English playwright wrote a play in which a character refers to Helen of Troy by asking, "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?" Today, people still sometimes describe a person of great beauty as having a "face that launched a thousand ships." *** ### BEFORE THE ILIAD king of Mycenae and one of the most powerful and wealthy of the Greek rulers. When Odysseus heard of their arrival in Ithaca, he came up with a **scheme** to trick them by pretending to be insane. He dressed in his best clothes and **yoked** an ox and a mule to a plow. Then he went down to the seashore and began to plow the beach, scattering salt upon the sand instead of seed. * **scheme**: a clever and usually secret plan * **yoked**: connected an animal to a plow by means of a wooden frame placed around the neck Menelaus and Agamemnon were alarmed at the sight of Odysseus plowing the sand. But one of the followers of Menelaus, a warrior named Palamedes, thought Odysseus might be playing a trick upon them. Palamedes took Odysseus's infant son, Telemachus, from the arms of his **nurse** and placed the babe on the sand in the path of the ox and mule pulling the plow. Odysseus quickly turned the animals aside to avoid injuring his child, thus proving that he was not mad but in full possession of his senses. * **nurse**: here refers to a person who cares for young children And so Odysseus had no choice but to join the edition to Troy. With twelve well-manned ships... *** ...ships he sailed from his rugged island, which he did not see again for twenty years. Ten years he spent at the siege of Troy, and ten on his homeward voyage, during which he met with the adventures described in the *Odyssey.* ### The Hero Achilles Besides Odysseus, another Greek hero was tricked into joining the forces against Troy. This was... *** ### BEFORE THE ILIAD ...was Achilles, the most renowned warrior of the Trojan War and the principal hero of Homer's *Iliad.* Achilles was born the son of Peleus and Thetis-their marriage feast, you remember, had been **disrupted** by Eris and the apple of discord. * **disrupted**: broken apart, thrown into disorder When Achilles was an infant, Thetis dipped him in the waters of the Styx, the river that (so the Greeks believed) formed the border between the underworld and the world of the living. Any mortal dipped in these waters would be safe from harm from any weapon. But when Thetis plunged her baby into the dark waters of the Styx, she held him by the foot, and the magical water did not touch the child's heel. And so, many years later, in this one **vulnerable** spot on his body, Achilles would receive the wound from which he died. * **vulnerable**: capable of being harmed or wounded Although she had tried to protect her son by dipping him in the Styx, Thetis was afraid to let Achilles... ### Achilles' Heel We now use the expression "Achilles' heel" to refer to a person's particular weakness or vulnerability. *** ### The Iliad and the Odyssey ...Achilles go to the Trojan War, for Zeus had told her that if Achilles took part in the war, he would be killed. When Thetis heard that the Greeks were gathering their forces to attack Troy, she secretly sent her son to the island of Scyros across the sea. She hid him among the daughters of the king of that island. To make sure no one recognized him, she had Achilles dress like a young girl. A soothsayer told the Greek leaders that without the help of Achilles, Troy could not be taken. Odysseus took on the task of finding Achilles. After much **inquiry** he discovered that Achilles was at Scyros, disguised among the king's daughters. He made his way to the island, where he faced a new difficulty. He had never before seen the young prince, so how was he to know him? * **inquiry**: seeking information, questioning As always, the ready mind of Odysseus came up with a plan. He dressed himself as a **peddler** and went to the royal palace, where he displayed fine jewelry to attract the attention of the ladies of the family. The **maidens** gathered about him and began examining the jewels. But one... * **peddler**: a traveling seller of goods * **maidens**: young women (especially unmarried ones) *** ### BEFORE THE ILIAD ..of the group, a tall maiden, stood aside and showed little interest. Then Odysseus drew from his pack a gleaming sword. The tall maiden eagerly seized the weapon, and handled it with much skill and pleasure. The pretend peddler revealed himself as Odysseus and told Achilles why he had come. Achilles gladly agreed to join his countrymen in their war against Troy. His mother, Thetis, told him of Zeus's prophecy and pleaded with him not to go. But Achilles longed for battle. He soon sailed for Aulis with the brave Myrmidons, as his soldiers were called, accompanied also by his devoted friend and constant companion, Patroclus. ### Other Greek Heroes Agamemnon, who had been chosen as the commander in chief of the Greek forces, sailed with a hundred ships from his kingdom of Mycenae. His brother Menelaus, eager for vengeance upon the Trojans, sailed with sixty ships and a strong force of brave Spartans. * **vengeance**: revenge; getting back at someone; punishing someone for an injury done to you Among the other warriors who joined the... ***