And when night fell, and all were
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plunged in sleep, the Greeks drew near by sea from Tenedos, and Sinon kindled the beacon on the grave of Achilles to guide them.
[*](The beacon-light kindled by the deserter and traitor Sinon to guide the Greeks across the water to the doomed city is a regular feature in the narratives of the taking of Troy; but the only other writer who mentions that it shone from the grave of Achilles is Tryphiodorus, who adds that all night long there blazed a light like the full moon above Helen's chamber, for she too was awake and signalling to the enemy, while all the town was plunged in darkness and silence; the sounds of revelry and music had died away, and not even the barking of a dog broke the stillness of the summer night. See Tryphiodorus, Excidium Ilii 487-521. That the poet conceived the fall of Troy to have happened in the summer time is shown by his describing how the Trojans wreathed the mane of the Wooden Horse with flowers culled on river banks, and how the women spread carpets of roses under its feet (Tryphiodorus, Excidium Ilii 316ff., 340-344). For these flowers of fancy Tryphiodorus is severely taken to task by the pedantic Tzetzes on the ground that Troy fell at midwinter; and he clinches the lesson administered to his predecessor by observing that he had learned from Orpheus, “who had it from another man,” never to tell a lie. Such was the state of the Higher Criticism at Byzantium in the twelfth century of our era. See Tzetzes, Posthomerica 700-707.) And Helen, going round the horse, called the chiefs, imitating the voices of each of their wives. But when Anticlus would have answered, Ulysses held fast his mouth.
[*](This incident is derived from Hom. Od. 4.274-289. It is copied and told with fuller details by Tryphiodorus, who says that Anticlus expired under the iron grip of Ulysses (Tryphiodorus, Excidium Ilii 463-490).) and when they thought that their foes were asleep, they opened the horse and came forth with their arms. The first, Echion, son of Portheus, was killed by leaping from it; but the rest let themselves down by a rope, and lighted on the walls, and having opened the gates they admitted their comrades who had landed from Tenedos.
And marching, arms in hand, into
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the city, they entered the houses and slew the sleepers. Neoptolemus slew Priam, who had taken refuge at the altar of Zeus of the Courtyard.
[*](As to the death of Priam at the altar, compare Arctinus, Ilii Persis, summarized by Proclus, in Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. G. Kinkel, p. 49; Eur. Tro. 16ff.; Eur. Tro. 481-483; Eur. Hec. 22-24; Paus. 4.17.4; Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica xiii.220-250; Tryphiodorus, Excidium Ilii 634-639; Tzetzes, Posthomerica 732ff.; Verg. A. 2.533-558; Dictys Cretensis v.12. According to Lesches, the ruthless Neoptolemus dragged Priam from the altar and despatched him at his own door. See Paus. 10.27.2, with Frazer's note (vol. v. p. 371). The summary account of Proclus agrees almost verbally with the equally summary account of Apollodorus.) But when Glaucus, son of Antenor, fled to his house, Ulysses and Menelaus recognized and rescued him by their armed intervention.
[*](Ulysses and Menelaus were bound by ties of hospitality to Antenor; for when they went as ambassadors to Troy to treat of the surrender of Helen, he entertained them hospitably in his house. See Hom. Il. 3.203-207. Moreover, Antenor had advocated the surrender of Helen and her property to the Greeks. See Hom. Il. 3.347-353. According to Lesches, one of Antenor's sons, Lycaon, was wounded in the sack of Troy, but Ulysses recognized him and carried him safe out of the fray. See Paus. 10.26.8. Sophocles composed a tragedy on the subject of Antenor and his sons, in which he said that at the storming of Troy the Greeks hung a leopard's skin in front of Antenor's house in token that it was to be respected by the soldiery. See Strab. 13.1.53. In Polygnotus's great picture of the sack of Troy, which was one of the sights of Delphi, the painter depicted the house of Antenor with the leopard's skin hung on the wall; in front of it were to be seen Antenor and his wife, with their children, including Glaucus, while beside them servants were lading an ass, to indicate the long journey which the exiles were about to undertake. See Paus. 10.27.3ff. According to Roman tradition, Antenor led a colony of Enetians to the head of the Adriatic, where the people were thenceforth called Venetians (Livy i.1). As to Sophocles's play, The Antenorids, see TGF (Nauck 2nd ed.), p. 160; The Fragments of Sophocles, ed. A. C. Pearson, vol. i. pp. 86ff. ) Aeneas took up his father Anchises and fled, and the Greeks let him alone on account of his piety.
[*](Compare Xen. Cyn. 1.15; Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica xiii.315-327; Verg. A. 2.699ff. ) But Menelaus slew Deiphobus and led away Helen to the ships[*](Compare Arctinus, Ilii Persis, summarized by Proclus, in Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. G. Kinkel, p. 49; Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica xiii.354ff.; Tryphiodorus, Excidium Ilii 627-633; Tzetzes, Posthomerica 729-731; Dictys Cretensis v.12. Deiphobus had married Helen after the death of Paris. See above, Apollod. E.5.8.9.); and Aethra, mother of Theseus, was also led away by Demophon and Acamas, the sons of Theseus; for they say that they afterwards went to Troy.[*](Compare Arctinus, Ilii Persis, summarized by Proclus, in Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. G. Kinkel, p. 50; Paus. 10.25.8; Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica xiii.496-543; Scholiast on Eur. Hec. 123 and Scholiast on Eur. Tro. 31; Dictys Cretensis v.13. Homer mentions Aethra as one of the handmaids of Helen at Troy (Hom. Il. 3.53). Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica xiii.496-543 has described at length the recognition of the grandmother by the grandsons, who, according to Hellanicus, went to Troy for the purpose of rescuing or ransoming her (Scholiast on Eur. Hec. 123). The recognition was related also by Lesches (Paus. 10.25.8). Aethra had been taken prisoner at Athens by Castor and Pollux when they rescued their sister Helen. See above, Apollod. 3.7.4, Apollod. E.1.23. On the chest of Cypselus at Olympia the artist portrayed Helen setting her foot on Aethra's head and tugging at her handmaid's hair. See Paus. 5.19.3; Dio Chrysostom xi. vol. i. p. 179, ed. L. Dindorf.) And
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the Locrian Ajax, seeing Cassandra clinging to the wooden image of Athena, violated her; therefore they say that the image looks to heaven.
[*](As to the violence offered to Cassandra by Ajax, compare Arctinus, Ilii Persis, summarized by Proclus, in Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. G. Kinkel, pp. 49ff.; Scholiast on Hom. Il. xiii.66, referring to Callimachus; Paus. 1.15.2; Paus. 5.11.6; Paus. 5.19.5; Paus. 10.26.3; Paus. 10.31.2; Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica xiii.420-429; Tryphiodorus, Excidium Ilii 647-650; Verg. A. 2.403-406; Dictys Cretensis v.12; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. Bode, i. p. 55 (First Vatican Mythographer 181). Arctinus described how, in dragging Cassandra from the image of Athena, at which she had taken refuge, Ajax drew down the image itself. This incident was carved on the chest of Cypselus at Olympia (Paus. 5.19.5), and painted by Polygnotus in his great picture of the sack of Troy at Delphi (Paus. 10.26.3). The Scholiast on Hom. Il. xiii.66 and Quintus Smyrnaeus describe how the image of Athena turned up its eyes to the roof in horror at the violence offered to the suppliant.)