Troy

There was Agamemnon, Achilles, Nestor and I, in the king’s tent,
We were besieging the city of Troy, and suffering a plague most pestilent,
A messenger had come from Aeneas, in those walls,
To tell us the gods were displeased, and we were to fall,
For in a raid Agamemnon had taken a priest’s daughter,
He was going to take her home, planned to debauch her.

I remembered a similar meeting nine years earlier,
But in Greece, in king Agamemnon’s villa,
Then we had been discussing a late peace between us four,
That peace had lasted, but there still was war,
For mocking news arrived from Aeneas,
That the lovely Helen had gone to Troy with Paris,
This glued our contract for our hearts were shaken,
We must obliterate this Trojan sore that had taken.

I had arrived in Greece from afar another nine years previous,
The people were being treated in a way that was grievous,
Achilles and Nestor were there as well,
We were burning despots’ palaces, treasure to sell,
Achilles, such a master of combat skill,
That many thought him to be invulnerable!
Then the new Agamemnon had come to the throne,
To stop the tyranny and plunder, we could all make Greece our home.

But this time with the terrible ailment,
It would prove much harder to get agreement,
‘You should give the girl back,’ suggested I,
Agamemnon agreed, but with hardened eyes,
‘In that case,’ he growled, dark and stubborn,
‘I will have Achilles’ snatched woman.’
Achilles jumped up, threw a lamp in rage,
‘You disrespect me! And at this late stage!’
I tried to reason with the king who was darkening,
But Agamemnon would not give in,
‘Then have my woman if it will abate this plight!
But you will not have me, I will not fight!’
Achilles took his men back to the shore,
But that plague, it was finally no more.

Agamemnon, Nestor and I were in the tent,
I wanted to scold the king, but there was, in myself, no precedent,
The king spoke: ‘My brother Mendelaus must have Helen back,
Else when we are gone, Greece a king will lack,
The country will be plunged again to war,
And everywhere there shall be blood and gore,
We can win without that Achilles-child,’
Continued Agamemnon, his eyes wild,
‘And we will extend our power too,
You’re both a part of this, and I have a night-time job for you.’

Helen’s beauty induced shallowness in men,
It seems strange now that we went to war, but it didn’t then,
As well as having beauty she had a depth,
And was calming, like air in a breath,
I think it was not just a liking for nice looking things,
That all the men had thought the same, the same thing,
She attracted love, not only through beauty,
But intelligence, honesty and duty.

The mission was of espionage and sabotage,
And as we two crawled across the battlefield,
The walls of Troy loomed large,
In the dark, and from the city,
A figure scuttled without a shield,
We hid among corpses, rank and without pity,
And pounced on this slight man as he ran,
Muffled his cry, should guards arrive,
But he managed to get out: ‘I mean to change to your side!’
We took him to a grassy hollow,
And a stream of whispered words did follow:

‘My name is Dolon,
I am strange for a Trojan,
For I am full of exuberance,
While the city is pure reticence,
Its walls’ restrain any elan,
That is the way of king Priam,
The Trojans like their manners,
And it would not do to go without banners,
The eye of Aeneas, who is also our voice,
The sparrow of Priam, his bird of choice,
The silent monkey, who speaks the clearest,
That is the banner of prince Paris,
You know he only took your pretty lass,
Because his brother Hector had to ask,
Why he was so impolite as not to be wed,
When he wanted a woman in his bed?
It is the religion of our strict prince,
That we descend from monkeys,
From the times past thence!’

‘Men are born of the gods!’ said Nestor grumpily,
The reply: ‘What if there was a god that was a monkey?’
‘This man may have second sight,’
Said my colleague, ‘but I will not give my trust so light.’
‘We need information,’ said I, ‘for the fight,’
Dolon told of Thracians camping near the eastern gate,
Nestor then killed him quickly, with little regret,
We slew twenty of those Thracians in their sleep,
And then back to camp we did creep.

King Priam was so incensed at our daring,
That he sent out a great army in the morning,
We fell back and back and back,
Until our harboured ships were under attack,
I went to Achilles, his help to plead,
I took old Patroclus, who was like a father to him, and who I would need,
Achilles was camped further on down the coast,
Drinking wine, and proud he could drink the most,
He welcomed us two with open arms,
He knew he needed no alarm,

‘Have a drink,’ he offered, ’your minds to soak,
Although you may prefer not, for I see the smoke,
My heart grieves, for I have no argument with you,
It is that untrue Agamemnon, who we have made oaths to.’
We asked for help, for we knew he cared,
‘I will not join the fight, that would not be right,
Not while that king holds me so light,
But my dear Patroclus, I will do this for you,
I will lend you my armour, Priam’s people will not see true,
What they will see, they will think it is me!’
Achilles laughed with glee,
‘Drive them away from the ships, but do not advance too far,
For they will bite poisonously, if they realise who you are.’

Old Patroclus put on the armour,
And slapped his adopted son’s shoulder,
He got his men to the ships, and when they showed,
The Trojan army, it would not hold,
Running as it was back to an opening gate,
Their commander prince Hector chose to make himself bait,
Goading Patroclus who he thought was Achilles,
So he would fall into a trap near the city,
As Patroclus advanced far to far,
Hector grinned: ‘I see who you are!’
Priam’s son whipped up his sword,
And decapitated the old man, and roared.

Then Achilles stormed into Agamemnon’s tent,
‘Let me re-join your government!
Give me back my woman and I will end,
Many Trojans, and Hector send,
To that land where dying never stops!’
Agamemnon, defeated, was quite in shock,
He had to accept Achilles, just to get him to cease,
The ranting madness and manic release.

And Achilles stood before Troy’s walls,
‘Send out Hector, either he or I will fall,
If he’s the one who ceases to be,
He will never go with dignity!
His death will be a travesty!
For his sins he will be mauled,
I am the son of a god, and it is I who calls!’
Aeneas was up on the wall and he did shout:
‘Ready yourself mortal, for Hector will come out!’
　
Out Hector in his armour strode,
‘Prepare yourself Achilles, for I am bold!
It is you who sin, truth be told,
For I defend Troy, greatness walled!’
‘You are doomed!’ Achilles ranted,
‘And Troy, only destruction will be granted!
Your bluster is pure excrement,
Out of your body it does spew and vent!’

And the fight it did commence,
Between men of excellence,
Who would win? Who could know?
On both the strain did show,
Trojans and Greeks, they looked on,
Achilles crazed, Hector full on,
Arms and shields clashing,
Sweat, blood and grime splashing,
Those two, they were rawly hacking,
Death in their eyes,
Hearts to despise,
For sure, one would die grossly,
Death would haunt, ghostly
First Hector, with his wits dominated,
Then Achilles, with his power, frustrated,
The defender of Troy, who parried and retreated,
Hector came back,
Now there was Achilles’ mad attack,
So uncontrolled it had no reason,
But with the power of a demon,
Hector survived this aggression,
But then exhaustion, his strength did lessen,
Achilles caught him with a terrible cut,
And out spewed Hector’s blood red gut　
　　
Achilles gasped and gave a shudder,
Exclaimed: ‘even in death he’ll have no honour!’
He attached Hector to a chariot with hooks through the feet,
Treated Hector like a piece of meat,
Achilles climbed on the chariot and drove around the walls,
Dragging the body behind, ignoring calls,
To cease and give a decent burial,
To the hero of Troy, give him the ritual,
Achilles rode round and round the city,
The body damaged and arousing pity,
He continued this behaviour into the night,
Aeneas, from the walls, begged him to make things right,
But Achilles was listening to a mad calling,
And was still going in the morning.
Achilles retired with the body in the afternoon,
And slept with little care of what to do,
By the next day the body was gone,
He would not say what had been done.

And soon, again, everyone would have to fight,
For the Trojans were preparing a final strike.,
Battle commenced the following day,
With Achilles in the heart of the fray,
Like a whirling wind of doom,
Trojans fell, some later, some soon,
Then prince Paris of Troy let loose an arrow,
To Achilles’ foot it went, to the marrow,
As Achilles fell the Greeks groaned,
Evil luck had yet again sowed,
A seed of the future, future coming on,
Many wondered when it would all be done.

Some men and I dragged Achilles out,
Of the battle that was all about,
We carried him to the royal marque,
So he could go in peace and dignity,
He squawked and yelped with the pain,
He knew he would not go through it again,
As he lay upon some pillows,
His teeth gritted, he cried and bellowed,
He had a cry, he had a pray,
And then he had, this to say:

‘King Priam, a fellow noble and brave,
He came to me in the night, his son to save,
We both cried over Hector’s corpse,
He begged to take it, and honour him for the gods,
We drank some wine and talked free,
We promised that we both would die with dignity,
So whatever should happen, whatever should be,
Let that old king’s spirit reach its destiny.’

The dying man paused to take deep breaths,
He now saw his own as he’d seen many deaths,
His humour grim he smiled anyway,
And relaxed in the cushions, bloodied and grey,
‘My mother dipped me in magic liquid,’ he started,
‘It made me into an invulnerable bastard!
She was holding me by the heel,
And so on that part there was no magic seal!
That was where the noble arrow struck,
Now I die, just my luck!’
That was the last thing Achilles said,
That great man is now dead.

Outside the tent we were defeated,
A ceasefire had been proclaimed and the men were seated,
On the ground all around,
Exhausted with courage and without a sound,
Agamemnon was standing, staring at his toes,
Mumbling quietly, goals in their death-throws,
And then I had my grand concept!
A gift for the Trojans, for we were in their debt,
But one that may snatch us glory yet,
Our carpenters and soldiers worked as a force,
To build the Trojans a magnificent horse!

That gift had to be seen to be believed!
And with relief it was received,
But little did the Trojans realise,
It was hollow, it was a lie,
For once in the city, when night had fallen,
Nestor, myself and other men came out of it crawling!
To open up the city gates,
The city, feasting, knew too late!
Troy was soon awash with us enemies,
Pillaging, firing, victorious and bloody!
The city was falling, we’d have our queen,
We were the champions!
We were supreme!

But as I was cracking into a treasure store,
My heart did break, glory no more,
For our lady Helen was being dragged,
By her hands by some Greek lad,
She was crying: ‘Why? Why? Why?
Do not say it was all for I!
Do not say you destroy a city,
Because you love me and I am pretty!
Do not say you kill these people,
For a matter of honour, a matter of principle!
I am just one woman! And Paris is dead,
Because his heart was stolen! And so is your head!’
 
And I stopped my activity,
And at last I began to see,
The waste of time, the waste of life,
All our efforts put into strife,
I saw Aeneas flee a burning house,
With his young lad and spouse,
I saw a shredded monkey emblem,
And realised how much worse we were than them,
That silent monkey of the prince,
Was surely wise, full of innocence,
Poor innocent Dolon was on a quest for something,
Possibly for excitement, possibly for a king,
That man was no more than a boy,
And that was us, that was Troy.