Home to Sparta she came with the king after a long and stormy
voyage, and there she lived and died the fairest of women.
But the kingdom of Troy was fallen. Nothing remained of all its glory
but the glory of its dead heroes and fair women, and the ruins of its
citadel by the river Scamander. There even now, beneath the foundations
of later homes that were built and burned, built and burned, in the
wars of a thousand years after, the ruins of ancient Troy lie hidden,
like mouldered leaves deep under the new grass. And there, to this very
day, men who love the story are delving after the dead city as you
might search for a buried treasure.
THE HOUSE OF AGAMEMNON.
The Greeks had won back Fair Helen, and had burned the city of Troy
behind them, but theirs was no triumphant voyage home. Many were driven
far and wide before they saw their land again, and one who escaped such
hardships came home to find a bitter welcome. This was the chief of all
the hosts, Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and Argos. He it was who had
offered his own daughter Iphigenia to appease the wrath of Diana before
the ships could sail for Troy. An ominous leave-taking was his, and
calamity was there to greet him home again.
He had entrusted the cares of the state to his cousin Aegisthus,
commending also to his protection Queen Clytemnestra with her two
remaining children, Electra and Orestes.
Now Clytemnestra was a sister of Helen of Troy, and a beautiful woman
to see; but her heart was as evil as her face was fair.
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