Chapter 58 58

The Greeks rejoiced, and they fully supported Nestor's proposal.Everything was ready, and all the booty was brought on board, with the captives. Only the prophet Calchas remained on the shore alone, and he advised everyone not to set off, because he had a premonition that disaster would happen to the Greeks when they passed Mount Kaffar on the island of Eubia. But they did not believe his prophecy, nor heed his advice, for they were already ready to return.Only Amphilochus, son of the famous seer Amphi-Araus, boarded the ship and returned to shore.His father's gift for prophecy had sprouted in him again, and he suddenly had the same premonition as Calchas, so he stayed too.Therefore, the goddess of fate doomed the two of them not to return to Greece, and later they settled in the cities of Chirikaia and Pamphylia in Asia Minor.

The Greeks untied the cables tied to the shore, boarded the ship, and pulled anchor to set sail.The ships were piled high with confiscated weapons, countless souvenirs were hung from the masts, and the warships were surrounded by flowers; the shields, spears and helmets of the soldiers were also decorated with garlands.They are proud and proud, standing at the bow of the boat and pouring wine into the sea, piously praying to the gods to bless them to return to their hometown safely. However, their prayers did not reach the holy mountain of Olympus. The strong wind blew them away and scattered them in the flowing clouds.

While the heroes looked ahead with hope and nostalgia, the captured women and children of Troy frequently looked back at the fading city of Troy with a heavy heart, and the city was still smoldering with smoke.Girls hugged their knees, young women put their arms around children.Cassandra stood among them, more dignified than any of them.She didn't moan, she didn't cry, she looked mockingly at those around her who were weeping.What is happening now is exactly what she predicted and reminded everyone.Now they sigh in agony, where before they not only disbelieved but mocked her prophecies.Although she spoke contemptuously about them, in her heart she lamented the destruction of Troy.

The city of Troy was in ruins, and the remaining old and injured wandered around in a daze.Antenor persuaded them to bury the dead together.It was difficult work, and progress was very slow, because so many dead had to be buried with so few survivors.They built a big funeral pyre, put all the corpses on it, then lit the pyre, and cremated the dead with mourning. At the same time, the Danae had already sailed away from Achilles' tomb and the coast of Troy.They passed island after island: Tenedos, Chrysa, the Temple of Apollo, the holy Isle of Kera, Lesbos, and the peninsula of Lecton, where Mount Ada juts out into the sea.The sea wind sailed, the waves were rough, and the sea was pitch black.The warships of the Greeks braved the wind and waves, and the sea water hit the bow of the ship, leaving a trail of snow-white spray at the stern.

The victorious Greeks would have reached the shores of Greece in safety had it not been for Pallas Athena's displeasure at the sacrilege of Ajax the Locris.Now, when their ships came to the stormy island of Yubia, the goddess saw that the time had come and decided to take revenge on them.She once told the All-Father on the holy mountain of Olympus that Ajax had dragged the priestess Cassandra from her temple, and asked him to take revenge on the evildoer.Zeus not only agreed to her request, but also lent her the thunderbolt that Cyclopes had newly forged for him, so that she could set off a huge storm and stop the Greeks from advancing.

Athena made the sacred mountain of Olympus rumble with thunder, and dense clouds covered the mountain.The earth and sea were suddenly dark. Then she sent Iris, her maid, to summon Eros, the god of the wind. Fengshen heard the order and acted immediately.He uses a huge trident to dig out the caves that lock all winds.All of a sudden, all kinds of wind rushed away from the cave.The wind god ordered them to form a strong wind and set off the waves under Mount Kafar.Before Fengshen finished speaking, they set off hastily.The sea roared and roared with huge waves under the strong wind.When the Argives saw the huge waves coming, they were so frightened that they could not do anything, and they could no longer row their oars.The storm tore the sails and snapped the masts.In the end, the man at the helm was also exhausted and tied his hands to die.Night fell and it was pitch black.Poseidon also came to the aid of Pallas Athena.She mercilessly rained down thunder and lightning from the sacred mountain of Olympus.The wind and waves hit the ship, the wooden boards cracked, the hull was broken, and the people holding the wooden chips for rescue were also swallowed by the huge waves.

Finally, Athena bombarded Ajax's warship with the fiercest thunder, and the ship suddenly shattered.There was a terrible crash in the air and sea, and the turbulent waves rolled in and engulfed the wreck.Soldiers died in the water. Ajax clung to a log and floated with the waves.He waved his mighty arms and wrestled with the waves.He was pushed to the peak by the huge waves for a while, and was sent into the trough for a while.Lightning flashed above him, and thunder thundered all around him.However, Athena did not let him die, it would be too cheap for him to die like this.Ajax has not lost his courage in the waves.He came upon a rock rising above the waves, clung to it, and boasted that he would save himself if the gods of Olympus united and waved him down.

Poseidon, the sea god who shook the earth, couldn't help being furious when he heard his wild words.He shook the sea and the earth at the same time.The cliffs of Mount Kaffar trembled, and the shores crumbled under the blow of his trident.At last the rock to which Ajax was clinging was uprooted, and he was thrown into the waves again.Poseidon moved a huge rock and pressed it on Ajax the Locris.Ajax was smashed to pieces under the attack of sea and land. Some of the warships of the Dannea were broken into pieces, and some sank into the bottom of the sea.The sea roared and the rain poured down like a flood in Deucalion's time.

The Greeks had stoned Palamedes in the past, and now they too had their revenge.The hero's father, King Nauplios, still ruled Eubia.He saw the Greeks struggling in the storm, and thought of his murdered son.Over the years, he never forgot to avenge his son Palamedes.He rushed to the shore and ordered his followers to hold torches on the most dangerous rocks along the Kafar coast.The Greeks thought that the people on the island sent them a rescue signal because they sympathized with them, so they sailed towards the reef area, where many ships hit the reef and sank. At the same time, Poseidon ordered the waves to submerge the Greek warship battalions, ditches and walls outside Troy.Therefore, all signs of the victory of the Greek expedition were swept away by the god of the sea, leaving only the ruins of Troy and a few ships carrying returning heroes and captured Trojan women.Later they returned to Greece after a difficult voyage.In fact, only a very small number of people reached their hometown safely: Diomedes returned to Agos, Nestor returned to Pylos, Philoctetes returned to Meriboa, Neoptolemo Idomeneus and Myrionas returned to Crete.The old Telamon blamed Teucros for failing to avenge Ajax the Great, and did not allow him to land at Salamis, so he had to go to Cyprus and settle down there.