of the silver feet, the goddess of the sea, wept over him, saying, "My
child, thou hast the choice of a long and happy and peaceful life here
with me, or of a brief time of war and undying renown. Never shall I see
thee again in Argos if thy choice is for war." But Achilles chose to die
young, and to be famous as long as the world stands. So his father gave
him fifty ships, with Patroclus, who was older than he, to be his friend,
and with an old man, Phoenix, to advise him; and his mother gave him the
glorious armour that the God had made for his father, and the heavy ashen
spear that none but he could wield, and he sailed to join the host of the
Achaeans, who all praised and thanked Ulysses that had found for them
such a prince. For Achilles was the fiercest fighter of them all, and
the swiftest-footed man, and the most courteous prince, and the gentlest
with women and children, but he was proud and high of heart, and when he
was angered his anger was terrible.

The Trojans would have had no chance against the Greeks if only the men
of the city of Troy had fought to keep Helen of the fair hands. But they
had allies, who spoke different languages, and came to fight for them
both from Europe and from Asia. On the Trojan as well as on the Greek
side were people called Pelasgians, who seem to have lived on both shores
of the sea. There were Thracians, too, who dwelt much further north than
Achilles, in Europe and beside the strait of Hellespont, where the narrow
sea runs like a river. There were warriors of Lycia, led by Sarpedon and
Glaucus; there were Carians, who spoke in a strange tongue; there were
Mysians and men from Alybe, which was called "the birthplace of silver,"
and many other peoples sent their armies, so that the war was between
Eastern Europe, on one side, and Western Asia Minor on the other. The
people of Egypt took no part in the war: the Greeks and Islesmen used to
come down in their ships and attack the Egyptians as the Danes used to
invade England. You may see the warriors from the islands, with their