earned from Helenus, son of Priam, whom he had captured in
an ambuscade, that Troy could not be taken unless both Philoctetes and
Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, could be prevailed upon to join the
besiegers. The former, having been stung in the foot by a serpent, and
becoming insupportable to the Greeks from the stench of his wound, had
been left at Lemnos in the commencement of the expedition, and had spent
ten years in misery on that desolate island; but he still possessed the
peerless bow and arrows of Heracles, which were said to be essential to
the capture of Troy. Diomedes fetched Philoctetes from Lemnos to the
Grecian camp, where he was healed by the skill of Machaon, and took an
active part against the Trojans--engaging in single combat with Paris,
and killing him with one of the Heracleian arrows. The Trojans were
allowed to carry away for burial the body of this prince, the fatal
cause of all their sufferings; but not until it had been mangled by the
hand of Menelaus. Odysseus went to the island of Scyros to invite
Neoptolemus to the army. The untried but impetuous youth, gladly obeying
the call, received from Odysseus his father's armor; while, on the other
hand, Eurypylus, son of Telephus, came from Mysia as auxiliary to the
Trojans and rendered to them valuable service turning the tide of
fortune for a time against the Greeks, and killing some of their
bravest chiefs, among whom were numbered Peneleos, and the unrivalled
leech Machaon. The exploits of Neoptolemus were numerous, worthy of the
glory of his race and the renown of his father. He encountered and slew
Eurypylus, together with numbers of the Mysian warriors: he routed the
Trojans and drove them within their walls, from whence they never again
emerged to give battle: and he was not less distinguished for good sense
and persuasive diction than for forward energy in the field.

Troy, however, was still impregnable so long as the Palladium, a statue
given by Zeus himself to Dardanus, remained in the citadel; and great
care had been taken by the Trojans not only to conceal this valuable
present, but to construct other statues so like it as to mislead any
intruding robber. Nevertheless, the enterprising Odysseus, having
disguised his person with miserable clothing and self-inflicted
injuries, found means to penetrate into the city and to convey the
Palladium by stealth away. Helen alone recognized him; but she was now
anxious to return to Greece, and even