the utmost, and the maiden
shall not die."
As he was speaking, Calchas entered, and, grasping the wrist of the
pleading maiden, lifted her to her feet. She looked up, and saw his
stony face and hard cold eyes; and turning again to Agamemnon, she
said, "O father, the ships shall sail, for I will die for thee."
Then Achilles said to her, "Fair maiden, thou art by far the noblest
and most lovely of thy sex. Fain would I save thee from this fate,
even though every man in Greece be against me. Fly with me quickly to
my long-oared ship, and I will carry thee safely away from this
accursed place."
"Not so," answered Iphigenia: "I will give up my life for my father and
this land of the Greeks, and no man shall suffer for me."
Then the pitiless priest led her through the throng of rude soldiers to
the grove of Artemis, wherein an altar had been built. But Achilles
and Agamemnon covered their faces with their mantles, and stayed inside
the tent.
As the maiden took her place upon the altar, the king's herald stood
up, and bade the warriors keep silence; and Calchas put a garland of
sweet-smelling flowers about the victim's head.
"Let no man touch me," said the maiden, "for I offer my neck to the
sword with right good will, that so my father may live and prosper."
In silence and great awe, the warriors stood around, while Calchas drew
a sharp knife from its scabbard. But, lo! as he struck, the maiden was
not there; and in her stead, a noble deer lay dying on the altar. Then
the old soothsayer cried out in triumphant tones, "See, now, ye men of
Greece, how the gods have provided for you a sacrifice, and saved the
innocent daughter of the king!" And all the people shouted with joy;
and in that self-same hour, a strong breeze came down the bay, and
filled the idle sails of the waiting ships.
"To Troy! to Troy!" cried the Greeks; and every man hastened aboard his
vessel.
How it was that fair Iphigenia escaped the knife; by whom she was
saved, or whither she went--no one knew. Some say that Artemis carried
her away to the land of the Taurians, where she had a temple and an
altar; and there is a story that, long years afterward, her brother
Orestes found her there, and led her back to her girlhood's home, even
to Mycenae. But whether this be true or not, I know that there have
been maidens as noble, as loving, as innocent as she, who have given up
their lives in order to make this world a purer and happier pl
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