ogy, revealing great wealth, great civilization and great taste
for art, in an age preceding the discovery of bronze, when weapons and
implements of pure copper were employed contemporaneously with
enormous quantities of stone weapons and implements. This Treasure
further leaves no doubt that Homer must have actually seen gold and
silver articles, such as he continually describes; it is, in every
respect, of inestimable value to science, and will for centuries
remain the object of careful investigation.

While the Trojan war was the last it was also the greatest of all the
achievements of the heroic age, and was immortalized by the genius of
Homer. Paris, son of Priam, king of Ilium or Troy, abused the
hospitality of Menelaus, king of Sparta, by carrying off his wife
Helen, the most beautiful woman of the age. All the Grecian princes
looked upon the outrage as committed upon themselves. Responding to
the call of Menelaus, they assemble in arms, elect his brother
Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, leader of the expedition, and sail across
the AEgean in nearly 1,200 ships to recover the faithless fair one.
Some, however, excelled Agamemnon in fame. Among them Achilles stands
pre-eminent in strength, beauty and value, while Ulysses surpasses all
the rest in the mental qualities of counsel, subtility and eloquence.
Thus, by the opposite endowments, these two heroes form the centre of
the group.

Among the Trojans, Hector, one of the sons of Priam, is most
distinguished for heroic qualities, and forms a striking contrast to
his handsome, but effeminate brother, Paris. It is said that even the
gods took part in the contest, encouraging their favorite heroes, and
sometimes fighting by their side or in their stead. It was not until
the tenth year that Troy yielded to the inevitable fate. It was
delivered over to the sword and its glory sank in ashes.

The houses of Troy were all very high, and had several stories, as is
obvious from the thickness of the walls, the construction and colossal
heaps of _debris_. The city was immensely rich, and as it was wealthy,
so was it powerful and its buildings large. The ruins are found in a
badly decayed state, because of the great fires that occurred there,
and the neighboring towns were largely built with stone from the ruins
of Troy; Archaeanax is said to have built a long wall around Sigeum
with its stones.

[Illustration: GOLDEN CUPS OF PRIAM.]

A portion of a large building was laid