had enticed Helen, the most beautiful of Grecian women, and the
wife of a Grecian king, to leave her husband's home with him; and
the kings and princes of the Greeks had gathered an army and a
fleet and sailed across the Aegean Sea to rescue her. For ten
years they strove to capture the city. According to the fine old
legends, the gods themselves took a part in the war, some siding
with the Greeks, and some with the Trojans. It was finally through
Ulysses, a famous Greek warrior, brave and fierce as well as wise
and crafty, that the Greeks captured the city.

The second poem, the _Odyssey_, tells what befell Ulysses, or
Odysseus, as the Greeks called him, on his homeward way. Sailing
from Troy with his little fleet of ships, which were so small that
they used oars as well as sails, he was destined to wander for ten
years longer before he could return to his rocky island of Ithaca,
on the west shore of Greece, and to his faithful wife, Penelope.

He had marvellous adventures, for the gods who had opposed the
Greeks at Troy had plotted to bring him ill-fortune. Just as his
ships were safely rounding the southern cape of Greece, a fierce
storm took them out of their course, and bore them to many strange
lands--lands of giants, man-eating monsters, and wondrous
enchantments of which you will delight to read. Through countless
perils the resolute wanderer forced his way, losing ship after
ship from his little fleet, and companion after companion from his
own band, until he reached home friendless and alone, and found
his palace, his property, and his family all in the power of a
band of greedy princes. These he overcame by his cunning and his
strength, and his long trials were ended.