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 Mycenæ, leader of the expedition, and sail across the Ægean 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; Archæanax 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 bare, the walls of which are 6-1/4 feet thick, and consist for the most part of hewn blocks of limestone joined with clay. None of the stones seem to be more than 1 foot 9 inches long, and they are so skillfully put together, that the walls form a smooth surface. This house is built upon a layer of yellow and brown ashes and ruins, at a depth of 20 feet, and the portion of the walls preserved reaches up to within 10 feet below the surface of the hill. In the house, as far as has been excavated, only one vase, with two breasts in front and one breast at the side, has been found. This is the first house that Dr. Schliemann excavated, which is quite evident by what he writes about it: "It is with a feeling of great interest that, from this great platform, that is, at a perpendicular height of from thirty-three to forty-two feet, I see this very ancient building (which may have been erected 1000 years before Christ) standing as it were in mid air."