By such efforts a force was at length assembled at Aulis in Boeotia,
consisting of 1,186 ships and more than one hundred thousand men--a
force outnumbering by more than ten to one anything that the Trojans
themselves could oppose, and superior to the defenders of Troy even with
all her allies included. It comprised heroes with their followers from
the extreme points of Greece--from the northwestern portions of Thessaly
under Mount Olympus, as well as the western islands of Dulichium and
Ithaca, and the eastern islands of Crete and Rhodes. Agamemnon himself
contributed 100 ships manned with the subjects of his kingdom Mycenae,
besides furnishing 60 ships to the Arcadians, who possessed none of
their own. Menelaus brought with him 60 ships, Nestor from Pylus, 90,
Idomeneus from Crete and Diomedes from Argos, 80 each. Forty ships were
manned by the Elians, under four different chiefs; the like number under
Meges from Dulichium and the Echinades, and under Thoas from Calydon and
the other AEtolian towns. Odysseus from Ithaca, and Ajax from Salamis,
brought 12 ships each. The Abantes from Euboea, under Elphenor, filled
40 vessels; the Boeotians, under Peneleos and Leitus, 50; the
inhabitants of Orchomenus and Aspledon, 30; the light-armed Locrians,
under Ajax son of Oileus, 40; the Phocians as many. The Athenians, under
Menestheus, a chief distinguished for his skill in marshalling an army,
mustered 50 ships; the Myrmidons from Phthia and Hellas, under Achilles,
assembled in 50 ships; Protesilaus from Phylace and Pyrasus, and
Eurypylus from Ormenium, each came with 40 ships; Machaon and
Podaleirius, from Trikka, with 30; Eumelus, from Pherae and the lake
Boebeis, with 11; and Philoctetes from Meliboea with 7; the Lapithae,
under Polypoetes, son of Peirithous, filled 40 vessels, the AEnianes and
Perrhaebians, under Guneus, 22; and the Magnetes, under Prothous, 40;
these last two were from the northernmost parts of Thessaly, near the
mountains Pelion and Olympus. From Rhodes, under Tlepolemus, son of
Heracles, appeared 9 ships; from Syme, under the comely but effeminate
Nireus, 3; from Cos, Crapathus, and the neighboring islands, 30, under
the orders of Pheidippus and Antiphus, sons of Thessalus and grandsons
of Heracles.
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