Palamedes — this name may mean little to many, yet although we don’t find him in the Odyssey, we do encounter him in the Iliad.
He has much to do with Ulysses, and we shall see why and how. Ulysses had no desire to leave for Troy. He had been married for only a year, and his first and only son, Telemachus, had just been born. He had already been king of Ithaca for some years, crowned at a very young age by his father Laertes — one of the Argonauts — who had seen in him exceptional qualities and had abdicated in his favor.
Winds of war were blowing across the Aegean. Paris had kidnapped — or perhaps eloped with — Helen, the wife of one of the Atreidae, Menelaus, and this had sparked the most famous war in history. The Greeks’ vengeance, more than personal, was perhaps economic and political, aimed at the powerful city of Troy. Agamemnon, leader of the Achaean expedition, arrived in Ithaca as he had in other kingdoms, calling upon kings and nobles to join the war with their troops.
When Agamemnon arrived, accompanied by many warriors, Ulysses did not appear at the palace but was instead found in one of the few cultivable fields near the seashore. With a long beard and unkempt hair, he ran about like a madman behind a plow, offering no welcome to his guests. Only Palamedes succeeded in unmasking Ulysses’ feigned madness. Ulysses, after all, was the grandson of Autolycus, a notorious thief who was himself the son of Hermes, god of thieves.
Palamedes took Telemachus from the white arms of Penelope and placed him in front of the plow. Ulysses was forced to stop, and his deception was revealed. The son of Laertes then joined the Achaean fleet with twelve ships. Ithaca was a small island, but he was a great sailor, an excellent archer, and an exceedingly cunning man. He would deal with Palamedes later — Ulysses knew how to wait.
Ten years passed in a stalemated war. The Greeks were exhausted and were even considering returning home. Agamemnon, king of kings, ordered Ulysses to raid nearby villages for grain, but he returned empty-handed. Palamedes mocked him before all the kings, saying that he could have done better — and indeed, he set out and returned with a ship full of wheat, barley, and other supplies.
This was too much for Ulysses, who began to plot his revenge — and it would not be long in coming. He went to Agamemnon and told him that the camp needed to be moved a kilometer away because they were in danger. Agamemnon, who trusted Ulysses, gave the order.
Meanwhile, Ulysses had secretly buried gold he had plundered in the spot where Palamedes’ tent had stood. He also had a Phrygian prisoner write a letter addressed to Palamedes, stating that the gold was sent to him as payment for his betrayal. The signature at the bottom was none other than that of King Priam. The Phrygian prisoner was slain that night, but the letter reached Agamemnon, who, at Ulysses’ suggestion, ordered the site of Palamedes’ tent to be searched. There, they found the gold.
Palamedes was tried on the spot and condemned to death according to Greek custom — by stoning. He died uttering these words: “The truth dies here, before I do.”
He had dared to challenge Odysseus.
Vuoi che la traduca in inglese letterario (più epico e antico) o mantenerla in questo inglese narrativo moderno e fluente? Posso adattarla facilmente.
Lascia un commento