Editing Trojan War (section)

====First gathering at Aulis====

[[File:Jan de Bray, Achilles wśród córek Likomedesa (Owidiusz, Metamorfozy).jpg|thumb|''The Discovery of Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes'' (1664) by [[Jan de Bray]]]]

The Achaean forces first gathered at [[Aulis (ancient Greece)|Aulis]]. All the suitors sent their forces except King [[Cinyras]] of Cyprus. Though he sent breastplates to Agamemnon and promised to send 50 ships, he sent only one real ship, led by the son of Mygdalion, and 49 ships made of clay.<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 11.19 ff.; Apollodurus, ''Epitome'' 3.9.</ref> [[Idomeneus]] was willing to lead the Cretan contingent in Mycenae's war against Troy, but only as a co-commander, which he was granted.<ref>Philostratus, ''Heroicus'' 7.</ref> The last commander to arrive was [[Achilles]], who was then 15 years old.

Following a sacrifice to [[Apollo]], a snake slithered from the altar to a sparrow's nest in a plane tree nearby. It ate the mother and her nine chicks, then was turned to stone. Calchas interpreted this as a sign that Troy would fall in the tenth year of the war.<ref>Apollodorus, ''Epitome'' 3.15.</ref>