Beware of Greeks

Greece, around 1190 BCE. Agamemnon’s allies travel among the Greek kingdoms demanding ships and soldiers for war against Troy. In Aulis, a merchant’s son disabled during a robbery survives as an apprentice rhapsode until Odysseus recruits him for the search for Achilles. Their journey leads from Phthia towards Skyros, where the missing prince is believed to be concealed.

Deaths and conflicting stories turn recruitment into an investigation. Odysseus applies observation, deception and questioning to events that later epic will present as divine or heroic certainty, while the young singer records and interprets what he sees. The opening mystery combines the legendary mobilisation for Troy with a detective partnership modelled on investigator and chronicler.