The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1922-06-22


Society. Washington. ID. C)
Within "the Zone OF the Stralts"-the
strip of land bordering the Darda-
nelles, the Bosphorus and the Aegean
sea, whose international control is
likely to be altered somewhat by re-
vision OF the treaty of Sevres-lies the
subject Of one OF the worlds greatest
epics: Troy, where two nations"
fought for the fair Helen.
The Trojan walls, unvisited by the
idle tourist. are still In evidence !;
those same walls that defed the on
slnughts OF Agamemnon and Menelaus,
OF Ajax, Nestor, Diomed, Ulysses and
Achilles, to fall at last by stratngem.
They remained as a ruined and aban-
doned stage minus Its paraphernalin,
whereon was played so many centuries
ago an Insignificant little drama com
pared with modern events but Il was
drama 80 big with hGiuan interest
divlnely told that the world has never
known It's equal.
To be sure, II was all In the telling;
and what would Troy have been with
out les Homer7 Stlll, as the theater
of the worlds greatest epic poem, II
deserves a visit any year. every year.
In the thoughts and emotions Il re-
wives and stimulates, In the aroused
sense OF Indebtedness OF all subse-
pays a visit. The classical student
will leave IL In daze of meditation
upon things more real 10 him than the
actual things he has seen and touched.
In visiting the ruins OF Troy, one
sets out from the village OF Darda-
neiles for five hours hot and dusty
ride.
After couple of hours travel
through the plain the road grows
rougher and begins to ascend into hllly
country The traveller realizes that he
should be nearing historic ground
now and he glances around the horizon
10 see IL he can Identify Mt. Ida, and
toward the sea for first sight OF
Tenedos; but no, this is only common
soil. Rounding the summit Of the next
rise one sees the road leading down
into Eren Koui, Turkish village,
convenient haltlng place for coffee.
Then the road begins to wind through
the village In a gradual descent until
It makes sudden jerky little turn
into the open country. and behold the
plain OF Troy not the plain OF the his
torlc action, but the drainage area
which includes Troy.
To the Hin OF lllum.
The road leads straight toward
ridge In the distance, the Hill OF
nium," at the lower point OF which
will presently appear the ruins. 1t
was down that Identical ridge, or so
one tells oneself that the angry god.
Apollo strode toward vengeance.
while the arrows in the Qulver on his
shoulder changed In ominous music.
Yonder the summit of Mt. Ida. where
the gods In solemn conclave so often
sat. Away over there, sklrting the
ridge OF nlum. is SImoIs' stream, or
should be; but the bridge across II
shows upon approach that modern
Simols is no more than creek. Worse
than that; following Its attenuated
course, less than mile downstream,
one discovers that II ends In n morass
instead Of Joining the Scamander as OF
yore. And the latter stream is scarce
ly less disappointing, for II Is no more
dignihed In size or appearance. In
fact, their sluggish currents united can
scarcely boast OF banks except at oc-
caslonal intervals, for both streams
are now only broad swales merging
with the adjacent plain, with no CON
tinuous current toward the sea except
In seasons of high water, II such are
ever known.
Behold the ruins at last A long,
low ridge, some four or five miles in
length, ends abruptly like promon-
, tory projecting Into the sea, above
which II rises about 80 feet. The ridge
is the so-called "Hill Of Illum," the
sea is the loodpiain Of the Slmols and
Scamander, historically known as the
plain OF Troy, and the promontory,
with its crown of ruins, is Troy itself.
You walk around the ruins and make
the surprising discovery that II the
walking were good you could easily