Excerpt from The Taking of HelenNireus was the son of the King of Syme Island. At his birth the gods brought gifts to him, each one thing, one wisdom, another courage, another skill. They gave him all good gifts except the gift of luck in love.That they forgot, or thought it wise to leave, Since men grow proud when nothing makes them grieve.Nireus grew up to be a young man of every beauty and every grace.Helen was born on the mainland. At her birth the goddesses brought gifts to her, of loveliness and sweet ness. They gave her all good gifts, and this gift, too, that all men who saw her should love her, except her husband. She grew up to be the most beautiful woman who has ever lived. Menelaus, the King of Sparta, married her, and took her to live in his palace. He was an elderly man who cared not for her, but for drinking by the fire with the old Kings his friends.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.