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Vol. 29 : Revenge

The following day, the Greeks moved their camp back to where it had been before. Everything went smoothly. Nothing happened.

The men wondered what Odysseus had seen in his dream.

"Perhaps he really is mad now," said one.

Then, a few days later, the Greeks found the body of a prisoner not far from their camp. His throat had been cut, and in his hand, there was a letter. The letter was addressed from Palamedes to Priam, thanking him for the gold he had received in return for betraying the Greeks. The Greeks searched his tent, and sure enough, gold was buried underneath it.

"He is a traitor," cried Agamemnon when he heard the news. "Take him, and stone him."

Palamedes denied that he had betrayed the Greeks. He got down on his knees and he begged for his life. But the Greeks did not listen, and they grabbed him and took him to the place of stoning.

As they went, Palamedes was heard to cry: "Truth, I mourn for you, you have died before me."

Odysseus stood beside Agamemnon, as Palamedes was beaten with rocks.

"I suspect your hand in this, Odysseus," Agamemnon said quietly, "but let us forget it."

Odysseus said nothing.

It had, indeed, been Odysseus' plan. The dream had not been real. Odysseus knew that the superstitious Agamemnon would agree to move the camp because of a dream.

After the camp had been moved, Odysseus had buried gold where Palamedes' tent had earlier been. Then he found a Trojan prisoner, forced him to write a fake letter from Palamedes to Priam, and cut his throat a few days later, leaving the body where someone would find it.

And that is how Odysseus had his revenge.