The fleet had been at sea for two days.
The wind held from the west — steady, strong, pushing a thousand ships without needing the oars. The sails were full. The formation stretched across the sea in columns of twenty, fifty columns deep, the water between them churned white by a thousand hulls.
Agamemnon's flagship rode at the centre. The largest vessel in the fleet — a war galley with a bronze ram and a deck wide enough for fifty men. His banner flew from the main mast: the lion of Mycenae, golden on red.
At the second hour, he sent a signal.
A red flag with a black stripe rose on the main mast. Captains to the flagship. Within the hour, the kings of Greece were climbing aboard — Menelaus, Diomedes, Odysseus, Idomeneus, Nestor. Each man came with his own ship trailing behind, each captain handing command to a lieutenant before boarding.
