With Helen gone, Menelaüs (Menelaus) called upon Helen's former suitors to fulfil their obligations and aid him in bringing her back. All of the former suitors answered Menelaüs' call to arms, bringing contingents of men and ships with them. Menelaüs' brother, Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, had brought 100 ships with him. Agamemnon became commander-in-chief of the Greek forces.
Agamemnon and Menelaüs learned from the Greek seer Calchas that Troy could not fall without two warriors, Achilles and Odysseus.
Odysseus was the son of Laertes, king of Ithaca, and of Anticleia, the daughter of the master thief Autolycus. Odysseus was renowned for his wisdom, eloquence, cunning and resourcefulness.
Odysseus wanted to avoid being recruited into the Greek army, because he had learned that though the war would last only ten years, he would not return home to Ithaca, until twenty years later. Beside that, Odysseus had only recently married Penelope, the daughter of Icarius and cousin to Helen of Sparta. They had an infant son, named Telemachus.
When Menelaüs, Nestor and Palemedes arrived to conscript Odysseus, the hero feigned madness. Odysseus would plough the field with a horse and an ox, wearing a madman cap. Odysseus sowed the field with salts.
Palemedes, the son of Nauplius, was the just as shrewd and cunning as the wily Ithacan king. Palemedes suspected Odysseus' ploy, snatched the infant from Penelope's breast, and place the baby in front of the approaching plough. Odysseus had to steer the plough-team aside, to avoid trampling his son. Palemedes had exposed Odysseus' feigned madness.
Odysseus had no choice but to join the army. Odysseus gathered his warriors, taking only twelve ships from the islands of Ithaca and Cephallenia.
However, Odysseus never forgave Palemedes for exposing and conscripting him into the army. When they reached Troy, Odysseus was to exact revenge upon Palemedes. (See Arrival in Troy about the death of Palemedes).
Achilles was the son of King Peleus of Phthia and of Thetis, the daughter of Nereus and Doris. The wise Centaur Cheiron brought up Achilles, where he learned to hunt and fight in the forest around Mount Pelion.
Thetis was not only a sea goddess; she was also gifted with oracular power, like many sea deities. Thetis saw that her son would win great glory in the war, but she knew the price, was a short life. But Achilles had choice on what his fate will be. Achilles could choose not to go to the war, where he will live a long but obscure life of tending his father's herd. Thetis was determined that her son will have a long life. To hide Achilles, she dressed the youth in a girl dress and made his hair grew long, before spirited him away to the women quarters at the court of Lycomedes, in Scyrus.
During his stay in Lycomedes' court, Deïdameia, the king's lovely daughter, fell in love with the youth. They became lovers and Deïdameia bore a son, named Neoptolemus, to Achilles. Neoptolemus would later participate in the final year of the war.
Menelaüs, Nestor and Odysseus then went to recruit Achilles into the army, so they sailed to the island of Scyrus. However, the disguise Thetis used on her son was perfect. Odysseus used his cunning and resourcefulness to uncover Achilles' disguise.
Odysseus brought many gifts for the women in Lycomedes' court, such as beautiful dresses and robes, jewellery and perfumes. Also among the gifts were spears, swords and shields.
At Odysseus' pre-arranged signal, war-horns were sounded that the palace was under attack. While the women and girls of Scyrus fled in terror, Achilles leaped into action, taken up the spear and shield, thereby revealing his identity to the Greek leaders.
Once discovered, Achilles eagerly joined the army, because he preferred a short but glorious life than a long but oblivious life of a farmer. Achilles returned to his father's kingdom, Phthia (southern Thessaly), where he received warriors and fifty ships, from his father. The warriors were the legendary Myrmidons, originally from the island of Aegina. See Aegina about the Myrmidons' origin.
Achilles received the magical armour of Peleus, which was a wedding gift to his father, made by the smith god, Hephaestus. Peleus also gave his magic sword to his son, as well as his chariot drawn by two immortal horses, Xanthus and Balius. Either his father or Cheiron gave Achilles a long javelin or lance, made from ash tree of Mount Pelion. Apollordorus tell us that Achilles was only fifteen years old, when he joined the army.
Before Achilles left for Troy, Thetis warned her son to avoid killing Tenes, son of Apollo and king of the island of Tendos, or else he would later die at the sun god's hand (see Sacrifice at Aulis about the death of Tenes). Her other prophecy warned Achilles not to be the first Greek to jump on Trojan soil, or else he would be the first to die (see Arrival in Troy about the death of the first Greek leader