the marriage of helen and menelaus precipitates the trojan war, the event that ultimately brings the heroic age to an end, but the circumstances surrounding this transition in the "catalogue" are unclear. directly following the birth of hermione strife arises among the gods, and zeus hatches a plan to stir up trouble among mankind. the exact meaning of this plan is obscure because of deficiencies in the text, and several interpretations have been proposed, the most commonly accepted being that zeus plans to destroy a great number of men by causing the war, ultimately removing the heroes to a life lived in conditions resembling the golden age. another possibility is that zeus intends to destroy the race of heroes and return the world to its former order, when gods slept with each other, not mortals. in any event, a great change is coming, and as the final placed fragment of the "catalogue" breaks off, several enigmatic scenes are sketched. a great storm arises which dwindles the strength of mankind: