The Trojan War
Straddles History and Mythology
The Roots of the War
During the marriage between Peleus and
Thetis, sea goddess, Eris, the goddess of
discord, and an uninvited guest, storms into
the wedding banquet and threw a golden
apple on the table.
Eris says, “The apple belongs to whomever
is the fairest.”
Eris and the Apple of Discord
Athena
Aphrodite
Hera
Each grabs for the
apple. To solve the
problem, Zeus allows
Paris, Prince of Troy
and the most beautiful
man alive, to judge
who is the fairest.
The Contest
To win his vote, Paris is promised many things…
…Hera promises
him the kingship
of Europe and
Asia…
Aphrodite promises
him the most
beautiful woman in
the world as his
bride…
…and Athena
promises him
victory over the
Greeks in war.
Paris Chooses the Bride…
Aphrodite tells him of a beautiful woman,
wife of the mighty King of Sparta, who shall
be his.
Her name is
Helen.
King Menelaus leaves for Crete, trusting Paris
in his home with his treasures and his wife.
While Menelaus is away,
Paris kidnaps Helen and
carries her away to the highwalled city of Troy.
Now
it
is war!
Who has to FIGHT!!!
Menelaus convinces his brother,
Agamemnon (King of Mycenae) to lead an
expedition to retrieve Helen.
Greek heroes, Achilles, Odysseus, Nestor
and Ajax, and a fleet of more than 1,000
ships join the battle
Before ODYSSEUS Agrees to
Fight
Odysseus had a beautiful
wife and a young son. He
had no desire to go fight
someone else’s war.
He pretended to be insane
by planting salt.
However, Odysseus’
sanity is revealed when he
could not kill his child.
…and the Trojan War Begins.
A thousand ships set sail for the fourwalled city of Troy, led by Menelaus.
The war lasted ten years.
Agamemnon, Lord of Men
Brother of Menelaus, son of Atreus
He was the commander of armies.
He stole Achilles’ prize maiden, Bryseis,
for which the god Apollo caused the Greek
camp to be stricken with a plague.
Murdered in cold blood by his wife’s
suitor, Aegisthus, when he got home from
the Trojan War. We’ll meet him in the
Odyssey, too.
Agamemnon
The Tale of Mighty (orAchilles
Akhilleus)
River
Styx
Achilles, continued
Achilles refuses to
help fight in the
Trojan War because
Agamemnon had
stolen his prize lady.
Achilles’ best friend.
He wears his armor in
the battle, in which he
falls to the mighty
Hector.
He stayed in his
tent a long time,
and refused to fight
even when
Agamemnon
brought her back.
Patroclus:
Achilles swears
vengeance, and
his mother has
Hephaestus make
him some new
armor.
Achilles, continued
Achilles dons his new armor, confronts Hector,
and kills him.
After stripping the armor off, he ties Hector’s body to
the back of his chariot and drags it around the walls of
Troy.
This did not please the gods.
Achilles, concluded
Apollo then caused an
arrow, shot by Paris
himself, to fly at the
only vulnerable spot on
Achilles’ body, the
heel, and kill him.
Odysseus was given the mighty armor in
remembrance of the mighty Achilles.
Master of the House
The most formidable of all of the Argive captains
was Odysseus, Son of Laertes and King of Ithaca.
Wise beyond comparison, Odysseus
was a master of disguise, of
craftiness, of cunning, and of
guile—no one could outwit this man
skilled in all ways of contending.
The Master’s Plan
The Story of the Trojan Horse
Troy fell overnight.
Introduction to Homer’s
The Odyssey
An Overview of Detail from
Books I-IV
Book I: Odysseus is stranded.
Poseidon has decided to impede
Odysseus’ journey home (we’ll find
out why later).
Odysseus is languishing on Calypso’s
island: Ogygia. Calypso has fallen in
love with him and refuses to let him
leave.
Trouble at Home.
Meanwhile back at home in
Ithaca, Penelope is dealing with a
mob of suitors, who insist that she
must marry one of them.
Athena Inspires the Prince
Meanwhile back in Ithaca, his son,
Telemachus, believes that Odysseus is dead.
Athena travels to Ithaca to speak to him.
Disguised as the warrior Mentes,
she advises Telemachus to tell the
suitors to leave and to take a
journey to find his father.
She predicts that Odysseus will soon be home.
Book II: Telemachus Sets Sail
Prince Telemachus takes his father’s seat in the
courtyard and addresses the suitors and all the
nobles of Ithaca.
In despair, he cries out to Athena, who is
actually standing right by him.
She assures him that he has ALL of the
qualities that his father does.
They set sail for Pylos in search
of news of Odysseus.
Book III: King Nestor Remembers
Telemachus and Athena arrive in Pylos as the
king and others are sacrificing to Poseidon.
He tells them of Athena’s
anger toward the Greeks for
not giving thanks after the
war.
He encourages them to sail on
to Sparta to speak with King
Menelaus for more
information.
Book IV:
The King and Queen of Sparta
Telemachus arrives by chariot to
Menelaus’ palace.
No one but Helen recognizes him as Odysseus’ son
because he looks so much like his father.
In the morning, Menelaus tells his
homecoming story and the vague rumors
that he has heard of Odysseus…
…and the suitors begin planning Telemachus’ death…