The Iliad and the Trojan War
Miss Michel
English I
The Iliad
wwp.greenwichmeantime.com
The Iliad starts nine years into the Trojan War
The Trojan War took place in Troy which is in the
northwest corner of what we now call the Republic
of Turkey
Many things had to happen to get this big war
under way
The Start of it All…
Three
generations of
misery and
bloodshed
started
because a
wedding
planner failed
to invite an
important
goddess…
Peleus and Thetis’ Wedding
Peleus was a mortal man.
Thetis was a sea nymph and the daughter
of Zeus.
Peleus had been on many adventures and
had already been married, but things went
sour when he accidentally killed his fatherin-law.
He saw Thetis, fell in love with her, and
tried to kidnap her.
She managed to fight him off with a snake
until he eventually won her over.
“It is not without some god’s assistance that you conquer”
(Thetis to Peleus in Ovid’s Metamorphosis)
The Big
Affair –
Peleus and
Thetis’
Wedding
With Zeus’ consent, all the famous
mortals, gods, and goddess attended
Eris, the goddess of strife was not invited
Eris was insulted and snuck into the
wedding reception…
To the fairest
A Golden Apple
Deadwhitemales.net
Eris tossed a golden apple onto the
dance floor.
On the apple were the words, “To the
fairest.”
The golden apple was a serious party
killer. Who was the most beautiful?
Who is the fairest of them all?
The competition was between:
Athena – Zeus’ daughter and a real
daddy’s girl
Hera – Zeus’ wife and Queen of the
Gods
Aphrodite – The Goddess of Love
They asked Zeus, as the King of the
Gods, to award the prize, but he was
no fool…
The Judgment of Paris
www.mythencyclopedia.com
Zeus gave the task to Paris, son of Priam, the King
of Troy.
Zeus knew that Troy was fated to be destroyed
because of an old run-in with Apollo and
Poseidon.
Paris was the “torch to set the whole city on fire.”
Paris’ Ill-fated Choice
Athena offered him
victory in war
Hera offered him
power over nations
Aphrodite offered
him the most
beautiful woman in
the world
What would you
choose?
homepage.mac.com
Helen of Troy
Paris accepted
Aphrodite’s offer
He then learned that
the most beautiful girl
in the world was
ALREADY MARRIED
She was Helen,
daughter of Leda and
Zeus
She was married to
Menelaus, king of
Sparta
www.search.com
The Kidnapping of Helen
www.mlahanas.com
Paris already had a
wife named
Oenone who
warned him not to
go through with the
kidnapping
He didn’t listen
He sailed off to
Sparta to be guest
at the palace of
Menelaus
The Kidnapping of Helen
Troy was already
doomed before this
whole incident
Zeus was the
“Protector of
Hospitality”
Kidnapping your host’s
wife isn’t exactly
hospitable
If Troy wasn’t in
trouble before, they
certainly were now!
www.waltm.net
In Sparta, Paris either
forcefully carried Helen
away from Troy or he
seduced her and she left
with him on her own
Troy in Trouble
library.thinkquest.org
When Menelaus
discovered that his wife
was kidnapped, he ran to
his big brother
Agamemnon who agreed
to get help wage war to get
Helen back
Helen is known as the
“face that launched a
thousand ships”
Clever Odysseus!
Odysseus tried to get out of joining
Agamemnon and Menelaus in their fight for
Helen by pretending to be crazy.
Thetis (whose wedding started all this) tried
to get her son Achilles out of fighting, too.
users.adelphia.net
The Sacrifice of Iphigenia
Agamemnon finally got his
army together, but they
couldn’t set sail against
strong winds on the
Aegean Sea.
The prophet Calchas told
him that the winds were
from Artemis, and to
appease Artemis,
Agamemnon would have to
sacrifice his daughter
Iphigenia
blogs.warwick.ac.uk
Agamemnon sent a message to his wife, Clytemnestra, saying
that he had arranged for Iphigenia to marry Achilles in Aulis,
but when she arrived on her wedding day, her father sacrificed
her on the altar like an animal.
Now the War Can Begin!
Images Used:
“Map of Turkey” http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/europe/turkey/map.htm 14 June 2007
“Peleus and Thetis” http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/M/Erika.D.Mitchell-Deluca-1/PeleusandThetis.html 14
June 2007
“Phoenix Art Museum” (Wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Joachim Wtewael, 1602)
http://www.phxart.org/pastexhibitions/copper.asp
14 June 2007
“Dead White Males” http://deadwhitemales.net/?p=53 14 June 2007
“Fruit in Mythology” http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Fi-Go/Fruit-in-Mythology.html 14 June 2007
“Paris, Greek Mythology Link”
http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/000Images/pim/parisjudgement1125.JPG 14 June 2007
“Trojan War” http://www.crystalinks.com/trojanwar.html 14 June 2007
“Helen information” (Helen of Troy by Evelyn De Morgan) http://www.search.com/reference/Helen 14
June 2007
“Helen of Troy” http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Helen.html 14 June 2007
“Troy” http://www.waltm.net/troy.htm 14 June 2007
“Book 4” http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00018/Cosmic%20Odyssey/synopsis/book4.html 14 June
2007
“The Penelope Tradition” http://mkatz.web.wesleyan.edu/Penelope/stamnos.jpg 14 June 2007
“Themes from the Iliad and Ovid Metamorphosis”
http://users.adelphia.net/~bnbhelm/project2/Achilles%20hiding.jpg
14 June 2007
“The Green Flower Gang – The University of Warwick” http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/jackcole/ 14 June
2007
“Discovery Channel” (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/08/28/homer_his_zoom0.html?category=human&guid=20060828
100030 14 June 2007