Angela 14 IEP
Trojan War
What do you associate when talking about Trojan War? The wooden
horse, golden apple or the heroic man Odyssey? Most people will think of
these because they are all important factors in this legendary story. Although
this might be a legendary war, it’s still important to the Greeks and modern
society. This is the conflict not only between mortals but also between gods.
From this, we can learn the Greek Gods are just like human beings because
they were flawed and unpredictable. For example, the story “golden apple.”
Once upon a time, Zeus held a wedding ceremony in the Olympus for two
god and goddess. He invited all the gods but Eris-the goddess of discord. Of
course, Eris was very angry that she decided to trick them. She conjured a
golden apple. She told three goddesses- Hera (queen of the gods), Athena
(goddess of wisdom) and Aphrodite (goddess of love) that only the fairest
goddess can get the golden apple. After long fighting and discussing, they
decided to let Paris (the prince of Troy) to judge them. To bribe him, Hera
offered the power to rule the country, Athena provided the greatest wisdom in
the world and Aphrodite provided the prettiest woman to him. Surprisingly, he
chose to let Aphrodite win, so he got the prettiest woman- Helen, also the
queen of Menelaos (Sparta’s queen). This is the begin of the Trojan War.
“Iliad” (picture 1)is also a very important reference that records the last
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couple weeks happened in Trojan War. Because Paris snatched Helen out of
Menelaos, so Menelaos and Agamemnon become the Greece allied to fight
against Troy. On the last couple weeks, hero Achilles was arguing with
Agamemnon. Achilles was so angry that he refused to go to the battlefield to
fight against Troy, so his friend; Patroklos went to the battlefield instead of
Achilles. Sadly, he was killed by the commander and the smart prince of Troy
(Paris’s brother), Hector. After getting the news, Achilles was so angry that he
put on his armor to fight. Eventually, he killed Hector to revenge for his friend,
Patroklos.
(picture 1”Iliad”’s writer Homer )
(picture 2 Trojan horse)
What about the wooden horse?(picture 2) (evidence 1)It happened in the
story “Trojan Horse”. Because Greece allied had already fought with Troy for
ten years. To win, Odyssey came up with an idea that he planned to build a
large wooden horse that can contain an army in it, others hid in an island near
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Troy. Then they sent up a guy to tell Troy that Greeks army is already
surrendering, so they sent them a wooden horse as a peace gift. Trojan was
trapped so they receive the “gift”. At the middle of the night, Greek army that
hid in the horse jumps out and killed all the people in Troy and destroyed the
city and that’s the end of the Trojan War.
In these three stories above, we can learn that Greek gods really
influenced Greek a lot. They were the center of the Greeks’ life. Many things
can only be done with the gods’ premittee. Gods also brought to them courage
and power. They were Greeks’ role model! For instance, in the first story, It
says that this war happened because of the argue between goddesses. We
can learn that Gods are just like human. They lie, they jealous, they hate!
Because of their human-liked actions, we can understand their thought easily. I
think this is an important reason why Greek gods influence ancient Greeks and
modern society so much. In the second story, Achilles was described as a
half-blood god that won’t die unless someone hurt his ankle. This story shows
us his personal loyalty about his friend, Patroklos’s death. This can make us
not only consider him a great hero but also a sincere friend. In the third story,
Greek won the Trojan War because of the great idea and the help of Athena
and Hera. This shows that Greeks were deeply being influenced by the gods
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that they created lots of myths to admire or record them.
We can also learn that ancient Greeks were very respect to their gods
because they built lots of temples and worshipped them very often.(evidence 4)
What’s more, they not only influence the ancient Greece but also the modern
society. Because the ancient Greeks had left lots of the myths about their gods
and daily life. We can see many temples that were used to worship the Greek
gods today. Also, the word “Trojan Horse” represents the computer viruses
(evidence 2) and we use lots of words from Greek mythology to explain the
situation or a character. Such as “Someone is a Venus.” (evidence 3)Because
of the Greek gods and the war, we got lots of legacy now!
But what’s the truth of the Trojan War? The studies say that there was
really a country called Troy in Asia Minor and it did have a war called Trojan
War. (evidence 1)But we’re not sure if they used wooden horse to win the
battle or not. Maybe it’s just a legendary horse. The cause of the Trojan War
might be the fighting for the best trade route and the fighting for the resources
because after series of archeology, historians say that it happened around the
“Dark Age”, which is an era that Greek civilization almost disappeared.
Everything that can destroy the country happened. Such as Flood, famine and
terrible diseases. They even lost the use of words! That’s why this war had last
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for ten years. Because this was really a great disaster for the Greeks. So, we
can not only learn the importance Greek gods are but also try to avoid the
“Dark Age” happens again from Trojan War and other myths! That’s why they
are important. It doesn’t matter if they are true or not, the most important of all,
we can truly learn something!
Angela 14 IEP
References:
1. Guymon, Brandon. "Trojan Horse Continued - World History For Kids - By
KidsPast.com." Trojan Horse Continued - World History For Kids - By KidsPast.com.
Brandon Guymon, n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2013
2. "Impact of Greek Mythology on Western Culture." Tree.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01
Jan. 2013.
3. "Greek Mythology." Greek Mythology. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2013.
4. "How Did Greek Mythology Affect the Religion of Ancient Greeks?" Myth. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2013.