The Trojan War
English 12
Mrs. Kinney
FYI
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War actually occurred
Troy fell into the hands of the Greeks
12th century B.C.; 1193-1184 B.C.
War was probably caused over conflict
between commerce and trade between
Greece and Asia Minor
Effect on Trojans
• City left in ruins
• Women became slaves to Greeks
• Left to mourn loss of great heroes and
family members
Effect on Greeks
• Lost faith in selves
• Lost many men
• Loss feeling of safety
Mythological Beginning/Causes of
the Trojan War
• Wedding of King Peleus ( a mortal) to
Thetis (sea-goddess): parents of Achilles
• **Prometheus foretold that Thetis’ son
would be greater than his father, so Zeus
decreed that Thetis should marry a mortal
The Wedding
– All gods and goddesses invited except Eris,
goddess of discord
– Eris angry—tosses golden apple inscribed,
“For the fairest one”
– Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all claim prize
– Not willing to judge with his wife as one of the
choices, Zeus sends them to Mount Ida where
Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy, was tending
his flocks
– Each goddess offers Paris bribes
Bribes
• Hera—kingship; power and
riches
• Athena—glory and renown in
war
• Aphrodite—love of most
beautiful woman
Beginning Cont.
• Paris chooses Aphrodite’s bribe and wins
Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta
• Under the protection of Aphrodite, Paris
travels to Greece; he meets Helen, his
chosen
• Because Helen was sought by many
suitors, Odysseus swore an oath to protect
her and avenge any wrong to her
Continued…
• Paris made love to Helen, and aided by
Aphrodite, persuaded her to leave with
him for Troy
• Menelaus, Helen’s husband, king of
Sparta, sends out a call to Greeks to help
him get her back
• Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and brother
to Menelaus, chosen as commander
Principal Greek Warriors
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Achilles
Ajax
Diomede
Odysseus/Ulysses
Nestor
Principal Trojan Warriors
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Hector, son of Priam
Aeneas
Deiphobus
Glaucus
Sarpedon
• War was fought, according to myth,
because of quarrel among gods and
betrayal among mortals
– Intervention/Competition of gods (wanted
personal glory)
– Divine Intervention
• Zeus—arranges tremendous loss of Greek lives so
that Achilles will be begged to rejoin his men—
fueling progression of war
• Helen uses Aphrodite’s pressure as
excuse for engagement
• Hermes—helped Agamemnon
• Gods meddling with human lives by
offering spiritual gifts and people, taking
pieces of human souls
Personal Biases
• Athena—encourages Hector, Trojan hero,
to fight Achilles, knowing it will lead to his
demise
• Hera—favors Greeks; rejected by Paris at
wedding
Competition/Jealousy
• Hera, Athena and Aphrodite compete with
bribes to be named fairest
Mortals
• Achilles vs. Agamemnon over war prizes
• Achilles and Hector—importance of honor,
major part of identity
• Pride in homeland (Greece or Troy)
• “Face that launched a thousand ships:-Helen of Troy
– Single combat between Paris and Menelaus
FYI
• According to some, the ultimate cause of
the war was the judgment of Paris
• Achilles—fated to die in battle; only
surviving son of King Peleus and Thetis
The Iliad by Homer
• Begins with quarrel between Achilles and
Agamemnon
• Greeks were unsuccessful at first and had
taken neighboring and allied cities over
• Achilles accuses Agamemnon of being the
cause of their misfortune because
Agamemnon refused to give the priest of
Apollo’s daughter back
The Gods/Goddesses
• Greeks
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Athena
Hera
Poseidon
Hermes
Hephaestus
• Trojans
– Aphrodite
– Ares
– Zeus (tried to remain
neutral but did not)
– Apollo
– Artemis
Action
• Paris challenges one of the Greeks
– Menelaus accepts the challenge and wins
– Aphrodite helps Paris escape and carries him
away in a cloud/mist
– Greeks claim victory
Achilles vs. Patroclus
• The Greeks’ surgeon is wounded by an
arrow from Paris’ bow
• Achilles passes by and cannot see who is
wounded and sends his dearest friend,
Patroclus, to find out
• Achilles will not go back to fight and
Patroclus wears his armor to “scare” the
Trojans back
• The Greeks succeed in driving the Trojans
back
• Hector confronts Patroclus who throws a
large stone at him and misses
• Patroclus is mortally wounded in the
scuffle by Hector
• Hector, believing he has killed Achilles,
takes his armor and puts it on
• News travels back to Achilles who swears
revenge
Achilles Mourns
• Achilles mourns for his friend’s death and
Thetis hears him
• Thetis requests Vulcan/Hephaestus to
make him a better suit of armor than he
lost
Death of Hector
• The rest of the Trojans had escaped the
oncoming Greeks, yet Hector stood
determined to await combat
• Priam, the king of Troy and Hector’s
father, begs him to retreat
• Hector sees Achilles and retreats into the
walls of Troy
• Athena tricks Hector into thinking she is
his bravest brother, Deiphobus
• Hector is strengthened by the sight of his
brother and goes to fight Achilles
• He throws his sword and it just falls from
the shield of Achilles; realizing he has
been tricked by Athena, he rushes forward
to meet his fate
• Achilles throws his spear, delivering a
mortal wound
• Hector begs him to give his body to his
family so that they may mourn and
properly bury it; Achilles refuses
• Achilles, instead, after killing Hector, pierces Hector’s
feet and threads strips of rawhide through them
• He then drags his body behind his chariot as he rides
around the walls of Troy
• Hector’s wife mourns his death
• Achilles drags the body of Hector twice around
Patroclus’ tomb
• Hera orders Thetis to prevail upon Achilles to restore the
body of Hector to the Trojans after Apollo preserves it
• Priam appeals to Achilles himself to get Hector’s body
back and Achilles, moved by Priam’s words, grants the
request
• Achilles pledged a truce for 12 days for funeral rites
The Fall of Troy
• The story of The Iliad ends with the death of
Hector and The Odyssey picks up from there
• Achilles falls for King Priam’s daughter and
influences the Greeks to make peace with Troy
• While in the temple of Apollo negotiating the
marriage between himself and Polyxena,
Achilles is struck by a poisoned arrow shot by
Paris, which, guided by Apollo, fatally wounds
him in the heel (Achilles heel/tendon)
The Trojan Horse
• Eventually, the war comes to an end
• A huge wooden horse was constructed by the Greeks
(Odysseus’ idea) as an offering to Athena
• The Greeks then sailed off while the Trojans were told if
they gained possession of the horse, they would triumph
over the Greeks
• So, they take the horse into their city
• Inside the horse, Greeks hid until the Trojans slept and
they opened the gates to the city for the other Greeks
• The city of Troy was set on fire and people killed by the
sword, completely destroying Troy