“Was this the face that launch’d a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of
Ilium ? “ as Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) has his Doctor Faustus enquire – a lady “fairer than the evening air clad in the beauty of a thousand stars”, one who graced the walls of Troy as a Greek fleet crossed the wine dark Aegean Sea to restore Helen to the husband from whom she had been abducted. The story is as fresh today as it was 3000 or 4000 years ago and the tale of clashing arms on the windy plains of Troy has resounded down the ages.
The site of Troy stood guarding the entrance to the Hellespont ( Dardanelles), opening the world to the passage to the Euxine ( Black Sea). The site, taken to be at the mound of Hisarlik, has been extensively excavated, originally and most destructively, by Heinrich Schliemann, who proceeded to examine Mycenae ( where he wrongly identified the mask of Agamemnon, but adorned his beautiful wife with jewelry fit for an Achaean princess) and Argos. More careful were his successors, who have identified many settlements in the area, two of which, known as Troy VIh and Troy VIIa are tentatively felt to be identified as the Troy of Homer.
[ NOTE : Iluim is the Latin name for Troia, also called Ilion or Ilios and possibly identified as the Wilusa and Taruisa found in Hittite ( a mighty empire in what is now called Turkey) records. ]
Homer, reputedly the first European poet, thought to have flourished in the C7th or C8th BC , author of the oldest epic ever written, the Iliad, the first story identifying Troy, was famously claimed by seven cities when dead, but by none in his lifetime. His reputation as a blind bard has been questioned; the nature of the possible source of his work argued, possibly deriving from an oral tradition, even possibly written in Linear B, which would place him, if true, as contemporary to the events he described. Alas, all is lost in the mists of antiquity, or, at least, obscured.
The Iliad is not the full story of Troy and has been more aptly called “ The Wrath of Achilles” , telling of events occurring in part of the tenth year of the siege of
Troy. The story can be summarised briefly : captive women have been accorded to Greek leaders, Briseis to Achilles,the foremost warrior, and Chryseis to
Agamemnon, the leader of the host, but this latter was the daughter of Chryses, priest of Apollo, who rained down pestilence on the Greek camp until she was restored to her father by Agamemnon, who, to replace her, claimed Briseis, leaving Achilles so furious that he would fight no more for the Greek army. Most other leaders were unable to withstand the might of the Trojan champion,
Hector(aided, it must be said, by Zeus), who disabled the best of the Greeks.
Patroclus,the boon companion of Achilles, pleaded with his friend to let him lead their troops into battle, but, when Patroclus was slain by Hector, Achilles again went to war, inflicting terrible losses on the Trojans, unsatisfied, nay, unsatiated until he had taken the life of Hector. His fury ultimately abated when old Priam,

father of Hector came to him to seek the body of his son, reminding him how his own father would have felt.
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Of course, such a synopsis, ignoring, inter alia, the deeds of the other Greek commanders, does not accord due honour to the Iliad, which was a marvellous creation, exposing, even in a savage war, the finest attributes of man, often presented in a cameo form, never thereafter surpassed. It is also, in a sense, a historical document, notably in Book 2, known as the Catalogue of the Ships, passages giving in detail the development of the Greek states, their leaders, and, naturally, the number of the ships each brought to Troy. A great deal of earlier events and of antecedents of the “Wrath of Achilles” period abound, and the story of the Trojan War can be viewed in its totality in other writings, known to the
Greeks as the Epic Cycle, originally seen to be the work of Homer, but which are now generally viewed as later productions, well worth examining, if only for comparison with the variations of later centuries.
[ NOTE : A splendid map of the Greece of the time, showing the contingent leaders can be found at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a.]
The Epic Cycle covered the whole Trojan War and some subsequent events ( The
NOSTOI – the Return of the Greeks from Troy) ; the ODYSSEY ( The return of
Odysseus); The TELEGONY (Death of Odysseus) and includes :
The CYPRIA, attributed to Stasinus of Cyprus or Hegesinus of Salamis, tells of
Zeus planning the war with Themis ; the wedding of Peleus and Thetis when Eris,
Goddess of Discord threw among the guests an apple (from the Hesperides ?
),inscribed “ For the Fairest” ; the Judgment of Paris, prejudiced when Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen (wife of Menelaus, Lord of Sparta), whom he abducted. The suitors of Helen had entered a bond to preserve that marriage and the Greek princes rallied for an expedition to recover her ; the pretended insanity of Odysseus to avoid the war, unmasked by
Palamedes. The Greeks mistakenly landed in Teuthrania , which they attacked.
Telephos of Mysia ( a son of Hercules) came to the assistance of the city and slew
Thersander, the son of Polynices (of Thebes), but was wounded, and subsequently healed, by Achilles, thereafter promising to guide the Greeks to
Troy. The ships were delayed at Aulis, and Iphigenia offered for sacrifice. En route
Philoctetes was poisoned by a snakebite and left (virtually marooned) on Lemnos.
The army finally reached Troy, the first ashore, Protesilaos, being killed by
Hector, son of Priam, and destined to become the great defender of the city. A demand for the return of Helen was rejected and the siege begun. Achilles drove off the cattle of Aeneas, captured Lyrnessos and Pedasos, and killed Troilus, a son of Priam ( to acquire more fame at a later date). Patroclus captured Lykaon, another son of Priam, whom he sold into slavery at Lemnos. A division of the captured (now slaves) gave Briseis to Achilles and Chryseis to Agamemnon.The death of Palamedes was reported, and a catalogue of the combatants drawn up.
The intention of Zeus to pull Achilles out of the war was revealed. An original plan of Zeus was to reduce the population of the world, beginning with the expedition of the Seven against Thebes – Troy was to follow. The brothers of Helen, Castor and Pollux had engaged in a battle of mutual destruction with the princes of
Messinia, Idas and Lynceus and so were lost before the campaign began.
The events of the ILIAD followed this narrative, and were themselves continued in the AETHIOPIS, attributed to Arctinus of Miletus ,but lost in the original, the detail preserved in the CHRESTAMATHY of Proclus. After the death of Hector,
Penthesileia and her Amazons came to the assistance of Troy – she slew Podarces and was herself killed by Achilles, who mourned her death and was mocked by
Thersites, whom he also killed, being later purified of this murder by Odysseus.
The next arrival to assist the Trojans was Memnon, son of Tithonus and Eos, with an army of Ethiopians, who created havoc, slaughtering the popular son of old

Nestor and a favourite of Achilles, Antilochus, who essentially had to be revenged by his friend, who chased the Trojans back to their city, but, at the Scaean gate was killed by Paris, with an arrow to his vulnerable heel (guided by Apollo).; The body of Achilles was rescued by Telamonian Ajax and Odysseus. At the funeral games of Achilles a dispute arose between these two. It is not known for certain if the judgment against Ajax and his subsequent suicide was recorded in the
Aethiopis or elsewhere, perhaps in the Little Iliad.
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The LITTLE ILIAD was attributed to Lesches of Pyrrha or Mytilene, for whose content we are again indebted to Proclus. It opens with the Judgment of Arms, the slaughter of the sheep and the subsequent suicide of Ajax. Then begins the age of prophecies. Calchas, the Greek seer (originally a Trojan) advised of the need for the arrows of Hercules, held by the abandoned Philoctetes, whom
Odysseus and Diomedes persuade to return to Troy,where he was cured by
Machaon. Philoctetes killed Paris, whose body was mutilated by Menelaus. His brothers, Deiphobus and Helenus, fight over the widowed Helen and Helenus leaves Troy, to be captured by Odysseus. He foretells that the Palladium ( destined to be carried off by Odysseus and Diomedes) protects the city, that the bones of Pelops should be recovered from Pisa, and that Neoptolemus, the son of
Achilles, must join the war, and he arrives in good time to dispose of Euryplylus, son of Telephos, the latest Trojan ally to cause consternation in the Greek besiegers. Finally the Wooden Horse is built by Epeius, at the instigation of
Athena; the destined heroes enter the horse; the Greek army departs, and the horse is brought into the city. The sack of Troy is not included in the Little Iliad, buta surviving fragment indicated that Neoptolemus took Andromache captive and that he threw Astyanax, the son of Hector and Andromache, from the walls of the captured city.
The ILIUPERSIS (Sack of Ilium or Troy) was attributed to Arctinus of Miletus, but again has come down through Proclus. The role of Sinon was recounted; the opposition of Cassandra and Laocoon is recorded, together with the slaughter of
Laocoon and his two sons by serpents, an event that Aeneas takes as a warning and he removes his troops from the city; the horse was brought into the city and, at night, the Greek heroes emerge, open the city gates to the returning army and set fire to the city. Neoptolemus killed old Priam at the altar of Zeus ; Menelaus kills Deiphobus and takes back Helen. Ajax the Lesser (Locrian Ajax) rapes
Cassandra at the altar of Athena. Neoptolemus takes Andromache captive, but it is Odysseus who throws Astyanax from the walls. Demophon and Akamas recover their mother Aethra and return her to her home.
The NOSTOI ( The Returns or Homecomings) was attributed to Agias of Trozen or
Eumulus, and shows Nestor and Diomedes sailing early and making a safe passage; Menelaus is blown by winds to Egypt, where he spent some years before his return home safely; Kalchas, Leonteus and Polypoites travel by land to
Kolophon; the image of Achilles warned the army under Agamemnon of danger, which they found on the rocks of Kapherides, where Ajax Oileus (Locrian Ajax) met his death. Neoptolemus had been warned to return by land and ultimately came to Molossos. Agamemnon, with Cassandra as his slave, returned to
Mycenae, where both were murdered by his wife Klytaimnestra and her lover,
Aigisthos; Orestes, son of Agamemnon, was to revenge this assassination.
The most famous Nostoi was the ODYSSEY of Homer, chronicling the wanderings of Odysseus after the war. It is probably the best known work examined in this paper and needs no comment, however :
The TELEGONY was attributed to Cinaethon of Sparta or Eugammon of Cyrene.
After the burial of the suitors of Penelope, Odysseus travelled to Thesprotia, upon whose queen Kallidike he engendered a son, Polypoites. He participated in a battle against invaders, in which Kallidice was killed. Polypoites ascended the

throne, and Odysseus returned to Ithaca. Now, following his dalliance on the island of Aeaea with the enchantress Circe, she bore a son, Telegonus, who ultimately set out in search of his father, and was blown by storm to Ithaca, where he marauded until faced by Odysseus, whom he killed with a spear tipped by the poisoned stingray, fulfilling a prophecy that death would come to the hero
“out of the sea”. The couple recognized each other too late. Telegonus took the corpse, with Penelope and Telemachus (her son) back to Aeaea, where Odysseus was buried and Circe made the others immortal, in which state Telegonus married
Penelope and Telemachus Circe.
The Telegony completed the Epic Cycle but much more was to be added to the story of Troy.
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First of all were the Athenian dramatists, who expanded selected characters or events :
Aeschylus(525-456 BC) produced a trilogy which has been named the Orestaia, comprising Agamemnon, which dealt with Agamemnon returning from Troy and being murdered by Clytemnestra and her lover; The Libation Bearers, which tells of Orestes’ revenge for his father by killing the pair; and the Eumenides, where
Orestes is pursued by the Furies until he is finally purified of the offence of matricide. Aeschylus also seems to have composed a Palamedes. Sophocles (497-
406 BC), famous for a Theban trilogy of Oedipus Rex, Antigone and Oedipus at
Colonus, also created dramas centred upon Ajax and Philoctetes, so emotionally expressive that Lessing in much later years could compare their effects with the famous statue of Laocoon and his sons(in his expansive essay Laocoon).
Euripides (480-406 BC) was more prolific, famous for his The Troades (the Trojan
Women) indicating, after the fall of Troy, the plight of Helen, Hecuba,
Andromache and Cassandra, telling, inter alia, of the sacrifice of Polyxena and the death of Astyanax. Among his works were the Iphigenia at Aulis, the Iphigenia in
Taurus, Orestes, Hecuba and Andromache. Lesser known were the plots of two plays which may have been, with the Troades, part of a Trojan trilogy – the
Alexandros or Paris and a Palamedes. These plays are similar to the material in the Epic cycle, but variations were introduced and, indeed, they were to multiply in the writings of later (and some earlier) authors :
Stesichorus ( 632-552 BC), a link poetically between Homer and Pindar, famous for his reputed blindness incurred for writing about Helen, first in derogatory terms, and later in his Palinode, in which he portrayed the Helen of Troy as but a phantom (confirmed by Plato in his Republic and by Isocrates in his Helen) and either she never left home, or was spirited away to Egypt. He produced many works, ranging over the Theban cycle to the Labours of Heracles. Pindar(518-438
BC) the great Theban poet, spared by Alexander of Macedonia when he destroyed that city, famous for his Victory Odes, celebrating winners at the Olympian,
Isthmian, Pythian and Nemean games, often employing a focusing myth. In the
Nemean Odes we find 3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8 : Achilles; Peleus and Thetis; Hippolyta;
Achilles and Memnon; Neoptolemus; Ajax, presumably Locrian Ajax as he was associated with the foot race. Pindar almost wrote an Argonautica among his
Odes. Lycophron : the author of the Alexandra, spoken by a slave appointed by
King Priam to observe the behaviour of his daughter, more commonly known as
Cassandra. A complex work, full of mythological, geographical and genealogical detail, providing variants to many stories of Troy, and elsewhere. Apollonius
Rhodius (222-181 BC), author of the Argonautica (Voyage of Argo), following the adventures of Jason and his companions in search of the Golden Fleece. In this account the voyagers sailed through the Hellespont without visiting Troy, and
Heracles was lost in Mysia searching for Hylas, who had been abducted by nymphs. Apollodorus ( C2nd BC) gave us his Library, whose Epitome described the war. His catalogue of ships does not entirely agree with that of Homer; his

conquests of Achilles are much more extensive; he allows Penthesilia to slay
Machaon; Greater Ajax slays Glaucus while defending the body of Achilles which he carried back to the Greek camp, Ulysses providing cover; at the funeral games of Achilles, Eumelus won the chariot race, Diomedes the footrace, Ajax the quoit, and Teucer archery; fifty warriors entered his horse; his Nostoi are more extensive than the conventional; he lists the seducers of the wives as Aegisthus with Clytemnestra, Cometes, son of Sthenelus, with Aegialia, wife of Diomedes, and Leucus with Meda, wife of Idomeneus, who was driven out of Crete; he names the Sirens; he agrees the Telegony. DiodorusSiculus ( C1st BC), compiler of the Library of History, only fragments of which survive. His Book IV recounts the voyage of Argo, showing the rescue of Hesione by Heracles, the default of
Laomedon, Heracles’ taking of Troy and the slaughter of Laomedon. His acceptance when speaking of Cretan affairs that Idomeneus and Meriones returned from the war and lived out their lives in their own country suggests a possible lack of awareness of some other writers. Cornelius Nepos 9C1st BC) was a biographer, who was mistakenly associated with the discovery of Dictys
Cretensis.
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Virgil (70BC-19AD), famous for his Aeneid, the story of the journey of Aeneas after the fall of Troy, through the Mediterranean, with the Dido episode en route, to reach Latium and, after battle with the locals, founded what would ultimately develope into Rome and conceive a progeny from which, in legend, rulers in
Europe would evolve. His Book 2 yields an account of the Sack of Troy, which supplied more detail of the fate of the Elders of the city. His horse contained :
Thessandrus (Thersander, son of Polynices), Sthenelus (son of Capaneus),
Ulysses, Acamas, Thoas (of Aetolia), Neoptolemus, Machaon, Menelaus and Epeus
– many of the heroes who suffered quite different fates elsewhere. OVID 943BC-
18AD), with Virgil, the poet best known in the Middle Ages, who wrote prolifically, notorious for his Arts Amatoris (The Art of Love). the Heroides (The Heroines) consist of letters written by ladies, awaiting the return of their husbands (
Penelope, Phyllis, Briseis, Oenone, Deianeira, and Laodamia) and some other letters, correspondence between lovers, like Paris and Helen. His most influential work, the Metamorphoses covers a wide range but at Book 11 we meet with
Peleus and Thetis ; in Book 12 with Achilles and Iphigenia, Book 13 the contest for the Arms of Achilles, and Book 14 tells us of the voyage of Aeneas and continues on to the time of Romulus. Hyginus (64BC-17AD)wrote the Fabulae, like Apollodorus, a compendium of myth. His catalogue of ships varies again from
Homer, as he credits more heroes a given number of ships, as, for example
Phoenix with 50, Automedon with 10, Euryalus with 15 – his total seems rather smaller than the sum of its parts, but this is fable. His coverage of events in the
Epic Cycle is rather sparse and disseminated into a kind of statistical record. He credited Hector with the slaughter of Antilochus and Eurypylus of Mysia with the deaths of Nireus and Machaon. Of the Nostoi there is little, apart from Ulysses, but, in his Telegony he introduced an interesting genealogy with a son Italus born to Penelope and Telegonus and a Latinus born to Telemachus and Circe. For much of his work he might well be addressed as the Greek Brewer (of Phrase and
Fable). Seneca (C1st AD),Latin author of tragic plays, taken up in later centuries as the model for writers of revenge tragedies. His Troades is a retelling of the
Trojan women. Valerius Flaccus (d 90AD): Roman author of an Argonautica, which included the rescue of Hesione from the sea monster by Heracles, the deceit of Laomedon and promised horses and Hercules’ taking of Troy . Statius
(45-86 AD)famous for his Thebiad, the story of the seven Argive chieftains who marched against seven-gated Thebes, which itself led into Medieval Romance culminating in Lydgate’s Siege of Thebes. His Achillied recounts the story of
Achilles at the court of Lycomedes of Scyros. Tryphiodorus (C3rd or C4thAD)

wrote the Taking of Ilios, beginning with the death of Hector; the building of the horse; the heroes within, telling of Helen circling the horse imitating the wives of the Greek heroes ; the episode of Anticlus, who had to be stifled before he could react to Helen’s wiles; the Sack of the city; the sacrifice of Polyxena at the tomb of Achilles by Neoptolemus; his Sinon was a lesser figure than that of Virgil .His horse must have been huge as it contained : Neoptolemus, Diomedes, Cyanippus
(son of Aegialeus and Comaetho, daughter of Tydeus), Locrian Ajax, Idomeneus of Crete, Thrasymedes (son of Nestor), Eumelus (son of Admetus), Teucer (son of
Telamon),the seer Calchas, Eurypylus, Leonteus, Demophoon and Acamas (sons of Theseus,often confused), Peneleus of Boeotia, Meges, Antiphates, Iphidamas
(these two descendants of Pelias), Amphidamas, and finally Epeius, who actually built the horse. The list of heroes yields a fine example of the variation between authors. Quintus Smyrnacus ( C4th AD)brought the Epic Cycle to an extensive amalgamation in his poem,the POSTHOMERICA, relating events from the death of
Hector to the Sack of Troy. Detail abounds : the Amazon princesses are individually named and their destruction recounted ; many Greeks, including
Podarces, were slain, but ultimately Achilles killed Penthesileia; Memnon next entered the field for the Trojans, slaying Antilochus, the popular son of old
Nestor, and many others of lesser repute, until he met Achilles, who ended his life. Achilles relentlessly pursued the Trojans until Apollo intervened, directing an arrow to the mortal heel of the warrior. Battle developed over his body, defended by Aias who slew Glaucus and many others, wounding Aeneas and Paris, carrying the body of Achilles back to the camp with the help of Odysseus ; the funeral games were described with Homeric detail echoing those of Patroclus ; the manner and death of Aias are chronicled, with the mourning of Teucer and
Tecmessa.
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Quintus Smyrnacus,cont. : Calchas foretold the need to bring Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, to the war, just as the Trojans were reinforced by Eurypylus, son of
Telephos, who was to slaughter Nireus, Machaon, Peneleus and many more, until the arrival of Neoptolemus, his Nemesis. Philoctetes was now brought from
Lemnos to dispose of Paris with the arrows of Heracles, Oenone committing suttee on his funeral pyre. There was no mention of Helenus, or of the Palladium, but Calchas and Athena inspired the horse ( entered by Neoptolemus, Menelaus,
Odysseus, Sthenelus, Diomedes, Philoctetes, Menestheus, Anticlus, Thoas,
Polypoetes, Aias, Eurypylus, Thrasymedes, Idomeneus, Meriones, Podaleirius,
Eurymachus, Teucer, Ialmenus, Thalpius, Antimachus, Demophoon, Leonteus,
Eumelus, Euryalus, Agapenor, Akamas, Meges and Epeius – Troy had no chance.
There were no serpents for Laocoon, only a blinding; Cassandra raved in vain;
Menelaus slew Deiphobus, but his hand was stayed by Aphrodite as he threatened
Helen; the story of Demophoon, Akamas, Aethra and Laodice was retold; and
Neoptolemus slew the sons of Priam and the old king himself. Neoptolemus sacrificed Polyxena at the tomb of his father, enabling the Greek fleet to sail away. Aeneas had departed from Troy, his life preserved. Antenor was spared for his former hospitality to ambassadors – no suggestion of treachery. Calchas and
Amphilochus ( the seer son of Amphiaraus) made their way to Pamphylia and
Cilicia. Athena raised the storm over the rocks of Caphereus, wrathful over the desecration of Cassandra by Locrian Aias in her temple – his fate was sealed by
Poseidon, who also flooded the old Greek camp. Of the other Nostoi, Quintus
Smyrnacus is silent. Colluthus (late C5th to early C6th AD) wrote a poem,the
Rape of Helen, which began with the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, followed by the Revenge of Eris, the Judgment of Paris, the Trojan voyage to Greece, the meeting with Helen with immediate favourable response, the lamentation of
Hermione (Helen’s daughter), a reassurance by Helen in a dream, the lovers’

arrival in Troy with Cassandra tearing her hair as Troy received on his return her citizen who was the source of all her woe. Fulgentius ( C5th to C6th AD) compiled a Mythologiarum Libri, taking as approach that included Stoic and Neo-Platonic elements.
This paper has followed the Epic Cycle and commentators thereon to the summary that is the Posthomerica – in modern times all this material has been analysed, classified, widely circulated and most problems have been set out in comparative style, but this can be seen as the end of the beginning set against the beginning of the end, if a move from a Classical to a Romantic setting can be so described.
There was to be more ”Classical” writing, perhaps better described as Late
Classical,which tended to be antagonistic to the Homeric corpus , which would influence the development of the Tale of Troy. It is appropriate, at this juncture, to reflect upon some matters upon which a different emphasis would be laid in the future. The classical story of the slave girl Briseis is one such. When Achilles captured Lyrnessus and killed her husband Mynes , she was taken captive and became a centrepiece in the episode of the Wrath of Achilles, when she was taken from her captor by Agamemnon, an event that occasioned Achilles’ withdrawal from the war. Ovid, in his Heroides, expanded upon the story, having Briseis plead with Achilles to rejoin the battle, but it took the death of Patroclus to achieve that event, when Briseis was restored to her “ ..master , husband and brother”, prepared to relinquish any other life. Other authors saw Briseis as a closer companion to her lord. Horace saw the association as a love over-vaulting social standards. Propertius saw, her as the principal,indeed sole , mourner, preparing Achilles for the after life.
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Early Latin translations of the Epic Cycle began to question aspects of the
Homeric account in works like the minor (1070 lines) Ilias Latini of Publius
Baebius Italicus, the Excidium Troiae(anonymous)and the Compendium Historae
Trojanae. The Excidium Troiae was independant of Dares and Dictys and included
: The marriage of Peleus and Thetis, Hecuba’s dream and the exposure of Paris,
Paris’ life as a herdsman, the judgment of the Goddesses, Paris’ defeat of his brothers, the expedition to Greece and the Rape of Helen, the youth of Achilles, the discovery of Achilles on Scyros, death of Achilles, and further parts including a narration of Virgil’s account of the Fall of Troy, the wanderings of Aeneas, and a potted history of Rome. Its author raised the Polyxena problem, which asks who loved whom and why the sacrifice. Did Polyxena marry, or simply learn from him of his vulnerable spot ?
Two works were to emerge that came to be treated as Gospel in later centuries and, indeed, history until the C18th. These were the Ephemeris Belli Troiani of
Dictys Cretensis and the De Excidio Troiae Historia of Dares Phrygius, which seem to be C4th to C6th translations of C1st Greek originals, reputedly written by contemporaries of the war, in which Gods no longer participated.
Dares began his work with the voyage of Argo ( possibly the version of
Orpheus),which claimed that Laomedon of Troy warned off the adventurers, an action that infuriated Hercules, who subsequently sailed with Castor and Pollux,
Telamon, Peleus and Nestor to Troy, where he killed Laomedon, giving his daughter Hesione to Telamon. Priam, son of Laomedon, succeeded and strengthened the walls of the city. He sent Antenor to request the return of
Hesione, to no avail and, on his return, urged Priam to make war. Alexander, son of Priam, had dreamed the Judgment of the Goddesses and suggested an expedition to demand the return of Hesione and sailed with a fleet, accompanied by Deiphobus, Aeneas and Polydamas, but, en route, at Cythera, Alexander met
Helen, who returned with, him to Troy, where, despite some regrets, they were

married. Her brothers, Castor and Pollux, set off in pursuit, but disappeared, possibly into immortality at Lesbos.
Dares decribed the characteristics of his dramatis personae, among them Briseis
– beautiful, small and blond, with eyebrows joined, a well proportioned body, charming, modest, ingenious and pious. He catalogued 1130 ships, some at odds with Homer, as for example, Nireus from Syme with 53 ships, but all assembled at Athens, where they were joined by Calchas. Storms blew the ships off course and they came to Aulis where Agamemnon propitiated the goddess Diana ;
Achilles and Telephus captured Mysia, a kingdom to which Telephus succeeded.
Diomedes and Ulysses were sent to Troy to negotiate the return of Helen, but
Priam refused quite antagonistically. Agamemnon was confirmed as leader and the army landed at Troy; Protesilaus was killed by Hector further inland rather than on the beach.The next day Hector killed Patroclus, whose body was rescuedby Meriones, who was struck down by Hector, who was next faced by
Great Ajax, the pair recognizing each other as cousins. During a truce, which lasted for two years, funeral games were held to honour Patroclus. During the truce Palamedes suggested another leader should be appointed. Hector killed many of the Greek leaders, as Achilles and Diomedes disposed of many Trojan princes. Agamemnon asked, through an embassy for a three year truce to which the Trojans agreed, after which they fought for twelve days before another 30 day truce. When battle recommenced, Andromache begged Priam to keep Hector from the field, but Hector could not be denied – he next slew Idomeneus,
Leonteus and Polypoetes, but Achilles came to the fore and Hector was no more,
A further truce of two months was agreed, again for the burial of the dead.
At this stage, Palamedes persuaded the Greek host to relieve Agamemnon of his command and appoint him ; when battle recommenced, Sarpedon distinguished himself, but there were heavy losses on both sides and the Trojans requested a one year truce.
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It was during this truce, on the anniversary of the death of Hector, that among the Trojan mourners was Polyxena, whom for the first time Achilles beheld, and he was immediately smitten, he fell completely in love with the princess and contacted her mother Hecuba determined to ask for her daughter’s hand and, if granted, he would take his troops home. Hecuba was willing, but Priam demanded a total withdrawal of the Greek army, a policy promoted by Achilles as he withdrew his men from the battlefield.
When the truce expired Palamedes led out the army, killed Deiphobus and
Sarpedon before he was mortally wounded by Paris. Only Ajax withstood the subsequent Trojan offensive. Agamemnon was re-appointed commander.This was the hour of Troilus, who wounded Menelaus and Diomedes and forced back the
Greeks. Agamemnon pleaded with Achilles to rejoin the army, which he refused to do, but would allow his Myrmidons to enter the conflict. After yet another truce of 30 days, Troilus began to wreak havoc among the Myrmidons until Achilles could witness no longer and donned his arms. He was seriously wounded by
Troilus who rampaged for seven days, but, when his horse was wounded and fell, he was thrown and trapped in his harness, an easy target for Achilles. Memnon,
King of Persia, defended the body of Troilus, but was himself slain by Achilles.A developing pattern – another truce to bury the dead.
At this time Hecuba plotted with Alexander (Paris) to persuade Achilles to come to the temple of Apollo to finalize arrangements for his wedding to Polyxena.
Achilles, accompanied by Antilochus, came to the temple where Alexander and a group of Trojans assasinated them. Helenus persuaded his countrymen to return the bodies, which were given magnificent funerals. Ajax suggested bringing
Neoptolemus to Troy. When battle recommenced Ajax killed Paris, but himself

received a mortal wound. Penthesilea next came to assist Troy and met her fate at the hand of Neoptolemus.
Many of the Trojans (notably Aeneas, Antenor and Polydamas) now called for peace, but old Priam remained obdurate, so that the others, to save their country, determined they must betray Troy. Polydamas spoke to the Greeks, agreed a password to be tested by Sinon. Aeneas and Antenor opened the gates to Neoptolemus, who led the sacking of the city and killed Priam. Aeneas had sheltered Polyxena, but Antenor, pressurized by the Greeks, persuaded him to surrender her, to be slaughtered by Neoptolemus at the grave of Achilles as the cause of his father’s death. Agamemnon was annoyed over the behaviour of
Aeneas and ordered him to leave the country with 22 ships and 3400 followers.
Helenus, with Cassandra, Andromache and Hecuba settled with 1200 exiles on the Chersonese. The Greeks returned home and Antenor remained in the city with
2500 followers, including Dares Phrygius, who penned this definitely non-Homeric work.
Dictys Cretensis purported to be a follower of Idomeneus who led the Cretan contingent to Troy, but the book attributed to him is felt to be a much later work, probably with much invention. All the descendants of Minos had gathered in Crete when Alexander the Phrygian carried off Helen (with Aethra and Clymene), sailed to Cyprus and then to Sidon, which city he captured, being absent when an embassy (Palamedes, Ulysses and Menelaus) visited Troy, where they were entertained by Antenor until Alexander returned. Helen pleaded a closer affinity to Troy rather than to Menelaus, and was allowed to make her own choice which was to stay.
Meanwhile the Greek princes ( mainly those of Homer, but also Thersander and
Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus) had assembled and appointed Agamemnon to lead the army that would attack Troy. Dictys’ Catalogue of the Ships was fairly standard (apart from Thersander with 50 ships from Thebes, Calchas with 20 from Acarnania, Mopsus with 20 from Colophon and Epeus with 30 from the
Cyclades in addition). It took five years to assemble the fleet at Aulis ,where it was delayed until the sacrifice of Iphigenia, which was interrupted by a divine storm and a deer substituted.
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Driven by winds to Mysia, a battle ensued in which King Teuthranius was killed by
Ajax,and Thersander by Telephus,this latter being reconciled to the Greeks by princes of the bloodline of Hercules. The wounds of Telephus were cured and he guided the second attempt to reach Troy – in the ninth year of the war. The
Greeks landed Protesilaus in the first ship to arrive was killed by Aeneas ; Achilles killed Cycnus; Philoctetes was bitten by a serpent; Ulysses and Diomedes engineered the death of Palamedes; Achilles and Ajax ravaged the surrounding countryside. Ajax attacked Thrace where King Polymestor surrendered Polydorus, son of Priam, and then Phrygia whose king Teuthras he killed, capturing his daughter Tecmessa who became his slave and companion. Achilles raided Lesbos, killing Phorbas and carrying off his daughter Diomedea, and then took Lyrnessos in Cilicia, killing king Eetion and enslaving his wife Astynome, daughter of
Chryses. He next sacked Pedasus, whose ruler Brises hanged himself in despair, leaving his daughter Hippodamia to be taken. On his return to camp Astynome was given to Agamemnon, while the other captives were left with their captors.
Ulysses, Diomedes and Menelaus went as an embassy suggesting the exchange of Polydorus for Helen, but, while Antenor and Panthus would negotiate, Priam and his sons stood resolute, Aeneas observing the earlier rapes of Europa, Medea and Io. Polydorus was put to death. Plague ravaged the Greek camp claimed by
Chryses to be the wrath of Apollo, to appease whom Agamemnon returned
Astynome, but demanded from Achilles Hippodamia. Achilles withdrew to his quarters and refused to fight for the Greeks. Battle was joined – an episode

involving Alexander, Menelaus and Pandarus occurred.(No single combat,no divine intervention). Diomedes killed Pandarus. Diomedes and Ulysses raided the camp of king Rhesus, eliminating him and stealing his horses ; the Greeks thrashed the Thracians who sought to revenge their master.
An embassy of Diomedes, Ulysses and Ajax finally persuade Achilles to rejoin the host. However, during a truce, Achilles sees Polyxena at the temple of Apollo, falls deeply in love and sends Automedon to bargain with Hector – for
Polyxena,he would bring thewar to an end, but Hector required the betrayal or death of Agamemnon,Menelaus and Ajax. A perturbed Achilles told his colleagues of these proceedings, and they sympathized, but advised him to win the war and she would fall to him. When battle recommenced Achilles inflicted heavy damage on the Trojans until he was wounded by an arrow from the bow of Helenus.
Patroclus now distinguished himself, killing Sarpedon among other feats, but the next day he was wounded by Euphorbus and finished off by Hector,who mauled his body.(No divine intervention). Ajax the Great drove off Hector, while Menelaus and Locrian Ajax ended the life of Euphorbus. When Hector set out with a small party to welcome Penthesilea the Amazon, they were ambushed and slaughtered by Achilles, the body of Hector being dragged behind the victor’s chariot, back to the Greek camp where funeral games for Patroclus were held. (Different results from those of Homer).In the morning Priam came to Achilles to ransom the body of Hector, for which both Andromache and Polyzena pleaded, which latter softened the heart of the Greek hero.
Penthesilea then took the field, but was mortally wounded by Achilles, who agreed with Diomedes to throw her body into the Scamander (No Thersites). Next day Memnon, with his Ethiopian army arrived to assist Troy, to be wounded by
Ajax and despatched by Achilles, but after he had killed Antilochus. After a truce battle was renewed and Achilles cut the throats of two captive sons of Priam –
Lycaon and Troilus.
It was now that Alexander and Deiphobus lured Achilles to the temple of Apollo under the pretext of settling his marriage to Polyxena and there assassinated him. A suspicious Ajax and Ulysses had followed Achilles and now rescued his body, over which a struggle took place. The corpse of the dead hero was cared for with the same diligence as had that of Patroclus by Hippodamia. The body was cremated , his ashes joined those of Patroclus and the urn placed by Ajax in a tomb at Sigeum.
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The Trojans were elated, more so when Eurypylus, son of Telephus, joined their ranks. About the same time Pyrrhus (Neoptolemus) arrived to assist the besieging army. Aeneas, disgusted by Alexander’s profanity of the temple of
Apollo, now refused to fight on his behalf. Eurypylus took the field and slew
Penelaus and Nireus, but fell before Pyrrhus. Chryses reported that Helenus had left Troy because of Alexander’s treachery. Diomedes and Ulysses brought him into the camp where he confirmed the disillusion of Aeneas and Antenor Next
Philoctetes killed Alexander with the arrows of Hercules. When Oenone saw his body, she faded away and they shared a common grave. Aeneas and Antenor sought the return of Helen but she was seized and married to Deiphobus. Aeneas insulted the compliant Priam, who gave way and sent Antenor to the Greek camp to negotiate peace. He formed a council with Agamemnon, Idomeneus and
Diomedes, which agreed that Aeneas and Antenor would be rewarded.He was advised to return to Troy to say that the Greeks were preparing a gift for Minerva and, if Helen were returned, they would be quite happy to go home. Antenor addressed the Trojan Elders, implying his dissatification with the status quo , forcing Priam to send him with Aeneas to the Greeks to settle final terms. Helen made a point of asking them to tell the Greeks of her hatred of Troy. Aeneas and
Antenor drew up fixed plans for the betrayal to the city with the Greeks. Antenor

went to the temple of Minerva and stole the Palladium, passing it to Ulysses.
Helenus now suggested the horse sacrifice to Minerva – Epeius and Locrian Ajax supervisedthe construction of the famous wooden horse.
The peace was ratified in Troy when Diomedes, Ulysses, Great Ajax, Nestor,
Meriones, Thoas, Philoctetes, Pyrrhus and Eumelus banqueted with the Elders of
Troy (no need for a list of warriors to hide inside the horse). The Trojan walls were dismantled and a bounty paid to the Greeks to let them take the horse into the city. Having burned their camp the Greek fleet sailed to Sigeum, to return when signalled by Sinon ; the Sack of Troy ensued. Menelaus put Deiphobus to death, Pyrrhus killed old King Priam at his altar, Cassandra was forcibly taken by
Locrian Ajax; the captive women were allocated, Agamemnon declaring his love for Cassandra and Pyrrhus taking Andromache. Great Ajax now demanded the
Palladium as his reward. Diomedes would agree but Ulysses contended the matter, supported by Agamemnon and Menelaus. Great Ajax swore to kill those who opposed him, but, during the night was struck down by an unknown sword.
(recalling the death of Palamedes). The army was angry, so Ulysses fled the scene, leaving the Palladium with Diomedes. Hecuba poured insults on the Greek leaders and and was stoned to death. Aeneas and Helenus were rewarded by
Antenor, but when Aeneas sought to displace Antenor, he was forced to sail away, and Helenus became the companion of Pyrrhus.
Dictys Cretensis concludes with a Nostoi, which included the death of Locrian
Ajax, the expulsion from Argos of Diomedes, the assassination of Agamemnon, the welcome to Athens of Menestheus, leaving Demophoon and Acamas isolated ;
Idomeneus enjoyed a peaceful return to Crete; Ulysses made his Odyssey,
Telemachus married Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous of Phaecia, who had helped his father.A very full account of the further adventures of Pyrrhus, and of
Orestes, and a recounting of the death of Ulysses at the hands of Telegonus.
These purported eye-witness accounts of Dares and Dictys came to be preferred to the now apparent deceptions of Homer – here was the Real McCoy – no gods, more common sense,a degeneration of a wise to a wily Ulysses, Achilles driven to distraction and destruction by his excessive love of Polyxena.They came to be accepted as history until as late as the C18th. To quote Joseph of Exeter : Should
I admire old Homer, Latin Virgil,or The bard of Troy (unknown to tale), whose present eye (Dares) A A surer witness of the truth, disclosed the war.
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Joseph of Exeter : the author of Daretis Phrygii Ilias (or De Bello Troyano), which is essentially an embroidered translation of Dares Phrygius, published in the
1180s AD, about the same timeas Benoit de Sainte Maure’s Roman de Troie. The tales had been in circulation attributed to Dares , incorrectly claimed to have been discovered and brought to notice by Cornelius Nepos. The style of Joseph is largely that of Statius and he embellished his story with many classical references
(Virgil, Ovid and Statius were known in his time).He introduced many new elements, including a description of the prominent members of the cast and the introduction of new, not elsewhere mentioned,characters, usually as targets for an outstanding hero. Joseph extols Troilus as a valiant warrior, filling the shoes of the dead Hector, until he is cut down by Achilles. It is Calchas who opens the gates of Troy. He has few good words to find for Helen, quite the opposite, a liver itch provoking her lust, swamping all the rest. He completes the Nostoi : All of
Europe thronged in crowds to see the Plisthian bride (Helen) ; the yearn to contemplate the face that overthrew all Asia and took pride that she set lords on fire and tore the world in war, and won an ugly fame for beauty with but shame.
If Joseph of Exeter maintained a classical style, although all the chariots of Homer were long gone, and Dares and Dictys had anachronistically placed the heroes, mounted on horses, being trapped in whose harness might well yield a prognosis of death. A new genre was about to, or may already have, burst upon the scene,

where heroes wore medieval armour and jousted against each other – Chivalry entered the Troy tale with Benoit de Sainte-Maure (about 1160), who dedicated his Roman de Troie to Eleanor of Acquitaine. Courtly love is in the air. When knights have reeled and rolled in clanging lists and when the tide of combat stood, perfume and flowers lightly fell from ladies’ hands.(the writer is indebted to Lord Tennyson)
Ant yet, the love stories he elaborates are sadly unfortunate, such as those of Sir
Jason and Medea (this lady had been largely ignored in earlier works) or Achilles and Polyxena, but most of all that of his own invention between Troilus and
Briseida, the daughter of Bishop Calchas. (This poor lady had been waiting in the wings down the centuries to become one of Benoit’s star attractions). Benoit’s background is medieval, romantic and grandly fantastic, but his battle scenes could be bloody enough. It is clearly not history, to be accepted with the same sense of verity of other works, but it enjoyed enormous popularity until something more like a true history came along.
Out with the lovey-dovey - Guido delle Colonne was made of sterner stuff and he condensed his Historia Destructionis Troiae (1287) to a third of the size of
Benoit’s romance. Courtly love was banished by this misogynist (in the manner of
Joseph of Exeter and to be adopted by Lydgate) and moralist, stressing the importance of the Virtues, and casting back to that early criterion employed in
Medieval literature, the Wheel of Fortune. His work is seen as an abridged Latin translation of Benoit, whose existence he ignored, claiming direct descent from
Dares, but seems not to realize how much he used Dictys. His book is central to the late Middle Ages and deserves closer analysis.
Guido traces the Argonautic expedition, including Jason’s experience, with the help of Medea in Colchis, the war of Hercules against Laomedon and the capture of Hesione, Priam’s reconstruction of Troy, the embassy ofAntenor seeking to recover Hesione,Priam’s decision to send Paris to Greece, Paris’ dream of the
Judgment. Paris is accompanied by Deiphobus, Aeneas, Antenor and Polydamas and, at the temple of Venus on Cythera, he sees and carried off Helen, who shows no resistance. Guido records the pursuit of Castor and Pollux and their loss.He proceeded to a description of the main characters and gives us a
Catalogue of the Ships, not too far from that of Homer. Now he has to observe that his count, not including the contribution of Palamedes is 1222 where Homer had only 1186, but perhaps from weakness he could not describe the whole number – even Homer sometimes nods !!
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Achilles and Patroclus visit the oracle on the Island of Delphos where they encounter the Trojan seer Calchas who decided to join the Greeks. Guido then gave a Medieval summary of idolatry, unable to find a lay synthesis of paganism and Christianity.We have then the assembly of the Greek fleet at Athens; the warning of Calchas; delay at Aulis; sacrifice of Agamemnon (no mention of
Iphigenia); the Greeks take Tenedos; embassy of Ulysses and Diomedes to Priam
– war determined; Achilles and Telephus take Messa- a digression by Guido – this might be in Sicily; Guido lists the supporters of Troy (even more remote from
Homer); the Greeks proceed to Troy.
Battle commences as the Greeks land; Protesilaus first of all provided a vanguard, establishing a beachhead, killing many Trojans before Hector put an end to his triumph; Guido used a formula as each Greek contingent or new defending force entered the combat zone “surely the Greeks or Trojans would be slaughtered had not a new party entered the scene. A perimeter was established, protecting the ships. Next day both Hector and Agamemnon marshalled their armies into battalions and battle recommenced. Hector killed Patroclus, whose body was rescued by Merion. Detailed accounts of various engagements followed which are confusing as similar names appeared in both armies. In the third battle Hector

slew Prothenor of Boeotia. In the fourth battle Menelaus attacked Paris, who was rescued by Aeneas and Hector, the latter capturing Thoas of Tholia (Aetolia). In the fifth battle Epistrophus ( elsewhere a Trojan ally and leader of the Halizones) first encountered Hector, but later issues from the city to fight for Troy, bring with him a centaur, whose arrows harassed the Greeks until Diomedes, with little effort, killed the beast. That day the Greeks captured Antenor.
Next day a truce was announced, in which was approved an exchange of Antenor for Thoas, and Calchas requested that his daughter Briseida be allowed to rejoin him, a wish to which Priam acceded, the news devastating Troilus, one of Priam’s ablest sons, who had fallen totally in love with the girl and she him. Guido exposed his misogamy as he pitied the love of the young Troilus to be so enraptured by wily woman. The Greeks welcomed Briseida to their camp, particularly Diomedes who loved her at first sight. By the end of the first day she began to feel more affinity with the Greeks and already Troilus was receding from her mind – frailty, thy name is woman. When war recommenced, Achilles and
Hector slaughtered many prominent opponents (including Merion at the hand of
Hector).In the course of the combat, Diomedes unhorsed Troilus and sent his mount to Briseida, who received the gift with pleasure.
After a six month’s truce, war again resumed with the eighth battle in which
Achilles killed Margariton, a popular son of Priam, whereupon Hector, who had been held back by the entreaties of Andromache, took the field, to be slain through an apparent Treachery by Achilles, whom Memnon sorely wounded. At this time Palamedes ,prone to amplify his own virtues, persuaded the Greek host to accept him as their leader, displacing Agamemnon, and leading the army into the ninth battle, during which Neoptolemus appeared. The Greeks killed the King of Persia. A truce followed, during which Achilles caught sight of Polyxena at the tomb of Hector and was immediately smitten and contacted Hecuba and Priam, seeking her hand. He sought to persuade the Greeks to abandon the siege, but was opposed (notably by Menestheus and Thoas) whereupon he withdrew his troops from further action.
The tenth battle might be called that of Palamedes, who displayed his vigour, killing Deiphobus and Sarpedon, but was silenced by a poisoned arrow from the bow of Paris. Paris and Troilus now led the Trojans to attempt to destroy the fleet by fire. An embassy to Achilles failed to persuade him to rejoin the battle, so that the next day was that of Troilus, who seriously wounded Diomedes, a condition that made the Greek even more attractive to Briseida. Achilles allowed his
Myrmidons to engage but they were so brutally treated by Troilus that Achilles took the field, to be wounded, yet to return the following day to despatch Troilus, and then Memnon after several days of fighting. Guido remarked : Notice, miserable Homer, that Achilles never killed any valiant man except by treachery.
As was usually the case, a truce followed the death of these distinguished princes.
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Hecuba sought to avenge her sons and, having sent a favourable message concerning Polyxena, invited Achilles to the temple of Apollo, where he was, along with his companion Antilochus, assassinated by Paris and his associates. Ajax then suggested that Neoptolemus be brought to Troy by Menelaus. When battle recommenced, Ajax worked wonders until he was mortally wounded by Paris, in which state he slew his killer. Penthesilea brought her army of Amazons to assist
Troy and wreaked havoc until, after a ferocious encounter, she met her death at the hand of Pyrrhus (Neoptolemus), who mutilated her body which ultimately thrown into a pond.
At this time, Anchises, Aeneas, Antenor and Polydamas felt the necessity to betray the city to the Greeks and, given the permission of the Elders to negotiate peace, contacted the Greeks, and brought Diomedes and Ulysses back to Troy

with them. Antenor stole the Palladium, bribing its guardian, and delivered the statue to Ulysses. To placate Minerva, Chyrses suggested the making of a bronze horse, capable of carrying 1000 troops, as a dedication to her temple, a gift approved by Priam and his men as a peace was solemnly sworn. The Greeks concealed their man, Sinon,with the keys to the city, inside the horse which was taken into the city. The Greek fleet then sailed away to Tenedos, but was to return to Troy when Sinon lighted a beacon to advise that Troy was quiet – in rushed the Greeks through the broken wall by the gate and fired the city. Priam went to the temple of Apollo where Neoptolemus slew him at the altar.Ajax
Telamonius (Guido’s work is full of transmutations and confusion of the characters) took Andromache and Cassandra from the temple of Minerva.
Menelaus found an expectant Helen. Aeneas had sheltered Polyxena, which came to regarded as an offence, prompting a rebuke, Pyrrhus, holding Polyxena responsible for the death of his father, sacrificed her at the tomb of Achilles. Ajax had sought the death of Helen but the oratory of Ulysses and Agamemnon saved her. Hecuba had been driven mad by the slaughter of Polyxena and raved until she was stoned to death
Ajax made a complaint against Ulysses and claimed the Palladium, but was outmanoeuvred by Agamemnon,Menelaus and Ulysses, whom he swore to kill.
His dead body was found in his bed next morning, which upset Pyrrhus now anxious to avenge Ajax, so that Ulysses departed from Troy, leaving the
Palladium with Diomedes. Aeneas raised Trojan antipathy towards Antenor who was banished to Corcyra Melaena. Agamemnon and Menelaus were allowed to sail for home, but the main fleet was devastated by storm and Ajax Oileus drowned.
It was simply through malice and false understanding that Nauplius and his son
Oectus accepted rumours of an assassination plot against Palamedes, planned the wreck of the Greek fleet and circulated the fables of the infidelities of the princes, and persuaded the wives to take lovers and power. Agamemnon and Cassandra were both to be murdered by Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, both of whom were in due course to be slaughtered by Orestes, who had been sheltered by Idomeneus in Crete. Diomedes incurred a similar distrust from his wife, Egea, and was banished, but, after a series of adventures including helping Aeneas at
Troy to repel a foreign invasion, returned happily to his own dominions. Aeneas was to set off from Troy with volunteers and finally settled in Italy. (Guido refers us to the Aeneid of Virgil).
Orestes was to lead an army against Mycenae, taking it and summarily dealing with his father’s murderers.Menelaus returned and was furious with Orestes but they were reconciled, Orestes made king of Mycenae and marrying Hermione, daughter of Menelaus and Helen. Guido followed with a short Odyssey, his hero having many adventures, including a short stay on the Island of Circe and
Calypso, finally reaching Idomeneus in Crete, who referred him to Antenor,who helped Ulysses and his son Telemachus overcome the suitors of the faithful
Penelope. Telemachus would marry Nausicaa, daughter of Antenor. The further adventures of Pyrrhus are quite complicated, Guido confusing Peleus with Pelias and introducing a conflict with the sons of Acastus, a usurper, but a son of Thetis, who reconciled the parties. Pyrrhus abducted Hermione, the wife of Orestes, who ultimately killed him. The descendants of Pyrrhus were to rule Molossia and
Thessaly.
Guido concludes with a Telegony, a summary of differences between Dares and
Dictys and composed epitaphs to Hector and Achilles.
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Guido delle Colonne’s Historia Destructionis Troae was taken to be the most authorative history of the Trojan War and was translated into many tongues,which generally retell Guido : The Gest Historiale of the Destruction of
Troy (C13 or C14th) follows Guido,mentions the story of Briseis and Troilus; the

warnings of Elenus and Cassandra. Laud Troy Book (c.1400) was almost a copy of the Gest Historiale. Seige or Batayle of Troye (mid C14th) questions whether or not Achilles married Polyxena and under what circumstances she could have informed Hecuba of the vulnerable heel of Achilles – a Romance. Raoul Lefevre’s
Recueil des Hystoires de Troyenne ( c. 1464), translated by William Caxton as the
Recuyeil of the Histories of Troye (1475). John Lydgate’s The Hystorye, Sege and
Dystruccion of Troy (1513), an epic in five books, 30117 lines .....,principally a translation of Guido, but adding material from a wide variety of current Medieval sources and maintaining a contempt for the Classical authors ( the tracys polwe of omeris stile); he emphasizes medieval concepts, such as the value of Prudence and takes up the Boethian centrality of Fortune, offering an aureate style, invoking Clyo and hir sustren that on Pernaso dwelle. He paid due honour to his patron, Henry V, and to his admired predecessor, Chaucer, appropriately as most of his works post-dated that C14th literary flourish, which reached its zenith with
Lydgate’s hero.This had entailed the movement, virtually throughout Europe, of an appreciation of works produced in the vernacular languages. The three great innovators were Dante (famous for his Divine Comedy), Petrarch (who perfected the sonnet), and Boccaccio, infamous for his Decameron, but of much wider interest, all in a sense pertinent to the future, bridging Classical to Romantic, and beyond.
Boccaccio’s Latin works make the point : the Genealogia Deorium Gentilium (On the Genealogy of the Gods of the Gentiles) which has been described as
“humanist in spirit and medieval in structure”; De Casibus Virorum Illustrium (On the Fates of Famous Men) - moral biographies of historical characters (with a smattering of myth); De Mulierirus Claris (On Famous Women) – the firstbook to be concerned solely with women (106 of them) again a mosaic of the historical and the mythical – all works that would influence Chaucer and Lydgate. His poetry varied from the Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta( a tragic love affair); through Amorosa Visione,echoing Dante with Fiammetta chosen as his Beatrice; to Il Corbaccio (the Crow), a misogynistic treatise.
More pertinent to the era of Troy are two romances : the Teseida, the story of
Palamone and Arcita and their rivalry for the love of Emilia at the court of Tesco
(Theseus) – the main source for Chaucer’s The Kinght’s Tale and Two Noble
Kinsmen ; Even more central was the Il Filostrato (Laid Prostrate by Love), which relates the love of Troilo for Criseida, daughter of Calchas, based upon Guido delle Colonne’s account. Troilo sights and falls in love with Criseida, who remains distant until her cousin and friend of Troilo, Pandoro (Pandarus) pleads his cause, but the success is interrupted when Criseida is exchanged for Antenor, to be returned to her father, a Trojan who had espoused the Greek cause. The lovers agreed to meet in a short time. Diomede, who had watched over the exchange, fell in love with Criseida and seduced her. She continued to write letters of undying love to Troilo, but Deifobo (Deiphobus) his brother produced evidence of her infidelity. Troilo furiously attacks the Greeks seeking Diomede with whom he fights many times, with no outcome, until Troilus is killed by Achilles.
Boccaccio is central to the literature of the C14th, as his works were taken up and virtually established as a canon, a base upon which it was an achievement to improve. The successful attempt so to do is the Troilus and Criseyde of Geoffrey
Chaucer, less of a misogynist than Boccaccio, Guido, Joseph of Exeter, or, indeed,
Lydgate. The basic story remains, but is much extended in size and adorned with rich verse :”.. Criseyde that fairer was to sene/ than ever was Eleyne or Polikene
“
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His approach gave colour and sympathy to the characters he presented : a lovesick Troilus who might have been a born loser; the interference, greatly developed within the romance, of Pandarus, clearly a reader of Ovid; the

insecurity of Criseyde, relieved by her attachment to Troilus, but renewed when she is exchanged for Antenor, until she sees the worth of Diomede. It is Fortune, a concept derived from Boethius, that governs Criseyde’s fate, possible filtered through Dante, to whose eighth sphere Troilus was, after death, consigned. There is also a nod to Petrarch.. The character of Pandarus, introduced into the original story by Boccaccio, becomes the uncle, rather than the brother, of Criseyde, whom he, in essence, bullies into a relationship with Troilus, and is painted as sinister and deceptive, the ultimate greatest villain, the perfected pimp, whose abandonment and denigration of Criseyde after she takes Diomede as her lover, finally defines him. It may be pertinent that Chaucer began this romance invoking not a Muse, but the Fury, Tisiphone.
Sometime taken as a final book to Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, the Testament of Cresseid by Robert Henryson (1424-1506) does complete the story. Cresseid, soon abandoned by Diomede, prayed to Venus and Cupid and dreamed of a trail by a procession of Gods and the delivery of a judgment by Saturn that she be stricken by disease and to finish her days as a leper. Her wish is to pass with cop and clapper to the spittaill hous where she bemoans her fate. One day Troilus passed that way and the lepers begged for alms. Troilus felt that he had seen one of the faces before and is reminded of the fair Cresseid. He threw her a heavy purse and passed along. Later she discovered that her benefactor was Troilus and, penitent, proceed to make her testament (will) and then faded away. A leper took her ring to Troilus, who felt again bereft and was to raise a marble tomb for her, on which was inscribed : Lo,fair ladyis, Cresseid of Troy is toun / somtyme countit the flour of womanheid / under this stane, late lippeer, lyis deid.
But not so this tale – C16th dramatists were to adapt the tragic love story, but our most familiar contact was to be William Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, with an extended Dramatis Personae and a theme where comedy underlies, palliates, the tragedy, and philosophical generalities stand counter-poised with the specifics of reality, all exposed to the insolence of the provoking genii of the play, whose hero seems an innocent lost in a world of intrigue and deceit, undermining the emergence of some perfect form. Shakespeare’s Greeks are a confused group, often scheming and unmasked in a sense by the railings of
Thersites. Cressida is the universal woman, always suspect of infidelity. Pandarus fulfils his role but is not so central to the overall situation, which is rather more governed by the background of the war.
The Restoration poet, John Dryden, rewrote the tale, rehabilitating Cressida, who remained, for him, loyal to Troilus. Both Shakespeare and Dryden took the medieval material forward into their own age, but the acceptance of the basic story as the truly historical version was to last much longer. Literature may have taken a new direction with the popularity of the peninsular romances and the
Italian poets, yet, within these innovations, the arms of Hector could well be the supreme prize to achieve. This in spite of the proliferation of Greek texts in the
West, following the fall of Constantinople, available for translation into the vernacular. Homer had been rediscovered - Boccaccio and Petrarch became aware of a copy in 1354 and the C15th saw translations into Latin, while in the
C16th ,translations into the vernacular were made, but, inter alia, an extensive use of allegory became fashionable, condemning works like that of Homer to remain unappreciated and indeed he could be compared disparagingly to Virgil. It was not until the C18th that proper studies of Homer would emerge, since when
Homeric dictionaries, concordances and the like appeared and the sun shone once more on this great poet of yore.
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Two beacons had penetrated this gloom, if not always plaudited in their time.
George Chapman from 1598 to 1611 composed the first English translation of the
Iliad, the work immortalised by John Keats, a devotee. Chapman sought the

“soul” of the poetry and that coloured his imagery – he separated heroes from gods by employing Greek and Latin names respectively. Paying a tribute with the opening lines of the Argument to Book I : Apollo’s priest to th’ Argive fleet doth bring / gifts for his daughter prisoner to the king; / for which her tendered freedom he entreats. Compare with : Achilles’ wrath, to Greece the direful spring
/ of woes unnumber’d, heavenly goddess sing - the opening lines of Alexander
Pope’s (1688-1764) translation of the Iliad in heroic couplets, the closing lines drawing the curtain on these sad events : Such honours Ilion on hero paid / and peaceful slept the mighty Hector’s shade. They are both English Iliads – their authors both also translated the Odyssey. Many more translations followed, doubtless more faithful to the Greek text, and it would be invidious to attempt to compare them, but modern products tend to expand with notes, summaries, analyses (antiquating the concordances, etc) so that the students of today can come more quickly to an understanding of the material with which they are confronted.
So there is the Tale of Troy, but not quite the end. The legends have inspired writers down the ages and continue so to do, perhaps not always with the power of Marlowe and Goethe, because, like Helen, they are immortal and survive in all the modern media, including film, which provides magnificent spectacle, if anachronistically, but can, like the stained glass in medieval cathedrals, speak to the less Homeric literate. The new planet which now swims into the ken of the observer, sadly lacks that divine element that would echo “Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss” - that Helen forever associated with the Tale of Troy.
[ NOTE : The writer feels that he may have felt that the Iliad was widely known.
To acquire more detail, the following sites are recommended : http://en.wikipedia.org.wiki.Catalogue-of-Ships and www.maicar.com/GML . ]