The Iliad – Introduction to the Characters and How the Trojan War Begun
There are many characters to remember in the Iliad and to introduce the story I give background
information using the students. I make hanging cards of the following characters names and
some background information:
Peleus, King of Pythia
Thetis, A sea goddess
Achilles, great warrior
Athena, Goddess of wisdom
Hera, Goddess of marriage
Aphrodite, Goddess of love
Eris, Goddess of strife
Zeus, God of sky and thunderbolts
Paris, Prince of Troy
All are attending the wedding of Peleus and Thetis
Promises to Paris: Asia + great wealth
Victorious in all battles, the most handsome and wise man in the world
Helen - the most beautiful woman in the world – also married to Agamemnon
(Aphrodite also promised to make sure that Helen fell in love with Paris)
Helen – the most beautiful woman in the world
Agamemnon, High king of Greece
Menelaus, King of Sparta (Agamemnon’s brother)
Not at the wedding (separate characters)
Next, I ask for volunteers and place the cards around their necks, introducing the class to the
characters (Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite each receive a promise card – read below to find out
which card they received). I then explain to my volunteers that they are to act out the story.
First, I explain that they are at the wedding of Peleus, and Thetis, who eventually bears a son,
Achilles. Everyone is happy and feasting.
Next, the three goddesses, Athena, Hera and Aphrodite were talking amongst themselves when
Eris tosses a golden apple at their feet (I make a mock up of the apple with the inscription titled
“To the Fairest” and give to Eris beforehand). Now, remember that Eris is the goddess of strife,
and she was angry because she had not been invited to the wedding. Peleus picks up the apple
and reads out to the class, “To the Fairest”, but the three goddesses are confused because they are
not sure of which goddess the apple was intended for.
Zeus was then asked to award the apple to one of the goddess whom he thought was the “fairest”,
however, he said no and gave the task to Paris. (Give apple to Paris).
Now, there is a competition of sorts. Of course, all three goddesses are known to be the most
beautiful and each one wanted that apple. So each goddess decided to disrobe (you can omit this
part if you think your students will feel uncomfortable) so that Paris could see who was the
“fairest” of them all. As Paris walked to each goddess, each goddess decided to promise him
something if she was awarded the apple. So Paris goes to Hera and she promises him all of Asia
and great wealth if he chose her. Paris thought about it, but made his way to Athena. Athena
promised to make Paris victorious in all of his battles AND make him the most handsome AND
wisest man in the entire world. Hmmm…. sounds good, thought Paris, but he wanted to see what
Aphrodite had to say. So he goes to Aphrodite and she promises Helen, the most beautiful mortal
woman in the world. However, she is the wife of Menelaus and of course, she does not know
about this little scheme. Anyway, Aphrodite promises Helen to not only become his bride BUT
she promises Paris that Helen will fall in love with him. Paris liked this idea and awarded the
apple to Aphrodite (give apple to Aphrodite). So, you must be thinking about the two other
goddesses, Athena and Hera, right? Well, let’s just say that they were not happy and decided to
get revenge, thus plotting to destroy Troy.
Later on down the line, Paris was invited to visit Menelaus at his home in Greece, which he went,
but remember Aphrodite’s promise? Well, lo and behold while Paris was visiting his friend,
Helen and Paris fell in love and they left for Troy together. Of course, Helen’s husband,
Menelaus, was a tad upset to say the least, and his brother Agamemnon was unhappy that his
brother was unhappy, so they decided to gather their armies and go to Troy to regain Helen and
Menelaus’ honor.
Thus, the beginning of the Trojan war.