The Trojan War is perhaps one of the most important events that took place in Greek
mythology. It is still today, one of the most well known myths surviving from Greek
literature. This presentation will attempt to explain why the myth of the Trojan War
exists by applying theories of analysis to it.
Slide 1
In order to understand why the myth came in to existence, it is important to first
understand the events that occurred during the Trojan War. The story of Troy varies,
but here, I will describe a general outline, which is also found on the handout.
The War started with the judgement of Paris. Paris, having chosen Aphrodite as the
most beautiful goddess, was promised the love of Helen, a famous beauty. Paris
travelled to Sparta as part of a Trojan envoy, but ran off with Helen. Menelaus,
Helen’s husband, gathered together all the Greek allies to reclaim her.
Agamemnon, however, angered Artemis, and was forced to sacrifice his daughter to
allow the Greeks to set sail for Troy. On landing at Troy, the Greeks won the first
battle on the beach and start to besiege Troy. An envoy was sent asking for Helen’s
return but this was refused.
Following the sack of other Trojan cities in the area, Agamemnon and Achilles
quarrelled over the spoils. When Apollo demanded the return of Chryseis from
Agamemnon, he took Achilles’ prize Briseis from him. Achilles then withdrew his
forces from the war.
With the loss of Achilles, the Trojans gained the upper hand and set fire to the Greek
ships on the beach. The Greeks appealed to Achilles for his assistance and he allowed
Patroclus, his companion to fight, wearing his armour.
Slide 2
However, Patroclus was killed by Hector, who mistook him for Achilles. Achilles
killed Hector and in a fit of revenge dragged his body to his camp. Priam entreated
Achilles for the return of his son’s body and eventually Achilles’ anger subsided.
Achilles was eventually killed in battle by Paris, who had Apollo guiding the arrow
from his bow.
The Greeks derived the idea of the wooden horse. They built a giant horse, encased
some men inside and left it as a gift for the Trojans. Then they pretended to depart, so
that the Trojans would wheel the horse into their walls. At nightfall, the Greeks
climbed out of the horse and opened the gates to allow the Greek forces in. Troy was
sacked and the Trojan War ended.
Slide 3
When looking at the roots of myth, the root of language has to be first taken into
consideration. Most languages seem to have descended from the Indo-European
language. If you look at the diagram on your handout, you can see how the language
has split into different families. It is interesting to theorise, that if language works in
the way you see before you, then myth may do the same. So, is Greek myth
descended from Indo-European myth? There is some evidence for this.
We see in Sanskrit tradition, that horsemen twins must rescue the sun’s daughter, who
they have jointly married. In Latvian songs, a similar theme emerges in which two or
more horsemen have married the daughter of the sun. In Greek myth we have
corresponding stories. The sons of Zeus: the twins Kastor and Polydeukes (pol-eedew-seez) rescue their sister Helen from Theseus. Puhvel argues that the name Helen
can be related to the word helios meaning sun and therefore this myth is even more
closely related. Another similar Greek myth that exists comes directly from the
Trojan War – brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus set out to retrieve Helen,
Menelaus’ wife after she is abducted.
Slide 4
The Mahabharata is a huge Sanskrit epic poem from ancient India. It is an important
religious text in India and Nepal, and is one of the key texts in Hinduism.
Interestingly, there are many comparisons that can be made between this text and the
Iliad, which describes some of the events of the Trojan War.
Arjuna, one of the main heroes of this epic, can be compared with the Greek hero
Achilles. Arjuna, in his exile, is cursed by a nymph to be impotent for a year, and so
he becomes a eunuch dance master in order to disguise himself. Achilles, similarly
spends a year dressed as a woman on the island of Skyros in order to avoid going to
war.
Both Arjuna and Achilles also express reluctance to join in war, and both have to be
convinced. Arjuna is convinced by his close friend, Lord Krishna, and Achilles by
Odysseus.
Another similarity is that they both kill an enemy in a fit of revenge for killing a
younger companion. Achilles kills Hector when Hector mistakenly slaughters
Patroclus on the battlefield, thinking it was Achilles himself. And Arjuna, kills
Karna, his unknown brother, when Karna is involved in the murder of his son on the
battlefield.
Bhima, a brother of Arjuna, and the Greek Ajax also show similar characteristics.
Both are described as being of great stature and strength. The same can be said of
Bhisma and Nestor, who both represent wise old men, who put duty first.
Another comparison that can be made is that between the twins Sahadeva and Nakula
in the Mahabhrata and the Greek twins Polydeukes and Kastor. Nakula and Kastor
are both horse tamers and Sahadeva and Polydeukes are both better at handling cattle.
(see quote on handout)
Slide 5
Dumezil, a French comparative philologist, created the idea of the Trifunctional
Hypothesis. This stated that Indo-European religion had societies and religions
divided into three similar roles: warriors, priests and farmers.
However, although Dumezil’s theory does not typically fit Greek mythology, he does
provide one instance in which it does. The Judgement of Paris provides us with an
example of trifunctionality. Dumezil argues that each of the three goddesses Paris was
to choose from represented a different element of the Trifunctional Hypothesis or
represented the gifts promised to him. As you can see from the table, on the
PowerPoint and on your handout, Hera represented sovereignty, Athena war and
Aphrodite productivity.
Dumezil argues that this tripartition of the Greek goddesses shows that there was an
inheritance of religious thought from the Indo-Europeans.
Slide 6
Jung believed in a collective unconscious, that is a collection of the experiences of the
whole human species. A so called “psychic inheritance”. The collective unconscious
contains archetypes – forms which are inherent in all cultures.
Jung believed that myths are derived from images and experiences that took place
before humans achieved consciousness. These pre-conscious images manifest into
myths and fairy tales, which echo across different cultures around the world.
Archetypes are in Jung’s psychology the representation of an innate idea in all people,
that is the ability to act in a certain manner without having learnt it but rather it to be a
natural subconscious action.
The Trojan War contains many different examples of archetypes and this table
highlights a few of them:
The Hero is often depicted in literature as being moral, ambitious and highly
respected. However, he often has serious flaws. Within the story of the Trojan War
Achilles represents one of the hero figures. He is well loved by the Greek forces and
his own men and wants to cover his name in glory. However he lets his anger get the
better of him and damage his chances of this.
The Maiden archetype is naïve and innocent and needs to be rescued. Helen, in some
versions of the Trojan myth, represents this archetype. However, she also represents
the Temptress – the woman who destroys a man.
The Trickster is depicted as a being that often disobeys rules and defies normal
behaviour. It is often cunning and performs tricks and pranks. In the context of the
Trojan War, it is Odysseus who fulfils this archetype, since Odysseus displays
cunning at various points, including coming up with the idea of the Trojan horse.
The Scapegoat takes the form of a human whose ceremonial death compensates for a
sin committed by a community. In this case it is Iphigeneia who becomes the
scapegoat, for the offence the Greeks have caused to the gods.
The Wise Old Man offers guidance and acts as a mentor for the younger men around
him. He is represented as wise and knowledgeable and a calming influence on the
young. In the Iliad, it is Nestor who takes on this role, trying to reconcile the Greek
forces and offering valuable advice about the battles he can no longer take part in.
The Warrior acts for his King, and represents both violence and fighting, but also
protection of his people and upholding what is good and right. Hector, seems to fulfil
this role in the myth of the Trojan War.
Slide 7
Ritual and myth are closely intertwined, since myth was often created to explain the
existence of rituals. Van Gennep attempts in his work to explain how rituals and acts
can symbolise the transition from one social status to another. His theory consisted of
a threefold sequence which describes the rite of passage within all cultures. This was
separation, transition and reintegration. When someone enters in to this initiation rite
they are separated from familiar surroundings and the old them, and enter a new stage
in which they are between categories. This is a liminal stage. When the rite is
fulfilled by a ritual or action the person then reintegrates with a new status.
In reference to the Trojan War, these rites of passage seemed to be signified by certain
similar key events.
Slide 8
According to Bremmer, dressing as a woman seems to be generally accepted by most
scholars as being typical for the transition from boyhood to adulthood. We see
evidence for this in the Trojan War with Achilles’ disguise while on the island of
Skyros.
Another rite of passage that occurs in youth, seems to be a change of name. Two of
the heroes of the Trojan War show evidence of this. Achilles was previously called
Ligyron but Cheiron gave him the name Achilles. And Paris was called Alexandros
in his youth.
A recurring theme of initiation within Greek myth seems to be the idea that a bad
smell is linked someone in the liminal stage. A bad smell implies that someone is a
non-man, and no smell implies that someone is postliminal, since a nice smell was
reserved only for the gods. A good example of this is Philoctetes, who was left on the
island of Lemnos, because a wound in his foot from the bite of a snake smelt awful.
He was rescued in his tenth year, when the Greeks realised they could not win the war
without him.
Another interesting rite of passage refers to the marking or wounding of the leg.
Bremmer argues that many Greek myths contain stories of the heroes marking or
wounding their legs, particularly above the thigh. Philoctetes suffers a wound on his
foot and Odysseus had a scar above his knee. She argues that Apollo was closely
linked to this marking, as a god closely associated with initiation and that the roots of
this practice were Indo-European, as you can see from the quote on the handout.
Slide 9
In conclusion, the myth of the Trojan War does seem to relate fairly well to different
explanations of myth.
As the diagram on your handout shows, languages from across the world can be
traced to the Indo-European language. It can be quite feasibly argued that the same
has happened with myth. The story of the Trojan War may have originally been an
Indo-European myth which has been adapted and changed until the Greek myth we
have today was created. A further support to this argument is the similarities between
the Mahabharata epic and the Trojan War epics. It could be suggested that both have
their roots in the same earlier myth.
Jung’s theory that myths are the product of our collective unconscious can be applied
to the Trojan War to a certain extent. However the fact that archetypes are present in
the myth does not prove that this is why the myth exists. Some might argue that
similar characters or ideas or characters exist due to the evolution of myth rather than
them being an archetype. Jung claims that we created myths to explain what we
experienced before we were conscious. However, this idea has proved controversial,
like many aspects of psychoanalysis and some scholars dispute Jung’s theory. The
question remains: do we really believe myths were created in this way?
The frequency of ritual occurring in the Greek myths can also be used to explain the
existence of myths. It can be said that myth and ritual go hand in hand since many
rituals are explained through their myth. Bremmer offers many examples of the use
of rituals of initiation in the Trojan War, arguing that they show the transition from
boyhood to manhood. Since the war in itself could be argued to be an inititation to
manhood for the warriors in the Greek forces, this is an interesting idea as to why
myths in the story of the Trojan War exist.