Introduction to Mythology and
Homer

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Myth -a person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence
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Mythology -a branch of knowledge that deals with myths (The study of myths)
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Epic -a long heroic narrative poem

Little is known about the author of The Iliad and The
Odyssey. He is simply referred to as Homer.
Historians believe that he was blind as he was believed to have told these stories to others who documented them .

The Romans, who eventually conquered Greece, admired the culture and copied certain aspects of it. One of these aspects was its mythology. For the sake of pride, they changed the names of some gods and goddesses. Some of the gods and goddesses’ personalities also changed. For example: Ares was a cowardly god in Greek mythology because the Greeks preferred peace to war, but in Roman mythology, Mars, his counterpart, was a brave and noble character because the Romans did like wars.

Make a Chart
Ten Blocks Long and Three Blocks Across
Greek
God/Goddess
God/Goddess of: Roman Name:

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Zeus the leader of all the gods because he is the god of the sky, thunder, and lightning. His Roman name is
Jupiter.
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Hera the jealous and powerful wife of Zeus. She is the goddess of marriage and childbirth. Her Roman name is
Juno.
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Aphrodite the goddess of love and beauty. Her name means foam born, even though some say that she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. Her Roman name is Venus.
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Athena the goddess of wisdom. She was also Zeus' favorite child. Her Roman name is Minerva
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Apollo: the god of music (he directed the choir of the
Muses) and archery (but not for war or hunting), poetry, dance, and flocks. He was also a god of light, His
Roman name is Phoebus

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Poseidon is Zeus’s older brother, the god of the sea, and constantly wants more territory.
His Roman name is Neptune.
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Hermes - the son of Maia and Zeus, he became the god of thieves, herdsman, messages and travelers. His Roman name is
Mercury.
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Hades Hades is the god of the underworld and riches. He is also the unluckiest of all the gods.
His Roman name is Pluto.

• Eris, the goddess of strife, was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and
Thetis. She went anyway, and threw a golden apple into the middle of the wedding. Inscribed on the apple was a message. It read "To the Fairest."
Immediately, the apple was claimed by Hera, Athena and Aphrodite.
They all asked Zeus to decide who should receive the apple. Zeus knew how much trouble he would be in if he chose one, because the other two would have grave revenge. So Zeus descended to Mount Ida where
Prince Paris was farming and asked him to be the judge. Zeus told
Paris this was a privilege due him for his faithfulness to the gods.

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The queen of the
Olympian deities.
She is a daughter of
Cronus and Rhea, and wife and sister of Zeus. Hera was mainly worshipped as a goddess of marriage and birth.

Athena: the Greek goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, industry, justice and skill
She was the favorite child of Zeus. She had sprung fully grown out of her father's head. Her mother was Metis,
Zeus' first wife. In fear that Metis would bear a son mightier than himself, Zeus swallowed her. Inside of Zeus, she began to make a robe and a helmet for her daughter. The hammering of the helmet caused Zeus great pain in the form of headaches and he cried out in agony. Skilled Hephaestus, god of blacksmiths/fire, ran to his father and split his skull open. From it emerged
Athena, fully grown and wearing her robe and helmet her mother had made for her.

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In Greek mythology,
Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty
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She emerged from within a shell in the sea.
• “Foam-arisen"
Aphrodite was born of the sea foam

Paris, being a mere mortal, could not decide which goddess should have the golden apple; however, each of the three goddesses decided to make it easier for him. They would each offer him gifts, and he would get the gifts from the goddess he chose.
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Hera - offered to give him all of Asia and great power. He thought this offer was great, but he decided to hear the other offers first before deciding .
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Athenaoffered him great wisdom and great luck in battle. He would be the best strategist in the world. He loved this idea, but he waited to hear Aphrodite's offer.
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Aphrodite-offered him two things. The first was his body (well built and handsome) and the second was the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, even though she was married.

Paris arranged an entire fleet of ships to escort him to get Helen. Unfortunately for Paris, Helen was married to King
Menelaus of Sparta (located in Greece).
While Menelaus was away on a hunting expedition, Paris stole the spellbound
Helen from him along with much treasure.

Helen: Flesh and blood but most definitely immortal, since her father was none other than
Zeus. Her mother was the beautiful Leda, queen of
Sparta, who was ravished by the father of the gods in the form of a swan. Being the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen had many men that wanted to marry her. The suitors (men that want to marry a woman) made a pact that if Helen was to run away or be taken away, they would join forces and return her to her husband. So when
Paris stole Helen from Menelaus, all of Greece declared war on the city of Troy, Paris’s home.

THE GREEKS/ Achaeans
• Menelaus-Married to Helen and the brother of
Agamemnon. He is also the King of Sparta.
• Agamemnon-the leader of the Greek forces during the
Trojan War, brother of Menelaus.
• Nestor-the oldest of the Grecian chiefs, and one to whom they all looked up to for counsel.
• Achilles-He was the mightiest of the Greeks who fought in the Trojan War, and was the hero of Homer's Iliad.
• Diomedes-second only to Achilles in all the qualities of a hero.
• Odysseus-brave and wise – ultimately comes up with the war ending strategy. Main character of Homer’s Odyssey
• AjaxWarrior prince who was huge and strong, but slow in speech. His father was king Telamon of Salamis.

The Trojans of Troy
• King Priam: King of Troy during the Trojan
War. Had fifty sons and several daughters and obviously several wives.
• Paris-Stole Helen from Menelaus with
Aphrodite’s help and returned to Troy
(Paris is the son of King Priam of Troy).
• Hector : King Priam’s eldest son of Hecuba and
King Priam. He was a great warrior for the Trojan force.

• Odysseus was one of the original suitors of Helen of Troy. When
Menelaus succeeded in winning
Helen's hand in marriage, it was
Odysseus who advised him to get the other suitors to swear to defend his marriage rights. However, when
Menelaus called on the suitors to help him bring Helen back from Troy,
Odysseus was reluctant to make good on his oath. One tale has it as though he pretended to have gone mad, plowing his fields and sowing salt instead of grain. Palamedes placed
Odysseus' infant son in front of the plow, and Odysseus revealed his sanity when he turned aside to avoid injuring the child.

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The Trojan War is the main issue of The Iliad by
Homer, and is described in the Aeneid by Virgil.
The war took place between
Greek Kings and their warriors and the Trojans, and raged for ten years.
Through most of the war,
Agamemnon (king of the
Achaeans and brother of
Menelaus) was unable to penetrate the fortified city of Troy. On the tenth year,
Achilles joined the
Achaian’s army and killed
Hector, the Trojan prince.

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Paris fights in the war, but he is mostly out of legend until Hector is killed by Achilles. While
Achilles and his allies bring Hector's body back into Troy for a funeral, Paris takes a bow and arrow and shoots it at Achilles.
Apollo (god who has sided with the Trojans) guides his arrow so that it hits Achilles' foot, in the famous Achilles tendon. Achilles dies.
Paris is soon killed afterwards in the war by
PHILOCTETES who carried poisonous arrows of Hercules.

However reluctant he may have been to join the expedition, Odysseus fought heroically in the Trojan War, refusing to leave the field when the Greek troops were being routed by the Trojans. He lead a daring nocturnal raid in company with Diomedes. After the death of
Achilles, he and Ajax competed for
Achilles' magnificent armor; when
Odysseus' eloquence caused the Greeks to award the prize to him, Ajax went mad and killed himself.

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After the death of Achilles, the Achaeans, utilized
Odysseus’ plan to built a Wooden Horse. They filled it with warriors and fooled the Trojans into thinking it was a gift from them. The Trojans wheeled it into their city of Troy cheerfully. While inside the city, the Greeks attacked at nightfall.
Once the city of Troy was defeated by the Greeks it was destroyed. The Trojan King Priam and most of his family were killed. Cassandra, his daughter, was raped and taken as slave to Agamemnon in
Greece. Helen, whose abduction had started the war was still beautiful and was returned to
Menelaus who had forgiven her.