Trojan War notes
Background
* Troy's Royal family
Priam -king, son of Laomedon [see Herc.]
Hecuba -queen/ primary spouse
Hector -Crown prince/ heir/ general
Paris
Cassandra
Helenus
Polyxena
Troilus
Polites
Creusa [not Hecuba's daughter]-Aeneas of Dardania: parents Venus & Anchises
[zapped for gloating -lame]; son Iulus/ Ascanius
Hecuba has nightmare while pregnant with Paris -she gives birth to a firebrand/
torch that sets fire to the city; interpreted as her baby will destroy Troy.
Paris exposed on Mt Ida, raised as shepherd; marries Oenone -a river nymph; gains
reputation as a fair judge through county fair/ livestock competition; eventually
returned to place in royal family- Hector doesn't like him so Paris is sent on trade
delegation to Greek cities- important, but potentially dangerous
* Sparta & Mycenae
Tyndareus of Sparta & Leda & Zeus [seduced Leda as a swan] -quadruplets hatched
from eggs-2 kids were Zeus', 2 were Tyn.'s
Helen
Clytemnestra
Castor
Pollux
Agamemnon & Menelaus were sons of the cursed line of Atreus [Mycenae]
When Helen was old enough to marry, she was sought by many, including Menelaus
& Odysseus, because of her beauty. Tyn. worried that the other suitors would riot/
make war once a choice was made. Odysseus suggested an oath- all he suitors had to
promise to support the choice of Helen's husband, and if she was taken from him,
they were obliged to go to war on his behalf to get her back. Oath taken, Menelaus
chosen, inherits Sparta. Agamemnon marries Clytemnestra, Helen's sister. Odysseus
marries Penelope.
* Paris' Choice
wedding of Peleus & Thetis, parents of Achilles [years before Trojan War & Argo]
Eris uninvited, makes trouble anyway- gets golden apple, writes "to the most
beautiful" on it, tosses into party -fighting ensues. competition comes down to
Athena, Hera, Aphrodite -go to Zeus to judge, Zeus recuses himself, suggests mortal
Paris. goddesses go to Paris and bribe: Hera- power; Athena -wisdom [and possibly
warrior's skill]; Aphrodite -most beautiful mortal woman [Helen]. Paris chooses
Aph.; seduces/ kidnaps Helen while on trade delegation, back to Troy; war begins
because of oath
* Odysseus' recruitment: prophecy-Od. would be away for 20 years if he goes to war.
Od. is happy, wants to stay home with wife & baby son Telemachus- tries to avoid
recruitment by feigning insanity; starts plowing crazily; Agamemnon & Palamedes
prove sanity by placing Telemachus in front of plow- Od. avoids killing his son, they
know he's not crazy
* Achilles' recruitment: Achilles' mom Thetis dipped him in river Styx, making him
invulnerable except for his ankle [where she held him]; dad Peleus had Achilles
trained as warrior by Cheiron, the centaur-Ach. is really good at fighting. Prophecy:
if Achilles goes to Trojan War, he will die young, but gloriously; if he doesn't, he will
live long but ingloriously. Thetis hides Achilles at court of Scyros, dressed as girl [he
impregnates Deidameia -produces son Neoptolemus/ Pyrrhus] The Greeks know
that Achilles is a key player for victory [prophecy?] -his own prowess plus as leader
of the Myrmidons [ant-people: there were so many they looked like horde of ants
OR were created from ants] Odysseus goes to court disguised as merchant, carrying
girly items [clothes, jewelry, makeup, etc] and a sword. When Achilles goes for
sword, he is revealed & recruited, along with Patroclus -BFF/ 'special friend'
* Aulis
Greek fleet gathers here to sail for Troy. no wind, needs sacrifice. Iphigenia,
Agamemnon's daughter is chosen [maiden for Artemis?] Ag. tricks his wife into
sending Iph. to him by saying she's to marry Achilles. Iph comes, is sacrificed [Mom
Clytemnestra is MAD], fleet sails. [some versions say Artemis saves girl & takes her
away
The War
Greeks conquer islands & Troy's allies & finally come to Troy. Prophecy: 1st man to
set foot at Troy will die. Protesilaus does it, is killed by Hector, is honored for
sacrifice
Odysseus leads foraging expedition/ raid for food -fails. Palamedes calls him out for
failure [humiliation!]. Od. frames Pal. -says Pal failed. Pal. stoned to death by Greeks
Agamemnon vs. Achilles
Ag took girl Chryseis as a war prize. Her father Chryse, a priest of Apollo, begs Ag for
daughter back. Ag refuses. Chryse prays to Apollo. Apollo sends plague on Greeks.
Greek leaders, particularly Achilles, force Ag to give girl back. Ag does, but takes
Ach’s girl Briseis as replacement. Achilles withdraws his troops and himself from
the war due to the insult; asks mother Thetis to pray for Trojan victories. Greeks
start losing.
Paris & Menelaus fight in single combat for Helen. Aph. rescues Paris in a mist &
carries him off field. Ag declares Men. the victor; Trojans dispute since Men. didn’t
“beat” Paris
Greeks Ajax [Greater] & Diomedes fight. Diomedes kills Pandarus, wounds Aeneas.
Venus tries to rescue Aeneas, her son, but Pand. wounds her in the wrist; she flees.
Aeneas is saved & cured by Apollo & Artemis. Diomedes fights Hector, who is aided
by Ares. Diomedes tries to retreat, but while inspired by Athena, rallies and wounds
Ares. Hector retreats, then challenges Achilles. Achilles, still sulking, declines, but
Ajax accepts. Hector & Ajax fight, Ajax slightly bests Hector, the two part after
exchanging gifts.
Ag begs Ach. to return to the fighting, as the Greeks are losing badly, even offering
money & Briseis back. Ach refuses. Hera, wanting to help the Greeks, decides to
distract Zeus via seduction so that the other deities can intervene personally on the
Greeks’ behalf. She borrows Aph’s girdle [no man can resist the woman wearing this
garment] & keeps Zeus busy while Poseidon helps the Greeks rout the Trojans. Zeus
recovered from Hera’s attentions, ordered Pos out, and threatened to beat Hera.
Achilles comes back
Apollo gives strength to Hector. Hector goes on a rampage. Patroclus begs Ach to reenter fight. At Achilles’ refusal, Patroclus dresses himself in Achilles armor & leads
Achilles’ men [with Ach’s approval]. Hector kills Patroclus, takes Achilles’ armor.
Achilles, grief-stricken & in new Heph-made armor, rejoins battle, despite knowing
that his own death will swiftly follow Hector’s. During a massive battle, both Aeneas
& Hector are rescued with divine help. Athena beats up Ares, Hera beats up Artemis,
and Poseidon battles Apollo. Achilles eventually catches up to Hector. They fight,
Hector dies. Achilles denies return of Hector’s body to his family, then ties it to his
chariot & drags it around the city. Ach. eventually returns Hector’s mutilated body
to Priam for a ransom of Hector’s armored weight in gold.
Achilles killed Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons, and raped her corpse in his battle
frenzy.
Prince Memnon of Ethiopia reinforces Trojans, Greeks start losing. Memnon kills
Autolycus, Achilles’ friend. Achilles kills Memnon
Paris, aided by Apollo, shoots Achilles in the heel. Ach. dies
Dispute between Ajax & Odysseus as to who gets Achilles’ armor. Greek leaders vote
to award it to Od. Ajax threatens them all. Athena sends madness...Ajax slaughters a
bunch of cows he believed were the Greek leaders. When he becomes sane, he kills
himself from shame.
Fall of Troy
Greeks need to accomplish several tasks to help win war.
1. Bring bow of Hercules to Troy: Philoctetes had been left on an island earlier in the
war because of a wound that wouldn't heal. Greeks went to get him, offered healing
if he'd come. Phil. bitterly agreed. used bow to shoot Paris [Paris might've been
healed if his first wife Oenone had agreed to help him. She refused to heal him, he
died, she hanged herself]
2. Capture Helenus, Trojan prince & seer, who knows how Troy can be destroyed.
Od. captures Helenus on Mt Ida. Helenus was angry at his fellow Trojans because he
wanted Helen after Paris' death, but didn't get her. He suggests 3 more tasks for the
Greeks
3. Bring Pelops' bones to Asia from Greece & bury them at Troy. [Pelops was the son
of Tantalus. Tantalus chopped up Pelops and served him as food to the gods -he was
reassembled by the gods. Tantalus was punished in Tartarus by never being able to
eat or drink, despite temptation from fruit & water just out of reach. Tantalus was
Ag & Men.'s great-grandfather.] Ag got one of Pelops' bones & buried it at Troy
4. Neoptolemus/ Pyrrhus, Achilles' son, had to join the war. Leaders brought him to
Troy from Scyros. He began to fight like his father had.
5. Steal the Palladium, sacred statue of Athena in Troy. Odysseus, Diomedes, &
maybe Ajax accomplished this.
Trojan Horse
Greeks build huge wooden horse, supposedly as an offering either to Athena for desecrating her temple- or Poseidon -for a safe journey home, and hide some
warriors in it while the rest of the Greeks sail away & hide ships behind nearby
island of Tenedos to make Trojans believe they'd gone home. They leave Sinon
behind to convince Trojans to take horse into city. The Trojans come, find &
threaten Sinon. He claims that the Greeks were going to sacrifice him and that he
was chosen by Odysseus to be the sacrifice because he/ Sinon was a supporter of
Palamedes, who Od had framed & gotten killed. Sinon convinced the Trojans that the
horse would bring divine blessing if taken into the city.
Cassandra & Laöcoön, a priest of Neptune, spoke out against the horse,
claiming some trick. Laöcoön even threw a spear into the horse's side, resulting in a
hollow sound that the Trojans ignored. Two snakes came from the sea, killed L & his
2 little boys, then curled up at the foot of a statue in the temple. This was the final
sign the Trojans needed- they dragged the horse into the city, dismantling part of
their gates to get it through. Then they partied, rejoicing that the war was over.
At night, Sinon open up the horse to let warriors out, who then kill the gate
guards & open up the city to the attacking Greeks who've sailed back from Tenedos.
The Trojans, drunk & asleep, are being slaughtered. Agamemnon, Menelaus, &
Neoptolemus lead the attack on the palace. Aeneas, after being awoken from a
dream of Hector [telling him to flees & take Troy's gods with him to found a new
city] leads some Trojans in a counterattack, but the palace is breached. Neo. chases
little prince Polites through the halls and slaughters him in front of Priam & Hecuba.
Hecuba & the palace women are seeking sanctuary at the palace shrines/ altars,
trying to convince Priam to join them. Priam, although old, is donning his armor &
weapons to try to defend his palace. He is murdered at the altars while trying to
placate/ dissuade Neo from his rampage. The palace women are taken as war prizes.
Aftermath
 Princess Polyxena is sacrificed by Neo over his father's tomb, as there had
supposedly been some attraction or marriage offer between them.
 Astynax, Hector's son, is thrown from Troy's walls to his death. Andromache
is taken by Neoptolemus, but eventually marries Helenus & settles at
Buthrotum, where Aeneas meets her on his travels
 Aeneas almost kills Helen, but is stopped by Venus. He then flees Troy with
his family. Creusa dies during the escape and appears as a ghost to Aeneas,
foretelling his future. He travels for 10 years seeking a new land for his
people -see Aeneid
 Menelaus was determined to kill Helen, but relented after seeing her breasts.
They sail for Sparta, but are blown off course to Crete, then Egypt. They only
get home after Men wrestles Proteus the shape-shifting sea-god for
information. They live happily ever after in Sparta & go to Elysium after
death
 Odysseus travels for 10 years before returning to Ithaca, fulfilling the
prophecy that he'd be gone 20 years -10 of war, 10 post-war -see Odyssey
 Agamemnon takes Cassandra as war-prize to Mycenae. When he arrives,
Clytemnestra kills him in his bath with an axe. Clyt. & her lover Aegisthus
also kill Cassandra -see Agamemnon & the Orestes plays
 Neoptolemus did not return to the Myrmidons, but established a new
kingdom. He went to Delphi to challenge Apollo since Apollo had guided the
arrow that killed Achilles. Apollo refused to fight, so Neo robbed then burned
the temple. at a later visit, Neo was killed in an argument over sacrificial
meat. The Delphians erected their new temple over his tomb
 Calchas goes home, but dies after losing a prophecy contest
 Ajax the lesser had raped Cassandra in Athena's temple during the fall of
Troy. on his way home, Athena sank his fleet, caught his up in a whirlwind,
zapped him with lightning, and smashed him on some sharp rocks
 Nestor goes home, lives to be really old, in peace & prosperity