The Beginnings of The Trojan War
• It starts w/a wedding and a beauty
contest
• The Wedding was for Thetis and
Peleus
• Thetis: a sea nymph and future
mother of Achilles
• Peleus: chosen for Thetis by the gods
because they feared a prophecy that
said her child would be greater than
Cronus. He was a mortal man,
therefore not as great a threat.
• In attendance were mortals, gods,
and goddesses; however, the couple
purposefully did not invite Eris,
the goddess of discord, to the
celebration. Angered and
outraged, she came to the wedding
anyway.
• Upon her arrival, Eris tossed a
golden apple onto a banquet table
and stated that it would belong to
the fairest person in attendance.
Three goddesses in attendance
reached for the apple at once!
They were…
Athena
• Perceived as a threat by
Zeus. He swallowed her
pregnant mother, Metis;
however, she was later
born as a full-grown and
fully armed woman (from
his head).
• Became Zeus’s favorite
daughter
• Goddess of wisdom and
war and strategy in battle
Aphrodite
• Zeus’ adopted daughter,
though Cronos may also be
her father
• Goddess of love and beauty
• Her name means sea foam
(aphros) because she arose
from the sea and was gently
blown ashore by Zephyr,
the west wind
The Judgement of Paris
The golden apple sparked a
vanity-fueled dispute between
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite
who appealed to Zeus.
He put the decision in the hands
of Paris, a prince of Troy,
brother of Hector
The Judgement of
Paris
• Although the decision was supposed to
be made without prejudice, all of the
goddesses pled their cases to Paris and
basically bribed him:
• Hera – power, king of many
nations
• Athena – wisdom, skill at war
• Aphrodite – offered the world’s
most beautiful woman
• Whom do you suppose he
chose?
But Helen, the most beautiful mortal woman is
already married to Menelaus of Sparta
Some lineage stuff:
- Helen and Clytemnestra are sisters,
sort of. (Leda and the Swan)
-They marry brothers: Menelaus (of
Sparta) and Agamemnon (of Mycenae),
both of whom fight in the Trojan War
-EVERYONE wants to marry Helen,
and one of these admirers was
Odysseus, pictured as Sean Bean, 
but he asked for her gentle cousin’s
(Penelope’s) hand in marriage instead
Their father, King Tyndareus solved the
problem of the hundreds of suitors with
Odysseus’ help: the King must ask all
the suitors to accept the one he chose for
Helen’s husband and swear to stand by
and help to win her back should anyone
try to steal or otherwise harm her. The
suitors agreed. Each one hoped that the
choice would fall on him, and they all
took the oath, so when her father gave
Helen to Menelaus, they were mostly
okay with it.
The “Theft”
- Against the advice of his sister, Cassandra,
Paris set off on a voyage to Sparta. When he
arrived, he announced himself as an
ambassador from Troy and was treated with
great hospitality by King Menelaus.
- Shortly after receiving his visitor, the king
had to attend a funeral in another land.
Paris kidnapped Helen, along with a great
deal of the country’s wealth.
Oddly enough, the couple was married only a
few days after returning to Troy.
More Paris “Abducting” Helen…stories vary on how
this actually happened, is she a willing captive?
Thus Began The Trojan War
“Was this the face that launch'd a
thousand ships,
And burnt the topless towers of
Ilium? “
~Christopher Marlowe
Some important beginning details you need to know
• After collecting a massive army, Menelaus chose Agamemnon to be
the commanding general.
• All seemed to be well until one of the men killed a stag in the forest of
the goddess, Artemis
• Highly angered and blaming Agamemnon, she vowed that she would
not let the wind blow until a sacrifice was made.
• A seer named Calchas proclaimed that he must sacrifice his daughter,
Iphigenia, to calm the fury of the goddess.
• Seeing that this was the only way to launch his ships, he agreed; the
young girl was executed, and as her blood trickled on the altar, the
wind began to blow. Back home, Clytemnestra has a major reason to
be irate.
The gods are going to choose sides. Remember, their
pride is hurt because they didn’t get chosen
•These guys are going to
struggle w/their
pride/ego being hurt as
well.
•Identify these characters

The Iliad does not include this, unfortunately
Or this…
Or even this…
It’ll begin with
the Rage of
Achilles
And, near the end, we’ll have…
• Spoiler alert…