The Trojan War
Written by Homer in the 8th century B.C.
Marissa Koscielski
Tes Pairitz
Allison Ketcham
Bridget VerVaet
Homer
• Born 800 B.C. in Greece
• Died 750 B.C.
• Wrote the two great epic stories of Greek
history
– Iliad (the Trojan War ended this story)
– Odyssey
• Cited as the starting point of Western
literary and historical tradition
• Stories were very vivid and concrete
Background of the Trojan War
• Often described by scholars as a romantic
war
• The end of this story is the end of the Iliad
• Greek gods played a key role in this story
• The Odyssey and the Iliad are highly
influenced by the Trojan War
Outline of the Story
•
Troy- city eastern end of the
Mediterranean
– Very powerful and very rich
•
The most beautiful goddess
– Eris (goddess of discord) wasn’t invited to a
feast and became resentful
•
•
Sent an apple of gold that said “For the Fairest”
Zues was told to choose between Hera, Athena,
and Aphrodite
Outline cont.
• Didn’t want to choose so he left the job to Paris
(Alexander)
• Paris was prince of Troy but had been sent away
because it was said he’d be Troy’s downfall
– The goddess bribed him with gifts
• Hera: promised to make him Lord of Europe
• Athena: promised he would lead the Trojans to
victory against the Greeks and leave Greece in
ruins
• Aphrodite: the fairest woman in all the world
– Paris chose Aphrodite
Outline cont.
• He got Helen, Zeus’s daughter, sister of Castor
and Pollux
• King Tyndareus (her mom’s husband) didn’t
choose a man in fear of mutiny, but ended up
choosing Menelaus
• Aphrodite led Paris to her and stole her away
• The heroes
– Odysseus, King of Ithaca
• Very sensible
• Didn’t want to go, so he tried to act insane; didn’t
work so he had to go
Outline cont.
– Achilles
• Wore women’s clothes to hide
• Odysseus figured him out so her had to come
– A fleet of a thousand ships met at Aulis
• Artemis was angry they had killed one of her hares
and the winds were bad
• Sacrificed Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigenia, and
the winds calmed
– They got to Simois and Protesilaus jumped
out first
• He died first and Hermes took his soul to see his
wife who killed herself to be with him
Outline cont.
• The gods
– Apollo got mad and shot flaming arrows at the
Greeks
– Hera, Athena, and Poseidon were for the
Greeks
– Aphrodite, Ares, Apollo, and Artemis were for
the Trojans
– Zeus stayed neutral but favored Troy
• The fighting
– Menelaus and Paris fought it out in front of
Hera but Paris fled and was taken by
Aphrodite to a safe place
Outline cont.
– Hera distracted Zeus and Troy fell back as the
Greeks advanced
– Apollo revived Hector (Trojan)
– Patroclus was killed by Hector
– Achilles killed Hector
• Tied his body to the back of a chariot and rode
around
• The funeral of Hector ends the Iliad
Themes of the Story
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Love
Hate
Anger
War
Triumph
Sadness
Disappointment
Works Cited
• "Homer." answers.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2
Mar 2011.
<http://www.answers.com/topic/homer>.
• ("Horizon Book of Ancient Greece" )
• LastScholasticus K, . "Facts About the
Trojan War." buzzle.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2
Mar 2011.
<http://www.buzzle.com/articles/factsabout-the-trojan-war.html>.