The Trojan War
and
The Iliad
All over a woman!
Hey, she was pretty hot!
How it all started…
• Eris: Goddess of Discord
– Threw the Apple of Discord
into a wedding dance (that
she wasn’t invited to) with a
tag that read “For the
Fairest.”
• Aphrodite
• Hera
• Athena
– They all fought over who
was the fairest and asked
Zeus to judge.
Paris’ Involvement
• All 3 goddesses promised
Paris things if he would
choose them…
• Athena
– Promised he would defeat
the Greeks
• Hera
– Promised he would be the
lord of Europe and Asia
• Aphrodite
– Promised him the fairest
mortal to be his bride
Greeks vs. Trojans
• Aphrodite promises
Paris, prince of Troy
and total hottie, Helen
of Sparta (she’s hot, too
and married to
Menelaus)
• Paris steals Helen from
Menelaus while he is at
a funeral
Meanwhile, Back in Greece…
• Helen has married Menelaus and they both rule
over Sparta.
– Helen’s father, King Tyndareus, warned all of
punishment to anyone who disrupted the marriage.
• Aphrodite lead Paris to Sparta for a visit.
Menelaus and Helen were very welcoming to him.
Then Menelaus left for a business trip to Crete.
Paris went back to Troy with Helen.
Greeks vs. Trojans (cont.)
• Menelaus returns and is
furious!
• Menelaus gathers
supporters together to
attack Troy
• Amongst them is:
– Odysseus (he acts nuts
and gets caught)
– Achilles (Troy will not
fall without him)
Greeks vs. Trojans (cont.)
• Agamemnon, a powerful
Greek king, assembles a
fleet
• He then boasts or kills a
sacred stag of Diana, and
she calms the sea (they
can’t leave).
• To break the curse,
Agamemnon must
sacrifice his daughter.
• He does and the Greeks
sail away.
The Meeting of the Greeks
• Kings of Greece…
–
–
–
–
–
Menelaus (married to Helen) (of Sparta)
Agamemnon (married to Clytemnestra) (of Mycenae)
Nestor (of Pylos)
Odysseus (married to Penelope) (of Ithaca)
Achilles (of Phthia)
– Odysseus and Achilles didn’t show up at the meeting.
Taking Sides
• Greeks
– Menelaus,
Agamemnon, Nestor,
Odysseus, Achilles
– Ajax, Diomedes,
Patroculs
– Hera, Athena,
Poseidon
• Trojans
– King Priam, Queen
Hecuba, Prince Paris,
Prince Hector, Prince
Aeneas
– Aphrodite, Ares,
Apollo, Artemis
Greeks vs. Trojans (cont.)
• Initially the Greeks get
lost on their way to Troy,
but eventually they get
there because Achilles
stabs a king.
• The first nine years of
war consist of the Greeks
attacking all those that are
assisting Troy.
• This is where Homer’s
Iliad begins…
Battles
•
•
•
•
Menelaus
Diomedes
Diomedes
Patroclus
VS
VS
VS
VS
Paris (saved by Aphrodite)
Aeneas (saved by Artemis)
Hector (hurt the gods)
Hector
– Patroclus was dressed in Achilles’ armor
• Achilles
VS Hector
– Patroclus was Achilles’ best friend…his
revenge was brutal.
– Achilles VS Paris
Homer’s Iliad
• Agamemnon takes a woman
from Achilles who then
refuses to fight with the
Greeks
• The Trojans attack and
almost burn the Greek ships
to ashes.
• Achilles agrees to let his
beloved friend Patroclus
wear his armor and pretend
he is Achilles in a
counterattack.
Homer’s Iliad
• Patroclus is killed by
Hector, a great Trojan
warrior, brother of Paris.
• Hephaestus makes Achilles
new armor and he rides at
the head of the army to kill
Hector.
• Hector, unaware that
Achilles is alive, awaits the
Greek war party behind the
walls of Troy.
Homer’s Iliad
• Seeing Achilles in the
distance, the Trojan soldiers
rush into Troy.
• Hector, ashamed of his poor
orders, stays outside. In his
chariot, Achilles chases him
around Troy three times.
• Hector and Achilles duel.
Hector is brutally killed by
Achilles in front of his
family.
Homer’s Iliad
• Achilles ties Hector’s corpse
to his chariot and drags it
back to camp.
• Patroclus’ funeral is had.
• Each day Achilles drags
Hector’s body around
Patroclus’ funeral bier.
• Zeus consents to Hector’s
burial and Hermes escorts
Priam, king of Troy, to
Achilles to plead for the
body.
The Trojan Horse
• Odysseus (remember
that name), King of
Ithaca, has the idea
• Build a large, hollow,
wooden horse, abandon
the shore, hide in it, and
when night falls, KILL
EVERYONE!!!
• It works.
Mount Ida
Achilles
Odysseus
Ajax
Agamemnon
Nestor
Menelaus
Those Sneaky Greeks
• The wooden horse:
– Thought up by Odysseus
– Laocoon, a priest from Troy, warned his
countrymen, “I fear the Greeks, even when they
bring gifts.”
– Inside the horse: Odysseus, Pyrrhus,
Agamemnon, Menelaus
The battle inside Troy
•
•
•
•
Odysseus Shot Paris
Achilles’ son killed King Priam
Prince Aeneas escaped
Helen was returned to Menelaus
The Odyssey is a story about a hero . . .
Adventure lurks around every corner during
Odysseus’s journey home.
The Illiad
•before The Odyssey
The Trojan War
The Heroic Story of Odysseus
• Odysseus longs to return home after ten years of
fighting in the Trojan War.
• He begins the trip home with 12 ships carrying
720 men.
• The gods and goddesses toy with Odysseus,
creating obstacles which delay his journey home
another ten years.
• Odysseus’s intelligence set him apart from others.
Back in Ithaca
• In Ithaca, all assumed Odysseus dead except
his wife, Penelope and son, Telemachus.
Penelope was receiving suitors at her door,
but she stalled by claiming to be weaving a
burial shroud for Odysseus’ father, Laertes,
which had to be done before she could
marry. She wove during the day and
unwove it at night until the suitors found
her out.
Athena’s forgiveness
• In the end, Athena made it possible for
Calypso to release Odysseus so he could go
home. She also decided to send
Telemachus on a journey of his own to seek
news of his father. Athena went to
Telemachus disguised as an old man and
told him to go to Nestor and Menelaus to
find news.
Story within a Story
• The Odyssey has two plots the main plot is
of Odysseus traveling from Calypso’s island
home to Ithaca.
• While Odysseus is traveling to Ithaca, he
stops at many places along the way telling
the story of where he has been as he goes.