By: Homer
Information by: Hilary Johannas
Illustrations by: Kat McIntosh

M ore than 1000 years
B.C. near the East end of the Mediterranean Sea there was a great city of gold . The city was second to none on earth. This city was called
Troy
…

The cause of the city’s long lasting fame was a war.

The cause of the war went back to a dispute between three jealous goddesses.

There was an evil goddess named
Eris. Eris was not liked by many and did not receive and invitation to a party. To create chaos, she conjured up a golden apple and addressed it to the “fairest goddess.”

The decision was narrowed down to three goddesses,
Hera, Athena, and
Aphrodite.

Zeus refused to choose which of the three goddesses were fairest.
Instead Paris, a banished prince of Troy was to choose.

Each of the three goddesses offered
Paris a gift so that he would choose them.

Hera promised
Paris he would be ruler of a large territory.

Athena, the goddess of war, promised Paris a great victory.

Aphrodite, goddess of love, promised Paris that the fairest woman in the world would be his.

This is known as the judgment of Paris, and it is known as the real reason why the Trojan war was fought.

The fairest woman in the world was named Helen. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. Every prince in
Greece (including Odysseus) wanted to marry her. The man she called father was named King
Tyndareus.

Her father made all of the suitors swear an oath saying they would punish anyone who tried to harm
Helen.

King Tyndareus, chose for her
Menelaus and made him King of Sparta. Many years passed in peace until…

Aphrodite led Paris to Helen and he took her away with him.

Menelaus called all the suitors for help.
They readied to sail to Troy and burn it to ashes.

Odysseus, first in rank, didn’t want to leave his family. So, he pretended to have gone mad.
Gone Crazy…be back soon!

However, to prove his was faking his condition Odysseus was put to the test. His son’s life was purposefully endangered and
Odysseus came to his rescue, proving he was NOT crazy.

Bye-Bye
Good Luck
We’ll miss you!
Once discovered,
Odysseus was made to join the army. A great fleet was made ready.
For a year they sailed from Ithaca to
Troy.

For nine years the battle waged, but there was never a solid victory.

Eventually the war had reached Olympus. The gods raged against each other.
For Troy
Aphrodite
Ares
Apollo
Artemis
For the Greeks
Hera
Athena
Poseidon

Finally, Odysseus came up with a plan.
They would create a large wooden horse and hide inside. The horse would be presented as a gift and accepted inside the city walls. At night, after the celebration of victory. Odysseus and his men would sneak out of the horse and seize the city.

The plan worked!!!
In his excitement, Odysseus proclaimed he had won the victory with out the help of the gods.
For this lack of humility,
Poseidon, god of the Ocean, decided Odysseus must be punished.

Poseidon vowed that
Odysseus would never return to his home or his family.