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Trojan War. Approximately 1250 BC. Homeric Greece. City of Troy. King Priam Queen Hecuba Sons: Hector – a great warrior
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Trojan War Approximately 1250 BC
City of Troy • King Priam • Queen Hecuba • Sons: • Hector – a great warrior • Paris - much younger, born to couple late in years; prophecy stated she would “ give birth to a burning torch that would one day set fire to the city and burn the topless towers of Troy to the ground.” • Because of the prophecy, they took the beautiful child to the woods on Mount Ida and left him there to starve or be killed by wild animals. • Shepherd found him and raised him as his own. Very handsome.
Meanwhile, a wedding takes place…. • King Peleus of Thessaly marries the sea nymph Thetis and all the gods and Muses were in attendance, except for Eris, the goddess of discord. • Eris was enraged, so she planned to disrupt the ceremony by placing an apple made of gold with the inscription: For the fairest of all. • Several goddesses tried to claim it: • Hera, Zeus’ wife • Athena, goddess of wisdom • Aphrodite, goddess of love Zeus chickened out and refused to settle the dispute, so he sent Hermes to Paris, the handsomest of all mortals, to reder a judgement.
Promises, promises…. • Of course, the goddesses were all so lovely that Paris could not decide. • So, the goddesses each took him aside and made him certain promises to help him decide in her favor. • Hera offered to make him the most powerful of kings. • Athena offered to make him the wisest of men • Aphrodite promised to give him the most beautiful woman in the mortal world for his wife. Which one do you think he chose?
Paris goes home. • Hera and Athena were not happy… • But Aphrodite became his ally and protector. • She took him home to Troy where King Priam and Queen Hecuba recognized him and took him back. • Despite the prophecy of him bringing about the downfall of their city….
Paris hears about the beautiful princess Helen… • And prays to Aphrodite to grant his boon, which she does vowing that nothing will stand in the way of Paris’ desire. • Paris sails for Helen’s home. • The trip was long and arduous and while Paris and his crew were at sea Helen weds another man.
Meanwhile…. • King Tyndarus, Helen’s father, who has been besieged for months by the many noble princes who sought the hand of his daughter decides that it is time she marry. • The king demands that all her suitors take an oath to stand by the man whom he chose and, no matter who Helen’s husband was to be, that all the others should come to his aid if Helen were ever taken from him. • These men included: • Ulysses (Odysseus) from Ithaca • Agamemnon, king of Mycenae • Diomedes, king of Argos • Menelaus, king of Laconia And the winner is…..
Menelaus, King of Laconia!!!!! • Not the wealthiest Greek • Not the wisest • Not the most handsome • Not the leader of the Greeks (that was his brother Agamemnon, who was the general of all the Greeks in war) • But, • Menelaus was both brave and kind • AND, • He loved and honored the fair Helen and would do so all the days of his life. • Awwww!
Menelaus + Helen = love/marriage • Paris and his buddies show up and are welcomed as a foreign dignitary. • Menelaus welcomes him and his crew and feeds them. • Paris spends the dinner admiring the beauty and grace of Helen and vows not to leave without her. • Paris prays for Aphrodite’s help. • Helen was attracted to Paris (after all he is the handsomest mortal on earth), however she respects and admires her husband and vows to stay by his sign despite temptation. • Aphrodite puts Helen into a trance so that Paris and the other Trojans can carry her away into the night.
Helen has been abducted! • In the morning, Menelaus finds that his beautiful wife has been stolen by those to Whom he has shown kindness and hospitality. • Great crime = REVENGE! • Menelaus calls upon all the chiefs of all the kingdoms of Greece to honor their pledge and take up the cause. • Helen must be returned to Greece. • The wicked captors must be punished. • The Greeks must sack Troy and burn it to the ground!
ALL the Greek chiefs came to help Menelaus, determined to bring back Greek honor except… • Ulysses (Odysseus) of Ithaca • who had married Penelope, • who gave birth to his son Telemachus. • Penelope was Helen’s cousin and jealous! • Ulysses pretended to be insane by plowing the seashore and sowing the sand with salt, but the emissaries that came to get him placed the baby in front of the plow. • Ulysses turned the plow aside, proving he was not insane, apologized for shirking his duty, and went off to fight.
And… • Achilles • The best fighter in all the land! • The son of Thetis, the sea nymph and King Thessaly (remember the wedding? Where Eris through in the apple? That started the problem?) • Achilles is mortal, but has some very god-like qualities. • Really handsome. • Unmatched speed and skill with weapons • When he was a child, his mother heard a prophecy that if he ever went off to war, he would achieve great glory but would die young and never see his mother again. • So, mama sent him off to a remote island where he hid in the disguise of a maiden among the daughters of the king. • Ulysses tricked him into showing himself by disguising as a peddler. The real girls were attracted to the scarves, dresses, and jewelry, but Achilles grabbed a sword. Tricky Ulysses! • He had no trouble persuading him to disregard his mother’s advice and come fight.
Achilles brings his best friend, Patroclus to the war effort. • The Greeks are now all assembled, but… • The winds don’t’ come and • Sickness breaks out among the Greeks forces. • No signal from the gods comes to help them on their way. • A soothsayer announces that the gods will not grant their blessing unless… • Ageamemnon, commander-in-chief of all the warriors, • Sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia at the altar of Diana, the virgin goddess of the hunt. • Agamemnon loves his daughter, but he knows he must giver her up in order to save his country and his country men.
But the city with it’s high walls was not easy to take, so the Greeks lays siege for 9 years contenting themselves with plundering the neighboring cities and villages and fighting with any Trojan forces that came out on the plain.
The Greek soldiers are weary of the siege and want to go home, but in the 10th year of the siege a quarrel occurs that changed the course of the war.. • Agamemnon had a slave girl, taken from one of the raids, named Chryseis. • Chriseis’ father, who was a priest of Apollo (the sun god) could not bear her fate and offered Agamemnon: • Gold to buy back his daughter • Apollo’s aid in taking the city of Troy so that the war would end and the men could return home. • Agamemnon refused the offer!
This angered Apollo greatly! • Apollo came down from Mt. Olympus shooting arrows of death into the horses, dogs, and warriors. • After ten days of Apollo’s night time attacks, Achilles had enough! • Calchas, the soothsayer, after demanding Achilles’ protection, told the assembly the reason Apollo was so angry and that now they had to give back the girl, take no money, and offer 100 head of cattle in reparation. • This angered Agamemnon, who demanded he be repaid for the loss. He took Achilles’ slave girl Briseis.
This angered Achilles greatly! • Achilles’ threatens to take his men, the Myrmidos, home and refuses to fight for Agamemnon. • The Trojans start attacking the Greek camps and still Achilles refuses to fight. • The other Greek leaders go to Achilles and beg him to return, but he refuses. • Patroclus is deeply moved by the leaders’ entreaty and begs Achilles to reconsider.
Patroclus impersonates Achilles • Achilles continues to refuse to fight for Agamemnon, but he agrees to allow Patroclus to impersonate him in battle. • He stipulates that Patroclus must only turn back the Trojans and send them back into their city, but not try to attack the walled city. • Patroclus puts on golden Achilles’ armor and plumed helmet and leads the Greeks in a defense that sends the Trojans running back to the walls. • But, in the heat of battle, he continues to attack and attempts to scale the city walls.
Hector kills Patroclus • Hector notices that the man in Achilles armor cannot scale the wall and realizes that it must be Patroclus and not Achilles. • Hector attacks and kills Patroclusthen removes Achilles’ armor, taking it as a spoil of war. • Ajax stood over the body and refused to let it be taken as well.
