AGAMEMNON AND PATROCLUS

THE TROJAN WAR

BY STATHIS, PHOTIS, JOHN & KOSTAS (2ND GROUP, f2)

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of

king Atreus and queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra and the father of Iphigenia, Electra, Orestes and Chrysothemis. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area. When Helen, the wife of Menelaus, left with Paris the Prince of Troy, Agamemnon commanded the united Greek armed forces to start the Trojan War.

Leader of the Greeks Agamemnon was the commander-in-chief of the

Greeks during the Trojan War. During the fighting, Agamemnon killed Antiphus and 15 other Trojan soldiers. The Iliad (the famous Homer’s Epic) tells the story of the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles in the final year of the war. Agamemnon took an attractive woman slave, Briseis, one of the spoils of the war, from Achilles. Achilles, the greatest warrior of the age, withdrew from battle in revenge and nearly cost the Greek armies the war.

Patroclus In his youth, Patroclus accidentally killed his

friend, Clysonymus, during an argument over a game of dice. His father fled with Patroclus into exile to evade revenge, and they took shelter at the palace of their kinsman King Peleus of Phthia. There Patroclus apparently first met Peleus' son Achilles. Peleus sent the boys to live in the wilderness and be raised by Chiron, the cave-dwelling wise King of the Centaurs.

War activities When the tide of war turned away from the Acheans, and

the Trojans threatened their ships, Patroclus convinced Achilles to let him put on Achilles' armor and lead the Greek army into combat. In his lust for combat, Patroclus pursued the Trojans all the way back to the gates of Troy, defying Achilles' order to break off combat once the ships were saved. Patroclus killed many Trojans and finished off by Hector. At the time of his death, Patroclus had killed 53 enemy soldiers.

ACHILLES(By Nick Rezitis, 2ND GROUP, F2)

Achilles Achilles was the son of Peleus and Thetis:

Peleus was a King in Greece, and Thetis was a nymph.

When Achilles was still a little baby, his mother tried to protect him from harm by dipping him into a river that had special magic water. And it worked; he could not be harmed, except for one heel that his mother held him by as she dipped him in the water. Now when someone is very strong but has one weak spot, we call that their "Achilles' heel."

Achilles’ choice When he grew up, Achilles heard a

prophecy. It was this: he could make a choice to live quietly and without fame or honor, and live a long time and die in bed, or he could choose to be famous in his lifetime and always remembered, but to die young. Achilles chose to be famous and die young. This is how that happened in Homer‘s Illiad.

 

“Extract” of Homer’s epic: Illiad

The Iliad begins with a fight between the leader of the Greeks, King Agamemnon of Mycenae, and the Greeks' best fighter, Achilles. The Greeks had won a battle and were splitting up the booty (the stuff they had captured). Everybody had a pile of stuff. Achilles got a woman among his stuff, to be his slave, whose name was Briseis.

Achilles Vs Agamemnon But Agamemnon decided that HE wanted

the pretty Briseis, and he just took her from Achilles, saying that he was the head of the army so he would do what he liked. Well, Achilles was so angry that Agamemnon took Briseis from him that he refused to fight for the Greeks anymore and just sat in his tent and sulked. Without their best fighter, the Greeks started losing battles.

Patroclos’ disguise Finally Achilles' best friend Patroclos

thought of an idea. He put on Achilles' famous armour and went out to fight. Both the Greeks and the Trojans thought Achilles had come back to the battle and the Greeks won a big victory, but Patroclos was killed in the fighting: he might dress like Achilles but he could not fight like him.

Patriclus & Hector’s end When Achilles heard that Patroclos was

dead, he was ashamed of how he had been sulking. He agreed to fight again. Now the Greeks really started to win. So the best Trojan fighter, Prince Hector, came out from Troy to fight Achilles. They fought for a long time, but finally Achilles killed Hector.

Hector's father, King Priam, came to Achilles at night to ask for his son's body back, and Achilles gave it to him.

Achilles’ end Achilles continued fighting heroically,

killing many of the Trojans. Finally Priam's son, Paris, aided by Apollo, wounded Achilles in the heel with an arrow; Achilles died of the wound.