The Iliad and the Trojan War

The Iliad

The Iliad starts nine years into the Trojan War

The Trojan War took place in Troy which is in the northwest corner of what we now call the Republic of Turkey

Many things had to happen to get this big war under way

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The Start of it All…

Three generations of misery and bloodshed started because a wedding planner failed to invite an important goddess…

Peleus and Thetis’ Wedding

Peleus was a mortal man.

Thetis was a sea nymph and the daughter of Zeus.

Peleus had been on many adventures and had already been married, but things went sour when he accidentally killed his father-in-law.

He saw Thetis, fell in love with her, and tried to kidnap her.

She managed to fight him off with a snake until he eventually won her over.

“It is not without some god’s assistance that you conquer” (Thetis to Peleus in Ovid’s Metamorphosis)

The Big

Affair –

Peleus and

Thetis’

Wedding

With Zeus’ consent, all the famous

mortals, gods, and goddess attended

Eris, the goddess of strife was not invited

Eris was insulted and snuck into the

wedding reception…

A Golden Apple

Eris tossed a golden apple onto the dance floor.

On the apple were the words, “To the fairest.”

The golden apple was a serious party killer. Who was the most beautiful?

To the fairest

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Who is the fairest of them all?

The competition was between:

Athena – Zeus’ daughter and a real daddy’s girl

Hera – Zeus’ wife and Queen of the Gods

Aphrodite – The Goddess of Love

They asked Zeus, as the King of the Gods, to award the prize, but he was no fool…

The Judgment of Paris

Zeus gave the task to Paris, son of Priam, the King

of Troy.

Zeus knew that Troy was fated to be destroyed

because of an old run-in with Apollo and

Poseidon.

Paris was the “torch to set the whole city on fire.”

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Paris’ Ill-fated Choice

Athena offered him

victory in war

Hera offered him

power over nations

Aphrodite offered

him the most

beautiful woman in

the world

What would you

choose?homepage.mac.com

Helen of Troy

Paris accepted Aphrodite’s offer

He then learned that the most beautiful girl in the world was ALREADY MARRIED

She was Helen, daughter of Leda and Zeus

She was married to Menelaus, king of Sparta

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The Kidnapping of Helen

Paris already had a wife named Oenone who warned him not to go through with the kidnapping

He didn’t listen

He sailed off to Sparta to be guest at the palace of Menelaus

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The Kidnapping of Helen

Troy was already

doomed before this

whole incident

Zeus was the

“Protector of

Hospitality”

Kidnapping your host’s

wife isn’t exactly

hospitable

If Troy wasn’t in

trouble before, they

certainly were now!

In Sparta, Paris either

forcefully carried Helen

away from Troy or he

seduced her and she left

with him on her own

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Troy in Trouble

When Menelaus

discovered that his wife

was kidnapped, he ran to

his big brother

Agamemnon who agreed

to get help wage war to get

Helen back

Helen is known as the

“face that launched a

thousand ships”library.thinkquest.org

Clever Odysseus!Odysseus tried to get out of joining Agamemnon and Menelaus in their fight for Helen by pretending to be crazy.

Thetis (whose wedding started all this) tried to get her son Achilles out of fighting, too.

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The Sacrifice of Iphigenia

Agamemnon sent a message to his wife, Clytemnestra, saying that he had arranged for Iphigenia to marry Achilles in Aulis, but when she arrived on her wedding day, her father sacrificed her on the altar like an animal.

Agamemnon finally got his army together, but they couldn’t set sail against strong winds on the Aegean Sea.

The prophet Calchas told him that the winds were from Artemis, and to appease Artemis, Agamemnon would have to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia

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Now the War Can Begin!

The Beginning

The Trojan War

was waged,

according to legend,

against the city of

Troy in Asia Minor ,

by the armies of the

Achaeans after

Paris of Troy stole

Helen from her

husband Menelaus,

king of Sparta.

First Nine Years of War

The first nine years of the war consisted of both war in Troy and war against the neighboring regions.

The Greeks realized that Troy was being supplied by its neighboring kingdoms.

As well as destroying Trojan economy, these battles let the Greeks gather a large amount of resources and other spoils of war, including women.

FNYW Con.

The Greeks won many

important battles.

Trojan hero Hector fell,

and the Trojan ally

Penthesilea.

However, the Greeks

could not break down

the walls of Troy.

Patroclus was killed

and, Achilles was felled

by Paris.

Helenus Ideas to Win Against

Troy

Pyrrhus, Achilles' son, fought in the war.

The bow and arrows of Hercules were used by the Greeks against the Trojans.

The remains of Pelops, the famous Eleian hero, were brought to Troy.

The Palladium, a statue of Athena, was stolen from Troy

These were all done some way or another.

The Trojan Horse Still seeking to gain entrance into Troy, clever Odysseus, ordered a large wooden horse to be built. Its insides were to be hollow so that soldiers could hide within it.

Built by the artist Epeius.

Trojans celebrated what they thought was their victory, and dragged the wooden horse into Troy.

After most of Troy was asleep or in a drunken state, Sinon let the Greek warriors out from

After the War After the war, Polyxena, daughter of Priam, and Astyanax, son of Hector, was sacrificed at the tomb of Achilles signifying the end of the war.

The surviving Trojan women were divided among the Greek men along with the other needs/ wants.

The Greeks then set sail for home, which proved as difficult and took as much time as the Trojan War itself.

Images Used:

“Map of Turkey” http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/europe/turkey/map.htm 14 June 2007

“Peleus and Thetis” http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/M/Erika.D.Mitchell-Deluca-1/PeleusandThetis.html 14 June 2007

“Phoenix Art Museum” (Wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Joachim Wtewael, 1602) http://www.phxart.org/pastexhibitions/copper.asp

14 June 2007

“Dead White Males” http://deadwhitemales.net/?p=53 14 June 2007

“Fruit in Mythology” http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Fi-Go/Fruit-in-Mythology.html 14 June 2007

“Paris, Greek Mythology Link” http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/000Images/pim/parisjudgement1125.JPG 14 June 2007

“Trojan War” http://www.crystalinks.com/trojanwar.html 14 June 2007

“Helen information” (Helen of Troy by Evelyn De Morgan) http://www.search.com/reference/Helen 14 June 2007

“Helen of Troy” http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Helen.html 14 June 2007

“Troy” http://www.waltm.net/troy.htm 14 June 2007

“Book 4” http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00018/Cosmic%20Odyssey/synopsis/book4.html 14 June 2007

“The Penelope Tradition” http://mkatz.web.wesleyan.edu/Penelope/stamnos.jpg 14 June 2007

“Themes from the Iliad and Ovid Metamorphosis” http://users.adelphia.net/~bnbhelm/project2/Achilles%20hiding.jpg

14 June 2007

“The Green Flower Gang – The University of Warwick” http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/jackcole/ 14 June 2007

“Discovery Channel” (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/08/28/homer_his_zoom0.html?category=human&guid=20060828100030 14 June 2007