The Trojan War

The Trojan WarThe Trojan War

Background to The Odyssey

Background to The Odyssey

Causes of the War:The Fairer Sex

Causes of the War:The Fairer Sex

The marriage of Peleus and Thetis, mother of Achilles

Eris (goddess of discord) not invited, becomes the wedding crasher

Throws down the Apple of Discord: “For the Fairest”

Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all reach for it. . . .

The marriage of Peleus and Thetis, mother of Achilles

Eris (goddess of discord) not invited, becomes the wedding crasher

Throws down the Apple of Discord: “For the Fairest”

Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all reach for it. . . .

Causes of the War:The Weaker Sex


Zeus appoints Pretty Boy Paris, a Trojan prince, as the judge

Enticing party favors are offered: Hera = greatness, power, wealth Athena = prowess in war Aphrodite = the love of the most

beautiful woman in the worldand the winner is . . .

Zeus appoints Pretty Boy Paris, a Trojan prince, as the judge

Enticing party favors are offered: Hera = greatness, power, wealth Athena = prowess in war Aphrodite = the love of the most

beautiful woman in the worldand the winner is . . .

Aphrodite!Aphrodite!



Party favor = Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta

Menelaus’ brother = Agamemnon, King of Mycenae

Hera and Athena vow revenge against Paris and Troy. . .

Party favor = Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta

Menelaus’ brother = Agamemnon, King of Mycenae

Hera and Athena vow revenge against Paris and Troy. . .

Causes of the War:Causes of the War:

Paris visits Menelaus, and is treated to lavish Greek hospitality

Paris then runs off with his host’s wife and other “booty”

Paris marries Helen in 1200 B.C.

Paris visits Menelaus, and is treated to lavish Greek hospitality

Paris then runs off with his host’s wife and other “booty”

Paris marries Helen in 1200 B.C.

“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships

And burnt the topless towers of Ilium (Troy)?”

-Christopher MarloweDr. Faustus

“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships

And burnt the topless towers of Ilium (Troy)?”

-Christopher MarloweDr. Faustus

Preparation for War:Battlefield of the GodsPreparation for War:

Battlefield of the Gods

Achaian (Greek) SideAthena, goddess of

wisdomHera, wife of ZeusHermes, ambassador

to the godsPoseidon, god of the

sea

Achaian (Greek) SideAthena, goddess of

wisdomHera, wife of ZeusHermes, ambassador

to the godsPoseidon, god of the

sea

Trojan SideAphrodite, goddess of

loveApollo, god of

prophecy, light, poetry

Ares, god of warArtemis, goddess of

the huntZeus, sympathetic to

the Trojans

Trojan SideAphrodite, goddess of

loveApollo, god of

prophecy, light, poetry

Ares, god of warArtemis, goddess of

the huntZeus, sympathetic to

the Trojans

Preparation for War:Menelaus Rallies the Troops


Long ago, at Odysseus’ request, Helen’s father Tyndareus had made all her suitors swear to support whomever Helen married

Menelaus calls on Helen’s old boyfriends to defend her honor

However, he encounters some resistance. . .

Long ago, at Odysseus’ request, Helen’s father Tyndareus had made all her suitors swear to support whomever Helen married

Menelaus calls on Helen’s old boyfriends to defend her honor

However, he encounters some resistance. . .



To dodge the draft, Achilles’ mom dresses him up as a girl and hides him with King Lycomedes

To dodge the draft, Achilles’ mom dresses him up as a girl and hides him with King Lycomedes



Odysseus pretends to be insane to dodge the draft: Plows a field sowing salt The gig’s up when Palamedes

throws Odysseus’ infant son Telemachus in front of the plow

Odysseus later dimes out (exposes!) Achilles

Odysseus pretends to be insane to dodge the draft: Plows a field sowing salt The gig’s up when Palamedes

throws Odysseus’ infant son Telemachus in front of the plow

Odysseus later dimes out (exposes!) Achilles

Preparation for War:The Greeks

Preparation for War:The Greeks

The Greeks (Achaians, Argives, Danaans)

Achillescentral charactergreatest warrior

PatroklosAchilles' friendand companion

Odysseusshrewdest, mostsubtle and brave

AgamemnonKing of Mycenae

Commander-in-chief

The Greeks (Achaians, Argives, Danaans)

Achillescentral charactergreatest warrior

PatroklosAchilles' friendand companion

Odysseusshrewdest, mostsubtle and brave

AgamemnonKing of Mycenae

Commander-in-chief

Preparation for War:Agamemnon Sets SailPreparation for War:

Agamemnon Sets Sail

Artemis, whom Agamemnon had offended by killing a stag, stills the great king’s sails

Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia to make nice, causing marital discord with his wife Clytemnestra

First he sails to the wrong place, but that’s another story for another time. . .

Artemis, whom Agamemnon had offended by killing a stag, stills the great king’s sails

Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia to make nice, causing marital discord with his wife Clytemnestra

First he sails to the wrong place, but that’s another story for another time. . .

Preparation for War:The Trojans

Preparation for War:The Trojans

The Trojans

Hector, Trojan princecommander-in-chief

Paris, Trojan princeForseen to destroy Troy

abandoned, raised by shepherds

Priam, King of Troymarried Hecuba

49 children

The Trojans

Hector, Trojan princecommander-in-chief

Paris, Trojan princeForseen to destroy Troy

abandoned, raised by shepherds

Priam, King of Troymarried Hecuba

49 children

War: The first Nine YearsWar: The first Nine Years

Battles in Troy and neighboring regions for nine years

Greeks win lots of spoils, including women

Battles in Troy and neighboring regions for nine years

Greeks win lots of spoils, including women

The Iliad: Internal ConflictThe Iliad: Internal Conflict

Homer’s epic begins in the tenth year of the Trojan War

Agamemnon steals Achilles’ war prize, Briseis

Achilles refuses to fight and withdraws his warriors, the Myrmidons

Homer’s epic begins in the tenth year of the Trojan War

Agamemnon steals Achilles’ war prize, Briseis

Achilles refuses to fight and withdraws his warriors, the Myrmidons

The Iliad: EndgameThe Iliad: Endgame

The gods take sides, intervening for their favorites

Achilles’ pal Patroklos is killed in battle wearing Achilles’ armor

Achilles returns and kills Hector, dragging his body around Troy from a chariot

The Iliad ends with Achilles’ allowing Hector to be buried.

The gods take sides, intervening for their favorites

Achilles’ pal Patroklos is killed in battle wearing Achilles’ armor

Achilles returns and kills Hector, dragging his body around Troy from a chariot

The Iliad ends with Achilles’ allowing Hector to be buried.

The Fall of TroyThe Fall of Troy

Apollo guides Paris’ arrow to Achilles’ heel

Ajax and Odysseus fight over Achilles’ armor

Odysseus wins the armor and Ajax commits suicide

Apollo guides Paris’ arrow to Achilles’ heel

Ajax and Odysseus fight over Achilles’ armor

Odysseus wins the armor and Ajax commits suicide


The frustrated Greeks cannot penetrate Troy

Odysseus cleverly schemes up the wooden horse

Odysseus steals the Palladium, a powerful talisman of Pallas Athena which had ensured Troy’s invincibility

Helen recognizes Odysseus but does not betray him

The frustrated Greeks cannot penetrate Troy

Odysseus cleverly schemes up the wooden horse

Odysseus steals the Palladium, a powerful talisman of Pallas Athena which had ensured Troy’s invincibility

Helen recognizes Odysseus but does not betray him


Greeks sail away as a decoy, Trojans take in the horse, Greeks slaughter Trojans

Greeks sail away as a decoy, Trojans take in the horse, Greeks slaughter Trojans


Achilles’ son Neoptolemus kills Priam , whose daughter, the seër Cassandra, is raped at Athena’s altar and becomes Agamemnon’s concubine

The children of Priam and Hector are sacrificed at Achilles’ tomb

Achilles’ son Neoptolemus kills Priam , whose daughter, the seër Cassandra, is raped at Athena’s altar and becomes Agamemnon’s concubine

The children of Priam and Hector are sacrificed at Achilles’ tomb


Aeneas, a Trojan prince, escapes (see The Aeneid for the Trojan point of view)

Odysseus convinces Philoctetes to kill Paris with a magic arrow

Trojan women are divided as plunder

Helen’s beauty spares her death

Aeneas, a Trojan prince, escapes (see The Aeneid for the Trojan point of view)

Odysseus convinces Philoctetes to kill Paris with a magic arrow

Trojan women are divided as plunder

Helen’s beauty spares her death

The Fallout of the War The Fallout of the War

The Greeks burn Troy and sail home, meeting various miserable fates themselves

Angered about Iphigenia’s death, Clytemnestra cozies up to Aegisthus, who kills Agamemnon upon his return

Orestes murders his mother and her lover to avenge his father’s death

The Greeks burn Troy and sail home, meeting various miserable fates themselves

Angered about Iphigenia’s death, Clytemnestra cozies up to Aegisthus, who kills Agamemnon upon his return

Orestes murders his mother and her lover to avenge his father’s death

The Fallout of the War The Fallout of the War

After another ten years Telemachus laments that his father Odysseus has not returned home. . . .

After another ten years Telemachus laments that his father Odysseus has not returned home. . . .

Troy: Myth or Reality?Troy: Myth or Reality?

Legendary city built under Zeus’ protection

Huge protective wall built with divine aid of Poseidon

Trojans refused to pay tribute to Poseidon, who withdrew his protection

Legendary city built under Zeus’ protection

Huge protective wall built with divine aid of Poseidon

Trojans refused to pay tribute to Poseidon, who withdrew his protection

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Map_of_Lydia_ancient_times.jpg)

Dardanelles

Modern-day Turkey

Troy: Myth or Reality?Troy: Myth or Reality?

Heinrich Schliemann (19th cent.) uncovered nine successive cities on the same site in modern-day Turkey

Schliemann declared the second level Priam’s Troy (aka Ilium), a burnt city

Greeks may have wanted control of the Hellespont Strait (Dardanelles) for access to the Black Sea

The archaeological dig is still active but inconclusive

Heinrich Schliemann (19th cent.) uncovered nine successive cities on the same site in modern-day Turkey

Schliemann declared the second level Priam’s Troy (aka Ilium), a burnt city

Greeks may have wanted control of the Hellespont Strait (Dardanelles) for access to the Black Sea

The archaeological dig is still active but inconclusive

Archaeological Site: Troy II Archaeological Site: Troy II

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Plan_Troy-Hisarlik-en.svg)

Works CitedWorks Cited

“Archaeological Plan of Hisarlik.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Plan_Troy-Hisarlik-en.svg.

“Map of Troy.” http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Image:Map_of_Lydia_ancient_times. jpg.

“Archaeological Plan of Hisarlik.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Plan_Troy-Hisarlik-en.svg.

“Map of Troy.” http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Image:Map_of_Lydia_ancient_times. jpg.

The Trojan War

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