Download The Trojan War The Trojan War was the greatest conflict

The Trojan War
The Trojan War was the greatest conflict in Greek mythology, a war that was to influence people
in literature and arts for centuries. The war was fought between the Greeks and Trojans with
their allies, upon a Phrygian city of Troy on Asia Minor (modern Turkey). The war lasted for ten
years and it has been traditionally dated from 1194 to 1184 BC.
Part 1
Origin of the War:
The two powerful gods, Zeus and Poseidon tried to force the beautiful sea-nymph Thetis to
consort with them. Prometheus warned the gods that any son Thetis would bare would become
greater than his father, and in Zeus’ case, would probably one day rule Olympus. That really
dampened both gods’ amorous pursuit of the nymph. Zeus decided to quickly marry off Thetis
to a mortal. Zeus chose the hero, King Peleus, as the most worthy of mortals. All the gods and
goddesses attended the wedding except Eris, goddess of discord. Furious of this slight, Eris
threw a golden apple, inscribed, “For the Fairest” in the midst of the guests. The wedding was
marred when three powerful goddesses wished to claim the prize as the fairest: Hera, Athena,
and Aphrodite. The three goddesses asked Zeus to be their judge. Wishing to have nothing to do
with the contest, Zeus gave the decision to Paris, a Trojan prince, the young son of Priam and
Hecuba.
Each goddess offered to reward him if he chose her. Athena promised that he would lead the
Trojans to victory against the Greeks and lay Greece to ruin; Hera offered to make him Lord of
Europe and Asia, a most rich and powerful kingdom; while Aphrodite offered to him the fairest
woman in all the world, Helen of Sparta. Paris, a weakling and something of a coward as later
events showed, foolishly decided in Aphrodite’s favor and awarded her the golden apple as the
fairest of them all. Troy was to suffer the enmity of the two most powerful goddesses.
Part 2
But Helen had many powerful Greek suitors wooing her in Sparta. So powerful in fact that her
father Tyndareus (of course, her real father was Zeus), king of Sparta, was afraid that anyone she
chose, would offend the other suitors. The problem was solved when the prudent Odysseus, king
of Ithaca, advised the Spartan king that each suitor must swear an oath that they would defend
the interests of whoever Helen chose to marry. Any who refused to swear this oath would not be
eligible. All the suitors agreed and swore the oaths to accept whoever became Helen’s husband.
Some of the leaders had offered to Helen rich bridal gifts such as bowl, cauldrons or tripods
made of gold. Helen chose Menelaus as her husband. Menelaus was the son of Atreus, and
brother of Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae. Menelaus married Helen and Tyndareus
abdicated from the throne, leaving Menelaus to become the king of Sparta. Odysseus knew that
Helen would never choose him, but Tyndareus helped the hero to win Tyndareus’ niece
Penelope, Helen’s cousin. Odysseus defeated other suitors of Penelope in a foot-race and
married the Spartan princess.
At that time, Paris was living in Mount Ida with his wife, Oenone, a mountain nymph, but he
abandoned her for Helen. Oenone told Paris if he was ever wounded that he should come to her
so she could heal him. Oenone had hoped that her husband would return to her. Despite being
warned by his brother and sister who were gifted in divination that his journey would cause the
destruction of Troy, Paris sailed to Greece. In Sparta, Paris became a guest of Menelaus and
Helen. Aphrodite made Helen fall in love with the Trojan prince. When Menelaus went to
attend his grandfather’s funeral in Crete, Helen ran off to Troy with Paris with most of the
treasures in Sparta, but leaving her daughter, Hermione, behind.
Among those warriors who join the Greek army, the best were Achilles, Ajax, Diomedes, and
Odysseus, the resourceful and cunning king of Ithaca. King Priam’s eldest son, Hector, was
commander-in-chief of the Trojan forces. Hector was the best warrior on the Trojan side.
Hector knew that he was fated to die in the war, but as heir and eldest son of Priam, he was duty
bound to defend Troy, even though he thought that his brother was wrong to start the war. His
second-in-command was also a Trojan royal prince, Aeneas, son of Aphrodite and Anchises.
Aeneas was the bravest Trojan next to Hector.
At first, Odysseus refused to accompany the Greeks to Troy, feigning madness by sowing his
fields with salt, but the Greeks placed his son Telemachus in front of the plow and Odysseus was
compelled to admit his ruse and join the invading army.
Before landing in Troy, the Greeks sent Menelaus and Odysseus as ambassadors to ask for
Helen’s return. Paris, however, refused to hand over Helen. Returning to the ships, Menelaus
brought the inevitable news of war. The Greek warriors assembled at the Bay of Aulis and
proceeded to Troy in 1000 ships (i.e. Helen is known as the face that launched a thousand ships).
The Greek ships landed on the coast of Troy, but none of them wished to lead because it was
prophesized that the first Greek to set foot on the soil would be the first to die. One of the
leaders, Protesilaus trying to defy fate, leapt ashore and after killing several Trojans, was killed
himself by Hector. The city of Troy was captured at last by treachery. A force of Greek
warriors gained entrance to the city by hiding in the interior of a large wooden horse, the Trojan
Horse. Subsequently, the Greeks sacked and burned the city.
The return of the Greek warriors to Greece inspired epic poems, the most celebrated being that of
Odysseus, whose 10-year wanderings and arrival in Ithaca are told in Homer’s Odyssey.