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HELEN OF TROY
Brittany Tolbert
5 Facts about Helen:
■ She was the daughter of Zeus.
■ All the young men wanted to marry
Helen. When she was born, Zeus gave
her the gift of everlasting beauty.
■ As a young girl she was carried off by
Theseus, but she was rescued by her
brothers.
■ From among the suitors, she chose
Menelaus, Agamemnon’s younger
brother.
■ During an absence of Menelaus,
however, Helen fled to Troy with Paris,
son of the Trojan king Priam
3 Facts about Athena: Roman NameMinerva
■ She is goddess of wisdom, courage,
inspiration, civilization, law and
justice, strategic warfare,
mathematics, strength, strategy, the
arts, crafts, and skill.
■ She was the daughter of Zeus; no
mother bore her. She sprang from
Zeus’s head, full-grown and clothed in
armor.
■ Athena turned Medusa’s hair into
snakes.
■ Her sacred animal is an owl.
3 Facts about Aphrodite: Roman NameVenus
■ She is the Goddess of Love and
Beauty, Pleasure, and Fertility.
■ Aphrodite was married to
Hephaestus, but Aphrodite did not
enter into this union of her own
volition.
■ During the Trojan War, Aphrodite
fought on the side of Paris.
■ Her sacred animal was a dove
3 Facts about Hera: Roman Name- Juno
■ Hera is the Queen of the Gods and is
the wife and sister of Zeus.
■ She is known for being the Goddess
of Marriage & Birth.
■ Hera was a jealous wife, and she
fought with Zeus frequently over his
extramarital affairs and illegitimate
children. For this reason, Hera was
known for punishing offending
husbands.
■ Her sacred animals are an Peacock
and a Cow
3 Facts about Poseidon: Roman NameNeptune
■ Poseidon was god of the sea,
earthquakes, storms, and horses.
■ He is considered one of the most
bad-tempered, moody and greedy
Olympian gods.
■ He and Medusa conceived the flying
horse, Pegasus – one of many
mythological creatures.
■ Zeus and Hades were his brothers.
3 Facts about Zeus: Roman NameJupiter
■ Zeus is king of Mount Olympus, the
home of Greek gods.
■ He is a sky god who controls lightning
(often using it as a weapon) and
thunder.
■ Zeus fathered Hercules, the famous
Greek hero, by deception. He
disguised himself as Amphitryon,
Alcmene’s husband, in order to have
sexual relations with her.
■ His sacred animals are the Eagle,
Wolf and Woodpecker
Trojan War:
■
Legendary conflict between the early Greeks and
the people of Troy in western Anatolia, dated by
later Greek authors to the 12th or 13th century B.C.
■
Since the 19th-century rediscovery of the site of
Troy in what is now western Turkey, archaeologists
have uncovered increasing evidence of a kingdom
that peaked and may have been destroyed around
1,180 B.C.
■
Helen’s jilted husband Menelaus convinced his
brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, to lead an
expedition to retrieve her.
■
The siege, punctuated by battles and skirmishes
including the storied deaths of the Trojan prince
Hector and the nearly-invincible Achilles, lasted
more than 10 years until the morning the Greek
armies retreated from their camp, leaving a large
wooden horse outside the gates of Troy.
Trojan Horse:
■ A hollow wooden statue of a horse in
which the Greeks concealed
themselves in order to enter Troy.
■ The horse was built by Epeius, a
master carpenter and pugilist.
■ The Greeks, pretending to desert the
war, sailed to the nearby island of
Tenedos, leaving behind Sinon, who
persuaded the Trojans that the horse
was an offering to Athena (goddess of
war) that would make Troy
impregnable
Agamemnon & Menelaus:
■
Brothers
■
Agamemnon was the king of Mycenae or Argos (different names of the same region), son of King
Atreus and Queen Aerope.
■
Menelaus, who was married to Helen, the main characters that participated in the events leading
to the Trojan War.
■
He was married to Clytemnestra, and had four children; Iphigenia, Orestes, Chrysothemis and
Electra.
■
Agamemnon’s army infuriated the goddess Artemis, who sent a number of misfortunes against
them. The prophet Calchas realized that Artemis’ fury would only be appeased by the sacrifice of
Agamemnon’s daughter Iphigenia.
■
When Agamemnon and Menelaus were still young, they were forced to flee Mycenae, as their
cousin Aegisthus forcibly took possession of the throne, an act that culminated after a long-time
clash between their fathers.
Hector/Paris:
■
Brothers
■
Hector was a prince of Troy in Greek mythology, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba.
■
He was considered the greatest warrior of Troy, but he did not approve of the war that had started between the Greeks
and the Trojans.
■
When he died they dragged his body with his chariot, outside the Trojan gates for twelve days, before he finally accepted
to give it to the Trojans, so they could bury him properly.
■
Paris was the son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy.
■
Before he was born, Hecuba saw a dream in which her child was a flaming torch. The explanation to the dream that was
given by the seer Aesacus was that the yet unborn child would be the doom of Troy.
■
Paris either stole Helen from Menelaus aided by Aphrodite, or Helen had already fallen for him and eloped together.
■
As a result, the expedition to Troy was planned and the Greek forces sailed towards the western coast of Asia, thus
starting the Trojan War.
■
Paris was considered unskilled in battle and a coward. He preferred to use a bow and arrow, which was not the weapon
choice of the brave and the heroes.