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The Iliad
At a wedding on Mt. Olympus, Eris, a goddess of discord, threw a golden apple into the
midst of the party; it was labeled “For The Fairest.”
“It’s Mine!”
“I’m the fairest!”
Hera
Athena
Aphrodite
Zeus appointed Paris, a mortal prince of Troy, to decide which goddess got the apple. All
3 goddesses attempted to bribe Paris:
Hera: “If you choose me, you will have dominion over the whole world.”
Athena: “If you choose me, you will win every battle you ever fight.”
Aphrodite: “If you choose me, I’ll give you the most beautiful mortal in the
whole world as your wife: Helen of Sparta.”
Paris gave the apple to……………Aphrodite
Unfortunately, Helen was already married to Menelaus, King of Sparta.
**Even though Helen chose Menelaus as her husband, all of her other suitors had taken
an oath to always protect her.
Greece
Troy
Sparta
Paris doesn’t care if Helen is married; he goes to Sparta with the intention of kidnapping
Helen. Some versions of the story say Helen falls in love with Paris and willingly goes
with him to Troy. Either way, Paris takes Helen back to Troy with him.
Greece
Troy
Sparta
When Menelaus discovered what Paris had done, he called on his brother, Agamemnon,
King of Mycenae. Some accounts of the story say that Agamemnon had been looking for
an excuse to go to war with Troy, and now he had one. Agamemnon gathered all Helen’s
old suitors, and more than 1,000 ships from over 20 Greek kingdoms met on an island
called Aulis.
Many famous Greeks participated, including
Odysseus
&
Achilles
both tried to get out of fighting,
but eventually they both gave in
and fought
**Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphegenia, is sacrificed so the Greeks can get off of Aulis
Greeks
Trojans
Odysseus
Menelaus
Agamemnon
Achilles
Ajax
King Priam
Queen Hecuba
Hector
Paris
Andromache
After 9 years of fighting, the war was still at a standstill
During the war, the Greek men acquired many things, including wealth and women
Agamemnon’s concubine: Chryseis (a priestess in Apollo’s temple)
Achilles’s concubine: Briseis
Agamemnon was told by an oracle to return Chryseis to her home, and was left without a
concubine. Oh no!
He stole Briseis away from Achilles.
When Agamemnon stole Briseis and refused to return her, Achilles refused to fight in
Agamemnon’s army.
Patroclus, Achilles’s b/f, borrows Achilles’s armor and goes out to fight. Hector,
thinking Achilles has returned to the war, fights and kills Patroclus.
Infuriated by his b/f’s death, Achilles returns to the war. He kills Hector and drags his
body behind his chariot. He circles the Trojan walls 3 times, but eventually returns
Hector’s body to the Trojans for burial.
Paris eventually kills Achilles by shooting him in the back of the foot (Achilles tendon)
with an arrow
Philoctetes (with Hercules’ arrows) shoots and kills Paris
The Greeks are ready to give up. Then Odysseus comes up with a plan…