Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Castor and Pollux wikipedia , lookup
Greek mythology in popular culture wikipedia , lookup
The Penelopiad wikipedia , lookup
The God Beneath the Sea wikipedia , lookup
The World's Desire wikipedia , lookup
Geography of the Odyssey wikipedia , lookup
Troy series: Characters wikipedia , lookup
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.