Download Background on The Trojan War and The Iliad

Background on The Trojan
War and The Iliad
Mr. Hollis
Mythology Class
Background on Troy
Founded by Ilus (hence the name Ilium for
Troy), son of Dardanus (hence the name
Dardanelles)
Dardanus was son of Zeus and Electra (daughter
of Atlas)
Ilus had a son named Laomedon
Laomedon was notorious for his deceit
Apollo and Poseidon became angry with him after
he reneged on promises in regards to their
building Troy’s walls (Poseidon begins to hate the
Trojans)
Background on Troy
Laomedon had a son
named Priam
Had 50 sons with several
wives
Hecuba was mother to
19 sons
Killed at Troy by Achilles’
son Neoptolemus (nee’
op-tol’e-mus) while
hiding behind an altar to
Zeus
• Apollo killed
Neoptolemus for this
Literary Sources for the Trojan War
Most of what is known about the Trojan
War is from many sources.
Homer: The Iliad, The Odyssey
Virgil: The Aeneid
The Epic Cycle: collection of early Greek
epics, artificially arranged from the
beginning of civilization to the end of the
Heroic Age; mostly composed in 7th or 6th
century BCE
Literary Sources for the Trojan War
• Aethiopis (5 books by Homer; deals with
several deaths during the war, including
Memnon the Ethiopian)
• The Little Iliad (4 books by Homer or possibly
others; talks about the Greeks going to reclaim
Philoctetes (fil’ ok-tec’teez) and the entry into
Troy)
• Iliu Persis – The Search for Troy (2 books by
Arctinus or Lesches; talks about the Trojans
debating the horse and Laocoön’s episode)
Literary Sources for the Trojan War
• A theogeny (possibly by Apollodorus)
• Titanomachia (Eumelus)
• Oedipodia (6,600 lines by Cinaethon)
• Thebais (7,000 lines by Homer)
• Epigoni (7,000 lines by Homer; about the sons
of the Seven against Thebes conquering
Thebes)
• Cypria (11 books possibly by Homer; dealt with
the preliminaries of the Trojan War)
• The Iliad (Homer)
Literary Sources for the Trojan War
• Nostoi (5 books by
Homer or others;
refers to the return of
several Greek heroes
and ends with
Agamemnon’s death)
• The Odyssey (26
books by Homer, seen
at right)
• The Telegonia (2
books by Cinaethon)
Notes on Characters from The Iliad
Paris
Considered womanly
because of his prowess with
the bow
Hecuba dreamed that she
would have a child who
would cause Troy’s
destruction – Paris
At left, Himeros (sexual
desire) works on Paris,
causing him to want Helen
Went to Troy to participate
in athletic games and was
exposed as the prince;
Priam welcomed him back
Notes on Characters from The Iliad
Helen
Daughter of Zeus and Leda (Zeus took the
form of a swan; Helen was born in an egg)
Worshiped at Sparta and on Rhodes as a
tree goddess
Homer makes her mortal
Often condemned for her adultery but is
treated with respect by Homer’s The
Odyssey
Notes on Characters from The Iliad
Menelaus was going to
kill her after the final
battle but she exposed
her breasts to him and
he forgave her
One myth has her not
going to Troy; a phantom
Helen took her place; she
was imprisoned in Egypt
where Menelaus soon
rescued her
One myth says she
mimicked the voices of
Greek wives to entice the
Greeks out of the Trojan
Horse
Notes on Characters from The Iliad
Iphigenia (if’i-jinee’uh)
Most myths say that
Artemis replaces
Iphigenia at the last
second with a stag,
thereby saving her
life
Artemis then takes
her to Tauris, in the
Black Sea region
Notes on Characters from The Iliad
She either became a
priestess who
presides over human
sacrifices or Hecate
herself; either way,
Artemis makes her
immortal
Taurians sacrificed
shipwrecked sailors
and Greeks to
Iphigenia, who they
called Parthenos
Notes on Characters from The Iliad
Achilles
Name means “a grief to the army” in
Mycenaean Greek
King of Phthia, in Thessaly; lead the
Myrmidons
Very introspective
• In The Iliad, he says he would rather lead a
peaceful life than pursue glory at Troy; he
knows he will die once he kills Hector.
Notes on Characters from The Iliad
Aeschylus wrote that
Achilles and Patroclus
were lovers
Brought up by Chiron the
centaur, as many heroes
were (Jason, etc.)
Kills Troilus, Priam’s son
• See Shakespeare’s
Troilus and Cressida,
which is not a good
representation of the
Trojan War’s history
Notes on Characters from The Iliad
His ghost demanded
that Polyxena be
killed on his grave.
Some myths say he
tried to marry a
Trojan princess and
gain peace with Troy
behind the Greek’s
backs.
Themes found in The Iliad
The Trojan War was the
most famous Greek
conflict.
The Iliad is perhaps the
most famous literary
work of ancient Greece.
Touches on all the
major themes of Greek
Mythology
Hospitality
Love
Obedience to the gods
Obedience to moral
codes
Fate’s power
Examples of these
themes
• Paris abusing Menelaus’
hospitality
• Achilles’ grief over
Patroclus
• Artemis anger at
Agamemnon
• Agamemnon and
Achilles’ fight
• Gods allow fate to work
(Thetis, Zeus)
Characteristics of The Iliad
This epic explores the complexity of
Greek myths.
Conflicted characters
Harshness of the world
No clear villains like other myths
Both the protagonists and antagonists are
heroic (Achilles and Hector, Priam, etc.)
Characteristics of The Iliad
The Iliad dwells on
the brutality of war,
the world’s cruelty,
and internal
struggle.
The gods act just as
the humans do –
they fight, trick, are
cowardly, brave, etc.