Download The Trojan War!

The Trojan War!
Short is my date, but deathless my
renown.
-Homer, The Iliad
Background
The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis
• Goddess of discord—Eris—not invited
• Eris crashes the wedding, tosses out a golden
apple inscribed “To the Fairest”
• 3 goddesses claim it
– Hera
– Athena
– Aphrodite
– Zeus is having no part of this; sends them to Mt.
Ida for Paris to decide
The Judgment of Paris
• Paris is a prince of Troy, Priam’s son
• Priam sent Paris to herd sheep in Mt. Ida: a
prophecy says Paris will be the ruin of Troy
• The 3 goddesses arrive and offer bribes
– Athena: will make him lord of Europe and Asia
– Hera: will give him victory over Greece
– Aphrodite: will give him the most beautiful woman in
the world
• Paris is weak and a coward: he picks Aphrodite
The Capture of Helen
• Helen is the most beautiful woman in the world
– Daughter of Zeus and Leda (swan story!)
– So beautiful Theseus tried to kidnap her as a child
– Every prince in Greece wanted her: she’s gorgeous,
and her husband will get to be king of Sparta
– Her father, makes her masses of suitors swear to
champion Helen’s husband, no matter who is picked
– The suitors agree to unite and punish anyone who
might kidnap Helen
– Menelaus is chosen
Congratulations! Paris visits Sparta
• Paris goes to Sparta to visit as guest of
Menelaus and Helen
– Menelaus goes to Crete, trusting Paris in Sparta
– Paris likes Helen and runs away with her.
Preparations for War
Chieftains rush to join, all but two:
1. Odysseus, King of Ithaca
1. Doesn’t want to leave his family
2. Feigns madness; plows a field and sows it with
salt
3. Greek messenger puts Odysseus’s son in the
plow’s way
4. Odysseus turns the plow, proving he’s sane
5. It’s off to the army for him!
Who’d have thought?
The other chieftain who doesn’t want to go to war is
none other than Achilles!
1. Thetis, his mother, knows he’ll die if he goes to Troy.
2. Thetis hides him at the court of Lycomedes, disguising
him as a girl.
3. Odysseus is sent to find him.
4. Odysseus dresses as a peddler, and happens to bring
weapons with him.
5. One “girl” really digs the weapons; when a fake battle
cry is issued, “she” reveals herself: It’s Achilles!
6. It’s off to the army for him!
It’s on!
• No one messes with a Spartan woman!
• 1000 ships set sail for Troy.
• “Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?”
-Christopher Marlowe
“Is this the reason the Greeks sacked Troy?”
-William Shakespeare
The War
Royal Family of Troy
1.
2.
3.
4.
King: Priam
a. old
b. has 50 sons
Queen: Hecuba (not the mother of all 50 sons, just 17 or so)
Paris (we’ve met him; we’re not impressed)
Hector (now we’re impressed)
a. the greatest warrior in Troy
b. Priam’s noblest son
c. The only prince of Troy NOT to develop the hots for
Helen
d. The only one to be nice to Helen when everyone is
tired of a 10 year war
The Best of the Greeks
1. Achilles
a. immortal except his heel (mom dipped
him in the Styx for immortality,
missed the heel—oops!)
b. golden armor
c. greatest Greek warrior
2. Agamemnon
a. King of Mycenae
b. Leader of the Greeks
c. bossy, proud, unreasonable
More Best of the Greeks
3. Menelaus
a.
b.
c.
4. Odysseus
a.
b.
King of Sparta
Helen’s husband
Agamemnon’s brother
King of Ithaca
Crafty, the smartest hero
More Greeks
5.
6.
Ajax
a. crazy strong
b. fiercest warrior
Protesilaus (he’s up for honorable mention)
a. first to land on shores of Troy
b. Why is this a big deal? A prophecy said
the 1st to land would be 1st to die
Woman Trouble
1. Battle has raged 9 years with no victor
a. Iliad begins in the 10th year of the war
b. this is a literary technique known as in
medias res
2.
Achilles and Agamemnon butt heads over
captive women: Chryseis and Briseis.
Chryseis
a. Agamemnon captured her
b. Her dad is a priest of Apollo, and he begs her
release
c. Agamemnon refuses
d. Divine retribution: Apollo rains down arrows of
fatal sickness on Greeks
e. Achilles calls a conference and brings in
Calchas, a soothsayer
f. The verdict: Chryseis must be returned
g. Agamemnon’s pride is wounded, he is furious
Briseis
a. Achilles captured her
b. When forced to give up Chryseis,
Agamemnon takes Briseis from Achilles
c.
Achilles is furious: he drops out of the war,
stays in his tent
d.
Greeks begin to lose the war
The Gods Take Sides!
1. Lining up for the Trojans
a. Aphrodite: Paris picked her
b. Ares: always sides with Aphrodite
c. Apollo: fond of Hector, angry with
the Greeks over Chryseis
d. Artemis: always sides with her twin
e. Zeus: supposed to be neutral, but
favors Troy anyway
The Greeks Take Sides!
On the Greek side:
a. Hera: woman scorned syndrome
b. Athena
c. Poseidon: Greeks are a seagoing culture
Thetis pushes Zeus to help Troy
a.
Greeks can’t win without Achilles
b.
Zeus sends Agamemnon a lying dream, telling
him to attack
c.
fierce battle ensues
Menelaus v. Paris
It’s on!
• There is a clearing in the battle, and the two are
left to fight!
• Just when it looks like Menelaus will drag Paris
off, Aphrodite intervenes and takes Paris away!
• Menelaus hunts Paris among the Trojans. They
want to give him up but can’t find him.
• Agamemnon says Menelaus won, so Helen
should be returned
• Athena tricks a Trojan into breaking a truce, and
the battle is on again!
Awww…
• Hector prepares for battle; he knows he’s
going to die.
• He says goodbye to his wife, Andromache, and
baby son, Astyanax.
• Astyanax is afraid of Hector’s armor, so he
removes his helmet and says goodbye.
Achilles v. Hector
•
•
Earlier in battle, Hector killed Patroclus, one of Achilles’ few friends. Needless to
say, Achilles flips out.
Achilles gets new armor from Thetis—magical, that can’t be pierced
1. Hector wears the armor he took from Patroclus’ body
2. Hector waits for Achilles, sees him coming, radiant and godlike, and starts
running
3. Hector can’t quite outrun Achilles, but Achilles can’t catch him, either
4. Fate isn’t with Hector
a. Apollo has been helping Hector, something Zeus has
approved
b. Athena warns Zeus to back off, as fate is against Hector
c. Apollo must leave Hector’s side
5. Hector finally stops to fight, fooled by Athena, who takes the form of a
brother and promises to help him fight Achilles
6. Hector suddenly finds himself alone, facing Achilles, who is helped by Athena.
7. Achilles aims his spear at an opening in the throat of Hector’s armor, kills him.
Achilles Breaks the Rules
1. Hector, dying, asks that his body be returned to his parents;
Achilles refuses
2. Achilles ties Hector’s body (by the ankles) to his chariot &
drags it around Troy
3. Most gods are massively displeased: you never, EVER violate
the dead
4. Priam goes to Achilles to beg for his son’s body
5. Achilles is touched, has the body bathed & covered, and
returns it
6. Nine days truce for funeral rites
The Fall of Troy
Achilles’ Last Battle
1.
kills Memnon of Ethiopia (he was helping
Troy with an army)
2. drives Trojans back to the city walls
3. Paris shoots Achilles in that vulnerable
heel—kills him (his bones are laid with
those of Patroclus)
The Death of Ajax
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Two heroes are nominated to receive the arms of Achilles:
Ajax and Odysseus
In a secret vote, Odysseus wins—it’s a huge honor
Ajax feels disgraced, plans to kill Agamemnon &
Menelaus—he blames them for turning the vote against him
(he’s right)
Ajax pursues them by night; Athena strikes him mad—he
thinks a flock of sheep are the Greeks; thinks a ram is
Odysseus & beats it up
On regaining his senses, he’s humiliated and kills himself
The Arms of Hercules
1. Greeks are discouraged and grab a prophet, Helenus. He says:
a. Greeks can’t win unless they kill Paris
b. Only the bow and arrows of Hercules can kill Paris
2. Philoctetes has them
a. Philoctetes was with the Greeks on the way to Troy
b. On an island, he was bitten by a serpent and the wound would not heal
c.
The Greeks left him there
3. Odysseus goes back for the weapons
a. First, he steals them
b. Guilt: he gets Philoctetes, takes him to Troy and a Greek doctor
4. Healed, Philoctetes joins the battle, kills Paris with Hercules’s arrows
• Greeks have to steal the Palladium (sacred image of Athena) in order to win—
Odysseus is their man
The Trojan Horse
• Odysseus thinks up the Trojan Horse. It’s hollow, and
bit enough to hold a number of men who fill it.
• Greeks not in the Horse pretend to sail away.
• Trojans are thrilled at their departure and rush to the
beach.
• Sinon is one Greek who was left with a story to tell
the Trojans, that the horse is an offering to Athena,
meant to be given to the Trojans, but it’s so big that
they can’t take it inside, so the plan is to leave it
outside the city walls. Heh…heh…
Sigh…
• Sigh . . .
– The Trojans take the horse into the city
– At night, soldiers sneak out and let the whole
Greek army into the city
– Troy is burning before the Trojans are even
dressed
– Trojans fight hard: they tear up roofs & throw
beams on Greeks; put on dead Greeks’ armor to
trap more Greeks.
– The Greeks win
Where are they now??
Priam: was spared by Achilles, but
Neoptolemuskills him.
Helen: Aphrodite helps her out of the city. She
goes back to Menelaus, and they live happily
ever after (irony! Irony!).
Andromache
1. a captive, to be a slave to a Greek warrior
2. hopes to keep her baby, but that’s not how it’s done
3. messenger arrives, advises her to be brave and not to
blame him
4. baby is taken and thrown from the walls of the city, like all
the other babies
Agamemnon: Takes a woman (Cassandra)
captive and returns to Mycenae with her. She
warns Agamemnon of impending doom, but is
ignored. When they arrive, his wife,
Clytemnestra is waiting (with a lover,
Aegisthus), and murders Agamemnon and his
little hussy too!