Download The Trojan War Written by Homer in the 8th century B.C.

The Trojan War
Written by Homer in the 8th century B.C.
Marissa Koscielski
Tes Pairitz
Allison Ketcham
Bridget VerVaet
Homer
• Born 800 B.C. in Greece
• Died 750 B.C.
• Wrote the two great epic stories of Greek
history
– Iliad (the Trojan War ended this story)
– Odyssey
• Cited as the starting point of Western
literary and historical tradition
• Stories were very vivid and concrete
Background of the Trojan War
• Often described by scholars as a romantic
war
• The end of this story is the end of the Iliad
• Greek gods played a key role in this story
• The Odyssey and the Iliad are highly
influenced by the Trojan War
Outline of the Story
•
Troy- city eastern end of the
Mediterranean
– Very powerful and very rich
•
The most beautiful goddess
– Eris (goddess of discord) wasn’t invited to a
feast and became resentful
•
•
Sent an apple of gold that said “For the Fairest”
Zues was told to choose between Hera, Athena,
and Aphrodite
Outline cont.
• Didn’t want to choose so he left the job to Paris
(Alexander)
• Paris was prince of Troy but had been sent away
because it was said he’d be Troy’s downfall
– The goddess bribed him with gifts
• Hera: promised to make him Lord of Europe
• Athena: promised he would lead the Trojans to
victory against the Greeks and leave Greece in
ruins
• Aphrodite: the fairest woman in all the world
– Paris chose Aphrodite
Outline cont.
• He got Helen, Zeus’s daughter, sister of Castor
and Pollux
• King Tyndareus (her mom’s husband) didn’t
choose a man in fear of mutiny, but ended up
choosing Menelaus
• Aphrodite led Paris to her and stole her away
• The heroes
– Odysseus, King of Ithaca
• Very sensible
• Didn’t want to go, so he tried to act insane; didn’t
work so he had to go
Outline cont.
– Achilles
• Wore women’s clothes to hide
• Odysseus figured him out so her had to come
– A fleet of a thousand ships met at Aulis
• Artemis was angry they had killed one of her hares
and the winds were bad
• Sacrificed Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigenia, and
the winds calmed
– They got to Simois and Protesilaus jumped
out first
• He died first and Hermes took his soul to see his
wife who killed herself to be with him
Outline cont.
• The gods
– Apollo got mad and shot flaming arrows at the
Greeks
– Hera, Athena, and Poseidon were for the
Greeks
– Aphrodite, Ares, Apollo, and Artemis were for
the Trojans
– Zeus stayed neutral but favored Troy
• The fighting
– Menelaus and Paris fought it out in front of
Hera but Paris fled and was taken by
Aphrodite to a safe place
Outline cont.
– Hera distracted Zeus and Troy fell back as the
Greeks advanced
– Apollo revived Hector (Trojan)
– Patroclus was killed by Hector
– Achilles killed Hector
• Tied his body to the back of a chariot and rode
around
• The funeral of Hector ends the Iliad
Themes of the Story
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Love
Hate
Anger
War
Triumph
Sadness
Disappointment
Works Cited
• "Homer." answers.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2
Mar 2011.
<http://www.answers.com/topic/homer>.
• ("Horizon Book of Ancient Greece" )
• LastScholasticus K, . "Facts About the
Trojan War." buzzle.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2
Mar 2011.
<http://www.buzzle.com/articles/factsabout-the-trojan-war.html>.