Homer & The Trojan War

Creative Writing IVClassical Antiquity

What is Classical Antiquity?

• a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome

• Lasted between 8th centuries BC to the rise of Neo-Classicism in 7th centuries AD

• The largest time span to tell the history of the beginning

Homer

• Not much is known about him personally other than said to have been blind and lived in Ionia (present day Turkey)

• Created two of the most well known epic poems, The Illiad & The Odyssey

• Some believe he id not write them due to different sytles

Some Features of Homer’s Style• Special formulaic language of the aoidos (oral

epic poet) such as fixed and recurring epithets (a metaphor that glorified a name) and type scenes

• Exaggerated, leisurely pace of story-telling• Dislike of suspense• Fondness for lists (genealogies, catalogues), may

derive from an oral way of organizing information• Similes - far more common in The Iliad than The

Odyssey; a way of stopping the action, commenting on it, enriching or judging it.

Homeric Similes

Motif

• Any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story.

• Homer use them in an interesting way so make note of it when it happens.

The Iliad• The Iliad starts nine years

into the Trojan War• The Trojan War took place

in Troy which is in the northwest corner of what we now call the Republic of Turkey

Peleus and Thetis’ Wedding• Peleus was a mortal man.• Thetis was a sea nymph and the daughter of Zeus.• Peleus had been on many adventures and had

already been married, but things went sour when he accidentally killed his father-in-law.

• He saw Thetis, fell in love with her, and tried to kidnap her.

• She managed to fight him off with a snake until he eventually won her over.

Peleus and Thetis’

Wedding

• With Zeus’ consent, all the famous mortals, gods, and goddess attended

• Eris, the goddess of strife was not invited & therefore insulted

A Golden Apple

• Eris tossed a golden apple onto the dance floor.

• On the apple were the words, “To the fairest.”

• The golden apple was a serious party killer. Who was the most beautiful?

To the fairest

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Who is the fairest of them all?

The competition was between:Athena – Zeus’ daughter and a real daddy’s

girlHera – Zeus’ wife and Queen of the GodsAphrodite – The Goddess of LoveThey asked Zeus, as the King of the Gods, to

award the prize

The Judgment of Paris

• Zeus gave the task to Paris, son of Priam, the King of Troy.

• Zeus knew that Troy was fated to be destroyed because of Apollo and Poseidon (They tried to over through Zeus).

• Paris was the “torch to set the whole city on fire.”

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Paris’ Ill-fated ChoiceAthena offered him

victory in warHera offered him

power over nationsAphrodite offered

him the most beautiful woman in the world

What would you choose?

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Helen of Troy• Paris accepted Aphrodite’s

offer • He then learned that the

most beautiful girl in the world was ALREADY MARRIED

• She was Helen, daughter of Leda and Zeus

• She was married to Menelaus, king of Sparta

• Paris decided to visit Menelaus under false pretenses then basically kidnapped Helen.

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Troy in Trouble

• When Menelaus discovered that his wife was kidnapped, he ran to his brother Agamemnon who agreed to get help wage war to get Helen back

• Helen is known as the “face that launched a thousand ships”

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Clever Odysseus!• Odysseus tried to get out of joining Agamemnon

and Menelaus in their fight for Helen by pretending to be crazy.

• Thetis (whose wedding started all this) tried to get her son Achilles out of fighting as well but he still ended up fighting...and so The Iliad Begins

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