ZeusThe father of the deities, seemed to have realized that the earth was getting terribly crowded. To solve the problem of over population, he devised a great war which would sweep like a conflagration over Greece. This was The Trojan War.

Thetis, a minor goddess, was married to Peleus, a mortal, out of this marriage. Achilles, the greatest warrior was born. Eris, the goddess of mischief and goddess of discord was not invited to the marriage feast, so into the middle of banquet hall she threw a golden apple with this note: To the fairest of the goddess. Each of the beautiful of the goddesses-namely, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite-claimed the golden apple.

A quarrel ensued and father Zeus was asked to decide who was the most beautiful of the three. This placed Zeus in a predicament since Hera was his own wife and Athena and Aphrodite were his own daughters. So he parted the clouds covering Mount Olympus, the dwelling place of the deities, and showed the three goddesses a Prince of Troy named Paris.

THE GOLDEN APLLE

Zeus suggested that the three beauty contestants take their problem to Paris and ask him to decide. The goddesses descended upon the earth, circled Paris by turns, and each proceeded to bribe him so that he would award her the golden apple. Hera promised him power, Athena promised him wisdom; Aphrodite promised that she would give him the most beautiful woman in the world for his wife. Paris awarded the golden apple to Aphrodite.

The Judgement of Paris

Thetis Dipping Achilles in the Styx The sea nymph Thetis is seen dipping her son Achilles in the River Styx to make him immortal. Only the heel by which she holds him remains untouched by the waters and thus vulnerable to injury

The fairiest woman in the world was Helen, the daughter of Zeus and Leda and the sister of Castor and Pollux. When her suitors assembled in her home to make a formal proposal for her hand they were so many and from such powerful families that her reputed father, king Tyndareus, her mother’s husband, was afraid to select one among them, fearing that the others would unite against him. He therefore exacted first a solemn oath from all that they would champion the cause of Helen’s husband, whoever he might be, if any wrong was done to him through his marriage. It was, after all, to each man,s advantage to take the oath, since each was hoping he would be the person chosen, so they all bound themeselves to punish to the uttermost anyone who carried or try to carry Hellen away.

Then Tyndareus chose Menelaus, the brother of Agamemnon, and made him king of Sparta as well. So matters stood when Paris gave the golden apple to Aphrodite. The goddess of love and beauty knew very well where the most beautiful woman on the earth to be found. She led the young shepherd, with never a thought of Oenone left forlom, straight to Sparta, where Menelaus and Helene received him graciously as their guest.

It happened that Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, was already married to Menelaus, king of Sparta. With the help of Aphrodite, Paris abducted Helen took her to troy where she remained until the end of the ensuing Trojan War. This is why she is called Helen of Troy.

The Greeks (Achaians) banded together to restore Helen to Menelaus. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, was their general. Many adventurous Greek heroes joined Greek expeditionary forces. Among them Achilles, the greatest and the bravest of the Greek heroes; Odysseus, the clever and wily warior; Diomedes, the bold one; Nestor, the prudent man; Aias, the giant; and a host of other heroes.

Helen and Paris

The youthful Greek warrior Achilles has just learned from Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, that he will not be allowed to marry Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigenia, shown dressed as a bride and being comforted by her tearful mother, Clytemnestra. To appease the goddess Artemis so that the Greek fleet can sail to Troy, Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter to her.

The story opens with a violent quarrel between Agamemnon, the commander in chief of the Greek army, Achilles, their greatest and bravest warrior. Briseis, a concubine of Achilles, is unjustly taken by Agamemnon and as a result Achilles makes a sacred vow that he will no longer fight.For the duration of most of the pitched battles between the Greeks and the Trojans, Achilles stays sulking in his tent. Because of his absence from the battlefield, The Trojans, led by Prince Hector , make bold advances in the battle and the Greeks are driven back. Their situation rapidly deteriorates until most of the Greek leaders are wounded and are forced to leave the battle. Patroclos, the dear friend of Achilles, saddened by the growing losses of his countrymen, begs Achilles to let him lead Achilles’men, the Myrmidons, to battle if, because of his anger with Agamemnon, Achilles still refuse to fight. Achilles gives him permission.

Briseis and Achilles in a 17th-century book illustration by Wenzel Hollar

Myrmidons

Patroclos, rallies Greeks and succeeds in making the Trojans retreat, but he is killed by Hector, The Trojan Prince who is equal to Achilles in courage and fighting skill. Angered by the death of his comrade, Achilles now enters the fight, routes the Trojans, killing them mercilessly. Filled with the dark passion of revenge, he goes after Hector and slays him. With beastly cruelty, he ties the dead body of Hector to his chariot and drags it round the city of Troy. Achilles resolves to avenge his friend’s death.

Thetis persuades Hephaestus, god of metalworking, to make a beautiful new suit of armor for her son. The ornamentation of the shield is described in detail: It includes civic and rural scenes and dancing figures. Achilles, equipped with his new armor, sallies out and kills many Trojans. He fights the river-god Scamander and finally encounters Hector, who panics and is chased three times by Achilles around the walls of Troy. Achilles overtakes Hector and with the help of Athena kills him remorselessly. He ties Hector’s corpse by the heels to his chariot and drags it exultantly back to the Greek camp, while Priam, Priam’s wife Hecuba, and Andromache, Hector’s devoted wife, bewail Hector’s death.

Achilles came to the battlefield, with new armour and shield from his mother, fashioned by the god Hephaestus. Achilles was determined to seek out and kill Hector in single combat.

ACHILLES

ATHENA

HECTOR

TRIUMPH OF ACHILLES

king Priam ransoms the body of hector

With Hector dead, Achilles knew, as his mother had told him that his own death was near. Prince Memnon of Ethiopia, the son goddess of the Dawn, came to assistance of Troy with a large army and for a time, even though Hector was gone, the Greeks were hard-pressed and lost many a gallant warrior, including swift footed Antilochus, old Nestor’s son. Finally, Achilles killed Memnon in a glorious combat, the Greek heroe’s last battle. There Paris shot an arrow at Achilles and Apollo guided it so that it struck his foot in the one spot where he could be wounded, his heel. Achilles died, and Ajax carried his body out of the battle while Oddysseus held the Trojan back.

The greeks decide Achille’s divine armor should be given to either Odysseus or Ajax, the two greatest Greek warriors remaining. When Odysseus is chosen, Ajax plots revenge, but Athena makes him go crazy. Ajax massacres some cattle, then comes to his senses and, mortified, kills himself.

The prophet Calchas then tells the Greeks that they must capture the Trojan prophet Helenus in order to win. They do so, and Helenus tells them that Troy can only be defeated by the bow and arrows of Hercules. Hercules gave these weapons to Philoctetes, who set out for Troy with Greeks, who abondoned him along the way. Odysseus and a few others set out to apologize and get him back. Philoctetes returns and promptly kills Paris.

The Greeks learn that the Trojans have a sacred image of Athena, the Palladium, that protects them. Odysseus and Diomedes, sneak behind enemy lines and steal it. Yet Troy still has the protection of its gigantic walls, which prevent the Greeks from entering.

Odysseus came up with a plan to get the Greeks into Troy. Under Athena's direction, the Greeks built a gigantic wooden horse with a hollow body. Odysseus and an elite group of Greek warriors hid inside the horse. Their Greek companions took the horse to the city gates and left it there with an inscription explaining it was dedicated to Athena.The Greek army then withdrew from sight, pretending to sail away. The Trojans weren't quite sure what to do with the horse. Some wanted to destroy it. Others wanted to bring it inside, and still others could hardly contain their curiosity.

A raggedly dressed Greek soldier appeared. He said his name was Sinon and that the Greek army had planned to sacrifice him to Athena, but he had escaped. Athena was furious with the Greeks, he explained, because they had stolen the Palladium. As if disclosing a great secret, Sinon told the Trojans that the Greeks had built the great wooden horse as an offering to Athena, but that they'd purposely built it to be too big to fit through the city's gates. The horse would replace the Palladium and bring the Trojans victory.

Most of the Trojans agreed that they should try to get the horse inside the city walls. One man, however, spoke out against the idea. The prophet Laocoon, wary of what the horse would bring, warned the Trojans not to trust the Greeks. To emphasize his point, Laocoon threw his spear at the horse. Just then a huge monster rose up from the sea and devoured Laocoon and his sons.

To the Trojans, Laocoon's death appeared to be a direct result of his attack on the horse. They reasoned that the horse must indeed be an offering to Athena; when Laocoon attacked the horse, she was offended and sent the sea monster to punish him. Athena did send the sea monster to kill Laocoon, but not because he had desecrated her monument — she just wanted to shut him up.

Wooden Horse of Troy According to legend, the Greeks built an enormous wooden horse and hid soldiers inside it toward the end of the Trojan War. The Trojans thought the horse was a gift and brought the horse inside their city walls. Then the Greek soldiers leapt out, opened the city gates, and let in the rest of the Greek army to defeat the Trojans.

The Greek Army, hiding nearby, sweeps into the city and massacres the Trojans. Achilles son kills Priam. Of the major Trojans, only Aeneas escapes, his father on his shoulders and his son holding his hand. All the men are killed, the women and children separated and enslaved.