The Trojan War

THE TROJAN WAR

Mohammed Miah Simran Pabla Lawrence Chang Nathaniel Greene Benjamin Bernn Nabilah Kamal

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The Trojan war was originally caused by a conflict between Hera, Athena and  Aphrodite. It happened when Eris was not invited to the party that was being held and so she brought a golden apple and said it was for the most beautiful goddess. Zeus told Hermes to tell the three gods to go to Paris because he was a very good judge of beauty. Paris did not actually judge on the gods beauty, but on the bribes they were giving him. Aphrodite won the apple and gave Paris the daughter of the Greeks, Helen. Helen was supposed to marry another man though, so when Paris went to meet Helen and her husband was out of town, Paris took Helen with him, and when the Greeks found out they assembled a group of men, including Achilles and Odysseus, to sail to Troy to find Helen. Troy was difficult to find and there were many problems in trying to sail to Troy. They were unable to do it at first, but they found Teuthranians and in believing that it was Troy they attacked them. Telephus was injured and  the only way he could have been healed was by Achilles. Telephus gave the Greeks the location of Troy. When they tried to attack Troy, they couldn’t break through their wall. Achilles had been defeated by Paris and Patroclus had also died. A prophet told the Greeks how to win and in the end Odysseus came up with a plan to get into the walls of Troy. They created a wooden horses and hid inside. The Trojans thought it was a gift from the gods and brought it into the city. Then at nighttime when everyone was drunk from celebrating or asleep, the Greeks slaughtered everyone. When the Greeks left Troy they encountered even more problems then they had when leaving Greece.

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Paris (also known as Alexander) was the son of the King of Troy, but a prophecy was told saying that Paris would cause the downfall of Troy, so his parents Hecuba and Priam left him to raise himself in Mount Ida, where he lived with the nymph Oeone. He did in a way still did cause Troy’s destruction. He would have been killed by Menelaus, but was spirited away by Aphrodite, since it was partly her fault that Paris was about to die, but he did kill Achilles with the help of Apollo. Helen was most fairest woman in the world and was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. Every prince wanted to marry her, but since she could only choose one, her “father” King Tyndareus, married her to Menelaus. She was kidnapped by Paris and in the end she was reunited with Menelaus. Menelaus was the King of Sparta and the husband of Helen. He fought against the Trojans and was very clever. He found Odysseus and he was a great fighter. He would have killed Paris, but Paris was spirited away. Odysseus was the King of Island of Ithaca, but he did not want to join the army, like many other kings. So when Menelaus came to recruit Odysseus, he pretended to be insane and just plowed through fields. Menelaus was clever though and put Odysseus’s son in front of the plow, which made him stop and Menelaus knew he was not insane, so Odysseus had to join the army. Odysseus was very wise and he thought of many plans that helped the Greeks attain victory. Achilles was the son of Thetis, a sea nymph with the ability to foretell the future, and Peleus. His mother did not want him to join the army or die, so she dipped him into the River Styx to make him invincible, but held him by the heel leaving his heel vulnerable. Then she disguised him as a girl and sent him to live in the court of Lycomedes. Odysseus was the one to find him out and he then joined the army. Throughout the myth Achilles is brave and he is also caring and passionate about his friends. He was also very vengeful, because he killed many of the Trojans that killed his friends and fellow Greeks.

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Agamemnon was the leader of the Greek troops and he was the father of Iphigenia. A prophet told him that he had to sacrifice his daughter in order to stop the winds that prevented them from sailing to Troy. He did not actually want to, but since he was the leader he had to be strong and he sacrificed her to the gods. The winds finally die down and they are ready to set sail. Ajax and Diomedes were the greatest of the Greek fighters after Achilles. They helped killed many Trojans and Diomedes even attempted to wound the god Aphrodite, when she tried to save her son Aeneas. Diomedes also wounded the war god Ares with a spear and the help of Athena. Ajax fought and was about to wound Hector, who was the greatest hero of the Troy's. Aeneas was best and the bravest next to Hector in the Trojan Army and was the son of Aphrodite. He fought and killed many Greeks, but was about to die in the hands of Diomedes and if it had not been for the gods, he would have died. After Aphrodite failed to save him, Apollo took him to a special place in Mount Olympus, where Artemis healed him. Hector was the greatest hero of the Trojans and was married to Andromache. He, like many other heroes in the Trojan War was very brave and risked his life for Troy. He continued to fight and not be a coward. He was also gentle with the people close to him and very passionate about his family. He fought onwards, even into the Greek ranks, but was hurled to the ground by Ajax, but was saved by Aeneas. He was not lucky the next time he was caught in a one on one battle with Achilles.

Gods are jealous -Both Athena and Hera were jealous of Aphrodite being given the apple & quote; of the fairest & quote;.  They present human qualities. Gods also often disagree -The gods often disagreed on many of the issues that concerned the Trojan War. For example, during the decision of whether or not was Hector to die, the gods were divided. At the end a decision was reached by 'golden balances' that Zeus hung,  on which Hectors side was heavier than that of Achilles. So he was the one to die. Both sides suffer in a war emotionally -The families of both The Trojans and the Greeks suffered. Many wives were turned into widows and many children into orphans. The parent of those who fought also suffered; for example the mother of Achilles, Thetis, was heart-stricken with grief and warned her son not to fight in the battle because she knew he was to die also. Wars are often influenced by personal feelings: -Hera and Athena aided the Greeks throughout the war because of their hatred of the Trojans due to “The Judgment of Paris “.The war could have ended when Paris was taken by Apollo and Menelaus was declared the winner had it not been for Athena's interference. She persuaded one of the Trojan soldiers to throw an arrow at Menelaus which again started the war. Some warriors are cowards:  -Paris portrays his cowardliness in throughout  The Trojan War. One way by which he does so, is by stealing Helen  while Menelaus is away because he did not want to face Menelaus. However, when the time did come for him to face Menelaus, he barely fought, and just simply  threw his spear. At the end he was rescued by Aphrodite, protecting him furthermore. Gods often play a big role in the lives of the people:  -Throughout the course of the war, the Gods chose sides. In picking their sides, they aided them side and led them to different victories. Not all Gods are Brave and strong:  -Aphrodite, the goddesses love and beauty, showed her cowardliness when she came to save her wounded son, the prince Aeneas. As she picked him up, she was wounded by Diomedes, who knew of her weakness. After being wounded she quickly left, leaving her son behind.

• In this myth, there are many examples of humanism and there are many heroic characteristics. • Humanism is portrayed by the gods because in the myths there are many parts where the gods are jealous of each other and they can become sad or cowardly. The gods can even become wounded. The themes in this myth are: • Fate and Pride • Danger of Arrogance • Rewards for Good • Punishments for Bad • Love, Passion, Sorrow and Betrayal • Heroes Quest • Destiny

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Fate and Pride are shown in this myth because the heroes believe that their side will win and how certain people end up fighting and dying. The Dangers of being Arrogant are shown in this myth because all the goddess think they are the fairest and because of it Troy was burned down and many people were killed, Rewards for the Good and Punishment for the Bad is shown because the gods helped different sides and when ever anyone disrespected the gods, they ended up very badly. Love, Passion, Sorrow and Betrayal are all shown in this myth because it is because of the love for Helen, Paris stole her, which caused the Greeks to attack Troy. In addition, the heroes were very sad to leave their family and mourned for the dead, and the gods also tried to help their children in the war showing love towards them. Betrayal is shown because Paris leaves Oeone for Helen and when he needs her help, she refuses. The is are many different prophecies in the myth including that Paris will lead to the destruction of Troy and that Troy will not fall unless the Greeks steal the sacred image of Athena. This shows that certain people and things have a destiny that is laid out for them and it will occur no matter what, even if it not the way you would think it would happen.

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Judgment of Paris; Origins of the Trojan War 3.2: “For one of the reasons Eris threw in an apple as a beauty prize for Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. Zeus ordered Hermes to take them to Alexander on Mount Ida so that they could be judged by him. The goddesses promised to give Alexander gifts: Hera, if she were chosen the most beautiful of all, promised him kingship over everyone; Athena promised victory in war; and Aphrodite promised marriage to Helen. He chose Aphrodite and sailed off to Sparta after Phereclos built his ships.” 5.9: “After Alexander’s death Helenos and Deiphobos had a quarrel over who would marry Helen. When Deiphobos was chosen the winner, Helenos left Troy to live on Mount Ida. Calchas said that Helenos knew the oracles that were protecting the city, so Odysseus captured him in an ambush, then brought him to camp.” These quotes show how love can be extremely dangerous and it will continue on to be dangerous. Also, it shows how the gods are conceited and want to be “Fairest” of all gods. These quotes are important because they explain the reason the war began. They also shows how gods work with humans to do things and that humans and gods act alike.

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Did you know...? After the Trojans were defeated, the Greeks took almost as long to get home as the war lasted. When Troy was burning down desperate soldiers tore up the roofs and hurled the beams down to the Greeks. After the war, Polyxena, daughter of Priam, was sacrificed at the tomb of Achilles and Astyanax. The surviving Trojan women were divided among the Greek men along with the money stolen.

• To what extent was the Trojan war caused by the Gods of Olympus? • In what ways were the Trojan horses the cause of the Greeks winning the war? • Why did the Gods feel that they should interfere with the Trojan War? • From both Armies, the Greek and Troy, who was the most heroic?