The Trojan War and The Iliad as an introduction to The Odyssey Menelaus Paris Diomedes Odysseus Nestor Achilles Agamemnon

Setting of The Iliad –Ancient Troy (Homer’s “Ilium”), which is now Turkey –1187 BCE official date of the end of the Trojan War – the last year of the 10-year Trojan War

Odysseus’s journey in order of his adventures

Heroic Age and the Age of Normal Human History 1250 B.C.E. –Functioned as the dividing line between the “heroic” age and the age of normal human history –“liminal” or mediating event in history as it looks back to myth but also forward to human history

Mycenaean Greek Civilization B.C. Much richer and more advanced than Homer’s age (750 B.C.) Hunters and warriors Small kingdoms, each with its own king –One kingdom had walls 23 ft. thick –Strong, aggressive kings know nothing of their myths family and hospitality were important.

Mycenaean Artifacts A gold ring from Tiryns, ca.1400 BCE

The Trojan War--most famous classical myth Homer’s Iliad is just one episode of this myth—approximately the last year of the 10-year battle. Homer—the blind poet Homer Simpson

The Trojan War is the most fruitful of all classical myths The Iliad The Aethiopis The Odyssey The House of Atreus The Aeneid Greek Tragedies Odysseus’s big mistake

The story is simple, but the topics are complex Birth of Achilles The Apple of Discord Judgment of Paris Story of Helen’s abduction Story of the family of Agamemnon and Menelaus Odysseus’ wanderings Achilles mosaic

The Trojan War’s storyline: 1.The Trojan prince Paris abducts the most beautiful woman in the world, a Greek, Helen. 2.Menelaus, Helen’s husband, and his brother Agamemnon, gather a Greek army to go to Troy and fight for Helen’s return. 3.The evenly balanced armies fight for 10 years. 4.The greatest Trojan warrior, Hector, is killed by the greatest Greek warrior, Achilles, who is then killed by Paris. 5.The Greeks use trickery in the form of the Trojan Horse (invented by Odysseus) and sack Troy.

The relationships between the gods’ orders, individual responsibility, and fate The Trojan War was sanctioned and justified on both sides by the gods, so both sides could claim they were acting to please the gods This does not undo the horrible wrongdoings of individuals on both sides. Add the ancients’ idea of fate, and the theme becomes quite complicated. The Sack of Troy