Background to The Odyssey The Trojan War Background to The Odyssey
Causes of the War: The Fairer Sex The marriage of Peleus and Thetis, mother of Achilles Eris (goddess of discord) not invited, becomes the wedding crasher Throws down the Apple of Discord: “For the Fairest” Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all reach for it. . . .
Causes of the War: The Weaker Sex Zeus appoints Pretty Boy Paris, a Trojan prince, as the judge Enticing party favors are offered: Hera = greatness, power, wealth Athena = prowess in war Aphrodite = the love of the most beautiful woman in the world and the winner is . . .
Aphrodite!
Causes of the War: The Weaker Sex Party favor = Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta Menelaus’ brother = Agamemnon, King of Mycenae Hera and Athena vow revenge against Paris and Troy. . .
Causes of the War: Paris visits Menelaus, and is treated to lavish Greek hospitality Paris then runs off with his host’s wife and other “booty” Paris marries Helen in 1200 B.C.
“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships And burnt the topless towers of Ilium (Troy)?” -Christopher Marlowe Dr. Faustus
Preparation for War: Battlefield of the Gods Achaian (Greek) Side Athena, goddess of wisdom Hera, wife of Zeus Hermes, ambassador to the gods Poseidon, god of the sea Trojan Side Aphrodite, goddess of love Apollo, god of prophecy, light, poetry Ares, god of war Artemis, goddess of the hunt Zeus, sympathetic to the Trojans
Preparation for War: Menelaus Rallies the Troops Long ago, at Odysseus’ request, Helen’s father Tyndareus had made all her suitors swear to support whomever Helen married Menelaus calls on Helen’s old boyfriends to defend her honor However, he encounters some resistance. . .
Preparation for War: Menelaus Rallies the Troops To dodge the draft, Achilles’ mom dresses him up as a girl and hides him with King Lycomedes
Preparation for War: Menelaus Rallies the Troops Odysseus pretends to be insane to dodge the draft: Plows a field sowing salt The gig’s up when Palamedes throws Odysseus’ infant son Telemachus in front of the plow Odysseus later dimes out (exposes!) Achilles
Preparation for War: The Greeks
Preparation for War: Agamemnon Sets Sail Artemis, whom Agamemnon had offended by killing a stag, stills the great king’s sails Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia to make nice, causing marital discord with his wife Clytemnestra First he sails to the wrong place, but that’s another story for another time. . .
Preparation for War: The Trojans
War: The first Nine Years Battles in Troy and neighboring regions for nine years Greeks win lots of spoils, including women
The Iliad: Internal Conflict Homer’s epic begins in the tenth year of the Trojan War Agamemnon steals Achilles’ war prize, Briseis Achilles refuses to fight and withdraws his warriors, the Myrmidons
The Iliad: Endgame The gods take sides, intervening for their favorites Achilles’ pal Patroklos is killed in battle wearing Achilles’ armor Achilles returns and kills Hector, dragging his body around Troy from a chariot The Iliad ends with Achilles’ allowing Hector to be buried.
Apollo guides Paris’ arrow to Achilles’ heel The Fall of Troy Apollo guides Paris’ arrow to Achilles’ heel Ajax and Odysseus fight over Achilles’ armor Odysseus wins the armor and Ajax commits suicide
The Fall of Troy The frustrated Greeks cannot penetrate Troy Odysseus cleverly schemes up the wooden horse Odysseus steals the Palladium, a powerful talisman of Pallas Athena which had ensured Troy’s invincibility Helen recognizes Odysseus but does not betray him
The Fall of Troy Greeks sail away as a decoy, Trojans take in the horse, Greeks slaughter Trojans
The children of Priam and Hector are sacrificed at Achilles’ tomb The Fall of Troy Achilles’ son Neoptolemus kills Priam , whose daughter, the seër Cassandra, is raped at Athena’s altar and becomes Agamemnon’s concubine The children of Priam and Hector are sacrificed at Achilles’ tomb
The Fall of Troy Aeneas, a Trojan prince, escapes (see The Aeneid for the Trojan point of view) Odysseus convinces Philoctetes to kill Paris with a magic arrow Trojan women are divided as plunder Helen’s beauty spares her death
The Fallout of the War The Greeks burn Troy and sail home, meeting various miserable fates themselves Angered about Iphigenia’s death, Clytemnestra cozies up to Aegisthus, who kills Agamemnon upon his return Orestes murders his mother and her lover to avenge his father’s death
The Fallout of the War After another ten years Telemachus laments that his father Odysseus has not returned home. . . .
Legendary city built under Zeus’ protection Troy: Myth or Reality? Legendary city built under Zeus’ protection Huge protective wall built with divine aid of Poseidon Trojans refused to pay tribute to Poseidon, who withdrew his protection
Modern-day Turkey Dardanelles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Map_of_Lydia_ancient_times.jpg)
Troy: Myth or Reality? Heinrich Schliemann (19th cent.) uncovered nine successive cities on the same site in modern-day Turkey Schliemann declared the second level Priam’s Troy (aka Ilium), a burnt city Greeks may have wanted control of the Hellespont Strait (Dardanelles) for access to the Black Sea The archaeological dig is still active but inconclusive
Archaeological Site: Troy II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Plan_Troy-Hisarlik-en.svg)
Works Cited “Archaeological Plan of Hisarlik.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Plan_Troy-Hisarlik-en.svg. “Map of Troy.” http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Image:Map_of_Lydia_ancient_times. jpg.