Judgment of Paris, Helen of Troy, Start of the Trojan war, and the Trojan Horse

Judgment of Paris

It all begins at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis It all begins at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. All the gods were invited to this event accept Eris, the goddess of discord. When she appeared at the wedding, she was kicked out and in her anger cast a golden apple among the assembled goddesses addressed “to the fairest.” Three goddesses said they all claimed the apple--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. Zeus was asked to intercede and he told Hermes to take the three goddesses to Paris of Troy to come to a decision about the issue. The three goddess appeared before the prince and each offered him some sort of gift He finally chose Aphrodite. She convinced him by her promise to give him Helene, the most beautiful woman, for a wife. Her abduction then led to the Trojan War and the fall of the city.

Helen of Troy

Abduction By Theseus She was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. Although by some accounts, her mother was not Leada, its Nemesis. Athenians, Theseus and Pirithous pledged to wed the daughters of Zeus. Theseus picked Helen and Pinthous chose to marry Persephone, the wife of Hades. Theseus and Pirithous kidnapped Helen and put her with Theseus’ mother Aethra, while they traveled to the underworld to kidnap Persephone. Hades pretended to offer them kindness and set a feast for them. As soon as they sat down, snakes coiled around their feet and held them there. Helen was later rescued by her brothers, Castor and Pollux, who then returned her to Sparta.

Marriage to Menelaus When the time came for Helen to marry someone, many kings and princes came from around the world to marry her. All of the kings and princes came and they brought many rich gifts with them, with the exception of Odysseus. Helen’s father, Tyndareus would not chose a person to marry her daughter, but he would not send a person away either because he didn’t want to offend them or give them a reason to fight. Odysseus promised to solve the problem if Tyndareus would support him in his courting of Penelope, the daughter of Lcarius. Tyndareus agreed and Odysseus said that, before the decision was made, all the people should swear a most solemn oath to defend the chosen husband against whoever should fight him. This trick succeeded and Helen and Menelaus were married. Following Tyndareus' death, Menelaus became king of Sparta because the only male heirs, Castor and Pollux and Castor, had died and ascended to Olympus.

Start of the Trojan War

The Trojan war started when Menelaus' wife Helen was kidnapped by Paris of Troy. Menelaus assembled 1,000 ships to sail for Troy. However, finding Troy proved difficult. When Telephus sustained an unknown wound, an oracle told him only Achilles could cure the wound. In exchange for healing his wound, Telephus told Achilles the way to Troy. When King Priam refused negotiations with the Trojans, Menelaus sailed his 1,000 ships to Troy. The Greeks enslaved many Trojan heroes including Prince Hector and also defeated many of Troy’s armies, but the walls of Troy could not be breached by the Greeks.

The Trojan Horse

Menelaus and Odysseus then ordered that a giant horse be built with hollow insides for soldiers to hide in. They left one soldier Sinon behind to deceive the Trojans. When the Trojans came to marvel at the giant horse, Sinon pretended to be angry at the Greeks for deserting him and told the Trojans that the horse was safe and would bring them good luck. The Trojans celebrated their believed victory and dragged the horse to Troy with Sinon as well. While the Trojans slept, Sinon released the Greek soldiers from the horse and they began killing the Trojans. Priam was killed while hiding next to the statue of Zeus and the Greeks won the war with the burning of Troy.

Works Cited List Atsma, Aaron J. Judgmet of Paris. 1 Mar. 2009 <http://www.theoi.com/‌Olympios/‌JudgementParis.html>. Hamilton, Patricia. Helen of Troy. 1 Mar. 2009 <http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/‌imageswomen/‌papers/‌hamiltonhelen/‌helenoftroy.html>. Mortal Woman of the Trojan War. 1 Mar. 2009 <http://www.stanford.edu/‌~plomio/‌history.html>. Speculations about the History That Lies behind Some of the Famous Legends. 1 Mar. 2009 <http://mmtaylor.net/‌Holiday2000/‌Legends/‌trojan.war.html>.