The Iliad vs. The Trojan War

The Trojan War in Greek legend, famous war waged by the Greeks against the city of Troy The tradition is believed to reflect a real war between the Greeks of the late Mycenaean period and the inhabitants of the Troad, or Troas, in Anatolia, part of present-day Turkey

Trojan War cont. Legendary accounts of the war traced its origin to a golden apple, inscribed “for the fairest” and thrown by Eris, goddess of discord, among the heavenly guests at the wedding of Peleus, the ruler of Myrmidons, and Thetis, one of the Nereids Helen went with Paris to Troy After the Trojans refused to restore Helen to Menelaus, the Greek warriors assembled at the Bay of Aulis and proceeded to Troy in 1000 ships

Trojan Horse in Greek legend, a huge, hollow wooden horse used by the attacking Greeks to gain entrance to the city of Troy, thus ending the Trojan War They sailed away and left the horse, filled with armed warriors, on the shore. Sinon, a Greek spy, persuaded the Trojans to take the horse into the city, convincing them that to do so would mysteriously make Troy invulnerable

The Iliad Written by Homer, also wrote the Odyssey The Iliad is set in the final year of the TROJAN WAR, which forms the background for its central plot, the story of the wrath of the Greek hero Achilles Achilles rejects the Greeks’ attempts at reconciliation, but he finally relents to some extent, allowing his companion Patroclus to lead his troops in his place

The Iliad cont. Patroclus is slain, and Achilles, filled with fury and remorse, turns his wrath against the Trojans, whose leader, Hector (son of King Priam), he kills in single combat The poem closes as Achilles surrenders the corpse of Hector to Priam for burial, recognizing a certain kinship with the Trojan king as they both face the tragedies of mortality and bereavement

The End