The Iliad
Epic Hero Characteristics Superhuman strength Craftiness; intelligence Confidence Helped by gods (luck?) Ideals and values of culture Victorious from perilous situations
Homer’s Iliad Homer is said to be the first teller of adventures of all times. He was not the first author because in his day stories were passed down---they were told. Written version is approximately 3000 years old! He was a blind man whose exact date of birth is unknown.
Eris, Goddess of Discord Angry because she was not invited to the wedding of the Sea Goddess Thetis to King Peleus, Eris tossed the Golden Apple marked “To the Fairest” into the banquet.
Who Me?? Athena – Zeus’ daughter and a real daddy’s girl Hera – Zeus’ wife and Queen of the Gods Aphrodite – The Goddess of Love, Beauty, Pleasure and Procreation
Who’s the Fairest?? Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena wanted the apple Zeus would not choose, he did not want the goddesses angry with him Paris was asked to make the decision To the fairest
The Judgment of Paris Athena offers victory in war Hera offers power over nations Aphrodite offers him the most beautiful woman in the world What would YOU choose?
Paris Chooses Aphrodite Paris accepts Aphrodite’s offer of The Most Beautiful Girl in the WORLD! He then learns that the most beautiful girl in the world was ALREADY MARRIED (minor detail…) She is Helen and Helen is married to Menelaus, King of Sparta!
The Beginning of War King Menelaus called on all those who were loyal to him. They gathered a huge army, and built a thousand ships to carry the army to Troy Helen of Sparta was now called “Helen of Troy” She was “The face that launched a thousand ships”
The Trojan War The battle raged for 10 years Many great heroes lost their lives A prophet predicted that Troy could be captured only with the help of Achilles.
The Hero Achilles Knowing the prophecy and worried that her son would be killed in war, Achilles’ mother dips him in the river Styx to make him immortal. His only weakness is the place on his heels where she held him. During the war, Achilles is forced to give up his war prize, a slave girl, to Agamemnon, and so he refuses to fight. Patroclus, his friend, asks Achilles if he may ride out in his armor so the Trojans would lose heart.
Achilles Achilles allows his friend, Patroclus, to wear his armor. The next day Patroclus is killed and stripped of the armor by the Trojan hero Hector, who mistook him for Achilles. Achilles is overwhelmed with grief for his friend and rage at Hector. Achilles kills Hector. He desecrates Hector’s body by dragging it behind his chariot before the walls of Troy. Finally Paris, aided by Apollo, wounds Achilles in the heel with an arrow; Achilles dies of the wound.
10 Years of War The Gods are tired of watching men kill each other, and decide to help end the war. Athena whispers an idea in the Spartan hero Odysseus’s ear.
The Trojan Horse Odysseus tells them they will build a huge horse of wood. Some would climb inside and hide. The rest would sail around the tip of the island, where they could not be seen. One would stay behind and tell the Trojans that he had been abandoned by the Greeks, and that the horse was an offering to Athena.
The Fall of Troy The Trojans believed the trick. They had a huge banquet to celebrate the end of the war. At night the men from inside the horse came out and unlocked the gates to the city.
The Burning of Troy The city is invaded by the army. The Trojans are drunk and spent from their night of revelry, unable to fight back. The Spartans destroy and burn the city. Aphrodite saves Helen from the destruction.
The War Ends King Menelaus accepts Helen back. The Warriors can now return home. Odysseus leaves for home, and his wife and son.
Book 5