1. A Summary

2.  Helen was thought to be the most beautiful woman and was married to King Menelaus making her Queen of Sparta.  She was kidnapped, some think willingly, by Paris of Troy.

3. Helen’s husband. Wanted her back so he sent 1,000 ships to Troy to get her. This was the start of the Trojan War.

4. Odysseus, the greatest warrior in Greece, was summoned by King Menelaus to lead the invasion to get Helen back. After 10 years of fighting, Odysseus, missing his own family and tired of fighting had to come up with a new strategy.

5. A wooden horse was built. As many Greeks as possible who would fit climbed into the belly of the horse. The others waited at the beach. The Trojans saw the horse, thought the Greeks had surrendered so they wheeled the horse into Troy.

6. When the horse was wheeled into Troy by the drunken Trojans, the Greeks popped out of the horse and the rest of them ran from the beach and attacked the city. The Greeks won! They got Helen and returned her to Menelaus.

7.  After the war, all of the surviving warriors begin their journey home.  The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus’ journey with his crew as they travel home to Ithaca.