1. The Iliad and the Trojan War

2. The Iliad The Iliad starts nine years into the Trojan War
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The Iliad starts nine years into the Trojan War
The Trojan War took place in Troy which is in the northwest corner of what we now call the Republic of Turkey
Many things had to happen to get this big war under way

3. The Start of it All…
Three generations of misery and bloodshed started because a wedding planner failed to invite an important goddess…

4. The Big Affair – Peleus and Thetis’ Wedding
With Zeus’ consent, all the famous mortals, gods, and goddess attended
Eris, the goddess of strife was not invited
Eris was insulted and snuck into the wedding reception…

5. A Golden Apple Eris tossed a golden apple onto the dance floor.
To the fairest
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Eris tossed a golden apple onto the dance floor.
On the apple were the words, “To the fairest.”
The golden apple was a serious party killer. Who was the most beautiful?

6. Who is the fairest of them all?
The competition was between:
Athena – Zeus’ daughter and a real daddy’s girl
Hera – Zeus’ wife and Queen of the Gods
Aphrodite – The Goddess of Love
They asked Zeus, as the King of the Gods, to award the prize, but he was no fool…

7. The Judgment of Paris
Zeus gave the task to Paris, son of Priam, the King of Troy.
Zeus knew that Troy was fated to be destroyed because of an old run-in with Apollo and Poseidon.
Paris was the “torch to set the whole city on fire.”

8. Paris’ Ill-fated Choice
Athena offered him victory in war
Hera offered him power over nations
Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world
What would you choose?
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9. Helen of Troy Paris accepted Aphrodite’s offer
He then learned that the most beautiful girl in the world was ALREADY MARRIED
She was Helen, daughter of Leda and Zeus
She was married to Menelaus, king of Sparta

10. The Kidnapping of Helen
Paris already had a wife named Oenone who warned him not to go through with the kidnapping
He didn’t listen
He sailed off to Sparta to be guest at the palace of Menelaus

11. The Kidnapping of Helen
Troy was already doomed before this whole incident
Zeus was the “Protector of Hospitality”
Kidnapping your host’s wife isn’t exactly hospitable
If Troy wasn’t in trouble before, they certainly were now!
In Sparta, Paris either forcefully carried Helen away from Troy or he seduced her and she left with him on her own

12. Troy in Trouble
When Menelaus discovered that his wife was kidnapped, he ran to his big brother Agamemnon who agreed to get help wage war to get Helen back
Helen is known as the “face that launched a thousand ships”
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13. Clever Odysseus!
Odysseus tried to get out of joining Agamemnon and Menelaus in their fight for Helen by pretending to be crazy.
Thetis (whose wedding started all this) tried to get her son Achilles out of fighting, too.
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14. The Sacrifice of Iphigenia
Agamemnon finally got his army together, but they couldn’t set sail against strong winds on the Aegean Sea.
The prophet Calchas told him that the winds were from Artemis, and to appease Artemis, Agamemnon would have to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia
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Agamemnon sent a message to his wife, Clytemnestra, saying that he had arranged for Iphigenia to marry Achilles in Aulis, but when she arrived on her wedding day, her father sacrificed her on the altar like an animal.

15. Now the War Can Begin!