How it all began…
Banquet for the wedding of Peleus and Thetis
All the divinities were invited, except for Eris
(Discord)
She sent in a golden apple labeled For the Fairest
Hera, Pallas Athena, and Aphrodite all try to claim it
They are sent to Paris to learn who earns the apple
working as a shepherd because it was prophesized
that he would bring ruin to Troy
The Judgment
Paris was living with a nymph named Oenone (ee n
oh n ee)
Each goddess offers Paris a bribe:
Athena- make him lord of Europe and Asia
Hera- give him victory over Greece
Aphrodite- will give him the most beautiful
woman in the world
Paris is a coward and weakling, so he picks
Aphrodite
The Most
Beautiful
Woman
Helen
Helen’s Marriage
She is daughter is of
Zeus and Leda
She is desired by every
prince in Greece
Husband gets to be
king of Sparta
Her suitors must agree
to punish anyone who
might kidnap her
Menelaus is chosen
The Meeting
Paris goes to Sparta as a
guest of Menelaus and
Helen
Law of hospitality=
Paris is warmly
welcomed
Menelaus must go to
Crete, trusts Paris
Paris breaks law of
hospitality and runs
away with Helen
War Begins
The agreement for Helen’s betrothal is enacted
Odysseus
Achilles
• King of Ithaca
• Doesn’t want to leave
family
• Attempts to feign
madness
• Is outwitted- must join
cause
• Hero of The Odyssey and
the one who dreams up
the solution to the war’s
stalemate.
• His mother, Thetis, knows
he will die at Troy
• Hides him in a royal court,
disguised as a girl
• Odysseus, the cleverest
Greek, must retrieve him
• Achilles cannot maintain the
disguise- must join the war
Pre-War Obstacle
1000 ships set out for Troy
The ships can’t sail at Aulis
North wind prevents them
Artemis is angered over the killing of a rabbit
To appease her, a maiden must be sacrificed
Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon (brother of
Menelaus and commander in chief) agrees to
save face
Her death allows them to sail
The Trojan Royals
1. Priam: King
Older, has many children
2. Hecuba: Queen
3. Paris
4. Hector
Greatest warrior in Troy
noblest son; kind to Helen, but does not desire her
5. Andromache
Hector’s wife
6. Cassandra
Apollo loved her and gave her gift of prophecy
She rejected him, he cursed her- no one will believe her
Greek Leaders
Agamemnon
a. King of Mycenae
b. Leader of the Greeks
c. bossy, proud,
unreasonable
Menelaus
a. King of Sparta
b. Helen’s husband
c. Agamemnon’s
brother
Achilles
a. immortal except for
his heel
b. golden armor
c. greatest Greek
warrior
Odysseus
a. King of Ithaca
b. Crafty, the smartest
hero
Conflicts Over Women
Chryseis
a. Agamemnon captured her
b. Her dad is a priest of Apollo,
and he begs her release
c. Agamemnon refuses
d. Divine retribution: Apollo
rains down arrows of fatal
sickness on Greeks
e. Achilles calls a conference
and brings in Calchas, a
soothsayer
f. The verdict: Chryseis must
be returned
g. Agamemnon’s pride is
wounded, he is furious
Briseis
a. Achilles captured her
b. When forced to give up
Chryseis, Agamemnon
takes Briseis from Achilles
c. Achilles is furious: he
drops out of the war, stays
in his tent
d. Greeks begin to lose
the war
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