The Trojan War

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The Trojan War

• English 12
• Mrs. Kinney

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FYI

• War actually occurred
• Troy fell into the hands of the Greeks
• 12th century B.C. 1193-1184 B.C.
• War was probably caused over conflict between
  commerce and trade between Greece and Asia Minor

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Affect on Trojans

• City left in ruins
• Women became slaves to Greeks
• Left to mourn loss of great heroes and family
  members

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Affect on Greeks

• Lost faith in selves
• Lost many men
• Loss feeling of safety

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Mythological Beginning/Causes of the Trojan War

• Wedding of King Peleus ( a mortal) to Thetis
  (sea-goddess) parents of Achilles
• Prometheus foretold that Thetis son would be
  greater than his father, so Zeus decreed that
  Thetis should marry a mortal

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The Wedding

• All gods and goddesses invited except Eris,
  goddess of discord
• Eris angrytosses golden apple inscribed, For
  the fairest one
• Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all claim prize
• Not willing to judge with his wife as one of the
  choices, Zeus sends them to Mount Ida where
  Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy, was tending
  his flocks
• Each goddess offers Paris bribes

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Bribes

• Herakingship power and riches
• Athenaglory and renown in war
• Aphroditelove of most beautiful woman

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Beginning Cont.

• Paris chooses Aphrodites bribe and wins Helen,
  wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta
• Under the protection of Aphrodite, Paris travels
  to Greece he meets Helen, his chosen
• Helen, sought by many suitors, Odysseus swore an
  oath to protect her and avenge any wrong to her

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Continued

• Paris made love to Helen, and aided by Aphrodite,
  persuaded her to leave with him for Troy
• Menelaus, Helens husband, king of Sparta, sends
  out a call to Greeks to help him get her back
• Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and brother to
  Menelaus, chosen as commander

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Principal Greek Warriors

• Achilles
• Ajax
• Diomede
• Odysseus/Ulysses
• Nestor

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Principal Trojan Warriors

• Hector, son of Priam
• Aeneas
• Deiphobus
• Glaucus
• Sarpedon

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• War was fought, according to myth, because of
  quarrel among gods and betrayal among mortals
• Intervention/Competition of gods (wanted personal
  glory)
• Divine Intervention
• Zeusarranges tremendous loss of Greek lives so
  that Achilles will be begged to rejoin his
  menfueling progression of war

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• Helen uses Aphrodites pressure as excuse for
  engagement
• Hermeshelped Agamemnon
• Gods meddling with human lives by offering
  spiritual gifts and people, taking pieces of
  human souls

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Personal Biases

• Athenaencourages Hector, Trojan hero, to fight
  Achilles, knowing it will lead to his demise
• Herafavors Greeks rejected by Paris at wedding

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Competition/Jealousy

• Hera, Athena and Aphrodite compete with bribes to
  be named fairest

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Mortals

• Achilles vs. Agamemnon over war prizes
• Achilles and Hectorimportance of honor, major
  part of identity
• Pride in homeland (Greece or Troy)
• Face that launched a thousand ships--Helen of
  Troy
• Single combat between Paris and Menelaus

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FYI

• According to some, the ultimate cause of the war
  was the judgment of Paris
• Achillesfated to die in battle only surviving
  son of King Peleus and Thetis

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The Iliad by Homer

• Begins with quarrel between Achilles and
  Agamemnon
• Greeks were unsuccessful at first and had taken
  neighboring and allied cities over
• Achilles accuses Agamemnon of being the cause of
  their misfortune because Agamemnon refused to
  give the priest of Apollos daughter back

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The Gods/Goddesses

• Greeks
• Athena
• Hera
• Poseidon
• Hermes
• Hephaestus

• Trojans
• Aphrodite
• Ares
• Zeus (tried to remain neutral but did not)
• Apollo
• Artemis

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Action

• Paris challenges one of the Greeks
• Menelaus accepts the challenge and wins
• Aphrodite helps Paris escape and carries him away
  in a cloud/mist
• Greeks claim victory

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Achilles vs. Patroclus

• The Greeks surgeon is wounded by an arrow from
  Paris bow
• Achilles passes by and cannot see who is wounded
  and sends his dearest friend, Patroclus, to find
  out
• Achilles will not go back to fight and Patroclus
  wears his armor to scare the Trojans back

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• The Greeks succeed in driving the Trojans back
• Hector confronts Patroclus who throws a large
  stone at him and misses
• Patroclus is mortally wounded in the scuffle by
  Hector
• Hector, believing he has killed Achilles, takes
  his armor and puts it on
• News travels back to Achilles who swears revenge

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Achilles Mourns

• Achilles mourns for his friends death and Thetis
  hears him
• Thetis requests Vulcan/Hephaestus to make him a
  better suit of armor than he lost

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Death of Hector

• The rest of the Trojans had escaped the oncoming
  Greeks, yet Hector stood determined to await
  combat
• Priam, the king of Troy and Hectors father, begs
  him to retreat
• Hector sees Achilles and retreats into the walls
  of Troy
• Athena tricks Hector into thinking she is his
  bravest brother, Deiphobus

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• Hector is strengthened by the sight of his
  brother and goes to fight Achilles
• He throws his sword and it just falls from the
  shield of Achilles realizing he has been tricked
  by Athena, he rushes forward to meet his fate
• Achilles throws his spear, delivering a mortal
  wound
• Hector begs him to give his body to his family so
  that they may mourn and properly bury it
  Achilles refuses

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• Achilles, instead, after killing Hector, pierces
  Hectors feet and threads strips of rawhide
  through them
• He then drags his body behind his chariot as he
  rides around the walls of Troy
• Hectors wife mourns his death
• Achilles drags the body of Hector twice around
  Patroclus tomb
• Hera orders Thetis to prevail upon Achilles to
  restore the body of Hector to the Trojans after
  Apollo preserves it
• Priam appeals to Achilles himself to get Hectors
  body back and Achilles, moved by Priams words,
  grants the request
• Achilles pledged a truce for 12 days for funeral
  rites

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The Fall of Troy

• The story of The Iliad ends with the death of
  Hector and The Odyssey picks up from there
• Achilles falls for King Priams daughter and
  influences the Greeks to make peace with Troy
• While in the temple of Apollo negotiating the
  marriage between himself and Polyxena, Achilles
  is struck by a poisoned arrow shot by Paris,
  which, guided by Apollo, fatally wounds him in
  the heel (Achilles heel/tendon)

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The Trojan Horse

• Eventually, the war comes to an end
• A huge wooden horse was constructed by the Greeks
  (Odysseus idea) as an offering to Athena
• The Greeks then sailed off while the Trojans were
  told if they gained possession of the horse, they
  would triumph over the Greeks
• So, they take the horse into their city
• Inside the horse, Greeks hid until the Trojans
  slept and they opened the gates to the city for
  the other Greeks
• The city of Troy was set on fire and people
  killed by the sword, completely destroying Troy