Zeus devised the Trojan War to reduce overpopulation in Greece. The war was sparked when Paris awarded a golden apple to Aphrodite, who then helped Paris kidnap Helen, the beautiful wife of Menelaus. The Greeks banded together led by Agamemnon to retrieve Helen. During the war, Achilles refused to fight after a quarrel with Agamemnon, weakening the Greeks. After his friend Patroclus was killed by Hector, Achilles rejoined the war and killed Hector in revenge. Through trickery involving a large hollow wooden horse, the Greeks were finally able to enter Troy and defeat the Trojans, ending the long war.

2. Zeus
The father of the deities, seemed to have realized
that the earth was getting terribly crowded. To solve
the problem of over population, he devised a great
war which would sweep like a conflagration over
Greece. This was The Trojan War.

3.  Thetis, a minor goddess, was married to Peleus, a
mortal, out of this marriage. Achilles, the greatest
warrior was born. Eris, the goddess of mischief
and goddess of discord was not invited to the
marriage feast, so into the middle of banquet hall
she threw a golden apple with this note: To the
fairest of the goddess. Each of the beautiful of the
goddesses-namely, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite-
claimed the golden apple.
 A quarrel ensued and father Zeus was asked to decide
who was the most beautiful of the three. This placed
Zeus in a predicament since Hera was his own wife
and Athena and Aphrodite were his own daughters. So
he parted the clouds covering Mount Olympus, the
dwelling place of the deities, and showed the three
goddesses a Prince of Troy named Paris.

4. THE
GOLDEN
APLLE

5. Zeus suggested that the
three beauty contestants
take their problem to Paris
and ask him to decide. The
goddesses descended
upon the earth, circled
Paris by turns, and each
proceeded to bribe him so
that he would award her
the golden apple. Hera
promised him power,
Athena promised him
wisdom; Aphrodite
promised that she would
give him the most beautiful
woman in the world for his
wife. Paris awarded the
golden apple to Aphrodite.
The Judgement of Paris

6. Thetis Dipping Achilles in the Styx
The sea nymph Thetis is seen dipping her son Achilles in the
River Styx to make him immortal. Only the heel by which she
holds him remains untouched by the waters and thus
vulnerable to injury

7. The fairiest woman in the world was Helen, the
daughter of Zeus and Leda and the sister of Castor
and Pollux. When her suitors assembled in her home
to make a formal proposal for her hand they were so
many and from such powerful families that her
reputed father, king Tyndareus, her mother’s
husband, was afraid to select one among them,
fearing that the others would unite against him. He
therefore exacted first a solemn oath from all that
they would champion the cause of Helen’s husband,
whoever he might be, if any wrong was done to him
through his marriage. It was, after all, to each man,s
advantage to take the oath, since each was hoping
he would be the person chosen, so they all bound
themeselves to punish to the uttermost anyone who
carried or try to carry Hellen away.

8. Then Tyndareus chose Menelaus, the
brother of Agamemnon, and made him
king of Sparta as well. So matters stood
when Paris gave the golden apple to
Aphrodite. The goddess of love and
beauty knew very well where the most
beautiful woman on the earth to be
found. She led the young shepherd, with
never a thought of Oenone left forlom,
straight to Sparta, where Menelaus and
Helene received him graciously as their

9. It happened that Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world,
was already married to Menelaus, king of Sparta. With the help of
Aphrodite, Paris abducted Helen took her to troy where she
remained until the end of the ensuing Trojan War. This is why
she is called Helen of Troy.

10. The Greeks (Achaians)
banded together to
restore Helen to
Menelaus. Agamemnon,
king of Mycenae, was
their general. Many
adventurous Greek
heroes joined Greek
expeditionary forces.
Among them Achilles,
the greatest and the
bravest of the Greek
heroes; Odysseus, the
clever and wily warior;
Diomedes, the bold one;
Nestor, the prudent man;
Aias, the giant; and a
Helen and Paris host of other heroes.

11. The youthful Greek warrior Achilles has just learned from
Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, that he will not be allowed to
marry Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigenia, shown dressed as a
bride and being comforted by her tearful mother, Clytemnestra.
To appease the goddess Artemis so that the Greek fleet can sail
to Troy, Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter to her.

12.  The story opens with a violent quarrel between Agamemnon,
the commander in chief of the Greek army, Achilles, their
greatest and bravest warrior. Briseis, a concubine of Achilles, is
unjustly taken by Agamemnon and as a result Achilles makes a
sacred vow that he will no longer fight.
For the duration of most of the pitched battles between the
Greeks and the Trojans, Achilles stays sulking in his tent.
Because of his absence from the battlefield, The Trojans, led by
Prince Hector , make bold advances in the battle and the Greeks
are driven back. Their situation rapidly deteriorates until most of
the Greek leaders are wounded and are forced to leave the
battle. Patroclos, the dear friend of Achilles, saddened by the
growing losses of his countrymen, begs Achilles to let him lead
Achilles’men, the Myrmidons, to battle if, because of his anger
with Agamemnon, Achilles still refuse to fight. Achilles gives him
permission.

13. Briseis and Achilles in a 17th-century book
illustration by Wenzel Hollar

14. Myrmidons

15.  Patroclos, rallies Greeks and succeeds in
making the Trojans retreat, but he is killed by
Hector, The Trojan Prince who is equal to
Achilles in courage and fighting skill. Angered
by the death of his comrade, Achilles now
enters the fight, routes the Trojans, killing
them mercilessly. Filled with the dark passion
of revenge, he goes after Hector and slays
him. With beastly cruelty, he ties the dead
body of Hector to his chariot and drags it
round the city of Troy. Achilles resolves to
avenge his friend’s death.

16. Thetis persuades Hephaestus, god of
metalworking, to make a beautiful new suit of
armor for her son. The ornamentation of the
shield is described in detail: It includes civic and
rural scenes and dancing figures. Achilles,
equipped with his new armor, sallies out and kills
many Trojans. He fights the river-god Scamander
and finally encounters Hector, who panics and is
chased three times by Achilles around the walls
of Troy. Achilles overtakes Hector and with the
help of Athena kills him remorselessly. He ties
Hector’s corpse by the heels to his chariot and
drags it exultantly back to the Greek camp, while
Priam, Priam’s wife Hecuba, and Andromache,
Hector’s devoted wife, bewail Hector’s death.

17. Achilles came to the battlefield, with new armour and
shield from his mother, fashioned by the god
Hephaestus. Achilles was determined to seek out

18. ATHENA
ACHILLE
S
HECTO
R

19. TRIUMPH OF ACHILLES

20. king Priam ransoms the body of hector

24. With Hector dead, Achilles knew, as his mother had
told him that his own death was near. Prince
Memnon of Ethiopia, the son goddess of the Dawn,
came to assistance of Troy with a large army and for
a time, even though Hector was gone, the Greeks
were hard-pressed and lost many a gallant warrior,
including swift footed Antilochus, old Nestor’s son.
Finally, Achilles killed Memnon in a glorious combat,
the Greek heroe’s last battle. There Paris shot an
arrow at Achilles and Apollo guided it so that it struck
his foot in the one spot where he could be wounded,
his heel. Achilles died, and Ajax carried his body out
of the battle while Oddysseus held the Trojan back.

25.  The greeks decide Achille’s divine armor
should be given to either Odysseus or
Ajax, the two greatest Greek warriors
remaining. When Odysseus is chosen, Ajax
plots revenge, but Athena makes him go
crazy. Ajax massacres some cattle, then
comes to his senses and, mortified, kills
himself.

26. The prophet Calchas then tells the Greeks
that they must capture the Trojan
prophet Helenus in order to win. They do
so, and Helenus tells them that Troy can
only be defeated by the bow and arrows
of Hercules. Hercules gave these weapons
to Philoctetes, who set out for Troy with
Greeks, who abondoned him along the
way. Odysseus and a few others set out to
apologize and get him back. Philoctetes
returns and promptly kills Paris.

27. The Greeks learn that the Trojans
have a sacred image of Athena,
the Palladium, that protects
them. Odysseus and Diomedes,
sneak behind enemy lines and
steal it. Yet Troy still has the
protection of its gigantic walls,
which prevent the Greeks from
entering.

28. Odysseus came up with a plan to get the Greeks
into Troy. Under Athena's direction, the Greeks
built a gigantic wooden horse with a hollow body.
Odysseus and an elite group of Greek warriors
hid inside the horse. Their Greek companions
took the horse to the city gates and left it there
with an inscription explaining it was dedicated
to Athena.
The Greek army then withdrew from sight,
pretending to sail away. The Trojans weren't
quite sure what to do with the horse. Some
wanted to destroy it. Others wanted to bring it
inside, and still others could hardly contain their
curiosity.

29. A raggedly dressed Greek soldier
appeared. He said his name was
Sinon and that the Greek army
had planned to sacrifice him to
Athena, but he had escaped.
Athena was furious with the
Greeks, he explained, because
they had stolen the Palladium. As
if disclosing a great secret, Sinon
told the Trojans that the Greeks
had built the great wooden horse

30. Most of the Trojans agreed that they
should try to get the horse inside the
city walls. One man, however, spoke
out against the idea. The prophet
Laocoon, wary of what the horse
would bring, warned the Trojans not
to trust the Greeks. To emphasize
his point, Laocoon threw his spear
at the horse. Just then a huge
monster rose up from the sea and
devoured Laocoon and his sons.

31. To the Trojans, Laocoon's death
appeared to be a direct result of his
attack on the horse. They reasoned
that the horse must indeed be an
offering to Athena; when Laocoon
attacked the horse, she was offended
and sent the sea monster to punish
him. Athena did send the sea monster
to kill Laocoon, but not because he
had desecrated her monument — she
just wanted to shut him up.

32. Wooden Horse of
Troy
According to
legend, the
Greeks built an
enormous
wooden horse and
hid soldiers inside
it toward the end
of the Trojan War.
The Trojans
thought the horse
was a gift and
brought the horse
inside their city
walls. Then the
Greek soldiers
leapt out, opened
the city gates, and
let in the rest of
the Greek army to
defeat the Trojans.

33. The Greek Army, hiding nearby,
sweeps into the city and
massacres the Trojans.
Achilles son kills Priam. Of the
major Trojans, only Aeneas
escapes, his father on his
shoulders and his son holding
his hand. All the men are
killed, the women and children
separated and enslaved.