The document summarizes the mythology surrounding the Trojan War. It describes how the war began when Paris judged Aphrodite as the fairest goddess and was rewarded with Helen, who was already married. This led the Greeks to launch an attack on Troy to retrieve Helen. After many battles and strategies employed by heroes on both sides like Achilles, Odysseus, and Hector, the Greeks were finally able to defeat Troy by hiding soldiers inside a large wooden horse.

1. The Trojan War

2. The Actual Trojan War
• Took place from about 1260 BC–1250 BC
• Archaeological remains provide evidence that
there was a war but cause unknown
• Scholars believe the war began over control
of the trade route between the Aegean Sea
and the Black Sea between the Trojans and
Greeks
• Ancient mythology states that the war began
over a single woman, Helen, queen of Sparta

4. King Peleus marries
sea nymph Thetis
• Peleus had to marry Thetis, because it was
prophesized that if Zeus or Poseidon married
Thetis, she would have a son that would be
greater than its father
• Thetis has a son with Peleus, his name is
Achilles
• Zeus decides to throw a wedding party for
Peleus and Thetis and all the gods of Olympus
are invited, except Eris (evil goddess of discord)

5. Eris’ Trick
• Eris throws a golden
apple with the words
“For the Fairest” into
the banquet hall
• Three goddesses
claim the apple
(Aphrodite, Athena,
and Hera)
• To settle the dispute
Zeus decides to send
them to Paris, prince
of Troy, and to let him
decide who deserves
the apple.

6. The Judgment of Paris
• The goddesses appear
to Paris and ask him to
choose.
• They each try to bribe
Paris
• Hera offers power and
domination over the
continent of Asia
• Athena offers wisdom
• Aphrodite offers to give
Parris the most beautiful
woman in the world.

7. Paris Chose Aphrodite

8. Complications
• What Aphrodite did not
tell Paris was that this
beautiful woman was
already married
• Helen of Sparta, married
to King Menelaus
• So, on a diplomatic
mission to Sparta, Paris
abducted Helen and took
her back to Troy

9. Helen’s Suitors
• Helen had had scores of suitors, and her father
was unwilling to choose one for fear the others
would retaliate violently.
• Finally, one of the suitors, Odysseus of Ithaca,
proposed a plan to solve the dilemma.
• He suggested that Helen’s father allow Helen to
choose her husband.
• It also required all of Helen's suitors to promise
that they would defend the marriage of Helen,
regardless of whom she chose.

10. Off to War
• The suitors and
Menelaus (Helen’s
husband) unite with
Agamemnon
(Menelaus’ brother) to
go and bring Helen
back to Sparta.
• They launch 1000
ships to Troy

11. Reluctant Soldiers
• Thetis was scared of her son, Achilles, going to
war. She dresses him as a woman and hides
him.
• Achilles is discovered when he is seen admiring
weapons from a trader.
• Odysseus just had a son and did not want to go
to war. So he pretended he was crazy.
• When they saw Odysseus acting crazy, they put
his newborn son Telemachus in certain danger.
• When Odysseus went to save Telemachus, they
knew he wasn’t crazy.

12. The Gods Take Sides
TROJANS
(Paris, Hector)
• Aphrodite
• Ares
• Apollo
• Artemis
• Zeus (favored, but
stayed neutral to please
Hera)
GREEKS
(Achilles, Odysseus)
• Hera
• Athena
• Poseidon

13. The Bloody Battle
• War lasts for 10 years
• Hand-to-Hand combat
• There were periods of truce, where both sides would
bury the dead
• There was no fighting after sunset.

14. The ILIAD
• The Iliad as told by Homer is about a 41 day
period in the 10th year of the Trojan War.
• Agamemnon (Greek Leader) and Achilles
argue. Achilles refuses to fight.
• Patroclus, Achilles’ cousin, wears Achilles
armor and leads his men into battle. Patroclus
is killed by Hector (Trojan Leader), because he
thinks that he is Achilles. Hector kept Achilles’
armor as a trophy.
• Thetis, Achilles’ mother, has Hephaestus make
armor for Achilles.

15. Iliad (Cont.)
• Achilles angered over the death of his
cousin, challenges Hector to a duel where
Hector is killed.
• Achilles ties Hector’s body to his chariot
and drags it around Troy, refusing to give it
back to his father, Priam, for burial.
• This angers the gods.
• Priam sneaks into the Greek camp and
has to beg Achilles for his son’s body.
Achilles finally gives in.

16. After The Iliad
• Achilles enters the city of
Troy and begins to kill
everyone he sees
• The gods have seen
enough and with their
help, Paris shoots a
poisoned arrow into
Achilles’ heel (his one
weak point).
• Achilles, the great Greek
hero, was dead.

17. The Judgment of Arms
• A contest is held among the Greeks for who will win
Achilles’ armor.
• The two frontrunners are Odysseus and Ajax.
• Odysseus beats Ajax in a close contest.
• Ajax, mad because he lost to Odysseus, went insane
and killed himself.

18. The Prophecies
• The Greeks decide to turn to prophets to
help them destroy Troy
• They say that to destroy Troy they need to
do two things:
-Remove the Palladium (a statue of
Athena) from the alter of Troy
-Use the bow of Hercules

19. The Beginning of the End
• During the night, Odysseus sneaks into
the city and steals the Palladium.
• Philoctetes retrieves Hercules’ bow and
uses it to kill Paris.
• However the walls of Troy could not be
penetrated, so another way was needed.

20. Clever Odysseus
• Odysseus comes up with the idea to build
a giant wooden horse. (Horses were
sacred to the Trojans).
• They built the horse and decided to hide
30 men in the horse including Odysseus.
• The rest of the Greeks got in their ships
and sailed just out of sight of the Trojans.

21. Caught?
• The plot was almost spoiled by Laocoön, a
Trojan priest, who guessed the Greeks
plot.
• “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.”
• Poseidon, wanting to help the Greeks win
the war, sent a sea monster to kill Laocoön
before he would warn the Trojans.

22. The Fall of Troy
• The Trojans thinking they won the war, brought the
horse into the city and partied.
• That night, the Greek ships came back, while the men
in the horse got out and opened the gates of Troy
• The Greeks killed everyone they could and burned the
city to the ground.

23. Sinful Pride
• Odysseus glad the war is finally over is
ready to go home.
• However, he refuses to give thanks to
Poseidon for helping him win the war.
• Odysseus says that he won the war with
no help from the gods.
• This angers Poseidon and he will make
Odysseus journey home a hard one.

24. The Odyssey
• The Odyssey is an epic poem that is
credited to Homer about the journeys of
Odysseus after the Trojan War.
• Odysseus spends 10 more years trying to
reach Ithaca (his home)
• Considered one of the greatest stories of
Ancient Greece

25. What is an Epic?
• A long narrative poem
• Has a central heroic
figure
• Contains events of
heroic deeds or
deeds significant to
the culture.

26. Traits of an Epic
• Statement of a Theme
• The invocation/prayer to the Muse
• Beginning IN MEDIAS RES (In the middle)
• Vast setting
• Supernatural forces
• Great deeds of valor and courage
• A hero of imposing stature

27. Examples of Epics and Epic
Heroes
• Epics
-Star Wars
-Indiana Jones
-Lord of the Rings
-Harry Potter
-Halo
• Epic Heroes
-Master Chief
-Luke Skywalker
-Superman
-Mario
-Link/Zelda