The Trojan War Background to The Odyssey Causes

The Trojan War Background to The Odyssey

Causes of the War: The Fairer Sex § The marriage of Peleus and Thetis, mother of Achilles § Eris (goddess of discord) not invited, becomes the wedding crasher § Throws down the Apple of Discord: “For the Fairest” § Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all reach for it. .

Causes of the War: The Weaker Sex § Zeus appoints Pretty Boy Paris, a Trojan prince, as the judge § Enticing party favors are offered: § Hera = greatness, power, wealth § Athena = prowess in war § Aphrodite = the love of the most beautiful woman in the world and the winner is. . .

Aphrodite!

Causes of the War: The Weaker Sex § Party favor = Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta § Menelaus’ brother = Agamemnon, King of Mycenae § Hera and Athena vow revenge against Paris and Troy. . .

Causes of the War: § Paris visits Menelaus, and is treated to lavish Greek hospitality § Paris then runs off with his host’s wife and other “booty” § Paris marries Helen in 1200 B. C.

“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships And burnt the topless towers of Ilium (Troy)? ” -Christopher Marlowe Dr. Faustus

Preparation for War: Battlefield of the Gods Achaian (Greek) Side Athena, goddess of wisdom Hera, wife of Zeus Hermes, ambassador to the gods Poseidon, god of the sea Trojan Side Aphrodite, goddess of love Apollo, god of prophecy, light, poetry Ares, god of war Artemis, goddess of the hunt Zeus, sympathetic to the Trojans

Preparation for War: Menelaus Rallies the Troops § Long ago, at Odysseus’ request, Helen’s father Tyndareus had made all her suitors swear to support whomever Helen married § Menelaus calls on Helen’s old boyfriends to defend her honor § However, he encounters some resistance. . .

Preparation for War: Menelaus Rallies the Troops § To dodge the draft, Achilles’ mom dresses him up as a girl and hides him with King Lycomedes

Preparation for War: Menelaus Rallies the Troops § Odysseus pretends to be insane to dodge the draft: § Plows a field sowing salt § The gig’s up when Palamedes throws Odysseus’ infant son Telemachus in front of the plow § Odysseus later dimes out (exposes!) Achilles

Preparation for War: The Greeks

Preparation for War: Agamemnon Sets Sail § Artemis, whom Agamemnon had offended by killing a stag, stills the great king’s sails § Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia to make nice, causing marital discord with his wife Clytemnestra § First he sails to the wrong place, but that’s another story for another time. . .

Preparation for War: The Trojans

War: The first Nine Years § Battles in Troy and neighboring regions for nine years § Greeks win lots of spoils, including women

The Iliad: Internal Conflict § Homer’s epic begins in the tenth year of the Trojan War § Agamemnon steals Achilles’ war prize, Briseis § Achilles refuses to fight and withdraws his warriors, the Myrmidons

The Iliad: Endgame § The gods take sides, intervening for their favorites § Achilles’ pal Patroklos is killed in battle wearing Achilles’ armor § Achilles returns and kills Hector, dragging his body around Troy from a chariot § The Iliad ends with Achilles’ allowing Hector to be buried.

The Fall of Troy § Apollo guides Paris’ arrow to Achilles’ heel § Ajax and Odysseus fight over Achilles’ armor § Odysseus wins the armor and Ajax commits suicide

The Fall of Troy § The frustrated Greeks cannot penetrate Troy § Odysseus cleverly schemes up the wooden horse § Odysseus steals the Palladium, a powerful talisman of Pallas Athena which had ensured Troy’s invincibility § Helen recognizes Odysseus but does not betray him

The Fall of Troy § Greeks sail away as a decoy, Trojans take in the horse, Greeks slaughter Trojans

The Fall of Troy § Achilles’ son Neoptolemus kills Priam , whose daughter, the seër Cassandra, is raped at Athena’s altar and becomes Agamemnon’s concubine § The children of Priam and Hector are sacrificed at Achilles’ tomb

The Fall of Troy § Aeneas, a Trojan prince, escapes (see The Aeneid for the Trojan point of view) § Odysseus convinces Philoctetes to kill Paris with a magic arrow § Trojan women are divided as plunder § Helen’s beauty spares her death

The Fallout of the War § The Greeks burn Troy and sail home, meeting various miserable fates themselves § Angered about Iphigenia’s death, Clytemnestra cozies up to Aegisthus, who kills Agamemnon upon his return § Orestes murders his mother and her lover to avenge his father’s death

The Fallout of the War § After another ten years Telemachus laments that his father Odysseus has not returned home. .

Troy: Myth or Reality? § Legendary city built under Zeus’ protection § Huge protective wall built with divine aid of Poseidon § Trojans refused to pay tribute to Poseidon, who withdrew his protection

Dardanelles Modern-day Turkey (http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Image: Map_of_Lydia_ancient_times. jpg)

Troy: Myth or Reality? § Heinrich Schliemann (19 th cent. ) uncovered nine successive cities on the same site in modern-day Turkey § Schliemann declared the second level Priam’s Troy (aka Ilium), a burnt city § Greeks may have wanted control of the Hellespont Strait (Dardanelles) for access to the Black Sea § The archaeological dig is still active but inconclusive

Archaeological Site: Troy II (http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Image: Plan_Troy-Hisarlik-en. svg)

Works Cited “Archaeological Plan of Hisarlik. ” http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Image: Plan_Tr oy-Hisarlik-en. svg. “Map of Troy. ” http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Image: Map_of_Lydia_ancient_tim es. jpg.