The Trojan War

The Trojan War actually wascaused by the marriage between Peleus and Thetis, a sea-goddess . Peleus and Thetishad not invited Eris, the Goddess of discord, to their wedding and this infuriatedGoddess broke up the wedding banquet and threw a golden apple into the midst ofguests. The apple belonged to; Eris said whoever was the fairest.

Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite laidclaim for the apple. Zeus irritated with the argument proclaimed that Paris,prince of Troy and supposedly the most handsome man alive would act as thejudge.

Hermes went to Paris and Parisagreed to judge who should have the apple. Hera promised him power, Athenapromised him wealth, and Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman in theworld.

Paris chose Aphrodite, and shepromised him that Helen, wife of Menelaus, would be his wife. Paris thenprepared to embark for Sparta to capture Helen. Two prophets Cassandra andHelenus tried to persuade him against his intention, as did his mother, Hecuba.But Paris would not listen and he  started out for Sparta.

In Sparta, Menelaus, husband ofHelen, treated Paris as a royal guest. However, when Menelaus left Sparta to goto a funeral, Paris abducted Helen and also most of Menelaus' wealth.

In Troy, Helen and Paris weremarried. Menelaus was outraged to find that Paris hadtaken Helen. Menelaus then called upon all of the men that had previously triedin vain to wed Helen, they had made an oath long ago that they would all backHelen's husband to defend her honor.

The Greek fleet assembled, underAgamemnon in Aulis. However, Agamemnon had killed one of Diana's sacred stags. Dianawas outraged and she calmed the seas so that the fleet could not take off. Theseer Calchas proclaimed that Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon, must besacrificed before the fleet could set sail. Unfortunately for Iphigeniathis wasdone, and the Greek ships set off to Troy.

Odysseus, known forhis eloquence, and Menelaus were sent as ambassadors to Priam. They demandedHelen and the stolen treasure be returned. Priam refused, and Odysseus andMenelaus declared that war was inevitable.

The first nine years of the warconsisted of both war in Troy and war against the neighboring regions. TheGreeks realized that Troy was being supplied by its neighboring kingdoms, soGreeks were sent to defeat these areas.

The Greeks won many importantbattles and the Trojan hero Hector fell, as did the Trojan ally Penthesilea.But the Greeks could not break down the walls of Troy.  Achilles was felled by deception by Paris.

Helenus, son of Priam, had beencaptured by Odysseus. A prophet, Helenus told the Greeks that Troy would notfall unless:  Pyrrhus, Achilles' son,fought in the war, the bow and arrows of Hercules were used by the Greeksagainst the Trojans,  the remains ofPelops, the famous Eleian hero, were brought to Troy, and the Palladium, astatue of Athena, was stolen from Troy

Phoenix persuaded Pyrrhus to jointhe war. Philoctetes had the bow and arrows of Hercules, but had been left bythe Greek fleet in Lemnos. Philoctetes was bitter, but was finally persuaded tojoin the Greeks. The remains of Pelops were gotten, and Odysseus infiltratedTrojan defenses and stole the Palladium.

Still seeking to gain entranceinto Troy, Odysseus with the aid of Athena ordered the construction of a largewooden horse to be built. Its insides were to be hollow so that soldiers couldhide within it.

Once the statue had been built bythe artist Epeius, a number of the Greek warriors, along with Odysseus, climbedinside. The rest of the Greek fleet sailed away a little out to sea to deceivethe Trojans. One man, Sinon, was left behind. When the Trojans came to theawesome sight of the huge creation, Sinon pretended to be angry with theGreeks, stating that they had deserted him. He assured the Trojans that thewooden horse would bring luck to the Trojans.

Laocoon and Cassandra, spoke out against thehorse, but the Trojans disregarded their prophecies. The Trojans celebratedwhat they thought was their victory, and brought the wooden horse into thewalls of Troy.

That night, after most of Troywas asleep, Sinon let the Greek warriors out from the horse, and theyslaughtered the Trojans. Priam was killed by Zeus' altar and Cassandra waspulled from the statue of Athena and raped. Polyxena,daughter of Priam, was sacrificed at the tomb of Achilles and Astyanax, son ofHector, was also sacrificed, signifying the end of the war.

Aeneas, a Trojan prince, managedto escape the destruction of Troy, and managed to make a flight from Troy.  Aeneas was the only Trojan prince to survive. Menelaus,who had been determined to kill his faithless wife, later forgave her becauseof her beauty and she returned as his wife. The Trojan women that survivedwere shared among the Greek men along with the other booty. 

The Greeks then setsail for home which for some proved to be more adventurous as the Trojan War.