A good story grows like a tree, upwards, seeking the sun and light.

Its heavy branches,

though substantial on their own, become stronger and more intriguing as plots and
characters entangle. Additionally, deep below the bark and greenery, a parallel network
of crisis crossing roots holds up the story for all to see. The grander the legend, the
larger and more intricate its back story.

A tale on the scale of The Iliad, therefore, has an astounding myth to proceed it.

To know the roots of Homer’s epic poetry, one must dig very deep into Greek
mythology… all the way to the first king of Gods and the ruler of Titans, Cronus. Despite
his many attempts to prevent it, Cronus was eventually overthrown by his son, Zeus. In
the process, Zeus was warned that one day he too would be replaced, just like his father.

At the same time another prophecy emerged, suggesting that the son of Thetis, a sea-
nymph with whom Zeus was enamored, would become greater than his father. Zeus,
therefore, ordered that Thetis should be betrothed to an elderly human king, Peleus son
of Aiakos.

The judgement of Paris

And so there was a wedding, attended by all the glorious gods and goddesses, except
one. Eris, the goddess of Discord was not allowed in, for fear she would cause her usual
irreparable damage. Her discordance, however, was not to be limited by a gate. Upon
her dismissal, she threw a golden apple into the festivities. On it was inscribed the
following: καλλίστῃ, meaning “To the fairest”.

Naturally three gorgeous goddesses claimed ownership. Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all
assumed that they were the most beautiful. The other gods and men, however, smartly
chose to remove themselves from the decision making process, including Zeus himself.
No one wanted to incur the wrath of the other two. Instead the unenviable task was
placed on the shoulders of one Trojan prince, a man named Paris. The poor fellow was
unable to make a decision and so the goddesses, keen on winning, resorted to offering
bribes.

Wisdom and great skill in battle were Athena’s promised rewards.

Hera tried to lure Paris with power and control over all of Asia.

Aphrodite, however, used the best bait of all: The most beautiful woman in the world
would be in love with Paris if he nominated the goddess as owner of the golden apple.

Paris accepted.

Meanwhile, the wedded sea-nymph Thetis and her elderly husband bore a child by the
name of Achilles. The young boy was given an intriguing destiny. He had the choice to
live a long and uneventful life or to die young in glory and live forever in poetry. Achilles
would chose the latter.

Thetis wanted her son Achilles to be immortal and invisible and, depending on the
version, used different techniques to make this so. One source claimed that she lifted
the child by the foot and immersed him in a river which ran to the underworld.
Wherever the water touched him, Achilles was made invulnerable, everywhere except
where his mother held him… his infamous heel.

While Achilles was growing into a hero-worthy man, Paris was eagerly awaiting his
award for crowning Aphrodite the fairest of them all.

The reader may be wondering, who was the magnificent creature that the goddess of
beauty promised to the Trojan prince? It was none other than Helen, whose face would
eventually launch a thousand ships. Helen was the daughter of Tyndareus, King of
Sparta and a woman named Leda, who had either been raped or seduced by Zeus when
he was in the form of a swan.

Helen, in her radiance, had many suitors, and her father could not decide which one was
best… plus those who who were not chosen might retaliate against him. Eventually one
quick witted man came to his rescue, the famous Odysseus. In exchange for support of
his own marriage, he offered the following advice: Require all of Helen’s suitors to
promise to defend her marriage, regardless who the father chose. The suitors eventually,
and with a certain amount of grumbling, swore the required oath.

Finally a man was decided for Helen: Menelaus. The decision was political, as Menelaus
had wealth and power and was Agamemnon’s brother. Unfortunately for all, Menelaus
then made a huge mistake. He had promised Aphrodite a grand sacrifice of a 100
oxen if he won Helen, a promise promptly forgot after he received his prize. Thus he
incurred Aphrodite’s wrath.

Paris, however, did not forget Aphrodite, nor their agreement. He set sail for Greece
under the pretense of a diplomatic mission in order to claim Helen. Before entering the
palace, the goddess of beauty held up her end and ordered Eros to shoot Helen with his
arrow. The moment she set her gaze on Paris, Helen was in love.

Paris didn’t think this kidnapping was really such a big deal. There were plenty of men
before him who had stolen women from foreign lands without repercussion. Jason, for
instance, took Medea from Colchis, and Heracles captured the Trojan
princess Hesionewithout any issues.

This time, however, was going to be very different.

According to Homer, it didn’t go straight to war. Menelaus first journeyed to Troy to seek a more
peaceful solution. When that didn’t work, Menelaus asked Agamemnon to uphold the oath that the
Achaean kings and princes had sworn, to defend Helen’s marriage. Emissaries were sent to them all,
to gather them in order to retrieve Helen.

Not all of them came willingly.

Odysseus, for instance, feigned madness in order to avoid the war. He tried to sow his fields with
salt as proof, but Agamemnon’s man tricked him into revealing his sanity. He placed Odysseus’
infant son in front of the plough’s path, and the father could not fake delusion any more. He turned
aside to save his child.

Achilles discovered by Ulysses – by Bray

Achilles, too did not readily join forces. His mother disguised him as a woman so he would not have
to go to battle. When Odysseus, Telamonian Ajax, and Achilles’ tutor Phoenix came to fetch him
from the island of Skyros, they could not immediately recognise him. Fortunately, they had a plan.
The men pretended to be merchants bearing trinkets and weapons. They were then able to spot
Achilles out the second he chose to look at the swords and spears rather than bracelets and beads.

The Achean army was almost ready. All of the suitors sent their forces to the city of Aulis, and one
by one the commanders with their ships and men arrived. The last one to show up was Achilles, who
was at the time only 15 years old.

An omen then occurred. A snake slithered from a sacrificial altar to a sparrow’s nest nearby. It ate
the mother and her nine babies and was then converted into stone. Troy, apparently, would fall in
the tenth year of war.

And just like that, with the twisting roots embedded, the bud of the story was ready to break
through the soil and bloom.