15 Heroes of the Trojan War

Homer’s Iliad is one of the greatest literary

epics in history. Believed to have been written
in the 8th century BC in Asia Minor, the poem
is set during the final year of the Trojan War
and consists of 24 books.

Despite its short time frame, it includes some of

the siege’s most famous stories: from Achilles’
duel with Hector to Achilles and Agamemnon’s
dispute over Briseis.

At the poem’s heart are the heroes. Often

depicted as semi-mythological, extraordinary
warriors, their stories often intertwine with
various gods and goddesses.

Here are 15 heroes from Homer’s Iliad.

Hector

Eldest son of King Priam and Queen

Hecuba; husband of Andromache; father of
Astyanax. Depicted as the most virtuous of
all the heroes.

Hector served as the commander in chief of

the Trojan forces; he was the city’s best
fighter. He battled Ajax the Greater on
several occasions, but his most famous duel
was with Achilles.

Hector had killed Patroclus, Achilles’ close

companion who had donned the warrior’s
iconic armour. He accepted the challenge to
duel an enraged Achilles, despite the best
efforts of Andromache to convince him
otherwise.
Defeated and killed in the duel. For the next 12 days his body was maltreated at Achilles’ hands
before the Myrmidon finally relented and
returned the body to a grieving Priam.

Menelaus
King of Sparta; brother of Agamemnon;
husband of Helen.

When Helen absconded with Paris,

Menelaus sought aid from his brother,
who accepted and triggered the famous
Trojan War.

During the War Menelaus challenged

Paris to a dual, which he duly won.
Convincingly. Before he could land the
killing blow, however, Paris was saved by
Aphrodite.

Killed Deiphobus, the brother of Paris, at the end of the Siege; reunited with Helen. Together
they returned to Sparta, after a long voyage by way of Egypt.

Agamemnon
History Hit’s Rob Weinberg has been along to Shakespeare’s Globe to find out more about the
last Pharoah of Egypt from Farah Karim-Cooper, Head of Higher Education and Research at
Shakespeare’s Globe, and Diana Preston, author of Cleopatra and Antony.

Brother of Menelaus; king of Mycenae and the most powerful monarch on mainland Greece.

Infamously sacrificed his daughter Iphigineia to the goddess Artemis so that his ships could set
sail for Troy.

This ultimately came back to haunt him. When Agamemnon returned victorious from the Trojan
War, he was murdered in his bath by Clytemnestra, his vengeful wife.

During the Trojan War, one of Agamemnon’s most famous episodes in the Iliad is his conflict
with Achilles over Briseis, a captured ‘spoil of war’. Ultimately, Agamemnon was forced to
return Briseis.

Ajax the Lesser

Ajax the Lesser raping Cassandra
in front of the sacred statue of
Athena.

Prominent Greek commander in

Homer’s Iliad from Locris. Not
to be confused with Ajax ‘the
Greater’. Commanded a fleet of
40 ships to Troy. Famous for his
agility.

Infamous (in later tales) for his

rape of the priestess Cassandra,
the fairest of Priam’s daughters,
during the Sack of Troy.
Consequently killed by either
Athena or Poseidon on his return
home.

Odysseus

Diomedes and Ulysses returning

with the spoils of Rhesus.

King of Ithaca, famous for his

cleverness.

Along with Diomedes he first

captured the famous horses of
Rhesus and then the Palladium
statue. Most famous for his
innovative plan to capture Troy
with the wooden horse.

At the end of the Trojan War,

Odysseus angered the god Poseidon
with his hubristic attitude,
signalling the start of his most
famous venture: The Odyssey.
Paris

The love of Paris and Helen.

Son of Priam and Hecuba; brother of Hector. His

absconding to Troy with Queen Helen of Sparta
triggered the Trojan War.

Depicted as an archer rather than a melee fighter in

the Iliad to epitomise his contrasting persona to the
noble Hector (archers were considered cowardly).

Defeated in a duel with Menelaus, but escaped

thanks to Aphrodite’s intervention. Killed in the
later stages of the Trojan War by Philoctetes,
though not before he had killed Achilles.

Diomedes

Diomedes, King of Argos – Roman copy of a statue by

Kresilas from c. 430 BC. Glyptothek,

King of Argos; a famous warrior who was honour bound

to join the expedition of Menelaus to Troy. Brought the
second-largest contingent of all the Greek commanders to
Troy (80 ships).

Diomedes was one of the Greeks’ most famous warriors.

He slew many important enemies, including the legendary
Thracian king Rhesus. He also overwhelmed Aeneas, but
was unable to land the killing blow due to divine
intervention from Aphrodite. Injured two gods during the
fighting: Ares and Aphrodite.

Alongside Odysseus, Diomedes was famous for his

cunning and swiftness of foot. He famously aided
Odysseus not only in stealing Rhesus’ horses, but also the
Palladium wooden statue.

Returned to Argos after the Trojan War to discover his

wife had been unfaithful. Departed Argos and travelled to southern Italy where, according to
myth, he founded several cities.
Ajax ‘the Greater’

Also known as Ajax ‘the Great’. Famous for

his size and strength; one of the Greeks’
greatest fighters.

Ajax fought Hector in several duels of varying

outcomes (including one where Hector forced
Ajax to flee).

Following the fall of Achilles and the retrieval

of his body, a debate ensued between the
generals as to who should receive his armour.
Ajax proposed himself, but the generals
ultimately decided on Odysseus.

According to Sophocles’ Ajax, he became so

enraged by this decision that he decided to kill
all the generals in their sleep. Athena
intervened however. She turned Ajax
temporarily insane, making him slaughter
dozens of sheep rather than the strategoi.

When Ajax realised what he had done, he

committed suicide out of shame.

Priam

The killing of Priam, by Neoptolemus.

King of Troy; father of many children

including Hector, Paris and Cassandra;
husband of Hecuba; also related to
Aeneas.

With divine assistance, Priam covertly

arrived at Achilles’ tent in the Greek
camp after the warrior had defeated
Hector. Priam begged Achilles to return
Hector’s body to him. The hero
ultimately agreed to his request.
(Though not reported in The Iliad), Priam is killed during the sack of Troy by Neoptolemus, the
infamous son of Achilles.

Rhesus

Rhesus, depicted here asleep as Odysseus

approaches.

Rhesus was a legendary Thracian king: son of one

of the nine muses, renowned for his high-quality
horsemen.

A Trojan ally, Rhesus and his company arrived on

Troy’s shores late during the siege, aiming to
liberate Priam’s people.

After discovering the arrival of Rhesus and

hearing word of his famous horses, one night
Odysseus and Diomedes infiltrated Rhesus’ camp,
killed the king while he slept and stole his steeds.

Rhesus was later resurrected by his mythical

mother, but played no further part in the Trojan War.

Andromache

Andromache fainting on the wall after witnessing

the death of Hector. From the story of the Iliad,
1892.

The wife of Hector; mother of Astyanax.

Begged Hector not to fight Achilles outside the

walls of Troy. Homer portrays Andromache as the
most perfect, most virtuous wife.

After the fall of Troy, her infant child Astyanax is

thrown to his death from the city walls.
Andromache, meanwhile, became the concubine of
Neoptolemus.

Achilles
Ancient Greek polychromatic pottery
painting (dating to c. 300 BC) of Achilles
during the Trojan War.

The most famous hero of them all. Son of

King Peleus and Thetis, a sea nymph;
father of Neoptolemus. Lead the
Myrmidom contingent during the Siege of
Troy, bringing with him 50 ships.

Withdrew from the Greek army with his

men after a dispute with Agamemnon over
Briseis, a princess who Achilles had
previously captured and made his
concubine.

Returned to the fighting after he heard

about the death of Patroclus at Hector’s
hand. Killed Hector in revenge; maltreated
his corpse but eventually returned it to
Priam for proper funerary rites.

Achilles was ultimately killed by

Paris, shot with an arrow, though
several versions of how, exactly, he
died survive.

Nestor

The venerable King of Pylos, famous

for his wisdom. Too old to fight, but
was widely-respected for his sage
advice and for his tales of the past.

Aeneas

Aeneas carrying Anchises. Attic

black-figure oinochoe, ca. 520–510
BC.
The son of Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite; cousin of King Priam; second cousin of Hector,
Paris and Priam’s other children.

Aeneas served as one of Hector’s chief adjutants in battle against the Greeks. During one battle
Diomedes bested Aeneas and was about to slay the Trojan prince. Only the divine intervention of
Aphrodite saved him from certain death.

Aeneas became famous for the legendary myth about what happened to him following the fall of
Troy. Immortalised in Virgil’s Aeneid,  he escaped and traversed much of the Mediterranean,
ultimately settling with his Trojan exiles in central Italy. There he became king of the Latins and
ancestor of the Romans.

JUDGEMENT OF PARIS
THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS was a contest between the three most beautiful
goddesses of Olympos--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena--for the prize of a golden
apple addressed "To the Fairest."
The story began with the wedding of Peleus and Thetis which all the gods had been
invited to attend except for Eris, goddess of discord. When Eris appeared at the
festivities she was turned away and in her anger cast the golden apple amongst the
assembled goddesses addressed "To the Fairest." Three goddesses laid claim to the
apple--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. Zeus was asked to mediate and he commanded
Hermes to lead the three goddesses to Paris of Troy to decide the issue. The three
goddesses appearing before the shepherd prince, each offering him gifts for favour.
He chose Aphrodite, swayed by her promise to bestow upon him Helene, the most
beautiful woman, for wife. The subsequent abduction of Helene led directly to the
Trojan War and the fall of the city.
CLASSICAL QUOTES

Stasinus of Cyprus or Hegesias of Aegina, Cypria Fragment 1 (as summarized in

Proclus, Chrestomathia) (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th or 6th B.C.) :
"The [Homeric] epic called The Cypria which is current is eleven books. Its
contents are as follows. Zeus plans with Themis to bring about the Trojan war. Eris
(Strife) arrives while the gods are feasting at the marriage of Peleus and starts a
dispute between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite as to which of them is fairest. The
three are led by Hermes at the command of Zeus to Alexandros [Paris] on Mount
Ida for his decision, and Alexandros, lured by his promised marriage with Helene,
decides in favour of Aphrodite."

Stasinus of Cyprus or Hegesias of Aegina, Cypria Fragment 6 (from Athenaeus 15.

682) :
"The author of the Cypria, whether Hegesias or Stasinos, mentions flowers used
for garlands. The poet, whoever he was, writes as follows in his first book
[describing the Judgement of Paris] : ‘She [Aphrodite] clothed herself with
garments which the Kharites (Graces) and Horai (Seasons) had made for her and
dyed in flowers of spring--such flowers as the Horai wear--in crocus and hyacinth
and flourishing violet and the rose's lovely bloom, so sweet and delicious, and
heavenly buds, the flowers of the narcissus and lily. In such perfumed garments is
Aphrodite clothed at all seasons. Then laughter-loving Aphrodite and her
handmaidens wove sweet-smelling crowns of flowers of the earth and put them
upon their heads--the bright-coiffed goddesses, the Nymphai and Kharites
(Graces), and golden Aphrodite too, while they sang sweetly on the mount of
many-fountained Ida.’"
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca E3. 2 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer
C2nd A.D.) :
"[At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis :] Eris tossed an apple to Hera, Athena, and
Aphrodite, in recognition of their beauty, and Zeus bade Hermes escort them to
Alexandros [Paris] on Ide, to be judged by him. They offered Alexandros gifts:
Hera said if she were chosen fairest of all women, she would make him king of all
men; Athena promised him victory in war; and Aphrodite promised him Helene in
marriage. So he chose Aphrodite."
Strabo, Geography 13. 1. 51 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st
A.D.) :
"The Adramyttene Gulf [in the Troad] . . . Inside is Antandros, above which lies a
mountain called Alexandreia, where the Judgment of Paris is said to have taken
place."
Pausanias, Description of Greece 15. 9. 5 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd
A.D.) :
"[Amongst the scenes depicted on the chest of Kypselos dedicated at Olympia :]
There is also Hermes bringing to Alexandros [Paris] the son of Priamos the
goddesses of whose beauty he is to judge, the inscription on them being : ‘Here is
Hermes, who is showing to Alexandros, that he may arbitrate concerning their
beauty, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite.’"
Paris, Hermes, Athena, Hera and
Aphrodite, Athenian red-figure
kylix C5th B.C.,
Antikensammlung Berlin
Ptolemy Hephaestion, New
History Book 6 (summary from
Photius, Myriobiblon 190)
(trans. Pearse) (Greek
mythographer C1st to C2nd
A.D.) :
"The river Skamandros had a
son, Melos (Apple), who was
beautiful; it is said that Hera,
Athena and Aphrodite quarrelled on his account; who would have him as a priest;
Alexandros [Paris] judged that Aphrodite carried it; it is for this reason the fable of
the apple circulates." [N.B. This is a late Greek rationalisation of the tale.]
Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History Book 7 (summary from Photius, Myriobiblon
190) :
"She [Aphrodite] won and accepted as prize a zither [from Apollon at the first
Pythian Games] which she gave as a gift to Alexandros [Paris]. It is of her that
Homer says : ‘But what help could your zither bring you.’" [N.B. Paris is usually
depicted playing this instrument in Greek vase paintings of the Judgement.]
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 92 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Jove [Zeus] is said to have invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis all the
gods except Eris, or Discordia. When she came later and was not admitted to the
banquet, she threw an apple through the door, saying that the fairest should take it.
Juno [Hera], Venus [Aphrodite], and Minerva [Athene] claimed the beauty prize
for themselves. A huge argument broke out among them. Jupiter [Zeus] ordered
Mercurius [Hermes] to take them to Mt Ida to Paris Alexander and order him to
judge. Juno [Hera] promised him, if he ruled in her favour, that he would rule all
the lands and dominate the rest in wealth; Minverva [Athena], if she left the
winner, that he would be the strongest among mortals and know every skill; Venus
[Aphrodite], however, promised that he would marry Helen, daughter of
Tyndareus, the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris preferred this last gift to
the previous ones and ruled Venus was the prettiest. Because of this, Juno [Hera]
and Minerva [Athena] were angry with the Trojans. Alexander, at the prompting of
Venus [Aphrodite], took Helen from his host Menelaus from Lacedaemon to Troy,
and married her."
Ovid, Heroides 5. 33 ff (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.)
:
"Venus [Aphrodite] and Juno [Hera], and unadorned Minerva [Athena], more
comely had she borne her arms, appeared before you [Paris] to be judged. My
[Oinone's] bosom leaped with amaze as you told me of it."
Ovid, Heroides 16. 51 ff :
"[Paris describes the Judgement :] My beauty and my vigour of mind, though I
seemed from the common folk, were the sign of hidden nobility. There is a place in
the woody vales of midmost Ida, far from trodden paths and covered over with
pine and ilex, where never grazes the placid sheep, nor the she-goat that loves the
cliff, nor the wide-mouthed, slowly-moving kine. From there, reclining against a
tree, I was looking forth upon the walls and lofty roofs of the Dardanian city, and
upon the sea, when lo! it seemed to me that the earth trembled beneath the tread of
feet--I shall speak true words, though they will scarce have credit for truth--and
there appeared and stood before my eyes, propelled on pinions swift, [Hermes] the
grandchild of mighty Atlas and Pleione--it was allowed me to see, and may it be
allowed to speak of what I saw!--and in the fingers of the god was a golden wand.
And at the self-same time, three goddesses--Venus [Aphrodite], and Pallas
[Athena], and with her Juno [Hera]--set tender feet upon the sward. I was mute,
and chill tremors had raised my hair on end, when ‘Lay aside thy fear!’ the winged
herald said to me; ‘thou art the arbiter of beauty; put an end to the strivings of the
goddesses; pronounce which one deserves for her beauty to vanquish the other
two!’ And, lest I should refuse, he laid command on me in the name of Jove, and
forthwith through the paths of ether betook him toward the stars.
My heart was reassured, and on a sudden I was bold, nor feared to turn my face
and observe them each. Of winning all were worthy, and I who was to judge
lamented that not all could win. But, none the less, already then one of them
pleased me more, and you might know it was she by whom love is inspired. Great
is their desire to win; they burn to sway my verdict with wondrous gifts. Jove's
[Zeus'] consort loudly offers thrones, his daughter, might in war; I myself waver,
and can make no choice between power and the valorous heart. Sweetly Venus
smiled : ‘Paris, let not these gifts move thee, both of them full of anxious fear!’ she
says; ‘my gift shall be of love, and beautiful Leda's daughter [Helene], more
beautiful than her mother, shall come to thy embrace.’ She said, and with her gift
and beauty equally approved, retraced her way victorious to the skies."
Ovid, Heroides 16. 139 ff :
"[Paris admires the beauty of Helene :] ‘Features like those, as near as I recall,
were Cytherea's [Aphrodite's] own when she came to be judged by me. If you had
come to that contest together with her, the palm of Venus would have come in
doubt!’"
Ovid, Heroides 16. 163 ff :
"[Paris woos Helene :] ‘Only give yourself to me, and you shall know of Paris'
constancy; the flame of the pyre alone will end the flames of my love. I have
placed you before the kingdoms which greatest Juno [Hera], bride and sister of
Jove [Zeus], once promised me; so I could only clasp my arms about your neck, I
have held but cheap the prowess that Pallas [Athena] would bestow. And I have no
regret, nor shall I ever seem in my own eyes to have made a foolish choice; my
mind is fixed and persists in its desire.’"
Hera, Athena,
Aphrodite, Hermes and
Paris, Athenian red-
figure kylix C5th B.C.,
Antikensammlung
Berlin
Ovid, Heroides 17. 115
& 131 ff :
"[Helene answers
Paris :] ‘You say Venus [Aphrodite] gave her word for this; and that in the vales of
Ida three goddesses presented themselves unclad before you; and that when one of
them would give you a throne, and the second glory in war, the third said : "The
daughter of Tyndareus shall be your bride!" I can scarce believe that heavenly
beings submitted their beauty to you as arbiter: and, grant that this is true, surely
the other part of your tale is fiction, in which I am said to have been given you as
reward for your verdict. I am not so assured of my charms as to think myself the
greatest gift in the divine esteem. My beauty is content to be approved in the eyes
of men; the praise of Venus would bring envy on me. Yet I attempt no denial; I am
even pleased with the praises of your report--for why should my words deny what I
much desire? Nor be offended that I am over slow to believe in you; faith is wont
to be slow in matters of great moment. My first pleasure, then, is to have found
favour in the eyes of Venus; the next, that I seemed the greatest prize to you, and
that you placed first he honours neither of Pallas [Athena] nor of Juno [Hera] when
you had heard of Helen's parts. So, then, I mean valour to you, I mean a far-famed
throne!’"
Statius, Achilleid 2. 55 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
"Verily that quarrel [between the goddesses Hera, Athene and Aphrodite] arose in
thy [Akhilleus'] own glades, at a gathering of the gods, when pleasant Pelion made
marriage feast for Peleus [and Thetis], and thou [Akhilleus] even then wert
promised to our [the Greeks] armament."
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 10. 30 ff (trans. Walsh) (Roman novel C2nd A.D.) :
"[Description of a religious play depicting the Judgement of Paris held in
Korinthos (Corinth) :] The day appointed for the show was now at hand . . . The
curtain was raised, the backcloths were folded away, and the stage was set. A
mountain of wood had been constructed with consummate workmanship to
represent the famous mountain which the poet Homer in his song called Mount
Ida. It was planted with thickets and live trees, and from its summit it disgorged
river-water from a flowing fountain installed by the craftman's hands. One or two
she-goats were cropping blades of grass, and a youth was acting out control of the
flock. He was handsomely dressed to represent the Phrygian shepherd handsomely
dressed to represent the Phrygian shepherd Paris, with exotic garments flowing
from his shoulders, and his head crowned with a tiara of gold.
Standing by him [Paris] appeared a radiant boy, naked except for a youth's cloak
draped over his left shoulder; his blonde hair made him the cynosure of all eyes.
Tiny wings of gold were projecting from his locks, in which they had been
fastened symmetrically on both sides. The herald's staff and the wand which he
carried identified him as Mercurius [Hermes]. He danced briskly forward, holding
in his right hand an apple gilded with gold leaf, which he handed to the boy
playing the part of Paris. After conveying Jupiter's [Zeus'] command with a motion
of the head, he at once gracefully withdrew and disappeared from the scene.
Next appeared a worthy-looking girl, similar in appearance to the goddess Juno
[Hera], for her hair was ordered with a white diadem, and she carried a sceptre.
A second girl then burst in, whom you would have recognized as Minerva
[Athene]. Her head was covered with a gleaming helmet which was itself crowned
with an olive-wreath; she bore a shield and brandished a spear, simulating the
goddess' fighting role.
After them a third girl entered, her beauty visibly unsurpassed. Her charming,
ambrosia-like complexion intimated that she represented the earlier Venus
[Aphrodite] when that goddess was still a maiden. She vaunted her unblemished
beauty by appearing naked and unclothed except for a thin silken garment veiling
her entrancing lower parts. An inquisitive gust of air would at one moment with
quite lubricous affection blow this garment aside, so that when wafted away it
revealed her virgin bloom; at another moment it would wantonly breathe directly
upon it, clinging tightly and vividly outlining the pleasurable prospect of her lower
limbs. The goddess's appearance offered contrasting colours to the eye, for her
body was dazzling white, intimating her descent from heaven and her robe was
dark blue, denoting her emergence from the sea.
Each maiden representing a goddess was accompanied by her own escort. Juno
[Hera] was attended by Castor and Pollux [the Dioskouroi], their heads covered by
egg-shaped helmets prominently topped with stars; these Castors were represented
by boys on stage. The maiden playing this role advanced with restrained and
unpretentious movements to the music of an Ionian flute playing a range of tunes;
with dignified motions she promised the shepherd to bestow on him the kingship of
all Asia if he awarded her the prize for beauty.
The girl whose appearance in arms had revealed her as Minerva [Athene] was
protected by two boys who were the comrades in arms of the battle-goddess,
Terror (Terror) [Deimos] and Metus (Fear) [Phobos]; they pranced about with
swords unsheathed, and behind her back a flutist played a battle-tune in the Dorian
mode. He mingled shrill whistling notes with deep droning chords like a trumpet-
blast, stirring the performers to lively and supple dancing. Minerva with motions of
the head, menacing gaze, and writhing movements incisively informed Paris that if
he awarded her the victory for beauty, her aid would make him a doughty fighter,
famed for the trophies gained in war.
But now Venus becomingly took the centre of the stage to the great acclamation of
the theatre, and smiled sweetly. She was surrounded by a throng of the happiest
children; you would have sworn that those little boys whose skins were smooth and
milk-white were genuine Cupides (Loves) [Erotes] who had just flown in from sky
or sea. They looked just he part with their tiny wings, miniature arrows, and the
rest of their get-up, as with gleaming torches they lit the way for their mistress as
though she were en route to a wedding-banquet. Next floated in charming children,
unmarried girls, representing on one side the
Gratiae (Graces) [Kharites] at their most
graceful, and on the other the Horae [Horai]
in all their beauty. They were appeasing the
goddess by strewing wreaths and single
blossoms before her, and they formed a most
elegant chorus-line as they sought to please
the Mistress of pleasures with the foliage of
spring. The flutes with their many stops were
now rendering in sweet harmony melodies in
the Lydian mode. As they affectingly
softened the hearts of onlookers, Venus
[Aphrodite] still more affectingly began to
gently stir herself; with gradual, lingering
steps, restrained swaying of the hips, and
slow inclination of the head she began to
advance, her refined movements matching the soft wounds of the flutes.
Occasionally her eyes alone would dance, as at one moment she gently lowered her
lids, and at another imperiously signalled with threatening glances.
At the moment when she met the gaze of the judge, the beckoning of her arms
seemed to hold the promise that if he preferred her over the other goddesses, she
would present Paris with a bride of unmatched beauty, one like herself. There and
then the Phrygian youth spontaneously awarded the girl the golden apple in his
hand, which signalled the vote for victory . . . Once Paris had completed that
judgement of his, Juno [Hera] and Minerva [Athene] retired from the stage,
downcast and apparently resentful, indicating by gestures their anger at being
rejected. Venus [Aphrodite] on the other hand was elated and smiling, and
registered her joy by dancing in company with the entire chorus."
The Judgement of Paris, Greco-Roman mosaic from Antioch C2nd A.D., Musée du
Louvre
Colluthus, Rape of Helen 15 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poetry C5th to 6th A.D.) :
"Among the high-peaked hills of the Haimonians, the marriage song of Peleus was
being sung while, at the bidding of Zeus, Ganymede poured the wine. And all the
race of gods hasted to do honour to the white-armed bride [Thetis] . . . And after
him [Apollon] followed Hera, sister of Zeus; nor did the queen of harmony herself,
even Aphrodite, loiter in coming to the groves of the Kentauros [Kheiron]. Came
also Peitho (Persuasion), having fashioned a bridal wreath, carrying the quiver of
archer Eros . . . And Athene put off her mighty helmet from her brow and followed
to the marriage, albeit of marriage she was untaught . . .
But Eris (Strife) did Kheiron leave unhonoured: Kheiron did not regard her and
Peleus heeded her not. And as some heifer wanders from the pasture in the glen
and roams in the lonely brush, smitten by the bloody gadfly, the goad of kine: so
Eris (Strife) overcome by the pangs of angry jealousy, wandered in search of a way
to disturb the banquet of the gods. And often would she leap up from her chair, set
with precious stones, and anon sit down again. She smote with her hand the bosom
of the earth and heeded not the rock. Fain would she unbar the bolts of the
darksome hollows and rouse the Titanes from the nether pit and destroy the
heaven, the seat of Zeus, who rules on high. Fain would she brandish the roaring
thunderbolt of fire, yet gave way, for all her age, to Hephaistos, keeper of
quenchless fire and of iron. And she thought to rouse the heavy-clashing din of
shields, if haply they might leap up in terror at the noise. But from her later crafty
counsel, too, she withdrew in fear of iron Ares, the shielded warrior.
And now she bethought her of the golden apples of the Hesperides. Thence Eris
took the fruit that should be the harbinger of war, even the apple, and devised the
scheme of signal woes. Whirling her arm she hurled into the banquet the primal
seed of turmoil and disturbed the choir of goddesses. Hera, glorying to be the
spouse and to share the bed of Zeus, rose up amazed, and would fain have seized it.
And Kypris [Aphrodite], as being more excellent than all, desired to have the
apple, for that it is the treasure of the Erotes (Loves). But Hera would not give it up
and Athena would not yield. And Zeus, seeing the quarrel of the goddesses, and
calling his son Hermaon [Hermes], who sat below his throne, addressed him thus :
‘If haply, my son, thou hast heard of a son of Priamos, one Paris, the splendid
youth, who tends his herds on this hills of Troy, give to him the apple; and bid him
judge the goddesses' meeting brows and orbed eyes. And let her that is preferred
have the famous fruit to carry away as the prize of the fairer and ornament of the
Loves.’So the father, the son of Kronos, commanded Hermaon. And he hearkened
to the bidding of his father and led the goddesses upon the way and failed not to
heed. And every goddess sought to make her beauty more desirable and fair.
Kypris [Aphrodite] of crafty counsels unfolded her snood and undid the fragrant
clasp of her hair and wreathed with gold her locks, with gold her flowing tresses.
And she saw her children the Erotes and called to them. ‘The contest is at hand,
dear children! Embrace your mother that nursed you. Today it is beauty of face that
judges me. I fear to whom the herdsman will award the apple. Hera they call the
holy nurse of the Kharites (Graces), and they say that she wields sovereignty and
holds the sceptre. And Athena they ever call the queen of battles. I only, Kypris,
am an unwarlike goddess. I have no queenship of the gods, wield no warlike spear,
nor draw the bow. But wherefore am I so sore afraid, when for spear I have, as it
were, a swift lance, the honeyed girdle of the Erotes (Loves)! I have my girdle, I
ply my goad, I raise my bow: even that girdle, whence women catch the sting of
my desire, and travail often-times, but not unto death.’
So spake Kypris of the rosy fingers and followed. And the wandering Erotes heard
the dear bidding of their mother and hasted after their nurse.
Now they had just passed over the summit of the hill of Ida, where under a rock-
crowned cliff's height young Paris herded his father's flocks. On either side the
streams of the mountain torrent he tended his herds, numbering apart he herd of
thronging bulls, apart measuring the droves of feeding flocks. And behind him
hung floating the hide of a mountain goat, that reached right to his thighs. But his
herdsman's crook, driver of kine, was laid aside: for so, walking mincingly in his
accustomed ways, he pursued the shrill minstrelsy of his pipe's rustic reeds . . .
As he made shrill music under the high-roofed canopy of trees, he beheld from afar
the messenger Hermaon. And in fear he leapt up and sought to shun the eye of the
gods. He leaned against an oak his choir of musical reeds and checked his lay that
had not yet laboured much. And to him in his fear wondrous Hermes spake thus :
‘Fling away thy milking-pail and leave thy fair flocks and come hither and give
decision as judge of the goddesses of heaven. Come hither and decide which is the
more excellent beauty of face, and to the fairer give this apple's lovely fruit.’
So he cried. And Paris bent a gently eye and quietly essayed to judge the beauty of
each. He looked at the light of their grey eyes, he looked on the neck arrayed with
gold, he marked the bravery of each; the shape of the heel behind, yea and the
soles of their feet. But, before he gave judgement, Athene took him smiling, by the
hand and spake to Alexandros thus : ‘Come hither, son of Priamos! Leave the
spouse of Zeus and heed not Aphrodite, queen of the bridal bower, but praise thou
Athene who aids the prowess of men. They say that thou art a king and keepest the
city of Troy. Come hither, and I will make thee the saviour of their city to men
hard pressed : lest ever Enyo of grievous wrath weigh heavily upon thee. Hearken
to me and I will teach thee war and prowess.’
So cried Athene of many counsels, and white-armed Hera thus took up the tale : ‘If
thou wilt elect me and bestow on me the fruit of the fairer, I will make thee lord of
all mine Asia. Scorn thou the works of battle. What has a king to do with war? A
prince gives command both to the valiant and the unwarlike. Not always are the
squires of Athene foremost. Swift is the doom and death of the servants of Enyo!’
Such lordship did Hera, who hath the foremost throne, offer to bestow. But Kypris
lifted up her deep-bosomed robe and bared her breast to the air and had no shame.
And lifting with her hands the honeyed girdle of the Erotes (Loves) she bared all
her bosom and heeded not her breasts. And smilingly she thus spake to the
herdsman : ‘Accept me and forget wars : take my beauty and leave the sceptre and
the land of Asia. I know not the works of battle. What has Aphrodite to do with
shields? By beauty much more do women excel. In place of manly prowess I will
give thee a lovely bride, and, instead of kingship, enter thou the bed of Helene.
Lakedaimon, after Troy, shall see thee a bridegroom.’
Not yet had she ceased speaking and he gave her the splendid apple, beauty's
offering, the great treasure of Aphrogeneia, a plant of war, of war an evil seed. And
she, holding the apple in her hand, uttered her voice and spake in mockery of Hera
and manly Athene : ‘Yield to me, accustomed as ye be to war, yield me the victory.
Beauty have I loved and beauty follows me. They say that thou, mother of Ares,
dist with travail bear the holy choir of fair-tressed Kharites (Graces). But today
they have all denied thee and not one hast thou found to help thee. Queen but not
of shields and nurse but not of fire, Ares hath not holpen thee, though Ares rages
with the spear: the flames of Hephaistos have not holpen thee, though he brings to
birth the breath of fire. And how vain is they vaunting, Atrytone! Whom marriage
sowed not nor mother bare, but cleaving of iron and root of iron made thee spring
without bed of birth from the head of thy sire. And how, covering thy body in
brazen robes, thou dost flee from love and pursuest the works of Ares, untaught of
harmony and wotting not of concord. Knowest thou not that such Athenas as thou
are the more unvaliant--exulting in glorious wars, with limbs at feud, neither men
nor women?’
Thus spake Kypris and mocked Athena. So she got the prize of beauty that should
work the ruin of a city, repelling Hera and indignant Athene."

THE ADVENTURES OF ODYSSEUS

The following story comes entirely from Homer’s other great epic, the Odyssey. Though Athena
and Poseidon helped the Greeks during the Trojan War, a Greek warrior violates Cassandra in
Athena’s temple during the sack of Troy, so Athena turns against the Greeks and convinces
Poseidon to do the same. The Greeks are beset by terrible storms on the way home; many ships
are destroyed and the fleet is scattered. Odysseus and his crew are blown off course, which starts
a decade-long series of adventures for the great Greek chief.
The war and his troubles at sea keep Odysseus away from his home, Ithaca, for twenty years. In
his absence, his son, Telemachus, has grown into a man, and his wife, Penelope, is besieged by
suitors who assume Odysseus is dead. Penelope remains faithful to Odysseus, but the suitors
feast at her house all day and live off her supplies. She holds them off by promising to marry
after she finishes weaving a shroud for Laertes, Odysseus’s father. Every night she secretly
undoes the day’s work, leaving the job perpetually unfinished. One day, near the end of
Odysseus’s voyage, the suitors discover Penelope’s ruse and become more dangerously insistent.

Athena’s anger subsides and her old affection for Odysseus renews, so she decides to set things
right. While Poseidon, still angry with Odysseus, is away from Olympus, she convinces the other
gods to help Odysseus return home. In disguise in Ithaca, she convinces Telemachus to search
for his father. Telemachus goes to Pylos, the home of Nestor, who sends him to Menelaus in
Sparta. Menelaus says he has captured Proteus, the shape-shifting sea god, who says Odysseus is
being held prisoner of love by the sea nymph Calypso.

At that moment, Hermes is visiting Calypso and relaying Zeus’s command that Odysseus be
allowed home. Odysseus sets sail on a makeshift raft and is in sight of land when Poseidon
catches sight of him, unleashing a storm that again wrecks the homesick Greek. The kind
goddess Ino sweeps down and gives him her veil, protecting him from harm in the water. After
two days of swimming, Odysseus reaches the land of the Phaeacians and their kind king,
Alcinoüs. The king’s daughter, Nausicaä, finds Odysseus, naked and filthy from sleeping on the
ground, and leads him to the king. Received warmly, Odysseus tells the story of his
wanderings.He and his crew first encountered the Lotus-Eaters, who eat the narcotic lotus flower
and live in stupefied bliss. A few men try the drug and do not want to leave, but Odysseus drags
them back to the ship. They sail on and dock in front of an inviting cave, where they search for
food. There is wine, food, and pens full of sheep in the cave, but the cave’s owner, the giant
Cyclops Polyphemus, returns. He seals the entrance with a giant boulder, spots the intruders, and
eats two of Odysseus’s men. He keeps the others trapped in the cave and eats two more at each
meal. Odysseus plans an escape, giving Polyphemus wine until he passes out drunk. The men
then take a giant red-hot sharpened stake they have made and poke out the monster’s only eye.
Blinded, Polyphemus cannot find the men and finally rolls back the boulder blocking the
entrance and puts his arms in front of it, figuring he will catch the men as they try to run outside.
Odysseus has already thought of this, so the Greeks go to the pens and each tie three rams
together. The next day the Greeks hang onto the undersides of the sheep as they go out to
pasture. As they pass the entrance, Polyphemus feels only the sheep’s backs to make sure there
are no Greeks riding them, enabling them to escape.Next, Aeolus, the keeper of the Winds, gives
Odysseus a priceless gift, a leather sack that holds all the storm winds. Odysseus can sail home
safely as long as he keeps the bag closed, but his inquisitive crew opens the bag, unleashing a
fierce storm that blows them to the land of the Laestrygons, cannibals who destroy every ship in
the fleet except one. At their next stop, several men scout ahead and encounter the sorceress
Circe, who turns them all into pigs except one man lucky enough to escape. Warned, Odysseus
sets out for Circe’s house armed with an herb Hermes has given him. When Circe cannot affect
him with her magic, she falls in love with him. She returns his crew to human form and they live
in luxury at her house for a year. She then uses her magic to tell them how to get home: they
must travel to Hades and speak to the dead prophet Teiresias. In the world of the dead, Odysseus
and his men lure Teiresias’s spirit with blood—a favorite drink of the dead—and ask his help.
He says that Odysseus will eventually reach home. He advises them not to harm the oxen
belonging to the Sun, as terrible things would happen. Before departing Hades, the Greeks talk
with some of their old war comrades, including Achilles and Ajax.

THE QUEST OF THE GOLDEN FLEEECE

A Greek king, Athamas, gets tired of his wife Nephele and puts her jail. He marries Io, a young
princess, in her place. Nephele prays that Io will not kill her two children in order to make Io’s
own children inherit the kingdom. Io does attempt this murder, however. She secretly gathers
seed-corn and parches the seed so that no crops will grow. Then, when Athamas asks for word
from an oracle about how to end the famine, Io bribes a messenger to say that the only way to
bring back the crops is to sacrifice his son, Phrixus. Athamus and Io bring the boy to the
sacrificial altar, but just before the murder, a wondrous ram with a golden fleece takes the boy
and his sister and runs away. The ram, sent by Hermes, is an answer to Nephele’s prayers.
The ram carries the children across the water from Europe to Asia, and on the way, the girl slips
off and drowns. Phrixus arrives safely in the country of Colchis, where he sacrifices the ram and
gives it to King Etes.
Meanwhile, in another part of Greece, a king named Pelias has stolen the crown from his brother.
An oracle tells him that he will die at the hands of a kinsman and that he should be wary of a
man wearing only one sandal. One day, a man wearing one sandal comes to town. This is Jason,
the king's nephew, come to claim his rightful place as king. Pelias tells Jason that he would give
up the throne if Jason would go out and retrieve the golden fleece. Jason sets off and overcomes
many obstacles and adventures on the way to Colchis. Finally, with the help of Hera, he reaches
King Etes.
Hera and Aphrodite arrange for Cupid to make King Etes's daughter, Medea, fall in love with
Jason. Jason asks Etes for the fleece, but Etes says Jason must plow a field of dragon's teeth,
which will spring up into a crop of armed men who must be cut down as they advance and
attack. Jason agrees, though he believes the task will result in his death. Thanks to Cupid's bow,
however, Medea gives Jason a magical potion that gives give him invincibility for one day. She
also tells him to throw a rock into the middle of the army because it will lead the armed men to
kill each other. The next day, Jason proves victorious.
The treacherous king will not give him the fleece, however. He plans to kill Jason. Medea helps
him again. She leads him to the fleece, charms the serpent guarding it, and flees with Jason back
home.

On the journey home, Medea kills her brother in the idea that she is protecting Jason. This is the
first sign of her madness. When they return to Greece, she arranges for King Pelias to be killed
by his own daughters, which fulfills the oracle. Later, Jason marries another woman, and Medea
becomes so angry that she kills both the bride and her own two sons fathered by Jason.
Analysis

The story of the Quest for the Golden Fleece highlights the dangers of selfishness and jealousy.
King Athamas, King Pelias, and Media all drive the people around them (and themselves) into
chaos as a result of their self-serving motives. The story also reveals complex family loyalties.
Various family members are jealous of outsiders and other insiders, and they are willing to kill to
achieve their goals. Medea arranges for Pelias to be killed by his own daughters. Later, she kills
her own children and Jason's new bride to exact revenge. Io attempts to kill Nephele's children.

In other instances, characters go out of their way to save people in their families. Medea kills her
own brothers to protect Jason, wisely or not. Nephele prays to Hermes to save her children. In all
of these situations, family loyalties are as strong as they are complex. Only Jason and Nephele
appear to have purely ethical intentions and clear loyalties.

The human sacrifice is interrupted by the ram with the golden fleece (compare the story of
Abraham and Isaac in Genesis and some versions of the Greek myth of Iphigenia). Instead of
taking the place of the ones to be sacrificed, this ram escapes along with them. The fleece of the
ram seems to hold special redemptive power. It becomes an almost magical item worthy of a
quest. In order to retrieve it, Jason needs the help of Medea as well as some magic and divine
help.
Medea first proves selfless in helping Jason win the golden fleece, but she eventually crosses a
mental boundary and acts unforgivably. This mad selfishness, made worse by jealousy, reveals
some psychological depth in her character. Throughout Western literature and theater, she stands
as an unforgettable example of the duality in human nature, the combination of the rational and
the irrational, as well as an example of the horrifying consequences of jealousy.

As in other stories, the gods involve themselves in human affairs to effect the outcome they
perceive as positive. As with Bellerophon and Theseus, they support Jason, the hero, in his noble
quest to defend his family and his position as king. The gods also answer Nephele's prayers,
which underscores the recurring theme that the gods sometimes listen to humans.
 THE FALL OF TROY
The legendary ancient city of Troy is very much in
the limelight this year: a big budget co-production
between the BBC and Netflix: Troy, Fall of a City,
recently launched, while Turkey designated 2018
the “Year of Troy” and plans a year of celebration,
including the opening of a new museum on the
presumed site.

So what do we know about the city, ruins of which

have been painstakingly excavated over the past
150 years? The television series is set around 1300-
1200BC, at the height of the Late Bronze Age.
During this period Mycenaean city states based in
modern-day Greece were competing with the larger
Hittite empire (located in modern-day Turkey) to
control the trade routes leading towards the
Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Troy (in ancient Greek, Ἴλιος or Ilios), was located in western Turkey – not far from the
modern city of Canakkale (better known as Gallipoli), at the mouth of the Dardarnelles
strait. Its position was crucial in controlling the trade routes towards the Black Sea and,
as the Trojan prince Paris mentions to the Spartan king Menelaus in Homer’s epic tale,
the Iliad, the city controlled access to Indian silks and spices.

The probable location of the ancient city of Troy.

The Late Bronze Age was an era of powerful kingdoms and city states, centred around
fortified walled palaces. Commerce was based on a complex gift exchange system
between the different political states. The trade system was mainly controlled by the
kings and evidence referring to private merchants is very rare. These kingdoms
exchanged not only silks and spices, but also gold, silver, copper, grain, craftsmanship
and slaves.

Bronze Age politics

The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people whose empire was centred in north and
central Anatolia from around 1600-1200BC. The Hittite empire, at its high point,
included modern Lebanon, Syria and Turkey. The city of Troy was part of a small
independent confederation named Assuwa that tried to resist the Hittite expansion but
which eventually yielded and became a sort of vassal state to the Hittite empire.

Archaeologists working in Greece and Turkey have discovered a great deal of evidence of
this complex political system, of the kind that might have inspired Homer’s epic.
Political treaties discovered in the Hittite capital city, Hattusha dating back to the Late
Bronze Age confirm the existence of a very powerful city not far from the Dardanelles
strait called Wilusa (Greek Ilios/Troy) ruled by a king called Alaksandu (maybe the
Trojan prince Paris – whose birth name, according to Homer, was Alexander). And
archaeologists working in Troy have discovered skeletons, arrowheads and traces of
destruction which point to us a violent end for Troy Level VII – as the late Bronze Age
city has been designated by archaeologists (so far levels I to IX have been excavated).

At that stage, the political and economic system in the Mediterranean was
disintegrating. A series of factors – states’ internal turmoil, mass refugee migrations,
displacement of people, trade disruption and war – led to the collapse of the political
system and to a new era. Because of new technology being adopted by the powers of the
time, this has become known as the Iron Age.

The beginning of this new era witnessed destruction throughout the Mediterranean
basin. Wealthy cities such as Troy as well as Mycenae and Tiryns in Greece were
destroyed and abandoned. These events were so significant that the memory lasted for
centuries. In Greek mythology, the tale of the fall of Troy was recorded in two epics, the
Iliad and the Odyssey, traditionally attributed to Homer and written about 400 years
after these events.
What history tells us
More than a century of
archaeological and historical
research in the eastern
Mediterranean basin appears to
confirm that there was a war on
Troy when Homer says there was.
His account centres around the
affair between Paris and the Spartan
queen Helen, that is said to have
triggered the conflict.

Fatal attraction: Louis Hunter as Paris and

Bella Dayne as Helen.

But contemporary sources from the Hittite archives in Hattusha tell a different story.
Greek kingdoms conducted a number of military campaigns in western Turkey. Hittite
records mention raids and mass kidnapping of people to be sold as slaves. There is a
record of a peace treaty between Greeks and Hittites over the city of Troy. These records
do not in themselves confirm the accuracy of Homer’s account – but they suggest that
something important happened in the area at some point around 1200BC.

Outstanding value
The location of Troy, at the crossroad between the East and the West, is not only a
centre of challenge (embodied by the Troyan war), but also of dialogue. Troy, in the past,
was a bridge between cultures
and its importance to the world
has been confirmed by
UNESCO. The site of Troy was
enlisted in the World Cultural
Heritage List in 1998 and it is
considered a site of
“Outstanding Universal Value”.

How the ruins of Troy look today.

Excavations on the site of Troy

started more than 150 years
ago. The site was discovered in
1863 by Frank Calvert but it
really became famous thanks to
the excavations conducted by
the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in 1870. The work of Schliemann made
the story come true and resulted in renewed interest in Troy and its history. Some 24
excavations spread over 150 years have now revealed many levels of occupation of the
site – from the Early Bronze Age (Troy Level I, about 3500BC) to the Roman era (Troy
IX, about 500AD).

An award-winning project “Troia Museum” will open this year as part of Turkey’s 2018
year of Troy. Turkey’s culture ministry has invited some of the actors from the 2004 epic
Hollywood movie Troy to lend the event some star power.

We’ll probably never know if Helen’s beauty really did launch a thousand ships, but in
decades to come Troy will continue to yield up its fascinating and romantic history and
millions of people will thrill to retellings of Homer’s epic fables of the long-passed Age of
Heroes.

AGAMEMNON AND HIS CHILDREN

Atreus - Father of Menelaus and Agamemnon. Sent children of
Agamemnon to be killed at the House of Atreus. King of the Mycenae.
He dies without being killed.
Menelaus - Brother of Agamemnon. Wife gets kidnapped in Troy. She
escaped and they lived happily ever after
Helen - Husband of Menelaus
Clytemnestra - Wife of Agamemnon. Kills Agamemnon at The House of
Atreus for killing their daughter Iphigenia. Loved by Aegeus
Summary of Second Story
Summary of first story
-Agamemnon is the son of King Atreus and the husband of
Clytemnestra, and later then later becomes king himself.
-He is the father of Iphigenia, Electra and Orestes
-He leaded the Greek army off to Troy to fight and win the Trojan War
- Killed by either his wife or Aegus, depending on the version
Iphigenia
The Family
In the second story, Agamemnon kills his daughter because he wants
good winds for his trip to Troy.
When Agamemnon returns from his victory of the Trojan War, his wife
welcomes him home, but later, she and Aegeus murder him as revenge
for killing his eldest daughter as a sacrifice.
Clytemnestra and Aegeus are later killed by her son Orestes
In the first story Agamemnon is killed by Aegeus because of Aegeus'
love for Agamemnon's wife. Agamemnon is avenged by his son,
Orestes.
Agamemnon is killed by Aegeus because Agamemnon's wife was
having an affair for ten years while Agamemnon was away at Troy for
war. Agamemnon's wife has him killed so he stays out of her new
relationship.
Aegeus killing
Agamemnon
Clytemnestra killing Agamemnon
Gold mask of Atreus, father of Agamemnon
Agamemnon and his
children
More Family
Clytemnestra
Agamemnon
Agamemnon and His Children
-Wife of Agamemnon
- Has an affair with Aegeus in both versions, however kills Agamemnon
in only one version
-mother of Orestes
Electra and Orestes
Aegeus - Lover of Clytemnestra. Kills Agamemnon at House of Atreus
with Clytemnestra. Claims it was to get vengeance for Atreus who sent
children to be killed
Agamemnon - Main character. Conquered Troy after being forced to kill
his own daughter. Killed by wife and Aegeus upon return from Troy.
Orestes - Son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Escaped death as a
child. Returned home to The House of Atreus with his friend Pylades.
Kills both Aegeus and Clytemnestra to avenge his father.
Iphigenia - Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Killed by
Agamemnon at The House of Atreus
Electra - Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Was made
completely wretched instead of being killed.
Pylades - Friend of Orestes. Tells him to kill his mother in the end
Agamemnon and his daughter,
By Molly Brenner, Kai Freeman, Jordan Randle, Zach Miller, John Day
and Taheeb Sonekan
Agamemnon and Troy
Family Tree
Later on Agamemnon has to go to Troy. He
kills his daughter as a sacrifice which he thought would bring him good
luck on his voyage to Troy
Agamemnon and his soldiers going to war

THE ROYAL AND THE HOUSE OF THE THEBES

Unlike the House of Atreus, the House of Thebes is named after a city, not a person. The
dynastic head, Cadmus, is a brother of Europa, the woman Zeus kidnaps while she is a cow.
After her kidnapping, her father sends her brothers to look for her. The Oracle at Delphi tells
Cadmus to break off from the group and establish his own city. Fortune blesses his endeavor, but
his children are not so lucky. He has four daughters, all of whom experience tragedy: Semele
dies while pregnant with Dionysus; Ino becomes the wicked stepmother of Phrixus (from the
story of the Golden Fleece) and commits suicide after her husband kills their son; Agave is
driven mad by Dionysus and kills her own son, Pentheus; Autonoë’s son, Actaeon, accidentally
sees the naked Artemis, who kills him. In the end, the gods turn Cadmus and his wife, Harmonia,
into serpents for no reason.

The family’s greatest misfortune, however, descends upon Cadmus’s great-great-grandson,

Oedipus. The Oracle at Delphi tells Oedipus’s father, King Laius of Thebes, that a son of his will
 one day kill him and marry his wife. When Oedipus is born, Laius leaves the child tied up on a
mountain to die. Years later, Laius is killed by a man he meets on a highway, who everyone
believes is a stranger.

In Laius’s absence, Thebes is besieged by the Sphinx, a monster who devours anyone who
cannot answer her riddle. One day, Oedipus, who has grown up in Corinth as the son of King
Polybus, approaches. He has left home because the Oracle at Delphi told him he would one day
kill his father. Like Laius, he too wants to subvert fate. The Sphinx asks, “What creature goes on
four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?” Oedipus gives the
correct answer, “Man”—a man crawls as a baby, walks on two legs as an adult, and needs a cane
when elderly. The Sphinx, outraged, kills herself. As his reward for freeing the city, Oedipus
becomes king and marries the widowed queen, Jocasta.

A terrible plague visits Thebes. Oedipus sends Jocasta’s brother, Creon, to the Oracle at Delphi
to ask the gods how to fix the situation. Creon returns to say that the plague will lift once Laius’s
murderer is punished. Oedipus searches for the murderer, eventually consulting the seer Teiresias
for help. Teiresias uses his powers to see what has happened, but does not want to tell Oedipus
the horrible truth. Oedipus forces him, and the old man says that Oedipus himself is the guilty
party. Oedipus and Jocasta piece events together: on the road from Delphi, Oedipus killed a man
in a heated argument; they now realize that man was Laius. A messenger from Polybus enters
and Oedipus learns that he is not Polybus’s true son. He realizes that he is Laius’s son and has
fulfilled the horrible prophecy. Horrified, Jocasta kills herself and Oedipus gouges out his own
eyes.

Oedipus abdicates the throne but remains in Thebes, and the throne passes to Creon. Oedipus is
suddenly exiled and has only Antigone, his daughter, by his side to guide him. He finally rests in
Colonus, a place near Athens sacred to the Eumenides. In the end, the kindly Theseus honors
Oedipus for his unwitting suffering, and the tortured old man dies in peace. Meanwhile, his other
daughter, Ismene, has remained in Thebes, and his two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, fight over
 the throne. Eteocles eventually wins, but Polyneices assembles an army to attack the city. He
convinces six other chieftains to join him, and the seven attack the seven gates of Thebes.

Teiresias tells Creon that Thebes will be saved if Creon’s son, Menoeceus, dies. Creon tries to
protect the boy from battle, but the impetuous youth, believing he must make this sacrifice,
rushes out to his death. Thebes is ultimately victorious, but Eteocles and Polyneices kill each
other. Polyneices’ dying words express his wish to be buried in his home city, but Creon decrees
that anyone who buries any of the six dead enemy leaders—including Polyneices—will be put to
death. Antigone, now back in Thebes, is horrified and defies the law, burying her brother. True
to his word, Creon executes her.

NORSE MYTHOLOGY
Norse mythology refers to the Scandinavian mythological framework that was upheld
during and around the time of the Viking Age (c. 790- c. 1100 CE). Complete with a
creation myth that has the first gods slaying a giant and turning his body parts into the
world, various realms spread out beneath the World Tree Yggdrasil, and the eventual
destruction of the known world in the Ragnarök, the Nordic mythological world is both
complex and comprehensive. Its polytheistic pantheon, headed by the one-eyed Odin,
contains a great number of different gods and goddesses who were venerated in
customs integrated into the ancient Scandinavians’ daily lives.

Main sources
Peeling back the layers of history in order to form a properly detailed and accurate
picture of the myths, beliefs, and customs as they actually were in the Viking Age is no
mean feat, especially for an overwhelmingly oral society, as Scandinavia mostly was at
the time. As such, we only have the "tips of the narrative icebergs" (Schjødt, 219) when
it comes to the Norse gods.

On the one hand, we do have some genuine pre-Christian sources that preserve
elements of Scandinavian mythology; most importantly Eddic poetry (poetry from
the Poetic Edda compiled in c. 1270 CE, but probably dating back to the pre-Christian era
 before the 10th century) and skaldic poetry (Viking Age, pre-Christian poetry mainly
heard at courts by kings and their retinues), preserved in later Icelandic manuscripts.
The Codex Regius found in the Poetic Edda contains an anonymous collection of older
Eddic poems, including ten about gods and nineteen about heroes, and although some
of these tell complete myths, most of them assume – unfortunately for us – that their
audience was familiar with the mythical context. The same goes for skaldic poetry; with
knowledge of the myths taken for granted, for us, using these sources to create a full
picture of Norse mythology is a bit like filling in a rather difficult Sudoku puzzle.

THE INTEGRATED NATURE OF NORSE MYTHOLOGY IN THE

VIKINGS’ DAILY LIVES IS BETRAYED BY THE WORD SÍÐUR,
MEANING ‘CUSTOM’ – THEIR CLOSEST CONCEPT TO RELIGION.
On the other hand, later medieval sources, such as Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda (c. 1220
CE) and Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum composed a few decades earlier, reworked
the changeable, enigmatic, but slightly tangled early Viking sources into much more
structured accounts. Snorri’s work is the main reason we have an inkling of Norse
mythology and myths as a whole, but should also be read critically, as he wrote from a
Christian context. However, the older Eddic and skaldic poems clearly do more justice
to the dynamic and integrated role mythology actually played in Viking Age societies.

Norse mythology in Viking society

The integrated nature of the Norse mythological framework in daily life is betrayed by
the word síður, meaning ‘custom’ – the closest concept the Old Norse language had to
religion. Of course, what it was exactly the Vikings believed with regard to all these
different Norse gods and the world they lived in is hard to pin down. However,
archaeological evidence helps hint at personal devotion to specific gods people felt
connected to, with accompanying customs and rituals being a standard part of
everyday life. The sources also give the impression that the Norse gods had their own
distinct personalities more so than set-in-stone domains.

In a broader sense, gods were also venerated and called upon by the whole community.
Sites of potential cultic activity, for instance, may be identified by the appearance of the
name of a god in place names, like in the case of Fröslunda ("the grove dedicated to the
god Freyr"). Certain hotspots are hinted at by the sources, too. According to Adam of
Bremen (who wrote his account - based on hearsay - c. 1070 CE) there was a great
temple at Uppsala in Sweden which housed images of Thor, Odin, and Freyr, who
were sacrificed to in times of famine or disease, war, or when weddings popped up,
respectively. He relays how every nine years people got together there to let their long
 Viking tresses down during a great festival in which humans, horses and dogs were
sacrificed, their bodies hanging from trees in the sacred grove. Although the
archaeological record does not support the existence of an actual temple, the remains of
other buildings, among which a large hall, dating to between the 3rd and 10th centuries,
have been found.

There were, thus, various aspects to Norse mythology’s place in Viking societies. As
Anne-Sofie Gräslund words it, "Old Norse religion should not be regarded as a static
phenomenon but as a dynamic religion that changed gradually over time and doubtless
had many local variations" (56). Ancient Scandinavia was a world in which belief in
divine powers abounded, and all of these had their own attributes and functions.

The Norse worldview only gradually changed with the emerging influence of
Christianity, which becomes apparent by the second half of the 11th century CE. Even
then, because Vikings were polytheistic, they simply added Christ to their already
rather lengthy list of gods, and different customs and beliefs were used side by side for
a good while.

Mythological worldview
The Norse worldview as we can best distill from the various sources boils down to the
following general idea. There were four phases: the process in which the world - and
everything in it - was created; a dynamic phase in which time is started; the destruction
of the world in the Ragnarök; and the arising of a new world from the sea.

ODIN, VILI, AND VÉ KILL YMIR & CREATE THE

EARTH FROM HIS FLESH, THE SKY FROM HIS
SKULL, MOUNTAINS FROM HIS BONES & THE
SEA FROM HIS BLOOD.
According to Snorri, before anything else existed there were the opposing realms of icy
Niflheim and fiery Muspelheim (which other sources simply call Muspell). Although
seemingly safely separated by the empty void Ginnungagap, the cold and heat
expanded to meet after all, resulting in Muspelheim’s fire melting the ice, from which
two assumingly dripping wet figures emerged: the (proto-)giant Ymir and the cow
Audhumla. By licking the ice Audhumla uncovered Búri, forefather of the gods, whose
son Borr teamed up with giant-daughter Bestla to sire the first gods, Odin, Vili, and Vé.
These three then took advantage of Ymir’s convenient size by killing him and using his
remains to create the world; the earth from his flesh, the sky from his skull, mountains
from his bones and the sea from his blood. The first human couple, Ask and Embla,
were fashioned out of two trees or pieces of wood.

With humans popping up, a new phase begins; time has started, and all the gods and
other creatures and their respective realms are off doing their own thing up until the
Ragnarök. The World Tree Yggdrasil, the axis of time and space, stands in the gods’
home realm of Asgard while its roots encompass all the other realms, including
Midgard, where the humans reside, and the giants’ abode Jotunheim. A dragon of
death called Nidhogg chomps on said roots, all while the three fates (known as Norns)
spin the fates of human lives at the tree’s base. As the Prose Edda tells it:

Ash Yggdrasill | suffers anguish,

More than men know of:
The stag bites above; | on the side it rotteth,
And Nídhöggr gnaws from below.
(Gylfaginning 16).

As if a giant tree were not enough, the surrounding sea is inhabited by the Midgard
Serpent (also known as Jörmungandr), a monster who twists and coils itself around the
world.

Eventually, these fairly peachy worldly conditions snowball into chaos and culminate
in the Ragnarök, the ‘final destiny of the gods’, for which our main source is the 10th-
century CE Völuspá saga. It starts with a terrible winter. The earth sinks into the sea, the
wolf Fenrir (often referred to as the Fenris-wolf) breaks loose and devours the sun, and,
as the icing on the already crumbling cake, mighty Yggdrasil shakes and the bridge
Bifröst – the express-way between Asgard and Midgard – collapses. Understandably
rattled, the gods hold an emergency council to prepare for battle against the powers of
the Underworld, who are closing in. The Prose Edda heralds that:

Brothers shall strive | and slaughter each other;

Own sisters' children | shall sin together;
Ill days among men, | many a whoredom:
An axe-age, a sword-age, | shields shall be cloven;
A wind-age, a wolf-age, | ere the world totters.
 (Gylfaginning 51).

Odin fights Fenrir but falls, after which the god Vidarr avenges him, while Thor
destroys the Midgard Serpent but succumbs to its poison. The gods and their foes die
left, right, and centre, until the giant Surtr goes pyromaniac and kindles the world-fire
that destroys everything.

Luckily, phoenix-style, the destruction is not the end. Following a cyclical concept of the
world, a new world rises – not from the ashes, but from the sea. Only a handful of gods
are still standing, but the new world will have a new generation of gods as well as
humankind, to live happily ever after.

Ragnarök
by Johannes Gehrts (Public Domain)

Æsir & Vanir

The gods themselves are boxed into two families. Firstly, there is the bigger Æsir family
mostly connected with war and government, which was in practice also used as an
umbrella term for the main gods in general. It includes notables such as Odin, Thor,
Loki, Baldr, Hodr, Heimdall, and Týr.

Secondly, the smaller Vanir family contains fertility gods such as Njord, Freyr, and
Freyja. Despite them all living in Asgard, they do not always see eye-to-eye - which,
admittedly, is difficult considering Odin only has one eye, to begin with. In fact, they
clash to the point of war (the ‘Vanir wars’; or ‘Æsir-Vanir Wars’) but exchange hostages
after making peace and fuse their families through marriage.

The contrast between the Æsir and the Vanir has been argued to stem from oppositions
in Viking society, as the Vanir, with their focus on fertility, good harvests, and the
climate, were popular in farming communities, while the Æsir were seen to advise
kings, lords, and their warriors in matters of war and governance. As such, the peace
made at the end of the Vanir wars might reflect the idea that society could only function
through the combined powers of both social classes.
Finally, besides these two divine classes, there were also female deities known as
Dísir, popular in private worship, Álfar (elves), Jǫtnar (giants), and Dvergar (dwarfs);
enough to keep everyone busy, for sure. Norse mythology offers a very rich world to
get lost in.