THE TROJAN WAR

Mohammed Miah
Simran Pabla
Lawrence Chang
Nathaniel Greene
Benjamin Bernn
Nabilah Kamal
• The Trojan war was originally caused by a conflict between Hera, Athena and 
Aphrodite. It happened when Eris was not invited to the party that was being held
and so she brought a golden apple and said it was for the most beautiful goddess.
• Zeus told Hermes to tell the three gods to go to Paris because he was a very good
judge of beauty.
• Paris did not actually judge on the gods beauty, but on the bribes they were giving
him.
• Aphrodite won the apple and gave Paris the daughter of the Greeks, Helen.
• Helen was supposed to marry another man though, so when Paris went to meet
Helen and her husband was out of town, Paris took Helen with him, and when the
Greeks found out they assembled a group of men, including Achilles and Odysseus,
to sail to Troy to find Helen.
• Troy was difficult to find and there were many problems in trying to sail to Troy.
They were unable to do it at first, but they found Teuthranians and in believing that
it was Troy they attacked them. Telephus was injured and  the only way he could
have been healed was by Achilles. Telephus gave the Greeks the location of Troy.
• When they tried to attack Troy, they couldn’t break through their wall. Achilles had
been defeated by Paris and Patroclus had also died.
• A prophet told the Greeks how to win and in the end Odysseus came up with a plan
to get into the walls of Troy. They created a wooden horses and hid inside. The
Trojans thought it was a gift from the gods and brought it into the city. Then at
nighttime when everyone was drunk from celebrating or asleep, the Greeks
slaughtered everyone.
• When the Greeks left Troy they encountered even more problems then they had
when leaving Greece.
• Paris (also known as Alexander) was the son of the King of Troy, but a prophecy was told saying
that Paris would cause the downfall of Troy, so his parents Hecuba and Priam left him to raise
himself in Mount Ida, where he lived with the nymph Oeone. He did in a way still did cause Troy’s
destruction. He would have been killed by Menelaus, but was spirited away by Aphrodite, since it
was partly her fault that Paris was about to die, but he did kill Achilles with the help of Apollo.
• Helen was most fairest woman in the world and was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. Every prince
wanted to marry her, but since she could only choose one, her “father” King Tyndareus, married
her to Menelaus. She was kidnapped by Paris and in the end she was reunited with Menelaus.
• Menelaus was the King of Sparta and the husband of Helen. He fought against the Trojans and
was very clever. He found Odysseus and he was a great fighter. He would have killed Paris, but
Paris was spirited away.
• Odysseus was the King of Island of Ithaca, but he did not want to join the army, like many other
kings. So when Menelaus came to recruit Odysseus, he pretended to be insane and just plowed
through fields. Menelaus was clever though and put Odysseus’s son in front of the plow, which
made him stop and Menelaus knew he was not insane, so Odysseus had to join the army.
Odysseus was very wise and he thought of many plans that helped the Greeks attain victory.
• Achilles was the son of Thetis, a sea nymph with the ability to foretell the future, and Peleus. His
mother did not want him to join the army or die, so she dipped him into the River Styx to make
him invincible, but held him by the heel leaving his heel vulnerable. Then she disguised him as a
girl and sent him to live in the court of Lycomedes. Odysseus was the one to find him out and he
then joined the army. Throughout the myth Achilles is brave and he is also caring and passionate
about his friends. He was also very vengeful, because he killed many of the Trojans that killed his
friends and fellow Greeks.
• Agamemnon was the leader of the Greek troops and he was the father of
Iphigenia. A prophet told him that he had to sacrifice his daughter in order to
stop the winds that prevented them from sailing to Troy. He did not actually want
to, but since he was the leader he had to be strong and he sacrificed her to the
gods. The winds finally die down and they are ready to set sail.
• Ajax and Diomedes were the greatest of the Greek fighters after Achilles. They
helped killed many Trojans and Diomedes even attempted to wound the god
Aphrodite, when she tried to save her son Aeneas. Diomedes also wounded the
war god Ares with a spear and the help of Athena. Ajax fought and was about to
wound Hector, who was the greatest hero of the Troy's.
• Aeneas was best and the bravest next to Hector in the Trojan Army and was the
son of Aphrodite. He fought and killed many Greeks, but was about to die in the
hands of Diomedes and if it had not been for the gods, he would have died. After
Aphrodite failed to save him, Apollo took him to a special place in Mount
Olympus, where Artemis healed him.
• Hector was the greatest hero of the Trojans and was married to Andromache. He,
like many other heroes in the Trojan War was very brave and risked his life for
Troy. He continued to fight and not be a coward. He was also gentle with the
people close to him and very passionate about his family. He fought onwards,
even into the Greek ranks, but was hurled to the ground by Ajax, but was saved
by Aeneas. He was not lucky the next time he was caught in a one on one battle
with Achilles.
Gods are jealous
-Both Athena and Hera were jealous of Aphrodite being given the apple & quote; of the fairest & quote;.
 They present human qualities.
Gods also often disagree
-The gods often disagreed on many of the issues that concerned the Trojan War. For example, during the decision
of whether or not was Hector to die, the gods were divided. At the end a decision was reached by 'golden
balances' that Zeus hung,  on which Hectors side was heavier than that of Achilles. So he was the one to die.
Both sides suffer in a war emotionally
-The families of both The Trojans and the Greeks suffered. Many wives were turned into widows and many
children into orphans. The parent of those who fought also suffered; for example the mother of Achilles, Thetis,
was heart-stricken with grief and warned her son not to fight in the battle because she knew he was to die also.
Wars are often influenced by personal feelings:
-Hera and Athena aided the Greeks throughout the war because of their hatred of the Trojans due to “The
Judgment of Paris “.The war could have ended when Paris was taken by Apollo and Menelaus was declared the
winner had it not been for Athena's interference.
She persuaded one of the Trojan soldiers to throw an arrow at Menelaus which again started the war.
Some warriors are cowards:
 -Paris portrays his cowardliness in throughout  The Trojan War. One way by which he does so, is by stealing
Helen  while Menelaus is away because he did not want to face Menelaus. However, when the time did come for
him to face Menelaus, he barely fought, and just simply  threw his spear. At the end he was rescued by Aphrodite,
protecting him furthermore.
Gods often play a big role in the lives of the people:
 -Throughout the course of the war, the Gods chose sides. In picking their sides, they aided them side and led
them to different victories.
Not all Gods are Brave and strong:
 -Aphrodite, the goddesses love and beauty, showed her cowardliness when she came to save her wounded son,
the prince Aeneas. As she picked him up, she was wounded by Diomedes, who knew of her weakness. After being
wounded she quickly left, leaving her son behind.
• In this myth, there are many examples of humanism
and there are many heroic characteristics.
• Humanism is portrayed by the gods because in the
myths there are many parts where the gods are
jealous of each other and they can become sad or
cowardly. The gods can even become wounded.
The themes in this myth are:
• Fate and Pride
• Danger of Arrogance
• Rewards for Good
• Punishments for Bad
• Love, Passion, Sorrow and Betrayal
• Heroes Quest
• Destiny
• Fate and Pride are shown in this myth because the heroes believe that
their side will win and how certain people end up fighting and dying.
• The Dangers of being Arrogant are shown in this myth because all the
goddess think they are the fairest and because of it Troy was burned down
and many people were killed,
• Rewards for the Good and Punishment for the Bad is shown because the
gods helped different sides and when ever anyone disrespected the gods,
they ended up very badly.
• Love, Passion, Sorrow and Betrayal are all shown in this myth because it is
because of the love for Helen, Paris stole her, which caused the Greeks to
attack Troy. In addition, the heroes were very sad to leave their family and
mourned for the dead, and the gods also tried to help their children in the
war showing love towards them. Betrayal is shown because Paris leaves
Oeone for Helen and when he needs her help, she refuses.
• The is are many different prophecies in the myth including that Paris will
lead to the destruction of Troy and that Troy will not fall unless the Greeks
steal the sacred image of Athena. This shows that certain people and
things have a destiny that is laid out for them and it will occur no matter
what, even if it not the way you would think it would happen.
• Judgment of Paris; Origins of the Trojan War
• 3.2: “For one of the reasons Eris threw in an apple as a beauty
prize for Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. Zeus ordered Hermes to
take them to Alexander on Mount Ida so that they could be
judged by him. The goddesses promised to give Alexander gifts:
Hera, if she were chosen the most beautiful of all, promised him
kingship over everyone; Athena promised victory in war; and
Aphrodite promised marriage to Helen. He chose Aphrodite and
sailed off to Sparta after Phereclos built his ships.”
• 5.9: “After Alexander’s death Helenos and Deiphobos had a
quarrel over who would marry Helen. When Deiphobos was
chosen the winner, Helenos left Troy to live on Mount Ida. Calchas
said that Helenos knew the oracles that were protecting the city,
so Odysseus captured him in an ambush, then brought him to
camp.”
These quotes show how love can be extremely dangerous and it
will continue on to be dangerous. Also, it shows how the gods are
conceited and want to be “Fairest” of all gods. These quotes are
important because they explain the reason the war began. They
also shows how gods work with humans to do things and that
humans and gods act alike.
 Did you know...?
• After the Trojans were defeated, the Greeks took
almost as long to get home as the war lasted.
• When Troy was burning down desperate soldiers
tore up the roofs and hurled the beams down to
the Greeks.
• After the war, Polyxena, daughter of Priam, was
sacrificed at the tomb of Achilles and Astyanax.
• The surviving Trojan women were divided among
the Greek men along with the money stolen.
• To what extent was the Trojan war
caused by the Gods of Olympus?
• In what ways were the Trojan horses the
cause of the Greeks winning the war?
• Why did the Gods feel that they should
interfere with the Trojan War?
• From both Armies, the Greek and Troy,
who was the most heroic?