The Trojan War and Achilles
Achilles
The Illiad, Homer's great poetic account of the war between the Greeks and the city of Troy in northwesten Asia Minor, was essential reading in ancient Greece, where its literary importance was fully recognized, and it served as a basic text in the Hellenic education system. For the Greeks, the epic told the history of their ancestors. Archaeological evidence shows that Troy, which from its size and situation near the coast was clearly of importance, was indeed destroyed by fire and abandoned c.1100. This was at the end of the Bronze Age, and the warriors in Homer are described as using bromze as well as iron. In ancient times Troy was also known as Illion or Illium, hence the title of the epic.
The story begins with Priam and Hecuba, the king and queen of Troy. When Paris, one of their fifty sons, is born, Hecuba dreams that she has given birth to a firebrand which destroys the city. The infant is abandoned but he miraculously survives to behomd a sheperd. Later, as a young man, he defeats his brothers in a boxing match and is recognized as a son of Priam and welcomed back into the royal household.
Meanwhile, the wedding taked place of Peleus, a mortal, and the sea-nymph Thetis. An oracle has foretold that thetis will bear a son greater than his father. This will be Achilles, the best of the Greek warriors. The goddess Eris, insulted becaue she was not invited to the wedding, sends a golden apple to the nuptial feast, inscribed "For the Fairest". Athene, Hera and Aphrodite each claim the prize, and Zeus appoints Paris to judge which of these goddesses is the fairest. If she wins, Athene promises to give Paris wisom and victory in war. For her part, Hera promises him royal power, while Aphrodite promises the most beautiful woman in the world. The sensual Paris chooses Aprodite as the winner and thereby earns Troy the everlasting enmity of Hera and Athene. Paris' prize is Helen, the daughter of Leda and Zeus and the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Paris visits Sparta and an honoured guest, but then, with the help of Aphrodite, he elopes with Helen back to Troy.
All the Greek princes who hed been suitors of Helen promise to protect her from any future outrage. Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon, king of Argos, summon these princes and muster a great expediion at Aulis to sail for Troy and avenge the abduction. Two warriors, Achilles and Odysseus, are at first reluctant to join the campaign. Achilles disquises himself as a woman on the island of Scyros, but is discovered when a war trumoet sounds and he alone reaches for a weapon. Odysseus pretends to be mad and ploughs the seashore, but his ploy is revealed when his own baby is placed before the plough. Once exposed, both men agree to join the expedition. The Greeks assemble at Aulis, but their fleet is held up by Artemis, who takes the Trojan side in the war. Agamemnon is forced to sacrifice his daughter Iphigeneia in order to secure good winds. The expedition finally sets sail for Asia Minor and establishes camp outside Troy, to which the Greeks lay siege for ten years.
During the siege, Agamemnon winds Chryseis, daughter of Chryses, priest of Apollo, as war booty. It is at this point in the saga that Homer begins his Illiad. The priest asks for his daughter back, and when refused prays to Apollo and implores him to destroy the Greeks. A terrible plague attacks the camp; after some days the reason for the plague is revealed and Agamemnon is forced to return Cyrseis to her father. In his anger at this loss, Agamemnon claims for himself another woman, Briseis, who is a prize of the Greek warrior Achilles.
The warrior is outraged, refuses to fight any longer, and prays for the destruction of the Greeks so that they will regrent this absence. Hector, Priam's elest son and the chief Trojan warriorm now leads an advance from Troy and reaches as far as the ships of the Greeks, wounding and killing many heroes. Patroclus, Achilles' dearest friend, begs the idle warrior for a loan of his armour, so that the Trojans will think Achilles is fighting and retreat. Achilles is reluctant but eventually relents, warning Patroclus to be careful. But Patroclus fails to heed the warning and , despite pushing back the Trojans, is killed by Hector.
Achilles' grief knows no bounds, and he returns to the battle to seek revenge. In a famous scene, he pursues Hector three times around the walls of Troy and finally kills him in single combat. A magnificent funeral is held for Patroclus, complete with funeral games, but the Trojans cannot do the same for Hector because Achilles has kept and desecrated his corpse. The angry gods force Achilles to accept the offer of a ransom and return Hector's body tp Priam. Achilles dies when he is shot by Paris in the Ankle, his only vulnerable spot, and his armour is awarded to Odysseus as the next best warrior. Shrtly afterwards, Paris himself is shot and killed by the archer Philoctetes.
Since the death of its chief warrior, Hector, Troy has been doomed to fall. Odysseus has the idea of building a huge hallow wooden horse, in which the pick of the Greek warriors hide while their fleet sails away as if in defeat. The Trojans believe that the horse is an offering to the gods and bring it inside the walls. At night, the warriors slip out of the horse and open the city gates to the rest of the army, which has come ashore once more. Troy is sacked and razed by fire, Priam and his remaining sons are slaughtered, and Hecuba and the Trojan women are taken into slavery.
creation 
the hero
goddesses
gods
tricksters
afterlife