The Trojan War

EDITORIAL WEEBLE

FERNANDO G. RODRIGUEZ http://editorialweeble.com

2014 Editorial WeebleAuthor: Fernando G. Rodríguez info@editorialweeble.comIllustrations: Fernando G. RodríguezTranslation: Amanda D’Singh

http://editorialweeble.com

Madrid, Spain, July 2014

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The Trojan War

Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0

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“Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity. And so

we ask ourselves: will our actions echo across the

centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we

are gone, and wonder who we were, how bravely we

Taken from the film ‘Troy’

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This story took place over 3000 years ago, at a time when gods were

confused with heroes and heroes with men. In an era where reality was

mixed with myth.

Envy, vengeance, love and war come together in this story.

A fascinating story. Are you ready to

discover it?

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Our story begins more than

3000 years ago in Troy, a

wealthy city located in what is

now Turkey.

The location and wealth of Troy

are envied by all of the Greek

kings.

Meanwhile, Greece is divided

into numerous cities with their

own kings and princes. They

have fought between themselves

for many years in order to gain

control of the Peloponnese.

Aegean Sea

AthensDelphi

Lemnos

Sparta

Troy

Lesbos

Mycenae

Crete

Corinth

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Priam, the King of Troy has just had another son, Paris. The

priests of the god Apollo, the god of the sun, warn the king:

- This child will be the downfall of Troy. Kill him!-.

Priam does not believe the priests’ warnings. He cannot kill his own son

and secretly orders that he be left

beside a bush on Mount Ida.

Nine days later, Agelaus, the

herdsman, watches in amazement

as a bear suckles the child. He

takes him home as if he were his

own son and secretly brings him

up.

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Paris is raised as part of Agelaus’ family. After a few years, Paris

turns into a handsome young man. The people who know him,

appreciate the fairness with which he resolves various matters.

As a result, Zeus, the king of the gods, orders him to intervene in a

dispute between the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, and

choose the most beautiful of them.

All three are equally beautiful. In

the end, Paris chooses Aphrodite,

and by way of reward she promises

him that the most beautiful woman

on Earth will fall in love with him.

Hera and Athena leave, both

vowing revenge against Paris for

his choice.

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During some local celebrations in Troy, Paris participates in various

tests of skill. He wins all of them, beating several noblemen, including

King Priam’s sons.

This really infuriates them and they start to chase after him. When

they have caught him, Agelaus forces his way through the crowd and

shouts to Priam:

- Your Majesty, it’s your long-lost son! Don’t

hurt him!-

Priam, surprised but delighted after so

many years, invites Paris to remain at the

palace as his son, despite renewed

warnings from Apollo’s priests.

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Meanwhile, in Sparta, a city of Greece, Helen, the most

beautiful woman of the Peloponnese is ready to marry.

Her suitors include almost all of the Greek princes and kings:

Diomedes, Patroclus, Palamedes, Ajax, Odysseus, Menelaus…

Odysseus asks them to swear an oath to

defend the chosen one against anyone who

bears a grudge, so as to prevent quarrels

between them after Helen makes her

choice. They all do as they are asked.

In the end, Helen chooses

Menelaus, the King of Sparta and

brother of Agamemnon, the King of

Mycenae and the most powerful

Greek king.

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Several months later, Menelaus comes to Troy on a commercial visit

and meets the young Paris. They get on well with each other and

Menelaus invites him to go to Sparta with him. Paris accepts.

In Sparta he meets Helen, who falls hopelessly

in love with him.

They plan to run off and, taking

advantage of the fact that

Menelaus has an urgent trip to

Crete, they flee to Troy, taking

important Spartan treasures with

them.

The promise that the goddess

Aphrodite had made to Paris

was becoming a reality.

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By way of revenge against Paris, the goddess Hera sends a big

storm which does not sink the lovers’ ship but does alter its

course. They eventually arrive on the coast of Cyprus.

Paris subsequently conquers the city of Sidon and with it

numerous treasures that he takes with him.

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When Menelaus finds out about Helen’s elopement, he calls a meeting

of the Greek kings and princes who swore to defend him and asks

them to honour their oath:

- My dear kings and princes, in Sparta you swore to defend me against

those who tried to steal Helen from me. Now is the time to keep your

promise.-

Troy was a virtually unassailable city due to its high and well-defended

walls, but they have no option but to honour their oath. One by one they all

end up agreeing, even the hero Achilles. According to the prophecy, without

him Troy could not be taken.

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Meanwhile, Paris and Helen arrive in Troy. They are both well

received in the city because Helen’s beauty is such that all of the Trojans

immediately fall in love with her.

As a sign of respect, Paris gives Apollo’s priests many of the treasures

that he acquired in Sparta and Sidon, thereby gaining their acceptance.

King Priam receives them in

the palace and grants them the

protection of Troy.

Hector, Paris’ brother also does

the same.

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in the meantime, in Greece, the Greek fleet, made up of over 1000

ships, comes together under the control of King Agamemnon to embark on

the journey to Troy.

It was the first time in History that such a fleet had been seen. It covered the

sea from East to West, and the ships went far beyond the horizon.

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After a long and very difficult voyage,

the Greeks reached the beach close to

Troy. When they disembarked, the

Trojans were waiting for them and the

first battle took place.

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The Greeks managed to disembark and set up camp on the beach,

next to their ships.

In the distance, they could make out the high walls of the wealthy

city of Troy. The Greeks had wanted to invade this city for many

years and now they had their opportunity.

Following a few failed attempts, they realise that they cannot take the

city and opt to besiege it until its inhabitants run out of food.

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Whilst the siege continues, Achilles and his

Myrmidons take the nearby cities that are allies of

Troy. Some thirty cities fall to him.

In one of them he takes Cressida prisoner, she is the

daughter of one of Apollo’s priests, along with

Briseida, who is King Minos’

widow.

Agamemnon chooses Cressida as

his slave and Achilles chooses

Briseida.

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The years of the Trojan war and siege passed in this way, with regular

battles.

One day, Chryseis, Cressida’s father, visits Agamemnon and asks him to

return his daughter in exchange for numerous treasures. Agamemnon

refuses.

- Cressida is my slave and I will not exchange her for all the gold that you

can bring me - Agamemnon declared.

An annoyed Chryseis persuades the god Apollo to shoot arrows infected by

the plague at the camp.

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Seeing how the plague takes hold of the Greek camp and having found out

the reason behind the curse, Achilles forces Agamemnon to hand

over Cressida.

- Bad King, you are making the Greeks suffer for your own benefit.

Hand over Cressida and free us from Apollo’s spell - says Achilles

threateningly.

In the end, Agamemnon agrees in order to save the camp from the plague

and to appease the anger of his best warrior. Troy is at stake.

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However, Agamemnon does not want to completely give in to Achilles

and sets out his conditions:

- I will hand over Cressida, but not because you have asked me to. You

are just a soldier in my army. In return I will keep your slave,

that girl Briseida - declared the king.

- Soldiers, go to Achilles’ tent

and bring me his slave. -

- You bad king, you just think

about yourself. The gods will

curse you as I am doing now

- replied Achilles furiously.

From then onwards,

Achilles refuses to fight

for the Greeks.

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When they find out about the argument between Agamemnon and

Achilles, the Trojans take advantage of the situation to attack the

Greek camp and are just about to set fire to the ships. Achilles and his

Myrmidons just watch and do not take part in the battle.

After a couple of defeats for the Greeks, Agamemnon, in view of the

danger posed by the Trojans and the continued absence of Achilles,

tries to convince him to return to battle by offering him treasures and

titles.

Achilles does not

accept them and

continues to refuse to

participate in the war.

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Patroclus, one of Achilles’ companions, asks him if he can take charge of

the Myrmidons temporarily in order to hold off Hector who was close to the

ships again.

After holding off the Trojan attack,

Patroclus, ignoring Achilles’

advice, pursues Hector until

they reach Troya itself. At some

point, Hector challenges him and

kills him thinking that he is

Achilles, since Patroclus was

wearing his armour.

- You can take them into battle, but only to

stop Hector from advancing. Do not go after

the Trojans - Achilles replied.

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When Achilles finds out about the death of his

companion Patroclus, he decides to seek revenge and

leads the Greeks into battle once more.

Agamemnon sees Achilles putting his helmet

on in order to fight the Trojans again and

smiling he turns to his deputies and

says:

- Without realising, young

Patroclus has changed the

course of this war. -

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Achilles manages to hold off the Trojan army right up to the

walls of Troy. There he duels with Hector and kills him.

Such is his anger about

Patroclus’ death that he ties

Hector’s corpse to his chariot

and, by way of revenge, he

drags it to the Greek camp.

Priam, unable to do

anything, watches in horror

as his son’s body is taken

away.

- Great King of Troy - Achilles

replies, -I admire your courage in

coming to my tent. If only

our king was like you.

Take your son’s

body. The Myrmidons

will escort you through

the camp. Do not be

afraid.”24

Having observed several days of funeral rites following the death of

Patroclus, one night King Priam discreetly enters Achilles’ tent. Achilles

is surprised at his appearance.

- Great warrior, allow me to bury my son Hector as the prince and warrior

that he is. It was a fair fight. It’s not about reproach - the Trojan king says.

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- By way of gratitude, I will

allow you to marry my

daughter, Polyxena - says

Priam.

Achilles had already met

Polyxena at Apollo’s temple and

he had fallen in love with her.

They arrange a secret ceremony

to celebrate the marriage.

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However, the ceremony does not go to plan. When they first met, Achilles

had told Polyxena his secret: when he was born, his mother, the goddess

Thetis, submerged him in the River Styx in order to make him invincible,

but she held him by the heel, which became his only vulnerable part.

Paris discovers Achilles’ secret through Polyxena and decides to ambush

him.

At some time during the celebration, Paris, hiding behind a column in

the temple, shoots an arrow which, guided by the hand of the goddess

Aphrodite, mortally wounds Achilles in the

heel.

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The Greek camp becomes deeply dejected when it

learns of the unfortunate death of its hero.

During the cremation ceremony, the smoke from the

funeral pyre spreads throughout the camp like a

ghost and goes inside all of the Greek

tents.

The Greeks are left

without their hero and

leader.

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However, in the next battle, Philoctetes,

the great Greek archer who had Heracles’

bow and arrows, challenges Paris and

mortally wounds him with three

shots.

Now the person responsible for causing

the war is dead and Helen is a widow.

Priam forces Helen to marry another of his

sons, Deiphobus. Following the death of his

two sons, Priam cannot tolerate the idea of

handing her back to Menelaus.

However, Helen no longer has anything

which ties her to Troy and she gradually

distances herself from it.

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After nine years at war and exhausted by the siege of Troy,

the ingenious Odysseus devises a strategy to enter the city.

- We will build an enormous wooden horse inside

which we will hide our best warriors - he suggests to

Agamemnon.

Agamemnon thinks that it is a good idea. The fact is that

there were no other ideas, and they set about

drawing up a plan.

By way of preparation, the Greeks break

camp and hide the fleet out of sight of the

Trojans, making them think that they

have gone.

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One morning the Trojan sentinels cannot see

either the camp or the Greeks. It looks like they

have finally returned to Greece.

All that remains on the beach is an enormous

wooden horse.

- Priam, the Greeks have gone! - the priests tell

the king. Priam arrives at the beach and

studies the wooden horse.

- Look, they have left a horse as an offering to

the god Poseidon so as to have a safe

journey. We will take it to

the city - says King Priam.

- No, burn it - say the priests.

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Likewise, his daughter Cassandra, who had the gift of prophecy, warns her

father:

- This horse is full of soldiers; it will be the destruction of Troy.-

But no one paid her any attention.

- We will take it to the city - said King Priam once more.

And that is what happens. The Greeks’ plan was working.

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That night, the city of Troy is holding

a big party, celebrating victory over the

Greeks. Afterwards, everyone goes to

bed.

That was the moment that the Greeks

were waiting for. In silence, they

came out of the horse, led by

Menelaus, Neoptolemus, the son of

Achilles, and Odysseus, and they head

for the city gates.

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The Greeks open the city gates to the

rest of the army which had come

ashore once again.

The Greek army surprises the

Trojans who cannot do anything to

defend their city.

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The Greeks plunder and set fire to Troy for three days and three

nights. Neoptolemus kills King Priam. Agamemnon takes his daughter

Cassandra prisoner, although she warns him of the tragic fate that awaits

him if he returns to Mycenae.

Polyxena is sacrificed on Achilles’ tomb.

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After almost ten years of war, the Greeks

set out on their journey home. However, during

those years they had provoked the anger of so

many gods that they had an awful journey…

Menelaus and Helen took a further nine years

to reach Sparta. On their arrival in Mycenae,

Cassandra and Agamemnon were murdered

by the king’s previous wife. Odysseus took ten

years to return.

As such, the destiny of the victorious and

the defeated was joined forever, leaving a

trail of death and desolation behind them.

Only the names and heroic deeds of the

protagonists will be remembered by history.

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the end

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The Trojan War

2014 Editorial WeebleAuthor: Fernando G. Rodríguez info@editorialweeble.comIllustrations: Fernando G. RodríguezTranslation: Amanda D’Singh

http://editorialweeble.com

Madrid, Spain, July 2014

Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0