The Trojan WarWritten by Homer in the 8th century B.C.

Marissa KoscielskiTes Pairitz

Allison KetchamBridget VerVaet

Homer

• Born 800 B.C. in Greece• Died 750 B.C.• Wrote the two great epic stories of Greek

history– Iliad (the Trojan War ended this story)– Odyssey

• Cited as the starting point of Western literary and historical tradition

• Stories were very vivid and concrete

Background of the Trojan War

• Often described by scholars as a romantic war

• The end of this story is the end of the Iliad

• Greek gods played a key role in this story

• The Odyssey and the Iliad are highly influenced by the Trojan War

Outline of the Story

• Troy- city eastern end of the Mediterranean

– Very powerful and very rich

• The most beautiful goddess– Eris (goddess of discord) wasn’t invited to a

feast and became resentful• Sent an apple of gold that said “For the Fairest”• Zues was told to choose between Hera, Athena,

and Aphrodite

Outline cont.• Didn’t want to choose so he left the job to Paris

(Alexander)• Paris was prince of Troy but had been sent away

because it was said he’d be Troy’s downfall

– The goddess bribed him with gifts• Hera: promised to make him Lord of Europe• Athena: promised he would lead the Trojans to

victory against the Greeks and leave Greece in ruins

• Aphrodite: the fairest woman in all the world

– Paris chose Aphrodite

Outline cont.

• He got Helen, Zeus’s daughter, sister of Castor and Pollux

• King Tyndareus (her mom’s husband) didn’t choose a man in fear of mutiny, but ended up choosing Menelaus

• Aphrodite led Paris to her and stole her away

• The heroes– Odysseus, King of Ithaca

• Very sensible• Didn’t want to go, so he tried to act insane; didn’t

work so he had to go

Outline cont.– Achilles

• Wore women’s clothes to hide• Odysseus figured him out so her had to come

– A fleet of a thousand ships met at Aulis• Artemis was angry they had killed one of her hares

and the winds were bad• Sacrificed Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigenia, and

the winds calmed

– They got to Simois and Protesilaus jumped out first

• He died first and Hermes took his soul to see his wife who killed herself to be with him

Outline cont.• The gods

– Apollo got mad and shot flaming arrows at the Greeks

– Hera, Athena, and Poseidon were for the Greeks

– Aphrodite, Ares, Apollo, and Artemis were for the Trojans

– Zeus stayed neutral but favored Troy

• The fighting– Menelaus and Paris fought it out in front of

Hera but Paris fled and was taken by Aphrodite to a safe place

Outline cont.

– Hera distracted Zeus and Troy fell back as the Greeks advanced

– Apollo revived Hector (Trojan)– Patroclus was killed by Hector– Achilles killed Hector

• Tied his body to the back of a chariot and rode around

• The funeral of Hector ends the Iliad

Themes of the Story

• Love

• Hate

• Anger

• War

• Triumph

• Sadness

• Disappointment

Works Cited

• "Homer." answers.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar 2011. <http://www.answers.com/topic/homer>.

• ("Horizon Book of Ancient Greece" )

• LastScholasticus K, . "Facts About the Trojan War." buzzle.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar 2011. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-the-trojan-war.html>.