The War In Legend

The Greek legends of the war against Troy were intertwined with mythology. Gods and goddesses played important roles in the events, and many of the human characters had kinship with divinities. The war itself was caused by a celestial beauty contest. Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, chose Aphrodite as the winner ( ); she helped him abduct the most beautiful woman in Greece, Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta.

Menelaus called on his countrymen to help him recover his wife and punish Troy. Among the warriors who joined him were his brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, who was made commander in chief; Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin), king of Ithaca; the giant Ajax, Prince of Salamis; and Achilles, prince of Phthia (Phthiotis). The elderly Nestor, king of Pylos, went along as adviser. The Greek expedition started out with 1,000 ships, but Aphrodite sent a storm and some were lost. To placate the goddess, Agamemnon agreed to the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia, and the fleet was then able to reach Troy. ( )

The siege lasted for 10 years. Among the deities helping the Greeks were the wife of almighty Zeus, Hera; Athene; Poseidon; and Achilles' mother, the sea nymph Thetis. The Trojans had the support of Aphrodite, Apollo, and Ares, and, much of the time, of Zeus himself. The Greeks held their beachhead, but failed in their attacks on Troy.

In the 10th year, Achilles and Agamemnon quarreled over a female captive, and Achilles retired sulking to his tent. With the great Greek warrior out of the conflict, the Trojan prince Hector drove the Greeks back almost to their ships. Achilles' friend Patroclus attempted to rally the Greeks and was struck down by Hector. In reprisal Achilles slew Hector. Paris killed Achilles by shooting an arrow into his heel, the only vulnerable part of his body. Soon afterward Paris was killed.

All the fighting had taken place outside the walls of Troy, but at last the Greeks found a way to enter the city. They built a huge wooden horse and filled its hollow body with armed men. Leaving it before the city gate, the Greek forces sailed away. Believing the horse to be an offering to Athene, the Trojans took it into the city so as to gain the goddess's favor for themselves. During the night the armed men came out of the horse and opened the gate for the rest of the Greeks, who had sailed back after dark. Troy was destroyed, and Helen was restored to Menelaus.