Homer's* great epic the Iliad describes the activities of gods, goddesses, and human heroes during the final year of the war. It also figures in the literature of the Romans (e.g., Virgil’s Aeneid) and of later peoples down to modern times. The jilted husband of Helen, Menelaus, persuaded his brother, Agamemnon, to lead a voyage to find her. Similarly, the characters Homer immortalized in his great epic transcends the brutality, seriousness, and devastation of war. The Trojan Horse, therefore, would have represented an earthquake, sent by Poseidon, to destroy the city of Troy once and for all. Ajax then returned the favour with an even bigger rock, smashing Hector’s shield. The Trojan War. King Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces, seizes Briseis for himself. Until the so-called Trojan War, Asia Minor or much of West Asia, including present-day Turkey, was part of the Hittite Empire. Amongst the cities or regions represented were Boiotia, Phocia, Euboea, Athens, Argos, Corinth, Arcadia, Sparta, Kephalonia, Crete, Rhodes, Magnesia, and the Cyclades. It is an amalgamation of fact and fiction because the archaeologists have discovered that there was such an expedition. The Trojan Horse is a story from the Trojan War about the subterfuge that the Greeks used to enter the independent city of Troy and win the war. When Helen absconded with Paris, Menelaus sought aid from his brother, who accepted and triggered the famous Trojan War. There has been much debate over historical evidence of the Trojan War. His special interests include pottery, architecture, world mythology and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share in common. TROJAN WAR CLASSROOM GAME Divide your classroom into Greeks and Trojans and allow them to act out the greatest war of all time. When Menelaus demanded her return, the Trojans refused. Cartwright, Mark. The Trojan War’s Legacy. The Greeks imagined the war to have occurred some time in the 13th century BCE. However, the war was also the subject of a long oral tradition prior to Homer’s work, and this, combined with other sources such as the fragmentary Epic Cycle poems, give us a more complete picture of what exactly the Greeks thought of as the Trojan War. Conflicts over the centuries between the Mycenaean and Hittite civilizations are more than probable, colonial expansion and control of lucrative trade routes being prime motivators. The Trojans did take the horse inside the city walls but whilst they were enjoying a drunken celebration of their victory, the Greeks climbed out of the horse, opened the city walls for the returning Greek army, and the city was sacked and the population slaughtered or enslaved. The dates of these (c. 1250 BCE) and the site destruction correlate with Herodotus’ dates for the Trojan War. The war has been talked about for ages and involved some of the most famous figures in Greek mythology, such as Achilles and Diomedes.. There is no Trojan Horse in the original poems by Homer about the Trojan War, and the conclusion of the story is marked by the retrieval of Hector's corpse (a great Trojan hero) by his father, Priam (king of Troy), from the willing hands of Achilles (the Greek general), … The war involved several more exciting episodes including Achilles’ fight with and killing of the Ethiopian King Memnon and the Amazon Penthesilea who both came to the aid of the Trojans. There are in fact many likenesses between Homer’s descriptions and the armour, weapons, and war imagery found in these graves. Each throw their spears but to no effect. The Trojan War, fought between Greeks and the defenders of the city of Troy in Anatolia sometime in the late Bronze Age, has grabbed the imagination for millennia. In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus king of Sparta. Mark is a history writer based in Italy. The Trojan War was one of the most important wars in the history of Ancient Greece.It happened between the Trojans and the Greeks. Homer's* great epic the Iliad describes the activities of gods, goddesses, and human heroes during the final year of the war. It is an amalgamation of fact and fiction because the archaeologists have discovered that there was such an expedition. From classical sources, it can be said that the Trojan War started after the elopement (or abduction) of the queen of Sparta, Helen by Paris, the Trojan prince. It finally ended when the Greeks retreated from camp and left behind a large wooden horse outsi… The names of both places and the names of Greek-like individuals have been found in Hittite records. These ruins would have been inspiring—inspiring enough to encourage, say, a bard to write a very long poem creating a mythos around said ruins. Achilles Fighting Hektorby Trustees of the British Museum (Copyright). The Trojan War, which was punctuated by battles and skirmishes, lasted for ten years. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. It's Older Than Feudalism, and so is the subject of more stories and songs than you can shake a stick at and is the Trope Namer for a whole lot of stuff. The ancient Greeks defeated the City of Troy. The gods had their favourites amongst the men fighting down on the plains of Troy and they often protected them by deflecting spears and even spiriting them away in the heat of battle to put them down somewhere safe, far from danger. Troy was sacked & the population slaughtered or enslaved. Web. These included the Carians, Halizones, Kaukones, Kikones, Lycians, Maionians, Mysians, Paionians, Paphlagonians, Pelasgians, Phrygians, and Thracians. Books https://www.ancient.eu/Trojan_War/. Intriguingly, bronze arrowheads, spear tips, and slingshots have been found at the site and even some embedded in the fortification walls, suggesting some sort of conflict. First, the Greeks all sailed off into the sunset leaving a mysterious offering to the Trojans of a gigantic wooden horse which in reality concealed a group of warriors within. Modern historians, however, believed Troy to be just north of Albany. In the fighting that follows, the … Why did Paris do something so rash? A historic Trojan War would have been quite different from the one that dominates Homer’s epic. The strife began after the Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. Breaking through the gates, the Trojans sent the Greeks fleeing in panic back to their ships. We have also been recommended for educational use by the following publications: Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. Perhaps the most pivotal event in the early history of ancient Greece was the Trojan War. These Achilles refused but with the Greek camp under attack, Patroclus appealed to his mentor and great friend Achilles to rejoin the conflict and, when he still refused, Patroclus asked for permission to wear Achilles’ armour and lead the fearful Myrmidons himself. Then, after 10 years of … The war was finally ended by the famous trick, the Trojan Horse. The Trojan War was a legendary conflict between the early Greeks and the people of Troy in what is now Turkey. According to the ancient Greek epic poet Homer, the Trojan War was caused by Paris, son of the Trojan king, and Helen, wife of the Greek king Menelaus, when they went off together to Troy. And piling insult on top of injury, the great city of Troy has abducted Helen, the Queen of Sparta. Convincingly. Aphrodite tells him that she is interested i… Just to make sure the Trojans took the horse within the city, Sinon was chosen to stay behind and tell a cock and bull story about the Greeks having given up and left a nice present. Agamemnon, King of Argos, has called for a consultation with his prophet. A goat is to be offered to Athena and its entrails read. After a suitable show of mourning, Achilles finally decided to enter the battlefield once more. Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris, who judged that Aphrodite, as the "fairest", should receive the apple. They sought war after Helen, queen of Sparta, was taken away from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta, by Paris of Troy. It has been mentioned in several works of literature in ancient Greece, one of the main sources of the event being Homer’s Iliad. Just how many men these totalled is unclear. Perhaps more importantly, the Trojan War came to represent the struggle of Greeks against foreign powers and it told tales of a time when men were better, more able, and more honourable. If a Trojan War did happen, it was likely a lot different than the one that Homer describes in his epic poems. The Trojan War remains one of the most important events of Greek history, and one that has inspired countless classical works across the centuries. Trojan War. Furious, Achilles withdraws from battle, together with his troops. Let me tell you the tale of Aeneas, the mythical ancestor of Romans, in a way it was described by Homer and Virgil, the absolute mainstream of the ancient literature. Amongst the most important were Achilles, Odysseus, Ajax, Diomedes, Patroclus, Antilokus, Menestheus, and Idomenus. Archaeological finds in Turkey suggest that the city of Troy did exist but that a conflict on the immense scale of a 10-year siege may not have actually occurred. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/Trojan_War/. It is mostly known through the Iliad, an epic poem written by the Ancient Greek poet Homer.. In exchange, Aphrodite made Helen, the most beautiful of all women and … Paris won and threw first but his spear landed harmlessly in the shield of Menelaus. This group crossed the Aegean Sea to Asia Minor to lay siege to Troy and dem… Olympus had been invited except Eris, the goddess of discord. Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization. There has been much scholarly debate as to whether the mythical Troy actually existed and if so, whether the archaeological site discovered in Anatolia which revealed a city which had prospered over thousands of years of habitation was actually the same city; however, it is now almost universally accepted that the archaeological excavations have revealed the city of Homer’s Iliad. All the gods and goddesses of Mt. 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