The Trojan War was a mythological war between the city of Troy and the assembled forces of various Greek and Achaean kings. Together with his depiction of war, his commentary on women also makes it more intriguing. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably through Homer's Iliad.The Iliad relates a part of the last year of the siege of Troy; its sequel, the … The Trojan War was a legendary conflict between the early Greeks and the people of Troy in what is now Turkey. 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. Introduction In this activity, students will study a royal house in Greece and track the events … Homer's* great epic the Iliad describes the activities of gods, goddesses, and human heroes during the final year of the war. Ambrosian Iliadby Unknown (Public Domain) It is an amalgamation of fact and fiction because the archaeologists have discovered that there was such an expedition. Invincible Achilles was quite simply the greatest warrior in Greece, or anywhere else for that matter. 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. Get ready for our upcoming exhibition with a run-through of one of the greatest tales ever told. Thus exposed and defenceless, Patroclus was stabbed by Euphorbos and then Hector stepped in to deal the fatal blow with a pitiless stab of his spear. It also makes up the core of Homer’s Iliad. However, despite all the linguistic … The Trojan War, in Greek tradition, started as a way for Zeus to reduce the ever-increasing population of humanity and, more practically, as an expedition to reclaim Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta and brother of Agamemnon. https://www.ancient.eu/Trojan_War/. 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 event that sparked the Trojan War was the abduction of Helen, revered as the most beautiful woman in the world. The king … Ancient History Encyclopedia. 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. It was a decision which would seal the fate of Troy. However, such conflicts are unlikely to have been on the scale of Homer’s war, but collectively they may well have been the origin of the epic tale of the Trojan War which has fascinated for centuries. Really. The Trojan War was a legendary conflict between the early Greeks and the people of Troy in what is now Turkey. Ancient History Encyclopedia. All the gods and goddesses of Mt. From Tenedos, the Greeks sent a diplomatic mission to Troy – probably consisting solely of Menelaus and Odysseus, though some say entailing Acamas and Diomedes as well – whose mission was to recover Helen by peaceful means. King Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces, seizes Briseis for himself. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Helen was the wife of Greek King Menelaus, until Paris, a Trojan prince, made off with her. So too, he made a dazzling, gold-crested helmet for the hero. When Helen absconded with Paris, Menelaus sought aid from his brother, who accepted and triggered the famous Trojan War. Even then, some of the Greeks who did make it back to their homeland only did so to face further misfortune and disaster. The Trojan War is possibly one of the most narrated conflicts in history, but its story resides in the space between fact and fiction, and the mythological occupies as much of a space as the historical. 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. This list may not reflect recent changes (). Ancient Greece for kids. It was fought between the Greeks (roughly) and the Trojans, who lost. Horse-riding warriors from Thessaly who claim to be the descendants of Hierakles fight to reclaim the land from which they were driven. 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. Paris, a prince of Troy, and a former guest of King Menelaus of Sparta abdicated to Troy with the most beautiful, Helen, the queen to King … Philoktetes got revenge for Achilles by fatally shooting Paris with the legendary bow of Hercules. 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. This war has been documented in a number of works of Greek literature. Menelaus then grabbed Paris’ helmet with his bare hands and proceeded to drag him from the field. Then the tide of battle changed again and, with the support of Apollo, an inspirational Hector, in his finest hour, once more beat the Greeks back to their ships where he sought to set them ablaze. If you had been around to read the Iliad when it first came out, you would’ve been familiar with a great, lost city, perhaps called Troy, and the story of a great war that had destroyed it. In the traditional accounts, Paris, son of the Trojan king, ran off with Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta, whose brother Agamemnon then led a Greek expedition against Troy. "Trojan War." It also figures in the literature of the Romans (e.g., Virgil’s Aeneid) and of later peoples down to modern times. The Trojans had noticed Achaean ships sailing away earlier that day and thought the giant horse was a peace (or sacrificial) offering from the Achaeans. The Greeks were aided by several of the Olympian gods of Greek religion. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2021) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. At Aulis, troopships gathered, led by the greatest Greek heroes —Achilles, Patroclus, Diomedes, … Web. Accordingly, an increasingly desperate Agamemnon sent an appeal to Achilles with promises of vast treasure if he would only re-join the conflict. The strife began after the Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. OK, so maybe the Trojan “War” was more like a Trojan earthquake. Finally catching him, Achilles killed his quarry with a vicious stab of his spear in Hector’s throat. The stories of the Trojan War demonstrate ingenuity, bravery, courage, love, lust, betrayal and the supernatural forces of the gods. This is the Useful Notessection of the article, where we'll take the trouble to explain some contextual features of the story which Homer would have glossed over or not thought to include. When Percy meets Aphrodite for the first time in a white limo driven (or borrowed) by Ares, he is so surprised by her beauty that he is mouth-struck and can't speak. The war has been talked about for ages and involved some of the most famous figures in Greek mythology, such as Achilles and Diomedes.. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. There were, though, battles outside the city where armies fought, sometimes with chariots, but mostly by men on foot using spears and swords and protected by a shield, helmet, and armour for the chest and legs. It lasted for ten years and cost many lives, but also produced many heroes. He was only a few days old when his mother dreamed that he found and took a blazing torch and ran through the city, setting it on fire. The Greeks sailed to Troy in order to recover Helen of Troy, the beautiful wife of a Greek king. But there's much more to the ancient myth of Troy. We will explore the evidence for the Trojan War, one of the greatest stories ever told: literary, historical, visual, and archaeological. Then, after 10 years of … The Trojan War was one of the most important wars in the history of Ancient Greece.It happened between the Trojans and the Greeks. The Trojan War’s Legacy. There has been much debate over historical evidence of the Trojan War. These included the Carians, Halizones, Kaukones, Kikones, Lycians, Maionians, Mysians, Paionians, Paphlagonians, Pelasgians, Phrygians, and Thracians. When Menelaus demanded her return, the Trojans refused. If Paris had not swayed at the last moment, he would surely have been killed outright. These include the name of the city of Vilusa which is pronounced like 'Ilian' (this is the Greek word for Troy and Iliad is derived from it). Achilles & Penthesileiaby Marie-Lan Nguyen (CC BY). The manner in which Homer depicts warfare is the reason why many return to his magnum opus. A palinode is a poetic apology in which the author retracts statements made in an earlier poem. Hector then threw a large rock at the Greek, only for him to fend it off with his shield. Breaking through the gates, the Trojans sent the Greeks fleeing in panic back to their ships. When Achilles discovered the death of his great friend Patroclus, he was overcome with grief and rage and he swore to take terrible revenge on the Trojans and Hector in particular. Olympus had been invited except Eris, the goddess of discord. It is mostly known through the Iliad, an epic poem written by the Ancient Greek poet Homer.. Agamemnon had stolen his female war-booty Briseis and consequently, the hero refused to fight. Schliemann's excavations at Troy and subsequent investigations make it somewhat likely that a siege may have taken place in the … Ancient History Encyclopedia. Agamemnon at first doesn’t seem to have been too bothered about losing his temperamental talisman but as the Trojans started to gain an upper hand in the war, it began to look like Achilles would be needed if the Achaians were to actually win the protracted conflict. However, at this point, great Apollo intervened on behalf of the Trojans and struck the helmet and armour from Patroclus, shattered his spear and knocked his shield from his arm. The ancient Greeks traced their history to mythological events and their genealogy to the gods and goddesses. Before he could land the killing blow, however, Paris was saved by Aphrodite. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. Impressive fortification walls with several towers certainly fit the Homeric description of ‘strong-built Troy’. Agamemnon was the king of Mycenae and leader of the Greek army... 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