The Greeks fought against the city of Troy in what is known as the Trojan War. And that sequence of events followed Paris of Troy’s abduction of Helen from her husband, King Menelaus of Sparta. There are many Greek literary works that tell the story of the Trojan War, but Homer’s Illiad stands out as the most famous.
The Odyssey relates the tale of Odysseus’ journey home, while the Iliad details the four days and two nights in the tenth year of Troy’s ten-year siege. Several other epics tell the story of other aspects of the conflict.
An overview of the most well-known conflict in Greek mythology, the Trojan War, will be discussed in this article at length.
Background of the Trojan War
A prophecy concerning the hierarchy of the Olympian gods and a contest of divine love set the stage for the Trojan War. Poseidon and Zeus were both in love with a sea-nymph named Thetis, many years before the start of the battle. Both were interested in taking Thetis as a bride, but they backed off when they learned of the dire repercussions of doing so.
If the sea nymph were to have sexual relations with Zeus or his brothers, their offspring would be more powerful than their father and would be armed with an instrument of destruction greater than the trident or the thunderbolt. Zeus arranged for Thetis to wed King Peleus to prevent this from happening.
Zeus threw a huge party to commemorate Peleus and Thetis’ marriage after the logistics were worked out; all the gods were invited, save for Eris, the goddess of conflict. After being denied entry to the party, the goddess became so enraged that she threw her gift, an apple engraved with the words “for the fairest,” into the throng. This fruit came to be known as the Apple of Discord.
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Shortly after the apple was discarded, a scuffle broke out among the goddesses Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera about who should keep the fruit. Not being able to make up his mind, Zeus delegated the task of deciding to the prince of Troy, Paris, with the help of the goddesses.
When Paris still could not decide, the goddesses began offering him gifts in an effort to influence his choice. Aphrodite promised Paris the most gorgeous girl in the world, Helen of Sparta, while Hera promised him political power and a kingdom, and Athena promised him wisdom and talents in war. Paris makes the quick and decisive decision to worship Aphrodite.
But Helen had already wed Menelaus, the King of Sparta. Therefore, Paris travelled to Sparta on the pretext of a diplomatic trip in order to kidnap Helen from her house and bring her with him to Troy. He did this in order to further his relationship with Helen. Cupid, also known as Eros, hit Helen with an arrow just as she was about to glance up and see Paris. This caused Helen to fall in love with Paris the minute she laid eyes on him.
Some people believe that Zeus launched the Trojan War in order to wipe out a portion of the population, particularly demigods. This view is supported by a number of hypotheses. This is due to the fact that Zeus had numerous relationships, each of which resulted in the birth of numerous demigods. Zeus believed that the earth was overpopulated, and he desired to depopulate it to the greatest extent possible. It is alleged that he began the war in order to accomplish this goal.
The famous war for Troy
After Helen was kidnapped, events that would lead to the Trojan War began to unfold. Menelaus, Helen’s husband, sent his brother Agamemnon on a mission to discover and bring her back. Nestor, Odysseus, Achilles and Ajax were among the other Greek heroes that Agamemnon convinced to join him on this journey.
Ten years passed during the Trojan War, which was marked by numerous wars and skirmishes. The Greek army broke camp and fled, leaving a massive wooden horse at Troy’s entrance. Despite Cassandra, Priam’s daughter, and others’ warnings that they shouldn’t, the decision was made to carry the wooden horse into Troy.
Odysseus’ wooden horse was a war-ending idea. The hollow wooden horse was moved in front of Troy to hide soldiers. After abandoning the Trojan Horse in Troy, the Greeks sailed to Tenedos, leaving behind Sinon who was a double agent. He convinced the Trojans that the Greeks had retired from the fight and that the horse would make them rich.
At night, the horse opened and Greek warriors emerged. Greeks destroyed Troy from within and won the war.
Final thoughts
Even though they won the battle, the majority of the Greek heroes were forced to suffer the consequences of their actions because the gods do not forgive easily and do not forget easily. This lesson was taught to the surviving Greek heroes the hard way.
In point of fact, only a small number of Greek soldiers managed to make it back to their homeland, and this was after participating in a number of exciting exploits and adventures along the route. Even fewer people were allowed to return to their homes, either because they were murdered by their loved ones or because they were banished into obscurity — in some instances, both of these things occurred to the same person.
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According to Greek mythology, the Trojan War was a major conflict. The fact that it is the first myth that has been written down gives it great significance, as it paved the way for later epics like the Odyssey and the Illiad.