The Trojan war

Have you heard of the Trojan war, one of the greatest wars in Greek History, great heroes fought each other. Achilles, Ajax, Hector, and many more.

If you are unfamiliar with this story, let me give you a quick introduction.

Many Centuries ago the Greek goddess argued to decide who was the most beautiful of all the gods. Hera- the Goddess of wealth, Aphrodite- the goddess of love, Athena- the goddess of wisdom, this challenge was brought about by Eris- the goddess of discord, after she had inscribed "to the fairest" on a golden apple.

Each claimed to be the fairest but there could only be one, so, they decided to allow a human to be the judge, Paris -a Prince of Troy.

Hera tried to bribe him with wealth and power, Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful wife in the land, Athena promised him Endless wisdom.

You could say Paris chose wrongly but to be fair, who wouldn't want the most beautiful wife in the land. Aphrodite got the golden apple and became the fairest of all the gods.

They often say every choice we make has its consequences, Paris was about to discover his. How unfortunate that fairest lady in all the land was Helen, the queen of Sparta, the wife of King Menelaus whose brother was Agamemnon, the high king of all of Greece.

Here is a fun fact: did you know that Helen had great difficulty chosen a suitor, being the fairest in all the lands, Kings and nobles from different parts of Greece all came to seek her hands in marriage, one of the suitors was Odysseus- the king of Ithaca. But his kingdom was too small which hurt his chances, Odysseus being the smart-witted man and favorite of Athena (The goddess of wisdom) suggested that Helen chose herself after all the suitors had sworn to defend the marriage unto death. Helen chose Menelaus but because of his wisdom, Odysseus was given Helen's cousin, Penelope to wed.

So it happened that Aphrodite would have to fulfill her promise by rewarding Paris with Helen, Aphrodite had failed to find any other mortal as fair as Helen, with the help of the goddess, Paris won Helen's heart. One faithful day when King Menelaus was out hunting, they sailed away to Troy.

The news got to King Agamemnon, who had been seeking an opportunity to claim troy under his wings. He then ordered all the suitors who had sworn to defend the marriage to prepare for war.

And so, the great war began, a thousand ships all set sail for Troy to war. We all know how it ended, but that is not what this article is about. Some notable characters played a huge role in this saga.

1) Paris

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He was the Prince of Troy, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. History claims he abducted Helen and took her back to Troy. Others say Helen fell in love with him and sailed away with him to troy. Regardless of all of these facts, one thing remains the same, he started the trojan war. History has it that he was responsible for defeating the mighty Achilles with the aid of the sun god, Apollo by shooting an arrow to Achilles's heel.

2) Helen

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Helen of Sparta, now known as Helen of Troy. She was the daughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta. She was the fairest of all the lands. Beauty can sometimes be painful, she had a lot of suitors and could only choose one, great kings and noblemen all on her feet, so much pressure. She chose Menelaus and they got married. Then came Paris, a much younger and handsome Man and she fell in love with him. One would say Helen was the cause of the fall of Troy.

what could she have done, love knows no bound.

3) Hector

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Hector, older brother to Paris, a Prince of Troy, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba was the greatest fighter in all of troy. He is recognized in history as the man who led Troy against the mighty Achilles. He was brave as he was wise but his reign wouldn't be for long after he accidentally killed Achilles's cousin -Patroclus.

To be fair, it was a war, brothers die, fathers die, sons die, why was Patroclus any different?

4) Agamemnon

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King Agamemnon was the high king of all of Greece, he was the king of Mycenae, he was popular for being the leader of the Greek armies against the trojans. He is a brother to King Menelaus of Sparta

5) Menelaus

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King Menelaus was the king of Sparta, husband to the fair Helen. He was the younger brother to Agamemnon.

6) Patroclus

Patroclus, trained by the mighty Achilles himself, the relationship between these two has always been a mystery, some historians argue they were cousins, others argue they were lovers and Patroclus was gay. Regardless of his sexuality or his relationship with Achilles he was the most loved and trusted of Achilles Myrmidons - his army. You can understand why Achilles went mad with Vengeance after he had learned Hector had killed him in battle.

Why was Achilles mad?

7) Achilles

Oh! The mighty Achilles, greatest warrior of his time, son of King Peleus, and the goddess Thetis. Some of you would know the name Peleus from the history of "Jason and the Golden Fleece", if you don't well, I might just do an article on that some other time. When Achilles was born, the goddess Thetis saw a vision of his death so she sought to make him invulnerable. The River Styx was known for having such magical properties, Thetis dipped his whole body in the river, all except his heel which she held as she dipped him into the river.

His armor was designed by the god Hephaestus himself, he was trained by the Centaur Chiron how to fight and wield the sword. He was feared and respected by all of Greece for his swordsmanship.

His mere presence on the battlefield was a source of morale for the soldiers. He had his private army which he trained and was loyal to him - The Myrmidons, the went to war with them. Achilles fought for the glory, his name is still remembered to this day for the part he played in the fall of troy.

Things were looking great for all of Greece with Achilles on the battlefield but Agamemnon was not happy with this, he feared Achilles might take his place so he captured Achilles's slave, Briseis. The only problem with this was that she was more than a slave to him, he loved her. This act infuriated Achilles and he withdrew his troops from the war preparing to go back home. Until Patroclus got himself killed by Hector.

You must be wondering, who was Briseis, what made her so special to the mighty Achilles?

Now, you know where the popular "Achilles heel" originated from

8) Briseis

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They often say behind every great man, there is a woman. Briseis was a servant of Apollo - the Sun god and a defender of Troy. She was a cousin to Paris and Hector and was captured by Achilles and his men when they captured the beach of troy and ravaged Apollo's temple. Other sources claim she was the wife of King Lyrnessus before her city was sacked by Achilles and she was enslaved. History can be confusing when it comes to getting accurate background, regardless of all these, it is known that Briseis was Achilles love. He loved her so much that he was ready to leave the battle of Troy and sail back home if it would make her happy.

Love is a beautiful thing, isn't it? Makes me wonder, what was Achilles's weak point? Was it his heel or his Love for Briseis?

9) Ajax

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Ajax the great was the prince of Salamis. He was one of the leaders of the army that laid siege to Troy, he is often referred to as a giant figure and could be rated as the second fiercest warrior after Achilles, contrary to popular believes, Ajax was not killed by Hector, true, they did fight but none came out the victor, as a sign of respect they exchanged weapons, Hector gave him his sword and he gave Hector his belt - the belt with which Achilles would use to drag Hector's lifeless body. After Achilles's death, Ajax had expected his Armour to go to him but it was given to Odysseus, Achilles's best friend. This made Ajax mad and he tried to kill Odysseus and Agamemnon. Odysseus being Athena's favorite was able to defeat Ajax with the help of Athena who made Ajax hallucinate, he killed his ships thinking they were Greek soldiers, once he had realized what he had done, he killed himself with Hector's sword.

9) Odysseus

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You can't talk about the Trojan war without talking about Odysseus. He was the king of Ithaca, the wisest of all of the Greece leaders, favorite of Athena-the goddess of wisdom. He earned his fame after coming up with the idea of building the Trojan Horse which would help them burn troy to the ground.

His story continues even after he had defeated troy after he challenged Poseidon-god of the Aegean sea, who then decided to punish him by showing him that "without gods, man is nothing"

His journey back home is referred to as "the Odyssey"

If you ever wondered where that saying came from, now you know.

Reference

Troy - the movie

The Trojan war

Wikipedia

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