Max Kunzmann Trojan War and The Fall of Troy

Trojan War and The Fall of Troy

• 
  Trojans would not return Helen so Agemendmon called for war
  
• 
  Many did not want war
  
• 
  Odysseus refused to come and pretended to be insane but gave in for his son’s life
  
• 
  They still needed to gather more warriors
  
• 
  Achilles was sought after because a Greek Seer had said that Greece would not sack Troy unless Achilles fought. Achilles was invulnerable because as a baby he was dipped into the River Styx, however, his heel was not since that is where his mother held him.
  
• 
  His mother did not want him to fight and was dressed as a girl, but Agemendmon was able to tempt him with a beautiful sword.
  
• 
  The Greek fleet was assembled in Aulis under Agemendmon, but he either killed one of Diana's sacred stags or made a careless boast. Either way, Diana was outraged and she calmed the seas so that the fleet could not take off.
  
• 
  In order to set sail, Agemendmon was forced to sacrifice his daughter which he did.
  
• 
  The Greeks had a tough time finding Troy, they went to the wrong city and Achilles wounded Telephus
  
• 
  Telephus went to the Greeks to have his wound cured, by Achilles since he wounded him, in return, he told the Greeks to location of Troy, if this hadn’t occurred, there would have been no war.
  
• 
  The first 9 years of the war went well for the Greeks, they gained land, riches and even women, however, the couldn’t get through the walls of Troy.
  
• 
  Achilles
  
  • 
    Apollo made the Greeks sick for not releasing a prisoner(Chryseis).
    
  • 
    Odysseus said, “I will only release Briseis(Achilles favoriete prisoner.)
    
  • 
    He did so and Achilles refused to fight
    
  • 
    He gave his armor to his friend, Patroclus, who was killed by Hector (Trojan Warrior)
    
  • 
    This made Achilles fight again, he killed Hector.
    

• 
  The Greeks were winning the war but still couldn’t get to Troy and Helen along with it.
  
• 
  Memnon, king of the Ethiopians, was on the Trojans, he killed many Greeks, Achilles was able to defeat him.
  
• 
  Achilles chased the Trojans back to the gates of Troy.
  
• 
  Apollo told Paris to fire a poisoned arrow at Achilles. It hit his ankle and was killed, his body trampled.
  
• 
  The Armor of Achilles
  
  • 
    His armor was given to Odysseus rather than Ajax since the Trojans said they feared him more than Ajax.
    
  • 
    Ajax plotted to kill Odysseus and Agamemnon, but Athene made him go insane instead, and he attacked the sheep and captured the rams. When he woke he regained his sanity and killed himself.
    

• 
  A prophet, Helenus told the Greeks that Troy would not fall unless:
  
  • 
    a) Pyrrhus, Achilles' son, fought in the war,
    
  • 
    b) The bow and arrows of Hercules were used by the Greeks against the Trojans,
    
  • 
    c) The remains of Pelops, the famous Eleian hero, were brought to Troy, and
    
  • 
    d) The Palladium, a statue of Athena, was stolen from Troy (Tripp, 587).
    

• 
  a. Odysseus went to Greece In search of Pyrrhus, he recognized him by his strenght and speed and brought him to Troy.
  
• 
  b. Philoctetes had the bow, he was abandoned on an island by Odysseus. Odysseus and Pyrrhus went to go get the bow. Odysseus told Pyrrhus to lie to Philoctetes and say he had fought with Odysseus. When Odysseus appeared, Pyrrhus felt sorry for Philoctetes, but the dead hero Heracles appeared himself and told Philoctetes to go along with the Greeks.
  
• 
  c. Not much is known except that it was accomplished.
  
• 
  d. Odysseus disguised as a beggar went into Troy, talked to Helen about how to get the Palladium, him and diomede went on the next dark night, Odysseus gave him a boost but Diomede refused to help him up, he got the Palladium.
  
• 
  The Fall of Troy
  
  • 
    The Greeks built a large Wooden Horse filled with warriors and gave it as a gift. The rest of the Greeks sailed away.
    
  • 
    Sinon- the Greek spy told the Trojans it was a gift and it would make them rule all of Greece.
    
  • 
    Laocoon, the priest of Poseidon, warned them not to take it in, but Poseidon sent serpents to kill Laocoon's sons and Laocoon himself. The Trojans took the horse into the city.
    
  • 
    At night, Sinon lit the signal and released the heroes from the horse. They conquered Troy. They demolished the city.
    
  • 
    The Greeks divided up Trojan women. Agemendmon took Cassandra. She could see his future.
    

• 
  When Clytemnestra (Agemendmon’s wife) saw that she had Cassandra, she killed him. She then killed Cassandra who was happy since she had her revenge on Agemndmon.
  
• 
  Menelaus took Helen and headed home, however, due to a storm, they ended up in Egypt. A sea nymph told him to ask the god Proteus for help, but he had to catch and hold the god in order to get his aid. He did so even though he turned into vicious animals. He then made offerings to the gods and lived happily ever after with Helen.
  
• 
  Finally, Penelope (Husband of Odysseus) said she would marry the man who could string the bow of Odysseus and send an arrow through the holes of twelve axes set in a row. A Beggar asked and that was Odysseus. Penelope did not believe it and asked him if the marriage bed be brought out. He knew it was built around a tree.
  
• 
  Once Odysseus was home, the war was over!