Trojan War

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The Trojan War was a major military conflict that took place between the city of Troy (located in modern day Western Turkey) and the ancient Greeks. The war is thought to have taken place at about 1200 BC. The war was ended by the infamous 'Trojan Horse' which was used by the Greeks to infiltrate the city of Troy and to slaughter all the Trojans inside the city.

The Start of the War

The Judgement of Paris

Two Greek Gods, Peleus and Thetis were getting married, and to celebrate, the King of the Gods, Zeus, held a wedding banquet to celebrate the occasion. However,Eris, Goddess of Strife, was uninvited. Angered by this, she threw the Apple of Eden into the celebration for the 'fairest one' to receive. The goddesses, Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite all claimed the Apple for themselves. They asked Zeus to choose who was the fairest. Zeus, reluctant to choose one goddess over the other, asked Paris, a mortal person, to choose. Paris heard all of the goddesses' claims to the Apple on Mount Ida, and each goddess attempted to bribe Paris with different gifts. Aphrodite offered Paris the love of the world's most beautiful woman, Athena offered Paris a guarantee of victory in the upcoming war with the Greeks, and Hera offered to make him King of Europe and Asia. Paris chose Aphrodite and the love of the most beautiful woman, who was Helen of Troy.

However. Helen was married to Menelaus, King of Sparta. Paris traveled to the city of Sparta under the guise of a diplomatic envoy and took Helen for his own. Just before Helen set eyes on Paris to take her back to Troy, Eros, also known as Cupid, shot her with an arrow of love. Helen immediately fell in love with Paris, but when they set off to travel back to Troy, Hera, who was still jealous after she did not receive the Apple, sent a storm and caused the lovers to land in Egypt. Eventually they again set sail for Troy and landed there. Menelaus still did not know of Helen's abduction because he was in Crete attending the burial of his father.

File:Troy Burning.jpg

Troy as it burns.

After Menelaus found out about Helen's abduction, Menelaus and his ally Odysseus traveled to Troy to attempt to get Helen back by diplomatic means, but they failed in doing so. Menelaus then sent messages to all of the Kings in Greece to uphold their oaths and to retrieve Helen from Troy. The Greek forces first gathered at Aulis and all the Greek kings sent troops except the King of Cyprus. After a sacrifice to the god Apollo, a snake slithered to a sparrows nest and ate the mother and her nine babies, then the snake turned to stone. This indicated that Troy would be defeated in the tenth year of the war.

Among the warriors that fought for the Greeks was the legendary Achilles. Achilles was known as the greatest warrior in world. He went to Troy not to return Helen to Menelaus or King Agamemnon's quest to conquer Troy. He went to Troy for glory. Achilles didn't fight for the Greeks until his brother-in-arms Patroclus was killed by Hector. Patroclus didn't like it that Achilles wasn't helping the Greeks and decided to wear Achilles' armor and lead the troops into battle. Everyone was convinced that he was Achilles. When Patrocluus fought against Hector, he was killed. Hector removed his helment and everyone was surprised that it was Patroclus that was killed. Hector realized his mistake and called his forces back. Achilles wanted revenge and challenged Hector to a duel to the death. The battle was long but Achilles triumphed and killed Hector. He tied Hector's dead body behind his chariot and brought it back to his camp. King Priam of Troy came into the camp and begged for his son's body so he could give him a proper burial. Achilles agreed and gave Hector's body back to his father. As part of the ritual that both the Greeks and Trojans knew, they promised that no Greek or Trojan would attack for twelve days. Achilles met his fate when Prince Paris shot him in his heel and then shot him several more times until he was dead.

The war between the Greeks and Trojans lasted for ten years. It seemed as if the Greeks would never be able to breach the Trojans' walls. Then Odysseus came up with an idea. He had the Greeks build a wooden horse and then have some of his troops hide in the horse while the others pretended to leave. The Trojans thought they surrendered and left the horse as a gift. They brought it into the city and celebrated. During the night, the Greeks inside came out of the horse and opened the gates of the city. The Greek army attacked and showed little if no mercy. There were very few Trojans alive. King Priam of Troy was killed during the attack. People originally believed Troy didn't exist due to this war, until proven by scholars.

Gallery

• Detail from The Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy by Domenico Tiepolo.
  Detail from The Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy by Domenico Tiepolo.
• Achilles tends to the wounded Patroclus
  Achilles tends to the wounded Patroclus