THE TROJAN WAR

PART ONE: THE ORIGINS OF THE TROJAN WAR have actually revealed weaker stonework on the western
walls of Troy, suggesting that a
genuine difference in construction led to the myth that
The city of Troy had several mythical founders and kings,
the two gods built the other walls.
including Teucer, Dardanus, Tros, Ilus and Assaracus. The
most widely accepted story makes Ilus the actual founder,
Mythical reasons behind the Trojan War
and from him the city took the name it was best-known by
in ancient times, Ilium. In an episode similar to the founding During Priam's
of Thebes, Ilus was given a cow and told to found a city lifetime Troy
where it first lay down. As instructed, he followed the reached its
animal, and on the land where it rested drew up the greatest
boundaries of his city. He then received an additional sign prosperity, but
from the gods, a legless wooden statue called the Palladium, when he was a
which dropped from the heavens with the message that it very old man it
should be carefully guarded as it 'brought empire'. Some say was tota lly
it was a statue of Athene's friend Pallas, but most believe it destroyed after a
was of Athene herself and that this statue was to make Troy ten-year siege by
a great city. warriors from
Greece. Some say
Laomedon's Troy Zeus himself

Ilus was succeeded by his son Laomedon, who built great caused the Trojan

walls around his city with the help of a mortal, Aeacus, and War to thin out

the two gods Poseidon and Apollo. These two were forced the human race,

by Zeus to do a year's hard labour for their part in the Great which was

Conspiracy and were understandably angry when the king threatening to

would not give them the wages he had promised. When overpopulate the

Heracles rescued Laomedon's daughter, the princess earth. Others think he caused it to make the whole world

Hesione who had, like Andromeda, been chained to a rock aware of the beauty of his daughter Helen, or to give her

as a sacrifice to a sea monster, this time sent by Poseidon, immortal fame as the cause of a war between West and

Laomedon again retreated behind his marvellous walls and East. Or was it to give the second generation of heroes a

refused to honour his promise to reward the hero (see chance to achieve fame, since all the monsters on earth had

Chapter 6, the account of the ninth labour of Heracles). been slain by the first generation? The Romans were to

Heracles then led an expedition against the city, breaching ascribe the fall of Troy to Fate, which had decided the

the western wall which had been built by the mortal Aeacus. survivors from Troy should make their way to Italy and

He killed Laomedon and all his sons except the infant begin the long process of creating the great empire of

Podarces, whom he renamed Priam. Modern excavations Rome.

The children of Priam and Hecabe called Alexander. Shortly before he was born, Hecabe
dreamed that she gave birth to a branch alive with fiery
Priam had many children by his chief wife Hecabe and by
snakes, which set Troy and the forests on near by Mount Ida
his concubines, and some accounts say he had fifty sons
ablaze. Priam asked his son Aesacus the prophet what the
and fifty daughters. Several of them were to play
dream meant, and was told that he should destroy Hecabe's
important roles in the Trojan War.
child or it would cause Troy's destruction. Some days later
• Hector was the greatest warrior of Troy who slew many Aesacus said Priam should kill the woman from Troy's royal
Greeks until he in turn was slain by Achilles, the only family who gave birth that day, along with her child. Priam's
man on the field greater than he. He was married to sister Cilla gave birth that morning and the king at once put
Andromache and their infant son was named Astyanax.

• Deiphobus and Helenus argued about who should be

given Helen as his wife after her abductor Paris had
died. Priam awarded her to Deiphobus as the greater
warrior, and this was to have serious consequences
both for Deiphobus and for Troy.

• Troilus and Polyxena were both very young and very

beautiful, and were to become victims of Achilles after
he saw them drawing water from a sacred spring
her and her son to death, and when Hecabe produced a son
outside the walls of Troy and fell in love with both of
that evening he did not think it was necessary to slay her too.
them.
To be on the safe side, though, he had the baby exposed on
• Cassandra was loved by Apollo, who, with unusual Mount Ida. The herdsman who had left the child in the
consideration, invited her to become his mistress and woods returned some days later, and was amazed to find it
gave her the gift of prophecy as an inducement. was still alive, as it had been suckled by a she-bear. Assuming
Cassandra at first agreed, then changed her mind. Apollo that this was due to t,he intervention of the gods, he took
was unable to withdraw his gift because the present of a the baby and brought him up as his own son.
god, once given, cannot be taken away. But it can be
altered, so Apollo added the curse that she would foresee Paris grew up as a cowherd. He was handsome, intelligent
the future, including the slaughter of most of her family, and an exceptional athlete, but though a great deal has
the fall of her city and her own death, but no one would been written about his charm, his courage has not received
ever believe her. the same prominence. He was an adept with the bow and

• Creusa married Aeneas, son of Aphrodite and Anchises arrow, which, on its own, was regarded as a coward's

and bore him a son, Ilus (also known as Ascanius). weapon in an age extolling hand-to-hand combat. He
became the lover of the nymph Oenone, and his other
main source of recreation was provoking bulls into fighting
Paris
one another, and pitting his own champion bull against
The son of Priam and Hecabe who was destined to make the those of other herds. For a joke, Ares turned himself into a
greatest contribution to the fall of Troy was Paris, sometimes
bull, and Paris without hesitation awarded him the prize, Aphrodite, was very experienced in arranging such matters.
thereby impressing Zeus with his impartiality. Not surprisingly, the prize went to Aphrodite.

Fate had decreed that Troy must fall, so Paris was saved by
The judgement of Paris
divine intervention and a she-bear on Mount Ida. But what

Soon the opportunity to make a more important judgement would have happened if he had selected one of the other
contestants? No doubt Zeus would have caused the Trojan
War by some other means, as Paris used Hera's bribe of
wealth and a kingdom, or Athene's of military glory. And
regardless of his choice, Paris could not have avoided making
enemies of the other two. Aphrodite now set about fulfilling
her promise, while Hera and Athene planned their revenge.

Paris returns to Troy

Soon after this Paris decided to go to compete in some games

came his way. Zeus had been about to seduce the Nereid at Troy. There he attracted the attention of all spectators by
Thetis, but changed his mind when he heard from his beauty and athletic skills, and when some of Priam's sons
Prometheus that she was destined to bear a son greater than attacked him out of jealousy, the herdsman who had saved
his father. Zeus wisely decided it would be safer to marry the life of the infant Paris told Priam that this was the son he
Thetis to a mortal, and gave his blessing to the Argonaut had believed dead. Priam was delighted to welcome such a
Peleus. The wedding of Thetis and Peleus was attended by fine young man as his son, and when he was warned that
most of the immortals but one who was not invited was Eris, Troy would fall if Paris were allowed to live he answered
goddess of Discord. She turned up just the same and tossed 'Better Troy should fall than my marvellous son should die.'
into the middle of the guests a golden apple inscribed 'For
Paris abducts Helen
the Fairest'. The goddesses began to argue over who
deserved it and Zeus selected Paris to be the judge of the first
recorded beauty contest. On this occasion, however, Paris
was not quite so disinterested. The three leading
competitors, Hera, Athene and Aphrodite each offered him a
tempting bribe. Hera promised to make him a great and
wealthy king, while Athene offered wisdom and military
glory. Aphrodite, however, read the young man's character
best. She suggested that if such a handsome young man had
the discrimination to see that she was clearly lovelier than
her competitors he might also appreciate a similar beauty for
his wife, no less a woman than Aphrodite's half-sister. She,
Paris now took advantage of his newly-acquired wealth and
status and embarked on a voyage to Greece. He received a
sad farewell from his former lover Oenone, who first tried to suitors to defend his rights. His brother Agamemnon, as lord
persuade him not to go, and then kissed him and said 'If you of Mycenae, had the greatest prestige in Greece, so with him
are ever wounded return to me, because my skill alone will as commanderchief, a great force of heroes and their
heal you.' When he reached Sparta he was warmly followers gathered at Aulis, and, after the sacrifice of
welcomed by the unsuspecting Menelaus. However, his host Agamemnon's daughter Iphigenia had secured the required
had a prior engagement, and, apologising to Paris, sailed off west wind, sailed off to Troy.
to Crete. Paris made no apologies at all - Aphrodite had done
In another version of the myth, the goddess Artemis saved
her work well, and as soon as Menelaus was gone he and
Iphigenia from being sacrificed and took her to 'the land of
Helen took off. When the enraged husband returned he sent
the Tauri'to be her priestess.
ambassadors demanding that Helen be handed back, but
they came back without her. Despite Greek threats the On the way there, they landed on an obscure island where
Trojans were delighted with Helen, and Priam vowed that one of their number, Philoctetes, was bitten by a snake. He
they would never let her go. did not die but his wound did not heal either and caused him
constant pain. When it also began to smell foul the Greeks
The Greeks sail to Troy
abandoned him on the island. Philoctetes had inherited
Heracles' bow and arrows and survived on his own by killing
and eating small animals, until, after several years, his former
companions were to find that they needed him.

When the Greeks landed at Troy they once more formally

requested that Helen be returned. The Trojans refused and
the Greeks established themselves in their camp and
prepared to lay siege to the city.

The opposing forces at Troy

The armies which faced each other at Troy for ten years
were organised in quite different ways. Troy was under the
command of its king Priam, and although he was now an
old man he still had the wisdom of the great warrior he had
once been. His second-in-command was his son Hector,
Troy's greatest fighter and a son totally loyal to his father.
Beside the forces of Troy fought independent allies from
lands both near and far.

The Greeks were led by Agamemnon, their most powerful

king, but neither the wisest leader nor the greatest warrior.
Menelaus, the aggrieved husband was also far from being
Menelaus then invoked the vow taken by all her former the best leader. The other contingents were there to fight a
war not of their own making, to fulfil their leaders' vow, and was the strongest, most ruthless and most successful warrior
with the hope of looting the city when they had captured it. of all those who fought at Troy. He was the son of Peleus and
During the long siege many disagreements broke out among Thetis, whose marriage, attended by all the gods, had seen
the Greeks, and there was a constant threat that chiefs might Eris sowing the seeds of disharmony with her golden apple. In
withdraw their troops from the fight at any time. keeping with the tone of the wedding festivities, Achilles was
the product of a family that today might be described as
highly dysfunctional. Thetis had not wanted to marry a mortal
because he was her inferior, and she resented the fact that
The Greek chiefs her children would be mortal. She attempted to render
several sons - some say up to six - immortal by burning away
The oldest and wisest Greek was Nestor, king of Pylos in the
their mortal parts in a fire. In one version she succeeded and
west of the Peloponnese. He was respected in the Greek
they left Earth for Olympus, while in another version she only
councils of war and managed to survive the war, though his
succeeded in killing them. Peleus' intervention saved Achilles
best-loved son Archilochus was killed.
from a similar fate, whatever it was, and Thetis had had to be

Achilles content with making him invulnerable to weapons by dipping

him in the river Styx. But her fingers had prevented the
waters reaching two tiny places on his ankle, and these (his
Achilles heel) were ultimately to be responsible for his death.

Soon after this, Thetis left Peleus to return to the sea, but
kept spasmodic contact with her son. Peleus for his part
went off to hunt the Calydonian boar and bring back the
Golden Fleece, but first entrusted Achilles to the wise
centaur Chiron to be educated on Mount Pelion.

Achilles had been one of Helen's suitors, and so was obliged

to go to Troy to reclaim her from Paris. Thetis knew that her
son would die if he went to Troy, so she disguised him as a
girl and hid him among the females in the palace on the
island of Scyros. But Odysseus, who had himself been
unwilling to go to Troy, discovered Achilles by placing a
variety of rich gifts on a table and inviting the women and
girls to take their pick. Then he ordered a war trumpet to
sound outside the hall. Achilles dropped his jewellery and
embroidered robes, and seized the shield and spear
To lure Iphigenia to Aulis, Agamemnon had pretended she
Odysseus had cunningly placed among the gifts. He was thus
was to marry Achilles, and Clytemnestra hastened there with
obliged to go to fight. Another story claims that Achilles was
her daughter because of the greatness of the match. Achilles
told by a prophet on Scyros that he might have a short and
glorious life or a long life in total obscurity. He himself chose more reckless than Odysseus, even taking on gods when
the first, and gladly seized the occasion of the Trojan War to they appeared before him on the battlefield, so confident
win himself everlasting fame. was he that Athene would protect him.

Ajax
The war at Troy - fact or fiction?
The second most powerful warrior was Ajax of Aegina, called
the Great to distinguish him from another warrior of the The ancient Greeks and Romans had no doubts that a Greek

same name, commonly called Little Ajax. Ajax the Great was force had, in the remote past, sacked the city of Troy, and

a cousin of Achilles, an enormous man possessed of great that these events had been described by Homer and other

strength, courage and fighting skill. Unfortunately he was not poets. Later European societies enjoyed the tales of Troy but

very bright, and lacked both guile and a persuasive tongue, slowly came to believe they were only fantasy, and that rich

which put him at a disadvantage when dealing with his chief Troy and the equally wealthy Mycenaean cities in Greece

rival, Odysseus. were pure myth. Then, in 1870, the German archaeologist
Heinrich Schliemann began digging on a low hill that was one
Odysseus of several places where Troy might have been situated, and

Odysseus was not lacking in courage and strength, but he uncovered the ruins of a manylayered city dating back to

was best-known for his cunning. After suggesting to around 2000 BC (the era when the Achaeans were invading

Tyndareos how to avoid future strife when Helen's husband Greece), and possibly earlier. Today this is generally accepted

was chosen, he had married Penelope and become king of as the site of ancient Troy. Though it may never be proven, it

the island of Ithaca, his father Laertes abdicating in his now seems quite possible that around 1250 BC warriors from

favour. When messengers arrived summoning him to go to Greece combined to raid and destroy a trade rival, or to loot

Troy he was not pleased, as he had heard a prophecy that if a rich city, and, incidentally! to create a legend that has never

he went he would not return for twenty years, and then died.

alone and as a destitute beggar. So he pretended he had lost

When Paris carried off Helen to Troy it had not occurred to
his wits, and ploughed the seashore, scattering handfuls of
him that he might be pursued by an army. In years past,
salt as if sowing seed. One of the heralds, Palamedes, put
several women had been abducted from the east without
down Odysseus' infant son Telemachus in front of the
retaliation, including Europa, Medea and Ariadne. More
plough, making the father stop to avoid injuring the child.
recently Hesione, sister of Priam, had been taken by Telemon
This
of Aegina after he had helped Heracles capture Troy. The
indicated that Odysseus was not insane because if he had
Trojans, completely captivated by Helen's beauty and
been, he would not have realised that he would injure his
impressed by her status as daughter of Zeus, were proud of
son if he continued. So Odysseus went to Troy, but he never
their prince who had carried off such a prize, and, ignoring
forgave Palamedes for making him leave home.
the threat of war, refused on several occasions to return her.

Diomedes PART TWO: THE TROJAN WAR

Another warrior who is usually associated with Odysseus
was Diomedes of Argos. They were both clever and skilled The beginning of the war
warriors, and favourites of Athene, but Diomedes was much
It had been prophesied that the first Greek ashore would be this time, snatched Paris out of the fight and dropped him
the first to be killed, so all the great men prudently waited to back in his own bedroom - with Helen. Helen had been
disembark until a minor hero, Protesilaus, had been killed by watching the combat and abused Paris for being an inferior
Hector. The Greeks then forced their way ashore, established warrior compared to her former husband. Paris laughed,
a permanent camp and settled in for a lengthy siege. They saying he'd win next time, and meantime they should make
could not hope to breach the walls, which had been built the most of life. He then proceeded to demonstrate how in
largely by Poseidon and Apollo, so they attempted to wear one area at least (that of making love), he was much better
down both the spirits and the resources of the Trojans by than Menelaus.
slowly killing off their warriors and by attacking their allies to
force them to withdraw support. Artemis, Apollo and Ares also favoured the Trojans, but Ares
was an untrustworthy ally as he was capable of switching
The gods at Troy sides to keep a battle going, and once he was actually chased

There were many short battles outside the walls of Troy as from the field by a mere mortal, the impetuous Diomedes.

the Trojans attempted to push the Greeks off the land they
Achilles at Troy
had occupied. The gods intervened freely in these
skirmishes to help their various favourites. Zeus was largely Like heroes who go on a quest, the Greeks had to meet
neutral, but he could be provoked or seduced into taking many conditions before they could capture Troy. When it
sides. Hera and Athene were implacable enemies of the was foretold that Troy would not fall to the Greeks if
Trojans, because, in addition to resenting Paris for having Priam's son Troilus reached the age of twenty, Achilles
awarded the golden apple to Aphrodite, they each had undertook to slay him. However, when the Greek hero saw
favourites among the Greek heroes. Poseidon was also Troilus and his sister Polyxena getting water from a sacred
hostile to Troy, never having forgiven Laomedon for spring, he fell in love with them and chased them. Polyxena
cheating him out of his promised wages. escaped Achilles for the moment, but Troilus was slain.
Accounts vary as to whether Troilus met his end during
On the Trojan side were Aphrodite, who continued to excessively violent love making, or while he was claiming
support Paris, and also looked after the interests of her son sanctuary in a temple of Apollo, or simply during combat on
Aeneas. Unlike the other offspring of Zeus, Aphrodite made the battlefield. Achilles then asked Priam what he must do
no pretence of being a warrior. On one occasion when to obtain his daughter Polyxena as his wife, and was told he
Aeneas was wounded and his mother simply seized him and had to first betray the Greek camp to the Trojans. Achilles
ran from the battlefield, she was pursued by Diomedes and was seriously considering this proposition when another
wounded in the hand. Diomedes was openly contemptuous incident prompted him to withdraw his troops from the
of the love goddess, but when he returned home after the Greek forces. This incident, commonly called 'The Wrath of
war he would find that she had taken her revenge. Achilles', is the best known story of the Trojan War, as it

On another occasion it was agreed that the war should be

settled in solo combat between Paris and Menelaus, but
when Paris was clearly getting the worst of it, Aphrodite
again intervened. She prudently wrapped herself in a cloud
forms the plot of Homer's epic the Iliad, the earliest Trojans and fear into their enemies until the Trojans reached
surviving work in Western literature and still one of the the Greek ships and began to set fire to them. Agamemnon
greatest. now offered to return Briseis, and also offered many gifts to
prove that the Greeks did really value the great hero, but
The Wrath of Achilles
Achilles refused them contemptuously and declared that he
During the raids made by the Greeks on the territories of was going home the very next day. Meantime his close friend
the allies of Troy, two young women were captured and Patroclus was touched by the plight of his comrades and,
allocated as slaves: Briseis to Achilles and Chryseis to borrowing Achilles' armour, dashed into the battle and
Agamemnon. Chryseis was the daughter of a priest of chased the Trojans back inside their walls. But by the city
Apollo, who offered a large ransom for the return of his gates he was met by Hector, who slew him and took Achilles'
daughter. Agamemnon refused to return her, so the priest armour as proof of his success. When Achilles heard the news
asked his god for help. Instead of destroying Agamemnon, he at last shared a little of the grief he had inflicted on
Apollo sent a plague to kill the Greek troops countless others during his raids on cities and in his ruthless
indiscriminately, and Agamemnon was finally forced to give efforts to establish himself as number-one hero of the day.
up his concubine. But his pride was hurt, so he used his Totally unable to cope, he went almost insane with grief,
power as commander-in-chief to demand Briseis from while those around him feared he would attempt suicide.
Achilles instead. Now it was Achilles' turn to suffer hurt Thetis was very upset that her scheme to have Zeus avenge
pride, so he announced that he and his men would take no her son's wrongs had ended by causing him even more grief,
further part in the war and retired to his tent to sulk. and, after comforting him, she rushed to ask Hephaestus to
make him a new set of armour. Hephaestus was also aware
Thetis was upset at her son's unhappiness and went up to of what he owed Thetis, who had rescued and sheltered him
Olympus to ask Zeus to avenge the slight to her son's honour. when Hera threw him from Olympus, and the very next day
Zeus had a soft spot for Thetis she had, after all, sent the Achilles put on his magnificent armour and weapons and
hundred-handed monster Briareus to free him during the strode out looking for Hector. At first he was unable to find
Great Conspiracy and agreed to help. He put heart into the his foe and in his wrath filled the river Scamander with Trojan
corpses. When he did find Hector, the Trojan was tricked by
Athene into thinking she was his brother Deiphobus coming
to his support. When she vanished he tried to run, but was no
match for the fleet-footed Achilles. After killing him, Achilles
tied the body to the back of his chariot and drove it back to
his camp in triumph. He buried Patroclus with magnificent
ceremony, funeral games and the sacrifice of twelve noble
Trojan captives. He then continued to take out his fury on the
body of Hector, refusing all offers of ransom and dragging it
every day around the walls of Troy. After eleven days King
Priam came in person to humbly beg for his son's body and at
Zeus' command Achilles accepted the ransom. The
description of the funeral of Hector concludes the Iliad. This
brief summary of its plot cannot convey the vitality, tragedy devotion to Achilles. Athene, however, decided the armour
and irony of the full story, and students should try to read at should be given to her favourite, Odysseus; she disliked
least a small part of it in a good translation. Ajax for boasting that he did not need the gods' help to
prevent the enemy from breaking the Greek line or to win
Achilles' further deeds and death
glory for his deeds.

Many other stories were told of the deeds of Achilles. He

fought the Amazons who had come to help the Trojans and Ajax was both hurt and angry and planned revenge, but

killed their queen, Penthesileia, but even as his spear pierced Athene temporarily sent him insane, and he slaughtered a

her breast he fell in love with her. Some accounts allege he number of sheep and cows in the belief he was killing

raped her as she died. The other Greeks wished to mutilate those who had agreed to dishonour him. When he

and dishonour her body to show their contempt for a woman recovered his senses, in shame he fastened his sword in

who had dared to practise skills of warfare, which they the ground and fell on it. Agamemnon and Menelaus, who

considered proper only for males. Achilles defended her, and had been included in those Ajax had thought he was

gave her an honourable burial. killing, decided he deserved no honour as a traitor and
should lie unburied, but Odysseus felt pity for his rival and

Another of Achilles' victims was Memnon from Ethiopia, son insisted that he receive the funeral rites which were his

of Eos, goddess of the dawn and her husband Tithonus, who due. In due course Odysseus presented the armour to

was Priam's half-brother. Memnon killed Antilochus, Nestor's Achilles' son Neoptolemus.

son, and Achilles avenged the death of his young friend by

Odysseus and Palamedes
slaying Memnon in his turn. But finally it was Achilles turn to
die. He had slain enough men to guarantee that his fame Odysseus was not so honourable in his treatment of
would last forever, and had aroused the anger of Poseidon Palamedes, who had compelled him to honour his promise
and Apollo with his arrogance and insolent boasting. During and join the expedition against Troy. Odysseus was jealous
battle Apollo directed an arrow from the bow of Paris into that Palamedes was called 'the wise' as he was himself
Achilles' vulnerable ankle and he swiftly died from its renowned for his cunning and was not prepared to accept
poisoned tip. The joy of the Trojans at the death of their any rivals except the elderly Nestor. Finally he was moved to
greatest enemy and the dismay of the Greeks were equally action when Palamedes insulted his sense of honour.
unbounded. Fierce fighting raged around the corpse until
Achilles' cousin Ajax the Great risked his life to carry the body Agamemnon had sent Odysseus on an expedition to gather
from the battlefield. food, and, when he returned emptyhanded, Palamedes
accused him of being both lazy and a coward. Odysseus
The tragedy of Ajax the Great challenged Palamedes to do better, whereupon Palamedes

Achilles was buried with due honour, but a dispute now set out at once and returned with a whole shipload of corn.

arose over who should inherit his armour. Ajax believed Not for nothing was Odysseus famous for his cunning, and he

that he deserved it as he was generally esteemed as a thought up an ingenious scheme to get his revenge. He

warrior second only to his cousin; he had risked his life to invented an oracle that said the Greek camp had to be moved

carry the body from the battlefield, and had always shown temporarily, and he then buried a sack of gold under
Palamedes' tent. Next he claimed to have found a letter on a
prisoner he had slain. The letter, which he had written and
placed on the body himself, was apparently from Priam to Priam's sons Helenus and Deiphobus now put their cases to
Palamedes telling him he had sent 'the gold' as payment for their father to be allowed to marry Helen. Priam awarded her
agreeing to betray the Greek camp. Naturally Palamedes to Deiphobus as the better warrior, and in anger Helenus
denied receiving any gold so Odysseus suggested that his tent turned traitor. He went to the Greeks, and, after requesting
be searched. The sack was unearthed and the Greeks stoned safe conduct to another land, told them three additional
Palamedes to death as a traitor. conditions they must meet to capture the city. Firstly they

Philoctetes and the death of Paris

Achilles had withdrawn his troops and

had genuinely contemplated turning
traitor, but by comparison to
Palamedes he was mourned, as the
chances of the Greeks taking Troy
seemed very small once he had died.
Now the Greek prophet Calchas
announced that Troy could not be
taken without aid from the bow and
arrows of Heracles, which had helped
in its capture years earlier. The two
greatest surviving Greek heroes, Odysseus and Diomedes,
must bring from Pisa to Troy the ivory shoulder blade which
pledged themselves to find the arrows and bring them to
Demeter had given Pelops. Next they must bring to Troy
Troy. They sailed off to where they had abandoned
Neoptolemus, the son whom Achilles had begotten while
Philoctetes and found him still suffering from the pain of his
hiding on the island of Scyros. Finally, they had to steal from
foul-smelling wound. Odysseus tricked him into handing over
Troy the wooden image called the Palladium, because while
the bow but Diomedes refused to take away Philoctetes' only
it remained inside the city, Troy would never fall to the
means of survival and insisted he be taken back with them to
Greeks.
Troy. There he was finally cured, and took the field with
Heracles' weapons. His very first victim was Paris, who, when
The first two condition were met relatively easily, but the
injured, had himself carried to Mount Ida to beg his former
theft of the Palladium was more difficult. It was undertaken
lover Oenone to heal him. But she refused, still bitter
by Odysseus and Diomedes, the two favourites of Athene,
because he had left her for Helen, and Paris, who had
who entered and left Troy through a sewer pipe. In the
brought so much destruction to his people, finally died.
enthusiasm of success Odysseus decided he would claim all
Oenone was then overcome with grief and remorse and
the credit and drew his sword to kill his friend, but
killed herself.
Diomedes, who was walking in front of him, saw the shadow
of the sword in the moonlight and, turning swiftly, disarmed
Helenus and the Palladium
Odysseus.
 theft of her Palladium. It had been made too large to be
The wooden horse taken inside the city because if it was pulled inside it would
bring great blessings on the Trojans. The Greeks, however,
One major problem still remained: how to breach the walls hoped the Trojans would attempt to destroy it, because
built by the gods? Athene now gave Odysseus the idea of then Athene would be angry, and would destroy Troy.
building the famous wooden horse. It was to be hollow, with
a cunningly concealed trapdoor and an inscription dedicating The tale Sin on told was a very clever mixture of truth and
it to Athene. Once it was built, some thirty Greek heroes hid lies. The Trojans knew that Odysseus had hated Palamedes,
inside. The remainder burnt their camp and sailed some five that Iphigenia had been sacrificed to allow the Greek fleet to
kilometres out to sea to hide on the island of Tenedos. sail, and that the Palladium had been stolen. They did not
know that Sin on was the cousin of Odysseus, not
Next day, the Trojans woke to find the Greek camp burnt Palamedes, or that he
to ashes, the ships gone and the plains before their city had been carefully coached in his tale by the master of
empty, except for a great wooden horse. They could cunning, and that no sacrifice had been demanded for the
scarcely believe that their ten-year ordeal was over, but Greeks' return. Above all, they did not know that Athene was
soon they began arguing about what they should do with not unhappy about the theft of the Palladium and was, in
the horse. Some argued that a gift to Athene should be fact, masterminding the whole scheme.
treated with respect. Others argued that the goddess had
always favoured the Greeks and it was most likely the The death of Laocoon
horse was a trick and should be destroyed. The priest of
While the Trojans were wondering whether Sinon was to be
Poseidon, Laocoon, was particularly forceful in this view,
trusted, Laocoon was making a sacrifice to Poseidon on the
hurling a spear at the horse and declaring that the Greeks
seashore, accompanied by his two sons. Suddenly he was
should never be trusted, even when they offered gifts.
attacked by two terrible sea serpents who killed all three of

The story of Sinon them and then entered the city and hid themselves in
Athene's temple. The Trojans recognised divine intervention
The Trojans were finally swayed by a brave and cunning
when they saw it and thought Laocoon had been punished
Greek, Sinon, who had stayed behind and allowed himself to
for damaging Athene's horse. They failed to realise that
be caught. He pretended that he was hated by Odysseus
Athene was really punishing him for his efforts to save his
because he was a cousin of Palamedes. The Greeks had
city and thus thwart her plans to destroy Troy.
realised they could never take Troy, he said, and had long
since wished to go home, but the winds had been against
them. Calchas said they must make another sacrifice, just as
they had made one to sail from Aulis ten years earlier.
Odysseus had persuaded the Greeks to choose Sin on, and
he was at the very altar awaiting the knife when the wind
had changed. In the rush to leave his captors had forgotten
him, allowing him to escape. The horse, he explained, was
an offering to placate Athene, who had been angry at the
The capture of Troy

The Trojans hesitated no longer but pulled down part of

their walls to bring the horse inside the city, ignoring both
Cassandra's warnings and the clash of armour and weapons
from inside the horse as it bumped over the uneven ground.
Then they began to celebrate victory with feasting and
general revelling, decorating the gods' shrines to thank them
for the victory. By nightfall, all the inhabitants of Troy were
completely exhausted with the excitement and activity of
the day, and many were also drunk with wine. As they
collapsed in sleep, a deep silence fell over the city. Now
Sinon moved. With a torch he signalled to the Greeks waiting
on Tenedos to return, and released his compatriots from the
horse. They slew the guards at the gates and flung open all
entrances to admit the returning army. Soon there arose the
noise of destruction and battle. The Trojans, who had gone
spear at his son's attacker. The weapon bounced
to sleep believing the war was over awoke abruptly to find
uselessly off the armour of Neoptolemus, who then
that indeed it was, but it was they who had been defeated.
seized the old man, dragged him from the altar, stabbed
The city was full of armed and exultant Greek warriors and
him and left his headless body unburied on the shore.
resistance was disorganised and largely futile. By morning, it
• Hecabe was allocated to Odysseus but she abused him
was all over.
and his men so much for their deeds that in exasperation
they killed her. Her ultimate fate was to be turned into
PART THREE: AFTER THE TROJAN WAR
one of the black bitches that accompany the goddess
Hecate in the underworld.
The victory of the Greeks at Troy could not have been more
• Cassandra took refuge at the altar of Athene and was
complete. All the Trojan men were slaughtered and the
dragged away from the shrine by Little Ajax. Agamemnon
women and children were taken as slaves, as was the custom
then claimed her but, unlike Apollo, did not respect her
in the ancient world at the end of a siege. The victors looted
virginity. When he took her back to Mycenae she and her
the city and burnt it, destroying it completely. An ancient
infant twins were slain by Clytemnestra.
proverb, 'Now there is a cornfield where once there was
Troy', emphasised the transitory nature of all human wealth • Polyxena was sacrificed at Achilles' tomb when his ghost

and accomplishments. complained he was not getting his share of the victory
spoils.

The fate of individual Trojans • Because of his services in revealing how Troy might be
captured, Helenus was not slain, but he was not freed
• King Priam took refuge at an altar in his palace, but when
either. He and Andromache were both allocated to
he saw his son Po lites being pursued and stabbed by
Neoptolemus as slaves.
Neoptolemus he could not restrain himself and threw a
• Andromache's son was not allowed to live. It was argued and consideration than the gods expected. They committed
that a hero's son might attempt to avenge the death of many atrocities and were duly punished for them in a
his father, so Odysseus seized Astyanax from his mother's variety of ways. Many were caught in storms and did not
arms and threw him off the battlements of Troy. reach home, and many of those who did found that during
the ten years they had been away, rivals had taken over.
• Deiphobus paid a high price for his brief possession of the
world's greatest beauty. Helen had loved Paris but had no
such feelings for Deiphobus and he took her by force. • Agamemnon took around a year to reach Mycenae and

After Troy fell, to avert the anger of her former husband his wife Clytemnestra at last took revenge for the

Menelaus, Helen led Menelaus into the bedroom of her death of her daughter when she and her lover

current husband, from which she had removed all Aegisthus slew him in his bath.

weapons. Menelaus seized Deiphobus as he was sleeping • Menelaus and Helen were caught in a storm and carried
and mutilated him by cutting off his nose, ears and other first to Crete and then to Egypt. After eight years in exile
parts of his body before killing him. The king of Sparta was they at last made their way back to Sparta and lived out
also intending to murder Helen, but was so overcome by their lives peacefully together.
her beauty that he changed his mind and took her once • Diomedes returned to Argos and found that Aphrodite
more as his wife. It may also have struck him that as the had taken her revenge for his wounding her by making
war had been fought on her account it would have been a his wife unfaithful. Eventually he was driven into exile
waste not to retrieve his property. and established another kingdom for himself in Italy.
• Philoctetes and a number of other warriors were also
• Creusa did not leave Troy alive, though accounts vary
driven into exile and founded cities elsewhere, and it is
about exactly how she died. Aeneas first joined the futile
suggested that this may be a legendary memory of the
Trojan resistance, until he was told by Aphrodite to leave
Greek migrations in the eleventh century BC.
the city. She then protected him, his son Ilus and his
• Little Ajax was shipwrecked on the way home
father Anchises while they escaped, Aeneas carrying his
and managed to swim to a rock near the shore. He then
crippled father on his shoulders and leading his son by the
called out that he had saved himself, despite the ill-will of
hand. But Anchises panicked when he saw some soldiers,
the gods. Either Poseidon or Athene took offence and
and Aeneas took off, forgetting all about Creusa. He
smashed the rock he was clinging to, and Ajax was
returned to look for her and was told by her ghost that he
drowned.
had a great destiny in another land. Aeneas' story then
passes into Roman mythology.

The fate of individual Greeks

The Greeks had waited ten years to take Troy, living in

uncomfortable conditions far from their homes and
families, and had seen many of their companions die. It is
not surprising therefore that when they had the city and its
inhabitants at their mercy they displayed less politeness
• Neoptolemus was advised by Thetis not to go home by
sea and took the long land route back to Phthia in
Greece. He then established a new kingdom in Epirus,
married Hermione, daughter of Helen and Menelaus, and
was eventually killed
at Delphi, leaving Hermione free to marry her cousin
Orestes.
• The wise Nestor appeared to be the only Greek who
avoided cruelty or arrogance, and as his reward he was
allowed to return without undue delay to his home at
Pylos, where he reached a ripe old age in peace and
prosperity.
• Odysseus spent ten years returning to his home of
Ithaca, because he loat favour with Posiedon. This
famous story is told in Homer’s the Odyssey