Important Names Achilles- Great warrior of Greece, he was dipped into the river Styx by his mother protecting

g him everywhere but his heel, where she held him. Agamemnon- The brother of Menelaus and Commander of the Greek army sent after Helen. Aphrodite- The goddess of love. Apollo- Zeus son and the God of the sun. Athena- The goddess of wisdom. Cassandra and Laocoon- Trojan prophets, they warn against accepting the Trojan Horse. Epeius- The artist who made the Trojan Horse. Eris- The goddess of discord upset that she is not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Helen- The wife of Menelaus, Queen of Sparta, and considered most beautiful woman alive. Hera- Zeus wife and the goddess of marriage. Menelaus- The King of Sparta and Helens husband. He seeks out help to find his wife. Odysseus- A general in the Greek army and an old suitor of Helen. Leads the troops left inside the Trojan Horse. Paris- A prince of Troy, considered the most beautiful man alive. Peleus and Thetis- A mortal man and a goddess who are getting married in Greece. Sinon- Left behind by the Greeks to deliver the Trojan Horse.

Zeus- Leader of the Greek gods.

The Trojan War

The wedding of Peleus and Thetis was a marriage made in heaven. Almost all the gods and goddesses attended Mount Pelion (in northeast Greece) for the weddingfor it was the rarest of occasions when a goddess married a mortal man. But Eris, the goddess of discord, had not been invited. Angered by this, she tossed a Golden Apple, inscribed For the Fairest, among the goddesses. Immediately Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite started to fight over the apple. To decide the matter, Zeus appointed Paris, a Trojan prince and supposedly the handsomest of men. Rather than trust the princes good judgment, all three goddesses attempted to bribe Paris. Hera promised him dominion over the whole world. Athena offered certain victory in every battle. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, merely offered the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen. Paris did not hesitate, quickly accepting the beauty and awarding the Golden Apple to Aphrodite. Unfortunately for Paris, Helen was married to the Greek king of Sparta, Menelaus. Helen was so beautiful that nearly every Greek prince more than two dozenhad wooed her. Each had sworn not only to abide by Helens choice, but to punish anyone who might steal the bride away. Paris ignored this and still went to Sparta looking for Helen. He was treated as a royal guest upon arrival, but shortly after arriving King Menelaus is called away to handle business. Paris takes advantage of this time and takes Helen back to Troy.

Learning of Helens disappearance, Menelaus asked his brother Agamemnon for help. Agamemnon, who would serve as commander in chief of the Greek forces, rounded up the former rivals for Helens hand. Reminding them of their oath of allegiance, Menelaus demanded they join him in recovering Helen and punishing the Trojans. Despite the few who seemed reluctant, the Greeks in time assembled quite a rescue force of more than 1,000 ships. After nine long years, the Greeks had seized, ransacked, and looted innumerable towns, but had come no closer to penetrating the impregnable walls of Troy. The tenth and final year would prove costly to both sides. Paris, who had instigated the war, had never demonstrated a great deal of skill in combat. Though his arrows occasionally hit their targets, the wounds he caused were never fatal. But in the tenth year of the war, with Apollo guiding his bow, Paris shot an arrow that soared over the walls of Troy, pierced Achilles in the heelthe only vulnerable part of his bodyand killed the great warrior. Odysseus later came up with an ingenious plan to get inside the city. Epeius, an artisan, constructed an enormous wooden horse. Led by Odysseus, about thirty Greek warriors hid themselves inside. The Greek fleet then sailed awaybut only as far as the far side of an offshore island. When the Trojans found the horse outside their citys gate, some wanted to burn it. But others argued that if they brought it inside the city the horse would bring them luck. The prophets Cassandra and Laocoon

explicitly warned the Trojans that Greek troops were hidden inside the horsebut of course no one believed them. With the Trojans arguing over whether or not to bring the wooden horse inside the city, Sinon gave them the last push they needed. The Trojans found him outside the Trojan walls, with his arms tied and his clothes torn to shreds. Apparently enraged at his comrades, Sinon claimed that he had escaped being sacrificed to Athena. The Greeks had built the enormous horse to appease the goddessand had designed it so that it would not fit through the citys gates because they knew that placing it in the citadel would bring the Trojans victory. Harming it, Sinon warned, would turn the wrath of Athena on the Trojans. Persuaded by Sinon, the Trojans breached their own citys walls in order to secure the wooden horse. After the Trojans had fallen into bed following a celebration of their impending victory, Sinon freed the Greek warriors and sent a beacon to the Greek fleet, which quickly returned. Those inside opened the gates and the Greeks seized the city in a single bloody night.