The Iliad
Hero Story #2
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• The Iliad starts nine
years into the Trojan
War
• Trojan War
– Conflict between
the Greeks and
Trojans
– Took place around
1200 B.C.
– Lasted about 10
years
– Started over Helen
The Start of it All…
Three
generations of
misery and
bloodshed
started because
a wedding
planner failed to
invite an
important
goddess…
Family Tree
Peleus and Thetis’ Wedding
• Peleus was a mortal man.
• Thetis was a sea nymph and the daughter of Zeus.
• Peleus had been on many adventures and had already been
married, but things went sour when he accidentally killed his
father-in-law.
• He saw Thetis, fell in love with her, and tried to kidnap her.
• She managed to fight him off with a snake until he eventually
won her over.
The Big
Affair –
Peleus and
Thetis’
Wedding
• With Zeus’ consent, all the famous mortals,
gods, and goddess attended
• Eris, the goddess of strife was not invited
• Eris was insulted and snuck into the wedding
reception…
To the fairest
A Golden Apple
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• Eris tossed a golden apple onto the
dance floor.
• On the apple were the words, “To the
fairest.”
• The golden apple was a serious party
killer. Who was the most beautiful?
The Judgment of Paris
• Paris is a Prince of Troy
– Appointed by Zeus to
determine which goddess
was most beautiful after an
ill fated wedding (Golden
Apple)
• Zeus knew that Troy was
fated to be destroyed
because of an old run-in
with Apollo and Poseidon.
• Paris was the “torch to set
the whole city on fire.”
Judgment cont.
– The competition is between 3 goddesses
• Hera (Zeus’ wife)
–Bribed Paris with power over nations
• Athena (Zeus’ daughter)
–Bribed Paris with victory in war
• Aphrodite (Goddess of Love)
–Bribed Paris with the most beautiful
woman in the world (Helen)
Helen of Troy
• Paris chooses Aphrodite
as the winner
– Because of Paris’
decision, Hera and
Athena become enemies
of Troy as the war starts.
• He then learned that
the most beautiful girl in
the world, Helen
(daughter of Leda and
Zeus), was married to
Menelaus, king of
Sparta
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The Kidnapping of Helen
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• Paris already had a
wife named Oenone
who warned him not
to go through with
the kidnapping
• He didn’t listen
• He sailed off to
Sparta to be guest at
the palace of
Menelaus
The Kidnapping of Helen
• Troy was already
doomed before this
whole incident
• Zeus was the “Protector
of Hospitality”
• Kidnapping your host’s
wife isn’t exactly
hospitable
• If Troy wasn’t in trouble
before, they certainly
were now!
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In Sparta, Paris either
forcefully carried Helen
away from Troy or he
seduced her and she left
with him on her own
Troy in Trouble
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• When Menelaus discovered
that his wife was kidnapped,
he ran to his big brother
Agamemnon who agreed to
get help wage war to get
Helen back
• Helen is known as the “face
that launched a thousand
ships”
Now the War Can Begin!
Achilles
• Son of a mortal and a goddess
– Gets armor from the gods
• Dipped in the River Styx by his mother
rendering him nearly impossible to kill
– Has one weakness
• Achilles heel
• Joins and fights in the war for 9 years
• Stops fighting when Agamemnon “steals” his
prize, Briseis
Where We Pick Up
• The war has been going on for almost 10 years
• Hector, the best of the Trojan warriors, has
killed Achilles’ friend, Patroclus, by accident
– Thought he was Achilles
• Achilles is so angry that he has rejoined the
war to avenge his friend’s death
• Achilles has gone to the gates of Troy and
demanded to fight Hector
The Epic Simile
• Simile
– A figure of speech
– Compares two dissimilar things using the words
like or as
– “Silent as death” “John went down like a stone”
• Epic Simile
– Long comparisons that often continue for a
number of lines
– Do not require the use of like or as
Find them
• There are four (4) Epic Similes in the Iliad, can
you find them?
– Lines 1-6
– Lines 57-62
– Lines 154- 159
– Lines 165-169