Homer, Iliad --8th c. BCE
Homeric Hymns #17 and 33 (to the
Dioscuri) -- 8th -3rd c. BCE
Stesichorus, Palinode -- 7th c.
BCE
Euripides, Trojan Women -- 5th c. BCE
Lucretius, De Rerum
Natura (On the Nature of Things) -- 1st c. BCE
Vergil, Aeneid --
1st c. BCE
Statius, Achilleid -- 1st c. CE
Lucian, Dialogues of
the Gods (#20) -- 2nd c. CE
The Greek expedition against Troy has some basis in reality. Archaeological evidence shows that a several cities were built on the site attributed to the Troy of legend; one of these cities was destroyed by fire around the end of the 13th, beginning of 12th c BCE, which fits with the story of Troy (traditional date for Troy's fall -- 1183 BCE). As the power of Mycenaean Greece expanded, it was likely that the Greeks wanted access to the Black Sea and trade from the East. Troy which sat near the entrance to the Black Sea would have been reluctant to give up such control as they had, so the Greeks eventually invaded. The story of the theft of Helen seems like a classic case of "projection." When your conscious mind doesn't want to handle an unpleasant truth or emotion, it "projects" that truth or emotion onto another. Thus, instead of a war to take control of the entrance to the Black Sea away from the Trojans, the Greeks have the Trojans starting it by taking a Greek woman away from her husband. The Germans did the same thing in their invasion of Poland in 1939. Let's face it, it doesn't make for a great national epic, if you invade another country for material gain.
This expedition represented to the Greeks their greatest common effort. Unlike the Romans, who ultimately saw Italy and the whole Mediterranean as "Rome," the Greeks all lived in rather small city-states, which maintained their independence and even fought against each other. The Greeks were aware, though, of a common cultural heritage and language. The sagas about the Trojan war celebrated that common Greek effort not evident in their daily lives . When Herodotus wrote his Histories, which celebrated the Greek victory against Persia, he looked back to that great expedition of Greek heroes against Troy.
The oldest of Greek works, the Iliad (it's possible that Hesiod's works are from the same time), treats of a few months in the last year of the Trojan War. This work is the result of centuries of bardic tradition. The Iliad, the Odyssey, Hesiod's works, and some of the Homeric Hymns are examples of traditional oral tales. These were passed on by tellers, without the benefit of writing (in fact writing tends to support a different mindset), until these examples at the end of centuries of development were finally captured in writing (perhaps as late as the 6th c. BCE). The authors we know as Homer and Hesiod would have composed their works in performance; each time the work would be somewhat different, though the basic ideas and the language would be fixed. Considering the intricacy of the Iliad and Odyssey, it's amazing that these works were developed without the use of writing.
Whenever Zeus seduces a woman by taking another form, it's difficult to not read the story literally, which seems rather strange; some of the tellers of the story, go so far as to suggest that Leda's children were born from eggs (since Zeus appeared to Leda as a swan). What else might this story be saying? The two sets of twins have a mortal and immortal, though this does not seem to have been an original part of the story. Homer has no sense of Helen being immortal, nor of the Dioscuri sharing their immortality. In the Iliad, Helen looks to see her brothers in the ranks of the Greek heroes, but the author points out that the heroes were already dead. In most traditions, the Dioscuri actually appear with the generation of heroes preceding this (Jason and the Argonauts, Hercules), which doesn't make temporal sense, as Helen and Clytemnestra would be quite old when they married Menelaus and Agamemnon.
There was a legend that Stesichorus was punished in some way for his poems that were hostile to women in general and Helen in particular. Most Greek lyric poetry does not survive. What does survive is Stesichorus' retraction, his palinode ("taking it back song"). This story of a phantom Helen going to Troy, while the real Helen remained faithful to her husband in Egypt, is very strange. For the Greeks who saw the Trojan War as a foolish loss of life (and it's possible that Greece fell prey to invasions as a result of their weakness following Troy), this made the whole Trojan expedition seem even more senseless. One explanation for the war, then, was that Zeus had determined to reduce the population of the earth, and to especially cut down on the number or "heroes."
Whenever the gods don't want to do something, they generally find a willing mortal. Of course, it makes sense to everyone that any choice of one god or goddess is likely to anger the other gods. We've already seen that in the case of Hippolytus, whose worship of Artemis to the exclusion of Aphrodite resulted in his death.
The appearance of Discord at the marriage of Peleus and Thetis suggests that Fate, or some other force than the Olympians, was behind the whole Trojan mess. The gods couldn't keep Discord from the wedding, and the three goddesses are blinded by their vanity. And again, it's easy to see Discord as a character, rather than as some sort of force. If Discord is just "trouble," it would almost seem that trouble between gods have ramifications among the mortals.
The version of the "judgment" story that M & L include is that of Lucian, a writer of satiric pieces in the 2nd c. CE (he's rather late). To help you get a perspective, think of what Dave Barry or Garrison Keillor might do with this story. That'll give you a sense of how much to take of Lucian's account. His Paris is a man taking advantage of a situation -- me, choose the most beautiful goddess -- all right girls, take it off. Let's face it, based on previous descriptions of the goddesses, none would participate in something so humiliating; and humans seeing gods in their true forms seems to have immediate disastrous results -- why not here?
Greek side
Agamemnon. As king of the greatest of the Greek city-states, he provides the most troops and wealth, and so is leader of the expedition. Homer presents him as vain, but a capable leader and a fine warrior; he is a bit over-protective of his brother.
Menelaus. Agamemnon's brother and the reason, in legend, for the war. His wife Helen ran off with Paris, and he's fighting to get her back. His most notable performance in the Iliad is his part in the rescue of Patroclus' body.
Diomedes. King of Argos, he is a young warrior, and one of the best. His great moment in the Iliad comes when Athena gives him the power to see gods at work on the Trojan battlefield; he manages to mow down a lot of the Trojan force and even wounds Aphrodite and Ares.
Nestor. King of Pylos, he is an old man who has several sons fighting on the Greek side. He is fond of talking about the good old days when "one man could lift a boulder it now takes ten men to lift." He serves as one of the advisors, and is respected, even if a bit long-winded.
Ajax Telamonius. AKA "Bulwark of the Achaeans." Think star fullback for the Greek side. He is the only major Greek hero who does not have an "aristeia," a moment of exceptional military prowess, where the gods seem to be with the warrior. In the great battle, he alone of the major Greek heroes is unwounded, and he battles the Trojans from the ships using a long pole.
Ajax Oileus. AKA Ajax the Lesser. A capable warrior, but without the noble spirit that inspires the other warriors. He is best known for raping Cassandra, a Trojan princess, in the Temple of Athena. He comes to a bad end on the return home.
Odysseus. King of the small island of Ithaca, he is the wisest of the Greeks. A great warrior, his chief strength lies in his quick mind and careful planning. He comes up with the Trojan Horse idea.
Achilles. Greatest of the Greek warriors at Troy. Later legends have him invulnerable, except for his heel (when his mother dipped him in the river Styx, she missed a spot), but Homer knows nothing of this story. The Iliad is about Achilles' anger and his refusal to fight for the Greeks who do not honor him properly.
The Trojans
Priam. King of Troy, he is an old man, with 50 sons and 12 or more daughters. He is generally seen as a just king caught up in a situation beyond his control.
Hector. Priam's elder son, he is the real power in Troy. He is their best warrior (though not as great as the Greeks' Achilles), is a good father and husband, and determined, because of his position, to be always in the forefront of the fighting. He doesn't blame Helen for the war, nor does he despise his brother Paris, though he wishes he were more of a warrior than a lover.
Paris. One of Priam's sons, he is the cause of the war. He seduced Helen and took her away to Troy from Sparta. In the Iliad, he loses in a one-on-one battle with Menelaus, but does not give Helen up. He is primarily known as an archer.
Aeneas. Son of Anchises and Aphrodite, he is a great Trojan warrior, but not as great as Hector. He is saved from a battle with Achilles (one he would lose) by Poseidon, who knows that he will lead the Trojan survivors to a new land after the war.
Sarpedon. King of the Lycians and one of the greatest warriors on the Trojan side. He is the son of Zeus, who mourns his death at the hands of Patroclus. Though he mourns his son, he cannot save him from his death (not without changing Fate, which he doesn't want to do).
Lucretius' De Rerum Natura is quoted here. Lucretius was a follower of Epicurean philosophy. The Epicureans were atheists and atomists. They believed that matter exists because of the movement and attraction of atoms; there is no afterlife, and consequently, no reward or punishment for life. The point is that we should live now -- this is all we get. For Lucretius, the traditional stories and beliefs are dangerous -- look what happened to Iphigenia. That sacrifice may be based on a memory of a time when the Greeks performed human sacrifice. For Greek and Latin authors, it proves troubling -- how do you excuse the taking of innocent life?
Homer's poem begins with the line, "Sing, goddess, of the wrath of Peleus' son Achilles..." It is a poem about the disastrous effects of Achilles' anger. The Greek hero is insulted by Agamemnon who takes one of his slave women as compensation for losing one of his own. He then vows to leave Troy, or at least not fight in the war. That decision results in terrible losses for the Greeks. Achilles' friend, Patroclus, offers to enter the fray, disguised as Achilles, but is then killed by Hector. Achilles, then, must reenter the battle, but he's already lost what matters most to him. He had a chance to reenter the battle with his honor assuaged earlier, but refused, and that refusal resulted in his friend's death. In killing Hector, Achilles knows, somehow, that he too will soon die. The work is a wonderful piece on the dangers of anger, and on the futility of war. The poem does not show the end of Achilles, nor the end of Troy. Read the selections from this work carefully.
If you have time, read the whole poem -- it may be the greatest Greek work ever composed. And there is a great audiobook version of Robert Fagles' poetic translation (one of the best translations) read by Derek Jacobi. That version is abridged, but still captures most of the important passages, and besides is audio -- Homer composed his work to be heard; he could not read, nor write, so there's something
The Trojan Women is a great play about the inhumanity of war. Written by Euripides while Athens was involved in its great war with Sparta, it's as much about that war as it is about Troy (just like M*A*S*H was about Vietnam at least as much as it was about Korea).
Vergil's Aeneid is as much about the glorious history of Rome as it is about Aeneas and the Trojan warriors. Aeneas' description of the last night of Troy, though, is a wonderfully dramatic piece of verse. It has the power of the great tragedies -- no matter the clues provided, the Trojans blindly rushed to their own destruction. Vergil was attempting with this poem to become the Latin Homer, just as he tried to redo Hesiod's Works and Days when he composed the Georgics. Some would say he succeeded. It is, at any rate, a masterful work. This is also available in audiobook. Though Vergil composed in writing (apparently only a few dozen lines a day), he would have performed the work before an audience. So it's worth hearing.
For maps and some artwork illustrating the Trojan War, see M & L's site by clicking here and clicking on the link to chapter 19.
For class Powerpoint presentation on this chapter, click here.
For some thoughts on the Iliad, click here.
For translations of the opening lines of the Iliad, click here.