The Trojan War

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis

Jan 1, 1180

The evil goddess Eris was consistently not invited to the gods' celebrations. As was to be expected, she was the only divinity excluded from the wedding of King Peleus and the sea-nymph Thetis. Unfortunately, Eris, the goddess of Discord, was very jealous that she had been exlcuded from the gods' celebration, so she decided to cause trouble.

Beginnings of Trojan War

Period: Jan 1, 1180 to Jan 1, 1184

"For the Fairest"

Feb 1, 1180

Eris devised a plan to cause trouble at the wedding. She threw a golden apple labeled "For the Fairest" into the dining hall. The goddesses fought over who it was meant for. Eventually, the options narrowed to Hera, Athena and Aphrodite.

The Judgement of Paris

Dec 1, 1180

Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy, was asked to choose the fairest of the three goddesses in question. However, they each offered bribes, so Paris chose the bribe that appealed to him most. Paris chose Aphrodite, but only because she promised to make the most beautiful woman in the world his.

Aphrodite's Promise

Jul 1, 1181

As she had promised Paris, Aphrodite had to give him the most beautiful woman in the world. This woman was Helen, who was to marry Menelaus, the King of Sparta. For this woman, Paris forgot his lovely nymph, Oenone.

Helen's Capture

Nov 1, 1181

Aphrodite took Paris to Sparta, where he was warmly welcomed as a guest by Helen and Menelaus. In this time period, there were strong connections between guest and host, and both were expected to behave with honesty and manners as they should. With this bond in mind, Menelaus left Paris with Helen and his home when he left on a trip to Crete. However, when Menelaus returned, he found that Paris had gone back to Troy and had taken Helen with him.

Greek Army Preparation

May 1, 1182

Upon finding Helen and Paris gone, Menelaus, a prominent Greek and the King of Sparta, called upon the whole Greek army to help him retrieve Helen from Troy. Many chieftains were eager to help because this was also a chance to destroy Troy, which, at the time, was considered the most powerful city on Earth.
However, two chieftains, Odysseus and Achilles were not present at the round-up of the army.

Odysseus and Achilles

Dec 1, 1182

Odysseus and Achilles were missing for different reasons.
Odysseus was sensible and did not want to get caught in a terrible war over claims to a woman. He pretended to have gone mad, but his act was disproved and he had to rejoin the army, even though he did not want to.
The mother of Achilles knew that he would die if he went to the war with Troy, so she hid him and kept him back. He was hidden among young maidens. Odysseus was sent out to find him; he discovered Achilles by the boy’s in

Sacrifice to Artemis

May 1, 1183

The Greeks’ travel was delayed due to strong winds that kept them from crossing the sea to reach Troy. To calm the winds, the army would have to sacrifice a young maiden to Artemis, who was upset and controlled the winds. Iphigenia, the oldest daughter of Agamemnon, was sacrificed to ensure a safe passage to Troy.

The Arrival of the Greeks

Jan 1, 1184

The Greeks reached Troy safely, with calm winds and waters allowing an easy journey. The army was said to be carried in a thousand ships. Upon arrival, the first warrior onshore, Protesilaus, died by a Trojan spears, as foretold by the oracle. The Greeks, along with the gods, honored this man for his bravery.

Timespan of Trojan War

Period: Jan 1, 1184 to Jan 1, 1194

No Clear Advantages

Jul 1, 1187

For nine years, the war raged on. During this time, neither the Greeks, nor the Trojans won a decided advantage for any part of the war. Eventually, a personal quarry between Achilles and Agamemnon led to a Trojan advantage in the battles.

Achilles Versus Agamemnon

May 1, 1192

These two prominent Greek leaders fought over the possession of certain women. Agamemnon had been given the daughter of Apollo's priest, Chryseis, when the Greek army took her away from Troy. Apollo helped his priest, who begged for his daughter back, by raining fiery arrows down on the Greek Army, killing many. The chieftains, led by Achilles, determined that Agamemnon had to return Chryseis to her father. Agamemnon was upset by this, and took away the maiden Achilles had won from the war.

Interventions by Zeus

Aug 1, 1192

Thetis, the mother of Achilles, was as enraged as he when Agamemnon took away the maiden of Achilles. She asked Zeus to turn the war advantage to the Trojans to hurt Agamemnon when Achilles drew away from battle. Zeus intervened to give the Trojans the upper hand. He also created an opportunity for Menelaus and Paris to face off directly, considering the two were the most concerned in the war's outcome. However, Aphrodite protected Paris and took him back to the safety of Troy.

Temporary Truce

Oct 1, 1192

While Menelaus went off in search of the retreating Paris, Agamemnon declared the war won by the Greeks, after speaking to leaders of both sides. Hera and Athena urged a Trojan soldier to break the unspoken peace with an arrow shot at Menelaus. They had him do so because they wished for the war to only end with Troy in ruins.

Hera, Athena and Ares

Nov 1, 1192

Hera and Athena made mulitple interventions because of their support for the Greek army. After they cause a break in the temporary peace, they also help the Greek army. Ares joined the Trojan side of battle and gave them a great advantage. Hera and Athena joined the Greeks to take Ares out of the war to keep it fair. Later, Hector asked Athena to spare Troy, but she refused.

Return of Achilles

Apr 1, 1193

Achilles had stepped away from the warfront with a friend, Patroclus, who urged him to go back. Patroclus knew that Achilles was a huge advantage to the Greeks. When Achilles refused to do so, Patroclus stepped into his place. He fought as Achilles- led troops and wore his armor. Unfortunately, he was also killed by Hector, who mistook him for Achilles. This death motivated Achilles to return to battle.

Achilles' Revenge

Jun 1, 1193

Achilles was very moved to action by the death of his friend. His plan to avenge Patroclus' death was helped along by armor made by Hephaestus, supplied by Thetis. Achilles fought Hector and killed him with Athena's help. Full of rage, he tortured Hector's dead body by pulling it along after his chariot. Eventually, Achilles subsided to King Priam, Hector's father, who wanted the body for a proper burial. War was set aside for nine days during Hector's funeral.

Deaths of Achilles and Ajax

Jul 1, 1193

Achilles continued to fight stongly with the Greeks. He was killed by an arrow shot by Paris, helped by Apollo. The arrow struck Achilles' only vulnerable spot- his heel. Achilles' armor was given to Odysseus after his death. Ajax thought he deserved the armor; he was determined to kill Agamemnon and Menelaus, the two who he considered responsible for the action against him. Athena struck him with madness to save the two leaders. Ajax eventually killed himself in his insanity.

Philoctetes and Paris

Sep 1, 1193

Put off by the two deaths, the Greeks captured the Trojan prophet Helenus to ask for advice. Following his instructions, they retrieved Philoctetes, a Greek left behind due to injury on the journey to Troy, along with his bow and arrow of Hercules. When Philoctetes was healed and went into battle, the first man he hit with an arrow was Paris, who was killed instantaneously.

Alternative Approach

Dec 1, 1193

The Greeks came to the realization that unless they could get into Troy and take the city by surprise, they would never be victorious. They planned a decietful way to do this. A large, hollow wooden horse was constructed to help them. The Greeks planned to fake a retreat, but have the whole army hide at the nearest island. The wooden horse would hold a band of strong soldiers. A single warrier, Sinon, would be left to deliver a rehearsed story to the Trojans.

Aftermath of Trojan War

Period: Jan 1, 1194 to Jan 1, 1198

Sinon's Story

Feb 1, 1194

Sinon delivered his message to the Trojans: The Greek army had given up and had headed back to Greece. Athena had required a sacrifice, since one was needed for travel to Troy, and Sinon had been chosen, but had escaped. Additionally, the horse was made as an offering to Athena. It was big to force the Trojans to destory it, and bring Athena's wrath, rather than bring it into Troy. They trusted his story not only because it was believable, but also because of a sign from Posiedon.

Greek Victory

Apr 1, 1194

A few nights after the Trojans brought the horse into Troy, despite many warnings, the Greeks inside it took action. They snuck out in the night and opened the gates to Troy for all of the Greek army to enter. The battle that followed surprised and overwhelmed the Trojan army. Many, many Trojans, including King Priam, were killed. The battle was not remotely close to even. In the end, the Greeks outsmarted the Trojans to win the ten-year war.

War Aftermath

Jan 1, 1196

In the morning, all that was left of Troy were burning ruins. The city was gone and had left a few stranded women and children in its place. Aphrodite saved her Trojan son Aeneas during the battle and also returned Helen to Menelaus. The Greeks sacrficed Hector's son and King Priam's daughter, in front of their surviving mothers, to truly end the war. They departed back for Greece after this.