The Trojan War

The judgement of Paris

1000 BCE

THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS was a contest between the three most beautiful goddesses of Olympos--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena--for the prize of a golden apple addressed "To the Fairest." The story began with the wedding of Peleus and Thetis which all the gods had been invited to attend except for Eris, goddess of discord.

Wedding of king Pelius and Thetis

1000 BCE

Zeus learned from Prometheus the secret that Thetis was destined to bear a son mightier than his father, and so he avoided her. Instead, a mortal named Peleus wooed and won her, not without difficulty, because she changed herself into all sorts of things, a bird, a tree, and a tigress. The wedding of Peleus and Thetis was one of the most famous in mythology and their son Achilles (the hero of the Trojan War) did become mightier than his father.

Paris goes to visit King Menelaus of Sparta

1000 BCE

Before her marriage to Menelaus, Helen lived with Leda and Leda's husband, King Tyndareus of Sparta. When the time came for Helen to marry, she had many suitors. To prevent any violence against her future husband, the Greek warrior Odysseus made his countrymen swear to protect the man she agreed to wed. Helen chose Menelaus, who later became king of Sparta.

Menelaus finds that Helen is gone

1000 BCE

In her youth she was abducted by Theseus. A competition between her suitors for her hand in marriage sees Menelaus emerge victorious. An oath sworn beforehand by all the suitors (known as the Oath of Tyndareus) requires them to provide military assistance in the case of her abduction; this oath culminates in the Trojan War. When she marries Menelaus she is still very young; whether her subsequent involvement with Paris is an abduction or a seduction is ambiguous.

Odysseus and Achilles Avoid the Army

1000 BCE

Early Life. Odysseus was generally said to be the son of Anticlea and of King Laertes of Ithaca. However, some stories maintain that his father was Sisyphus, founder of the city of Corinth and a cunning man who outwitted the god Hades*. This version says that Sisyphus seduced Anticlea before her marriage to Laertes and that Odysseus inherited his cleverness from Sisyphus. Read more: http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Ni-Pa/Odysseus.html#ixzz4LlwMeeJX

Trojan war begins

1000 BCE

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was a legendary ten-year conflict in which Greek warriors laid siege to Troy, a city on the northwestern coast of Asia Minor*. Homer's* great epic the Iliad describes the activities of gods, goddesses, and human heroes during the final year of the war. Some scholars think that the story of the Trojan War may have been based on memories of distant historical events, which became myths with the passage of time.