251 The Backstory of Homer�s Iliad

The Backstory of Homer’s Iliad: 

The Backstory of Homer’s Iliad Steve Wood TCCC

The Founding of Troy: 

9/2/2011 2 The Founding of Troy King Laomedon requested the help of Poseidon, god of the sea, to build his capital city. To obtain this help, he promised Poseidon two fabulous immortal white horses.

The Curse of Troy: 

9/2/2011 3 The Curse of Troy When work was complete, Poseidon had constructed walls that even he was incapable of getting past. Laomedon, safe inside the walls, then refused to pay Poseidon. Poseidon then called down a curse (and a sea monster) to torment the city.

Troy Today: 

Troy Today 9/2/2011 4

Hercules: 

9/2/2011 5 Hercules Laomedon then sent word to Hercules to come slay the sea monster. He promised the hero the same white horses he had promised Poseidon.

Success: 

9/2/2011 6 Success Hercules arrives and manages to slay the monster. Laomedon tries the same trick he tried with Poseidon, but Hercules finds a weakness in the city’s defenses and gets inside. There he confronts Laomedon and demands his payment.

Negotiations: 

9/2/2011 7 Negotiations When King Laomedon refuses to give up the horses, Hercules kills him and then crowns his oldest son to be the new king of Troy. He asks the new king for his payment; when the king refuses, Hercules kills him and crowns the next son. Hercules works his way through the family, finally crowning the youngest of Laomedon’s fifty sons, Podarces.

Priam: 

9/2/2011 8 Priam Podarces finally gives Hercules what he wants. Hercules renames the final son Priam and then leaves Troy. Even though he is very young, Priam becomes the successful ruler of a rich and powerful city.

The Family of Priam: 

9/2/2011 9 The Family of Priam Priam marries Hecuba. He has many children with her, as well as several with various slave girls in the palace.

Hector: 

9/2/2011 10 Hector The oldest son of Priam and Hecuba is named Hector. He is the crown prince of the city, a man of great courage and virtue. He succeeds at every endeavor and is looked to as the future of the city. He eventually marries a woman named Andromache; by the time of the events of the Iliad, they have a son named Astyanax (called Skamandrios) by his father.

Hector and Andromache: 

Hector and Andromache 9/2/2011 11

Cassandra: 

9/2/2011 12 Cassandra One of Priam’s daughters is named Cassandra. Because she rejects the advances of Apollo, she is cursed with the gift of prophecy. She can see the future, but no one ever believes her predictions. Thus, she is powerless to prevent the future.

Paris: 

9/2/2011 13 Paris The youngest son of Priam and Hecuba is named Paris. While Hecuba is pregnant with him, she has a terrible dream. In this dream, the child in her womb caused the destruction of Troy. Hecuba consults with the Oracle at Delphi, who confirms the dream. She and Priam decide to avoid this future, so when Paris is born, he is taken to a nearby mountain when he was three days old and left to die. Unfortunately for Troy, shepherds find the infant there and take him away to raise him as their own.

Helen: 

Helen Helen was the daughter of Zeus and the mortal queen Leda (of Sparta). She was regarded as the most beautiful woman in the world, and when she came of age to be married, there was a great competition amongst kings and princes to be her husband. 9/2/2011 14

Competition for Helen: 

Competition for Helen There were many suitors for Helen. According to several classical sources, there were at least 45. They included Agamemnon, Menelaus, Odysseus, Ajax the Greater, Ajax the Lesser, Diomedes , and Philoctetes . A complete list can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_of_Troy . 9/2/2011 15

The Oath of Tyndareus: 

The Oath of Tyndareus “Tyndareus was afraid to select a husband for his daughter, or send any of the suitors away, for fear of offending them and giving grounds for a quarrel. Odysseus was one of the suitors, but had brought no gifts, because he believed he had little chance to win the contest. He thus promised to solve the problem, if Tyndareus in turn would support him in his courting of Penelope, the daughter of Icarius. Tyndareus readily agreed, and Odysseus proposed that, before the decision was made, all the suitors should swear a most solemn oath to defend the chosen husband against whoever should quarrel with him. After the suitors had sworn not to retaliate, Menelaus was chosen to be Helen's husband. As a sign of the importance of the pact, Tyndareus sacrificed a horse. Helen and Menelaus became rulers of Sparta, after Tyndareus abdicated.” Wikipedia 9/2/2011 16

Agamemnon: 

Agamemnon Agamemnon, the brother of Menelaus, married Helen’s half-sister Clytaemnestra. He becomes king of Mycenae. 9/2/2011 17

Odysseus: 

Odysseus Odysseus marries Penelope. They eventually have a son, Telemachus. 9/2/2011 18

Marriage of Peleus and Thetis: 

Marriage of Peleus and Thetis Here is where the story timeline gets a little muddy. The mortal king Peleus marries the water nymph Thetis. Because she is favored by Zeus, their wedding takes place on Olympus. 9/2/2011 19

Marriage of Peleus and Thetis: 

Marriage of Peleus and Thetis All the gods and goddesses are invited except for Eris, the goddess of Discord. She attends anyway and stirs up the wedding feast by leaving a golden apple inscribed with the words “To the Fairest.” Several goddess claim the apple. Zeus refuses to make the decision on who deserves it most, so he sends Hermes to get the most ignorant mortal he can find (from the most out of the way place he can find). 9/2/2011 20

Marriage of Peleus and Thetis: 

Marriage of Peleus and Thetis That mortal turns out to be a yong shepherd raised in the middle of nowhere … Paris. Hera offers Paris power, and Athena offers him wisdom and military glory. Aphrodite offers him the love of the most beautiful woman … Helen. He chooses Aphrodite. She then reveals his heritage to him and arranges for him to “meet” Helen. 9/2/2011 21

Paris and Helen: 

Paris and Helen What happens next depends on which story. In some accounts, Paris rapes and kidnaps Helen. In other accounts, Aphrodite puts a spell on Helen to force her to fall in love with Paris. In most accounts, including Homer, she goes willingly. Paris is good-looking, her husband Menelaus is a jerk, she has a whiny kid named Hermione – she falls in love with Paris and runs away with him. 9/2/2011 22

A Thousand Ships: 

A Thousand Ships That brings the Oath of Tyndareus into play. Each of the former suitors is now under oath to send men and ships to Menelaus and Agamemnon in order to get Helen back. This pleases Agamemnon, who is greedy and hungry for power. 9/2/2011 23

Odysseus: 

Odysseus “When Helen was abducted, Menelaus called upon the other suitors to honour their oaths and help him to retrieve her, an attempt that would lead to the Trojan War. Odysseus tried to avoid it by feigning lunacy, as an oracle had prophesied a long-delayed return home for him if he went. He hooked a donkey and an ox to his plough (as they have different stride lengths, hindering the efficiency of the plough) and (some modern sources add) started sowing his fields with salt. Palamedes, at the behest of Menelaus's brother Agamemnon, sought to disprove Odysseus's madness, and placed Telemachus, Odysseus's infant son, in front of the plough. Odysseus veered the plough away from his son, thus exposing his stratagem. Odysseus held a grudge against Palamedes during the war for dragging him away from his home.” Wikipedia There had been a prophecy that if Odysseus left home, he would not return for twenty years. 9/2/2011 24

Achilles: 

Achilles Achilles, the son of the Peleus and Thetis (whose marriage led to Helen running away with Paris), was born under a prophecy. He had two possible futures: Go away to war, become the greatest warrior in the world, and die young and famous OR Stay at home, live to a ripe old age with a family, and die with no one outside of his family knowing his name. 9/2/2011 25

Achilles: 

Achilles To prevent his death, Thetis dips Achilles into the river Styx when he was a baby. This made him practically invulnerable, except for his heel. She also tried to raise him as a girl, keeping him away from weapons. 9/2/2011 26

Achilles: 

Achilles Odysseus saw through that ruse (He is still unhappy about having to go himself). He gave all the “daughters” of Peleus gifts – mostly combs and jewelry, with a sword and helm thrown in. One of those “daughters” picked up a sword, revealing “herself” to be Achilles, who then goes off to fight in the Trojan War. 9/2/2011 27