The gods Apollo and Poseidon, during a time when they were being punished by having to work among men, built the city of Troy for Priam's father, Laomedon. They invited the mortal man Aeacus -- the son of Zeus and Aegina (and grandfather of the great Achilles) to help them. Destiny had decreed that Troy would one day be captured in a place built by human hands -- so if the Trojan War was going to happen a human being had to help them.

When newly constructed, Troy was attacked and captured by Herakles, Telamon (Peleus's brother), and Peleus. Herakles organized the attack on the city because he hadn't been paid for the rescuing of Laomedon's daughter, Hesione. Laomedon had promised Hercules a stable of immortal horses for her release and then refused to pay up. In the attack Telamon killed Laomedon. Afterwards, Telamon took Hesione as a concubine.

Peleus, father of Achilles, fell in love with the sea nymph Thetis, whom Zeus also had designs upon. But Zeus hearing an ancient prophecy that Thetis would give birth to a son greater than his father decided to give up pursuing her. Instead he gave his divine blessing to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis.

All the gods were invited to the wedding -- except, by a deliberate oversight, Eris, the goddess of strife. It being her nature, she decided to come to the wedding anyway. She brought a golden apple, upon which was written "For the fairest". Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena all made a claim for the apple. They appealed to Zeus for judgment. He wisely refused to adjudicate a beauty contest between his wife and two of his daughters.

The task of choosing a winner fell to handsome Paris, at that point he was still an unknown herdsman from Mount Ida. Each goddess tried to bribe Paris with a wonderful prize: Hera offered power, Athena offered military glory and wisdom, and Aphrodite offered him a wife that was the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris gave the golden apple of discord to Aphrodite.

Helen's father is Tyndareus and her mother is Leda. Leda is another of Zeus's many concubines. Helen's beauty was famous throughout the world; she was sought in marriage by all the Greek kings. Her father Tyndareus would not agree to any man's marrying her until all the Greek suitors made a promise that they would collectively avenge any insult to her.

After the kings made the oath, Tyndareus awarded Helen to the old ugly warrior: Menelaus, King of Sparta. Her twin (non-divine) sister Clytaemnestra, born at the same time as Helen, but who was not a daughter of Zeus, married Agamemnon, King of Argos and brother of Menelaus. Agamemnon was the most powerful leader in Greece.

Achilles, the son of Peleus and Thetis, was educated as a young man by Chiron, the centaur (half man and half horse). One of the conditions of Achilles's parents' marriage (the union of a mortal with a divine sea nymph) was that the son born to them would die in war and bring great sadness to his mother. To protect him from death in battle his mother bathed the infant in the waters of the river Styx, which conferred invulnerability to any weapon. And when the Greeks begin to assemble an army, Achilles's parents hide him at Scyros disguised as a girl. While in Scyros Achilles meets Deidameia, and they have a son Neoptolemos (also called Pyrrhus).

Calchas, the prophet with the Greek army, tells Agamemnon and the other leaders that they can't conquer Troy without Achilles. So Odysseus sets out to find him. A little bird tells him that he should visit Scyros. He finds Achilles by tricking him; Odysseus places weapons in front of the girls of Scyros and has someone yell 'We are being attacked!' Achilles reaches for a weapon, thus revealing his identity.

Odysseus takes Achilles off to join the army; Menoitios, a royal counselor, sends his young son Patroclus to accompany Achilles on the expedition.

The Greek fleet of one thousand ships assembled at Aulis. Agamemnon, who led the largest contingent, was the commander-in-chief. The army was delayed for a long time by contrary winds, and the future of the expedition was threatened as the forces lay idle. Agamemnon had offended the goddess Artemis by an impious boast, and Artemis had sent the winds. Finally, in desperation to appease the goddess, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigeneia. Her father lured her to Aulis on the pretext that she was to be married to Achilles (whose earlier marriage was not known), but then he sacrificed her on the high altar. One version of her story claims that Artemis saved her at the last minute and carried her off to Tauris where she became a priestess of Artemis in charge of human sacrifices. While there, she later saved Orestes and Pylades. In any case, after the sacrifice Artemis changed the winds, and the fleet sailed for Troy.

On the way to Troy, Philoctetes, the son of Poeas and leader of the seven ships from Methone, suffered a snake bite when the Greeks landed at Tenedos to make a sacrifice. His pain was so great and his wound so unpleasant (especially the smell) that the Greek army abandoned him against his will on the island.

The Greek army landed on the beaches before Troy. The first man ashore, Protesilaus, was killed by Hector, son of Priam and leader of the Trojan army. The Greeks sent another embassy to Troy, seeking to recover Helen and the treasure.

When the Trojans denied them, the Greek army settled down into a siege which lasted nine years.

1 The Argument between Agamemnon and Apollo

In the tenth year of the war (where the narrative of the Iliad begins), Agamemnon insults Apollo by taking as a slave-hostage the girl Chryseis, the daughter of Chryses, a prophet of Apollo, and he refuses to return her when her father offers reasonable compensation. In revenge, Apollo sends nine days of plague down upon the Greek army. Achilles calls an assembly to determine what the Greeks should do. In that assembly, he and Agamemnon quarrel bitterly.

2 The Argument between Agamemnon and Achilles

Agamemnon, exercising his right a supreme commander, confiscates the slave girl Briseis from Achilles. Achilles, in a rage, withdraws himself and his forces (the Myrmidons) from any further participation in the battle. He asked his mother Thetis, a sea nymph, to intercede on his behalf with Zeus to give the Trojans help in battle, so that the Greek forces will recognize how foolish Agamemnon has been to offend the best soldier under his command. Thetis goes to Zeus and reminds him of a favor she had once done for him, warning him about a revolt against his authority, and requests that he help the Trojans for awhile; Zeus agrees to punish the Greeks.

3 Battles and the Ascendancy of Troy over the Greeks

During the course of the war, numerous incidents take place, and many die on both sides. Paris and Menelaus fight a duel, and Aphrodite saves Paris just as Menelaus is about to kill him. Achilles, the greatest of the Greek warriors, slays Cycnus, Troilus, and many others. Odysseus and Diomedes slaughter thirteen Thracians (Trojan allies) and steal the horses of King Rhesus in a night raid. Telamonian Ajax and Hector fight a duel with no decisive result. A common soldier, Thersites, challenges the authority of Agamemnon and demands that the soldiers abandon the expedition. Odysseus beats Thersites into obedience. In the absence of Achilles and following Zeus's promise to Thetis (see above), Hector enjoys great success against the Greeks, breaking through their defensive ramparts on the beach and setting their ships on fire.

4 Achilles and Patroclus

Achilles and Patroclus are companions and lovers. Although, Achilles is married and is also linked sexually to various other people e.g. Troilus, Helen, Medea, and Polyxena, a daughter of Priam.

During this time while Achilles is sitting on his hands, everyone else tries to get him to return to battle. Agamemnon offers many rewards in compensation for his initial insult of Achilles. Achilles refuses all offers but does say that he will reconsider if Hector ever reaches the Greek ships.

5 The Death of Patroclus and the Return of Achilles to the Fight

Hector, leading the Trojans, forces the Greeks back to their ships. Achilles's friend Patroclus begs to be allowed to return to the fight. Achilles gives him his permission and his armor, but he advises Patroclus not to attack Troy itself. The Trojans think that Achilles had returned to the war when Patroclus resumes the fight, and the tide of battle changes. Patroclus enjoys some dazzling successes (killing one of the leaders of the Trojan allies, Sarpedon from Lykia), but Patroclus is finally killed by Hector, with the help of Apollo.

In his grief over the death of his friend Patroclus, Achilles decides to return to the battle. Since he has no armor (Hector had stripped the body of Patroclus and is now using the armor of Achilles), Thetis asks the divine artisan Hephaestus, the crippled god of the forge, to prepare some divine armor for her son. Hephaestus did so, Thetis gave the armor to Achilles, and he returns to the battle.

After slaughtering many Trojans, Achilles finally corners Hector alone outside the walls of Troy. Hector chooses to stand and fight rather than retreat into the city. Achilles kills Hector and mutilates Hector's corpse, tying it to his chariot, he drags it away. On his return to the Greek army Achilles builds a huge funeral pyre for Patroclus; he kills Trojan captives as sacrifices, and organizes funeral games in honor of his dead comrade. Priam travels to the Greek camp to plead for the return of Hector's body, and Achilles relents and returns the body to Priam.

6 The Death of Achilles

In the last year of the war the Amazons, led by Queen Penthesilea, join the Trojan forces. She is killed in battle by Achilles, as is King Memnon of Ethiopa, who had also recently reinforced the Trojans. Achilles's career as the greatest warrior comes to an end when Paris, with the help of Apollo, kills him with an arrow which pierced him in the heel, his one vulnerable spot, which the waters of the River Styx had not touched because his mother had held him by the foot when she had dipped the infant Achilles in the river.

Telamonian Ajax, the second greatest Greek warrior after Achilles, fights valiantly in defense of Achilles's corpse. At the funeral of Achilles, the Greeks sacrifice Polyxena, the daughter of Hecuba, wife of Priam. After the death of Achilles, Odysseus and Telamonian Ajax fight over who should get the divine armour of the dead hero. Ajax loses the contest, and he goes mad and commits suicide.

7 Philoctetes Returns and Odysseus Spies on Troy

The Greeks capture Helenus, a son of Priam, and one of the chief prophets in Troy. Helenus reveales to the Greeks that they will not capture Troy without the help of Philoctetes, who owned the bow and arrows of Hercules, and whom the Greeks had abandoned on Tenedos. Odysseus and Neoptolemus (the son of Achilles) set out to persuade Philoctetes, who was angry at the Greeks for leaving him alone on the island, to return to the war, and by trickery they succeed. On his return, Philoctetes kills Paris with an arrow shot from the bow of Hercules.

Odysseus and Diomedes venture into Troy at night, in disguise, and steal the Palladium, the sacred statue of Athena, which is supposed to give the Trojans the strength to continue the war. The city, however, did not fall.

8 The Trojan Horse (really the Greek Horse)

Finally the Greeks adopt a strategy devised by Odysseus: a wooden horse filled with armed soldiers is to be given the Trojans. It is built by Epeius and left in front of Troy. The Greek army then withdraws to Tenedos, as if abandoning the war. Odysseus goes into Troy disguised, and Helen recognizes him. But he is sent away by Hecuba, the wife of Priam, after Helen tells her that Odysseus is in the city. The Greek soldier Sinon stayed behind when the Greek army withdrew, and he pretends to the Trojans that he deserted from the Greek army because he had information about a murder Odysseus had committed. He tells the Trojans that the horse is an offering to Athena and that the Greeks built it to be so large that the Trojans couldn't bring it into Troy. The Trojan Laocoön warns the Trojans not to believe Sinon ("I fear the Greeks even when they bear gifts"); in the midst of his warnings a huge sea monster, sent by Poseidon, comes from the sea and kills Laocoön and his sons.

Despite that bad omen and warning, the Trojans are determined to get the Trojan Horse into their city. They tear down a part of the wall and drag the horse inside. Then they hold a great celebration for their victory over the Greeks.

At night, after the drunken Trojans have fallen asleep, the Greek soldiers hidden in the horse come out; they open the gates, and give the signal to the main army which has been hiding behind Tenedos.

Troy is totally destroyed. King Priam slaughtered at the altar of Athena by Achilles's son Neoptolemos. Hector's infant son, Astyanax, is thrown off the battlements. The major women are taken prisoner: Hecuba (wife of Priam), Cassandra (daughter of Priam), and Andromache (wife of Hector). Helen is returned to Menelaus. The Greeks have won.

The gods regarded the sacking of Troy and especially the treatment of the temples as a sacrilege, and they punished many of the Greek leaders.

The fleet was almost destroyed by a storm on the journey back.

A. Menelaus

Menelaus's ships sailed all over the sea for seven years--to Egypt (where, in some versions, he recovered his real wife in the court of King Proteus).

B Agamemnon

1 The Return

Agamemnon returned to Argos, where he was murdered by his wife Clytaemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus. Cassandra, whom Agamemnon had claimed as a concubine after the destruction of Troy, was also killed by Clytaemnestra. Aegisthus was seeking revenge for what the father of Agamemnon (Atreus) had done to his brother (Aegisthos' father) Thyestes. Atreus had given a feast for Thyestes in which he fed to him the cooked flesh of his own children (see the family tree of the House of Atreus given below). Clytaemnestra claimed that she was seeking revenge for the sacrifice of her daughter Iphigeneia.

2 The Aftermath

After the murder of Agamemnon by his wife Clytaemnestra, his son Orestes returned with a friend Pylades to avenge his father. With the help of his sister Electra (who had been very badly treated by her mother, left either unmarried or married to a poor farmer so that she would have no royal children), Orestes killed his mother and Aegisthus.

Then he was pursued by the Furies, the goddesses of blood revenge. Suffering fits of madness, Orestes fled to Delphi, then to Tauri, where, in some versions, he met his long-lost sister, Iphigeneia. She had been rescued from Agamemnon's sacrifice by the gods and made a priestess of Diana in Tauri.

Orestes escaped with Iphigeneia to Athens. There he was put on trial for the matricide. Apollo testified in his defense. The jury vote was even; Athena cast the deciding vote in Orestes's favor. The outraged Furies were placated by being given a permanent place in Athens and a certain authority in the judicial process. They were then renamed the Eumenides (The Kindly Ones).

Orestes was later tried for the same matricide in Argos, at the insistence of Tyndareus, Clytaemnestra's father. Orestes and Electra were both sentenced to death by stoning. Orestes escaped by capturing Helen and using her as a hostage.

C Odysseus

Odysseus (called by the Romans Ulysses) wandered over the sea for ten years before reaching home. He started with a large number of ships, but because of the enmity of Poseidon, the god of the sea, he suffers a series of misfortunes and all his men die before he returns to Ithaca alone.

His adventures took him from Troy to Ismareos (land of the Cicones); to the land of the Lotos Eaters, the island of the cyclops (Poseidon, the god of the sea, became Odysseus's enemy when Odysseus put out the eye of Polyphemus, the cannibal cyclops, who was a son of Poseidon); to the cave of Aeolos (god of the winds), to the land of the Laestrygonians, to the islands of Circe and Calypso, to the underworld (where he talked to the ghost of Achilles); to the land of the Sirens, past the monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis, to the pastures of the cattle of Helios, the sun god, to Phaiacia. Finally back in Ithaca, in disguise, with the help of his son Telemachus and some loyal servants, he killed the young princes who had been trying to persuade his wife, Penelope, to marry and who had been wasting the treasure of the palace and trying to kill Telemachus.

Odysseus proved who he was by being able to string the famous bow of Odysseus, a feat which no other man could manage, and by describing for Penelope the secret of their marriage bed, that Odysseus had built it around an old olive tree.

D Neoptolemus

Neoptolemus, the only son of Achilles, married Hermione, the only daughter of Helen and Menelaus. Neoptolemus also took as a wife the widow of Hector, Andromache. There was considerable jealously between the two women. Orestes had wished to marry Hermione; by a strategy he arranged it so that the people of Delphi killed Neoptolemus. Then he carried off Hermione and married her. Menelaus tried to kill the son of Neoptolemus, Molossus, and Andromache, but Peleus, Achilles's father rescued them. Andromache later married Helenus. Orestes's friend Pylades married Electra, Orestes sister.

E Aeneas, The Trojan

Aeneas, the son of Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite and one of the important Trojan leaders in the Trojan War, fled from the city while the Greeks were destroying it, carrying his father, Anchises, his son Ascanius, and his ancestral family gods with him.

Aeneas wandered all over the Mediterranean. On his journey to Carthage, he had an affair with Dido, Queen of Carthage. He abandoned her without warning, in accordance with his mission to found another city. Dido committed suicide in grief.

Aeneas reached Italy and there fought a war against Turnus, the leader of the local Rutulian people. He did not found Rome but Lavinium, the main centre of the Latin league, from which the people of Rome sprang. Aeneas thus links the royal house of Troy with the Roman republic.