Trojan War
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
The Trojan War was one of the greatest wars in Greek mythology. It is mostly known through the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems written by the Ancient Greek poet Homer. It is said this war never happened. The war probably took place in the 13th or 12th century BC.
Contents |
[change] The origins of the war
The origins of the war started at the wedding of King Peleus and the nereid Thetis. They had invited almost all the gods to their wedding. But they did not invite Eris, goddess of strife. She was angry and she threw a golden apple among the guests on which was written "To the Fairest". The goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite caught the apple at the same time and fought over who was the most beautiful. Because they could not end the fight by themselves, they went to Zeus, the king of the gods. Zeus chose Paris to decide, and give the apple to who he wanted. Each of the three goddesses offered Paris gifts so he would chose her. Hera offered Paris all of Asia. Athena offered him wisdom. Then Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman. Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite. Of course, Aphrodite had not thought about the fact that the most beautiful woman, Helen, Queen of Sparta, already had a husband. But Aphrodite had her son, Eros, shoot Helen with a golden arrow and fall in love with Paris. She left with Paris to his kingdom of Troy. Menelaus, Helen's husband, soon declared war on Troy to retrieve his queen. This began the Trojan war.
[change] The Trojan Horse
The war went on for ten years. Some famous people were Achilles, Paris, and Hector. The Greeks won by building a big wooden horse. This became named the Trojan Horse. Some Greek people hid inside the horse, and the rest put the horse on the shore and left in their boats. The Trojans saw the horse and thought that the Greeks had surrendered (stopped trying to win the war). They thought that the horse was a present. They dragged the horse into Troy and celebrated their victory. When it became night, the Greeks hiding inside the horse, opened the city gates and set fire to the houses. The Greeks who had left in their boats, had just pretended to leave to trick the Trojans. They had actually just hidden behind islands. They returned and won the war.
[change] What really happened
Many people of the time thought the war had really happened. They also thought that Homer had exaggerated the events, to better fit the needs of poetry. In the mid-19th century the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered the ruins of a city which he identified as Troy.
Some Hittite and Egyptian texts talk about the war too. They say that a confederation of 22 cities went to war.
[change] Adaptations - stories, books, films
These are stories, books, films, etc., that are about the Trojan War, or tell parts of its story:
- the Iliad by Homer, tells the story of the Trojan War from the beginning of the siege of Troy to the funeral of Hector
- the Odyssey by Homer, the main character Odysseus once tells the end of the Trojan War
- the Aeneid by Virgil, the story of Aeneas, who fled from Troy at the end of the war
- Troy, a film about the Trojan War, although the story was greatly changed in parts. Starring Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom.
[change] Other links
