A History of Ancient Greece
The Glory That Was Greece
Author: Jewsbury, Lewis (1992)
Homeric Legend
800 BC: Homeric writings
1186 BC: The Trojan War
The Trojan War, steeped in legend and myth through Homer’s writings, likely reflects a historical conflict. This war marked Greek expansion into Asia Minor and the Black Sea trade. German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann’s excavations in the 19th century confirmed Troy’s prosperity dating back to 3000 BC. The ten-year war is thought to have occurred in the early 12th century BC.
Legend tells of Paris, son of Troy's King Priam, abducting Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Menelaus's brother, King Agamemnon, led a war to reclaim her. This inspired the phrase “the face that launched a thousand ships.” Homer’s Iliad begins mid-war, focusing on Greek hero Achilles and his vendetta against Trojan leader Hector.
Achilles
Achilles, hailed as the bravest Greek warrior, was the son of the sea goddess Thetis and King Peleus of Thessaly. To protect him from harm, Thetis dipped him in the Styx, leaving only his heel vulnerable—giving rise to the term Achilles’ heel.
When the Trojan War began, Achilles, disguised as a girl to avoid his fate, was discovered by Odysseus. Leading his father’s Myrmidons, he became a central figure in the war. After a dispute with Agamemnon over a captive, Achilles withdrew, causing setbacks for the Greeks.
Moved by the Greeks' plight, Achilles allowed his friend Patroclus to lead the Myrmidons, but Patroclus was killed by Hector. In revenge, Achilles slew Hector. Later, he was fatally wounded by Paris with a poisoned arrow to his heel while negotiating peace.
Agamemnon
Agamemnon, a prominent figure in Greek legend, ruled Mycenae and led the Greek forces in the Trojan War. He was the brother of Menelaus, whose wife Helen’s abduction sparked the conflict.
After Troy’s destruction, Agamemnon was murdered upon his return home by his wife, Clytemnestra, or her lover, Aegisthus. His son Orestes avenged him, a tale dramatized in Aeschylus’s trilogy The Oresteia and works by Sophocles and Euripides.
Ajax
Ajax the Great, second only to Achilles in strength, was a towering warrior in the Trojan War. After Achilles’ death, Ajax vied for his armor but lost to Odysseus, leading to his tragic suicide. His story is immortalized in Sophocles’s Ajax.
Ajax the Lesser, though smaller, was swift and skilled. Arrogant and defiant, he faced divine wrath and perished at sea.
Hector
Hector, the noble son of King Priam, was Troy’s greatest hero. Despite his wife Andromache's pleas, Hector fought bravely, killing Patroclus before falling to Achilles. Achilles desecrated Hector's body, but Priam secured its return for a proper burial.
Helen of Troy
Helen, famed as the world’s most beautiful woman, was the wife of Menelaus of Sparta. Aphrodite promised her to Paris, sparking her abduction and the Trojan War. After Troy’s fall, Helen returned to Sparta with Menelaus.
Paris
Paris, son of Priam, is infamous for abducting Helen. Before his birth, a prophecy deemed him a threat to Troy. Raised by shepherds, Paris awarded Aphrodite a golden apple for her promise of Helen.
He later killed Achilles treacherously but was mortally wounded himself. His former lover, Oenone, refused to heal him out of anger, leading to his death.
This richly woven tapestry of Greek mythology reflects the triumphs, tragedies, and timeless stories that have shaped Western literature and culture.
