In approximately 1250 B.C., during the Bronze Age, a significant war known as the Trojan War was fought between the city of Troy and the Achaeans, also known as the Greeks. The primary cause of the Trojan War was the abduction of Helen, the wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta. To retrieve his wife, the Greeks had to wage war and breach the walls of Troy, which were too high for any predator to penetrate. The Greeks had to devise a clever plan to infiltrate the city, and the great warrior Odysseus
In book 3 of the Iliad, Paris and Meleanus engaged in a duel meant to determine the outcome of the Trojan war. If Meleanus defeated Paris, Helen would be returned to him and Troy would surrender. If Paris were to defeat Meleanus, Helen would remain his and the Argives would return home in defeat. The battle was left unfinished as Aphrodite intervened and took Paris from the battle grounds before Melanus had a chance to strike a finishing blow. At the start of book 4, Zeus now must determine how
friendship can completely change a person’s way of living. In the novel, Troy, by Adele Geras a war has begun between two civilizations. The Greeks have waged war upon the Trojans because of their prince of Troy, Paris. A young married woman named Helen decided she would rather be with Paris of Troy then with her own husband, Menelaus of Sparta. Menelaus was distraught and wanted revenge which began The Trojan War. When love and friendship is involved they cause people to make uncharacteristic or
In Christine Evan’s play Trojan Barbie, a vacationing, English, doll repairing tourist by the name of Lotte is hastily taken hostage into the ancient world of Troy’s Trojan Women Camp, while on a singles-tour of modern day Troy. This piece, written in 2009 for Evans niece pays homage to the classical tale of Euripides Trojan Women, revived with a 21st century take on the current times less than fiction reality of warfare and sexual politics. However, Evans also assists in updating the foundation
The Ancient Greek poet Aeschylus’ play The Agamemnon is a tragic play about the House of Atreus and its curse. In this play two characters, Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, were both faced with difficult decisions. However, neither of their decisions are justified since their motives were not pure and they murdered their family members and expected to witness no retaliation. Agamemnon sacrificed his innocent daughter, Iphigenia, in order to lead his fleet to Troy, which was unjust and disrespectful in
In the tragic play the Agamemnon, Aeschylus portrays Clytemnestra as a dominant, independent and cunning Queen. When her husband Agamemnon sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia in exchange for favorable winds, she sought vengeance on her husband and goes to extreme lengths to obtain it. Her use of manipulation plays a significant role in leading up to her triumph at the end of the play. Clytemnestra cleverly manipulates Agamemnon to attain her goal of murdering him. Clytemnestra's manipulative abilities
Complex in Galatea 2.2 Helen is in love with Powers; Powers is in love with C.; C. only wants to forget about Powers. This may sound like a soap opera, but in fact it is the love triangle present in Galatea 2.2. This love triangle mirrors Freud's Oedipal Complex almost perfectly. According to this theory, Richard Powers is Helen's mother. Like a mother he created her and then taught her how to think for herself. Also in this role reversal of the Oedipal Complex, Helen assumes the role of Power's
An Analysis of Robert Ji-Song Ku's Leda In Robert Ji-Song Ku's short story "Leda," the main character, Sorin, leads a life of imitation. He applies himself to his graduate studies in comparative literature a little too readily: he compares not just text to text; he also compares his life to text, to "works of literature" (Wong 281). If his life does not match that of at least one literary character on several levels of interpretation, whether emotional, physical, or mental, he changes his behavior
Helen Of Troy Helen was the most beautiful woman in the entire Greek known world. She was the daughter of the god Zeus and of Leda, and wife of the King of Sparta. The hero Theseus, who hoped in time to marry her, abducted her in childhood but her brothers rescued her. Because Helen was courted by so many prominent heroes, Menelaus made all of them swear to abide by Helen's choice of a husband, and to defend that husband's rights should anyone attempt to take Helen away by force. Helen's
action of the Trojan War, they were also the impetus for the war. Although the overt cause of the war was Paris' abduction of Helen, this act was the result of quarrelling goddesses. The Trojan prince Paris was forced to choose the fairest amongst the goddesses Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena. Each goddess attempted to sway Paris with offerings, and Aphrodite's temptation was Helen; this leads to the war and the immortal alliances that overshadow its mortal activities. The story that the poem implicitly
Does Homer exhibit gender bias in the Odyssey? Is the nature of woman as depicted in the Odyssey in any way revealing? Upon examining the text of the Odyssey for differential treatment on men and women, it becomes necessary to distinguish between three possible conclusions. One, differences in treatment reflect the underlying Homeric thesis that women are "different but equal in nature," Two, different treatment of men and women in the text reflect a thesis that women are "different and unequal
religious practises. This change is seen clearly in the movie "Dead Man Walking." The characters go through changes in their view of religion and their feelings about human morality and humanity towards each other. The characters of Sister Helen, Matthew, and the victims parents all went through these changes during the movie for different reasons. These emotional changes that the characters went through are very common. Everyone changes their ideals and morals depending on their situation
Achilles vs. Hector The Iliad is an epic poem, usually attributed to Homer. The poem narrates the story of the war between the Greeks and the Trojans, known as the Trojan War. The Trojan War started when Paris of Troy took Helen, wife of Menelaus, to his homeland. Angered by the kidnapping of his wife, Menelaus (king of Sparta) asks his brother the King Agamemnon (king of the Achaeans) to march to war against the Trojans. The war is fought on the outskirts of Troy, and lasted ten years. The importance
Troy, took Helen from Menelaus. As a result of this, the Greeks and Trojans ended their long peace. Helen’s husband, Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon declared war on Troy determined to bring Helen back. The Greeks settle on the Trojan beach which marked the beginning of the war. Because of this war, innocent Trojans lost their homes, husbands, sons, and their loved ones. Brother of Paris, Hector, died in combat. The war took away thousands of lives. Mothers of sons wept in sorrow. Helen was the main
revenge against the suitors and reclaims his land and his wife making revenge a prominent value in early Greek society. In The Iliad the major conflict begins between Prince Paris and the Achaean king Menelaus over Helen. During the war that arises from the attempt to bring back Helen the Achaeans reside in a city nearby and hold captive several women. Chryses asks
established, the tragedy must be established. The situation leading to the first of the Orestia’s plays was most certainly tragic. Helen ran off with Paris, a shift in fortune neither Agamemnon nor Clytemnestra could have changed. A line that had been drawn in the sand was crossed, and set off a chain reaction that ripped apart the house of Atreus. The actions of Helen and Paris triggered a war that was launched with the slaughter of Iphigenia by Agamemnon’s own hand. The actions of others caused
Many people know that the “second name” of The Iliad is “The Rage of Achilles”. This is because Homer wrote The Iliad in a way that it focuses mostly on Achilles and all his decisions rather than any other character. His actions, and the consequences of all the said actions, are the overall topic for this great epic. The Iliad can be accurately described as a measurement of how much Achilles’s wrath affects the destines of the many warriors who fought and died in the Trojan War (Champagne 2). After
power.” He describes how Hector is mentally and physically o... ... middle of paper ... ... word.” (G 35-49) Although Paris has many cowardly acts, he once stood up and demanded to fight Menelaus alone to fight for Helen. “let Menelaus alone and me...in single combat, duel for Helen and Spartan gold.” This action of Paris is very courageous and manly. Homer’s heroic code exists and is followed by the heroes because Achilles and Hector’s performance during the war does give them fame, glory, and
the Trojans leaving Sparta in ruins and Aphrodite assured him the most beautiful woman on earth. Paris blinded with lust chose Aphrodite as the “fairest of them all” leading to the downfall of Troy. The “most beautiful woman on earth” happened to be Helen of Sparta, having a god promise him his priz... ... middle of paper ... ...ll gods partaking in the Trojan War; a majority of the gods in Olympus chose sides between the Trojans and the Achaeans, intervening with the battle. Major gods such as
that story. From the opening of the seemingly male-oriented epic, women are at the center of the plot movement and motivation. The war between Greece and Troy originally starts over a woman, Helen. The wife of Menelaus and the promised prize to Paris for being the judge of a beauty contest for the goddesses, Helen is the nexus of the war. Being the source of the entire war gives her a very powerful role in the Iliad. Even though the story is not about the war it based around the war and at times the