The Trojan War

The Trojan War is traceable to the marriage between Thetis, goddess of the sea and Peleus. The two, however, failed to invite the goddess of discord, Eris to witness the marriage. In retaliation, the outraged goddess decided to storm the wedding party where she hurled a golden apple to the table. Eris held that the apple belonged to whoever was the fairest in the party. Aphrodite, Athena and Hera reached for the apple. As such, a controversy ensued necessitating the services of a judge. Zeus indicated that the prince of Troy would take the chance to act as a judge. In a bid to influence Paris, the prince of Troy, Hera promised to reward the prince with power while Aphrodite offered to bring him the most beautiful women. On the other hand, Athena promised the prince wealth, if he decided the case in her favor.

After weighing the offers tabled before him, the prince opted for the one by Aphrodite. Aphrodite promised to deliver the wife of Menelaus, Helen to the prince. After the agreement, Paris set off for Sparta to incarcerate Helen. The attempts by Cassandra and Helenus, the prince's twin brothers to dissuade the prince from taking the action did not bear fruit.

On arrival to Sparta, Menelaus treated Paris well by extending him the royal status. Paris waited for the opportune time and struck when Menelaus departed Sparta to attend the funeral. Paris then abducted Helen who apparently cooperated as she made away with a sizable portion of the husband's wealth. The two married and settled in Troy.

Menelaus was outrageous at the occurrence of events. Menelaus summoned all the old suitors of Helen’s based on the oath that they took. However, most of the suitors did not wish to be enjoined in the war. Although, they devised excuses, they eventually participated by making various provisions such as extension of the war weapons.

After departing in search of Troy, it became difficult to locate the destination. The Greek fleet made its first entry into Mysia. Based on the views of Herodotus, the Greeks held the impression that the Teuthranians had abducted Helen. Consequently, the Greeks attacked the city. Although the Greeks ultimately prevailed, they suffered big casualties. The wounding of Telephus was a major victory by the Greeks, even though, they did not make away with Helen.

The Trojan War happened because Telephus went to Greece hoping to have his wound cured. An oracle had advised Telephus that only Achilles, the person who wounded him had the powers to heal him. Achilles agreed and Telephus guided the Greeks on how to access Troy.

Odysseus and Menelaus were sent to Priam to demand the return of Helen and the stolen property. On refusal of the demands, the two returned and pronounced the war inevitability. Priam later fell in the war as Odysseus trick worked to give the Greeks a memorable victory in the war.

In the first nine years, the Greeks waged war against Troy and its neighbors. The Greeks destroyed the Trojan economy and looted the spoils. Although, the Greeks registered significant victories, they were unable to break the Troy fortifications. As the war continued, Paris brought down Achilles.

After proving the difficulties involved in getting to Troy, Odysseus resorted to trickery. He developed the Trojan Horse, which was used to deceive the Trojans. The horse sneaked into Troy. The soldiers who were hiding in the horse went ahead to unleash havoc on Troy unexpectedly in the middle of the night in effect incapacitating the city. Although, Menelaus had vowed to kill his unfaithful wife, this did not happen as Helen proved to be the master in the game of seduction and deceit.