The Trojan War : The Beauty Of The Trojan War

Paris is offered Helen by Aphrodite, and so he takes Helen as his wife from Menelaus. Paris may not have known that taking Helen would have resulted in the Trojan War; however, he still accepted Helen as a bribe, making him an extremely greedy person. After seeing all the bloodshed and lives at the hands of Paris, he should’ve realized that he needed to return Helen. Anyone with the lowest sense of morality would realize that the right thing to do is to return Helen. Paris was lucky enough to be saved by Aphrodite after he was nearly killed by Menelaus. In the last few lines of Book 3 it is clear how the people feel about Paris and what Paris needs to do:

Helen displays her flirtatious attitude to Hector, however it could also be inferred that she is unsatisfied with Paris and Menelaus. During her argument with Aphrodite, she claims she does not want to be looked at poorly by the Trojans for serving Paris is bed. This shows a sudden desire to be socially accepted and looked beyond just her beauty or as a nuisance by the Trojans.

The Greek forces won the Trojan War. The story of the war is a cornerstone of Greek legend, and pervaded Greek literature and culture. Though the evidence for the Trojan War as historical fact is scarce, it was a formative event in Greek cultural memory, producing some of the classical world’s most famous heroes and narratives. The War was won, Helen was retrieved from Paris, whose violation of ξενία was redressed, the heroes attained the κλέος that many of them fought for – and yet the positive outcomes of the Trojan War are difficult to grasp. For the victims of the Trojan War, the tragedy is obvious; the War ended in genocide and total cultural destruction. But such a war, burnt into legend, should have left the victors far better off; and yet, the Greek heroes only suffer because of it. They die tragic, dishonourable deaths; their households are left in ruin; their families are torn apart. From both modern and classical perspectives, the Trojan War is a tragedy, a “harrowing destruction of life” (Euripides, Andromache, 291). The victory is pyrrhic, the loss of life is horrific, the reparations non-existent.

At the beginning of the story, the gods are debating what to do with the Greeks after they pillaged Troy, but more specifically, violated Athena’s shrine. Athena asks for help and says to Poseidon, “I want to help the Trojans who were my enemies, and make the Greek army’s homecoming a bitter one.” (Euripides 63). To which Poseidon replies, “You’re so fickle. Your mind leaps here and there: now you hate, and now you love, and both in excess.” (Euripides 65). Even Poseidon admits to the “fickleness” of the goddess since her allies during the war were the Greeks. This lends itself to show that Helen could be telling the truth about the goddesses having an argument about the beauty of each other and Aphrodite forcing Helen to run away with Paris. Helen also helps her argument by pointing out that the fight was preordained by the gods based on the prophecy about Paris, and then blames Paris’s mother and father for letting Paris live, rather than slaying Paris and trying to stop the prophecy from coming true. Through the many effective arguments, Helen shows that she did not ask to be carried away by Paris and that she liked Menelaus. Menelaus seems very weak compared to Helen, especially since he seems to not be able to make up his mind whether to kill her or not. In the end, Menelaus seems to decide on letting her live, though he still tells

There are various accounts for why Helen left Sparta and to why Paris abducted Helen. Some attribute the abduction as a means to power and politics. According to Strauss, Anatolia was a place that offered women more political freedom (Strauss, 16). Freedom and power alone could have enticed Helen to leaving her husband and running off with Paris. Homer heavily

The Trojan war was a ten year siege on the city of the city of Troy at the hands of the Greek forces led by a psychopathic king, Agamemnon. This conflict, which took place about 1200 B.C has become one of the most well known Greek mythology events in history. In the 13th century B.C, Troy and Sparta had stopped their wars and become allies, this was until Paris the youngest prince of Troy seduced Helen, the Queen of Sparta and left with her back to Troy. When Menelaos (The King of Sparta) found out what had happened, he vowed

As the plot of the Trojan War continues, Strauss includes the fact that the Greeks did in fact want peace with Troy and they wanted to end the long lasting feud. However, Troy did not have the same thing in mind. When asked, King Priam refused to address the fact that his son Paris humiliated King Menelaus by stealing his wife from him. Moreover, they did not agree to deliver Helen back due to the fact that it would show that they agreed with the fact that taking Helen from Menelaus was not morally correct, which would also lead to a civil war in Troy.

The chorus during one of their observations blames the Trojan War on Helen, the most beautiful women of all the land who was whisked away by Paris of Greece. "He had skill in the swordplay, He went down so tall in the onslaught, All for another's women" page 119. The chorus was talking about the men of Greece sent to go to war. Explaining that the men may have fought a good battle

Atreus, Agamemnon's father, murdered two of his brother Thyestes children and fed them to Thyestes after finding out that Thyestes' was having an affair with his wife Aerope. When Thyestes found out what his brother did, Thyestes cursed Atreus and all of his bloodline. He also took Aegisthus, who was just a baby at the time so that he can avenge what was done unto his father. Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus gathered a huge fleet and army to set sail to Troy in the Trojan War, to free Helen, Menelaus' wife, who was stolen by Paris, a Prince of Troy. In order for

The Trojan War is described as one of histories most legendary battles. This battle is told to have lasted ten years, resulting in the eventual collapse of Troy, under the siege of Greek forces. Modern knowledge of the Trojan War has survived mainly through the account given in Homer’s Illiad, and while having proved to be a rich source of inspiration for other writers, artists, and even filmmakers in recent history, much speculation still exists surrounding his account. I will analyze modern interpretations of the Trojan War and examine both speculation and support for Homer’s account. Concluding with sufficient evidence that has been collected surrounding this epic battle, proving Homer’s account of a massive battle between these two powerful city states to not be just a tale of myth and legend, but actual history.

Paris then took her back to Troy. Menelaus heard and the ex-suitors of Helen made a deal with Agamemnon saying that If the princess of Grease won that Menelaus would get Helen back and Agamemnon would get Troy. Rumors have it that Odysseus the king of Ithaca, was sent on a journey to find you and persuade you to join the war between the princes of Greece and the Trojans. Odysseus was a great persuader , and with you thirst for adventure and glory, he talked you in the joining the fight and you sailed for Troy. You took 50 ships, each carrying 50 men of your best men from your private army, the Myrmidons. Is it true that Agamemnon and you had a falling out and you withdrew from the conflict? and that the quarrel started after you had taken two women in one of your raids? and that you gave one of the women to Agamemnon. But, the girl’s father offered a ransom for the girl’s safe return. and that Agamemnon refused because the girl was a priestess of Apollo, and that the god was unhappy with this decision and sent a plague to wreak amongst the Greek camp. and that Agamemnon eventually gave back the girl, and to mourn the loss, he took your woman from you? and without you, the Greeks were fearful of loss and the Trojans gained confidence of winning from your absence, even reaching close to the walls of the Greek camp in their attacks and managing to set a few Greek ships on fire. what was your thoughts when your great friend Patroclus begged you to re-enter the war or at least allow him to lead out the Myrmidons in battle? and when you agreed was it hard to give him your armour made of gold, silver, and enamel, and the graves were of shining tin and army? and why did you make him promise only to engage in defensive action and not pursue the Trojans back to Troy? To my understanding you killed Troilus and were very smitten with Priam's daughter Polyxena. Priam decided

To start off we have Helen of Troy, a mortal woman, thought to be one of the most beautiful in her time. She left her husband Menelaus of Sparta for Paris of Troy and because of that and her beauty a 10 year war surged between Sparta

While this circumstance may be easy enough to understand, such setting or background in the plot actually entails more history: Even before Paris was born, a prophecy was carried out that the handsome prince would cause the destruction of Troy; thus, King Priam and his queen banished the baby to be raised in the wilderness. Later on, as a shepherd, he encountered the three goddesses, Hera, Pallas Athene, and Aphrodite, and set the motion of what would be the war that extinguished the Trojan line—Paris was to decide who is the most beautiful of the goddesses. Each goddess tried to bribe him with promises of power, riches, fame, and glory, but it was Aphrodite who succeeded in the end as she promised Paris that he can have the most beautiful mortal, Helen. This simple arrangement would then serve as the catalyst of a war that would kill thousands of Trojans and Greeks as soon it is revealed that Paris has stolen Helen and the gods and goddesses of Olympus have each taken sides on the war which would further complicate the lives of the people of Troy and Greece. (Buck Jr. , 11-12)

The suspected start of the war- over the abduction of Helen, Queen of Sparta- was caused entirely by a godly conflict over who was the most beautiful- Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, was selected to judge. He chose Aphrodite, who in turn gave him Helen, who was her equivalent in beauty amongst humans. In both versions, Paris is portrayed as a wife stealing, thief in the night. His brother Hector and he were on a peace mission in Sparta on behalf of Troy visiting the king, Menelaus, when Paris ran off with Menelaus' wife, Helen. This action divides the Gods who constantly meddle with the mortal's lives. Naturally, Aphrodite is on the Trojans' side, as was her lover and God of War, Ares, and Apollo. Although Zeus, King of Gods, tried to be neutral, he was pro-Trojan. Hera, Queen of Gods, and Athena help the Greeks because they were mad that Paris chose Aphrodite. Poseidon, God of the Sea and Zeus' brother, also sided with the Greeks whenever Zeus was not looking. An example of this constant intrusiveness of the Gods in the Iliad was when King "Menelaus hurls his spear, lightly wounding Paris. Paris' helmet strap becomes caught at his chin and Menelaus has nearly dragged him away before Aphrodite intervenes, breaking the strap. She then wraps Paris in a mist, sets him in his own perfumed bedchamber, and hurries to catch Helen" (Bloom 13). Of

Helen, the fairest woman on earth, was already married. Her husband, Menealus, was the king of Sparta. Paris, under Aphrodite's protection, sailed to Sparta, won Helen's love, and carried her off to Troy. Menelaus had to go to battle against Troy to defend his honor and retake Helen as his wife. Thus a combination of Eris's temper; Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite's jealousy; and Helen's beauty caused the war.