The Origins of the Trojan War

CC 303 Intro to Classical Mythology - Fall 2009
Department of Classics, University of Texas at Austin, Prof. Lawrence Kim

Tyndareus, Leda, Castor and Pollux, Helen, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon, Menelaus,
Odysseus (Ulysses), Penelope, Priam, Hecuba, Paris, Peleus, Thetis, Eris, Troy
Palamedes, Achilles, Chiron, Telephus, Iphigenia, Calchas, Mysia, Aulis

1. Helen
   • Tyndareus marries Leda
   • Children: Castor and Clytemnestra
     • Clytemnestra marries Agamemnon, King of Mycenae
   • Zeus, as swan, sleeps with Leda
   • Children with Zeus: Pollux (Polydeuces) and Helen
     • Castor and Pollux = patrons of sailors
   • The Suitors of Helen
   • The Oath of Tyndareus
     • Odysseus (Ulysses) marries Penelope, Tyndareus' niece
   • Helen marries Menelaus, Agamemnon's brother
2. The Trojan Royal Family
   • King Priam marries Hecuba
   • Children: Hector, Cassandra, Paris, Troilus
   • Hecuba's Dream: Paris = firebrand that destroys Troy
     • She exposes Paris on Mt. Ida; suckled by a she-bear
     • He becomes a shepherd
     • Identity revealed when he comes to Troy for an athletic contest
   • Cassandra, loved by Apollo
   • Apollo promises gift of prophecy if she loves him back
   • She reneges; she prophecies but nobody believes her
3. The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis and the Judgment of Paris
   1. Peleus, hero, Argonaut, Calydonian Boar Hunt
   2. Thetis = Titan, sea goddess
   3. Zeus receives warning about Thetis' child from Prometheus
      1. Marries her to mortal, Peleus
      2. Peleus wrestles shapeshifter Thetis
   4. Hera organizes spectacular wedding
      1. Eris (Strife) was not invited
      2. She arrives, throws the Apple of Discord
      3. Hera, Aphrodite, Athena fight for it
      4. Zeus assigns Paris to judge the contest
         1. Hera: World Dominion
         2. Athena: Military Power and Brilliance
         3. Aphrodite: The Most Beautiful Woman in the World
      5. Paris sails to Sparta and elopes with Helen back to Troy
4. Preparations for War: Gathering the Troops
   1. The Oath of Tyndareus is invoked: the suitors assemble
   2. The Conscription of Odysseus
      1. Odysseus pretends to be crazy, plowing hs fields with salt
      2. Palamedes places Odysseus' son in front of plow
   3. The Conscription of Achilles
      1. Achilles = the son of Peleus and Thetis
      2. Thetis put him in fire to burn away mortal parts when baby
         1. Alt: dips into river Styx, held by "Achilles' Heel"
         2. Peleus interrupts and job left unfinished
      3. Achilles brought up by Chiron, the wise centaur
      4. To avoid draft, Thetis takes him to Scyros
         1. Dresses him up as a girl
         2. Odysseus detects him by a trick
5. The Mysian Expedition and Aulis
   1. Mysia, the False Troy
   2. Achilles and The Wound of Telephus
      • Oracle: "Only that which harmed you can cure you"
   3. Bad Winds at Aulis
   1. Calchas, the Greeks' Prophet, reveals Artemis' displeasure
      • Agamemnon had offended Artemis
   4. Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia, to get winds
      • Deceives his wife, Clytemnestra, in order to send Iphigenia to Aulis
      • Tells her that she is to be married to Achilles
      • Alternate story: Iphigenia whisked away to Tauris on the Black Sea (see Dec 5 lecture)
   5. Winds Change, Greeks are on their way to Troy

Return to Syllabus

1. Leda and Swan. Correggio, c.1531-1532. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemaldegalerie, Berlin.
2. The Birth of Helen from an Egg. Apulian Red-figure krater, c. 375-350 BCE, attributed to the Painter of Dijon. Museo Archeologico, Bari.
3. Leda and the Swan. School of Leonardo Da Vinci, after a lost original, c. 1508-1515. Private Collection.
4. Leda and the Swan. François Boucher, 1741. Stair Sainty Matthiesen Museum, New York
5. Thetis with dolphins. Attic Red-figure plate, late 6th c. BCE, attributed to Euthymides. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
6. The Judgement of Paris. Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1531. Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford.
7. *The Judgement of Paris. Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1636. National Gallery, London.
8. The Judgement of Paris. Noel-Nicolas Coypel, 1728.
9. Helen of Troy. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1863. Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg.
10. *Paris and Helen. Jacques-Louis David, 1788. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
11. Achilles is taught to play the lyre by Chiron. Imperial Roman Fourth Style fresco from the Basilica at Herculaneum. Museo Nazionale, Naples.
12. Achilles and Daughters of Lycomede. Nicolas Poussin, 1656. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.