Troy 8
by CTCWeb Editors
Clash of the Titans
Agamemnon and his fleet arrived at Troy and the Greeks besieged the city. The best known version of what happened next is told in Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad. Homer’s version of the story begins about ten years after the Greek’s ships landed, and Troy has been under siege for a decade. The main story of the Iliad is relatively short. It takes place within a period of about 54 days.
The Iliad (image) begins with a power struggle between Agamemnon and Achilles over (what else) a woman. She is a captive prize of war and both men want her. Agamemnon gets the girl, so Achilles gets mad and quits the fighting. He leaves the battlefield in a huff.
With Achilles sidelined, the Greeks worry that they may not be able to defeat the Trojans and rescue Helen. But, hubris engendered by fate leads to an unexpected turn of events. As the two armies face off to clash yet again, Paris arrogantly steps forward and challenges any Greek warrior to fight, man-to-man, to the death. Helen’s husband, Menelaus, accepts the challenge. Helen’s two lovers decide to go mano-a-mano to decide the outcome of the war.
Agamemnon and Hector negotiate the terms of the fight. Hector is Paris’ older brother and the greatest Trojan warrior. Hector and Agamemnon agree that the winner of the fight will win Helen and the victory will end the war. A truce is called to allow Paris and Menelaus time to prepare for their fateful fight to the death. With time to think, Paris becomes terrified at the thought of single combat against the stronger Menelaus. He flees the battlefield and retreats inside the walls of Troy. Hector persuades him to return to the field.
Menelaus and Paris fight, until Menelaus slightly wounds Paris. Fearing for the life of the man who chose her as “the fairest of all,” Aphrodite envelops Paris in a mist and removes him from the battlefield to the palace inside the walls of Troy (image). In response, Athena (goddess of war) prompts a Trojan archer, Pandarus, to shoot an arrow at Menelaus. Although the arrow misses, this belligerent act breaks the truce and fighting resumes between the two armies.
