Troy: what happened before and after the Trojan War
Greek Mythology 101 : the high level timeline
Got my hands on Odyssey : Stephen Fry’s latest and last instalment from the Greek Mythology series. And it has been an absolute delight.
Mythology cannot not be verbose, for all the fun is in the juicy details.
But for someone who likes to know but does not want to read, I tried to sum up Greek mythology in the most concise way, up until the Trojan War.
Greek Mythology Timeline :
First there were Gods:
This is the origin story which covers how, after violent acts of overthrow, the rule of Zeus was established on Mt. Olympus, along with 11 other Gods.
Gods (Zeus and Prometheus) created humankind to amuse themselves. But then soon the Olympians got involved (specially with the attractive ones).
This led to..
The era of Heroes
Many children born to one mortal and one immortal parent rose to demigod status, giving rise to Heroes.
As time passed, man’s relationship with the Gods started to change. Although they still prayed, they were now more interested in their own concerns. Gods also learned to interfere and interbreed less with humans, who were now more interested in achieving their own goals.
This gave rise to..
The Age of Man
Trojan War: Although instigated by Gods, it was fought and endured by ordinary men and women. It is about how humankind endured suffering and made their own rules and laws of justice.
After the war was over, the Greeks were returning home.
And this is where Odyssey begins- detailing the long adventurous journey of Odysseus back home.
3 Gods had a heavy influence on Greeks’ journey back home. These are the same Gods who instigated the Trojan War in the first place.
Let’s look at how it all began.
What started the Trojan War?
People who watched Troy, would say that it started because Helen was abducted. But that’s not the beginning. The story starts much before that.
Judgement of Paris
One day on Mount Ida, just outside Troy, Paris (the Prince of Troy) was summoned by Hermes before the 3 Goddesses : Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. He was asked to award a golden apple to whoever he judged to be the most beautiful. He chose Aphrodite – the goddess of love, who promised him the reward of Helen – the most beautiful of all mortal women.
Needless to say, Hera and Athena were bitter, setting the stage for a vengeful payback.
As promised, Aphrodite helped Paris to bring Helen from Sparta to Troy. But to avenge this humiliation, her husband: King Menelaus, along with his brother Agamemnon, raised a colossal invasive force from all of Greece, to win back Helen and destroy Troy.
Seeing that it was all stirred by Paris; Hera and Athena naturally took up the Greeks’ cause. Zeus, distressed by the whole affair, tried to maintain some kind of a neutral stance.
After a 10 year deadlock which saw no end to the war, it was the most cunning and quick-witted Greek warrior– Odysseus who came up with the idea of Trojan Horse. And the rest is history.
(Homer’s Iliad is based on the final weeks of the war)
What happened after Trojan War?
“The war was over. For the Trojans, home was destroyed. For the Greeks, home beckoned.”
Be it the affect of a 10-year long war or the sheer arrogance and barbaric nature of the Greeks, they turned monsterous- looting and raping as they pleased.
Troy burned.
And it was a pitiful sight, even for the Gods who supported the Greeks. The final nail on the coffin was when Princess Cassandra- daughter of the King of Troy, was violated by Greek warrior Ajax, in the temple of Athena.
Such a blasphemous act could not be left unpunished. Although Odysseus- Athena’s favourite, called for stoning Ajax, the rest of the Greeks did not pay heed. The price of which, all the Greeks paid on their way back home.
Ironically, in this game of Gods, Odysseus was not spared either.
This is where his 10 year long and adventurous journey back home begins..
This is how Odyssey begins..
