Reporter: Justine Weitrologa
Trojan Herald
1180 BC
Fallen City of Troy - As of last week, the Greek forces employed the devious, yet brilliant tactic of what is now known to civilized world as using a Trojan Horse, and overran our brave, but caught-off-guard Trojan warriors. Most of our loyal Trojan readers already know that the Trojan Horse was just a gift for us that a single Greek said was a gift from Athena, but instead carried a number of seasoned Greek warriors in its intricately made torso. Since then, many of our Trojan citizens have been slaughtered. As far as we know, the Trojan Herald is the last newspaper written by the people of Troy. We feel that it is our duty to inform our remaining citizens of why this bloody war even had to occur. After interviewing a couple of surviving Trojan veterans, and a few Greek heroes (including Odysseus and Menelaus) who were willing to shed some light onto this conflict, our staff was able to discover the true story behind the war that sucked both us and the Greeks dry.
The whole conflict started with the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, a sea nymph and one of the fifty Nereids of the ancient sea god Nereus. At the wedding, all of our gods were invited to the celebration except one, Eris, goddess of discord. The goddess was “enraged at her exclusion” and “threw a golden apple among the guests, with the inscription, ‘For the fairest.’” Everyone wanted the golden apple, but the competition was slimmed down to three choices: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. No one wanted to decide who was the fairest, for fear of provoking the two goddesses who weren’t chosen, not even Zeus. Instead, a prince of Troy called Paris, was given the task of deciding who the apple was for. When the goddesses’ appearances weren’t enough for Paris to reach a decision, they each offered Paris a glorious bribe. In the end, Paris accepted the bribe of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, who promised him the love of the most beautiful woman in marriage. He was immediately led away by the goddess to meet his future wife after the golden apple was presented to her.
When Paris saw the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, he instantly fell in love with her, and convinced her to go with Paris to Troy, aided by Aphrodite. However, Helen was already married to Menelaus, king of Sparta, and when he found out, he declared war against Troy in order to regain his lovely wife. This, citizens of Troy, is the reason why our once glorious city is now lying in ashes. Because our lovestruck, selfish prince made the decision to fall in love with a queen of Sparta, our once powerful civilization exists no more. This whole war was fought for the love of one woman: Helen of Sparta.
Menelaus knew that his Spartan forces wasn’t enough to take on Troy, so he called upon
“brother chieftains of Greece to fulfil their pledge, and join him in his efforts to recover his wife.” After spending almost two years in preparation, in which the warriors of Greece were hindered mainly by reluctant chieftains and heroes, like Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis, and Ulysses of Ithaca. Finally, the colossal armies of Greece assembled in the port of Aulis in Boeotia. After a slight delay in which the commander-in-chief, Agamemnon, offended the goddess Diana, and a near sacrifice of Agamemnon’s daughter was made to appease the goddess, the Greek attack force was on their way to our homeland, Troy.
One of the first casualties of war thankfully wasn’t a Trojan loss, but a Greek chieftain by the name of Protesilaus. His entire fleet was decimated by none other than Trojan King Priam’s strong right-hand man, Hector. This early war casualty goes to show the resistance that Trojans put up, despite the Greeks’ large numbers.
After almost nine years of indecisive siege and war, a conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles that was almost fatal to the Greeks’ effort of recovering Helen of Sparta. Agamemnon chose a concubine from the spoils through taking down other cities near Troy called Chryseis. She turned out to be the daughter of Chryses, priest of Apollo. When Agamemnon refuse to return Chryseis to her father, Apollo struck out at the Greek camp, forcing the commander to return Chryseis. For losing his original concubine, Agamemnon asked for another from Achilles share of the spoils, a maiden called Briseis. Achilles consented, but didn’t want to take part in the war anymore, and withdrew from the Greek camp, taking his forces with him, intending on going back to Greece.
This was a turning point in the war for Trojan forces. The Greek had lost their most iconic warrior, and the Trojans fought a successful battle against the dispirited Greeks. Even though Hector and Ajax, a huge but dim-witted Greek warrior, fought, with Ajax holding the upper hand, Hector was only stunned by the boulder Ajax threw, and was safely carried off the battlefield.
The Greeks knew that they were going to lose this cause without the motivation of Achilles, but the hero wouldn’t agree to help the cause. In the end, Patroclus, Achilles’s dear friend, asked to borrow Achilles’s armor in order to lead the Greek armies in his place. Achilles agreed, and allowed Patroclus to lead his Myrmidons (name given to Achilles’s forces) into battle too. In battle, the plan was perfect. The Greeks cheered and fought with renewed strength, and Achilles’s all-too-familiar armor struck terror into our Trojan warriors. Finally, after killing dozens of Trojan warriors and scattering countless more in Achilles’s chariot, Patroclus met his challenge: Hector. After a quick fight in which Patroclus was overwhelmed by a couple of surrounding Trojans, and then being mortally wounded by Hector while he was distracted by the Trojans, Hector took the armor from Patroclus’s expired body and returned to the fight.
When Achilles received news of his friend’s death by the hands of the warrior Hector, he was consumed by grief, and set out to avenge Patroclus’s death, but not before his mother brought him a suit of armor forged by Hephaestus. Everything was customized to Achilles, and was made of the impenetrable temper. He immediately charged into battle, and after forcing his way through numerous Trojans without so much as a challenge, Achilles stood before an outmatched Hector. Both warriors threw their spears with great aim, but as Achilles’s shield was the work of Hephaestus, Hector’s spear bounced off. Poseidon, taking pity on Hector, floated him away from Achilles before the Greek hero could kill him. After pursuing Hector further, Achilles killed the great and noble Trojan with his spear. Achilles’s hate for Hector was so total that he removed the armor from Hector’s dead body, and dragged him around behind his chariot just to disfigure him further. King Priam brought along many of his most treasured riches to ransom for his son. What he said to Achilles during the negotiation moved the hero greatly, and he agreed to return Hector’s body.
When Achilles’s mother dipped him into the River Styx, she held him by the heel, so his whole body was invulnerable except at his heel. Paris, now the husband of Helen, used this to his advantage, and, guided by Apollo (god of archery) shot a poisoned arrow at Achilles’s ankle. Achilles’s body was rescued by Ajax and Ulysses of Ithaca. Achilles’s celestial armor was passed on to Ulysses, for his wisdom rather than valour. The Greeks’ last resort of taking Troy by force was through the arrows of Hercules. The arrow were with Philoctetes, who immediately agreed to join the Grecian campaign. Even these legendary arrows were not enough, although they did avenge Achilles’s death by killing Paris.
The Greek chieftains finally gave up taking Troy by force. By following advice from Ulysses, the Greeks built an enormous war horse which they pretended was an offering to Athena for the Trojans, and seemingly abandoned the effort. Our Trojans pulled the beautifully made horse into the city, and celebrated as most of us remember was only a week ago.
Every Trojan knows the rest of the story now. Of how the devious yet shrewd Greeks had hidden seasoned warriors inside the horse, and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek forces, which had only been hiding out behind some islands offshore. Our beloved city was demolished in one night by the Greeks.
This is the story of the Trojan War. It is the story of one foolish Trojan prince who decided to fall in love with a queen of Sparta, and led to the downfall of Troy. This is the war for love that bled both civilizations dry.
Works Cited:
"CHAPTER XXVII. The Trojan War." Sacred Texts. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/bulf/bulf26.htm>.
Joe, Jimmy. "Trojan War." Timeless Myths. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/trojanwar.html>.
"Thetis." Thetis. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://public.wsu.edu/~hughesc/thetis.htm>.
"Apollo." Greek Mythology. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Apollo/apollo.html>.