Myth 19 TROY

 

 

 

House of Tyndareus:

 

Helen (wife of Menelaus) Clytemnestra (wife of Agamemnon)

 

Leda—Zeus comes to her as a swan

(one of the few birds with a penis)

                    has sex with husband on same night

             4 kids:   Helen and Polydeuces (immortal)

                           Clytemnestra and Castor (mortal)

                                 the “Dioscuri”--Wonder Twins

 

 

Oath of Tyndareus

 

       Clytemnestra marries Agamemnon, but Helen is too hot

             she's already been stolen once by Theseus

but the Wonder Twins got her back, and stole his mom Aethra as well)

 

 

Suitors everywhere—who to choose?

             Odysseus, Diomedes, Ajax, Patroclus, Menelaus

 

 

 

Peleus and Thetis

 

Parents of Achilles

Thetis—sea nymph

Zeus wanted, but Prometheus warned

             (thanks, you can go now)

       Zeus lets Peleus marry Thetis

 

 

They have a son—Achilles

(obviously better than his dad)

Thetis leaves him by the hearth to burn away his mortality

gets interrupted by Peleus—she stops (cf. Demeter)

 

 

Achilles heel story

from unfinished Achillied, Statius (1st AD)

Thetis: “Soon will I restore the plains and the fields where the Centaurs roam: by this beauty of thine and the coming joys of youth I pray thee, if for thy sake I endured the earth and an inglorious mate, if at thy birth I fortified thee with the stern waters of Styx – ay, would I had wholly! – take these safe robes awhile, they will in no wise harm thy valour.

      

Apollo guides an arrow from Paris (into his heel)

 

In Homer, Achilles is not otherwise invincible

 

       Entrusted to Chiron, centaur, for his upbringing

lives the manly life, outside, with his “friend” Patroclus

 

 

Peleus and Thetis

 

have the fanciest wedding of all time

 

But didn't invite Eris “strife”

an Apple for the fairest

 

Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite compete

don't fight at a wedding; take it to Paris

(Lucian’s version, ACM 288 ff)

 

            

 

            

House of Troy

 

(Helen of Troy, is of course, not from Troy)

 

Priam and Hecabe (=Hecuba)

       sons: Hector (greatest Trojan) and Paris

             —a son who will bring destruction to the city

                    “hey, let’s avoid fate by exposing our son!”

 

             Exposed on Mt. Ida, raised by a shepherd

                    Paris is super shepherd

                    Wakes up one day, and there's Hermes and 3 Goddesses

 

             The Judgment of Paris

                    they each bribe him

                           Hera—world domination

                           Athena—greatest warrior

                           Aphrodite—the world's most beautiful woman

(only briefly mentioned in Homer, Iliad 24.25ff:

 

Though Achilles in his anger tried to disfigure Hector, the blessed immortals felt pity as they watched, and urged the sharp-eyed Hermes to steal the corpse. Though this thought pleased most of them, Hera, Poseidon and bright-eyed Athene were opposed. They still hated sacred Ilium, Priam and his whole race, because of Paris and his foolish error, in humiliating the two goddesses, at the parade by his shepherd’s hut, when he showed his preference for Aphrodite, praising her for furthering his sad lust.

 

 

                          Menelaus receives him well (XENIA)

                    when he steps out, Helen and Paris flee (rape of Helen)

                           she abandons husband and daughter

                    he violates XENIA

 

 

Gathering at Aulis

             told in Aeschylus, Agamemnon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Homer: The Iliad

 

       New Armor—from Haephastus