ILIAD

Long before the beginning of The Iliad, a relatively minor goddess named Thetis felll
in love with a mortal named Peleus. As so often happens in mixed marriages, this marriage
had its problems, and one of the problems began at their wedding, when Eris, goddess of
discord, suddenly appeared, complained about not having been invited (who would invite
Discord to a wedding, after all?), and threw a golden apple among the guests, declaring that
it belonged to the most worthy of the goddesses. Clearly there was a reason that she was
the goddess of discord, and discord immediately broke out, as three of the goddesses, Hera,
Athena, and Aphrodite, each claimed to be the goddess worthy of the apple. Their
discussions over the apple went on for many years, until finally they agreed to allow a young
shepherd to decide among them. The young shepherd was Paris and he was the son of
Priam, king of Troy. Each of the goddesses, in the spirit of fair play for which they were
known, tried to bribe him with their special gifts. Athena offered him wisdom, Hera offered
wealth, and Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world. Obviously it was
no contest, and Paris awarded the apple to Aphrodite, thereby earning the eternal enmity
of Hera and Athena for himself and his city. Aphrodite rewarded Paris by giving him Helen,
the wife of the Spartan king Menelaos.

Meanwhile in Greek, Agamemnon is holding captive a woman named Chryseis. Her

father offers to pay Agamemnon to release her, but he refuses. Then her father prays to
Apollo to help him. Soon Apollo is attacking the Greeks. Eventually, the Greek leaders, led
by Achilles, force Agamemnon to release Chryseis. However, in order to get back at
Achilles, Agamemnon seized a lady named Briseis from Achilles. Achilles becomes very
angry with Agamemnon. He refuses to fight any longer. He even asks his mother, Thetis, to
pray to Zeus to help the Trojans. Although Zeus has remained neutral so far during the war,
he decides to help the Trojans.

The Trojan war between Greek and Troy was getting hotter caused by love affair
between Paris and Menelous’ wife, Helen. Paris took Helen to troy with him using trojan’s
ship. Upon learning of this, Menelaus meets Agamemnon, his elder brother, and asks him
to help take Troy. Agamemnon agrees, as conquering Troy will give him control of the
Aegean Sea. Agamemnon has Odysseus, King of Ithaca, persuade Achilles to join them.
Achilles, who strongly dislikes Agamemnon, eventually decides to go, after his mother
Thetis tells him that though he will die, he will be forever glorified. Agamemnon and
Menelus went to Troy with 1000 ships that contain a big number of warriors and ofcourse
their greatest warrior, Achilles and his own warrior gruop, Myrmidons.

The Trojan and Greek armies meet outside the walls of Troy; during aparley, Paris
offers to duel Menelaus personally for Helen's hand in exchange for the city being spared.
Agamemnon, intending to take the city regardless of the outcome, accepts. Menelaus
wounds Paris and almost kills him, but Menelaus killed by Hector.
 The gods get even more involved. When Hector is hit by a giant rock thrown by Aias,
Apollo heals Hector, making him even stronger and faster than he was before. With Hector
leading them, the Trojans push the Greeks back toward the shore.

Just as it looks like the Greeks are going to lose the war, Achilles' best friend
Patroclus begs Achilles to fight. Achilles once again refused. Patroclus then put on Achilles
armor and entered the battle. He was fighting well and the Greeks were gaining ground until
he ran into Hector. Hector killed Patroclus and took his armor.

Grief stricken over losing his friend, Achilles vows to avenge his death. He has the
Greek god Hephaestus forge him new armor and rejoins the battle. Soon the Greeks have
pushed the Trojans back to the city of Troy. Achilles and Hector finally face off in battle.
After a long fight, Achilles kills Hector. He drags Hector’s dead body with horse cart and take
it to greek’s camp. King Priam begs Achilles to return Hector’s body so they can burry him in
Troy. Achilles aggres and let them go to held Hector’s funeral ceremony for 12 days. Achilles
promises not to attack Troy during those days.