Mythology of the Iliad and the Odyssey Read Online Free
Author: Karen Bornemann Spies
ANSWERS
Q:
What was the main cause of the Trojan War?
A:
Three jealous goddesses (Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite) argued over which of them was the fairest.
Q:
Who did Zeus ask to settle this dispute and why?
A:
He asked Paris, prince of Troy, who was considered a great judge of beauty. Zeus did not want to become involved because such action would make the goddesses angry with him.
Q:
Which goddess did Paris choose as the fairest and what did she promise him?
A:
He selected Aphrodite, who promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world.
Q:
Who was the most beautiful woman? What was the problem with Paris marrying her?
A:
Helen, the most lovely woman, was already the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta.
Q:
How did Paris win Helen? What tradition did his action violate?
A:
He visited Sparta and stole her away when Menelaus was not there. This action violated the custom of xenia, or guest-friendship. Hospitality was always offered to a guest. Both guest and host were bound to help each other.
Q:
What did Menelaus do when he returned to find that Helen was gone?
A:
He called upon all of her former suitors to hold to their promise to help him.
EXPERT COMMENTARY
The first city described in Greek literature is Troy. According to Bernard Knox, a scholar of Greek history:
The Greek
polis
, the city-state, was a community surrounded by potential enemies, who could turn into actual belligerents at the first sign of aggression or weakness. The permanence of war is a theme echoed in Greek literature from Homer to Plato. 3
Knox further noted the importance of the city-state:
The city, the
polis
, as the Greeks called it, was for them the matrix of civilization, the only form of ordered social life they could understand; it is the exclusive form assumed by ancient Greek culture from its beginning to its end. The city was small enough so that the citizens knew one another, participated in a communal life, shared the common joy of festivals, the sorrow of public bereavement, and keen excitement of competition, the common heritage of ancestral tombs and age-old sanctified places. The destruction of a city is a calamity all the more deeply felt because of the close cohesion of its inhabitants and their attachment, reinforced over generations from a mythical past, to its landmarks and buildings. 4
Knox pointed out that Troy was a particularly fine example of the polis because:
It is a site chosen with an eye to defensive capabilities, with a high eminence that serves as a citadel, a sacred area for the temples and palaces. It is near the junction of two rivers, and it depends on the produce of the surrounding plain, which is rich plow land and grows wheat. It is fortified against attackers: it is well-walled and well-built, it has steep ramparts and gates. These fortifications enclose a vision of civilized life, the splendors of wealth and peace. 5
It was no wonder that the Greeks hoped to win not only Helen, but a share of these riches.
According to myth, Helen and Menelaus had a daughter, Hermione. By abusing the hospitality of Menelaus, Paris caused Helen to make a crucial choice:
Menelaus received Paris warmly, according to the conventions of
xenia
, “guest friendship.” When Menelaus was called to Crete to attend a funeral, Paris and Helen, irresistibly attracted to one another, gathered up the treasure in the palace and eloped. Thus Helen left behind her lawful husband, her nine-year-old daughter, Hermione, and her good name—such is the power of Aphrodite. 6
As the
Iliad
develops, Hera, the wife of Zeus, and Athena, his daughter, demonstrate a powerful hatred toward Troy. The reason for the hatred is not explained until Book 24, when Homer refers to the Judgment of Paris. According to Bernard Knox:
It seems clear from the casual, almost cryptic, way Homer refers to the story that it was perfectly familiar to his audience, and Hera’s motive for hating Troy, the insult to her beauty, is perfectly consonant with
Q:
What was the main cause of the Trojan War?
A:
Three jealous goddesses (Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite) argued over which of them was the fairest.
Q:
Who did Zeus ask to settle this dispute and why?
A:
He asked Paris, prince of Troy, who was considered a great judge of beauty. Zeus did not want to become involved because such action would make the goddesses angry with him.
Q:
Which goddess did Paris choose as the fairest and what did she promise him?
A:
He selected Aphrodite, who promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world.
Q:
Who was the most beautiful woman? What was the problem with Paris marrying her?
A:
Helen, the most lovely woman, was already the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta.
Q:
How did Paris win Helen? What tradition did his action violate?
A:
He visited Sparta and stole her away when Menelaus was not there. This action violated the custom of xenia, or guest-friendship. Hospitality was always offered to a guest. Both guest and host were bound to help each other.
Q:
What did Menelaus do when he returned to find that Helen was gone?
A:
He called upon all of her former suitors to hold to their promise to help him.
EXPERT COMMENTARY
The first city described in Greek literature is Troy. According to Bernard Knox, a scholar of Greek history:
The Greek
polis
, the city-state, was a community surrounded by potential enemies, who could turn into actual belligerents at the first sign of aggression or weakness. The permanence of war is a theme echoed in Greek literature from Homer to Plato. 3
Knox further noted the importance of the city-state:
The city, the
polis
, as the Greeks called it, was for them the matrix of civilization, the only form of ordered social life they could understand; it is the exclusive form assumed by ancient Greek culture from its beginning to its end. The city was small enough so that the citizens knew one another, participated in a communal life, shared the common joy of festivals, the sorrow of public bereavement, and keen excitement of competition, the common heritage of ancestral tombs and age-old sanctified places. The destruction of a city is a calamity all the more deeply felt because of the close cohesion of its inhabitants and their attachment, reinforced over generations from a mythical past, to its landmarks and buildings. 4
Knox pointed out that Troy was a particularly fine example of the polis because:
It is a site chosen with an eye to defensive capabilities, with a high eminence that serves as a citadel, a sacred area for the temples and palaces. It is near the junction of two rivers, and it depends on the produce of the surrounding plain, which is rich plow land and grows wheat. It is fortified against attackers: it is well-walled and well-built, it has steep ramparts and gates. These fortifications enclose a vision of civilized life, the splendors of wealth and peace. 5
It was no wonder that the Greeks hoped to win not only Helen, but a share of these riches.
According to myth, Helen and Menelaus had a daughter, Hermione. By abusing the hospitality of Menelaus, Paris caused Helen to make a crucial choice:
Menelaus received Paris warmly, according to the conventions of
xenia
, “guest friendship.” When Menelaus was called to Crete to attend a funeral, Paris and Helen, irresistibly attracted to one another, gathered up the treasure in the palace and eloped. Thus Helen left behind her lawful husband, her nine-year-old daughter, Hermione, and her good name—such is the power of Aphrodite. 6
As the
Iliad
develops, Hera, the wife of Zeus, and Athena, his daughter, demonstrate a powerful hatred toward Troy. The reason for the hatred is not explained until Book 24, when Homer refers to the Judgment of Paris. According to Bernard Knox:
It seems clear from the casual, almost cryptic, way Homer refers to the story that it was perfectly familiar to his audience, and Hera’s motive for hating Troy, the insult to her beauty, is perfectly consonant with
Readers choose
Sa'Rese Thompson.
Madelynne Ellis
Highland Scandal
Randolph Lalonde
Ava Meyers
John le Carré
Lisa Plumley
H.F. Saint
T K Williams-Nelson