The War That Started With An Apple

Greeks…where should I start? Well I guess I could just type up a bunch of history facts and call it good, but Ancient Greece was so much more interesting than that! Why would I want to use up this time to talk about boring facts that every one of you will just skim over, when I could be talking about things like the 12 labors of Heracles or the ancient myths...or the Trojan War. (Yes, I am going to write about the Trojan War now)

The Trojan War was said to have it’s roots when Eris, the goddess of discord was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Obviously, she wasn't too happy about this because she decided to throw a golden apple onto the table at the wedding. Hera (queen of the gods, goddess of marriage and family), Athena (goddess of war and wisdom), and Aphrodite (goddess of love and beauty) all saw the apple and wanted to claim it as their own, so they argued and argued… In the end Zeus (king of the gods, god of the sky and lightning) proclaimed Paris, the prince of Troy as the judge.

Hera promised Paris power, Athena promised him wealth, and Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman on Earth. Paris chose Aphrodite and she promised him Helen, who was wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta. So Paris went to Sparta and took Helen to Troy while Menelaus was away at some funeral. Paris and Helen then got married at around 1200 B.C.

When Menelaus got back to Sparta, he was outraged to find that Paris had taken Helen so he convinced his brother Agamemnon to lead an expedition to retrieve her. Agamemnon was joined by the Greek heroes Achilles, Odysseus, Nestor and Ajax, and also had a fleet of more than a thousand ships. They then went to Troy to demand the return of Helen. This was the beginning of a war that was said to have lasted more than 10 years, and resulted in the death of many people including the Trojan prince Hector, and Achilles, who was said to be nearly invincible. Finally, the Greeks retreated and left a huge wooden horse outside the gates of Troy. The Trojans ended up bringing the wooden horse into the city and that night, a group of Greek warriors, led by Odysseus, climbed out of the horse and attacked the city from within (This was later known as the Trojan Horse). After the Trojans’ defeat, the Greek heroes finally (for real this time) made their way home.

So now you tell me, wasn't that so much more interesting a bunch of dates and history facts that no one will even bother remembering?