Helen of Troy
In the midst of the fighting and gore is the story of the most beautiful woman of her time: Helen. Helen is the wife of King Agamemnon, the ruler of the Argives, but when Paris, the handsome prince of Troy, makes a deal with Aphrodite in order to have the most beautiful woman in the world, she finds out that she has started a ten year war. Immediately retaliating after Paris took his wife, Agamemnon gathers his best warriors to sail after them and follows them straight to Troy. While the men are out fighting, Helen sits on the wall with King Priam, watching her husband and her kidnapper/other husband fight. Completely sorrowing over the war she caused, she sharply rebukes the goddess of love, Aphrodite, for rescuing Paris from the battle instead of letting him die with honor. Aphrodite threatens to do get horrors to her if she does not go to Paris immediately, and helpless against the wrath of the goddess that gave her everything, Helen agrees. As the war drags on, Hector's body is finally returned to Troy, and Helen weeps over the death of one of the only people who has treated her well while she was in Troy. |
Troy of the Iliad
In the entire Iliad, the mighty walls of Troy are never breeched. The Argives land on the shores just outside of Troy and prepare to fight their way across the plains to the famous walled city and tear it down stone by stone, but after a vicious argument between Achilles and King Agamemnon, the Argives find themselves fighting without their best warrior. As they trudge towards the looming walls ahead, they are met by the Trojan army, who sends the Argives reeling backwards to the point where they had to hurriedly build their own walls in order to keep the Trojans out. It is obvious, however, which wall is superior when the Trojans punch a large hole into the Argive wall and stream through running towards the ships, ready to burn them down. But Patroclus rushes to his people's rescue and drives the Trojans back until they almost have their backs against their indomitable wall. After Hector kills Patroclus with the help of Apollo, Achilles emerges onto the battlefield and turns the Xanthus river red with blood in his fury. The Trojans flee into their walled city while Hector duels Achilles. After killing Hector, even Achilles cannot break down Troy's walls and decides to drag Hector's body back with him to the ships. Even with the begging of Hector's distressed father, Achilles refuses to give up the body until the gods finally intervene. |