Name:______Date:______
Greek Legend or History Book
Directions: Read the following excerpts from three epic poems. Then answer the questions that follow.
A. The Iliad
Background: “The Iliad” begins during the 9th year of the 10 year Trojan War. Greek audiences would have been familiar with the background of the story. Much of Homer’s poem focuses on events that take place in the tenth year of the Trojan War. The poem describes the war being fought over Helen, a queen from Troy wife to King Hector, who is kidnapped by the Greek Paris. The Poem follows the heroic Achilles, fighting on the side of the Greeks, and Hector, in their epic battle.
When historians found the city of Troy in 1868, they knew what they had found based on the description of the city that Homer made in The Iliad. Below is an excerpt from that passage. It details the end of the war, and the Death of Hector, killed by Achilles.
“While he stood there thinking, Achilles... approached, the plumes of his helmet nodding, brandishing the mighty spear... in his right hand, high above his shoulder, his bronze armour blazing like fire or the rising sun. Now Hector was gripped by fear and, trembling at the sight of him, afraid to stand his ground by the gate, set off running. Achilles, confident in his own speed, pursued him. Like a hawk, swiftest of birds, swooping on a timorous dove in the mountains, darting towards her with fierce cries as she flees, eager to seize her, so Achilles ran and Hector fled as fast as he could in terror, below the Trojan wall. Passing the lookout point, and the wind-swept wild fig tree, along the cart-track they ran leaving the wall behind, and came to two lovely springs where the waters rise to feed the eddying Scamander... Every time Hector made a break for the Dardanian Gate hoping to gain the shelter of the solid walls, where the defenders might protect him with their missiles, Achilles would head him off towards the plain, himself keeping the inner track by the walls. Yet, as in a dream where our pursuer cannot catch us nor we escape, Achilles could not overtake Hector, nor could Hector shake him off. Still, could Hector have eluded fate so long, had not Apollo, for the last and final time, come to strengthen him and speed him, and had not Achilles signalled to his men not to loose their deadly missiles at the man...Now by the beaked ships, far from your kin, the writhing worms will devour his corpse... (Homer, Iliad, Book 22)
Questions
1. Based on the passage, what features would an archaeologist expect to find at Troy?
2. What side can historians conclude was victorious after the Trojan War?
B. The Odyssey
Background: “The Odyssey” is written as a sequel to “The Iliad.” It is another epic poem written by Homer. The work takes place 10 years after the end of the Trojan War. The epic poem follows the adventures of Odysseus as he tries to return home to Ithaca, after the war. During one of his adventures, Odysseus finds himself in Sparta, at the wedding feat of King Menelaus’ children. During his visit, Menelaus’ wife, Helen, recounts Odysseus’ final acts in the Trojan War: sneaking into Troy under cover and hiding in a wooden horse. The following passage is the account from Helen.
“I cannot give you, or even number, enduring Odysseus’ adventures, but what a wonderful thing it was that the great man undertook and survived at Troy where you Achaeans (another guest) suffered! Lacerating his body with fierce blows, and with a miserable rag about his shoulders, he entered the enemy’s broad flagged streets, looking like a slave. In that beggarly disguise, he was not the Odysseus of the Achaean ships, and all in the Trojan city were deceived. I alone recognized and questioned him, and he cunningly tried to deceive me. But when I had bathed him, anointed and clothed him, and solemnly sworn not to name him in Troy as Odysseus before he reached camp and the swift ships, he revealed the Achaean plans. And after slaying many Trojans with the long sword he returned to the host with a wealth of information…I have never seen so great hearted a man as enduring Odysseus. That episode too, of the Wooden Horse, how the great man planned it, carried it through, that carved horse holding leaders, bringing the Trojans death and ruin! You circled our hollow hiding-place, striking the surface… But come now, change thy theme, and sing of the building of the horse of wood, which Epeius made with Athena's help, the horse which once Odysseus led up into the citadel as a thing of guile, when he had filled it with the men who sacked Ilion (Homer, The Odyssey, Book 4)
Questions:
1. What events can historians gather ended the Trojan War? (How were the Greeks successful)
2. According to Homer, who won the Trojan War?
C. The Aeneid
Background: Written by the Roman poet Virgil in 29 and 19 BCE. “The Aeneid”, like “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey,” recounts the events of the Trojan War. Unlike the previous two epic poems, The Aeneid follows Aeneas, a Trojan soldier, as he and his fellow soldiers flee the burning city of Tory. The Gods have given Aeneas the task of building a new city. He sails for Rome; however a storm blows him and his men off course, and lands them in Carthage. After once again sailing for Italy, Aeneas and his crew again encounter a great storm. The poem follows the misadventures of Aeneas as he tries to sail for Rome.
When Aeneas lands in Carthage he meets with Dido, the queen of Carthage. He recounts the events of the Trojan War, particularly how the Greek’s use of the Trojan Horse lead to its demise.
“After many years have slipped by, the leaders of the Greeks, opposed by the Fates, and damaged by the war, build a horse of mountainous size… they weave planks of fir over its ribs: they pretend it’s an offering (a gift), this rumor spreads. They secretly hide a picked body of men, chosen by lot, there, in the dark body, filling the belly and the huge cavernous insides with armed warriors… then Laocoön (A Trojan officer)rushes down eagerly from the heights of the citadel (city), to confront them all, and should from far off: ‘Oh unhappy citizens, what madness? Do you think the enemy’s sailed away? Or do you think any Greek gift’s free of treachery? Is that Ulysses’ (The Roman name for Odysseus) reputation? Either there are Greeks in hiding, concealed by the wood, or it’s been built as a machine to use against our walls, or spy on our homes, or fall on the city from above, or it hides another trick: Trojans, don’t trust this horse. Whatever it is, I’m afraid of Greeks even those bearing gifts.’” (Virgil, The Aeneid, Book II)
Questions:
1. Based on the last two passages, why were the Greeks successful during the Trojan War?
2. Based on the three passages, how long did the Trojan War last?
3. Why do you think historians can give credit to these passages as being based on a historical event?