Essay On The Trojan War

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In approximately 1250 B.C., during the Bronze Age, a significant war known as the Trojan War was fought between the city of Troy and the Achaeans, also known as the Greeks. The primary cause of the Trojan War was the abduction of Helen, the wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta. To retrieve his wife, the Greeks had to wage war and breach the walls of Troy, which were too high for any predator to penetrate. The Greeks had to devise a clever plan to infiltrate the city, and the great warrior Odysseus came up with a strategy. To win the Trojan War, the Greeks constructed a large wooden horse designed to conceal warriors inside. The Greeks left the horse as a gift for the Trojans and withdrew their troops. The Trojans brought the horse into the city, unaware of the warriors hidden inside. That night, the warriors emerged from the horse and opened the gates of the city, allowing the Greek troops to launch a surprise attack and sack Troy. Without this strategic tactic, the Greeks' attempt to win the war would not have been as successful. The events that led to the Trojan War began long before the war itself. The main cause of this bloody war started at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. According to a known myth, the goddess Eris was not invited to the wedding. Outraged, she decided to toss a Golden Apple, inscribed "For the Fairest," among the goddesses (Coolidge). Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, who were present at the wedding, began to fight over the Golden Apple. Zeus, the king of the gods, then told Paris, a Trojan Prince, to decide who would win the trophy. Instead of Paris deciding who would win, the three goddesses attempted to win by bribery....

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...Some soldiers blamed the terrible winds on Agamemnon because he said he could hunt better than the goddess Artemis. By saying that, he had offended her and had then caused the Greeks to be punished. Now that the goddess was angered, they had to please her to have the winds stopped. The seer, Calchas, said that Agamemnon should sacrifice his beloved daughter, Iphigenia, on an altar.

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