The Illiad **A.

The Birth of Paris After Paris was born, a prophecy predicts that he will bring about the ruin of Troy. To save the city, King Priam abandons him at Mt. Ida

**B. The Mischief of Eris It was the wedding day of wise man Peleus and sea-nymph Thetis, all was invited but they accidentally forgot to invite Eris (Discord). Eris, angrily, barged in the wedding and threw a golden apple with an inscription for the fairest and was being fought by Hera (Juno), Aphrodite (Venus), and Athena (Minerva). To be fair, they asks Zeus (Jupiter) about his opinion but Zeus (Jupiter) replied that they should find the shepherd in Mt. Ida Paris. o Hera (Juno) offered Paris the position of being king of both Europe and Asia. o Athena (Minerva) offered Paris skills and wisdom beyond imaginable. o Aphrodite (Venus) offered Paris the most beautiful woman in the ancient world Helen of Troy. Paris chose Helen, so Aphrodite, through seduce and deceit, abducted Helen, wife of Spartan King Menelaus.

**C. Greeks Set Sail Due to Paris act of abduction, the kings of Greece rallied around Menelaus and assemble an army led by Menelaus brother, Agamemnom, King of Mycenea. Artemis becalms the Greeks and stalled their voyage. Thus, King Agamemnom offered his daughter, Iphigenia, as sacrifice to pass making her wife, Clytemnestra, angry.

D. The Siege of Troy Greeks / Achaeans Hera (marriage) Poseidon (sea) Athena (wisdom) Hephaestus (blacksmith) Achilles Odysseus

Trojans / Scaians Apollo (sun) Artemis (hunt) Ares (war) Aphrodite (beauty) Zeus (neutral) Hector

The Greeks besiege Troy for nine years Achilles, as we all know, is the son of Peleus and Thetis and he is very much in love with Briseis. When Achilles was still a baby, Thetis dipped him at the Styx River for immunity against mortality but she forgot to dip the right heel of Achilles which at that time, she was holding for Achilles not to drown. Thus, serving as a fatal weakness of Achilles.

E. The Pride of Achilles Agamemnom incurs Apollos wrath by taking Chryseis as a war prisoner. Apollos fiery arrow devastates the Greek army.

The soothsayer Calchas talks to Agamemnom to return Chryseis to his father Chryses, both priests of Apollo Agamemnom will only agree if Achilles would give up his own female prisoners. Insulted, Achilles then refuses to fight. He even ask Thetis to let Zeus joined the Trojans so that they would lose. Greeks starts to lose gradually To increase the fighting spirits of the Greeks, Patroclus, Achilles closest confidant, joins the army wearing Achilles armour. Hector (Trojan Prince) thinks Patroclus is Achilles so he chased after him and killed Patroclus and redeeming the armor of Achilles Due to this, Achilles became furious and realized that his pride caused him his friends life so he decide to avenged Patroclus death.

E. 1. The Death of Hector Thetis asks Hephaestus to make a Celestial Armour for Achilles. He slayed Polydoros and Lycaon , both sons of King Priam. Scamander River (for humans) [Xanthus(gods)] tries to drown Achilles but Hera asks Hephaestus, her son, to boil Xanthus. Eventually, Xanthus(gods) gave up. Priam sees the human carnage on the battlefield and opens the gates of Troy to his fleeing troop. To buy some time for the Trojans to reached Troy before Achilles slays them, Agenor (Apollo in disguised) tries to have a one-on-one combat with Achilles whilst the REAL Agenor was safe with the army. Hector, being the only Trojan left outside Troy, was pleaded by his father on taking refuge inside the guarding walls of Troy. He refused. Achilles pursued Hector thrice around the walls of Troy. Zeus admired Hector for his courage and piety but he could not save him for Athena said that the mortals time has come as reference to the golden scale. Indeed, as Zeus places Hectors and Achilles respective fates, Hectors sinks to the ground. At Hectors fourth circle, Athena appeared before him, disguised as his brother Deiphobos, and convinces him that together they can take Achilles. Hector stops running and confronts Achilles, but the moment he asks help from Deiphobos, he realizes that the gods have betrayed him. Since Hector wears his armor (refer to the Pride of Achilles), Achilles knows the armor weak points. With perfect timing, he puts his spear through Hectors throat. Near death, Hector asks Achilles to return his body to the city for proper burial. But Achilles told Hector that he would leave his body to rot and be fed by the vulture. Achilles ties Hectors body to the back of his chariot and drags it through the dirt. Seeing this by his family, they started to lament. o Priams Lamentation: The death of Hector will forever haunt him even after death. He does not give importance to his other sons death except Hectors. o Andromaches Lamentation: The death of Hector will bring misery and lack of identity to their adopted son, Astyanax for when she perishes, she will leave poor Astyanax at the orphanage where he would be always tease and left with no friends.

E2. The Pride of Achilles Pt.2 The tide turns in Greek favor until Paris kills Achilles by striking his vulnerable heel with a poisoned arrow. The mighty Greek warrior Ajax (Great) recovers Achilles armor. Athena put upon a cursed Ajax regarding his vision. During the curse, Ajax thought that the Achaean soldiers are sheep, so he slays them one by one, not knowing the truth until Athena removed the curse upon him. He realized the result of his pride which led him to deep depression and committed suicide. The armor of Achilles is now at Odysseus custody the rightful owner. Philoctites, a warrior who was wounded that was save by Odysseus, gained custody of Heracles arrow and killed Paris. The Odyssey **G. Aftermath of Trojan War (for F. The Trojan Horse, refer to the story, the Aeneid) Odysseus, being part of the Trojan War, is happy to know that he can now relieve his duty as a protector of his native country and go back to his homeland, Ithaca where his loyal wife, Penelope and loving son, Telemachus, awaits. Due to a storm that Zeus has sent, the ships of Odysseus were sent adrift for nine days until they landed on the Land of the Lotus-Eaters. G. Land of the Lotus-Eaters. It was known that the locals are in to honey lotus which is the very reason of the very existence of their tribe known as Lotus-Eaters. It was then customary for the Lotus-Eater to serve honey lotus to their visitors, but, it was also known that these so called honey lotus when eaten, will make you forget your homeland and long for nothing but the fruit, itself. Only by dragging his men back to the ship and locking them up can Odysseus get them off the island. H. Cyclops Polyphemus Odysseus then set sail and arrived at the land of the Cyclopes, a rough and uncivilized race of one-eyed giants. Cyclops Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon, has a cave with food that Odysseus and his men dound home. Polyphemus arrives and makes a show of hospitality at first, but he soon turns hostile. He traps Odysseus and his men in his cave for meals. Odysseus prepares a flaming stake by using a wooden staff in the cave and hardens it in the fire. As Polyphemus returns for the night, Odysseus made him drink which made him too drunk. Then, with perfect timing and chosen men of Odysseus, they drive the red-hot staff into his eye. As the morning sun rose, Odysseus and his men hid under the sheep for Odysseus knew that Polyphemus released his sheep to pasteurize the field. Thus, using this strategy, they successfully escaped Polyphemus.

Odysseus, upon escaping, revealed his true name to Polyphemus for he said nobody earlier. Blinded, he prayed to his father, Poseidon, calling for vengeance upon Odysseus.

I. Home of King Aeolus King Aeolus was known to be the ruler of the winds. Aeolus presents Odysseus with a bag containing all of the winds, and stirs up a westerly wind to guide Odysseus and his crew home. Within ten days, they are in sight of Ithaca, but Odysseus crews, who think that Aeolus has secretly given Odysseus a fortune in gold and silver, tear the bag open that sent them back to Aeolus Island. This time, Aeolus refuses to help them. Thus, lacking wind, the Acaheans row to the land of the Lastrygonians.

J. Land of the Laestrygons The Laestrygons is a race of powerful giants whose king, Antiphates, and unnamed queen turned Odysseus scouts into dinner. Odysseus and his remaining men flee towards their ships, but the Laestrygoninas pelt the ships with boulders and sink them as they hit in the harbor. Only Odysseus ship escapes.

K. Aeaea From ther, Odysseus and his men travel to Aeaea, home of the beautiful witch-goddess Circe. Circe drugs a band of Odysseus men and turns them into pigs. Zeus sends Hermes to instruct Odysseus to eat an herb called Moly to protect himself from Circes drug. Odysseus follows Hermes instruction, overpowering Circe and forcing her to change his men back to their human figure. Odysseus soon becomes Circes lover, and live with her for a year until his men persuaded him to continue the voyage homeward, Odysseus asks Circe for the way back to Ithaca. She replies that you must sail to Hades, the realm of the dead, to speak with the spirit of Tiresias (Tereisias), a blind prophet who will tell him how to get home.

L. Cimmerians / Teiresias In order to gain service from the Theban prophet, Teiresias , Odysseus must fed him a sheep for him to suck blood from. Odysseus did and Teiresias foretold three events. o Poseidon was angry for Odysseus blinded his son, Polyphemus. o Odysseus will return to Ithaca. o All of his men would die except him. After that, Odysseus had gained access in Hades and talked to some deceased people like Anticleia, his mother.

M. Sirens Island Odysseus, as instructed by Circe, plugs his mens ear with besswax and has them bind him to the mast of the ship. He alone hears their song, promising to reveal the future.

Odysseus, seduced by the Sirens song, begs to be released, but his faithful men bind him tighter.

N. Scylla & Charybdis Scylla is a six-headed female monster that gobbles up a person per head whilst Charybdis is a spirit of the whirlpool that threatens to swallow the entire ship. As instructed by Circe, Odysseus holds his course tight against Scyllas lair. As they stare at Charybdis, Scylla swoops down and gobbles up six sailors.

O. Thrinacia / Isle of the Sun This island serves as their refuge from the store that is near approaching. It was told beforehand by Teiresias that these cattle of the sun should not be killed. Odysseus informs his band of men to not kill these so called cattle of the sun but (Eurylochus) told them not to obey Odysseus and so did they when Odysseus was fast asleep. Being witness to the event, Apollo (sun) asks permission to Zeus to punish Odysseus and his men. Shortly after the Achaeans set sail from Thrinacia, Zeus kicks up another storm that left Odysseus as the only survivor, as predicted by Teiresias before. Afloat on broken timbers, he eventually reached Ogygia, Calypsos Island.

P. Ogygia/ Calypsos Island The lesser god, Calypso, fell in love with Odysseus and have him hostage for seven years. Later, Zeus was again in favor of Odysseus and sends Hermes to ask Calypso of his release and she agreed. When he left, Poseidon just came back from Ethiopia. Seeing Odysseus, Poseidon starts a furious storm. Athena, as a faithful helper of Odysseus, saves him and dropped him at the forest of Scheria, Phaeacians Island.

Q. Scheria/ Phaeacians Island That night, Athena appears in a dream to the Phaeacian princess Nausicaa, disguised as her friend. She encourages the young princess to go to the river the next day to wash her clothes. The next morning, Nausicaa goes to the river. Odysseus wakes in the forest and encounters them naked. Naked himself, he humbly yet winningly pleads for their assistance Nausicaa, being helpful, leaves him alone to wash and later gives him directions to the palace and advice on how to approach Arete, queen of the Phaeacians, when he meets her. Finally, he arrived at the palace. He retells his adventures to King Alcinous of the Phaeacians and offered to give him a ship as reward which will help him go back home. He thanked Alcinous & Arete for their hospitality as leaders of the Phaeacians and bid goodbye.

The Phaeacians (ship) arrived at Ithaca and left Odysseus on the shores and left. Upon reaching the shores of Scheria, Poseidon, seeing Odysseus in Ithaca with their help, asks permission to Zeus and sank their ship to the bottom of the ocean.

R. Ithaca Athena covered the island with mist and disguised herself as some human. Odysseus woke up with rage for he thought the stupid Phaeacians drop him on the wrong island. Later, Athena revealed herself to Odysseus and the island of Ithaca too. Athena told Odysseus to take refuge on Eumaeus hut and ought to be disguised as poor man. Eumaeus, Odysseus loyal swineherd, lets the poor man (Odysseus) in her house without the knowledge of his true identity. While Odysseus spends the night at Eumaeus, Athena rushes to Sparta and finds Telemachus. She instructed him to head first to Eumaeus, who will convey the news of his safe return to Penelope. Telemachus then arrives at Eumaeus hut. Eumaeus leaves them two alone where Odysseus, finally, revealed himself to Telemachus. Eurycleia and Penelope, together, welcome Eumaeus and Eumaeus tells the news to Penelope of her sons safe return. After that, Telemachus and Odysseus, along with Eumaea (already retuened after her trip to Penelope) went to the Palace and their Eurycleia, Odysseus nurse, noticed the scar on his leg upon washing his feet and hugged Odysseus. Before Odysseus has returned to Ithaca, Penelope was visited by a lot of suitors. Antichloos, the most evil among Penelope suitors, plans to kill Telemachus and sees him as a threat. Athena safely guards Telemachus upon his return to the palace. Penelope had this unending task which she does to stall time and find reason to not see her suitors. This was later known to be Penelopes Web Since Penelope had this problem of eventually choosing a suitor one day, she prepared a challenge for these suitors of her. It was to use Odysseus bow and arrow to shoot on one sitting the twelve axes set in a line. Odysseus (as disguised as a poor man) takes the challenge and successfully does Penelopes challenge. Suddenly, after that, he shot Antichloos on the throat which leads to the large massacre of suitors inside the palace. In the end, Odysseus and his father, Laertes, was reunited. Laertes killed Antichloos father. Athena made Ithaca forgot about the massacre and peace overflowed throught the kingdom of Ithaca where Odysseus was known king. The Aeneid **F. The Trojan Horse It all started when Odysseus stole the Palladium, a cared image of Athena that protects Troy. Then, he conceives a scheme of building a giant wooden horse to reign victorious upon the Trojans. The Greeks then pretend to abandon their siege and concealed themselves on the island of Tenedos, where no person lives. The Trojans then rejoice as they thought that Greece gave up. They enjoy their peaceful nights until Thymoetes sees the Trojan Horse at the outskirts of Tro y which he ask to bring forth.

Sinon, a Greek, was left near the house as man who was left by the Greeks. He then explains of the presence of the horse which was to be offered to the goddess Minerva. He stress that if the Toys fail to accept the horse, Minerva will bring forth war and chaos on Troy. Suddenly, a man named Laocoon, doubting priest of Troy who is joined by his men, was devoured by two serpents upon hurling a spear towards the horse and disagrees Sinons warning. But the Trojans accept the horse and wheeled them into their city, nevertheless, for the serpents rose upon Minervas shrine, signaling an omen. Late at night, when all Troy in slumber, Sinon opens the horse and released the Greeks that are hidden in the horse and starts a war in Troy. Hector then appears to Aeneas, son of Anchises and Venus, in a dream and informs that his city is being burned and infiltrated. He wakes up and realizes that Hector was telling the truth. Aeneas then rounds up the best army of Troy and started slaying the Greeks one by one. Then, he proceeded at the heart of Troy where Priams palace sits. As he opened the gates of his palace, Pyrrhus and his army broke in and kill Polites, the young son of Priam and Hecuba, and finally, kills Priam at his own altar. Seeing this, he went back to protect and save those Trojans who can still be save. Upon saving, he saw Helen, the very cause of the war, and decides to kill him. Venus stops and told him that beyond still lies your quest and you must fulfill it for the betterment of Troy. Aeneas, with his father on his back, his son Ascanius, his wife Creusa (although was lost along the way) along with the Trojan survivors, walks out of Troy leaving their burning city in dust.

**G. Aftermath of the Trojan War Aeneas is the survivor from the Trojan Horse. On his lineage, Aeneas, a son to both Anchises and Venus (Aphrodite), had a son to Creusa named Ascanius. After Aeneas travelled to Thrace (bad emperor) and Crete (famine), he landed at Epeirus where he saw Helenus, the son of Priam, slave to Pyrrhus, and later married to Andromache. Helenus informed them that their final destination was Hesperia (Italy). Along their harsh voyage to Italy, they found Achaemenides, whom Ulysses (Odysseus) had left behind in the island of the Cyclops. Achaemenides warns them about the blind Polyphemus and safely escapes. Anchises died at Sicily.

H. Carthage It was leaded by the widowed Phoenician queen Dido. Venus ensures her sons safety by sending her son and Aeneas half-brother, Eros (Cupid), disguised as Ascanius, Aeneas son. With Eros presence, Dido fell in love with Aeneas. As Dido requests, Aeneas retells his tragic story of the Trojan Horse and her trip on the way to Carthage. After the story, Dido tells her sister Anna about her feelings with Aeneas. Anna thought that her love with Aeneas was natural (not natural due to Eros spell) so she encourage Dido on making Aeneas his husband.

Juno (Hera), in reference with the Mischief of Eris, loathes Venus (Aphrodite) and hopes that Aeneas would marry Dido instead of continuing his quest. A rumor then spread that Aeneas was with Dido on a cave and spent the night together even though they are not yet married. Jupiter (Zeus) sent Mercury (Hermes) to alarm Aeneas of his quest for it was a direct order by Jupiter. Aeneas tries to leave Carthage in secrecy, but failed. He told Dido that this was the gods order for he cannot simply ignore. Dido, inconsolable and quite mad over Aeneas, tells Anna to prepare a pyre as a sacrifice to Pluto (Hades) which all of Aeneas materials would be burn. The moment she saw Aeneas ships left her harbor, she took Aeneas sword and killed herself. Anna, after seeing Didos death, realized her true intentions on the pyre and was angry. After throwing his sisters corpse, she lit the pyre. Aeneas, off coast, has seen the pyre but did not know that it was Didos funeral pyre.

I. Underworld The Trojans successfully reached the island of Cumae wherein Sibyl, a prophet and a priestess of Apollo, will help Aeneas. Sibyl of Cumae foresaw that Aeneas would face a greater danger in Latium than he ever did in the high seas wherein He would have to fight another war. Aeneas was not satisfied with Sibyls prophecy for he wanted to go to the Underworld to visit his father, Anchises. Sibyl agreed on helping him, only if he could find the golden bough (branch). Aeneas prays to Venus upon preparations of his men (Misenus) funeral. Then, a white dove (sent by Venus) was seen by Aeneas and his men followed it which led them on finding the golden bough. Upon entering the Underworld, Aeneas and Sibyl must pass the Lake Avernus (Aornos), a black, foul, poisonous lake. On the underworld, there were five rivers: Acheron (sorrow), Cocytus (lamentation), Phlegethon (fire), Lethe (forgetfulness) and Styx (hate) Aeneas and Sibyl first encountered river Acheron which the ferryman, Charon, transports people from place to place. At first, Charon disagrees, but as Sibyl showed the golden bough on her possession, Charon allowed them and led the way. Aeneas has encountered four things namely: o Hunger o Disease o War o Discord Aeneas saw the wailing souls of those who just died and lines up as Minos would be judging them on where to go. Nearby are the Fields of Mourning where he saw Dido. He was in shocked and Dido was just mad at him. Sychaeus(killed by Pygmalion) was there to comfort Dido. They also passed Cerberus, the three headed dog, and they successfully passed it by feeding it with drugged corn. Also they passed upon, Rhadamanthus, the punisher of the damned (Tartarus).

Finally, they reached Elysian Fields where encountered Anchises. Anchises told him that he will bring forth the lineage that will find Rome. In which it would establish a strong empire, longer than others and it would be certainly be greater than Troy.