The Trojan War: the Story of Helen, Paris and the Gods

According to the legendary epic poem Homer, the Trojan War was one of the most devastating wars in Greek history. It involved almost every Greek state, and the siege of the walled city of Troy in Asia Minor lasted 10 years. But what started the war?

According to Homer, it all began when the young Trojan prince Paris kidnapped the Spartan queen Helen, a woman whose "beauty of face made a thousand ships launch." This was more than a personal insult to her husband Menelaus, it was a violation of the laws of hospitality. Was it love that drove him to such a crime? Was it lust? Or was Paris merely a tool to do the will of the gods?

While visiting Sparta, the prince of Troy, Paris Alexandros, seduced Helen and took her to Troy along with a huge treasure. This was a crime not only against King Menelaus, but also against Zeus, who protected the relationship between guest and host. This relationship was called xenia, roughly translated as "friendship with the guest," and was a mutual bond between host and guest, cemented by gifts and feasts.

This relationship was an integral part of life and diplomacy and was sacred to Zeus. It was for this reason that the Greeks went to war against Troy. It was not only Paris who was to blame, but the entire city that condoned his actions. Menelaus himself stated that it was the violation of the Xenia that caused the conflict.

"Zeus, help me to punish him who has wronged me! To dust by my hand cast down Priamides Paris; Let every one be horrified, and in late-born descendants Evil to repay the good-natured hospitable man's favor." (Iliad, 3.351-354)

In the third book of the Iliad, the Greeks and Trojans made a truce and agreed that Menelaus and Paris would fight in single combat to determine the outcome of the war. If the Greeks won, Troy would return Helen and the treasure captured from Sparta, as well as pay reparations. If the Trojans won, the Greeks ended the siege and returned home.

The terms were sealed with oaths and prayers to Zeus, and the battle began. But it was short-lived: as soon as Paris was ready to be defeated, he disappeared in a thick fog. The Trojans could not find Paris anywhere, and the Greeks declared victory. Then, breaking the truce as Paris had broken the "xenia," a Trojan warrior named Pandaros launched an arrow at Menelaus and wounded him.

The Greeks did not know that the gods had intervened. Fearing for Paris' life, Aphrodite took him away from the battlefield and brought him back to her palace. Zeus then gathered the gods on Olympus to discuss how the war should end according to the terms of the truce. But Hera didn't want to hear about it. To quench her hatred for the Trojans, she demanded that the war continue.

In exchange, she agreed that Zeus would destroy the city she held dear if the desire came to him. So he sent Athena to the Trojans to force them to break their dueling pact. Under the guise of Laodocia, she persuaded the warrior Pandaros to fire an arrow at Menelaus to renew the conflict.

Aphrodite's love for Paris, like Athena's and Hera's hatred of the Trojans, arose from an event known as the "Judgment of Paris". The Trojan prince was asked to choose which of the three goddesses was the most beautiful. Each of them offered him a prize. Hera offered him dominion over the kingdoms of men, Athena offered him prowess on the battlefield, and Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world as his bride.

Paris preferred Aphrodite's prize to the others, so he chose her as the most beautiful of the goddesses. The Iliad mentions this event only in passing; other authors can tell us more about it.

"It seemed to please all; but not Hera the goddess, Nor Posidon the king, nor Athena the brilliant-eyed; To them, as before, the holy Troy was hated, The old man Priam and the people, For the guilt of Priamides Paris: He insulted the goddesses who came to his country house; Honor he gave to her who bestowed on him the voluptuousness harmful." (Homer, Iliad, 24.25-30)

The beauty contest took place during the wedding of the goddess Phetida and the mortal hero Peleus. The goddess Phemis revealed to Zeus that Fetida, whom Zeus was courting, was destined to bear a son who would be greater than his father. Fearing to be overthrown, Zeus gave Fetida in marriage to Peleus. From this union was born Achilles, the greatest warrior of all the Greeks.

All the gods and goddesses were invited to the wedding except Eris, the goddess of discord. Annoyed at being mistreated, Eris took an apple from the garden of Hesperides and wrote "most beautiful" on it, then planted it at a feast. It was claimed by Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, and they began to argue over which of them was more deserving of the title of "most beautiful". To settle the dispute, Zeus ordered Hermes to bring them to Mount Ida for Paris to settle the dispute.

First of all Zeus can be blamed for starting the Trojan War. His will was absolute. He was both the apex of destinies and the means by which destiny was fulfilled. Already the first lines of the epic make it clear that everything that happens in the narrative happens by the will of Zeus.

"Anger us, goddess, sing to Achilles, son of Peleus, the ruinous wrath that has brought many great calamities upon the Achaeans, and the warriors of many fearless souls have been cast down into the region of Hades, their corpses being left for the birds and dogs of the neighborhood to eat. - Thus was accomplished the will of Cronion Zeus." (Homer, Iliad, 1.1-5)

It is clear from the epic that Zeus had decreed the destruction of Troy, and nothing that mortals on either side did could affect the outcome. Troy's fate was sealed long ago, probably even before Paris transgressed the laws of hospitality. The Greeks believed that the gods were on their side, so both Agamemnon and Menelaus were confident that Zeus would punish the Trojans for Paris' blatant disregard for the "xenia".

Zeus himself, however, did not seem to be bothered by this at all. Zeus repeatedly declared his great love for the Trojans. During the duel between Menelaus and Paris, Zeus accepted that the Greeks had won and seemed ready to end the war by allowing Paris to escape the consequences of violating the Xenia. He then allowed Hera and Athena to break the terms of the truce of which he was to be the protector and enforcer.

In the Iliad, except for a single passage which seems to refer to the trial of Paris and his kidnapping of Helen, there is no definite reason why Troy should fall. There was, however, one epic which reconciled this. In the Cyprida, a lost epic, preserved only in fragments and references, which was written after the Iliad and is considered a prequel to Homer's poems, Zeus planned with Themis to cause the Trojan War.

Researchers of the Iliad write that this plan was made in order to reduce the human population and thus reduce the burden on the Earth. This is borne out by Euripides' Euripides' plays Orestes and Helen. Given the popularity of Euripides' plays, it is surprising that almost none of the later authors refer to this cause of war.

According to the fifth-century BC historian Herodotus, when Paris stole Helen and a considerable amount of treasure from the Spartans, strong winds blew him off course as he sailed home and landed him in Egypt. Some of Paris' men betrayed him and fled to the temple of Heracles, where they told the priest what he had done to Helen and Menelaus. Paris was brought before Pharaoh Proteus, who confiscated Helen and the treasure, promising to guard it until Menelaus came for it. He then sent the Trojans on their way.

However, the Greeks never went to Egypt. They sailed directly to Troy and when they arrived there they demanded Helen and the treasure back. The Trojans explained what had happened, saying that neither was in their city and they were expected in Egypt. The Greeks did not believe them and attacked the city.

There are texts from the Hittite kingdom of Hatti in the archaeological record that detail correspondence between the king of Hatti and the king of Ahijava, which scholars believe was the Hittite way of spelling "Achaeans," the name given to the Greeks in the Iliad. In these texts, the Hittite king discusses a conflict with the king of Ahijava over the city of Wilus, which scholars agree was ancient Troy.

In the 13th century BC, Wilusa was attacked and captured by a pirate named Piyamaradu, who had close ties to the Ahijava king. The Hittite king believed Piyamaradu to be an agent of the Ahijava king and asked him to tell the pirate that the two kings had made peace and it would be wrong to cause a new conflict. It is unclear whether this has anything to do with the Trojan War that Homer wrote about, but it is clear that the Greeks and Trojans came into conflict in the 13th century BC. In addition, it was most likely provoked by the Greeks, who wanted to expand their sphere of influence in Anatolia.

In the Iliad, the heroes are unaware of what happened at the wedding of Fetida and Peleus. Even Paris and Helen did not recognize the event. As far as mortals know, it was Paris' kidnapping of Helen that caused the war. The Greeks believed that the gods were on their side, but could not understand the gods' true motives. Time and time again, the gods acted contrary to the morals ascribed to them by mortal heroes.

Paris is personally responsible for the kidnapping of Helen and Menelaus' fortune, as he was not forced to do so. However, the will of Zeus is inevitable. Zeus invented the Trojan War, married off Fetida to Peleus, and chose Paris to be the judge in the contest between the goddesses. Therefore, although Paris was guilty, he was merely an instrument of Zeus' will.