By: Homer

Information by: Hilary Johannas

Illustrations by: Kat McIntosh

More than 1000 years B.C.

near the East end of the Mediterranean Sea there was a great city of gold. The city was second to none on earth. This city was called

Troy…

The cause of the city’s long lasting fame was a war.

The cause of the war went

back to a dispute

between three jealous

goddesses.

There was an evil goddess named ErisEris. ErisEris was not liked by many and did not receive and invitation to a

party. To create chaos, she conjured up a golden appleapple

and addressed it to the “fairest goddess.”

The decision was narrowed down to three goddesses,

Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.

Zeus refused to choose which of the

three goddesses were fairest. Instead Paris, a

banished prince of Troy was to choose.

Each of the three goddesses offered Paris a gift so that he would choose

them.

HeraHera promised Paris he would be ruler of a

large territory.

Athena, the goddess of war, promised Paris a

great victory.

Aphrodite, goddess of love, promised Paris that the

fairest woman in the world would be his.

This is known as the judgment of Paris, and it is

known as the real reason why the Trojan war was

fought.

The fairest woman in the world was named Helen. She was the daughter of

Zeus and Leda. Every prince in Greece (including Odysseus) wanted to marry

her. The man she called father was named King

Tyndareus.

Her father made all of the suitors swear an oath

saying they would punish anyone

who tried to harm Helen.

King Tyndareus, chose for her Menelaus and

made him King of Sparta. Many years

passed in peace until…

Aphrodite led Paris to Helen and he took her away with him.

Menelaus called all the suitors Menelaus called all the suitors for help. They readied to sail for help. They readied to sail to Troy and burn it to ashes.to Troy and burn it to ashes.

OdysseusOdysseus, first in rank, didn’t want to leave his family. So,

he pretended to have gone mad.

Gone Crazy…be back soon!Gone Crazy…be back soon!Gone Crazy…be back soon!

However, to prove his was faking his condition Odysseus was put to the test. His son’s life was

purposefully endangered and Odysseus came to his

rescue, proving he was NOT crazy.

For a year they sailed from

Ithaca to Troy.

Once discovered, Odysseus was made to join the army. A great fleet was made ready.

Bye-Bye

Good Luck

We’ll miss you!

For nine years the battle

waged, but there was never a solid victory.

Eventually the war had reached Olympus.

The gods raged against each other.

For Troy

Aphrodite

Ares

Apollo

Artemis

For the Greeks

Hera

Athena

Poseidon

Finally, Odysseus came up with a plan.

They would create a large wooden horse and hide inside. The horse would be presented as a gift and accepted inside the city walls. At night, after the celebration of victory. Odysseus and his men would sneak out of the horse and seize the city.

The plan worked!!!

In his excitement, Odysseus proclaimed he had won the victory with out the help of the gods.

For this lack of humility, Poseidon, god of the

Ocean, decided Odysseus must be punished.

Poseidon vowed that Odysseus would never return to his home or his

family.

Odysseus's Odysseus's journey journey homehome

…thus the Odyssey,

beginsbegins….….