When Paris returned from a war, he was greeted with a crowd
and was crowned prince of Troy by his father, the king. Later, Paris was sent
by his father to a war with Tyre. On his way back to Troy, he traveled through
Greece. The king of Greece, Menelaus, greeted them graciously.
Menelaus’ wife Helen was the most beautiful woman in the
world. As soon as Paris saw her, he fell in love with her. Before, Paris had
chosen Aphrodite as the most beautiful of goddesses, and as a reward for
choosing her, she made Helen fall in love with Paris. Paris was very brave, and
during the night, Paris and Helen snuck out of Menelaus’ palace and hurried to
Troy.
The next day, when Menelaus found his wife missing, he was
furious at Paris and Troy. He demanded his wife back or else he would declare
war on Troy. But the Trojans refused to give Helen back to him. Menelaus then
started attacking Troy, but with no success. Thus started the Trojan War.
Agamemnon, the king of the wealthy city Mycenæ was very
powerful and organized. When he saw his brother Menelaus suffering a
humiliating defeat from the Trojans, he called together all the armies of
Greece. He promised all of them great rewards if they helped him defeat Troy
and save his brother’s armies. Achilles and Odysseus were among the leaders of
the Greek army.
One by one the allies of Troy were defeated by the powerful
Greek army. But for nine years the Greek armies fought the city of Troy, but
could not defeat it. During these nine years, heroes on both sides such as
Achilles and Hector died in battle. But on the ninth year came THE
PLAGUE. The plague killed more people then the Trojans ever did
during the war. But then, Odysseus came up with a plan that would end the
Trojan War once and for all.
