No, 'Troy' is not based on a true story. However, the film is based on the epic poem 'The Iliad. ' Interestingly, the jury is still out on the possibilities of 'The Iliad' being an authentic part of history.
For most ancient Greeks, indeed, the Trojan War was much more than a myth. It was an epoch-defining moment in their distant past. As the historical sources – Herodotus and Eratosthenes – show, it was generally assumed to have been a real event.
Achilles, distraught and wanting to avenge the death of his friend Patroclus, returns to the war and kills Hector.
Paris chose Aphrodite and therefore Helen. Helen was already married to King Menelaus of Sparta (a fact Aphrodite neglected to mention), so Paris had to raid Menelaus's house to steal Helen from him - according to some accounts, she fell in love with Paris and left willingly.
The Greeks won the Trojan War. According to the Roman epic poet Virgil, the Trojans were defeated after the Greeks left behind a large wooden horse and pretended to sail for home. Unbeknown to the Trojans, the wooden horse was filled with Greek warriors.
Menelaus soundly beats Paris, but before he can kill him and claim victory, Aphrodite spirits Paris away inside the walls of Troy. In Book 4, while the Greeks and Trojans squabble over the duel's winner, Athena inspires the Trojan Pandarus to shoot Menelaus with his bow and arrow.
The Peloponnesian War was a war fought in ancient Greece between Athens and Sparta—the two most powerful city-states in ancient Greece at the time (431 to 405 B.C.E.). This war shifted power from Athens to Sparta, making Sparta the most powerful city-state in the region. This eventually drew Sparta into the conflict.
The early Athenian tradition, followed by the 3rd century BC Parian Chronicle, made Cecrops, a mythical half-man half-serpent, the first king of Athens.
Anax (Greek: ?ναξ; from earlier ϝάναξ, wánax) is an ancient Greek word for "tribal chief, lord, (military) leader". It is one of the two Greek titles traditionally translated as "king", the other being basileus, and is inherited from Mycenaean Greece, and is notably used in Homeric Greek, e.g. for Agamemnon.
The Athenians invented democracy, a new type of government where every citizen could vote on important issues, such as whether or not to declare war. All public officials and even generals commanding the army were elected or chosen through a lottery.
Still without a male heir with his previous marriages, Aegeus asked the oracle at Delphi for advice. According to Pausanias, Aegeus ascribed this misfortune to the anger of Aphrodite and in order to conciliate her introduced her worship as Aphrodite Urania (Heavenly) in Athens.
Hades, Greek Aïdes (“the Unseenâ€), also called Pluto or Pluton (“the Wealthy One†or “the Giver of Wealthâ€), in ancient Greek religion, god of the underworld. Hades was a son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and brother of the deities Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia.
| Jason |
|---|
| Nickname | "Amechanos" (incapable) |
| Affiliation | The Argonauts |
| Family | Aeson (father); Aeolus (ancestor); Hermes (maternal great-grandfather) |
| Spouse | Medea |
From about 2000 B.C.E. to 800 B.C.E., most Greek city-states were ruled by monarchs—usually kings (the Greeks did not allow women to have power). At first, the Greek kings were chosen by the people of the city-state. When a king died, another leader was selected to take his place.
Having pursued Daedalus to Sicily, Minos was killed by the daughters of King Cocalus, who poured boiling water over him as he was taking a bath. After his death he became a judge in Hades.
Menelaus's brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, led an expedition of Achaean troops to Troy and besieged the city for ten years because of Paris' insult. After the deaths of many heroes, including the Achaeans Achilles and Ajax, and the Trojans Hector and Paris, the city fell to the ruse of the Trojan Horse.
The Trojans were people that lived in the city state of Troy on the coast of Turkey by the Aegean Sea, around the 12th or 13th Century BCE. We think they were of Greek or Indo-European origin, but no one knows for sure.
In Greek mythology, Achilles was the strongest warrior and hero in the Greek army during the Trojan War. He was the son of Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and Thetis, a sea nymph. The story of Achilles appears in Homer's Iliad and elsewhere.
According to Virgil, most of the Trojans we know as characters in Aeneid die in the end. As for the Trojans, most of the men were killed, and most of the women were taken as captives by the invading Greeks. The rest were taken prisoner and brought back to Greece with Agamemnon and his army.
The answer is uncertain. He may have been a great warrior of human birth, or he might have been a compilation of the deeds of many great warriors and leaders of the day.
Trojan horse, huge hollow wooden horse constructed by the Greeks to gain entrance into Troy during the Trojan War. The horse was built by Epeius, a master carpenter and pugilist.
Achilles' most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan prince Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the Iliad, other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him in the heel with an arrow.
Rejecting bribes of kingly power from Hera and military might from Athena, he chose Aphrodite and accepted her bribe to help him win the most beautiful woman alive. His seduction of Helen (the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta) and refusal to return her was the cause of the Trojan War.
Helen and Paris had three sons, Bunomus, Aganus ("gentle"), Idaeus and a daughter also called Helen.
Paris was the son of King Priam of Troy and his wife Hecuba. During the war, Paris killed Achilles by shooting his heel with a poisoned arrow. Late in the war, Paris was killed by Philoctetes.
Assuming he was between 18 and 25 then (young enough to be youthful, old enough to be a capable warrior), he was 28 to 35 when he was killed by the Hydra Arrows by Philoctetes, who then had to shoot them for his aged father.
The ancient city of Troy was located along the northwest coast of Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey. It occupied a strategic position on the Dardanelles, a narrow water channel that connects the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea, via the Sea of Marmara.
Paris, a Trojan prince, came to Sparta to claim Helen, in the guise of a supposed diplomatic mission. In order to earn his favour, Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world. Swayed by Aphrodite's offer, Paris chose her as the most beautiful of the goddesses, earning the wrath of Athena and Hera.
Achilles was the greatest Greek fighter, who had avoided clashing with Hector throughout the war. He respected Hector, calling him “man-killer”.
