Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Roger Lancelyn Green, Betty Middleton-Sandford

Roger Lancelyn Green’s The Tale of Troy stresses that the origins of the Trojan War go right back to the beginning of Zeus’ reign, when Prometheus prophesised that the sea nymph Thetis would give birth to a son who would grow up to be greater than his father. In order to preserve his power, Zeus changed his mind about being Thetis’ consort, and instead arranged for her to be married to the minor hero Peleus. All the Olympians attended the celebration, except for Eris, the godde(...)

literary

YEAR: 1958

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aeneas Aeneid Agamemnon Ajax / Aias Andromache Antenor Aphrodite Apollo Athena Calchas Circe Clytemnestra Cyclops / Cyclopes Diomedes (Son of Tydeus) Epic Cycle Eris Hector Hecuba Helen Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Hermione Homer Iliad Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Laocoon Menelaus Neoptolemus Nestor Odysseus / Ulysses Palamedes Paris (Trojan Prince) Patroclus Peleus Philoctetes Priam Prometheus Sinon Sirens Thetis Tiresias Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy Zeus

Evi Pini, Elisa Vavouri

The Trojan War. The Beginning of History [Τρωικός Πόλεμος. Η αρχή της ιστορίας (Trōikós Pólemos. Ī archī́ tīs istorías)]

Evi Pini explains how the Trojan War started. The text is in the form of a fairy tale, as implied by the standard phrase “once upon a time” (my translation) at the very beginning. The book begins with Eris and ends with Iphigeneia’s last-minute rescue from being sacrificed to Artemis. Neither fighting nor bloodshed is presented. Instead, we have an account of human and divine passions and emotions, as well as a description of logistical preparations for going to war.&nbs(...)

literary

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Achilles Aeolus Agamemnon Aphrodite Argos (City) Artemis Athena Athens Boeotia Calchas Clytemnestra Crete Diomedes (Son of Tydeus) Eris Euboea Gods Greek History Helen Hera Hermes Idomeneus Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Ithaca Lykomedes Menelaus Menestheus Mycenae Nestor Odysseus / Ulysses Paris (Trojan Prince) Peleus Phocis Priam Pylos Skyros Sparta Thetis Troy Tyndareus Zeus