Transcript Black Ships Before Troy

Black Ships
Before Troy
By Rosemary Sutcliff
The Story
• Based on Homer’s epic poem
“The Iliad”
• The Iliad was written by Homer
(800 b.c.e)– Greek Poet
• The story of the Trojan War actually
happened 400-500 years before
Homer made up his version
Setting
 Greece
 Troy (city-state;
current day Turkey)
CHARACTERS
The GREEKS
aka The Aegeans…
(They’re
called the
Aegeans because they are
on the Aegean sea.)
ACHILLES
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Son of Peleus and Thetis
Powerful Greek warrior
Proud and headstrong
Mad at Agamemnon for taking his
war prize, Briseis
AGAMEMNON
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Greek King (King of Mycenae)
Leader of Greek Army
Brother of Menelaus (Sparta)
Arrogant, selfish
Often thinks of his own needs before
those of his people
 Took Achilles’ war prize
(Briseis)
PATROCLUS
 Close friend and advisor of Achilles
 Grew up with Achilles
 Devoted to Achilles and the Greeks
Odysseus
 Warrior and clever Greek commander
 Good public speaker
 Helps mediate between Agamemnon and
Achilles
Diomedes
(aka Tydides)
 Youngest of Greek commanders
 Bold and impetuous
 After Achilles withdraws from battle, Athena
inspires him with
so much courage that he
wounds two gods:
Aphrodite and Ares
Ajax
 Greek commander
 Second mightiest Greek warrior after
Achilles
 So big and strong that he wounded Hector
twice with boulders
Nestor
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Greek King (Pylos)
Oldest Greek commander
Very wise
Advisor to military commanders, esp. Agamemnon
Good public speaker (Who was the other
one??....)
Menelaus
 King of Sparta
 Younger brother of Agamemnon
 Quieter and less imposing and
arrogant as Agamemnon
 Not the mightiest of warriors
 Married to HELEN, who was taken by the Trojan
prince, PARIS
The Myrmidons
 Greek soldiers under Achilles’ command
Calchas
 A soothsayer
Identifies the cause of a plague ravaging the
Greek army (which
caused the initial rift
between Agamemnon
and Achilles)
Phoenix
 A kindly, old warrior
 Helped raise Achilles while he himself was
young
 Achilles deeply cares for him
 Mediates between Achilles and Agamemnon
THE TROJANS
Priam
 King of Troy
 Husband of Hecuba
 Father to 50 Trojan Warriors (including
Hector and Paris)
 Too old to fight, but level headed and earns
respect of Trojans and Greeks
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Hecuba
•Queen of Troy
•Wife of Priam
•Mother of Hector and Paris
Hector
One of the most important characters of
the Greek mythology.
He is a Trojan prince and a great fighter
in the Trojan War.
He is the eldest son of King Priam of
Troy and Hecuba
Paris
Paris - A son of Priam and Hecuba and brother
of Hector. Paris’s abduction of the beautiful
Helen, wife of Menelaus, sparked the Trojan War.
Paris is self-centered and often unmanly. He
fights effectively with a bow and arrow (never with
the more manly sword or spear) but often lacks
the spirit for battle and prefers to sit in his room
while others fight for him, thus earning both
Hector’s and Helen’s scorn
Helen
Originally Greek and married
to Menelaus (Greek king). She
ran away to Troy with Paris
and became his wife.
Gods and Goddesses
Thetis
Thetis is a sea nymph- goddess of
the water; mother of Achilles
Hera
Hera (Roman name: Juno), wife
of Zeus and queen of the ancient
Greek gods, represented the
ideal woman and was goddess
of marriage and the family.
However, she was perhaps most
famous for her jealous and
vengeful nature.
Athene
(Athene is the Greek spelling;
Athena is Roman spelling)
Athena- the goddess of
wisdom and military victory,
and also the patron of the city
of Athens
Aphrodite
In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is
the goddess of Love, Beauty,
Pleasure, and Happiness
Zeus
Zeus was the sky and thunder god in
ancient Greek religion, who ruled as king of
the gods of Mount Olympus
(Jupiter in Roman)