Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
by CTCWeb Editors
Iliad: Before the Trojan War
For this assignment you should have students trace the myths and stories leading up to Trojan war. Below is a list of instances that led up to the Trojan war depicted in art and in text.
The First Trojan War
Aegina, East Pediment 2 - First Battle of Greeks and Trojans - This sculpture depicts an early battle between the Greeks and Trojans in which both Herakles and a young Nestor participate, a story not described by Homer.
Apollodorus vol. 1.205, vol. 1.207 - Poseidon fortifies Troy, but being defrauded by Laomedon punishes the city with a flood.
Apollodorus vol. 1.205, vol. 1.207 - Apollo fortifies Troy, but being defrauded by Laomedon he punishes the city with a pestilence.
The marriage of Peleus and Thetis
Munich 2648 - Peleus attacks Thetis.
Florence 4209 - The wedding of Peleus and Thetis.
London 1971.11-1.1 - The wedding of Peleus and Thetis.
Tampa 81.5.1 - The wedding of Peleus and Thetis.
Tampa 86.44 - The wedding of Peleus and Thetis.
Apollodorus 3.13.5 - The wedding of Peleus and Thetis.
Aristophanes Clouds line 1067 - The wedding of Peleus and Thetis.
Euripides Andromache lines 15, 44, 1231-1283 - The wedding of Peleus and Thetis.
Hesiod Theogony 1005 - The wedding of Peleus and Thetis.
Isocrates Speech 9.16 - Tells how Peleus won the honor of wedding Thetis.
Pindar Isthmian Ode 8, lines 31-40 - Tells why Thetis had to marry Peleus.
Plato Laws 944a - Speaks of dowry of Thetis that included arms Achilles would use in Trojan war.
Xenophon On Hunting 1.8 - Peleus wins the favor of the gods who give him Thetis and sing the wedding hymn at their wedding.
The Judgment of Paris
Malibu 86.AE.52 - The judgment of Paris.
London E 178 - The judgment of Paris.
Munich 1392 - The judgment of Paris.
Munich 1722 - The judgment of Paris.
Munich 2439 - The judgment of Paris.
Louvre CA 616 - The judgment of Paris.
Richmond 57.9 - The judgment of Paris.
Karlsruhe 259 - The judgment of Paris.
Berlin F 2291 - The judgment of Paris.
Würzburg L 186 - The judgment of Paris.
Paris, Cab. Méd. 422 - The judgment of Paris.
Würzburg L 466 - The judgment of Paris.
Delphi, Siphnian Treasury Frieze—West - The judgment of Paris.
Apollodorus, Epitome 3.1-3.3 - The full story of the judgment of Paris.
Pausanias 3.18.12, 5.19.5 - Refers to the judgment of Paris.
Aristophanes Birds, line 1102 - Refers to the prize given to Paris for his judgment.
Euripides Helen lines 23-40 - Helen tells the story of the beauty contest between the three goddesses judged by Paris.
Euripides Helen lines 884-887 - Theonoe speaks of Aphrodite’s gift of Helen to Paris as a reward for judging her the most beautiful.
Euripides Iphigenia at Aulis line 179, 573 - Tells of the beauty contest that resulted in the abduction of Helen.
Euripides Trojan Women lines 920-935 - The story of the judgment of the goddesses and what each offered Paris as a reward.
Strabo The Geography 13.1.51 - Refers to Alexandreia, where the judgment of Paris took place.
The Abduction of Helen
Cincinnati 1962.386-388 - Confrontation of Helen and Paris.
Berlin inv. 30036 - Helen meets Paris in Sparta for the first time. Aphrodite and Persuasion are present.
Apollodorus vol. 2.29 - Odysseus recommends to Tyndareus that he extort an oath from Helen’s suitors.
Apollodorus 3.12.6 - Oenone warns Paris not to take Helen and if he does that he will be wounded and that she is the only one who can heal him.
Apollodorus, Epitome 3.1-3.3 - Offers other reasons for Helen’s abduction besides the judgment.
Aeschylus Agamemnon lines 400, 714 - Refers to the marriage of Paris and Helen.
Euripides Andromache lines 103-106 - Refers to the results of Paris’s marriage to Helen.
Euripides Hecuba line 944-946 - Refers to the marriage of Paris and Helen as a cause of misery.
Euripides Helen lines 31-36 - Helen says that Paris never took her to Troy but only an image of her created by Hera as revenge for not judging her to be the most beautiful.
Euripides Iphigenia at Aulis line 179 - Refers to the abduction of Helen.
The Sacrifice of Iphigenia
Apollodorus Epitome 3.22 - Iphigenia is about to be sacrificed by her father, Agamemnon but Artemis saves her.
Aeschylus, Agamemnon lines 1521-1530 - Clytaemestra feels that she has avenged the murder of her daughter by killing Agamemnon.
Euripides Electra 123-126 - Clytemnestra refers to the sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis.
Euripides Iphigenia at Aulis, et al. - This play tells the story of the sacrifice of
Iphigenia.
Euripides Iphigenia in Taurus, et. al. - The play opens with Iphigenia recapping the event that led to her near sacrifice and her safe passage to Taurus to be a priestess of Artemis.
Departures for War
London 1899.2-19.1 - This vase depicts what could be Odysseus and Penelope, Theseus and Ariadne or Paris and Helen. It also depicts a trireme.
Encyclopedia, Trireme - Students should look at the Encyclopedia entry for “trireme” and the Trireme Reconstruction images that accompany the text for an idea of how the warriors might have traveled to the Trojan War.
Apollodorus Epitome 3.7 - Odysseus feigns madness to avoid going to the Trojan war but his farce is detected and he goes to war.
Apollodorus Epitome 3.11-3.14 - A list of men and ships that departed from Aulis for Troy.
Apollodorus Epitome 3.27 - Philoctetes ashore in Lemnos.
Sophocles, Philoctetes lines 254-284 - Philoctetes tells his story of how he was bitten by a snake on island of Chryse and was abandoned on the island of Lemnos.
