The Trojan Horse

Setting

Main Characters

Achilles

• Was a Greek hero of the Trojan War and the central character and greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.

Telamonian Ajax

• The son of King Telamon and Periboea, and the half-brother of Teucer.

Antilochus

• Was the son of Nestor, king of Pylos. He was distinguished for his beauty, swiftness of foot, and skill as a charioteer.

Antiphus

• Son of Thessalus, the son of Heracles, and Chalciope. With his brother Pheidippus, Antiphus lead the forces of Calydnae, Cos, Carpathus, Casus and Nisyrus on the side of the Greeks against Troy. He was also believed to have invaded a region of Greece that he named Thessaly after his father.

Ascalaphus

• Was the custodian of the orchard of Hades. He told the other gods that Persephone had eaten a pomegranate in the Underworld.

Astyanax

• Was the son of Hector, Crown Prince of Troy and Princess Andromache of Cilician Thebe.

Kebriones

• Was the illegitimate son of King Priam of Troy and a slave.

Cycnus

• Son of Ares by Pelopia or Pyrene, was a bloodthirsty and cruel man who dwelt either in Pagasae, Thessaly or by the river Echedorus in Macedonia, and killed all of his guests until he was slain by Heracles.

Deiphobus

• Was a son of Priam and Hecuba. He was a prince of Troy, and the greatest of Priam's sons after Hector and Paris.

Dolon

• Dolon was the son of Eumedes, and had five sisters

Eurypylus

• The son of Euaemon on the side of the Achaeans

Hector

• Was a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War.

Medon

• Medon is the faithful herald of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey.

Patroclus

• Was the son of Menoetius, grandson of Actor, King of Opus, and Achilles's beloved comrade and brother-in-arms.

Penthesilea

• The daughter of Ares and Otrera and the sister of Hippolyta, Antiope and Melanippe.

Phorcys

• is a god of the hidden dangers of the deep. He is a primordial sea god, generally cited as the son of Pontus and Gaia.

Polites

• Was the legitimate son of Priam and Hecuba. He was Prince of Troy.

Polyxena

• Was the youngest daughter of King Priam of Troy and his queen, Hecuba.

Priam

• Was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon.

Protesilaus

• Was a hero in the Iliad who was venerated at cult sites in Thessaly and Thrace.

Rhesus

• Was a Thracian king who fought on the side of Trojans in Iliad, Book X, where Diomedes and Odysseus stole his team of fine horses during a night raid on the Trojan camp.

Sarpedon

• Was a common name in ancient Greece and in the Roman Empire.

Thersander

• Refers to several distinct characters, the most prominent of whom is Thersander the son of Polynices.

Thersites

• Was a soldier of the Greek army during the Trojan War.

Troilus

• Is a legendary character associated with the story of the Trojan War.

Summary of the Plot

• The first thing to realize is the Trojan war was very long. It lasted some twenty years, according to the stories about it. Everybody was very tired of the war, and everybody was looking for an end to it. There were times when the Greeks felt the war was lost, and the Trojans felt they had gained the upper hand. It was during one of these times that the Greeks offered the Trojan horse as a symbol of their capitulation to the Trojans. And the Trojans accepted it as an acknowledgment of their victory over the Greeks. It seemed quite appropriate and natural to them, as they felt they were winning the war. But this was the key to the deception. The Trojan confidence in their inevitable victory allowed them to believe the ruse. The rest is history. The horse was offered to them as a symbol of the Greek capitulation, but it was filled with Greek warriors, who in the quiet of the night snuck out of the horse and were able to deliver a lethal blow to the heart of the Trojan city. It's a classic example of overconfidence leading to a downfall. If the Trojans had been even slightly suspicious, they would not have brought the horse past the walls of the city. They truly believed it was a sign of capitulation on the part of the Greeks, and it was this miscalculation that led to their downfall.

Explanation of the Theme.

• The story of the Trojan Horse is one of the most famous incidents of the Trojan War, which is totally one of the most iconic wars in all of Western literature. So yeah, we'd say warfare is probably a pretty big theme in this story. One thing that's interesting about the Trojan Horse itself is that it isn't your average weapon of mass destruction. You know, it's not like Odysseus decides to build a big flamethrower to incinerate the walls of Troy. Instead, he comes up with a far craftier way to cause massive devastation. In some ways, you could see the Trojan Horse a prelude to our world of modern warfare, where the side with the best technology can often dominate its foes.

Review of the Book.