The Trojan Legend

Heracles Leading the First Trojan War

Dear Classical Wisdom Member,

Just when you think you know something… you realize that, in fact, you know very little. It’s a humbling experience, filled with equal parts excitement (yay! something to learn) and embarrassment (wow… I really didn’t know that?)

Such was my feeling when I first learned that Heracles was in the first Trojan War…and that there were two Trojan Wars…

Indeed, there are so many fascinating details, thrilling twists and turns and kick ass heroes and heroines from the most epic of legendary wars that even the well versed Classics lover has something new to discover.

So today, we’ll go back to the original tale of the Trojan Legend and look at the causes of those great wars…both commonly known and not so much.

Plus: Classical Wisdom Members, you can enjoy the original Iliad and Odyssey (complete with commentary) in your members “Epic Collection” e-book below.

Enjoy!

All the best,

Anya Leonard
Founder and Director
Classical Wisdom

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The Trojan Legend

by Ben Potter

To literary-minded ‘Moderns’ (if we can be so contrasted with the ‘Ancients’) the broad contents of the Iliad and Odyssey are quite familiar. Indeed, tales of wrathful Achilles, fearsome Ajax, tragic Hector, Sirens, Cyclopes, Circe, Suitors etcetera are well-known even to those who have not read both epics – so deep are they in the literary collective consciousness that they even make up parts of popular speech (e.g. “Achilles’ heel”).

Therefore it is perhaps surprising that the full actual Trojan myth is not something that has pervaded mainstream modern literary knowledge… even if the highlights of the Homeric epics have.

Granted, we all know about the golden apple and, yes, you’re right, Helen’s abduction gets plenty of press, but what about the details? What happened between the elopement and the first spear being thrown? And how many of us are aware that the battle royale between Achilles and Hector was the dramatic climax of the second Trojan War? For most of us, there are big gaps in our appreciation of this magnificent myth.

So, without further ado, let’s try to put that right!

The First Trojan War
The most obvious place to start is with the last point mentioned, i.e. TWI.