The Mythological Background Of Iliad

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The mythological background of the Iliad is as follows: Zeus, the father of the gods, seemed to have realized that the earth was getting terribly overcrowded. To solve the problem of overpopulation, he devised a great war which would sweep like a conflagration over Greece. This was the Trojan War. A minor goddess, Thetis, was married to a mortal, Peleus. Out of this marriage, Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior, was born. Eris, the goddess of mischief, was not invited to the marriage feast, so into the middle of the banquet hall she threw a golden apple with this note: to the fairest of the goddesses. Each of the most beautiful of the goddesses-namely, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite- claimed the golden apple. A quarrel ensued and father Zeus was asked to decide who was the most beautiful of the three. This placed Zeus in a predicament since Hera was his own wife and Athena and Aphrodite was his own daughter. So he parted the clouds covering Mount Olympus, the dwelling place of the gods, and showed the three goddesses a prince of Troy named ALEXANDROS. Zeus suggested that the three beauty contestants take their problem to alexandros and ask him to decide. The goddesses descended upon the earth, circled alexandros by turns, and each proceeded upon the earth, circled alexandros by turns, and each proceeded to bribe him so that he would award her the golden apple. Hera promised him power; Athena promised that she would give him the most beautiful woman in the world for his wife. Akexandros awarded the golden apple to Aphrodite. It happened that Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, was already married to menelaos, king of Sparta. With the help of Aphrodite, alexandros abducted Helen of troy. The Greeks (achaians) banded together to restore Helen of Menelaos. Agamemnon, king of mycenaea, was their general, many adventurous Greek heroes joined the Greek

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