SCRIPT

ILIAD AND ODYSSEY

RED: The Iliad and Odyssey is the foundation of the western literature. Do you agree, Blue?

BLUE: Of course, partner. Who hasn't heard of it, right? It is the very aspect of every pop
culture. Books, TV, movies, and even in schools.

RED: We are taught in grade schools that the Iliad and Odyssey is a product of Homer, a
blind poet who wandered around Greece to tell the story of the Trojan war in exchange for
food & shelter.

BLUE: But is it really the origin? Red, have you ever wondered where the story originally
came from?

RED: Of course, partner, that’s why we are here to debunk the story of the Iliad and Odyssey.
My name is red.

BLUE: And my name is Blue and this is a review of the Iliad and Odyssey by Homer.

RED: So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.

BLUE: 3,000 years ago, there was a Greek warrior named Achilles, the son of Thetis, a sea
goddess, and mortal, King Perilous. The war originated as a quarrel between three goddesses
over a golden apple, or the Apple of Discord. It all happened at the wedding of Peleus and
Thetis, when Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, was not invited. She was turned away
and in retaliation, threw a golden apple amongst the goddesses there “to the fairest.”

RED: When Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena claimed it, Zeus mediated and assigned Hermes to
bring the goddesses to Paris of Troy to settle the debate. They all offered gifts.

BLUE: Paris chose Aphrodite, since she offered Helen, the most beautiful woman in the
world. However, Helen was the wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta. Paris, under the
disguise of a diplomatic mission, went to Sparta to abduct Helen so he could bring her back
to Troy. However, before Helen could look up to see Paris, she was shot with an arrow by
Eros, or Cupid, and fell in love with Paris as soon as she saw him.

RED: The Trojan War started after the elopement abduction of the queen of Sparta, Helen, by
Paris, the Trojan prince. The jilted husband of Helen, Menelaus, persuaded his brother,
Agamemnon, to lead a voyage to find her. Other Greek heroes, such as Ajax, Nestor,
Odysseus, and Achilles, joined Agamemnon, along with a fleet of over a thousand ships from
all over the Hellenic world. This group crossed the Aegean Sea to Asia Minor to lay siege to
Troy and demand Helen’s return by the Trojan king, Priam.
BLUE: The siege lasted for more than ten years. It ended when the Greek armies withdrew
from the camp, leaving behind a large wooden horse outside the gates of Troy. There was
plenty of debate, and unheeded warnings by Cassandra, Priam’s daughter, the Trojans pulled
the wooden horse into their city.

RED: The wooden horse was devised by Odysseus, who was trying to find a way to end the
war for good. He asked that the wooden horse be designed with a hollow belly so that
soldiers could hide inside the horse, which would be wheeled in front of Troy’s city gate.

BLUE: Meanwhile, the Greek fleet sailed away to the nearby island, Tenedos, leaving behind
a single, double agent named Sinon. He convinced the Trojans that the Greeks had withdrawn
from the war and that the Trojan Horse was a gift that would bring them a fortune.

RED: When nighttime came, the horse was opened up by the soldiers inside, and the Greek
warriors climbed out of the horse and destroyed Troy from within the city walls.

BLUE: How about let’s go talk about the theme of the story, shall we?

RED: Iliad focused on love, friendship, fate, freewill, and honor.

BLUE: While Odyssey has three most important themes, hospitality, loyalty, and vengeance.
And that is the story of the Iliad and Odyssey.

RED: Pew, that was tough. What is your favorite part, Partner?

BLUE: My favorite part is how Achilles died.

RED: How did he die?

BLUE: He died because of an arrow shot by the Trojan prince Paris. God Apollo guided
Paris’s arrow directly to the vulnerable spot of Achilles.

RED: Woah, I thought Achilles was blessed by god? I remember reading about how Thetis
bathed Achilles as an infant in the waters of the River Styx, making him all but immortal.

BLUE: Yes, but only the heel by which she held him remained vulnerable.

RED: Oh, interesting. No wonder Iliad and Odyssey are one of the greatest epics of all time.