STUDENT NUMBER:14237849

UNIQUE CODE:

ASSIGNMENT 3

DUE DATE: 10 APRIL 2023

AHS1511

Greek myths are not only rich in Art but also in stories , one of their best is the Troy. Troy is the name of
the Bronze age City attacked in the Trojan war, a popular story in the mythology of the ancient Greece ,
and the name given to the archaeological site in the north- west of Asia Minor ( now Turkey) which has
revealed a large and prosperous city occupied over Millenia. Other names for include Hisarlik ( Turkish) ,
Ilios ( Greek) and Ilium ( Roman) . Troy is the setting for Homer Iliad in which he recounts the final year
of the Trojan war sometime in the 13th century BCE. The war was in fact a ten- year siege of the city by a
coalition of Greek forces led by king Agamemnon of Mycenae. The purpose of the expedition was to
reclaim Helen, wife of Menelaus , king of Sparta and brother of Agamemnon. Helen was abducted by the
Trojan prince Paris and taken as his prize for choosing Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess in a
competition with Athena and Hera. In this story there are great heroes Achilles and Odysseus who
played a tremendous role , in my essay I will be comparing them and differentiate them from each other
looking at their births and parentage, background, skills, feats , personalities and behavior And also
their relationship with others.

Homer’s Odyssey is an epic poem written in the 8th century BCE which describes the long voyage home
of the Greek hero Odysseus. The mythical king sails back to Ithaca with his men after the Trojan war but
is beset by all kinds of delays and misadventures where he battles monsters and storms but also resist
( eventually) the advances of beautiful women in the knowledge that , all the while , his faithful wife
Penelope is waiting him. For the Greeks , the story occurred sometime in the 13 th century BCE during the
Bronze Age , in a heroic golden Era much better than today’s sorry state of affairs. Odyssey is thrilled
and exasperated with every new setback and wills the hero to finally make it home , he wants to get
back to his city , his family and his throne. In Homer’s Iliad, despite his out- of – the – way kingdom,
Odyssey is already one of the most prominent of the Greek heroes. He displays martial prowess,
courage, and resourcefulness, and above all wisdom and diplomacy where he prevents the Greek army
from disbanding, and in the embassy to Achilles. The Odyssey, written sometime in the 8 th century BCE
( although some scholars would place it in the 6th century BCE) , is an epic poem of more than 12, 000
lines organized by scholars in Alendria into 24 books . The poem covers the voyage of Odysseus, the
mythical king of Ithaca , on his return home from the Trojan war in Antonio.

Achilles is a figure from Greek mythology and literature and star of the Trojan war , leader of the
fearsome Myrmidons , sacker of cities , and slayer of Hector , godlike Achilles was quite simply invincible
in battle. Only the divine intervention of Apollo finally put an end to his long reigh as the greatest Greek
warrion of them all. The bravest , strongest , and even the best looking hero of the all- star Greek army
that went to Troy to recapture Helen , Achilles was also rather too proud and bad tempered for his own
good, and reckless rage would cost both his countrymen and the enemy dear. In the Greek myth
involving Achilles, the hero was born to Peleus and Thetis the Nereid . His mother , in order to make her
son immortal and his body invulnerable, held him over a divine fire or in some accounts, the River Styx.
However , the infant was suspended by his heel and so this part of his body remained mortal flesh and
ultimately, this weakness would lead to Achilles downfall. Thesis, knowing that her son was fated to a
glorious but short life, sought to hide Achilles away from the world , and so the boy was raised on Skyros
with the royal family of lykomedes ,even in some accounts disguised as a girl . Some accounts also credit
the hero’ s education to Chiron , the wise centour who included Hercules in his roll of pupils. By far the
richest source of our knowledge , concerning Achilles escapades is Homer’s account of the Trojan war in
the Iliad . Indeed , one may reasonably argue that Achilles is the star of the piece , and Homer himself
describes his story as a tale of the rage of Achilles . Early on in the book , Odysseus, the Willy king of
Ithaca , is sent on a mansion to find Achilles and persuade him to participate in the coming war between
Greeks and Trojan. Odysseus was a formidable negotiator, and with Achilles’ thirst for glory , the
embassy was successful and Achilles, leaving behind his son Neopotoremus , sailed for Troy . With him
went 50 men of his own private army , the Myrmidons fearsome fighters who had been transformed
from ants by Zeus himself and given to his son Aikons, king of Aegina and father of Peleus . The Achaean
Siege of Troy lasted for ten years , and during this time , Achilles excelled in battle and sacked no less
than 23 cities in the surrounding area . Early on in the conflict , the hero also ambushed the Trojan
prince Troilus as he drank at spring and sacrificed him in honour of Apollo.

Achilles, the ultimate model of excellence of heroic strength in the Iliad , failed to achieve what
Odysseus achieved as the model of excellence of heroic intelligence. So According to me a hero must be
powerful and smart Odysseus takes the cup to be a hero .
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bagnall, R.S. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History . Wiley Blackwell. 2012

Homer . The Odyssey. Penguin classics , 1999.

Hornblower, s. The Oxford classical Dictionary. Oxford University press , 2012.

Carabatea , M. Greek Mythology . Pergamos, Peania , 2007 cline . E.H. The Oxford Handbook of the
Bronze Age Aegean . Oxford University Press ,USA ,2012.

Homer . Iliad .Penguin classic, 1998.