Dateline Troy Part 2

Dateline Troy Part 2 Journal for Latin 3 5/30/2007

What I Learned

The Greeks have not even gotten to Troy yet at the start of the second half of the packet. They are still stranded by the gods. In order to appease the gods, Agamemnon is forced to sacrifice his daughter.

When the Greeks finally land on Troy, they try diplomacy to solve the problem, but it doesn’t work. The Greeks started to attack, but they met fierce resistance from the high walls of Troy.

However, they did attack and capture many of Troy’s neighbors. This started a quarrel over who would get what spoils. Odysseus was the first, as he falsely accused Palamedes of treason. His father, King Nauplius, was not happy, and told Greek leader’s wives that their husbands were cheating on them.

Agamemnon thought that because he was the high king, he was entitled to a larger portion of the spoils of war. He wanted to have Achilles’s girlfriend. Achilles reluctantly agreed after being advised by the gods, but was angry and would not fight anymore.

A fight was announced between Menelaus and Paris. The gods intervened and broke the truce which had developed.

Ajax and Hector then fought. The fight lasted for several hours with no victor. Meanwhile the Trojans burned the Greek’s ships, and Zeus showed his favor towards the Trojans.

Patroclus dressed up as Achilles and tried to kill Hector, but was himself killed. This got Achilles back in the killing spirit and he avenged Patroclus’ death by killing Hector and dragging his body around Troy.

At the funeral, Achilles falls in love with the Trojan Polyexna. He shares his secrete about his vulnerable spot with her, and she has him killed.

This angers Ajax, who is struck mad and kills himself. This loss angers the Greeks who are getting tired of the war. Odysseus thinks of a plan to hide in a horse. The Trojans fall for it and the Greeks sack and level their city while they are drunk.

The Greeks sail home (some taking a while) only to find that their wives have moved on and are looking to kill them.

Personal Response

I find it interesting that most of the stories related to this war are about the journey. Half of this packet told the story of the Greek’s struggles to even arrive at Troy. And we all know of Odysseus’ struggles to return home. There is a saying, “half the fun of a journey is getting there.” The Greeks didn’t seems to have much fun, so it’s more like “half of the struggle is getting there (and back)”

There were some parts of the story I never heard before in this retelling. As I said before – it’s an interesting collection of the different version of the myth. For example, I never knew how Paris found out about Achilles’ weakness.