Myth of the Trojan War

Hello Friend

 

Everyone has heard of the abduction of Queen Helen of Sparta by the Trojan Prince, Paris. But few know how it really began. I wish to take the path less traveled, and explore the myth of The Trojan War.

How it began

It all started with the wedding of the Greek Hero Peleus to the lovely sea nymph, Thetis. All the gods of Olympus were in attendance that day, save one; Eris, the Goddess of Discord, who was disliked by everyone because of her vindictive nature. Furious at being snubbed thus, she stormed into the marriage hall. “Eris comes at last!” she cried triumphantly; “and she comes with a gift!” She threw a golden apple on the table, and stalked off laughing harshly. On the apple it was written, “For the fairest.”Now the three major Goddesses, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, all laid claim to the apple, nearly coming to blows over its possession; unable to reach a conclusion, Hera demanded Zeus settle the matter. Unwilling to favor one Goddess and invite the wrath of the other two, Zeus suddenly had a brainwave.

The Judgement Of Paris And The Abduction

Paris, the youngest prince of Troy, was living as a shepherd, having been discarded by his father as a baby due to a prophecy by his sister that he would cause the downfall of Troy. Zeus, having heard of his fairness in judgement, decided to let him determine who was worthy of the apple. Paris agreed despite his own misgivings. Hera promised him all of Asia Minor and Greece to rule; Athena promised him everlasting wisdom and victory in battle; Aphrodite promised that she would give him the most beautiful woman on earth to be his wife. Taken by her offer, he gave the golden apple to her, inciting the wrath of Hera and Athena.

Shortly after, Paris was recognized by his siblings, Cassandra and Hector, and their father Priam, who planned to welcome his son back. Cassandra reiterated her prophecy, but was ignored. Paris was sent as his father’s international envoy to Sparta. Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, was the wife of king Menelaus. Upon seeing her, Paris was instantly infatuated with her, and he made plans to betray his host and kidnap her. Aphrodite determined to help him seduce the faithful Helen. She gave him the voice and form of Menelaus, and the unsuspecting Helen readily went with him to his ship, leaving her daughter, Hermione. The queen of Sparta realized the deception when it was too late.

Trojan War

Upon realising the deception of Paris, the enraged Menelaus demanded that they get his wife back. His brother Agamemnon wanted to go to war immediately, but Odysseus, the wily king of Ithaca, advised that at first, they ask Priam to return Helen. When Priam insolently refused, it was unanimously agreed upon that war was required. Several warriors answered the call; Diomed; Ajax; Achilles; Teucer and later, Philoctetes and Achilles’ son, Neoptolemus.

The Greek fleet sailed to Troy following the sacrifice of Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigenia. The battle began in full earnest. Even the gods participated; Hera, Athena, Poseidon and Hercules on The Greek side, Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo and Artemis on the Trojan side. There was more bloodshed in this battle than any other; Patroclus, cousin of Achilles was killed by Hector, resulting in his own death at the hands of Achilles, who dishonoured his body until Priam begged for it. Before dying, Hector told Achilles, “Remember me when Paris slays you in the Scaen Gate!” Paris killed Achilles in the Scaen Gate with an arrow to the heel. Achilles’ cruel son, Neoptolemus and a warrior Philoctetes entered the scene. Paris was killed by Philoctetes. In the tenth year, Oddyseus constructed a wooden horse which was large enough to hide thirty Greeks. They massacred the inhabitants of the city and Helen was happily reunited with Menelaus.

I hope that this article helped enhance your knowledge and hope you did not doze while reading it!

Thank you!

The Immortal Works of William Shakespeare

Hello friends! This article is about the intriguing plays and poems of William Shakespeare. Hope you like it!

William Shakespeare was a peerless playwright and poet. His era was that of the Renaissance, a progressive movement in Europe wherein literature was at its peak. However, he was even more progressive than his contemporaries. He is widely renowned for his positive portrayal of women, at a time when women were widely discriminated against. His self assertive and witty Portia, in particular, has garnered critical acclaim. He was also known for his portrayal of “dark women”, that is morally ambiguous women such as Lady Macbeth from “Macbeth”, Cleopatra from “Antony and Cleopatra”, and Gertrude from “Hamlet”.  All of the quotes that several critics have praised and debated  have been coined by Shakespeare, for example Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be?” , Macbeth’s “ Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”, and Julius Caesar’s “Et tu , Brute?” [You too, Brutus?” I now wish to give a brief summary of some of his best plays and poems.

“Hamlet” is one of the most acclaimed tragedies of Shakespeare. Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, is the anti heroic protagonist of the play. He descends into delusional insanity following his father’s death. He suspects his uncle, Claudius, of having caused his father’s death, which is later confirmed by the ghost of his father; he makes up his mind to avenge this. He is indirectly responsible for the deaths of his lover, Ophelia, her father Polonius and brother Laertes, as well as his mother, Queen Gertrude.  He is directly responsible for the death of his uncle, finally avenging his father’s murder. Sadly, he himself dies at the end of the play.

“Macbeth” is another highly praised tragedy. The character of Lady Macbeth [the dark woman of the play] has, in particular, garnered applause. The story is about Macbeth, a nobleman, who is manipulated into killing the king of Scotland, Duncan, by his avaricious wife, Lady Macbeth. However, after doing the deed, both Macbeth and his wife are consumed by guilt; Lady Macbeth starts seeing ghosts and this eventually leads her to commit suicide. Macbeth is eventually killed by Macduff, another nobleman.

Another equally beautiful, but much lesser known tragedy is “Titus Andronicus”. The story is about a Roman senator Titus Andronicus, who is involved in a bitter power struggle with the beautiful, seductive Goth Queen, Tamora [the vamp of the play] , who seeks vengeance for the death of her eldest son. Titus manages to kill her at the end, but is in turn killed by her husband, the emperor Saturninus.

Shakespeare’s comedies

“Twelfth Night” is one of Shakespeare’s best plays. A resourceful young woman, Viola is seperated from her twin brother Sebastian and forced to masquerade as a man. She plays her part well, but falls in love with the duke she is working for, who in turn is in love with a woman called Olivia. Viola finds herself becoming the object of Olivia’s affections. At the end, however, Viola gets the man she wants and is happily reunited with her twin brother, who marries Olivia.

Shakespeare’s poems

“The rape of Lucrece” is a little known poem by Shakespeare. It tells about the rape of a noblewoman, Lucretia, which eventually led to the establishment of the Roman Republic.

“Venus and Adonis” tells about the unrequited love of the goddess, Venus, for the most beautiful man on earth, Adonis, and her grief when he is killed by a boar.

There are several other plays of Shakespeare, such as Cymbeline, which tells about  a young woman, Imogen, who is falsely accused of infidelity and forced to cross dress as a man, “Fidele”. She proves her innocence later.

“Merchant of Venice”, which is a play about how an intelligent woman, Portia, saves Antonio, a merchant from the clutches of Shylock a greedy Jew who wants to kill him.

“Julius Caesar”, which is about the assassination of Julius Caesar by fifty or so senators. The famous quote “et tu, Brute?” is from this play. The Ghost of Caesar then avenges himself.

“Comedy of Errors” in which twin brothers, Antipholus and Antipholus get separated at birth and meet after thirty years, and are mistaken for each other. This play is weaved so beautifully that you get pulled into the vortex.

“Othello”, which tells about how a Moorish officer, Othello, blinded by jealousy due to the machinations of a man, Iago, kills his wife Desdemona and then himself.

“Romeo and Juliet”, a love story about two star crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, who eventually die as a sign of their great love for each other.

“Troilus and Cressida”, this story is about how a Trojan prince, Troilus, was in love with Cressida. But the girl fell in love with the Greek Diomed.

There is much more to tell about Shakespeare; but that is a story for another day.

Thank you!

Some Interesting Facts About Alexander The Great

Hi Friend,

After a long hiatus, I am back to my blog writing. This is an interesting article on Alexander The Great.

Is there anyone who has not heard of Alexander The Great, king of almost the entire world? I don’t think so. The sound of his name alone raises mixed feelings of trepidation and awe in the hearts of people from almost every remote corner of the earth. Even Ozymandias, business tycoon from the 1986 DC comics’ miniseries “Watchmen”, idolized him until turning towards Ramses2, like a turncoat. Anyway, this digression is useless; we shall discuss more about Alexander below. I wish to raise the curtains of time and glorify the man who is an idol for many.

Alexander was an excellent orator, a shrewd leader, a liberal thinker, a puissant warrior and, most of all, a chivalric man who never harmed women captives. He could command the love and respect of his men even in his later years, when he had started showing signs of insanity. He was the son of Philip of Macedon and his wife, fiery princess Olympias of Epirus.  who had a great influence over Alexander.

Alexander’s relationship with his father was complicated. Philip was always too busy for his son, but Olympias was an excellent mother, instilling in him virtues of honesty, chivalry and fair play. Alexander once complained, “Father will conquer the entire world and leave nothing great for me to do.” On one occasion, a man brought a beautiful horse for Philip, who was crazy about horses. However, the horse was nervous and threw off all those who tried to mount him. Alexander said he could bring the horse under control. Philip was incredulous, but agreed to give it a try. Alexander noticed the horse was afraid of its shadow and gently led it into the sunshine, whispering to it to calm it. Once he was on its back, it was as gentle as a sheep. He named the horse Bucephalus and it became his faithful companion, accompanying him as far as India, where it died.

At age 18, he was appointed his father’s international envoy. He was sent to India, which he conquered after a lot of struggles. He clashed with the free spirited and freedom loving king Porus [Paurav] but eventually the two became friends. It was during this time that he scaled the inaccessible rock Varana, which was so high that not even the birds could fly over it.

Alexander’s dream of including the Indian subcontinent in his vast empire was never realized, as some lands like the Punjab were too far away to be governed efficiently. Whilst returning from India, he was shot by an arrow and suffered from a torn lung. He still insisted on riding his horse. However, his soldiers forced him to dismount and the cavalry carried him; the infantry got jealous and said they wanted to carry him too. Thus they took turns carrying him!

After a while, Philip died at his wedding to Cleopatra of Macedonia. This incident left an indelible stain on Alexander’s character. His complacence in bringing his father’s assassins to justice raised the whispers that he had killed his father, as the two had had a heated argument regarding Philip’s infidelity just before the incident. To quieten the rumors, Alexander executed the assassins [presumably sent by the despotic “god king” Persian Xerses] and also his stepmother Cleopatra, to please the vengeful Olympias.

Alexander re-embarked on his aggressive foreign policy, with the ultimatum of submit or die. He clashed with, and defeated, Darius of Persia. Unlike the other Macedonians, who considered the non Greek peoples barbaric, Alexander gave all the high posts to Persians and did not take even a single Greek wife.

Alexander considered himself to be a descendant of Hercules. When he heard about the Gordian knot, which could supposedly only be untied by a descendant of Zeus, he cut it with his sword.

Alexander’s mysterious demise has caused many great historians to speculate about it. He died at Babylonia, at the palace of The Hanging Gardens, only a few days away from his thirty third birthday. He had started displaying signs of insanity and paranoia, seeing enemies in every corner. Some say he was killed during an argument with one of his trusted friends. Others, that he was killed by drinking a huge beaker of unmixed wine in one gulp.

Even though Alexander is dead, he lives on in the minds of people he liberated, and those who idolize him, like me.

I hope you enjoyed reading my article and hope you look up to Alexander the way I do.

Thank you.