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Zeus and the god of the sea Poseidon argued about the love of Thetis. The goddess of justice Themis, intervening in the dispute, predicted that Thetis would have a son who would surpass the strength of his own father. To save themselves from possible danger, the gods decided to marry Thetis to a mere mortal Peleus. At the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, which took place in the cave of the centaur Chiron, all the Olympic gods gathered and generously presented the newlyweds with gifts. At the same time, the goddess of discord Eris was not invited to the feast. Stung by such neglect, she decided to punish the gods in a very sophisticated way. She threw a golden apple on the banquet table with the inscription: "To the most beautiful." Since then, it has become known as the "apple of discord." Three goddesses began to argue about who it should belong to: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, who were by no means devoid of female vanity. Even Zeus refused to comment on this. He sent Hermes to the vicinity of Troy, where among the shepherds was the handsome Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam. According to the prophecy, Paris, the son of Priam and Hecuba, was destined to become the culprit of the death of Troy. To avoid this fate, Priam ordered Paris to be carried to the thicket and left there. But the son of Priam did not die, he was raised by a bear. When Hermes turned to Paris to decide the fate of the apple, he was embarrassed. Each of the goddesses urged the young man to award it to her. At the same time, they promised him enviable gifts: Hera promised power over all of Asia; Athena - military glory and victory; Aphrodite - the most beautiful of mortal women to wife. After a brief hesitation, Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite. Since then he became the favorite of Aphrodite, and Hera and Athena, as we shall see, came to hate Troy and the Trojans.
This beautiful woman was Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus. Soon Paris came to visit him. Menelaus welcomed him cordially, arranged a feast in his honor. Seeing Helen, Paris fell in love with her. But even she was struck by a beautiful stranger, dressed in luxurious oriental clothes. Leaving for Crete, Menelaus asked her to take care of the guest. But Paris repaid him with black ingratitude. Taking advantage of her husband's absence, he took Elena away and at the same time seized his treasures.
Menelaus regarded this not only as a personal insult, but also as a blow to all of Greece. After all, Elena was her national treasure. He gathers the leaders of the Greek tribes and goes on a campaign against Ilion ( ancient name Troy, whence comes the name of the poem). The commander-in-chief of the army is appointed the brother of Menelaus Agamemnon, king of Argos, belonging to the Atrid family, over whom, as we will see later, a curse weighs. In the ranks of the Achaean (Greek) warriors is Odysseus, the king of the island of Ithaca, the courageous warrior Diomedes, the brave Ajax, the owner of magic arrows Philoctetes.
The most courageous was the already mentioned young Achilles, the king of the Myrmidon tribe. At birth, he was determined to have a long and happy life, if he does not take part in the war, and a short, brilliant one if he begins to fight. Hoping to outwit fate, Thetis ransomed Achilles in the waters of the underground river Styx, making his body invulnerable. Only his heel, by which she held the baby, was unprotected; hence the expression "Achilles' heel". Mother tried to hide Achilles, not to give him the opportunity to take part in the campaign. She hid him by dressing him in women's clothes, but Achilles gave himself away. He became part of the Greek army, which, according to legend, numbered more than 100 thousand people and more than a thousand ships. The army sailed from the harbor of Avdida and landed near Troy. The demand for the extradition of Helen in exchange for lifting the siege was rejected. The war dragged on. The most important events took place in the last, tenth year.
Troy (tur. Truva), the second name is Ilion, an ancient city in the north-west of Asia Minor, off the coast of the Aegean Sea. It was known thanks to the ancient Greek epics, discovered in 1870. during the excavations by G. Schliemann of the Hisarlyk hill. The city gained particular fame thanks to the myths about the Trojan War and the events described in Homer's poem "The Iliad", according to which the 10-year war of the coalition of the Achaean kings led by Agamemnon - the king of Mycenae against Troy ended with the fall of the city - fortress. The people who inhabited Troy are called Tevkras in ancient Greek sources.
Troy is a mythical city. For many centuries, the reality of the existence of Troy was questioned - it existed like a city from a legend. But there have always been people looking for reflection in the events of the Iliad. real history. However, serious attempts to find ancient city were undertaken only in the 19th century. In 1870, Heinrich Schliemann, during excavations of the mountain village of Gissrlyk on the Turkish coast, stumbled upon the ruins of an ancient city. Continuing to excavate to a depth of 15 meters, he unearthed treasures belonging to an ancient and highly developed civilization. These were the ruins of the famous Homeric Troy. It is worth noting that Schliemann unearthed a city that was built earlier (1000 years before the Trojan War), further research showed that he simply went through Troy, since it was erected on the ruins of the ancient city he found.
Troy and Atlantis are one and the same. In 1992, Eberhard Zangger suggested that Troy and Atlantis are the same city. He built a theory on the similarity of the description of cities in ancient legends. However, the spread and scientific basis this assumption was not. This hypothesis has not received wide support.
Trojan War flared up because of a woman. According to Greek legend, the Trojan War broke out because one of the 50 sons of King Priam, Paris, kidnapped the beautiful Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus. The Greeks sent troops precisely to take Helen. However, according to some historians, this is most likely only the pinnacle of the conflict, that is, the last straw that gave rise to the war. Prior to this, presumably, there were many trade wars between the Greeks and the Trojans, who controlled trade along the entire coast in the area of the Dardanelles.
Troy held out for 10 years thanks to outside help. According to available sources, the army of Agamemnon encamped in front of the city on the seashore, without besieging the fortress from all sides. The king of Troy, Priam, took advantage of this, establishing close ties with Caria, Lydia and other regions of Asia Minor, which during the war provided him with assistance. As a result, the war turned out to be very protracted.
The Trojan horse really existed. This is one of the few episodes of that war that has not found its archaeological and historical confirmation. Moreover, there is not a word about the horse in the Iliad, but Homer describes it in detail in his Odyssey. And all the events associated with the Trojan horse and their details were described by the Roman poet Virgil in the Aeneid, 1st century BC. BC, i.e. almost 1200 years later. Some historians suggest that the Trojan horse meant some kind of weapon, such as a battering ram. Others claim that this is how Homer called the Greek sea vessels. It is possible that there was no horse at all, and Homer used it in his poem as a symbol of the death of gullible Trojans.
The Trojan horse got into the city thanks to a cunning trick of the Greeks. According to legend, the Greeks spread a rumor that there was a prophecy that if a wooden horse were to stand within the walls of Troy, he could forever protect the city from Greek raids. Most of the inhabitants of the city were inclined to believe that the horse should be brought into the city. However, there were also opponents. The priest Laocoön offered to burn the horse or throw it off a cliff. He even threw a spear at the horse, and everyone heard that the horse was empty inside. Soon a Greek named Sinon was captured, telling Priam that the Greeks built a horse in honor of the goddess Athena in order to atone for many years of bloodshed. This was followed by tragic events: during the sacrifice to the god of the sea Poseidon, two huge snakes swam out of the water, which strangled the priest and his sons. Seeing this as an omen from above, the Trojans decided to roll the horse into the city. It was so huge that it did not fit through the gate and had to dismantle part of the wall.
The Trojan horse caused the fall of Troy. According to legend, on the night after the horse entered the city, Sinon released from its womb the warriors hiding inside, who quickly killed the guards and flung open the city gates. The city, which fell asleep after violent festivities, did not even put up strong resistance. Several Trojan warriors, led by Aeneas, tried to save the palace and the king. According to ancient Greek myths, the palace fell thanks to the giant Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, who broke the front door with his ax and killed King Priam.
Heinrich Schliemann, who found Troy and accumulated a huge fortune during his life, was born into a poor family. He was born in 1822 in the family of a country pastor. His homeland is a small German village near the Polish border. His mother died when he was 9 years old. The father was a harsh, unpredictable and self-centered man who loved women very much (for which he lost his position). At the age of 14, Heinrich was separated from his first love, the girl Minna. When Heinrich was 25 years old and already becoming a famous businessman, he finally asked in a letter for Minna's hand in marriage with her father. The answer was that Minna had married a farmer. This message completely broke his heart. Passion to Ancient Greece appeared in the boy’s soul thanks to his father, who read the Iliad to children in the evenings, and then presented his son with a book on world history with illustrations. In 1840, after a long and exhausting job in a grocery store that nearly cost him his life, Heinrich boards a ship bound for Venezuela. On December 12, 1841, the ship fell into a storm and Schliemann was thrown into the icy sea, a barrel saved him from death, by which he held on until he was rescued. During his life, he learned 17 languages and made a large fortune. However, the peak of his career was the excavation of the great Troy.
Heinrich Schliemann undertook the excavations of Troy because of the disorder in his personal life. This is not out of the question. In 1852, Heinrich Schliemann, who had a lot of business in St. Petersburg, married Ekaterina Lyzhina. This marriage lasted 17 years and turned out to be absolutely empty for him. Being a passionate man by nature, he married a sensible woman who was cold to him. As a result, he was almost on the verge of insanity. The unhappy couple had three children, but this did not bring happiness to Schliemann. Out of desperation, he made another fortune selling indigo paint. In addition, he came to grips with the Greek language. He had an inexorable desire for travel. In 1868 he decided to go to Ithaca and organize his first expedition. Then he went towards Constantinople, to those places where, according to the Iliad, Troy was located and began excavations on the hill of Gissarlik. This was his first step on the way to the great Troy.
Schliemann tried on the jewelry of Helen of Troy for his second wife. Heinrich was introduced to his second wife by his old friend, it was the 17-year-old Greek Sophia Engastromenos. According to some sources, when in 1873 Schliemann found the famous treasures of Troy (10,000 gold objects), he brought them upstairs with the help of his second wife, whom he loved immensely. Among them were two luxurious diadems. Putting one of them on Sophia's head, Heinrich said: "The jewel worn by Helen of Troy now adorns my wife." In one of the photographs, she is indeed depicted in magnificent ancient jewelry.
Trojan treasures were lost. There is a deal of truth in it. The Schliemanns donated 12,000 items to the Berlin Museum. During World War II, this priceless treasure was moved to a bunker from which it disappeared in 1945. Part of the treasury unexpectedly showed up in 1993 in Moscow. There is still no answer to the question: "Was it really the gold of Troy?".
During excavations at Hissarlik, several layers-cities of different times were discovered. Archaeologists have identified 9 layers that refer to different years. They are all called Troy. Only two towers remain from Troy I. Troy II was explored by Schliemann, considering it to be the true Troy of King Priam. Troy VI was the highest point of the development of the city, its inhabitants traded profitably with the Greeks, but this city seems to have been badly damaged by an earthquake. Modern scientists believe that the found Troy VII is the true city of Homer's Iliad. According to historians, the city fell in 1184 BC, being burned by the Greeks. Troy VIII was restored by the Greek colonists, who also erected the Temple of Athena here. Troy IX belongs to the Roman Empire. I would like to note that the excavations have shown that Homeric descriptions very accurately describe the city.
Apple of discord
Once on Mount Pelion, the wedding of the hero Peleus, the grandson of Zeus and the pupil of the centaur Chiron, and his mighty lover, the sea queen Thetis, the future parents of Achilles, were celebrated. All the divine patrons of young people gathered for the wedding feast, only the hot-tempered goddess of discord Eris was not invited. And she figured out how to avenge the offense. Taking a golden apple from the gardens of the Hesperides, on which only one word was written - "To the most beautiful", she threw it on the banquet table. But which of the goddesses has the right to the title "Most Beautiful"? Hera, Athena and Aphrodite grabbed the apple at the same time and got into an argument. Seeing what kind of discord began among the goddesses, Zeus ordered Hermes to fly to Mount Ida, to find there the young man Paris, the son of the king of the eastern city of Troy, Priam, who, according to the Oracle, should resolve this dispute.
The goddesses began to tempt Paris: Hera with power, Athena with military victories and honors, but the goddess of love Aphrodite received the golden apple, who promised him the most beautiful woman in the world, Elena the Beautiful, daughter of Leda and Zeus, as his wife. With her help, Paris treacherously kidnapped Helen from own house where he was hospitably received by King Menelaus of Sparta. Under the cover of night on his ship, Paris took her to Troy, because the frivolous Helen agreed to a new marriage with the handsome young man she fell in love with. Menelaus could not stand the insult and raised the Greeks to war with Troy.
Star Atlas "Uranography" by Jan Hevelius, 1690
Sacrifice of Agamemnon
The Mycenaean king Menelaus asked his brother Agamemnon to lead the Greek army, which was to sail to Asia Minor to lay siege to Troy. On the eve of the departure, Agamemnon, as was customary in those days, wanted to propitiate the heavenly kings: bring them rich gifts and make a sacrifice. He decided to put his young daughter Iphigenia on the altar. Her unfortunate mother, Queen Clytemnestra, a priestess of the goddess Artemis, rushed to the heavenly patroness with tears. Artemis did not allow infanticide to take place. She replaced the girl on the altar with a doe, and moved Iphigenia to distant Taurida - Crimea. After many years of living in a foreign land, her brother Orestes found her there. And in the Crimea, in the town of Kastropol, located near the sea, there is a rock that resembles a figure of a girl standing by the water and peering into the distance, who is called Iphigenia. So the constellation Altar appeared in the sky.
Siege of Troy
So, the city of Troy in Asia Minor became a bone of contention between its inhabitants and the Greeks who sailed here for the wife of Tsar Menelaus, the beautiful Helen, who was kidnapped at the instigation of the goddess of love Aphrodite by young Paris. The apple of discord initially separated the goddesses, and in this war Aphrodite herself took the side of the Trojans, and Athena began to help the Danaans, that is, the Greeks, in every possible way. However, all the gods split into two camps, trying to help their favorites. A painful war began for both sides, since the gods were equally strong. It lasted for many years. All its participants fought courageously and accomplished many feats.
Troy was called Ilion in ancient times, hence the name "Iliad" of Homer's epic poem, which describes the protracted siege of the city and its death, as well as the relationship of the gods who participated in this war on an equal basis with people. How the Greeks defeated the Trojans is told in a myth that is associated with the constellation Ophiuchus, dedicated to the Trojan healer, disciple of the god of medicine Asclepius, Laocoön.
Odysseus' cunning plan
Odysseus, who took part in the siege of Troy, wishing to end the war as soon as possible, suggested that the Greeks resort to military cunning. His plan was this: to build a giant horse, in which a detachment of the bravest warriors would hide. Then the Greeks will remove the camp so that the Trojans believe: the Greeks went on ships to the open sea. The Trojans, to celebrate, will not notice the catch: they will bring the horse into the city as a trophy, considering that the danger has passed.
One morning, the Trojan guards on the fortress walls did not find the enemies who had been besieging their well-fortified city for so long. The camp was empty, and in the distance the masts of sailing ships could be seen in the sea. The joy of the Trojans knew no bounds: all the gates of Troy were open, and the people, exhausted by the long siege, poured out of the city. In the Greek camp, the coals of night fires were still smoking, and in the middle there was a huge wooden horse, which, due to its gigantic size, as the Trojans thought, did not fit on the galley and was left. The shepherds brought the Greek Sinon, who had just been caught, and he assured the Trojans that the horse was intended as a gift to the goddess Athena and could become a good protection for the Trojans if they honored her. The horse was brought into the city.
But then the Trojan doctor, the priest of the god Apollo Laocoön, stepped forward. “Do not believe the Danes who bring gifts!” - he exclaimed prophetically and began to convince his fellow citizens that the Greeks were insidious and it was unlikely that they had sailed away completely, and the horse was a trap. To prove his case, he threw a spear at the horse. The blow was so strong that the horse shuddered, and weapons clanged distinctly in its depths. But Athena was on the alert; she clouded the mind of the Trojans, and they did not hear the suspicious rattling and did not believe their priest. The horse was brought into the city and placed in the center near the Acropolis. And suddenly two huge snakes appeared from the sea, which attacked the young children of Laocoön, who were frolicking on the shore. The unfortunate father hastened to help the children and powerful hands embraced the writhing monsters. A terrible fight ensued. It was Athena's revenge: the snakes strangled Laocoön and slowly killed him with their poison.
Meanwhile, the prophetic Cassandra, the daughter of King Priam of Troy, saw the horse on the forum. She was horrified at the sight of this monster and began to convince the Trojans to immediately take him to the field, because she foresaw that he would bring death to the city. But at the behest of the gods, people did not believe the predictions of Cassandra, considering her not a seer, but a madwoman. At night, Sinon opened a secret door in the belly of the horse and released the Greek soldiers outside. Fires instantly started in the city. Odysseus saw their fire from the mast of the ship and ordered all the galleys to urgently sail to the shore. The Greeks did not know mercy: all the inhabitants of Troy were killed, King Priam himself and all his sons, including Paris, perished. Troy was burned to the ground.
Thanks to Homer's poem, the memory of this rich city remained. Currently, archaeologists have unearthed Troy in Turkey. By the way, the insidious beauty Elena and her husband sailed to Greece. And two constellations are burning in the sky - Ophiuchus and Serpent.
The biggest armed clash that shocked the whole world of that distant era was the campaign of the Achaeans against Troy. This war lasted for ten years, which claimed the lives of many heroes. The Greeks, Achaeans and the Ashes of continental Greece besieged and defeated the Trojans, i.e. Greeks of Asia Minor. The myth notes that the collision was due to the eyes of the beautiful Helena. However, this war was not entirely a myth, as archaeological excavations have proven, which brought to light everything that Homer wrote about in the Iliad. Today, everyone knows that the Achaeans really attacked rich and prosperous Troy with all their might. They were strong and brave. Why don't they appropriate all the wealth of Troy, bring their beautiful women to them and take possession of all that beauty that was in Ilion. Contacts and communications have been settled. The Trojans were the same people of the same tribe as they are, and even relatives. The Achaean army counted 100,000-135,000 soldiers, and the fleet 1,186 ships. All the rulers of the Achaeans and Aeolians took part in the campaign. The Trojans, on the other hand, had an incredibly fortified walled city and the backing of their allies. These were neighboring peoples, which included Greek and other tribes: Lycias, Mises, Kikons, Paphlagons, Phrygians, Mayons, Thracians, Assyrians, even Ethiopians and Egyptians. In this war, the famous Achilles, the main Iliad, Agamemnon, Odysseus, Hector, Pares and others proved themselves.
Ancient historians believe that the cause and cause of the Trojan War was the fact that after the arrival of the Dorians in Greece in 1100 BC, the problem of survival arose and people began to look for new lands for settlement.
The myth of this war gives us the opportunity to learn a number of facts, which we will tell about. It all started with one wedding feast. They celebrated the wedding of Peleus with Thetis.
The wedding of Peleus with Thetis
Peleus was the king of Phthia, the chief city of the Mermidons. One old myth says that the Mermidons, whose king was Peleus and his father Aeacus, were once ants and the gods turned them into people in order to create their own kingdom. Peleus married Thetis, goddess of the sea. Their wedding was attended by all the gods who brought rich gifts. Only one goddess was not invited: Eris, goddess of discord and quarrel. The angry goddess, in order to take revenge, threw a golden apple at the right moment where Athena, Hera and Aphrodite stood. They say that this apple was from the distant gardens of the Hesperides, and only one word was written on it: "To the most beautiful." Naturally, a dispute arose between the three goddesses. Each of them wanted to get this apple. This dispute turned out to be fatal for the fate of the two states. He caused the catastrophe of Troy and the Mycenaean state, which at that time were at the peak of their prosperity.
Far beyond Helispond, in the vicinity of Troy, on a slope high mountain, at that time prince Paris, the youngest son of Priam, was tending his flocks. Zeus ordered Hermes to take an apple and take the three goddesses to the prince and let Paris decide which of the goddesses the apple should belong to, which of them is the most beautiful. The goddesses did not go empty-handed to the son of Priam: Hera offered him all power over Asia and Europe, Athena-heroism and victory, and Aphrodite-love in the person of the most beautiful Elena.
Paris never saw Helen. But the glory of her beauty was so great that the young man, having heard the promise of Aphrodite, without hesitation gave the apple to her. And Hera and Athena hated Paris, Troy and all the Trojans. Aphrodite instructed Paris on how to capture the beautiful Helen. However, Peleus and Thetis had a son, Achilles main character Trojan War. Thetis wanted her son to become immortal. Therefore, she dipped him into the holy waters of the Styx, holding him by the heel. Since then, the expression "Achilles' heel" has remained, meaning the most vulnerable person. Peleus gave his son to be raised by the Centaur Chiron, who taught the young man hunting for wild animals, weapons, music, painting, and all the knowledge that existed at that time.
Trojans
The real Troy was located on the hill of Ida. This city was protected by a wall built by Poseidon and Apollo for King Laomedon. At the time when the Achaeans were going on a campaign against Troy, the son of Laomedont Priam ruled in it, whose wife was Hekaba. Priam was originally called Podark (=one with strong legs). His sister was Hesione, who married Telamon of Salamis. They had Tefkr and Eant, who took part in the Trojan War. The Achaeans and the Trojans apparently belonged not only to the same tribe (the same language, religion, customs), but were often members of the same clan. In the fortress city of Troy, Priam created such a royal family that is not found anywhere else. He had fifty sons besides daughters. The eldest son was Hector, then Paris, Diiphobes, Helen, Polydorus, Troilus and others. Of his daughters, the most famous were Creusa, Laodice, Polyxena, and Cassandra, who had the gift of prophecy.
Paris and Helen Menelaus
Earlier we noted that Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, married Clytemnestra, and Menelaus married her sister Elena. Menelaus ruled over Sparta, where he received Paris and his entourage, who brought rich gifts to the king. A rich meal was prepared in honor of the guests. Paris, seeing Elena for the first time, full of delight, he looked at her, admiring her unearthly beauty. On the tenth day of the guests' stay, Menelaus had to go to Crete. Paris immediately decided to take advantage of the departure of the king. With the help of Aphrodite, he persuaded with tender speeches to leave the house and her husband, and flee with him to Troy. The lovers secretly left Sparta, arrived in Troy, where they celebrated their wedding. Meanwhile, the messenger of the gods, Irida, arrived in Crete and informed the king about the misfortune that had befallen him.
Achaean campaign against Troy
As soon as Menelaus found out about the abduction of Helen, he returned to Mycenae to his brother Agamemnon. Together with the wise Nestor, king of Pylos, they decided to gather all the heroes of Greece, and with them go to war against Troy, as it was a matter of honor. The traitor had to be punished so that no one else would dare to violate the holy laws of hospitality. What Paris did was to be taken as a personal affront to every hero of Greece. Moira and oracle divination also played a role: after all, everyone knew their future fate and not with great willingness
decided to go on a hike. Odysseus, that many-talented and brave son of Laertes and king of Ithaca, for example, knew that he would not see his family for twenty whole years. And he had recently married the beautiful Penelope, and his son Telemachus was born. When Odysseus learned that Agamemnon and Palamedes had arrived in Ithaca, he, pretending to be insane, began to plow his lands, harnessing an ox and a donkey to the plow, and sow the field. But Palamedes understood the trick of Odysseus; he took little Telemachus and laid him on the furrow along which Odysseus walked. Odysseus stopped and had to leave his native Ithaca, his wife and son, and go for many years under the walls of Troy. But the greatest personality of this war, the bravest Achilles, was hidden on the island of Skyros, in the palace of King Lycomedes, by his mother, who knew what fate threatened her son. There lived a hero dressed in women's clothes among his cousins. But the cunning Odysseus exposed Achilles. He went to the palace of Lakomed and laid out his gifts in front of the princesses: luxurious fabrics, necklaces, earrings, bedspreads, and between them he put a spear and a shield. At a time when the princesses were examining jewelry and fabrics (and Achilles, who was standing nearby, looked only at weapons), suddenly war cries were heard near the palace, trumpets sounded. Achilles, forgetting everything, grabbed a weapon and rushed towards the “enemies”. Thus Odysseus recognized him. They entered the military units in Aulis. It took ten years for the bravest and most skillful masters of the military art to gather in the harbor of Aulis. Among them were the king of Pylos, the wise Nestor, Diomedes the hero of Aetolia, Ajax from Locris, Id, the king of Crete Idomeneo and others.
Sacrifice of Iphigenia - The beginning of the campaign.
All the ships gathered in Aulis to go from there to the shores of Troy. But, unfortunately, the ships could not sail, as there was no favorable wind. Finally, the soothsayer Kalkh said that the reason for this was the anger of the goddess Artemis at Agamemnon for killing her sacred doe. Only then will the goddess have mercy on the Greeks when the eldest daughter of Agamemnon, the beautiful Iphigenia, is sacrificed to her. Agamemnon was categorically against it. But the army rebelled and, according to the plan of Odysseus, they sent a messenger to Mycenae, who was supposed to tell Clytemnestra the command of Agamemnon to bring Iphigenia to Aulis: Achilles allegedly wants to be engaged to Iphigenia. Clytemnestra soon arrived with her daughter in Aulis. And there everything was ready for the ritual. For the sake of the common cause, Iphigenia went under the sacrificial knife. But when the knife rose to strike the maiden, the goddess Artemis abducted her and transferred her to distant Taurida (modern Crimea), where the beautiful daughter of Agamemnon became the priestess of the goddess.
And instead of Iphigenia at the altar, a doe fought in death throes, slain by the knife of Calchas. The gods showed their favor to the heroes. The wars rejoiced. A tailwind began to blow
Elena is the best beautiful woman those distant times. Every prince wanted to call her his wife. Her father Tyndareus did not dare which of the heroes who came to him to give her as his wife. Finally, the cunning Odysseus advised Tyndrareus: let Elena herself decide whose wife she wants to become. And let all the suitors take an oath that they will never take up arms against the one whom Elena chooses as her husband, but will help him with all their might if he calls them for help in case of trouble. This oath was used by the Atrids in order to call on all the Gers to march on Troy. The beautiful Helena was the subject of Euripides' tragedy Helena, which he wrote in 412 BC. The Italian neoclassical sculptor Antonio Kanava created the "Helen of Troy" monument.
Iphigenia remained to serve in the temple of the goddess Artemis in Tauris until her brother Orestes arrived there with his friend Pelade. The oracle of Delphi instructed Orestis to bring to Greece a monument to the goddess Artemis, which was located in Tauris. After a fatal misunderstanding, Iphigenia almost sacrificed her own brother. Finally they recognized each other and returned to Greece, along with the monument. The myth of Iphigenia is main theme in the tragedies of Aeschylus, Euripides, Rakin, Goethe, as well as the chorodramas "Iphigenia in Aulis" and "Iphigenia in Tauris" by Gluck.
Trojan War-Iliad
The Achaeans, faithful to their religion and traditions, made sacrifices before the start of the Trojan War so that the gods would show their signs and the results of the war. During the ritual, suddenly a snake crawled out from under the altar, red as blood. Wriggling its body in rings, the serpent crawled onto the plane tree, which was nearby. There, almost at the very top, there was a nest with eight small sparrows and a female. The snake swallowed all the chicks in turn, and at the end the female. After that, Zeus turned him to stone. The soothsayer Calchas revealed to the heroes the meaning of what had happened: they would have to besiege Troy for nine years, and only in the tenth year would they take the great city.
Troy or Il was the place of great battles, where thousands of brave heroes died the death of brave. This was the place patronized by Apollo with his golden bow. Among the Achaeans, the first to die was the hero Protesilaus, who was buried. The goddesses Athena and Hera helped the army of the Achaeans. In Homer's epic Iliad, many events are noted that occurred during the Trojan War. The main character in the most important of them is Achilles, whose fame of exploits has reached very far.
Achilles - Quarrel with Agamemnon.
Achilles' fate was to die in Troy, so his mother initially did not want him to take part in the war. But Agamemnon, who was the commander-in-chief of all the troops, did everything possible to ensure that Achilles with his mermidons went to Troy. During the nine years of the siege of Troy, Achilles ravaged and conquered many cities that were in the neighborhood. Many trophies and many women were taken to the camp of the Greeks. Achilles gave many worthy women to Agamemnon. For himself, he kept the slave Diomedes. But in the first place for the hero was the beautiful Briseis, the daughter of Briseus, whom he wanted to marry when he returned to Phthia. Briseis, as well as Chryseis, were taken prisoner after the capture of Thebes (the city of the same name in Mysia). The beautiful daughter of the priest of Apollo Chris, Chryseis was as beautiful as Briseis and had the same noble origin. The Greeks promised to give it to Agamemnon.
On the island of Chris there was a temple of Apollo, where the priest Chris served. There he learned that his daughter had been taken prisoner. Chris put on his holy clothes, arrived in the camp of the Greeks and begged them to return his daughter Chryseis to him for a rich ransom. But Agamemnon did not want to lose Chryseis, he insulted the old priest and kicked him out, and as a result aroused the wrath of Apollo.
Arrows of the silver-armed Apollo rained down in a hail into the camp of the Greeks, bringing death with them. The terrible pestilence struck first the animals, and then the warriors. Then a quarrel began between Achilles and Agamemnon. Achilles tried to convince Agamemnon to release Chryseis in order to drive away the deadly pestilence. The commander-in-chief of the Greeks was forced to give the slave to his father, but for this he stole Briseis from Achilles, as he believed that he should have been compensated for the damage.
Achilles said many angry words to Agamemnon after a complete injustice. The great son of Peleus and his brave Myrmidons left for their tents. On the other hand, the Trojans, seeing the discord among the Greek army, began to win in subsequent battles.
Revenge of Achilles
Thetis, of course, always stood on the side of her son Achilles, so she ascended to Olympus, there she fell at the feet of Zeus, hugged his knees with her left hand and with a prayer extended her right hand to him, touching his beard (this was a sign of respect, submission and love) . She asked the Thunderer to give joy to her son, whose life was so short. She begged to make Zeus of the Achaeans and Agamemnon understand what Achilles meant and that Agamemnon would regret for the insult that he inflicted on her son. Indeed, the besiegers were not given more help from the gods, and the silver-armed Apollo, with the arrows of Hector and other Trojans, simply spread death among the opponents.
In vain Patroclus asked his close friend Achilles to help in the fight against the Trojans, who were ready to reach the Greek ships and set them on fire. Achilles held his own. He sat in his tent all the time and did not want to hear anything about the war. Then his beloved friend Patroclus took the initiative to lead the army of the Myrmidons and rush into battle, wearing the armor of Achilles, in order to deceive the Trojans. Achilles' armor was one of a kind. They were made by Hephaestus himself at the request of Thetis. As soon as Patroclus rushed into battle with the armor, chariot and weapons of Achilles, the frightened Trojans began to retreat to their city, thinking that the king of the Myrmidons had entered the war again.
Patroclus managed not only to stop the opponents who approached the camp of the Greeks, but also inflicted serious losses on them. During the retreat of the Trojans, Apollo revealed to Hector who was actually leading the Myrmidon army. Upon learning this, Hector managed to strike his beloved friend Achilles to death. A bloody struggle began around the body of Patroclus. The Greeks did not want to allow the Trojans to desecrate the body of the hero and take his armor, which is usually awarded to the winner.
Menelaus distinguished himself in this terrible battle. The news of the death of his friend was brought to Achilles by the son of Nestor Antilochus. Inexpressible grief, and then anger, seized Achilles. He rushed to the battlefield without a weapon. There he uttered such a cry that the Trojans were frightened and retreated from the body of Patroclus.
Desperate Achilles even forgot about the quarrel with Agamemnon and thought only about how to avenge the death of his friend. The day after the death of Patroclus, Achilles asked Agamemnon to forget about their quarrel and announced to him that he was ready to fight again on his side. Agamemnon apologized for his behavior and returned Briseis to Achilles, swearing that he had not offended her.
Thus Achilles entered the battle again, ignoring all predictions about his death. The Trojans saw him and fled. Only Aeneas resisted and at some point even entered into a duel with Achilles. The hero was getting closer and closer to Troy. Many Trojans fell in the way of Achilles, who was looking for Hector to avenge the death of his friend. After much fighting, he found him at the Scaean Gate. The heroes started chasing one after another around the walls of Troy. At this time, the god of thunder threw on the scales two lots of death, one for Achilles, the other for Hector. The lot of Hector descended to the kingdom of gloomy Hades. Hector was destined to die at the hands of Achilles. But Achilles was so furious that he missed the fact that before him lay the dead body of his friend's killer. He tied the body of Hector by the legs to the chariot and drove the horses around the walls of Troy. After this he returned to his camp for the burial of Patroclus. However, despite the anger of Achilles, when Priam appeared in his tent with a request to give the body of his son in order to give it to the burial, the hero, out of respect, handed over the body of his enemy to the elder, ordered him to be washed and dressed in precious clothes.
Death of Achilles
The war at the walls of Troy continued. Achilles burned with terrible anger against the Trojans, who turned into a hasty flight at the sight of the hero. Among the various episodes of the battles, the duel of the hero with the famous Amazon Penthesilia, whom he mortally wounded, is noted. Great was the sorrow of Achilles when he saw the extraordinary beauty of his dying daughter. His battle with Memnon, son of Eos, and his affair with Polyxena, daughter of Priam, are also noted.
The courage and heroism of this husband were unique and incredible. However, Achilles could not escape his fate. The furious hero pursued the Trojans to the very walls of the city. He was ready to break into the holy city, but the god Apollo appeared. He prompted Paris to direct a deadly arrow at the heel of Achilles. A brutal slash boiled over the body of the greatest of heroes. Bellerophon's grandson Glaucus almost succeeded in capturing the body of the hero, but Eant killed him.
Finally, Ajax and Odysseus were able to bring the body of the hero to the camp of the Greeks. The funeral ritual was performed by Thetis and the Nereids. Achilles was mourned for seventeen days. The body was washed, anointed with fragrant oil, and the goddess Athena sprinkled it with ambrosia to avoid decomposition (according to another version, it was embalmed). On the eighteenth day, the funeral pyre was built. The body of Achilles was burned on it. The ashes were collected in a golden urn. In the same urn lay the ashes of Achilles' beloved friend, Patroclus.
Many centuries later, he bowed at this grave, made sacrifices, laid wreaths in honor of his idol, Alexander the Great.
Paris did not long celebrate his great feat. He was mortally wounded at the hands of Philictetes, who thus avenged not only the death of Achilles, but also the insult that he inflicted on all Greeks by kidnapping the beautiful Helen.
Fall of Troy - Trojan Horse
After the death of Achilles, the Greeks asked themselves the following question: Could they ever take possession of the city? The war was now in its tenth year, and they began to lose hope of victory as their patience wore thin. Then the king of Ithaca, the skillful Odysseus, offered to act by cunning. He advised to build such a huge wooden horse, inside which several warriors could hide. The rest of the commanders agreed with his plan. When the Greeks built this huge horse, Odysseus and the eight most powerful heroes hid in it. On the open field, so that it was visible, the Greeks left the horse, and they themselves burned all the buildings in their camp, boarded ships and sailed to the open sea. But having sailed from the coast of the Troad, they took refuge behind the island of Tenedos. The besieged saw how the Greeks left their places and did not believe their eyes. They also saw a Trojan horse. They looked at him and were at a loss. There was an inscription on the horse, which said that it was a gift from the Danaans to the goddess Athena. In vain, Cassandra, daughter of Priam, predicted all the troubles that await the Trojans. Nobody wanted to listen to her. The priest of the god Apollo, Laocoönt, tried in vain to persuade his fellow citizens to throw their horse into the sea. In vain did he urge them not to trust the Achaeans. He grabbed a huge spear and threw it at the horse. The horse shuddered from the blow and his weapon sounded muffled inside. At this time, two monstrous snakes appeared from the sea. With their sharp teeth, they inflicted mortal wounds on Laocoönt and his two sons. The Trojans believed that this was a sign of the goddess Athena, who would punish them if they did not accept this gift. When night fell and all Troy fell into a deep sleep, Odysseus and the rest of the heroes got out of the horse. At the same time, the Greek fleet had already returned. The Achaeans scattered through the sleepy streets of Troy. They went through wide open gate cities. By the time the Trojans realized what was happening, most of them were killed. In this bloodshed and total disaster, Odysseus killed Priam near the altar of Zeus. The city was burned and plundered. Menelaus searched the apartments of the palace for his wife, a woman who caused this terrible war. After the death of Paris, Helen married his brother, Diephobus, who was killed by Menelaus that terrible night. With a sword in his hands, Menelaus burst into Elena's room. At this critical moment, Elena, seeing her devoted husband, was ready to die at his hands.
She bared her chest, perhaps expecting Menelaus to stab her with his sword. But the sword fell from the hands of Menelaus. His love for Elena was awakened again and the old spouses embraced each other. The hero led with triumph this fatal woman, who again was the winner of the game and for whose sake a whole war took place, which shook the whole ancient world.
As soon as Laocoönt realized that the Trojan horse was empty inside, Athena sent two huge snakes that strangled him along with his sons. (Composition of Laocoont, 1st century BC, Rome, Vatican).
The Return of the Heroes
The Acropolis of Troy Ilio was taken thanks to the cunning of Odysseus, since it was predetermined by the gods. All the heroes who survived began to return to their homeland. Menelaus and Helen returned to their palace in Sparta. There, in the tenth year of their residence, Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, came to them, who wanted to know some news about his father, who had not yet returned to Ithaca. Agamemnon, commander-in-chief of the campaign, had terrible death. All the curse that hung on the Atrid family fell on him: his wife Clytemnestra had a love union with his cousin Aegisthus. After returning to Mycenae, Clytemnestra killed him in the bathroom. Orestes avenged his father's death by killing unfaithful wife and a murderer along with her lover Aegisthus. Ajax from Locris died during a terrible shipwreck while returning to his homeland. Diomedes and Hydomeneus returned to their homelands with less trouble. Few were destined to continue the quiet life they had before the start of the war. Among them is the elder Nestor, who happily returned to Pylos, where he reigned until the end of his life.
And what happened to the man who conquered Troy, the resourceful and skillful Odysseus? Unfortunately for him, the gods have decided for him an unusual and strange fate. He will someday return to his beloved Ithaca, to his family, to his kingdom, but before that he will experience a variety of adventures and face thousands of dangers. Homer left us a magnificent epic work of Odysseus, where he tells about all the wanderings of this hero.
The second poem, the Odyssey, like the Iliad, is divided into 24 cantos. Its volume is slightly smaller - 12,110 verses. The Odyssey, like the Iliad, begins with "textbook" lines, in which the theme is set, the general character of the poem fits in:
Muse, tell me about that experienced husband who,
Wandering long since the day. how Saint Ilion was destroyed,
I visited many people of the city and saw customs,
I grieved a lot with my heart on the seas, caring about salvation
Your life and return to the homeland of companions ...
"ODYSSEY": DIFFERENCE FROM "ILIAD". This is a poem about Odysseus' ten-year wanderings, about his multi-colored adventures and about a happy, in the end, return to his native island of Ithaca. If in the Iliad battle scenes predominate, heroic deeds, feats on the battlefield are described, then in the Odyssey the general tone changes. In it, in the foreground, is a fairy-tale-adventure problem.
The composition of the Odyssey is more complex than that of the first Homeric poem. If in the "Iliad" events are given in their chronological, linear sequence, then in the "Odyssey" it is violated, excursions into the past are used, that is, the technique of retrospection (cantos 9-12); several storylines intersect, and the direct action, as in the Iliad, lasts only about 40 days. i.e. embraces the final stage of the wanderings of Odysseus. In addition, it takes place in different places.
The starting situation is this. Ten years have passed since the fall of Troy, the participants in the war returned to their homeland, only Odysseus still cannot get home, for the long-suffering hero has been detained on the island of Ogygia by the nymph Calypso in love with him for seven years. Thus, twenty years have passed since Odysseus left his native island.
PLOT DEVELOPMENT. THELEMACH IN SEARCH OF THE FATHER. The "beginning" of the poem is a scene on Olympus, where the gods decide the fate of Odysseus. The goddess Athena, who visited the homeland of Odysseus Ithaca, observes the atrocities of suitors harassing Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, who is considered a widow, plundering Odysseus' property. Athena offers to send Hermes to the nymph Calypso and entrust him with "our sentence to announce that the time has come to return to the land of his Odysseus, in constant trouble." In the 2nd song, the action is transferred to Ithaca, where, despite the arrogance and perseverance of the suitors, Penelope remains faithful to her husband, despite his 20-year absence. She demonstrates in every possible way her contempt for suitors who spend time in feasts, having fun with slaves. With the help of all sorts of tricks, Penelope delays marriage with applicants for her hand. Goddess Athena in the male form of Mentor, son of Alkim. comes to the son of Odysseus Telemachus and advises him, having equipped the ship, to sail in search of his father. The suitors must wait another year for news from him. Telemachus holds a popular assembly, but the suitors. first of all, they were turned on by Angina, they accuse Telemachus, "unbridled, proud-mouthed", and his mother, Penelope, of secret intentions against them. They did not give him a ship, but the goddess comes to his aid. Having found the best ship on Igak, he sends it on its way. First, Telemachus sails to Pylos to the prophetic old man, "the great glory of the Achaeans", Nestor. He is the oldest and wisest in the Greek army that besieged Troy. He was lucky to return safely to his native Pylos, where he reigned for a long time. His name, as the elders of a clan or social group, has become a household name. (In “Woe from Wit” Griboedov says: “That Nestor of noble villains ...”) Nestor tells Telemachus about the return of the Greeks from under Troy, about the death of Agamemnon at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra. Telemachus manages to visit Menelaus and Helen in Sparta. Menelaus tells about his wanderings, that the old man Proteus he met said to him:
... Laertes divine son. owner of Ithaca.
I saw on the island shedding tears profusely
In the light vest of Calypso, goddess of goddesses, arbitrarily
who took possession of them; and the return path is destroyed for him;
There is no ship, no seafaring people with whom he could
It is safe to pass along the ridge of the deep sea.
This gives the son hope for the return of his father. Despite the intention of the suitors to destroy him, Telemachus manages to return home safely.
NYMPHO CALYPSO AND KING ALKINA. In the 5th canto, the action is transferred to the island of Ogygia. Telemachus is already disappearing from the story: he will appear only when his father arrives in Ithaca. Hermes brings the decision of the gods to the nymph Calypso. She bitterly complains and reproaches the Olympians for the fact that they simply envied her happiness. Forced to submit to the gods, she helps Odysseus build a raft with a sail. However, on the 7th day of calm sailing in the sea, Poseidon notices him, who wanted to pay off Odysseus for blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus. The god of the sea creates a storm to destroy Odysseus. His raft is broken into pieces, but thanks to the help of the nymph Leucothea, Odysseus manages to escape, and the waves carry him to the island of Scheria, inhabited by peaceful and hospitable people - the Phaeacians, excellent sailors. Exhausted, Odysseus falls asleep on the shallows, buried in seaweed. Here he is discovered by the royal daughter Nausicaa, whom Athena, “caring with her heart for the soon return home of Odysseus,” inspired in a dream to go with the maids to wash clothes on the seashore. For this, the goddess convinced the royal daughter:
It can be seen that your carefree mother gave birth to you, Nausicaa!
You do not care about bright clothes, but soon it will come
Your wedding day: you must prepare yourself in advance
Dress, and those who will lead you to the young groom.
After finishing the laundry, the girls begin to play ball, wake up Odysseus, and then give him clean clothes and bring him to the royal palace. Gam Tsar Alkina, “like a god with many minds”, together with his wife Arita cordially receive him and arrange a feast in his honor.
THE STORY OF ODYSSEY. As usual, Odysseus, the "deplorable wanderer", at first does not reveal who he is. At the feast, the blind singer Demodok delights the guests with a song about the campaign against Groya, about the exploits of Odysseus. At this moment, Odysseus "gave out" himself: tears flashed in his eyes, which were noticed by Alcinous. The hero reveals his name to the Phaeacians, says that he is Odysseus, son of Laertes, king of Ithaca. And at the request of Alcinous, he tells about adventures, fairy tales that happened after he left Troy. The famous story of Odysseus - a chain of colorful short stories - occupies four songs, from 9 to 12. This is a story-within-story technique, an extensive retrospection that embraces three years, from the fall of Troy to the appearance of Odysseus on the island with the nymph Calypso.
First, the companions of Odysseus enter the country of the Kikons in Thrace. Then their ships were driven away by a storm to distant lands. The first adventure on the way is the country of lotophages. (I). lotus eaters. Whoever tastes its sweet fruit will forget his homeland. Odysseus has to forcibly take away those who managed to feast on them. Then he and his companions sail to the country of the one-eyed cyclops, (II). come to the cave of one of them - Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon. The ogre kills several of Odysseus' companions by smashing their heads on the rocks and devours them. The survivors are locked in a cave, having rolled a stone to the entrance. Odysseus manages to escape from a seemingly hopeless situation thanks to far-sightedness and cunning. When asked what his name is, Odysseus replies: "No one." He gives Polyphemus wine to drink, and when he falls asleep, he burns out his only eye with a red-hot sword. Hearing the groaning of Polyphemus, other Cyclopes run to the cave and wonder who offended him so much. He answers: "No one." whereupon the cyclops are removed. After this, Odysseus and his companions tie themselves under the belly of the sheep; in the morning, Polyphemus, releasing them to pastures, feels them from above, and in this way the heroes manage to break free.
This episode, like many others, emphasizes the foresight of Odysseus, his ability to count on several moves ahead. If in his place the “explosive”, quick-tempered Achilles, he would have killed the intoxicated Polyphemus in retaliation for the murder of his friends. But then he would have been walled up in a cave forever, because he would not have been able to cope with a giant stone.
Next episode: Odysseus on the island with the god of the winds Eol. (III). who gives him a sack with unfavorable winds tied into it. But already in sight of Ithaca, when Odysseus falls asleep, the satellites, hoping that gold and silver are hidden there, untie the bag, the winds escaping from there drive away the ships of the long-suffering hero far from their native shores. Another adventure, a clash with the cannibal giants Laestrygons, (IV), leads to the fact that they destroy all but one of Odysseus' ships, after which the action is transferred to the island of the sorceress Kirka (Circe) (V), who turns some of his companions into pigs . During the year, the hero enjoys the love of this sorceress. With the help of the god Hermes, Odysseus manages to overcome her spell. At the direction of Kirk, Odysseus visits the kingdom of the dead (VI), where he meets with incorporeal souls, with his mother, with comrades in the Trojan campaign Agamemnon and Achilles. Returning from the land of eternal night, Odysseus sails past the island of the Sirens, (VII), creatures with a female head and a bird's body, with a charming voice, who lure sailors with captivating singing. and then they are destroyed. To avoid a fierce death at their hands, Odysseus plugs his companions' ears with wax, and orders himself to be tied tightly to the mast, as he still wants to hear this wonderful singing. (Note that the word "sirens" has now acquired a common sense - "insidious seductresses".)
Odysseus also swims past two dangerous rocks: on one of them is the six-headed Syilla, who devoured people, on the other - the monster-Charybdis (VIII). Three times a day, Charybdis destroyed the ships, swallowing the black ox along with the ships. Realizing that one cannot be avoided, Odysseus comes close to Siilla, who grabbed and swallowed six of his companions with six mouths. But the rest survived. Since then, the expression has become common: to be between Scylla and Charybdis means that one must choose the lesser of two inevitable evils.
After meeting with the monsters, Odysseus's companions reach the island of Greenacria, where the herds of the sun god Helios (IX) graze.
Odysseus was forced to linger there due to unfavorable winds. but at the same time he strictly forbade his companions to approach the sacred bulls. In the meantime, their food supplies were depleted. When the goddesses sent down a dream to Odysseus, his companions, exhausted by hunger, slaughtered several bulls. For this, Zeus, yielding to the complaint of Helios, punished them by breaking the ship of Odysseus with lightning. Only the long-suffering hero himself escaped and sailed to the island of Ogygia, where the nymph Calypso (according to Greek mythology daughter Atlanta) kept him for seven years (last, X adventure). The nymph fell in love with Odysseus, promised to make him happy, but he continued to yearn for home, which he told Alcinous about. From there, as readers already know, he came to the country of the Phaeacians.
ODYSSEY ON ITHACA. AT THE SWINEHERE EVMEY. The second half of the Odyssey (cantos 13–24) is the story of Odysseus' return home and revenge on the suitors. In this part, the fantastic element plays a much smaller role; buy events! life authenticity.
After listening to the story of Odysseus, Tsar Alkina generously endows him. The Theakians deliver it overnight to Igaku. True, Poseidon turns their ship into a rock. From the world of a fairy tale, Odysseus is transferred to the world of harsh reality. Athena, who appeared to him in the guise of a young shepherd, warns Odysseus of the dangers and instructs him in the upcoming struggle. She gives him the appearance of a beggar; in this guise, the unrecognized Odysseus comes to the "divine" swineherd Eumeus, industrious, hospitable, albeit close, but faithful person. Odysseus tells Eumeus a fictional story about himself. At Eumeus, he meets with his son Telemachus, sent by Good Athena; he returned from Sparta, having escaped the ambush of suitors. Odysseus "opens up" to his son. Together they develop a plan for revenge on the suitors. Disguised as a tramp, Odysseus comes to his house.
ODYSSEY AND EURYCLEA. The first person to recognize him is the old dog Argus, who has not forgotten his master's voice for twenty years. For everyone else, he is a suspicious stranger, the object of humiliating ridicule. Being in the camp of enemies, Odysseus shows an enviable restraint, playing the role of a beggar, not reacting to the insults of the suitors. He stoically endures bullying, knowing that the offenders, anyway, will have to pay for it. Seeing Penelope, he says that he knows about the imminent arrival of Odysseus from a distant land. Delighted, Penelope hurries to show the wanderer signs of attention and asks the maid, the old woman Eurycleia, to wash his feet. During the ablution, a second “recognition” occurs: the maid notices a familiar scar on Odysseus’s leg, a trace of a wound received while hunting a boar. With unspeakable joy, the old woman exclaims: “You are Odysseus, you are my golden child, you have returned!” But he, seizing her, orders to be silent, to keep the secret of his return; otherwise, she and other maids will not be spared severe punishment.
REVENGE TO GROOM. The tension intensifies. Penelope, having called the suitors to the banquet hall, promises that the one who, taking the bow of the deceased Odysseus, will be able to pierce twelve rings with an arrow, will become her husband. The feast begins, Penelope brings the bow of Odysseus, inviting everyone to the competition. But not one of the hundred and twenty suitors is able to pull the bowstring. They are about to postpone the competition, but then Odysseus, in the guise of a beggar, asks permission to test himself. The grooms try to resist this, but Telemachus stands up for his father, saying that he is the heir to the bow and is free to dispose of it. The very first arrow, "pointed with copper", flies through all 12 rings. Then Odysseus shoots a second arrow, which hits the throat of the most shameless of the suitors. Angina, at the moment when he brings a goblet of wine to his lips. Odysseus straightens up, showing strength and heroic growth. He reports that he is alive for "truth and retribution." Telemachus stands next to his father, taking his sword and spear. The grooms, with the help of weapons brought to them by the slaves who betrayed Odysseus, enter the battle. With the help of his son, Eumeus, and with the participation of the goddess Athena, who darkened the mind of the suitors, Odysseus exterminates them all, as well as their henchmen.
ODYSSEY AND PENELOPE: "RECOGNIZATION". But even in an atmosphere of general rejoicing, Penelope, who was in her chambers during the battle, does not dare to recognize her husband in the stranger, does not believe the story of Eurycleia. Then Athena returns Odysseus to his former appearance, and he tells Penelope the secret of the arrangement of their marriage bed, known only to the two of them.
…And I. no one else, with their own hands
Made her. In the yard there was an olive tree with a dark
Senyu, lush, with a large column in volume.
From this olive tree, he made a bed with his own hands, and now he described in detail to Penelope the process of its creation. Hearing the story of Odysseus, Penelope throws herself on her husband's neck with sobs. There is a happy union of spouses. To prolong the joy of the meeting, Athena asks the goddess of the dawn, Eos, to delay the onset of dawn a little ...
DECUSION OF EVENTS IN THE POEM. The end of the poem is the story of how Odysseus goes to the afterlife and visits his father Laertes there. In the same place - the souls of the murdered suitors. Agamemnon, who lives in the realm of shadows, pays tribute to the courage of Odysseus and praises the devotion of his wife Penelope, unlike his wife Clytemnestra, from whose treacherous hand he fell. Meanwhile, on earth, the relatives of the ruined suitors unleash a war against Odysseus, but with the assistance of Athena, known for her great intelligence, the faithful patroness of Odysseus, the hero manages to make peace with them. This concludes the second poem of Homer.
