The Fall of Troy and The Adventures of Aeneas By: Jacob Roth and Eric Le

The Fall of Troy Achilles killed Prince Memnon of Ethiopia in combat and was then killed by an arrow shot by Paris and guided by Apollo. Athena made Ajax go mad while he was planning to kill Agamemnon and Menelaus and shortly after commits suicide. Odysseus makes the prophet Helenus prisoner. Says Troy would not fall unless one fought with bow of Hercules. Odysseus is sent to retrieve the bow from Philoctetes, a man who was abandoned by them before.

The Fall of Troy (cont) Philoctetes wounds Paris who begs to be carried to Oenone but shortly dies after she refused to heal him. The Greeks learn of a sacred image of Pallas Athena Palladium and Odysseus and Diomedes successfully steals it. The Greeks, after ten years of fighting, builds a trojan horse to invade the city of Troy. The Trojan Horse is presented as a gift from the Greeks as an offering from Athena, but secretly has the army of Greeks inside.

The Fall of Troy (cont) Despite the warnings of Cassandra and Laocoon, the Trojans believe nothing suspicious of the gift and rejoices their victory. In the middle of the night, the army let themselves out of the horse to storm Troy with fires with very little retaliation in the beginning. However, the Trojans fooled the Greeks in thinking they were their comrades using the same armor. Aeneas is the only one among the Trojan chieftains who escape as the Greek reach victory. Over the chaos after the battles, the majority of people left were captive women waiting to becomes slaves for the Greeks. This included: the old Queen Hecuba, her daugher-in- law, and Hector's wife Andromache. Soon following, Hector's son (Astyanax) is killed by Greek soldiers and ends the war.

Allusions to the Fall of Troy The Achilles Tendon is a reference to the hero Achilles only weak spot. A Shakespearean play, Troilus and Cressida, takes place during the Trojan War. A type of computer virus is named Trojan because it sneaks into your computer and lets other viruses in, like the Trojan horse. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, The witch gives Snow White a gift, the apple, to destroy her from the inside. In Monty Python, the knights build a giant wooden rabbit in an attempt to get inside the castle, but then realized they failed to put anyone inside of it. There is a movie based off of it, entitled Troy.

The Adventures of Aeneas Part 1 Aeneas is the son of Venus (Aphrodite) who fought alongside Hector for Troy and escaped using his mother’s help. Aeneas and his fellow Trojans attempt to look for places to build and settle, but one night Aeneas is told in a dream that he would be the founder of Rome in Italy. The crew lands at land where Hector’s wife Andromache lived married to Helenus, the Trojan prophet and were received well. By making a longer trip, the Trojans manage to escape Scylla and Charybdis only to be occupied by the Cyclopes.

The Adventures of Aeneas Part 1 Aeneas and his crew escapes because a sailor there tells them to flee because of the danger there. As they rounded Sicily, a great storm is encountered by the works of Juno (Hera). Juno hated all Trojans due to the Judgement of Paris and especially abhorred Aeneas. The crew reaches near Carthage and Juno concocts a scheme in order to distract them, and soon Dido, founder of Carthage, would fall in love with Aeneas with the help of Cupid.

The Adventures of Aeneas Part 1 Venus, disguised as a huntress, tells Aeneas to go directly to the Queen for help Aeneas settles in and eventually gains an immense amount of riches and lingers in Carthage, as Dido succumbs to him. Aeneas lives in luxury until Jupiter sends a message to be sent from Mercury to urge Jupiter to continue to build a kingdom. Dido, in response to Aeneas, kills herself as he sails away.

The Adventures of Aeneas Part 2 Aeneus seeks out Sibyl of Cumae and was instructed to go into the underworld and find his father, Anchises. A golden bough was required to be admitted to Hades, and Aeneas found it after doves led him. Aeneas is led by Hecate, goddess of the night, to visit a mass of terrors such as disease and hunger. At the junction of two rivers, the Cocytus and the Acheron, Aeneas meets Charon, the ferryman.

The Adventures of Aeneas Part 2 Cerberus is calmed with cake from the Sibyl and allows Aeneas to get past. Aeneas meets his father Anchises, who subsequently tells him about his future descendents and how to establish Rome.

The Adventures of Aeneas Part 3 Aeneas returns to surface and sails the Italian coast. Latinus, king of the Latins welcome the crew and was convinced Aeneas was to be a son-in-law to be married to his daughter, Lavinia. Juno steps in to interfere with Aeneas and summons Alecto, one of the Furies, to start a war. Latinus’ wife opposes the marriage, the Rutulian army commences, and Ascanius kills a stag thus angering the Latins.

The Adventures of Aeneas Part 3 Turnus was the leader of the army, an ally Mezentius came to help, and Camilla,mistress of warfare, led the army as well. The Trojans received help from Father Tiber, who told Aeneas in a dream to go upstream to Evander. The king and his son tell Aeneas to go and seek the Etruscans for help, whose fugitive ruler was Mezentius. An offensive broke from Turnus and two men, Nisus and Euryalus are determined to break through enemy lines to send a message.

The Adventures of Aeneas Part 3 Euryalus is caught by the enemy, but Nisus remains by his side and kills his pursuer only to die of enemy projectiles. The war ends with Turnus and Aeneas after the deaths of Camilla, Mezentius and Pallus. Aeneas kills Turnus and subsequently marries Lavinia and starts the Roman race.

Allusions to the Adventures of Aeneas A crater on Dione, a moon of Saturn, is named Aeneas. Dante's Inferno references Aeneas and his adventures. Aeneas is considered the Greek mythological founder of Rome, and Romulus and Remus are considered to be the founders in Italian mythology. Aeneas is featured in the movie Troy. The Aeneid was the basis for the 1962 Italian film The Avenger.

Level Questions What would you have done in Aeneas' shoes, found Rome or stay home? Why? What do you think would have happened if the Trojan Horse plan failed? How do you think Odysseus' felt after his plan led to the successful destruction of Troy?