1. Why Helen?? Most beautiful woman in the world Daughter of Zeus and Leda (queen of Sparta) Sister to Castor, Pollux, and Clytemnaestra Heir to the Sparta empire

2. Marriage of Helen Suitors: Menelaus Odysseus Ajax the Greater Elephanor Diomedes Patroclus And over 30 more! Solution: Odysseus secures a marriage to Helen’s wealthy cousin, Penelope, in exchange for devising THE OATH: All suitors take an oath to defend the marriage of Helen; they agree thinking it’ll be them Suitor is chosen by a lottery so it was totally random

3. Meanwhile, another marriage was going on… Celebrations happening in Olympus for the wedding between Peleus and Thetis

4. The golden apple

5. The “apple of discord” -Eris, goddess of strife, was mad about not being invited - She threw a golden apple labeled “to the fairest” into the wedding celebration - Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite think it is for them and start fighting

8. The judge Not wanting to get involved, Zeus assigned the decision to Paris, prince of Troy, who had demonstrated his fairness previously by admitting that his bull was not the best in a competition and giving the award to someone else.

9. The goddesses bribe Paris Hera: POWER - become king of Europe and Asia Athena: WISDOM - become the wisest and most skilled warrior Aphrodite: LOVE – have the most beautiful woman as wife

10. And the winner is… APHRODITE

11. Trip to Sparta… Paris is sent to Sparta to meet with Menelaus as a “business”: meeting between two powerful, rich cities. While there, Paris meets Helen and…

12. Abduction? Seduction?

13. Paris breaks Xenia…

14. Xenia The respect from host to guest. - The host must provide food and drink and a bath, if required. The respect from guest to host. - The guest must be courteous to the host and not be a burden. No harm can be done by either host or guest after the code of hospitality is engaged “guest friendship” Upheld by Zeus, as the protector of travelers

15. Who’s at War? GREEKS Agamemnon Menelaus Odysseus Achilles TROJANS King Priam Prince Hector Prince Paris The GODS Zeus - Neutral Ares - Trojan Hera - Greek Athena - Greek Apollo - Trojan Aphrodite - Trojan Poseidon – Greek Artemis – Trojan Hermes – Trojan Hades - Neutral