Facts about The Trojan War
- 10
Paris of Troy, whose judgment awarding Aphrodite the golden apple set events in motion, was ultimately the archer who killed Achilles with an arrow guided by Apollo.
- 09
Among the Greek forces at Troy, Odysseus devised the stratagem of the wooden horse, which became the decisive tactic that finally breached the city's impenetrable walls.
- 08
Patroclus, Achilles' closest companion, died wearing the Greek hero's armor when he borrowed it to rally retreating troops against Trojan forces.
- 07
Nine years into the conflict, Achilles withdrew from battle after Agamemnon seized his war prize Briseis, temporarily crippling Greek military effectiveness at Troy.
- 06
Agamemnon, commander of the Greek forces, sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia before the war began, according to Greek mythology and ancient sources.
- 05
The wooden horse, Troy's most famous siege weapon, was filled with Greek soldiers who opened the city gates from within after the Trojans wheeled it inside the walls.
- 04
Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior, killed Hector, Troy's foremost defender, in single combat during the final year of the Trojan War conflict.
- 03
Helen of Sparta, whose abduction by Paris triggered the Trojan War, was married to Menelaus before eloping to Troy with the Trojan prince.
- 02
Approximately 1,186 BCE marks the traditional dating of Troy's destruction, though modern archaeologists debate whether the historical city fell to Greek invaders or siege warfare during the Trojan War period.
- 01
According to Homer's Iliad, the Trojan War lasted 10 years and involved Greek forces besieging the city of Troy in ancient Anatolia.