The Trojan War Cycle
The broader mythological tradition surrounding the Trojan War — from the Judgment of Paris to the fall of Troy and the fates of the heroes.
The story of the Trojan War extended far beyond Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. A constellation of lost epics — the Epic Cycle — filled in the narrative from the war’s divine origins to the last homecomings. Though these poems survive only in fragments and summaries (especially Proclus’s Chrestomathy), they profoundly shaped Greek art, tragedy, and cultural memory.[4]
The Epic Cycle
Before the Iliad
- Cypria (attributed to Stasinus) — The Judgment of Paris, the abduction of Helen, the mustering of the Greek fleet, the sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis, the first nine years of the war.[3]
During the War
- Iliad (Homer) — The wrath of Achilles in the tenth year. See Homer’s Iliad.
- Aethiopis (Arctinus of Miletus) — Arrival of the Amazon queen Penthesilea, death of Achilles by Paris and Apollo.
- Little Iliad (Lesches) — The contest for Achilles’ armor (Ajax vs. Odysseus), the madness and suicide of Ajax, the Wooden Horse.[5]
The Fall
- Iliupersis (“Sack of Ilion,” Arctinus) — The destruction of Troy, the killing of Priam, the enslavement of the Trojan women, Neoptolemus’s atrocities, the departure of the Greeks.[1]
The Returns
- Nostoi (“Returns,” Agias) — The troubled homecomings of the Greek heroes: Agamemnon murdered by Clytemnestra, Menelaus’s wanderings, Diomedes’s exile.
- Odyssey (Homer) — The return of Odysseus. See Homer’s Odyssey.
- Telegony (Eugammon) — Odysseus’s later adventures and death at the hands of Telegonus, his son by Circe.[5]
The Judgment of Paris
The war’s ultimate cause traces to a divine beauty contest. Eris (“Strife”), uninvited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, threw a golden apple inscribed “for the fairest.” Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite each claimed it. Zeus appointed the Trojan prince Paris as judge. Each goddess offered a bribe:
- Hera: sovereignty over Asia
- Athena: wisdom and victory in war
- Aphrodite: the most beautiful woman in the world — Helen of Sparta
Paris chose Aphrodite, setting in motion the abduction of Helen and the ten-year war.
The Wooden Horse
The war’s most famous stratagem was Odysseus’s idea. The Greeks built a hollow wooden horse, hid their best warriors inside, and pretended to sail away. Despite warnings from Cassandra and Laocoön, the Trojans dragged the horse inside the walls. That night the Greeks emerged and opened the gates, and Troy fell.
Legacy in Greek Tragedy
The Trojan cycle provided material for the three great Athenian tragedians:
- Aeschylus: Oresteia (Agamemnon’s murder and its aftermath)
- Sophocles: Ajax, Philoctetes
- Euripides: Trojan Women, Hecuba, Iphigenia at Aulis, Helen
Primary Sources
- Proclus, Chrestomathy (summaries of the Epic Cycle, preserved by Photius)
- Homer, Iliad and Odyssey
- Apollodorus, Bibliotheca (Epitome)
- Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica (3rd–4th century CE retelling)
Further Reading
- Burgess, Jonathan S. The Tradition of the Trojan War in Homer and the Epic Cycle. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
- West, M.L. The Epic Cycle: A Commentary on the Lost Troy Epics. Oxford University Press, 2013.
- Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.
See also: Homer’s Iliad · Homer’s Odyssey · Hesiod’s Theogony · Greek Pantheon
References
- ↑ Burgess, Jonathan S. The Tradition of the Trojan War in Homer and the Epic Cycle. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
- ↑ West, M.L. The Epic Cycle: A Commentary on the Lost Troy Epics. Oxford University Press, 2013.
- ↑ Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.
- ↑ Proclus, Chrestomathy (summaries of the Epic Cycle, preserved by Photius)
- ↑ Homer, Iliad and Odyssey
- ↑ Apollodorus, Bibliotheca (Epitome)
- ↑ Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica (3rd–4th century CE retelling)