{"id":1932,"date":"2021-06-14T20:04:58","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T00:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greekromanmyth\/?post_type=chapter&p=1932"},"modified":"2024-03-25T14:46:27","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T18:46:27","slug":"the-greeks","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greekromanmyth\/chapter\/the-greeks\/","title":{"raw":"The Greeks","rendered":"The Greeks"},"content":{"raw":"[caption id=\"attachment_2501\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1674\"]\"Achilles, Achilles and Patroclus, red-figure kylix, ca. 500 BCE (Altes Museum, Berlin)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n

The Gods<\/h1>\r\n

The gods that choose to side with the Greeks were Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Hephaestus, and Thetis. The reasons for this were various. Hera and Athena swore vengeance against Paris after he decreed that Aphrodite was more beautiful than them; Thetis' only son, Achilles, fought for the Greeks; and Poseidon and Hephaestus' choices are never clearly explained.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Agamemnon<\/h1>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2490\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1024\"]\"Agamemnon Agamemnon and Chryses, red-figure krater, ca. 360 BCE (Louvre Museum, Paris)[\/caption]\r\n

Eldest son of Atreus, king of Mycenae, brother of Menelaos, and supreme leader of the Greek expedition. His enslavement of the daughter of the priest of Apollo, Chryses, is the action that sets in motion both the pestilence that opens the Iliad, and Achilles' refusal to participate into battle for most of the last year of the siege.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Menelaus<\/h1>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2497\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2500\"]\"Menelaus Menelaus chases Helen, red-figure amphora, ca. 450 BCE (British Museum, London)[\/caption]\r\n

Youngest son of Atreus, king of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, and husband of Helen. His attempt to conclude the war with a single combat against Paris is nullified when Paris is spirited away by Aphrodite. At the end of the war he does not kill Helen, as other leaders had encouraged him to, but takes her back home instead.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n

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Achilles<\/h1>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2491\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1024\"]\"Achilles Achilles and Ajax, black-figure amphora, ca. 540 BCE (Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, Vatican City)[\/caption]\r\n

Demigod, son of Peleus and the Nereid Thetis, leader of the Myrmidons, the strongest and most feared of the Greeks. His second set of armour and weapons, forged for him by Hephaestus himself, including a fabulous round shield, becomes a coveted prize for the other Greek leaders after his death.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2488\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1024\"]\"Ajax, Ajax carrying Achilles, black-figure amphora, ca. 540 BCE (Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n

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Patroclus<\/h1>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2569\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2048\"]\"Patroclus Death of Patroclus (with Diomedes, Ajax, Aeneas, and Hippasos), red-figure kylix, ca. 500 BCE (Altes Museum, Berlin)[\/caption]\r\n

Son of Menoetius, exiled to Phthia after killing a man. Probable lover of Achilles (although never explicitly stated in the Iliad) <\/em>and commander-in-second of the Myrmidons, he offers to join the battle pretending to be Achilles and wearing his armour and is killed by Hector with the help of Apollo.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2859\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2188\"]\"Top Funerary games of Patroclus, black-figure dinos, ca. 580 BCE (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n

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Ajax the Greater<\/h1>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2500\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1500\"]\"Ajax, Ajax carrying Achilles, black-figure krater, ca. 575 BCE, Fran\u00e7ois Vase (National Archaeological Museum, Florence)[\/caption]\r\n

Son of Telamon, prince of Salamis, the mightiest of the Greeks (he is often referred to as 'bulwark of the Achaeans'). Bears a giant tower shield made of seven layers of oxhides and bronze which he uses to protect himself and his half-brother, the bowman Teucer.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Odysseus<\/h1>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2486\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"801\"]\"Odysseus, Odysseus, red-figure krater, 4th century BCE (Cabinet des M\u00e9dailles, Paris)[\/caption]\r\n

King of the small kingdom of Ithaca, renowned for his cunning ways, devious mind, and archery skills. He is the one who devises the stratagem of the Trojan Horse (with the help of Epeius and Athena), and obtains the armour of Achilles after the latter's death.<\/p>\r\nFor further discussion of Odysseus, see chapter 30<\/a>.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2535\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"302\"]\"Odysseus Odysseus kills one of Rhesus' guards, black-figure amphora (front), ca. 540 BCE (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2533\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"339\"]\"Three Odysseus and Diomedes steal the horses of Rhesus, black-figure amphora (left profile), ca. 540 BCE (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2496\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"788\"]\"Odysseus, Odysseus stealing the horses of Rhesus, red-figure krater, ca. 430 BCE (Altes Museum, Berlin)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n

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Diomedes<\/h1>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2503\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1940\"]\"Diomedes Diomedes (left) and Glaucus (right), red-figure pelike, ca. 420 BCE (Museo Archeologico Regionale, Gela)[\/caption]\r\n

Son of the famed warrior Tydeus, he is one of the youngest Greek leaders, and the most feared after Achilles. Greatly favoured by Athena, who allows him to spot the gods on the battlefield, he is often the partner in crime of Odysseus, with whom he steals the horses of king Rhesus and the sacred Palladion<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2534\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"325\"]\"Diomedes Diomedes kills Rhesus, black-figure amphora (back), ca. 540 BCE (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2532\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"319\"]\"Two Diomedes and Odysseus steal the horses of Rhesus, black-figure amphora (right profile), ca. 540 BCE (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2495\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1024\"]\"Diomedes, Diomedes kills Rhesus, red-figure krater, ca. 430 BCE (Altes Museum, Berlin)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n

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Neoptolemus<\/h1>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2518\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1845\"]\"Neoptolemus, Neoptolemus and Priam, black-figure amphora, ca. 520 BCE (Louvre Museum, Paris)[\/caption]\r\n

Young son of Achilles, taken to Troy after his father's demise. Once the city falls, he commits dreadfully violent acts against the royal family and the rest of the citizens, and personally sacrifices princess Polyxena on his father's tomb.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2504\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"341\"]\"Neoptolemus, Neoptolemus kills Priam, red-figure amphora, ca. 500 BCE (Metropolitan Museum, New York)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2507\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"307\"]\"Neoptolemus, Neoptolemus killing Priam, black-figure amphora, ca. 520 BCE (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2510\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]\"Three Sacrifice of Polyxena, black-figure amphora, 550 BCE (British Museum, London)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n

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Media Attributions<\/h1>","rendered":"
\"Achilles,
Achilles and Patroclus, red-figure kylix, ca. 500 BCE (Altes Museum, Berlin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

The Gods<\/h1>\n

The gods that choose to side with the Greeks were Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Hephaestus, and Thetis. The reasons for this were various. Hera and Athena swore vengeance against Paris after he decreed that Aphrodite was more beautiful than them; Thetis’ only son, Achilles, fought for the Greeks; and Poseidon and Hephaestus’ choices are never clearly explained.<\/p>\n

\n

Agamemnon<\/h1>\n
\"Agamemnon
Agamemnon and Chryses, red-figure krater, ca. 360 BCE (Louvre Museum, Paris)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eldest son of Atreus, king of Mycenae, brother of Menelaos, and supreme leader of the Greek expedition. His enslavement of the daughter of the priest of Apollo, Chryses, is the action that sets in motion both the pestilence that opens the Iliad, and Achilles’ refusal to participate into battle for most of the last year of the siege.<\/p>\n

\n

Menelaus<\/h1>\n
\"Menelaus
Menelaus chases Helen, red-figure amphora, ca. 450 BCE (British Museum, London)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Youngest son of Atreus, king of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, and husband of Helen. His attempt to conclude the war with a single combat against Paris is nullified when Paris is spirited away by Aphrodite. At the end of the war he does not kill Helen, as other leaders had encouraged him to, but takes her back home instead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Achilles<\/h1>\n
\"Achilles
Achilles and Ajax, black-figure amphora, ca. 540 BCE (Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, Vatican City)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Demigod, son of Peleus and the Nereid Thetis, leader of the Myrmidons, the strongest and most feared of the Greeks. His second set of armour and weapons, forged for him by Hephaestus himself, including a fabulous round shield, becomes a coveted prize for the other Greek leaders after his death.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ajax,
Ajax carrying Achilles, black-figure amphora, ca. 540 BCE (Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Patroclus<\/h1>\n
\"Patroclus
Death of Patroclus (with Diomedes, Ajax, Aeneas, and Hippasos), red-figure kylix, ca. 500 BCE (Altes Museum, Berlin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Son of Menoetius, exiled to Phthia after killing a man. Probable lover of Achilles (although never explicitly stated in the Iliad) <\/em>and commander-in-second of the Myrmidons, he offers to join the battle pretending to be Achilles and wearing his armour and is killed by Hector with the help of Apollo.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Top
Funerary games of Patroclus, black-figure dinos, ca. 580 BCE (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Ajax the Greater<\/h1>\n
\"Ajax,
Ajax carrying Achilles, black-figure krater, ca. 575 BCE, Fran\u00e7ois Vase (National Archaeological Museum, Florence)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Son of Telamon, prince of Salamis, the mightiest of the Greeks (he is often referred to as ‘bulwark of the Achaeans’). Bears a giant tower shield made of seven layers of oxhides and bronze which he uses to protect himself and his half-brother, the bowman Teucer.<\/p>\n

\n

Odysseus<\/h1>\n
\"Odysseus,
Odysseus, red-figure krater, 4th century BCE (Cabinet des M\u00e9dailles, Paris)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

King of the small kingdom of Ithaca, renowned for his cunning ways, devious mind, and archery skills. He is the one who devises the stratagem of the Trojan Horse (with the help of Epeius and Athena), and obtains the armour of Achilles after the latter’s death.<\/p>\n

For further discussion of Odysseus, see chapter 30<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Odysseus
Odysseus kills one of Rhesus’ guards, black-figure amphora (front), ca. 540 BCE (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Three
Odysseus and Diomedes steal the horses of Rhesus, black-figure amphora (left profile), ca. 540 BCE (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Odysseus,
Odysseus stealing the horses of Rhesus, red-figure krater, ca. 430 BCE (Altes Museum, Berlin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Diomedes<\/h1>\n
\"Diomedes
Diomedes (left) and Glaucus (right), red-figure pelike, ca. 420 BCE (Museo Archeologico Regionale, Gela)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Son of the famed warrior Tydeus, he is one of the youngest Greek leaders, and the most feared after Achilles. Greatly favoured by Athena, who allows him to spot the gods on the battlefield, he is often the partner in crime of Odysseus, with whom he steals the horses of king Rhesus and the sacred Palladion<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Diomedes
Diomedes kills Rhesus, black-figure amphora (back), ca. 540 BCE (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Two
Diomedes and Odysseus steal the horses of Rhesus, black-figure amphora (right profile), ca. 540 BCE (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Diomedes,
Diomedes kills Rhesus, red-figure krater, ca. 430 BCE (Altes Museum, Berlin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Neoptolemus<\/h1>\n
\"Neoptolemus,
Neoptolemus and Priam, black-figure amphora, ca. 520 BCE (Louvre Museum, Paris)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Young son of Achilles, taken to Troy after his father’s demise. Once the city falls, he commits dreadfully violent acts against the royal family and the rest of the citizens, and personally sacrifices princess Polyxena on his father’s tomb.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Neoptolemus,
Neoptolemus kills Priam, red-figure amphora, ca. 500 BCE (Metropolitan Museum, New York)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Neoptolemus,
Neoptolemus killing Priam, black-figure amphora, ca. 520 BCE (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Three
Sacrifice of Polyxena, black-figure amphora, 550 BCE (British Museum, London)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Media Attributions<\/h1>\n

Media Attributions<\/h2>