Sections & Primary Sources<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Proclus,\u00a0Chrestomathia<\/em>, Books 1-2<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
The Iliad<\/em> is just one of many texts that existed in antiquity that dealt with the mythology of the Trojan War. It was part of a larger collection of Ancient Greek epic poems that narrated events that occurred before, during, and after the war. These texts as a whole are called \"The Epic Cycle\" or sometimes just \"The Trojan Cycle,\" since \"The Epic Cycle\" can also refer to a longer mythological cycle that included the Titanomachy, the Theban Cycle (see chapter 37<\/a>), and the Trojan Cycle.<\/p>\r\nAll but two of the epics, the\u00a0Iliad\u00a0<\/em>and the\u00a0Odyssey<\/em>, are lost. We have only fragments of the other epics, as the myths of the cycle are also recounted by other ancient sources. These sources include Virgil's Aeneid<\/em>\u00a0(book 2) which recounts the sack of Troy from a Trojan perspective; Ovid's\u00a0Metamorphoses<\/em>\u00a0(books 13-14), which describes the Greeks' landing at Troy (from the\u00a0Cypria<\/em>) and the judgment of Achilles' arms (Little Iliad<\/em>); and Quintus of Smyrna's Posthomerica<\/em>, which narrates all the events after Achilles' death up until the end of the war. The death of Agamemnon and the vengeance taken by his son Orestes (part of the Nostoi<\/em>) are the subject of later Greek tragedy, especially Aeschylus' Oresteia<\/em> trilogy (see chapter 30<\/a>).\r\n
<\/a>Proclus on the Trojan Cycle<\/h2>\r\n
The philosopher Proclus also discussed the epics of the Cycle in his work\u00a0Chrestomathia<\/em>. From Proclus, we have summaries of the plots of each work of the Epic Cycle and Trojan Cycle. The works of the Trojan Cycle are the\u00a0Cypria<\/em>, the Iliad<\/em>, the Aethiopis<\/em>, the\u00a0Little Iliad<\/em>, and the Sack of Ilium<\/em> (or Ilioupersis<\/em>), the Nostoi, <\/em>the Odyssey<\/em>, and the Telegony<\/em>.<\/p>\r\nThe\u00a0Cypria\u00a0<\/em>(attributed to various authors) tells the events leading up to the Trojan War. It describes the Judgement of Paris, followed by Menelaus and Agamemnon's mission to recruit allies to go to war with Troy. A compilation of fragments of the\u00a0Cypria<\/em> can be found here<\/a>.\r\n\r\nThe\u00a0Iliad\u00a0<\/em>of Homer tells of the war itself, and especially the deeds of Achilles.\r\n\r\nThe\u00a0Aethiopis<\/em> (attributed to Arctinus of Miletus) tells of the deeds and death of Penthesilea, and the death of Achilles. A compilation of fragments of the\u00a0Aethiopis<\/em> can be found here<\/a>.\r\n\r\nThe\u00a0Little Iliad\u00a0<\/em>(attributed to Lesches of Mitylene) tells of the Judgement of Arms, the death of Paris, and the construction of the Trojan Horse. A compilation of fragments of the\u00a0Little Iliad<\/em> can be found here<\/a>.\r\n\r\nThe\u00a0Sack of Ilium <\/em>(Ilioupersis<\/em>) (attributed to Arctinus of Miletus) tells of the defeat of Troy and the fates of various Trojans, including Laocoon, Andromache, and Priam. A compilation of fragments of the\u00a0Sack of Ilium\u00a0<\/em>can be found here<\/a>.\r\n\r\nThe\u00a0Nostoi, Odyssey, <\/em>and\u00a0Telegony<\/em> recount the events after the war.\r\n\r\nFor further discussion of the Nostoi,<\/em>\u00a0Odyssey, <\/em>and\u00a0Telegony<\/em>, see chapter 30<\/a>.\r\n\r\n \r\n
\r\n<\/a>Proclus,\u00a0Chrestomathia<\/em>, Books 1-2 (trans. H. G. Evelyn-White, adapted by L. Zhang and P. Rogak)<\/h3>\r\n
Greek literary handbook, 5th century CE<\/h4>\r\n
[content warning for the following source: suicide (On the\u00a0Little Iliad<\/em>)]<\/h5>\r\n
Proclus was a 5th century CE neoplatonic philosopher who was born in Lycia (on the southern coast of modern day Turkey), studied in Alexandria, and made his way to Athens. Among other works, he wrote the Chrestomathia<\/em>, a handbook of literary works that exists now only in summary form. From the summary of this handbook, we have a description of the plot of the\u00a0Cypria, Aethiopis, Little Iliad,<\/em> and Ilioupersis.<\/em><\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n[On the Cypria<\/em>] This [the Epigoni<\/em>] is continued by the epic called Cypria<\/em> which is currently eleven books. Its contents are as follows. [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] plans with [pb_glossary id=\"192\"]Themis[\/pb_glossary] to bring about the Trojan War. [pb_glossary id=\"2421\"]Strife[\/pb_glossary] arrives while the gods are feasting at the marriage of [pb_glossary id=\"2032\"]Peleus[\/pb_glossary] and starts a dispute between [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary], [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary], and [pb_glossary id=\"882\"]Aphrodite[\/pb_glossary] as to which of them is the most beautiful. The three are led by [pb_glossary id=\"210\"]Hermes[\/pb_glossary], at the command of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary], to [pb_glossary id=\"317\"]Alexander[\/pb_glossary] on [pb_glossary id=\"187\"]Mount Ida[\/pb_glossary] for his decision. [pb_glossary id=\"317\"]Alexander[\/pb_glossary], tempted by the promise of marriage to [pb_glossary id=\"1663\"]Helen[\/pb_glossary], decides in favour of [pb_glossary id=\"882\"]Aphrodite[\/pb_glossary]. Then [pb_glossary id=\"317\"]Alexander[\/pb_glossary] builds his ships at [pb_glossary id=\"882\"]Aphrodite[\/pb_glossary]'s suggestion, and Helenus foretells the future to him. [pb_glossary id=\"882\"]Aphrodite[\/pb_glossary] orders [pb_glossary id=\"212\"]Aeneas[\/pb_glossary] to sail with him, while [pb_glossary id=\"2075\"]Cassandra[\/pb_glossary] prophecies about what will happen afterwards.\r\n\r\n[pb_glossary id=\"317\"]Alexander[\/pb_glossary] next lands in Lacedaemon and is hosted by the sons of [pb_glossary id=\"1458\"]Tyndareus[\/pb_glossary], and afterwards by [pb_glossary id=\"2021\"]Menelaus[\/pb_glossary] in Sparta, where during a feast he gives gifts to [pb_glossary id=\"1663\"]Helen[\/pb_glossary]. After this, [pb_glossary id=\"2021\"]Menelaus[\/pb_glossary] sets sail for Crete, ordering [pb_glossary id=\"1663\"]Helen[\/pb_glossary] to provide the guests with all that they need until they depart. Meanwhile, [pb_glossary id=\"882\"]Aphrodite[\/pb_glossary] brings [pb_glossary id=\"1663\"]Helen[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"317\"]Alexander[\/pb_glossary] together, and, after their union, they put very great treasures on the ship and sail away by night. [pb_glossary id=\"185\"]Hera[\/pb_glossary] stirs up a storm against them and they are carried to Sidon, where [pb_glossary id=\"317\"]Alexander[\/pb_glossary] takes the city. From there, he sailed to [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary] and celebrated his marriage with [pb_glossary id=\"1663\"]Helen[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\nIn the meantime, [pb_glossary id=\"1407\"]Castor[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"1590\"]Polydeuces[\/pb_glossary], while stealing the cattle of Idas and Lynceus, were caught in the act, and [pb_glossary id=\"1407\"]Castor[\/pb_glossary] was killed by Idas, and Lynceus and Idas by [pb_glossary id=\"1590\"]Polydeuces[\/pb_glossary]. [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] gave them immortality every other day.[footnote]After their deaths, Castor and Pollux had to split their immortality between the two of them, and were thus each only half immortal. They were said to spend half their time on Mount Olympus, and half their time in the Underworld.[\/footnote] [pb_glossary id=\"885\"]Iris[\/pb_glossary] next informs [pb_glossary id=\"2021\"]Menelaus[\/pb_glossary] of what has happened at his home. [pb_glossary id=\"2021\"]Menelaus[\/pb_glossary] returns and plans an expedition against [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Ilium[\/pb_glossary] with his brother, and then travels on to [pb_glossary id=\"1452\"]Nestor[\/pb_glossary]. [pb_glossary id=\"1452\"]Nestor[\/pb_glossary], on a tangent, tells him how Epopeus was utterly destroyed after seducing the daughter of [pb_glossary id=\"1475\"]Lycus[\/pb_glossary], and the story of [pb_glossary id=\"2062\"]Oedipus[\/pb_glossary], the madness of [pb_glossary id=\"1591\"]Heracles[\/pb_glossary], and the story of [pb_glossary id=\"1438\"]Theseus[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"1632\"]Ariadne[\/pb_glossary]. Then they travel over Hellas and gather the leaders. When [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary] pretends to be mad in order to avoid joining the expedition, they [ [pb_glossary id=\"2021\"]Menelaus[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"1561\"]Agamemnon[\/pb_glossary] ] see through the trick by (at the suggestion of Palamedes) seizing his son [pb_glossary id=\"2024\"]Telemachus[\/pb_glossary] for punishment. All the leaders then meet together at Aulis and sacrifice. The incident of the serpent and the sparrows takes place before them, and [pb_glossary id=\"2314\"]Calchas[\/pb_glossary] foretells what is going to occur. After this, they put out to sea, and reach Teuthrania and sack it, mistaking it for [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Ilium[\/pb_glossary]. Telephus comes to the rescue and kills Thersander, the son of [pb_glossary id=\"4299\"]Polynices[\/pb_glossary], and is himself wounded by [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary]. As they set out from Mysia, a storm comes on them and scatters them. [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] first land at Scyros and married Deidameia, the daughter of Lycomedes. He then heals Telephus, who had been led by an oracle to go to Argos, so that he could be their guide on the voyage to [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Ilium[\/pb_glossary]. When the expedition had regrouped for a second time at Aulis, [pb_glossary id=\"1561\"]Agamemnon[\/pb_glossary], while out hunting, shot a stag and boasted that he surpassed even [pb_glossary id=\"180\"]Artemis[\/pb_glossary]. The goddess was so angry about this that she sent stormy winds and prevented them from sailing. [pb_glossary id=\"2314\"]Calchas[\/pb_glossary] then told them of the anger of the goddess and advised them to sacrifice [pb_glossary id=\"1673\"]Iphigenia[\/pb_glossary] to [pb_glossary id=\"180\"]Artemis[\/pb_glossary]. They attempt to do this, sending a message to fetch [pb_glossary id=\"1673\"]Iphigenia[\/pb_glossary], claiming she must come to marry [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary]. [pb_glossary id=\"180\"]Artemis[\/pb_glossary], however, snatched her away and transported her to the Tauri, making her immortal, and putting a stag in place of the girl upon the altar.\r\n\r\nNext they sail as far as Tenedos. While they are feasting, [pb_glossary id=\"1485\"]Philoctetes[\/pb_glossary] is bitten by a snake and is left behind in Lemnos because of the stench of his infected wound. Here, too, [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] argues with [pb_glossary id=\"1561\"]Agamemnon[\/pb_glossary] because he is invited late. Then the Greeks try to land at [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Ilium[\/pb_glossary], but the Trojans prevent them, and Protesilaus is killed by [pb_glossary id=\"2173\"]Hector[\/pb_glossary]. [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] then kills Cygnus, the son of [pb_glossary id=\"182\"]Poseidon[\/pb_glossary], and drives the Trojans back. The Greeks gather up their dead and send messengers to the Trojans demanding the surrender of [pb_glossary id=\"1663\"]Helen[\/pb_glossary] and the treasure with her. Because the Trojans had refused, they first assault the city, and then go out and sack the country and cities in the region. After this, [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] wishes to see [pb_glossary id=\"1663\"]Helen[\/pb_glossary], and so [pb_glossary id=\"882\"]Aphrodite[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"1551\"]Thetis[\/pb_glossary] arrange a meeting between them. The [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Achaeans[\/pb_glossary] next wish to return home, but are restrained by [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary]. [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] then\u00a0drives off the cattle of [pb_glossary id=\"212\"]Aeneas[\/pb_glossary], sacks Lyrnessus and Pedasus and many of the neighbouring cities, and kills Troilus [ son of [pb_glossary id=\"614\"]Priam[\/pb_glossary] ]. [pb_glossary id=\"612\"]Patroclus[\/pb_glossary] carries away Lycaon [ son of [pb_glossary id=\"614\"]Priam[\/pb_glossary] ] to Lemnos and sells him as a slave, and out of the spoils [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] receives [pb_glossary id=\"2445\"]Briseis[\/pb_glossary] as a prize, and [pb_glossary id=\"1561\"]Agamemnon[\/pb_glossary] [pb_glossary id=\"1563\"]Chryseis[\/pb_glossary]. Then follows the death of Palamedes, the plan of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] to help the Trojans by detaching [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] from the Hellenic confederacy, and a catalogue of the Trojan allies.\r\n\r\n[On the\u00a0Aethiopis<\/em>] The Cypria<\/em>, described in the preceding book, is followed by the Iliad<\/em> of Homer, which is followed in turn by the five books of the Aethiopis<\/em>, the work of Arctinus of Miletus. Their contents are as follows. The [pb_glossary id=\"1207\"]Amazon[\/pb_glossary] [pb_glossary id=\"2615\"]Penthesileia[\/pb_glossary], the daughter of [pb_glossary id=\"179\"]Ares[\/pb_glossary] and of Thracian race, comes to aid the Trojans. After showing great skill, she is killed by [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] and buried by the Trojans. [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] then kills [pb_glossary id=\"2717\"]Thersites[\/pb_glossary] for insulting him for his supposed love for [pb_glossary id=\"2615\"]Penthesileia[\/pb_glossary]. As a result, an argument starts amongst the [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Achaeans[\/pb_glossary] about the killing of [pb_glossary id=\"2717\"]Thersites[\/pb_glossary], and [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] sails to Lesbos. After sacrificing to [pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary], [pb_glossary id=\"180\"]Artemis[\/pb_glossary], and [pb_glossary id=\"191\"]Leto[\/pb_glossary], he is purified by [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary] from bloodshed.[footnote]\"Purified\" here refers to the Greek concept of miasma<\/em>, the idea that death defiles someone or makes them impure. For further explanation, see Mythology Unbound<\/a>.[\/footnote] Then Memnon, the son of [pb_glossary id=\"215\"]Eos[\/pb_glossary], wearing armour made by [pb_glossary id=\"356\"]Hephaestus[\/pb_glossary], comes to help the Trojans. [pb_glossary id=\"1551\"]Thetis[\/pb_glossary] tells her son about Memnon. A battle takes place in which [pb_glossary id=\"2089\"]Antilochus[\/pb_glossary] is killed by Memnon, and Memnon is killed by [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary]. [pb_glossary id=\"215\"]Eos[\/pb_glossary] then receives immortality from [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] and gives it to her son; but [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] routs the Trojans, and, rushing into the city with them, is killed by [pb_glossary id=\"317\"]Paris[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary]. A great struggle for the body then follows, [pb_glossary id=\"2076\"]Ajax[\/pb_glossary] picking up the body and carrying it to the ships, while [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary] drives off the Trojans behind. The [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Achaeans[\/pb_glossary] then bury [pb_glossary id=\"2089\"]Antilochus[\/pb_glossary] and lay out the body of [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary], while [pb_glossary id=\"1551\"]Thetis[\/pb_glossary], arriving with the [pb_glossary id=\"348\"]Muses[\/pb_glossary] and her sisters [ the [pb_glossary id=\"329\"]Nereids[\/pb_glossary] ], mourns her son, whom she afterwards steals away from the pyre and transports to the White Island. After this, the [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Achaeans[\/pb_glossary] pile a cairn for him and hold games in his honour. Lastly, an argument beginsbetween [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary] and [pb_glossary id=\"2076\"]Ajax[\/pb_glossary] over the arms of [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n[On the Little Iliad<\/em>] Next comes the Little Iliad<\/em> in four books by Lesches of Mitylene. Its contents are as follows. The judgment of the arms of [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] takes place, and [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary], through the interference of [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary], gets them. [pb_glossary id=\"2076\"]Ajax[\/pb_glossary] then becomes mad and destroys the herd of the [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Achaeans[\/pb_glossary] and kills himself. Next [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary] lies in wait and catches Helenus, who prophesies about the capture of Troy, and [pb_glossary id=\"1192\"]Diomedes[\/pb_glossary], according to the prophecy, brings [pb_glossary id=\"1485\"]Philoctetes[\/pb_glossary] from Lemnos. [pb_glossary id=\"1485\"]Philoctetes[\/pb_glossary] is healed by Machaon, and fights in single combat with [pb_glossary id=\"317\"]Alexander[\/pb_glossary] and kills him. The dead body is brutalized by [pb_glossary id=\"2021\"]Menelaus[\/pb_glossary], but the Trojans retrieve and bury it. After this [pb_glossary id=\"4187\"]Deiphobus[\/pb_glossary] marries [pb_glossary id=\"1663\"]Helen[\/pb_glossary], [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary] brings [pb_glossary id=\"2027\"]Neoptolemus[\/pb_glossary] from Scyros and gives him his father's weapons, and the ghost of [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] appears to him. Eurypylus the son of Telephus arrives to help the Trojans, shows his skill, and is killed by [pb_glossary id=\"2027\"]Neoptolemus[\/pb_glossary]. The Trojans are now in a tight siege, and [pb_glossary id=\"2771\"]Epeius[\/pb_glossary], by [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary]'s instruction, builds the wooden horse. [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary] disguises himself and goes in to [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Ilium[\/pb_glossary] as a spy. Recognized by Helen, he plots with her to take the city. After killing some of the Trojans, he returns to the ships. Next he carries the Palladium out of [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary] with help of [pb_glossary id=\"1192\"]Diomedes[\/pb_glossary]. Then after putting their best men in the wooden horse and burning their huts, the main body of the [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Hellenes[\/pb_glossary] sail to Tenedos. The Trojans, thinking their troubles are over, destroy a part of their city wall and take the wooden horse into their city and feast as though they had conquered the [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Hellenes[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n[On the Sack of Ilium<\/em> (Ilioupersis<\/em>)] Next come two books of the Sack of [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Ilium[\/pb_glossary]<\/em>, by Arctinus of Miletus, with the following contents. The Trojans were suspicious of the wooden horse and, standing around it, debated what they should do. Some thought they should hurl it down from the rocks, others burn it up, while others said they should dedicate it to [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary]. At last this third opinion won out. Then they turned to joy and feasting, believing the war was at an end. But at this very moment, two serpents appeared and destroyed [pb_glossary id=\"5034\"]Laocoon[\/pb_glossary] and one of his two sons, a sign that alarmed the followers of [pb_glossary id=\"212\"]Aeneas[\/pb_glossary] so much that they withdrew to [pb_glossary id=\"187\"]Mount Ida[\/pb_glossary]. Sinon then raised the fire-signal to the [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Achaeans[\/pb_glossary], having previously gotten into the city using deception. The Greeks then sailed in from Tenedos, and those in the wooden horse came out and fell upon their enemies, killing many and storming the city. [pb_glossary id=\"2027\"]Neoptolemus[\/pb_glossary] kills [pb_glossary id=\"614\"]Priam[\/pb_glossary], who had fled to the altar of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] Herceius; [pb_glossary id=\"2021\"]Menelaus[\/pb_glossary] finds [pb_glossary id=\"1663\"]Helen[\/pb_glossary] and takes her to the ships, after killing [pb_glossary id=\"4187\"]Deiphobus[\/pb_glossary]. [pb_glossary id=\"2321\"]Ajax[\/pb_glossary] the son of Ileus, while trying to drag [pb_glossary id=\"2075\"]Cassandra[\/pb_glossary] away by force, tears away with her the image [statue] of [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary]. At this, the Greeks are so angry that they decide to stone [pb_glossary id=\"2321\"]Ajax[\/pb_glossary], who only escapes from the danger threatening him by taking refuge at the altar of [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary]. The Greeks, after burning the city, sacrifice Polyxena at the tomb of [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary]: [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary] murders Astyanax [ son of [pb_glossary id=\"2173\"]Hector[\/pb_glossary] ]; [pb_glossary id=\"2027\"]Neoptolemus[\/pb_glossary] takes [pb_glossary id=\"2718\"]Andromache[\/pb_glossary] as his prize, and the remaining spoils are divided. Demophon and Acamas [ sons of [pb_glossary id=\"1438\"]Theseus[\/pb_glossary] ] find [pb_glossary id=\"1734\"]Aethra[\/pb_glossary] and take her with them. Lastly the Greeks sail away and [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary] plans to destroy them on the high seas.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nTaken from: https:\/\/www.theoi.com\/Text\/EpicCycle.html#Cypria<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nAfter the Iliad<\/h1>\r\n
\r\n Sections & Primary Texts<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n
\r\n\r\nThe Death of Achilles<\/a>\r\n- \r\n \t
- Homer,\u00a0Iliad, <\/em>22.337-366<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe Judgement of the Arms<\/a>\r\n\r\nThe Bow of Philoctetes<\/a>\r\n\r\nThe Trojan Horse<\/a>\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Homer,\u00a0Odyssey, <\/em>8.485-520<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t
- Virgil,\u00a0Aeneid, <\/em>2.228-297<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe Death of Priam<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
<\/a>The Death of Achilles<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2917\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]
![\"The](\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greekromanmyth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1141\/2021\/07\/Mourning_of_Akhilleus_Louvre_E643-scaled.jpg\")
Thetis mourning Achilles, black-figure hydria, ca. 550 BCE (Louvre Museum, Paris)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nAlthough Achilles death is not included in the\u00a0Iliad<\/em>, the poem hints at the future in Book 22, during Hector's death scene.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/a>Homer,\u00a0Iliad<\/em>, Book 22 (trans. A. S. Kline)<\/h3>\r\n
Greek Epic Poem, ca. 8th century BCE<\/h4>\r\n
These lines are the climactic moment in the\u00a0Iliad<\/em>, at the end of the fight between Hector and Achilles, where Achilles has just dealt the death blow to the Trojan hero and Hector ekes out his last request.<\/div>\r\n[337-366] Then [pb_glossary id=\"2173\"]Hector[\/pb_glossary] of the gleaming helm replied, in a feeble voice, \"At your feet I beg, by your parents, by your own life, don\u2019t let the dogs devour my flesh by the hollow ships. Accept the ransom my royal father and mother will offer, stores of gold and bronze, and let them carry my body home, so the Trojans and their wives may grant me in death my portion of fire.\"\r\n\r\nBut fleet-footed [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] glared at him in answer, \"Don\u2019t speak of my parents, dog. I wish the fury and the pain in me could drive me to carve and eat you raw for what you did, as surely as this is true: no living man will keep the dogs from gnawing at your skull, not if men weighed out twenty, thirty times your worth in ransom, and promised even more, not though Dardanian [pb_glossary id=\"614\"]Priam[\/pb_glossary] bid them give your weight in gold, not even then will your royal mother lay you on a bier to grieve for you, the son she bore, rather shall dogs, and carrion birds, devour you utterly.\"\r\n\r\nThen [pb_glossary id=\"2173\"]Hector[\/pb_glossary] of the gleaming helm spoke at the point of death, \"I know you truly now, and see your fate, nor was it mine to sway you. The heart in your breast is iron indeed. But think, lest the gods, remembering me, turn their wrath on you, that day by the Scaean\u00a0Gate when, brave as you are,\u00a0[pb_glossary id=\"317\"]Paris[\/pb_glossary]\u00a0kills you, with\u00a0[pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary]\u2019s help.\u2019\r\n\r\nDeath enfolded him, as he uttered these words, and, wailing its lot, his spirit fled from the body down to [pb_glossary id=\"211\"]Hades[\/pb_glossary], leaving youth and manhood behind. A corpse it was that noble [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary] addressed, \"Lie there then in death, and I will face my own, whenever [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary] and the other deathless gods decide.\"\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nTaken from: https:\/\/www.poetryintranslation.com\/PITBR\/Greek\/Iliad22.php#anchor_Toc239246423<\/a>\r\nTranslated by A. S. Kline \u00a9\u00a0Copyright<\/a>\u00a02009 All Rights Reserved<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
In antiquity, Achilles' death was dramatized by the\u00a0Aethiopis<\/em>, a five book epic which focused on the Ethiopian hero, Memnon, who fought on the Trojan side in the war. The epic only survives now as brief mentions and summaries in the works of other authors.\u00a0The surviving epitomes<\/em> (summaries) of the Aethiopis\u00a0<\/em>can be read here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
<\/a>The Judgement of the Arms<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2509\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1680\"]
![\"Agamemnon](\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greekromanmyth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1141\/2021\/07\/Odysseus_Ajax_Louvre_F340.jpg\")
Ajax, Agamemnon, and Odysseus during the Judgement of Arms, black-figure oinochoe, ca. 520 BCE (Louvre Museum, Paris)[\/caption]\r\nThe Judgement of the Arms was the contest over who should get the armour of Achilles after his death. There were two contenders, Odysseys and Ajax. They were the ones who rescued Achilles' body from the battlefield after he was killed by Paris and they each had a substantial claim to being the second best of the Achaean heroes after Achilles.<\/p>\r\n
The Judgement of the Arms was narrated in the lost epic the\u00a0Little Iliad<\/em>. The surviving fragments and epitomes<\/em> of the\u00a0Little Iliad<\/em> can be read here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n
The contest for Achilles' armour and Ajax's madness after he loses is also the plot of Sophocles' tragic play, the Ajax<\/em>, which can be read here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
<\/a>The Bow of Philoctetes<\/h2>\r\n
There was a prophesy, gained under torture and duress from the Trojan seer, Helenus, that the Greeks would not be able to win the war without the bow of Philoctetes, given to him by Heracles. Unfortunately, the Achaeans had abandoned Philoctetes on the island of Lemnos on their way to Troy because he had an enchanted wound on his foot from a snakebite that would not heal and which gave off a horrendous stench. According to some sources, there was another part of the prophesy which said that the Greeks would not be able to win without the aid of Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles.<\/p>\r\n
So Odysseus went on a mission to get the bow of Philoctetes. This story is dramatized in Sophocles' tragic play called\u00a0Philoctetes<\/em>, which also features Neoptolomus as part of the embassy which goes to Lemnos to fetch the bow. The Philoctetes<\/em> can be read here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
<\/a>The Trojan Horse<\/h2>\r\n
The story of the Trojan Horse was told in the\u00a0Little Iliad<\/em> and the\u00a0Sack of Troy,\u00a0<\/em>neither of which survive. It is also referred to in the\u00a0Odyssey<\/em>. The longest version of the story that survives from the ancient world is not Greek, but Roman. It appears in the second book of the\u00a0Aeneid<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n \r\n
\r\n<\/a>Homer,\u00a0Odyssey,<\/em> Book 8 (trans. A. S. Kline, adapted by P. Rogak)<\/h3>\r\n
Greek Epic Poem, ca. 8th century BCE<\/h4>\r\n
At this point in the poem, Odysseus has arrived at the island of Phaeacians. While at the court of the King Alcinous and Queen Arete, he asks the blind bard Demododus to sing about the Trojan horse and sack of Troy.<\/div>\r\n[485-520] [. . .] when they had satisfied their desire for food and drink, resourceful [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary] spoke to the bard, saying, \"Demodocus, I praise you above all mortal men, one taught by the [pb_glossary id=\"348\"]Muse[\/pb_glossary], [pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Zeus[\/pb_glossary]\u2019 daughter, or perhaps by [pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary], for you sang the [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Achaeans[\/pb_glossary]\u2019 fate with truth and feeling, all of their actions and their suffering, all the efforts they exerted, as if you had been there, or heard it from one who was. Now, come, change your theme, and sing of the making of the Wooden Horse, that [pb_glossary id=\"2771\"]Epeius[\/pb_glossary] fashioned with [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary]\u2019s help, that noble [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary] contrived to have dragged inside the citadel, filled by cunning with warriors who then sacked [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary]. Tell the tale as it happened, and I will say to all mankind that the god has given you freely of the power of divine song.\"\r\n\r\nAt his words the bard, inspired by the god, began, and raising his voice picked up the tale at the point where the [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Argives[\/pb_glossary] had burned their camp, boarded their oared ships, and sailed some way off, leaving glorious [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary] and the rest sitting inside the Horse, at the Trojan\u2019s meeting place. The Trojans themselves had dragged it into the citadel. There it stood, while the people sat round it, discussing it endlessly to no conclusion. Three suggestions were considered: to cut through the hollow timber with pitiless bronze, or drag it to the edge of the rock and over the cliff, or let it stand there, as a grand offering to the gods, in propitiation, which is what happened in the end. For it was their destiny to be destroyed when the city accepted that huge horse of wood, where the best of the Argives lay hidden, bringing death and ruin to [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\nThen he sang how the [pb_glossary id=\"2276\"]Achaeans[\/pb_glossary] left their hollow hiding place, and poured from the horse, to sack the city. He sang how the other warriors dispersing through the streets, laid waste high [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary], but [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary], the image of [pb_glossary id=\"179\"]Ares[\/pb_glossary], together with godlike [pb_glossary id=\"2021\"]Menelaus[\/pb_glossary], sought [pb_glossary id=\"4187\"]Deiphobus[\/pb_glossary]\u2019 house. There, said the tale, [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Odysseus[\/pb_glossary] fought the most terrible of fights, but conquered in the end, with the help of great-hearted [pb_glossary id=\"173\"]Athena[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nTaken from: https:\/\/www.poetryintranslation.com\/PITBR\/Greek\/Odyssey8.php#anchor_Toc90267761<\/a>\r\nTranslated by A. S. Kline \u00a9\u00a0Copyright<\/a>\u00a02004 All Rights Reserved<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n
\r\n<\/a>Virgil, Aeneid<\/em>,\u00a0Book 2 (trans. A. S. Kline)<\/h3>\r\n
Latin epic poem, 19 BCE<\/h4>\r\n
In Book 2 of the Aeneid<\/em>, Aeneas and his men, fleeing the destroyed city of Troy, have landed at the city of Carthage, in North Africa. They are being hosted by Dido, the Queen of Carthage, who asks Aeneas to tell her his story. In the following section, he recounts the trick of the Trojan horse.<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n[228-297] Then in truth a strange terror steals through each shuddering heart,\r\n\r\nand they say that [pb_glossary id=\"5034\"]Laocoon[\/pb_glossary] has justly suffered for his crime\r\n\r\nin wounding the sacred oak-tree with his spear,\r\n\r\nby hurling its wicked shaft into the trunk.[footnote]This passage refers to Laocoon's suspicion of the Trojan Horse. Laocoon was said to have tried to convince the Trojans to destroy the horse. Athena, favouring the Greeks, visited a series of punishments upon him (first blinding him, and then sending two large snakes to eat him and his children). An account of Laocoon can be found in Quintus of Smyrna's Posthomerica, <\/em>12. 418-538<\/a>.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\n\u201cPull the statue to her house\u201d, they shout,\r\n\r\n\u201cand offer prayers to the goddess\u2019s divinity.\u201d\r\n\r\nWe breached the wall, and opened up the defences of the city.\r\n\r\nAll prepare themselves for the work and they set up wheels\r\n\r\nallowing movement under its feet, and stretch hemp ropes\r\n\r\nround its neck. That engine of fate mounts our walls\r\n\r\npregnant with armed men. Around it boys, and virgin girls,\r\n\r\nsing sacred songs, and delight in touching their hands to the ropes:\r\n\r\nUp it glides and rolls threateningly into the midst of the city.\r\n\r\nO my country, O [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Ilium[\/pb_glossary] house of the gods, and you,\r\n\r\nTrojan walls famous in war! Four times it sticks at the threshold\r\n\r\nof the gates, and four times the weapons clash in its belly:\r\n\r\nyet we press on regardless, blind with frenzy,\r\n\r\nand site the accursed creature on top of our sacred citadel.\r\n\r\nEven then [pb_glossary id=\"2075\"]Cassandra[\/pb_glossary], who, by the god\u2019s decree, is never\r\n\r\nto be believed by Trojans, reveals our future fate with her lips.\r\n\r\nWe unfortunate ones, for whom that day is our last,\r\n\r\nclothe the gods\u2019 temples, throughout the city, with festive branches.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile the heavens turn, and night rushes from the [pb_glossary id=\"216\"]Ocean[\/pb_glossary],\r\n\r\nwrapping the earth, and sky, and the [pb_glossary id=\"620\"]Myrmidons[\/pb_glossary]\u2019 tricks,\r\n\r\nin its vast shadow: through the city the Trojans\r\n\r\nfall silent: sleep enfolds their weary limbs.\r\n\r\nAnd now the Greek phalanx of battle-ready ships sailed\r\n\r\nfrom Tenedos, in the benign stillness of the silent moon,\r\n\r\nseeking the known shore, when the royal galley raised\r\n\r\na torch, and Sinon, protected by the gods\u2019 unjust doom,\r\n\r\nsets free the Greeks imprisoned by planks of pine,\r\n\r\nin the horses\u2019 belly. Opened, it releases them to the air,\r\n\r\nand sliding down a lowered rope, Thessandrus, and Sthenelus,\r\n\r\nthe leaders, and fatal [pb_glossary id=\"1495\"]Ulysses[\/pb_glossary], emerge joyfully\r\n\r\nfrom their wooden cave, with Acamas, Thoas,\r\n\r\n[pb_glossary id=\"2032\"]Peleus[\/pb_glossary]\u2019 son [pb_glossary id=\"2027\"]Neoptolemus[\/pb_glossary], the noble Machaon,\r\n\r\n[pb_glossary id=\"2021\"]Menelaus[\/pb_glossary], and [pb_glossary id=\"2771\"]Epeius[\/pb_glossary] who himself devised this trick.\r\n\r\nThey invade the city that\u2019s drowned in sleep and wine,\r\n\r\nkill the watchmen, welcome their comrades\r\n\r\nat the open gates, and link their clandestine ranks.\r\n\r\nIt was the hour when first sleep begins for weary mortals,\r\n\r\nand steals over them as the sweetest gift of the gods.\r\n\r\nSee, in dream, before my eyes, [pb_glossary id=\"2173\"]Hector[\/pb_glossary] seemed to stand there,\r\n\r\nsaddest of all and pouring out great tears,\r\n\r\ntorn by the chariot, as once he was, black with bloody dust,\r\n\r\nand his swollen feet pierced by the thongs.\r\n\r\nAh, how he looked! How changed he was\r\n\r\nfrom that [pb_glossary id=\"2173\"]Hector[\/pb_glossary] who returned wearing [pb_glossary id=\"1582\"]Achilles[\/pb_glossary]\u2019 armour,\r\n\r\nor who set Trojan flames to the Greek ships! His beard was ragged,\r\n\r\nhis hair matted with blood, bearing those many wounds he received\r\n\r\ndragged around the walls of his city.\r\n\r\nAnd I seemed to weep myself, calling out to him,\r\n\r\nand speaking to him in words of sorrow:\r\n\r\n\u201cOh light of the Troad, surest hope of the Trojans,\r\n\r\nwhat has so delayed you? What shore do you come from\r\n\r\n[pb_glossary id=\"2173\"]Hector[\/pb_glossary], the long-awaited? Weary from the many troubles\r\n\r\nof our people and our city I see you, oh, after the death\r\n\r\nof so many of your kin! What shameful events have marred\r\n\r\nthat clear face? And why do I see these wounds?\u2019\r\n\r\nHe does not reply, nor does he wait on my idle questions,\r\n\r\nbut dragging heavy sighs from the depths of his heart, he says:\r\n\r\n\u201cAh! Son of the goddess, fly, tear yourself from the flames.\r\n\r\nThe enemy has taken the walls: [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary] falls from her high place.\r\n\r\nEnough has been given to [pb_glossary id=\"614\"]Priam[\/pb_glossary] and your country: if Pergama\r\n\r\ncould be saved by any hand, it would have been saved by this.\r\n\r\n[pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary] entrusts her sacred relics and household gods to you:\r\n\r\ntake them as friends of your fate, seek mighty walls for them,\r\n\r\nthose you will found at last when you have wandered the seas.\u201d\r\n\r\nSo he speaks, and brings the sacred headbands in his hands\r\n\r\nfrom the innermost shrine, potent [pb_glossary id=\"181\"]Vesta[\/pb_glossary], and the undying flame.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile the city is confused with grief, on every side,\r\n\r\nand though my father [pb_glossary id=\"188\"]Anchises[\/pb_glossary]\u2019 house is remote, secluded\r\n\r\nand hidden by trees, the sounds grow clearer and clearer,\r\n\r\nand the terror of war sweeps upon it.\r\n\r\nI shake off sleep, and climb to the highest roof-top,\r\n\r\nand stand there with ears strained:\r\n\r\nas when fire attacks a wheat-field when the south-wind rages,\r\n\r\nor the rushing torrent from a mountain stream covers the fields,\r\n\r\ndrowns the ripe crops, the labour of oxen,\r\n\r\nand brings down the trees headlong, and the dazed shepherd,\r\n\r\nunaware, hears the echo from a high rocky peak.\r\n\r\nNow the truth is obvious, and the Greek plot revealed.\r\n\r\nNow the vast hall of [pb_glossary id=\"4187\"]Deiphobus[\/pb_glossary] is given to ruin\r\n\r\nthe fire over it: now Ucalegon\u2019s nearby blazes:\r\n\r\nthe wide Sigean straits throw back the glare.\r\n\r\nThen the clamour of men and the blare of trumpets rises.\r\n\r\nFrantically I seize weapons: not because there is much use\r\n\r\nfor weapons, but my spirit burns to gather men for battle\r\n\r\nand race to the citadel with my friends: madness and anger\r\n\r\nhurl my mind headlong, and I think it beautiful to die fighting.\r\n\r\nNow, see, Panthus escaping the Greek spears,\r\n\r\nPanthus, son of Othrys, [pb_glossary id=\"183\"]Apollo[\/pb_glossary]\u2019s priest on the citadel,\r\n\r\ndragging along with his own hands the sacred relics,\r\n\r\nthe conquered gods, his little grandchild, running frantically\r\n\r\nto my door: \u201cWhere\u2019s the best advantage, Panthus, what position\r\n\r\nshould we take?\u201d I\u2019d barely spoken, when he answered\r\n\r\nwith a groan: \u201cThe last day comes, [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary]\u2019s inescapable hour.\r\n\r\n[pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary] is past, [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Ilium[\/pb_glossary] is past, and the great glory of the Trojans:\r\n\r\n[pb_glossary id=\"172\"]Jupiter[\/pb_glossary] carries all to Argos: the Greeks are lords of the burning city.\r\n\r\nThe horse, standing high on the ramparts, pours out warriors,\r\n\r\nand Sinon the conqueror exultantly stirs the flames.\r\n\r\nOthers are at the wide-open gates, as many thousands\r\n\r\nas ever came from great [pb_glossary id=\"4671\"]Mycenae[\/pb_glossary]: more have blocked\r\n\r\nthe narrow streets with hostile weapons:\r\n\r\na line of standing steel with naked flickering blades\r\n\r\nis ready for the slaughter: barely the first few guards\r\n\r\nat the gates attempt to fight, and they resist in blind conflict.\u201d\r\n\r\nBy these words from Othrys\u2019 son, and divine will, I\u2019m thrust\r\n\r\namongst the weapons and the flames, where the dismal [pb_glossary id=\"157\"]Fury[\/pb_glossary]\r\n\r\nsounds, and the roar, and the clamour rising to the sky.\r\n\r\nFriends joined me, visible in the moonlight, Ripheus,\r\n\r\nand Epytus, mighty in battle, Hypanis and Dymas,\r\n\r\ngathered to my side, and young Coroebus, Mygdon\u2019s son:\r\n\r\nby chance he\u2019d arrived in [pb_glossary id=\"4673\"]Troy[\/pb_glossary] at that time,\r\n\r\nburning with mad love for [pb_glossary id=\"2075\"]Cassandra[\/pb_glossary], and brought help,\r\n\r\nas a potential son-in-law, to [pb_glossary id=\"614\"]Priam[\/pb_glossary], and the Trojans,\r\n\r\nunlucky man, who didn\u2019t listen to the prophecy\r\n\r\nof his frenzied bride! When I saw them crowded there\r\n\r\neager for battle, I began as follows: \u201cWarriors, bravest\r\n\r\nof frustrated spirits, if your ardent desire is fixed\r\n\r\non following me to the end, you can see our cause\u2019s fate.\r\n\r\nAll the gods by whom this empire was supported\r\n\r\nhave departed, leaving behind their temples and their altars:\r\n\r\nyou aid a burning city: let us die and rush into battle.\r\n\r\nThe beaten have one refuge, to have no hope of refuge.\u201d\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nTaken from: https:\/\/www.poetryintranslation.com\/PITBR\/Latin\/VirgilAeneidII.php<\/a>\r\nTranslated by A. S. Kline \u00a9\u00a0Copyright<\/a>\u00a02002 All Rights Reserved<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
<\/a>The Death of Priam<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2518\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1845\"]
![\"Neoptolemus,](\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greekromanmyth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1141\/2021\/07\/Amphora_death_Priam_Louvre_F222.jpg\")
Neoptolemus and Priam, black-figure amphora, ca. 520 BCE (Louvre Museum, Paris)[\/caption]\r\nPriam is killed by Neoptolemus during the sack of Troy. This story is also narrated in Book 2 of the Aeneid,<\/em> the full text of which can be read here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n
In a Greek vase painting from the Classical period, Neoptolemus is shown clubbing Priam to death with the body of the dead infant, Astyanax, the son of Hector and Andromache.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nMedia Attributions and Footnotes<\/h1>","rendered":"
![\"Philoctetes,](\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greekromanmyth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1141\/2021\/07\/philoctetes-e1626550805394.png\")
Philoctetes, Odysseus, and Neoptolemus, clay lamp, 1st century CE (British Museum, London)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\nThe Trojan Cycle<\/h1>\n
\n\n Sections & Primary Sources<\/p>\n<\/header>\n
\nProclus on the Trojan Cycle<\/a><\/p>\n
- \n
- Proclus,\u00a0Chrestomathia<\/em>, Books 1-2<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The Iliad<\/em> is just one of many texts that existed in antiquity that dealt with the mythology of the Trojan War. It was part of a larger collection of Ancient Greek epic poems that narrated events that occurred before, during, and after the war. These texts as a whole are called “The Epic Cycle” or sometimes just “The Trojan Cycle,” since “The Epic Cycle” can also refer to a longer mythological cycle that included the Titanomachy, the Theban Cycle (see chapter 37<\/a>), and the Trojan Cycle.<\/p>\n
All but two of the epics, the\u00a0Iliad\u00a0<\/em>and the\u00a0Odyssey<\/em>, are lost. We have only fragments of the other epics, as the myths of the cycle are also recounted by other ancient sources. These sources include Virgil’s Aeneid<\/em>\u00a0(book 2) which recounts the sack of Troy from a Trojan perspective; Ovid’s\u00a0Metamorphoses<\/em>\u00a0(books 13-14), which describes the Greeks’ landing at Troy (from the\u00a0Cypria<\/em>) and the judgment of Achilles’ arms (Little Iliad<\/em>); and Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica<\/em>, which narrates all the events after Achilles’ death up until the end of the war. The death of Agamemnon and the vengeance taken by his son Orestes (part of the Nostoi<\/em>) are the subject of later Greek tragedy, especially Aeschylus’ Oresteia<\/em> trilogy (see chapter 30<\/a>).<\/p>\n
<\/a>Proclus on the Trojan Cycle<\/h2>\n
The philosopher Proclus also discussed the epics of the Cycle in his work\u00a0Chrestomathia<\/em>. From Proclus, we have summaries of the plots of each work of the Epic Cycle and Trojan Cycle. The works of the Trojan Cycle are the\u00a0Cypria<\/em>, the Iliad<\/em>, the Aethiopis<\/em>, the\u00a0Little Iliad<\/em>, and the Sack of Ilium<\/em> (or Ilioupersis<\/em>), the Nostoi, <\/em>the Odyssey<\/em>, and the Telegony<\/em>.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Cypria\u00a0<\/em>(attributed to various authors) tells the events leading up to the Trojan War. It describes the Judgement of Paris, followed by Menelaus and Agamemnon’s mission to recruit allies to go to war with Troy. A compilation of fragments of the\u00a0Cypria<\/em> can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Iliad\u00a0<\/em>of Homer tells of the war itself, and especially the deeds of Achilles.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Aethiopis<\/em> (attributed to Arctinus of Miletus) tells of the deeds and death of Penthesilea, and the death of Achilles. A compilation of fragments of the\u00a0Aethiopis<\/em> can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Little Iliad\u00a0<\/em>(attributed to Lesches of Mitylene) tells of the Judgement of Arms, the death of Paris, and the construction of the Trojan Horse. A compilation of fragments of the\u00a0Little Iliad<\/em> can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Sack of Ilium <\/em>(Ilioupersis<\/em>) (attributed to Arctinus of Miletus) tells of the defeat of Troy and the fates of various Trojans, including Laocoon, Andromache, and Priam. A compilation of fragments of the\u00a0Sack of Ilium\u00a0<\/em>can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Nostoi, Odyssey, <\/em>and\u00a0Telegony<\/em> recount the events after the war.<\/p>\n
For further discussion of the Nostoi,<\/em>\u00a0Odyssey, <\/em>and\u00a0Telegony<\/em>, see chapter 30<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Proclus,\u00a0Chrestomathia<\/em>, Books 1-2 (trans. H. G. Evelyn-White, adapted by L. Zhang and P. Rogak)<\/h3>\n
Greek literary handbook, 5th century CE<\/h4>\n
[content warning for the following source: suicide (On the\u00a0Little Iliad<\/em>)]<\/h5>\n
Proclus was a 5th century CE neoplatonic philosopher who was born in Lycia (on the southern coast of modern day Turkey), studied in Alexandria, and made his way to Athens. Among other works, he wrote the Chrestomathia<\/em>, a handbook of literary works that exists now only in summary form. From the summary of this handbook, we have a description of the plot of the\u00a0Cypria, Aethiopis, Little Iliad,<\/em> and Ilioupersis.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/p>\n
[On the Cypria<\/em>] This [the Epigoni<\/em>] is continued by the epic called Cypria<\/em> which is currently eleven books. Its contents are as follows. Zeus<\/a> plans with Themis<\/a> to bring about the Trojan War. Strife<\/a> arrives while the gods are feasting at the marriage of Peleus<\/a> and starts a dispute between Hera<\/a>, Athena<\/a>, and Aphrodite<\/a> as to which of them is the most beautiful. The three are led by Hermes<\/a>, at the command of Zeus<\/a>, to Alexander<\/a> on Mount Ida<\/a> for his decision. Alexander<\/a>, tempted by the promise of marriage to Helen<\/a>, decides in favour of Aphrodite<\/a>. Then Alexander<\/a> builds his ships at Aphrodite<\/a>‘s suggestion, and Helenus foretells the future to him. Aphrodite<\/a> orders Aeneas<\/a> to sail with him, while Cassandra<\/a> prophecies about what will happen afterwards.<\/p>\n
Alexander<\/a> next lands in Lacedaemon and is hosted by the sons of Tyndareus<\/a>, and afterwards by Menelaus<\/a> in Sparta, where during a feast he gives gifts to Helen<\/a>. After this, Menelaus<\/a> sets sail for Crete, ordering Helen<\/a> to provide the guests with all that they need until they depart. Meanwhile, Aphrodite<\/a> brings Helen<\/a> and Alexander<\/a> together, and, after their union, they put very great treasures on the ship and sail away by night. Hera<\/a> stirs up a storm against them and they are carried to Sidon, where Alexander<\/a> takes the city. From there, he sailed to Troy<\/a> and celebrated his marriage with Helen<\/a>.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Castor<\/a> and Polydeuces<\/a>, while stealing the cattle of Idas and Lynceus, were caught in the act, and Castor<\/a> was killed by Idas, and Lynceus and Idas by Polydeuces<\/a>. Zeus<\/a> gave them immortality every other day.[1]<\/sup><\/a>
- Virgil,\u00a0Aeneid, <\/em>2.228-297<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe Death of Priam<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
- Homer,\u00a0Odyssey, <\/em>8.485-520<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t
- Homer,\u00a0Iliad, <\/em>22.337-366<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe Judgement of the Arms<\/a>\r\n\r\nThe Bow of Philoctetes<\/a>\r\n\r\nThe Trojan Horse<\/a>\r\n