10 Question Humanities Quiz: The Trojan War | Greek Myth

Answer: Agamemnon

Agamemnon was the great king of Mycenae. He is known as a great king or "wanax" as he dominated over the kings of the other ancient city states that made up ancient Greece or Achaea, as it was known then.

Answer: Homer

It is not known exactly who wrote 'the Iliad' and some believe more than one person had a hand in it. But the name given by historians to the writer of the poem is Homer. "The Iliad" means "the Trojan". Although there is no agreement as to when he lived, it is thought that his poems were finished in about 750 B.C. Troy was known as "Ilium" in ancient times as well as Troy because its founder, Ilus, son of Tros named it after himself.

Answer: Achilles

Achilles son of Peleus was the prince of Phthia and leader of the infamous Myrmadons. He is a key character in Homer's "Iliad" and is a well known hero in Greek mythology. The myth says that his mother, the sea nymph Thetis, dipped him into the River Styx to give him immortality, but the heel by which she held him did not go in the river and so became his weak spot.

This is where the term "Achilles' heel" comes from.

Answer: Odysseus

Odysseus was the heroic and cunning king of the island state of Ithaca. He was an asset to the Greeks in the Trojan war and if the myth of the Trojan horse is true, then it is thought that he would have been the inventor. In Homer's "Odyssey" we are told of Odysseus' epic trip home where he battles monsters, sirens and a sorceress.

He is even said to have travelled to the underworld where he spoke with the spirits of Achilles and Agamemnon. He eventually reached Ithaca and is thought to have lived happily ever after.

Answer: False

There is a myth or legend that the refugees from Troy, including the noble Aeneas, travelled to Italy where their descendants founded the city of Rome. There is archaeological evidence that Troy was burnt, but it also shows that new buildings were put up afterward.

It is thought that Aeneas would have been the new ruler of Troy after it was rebuilt and that it prospered for many years after the Trojan war. The origins of the legend of Aeneas come from the epic poem the "Aeneid" but one must remember that this was written by a Roman - Virgil. Romans were fascinated by the Greeks and it is thought that this myth was constructed to give the Romans a bit of 'extra heritage'.

Answer: Paris

At a late stage in the war it is thought that the Greeks breached the walls through a weak point. They rushed into Troy they were forced through a narrow corridor and high above it were many Trojan archers along with Paris. The chances of hitting any particular soldier would have been very difficult as there was a swarm of them, but the luck of hitting Achilles fell to Paris. Achilles was hit in the heel by one of Paris' poison arrows thus killing him.

As Achilles fell all his soldiers, led by King Menelaus, protected his body and took it to the safety of the Greek camp.

The way they protected him is similar to the way the 300 Spartans protected the body of their king Leonidas some 800 years later.

Answer: Menelaus, King of Sparta

In the movie "Troy" King Menelaus is killed during his duel with Paris by prince Hector, but this is not true. During that duel Menelaus was shot by a Trojan general with an arrow but survived. Paris was killed by the famous Greek archer, Prince Philoctetes.

When Achilles died it was decided that his armour should go to the greatest of all Greeks; this caused competition between Ajax and Odysseus, and when Odysseus proved the better of the two, Ajax killed himself. The Argive seer, Calchas, prophesied that the first Greek to land on the beach of Troy would die; the first Greek to land on Troy was Protesilaus who was killed by a Trojan hero.

Answer: 12

When Achilles killed Hector he cut holes through his heels and fed the girdle of his chariot through them dragging his body around Patroclus' tomb and defacing the body for twelve days. King Priam spoke with Achilles and got his son's body back himself with a payment of much finery and treasure.

In mythology it is said that Hector's body was protected by the messenger god Hermes and was preserved undamaged by Achilles' abuse.

Answer: Greece was called Achaea at that time

Achaea was the name of southern Greece in the ancient times. This compromised all the city states that attacked Troy. Achaea was in southern Thessaly but was separate from it. The northern states of Thessaly, Thrace and Macedonia were all considered separate countries.

The reason Achaeans are known as Greeks is because the Achaean tribes colonised and united all of Greece thus making Thessaly, Thrace and Macedonia part of Greece.

Answer: Diomedes

Diomedes was the youngest of the Achaean kings and yet was known as one of great standing, alongside Ajax, Odysseus and Menelaus. It was Diomedes who accompanied Odysseus when he went into Troy to spy on the enemy on occasions. After the war Diomedes was told that his queen had betrayed him and that treason awaited him in his homeland. So he migrated to Italy where he founded many cities.

It is not known how he died but it is true that the Adriatic island Diomedeae is named after him.