Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,
murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,
hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls,
great fighter’ souls, but made their body carrion,
feasts for the dogs and birds,
and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end.
Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed,
Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles.
- Homer, The Iliad.
Mother tells me,
the immortal goddess Thetis with her glistening feet,
that two fates bear me on to the day of death.
If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy,
my journey home is gone, but my glory never dies.
If I voyage back to the fatherland I love,
my pride, my glory dies . . .
true, but the life that’s left me will be long,
the stroke of death will not come on me quickly.
- Achilles, The Iliad.
When the hero is functioning rightly, his men bring grief to the enemy, but when wrongly, his men get the grief of war.
- Anon.
A mis-interpretation:
Prologue:
Achilles was the greatest Achaean champion during the Trojan War, a war which lasted a decade from 1194 to 1184 BC. The war marked the beginning of the Late Bronze Age collapse. Achilles was the son of the Aegean Thetis and Peleus, King of Myrmidons. Thetis had a foresight that her son would either die of old age after an uneventful life, or die young in a battlefield but gained immortality through history for his exploits in war. His father sent Achilles to Mount Pelion under the tutelage of the great teacher Chiron. He was gifted with skills and abilities to become a great warrior. Achilles had a mercurial temperament and confidence with a degree of arrogance. He occasionally displayed disregard for ranks and authorities, answerable only to his own judgement. When Achilles was nine years old, the Argos seer and augur, Calchas prophesied that should the Achaeans warred against Troy, the latter could not again fall without Achilles help. After Calchas prophesy and Achilles returned upon completion of his training at the age of fifteen, Thetis seek out the assistance of King Lycomedes of Skyros. Before Achilles was sent to Skyros in order to prevent him from involving in any war, Thetis spoke to him about his destiny and he would had to decide which life path to choose.
When King Priam of Troy sent his son Paris and nephew Aeneas, leader of Troy's Dardanian allies, on a diplomatic mission to King Menelaus of Sparta to seek the return of Priam's sister Hesione, Paris met and fell obsessively in love with Queen Helen of Sparta, recognised as the most beautiful woman throughout Achaea. Paris succeed in seducing Helen, resulting in an affair. Side tracked and without achieving the mission's objective, Paris decided to take Helen and eloped to Troy, much to the dismay and protest of Aeneas. Paris' reputation as a womaniser was well known and would often seduced wives and maidens. When he was questioned over his act in the gathering of nobles in the court of King Priam, Paris threatened to end his own life should Helen be returned. The Trojan princess and priestess of Athena, Cassandra, whom many regarded as mad yet believed to possess the skill of prophecy, urged his father to return the Spartan queen or risked the destruction of Troy. Priam disregarded his daughter's advise and allowed Helen to stay in Troy, much to the dismay of others. This was mostly due to the ordeal and humiliation Priam suffered during the siege on Troy decades ago by the Achaeans, led by the deified Heracles, which resulted in the death of his entire family and abduction of Hesione whom was forced into marriage to King Telamon of Salamis, even though Heracles later bestowed the government of Troy to Priam. King Menelaus of Sparta, whom was in Crete to attend the funeral of his uncle Crateus was enraged when he learnt of the incident and immediately departed for Troy. Though a warrior and temperamental, Menelaus did not want to risk war and sought to recover Helen from Priam by diplomatic means. But Priam was steadfast in his decisions and turned Menelaus away.
The Trojan War:
Angered and humiliated, Menelaus determined to seek retribution by asking his brother, the ambitious hegemony ruler of the Achaeans and king of Mycenae, Agamemnon to uphold the oath that required all of Helen's former suitors to promise most solemn that they would defend her marriage to whomever man chosen by her father and previous King of Sparta, Tyndareus. Agamemnon, whom had been wanting to subjugate Troy and consolidate his power, saw this as an opportunity not to be missed, agreed and immediately sent emissaries to all the Achaean kings and princes to call them to observe their oaths and retrieve Helen. They all gathered, and with much reluctance, solemnly swore the required oath on a cut up pieces of a horse. Agamemnon knew many would not involve themselves in to war, so he assigned Odysseus, the King of Ithaca famous for his brilliance, eloquence, guile and cunningness, and Nestor, the King of Pylos, to seek and recruit supports for the upcoming military campaign against Troy.
At Skyros, Achilles developed friendship and then romantic relationship with one of Lycomedes' daugthers, Deidamia, resulting in a son, Neoptolemus. Although Tyndareus was initially infuriated, he later consented to their relationship and had them married. Odysseus, Ajax the Great, the prince of Salamis Island and son of the illustrious King Telamon and Phoenix, the King of Dolopes whom was also a former tutor of Achilles, learnt of his location and went to recruit him for the war. Lycomedes concealed Achilles in female disguise among his own daughters. The trio disguised themselves as merchants, bringing numerous beautiful gifts, adornments and musical instruments as well as weapons to the king's daughters. Odysseus then had one of his companion imitated the noises of an enemy's attack on the island by making a blast of a trumpet heard, which prompted Achilles to reveal himself by instinctively picking a weapon to fight back, thus revealing his identity. Achilles remembered his mother's prophesy and hearing Deidamia's cry, he was reluctant to join the military expedition. Phoenix, whom was disgraced in his youth for the scandal of seducing his father's concubine and banished, but later redeemed and earned his fame as one of hunters in the Calydonian Boar Hunt, fell to his knees and pleaded emotionally to Achilles, whom then agreed. Tyndareus consoled her heartbroken daughter, told her to allow Achilles to go as he had chosen his path. Deidamia implored Achilles to keep their son in his thoughts, and to never have children with other women. Achilles swore to do so and promised to one day return to Deidamia. Achilles developed a dislike for Odysseus due to his perceived guile-like nature. He had known Ajax the Great as the latter was his cousin as well as training together as pupils of Chiron.
Before embarking for Troy, Agamemnon seek Calchas' advise to ensure good fortune and an auspicious military campaign. Seeing the wind had becalmed which would not allow the fleet to sail, Calchas said that Agamemnon had incurred the wrath of the goddess Artemis for killing deer at Aulis and was required to make sacrifice of his daughter Iphiginea. Agamemnon initially refused at the seer's suggestion. He shared this with Menelaus whom manipulatively changed his brother's decision by saying that not doing so would risk Agamemnon's political position and power. When Menelaus intentionally shared this with other commanders, they threatened to appoint Palamedes, prince of Nauplia, and Agamemnon political enemy, to replace him as overall commander of the expedition. Odysseus and Diomedes, the King of Argos, were sent to bring Iphigenia, under the pretext of a marriage to Achilles even though he was already married to Deidamia. She and her mother, Queen Clytemnestra, the sister of Helen, arrived in Aulis only to discover it was a ruse and learnt the truth after asking Achilles about the marriage of which he replied that he was unaware of such arrangement. Achilles was incensed and vowed to prevent the sacrifice even after being threatened with death by other commanders. After Iphigenia and Clytemnestra mourn together, Iphigenia makes the noble decision to die in honor and by her own will and asks Achilles not to stop the men. When Iphigenia is brought to the altar, a deer is put in her place by Achilles and the Myrmidons through trickery. He had her sent to the island of Leuke, without anyone's knowledge where she spent the remain of her life. Clytemnestra was devastated by the supposed death of her beloved daughter which made her hated Agamemnon.
Agamemnon raised one thousand and two hundreds ships with an army of one hundred and thirty thousands men. The fleet assembled at Aulis to set sail for Troy. All commanders arrived except for King Cinryas of Cyprus, whom would later be chastised over his breaking of the oath and later committed suicide due to the scandal of an incestuous relationship with his own daughter, Myrrha. Idomeneus, the King of Crete was offered to replace Cinryas with the promise of a co-commanding position. He became one of Agamemnon most trusted advisors. Achilles was the last commander to arrive prior to the journey, incurring Agamemnon's anger but to the nonchalance attitude of Achilles. Agamemnon and the Achaean alliance planned to conquer Troy within a week. Calchas, upon seeing a snake from the altar of Apollo eating a sparrow and its babies in a nest, prophesised that the war would last at least ten years.
En route, the Achaeans fleet lost their way due to a storm and landed in Mysia, whose king is Telephus, son of Heracles and leader of the Arcadians. Telephus wife was Laodice, the daughter of Priam. When Paris and Helen had stopped in Mysia on their way to Troy and seek Telephus assistance to fight off the Achaeans should they come by, he agreed. Agamemnon asked Telephus to join them in the battle against Troy of which he refused on the ground that he was the son-in-law of Priam. This resulted in a battle, whereby Telephus killed Thersander, the King of Thebes whom bore an ancient blood feud against him. Achilles demonstrated his fighting prowess for the first time by injuring Telephus, leaving a wound which would not heal due to a venom Achilles applied on the tip of his spear. Odysseus offered an antidote for the wound in return for showing the route to Troy, forcing Telephus to agree.
The fleet stopped at Tenedos for re-supply and further recruitment. From Tenedos, Agamemnon, after being advised by Idomeneus, reluctantly sent an embassy to Priam once more, composed of Menelaus, Odysseus and Palamedes, asking for Helen's return as well as serving as an ultimatum by the Achaeans. The embassy was refused and war became imminent. At Tenedos, Achilles was smitten by Hemithea after a bout of drinking, the sister of the famed King of Tenedos, Tenes. After turning Achilles away and running off, Tenes intervened and tried to reason with Achilles but the latter became enraged and killed him out of anger, much to the aggravation of Agamemnon. The Achaean war council considered it an act of hubris, an offence which carried the death penalty. Upon re-consideration of his skills, the council had him sailed to Lesbos, where he was purified for his murder after sacrificing to Apollo, Artemis, and Leto. Meanwhile, the famed and skilled archer Philoctetes, prince of Meliboea in Thessaly whom had participated in the first siege of Troy with Heracles and gifted with deified Greek champion's bow and arrow, was bitten by a snake, causing a festering wound on his foot. Upon Machaon of Thessaly advice, whom was a gifted general and skilful medic, Agamemnon and Idomeneus ordered Philoctetes to stay on Lemnos for the next ten years, an island populated by Minyans. Medon, Prince of Locris, took over Philoctetes's position and men.
The Achaeans finally arrived. Calchas had prophesied that the first Achaean to walk on land after stepping off a ship would be the first to die. Achilles seemed to defy even fate as he and the Myrmidons were the first to land, followed by Ajax the Great, Diomedes and Protesilaus, leader of the Phylaceans. The Trojans were prepared for the Achaeans, setting up defence perimeters around the landing sites. The Trojan army and its allies were led by Prince Hector, the eldest son of Priam. Hector was a master strategist and tactician, a formidable warrior and champion, whose skills were said to be equal to Achilles. He personally spearheaded the defence against the Achaeans on the beach. They rained arrows and spears at the Greeks, inflicting a number of casualties despite the armours and shields. Hector personally slew hundreds of the Achaeans first landing wave and killed Protesilaus in a personal combat. His position was replaced by his brother, Pordaces. Agamemnon also personally led the armies into the battle, where he killed one of Priam's son Antiphus and numerous Trojans. He fought on until being wounded and forced to retreat to his tent. The Trojans conceded the beach after a day of bloody fighting due to the combined might of Achilles, Ajax the Great and Diomedes. Achilles led the second wave of counter-attack, killing Cycnus, the King of Kolonai, himself a mighty champion whom had slew at least several hundreds Achaeans prior to his death. The Trojans then retreated back to the safety of the city nation's walls.
After the initial landing the army was gathered in its entirety again only in the tenth year. This was due to the continuous massive casualties inflicted upon each other's armies of both factions. Supplies shortage such as food as well as diseases were also contributing factors. Supplies were forcibly secured from King Anius of Delos. Another were the Atreidai brothers objectives - Agamemnon's ambition to subjugate the walled city population and Menelaus' obsession to retrieve back Helen. Reinforcements would continued to pour in to replace the ranks of those whom fell until the tenth year. The Achaeans controlled only the entrance to the Dardanelles, and Troy and her allies controlled the shortest point at Abydos and Sestus and communicated with allies in Europe. Achilles and Ajax were the most active of the Achaeans, leading separate campaigns to raid lands of Trojan allies as well as conquering surrounding cities and islands. Cities conquered were often stripped of its resources particularly foods and its inhabitants. Among the loot from these cities was the beautiful Briseis of Lyrnessus, whom Achilles took as his concubine after slaughtering her family and husband, Mynes, in a duel. Chryseis, from Hypoplacian Thebes, was personally taken by Agamemnon. Ajax the Great, a mighty champion and physical giant, competed against Achilles for respect and recognition, laid waste the Thracian peninsula of which Polymestor, a son-in-law of Priam, was king. Polymestor was forced to surrender Polydorus, one of Priam's children, of whom he had custody. Ajax then attacked the town of the Phrygian King Teleutas, killed him in single combat and carried off his daughter Tecmessa as his prize. Ajax also hunted the Trojan flocks, both on Mount Ida and in the countryside. Eventually Achilles and Ajax came to recognise each other as equal. In a famous incident, Achilles and Ajax were playing a board game (petteia). They were absorbed in the game, each trying to outwit each other, oblivious to the approaching Trojans and their battle against their armies.
Many acts of atrocities and brutality were carried out by the Achaeans upon the inhabitants. In one of the battles, Achilles personally seek out and ambushed Troilus, the youngest son of Priam and a war leader at Tymbra, outside the Temple of Apollo. Troilus was highly revered by the Trojans. Achilles learnt of this and intended to make an example out of him. Troilus escaped into the temple but was caught up by Achilles whom beheaded him and mutilated his body. He threw Troilus' head to the Trojans and issued a challenge to them to try and defeat him. Achilles and the Myrmidons then desecrated and burnt down the temple. He later captured Lycaon, another son of Priam and had him sold as a slave in Lemnos in order to humiliate Priam. Achilles also captured Polyxena, daughter of Priam while she was trying to gather some waters at a fountain.
The Trojan War grind on and eventually turned into a war of attrition, with the grounds gained frequently changing hands between the Achaeans and the Trojans with both sides neither too strong nor weak enough to defeat one another. Suffering from war fatigue and immense casualties, the loose alliance between the Achaeans also resulted in much disagreement, quarrels and power struggles amongst each leaders. Such was the case between Odysseus and Palamedes whom had enmity with each other ever since the incident where Palamedes used Odysseus's son to coerced him into joining the military campaign. Agamemnon had assigned Odysseus with the task to ship grains from Thebes but he failed in his duty. When scorned by Palamedes, Odysseus challenged him to do better. Palamedes set out and returned with a shipload of grain much to Odysseus anger and humiliation. Odysseus had never forgiven Palamedes for threatening the life of his son previously to force him to enter the war.
Near the end of the ninth year since the landing, Palamedes led a faction of the Achaean alliance and mutinied, demanded to return to their home. Agamemnon, wishing to get rid of Palamedes whom was seen to be threatening his position, conspired with Odysseus and conceived a plot where an incriminating letter was forged, from Priam to Palamedes, and gold was planted in Palamedes' quarters. The letter and gold were "discovered", and Agamemnon had Palamedes stoned to death for treason. Agamemnon and Menelaus forced the army to stay and leaders of the mutiny were executed. Palamedes' father Nauplius sailed to the Troad and asked for justice, but was refused. In revenge, Nauplius traveled among the Achaean kingdoms and told the wives of the kings that they were bringing Trojan concubines to dethrone them. Many of the Greek wives were persuaded to betray their husbands, most significantly Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra, who was seduced by Aegisthus, son of Thyestes of Cytheria and Agamemnon's cousin. Others include Aegiale, wife of Diomedes, who committed adultery with Cometes and others, and Meda, wife of Idomeneus, who was unfaithful with Leucos.
Agamemnon had been steadily rebuilding the Achaeans army and by the tenth year of the war, he had succeed in restoring the army back to the original strength and numbers since the first landing. As such, the Achaeans were initially successful in their assault against the Trojans. But the Trojans and their allies received reinforcements from Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons, arrived with her warriors. She killed many Achaeans including Machaon of Thessaly. Meanwhile Diomedes fought and succeed in killing Bremusa, an Amazonian champion while sustaining some injuries himself. Achilles was challenged by Penthesilia but he was distracted by her beauty as well as never having to fight a woman before. Achilles nearly lost his life to the Amazonian before he refocused and killed Penthesilia. Memnon of Ethiopia came with his host to help his stepbrother Priam. He did not come directly from Ethiopia, but either from Susa in Persia, conquering all the peoples in between and leading an army of Ethiopians and Indians. In the ensuing battle, Memnon killed Antilochus, the most skilful charioteer in the war, who took one of Memnon's blows in order to save his father Nestor. Achilles and Memnon then fought and was slain by Achilles.
A temporary truce was declared by both factions when Menelaus issued a challenge to Paris for a one on one duel. Should Paris won, the Achaeans would withdraw immediately and return home. If Menelaus won, Troy would surrender to Agamemnon and serve as a vassal state. More importantly, Helen would be returned back to Sparta. Agamemnon was delighted but much to Priam's distressed. Everyone knew Paris was not a warrior. He was a skilful archer but not in the art of combat. As both armies gathered in full force opposite each other on the area outside the mighty walls of Troy, Menelaus and Paris engaged in personal battle. The battle hardened Spartan king easily overwhelmed Paris, berating and insulting him. Hector, champion of the Trojans, watched with distressed as his younger brother was about to meet death by the sword of Menelaus. Paris, broken and injured, crawled toward Hector to escape Menelaus. The Trojan army was ashamed at the conduct of the prince, unbecoming of a warrior. Menelaus patience ran out. He lunged at Paris only to be blocked by Hector's sword. Menelaus ordered Hector to stand aside but the Trojan champion refused. Paris, seeing the opportunity of a distracted Menelaus, stabbed the Spartan king in the neck with a tip of a spear. Menelaus staggered momentarily before dying. Agamemnon shouted for the Achaeans to attack, thus ending the truce. Diomedes, a great champion whose skills were almost equal to Achilles and Ajax, won great recognition during that battle, killed many Trojans, including the hero Pandaros. Aeneas was nearly killed by him but was saved by Hector.
When Chryses, a priest of Apollo and father of Chryseis, came to Agamemnon to ask for the return of his daughter. Agamemnon refused, admitting that she was finer than his wife. He insulted Chryses and had him whipped. Chryses then prayed to Apollo to avenge his ill treatment. The Achaean army was inflicted with plague, decimating their numbers. When Achilles learnt about the incident from Chryses, he approached Agamemnon and forced him to return Chryseis to her father in order to end the plague. Agamemnon agreed but with the condition that Achilles' concubine Briseis would be surrendered to him. Enraged at the dishonour Agamemnon had inflicted upon him by having his plunder and glory taken away, as well as he was in love with Briseis, Achilles decided he would no longer fight and declared withdrawal from the Achaean alliance.
Learning of Achilles' withdrawal, Hector led the Trojans in a massive campaign the following day, succeed in forcing the Achaeans all the way back to their camps. They were finally stopped at the Achaean wall with the defence led by Ajax the Great and his half-brother, Teucer the Archer. Ajax engaged Hector in a combat and managed to wound him but was forced to retreat after he was overwhelmed by a great numbers of Trojans coming to the defence of Hector. Idomeneus desperately urged Agamemnon to appease Achilles, much to his reluctance but agreed, with the offer of returning Briseis and other gifts. Achilles rejected the offer.
The next day Hector and the Trojans army launched an assault once more which finally broke into the Achaean camps. Hector intended to set fire to the Achaean ships. In the midst of the battle, Ajax the Great nearly kill Hector by hurling a massive rock at him. Leaping from ship to ship, Ajax held off the Trojans single-handedly. He succeed in killing many Trojan champions, including Phorcys. Ajax then duelled with Hector for the second time but the Trojan champion prevailed. Hector severely maimed Ajax, crippling the giant. Ajax chose to commit suicide by stabbing himself with his own sword to deny Hector the pleasure of killing him. Teucer, in grief, tried to claim his half-brother's body from Hector which he succeed but narrowly escaped his own life. He replaced Ajax's position. Agamemnon refused to allow the burial of Ajax due to what he considered as a dishonourable death until Idomeneus persuaded him to change his mind.
After Hector and the Trojans succeed in burning Protesilaus' ships, Achilles allowed his only friend, comrade in arms, companion and relative Patroclus of Opus, a mighty warrior whose skills were personally taught by Achilles, to go into battle wearing his armour and weapons to led his army. Together with Diomedes, Patroclus engaged the Trojans and killed many. Mistaken for Achilles, Hector seek Patroclus out. Patroclus was eager to prove himself and fought Hector, ignoring Diomedes warning whom himself was entangled in a combat against the sweeping Trojans army. Patroclus possessed the techniques but not the experience and was out-skilled by Hector. The Trojan champion, instinctively knew that was not Achilles, delivered a mortal injury to Patroclus on the neck and gave him a mercy killing. The Trojans army rejoiced but Hector corrected them, saying that the great Achaean champion was still alive.
When the news of Patroclus' death reached Achilles, he was overcame with grief and extreme anger. He begrudgingly reconciled with Agamemnon and accepted back Briseis. His wrath knew no bound. Achilles intentionally bought Lycaon back from a slave trader and immediately slaughtered him in cold blood much to Polyxena's horror. He then sent his mutilated body to Priam. Achilles re-emerged on the battlefield, slaughtering untold numbers of Trojans standing in his path with his Myrmidons. Reaching the great gate of Troy, bathed in bloods, he screamed out the name of Hector for a personal challenge. Hector honourably accepted and before that returned Achilles' armour, sword and shield back to him. The two mightiest champions from both faction fought relentlessly throughout the day, their skills evenly matched. Armies of both factions gathered on each side. Finally Achilles gained the upper hand through his sheer superlative endurance and stamina. He stabbed Hector through the armour using the broken shaft of his spear, killing him. In his dying breath, Hector said a prayer, and mentioned that the Achaean champion would meet his demise at the hands of an unlikeliest warrior. His anger still un-quenched, Achilles tied Hector's body to his chariot and dragged it three times around Troy and refused to leave the body to the Trojans for burial. The Achaeans rejoiced and conducted funeral games and burial for Patroclus.
Priam, by then driven to the brink of mental and emotional collapse due to the demise of almost all his sons in the war, personally made his way to Achilles' camp. Kneeling before Achilles, Priam pleaded with the champion to return Hector's body for proper burial. The king's heartfelt pleading caused Achilles to relent. He raised Priam up and instructed his most trusted Myrmidons to return Hector's body to Priam and accompany the king to the safety. The armies made a temporary truce to allow the burial of the dead, including the funeral of Hector by the Trojans.
That night, Achilles had a self-realisation of his own mortality and reflected upon his lost of virtue, honour and conduct as a warrior in the war, the futility of it all, at the unnecessary expense of lives and humanity. He spoke in length for the first time to Polyxena and became interested in her quiet sagacity as well as words of comfort. Achilles then freed her and told her to go home. His son, Neoptolemus, had also arrived as part of the reinforcement groups which also include the exiled Philoctetes whose wound had healed, to joined the war. Neoptolemus found his father to be in a melancholy mood. Achilles shared that his name would be remembered for eternity but at the expense of his humanity and true peace. Feeling conflicted, Achilles acknowledged that he was born with neither a gift nor curse, but a instrument of war and death.
Agamemnon, whom had become extremely bitter at the failure to defeat the Trojans, gathered the surviving leaders from the first landing and his closest aides to determine once and for all on how to win the war. He knew if it dragged on, the costs would be extremely high and might even weakened Achaea severely for generations. More importantly his position as a hegemony king would be threatened. After much discussions and arguments, Odysseus finally devised a new ruse—a giant hollow wooden horse, an animal that was sacred to the Trojans. Agamemnon and the other leaders agreed. It was built from the wood of a cornel tree grove with the inscription, "The Greeks dedicate this thank-offering to Athena for their return home." The hollow horse was filled with soldiers led by leaders of the army. The rest of the army burned the camp and sailed for Tenedos.
When the Trojans discovered that the Greeks were gone, they believed the Achaeans had given up and left, and the war was finally over. Priam believed that the wooden horse was a token of goodwill. Prayers were offered. They joyfully dragged the horse inside Troy, while they debated what to do with it. Some thought they ought to hurl it down from the rocks, others thought they should burn it, while others said they ought to dedicate it to Athena. Cassandra warned not to bring the wooden horse into the city but they didn't take her words seriously. The Trojans decided to keep the horse and turned to a night of mad revelry and celebration.
Sinon, an Achaean spy, signalled the fleet stationed at Tenedos when it was midnight and the clear moon was rising. The soldiers from inside the horse then emerged and quietly killed the guards. They then opened the great gate of Troy. The Achaeans poured into the city and began killing the sleeping population. A great massacre followed which continued into the day. The Trojans, fuelled with desperation, fought back fiercely, despite being disorganized and leaderless. With the fighting at its height, some donned fallen enemies' attire and launched surprise counterattacks in the chaotic street fighting. Other defenders hurled down roof tiles and anything else heavy down on the rampaging attackers. The outlook was grim though, and eventually the remaining defenders were destroyed along with the whole city.
Achilles led his Myrmidons at the front, killing every Trojan warriors and commanders. He finally entered the palace and engaged in a fight against Priam's palace guards, easily dispatching them. Achilles located Priam together with Polyxena, whom had taken refuge at the altar of Zeus at the courtyard. Priam drew out his sword in fear, causing Achilles to instinctively slew him in a single stroke. Paris, disgraced in the earlier incident of the duel against Menelaus, emerged quietly with Helen behind him, and shot Achilles with his arrows five times continuously when Achilles confronted Polyxena. The first four were blocked by Achilles using his shield. The fifth was shot into his ankle whereby Achilles screamed out in pain for the first time. He knelt down on one leg, attempted to stand up but strength seemed to have deserted Achilles. Paris then shot a sixth arrow at Achilles, penetrating his heart. The fallen Achaean champion flung his sword at Paris, nearly severing his arm. Polyxena, horrified and panicked, drew out a dagger and stabbed Achilles in the back several times. Achilles gave out an ironic smile at Polyxena and thus the great champion died at the hands of the unlikeliest warrior, as Hector predicted. Paris was in pain, attended by Helen and they were about to escape when Philoctetes, using the venom tipped arrow of Heracles, arrived and shot in the eye and chest of Paris. Screaming in pain, Paris pushed Helen aside and escaped in excruciating agony where he reached the mountain side of Mount Ida before expiring from his wounds. Neoptolemus arrived and killed Polyxena for the death of his father. Antenor, who had given hospitality to Menelaus and Odysseus when they asked for the return of Helen, and who had advocated so, was spared, along with his family. Aeneas took his father on his back and fled, and was allowed to go by Idomeneus because of his piety. Out of spite, Agamemnon despoiled Cassandra by raping her on Athena's altar while she was clinging to the statue because he knew she had taken a sacred vow of chastity. Because of Agamemnon's impiety and hubris, the Achaeans, urged by Idomeneus, whom had been weary of Agamemnon's cruelty by that point, had wanted to the hegemony king to step down from his position which would result in being executed by stoning, but Agamemnon fled to Athena's altar, and ordered to be spared. He was forced to accept Cassandra and looked after her welfare. Agamemnon also ordered the Achaeans to throw Hector's infant son Astyanax down from the walls of Troy, either out of cruelty and hate or to end the royal line, and the possibility of a son's revenge. Idomeneus protested and ordered Neoptolemus to stop the men but was too late. Andromache, in grief, committed suicide by throwing herself down the wall as well. He later found Helen in hiding, the woman whom was the source of the cause of the war and she fell on her knees to spare her life, ripping off her clothes to entice the son of Achilles as a desperate attempt to seduce him. Neoptolemus was enticed by her beauty but brought her back to Agamemnon and Idomeneus. The hegemony king, revealing in the frenzy of destruction, impaled Helen with a spear. Her body was then sent back to Sparta to be buried together with Menelaus. The city was burned and razed to the ground. The Achaeans then divided the spoils amidst the background of the destruction.
Achilles was cremated and his ashes buried in the same urn as those of Patroclus. Briseis agreed to be sacrificed to Achilles out of love. Neoptolemus also buried Polyxena's remain together with his father, due to her perceived betrayal.
Epilogue:
After Troy was no more, the Achaeans set sail back to their homeland but a massive storm fell upon the fleet off Tenos Island. Additionally, Nauplius, in revenge for the murder of his son Palamedes, set up false lights in Cape Caphereus and many were shipwrecked. Agamemnon had made it back to Argos safely with Cassandra. He was slain by Cassandra upon Aegisthus and Clytemnestra instigation. The murder was then blamed on Cassandra and she was executed. They then usurped Agamemnon's position. Electra and Orestes later avenged their father by killing both the usurper and their mother. For the act of matricide, Orestes was forced to fled the nation. Nauplius schemes of vengeance would later be discovered and he was sentenced to be torn apart by horses by Electra. His remains scattered across Achaea. Nestor, who had the best conduct in Troy and did not take part in the genocide and looting, was the only hero who had a fast and safe return. Those of his army that survived the war also reached home with him safely, but later left and colonised Metapontium in Southern Italy. Teucer, son of Telamon and half-brother of Ajax, stood trial by his father for his half-brother's death. He was disowned by his father and wasn't allowed back on Salamis Island. He was acquitted of responsibility but found guilty of negligence because he did not return Ajax's dead body or his arms. Diomedes was thrown by the storm whereby after undergoing many adventures and life threatening situations, finally reached Argos where he found his wife Aegialeia committing adultery. Killing her in disgust, he left for Aetolia and founded Canusium and Argyrippa in Southern Italy. Philoctetes, due to a sedition, was driven from his city and emigrated to Italy, where he founded the cities of Petilia, Old Crimissa, and Chone, between Croton and Thurii. Idomeneus reached home safely but was driven out of Crete by Leucus, who had seduced and then killed Idomeneus' wife Meda, usurping his throne. Idomeneus killed Leucus later and escaped to Calabria, Italy and then Colophon in Asia Minor where he died upon contracting a plague. Neoptolemus travelled the land and conquered Epirus of the Molossians. Odysseus and his men were blown far off course to lands unknown to the Achaeans, there Odysseus had many adventures and life threatening situations. It would took him ten years to return back to Ithaca and reunited with his wife, Penelope, whom had been faithful to him during the twenty years he was absent and his son, Telemachus. Many of the other lesser Achaeans did not survive the storm to return home.
The handful of surviving Trojans were led by Aeneas away from the city, escaping in a number of ships, seeking to establish a new homeland elsewhere. They land in several nearby countries that prove inhospitable. They first try to establish themselves in Crete but find it ravaged by the same plague that had driven Idomeneus away. After seven years they arrive in Carthage, where Aeneas had an affair with Queen Dido. Aeneas continued onward, and he and his people arrive at the mouth of the Tiber River in Italy. At Cumae, Aeneas negotiated a settlement with the local king, Latinus, and was wed to his daughter, Lavinia, which culminated in the founding of the settlement of Alba Longa, ruled by Aeneas and Lavinia's son Silvius. Three hundred years later, Romulus and Remus, descendants of Aeneas, founded Rome. Dido committed suicide, and Aeneas's betrayal of her was regarded as an element in the long enmity between Rome and Carthage that expressed itself in the Punic Wars and led to Roman hegemony.
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ACI Toys, under a separate company, Pangaea Toy, released the Greek General based on Achilles from the 2004 movie, Troy, whom was played by Brad Pitt. The movie in turn, was based on The Iliad, an ancient Greek epic poem, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy (Ilium) by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. It is not known for sure whether the war really taken place, the existence of the individuals and so forth, lost in the mist of times.
Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege; the earlier events, such as the gathering of warriors for the siege, the cause of the war, and related concerns tend to appear near the beginning. Then the epic narrative takes up events prophesied for the future, such as Achilles' looming death and the sack of Troy, prefigured and alluded to more and more vividly, so that when it reaches an end, the poem has told a more or less complete tale of the Trojan War.This is a nice figure and like all ACI Toys figure, the quality is there. Luckily for me, there are not much assembly to do, unlike the Roman General aka Maximus. The articulation is a bit tight and, being paranoid about breakage, decided not to fool around with it. Honestly I would very much like to pose the figure in accordance to the great action as seen in the movie. The helmet however, sits kind of low. I may want to add some paddings, but later. The size though, is huge. The mis-interpretation fan fiction is mostly taken from sources in Wiki sans the intervention of Greek gods and goddesses.
