Biography+of+Main+Characters

Achilles:-
=Greatest of the Greek warriors in the Trojan War. He was the son of the sea nymph Thetis and Peleus, king of theMyrmidons of Thessaly. When he was a child his mother dipped him into the River Styx to make him immortal. The waters made him invulnerable except for the heel by which his mother held him. Achilles fought many battles during the 10-year siege of Troy. When the Mycenaean king Agamemnon seized the captive maiden Briseis from him, Achilles withdrew the Myrmidons from battle and sulked in his tent. The Trojans, emboldened by his absence, attacked the Greeks and drove them into headlong retreat. Then Patroclus, Achilles' friend and companion, begged Achilles to lend him his armor and let him lead the Myrmidons into battle. Achilles consented. When Patroclus was killed by the Trojan prince Hector, the grief-stricken Achilles returned to battle, slew Hector, and dragged his body in triumph behind his chariot. He later permitted Priam, king of Troy, to ransom Hector's body. Achilles fought his last battle with Memnon, king of the Ethiopians. After killing the king, Achilles led the Greeks to the walls of Troy. There he was mortally wounded in the heel by Paris. The quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, the subsequent battle, and the ransoming of Hector's body are recounted in the //Iliad//.=

king of Mycenae and commander of the Greek forces in the Trojan War. He was the son of Atreus and suffered the curse laid on his house. When the Greeks had assembled in Aulis for their voyage to Troy they were held back by adverse winds. To calm the winds, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis. His quarrel with Achilles over the captive princess Briseis and the consequences of that quarrel form much of the plot of Homer's //Iliad.// After a 10-year siege, Troy fell and Agamemnon returned in triumph to Mycenae. With him came the Trojan princess Cassandra, who had been awarded to him by the victorious Greek army.Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife, greeted him with protestations of love, but while he was in his bath she threw a net over him. Her lover Aegisthus struck Agamemnon with a sword and while he was stunned from the blow, Clytemnestra beheaded him with an ax. His death was avenged seven year//Oresteia,// by the ancient Greek poet Aeschylus.
 * Agamemnon**

in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in Greece, daughter of the god Zeus and of Leda, wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. When a child, she was abducted by the hero Theseus, who hoped in time to marry her, but she was rescued by her brothers, Castor and Pollux. Later, her fatal beauty was the direct cause of the Trojan War. The story of the ten-year conflict began when the three goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite asked the Trojan prince Paris to choose the most beautiful among them. After each of the goddesses had attempted to influence his decision, Paris awarded the golden apple to Aphrodite, who had promised him the love of a woman of surpassing beauty. Soon afterward Paris sailed to Greece, where he was hospitably received by Helen and her husband, Menelaus, king of Sparta. Unfortunately, Helen, as the fairest of her sex, was the prize destined for Paris. Although she was living happily with Menelaus, she fell under the influence of Aphrodite and allowed Paris to persuade her to elope with him, and he carried her off to Troy. Menelaus then called upon the Grecian chieftains to help him rescue his wife and with few exceptions they responded to his call. During nine years of indecisive conflict, Helen sat at her loom in the Trojan palace weaving a web of her own sad story. Then Paris and Menelaus decided to meet in single combat between the opposing armies, and Helen was summoned to view the duel. As she approached the tower, where the aged King Priam and his chieftains sat, her beauty was still so matchless and her sorrow so great that no one could feel for her anything but compassion. Although the Greeks claimed the victory in the battle between the two warriors, Aphrodite helped Paris escape from the enraged Menelaus by enveloping him in a cloud and taking him safely to Helen’s chamber, where Helen came to comfort him. After the fall of Troy, Menelaus was reunited with his wife, and they soon left Troy for their native Greece. They had, however, incurred the displeasure of the gods and were therefore driven by storms from shore to shore in the Mediterranean, stopping in Cyprus, Phoenicia, and Egypt. Arriving at length in Sparta, Menelaus and Helen resumed their reign and lived the rest of their days in royal splendor. They had one daughter, Hermione.
 * Helen**

also called Alexander, in Greek mythology, son of Priam and Hecuba, king and queen of Troy. A prophecy had warned that Paris would someday be the ruin of Troy and, therefore, Priam exposed him on Mount Ida, where he was found and brought up by shepherds. He was tending his sheep when an argument arose among the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite as to who was the most beautiful. The three goddesses asked him to be the judge. Each tried to bribe him, Hera promising to make him ruler of Europe and Asia, Athena to help him lead Troy to victory against the Greeks, and Aphrodite to give him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Paris favored Aphrodite, even though at the time he was in love with the nymph Oenone. His decision made Hera and Athena bitter enemies of his country. This and the abduction of Helen, in Menelaus’s absence, brought about the Trojan War. In the tenth year of the siege of Troy that followed, Paris and Menelaus met in hand-to-hand combat. Menelaus would easily have been the victor except for Aphrodite, who enveloped Paris in a cloud, and carried him back to Troy. Before the fall of the city, Paris was mortally wounded by the archer Philoctetes. Paris then went to Oenone, who had a magic drug that could cure him. She refused him, but when he died, Oenone killed herself out of misery.
 * Paris**

in Greek mythology, the eldest son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy, and husband of Andromache. In the //Iliad// of Homer, Hector is the greatest of the Trojan warriors. As commander of the Trojan forces he is instrumental in holding off the Greek army for nine years and finally is able to force the Greeks back to their ships. During the battle, however, Hector kills Patroclus, the bosom friend of Achilles, the greatest of the Greek warriors. Achilles has withdrawn from the fighting because of a quarrel with King Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces, but in order to avenge the death of his friend, he returns to the battlefield. Grief-stricken and frenzied, Achilles pursues Hector three times around the walls of Troy, kills him, and then ties his lifeless body to his chariot and drags it around the walls and back to Patroclus’s funeral pyre. Learning that the Greeks are withholding burial rites from his son, Hector’s father, the sorrowing Priam, with the aid of the god Hermes, goes to Achilles and begs him to relinquish Hector’s corpse. Moved by the sorrow of the aged king, Achilles agrees to yield the corpse and declares a truce to permit the Trojans to honor Hector with a suitable burial. A description of the funeral honors paid to Hector concludes the //Iliad.// In contrast to the fierce Achilles, Hector represents the chivalrous warrior.
 * Hector**

in Greek mythology, king of Troy. He was the father of 50 sons, notably the great warrior Hector, and 50 daughters, including the prophet Cassandra. As a young man Priam fought with the Phrygians against the Amazons, but by the time of the Trojan War he was too old to fight. The conflict had begun when the Greeks set out to recapture Helen of Troy, who had been abducted by Priam’s son Paris. During the ten years of fighting, Priam anxiously watched the course of battle from the walls of Troy with his wife, Queen Hecuba. After his son Hector was slain by the Greek hero Achilles, Priam went to the Greek camp to beg for his body. Achilles spared Priam’s life and gave him Hector’s body for burial, but during the sack of Troy, Priam was killed by Achilles’ son Neoptolemus
 * Priam**

king of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and husband of Helen of Troy. When Helen was abducted by the Trojan prince Paris, Menelaus organized an expedition to bring her back. Under the leadership of Agamemnon, Menelaus and the other Greek kings set sail for Troy. At the close of the ensuing Trojan War, Menelaus was one of the Greeks who hid in the wooden horse and sacked the city. After being reconciled with Helen, Menelaus attempted to return to Greece. He and Helen wandered for eight years in the eastern Mediterranean before they reached Sparta. There Menelaus prospered greatly, and he and Helen enjoyed a long and happy life.
 * Menelaus**

in Greek legend, a Greek hero, ruler of the island of Ithaca and one of the leaders of the Greek army during the Trojan War. Homer’s //Odyssey// recounts Odysseus’s adventures and ultimate return home ten years after the fall of Troy. Initially, Odysseus was mentioned as the son of Laertes, king of Ithaca, although in later tradition Sisyphus, king of Corinth, was considered his real father, his mother having later married Laertes. At first Odysseus refused to accompany the Greeks to Troy, feigning madness by sowing his fields with salt, but the Greeks placed his son Telemachus in front of the plow, and Odysseus was compelled to admit his ruse and join the invading army. Throughout the //Iliad// of Homer, he is portrayed as a brave, sagacious, cunning warrior, and he is awarded the famous armor of the Greek warrior Achilles on the latter’s death. Odysseus was responsible for bringing the Greek heroes Neoptolemus and Philocetes to Troy for the final stage of the conflict. In the //Odyssey// it is said that he proposed the strategem of the Trojan Horse, the means by which Troy was conquered. In the works of later classical writers, particularly those of the Greek poet Pindar, the Greek playwright Euripides, and the Roman poet Vergil, Odysseus is characterized as a cowardly and scheming politician. In Latin his name is rendered as Ulysses.
 * Odysseus**

in Greek mythology, was a Trojan hero and son of Anchises and Goddess Venus. His main role was the contol of Trojan's Dardanian allies. After the war he was one of the only surviving Trojans. He was left alive because the Greeks felt sorry and had pirty for him and his life.
 * Aeneas**

in Greek mythology, dearest friend of the hero Achilles whom he accompanied to the Trojan War. In the tenth year of the conflict Achilles withdrew his troops, the Myrmidons, from combat because of a quarrel with Agamemnon, commander of the Greek forces. Without Achilles, the Greeks began to lose to the Trojans. Finally, as the Trojans began to burn the Greek ships, Patroclus persuaded Achilles to allow him to lead the Myrmidons to the rescue. Clad in Achilles’ armor, Patroclus led the Greeks to victory, forcing the Trojans back to the walls of their city. In his moment of glory, however, Patroclus was slain by the Trojan commander, Hector. To avenge his friend’s death, Achilles rejoined the battle and killed Hector.
 * Patroclus**

in Greek mythology, king of Argos, and the son of Tydeus, one of the warriors known as the Seven Against Thebes. Diomedes was one of the outstanding Greek heroes of the Trojan War. He killed several Trojan warriors, and, with the assistance of the goddess Athena, wounded Aphrodite, goddess of love, and Ares, god of war, both of whom were aiding the Trojans. When he returned from the war and discovered that his wife had been unfaithful, Diomedes went to Apulia, where he remarried. the name of two heroes, one Trojan and the other Greek. The Trojan Teucer was the son of the river god Scamander and the nymph Idaea, and was the first king of Troy. He is thought to be a hero invented by the Teucri, the founders of the city of Troy. Teucer the Greek was the son of Telamon, king of Salamis, and of Hessione, daughter of King Laomedon of Troy. He accompanied his half brother Ajax to the Trojan War, in which he distinguished himself by his archery. After the war Teucer was banished by his father because he had not prevented the death of Ajax, whereupon he sailed to the island of Cyprus and there founded another Salamis.
 * Diomedes**
 * Teucer**

In Homer's //Iliad// he is described as of great stature and colossal frame, the tallest and strongest of all the Achaeans, but for his cousin Achilles in skill-at-arms, and Diomedes to whom he lost a sparring competition as well as the 'bulwark of the Achaeans'. He was trained by the centaur Chiron (who had also trained his father, Telamon, and Achilles' father Peleus), at the same time as Achilles. Apart from Achilles, Ajax is the most valuable warrior in Agamemnon's army (along with Diomedes), though he is not as cunning as Nestor, Diomedes, Idomeneus, or Odysseus. He commands his army wielding a huge shield made of seven ox-hides with a layer of bronze. He is not wounded in any of the battles described in the //Iliad//.
 * Telmonian Ajax**

in Greek mythology, chieftain from Locris in central Greece. He fought in the Trojan War. After the fall of Troy, he violated the temple of Athena by dragging the prophet Cassandra from the altar of the goddess. Athena appealed to the sea god Poseidon to avenge the sacrilege. When the Greeks sailed for home, Poseidon sent a great tempest. Ajax was shipwrecked, but managed to swim to shore. Clinging to a jagged rock, he boasted that he was a man whom the sea could not drown. Angered by his words, Poseidon split the rock with his trident, and Ajax was swept away by the waves.
 * Ajax the Lesser**

in Greek mythology, king of Pylos, son of Neleus and Chloris. In his early life, Nestor was a distinguished warrior and participant in many of the great events of the day. He took part in the fight of the Lapiths against the centaurs, was among the Calydonian boar hunters, and sailed with the Argonauts in quest of the Golden Fleece. Although well advanced in years when the Trojan War began, he sailed with the other Greek heroes against Troy. Having ruled over three generations, he was renowned for his wisdom and justice, and he served as wise counselor to the Greeks during the war. After the fall of Troy, Nestor returned to Pylos and welcomed Telemachus when the youth came for information about the fate of his father, Odysseus.
 * Nestor**

in Greek mythology, son of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his wife, Penelope. The constant companion of his mother during the long years of Odysseus's wanderings after the fall of Troy, Telemachus watched with increasing unhappiness as the many ill-mannered suitors for the hand of his mother lived riotously on his father's estate. Unable to bear the taunts of these men any longer, the youth set out for Pylos to learn from the old king Nestor the fate of Odysseus. Although the old man could not help him, he sent Telemachus to Menelaus, king of Sparta, from whom the boy learned that his father had been held prisoner by the nymph Calypso. Still uncertain as to whether his father was alive or dead, Telemachus returned to Ithaca only to discover that during his absence Odysseus had returned home. The king had not revealed himself, however, having been disguised as a beggar. After a joyous reunion, Telemachus helped Odysseus kill the suitors and make himself known to Penelope. According to a later legend, Telemachus married the sorceress Circe or her daughter Cassiphone.
 * Telemachus**

Gods
the god of the sky and ruler of the Olympian gods. Zeus corresponds to the Roman god JUPITER (q.v.). Zeus was considered, according to Homer, the father of the gods and of mortals. He did not create either gods or mortals; he was their father in the sense of being the protector and ruler both of the Olympian family and of the human race. He was lord of the sky, the rain god, and the cloud gatherer, who wielded the terrible thunderbolt. His breastplate was the aegis, his bird the eagle, his tree the oak. Zeus presided over the gods on Mount Olympus in Thessaly. His principal shrines were at Dodona, in Epirus, the land of the oak trees and the most ancient shrine, famous for its oracle, and at Olympia, where the Olympian Games were celebrated in his honor every fourth year. The Nemean games, held at Nemea, northwest of Argos, were also dedicated to Zeus. Zeus was the youngest son of the TITANS, CRONUS and RHEA, and the brother of the deities POSEIDON, HADES, HESTIA, DEMETER, and HERA. According to one of the ancient myths of the birth of Zeus, Cronus, fearing that he might be dethroned by one of his children, swallowed them as they were born. Upon the birth of Zeus, Rhea wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes for Cronus to swallow and concealed the infant god in Crete, where he was fed on the milk of the goat Amalthaea and reared by nymphs. When Zeus grew to maturity, he forced Cronus to disgorge the other children, who were eager to take vengeance on their father. In the war that followed, the Titans fought on the side of Cronus, but Zeus and the other gods were successful, and the Titans were consigned to the abyss of TARTARUS. Zeus henceforth ruled over the sky, and his brothers Poseidon and Hades were given power over the sea and the underworld, respectively. The earth was to be ruled in common by all three. Beginning with the writings of the Greek poet Homer, Zeus is pictured in two very different ways. He is represented as the god of justice and mercy, the protector of the weak, and the punisher of the wicked. As husband to his sister Hera, he is the father of Ares, the god of war; Hebe, the goddess of youth; Hephaestus, the god of fire; and Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth. At the same time, Zeus is described as falling in love with one woman after another and resorting to all kinds of tricks to hide his infidelity from his wife. Stories of his escapades were numerous in ancient mythology, and many of his offspring were a result of his love affairs with both goddesses and mortal women. It is believed that, with the development of a sense of ethics in Greek life, the idea of a lecherous, sometimes ridiculous father god became distasteful, so later legends present Zeus in a more exalted light. His many affairs with mortals are sometimes explained as the wish of the early Greeks to trace their lineage to him. Zeus’ image was represented in sculptural works as a kingly, bearded figure. The most celebrated of all statues of Zeus was Phidias’ gold and ivory colossus at Olympia.
 * Zeus**

also known as Pallas Athena, one of the most important goddesses in Greek mythology. In Roman mythology she became identified with the goddess Minerva. Athena sprang full-grown and armored from the forehead of the god Zeus and was his favorite child. He entrusted her with his shield, adorned with the hideous head of Medusa the Gorgon, his buckler, and his principal weapon, the thunderbolt. A virgin goddess, she was called Parthenos (“the maiden”). Her major temple, the Parthenon, was in Athens, which, according to legend, became hers as a result of her gift of the olive tree to the Athenian people. Athena was primarily the goddess of the Greek cities, of industry and the arts, and, in later mythology, of wisdom; she was also goddess of war. Athena was the strongest supporter, among the gods, of the Greek side in the Trojan War. After the fall of Troy, however, the Greeks failed to respect the sanctity of an altar to Athena at which the Trojan prophet Cassandra sought shelter. As punishment, storms sent by the god of the sea, Poseidon, at Athena’s request destroyed most of the Greek ships returning from Troy. Athena was also a patron of the agricultural arts and of the crafts of women, especially spinning and weaving. Among her gifts to man were the inventions of the plow and the flute and the arts of taming animals, building ships, and making shoes. She was often associated with birds, especially the owl.
 * Athena**

in Greek mythology, queen of the gods, the daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and the sister and wife of the god Zeus. Hera was the goddess of marriage and protector of married women. She was the mother of Ares, god of war; Hephaestus, god of fire; Hebe, goddess of youth; and Ilithyia, goddess of childbirth. A jealous wife, she often persecuted Zeus's mistresses and children, and was known for her vindictive nature. Angry with the Trojan prince Paris for preferring Aphrodite, goddess of love, Hera aided the Greeks in the Trojan War and was not appeased until Troy was finally destroyed. Hera is often identified with the Roman goddess Juno.
 * Hera**

in Greek mythology, the goddess of love and beauty and the counterpart of the Roman Venus. In Homer's //Iliad// she is said to be the daughter of Zeus and Dione, one of his consorts, but in later legends she is described as having sprung from the foam of the sea and her name may be translated “foam-risen.” In Homeric legend Aphrodite is the wife of the lame and ugly god of fire, Hephaestus. Among her lovers was Ares, god of war, who in later mythology became her husband. She was the rival of Persephone, queen of the underworld, for the love of the beautiful Greek youth Adonis. Perhaps the most famous legend about Aphrodite concerns the cause of the Trojan War. Eris, the goddess of discord, the only goddess not invited to the wedding of King Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis, resentfully tossed into the banquet hall a golden apple, marked “for the fairest.” When Zeus refused to judge between the three goddesses who claimed the apple, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, they asked Paris, prince of Troy, to make the award. Each offered him a bribe: Hera, that he would be a powerful ruler; Athena, that he would achieve great military fame; and Aphrodite, that he should have the fairest woman in the world. Paris selected Aphrodite as the fairest and chose as his prize Helen of Troy, the wife of the Greek king Menelaus. Paris's abduction of Helen led to the Trojan War. Probably Oriental in origin, Aphrodite was identified in early Greek religious beliefs with the Phoenician Astarte and was known as Aphrodite Urania, queen of the heavens, and as Aphrodite Pandemos, goddess of the people.
 * Aphrodite**

In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo, is one of the most important and many-sided of the Olympian deities. The ideal of the //kouros// (a beardless youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as //Apulu//. Apollo was worshipped in both ancient Greek and Roman religion, as well as in the modern Hellenic neopaganism. As the patron of Delphi (//Pythian Apollo//), Apollo was an oracular god — the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. Medicine and healing were associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius. Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague as well as one who had the ability to cure. Amongst the god's custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over colonists, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. As the leader of the Muses and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry. Hermes created the lyre for him, and the instrument became a common attribute of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans.
 * Apollo**

in Greek mythology, messenger of the gods, the son of the god Zeus and of Maia, the daughter of the Titan Atlas. As the special servant and courier of Zeus, Hermes had winged sandals and a winged hat and bore a golden Caduceus, or magic wand, entwined with snakes and surmounted by wings. He conducted the souls of the dead to the underworld and was believed to possess magical powers over sleep and dreams. Hermes was also the god of commerce, and the protector of traders and herds. As the deity of athletes, he protected gymnasiums and stadiums and was believed to be responsible for both good luck and wealth. Despite his virtuous characteristics, Hermes was also a dangerous foe, a trickster, and a thief. On the day of his birth he stole the cattle of his brother, the sun god Apollo, obscuring their trail by making the herd walk backward. When confronted by Apollo, Hermes denied the theft. The brothers were finally reconciled when Hermes gave Apollo his newly invented lyre. Hermes was represented in early Greek art as a mature, bearded man; in classical art he became an athletic youth, nude and beardless.
 * Hermes**

king of the Myrmidons in Thessalía, the son of Aeacus, king of Aíyina. He took part in the hunt for the Calydonian boar and the journey of the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece, but he is especially famed for his marriage to Thetis, one of the Nereids, who was destined to bear a son mightier than his father. Although Zeus, father of the gods, loved Thetis, he wished her married to a mortal because of this prophecy. Aided by the gods, Peleus lay in wait for Thetis by the shore, and in spite of her transformations into fire, water, and wild beasts, he held her fast until she returned to her original form. The marriage was attended by all the gods, with the exception of Eris, goddess of discord and strife, who, enraged at being excluded, threw into the gathering a golden apple inscribed “To the Most Beautiful.” The award of the apple to Aphrodite, goddess of love, by the Trojan prince Paris led to the Trojan War. By Thetis, Peleus was the father of the Greek hero and warrior Achilles. Eventually Peleus and Thetis went to dwell among the Nereids. Peleus outlived both his son and his grandson Neoptolemus.
 * Peleus**

in Greek mythology, the daughter of the sea divinities Nereus and Doris, and the most famous of the Nereids. Thetis was sought after by both Zeus, the supreme deity, and by Poseidon, the god of the sea, until they learned of the prophecy that she would bear a son who would be mightier than his father. She was then given in marriage to Peleus, ruler of the Myrmidons, who was considered the most deserving of mortals. By Peleus, Thetis became the mother of the hero Achilles heel of
 * Thetis**