The Illiad

            
             The Illiad is a tale of heroes and gods, it is a story of Achilles, of his anger and determination. And of his slaying of the Trojan Hector.
             The purpose of the war was to recover the most beautiful women in the world, Helen. She was the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Menelaus went hunting, and Paris from troy came and took Helen away. After two years of preparation, the Greek fleet of more than 1,000 ships and 100,000 men gathered together and set off to troy to get Helen back. But when they went to set sail there was no wind so they had to sacrifice a maiden. Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigema.
             For more than nine years the Greeks besieged Troy unsuccessfully. It was then that the crafty Odysses stepped forward with a stratagem. Aided by the goddess Athena, he planned the construction of a huge wooden horse with enough room to contain 110 worriers. Secretly the best worriers were hidden inside. Then the rest of the Greeks boarded ship as though to set sail home in defeat. The Trojans thought the horse was a peace offering to Athena. One of the Trojan priests, Laocoon, warned against the Greeks bearing gifts. Cassandra, daughter of king Priam, also predicted disaster. As the Trojans slept that night, the Greek warriors emerged and signaled the waiting ships to bring back the rest of the Greeks to Troy. Soon thousands of Greeks were swarming into the city. By morning only mass ruins remained. Nearly all inhabitants were slain. Helen returned to her husband, and the Greeks sailed home. .
             The gods in the story picked whom they would favor and did so, for different reasons. Those people regarded direct involvement by the gods as a daily uncontrollable part of life. The Christian God which is more are time does not take direct in peoples lives.
             Characters of the Illiad continuously perform tasks that are considered to be courageous for the sake of honor. But a majority of the honorable tasks were very selfish.