.
Unlike Greek women, Anatolian women had more power. So Strauss is a bit unconvinced about the idea that there was any sense of love in the abduction because Paris may have chosen Helen for the power and not the lust. Helen on the other hand could not have been abducted or could have gone with prince Paris because she was either attracted to him or it was a way of rebellion against her controlling husband. It is still hard to believe that a war as great as the Trojan War started because of a woman, so Strauss says that another reason along with Helen could have been that the Greeks could gain a lot of goods from Troy if they conquered it because it was, "wealthy, cultured and caught between two empires" (Strauss, 9). So, in my perception, Helen could as well have been an excuse for the war but maybe not the reason for it. Chapter three talks about the advancement of Greek on to Troy. Strauss is comparing the strategies used by the Trojans and the Greeks. The Trojans best strategy was defense and to fight as far away from the city walls of troy. King Priam wanted to defeat the enemy at the shores where they would land. The backup plan was to fight the Greeks on the plain of troy keeping them from the walls. So all in all the Greeks were more offense and the Trojans were the defense. Instead of reaching Troy the Greeks land at Mysia and after a battle received directions to Troy from the king. This could be more or less true but according to Strauss it shows how bad the navigation system was in the old days. Strauss also points out the hierarchy of the Greek army; Agamemnon and his rule over his kingdom. Where the Greeks land exactly is not made clear by Homer but according to Strauss some places might have been the west side of Bronze Age bay, the harbor at Besik bay, the Trojan Harbor (Strauss, 58). This chapter lacks evidence but has quite a bit of imagery to help perceive certain cases of the story.
