The Iliad epic poem by Homer

One of the most well-known tales ever narrated (most notably in

Homer’s “Iliad”), the Trojan War is undoubtedly the greatest war in
classical mythology. Waged by an Achaean alliance against the city of
Troy, the war originated from a quarrel between three goddesses
(Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite) over a golden apple, thrown by the
goddess of strife at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, and inscribed
with the words “for the fairest.” Unwilling to settle the dispute himself,
Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris, the young prince of Troy, who gifted
the apple to Aphrodite for the goddess had promised him, as a token
of gratitude, the love of Helen, the most beautiful girl in the world.
Aphrodite fulfilled her promise and, before too long, Helen eloped with
Paris from her royal court in Sparta to the Trojan palace. Helen’s
husband, Menelaus – incited by his even more powerful brother,
Agamemnon – assembled a large army of Achaean leaders, most of
them obliged to protect the sanctity of his marriage by a previous
oath. After the diplomatic attempts to settle the dispute early on
yielded no result, the Greek forces surrounded the city of Troy and
held it under siege for a decade. In the tenth year of the war, after the
fighting had already taken the lives of some of the greatest heroes on
either side (Achilles, Ajax, Patroclus, Protesilaus; Hector, Sarpedon,
Memnon, Cycnus), Odysseus devised the ruse of the Trojan Horse,
which finally brought the downfall of Troy. The Achaeans raided the
city and set it afire, slaughtering scores of innocent people and
desecrating too many hallowed grounds to escape the subsequent
wrath of the gods. As a result, few of them managed to return safely to
their homes; and those who did may have been the less fortunate
ones.

The Background of the War

Peleus and Thetis

The genesis of the Trojan War goes all the way back to a divine love
contest, and a prophecy concerning the very foundations of the
Olympian order. Namely, decades before its commencement, both
Zeus and Poseidon fell in love with a beautiful sea-nymph named
Thetis. Each of them wanted to make her his bride, but both backed
away once they were told (whether by Themis or Prometheus) the dire
consequences of such an action; for “it was fated that the sea-goddess
should bear a princely son, stronger than his father, who would wield
another weapon in his hand more powerful than the thunderbolt or
the irresistible trident, if she lay with Zeus or one of his brothers.” So
as not to risk anything, Zeus decided to give Thetis’ hand in marriage
to King Peleus, “the most pious man living on the plain of Iolcus.”

The Apple of Discord

Now that the husband was determined, Zeus organized a grand feast
in celebration of Peleus' and Thetis' marriage, at which all the other
gods were invited, except for the disagreeable goddess of strife, Eris.
Annoyed at being stopped at the door by Hermes, before leaving the
gathering, she threw her gift amidst the guests; it was the Apple of
Discord, a golden apple upon which the words "for the fairest" had
been inscribed. Before long, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite started
quarreling over who should be the one to take the apple, and, not
being able to decide on their own, demanded from Zeus to settle the
dispute.

The Judgment of Paris

Zeus knew that any choice meant inciting the anger of at least two
goddesses, so he wisely decided to abstain from judgment; instead, he
appointed Paris, the young prince of Troy, to be the judge. Paris was
tending his flocks on Mount Ida when the three goddesses approached
him. However, he was unable to make a choice even after seeing each
of the three goddesses naked. So, unsurprisingly, it was time for some
bribing. First, Hera gave her word to Paris that, in gratitude for
choosing her, she would grant him both political power and the throne
of the continent of Asia; then, Athena offered him wisdom and
excellent skills in battle; finally, Aphrodite promised Paris the most
beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta. There could be only
one outcome: without batting an eyelash, Paris awarded the apple to
Aphrodite, and, disregarding the prophecies of his brother and sister,
Helenus and Cassandra, set off for Sparta to claim his reward.

The Suitors of Helen and the Oath of Tyndareus

Now, Aphrodite wasn’t the only one who knew that Helen, the
stepdaughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta, was the most beautiful
woman in the world; not by a long shot: in fact, Tyndareus’ court was
filled with numerous noble suitors ever since her availability for
marriage had been announced months before the Judgement of Paris.
However, much like Zeus in the case of the Apple of Discord,
Tyndareus was unwilling to create himself political enemies, so he
stalled the decision on the bridegroom. The wisest – and least
enthusiastic – of the suitors, Odysseus of Ithaca, offered the King an
escape plan, asking in return for the hand of Penelope, Tyndareus’
niece; the King agreed, and Odysseus advised him to make all of
Helen’s suitors swear an oath that they would protect the couple
regardless of the final decision. After the oath had been taken,
Tyndareus picked Menelaus to be his daughter's husband, effectively
making him the successor of the Spartan throne through Helen.

The Abduction of Helen

Unfortunately for Menelaus, some time after his marriage with Helen
had been officialized, his uncle Catreus, the King of Crete, was
mistakenly killed by one of his sons. While Menelaus was away there
at his funeral, Aphrodite used the opportunity to disguise Paris as a
diplomatic emissary and successfully smuggle him inside the palace of
the Spartan royal family. Owing to the goddess’ influence and one of
Eros’ unmistakable arrows, Helen welcomed Paris much too warmly,
and, after a night of passion and promises, agreed to elope with him to
Troy.

Recruiting the Greek Heroes

Menelaus returned home and, before too long, realized that his wife
had left him – and left him for a lesser man. He wasted no time:
incited by his much more powerful brother, Agamemnon, he invoked
the Oath of Tyndareus and called upon the help of all Achaean leaders
who had previously sought with him the hand of Helen. And they all
came, each the head of a mighty army: Ajax and Teucer of Salamis,
sons of Telamon; Ajax of Locris, son of Oileus, and Idomeneus of
Crete, son of Deucalion; Diomedes of Argos, son of Tydeus, and
Elephenor of Euboea, son of Chalcodon; Philoctetes of Meliboea, son
of Poeas, and Protiselaus of Philace, son of Iphicles; and many, many
more: in fact, as many as forty-five great Achaean leaders and
warriors. There was nowhere any sign of Odysseus, though.

Recruiting Odysseus

And for a good reason: by this time, Odysseus was a happily married
father of a one-year-old boy named Telemachus, and he had learned
from the seer Halitherses that if he took part in the Trojan expedition,
it would take him many years to return home. So, when the envoy in
charge for his recruitment arrived at his palace in Ithaca, he
pretended to be mad by harnessing a donkey and an ox to a plow and
sowing salt instead of grain in his fields. However, Palamedes saw
through the ruse and put Telemachus in front of the plow. Odysseus
had no option but to change course and, thus, he revealed both his
plan and his sanity. Accepting his fate – and knowing from the seer
Calchas that his presence was a prerequisite for Greek victory –
Odysseus almost immediately set on a mission to find and enlist the
man fated to become the greatest of all Greek heroes under Troy:
Achilles.

Achilles: A Flashback

Achilles was none other than the child Zeus and Poseidon never
wanted to have: the only surviving son of Peleus and Thetis. Even
before his birth, his mother knew that Achilles was destined to either
lead an uneventful but long life or a glorious one that would end with
him dying young on the battlefield. Fearing for her son's future
wellbeing, Thetis decided to grant him immortality. While he was still
an infant, she took him to the River Styx – one of the rivers that ran
through the Underworld – and dipped him in the waters, thus making
him invulnerable. However, Thetis did not realize that the heel of the
boy, by which she had held him, did not touch the waters of the Styx;
this would later turn out to be the cause for Achilles’ downfall, and is
the origin of the modern-day phrase "Achilles' heel," signifying a
vulnerable spot despite overall strength. Anyway, after she had
completed the ritual – so as to be even safer – Thetis disguised
Achilles as a girl and hid him among the maidens at the court of King
Lycomedes of Skyros.

Recruiting Achilles

Soon after joining the Trojan expedition, Odysseus learned of Achilles’

whereabouts; so, he teamed up with Telamonian Ajax and Phoenix, an
old tutor of Achilles, and the three went to Skyros to recruit the hero.
There, they either blew a war horn, on the sound of which Achilles
was the only woman that took a spear in hand, or they appeared as
merchants selling jewels and weapons, and Achilles was the only
woman interested in the latter. Either way, now the Achaean forces
were complete; and ready to attack Troy.

Reaching Troy
An Early Sign

The Achaean leaders first gathered at the port of Aulis. A sacrifice was
made to Apollo, and the god sent an omen: a snake appeared from the
altar and slithered to a bird's nest, where it ate the mother and her
nine babies before it was turned to stone. The seer Calchas
interpreted the meaning of the event for everybody: Troy was to
eventually fall – but not before the tenth year of the war!

Telephus

There was no time for losing: the Achaeans immediately set sail for
Troy, even though no one knew the exact way. So, by mistake, they
landed too far to the south, in the land of Mysia, ruled by King
Telephus. The battle which ensued took the life of many a great Greek
warrior, all the while highlighting Achilles’ superhuman strength: in
addition to killing numerous Mysians, Achilles (who was barely fifteen
at the time!) managed to also wound their king Telephus, a son of
Heracles. And as Telephus found out from an oracle soon after the
Achaean ships left Mysia, this wound was so unique that it could only
be cured by the one who had caused it. Eight years did Telephus
search for Achilles, and, eventually, he found him in Aulis, where the
Achaean leaders had gathered once again for a consultation,
despairing over their incapability of reaching Troy. Now, Achilles had
no medical knowledge whatsoever, so he was quite surprised when
Telephus approached him with his request. Always shrewder than
everybody, Odysseus realized that the prophecy might not refer to the
man – but to the weapon which had inflicted the wound; heeding his
advice, Achilles scraped off the rust of his Pelian spear over Telephus’
wound, and, just like that, it stopped bleeding. Out of gratitude,
Telephus agreed to tell the Greeks the route to Troy.

Iphigenia at Aulis

However, the Greeks now faced an even bigger problem: even though
they finally knew the way to Troy, they were unable to set sail from
Aulis because, for most of the time, there was no wind of any kind, let
alone favorable one. The seer Calchas realized that this must be some
kind of retribution from the goddess Artemis, furious at Agamemnon
for killing one of her sacred deer. Artemis’ demand for appeasement
was an unspeakably cruel one: the sacrifice of Agamemnon's virgin
daughter, Iphigenia. After some deliberation, Odysseus lured
Iphigenia to Aulis on the pretext of marriage with Achilles. After
finding out that he had been used in such a vicious ruse, Achilles
tried to save Iphigenia’s life, only to learn that all of the other Greek
commanders and soldiers are in support of the sacrifice. Bereaved of
options, Iphigenia gracefully accepted her fate and placed herself on
the altar. Some say that, unfortunately, that was the end of her;
others, however, claim that just as Calchas was about to sacrifice her,
Artemis substituted Iphigenia for a deer and took her to Tauris where
she became the goddess' high priestess.

Tenedos
Either way, the winds picked up again after the sacrifice and the
Achaean fleet was finally able to set sail toward Troy. While on the
way there, they stormed the island of Tenedos; unaware of his
identity, Achilles killed the island’s king, Tenes, who happened to be a
son of the god Apollo. It was a fateful decision since Thetis had
warned him not to kill any sons of Apollo, lest he wants to be killed by
the god himself; just as forewarned, many years later, Apollo will get
his revenge.

The Course of the War

The Diplomatic Mission

From Tenedos, the Greeks sent a diplomatic mission to Troy –

probably consisting solely of Menelaus and Odysseus, though some
say entailing Acamas and Diomedes as well – whose mission was to
recover Helen by peaceful means. The Trojans not only refused this,
but they also threatened to kill the envoy and only the intervention of
the Trojan elder Antenor saved the lives of Menelaus and Odysseus.
The message was loud and clear: if they wanted Helen back, the
Greeks would have to come and get her through the use of arms.

Protesilaus

And so they did: after many years of wandering, the Greek fleet sailed
the short route from Tenedos to Troas and finally arrived at the
desired destination. However, everybody was now reluctant to land, as
an oracle had once prophesized that the first Greek to step on Trojan
soil would be the first one to die in the war. Some say that Protesilaus
took the initiative willingly and sacrificed himself for the sake of
Greece, but others claim that he was tricked by Odysseus who
announced that he would disembark first, but, circumvented the
prophecy by stepping on his shield once ashore. Either way, it was
Protesilaus who had the misfortune of being the first victim of the
Trojan War, dying during a face-to-face duel with Troy’s most
celebrated hero, its beloved prince, Hector.

The Nine-Year Siege of Troy

The siege of Troy lasted for nine years, but the Trojans – able to
maintain trade links with other Asian cities, in addition to getting
constant reinforcements – firmly held their ground. Near the end of
the ninth year, the exhausted Achaean army mutinied and demanded
to return home; Achilles, however, boosted their morale and convinced
them to stay a bit longer.

The Rage of Achilles

On the tenth year, Chryses, a Trojan priest of Apollo, visited
Agamemnon and asked for his daughter Chryseis' return.
Agamemnon, who had taken her as war booty and kept her to be his
concubine, refused to give Chryseis back. So, Chryses prayed to
Apollo for some kind of a divine payback, and Apollo inflicted the
Greek army with а plague. Pressed by his armies, Agamemnon had no
option but to return Chryseis to her father; however, so as to salvage
his ego and reputation, he took Achilles' concubine Briseis as his own.
Achilles, infuriated, retired to his hut and announced that he had no
intention of fighting any longer – at least not as long as Agamemnon
was in charge.

Patroclus

Now that Achilles was out of the action, the Trojans started winning
battle after a battle, eventually driving the Greeks back to their ships
and almost setting the ships on fire. Patroclus, Achilles’ closest friend,
couldn’t take this any longer; so, he asked Achilles for his armor and,
disguised as him, took command of the Myrmidon army. Their morale
boosted, the Achaeans successfully repelled the Trojan attack; ever
the fearless warrior and never shying away from a duel, Hector barely
spared a moment before he ran in the direction of the man everyone
thought was Achilles; in the fight which followed, Hector managed to
kill his opponent – only to realize that it had been Patroclus all along.

The Victorious Return of Achilles

Achilles, maddened with grief, swore vengeance; with him back on the
battlefield, the war took an entirely different course. After slaying a
vast number of Trojans, Achilles eventually got the fight he wanted:
Hector himself. Even though this duel paired off the best fighters of
both armies, everyone was well aware that there could be only one
victor from it; in fact, even before its commencement, fully aware of
his opponent’s demigod status, Hector had said goodbye to his wife
Andromache and his little boy Astyanax. After killing Hector, Achilles
refused to surrender his body to the Trojans for burial, and instead,
he desecrated it by dragging it with his chariot in front of the city
walls. He eventually agreed to return it, after he was moved to tears by
the visit of King Priam of Troy, who had come alone to the Greek camp
to plead for the body of his son with his son’s murderer.

The Death of Achilles

Achilles didn’t live too long after these events: an arrow shot by Paris
and guided by Apollo hit him on his heel as he was trying to enter
Troy. He was later burned on a funeral pyre, and his bones were
mixed with those of his close friend Patroclus. Paris himself was
subsequently killed by an arrow, fired by Philoctetes, straight from the
legendary bow of Heracles.
Odysseus’ Ploy: the Trojan Horse

Numerous other heroes died in the following days. Finally, Odysseus

devised a plan to end the war for good. He asked that a wooden horse
with a hollow belly be built. Soldiers hid in the interior of the horse,
which was then wheeled in front of Troy’s city gates. Meanwhile, the
Greek fleet sailed away to the nearby island of Tenedos, leaving
behind a double agent named Sinon. After some deliberation, Sinon
convinced the Trojans that the Greeks had withdrawn and that the
Trojan Horse was a divine gift that should bring much good fortune to
Troy. Even though Apollo’s priest Laocoon and the prophetess
Cassandra had warned them not to, the Trojans refused to listen and
brought the horse into the city. They then started feasting and
celebrating the victory. However, during the night, the Greek ships
sailed back, and the soldiers hidden inside the horse jumped out of it
and opened the gates. A massacre followed and, eventually, after a
decade-long war, Troy fell.

The Raid of Troy

The Greeks raided the city and set much of it on fire, destroying
temples and sacred grounds and committing offense after offense
against the Olympian gods. King Priam was brutally murdered by
Achilles’ son Neoptolemus, and Queen Hecuba was either enslaved by
Odysseus or went mad upon seeing the corpses of many of her
children. One of her daughters, Polyxena, was sacrificed on Achilles’
grave, and another, Cassandra, was dragged away from Athena’s
temple by the Locrian Ajax and assaulted in an act so vile that the
statue of the goddess turned its eyes away in horror. In possibly the
cruelest deed of them all, either Neoptolemus or Odysseus threw
Hector’s little son, Astyanax, from the walls of Troy and to his death.
One of the few heroes who escaped the carnage alive was Aeneas, who
subsequently reached Italy and founded the first Roman dynasty.

The Aftermath
The gods never forget and rarely forgive. The surviving Greek heroes
will learn this the hard way: although victorious, most of them will be
severely punished for their transgressions. In fact, only few will ever
reach their homes – and only after numerous exploits and adventures.
Even fewer will be greeted with a warm welcome, either ending up
being exiled into oblivion or finding their deaths at the hands of their
loved ones. Or, in some cases, both.

Sources
Even though Homer’s “Iliad” describes just a short period of about fifty
days during the tenth year of the Trojan War (with the bulk of it
focusing on no more than five), it is, unquestionably, the most well-
known primary source for the conflict. The epic ends with the burial of
Hector’s body, and to learn what happened next (including the famous
Trojan Horse ploy), you must consult the second book of Virgil’s
“Aeneid.” Most of the epitome of Apollodorus’ “Library” narrates the
events of the Trojan War – from its mythological background through
a summary of the “Iliad” and the lost epic “The Sack of Troy” and all
the way to the ill-fated returns of the heroes to Greece.

Source : https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/Trojan_War/trojan_war.html