The Trojan War: A New History

The hero central to Homer’s portrayal of the Trojan conflict in the Iliad, Achilles is the ultimate warrior. A mythical figure, he is responsible for killing the Trojan hero Hector and turning the tables on the seemingly unassailable fortress. In Homer’s tale, Achilles is King of Phthia.

A mythological hero, Aeneas is son of the goddess Aphrodite and Priam’s kinsman, Anchises. Aeneas is the central character in the Roman epic The Aeneid, which derives from the Homeric epics. Aeneas both fights in the Trojan War and rules the city after the war.

Mythical king of Mycenae, Agamemnon is the warlord responsible for leading the Greek offensive against Troy. He and his brother, Menelaus, seek revenge and conquest after Paris abducts Menelaus’s wealthy and beautiful bride, Helen. After returning from the great war triumphant, Agamemnon is murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus.