Troy: Last War of the Heroic Age

Homer’s Iliad, read by college underclassmen everywhere, tells the story of Helen, ’the face that launched a thousand ships’, the trojan horse, and Achilles’ heel. The Iliad provides the basis for this modern exploration of one of the most famous legendary wars of all time, a story at least partly based in fact.

When Paris, prince of Troy, ran off with Helen, wife of the king of Sparta, it launched the greatest war of the mythic age of Greece. Heroes and gods assembled on both sides, as the combined armies of Greece launched a siege that would last for ten years. During that time, famous heroes, such as Achillies, Ajax, and Hector, would find glory on the battlefield, before being cut down by their enemies. Others, such as Agamemnon, Odysseus, and Aeneas, would survive the war, only to face even greater challenges afterwards. Thanks to the Iliad of Homer, and numerous other ancient sources, the story of the siege of Troy has survived for over 3,000 years. In this new book in the Myths and Legends series, Professor Si Sheppard draws together all of these ancient writings to tell the complete story of the Trojan war, from the flight of the ’face that launched a thousand ships’ to the great wooden horse that brought the city to bloody ruin. Accompanied by both classical and modern artwork, this book is the perfect primer for those interested in the greatest war of the ancient world, and the last great conflict between the gods of Ancient Greece.

Si Sheppard graduated this year with a Ph.D. in political science from Johns Hopkins University. He currently teaches American Government at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York. The author lives in Mamaroneck, NY.