For the Most Beautiful (41 page)

You might be wondering at this point how much of the story I have told above is actually true. Well, that is a twofold question. On the one hand, you might ask how true it is to historical fact. Was Achilles a real person? Did Troy exist? But you could also ask how close it is to the legendary story of the
Iliad
, which inspired this book in the first place. The simple answer is that all the main events and facts come directly from the
Iliad
. The arc of the story from the plague onwards – Krisayis' journey to Larisa (Chryse), Briseis' transfer to Agamemnon's tent, Achilles' refusal of the embassy, the death of Patroclus and of Hector – are all integral to the narrative of the
Iliad
. What I have added are the motivations, thoughts and feelings of my characters; their reactions to an unfair world in which they have very little or no power to affect the events they are caught up in. My aim, ultimately, is to provide a fresh look on the timeless legend of the
Iliad
, and to put the reader, if just for a moment, into the shoes of two of the key actors behind the scenes.

And so to the first question: is the
Iliad
really just a legend? You might think it is simply a good story, and that is what people did think, for thousands of years. But in 1876 the palaces of Agamemnon, Nestor and Menelaus were discovered in mainland Greece, strikingly similar to their Homeric descriptions. And in 1871 the city of Troy itself was rediscovered by Frank Calvert and Heinrich Schliemann on the shores of the Dardanelles in Turkey, exactly where Homer had placed it. The archaeological site provides a compelling insight into the piecemeal construction of history, with cities built in layers one on top of another from 3000
BC
(Troy I) right up to 500
AD
(Troy IX). Indeed, it is particularly interesting that the city which has been identified as Homer's Troy – labelled by the archaeologists as Troy VI/VIIa – was built over and reoccupied again and again on the same site for several hundred years after the so-called ‘fall' of Troy around 1250
BC
, right up until well into the period of the Roman empire. Who knows? Perhaps, despite what Homer would have us believe, the people of Troy really did survive to rebuild their city.

The world of the women and heroes of Troy is fascinating and – as with all history (which is one of the wonderful things about it) – there is always more to learn. If you want to find out more, take a look through the suggestions for further reading, and visit my website at
www.emilyhauser.com
.

fn1
Krisayis' Greek name,
Χρυσηις
, is normally transliterated into English as Chryseis. I chose to spell her name differently (though the transliteration Krisayis is, in fact, equally true to the Greek), both in order to maintain a more Anatolian presence in the text (‘ch' and ‘ei' are particularly Greek sounds), and to avoid confusion between Briseis and Chryseis' names.

fn2
Krisayis' hometown is called Chryse in the
Iliad
, but is altered here to the name of a nearby Homeric town to avoid confusion with her Greek name.

We now know that Ancient Troy looked much more to Anatolian customs from the Hittite empire in the east than it did to those of the Greeks. In terms of time, however, we have very little evidence from Troy itself as to how they measured the passing of hours, months and seasons, so I have had to turn instead to Mycenaean Greece. The evidence from ancient Mycenaean Greek tablets for the calendar is fragmentary and difficult to piece together, but various different words have been found that seem to apply to months of the year. Thus we have
wodewijo
– the ‘month of roses';
emesijo
– the ‘month of wheat';
metuwo newo
– the ‘month of new wine';
ploistos
– the ‘sailing month'; and so on. Although we have no further clues as to which months these referred to, by matching them to the farming calendar in Hesiod's
Works and Days
, as well as the seasonal growth of plants and crops in north-western Turkey, I have amassed the following Bronze Age calendar, which is followed throughout the text (ellipses (…) and question marks indicate names and translations that are uncertain):

The ancient Greeks of the later period split the hours of daylight into twelve, no matter the time of year – meaning that these so-called ‘hours' were longer in summer and shorter in winter. Each hour was named after one of the twelve
Horai
, goddesses of time. Taking the hours of daylight on the summer solstice at the site of Troy (15.05 hours), I have divided them in twelve to create an approximation of the hours of the
Horai
below:

Most of the characters in this book come from the real legends and poems of the ancient Greeks; names of the Trojan gods are taken either from the Hittite texts (in the case of Arinniti, Apulunas and Zayu), or from the ancient Mycenaean Linear B tablets. Mortals are indicated in
bold
, and immortals in
bold italics.
Characters I have invented for the purposes of the story are marked with a star (*).

Achilles
–

The son of Thetis and Peleus, Achilles is the greatest warrior to fight on the Greek side against Troy in the Trojan War. He was raised on the slopes of Mount Pelion with his friend and mentor Patroclus, who accompanies him to Troy.

Aeneas
–

A member of the Trojan royal family and (in this story) son of King Priam; husband of Creusa and father of Ascanius. After the events of this book, he will be the leader of the escape from the sack of Troy and the founder of the city of Rome.

Agamemnon
–

King of the Greeks and ruler of Mycenae, King Agamemnon leads the expedition against Troy along with his brother Menelaus. Having incurred Athena's wrath, he returns to Greece after the war only to be killed by his wife and his cousin in their plot to overthrow him on the throne of Mycenae.

*
Aigion
–

The second of Briseis' brothers in Pedasus.

Ajax
–

One of the Greek warriors and lord of Salamis. After the Trojan War, when Athena becomes angered with the Greeks, she drives him mad and he commits suicide in shame.

Andromache
–

Princess of Thebe and daughter of King Eëtion, later wife of Hector. After the fall of Troy, she is taken prisoner by the Greeks and becomes a concubine of Achilles' son, Neoptolemus.

Aphrodite
–

Goddess of love and sex, and winner of the beauty contest administered by Paris.

Apollo
–

God of archery, medicine, the sun and poetry, Apollo is often to be found in the company of his half-brother, Hermes. Apollo appears in the Hittite texts under the guise Apulunas or Apaliunas in a treaty with King Aleksandros of Wilusa, an ancient king of Troy.

*Ardys
–

King of Lyrnessus, husband of Queen Hesione and father of Prince Mynes.

Ares
–

The god of war.

Artemis
–

Goddess of hunting, the moon, childbirth and virginity; twin sister of Apollo.

Athena
–

Goddess of wisdom and war, Athena sides with the Greeks and will do anything to help them win.

*
Bias
–

Father of Princess Briseis and husband of Queen Laodice.

Briseis
–

One of the two main narrators of our story, Briseis is the princess of Pedasus.

Cassandra
–

Daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy, and Krisayis' closest friend.

Cycnus
–

Son of Poseidon and king of Colonae, just south of Troy.

*
Deiope
–

The nurse of Briseis in Pedasus.

Deiphobus
–

The second of King Priam's sons and husband of Helen after Paris dies.

Diomedes
–

One of the Greek heroes and lord of Argos.

Eurybates
–

One of the two heralds of King Agamemnon.

Fates, the
–

Three goddesses whose job it is to spin the thread of human life.

Hector
–

Eldest son of King Priam of Troy and husband of Andromache. He is the best fighter in Troy and the leader of the Trojan troops.

Hecuba
–

Wife of King Priam of Troy and mother of Hector, Deiphobus, Aeneas, Paris, Troilus and Cassandra. After the fall of Troy, she is captured by Odysseus and taken to Greece as a slave.

Helen
–

‘The face that launched a thousand ships', Helen is said to be the most beautiful woman in the world, and was originally married to Lord Menelaus of Sparta. When Aphrodite wins the beauty contest she promises Helen to Paris of Troy. After the Greeks sack Troy, she is captured by her cuckolded husband Menelaus who, though he intends to kill her, cannot do so when faced with her beauty. They return to Greece together instead.

Hephaestus
–

The lame craftsman god and husband of Aphrodite.

Hera
–

Queen of the gods and wife of Zeus, Hera is a strong supporter of the Greeks in the Trojan War and wants nothing more than to destroy the city of Troy.

Hermes
–

The son of Zeus and Maia, Hermes is the messenger god and god of tricks and thievery.

*
Hesione
–

Queen of Lyrnessus, wife of King Ardys and mother of Mynes.

Homer
–

The name of the poet who wrote the
Iliad
. He is believed to have lived around the eighth century
BC
. The ancient Greeks thought that he was blind, and that he lived on the island of Chios, just off the western coast of modern-day Turkey.

Krisayis
–

One of the two main narrators of our story, Krisayis is the daughter of the High Priest of Troy, Polydamas.

*
Laodice
–

Mother of Princess Briseis and wife of King Bias.

*
Lycaon
–

Priest at Larisa during the absence of High Priest Polydamas.

Menelaus
–

Lord of Sparta and brother of King Agamemnon of Mycenae. Menelaus was originally married to Helen before she left for Troy with Paris, and sails back to Sparta with Helen after the capture of Troy.

Menoetius
–

The father of Patroclus. When Odysseus came to summon Achilles and Patroclus to war, Menoetius made Achilles swear not to let Patroclus fight.

Muses, the
–

The nine goddesses of poetry and song, daughters of Apollo and the goddess Memory.

Mynes
–

Prince of Lyrnessus and husband of Briseis.

Nestor
–

A Greek noble and lord of Pylos, Nestor is an old man and a venerable orator.

nymphs
–

Female spirits of the natural world, nymphs inhabit forests, rivers, mountains and the sea.

Odysseus
–

Lord of Ithaca and husband of Penelope, known for his cunning. He endures a ten-year journey by sea back to Ithaca because of the wrath of Poseidon.

Paris
–

A son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, Paris was chosen by Zeus to judge the beauty contest over the golden apple. He was sent soon after on the embassy to Lord Menelaus of Sparta, along with his elder brother, Hector, where he promptly stole Menelaus' wife Helen and took her back to Troy with him.

Patroclus
–

Patroclus is Achilles' friend and mentor, and son of Menoetius.

*
Polydamas
–

High Priest of Apulunas in Troy and father of Krisayis.

Poseidon
–

God of the ocean and brother of Zeus.

Priam
–

The king of Troy, husband of Hecuba and father of Hector, Deiphobus, Aeneas, Paris, Troilus and Cassandra. He is killed during the sack of Troy by Achilles' son, Neoptolemus.

*
Rhenor
–

Eldest brother of Briseis and prince of Pedasus.

Talthybius
–

One of the heralds of King Agamemnon.

Thetis
–

Sea-nymph and mother of Achilles.

*
Thersites
–

Youngest brother of Briseis.

Troilus
–

The youngest son of King Priam of Troy.

Tyndareus
–

Lord of Sparta and father of Helen.

Zeus
–

King of the gods, Zeus is the god of thunder and husband of Hera.