Black Ships Before Troy Essay

Black Ships Before Troy, which is the adapted version of the Iliad, takes place in 750 BC, in the ancient city of Troy. Detail and evidence from this book shows us that the Trojans and Greeks believed in many gods, worshiping all of them and hoping to be helped when it is needed. When the Trojan war started the gods played a large role in deciding the victor. The gods would choose sides and help in ways like sending bad omens, putting hope into tired warriors, and sometimes helping a mortal escape death. Fate and destiny were strongly believed by the Trojans and Greeks. They highly respected soothsayers -who supposedly saw the future- and took their advice very seriously. “...while Hecuba still carried the babe within her, the soothsayers had foretold that she would give birth to a firebrand that should burn down Troy. And so, when he was born and named, the king bade a servant carry him out into the wilderness and leave him to die” (page 3, paragraph 2). When Hecuba is pregnant a soothsayer told her that her child would burn down Troy. Soothsayers were believed to have a connection with the gods. Many times anything the soothsayers said ended up happening, so leaders would ask for their prediction before a major event. …show more content…
For example, “They fell to arguing among themselves; the argument became a quarrel, and the quarrel grew more and more bitter” (page 2, paragraph 4). When the gods found a golden apple addressed to “the fairest of them all” Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite fought over it, showing jealousy and vanity. They ended up asking a mortal, Paris, to choose who it should go to. When Paris chose Aphrodite the other two goddesses were angry at Paris, even though they had been the one to drag him into their quarrel. This scene in the story was important because it shows just how hard it is to please all of the