The Trojan War was a legendary war fought between the Mycenaeans and the Trojans. The legend is believed to reflect a real war between the Greek and the inhabitants of Troad (Troy). Troy was in Anatolia, in present-day Turkey. Modern excavations have shown evidence of a twelfth century B. C. fire, the traditional date of the war. The war may have actually resulted from the desire to plunder to wealthy city, or put an end to Trojan control of the Dardanelles.
The legend of the war traced its origins to a golden apple, inscribed "for the fairest" and thrown by Eris, goddess of discord, one of the guests at the wedding of Peleus, ruler of Myrmidons, and Thetis, one of the Nereids. Paris awarded the apple to Aphrodite. Aphrodite promised Paris the hand of Helen of Troy, wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Menelaus planned an expedition to avenge his injury, and placed it under the command of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. Agamemnon's forces contained some of Greece's most famous heroes: Achilles, Patroclus, the two Ajax's, Teucer, Nestor, Odysseus, and Diomedes.
After the Trojans refused to give Helen back to Menelaus, the Mycenaeans assembled at the Bay of Aulis and set off for Troy in 1, 000 ships. The siege lasted ten years, the first nine of which were uneventful. In the tenth year Achilles withdrew, but soon returned to avenge the death of his friend Patroclus. He killed Hector of Troy, the best Trojan warrior and brother of Paris. Soon after this, Paris killed Achilles.
At last, Troy was captured by treachery. The best Greek soldiers hid inside the now-famous Trojan horse. The Trojans dragged this immense "present" into the city. At nightfall, the Greek burst out, opened the gates, and set fire to Troy. Only a few Trojans escaped, the most famous being Aeneas, founder of Rome. Helen was taken back to Sparta, and the war had a happy ending (for the Greeks, at least).
In 545 B. C., the Persians conquered Ionia. About 20 years later, the Ionians revolted. They asked the mainland city-states for help. Athens responded by sending warships. But, after five years of fighting, the rebellion was quashed. However, Persian king Darius was not satisfied. He wanted the mainland Greeks for helping the Ionians.
In 490 B. C., Darius sent 600 ships to Greece. The Persians landed at Marathon, 26.3 miles, or about 41 kilometers from Athens. After several days, the Persians decided that they would sail to Athens and attack it by sea. They began to load their ships. As soon as most of the soldiers were aboard, they headed for Athens. As soon as the ships left, the Greeks ambushed the remaining Persian soldiers. The Greeks crushed the Persians, and a runner set off for Athens. Upon reaching Athens, he cried, "Nike!" Nike is the Greek goddess of victory. The runner then died of exhaustion.
Soon after the Battle of Marathon, silver was discovered near Athens. The Athenians spent their wealth on triremes. Soon, Athens had the largest navy in Greece. The Athenians wanted to be ready if the Persians returned.
In 480 B. C., the Persians returned. Xerxes sent 250, 000 soldiers across the Aegean. In order to stop the Persian advance, 20 city-states banded together. The Spartans led the army and the Athenians led the navy.
7, 000 Greek soldiers headed for the mountain pass of Thermopylae. They held off the Persian army for three days. This gave Athenians time to flee to Salamis. But, the Persians, helped by a traitor, found a way around the pass. They killed the 1, 000 remaining Greeks. Then, they made their way to Athens and set it on fire.
But, the clever Greeks tricked the Persian fleet into sailing into the Strait of Salamis. Since the strait was too narrow for the Persian fleet, only a few Persian ships could enter at once. Because of this, the Athenians annihilated the Persians
Following the defeat at Salamis, Xerxes returned to Persia. He left some soldiers behind. In 479 B. C., the Persians were defeated at Platea. The Persian Wars were over.
The Peloponnesian Wars took place between 460 and 404 B. C. The rival factions were headed by Athens and Sparta.
The Peloponnesian Wars resulted from conflicting political and economic interests of city-states. According to Athenian historians, the war rose out of opposition to Athens' dominance of the Hellenic world. The naval capabilities of Athens, allowed it to create the Delian League, otherwise known as the Athenian Empire. The opponent of Athens was Sparta, and together with Corinth and Thebes, the Spartans revolted.
The first war took place from 460 to 445 B. C. The war resulted from Athenian aid to Megara in a local war. The conflict soon escalated when Sparta became involved on the Corinthian side. However, the Spartans withdrew after an Athenian victory near Thebes. This war ended in a truce that was supposed to last for 30 years.
However, rivalries among city-states kept this peace from taking root. Athens again provided aid to a revolting Corinthian colony (this time Corcyra). The pan-Hellenic conflict resumed. Shortly after Sparta declared war on Athens, Thebes tried to capture the Athenian ally, Platea (that's two battles in two wars for Platea; why weren't they warriors?) Athenian capture and torture of the Thebans provided a pretext for the invasion of Attica. Athens and Sparta fought to a stalemate, which lasted until 425 B. C. That year, Athens conquered a Spartan bastion, but that was countered the following year by a Spartan victory. The two sides signed a truce again in 421 B. C.
The third and final Peloponnesian War took place when Athens invaded the Sicilian city-state of Syracuse. The ensuing fiasco weakened Athens, and prompted a revolt of the Delian League. Spartan aid to these states finally paid off, and the Athenian fleet was destroyed at Aegospotami in 405 B. C. Sparta then besieged Athens, forcing its surrender and the end of the Athenian Empire.
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