Okuma – The Fall of Troy

Truva Savaşı efsanesinin kısa bir İngilizce anlatımı / A short account of the legendary Trojan War in simple English

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As a child, Kassandra had always been considered very clever. As a young woman she was thought too intelligent. She had vision: she could see the future. There was catastrophe in the future. She often tried to warn her father, the king. Yet all her endeavors were futile.

She was a princess. She was a daughter of Priam, the king of Troy. When she was a child she was sent away to live with her aunt, Penthesilia, who was the leader of the Amazons, warrior women who lived independent of men. Penthesilia taught her that women were not inferior to men and therefore obedience to men was totally absurd. However, these ideas were incompatible with the rules of the world where her father was the leader. Consequently, she had great difficulty when she came back to the palace.

One day, when there was a festival in Troy, Kassandra’s lost brother, Paris, who had been given to a shepherd many years ago for fear of his becoming a troublemaker (=problem) for Troy if he was allowed to grow up as a prince, came back. By this time all those fears had disappeared, and Priam, his father, was happy to see him and acknowledged him as a prince of Troy.

Although he was a prince now, Paris could not help feeling inferior. This was partly because he had been brought up as a shepherd. Besides, he was jealous of his elder brother, Hector, who had been the only prince of Troy before he came. So, he had a great inclination to achieve something great. He sailed to the Aegean sea with this purpose. Several months later he appeared with a woman. He had managed to persuade a woman to elope with him. But this was no ordinary woman. She was Helen of Sparta, who was said to be the most beautiful woman on earth. This was his achievement. Yet it would turn out to be a catastrophe for Troy.

Helen was the wife of Menelaus, who was the brother of Agamemnon, the king of Greece. Agamemnon had long been looking for an excuse to make war on Troy. Now he had one. Therefore, there was hypocrisy in his sending his brother to Troy to negotiate Helen’s release; he would have been disappointed to a great extent if the negotiation had been successful. Fortunately for him, there was no agreement and now war was inevitable.

This was going to be a costly war for him. First of all, he had to gather a substantial army. Secondly, this army had to cross the Aegean Sea to reach Troy, which required thousands of ships. In order to reduce the costs and to give his men a sense of superiority he needed the support of other kings and princes. Among these, Achilles had the priority because he was a renowned and talented warrior. Achilles did give his support. Then the war began.

The war lasted for many years, during which Kassandra warned his father over and over again of the dangers awaiting Troy in the future. Neither Priam nor Hector took her seriously. In fact, many people said that Kassandra had turned mad. And the war dragged on and on. Many important people were killed in the war, including Paris and Hector, who was murdered by Achilles in a duel. Later, Achilles was killed by Kassandra with a venomous arrow.

The city of Troy was surrounded by the enemy. This brought about great difficulties for the Trojans, but it was not sufficient to defeat Troy. Agamemnon needed something better for victory. What he needed came about naturally. There was a big earthquake, which brought down the walls of Troy. Now the city was in ruins. Priam died in the earthquake. The city was finally captured by the enemy. Menelaus got Helen back. Although he was very angry with her, he didn’t kill her as she was still incredibly beautiful. Kassandra, her mother, and other princesses were made slaves. This was the end of a magnificent city.

2005-2006 Pazarcık Anadolu Lisesi 11. sınıf yazılısından