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[edit] Odysseus in the Trojan War
Odysseus was one of the main Achaean characters in the Trojan War. The others were "godlike" Achilles, Agamemnon "lord of men", Menelaus, Nestor, Ajax the Great and Ajax the Lesser, Diomedes and Teucer the master archer.
When the Achaean ships reached the shores of Troy, none would jump ashore, since there was an oracle that the first Achaean to jump on Trojan soil would die. Odysseus tossed his shield on the shore and jumped on his shield. He was followed by Protesilaus who jumped on Trojan soil and he was the first to die.
Early in the Iliad, there is a scene where Dardan Priam is asking Helen of the identity of various Achaean heroes. Odysseus is among them, and Helen answers that he is from Ithaca and very crafty and cunning.
At one point during the Trojan War, the Trojans - led by Hector and fighting with high morale due to the absence of Achilles - had closed in on the Achaeans. That night, Agamemnon gives a speech where he sets forth the not inconsiderable gifts he would give to Achilles if the latter returned to the fray. However, he makes an addendum that Achilles must submit to his authority. Odysseus was sent with Telamonian Ajax and Phoenix to pass Agamemnon's message to Achilles. They do not succeed.
There is a scene where Hector and the Trojans are chasing the Achaeans back to the latter's encampment by the hollow ships, and Odysseus decides to run instead of stay and get slaughtered. Diomedes sees this, and utters the line: "Where are you going in such a hurry, son of Laertes, O cool tactician..." - but his sarcasm is wasted.
After Patroclus had been slain, it was Odysseus who counselled Achilles to let the Achaean men eat and rest, for Achilles, driven by rage, wanted to go back on the offensive - and kill Trojans - immediately. Eventually, Achilles reluctantly consents.
During the Funeral Games for Patroclus, Odysseus is involved in a wrestling match against Telamonian Ajax, as well as a foot race. With the help of Athena, who favors him, and despite Apollo helping another of the competitors, he wins the race. He also draws the wrestling match.
Odysseus was one of the most influential Greek champions during the Trojan War.
It was Odysseus who restored order to the Greek camp when Agamemnon unwittingly announced the departure of the Greeks earlier on in the Iliad, to test the morale of the Greek soldiers.
Odysseus also volunteered himself to battle Hector in the duel the Trojan hero proposed.
Odysseus aided Diomedes during the famous 'Night Operations', when the two heroes slaughtered many of the Trojans while they were sleeping. Among the killed was Dolon and King Rhesus. During the Trojan War, Odysseus and Diomedes stole the Palladium (and King Rhesus' horses) in a nocturnal raid.
Odysseus as a warrior was behind only Achilles, Hector, Telamonian Ajax (also spelt as 'Aias') and Diomedes.
He was injured during the part of the Trojan War described by Homer.
After Achilles' death, Odysseus competed with his great rival, Telamonian Ajax for Achilles' armour. Though Ajax was the greater warrior, Odysseus won the armour because of his orating abilities and eloquence. Consequently Ajax, for the first time defeated, killed himself by the sword Hector had given him.
The Trojan Horse, the famous stratagem, was devised by Odysseus. It was built by Epeius and filled with Greek warriors led by Odysseus. When the horse was brought inside Troy, Odysseus and Menelaus descended from it and travelled straight toward Prince Deiphobos' house, where they engaged in their most ferocious battle yet. Ultimately Deiphobos was killed and Menelaus won Helen back. However other Greeks committed great evils in Troy, such as the execution of King Priam and Hector's son, Astyanax. The most significant crime however, was the rape of Cassandra, carried out by Ajax, son of Oileus. This angered Athena, as Cassandra was a priestess of the goddess. It was Odysseus who advised the Greeks to stone Ajax to death for his crime. However the Greeks declined the life-saving advice. Athene was intensely infuriated, and as a result she sent a storm that destroyed most of the Greek fleet.
Later, with the aid of Athena, Ajax rescued the body of Achilles from the hands of the Trojans. In the competition between him and Odysseus for the armor of Achilles, the Trojan captives who judged the competition, at the instigation of Athena, awarded the prize to Odysseus. This so enraged Ajax that it caused his death (Odyssey, xi. 541). According to a later and more detailed story, his disappointment drove him mad; he rushed out of his tent and fell upon the flocks of sheep in the camp under the impression that they were the Trojan enemy; on coming to his senses, in shame he killed himself with the sword which he had received as a present from Hector. Little mention is made thereafter of Achilles's armour, so it presumably was lost when Odysseus's ship sank on his voyage home.
Odysseus never forgave Palamedes for sending him to the Trojan War (some sources date to approximately 1194–1184 BC). When Palamedes advised the Greeks to return home, Odysseus accused him of being a traitor, forged false evidence and found a fake witness to testify against him. Palamedes was stoned to death.
The Greek siege of Troy had lasted for ten years. The Greeks devised a new ruse - a giant hollow wooden horse (the Trojan Horse). The choice of gift may have been influenced by the fact that the Trojans were famous horse-breeders, as archaeology confirms. It was built by Epeius and filled with Greek warriors led by Odysseus. The rest of the Greek army appeared to leave and the Trojans accepted the horse as compensation for theft of the Palladium. A Greek spy, Sinon, convinced the Trojans the horse was a gift despite the warnings of Laocoon and Cassandra. The Trojans celebrated hugely and when the Greeks emerged from the horse the city was in a drunken stupor. The Greek warriors opened the city gates to allow the rest of the army access and the city was ruthlessly pillaged - all the men were killed and all the women taken into slavery.
