Famous Men of Greece · Ch. VII · Unit 3: The Trojan War and Ulysses

10. Agamemnon, King of Men

Goal: Your child can explain how a golden apple led to the Trojan War.

⏱ About 30 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • A map or globe (a free online map works well)
  • A notebook or paper and colored pencils
  • Your timeline (a long strip of paper on the wall, or a notebook page)

What's in the book

At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the goddess of discord throws a golden apple "for the most beautiful." Paris gives it to Venus, who helps him carry off Helen of Sparta. The Greek kings gather under Agamemnon; at Aulis, Diana stops the fleet until Iphigenia is offered, and then saves her.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Set the scene

    Find Mycenae and Sparta in southern Greece, then Troy across the Aegean Sea, on the coast of today's Turkey. Then find Aulis, on the coast north of Athens, where the ships met.

  2. Read the chapter together

    Read pages 71–78 aloud, or let your child read and help with the hard names. The book says the Trojan War "is supposed to have taken place about 1200 years before Christ."

  3. Narration

    Close the book. Ask your child to tell the story back in their own words, from the beginning. Don't correct as they go; just listen. If they get stuck, use a prompt:

    - Why did the goddess of discord throw the apple?

    - What did each goddess promise Paris?

    - Why did the kings of Greece all go to war for Menelaus?

    - What happened to Iphigenia?

  4. Talk it over

    Ask:

    1. Paris chose Venus's promise. Which promise would you have chosen, and why?

    2. Why did all the kings of Greece have to help Menelaus?

    3. How was Iphigenia brave?

  5. Start the timeline

    Put a mark for "about 1200 B.C.: the Trojan War (as the Greeks told it)." Explain "B.C.": years counted back before the birth of Christ, so bigger numbers are longer ago.

    SayThe story of Troy comes from long poems by Homer. Nobody knows how much of it really happened, but archaeologists have found the ruins of an old city at Troy, in Turkey.

  6. Remember it

    "Let the most beautiful have me."

    SayWhen people today call something an "apple of discord," they mean a thing that starts a quarrel.

Afterwards

Your child draws the golden apple and the three goddesses, each with her promise in a speech bubble.

Tip

Agamemnon is told to sacrifice his daughter. In this book Diana rescues her and a white fawn takes her place. Read the ending without stopping so the rescue comes quickly.

Answers to the book's problems

1. Any reasoned answer (greatest king, wisest man, most beautiful wife). 2. Thirty or more of them had wanted to marry Helen, and all had sworn to help her husband if anyone took her away. 3. When she heard the truth she said she was ready to die if it would help the Greeks.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

@teddyrookbook GitHub