The History of the Fall of Troy by Dares the
Phrygian:
A Synopsis of the Story
Diane Thompson, NVCC, ELI
The following is my synopsis of Dares' supposed
"eye-witness" version of the Trojan War. Dares' version, along with another
"eye-witness" version by Dictys the Cretan, are two of the main sources for
medieval narratives of Trojan War stories. These were preferred to Homer in the Middle
Ages, because they were accepted as eye-witness accounts instead of hearsay. Both Dictys
and Dares were originally written in Greek during the first or second century AD, and then
translated into Latin. Dares claimed to write from the Trojan point of view, while Dictys
claimed to write from the Greek point of view (see Frazer, The Trojan War, 3; Ehrhart, The
Judgment of Paris, 32 in Transmission
Bibliography).
Dares opens with a letter by a Cornelius Nepos, who claims to have
found Dares' Greek manuscript and translated it into Latin. He points out that Dares'
version is better than Homer's, because Homer was not an eyewitness to the war, and
furthermore, Homer was thought to be mad because he told about gods fighting with men. The
rest is divided into forty-four brief sections, each the length of a paragraph or two, as
follows:
1. King Peleus is jealous of his popular nephew Jason, so he
arranges to get rid of him by sending him in quest of the Golden Fleece
2. While seeking the Golden Fleece, Jason enters the port at Troy
and King Laomedon rudely sends him away.
3. Hercules, a member of Jason's crew, wants revenge for Laomedon's
rudeness. After the Golden Fleece adventure is completed, Hercules gathers an army and
attacks Troy. They kill Laomedon and most of his sons (Priam was away), plunder Troy, and
give Laomedon's daughter Hesione to Telamon as a gift.
4. Priam returns to Troy with his children, rebuilds and fortifies
the city, and sends Antenor to Greece to ask for the return of Hesione, his sister.
5. Antenor is treated rudely by the Greeks, returns to Troy and
urges war.
6-8. Priam calls a council, seeking revenge. Alexander/Paris,
Priam's son, urges sending the Trojan fleet to Greece, and offers to lead it. He tells his
dream of judging the beauty of Venus, Minerva and Juno. He selected Venus and she promised
him the most beautiful woman in Greece. Consequently, he thinks Venus will favor his
expedition. Helenus prophecies woe if they go to Greece; Troilus urges war. Antenor tells
how he was treated badly in Greece. Panthus warns of disaster if they go to war. The
people want war, and Priam orders the fleet to go to Greece. Cassandra foretells disaster
if they go to war.
9. The Trojans sail for Greece and come to the island of Cytherea,
where there is a temple of Venus; Paris sacrifices to Diana. Meanwhile, Menelaus has gone
on a trip, leaving Helen to her own devices.
10. Helen decides to go to Cytherea, to the temple of Apollo and
Diana. Paris goes to see her there. They are greatly excited by one another's beauty.
Paris and his men, after a fight with the Cytherean citizens, steal away Helen and despoil
the temple.
11. Priam is delighted; now maybe he can trade Helen for Hesione. He
gives Helen to Paris as his wife. Cassandra prophesies disaster, but Priam has her locked
up. Meanwhile, Agamemnon and Menelaus decide to declare war on the Trojans.
12-13. Eye-witness descriptions of the main Greeks and Trojans .
14. Catalog of the 1202 Greek ships.
15. Agamemnon and the Greeks send Achilles to Delphi to consult
Apollo. The oracle says that the Greeks will capture Troy in ten years. While there,
Achilles meets the Trojan seer Calchus, who was sent there by the Trojans to consult the
oracle. The oracle tells Calchus to sail with the Greeks against Troy and encourage them
to keep on fighting until they win. Calchas and Achilles meet, become friends, and sail
together to Athens. The winds delay the Greek fleet there, so Calchas does an augury and
explains that they first need to go back to Aulis and sacrifice to Diana, which they do.
Then they go to Troy, destroying two Trojan towns along the way.
16. Agamemnon sends Diomedes and Ulysses to Troy asking for the
return of Helen and the booty Paris had stolen.
17. Priam recalls the Greeks offenses, refuses to return Helen, and
declares war on the Greeks.
18. List of Trojan allies.
19. The Greeks land at Troy and start fighting. Hector rages, kills
Patroclus and the Trojans are almost victorious over the Greeks, until Hector meets his
cousin Ajax Telamon. Hector calls off the fire from the Greek ships and parts in a
friendly manner from his cousin.
20-23. Battles, truces, and burials.
24. Andromache dreams that Hector should not fight that day. Priam
and others try to keep him back, but Hector insists on fighting. Achilles kills Hector.
25-26. More truces, more fighting. Palamedes complains about
Agamemnon's command; finally he is chosen to replace Agamemnon as commander of the Greeks.
27. On the anniversary of Hector's burial, Priam, Hecuba, and
Polyxena go to Hector's tomb. Achilles sees her there and becomes obsessed by love for
her. Achilles sends a message to Hecuba, saying that if she gives him Polyxena as his
wife, he will return to Greece with all his Myrmidons. Priam responds that first there
must be a treaty of peace. Achilles then argues for peace, without success.
28. Achilles refuses to fight. More fighting; Paris kills Palamedes,
the Greeks flee and the Trojans start to burn the Greek ships.
29. Agamemnon is again chosen as the Greek commander. Another
battle. Troilus kills many Greeks.
30. Agamemnon sends Nestor, Ulysses and Diomedes to ask Achilles to
fight; he refuses, because of Polyxena, and argues for peace. Calchas urges the Greeks to
keep fighting.
31. Troilus is now the major Trojan warrior. The Greeks are doing
poorly, and Agamemnon again asks Achilles to fight. He still refuses, but agrees to let
his soldiers fight.
32. Troilus and his Trojans kill lots of Achilles' Myrmidons.
33. Achilles finally leaps into combat. Troilus wounds Achilles;
then Troilus' horse falls wounded and Achilles hurries up and kills Troilus.
34. Hecuba plans revenge for the deaths of Hector and Troilus. She
has Paris prepare an ambush in the temple of Apollo. She invites Achilles there to discuss
his marriage to Polyxena. Achilles is attacked, fights, but is killed.
35. Agamemnon and the Greeks consult the gods who answer that the
son of Achilles, Neoptolemus, would end the war. They send for him. There is another
battle and Paris and Ajax kill one another. Helen mourns Paris.
36. Penthesilea and her Amazons aid the Trojans. She wounds
Neoptolemus and he kills her. The Trojans flee into the city.
37. A Trojan council. Antenor urges that they return Helen and make
peace. Aeneas agrees. Another son of Priam, Amphimachus, urges more war.
38. Priam is angry at Antenor and Aeneas, since they had incited the
war in the first place. Further, Aeneas had been with Paris when they carried off Helen
and the booty. After dismissing the council, Priam asks Amphimachus to kill Antenor and
Aeneas before they betray Troy.
39. Antenor and others plot along with Aeneas to betray Troy. They
send one of their group, Polydamus, to meet secretly with Agamemnon.
40. Agamemnon calls a secret Greek council and they agree to keep
faith with the Trojan traitors. The Greeks agree to protect the families and goods of the
Trojans traitors. Polydamus then leads the Greek army at night to the Scaean gate of Troy,
which is decorated with an image of a horse's head. Antenor and Anchises will open the
gate for the Greeks and signal them with a light.
41. Antenor and Aeneas open the gate as agreed and use a light to
signal the Greek army. Neoptolemus kills Priam; Hecuba gives Polyxena to Aeneas to
protect. The Greeks ravage Troy.
42. Agamemnon and his army agree to keep faith with the Trojan
traitors. Antenor asks for safety for Helenus, Cassandra, Hecuba and Andromache. The
Greeks agree and let them go free with all their goods.
43. However, Calchas makes an augury and declares that the Infernal
Powers are not satisfied. Neoptolemus recalls that Achilles died because of Polyxena and
orders Antenor to fetch her. Antenor gets her from Aeneas and brings her to Agamemnon, so
that the Greeks will leave Troy. Neoptolemus kills Polyxena on Achilles' tomb. Agamemnon
is angry at Aeneas for hiding Polyxena, so he orders him to leave Troy. Helen returns home
with Menelaus.
44. Dares had been a member of Antenor's faction. Aeneas leaves Troy
in the ships which Paris had used to fetch Helen from Greece.
