A reconstruction of what Troy VI might have looked like. For thousands of years, people read Homer's Iliad and learned the story of the Trojan War. But nobody knew if it had really happened, [...]
Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu fight a monster, on an Assyrian cylinder seal from the 600s BC Why were friends important? Friends were very important to people in the ancient [...]
Duryodhana (Cambodia, ca. 900s AD) Who was Duryodhana? Duryodhana was the enemy of the Pandavas in the story of the Mahabharata. He's forced out of power when the Pandavas defeat him. [...]
Hades and Persephone in the Greek underworld What happened when you died? Greek people didn't like to talk about what happened to you after you died. So we don't know [...]
Achilles and Penthesileia, on an Athenian vase painted by Exekias Penthesileia (pen-tha-sill-AY-ah) was the Queen of the Amazons, in Greek mythology. The Amazons were a group of warriors who were all [...]
Iphigeneia brought to the sacrifice (Pompeii, ca. 79 AD) Menelaus, Agamemnon, and their oath When Helen ran off with Paris, her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta, was very upset. He went to visit his [...]
Achilles debate: this is Achilles, on a Greek black-figure vase from around 530 BC Would Achilles choose life? Achilles, the hero of Homer's Iliad, learned that he had a choice. He [...]
Achilles, on a Greek black-figure vase from around 530 BC. Is it on purpose that Achilles' heel is showing? Who were Achilles' parents? Achilles was a great warrior in ancient [...]
Arete in action: Penelope and her slave watch Odysseus kill the suitors Definition of arete: In ancient Greece, arete meant "goodness" or "excellence". It's related to araomai, to pray, and [...]
Homer's Iliad: Achilles, on a Greek black-figure vase from around 530 BC What is the story of the Iliad? "Sing, Goddess, of the anger of Achilles..." The story of Homer's [...]
