Trojan Legends

Introduction

As we have learned in previous lessons, the 'Trojan War' is a conflict that features in Greek mythology. It was waged between the Ancient Greeks and Trojans and was started after Paris, a prince of Troy, abducted Helen, the Queen of Sparta and wife of King Menelaus.

The final days of the nine-year long siege of Troy are chronicled in Homer's Iliad. The Iliad features a number of important characters that are both mortal and immortal.

Task

In your assigned pairs you are to choose one of the major players in Homer's telling of the Trojan War and create a PowerPoint presentation detailing the character and their involvement in the siege. You and your partner will present your findings to the class next lesson.

Some suggested characters are:

Paris
Hector
Helen
Agamemnon
Menelaus
Achilles
Odysseus
Ajax
Zeus
Apollo
Aphrodite

If you would rather choose a different character you are also free to do so.

Process

Having chosen your character you and your partner must create a PowerPoint and answer the following questions by searching online:

Who was the character?
What was their relationship to the other characters in Homer's text?
Why were they involved in the war?
Where they on a particular side (Greeks or Trojans)?
What makes the character important to the story?
What happened to them during the war?
What happened to them after the war?
Do you believe there is any 'truth' to the character? Do you believe that there is any truth behind a 'warrior who can't be killed' or a 'plague sent by the Gods'?

Create at least one slide for each question and remember to include pictures! Also remember where you find your information; a bibliography MUST be included at the end of your presentation. I expect at least four different sources in the bibliography.

Evaluation

You will be evaluated on your presentation to the class and the information that you uncover. A copy of your PowerPoint must be submitted to your teacher by 9am next Monday the 11th of August. Presentations will take place in period 3. The following rubric will help you in designing your presentation:

Excellent	Locate, select and organise excellent information that answer the every question in the task Highly successful in analysing sources for their usefulness Highly successful in identifying possible elements of fact and fiction with the chosen character analysis Highly successful in presenting the findings of the investigation Create an outstanding PowerPoint that is imaginative and engaging
Great	Locate, select and organise great information that answer the every question in the task Successful in analysing sources for their usefulness Successful in identifying possible elements of fact and fiction with the chosen character analysis Successful in presenting the findings of the investigation Create a great PowerPoint that is imaginative and engaging
Good	Locate, select and organise good information that answer the every question in the task Largely successful in analysing sources for their usefulness Largely successful in identifying possible elements of fact and fiction with the chosen character analysis Largely successful in presenting the findings of the investigation Create a good PowerPoint that is imaginative and engaging
Basic	Locate, select and organise basic information that answer the every question in the task Marginally successful in analysing sources for their usefulness Marginally successful in identifying possible elements of fact and fiction with the chosen character analysis Marginally successful in presenting the findings of the investigation Create a basic PowerPoint that is imaginative and engaging

Conclusion

Good luck! If you have any questions please ask. Here are some suggested sites to get you started are:

http://web.stanford.edu/~plomio/history.html 

http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/trojan-war

http://www.ancient.eu.com/Trojan_War/

http://www.classics.upenn.edu/myth/php/homer/index.php?page=trojan