Black Ships Before Troy recap

At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, a golden apple starts a quarrel among three goddesses. Paris of Troy awards it to Aphrodite, who promises him Helen, wife of Menelaus. When Paris takes Helen to Troy, the Greek kings sail to recover her and besiege the city for ten years. Their greatest fighter, Achilles, withdraws after a dispute with Agamemnon, allowing Hector to drive the Greeks back. Achilles returns only after Hector kills his companion Patroclus; he kills Hector and later returns the body to King Priam. Achilles himself is then killed. Odysseus finally wins the war through deception: Greek warriors hide inside a wooden horse that the Trojans pull into the city. They open the gates at night, and Troy is burned. Priam and many Trojans die, Helen returns with Menelaus, surviving women are enslaved, and Aeneas escapes with a remnant of his people.

At the wedding of the mortal Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis, the excluded goddess Eris introduces a golden apple for the most beautiful. Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all claim it, and Zeus appoints Paris, a Trojan prince raised as a shepherd, to judge. Each offers him a reward; Paris chooses Aphrodite after she promises him the most beautiful woman alive. That woman is Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. Paris visits Sparta and leaves with Helen for Troy, violating his host's trust. Menelaus appeals to the former suitors who once swore to defend Helen's marriage. Under Agamemnon's command, Greek kings and heroes, including Odysseus and Achilles, gather ships and warriors for an expedition against Troy.

The Greek fleet reaches Troy, but the fortified city withstands attack and the war stretches across years. Hector, son of King Priam, becomes Troy's chief defender, while Achilles is the strongest Greek fighter. Gods support opposing sides and repeatedly alter the balance of battle. In the tenth year, Agamemnon dishonors Achilles during a dispute over captive women. Achilles refuses to fight and asks his mother Thetis to ensure that the Greeks feel his absence. Without him, Hector and the Trojans gain ground. Attempts at truce and single combat fail to settle the war, and even Menelaus's duel with Paris cannot overcome divine interference and the determination of both armies.

Hector leads the Trojans across the battlefield toward the Greek ships. Agamemnon sends an embassy offering gifts and reconciliation, but Achilles will not return while he believes his honor remains damaged. Other Greek champions fight desperately, and several are wounded. Patroclus, grieving over the army's losses, persuades Achilles to let him wear Achilles' armor and lead their men into battle. The sight of the armor rallies the Greeks and frightens the Trojans. Patroclus drives them away from the ships but presses the attack too far. Hector kills him and takes the armor, leaving both armies to struggle over Patroclus's body. Achilles learns that his anger has indirectly cost the life of the companion he loved most.

Achilles reconciles with Agamemnon and receives new armor made through Thetis by the divine smith. Returning to battle, he drives the Trojans back and confronts Hector outside the city. Hector is killed, and Achilles, still consumed by grief, dishonors the body. Priam later enters the Greek camp alone to beg for his son's return. His appeal reminds Achilles of his own father and restores his compassion; he gives Hector's body back and allows time for Troy to mourn. The war nevertheless continues. New allies come to Troy and are defeated, while Achilles remains marked by the fate his mother foresaw: his return to battle has brought glory and revenge, but has shortened his life.

Paris kills Achilles with an arrow guided to his vulnerable heel, and the Greeks mourn the last of their supreme champions. Direct force has still not taken Troy, so Odysseus proposes deception. The Greeks build a vast wooden horse, hide selected warriors inside, burn their camp, and sail out of sight. Despite Cassandra's warnings, the Trojans accept a planted story that the horse is a sacred offering and pull it through their walls as a token of victory. At night the hidden men emerge and open the gates to the returning fleet. Troy is burned, Priam is killed, and the surviving royal women are carried away as captives. Menelaus recovers Helen. Aeneas escapes with his father and a group of survivors, preserving a future beyond the ruined city. The Greeks win the war, but most leading heroes on both sides are dead and the victors' homeward journeys still lie ahead.

After Achilles is killed, Odysseus devises the plan that ends the long siege. The Greeks construct a huge wooden horse, conceal warriors inside it, and sail out of sight while leaving a false explanation that persuades the Trojans to drag the object within their walls. Cassandra warns them, but her prophecy is ignored. At night the hidden Greeks emerge, open the gates to the returned army, and set Troy on fire. Priam is killed and most surviving Trojan women, including Andromache, are taken captive. Menelaus finds Helen and takes her back, while Aeneas escapes the burning city carrying his father and leading other survivors toward a new future. The Greek victory therefore destroys Troy but does not restore the world that existed before the war: nearly all its greatest warriors are dead, families on both sides have been broken, and the victors still face difficult journeys home.