“Unveiling the Untold: Discover the Enigmatic Lost Sequels of The Iliad That Could Rewrite History!”
The real story begins in the Cypria, which not only begins the Cycle proper, but is the direct prequel to the Iliad. The Cypria fills in how the conflict starts, up to the opening scene of the Iliad and prepares for events after it. By fill in, I mean really fill in. With the boom in cinematic universes since Iron Man, have you ever seen a movie that tries too hard to front load future films? Think your Iron Man 2, your Batman Vs. Superman, and your Amazing Spider-Man 2. By surviving accounts, that was the Cypria. The story includes the beauty contest of the gods that sets events in motion. Zeus and an advisor god conspire to start the Theban and Trojan Wars. Why? Population control. This is also why we spent three whole epics telling the events surrounding the Theban wars: it is phase 1 of Zeus’ plan with the Trojan war being phase 2. There were simply too many of us, and we sinned too much, so we had to be put in our place. Zeus is also warned that the child of the goddess Thetis is destined to be stronger than him if fathered by another god. Thus, Zeus decides to marry her off to a mortal.
How do they set up the conflict? At the wedding of Thetis to the mortal Peleus, Zeus had the goddesses Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera fight over a golden apple. The disagreement turns into a beauty contest and they pick Paris Alexander, Son of King Priam of Troy to judge. Each goddess attempts to bribe Paris, but Aphrodite’s bribe has him hot and bothered. She promised him the beautiful Helen. The only problem? Not only is Helen married to King Menelaos, but Menelaos made a pledge with her suitors to form a coalition if harm ever came to Helen. Aphrodite assures Paris that she’s got this, and he chooses her as the fairest. She advises him to build ships and introduces him to her son, Aeneas, future mythical ancestor of the Romans. Thinking with his groin, Paris makes the trip to Sparta and is received hospitably by its king, Menelaos. Aphrodite has Helen and Paris meet, they slip between the sheets, and together pull off the heist of the Bronze age. They grab most of Menelaos’ treasures and sail off to Troy where they get married.
