Chapter 1 - The Golden Apple
Zeus, father of the gods, desired the nymph Thetis. However, a prophecy said she would have a son who was greater than his father. Zeus decided to marry her to Peleus, king of the Myrmidons. At the wedding dinner, the goddess Discord, angry she was not invited, threw an apple on the table. On it was written, "For the Fairest." The goddesses Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite fought over who was most beautiful, and chose the young shepherd Paris as the judge.
Paris was actually the son of the king and queen of Troy. A prophecy said he would cause Troy's destruction, so his parents Priam and Hecuba abandoned him in the wilds of Mount Ida, where he lived with the nymph Oenone. Paris chose Aphrodite as the fairest goddess and she promised him the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife.
Chapter 2 - Helen
The most beautiful woman in the world was Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Paris came to visit and fell in love with Helen when he saw her. She left with him in the middle of the night, and they returned to Troy.
Chapter 3 - The Madness of Odysseus
Menelaus was the overlord of Greece. When the Trojans would not return Helen, Agamemnon, the brother of Menelaus and king of Mycenae, told him to call all the kings of Greece to Aulis to get ready for war against Troy. Many kings did not want to come, including Odysseus.
Agamemnon sent Palamedes to bring Odysseus to Aulis. Odysseus pretended to be insane, driving his oxen on the seashore, plowing the sand, and throwing salt on the ground. Palamedes threw Odysseus's son under the feet of the oxen and Odysseus had to stop.
Chapter 4 - The Discovery of Achilles
Achilles was the son of Thetis and Peleus. His mother tried to protect him from a prophecy of early death by dipping him into the River Styx, which would make him invulnerable. However, she held him by the heel so his heel was unprotected. She sent him to hide in the court of the king of Scyros, where he was disguised as a girl and married the princess Deidamia. Odysseus disguised himself as a traveling merchant, and tempted Achilles into revealing himself using a beautiful sword.
Chapter 5 - Iphigenia
In Aulis, the wind was coming from the wrong direction. The prophet Calchas told Agamemnon the gods wanted him to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia in order to get a fair wind. When Agamemnon ordered Iphigenia killed, his wife Clytemnestra swore vengeance.