One of the big questions that we came up with towards the beginning of our study of the meanings and myths of war was the question regarding what were the causes of war. In The Iliad, Homer establishes that the war is a result of a selfish decisions made by one man. This man, Paris, chose to bring Helen back to Troy for his own pleasure. While we do not know for sure whether Helen was forced to go to Troy or whether she went by choice, it was very selfish for Paris to even consider sneaking off with the wife of a married man. Paris must have known what the consequences of his actions would be; yet he decides that his heart and bring a woman he just met back to Troy. Paris decides that this woman is more worthy than the lives of his own people because he knew that one of the consequences of his actions could lead to the death of some of his people. Because of this decision, which was clearly not well thought out, the Trojan army ends up having to fight the Achaean army.
While on the surface this is just a simple answer to how the war itself started, it also leads to the question of what the conflicts following the initiation of the war are. The conflicts following the initiation of the war, other than the obvious conflict between the Trojans and Achaeans, are usually revolved around one person against another or others. Because of Paris’ decision to bring Helen back to Troy, he is the one faced with the majority of the conflicts. One of the conflicts that Paris is faced with is between himself and the entire Trojan community. The Trojan community feels hatred and resentment towards Paris because they feel he is causing an unnecessary war for the Trojans to fight. Because of these feeling established by the Trojans, it leads to the question of whether the cause of this war is “sufficient” enough for the loss of Trojan lives. It also brings into question whether the war itself is just. Another conflict Paris faced was that with the man he took Helen away from, Menelaus. Menelaus was so furious once he hears that his wife had run away that he went to his brother, Agamemnon, for help. Together they decided to go to Troy and fight, for the conquest of Troy and to win back Helen. Finally, there was a conflict between Paris and his own brother, Hector. Hector feels that Paris should take responsibility for his actions and fight Menelaus when given the opportunity. However, Paris gets afraid and Hector has to insult Paris until he agrees to fight. Paris and Menelaus end up dueling to try and resolve the conflict. During the duel Paris runs away to his room inside the palace out of cowardice. Paris was forced into the situation where he had to fight Menelaus because of the decisions he made. All of these conflicts involving Paris are a direct result due to his immature and selfish decision to bring Helen back to Troy.
