The scene opens on the last year of the Trojan war. The war had raged for
             ten years, with the invading Greeks fighting against Troy. Apollo has sent a plague
             to the Greeks because Agamemnon, king and leader of the Greeks, dishonored a
             daughter of Apollo's priest. When the reason for the plague is discovered,
             Agamemnon becomes angry and defiant, unhappy to give the daughter back to her
             father to appease Apollo. Achilles, a superior Greek warrior, challenges
             Agamemnon's arrogance, but Agamemnon turns his anger to Achilles, and demands
             that Achilles give a slave girl to him as a compensation. Achilles fills with rage, but
             Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, calms both men down so that they do not fight with
             swords. Instead they argue, and Achilles withdraws from the Greek camp, refusing
             to fight until Agamemnon apologizes.
             Meanwhile, on Olympus, the home of the gods, the gods are taking sides in
             the conflict. Aphrodite persuades Zeus to give glory to the Trojans, if only
             temporarily. Zeus agrees, which angers his wife Hera, who favors the Greeks.
             Many Greek leaders want to abandon the war against Troy, because they are weary.
             This is not the will of Zeus, and so he sends a false message in dream form to
             Agamemnon, encouraging him to fight, and promising him an easy victory.
             Agamemnon asks the warriors if they want to leave, hoping for a rallying
             answer, but instead, all of them start heading for their ships. Odysseus, a clever
             warrior, makes a speech and motivates the Greeks to stay and fight. Paris, the
             beautiful and cowardly son of the Trojan king Priam, starts to boast and defies any
             Greek to fight him. Menelaus, brother of Agamemnon, takes this boast. Both sides
             agree to a truce, and the winner of this single combat will win the war. Paris is
             overmatched, but he is saved by divine intervention by Aphrodite. The truce
             becomes tense, and is broken by Pandarus....