The Building of The Walls of Troy
For ten years Greece waged war upon the city of Troy, and during that time the Olympian gods staunchly divided their loyalties between the two sides.
Each god seemed to have their own reason for supporting one side or the other, and Poseidon was no different. Because the god harbored an age old grudge against Troy’s former king Laomedon, he chose to bestow his favor upon the armies of the Greeks.
Many years before the Greek assault on Troy, the gods of Mount Olympus had grown collectively tired of Zeus and his prideful nature.
With the exception of Hestia, who was known to avoid even the smallest bit of conflict, all of the deities gathered together and attempted to mutiny against their leader.
When the venture failed to be a success, Zeus focused his attention on Apollo and Poseidon and sentenced the pair to spend one year’s time in the service of King Laomedon of Troy. Here, the rebellious duo were commissioned to build a powerful set of towered walls designed to completely encircle the region and transform the city into an impenetrable fortress.
The two gods actively labored at their duties, thus allowing the walls to grow higher with each day that passed. When the fortification was finally complete, King Laomedon found fault with a small gap that was left between two of the stones and refused to pay Apollo and Poseidon their promised wages. If that was not enough, the king then threatened to punish their negligence by having them both sold into slavery!
To teach Laomedon a lesson against showing arrogance before the gods Apollo placed a blight upon the land while Poseidon dispatched a giant sea monster to wreck havoc upon the townspeople.
Laomedon tried to appease the god’s anger by offering his daughter Hesione as a sacrifice, but she was unexpectedly set free by Heracles as he was returning home from a skirmish with the Amazons.
Laomedon promised to award the mighty hero the divine horses of Tros as payment for saving Hesione from the jaws of the beast but once he saw that his daughter was indeed safe, the dishonest king refused to turn over the goods.
Heracles sought revenge against Laomedon by assembling a crew of patrons and sailing against Troy, slaying the king and all of his sons in the process. Only the youngest boy Pandares was spared, for in exchange for his life he offered Heracles a golden veil which had been hand spun by Hesione.
From that moment on Pandares would be called Priam, which according to Apollodorus was the ancient Greek word meaning “to buy.” Hesione went on to become the bride of Heracles’ good friend Telamon, and young Priam was given rulership over the land of Troy