Apollo and Neptune, in the form of men, help King Laomedon build the walls of Troy; Laomedon refuses to pay them. Neptune floods Troy and commands that Laomedon's daughter (Hesione) be offered to a sea monster. Hercules rescues her. Laomedon refuses to pay him, too, so Hercules storms the walls of Troy. The brothers Telamon and Peleus win Hesione and Thetis, respectively. See Ovid, Book 11, Building the Walls of Troy.

Philoctetes was a member of the original Greek expedition to Troy, with Hercules. He was also part of Agamemnon's expedition. The Achaeans mistakenly sacked Tenedon, however, thinking it was Troy. There Philoctetes was bitten by a water snake. The wound caused Philoctetes such distress that Odysseus left him at Lemnos, with Hercules' bow and arrows. See Ovid, Book 9, for a description of Philoctetes receiving Hercules' bow and arrows at Hercules' funeral pyre.

Calchas prophesied Troy would not fall until the following conditions were met:

- Hercules' bow and arrows must be shot

-Statue of Athena must be taken from Trojans

-Achilles' son, Neoptolemus, must fight

Odysseus and Diomedes retrieved Philoctetes from Lemnos. Philoctetes' wound healed once he was united with Aeacheans; he killed Paris with his (Hercules') arrows.