In early 1920s France, an author, lying on his deathbed, looks at various photographs and is flooded with memories of the people and events that have shaped his life.

According to Jesus' order, Peter and his companions disperse two by two for their first apostolic mission.

On the shores of Aulis, the Greeks prepare to attack Troy. But their ships are unable to set sail because the gods are holding back the winds necessary for departure. Agamemnon consults the oracle. The solution is tragic. To appease the goddess Artemis, whom he had offended, he must sacrifice his own daughter.

Serge follows Hélène in the crowded streets of Paris and manages to seduce her. Werther takes Sophie to her dentist, Raoul, who tries to seduce her too.

This simple romantic tragedy begins in 1957. Guy Foucher, a 20-year-old French auto mechanic, has fallen in love with 17-year-old Geneviève Emery, an employee in her widowed mother's chic but financially embattled umbrella shop. On the evening before Guy is to leave for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, he and Geneviève make love. She becomes pregnant and must choose between waiting for Guy's return or accepting an offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant.