They believed that their ancestors took part in the events of the war. Their descendants continued to believe the story was true for about years. And yet, although we understand today that the Trojan War story is myth, full of supernatural and very unlikely events, could there still be a core of historical truth in it?
In the excitement of the find, some people were ready to believe that the existence of the city proved the reality of the myth. Many scholars were quick to point out that we lack full proof of the war. But more and more, it seems that something like the Trojan War might have happened. What makes us think that? History Vault. Recommended for you. Trojan War. Peloponnesian War. Gorilla War. War of Peloponnesian War The two most powerful city-states in ancient Greece, Athens and Sparta, went to war with each other from to B.
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See More. Aphrodite promised Paris to grant him the most beautiful woman in the world, which was Helen, wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta. Paris stole Helen and they eloped to Troy. The Greek Army under the command of the charismatic Achilles besieged Troy for 10 years and finally sacked the city with the cunning use of the Trojan Horse. The question has been whether the Trojan War was real or a myth loosely based on some historical facts.
In ancient Greek history, myth is often interwoven with reality, as much as the gods interfere in the world of mortals in everyday life. It is hard to view the Trojan War in historical terms. Helen, the most beautiful woman , for instance, is the daughter of Zeus who disguised himself as a swan and raped her mother, Leda. Achilles and Paris are directly guided by the gods throughout the epic poem. Then, there is the year siege of Troy. At the time, BC, even the strongest cities could only hold out for a few months, much less for a decade.
Recent excavations have shown that ancient Troy truly was a significant Bronze Age city dating back to the 12th century BC. The charred debris and scattered skeletons are evidence that the city was destroyed during wartime.
Most likely Homer used the destroyed city as the setting of his epic poem. Specifically, Strauss questioned whether the ruined city was the splendid city described by Homer, whether it was the setting for the Trojan War, and if the Greeks actually besieged the city.
None of this constitutes proof of a Trojan War. But for those who believe there was a conflict, these clues are welcome. It is hard to imagine a war taking place on quite the scale the poet described, and lasting as long as 10 years when the citadel was fairly compact, as archaeologists have discovered. There would have been no gods influencing the course of action on a Bronze Age battlefield, but men who found themselves overwhelmed in a bloody fray could well have imagined there were, as the tide turned against them.
Homer captured timeless truths in even the most fantastical moments of the poem. The Greeks found in the legacy of the Trojan War an explanation for the bloody and inferior world in which they lived. Achilles and Odysseus had inhabited an age of heroes. Their age had now died, leaving behind it all the bloodthirstiness, but none of the heroism or martial excellence, of the Trojan War.
Even the immediate aftermath of the war was full of violence. Regardless of how connected it is to fact, The Trojan War myth had a lasting impact on the Greeks and on us.
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