Trojan War Fact Or Fiction Essay

The Trojan War: Fact and Fiction From the beginning of time war has been a part of human life. One of the most well-known wars to date is the Trojan War. It is that it started when Paris of Troy stole Helen, the wife of the Spartan king, Menelaus. Surprisingly enough, this battle talked about in textbooks across the world is the same one historians question if it even happened. The only account of the war is The Iliad, written by the infamous Homer thousands of years ago. Although his work gives great detail and reasoning for the war, it is argued as to whether it should be seen merely as fiction or an accurate report of the battle. With little to no other evidence, it has been a question debated for many years. Archeologists and historians
Using this type of war tactic in that period is quite astonishing. Yet, people question if the Trojan horse was ever built. Historians say the Trojans had to have been suspicious when an enormous wooden horse appeared outside of their city walls. Although it is never confirmed on exactly how big the structure was, in Virgil’s version of the war, he says it is as ‘tall as a hill’ and held nine ‘captains’ and two other soldiers. (“A Different Horse”). To get the gift inside the city, they would have had to take down parts of their wall. Additionally, with a structure that size, it would have been very difficult to move, especially during that times technology. When the Greeks finally arrive at Troy with the gift, historians are even more wary about the tale’s probity. They question the Trojans action of taking the horse inside the city rather than leaving it for all others to see the gift given to them by their defeated enemy (“A Different Horse”). To many, the story of the Trojan horse and the Greeks victory thereafter seems far too
Heinrich Schliemann, a German archeologist dedicated most of his life to discovering the whereabouts of Troy. He began his excavations in 1871 and concluded several years later that the city of Hisarlik, also known as Ilion by the Greeks, was the most likely candidate for the ancient city of Troy (Bryce). Yet, this did not answer all of their questions. At the sight of Hisarlik there are nine major levels that are separated into sublevels. It has been determined that each level is from a different time period, so finding the ‘Homeric’ level has proved to be quite difficult. After several more years of studying the ruins, Schliemann’s partner, Wilhelm Dörpfeld proposed that level VI, sublevel h was the best fit for the Homeric Troy (Bryce). If this were indeed to be true, it would set the date for the War to be around 1250 B.C. Even still, when comparing the details recorded in The Iliad compared to the sites remains, things to not quite match up. When examining level VIh, one will notice it suffered a great deal of destruction possibly from a great war, or from some natural disaster