What was the Trojan War?
Trojan War History documentary, watch 5:45~9:30
Throughout Greek history, many wars have been waged; however, only one is ever referenced: the Trojan War. For centuries, the city of Troy only existed in myth, specifically Homer’s Iliad. So what is the Trojan War and why did it happen? Well, starting sometime in the 13th century BCE (Cartwright), the Gods held a wedding between Pelius and Thetius, later parents of Achilles; however, they did not invite the goddess Discord. Discord shows up anyway holding a golden apple with an inscription “For the Fairest”(Video). Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite all claim the apple (Video). They ask for Zeus to be the judge, but he declines and puts the decision on Paris, the prince of Troy (Video). As bribery ensues, Paris makes his decision: Aphrodite (Video). Granting him the gift she promised, Paris gets the most beautiful woman in the world, which happens to be Helen, Queen of Sparta (Video). Paris thus goes to Sparta when Menelaus is absent and elopes with Helen back to Troy (Video). Upon the King’s return, he is enraged and appeals to Agamemnon, who summons all the Greek city-states to sail to Troy for war (Video). As 1000 Greek ships head to Troy, the city of Troy prepares itself for the defensive. Only after the Greeks successfully cut off supplies to the city does Troy call for aid from its allies to the west (Foster). After nearly 10 years, the Greeks were tired of fighting and came up with the ruse now known as the Trojan Horse: stuffed with Greek men, a wooden horse was left as a trophy to the Trojans (Video). However, the Greeks that had left planned to return by nightfall, and in the dark of the night as Trojans partied, the Greek men in the horse snuck out and left their comrades into the city (Video). From there, Greeks raped, sacked, pillaged, and burned the city to nothingness (Video). In this story, the horse is often used as a symbol of the entire war. It shows how ingenuity and trickery became part of war even though Greek morals normally opposed the second. But where does the questioning of the Iliad come into play? Homer, the author, wasn’t born until nearly 5 centuries later, meaning what he knew was only based oral history.
Trojan Horse depiction |
Walls of Troy VII |
Bibliography
B. O. Foster. The Trojan War Again. The American Journal of Philology , Vol. 36, No. 3 (1915) , pp. 298-313. Jan 25, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/289343
Cartwright, Mark. (May 15, 2013). Trojan War. Text. Web. Jan 25, 2014. http://www.ancient.eu.com/Trojan_War/
Korfmann, M. (2004). Was there a Trojan War?. Archaeology, 57(3), 36-38. Text. Web. Jan 25, 2014. Link
M. I. Finley, J. L. Caskey, G. S. Kirk and D. L. Page. The Trojan War. The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Vol. 84, (1964) , pp. 1-20. Jan 25, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/627688
Trojan horse. [Picture]. Retrieved Jan 26, 2014 from http://www.ancient.eu.com/uploads/images/1215.jpg
Troy-The Real Story (Documentary). [Video]. Retrieved Jan 25, 2014 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFCk7uMvnOU
Walls of Troy VII. [Picture]. Retrieved Jan 26, 2014 from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Walls_of_Troy_%282%29.jpg
Brandon Groff
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