Homer And His Story

A Greek poet named Homer told the story of how a city called Troy was defeated and destroyed by the Mycenaean Greeks after they had fought for ten years. Homer lived in the eighth century BC.

For many years historians thought the Trojan War was just a made up story, but soon that changed. Near the end of the nineteenth century AD remains of the city of Troy were found in modern Turkey. Now some people think that most of Homers story was true.

Some things about the Trojan War are true, but some things are not. Over the years more and more people added myths and legends to the story of this war.

The Legend Of The Trojan War

The legend of how the Trojan War started says the cause of the fight between the Mycenaeans and the Trojans was Helen of Sparta.

At the wedding party of Peleus, the King Pithia, and the goddess of the sea, Thetis, every god and goddess was invited except Eris, the goddess of disagreement and conflict. Eris was angry at them, so she threw a golden apple into the center of the party. On the apple were the words "to the most beautiful." More than one goddess declared that they should own the apple. Hera, Aphrodite, and Anthena all wanted it. To help decide who was the most beautiful Paris, the King of Troy, was going to be the judge. The goddesses tempted Paris with lots of gifts like power and love. In the end Paris picked Aphrodite because she gave the most beautiful gift of all. Woman on the Earth. Everyone knew at the time that Helen was the most beautiful woman. She was married to King Menelaus of Sparta, so Aphrodite put a spell on Helen to fall in love with Paris. Paris came to visit and then Helen left with him to go back to Troy. Now Aphrodite would not have to worry about Helen being in the way, and she would be the most beautiful. As soon as King Menelaus heard the news he was furious. He sent a thousand ships to Troy to go get Helen back. Before King Menelaus came to Troy Agamemnon, a commander and chief of the Achaeans in the Trojan War, said he would sacrifice his daughter in order for the king’s ships to have a safe ride.

When the Achaeans knew they could not take over the city of Troy by fighting them constantly in a war, they decided to play a trick on the Trojans. They built a huge wooden horse and placed it at the huge wooden gates of Troy, then they sailed away. The Trojans took what they thought was a gift into their city. What they didn’t know was that inside the horses were soldiers. They soldiers defeated Troy, destroyed almost everything, and then came back as heroes.

Proof that Troy existed

The city of Troy has actually been excavated by many archeologists, like Heinrich Schliemann, who lived from 1870 to 1890. Troy now has been proved that it excised once because of the evidence found by archeologists. The archeologists have also proved that the city of Troy has been around from 3,000 BC to 400 AD .

People have also found that the first settlement of Troy was a tiny fort surrounded by a strong stone wall. The early Trojan houses were built with a stone foundation and clay brick walls. Even though they knew about copper they still used stone and bone for weapons and tools.

Troy was later destroyed, like most ancient settlements, by a huge fire. Artifacts that were found on that sight were mostly things like clay or mud pottery.

Troy

Troy was not a very easy city to defeat. It had very strong, tall walls surrounding the city. It was hard for the Greeks to get inside. After ten years of fighting the Mycenaean Greeks built something that would help them win the war. They built a huge wooden horse. The Greeks constructed the Trojan Horse so that soldiers could climb inside of its stomach.

The More Realistic Story Of The War

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