Archaeology Has Proved the Historicity of the Trojan...

Archaeology has proved the historicity of the Trojan War. Discuss Â… he [Heinrich Schliemann] found layers of ruins Â… and two bore unmistakable signs of violent destruction. One of these layers, the seventh according to more recent excavators, was no doubt the city of Priam and Hector. The historicity of the Homeric tale had been demonstrated archaeologically. - M.I. Finley, the World of Odysseus Introduction The Trojan War and its characters are detailed in the writings of Homer, Vergil, Dante and many others. It is a fantastical tale of a decade-long siege of a powerful city by a massive pan-hellenic force. However, even though it has proved to be such a rich source of inspiration for writers, poets and artists throughout†¦show more content†¦These incidents of divine intervention were added in order to add further drama and emphasise the scale of the struggle for victory. I personally think that Heroditus version of the Trojan War is the closest to the truth. When he was writing his Histories he had access to sources we did not, like the priests he mentioned in the above quotation. His version of events, though it may not be completely accurate, is highly feasible and fits with our existing knowledge of the Mycenaean period. Archaeological evidence If Homers writings are central to our understanding of the Trojan War, so are Heinrich Schliemanns digs. His name is synonymous with Troy. Fascinated with Homer, he made it his mission to discover Troy, and eventually did. However, his problems with convincing his fellow academics and archaeologists that he had indeed Troy is similar to the problem we have with defining what the Trojan War actually is. Homers Trojan War could not have possibly happened as it is laid out in the Iliad and the Odyssey. There are jarring incongruities between what happens in his epics, and what happened in that period of Greek history. In like manner, if Apollo vouchsafe me glory and I slay your champion, I will strip him of his armour and take it to the city of Ilius, where I will hang it in the temple of Apollo, but I will give up his body, that the Achaeans may bury him at their ships, and the build him a mound by the wide waters of