Troy (Ilion) is a legendary city. The venue of the Trojan War, which was described in Homer's epic poem and mentioned in another of his epics, "Odyssey."
Today Ilion is the name of an archaeological site in Hisarlyk in Anatolia, not far from the northwest coast of Turkey, southwest of the Dardanelles Strait, under Mount Ida.
During the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus, the new Roman city of Ilium was built on the site of the destroyed Ilion. It flourished until the founding of Constantinople, but gradually fell into decline throughout the Byzantine period.
Legendary troia
The story of Troy originates in myths and legends. According to Greek mythology, the Trojans were ancient inhabitants of the city of Ilion in Asia Minor. Although in Asia, Troy appears in legends as part of the Greek culture of city-states.
According to legends, Ilion is a city known for its wealth derived from developed maritime trade with the West and East. The Trojans produced luxurious clothing, famous for working with metal and the impregnable walls surrounding the city.
The Trojan royal family comes from Zeus and Electra - the parents of Dardan. Dardan is the legendary founder of Troy, who, according to Greek myths, was born in Arcadia and later founded Dardania, which was then ruled by Aeneas.
After the death of Dardan, the kingdom passed into the hands of his nephew Tros, who called the people and country by his name - Troas. Ilus, the son of Tros, founded the city of Ilium (Troy), named in his honor. Zeus gave Ilus Palladium. Poseidon and Apollo built walls and fortifications around Troy for Laomedon, the youngest son of Ilus.
A few decades before the Trojan War, Hercules conquered Troy, the city of Zeus, and killed Laomedon and all his sons, except for the young Priam. Priam later became king of Troy. During his reign, the Mycenaean Greeks invaded Troy and conquered it during the Trojan War (which is believed to have occurred between 1193 and 1183 BC).
Mount Ida was the place where the famous “Court of Paris”, which marked the beginning of the Trojan War, took place. From the tops of this mountain, the gods watched the military operations, it was there that Hera diverted the attention of Zeus to allow the conquest of the great Ilion. This is the place where Aeneas and his people rested, waiting for the Greeks to leave.
Troy Homer
In the poem of Homer, Ilion is a city located on a hill behind the plain of Scamadra, on which the battles of the Trojan War took place.
The Greeks and Romans did not dispute the historical authenticity of the Trojan War and identified Homer Ilion with the city of Anatolia. Alexander the Great, for example, visited this place in 334 BC. e. and sacrificed on the alleged graves of Achilles and Patroclus.
Ancient Greek historians believed that the Trojan War took place in the XII-XIV centuries BC.
Some modern historians suggest that Homer's Troy - the city to which the Greeks sailed on ships - was not in Anatolia, but in a different place. They offer England, Croatia and even Scandinavia. Of course, most scholars reject these assumptions.
Iliad Status
The debate about the historical authenticity of the Iliad occasionally flares up with renewed vigor. The more we learn about the history of the Bronze Age, the more interesting is the answer to the question of how true the historical information is from the lines of the Iliad and Odyssey.
Historians, anthropologists and archaeologists have come to a common opinion that the Iliad is not a chronicle of war, but the story of individuals, fictional characters. It focuses more on the character traits of strong personalities than on the historical authenticity of small details. The Trojan War in the Iliad serves as the backdrop for the development of the individual tragedies of the main characters of the epic.
The problem of the historical value of Homer's Troy faces the same issues as Atlantis Plato. In both cases, the history of ancient writers is considered by some people to be true, and by others as mythology or fiction. You can try to establish real links between the pages of a book and historical events or places, but these links are extremely subjective.
Homer's poem "Iliad" as a legend
Some archaeologists and historians argue that none of the events presented by Homer is a historical fact. Others acknowledge that it is impossible to separate mythology and reality in the works of this ancient Greek writer.
In recent years, historians have hypothesized that Homer's stories are a synthesis of several ancient Greek stories and myths about the various sieges and military expeditions that took place during the Bronze Age.
"Iliad" as a historical fact
Another point of view is that Homer had access to epic works and chronicles of the Mycenaean period. From this point of view, the poem describes a real historical military campaign that took place at the beginning of the decline of Mycenaean civilization.
The pages of the Iliad are solidly seasoned with mythology, but historians are sure that archaeological or textual evidence corresponding to the events mentioned in the Iliad should have been preserved.
From a linguistic point of view, some verses of the Iliad are knocked out of the general rhythm, as if they were written earlier or in another language. It is assumed that Homer could borrow some verses from other historical documents.