What was the Trojan War?

It would have been a war of the city of Troy, in the current territory of Turkey, against several city-states of Greece, in some period between the years of 1500 and 1200 BC “It would have” because the history of this conflict, narrated in several epic poems of Antiquity, mixes a few real facts with many doses of Greek mythology. Until the middle of the 19th century, it was believed that everything was just fiction. In 1871, however, the overlapping remains of nine cities were found on a hill in Turkey. One of these buried cities showed evidence of having been a fortified community, destroyed around 1250 BC Although there is still no consensus among specialists, some consider these ruins as proof that Troy really existed and the war too.

By the purely mythological version – narrated mainly in the Iliad and on Odyssey, epic poems attributed to the Greek Homer, who lived around 850 BC -, the story of the conflict begins at a party to which the main Greek gods are invited, with the exception of Eris, goddess of discord. In revenge, Éris offers a golden apple to the most beautiful guest at the party, causing a dispute between the various goddesses present. To resolve the issue, Zeus, the great chief of the gods, demands that Prince Paris, son of the king of Troy, choose the winner. Aphrodite, goddess of love, is appointed as the most beautiful, but to achieve this she first offered a gift to Paris: the right to have the most beautiful mortal in the world, Helena, wife of the king of Sparta, a Greek city-state. After seducing and kidnapping the beauty, Paris attracted the ire of the Spartans, who got the support of other city-states to invade Troy and recover Helen.

Despite having a large army, the Greeks besieged the rival city for ten years until they managed to penetrate its walls. When that happened, Helen was taken back to Sparta and the population of Troy was massacred. Experts trying to see the real story behind these myths believe that a set of military conflicts actually took place during the Bronze Age (between 3000 and 1000 BC). The Greeks were fighting not for Helena, of course, but for control of the Dardanelles. This strategic maritime passage, which is close to where the city of Troy would have existed, connected the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea, an important trade route at the time. Despite literary references and archaeological explorations, there is still no unquestionable evidence that the Trojan War actually took place. Believing it or not is still a matter of belief in the evidence found so far.

But at least one thing is indisputable: the importance of war-related myths told in epic poems. “These are poems that, deep down, reveal the way of being of the Greek of a heroic age, which served as a behavioral model for that society. In addition to Iliad It is Odysseyby Homer, the alleged conflict also inspired many other authors over the centuries, from the Roman poet Virgil – who, in the 1st century BC, was the author of Aeneida story about a Trojan prince who escapes the massacre of the city and founds Rome – to the Irish writer James Joyce – who, in the early 20th century, wrote Ulyssesin allusion to one of the main Greek heroes of the Trojan War.

legendary scenery
Greeks would have crossed the Aegean Sea with a thousand ships

GREEK UNION
At the time when the conflict would have occurred, Greece was not unified. The country was divided into several autonomous and independent city-states, formed by a city itself and the agricultural areas around it. Despite having the same language and the same religion, these mininations were always hostile. However, they could unite to defend common interests. In this controversial war, several city-states would have joined to face the Trojans, with emphasis on Sparta, Athens and Argos.

BRONZED WARRIORS
Homer’s accounts of the war tell of battles in which the two armies faced each other in the open field, with spears, swords, axes and arrows. The main offensive weapon was the spear, which could be over 5 meters long and used to be thrown at the enemy. The swords were bronze, the same material that reinforced the oxhide shields and helmets.

NUMEROUS ARMADA
According to mythological texts, the various Greek city-states managed to assemble an armada of a thousand ships to attack Troy. Homer says they were “ships with 50 oars”. From this report, it is deduced that they were a typical boat of the time called pentekonter, about 20 meters long and commanded by a captain, who had 50 rowers. These vessels rarely strayed from shore, as they carried little water and supplies.

TROY AND THE AMAZONS
If Troy existed, it was in northwest Anatolia, present-day Turkey. It may have been a trading center between 1500 and 1200 BC Homer’s poems reveal that the Trojan king Priam, father of Paris, had an empire that stretched across Asia Minor. The epic texts also tell that in the war the Trojans received help from the legendary Amazons, warrior women.

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