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The Fact and Fiction Surrounding the 4000 Year Old Ancient City
Troy existed more than 4000 years as the center of ancient civilization. For many years, it was commonly believed that Troy was a myth, the product of fertile imaginations such as Homer's, who made Hector, Helen, Achilles, Paris, Agamemnon and Priam so famous. That changed in 1822, when the city's remains were discovered by Charles Mclaren. Still many wondered if the Trojan War really happened. Did Helen of Troy exist? Was there a real wooden horse?
Once known as Ilium or New Ilium, Troy (Truva) is located in Hisarlik at Canakkale, in the west of Turkey on the Dardanelles, the strait that divides Europe and Asia as it connects the Agean and Marmara Seas. Here at a place that changed the history of the world during World War I with the Gelibolu Campaign, the remains of Troy can be visited today.
The legend of Troy began with Greek and Latin literature. Homer first mentioned it in the Iliad and Odyssey. Later it became a most popular subject in Greek drama, the city's tale told to generation after generation.
During the Bronze Age, Troy has a great power because of its strategic location between Europe and Asia. In the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC, it was a major cultural center. However, after the fabled Trojan War, Troy was apparently abandoned from 1100 to 700 BC, when Greek settlers began to occupy the region. Troy was resettled and renamed Ilion. Alexander the Great ruled over the area around the 4th century BC. After the Roman capture of Troy in 85 BC, the city was partially restored by General Sulla. However, once the Romans occupied Constantinople (Istanbul), Troy lost its importance.
Troy was destroyed many times and rebuilt. So far, archaeologists have found nine levels; perhaps others are still hidden. However, efforts to uncover more of Troy's secrets were severely hampered by the destruction wreaked on the site by German archaeologist Heinrich Schlieman, who excavated the city from 1870 to 1890. His theft of treasure from Troy and his damage to its remains will always be remembered in Turkish archaeological history.
TROJAN WAR AND CITY OF TROY (TRUVA)
The tale of Troy is most famously told by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey. It begins with Laemedon, the son of Ilus who founded the city and gave it one of its names, was the king of Troy. Laemedon tried to cheat the gods of their rewards, thereby offending Herakles (Hercules), who sailed to Troy, attacked and captured the city. Laemedon and his sons were killed except the youngest, Podarces, who was released and took a new name, Priam, as the young king of Troy. Under his rule, Troy was restored and he reigned successfully over three generations, while his progeny – 50 sons and 12 daughters – played major roles in the story that would become one of the greatest ever told. Priam's eldest son was the great warrior Hector, while, another, Paris, became a pivotal element in Troy's history.
Paris's impact on Troy began when Eris, goddess of discord, threw down a golden apple “for the fairest" at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Zeus, king of the gods, could not decide who should be awarded the apple, his wife Hera, Athena (goddess of wisdom) or Aphrodite (goddess of love). The goddesses were led to the Trojan Mount Ida, where the handsome Paris lived, and he was given the task of declaring who was fairest. Vying for his favor, Hera offered Paris the lordship of all Asia; Athena offered him victory in war and wisdom beyond any other man; and Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world, whom she declared was Helen of Sparta. Consequently the clever Paris saw a way to avoid choosing among the influential women. He maintained that if the apple was to go “the fairest", then it should go the Helen.
Helen was married to Meneloas, the brother of the most powerful king on the Greek peninsula, Agamemnon, who was married to Clytemnestra, daughter of Sparta and sister of Helen. Meneloas became king of Lakonia, making the brothers an important force in southern Greece.
Paris went to Sparta to present the apple to Helen. There, Menelaos gave a feast in honor of Paris before departing to visit the king of Knossos. After he left, Paris and Helen decided to run away and sailed to Troy.
When Menelaos heard what happened, he begged his brother Agamemnon to help him take his revenge. The king sent envoys to Troy to demand Helen's return, but their entreaties were ignored. In response, Menelaos assembled an army, including the great hero warriors Achilles, Odysseus and Ajax, to engage Troy in a war that would last ten years.
In the tenth year, the legendary wooden horse was built as a means to gain access to the city. Well-armed men, among them Odysseus and Menelaos hid in it, while much of Greek army made a great show of withdrawing from Troy's shores. The Trojans thought the horse had been left behind and pulled it into the city as a spoil of what they considered their victory over their enemy.
That night, there were celebrations throughout the city fueled by the consumption of large quantities of wine on the part of many of the Trojan forces, lulling them into a stupor. After midnight, the Greek soldiers emerged from the horse, killed the already pacified guards at the gates and opened the city to their comrades, who had returned under cover of darkness.
The Greeks entered Troy and killed all of its male inhabitants. The Trojan king Priam was killed on the threshold of his palace, while Paris was killed by Philoktetes. But the remaining Trojans still refused to give Helen up. Menelaos decided to kill her. However, once again confronted by her remarkable beauty he found he could not go through with it. After plundering and burning the city, the Greeks left Troy.
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