Trojan War: the story on HearLore

Trojan War

A golden apple inscribed with the words for the fairest landed in the lap of a shepherd boy named Paris on Mount Ida. This object sparked a quarrel between three goddesses: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Each claimed ownership of the fruit and offered bribes to win his favor. Athena promised wisdom and skill in battle while Hera offered political power over all Asia. Aphrodite pledged the love of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris chose Aphrodite and received her promise as reward. This decision earned him the hatred of both Hera and Athena who would later aid the Greeks against Troy.

Epic Literary Sources

Homer composed two epic poems known as the Iliad and the Odyssey sometime between the ninth and sixth centuries BC. The Iliad covers only four days and two nights during the tenth year of the siege. It describes the wrath of Achilles and the death of Hector without detailing the fall of the city itself. The Odyssey follows Odysseus's ten-year journey home to Ithaca after the war ended. Other parts of the story survive only in fragments from the Epic Cycle including the Cypria and Little Iliad. These works originated from oral traditions before being written down in the seventh century AD or earlier. Visual art such as vase painting also circulated these myths across ancient Greece.

Archaeological Discovery At Hisarlik

Heinrich Schliemann met Frank Calvert in 1868 to discuss the location of ancient Troy. Calvert convinced Schliemann that the site at Hisarlık in modern-day Turkey was the legendary city. Excavations conducted by Schliemann and others confirmed this claim for most scholars today. Earlier skepticism about the identification has been dispelled by archaeological discoveries and linguistic research. Clay-tablet records of contemporaneous diplomacy support the existence of a historical core behind the myth. The site shows evidence of destruction around 1180 BC which corresponds to the Late Bronze Age collapse.

Who was the shepherd boy that received a golden apple inscribed with the words for the fairest?

Paris was the shepherd boy who received a golden apple inscribed with the words for the fairest on Mount Ida. This event sparked a quarrel between three goddesses: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.

When did Homer compose the Iliad and the Odyssey?

Where is the site of ancient Troy located today?

Heinrich Schliemann met Frank Calvert in 1868 to discuss the location of ancient Troy at Hisarlık in modern-day Turkey. Excavations conducted by Schliemann and others confirmed this claim for most scholars today.

What date range do scholars assign to the historical Trojan War conflict?

Scholars date the historical conflict to the twelfth or thirteenth century BC based on genealogies of kings. Eratosthenes proposed dates between 1194 and 1184 BC which roughly match archaeological evidence of a catastrophic burning of Troy VIIa.

Which author introduced the Trojan Horse to Western literature in the Aeneid?

Virgil wrote the Aeneid during the reign of Augustus to establish Roman national identity. This account introduced the Trojan Horse to Western literature though it does not appear in Homer's works.

Trojan War

Epic Literary Sources

Archaeological Discovery At Hisarlik

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