Ancient Greek mythology is an interconnected system of myths. This vast system, composed of countless works featuring various gods, heroes, and mortals, includes many stories with the same backgrounds and characters, often described in different works by authors of different eras. The story of the Trojan War is a classic among many ancient Greek myths. Homer’s epics serve as the origin of the Trojan War story, but other works also supplement and detail it further. Although scholars questioned the authenticity of the Trojan War, perhaps considering it merely a myth, further archaeological and research work suggests that the city of Troy described by Homer and other ancient Greek authors might have been real, and a war may have possibly occurred.
First, Homer’s work, the Iliad, reveals the spark of the Trojan War. The Trojan prince Paris saw the beautiful Helen in Sparta and then eloped with her, or, some say, kidnapped her and took her back to Troy (Cartwright). However, Helen was already married to the King of Sparta (Cartwright). When the King of Sparta returned home and found his wealth and wife gone, he was furious. As a result, the King of Sparta sought help from the King of Mycenae, Agamemnon, who was also his brother. Agamemnon decided to unite the various Greek city-states to wage war against Troy (Cartwright).
However, another famous ancient Greek myth, the story of “The Judgement of Paris,” references the reason Paris took Helen. Although not a direct work of Homer, the story background described by Homer is related to it. Eris, the goddess of discord, intentionally threw a golden apple with the inscription “to the fairest” at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, causing a dispute among Hera, the queen of the gods, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love (“The Judgement of Paris”). The three goddesses, vying for the title of the most beautiful, brought their quarrel to Zeus. Not wanting to offend any of the goddesses, as his wife Hera was among them, Zeus passed the decision to the shepherd Paris, also a Trojan prince, and told the three goddesses to ask Paris for the answer (“The Judgement of Paris”). A dream foretold Paris’s birth, interpreted as an ominous sign that he would bring about the destruction of Troy. This prophecy forced his parents to exile him and raise him among shepherds (Britannica). To win the golden apple, the three goddesses each offered Paris different bribes, and Paris ultimately chose Aphrodite in exchange for the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen (“The Judgement of Paris”).
Furthermore, in various Greek myths, the Trojan Horse stratagem is the most famous and memorable story during the Trojan War. It first appeared in Homer’s Odyssey, with the Roman poet Virgil providing a more detailed description in the Aeneid (Britannica). The legend claims that the sea god Poseidon and the sun god Apollo built the city of Troy, making it extremely strong, despite the Greek coalition’s substantial military force at that time. Therefore, the war between the two armies stalemated at the walls of Troy for ten years (Shapiro). At this point, the great hero Odysseus proposed a strategy to the entire Greek coalition. The Greek army burned their camps and retreated, but before retreating, they left behind a giant wooden horse. A Greek soldier who had defected told the Trojans that the horse was a gift from the gods. The Trojans, believing this story, brought the wooden horse into the city as a trophy (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2006, p. 1109). However, while the Trojans celebrated their victory at night, Greek soldiers hidden inside the horse emerged and opened the city gates. In fact, the Greek soldier who pretended to defect was Sinon, a Greek posing as a defector to Troy. At this moment, the Greek coalition, which had pretended to retreat, turned back and attacked Troy, burning the entire city. In one night, Troy became ruins, marking the end of the Trojan War (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2006, p. 1109).
Did the Trojan War actually happen, or is it entirely fictional? People believed in the nineteenth century that the Trojan Horse was entirely fictional due to the lack of archaeological evidence and the unfound location of the ancient city of Troy (Hammer). Moreover, in Homer’s story, how could Troy, as an independent city-state, confront the powerful Greek Mycenaean civilization head-on? A German businessman, Heinrich Schliemann, who was also an archaeology enthusiast, was fascinated by Homer’s works “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” from a young age, leaving a deep impression on him (Hammer). In 1870, in Hisarlik, in the northeastern corner of Asia Minor, he believed this to be the site of ancient Troy. Although no one believed him at the time, nearly fifty years later, with the continuous excavation of numerous artifacts, some dating back to 1200 B.C., matching the timeline of Homer’s epics, the belief started to change. Archaeologists discovered burned and destroyed city remnants and human remains in the 1930s, further suggesting a connection to Troy (Hammer).
During the same period, archaeologists in Egypt translated inscriptions from ancient Egyptian temples and discovered that, during the time of Ramses II, there was a powerful, lost ancient nation to the east of Egypt that could confront ancient Egypt head-on: the Hittite Empire. The Hittite Empire had once extended its influence to eastern Asia Minor and the Aegean coast, which inevitably led to conflicts with the Greek Mycenaean civilization (Mark). Later, archaeologists excavated tablets in the Hittite capital, Hattusa, about 400 miles east of Troy, which referred to a city-state called “Wilusa,” a name similar to “Ilios” in Greek (which is Homer’s Troy), and confirmed a connection between the empire and this city-state (Hammer). The tablets recorded that “Wilusa” was indeed in the northwest corner of Anatolia, corresponding closely with Homer’s description of Troy. However, determining whether the Mycenaean civilization and the Hittite Empire had intense conflicts in history, and whether that conflict was the Trojan War of Greek mythology, still requires more archaeological and research work.
If the Trojans had not been so careless and had inspected the wooden horse, they would have detected the Greek traitor, and the story’s ending would have been entirely different. The Trojan king, mesmerized by the horse’s craftsmanship and completeness, naively trusted the defector, failing to thoroughly check the horse’s details.
However, various industries today use the metaphor of the Trojan Horse, most famously as the name of a popular computer virus. Trojan Horse software spreads through specific methods, such as fake shopping websites, emails, or text messages promising many benefits. This virus disguises itself or hides within legitimate software. Once the user runs the software, the virus program activates, stealing passwords and data and even remotely controlling the user’s computer. The Trojan Horse virus exploits the user’s carelessness and greed, much like the stratagem in Homer’s myth.
In conclusion, the ancient Greeks used myths not only to understand and explain historical events or phenomena, but also to reflect humanity’s primitive thinking at the time. It's possible that the Trojan War actually took place, and generations have transformed the collective memory of this brutal conflict into a myth. After centuries of continuous archaeological excavations and research on the history of the Trojan War, it appears that the city of Troy is gradually emerging from the earth. The myth of the Trojan War continues to have a profound impact on today’s society and culture.
Works Cited
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Paris”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Mar. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Paris-Greek-mythology. Accessed 5 July 2024.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Trojan Horse | Story & Facts.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 27 Sept. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/Trojan-horse.
Cartwright, Mark. “Helen of Troy.” World History Encyclopedia, 27 Jan. 2021, www.worldhistory.org/Helen_of_Troy/.
Encyclopaedia, Britannnica, Inc.. Encyclopedia of World Religions, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Incorporated, 2006. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/valencia-ebooks/detail.action?docID=361916.
Hammer, Joshua. “In Search of Troy.” Smithsonian Magazine, Mar. 2022, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-search-of-troy-180979553/.
Mark, Joshua. “The Battle of Kadesh & the First Peace Treaty.” World History Encyclopedia, 18 Jan. 2012, www.worldhistory.org/article/78/the-battle-of-kadesh--the-first-peace-treaty/.
“The Judgement of Paris.” Www.historytoday.com, www.historytoday.com/archive/foundations/judgement-paris.
Shapiro, Jessica Mellenthin and Susan O. “The Iliad – an Introduction.” Uen.pressbooks.pub, uen.pressbooks.pub/mythologyunbound/chapter/the-iliad-an-introduction/.
Comments
Post a Comment