The Trojan War Homer's Iliad Decoded

The Trojan war was so intriguing to the people of the ancient Mediterranean world that it survived through song and story for over 300 years until Homer compiled what he knew of the story and wrote it down as the Iliad. The Iliad is hard to understand to the common person causing it to be interpreted in much different ways by different groups of people. When Wolfgang Peterson directed the movie Troy in 2004 many people became irritated due to the lack of historical accuracy.Most people thought the Iliad was fictional until the discovery of troy in 1879. Troy was found after a series of journalists and archeologists searched for Ilium, a Roman city built on top of Troy during the reign of Augustus. It disappeared gradually once the establishment of Constantinople as the Byzantine Empire's capital was complete.

\Homer's Iliad was set in approximately 1250BC placing it in the Bronze age. During the Bronze age much of Ionia, or modern day Turkey, was controlled by the Hittites,which some believe to be responsible for Troy's collapse instead of the Trojan war with Greece.The Bronze Age was a time period in which people made their tools,weapons,and armor from bronze,a much inferior metal to modern blade steel. Bronze is 40% heavier than steel and isn't anywhere near as effective for holding a sharp edge and not breaking. Bronze was made by alloying copper and scarce tin with a ratio of about 80:20 bronze to tin. Although swords,cuirasses,shields,and greaves were made of bronze with a leather interior,spear tips were made of wrought iron.

Homer's Iliad says the Trojan war started when Helen of Sparta was kidnapped by Paris of Troy. Menelaus, king of Sparta and brother to Agamemnon, ruler of Greece demanded she be returned. When Paris refused Menelaus pleaded with his brother Agamemnon to invade Troy to get Helen back. Agamemnon saw an opportunity to take Troy and satisfy his brother's needs at the same time and ordered 50,000 Greek warriors to assemble. In that day it was the largest fighting force ever assembled on Earth. Greek kings from all cities followed Agamemnon's orders and sailed to Troy in a fleet of approximately 1000 ships. Among these ships, one carrying the famous warrior Achilles landed first at the beach of Troy.

Achilles was the greatest warrior to ever be brought into the world, he was invincible all except for his ankle which is where we get the term "Achilles tendon". Achilles and his Myrmidons landed killing the defensive force guarding the shrine to Apollo who was a patron to Troy. The shrine was sacked and desecrated by the Greeks. Other famous Greek warriors at Troy were Odysseus king of Ithaca,Ajax, and Achilles bisexual lover, Patroclus. An even more famous story was written about Odysseus and his journey home called the Odyssey.

The Trojan war lasted 10 years with several skirmishes in between. The first of which Menelaus was killed by Paris unfairly when his sword broke and was hit by an arrow by another Trojan helping Paris. Many Greeks were killed at the first attempt to take Troy. It was said that many Greek gods came down to help different sides during battle, an example is a Greek saying to another Greek. "Look! Ares joins our battle line!" Ares was the god of war and was known for his keen combative skills. The role of the gods in this story was very important and emphasized by Homer greatly when he wrote it. During several more skirmishes, Patroclus, lover of Achilles was killed by Hektor the Trojan prince and eldest son of Priam,the king of Troy. Achilles was enraged and vowed to revenge his death.

The duel between Hektor and Achilles is the most well known in the Iliad and all of ancient Greece. Specifics of the duel are vague. In the end, Achilles stabs Hektor in the throat with his spear. Hektor's last words are "Take my body back to Troy." Instead of honoring Hektor's last wish Achilles drags his body around Troy on his chariot for his wife Andromache,father Priam, and brother Paris to see. He continues for 14 days and finally brings back his body to the Greek encampment. Priam later asks Achilles for his son back.

After 10 long years drag on Agamemnon grows very impatient and needs a way to take Troy. Odysseus, hero of the Odyssey comes up with a plan to hide inside a wooden horse and use it as an offering to Troy. Once they were inside the city they jumped out and slaughtered Troy's citizens and unprepared guard. The Trojan army could not mobilize in the chaos and was picked off through out the city. Agamemnon ordered the burning of Troy and plundered its precious gold from its temples and palace. The only survivors were led by prince Paris out of the city through a secret tunnel. Once inside the city, Achilles is shot through his ankle by Paris and dies. It is said in later literature that Achilles son kills Paris with a poisoned arrow.

Aeneas leads whats left of the Trojans out of the city to modern day Italy and founds Rome. This is the story of the Aenead. After 10 years of siege, Agamemnon wins his victory at the cost of thousands of Greeks. Achilles, Patroclus,Menelaus, and Ajax lay dead. It is said that Ajax was not killed by Trojans but by Odysseus in a duel over who gets to keep Achilles's armor. Troy has remained a very famous place and its story is immortal. Alexander the Great was obsessed with Achilles and claimed he was of the same bloodline. When Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont into Asia Minor, he visited the ruins of Troy to pay his respects to his ancestors. Over the next 3200 years, cities were built on top of Troy which disappeared and came back. There were 10 different cities built on the same site over 3 millennia. The 2nd Troy was thought to of been the one where Priam was king and the Trojan war occurred.