Essay : What Makes a Historical Event: Homer, Archaeology, and the Trojan War
Did the Trojan War really happen? Was it all just a good story? Is it something in between? Scholars have been debating these questions for centuries.
Follow the prompts below to summarize the war, lay out and assess the evidence we have for its historicity, and form your own informed stance regarding whether or not the Trojan War should be considered a historical event. Be sure to refer to specific examples to support your claims. A paragraph for each prompt will suffice. If you refer to ideas that are not your own please include a parenthetical citation like this: (Rose 2012, 43).
Word limit 2500 words.Due on Blackboard by 5:00pm on Wednesday, 10/17.
Brieflysummarize the narrative of the "the Trojan War." Be sure to discuss what caused the war, its duration, its outcome, and themain participants on each side.
Discuss the Iliad. Be sure to address why it is such an important source for the Trojan War, when it was written down, what sort of literature it is, how the stories that make it up were composed, and the goals of its author(s). Be sure to refer to specific features of the Iliad or passages in the text to support your answer.
Why do scholars think the Trojan War would have been most likely to occur sometime between 1350 and 1150 BCE? In other words, what archaeological and/or textual evidence suggests that this span of time could be the right general setting for such a war?
Death and its commemoration are key themes in the Iliad. Of the elite burial practices that we covered in class, which do you think best matches the descriptions of the funerals of Patroklos and Hector in the Iliad? Be sure to explain how it matches by comparing its features with descriptions of funerals and burials in the Iliad and be sure to include its date.
Discuss whether or not the geopolitical situation in western Anatolia (aka "western Asia Minor") in the Late Bronze Age is consistent with the narrative of the Trojan War. Then consider how well the Iliad matches up with geopolitical realities of Anatolia in the Late Bronze Age. Be sure to support your answer with references to Hittite texts, archaeological evidence from Troy, and passages in the Iliad.
Think about everything you have written aboveand answer this question: Based upon the evidence we have, can the Trojan War be considered a historical event? Why or why not?
Important things to consider should include how reliable a source the Iliad is likely to be for the Late Bronze Age and how well the narrative of the Trojan War fits with the archaeological and written evidence of that period.