The Trojan War in Homer and History - Recorded Books

LECTURE SIX
Instead, depictions and inscriptions from the Near East, Egypt, and elsewhere
show that chariots were used during the Late Bronze Age in squadron
formation, with the charioteers and warriors fighting from their wheeled platforms,
wreaking havoc and causing carnage as they drive through the enemy
forces. The use of chariots as “taxis” is from Homer’s period, in the eighth
century BCE, long after the time of the Trojan War, and is thus an anachronism
inserted into the story long after the events themselves had taken place.
Similar examples include the fact that, instead of two horses, as was common
in the Bronze Age, Homer’s chariot teams consist of four horses, which
was common in the Iron Age. In addition, Homer’s warriors often have individual
encounters and duels—one-on-one fights between major opposing
heroes, designed to enhance the glory of the individual warriors. As scholars
have remarked previously, this appears to be an Iron Age method of fighting,
rather than Bronze Age, and probably was derived from the obligation to fight
in the front ranks because of their high rank in society.
However, there are other instances and details from Homer’s story that do
seem to be an accurate reflection of the Late Bronze Age. For instance,
Homer says that because of the unusual batter (that is, angle and construction)
of the walls of Troy below the perpendicular ramparts, Patroclus is able
to climb the walls up to a point where Apollo casts him down, and that he
does this three times:
“Three times Patroclus tried to mount the angle of the towering wall,
and three times Phoibos Apollo battered him backward . . .”
(Iliad XVI.702–703)
This description is matched by the physical remains visible in the walls of
Troy VI, which have this batter below the ramparts. Carl Blegen, one of the
excavators of Troy, notes in his report that there were sections in the walls of
Troy VI where the blocks were not close-fitting, which his workmen could
easily scale in just this fashion. However, Homer could not possibly have
seen this in the eighth century BCE, as only the top courses of the walls of
Troy VI were visible at that time. Thus, his description must have been accurately
handed down via oral tradition for five centuries. Furthermore, Homer’s
precise memory of a weak stretch in the city wall of Troy, apparently on the
west, was confirmed by the excavations at Troy. Homer writes:
“. . . draw your people up by the fig tree, there where the city is openest
to attack and where the wall may be mounted.” (Iliad VI.433–434)
Wilhelm Dörpfeld, another of the excavators of Troy, found that the circuit
wall of Troy VI had been “modernized” everywhere except for one short
stretch of inferior construction on the western side. This suggests that Homer
was reporting an authentic detail from Troy VI, which he could not possibly
have seen.
Homer also knew some surprising details that meant nothing to his own age
and which can only be memories of the Mycenaean world. Four times he
repeats the full armor and equipment (panoply) of the Homeric warrior, in a
stock passage describing the arming of a major hero for battle. The equipment
is always donned in the same order: greaves, corselet, sword, shield,
helmet, and then spear. He also consistently speaks of bronze weapons,
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