The Trojan War in Homer and History - Recorded Books

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and although he knows about iron, he rarely mentions that it was used for war (as it was in the Iron Age). Homer also speaks of such characteristic Mycenaean items as “silver-studded swords”; that is, sword hilts riveted with silver or gold studs: “Across his shoulders he slung the sword, and the nails upon it were golden and glittered, and closing about it the scabbard was silver, and gold was upon the swordstraps that held it.” (Iliad XI.29–31) This description sounds very much like the swords found in the earlier Shaft Graves at Mycenae. Most interestingly, Homer describes Odysseus as wearing a helmet made of wild boars’ tusks sewn onto a felt cap stretched over a framework of leather thongs. Such helmets were common in the Mycenaean world before 1300 BCE, but went out of use soon afterwards and were certainly not around in the Iron Age. And so we are left with the so-called “Homeric Question”: does the story of the Trojan War as found in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey reflect the Late Bronze Age, the Iron Age, or a mixture resulting from five centuries of oral storytelling? The answer is not readily forthcoming, for good arguments can be made for all three scenarios. 29
LECTURE SIX Questions 1. What is an example of anachronism found in Homer? 2. What aspects of Homer’s story are accurate reflections of the Late Bronze Age? Suggested Reading FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING Wood, Michael. In Search of the Trojan War. 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. Other Books of Interest Finley, Moses I. The World of Odysseus. New York: Penguin Books, 1979. Hesiod. Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns and Homerica. Selections from the Epic Cycle. Ed. Glen W. Most. Trans. Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981. Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagels. Intro. and notes Bernard Knox. New York: Penguin, 1998. ———. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fagels. Intro. and notes Bernard Knox. New York: Penguin, 1999. Latacz, Joachim. Troy and Homer: Towards a Solution of an Old Mystery. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Page, Denys L. History and the Homeric Iliad. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1959. Thomas, Carol G., ed. Homer’s History: Mycenaean or Dark Age? New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977. Journal Articles Finley, M.I., et al. “The Trojan War.” Journal of Hellenic Studies, 84 (1964), 1–20. Thomas, Carol G. “Searching for the Historical Homer.” Archaeology Odyssey, 1/1 (1998), 26–33, 70. 30
Page 1 and 2: ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE ILIAD: THE TROJ
Page 3 and 4: Archaeology and the Iliad: The Troj
Page 5 and 6: Photo courtesy of Eric H. Cline Abo
Page 7 and 8: LECTURE ONE Lecture 1: The Tale of
Page 9 and 10: LECTURE ONE during the time of Troy
Page 11 and 12: LECTURE TWO Lecture 2: The Mycenaea
Page 13 and 14: LECTURE TWO The majority of these p
Page 15 and 16: LECTURE THREE Lecture 3: The Hittit
Page 17 and 18: LECTURE THREE helped to reestablish
Page 19 and 20: LECTURE THREE Questions FOR GREATER
Page 21 and 22: LECTURE FOUR So the Sea Peoples, co
Page 23 and 24: LECTURE FOUR 1. Why do the Sea Peop
Page 25 and 26: LECTURE FIVE One of the most import
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Page 33 and 34: LECTURE SEVEN This is extremely imp
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Page 39 and 40: LECTURE EIGHT 1. What was Schlieman
Page 41 and 42: LECTURE NINE from the so-called “
Page 43 and 44: LECTURE TEN Lecture 10: Wilhelm Dö
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Page 47 and 48: LECTURE ELEVEN Lecture 11: Carl Ble
Page 49 and 50: LECTURE ELEVEN 1. Why would Blegen
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Page 55 and 56: LECTURE THIRTEEN Troy also lay on t
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Page 59 and 60: LECTURE FOURTEEN 1. What do we know
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