Trojan War: history, characters and characteristics

We explain what the Trojan War was, its characteristics and characters. In addition, we explain what its causes and consequences are.

The Trojan War took place between the 13th and 12th centuries BC.

What was the Trojan War?

The Trojan War is known as a central war confrontation in Greek mythologyIt pitted the citizens of the city of Troy (also called Ilion), in western Anatolia (in Asia Minor), against the main Achaean kingdoms of ancient Greece and their allies (Danaans and Argives).

Greek historians of the archaic period maintained that The Trojan conflict occurred between the 13th and 12th centuries BC.. Some of its episodes are narrated in the epic poems of the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer (8th century BC).

The Trojan War is one of the most relevant incidents within the Greek epic and the Greco-Latin imagination. For centuries, modern society considered it to be a purely mythical story. However, at the end of the 19th century, Heinrich Schiliemann promoted a series of archaeological campaigns in which the remains of several Greek cities of the time were found and, among them, that which could be the mythical city of Troy.

Since then, numerous archaeological and historical studies have been carried out to verify whether it was indeed the city portrayed in the Homeric poems.

Although most specialists consider that the city of Troy actually existed, The stories about the Trojan War contain mythical components. Today, many historians are dedicated to identifying how much of the story could have happened in reality and how much belongs to mythology.

Location of Troy

Troy was located where the hill of Hisarlik is today.

Troy It was located in western Anatoliapresent-day Türkiye, on the Mediterranean coast of Asia Minor.

Currently, he identifies with the archaeological site of Hisarlik hillSuccessive excavations indicated that at different times the site was occupied by ten different cities. Of these, most specialists agree that the sixth or seventh may have been the city mentioned in Homer’s poems.

Historical context of the Trojan War

The mythical accounts of the Trojan War place the confrontation between the 13th and 12th centuries BC, historical period in which the Mycenaean civilization predominated. The regions of Peloponnese and Anatolia were dominated by different kingdoms, built around walled cities. These kingdoms belonged to Achaean, Ionian and Aeolian peoples (of Indo-European origin).

The kingdoms were independent and competed for wealth, territories, political influence and, especially, for the control of trade routes (fundamental for the survival of cities). Throughout their history, They formed alliances and fought different wars.. The Trojan War is located in this war context.

Causes of the Trojan War

Menelaus had to go to Troy to recover his wife and clear his honor.

Mythology says that the Trojan War was caused by The abduction of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, wife of Menelaus, the King of Sparta. During a diplomatic mission from the Trojans, Prince Paris fell in love with her.

One version says that he seduced her and another that he abducted her. In any case, with the help of the goddess Aphrodite, Paris took Helen to Troy. Her husband Menelaus summoned the kings of the Achaean alliance with the aim of bringing her back and clearing his honour. They all agreed to support him in a war with the aim of recovering her and punishing the Trojans.

A less mythological vision, however, highlights The importance of Troy in the political and economic context of the eastern Mediterranean coast. Its geographical location was strategic because it controlled the passage from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea and, in this way, the Trojans dominated the trade routes that linked both regions.

How long did the Trojan War last?

According to tradition, The siege of Troy lasted ten yearsduring which the Achaean troops camped around the city.

Main characters of the Trojan War

Achilles killed Hector in battle to avenge the death of Patroclus.

The narration of the Iliad It is abundant in characters, but the main ones for the story of the war are:

Achilles. “The swift-footed”, son of Peleus and king of the Myrmidons. At the beginning of the Iliad He refuses to fight alongside the Greeks because of an insult committed by Agamemnon.
PatroclusAchilles’ best friend and companion in his army. Hector kills him in battle, believing him to be Achilles, since Patroclus puts on his armor to inspire the Greek army.
Agamemnon. Leader of the Achaean expedition, king of Mycenae and brother of Menelaus.
Menelaus. King of Sparta and husband of Helen of Troy, who demands that the Trojans return their weapons.
ParisTrojan prince and kidnapper of Helen, he had the favors of Aphrodite.
HectorParis’s brother and the best of the Trojan warriors. He is killed in battle by Achilles and his body is dragged from his chariot as a form of mockery.
Priam and Hecuba. Kings of Troy and parents of Hector and Paris.
Odysseus. King of Ithaca and one of the great Greek heroes, inventor of the Trojan horse trick.
AjaxKnown as Ajax the Great or Ajax Telamonius (son of Telamon), king of Salamis and Periboea, he was the second Greek hero in courage and strength after Achilles.

The death of Achilles

During the Trojan War, Achilles met his death. According to legend, This Greek hero was invulnerable, thanks to the services of his mother, the nymph Thetis. Her only weak point was her heels.

He defeated the Trojan hero Hector fairly and thus avenged the life of his friend Patroclus. But he earned the fury of the Trojans and the gods by dragging his corpse from his chariot, humiliating him on the battlefield.

Later, The punishment came at the hands of Paris, Hector’s brother., who pierced his heels with an accurate arrow. Thus he killed the great hero and fulfilled the prophecy that his mother had made to him when she left for Troy.

The Trojan horse

In Türkiye, near the ruins of Troy, there is a possible model of the horse.

The strategy that gave the Greeks victory is well known: the Trojan horse. The author of the idea was Odysseusthe most astute and ingenious of the Achaean leaders. He proposed to his companions to make a gigantic wooden horse. The Greek soldiers hid inside.

After building it and leaving it on the seashore, they withdrew the fleet and hid it behind some nearby cliffs, to pretend that they had surrendered and returned to Greece. The Trojans, devotees of Poseidon (who was linked to the horse) They believed that it was a Greek offering to the god to grant them a safe return home.

Happy about their supposed victory, They took him inside the huge and impenetrable walls of their cityto pay homage to their patron god. Once inside, the infiltrated soldiers waited until nightfall to leave their hiding place and opened the city gates. Thus, the Greek army was able to sack and defeat Troy.

What did the victors gain?

The Trojan War was won by the invading army, thanks to the stratagem of the horse. During the night, the city was invaded, sacked and destroyed, Trojan men and boys slaughtered, and women taken as slaves. Nothing remained standing of the ancient Asian city.

The soldiers distributed the loot obtained from the looting. Besides, The first objective, which was to recover Helena, was accomplished. Although the Greek armies then began to return home, the cost of victory in Greek lives was very high.

Consequences of the Trojan War

Many lives were lost during the Trojan War.

The consequences of the Trojan War were:

The defeat of Troy and its looting and total destruction at the hands of the Achaeans.
The murder of King Priam and all the Trojan nobility, as well as the enslavement of their women.
The loss of numerous lives on both sides, including great Greek heroes such as Achilles and Ajax, or the Trojans Hector and Paris.
The beginning of Odysseus’ long journey home (as told in the Odyssey).
The beginning of the journey of Aeneas and the very few survivors of Troy in their quest that would lead them to found Rome (as fabled in the Aeneid).

Sources on the Trojan War

The main sources for understanding the Trojan War are the Homeric poems and the fragments that have come down to us from the narratives of other later Greek authors:

Homeric poems

The Homeric poems are a set of epic narratives traditionally attributed to Homer (a poet of the 8th century BC). Currently, specialists consider that the Homeric poems were not the work of a single person and that the narratives do not correspond to the same period. Beyond the debate among specialists, the epic poems of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the main source to know the events of the Trojan War. Both poems describe events from the 13th century BC. C., however, specialists consider that the world they portray corresponds to that of the 8th century BC. c.

Iliad. The tenth year of the war is recounted: the expedition to Asia Minor of the armies led by Agamemnon to conquer the city of Troy and focuses on the events that are triggered after Achilles withdraws from the fight.
Odyssey. It tells the adventures of Odysseus (also called Ulysses), an important war hero, on his journey back to his homeland.

Fragments of archaic Greek literature (7th and 6th centuries BC)

Other poems from early Greek literature complete the story of the Trojan cycle. However, only fragments or summaries of them have survived, as reported by other ancient historians:

Cypria. It narrated the entire Trojan cycle prior to the Homeric stories.
Ethiopian. It recounted the last exploits of Achilles, that is, events after the Homeric Iliad.
Little Iliad. It detailed the history of the wooden horse.
Ilioperis. He described the fall of Troy.
Telegony. He told the story of Telegonus, in search of his father Odysseus.

Trojan works of classical Greek literature (5th and 4th centuries BC) and later

The Trojan War and its consequences were also the subject of numerous literary works of the Classical Period of Ancient Greece, of Hellenism:

Oresteia of Aeschylus.
Ajax, Electra and Philoctetes by Sophocles.
Iphigenia in Aulis, Andromache, Hecuba, The Trojans, Electra, Helena, Orestes and Reso of Euripides.
Posthomeric by Quintus of Smyrna (3rd century AD)

The Trojan War in the cinema

The Trojan War has been portrayed in film on numerous occasions. It is a mythical story but based on real events and the different directors have portrayed the events with more or less freedom.

At the same time,…