How long did the Trojan War last?

According to Homer, the Trojan War lasted ten years. The conflict pitted the wealthy city of Troy and its allies against a coalition of all Greece. It was the greatest war in history, involving at least 100,000 men in each army as well as 1,184 Greek ships.

How long did the Trojan War actually last?

The ensuing war lasted 10 years, finally ending when the Greeks pretended to withdraw, leaving behind them a large wooden horse with a raiding party concealed inside.

Why did the Trojan War last so long?

Most of the Trojan War was in a fact a protracted siege, and the city was able to resist the invaders for so long principally because its fortifications were so magnificent.

How many died in the Trojan War?

Battlefield Losses in Homer's Trojan War

The Iliad, the Greek poet Homer's 8th century B.C.E. epic about the last few weeks of the Trojan War, is full of death. Two hundred forty battlefield deaths are described in The Iliad, 188 Trojans, and 52 Greeks.

When did the Trojan wars start and end?

Those who believe that the stories of the Trojan War are derived from a specific historical conflict usually date it to the 12th or 11th century BC, often preferring the dates given by Eratosthenes, 1194–1184 BC, which roughly correspond to archaeological evidence of a catastrophic burning of Troy VII, and the Late ...

The Trojan War Finally Explained

Was Helen of Troy real?

Helen of Troy is a mythical figure from Greek mythology and literature, notably Homer's Iliad. She was not a real person.

Is Troy a true story?

Most historians now agree that ancient Troy was to be found at Hisarlik. Troy was real. Evidence of fire, and the discovery of a small number of arrowheads in the archaeological layer of Hisarlik that corresponds in date to the period of Homer's Trojan War, may even hint at warfare.

Does Troy still exist?

Over the course of several centuries, Troy was repeatedly destroyed, but a new city would rise up on the ruins of the last. People lived there until Roman times. The ruins can still be seen today, about 220 miles to the southwest of Istanbul.

What race were the Trojans?

The Trojans were people that lived in the city state of Troy on the coast of Turkey by the Aegean Sea, around the 12th or 13th Century BCE. We think they were of Greek or Indo-European origin, but no one knows for sure.

Was Achilles real?

There is no proof that Achilles existed or that any of Homer's other characters did. The long answer is that Homer's Achilles may have been based, at least in part, on a historical character; the same is true of the rest of Homer's characters.

Did Spartans fight in the Trojan War?

Menelaus pleaded with his brother to help him wage war against the Trojans for the great insult that they had paid him and Agamemnon agreed. So they began to amass a great Greek army which included several cities within the region: Sparta.

Where is Troy in modern day?

Troy (Greek: Τροία) or Ilion (Greek: Ίλιον) was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, 30 kilometres (19 mi) south-west of Çanakkale. It is known as the setting for the Greek myth of the Trojan War.

What language did Trojans speak?

Little is known about the language spoken in Troy. Some researchers suspect it was Luvian, others that it was Lydian. Kloekhorst concluded that the original language of Troy was possibly a precursor of Etruscan.

What happened to Helen of Troy?

According to a variant of the story, Helen, in widowhood, was driven out by her stepsons and fled to Rhodes, where she was hanged by the Rhodian queen Polyxo in revenge for the death of her husband, Tlepolemus, in the Trojan War.

Who won Trojan War?

The Greeks finally win the war by an ingenious piece of deception dreamed up by the hero and king of Ithaca, Odysseus – famous for his cunning. They build a huge wooden horse and leave it outside the gates of Troy, as an offering to the gods, while they pretend to give up battle and sail away.

What did Helen of Troy look like?

What did Helen look like? Today's movies and paintings make her a blonde, but ancient Greek paintings show her as a brunette. Homer merely tells us she was “white-armed, long robed, and richly tressed,” leaving the rest up to our imagination. Ancient artist's rendering of Helen, with Eros urging her on.

What is Troy called now?

The ancient city of Troy was located along the northwest coast of Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey.

What is modern-day Troy called?

Troy is an ancient city and archaeological site in modern-day Turkey, but is also famously the setting for the legendary Trojan War in Homer's epic poems the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey." In legend, the city of Troy was besieged for 10 years and eventually conquered by a Greek army led by King Agamemnon.

Are Romans descendants of Trojans?

Other Trojans also marry the locals, and their progeny are called the Latins. Romulus and Remus are direct descendants and found the city of Rome. Therefore, the Romans were descendants of these Latins, who were themselves descended from Trojans. That is the simple, established version.

What country is Sparta now?

Sparta (Greek: Σπάρτη Spárti [ˈsparti]) is a town and municipality in Laconia, Greece. It lies at the site of ancient Sparta. The municipality was merged with six nearby municipalities in 2011, for a total population (as of 2011) of 35,259, of whom 17,408 lived in the city.

What was Achilles a God of?

In Greek mythology, Achilles was the strongest warrior and hero in the Greek army during the Trojan War. He was the son of Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and Thetis, a sea nymph. The story of Achilles appears in Homer's Iliad and elsewhere.

What race was Achilles?

Achilles was the son of Peleus, a Greek king, and Thetis, a sea nymph or goddess.

Who killed Paris of Troy?

Paris himself, soon after, received a fatal wound from an arrow shot by the rival archer Philoctetes. The “judgment of Paris,” Hermes leading Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite to Paris, detail of a red-figure kylix by Hieron, 6th century bc; in the Collection of Classical Antiquities of the National Museums in Berlin.

Did Achilles have a child?

Neoptolemus, in Greek legend, the son of Achilles, the hero of the Greek army at Troy, and of Deïdamia, daughter of King Lycomedes of Scyros; he was sometimes called Pyrrhus, meaning “Red-haired.” In the last year of the Trojan War the Greek hero Odysseus brought him to Troy after the Trojan seer Helenus had declared ...