Editing Troy (section)

== Troy in legend ==
{{Further|Homeric Question|Historicity of the Iliad}}
[[File:J_G_Trautmann_Das_brennende_Troja.jpg|thumb|left|An 18th-century depiction of the legendary sack of Troy.]]

The main literary work set at Troy is the ''[[Iliad]]'', an [[Archaic Greece|Archaic-era]] [[epic poem]] which tells the story of the final year of the Trojan War. The ''Iliad'' portrays Troy as the capital of a rich and powerful kingdom. In the poem, the city appears to be a major regional power capable of summoning numerous allies to defend it.{{efn|
"And Troy prevails by armies not her own".<ref name=Pope-Illiad-II>{{cite book |title=[[Iliad]] |translator=[[Alexander Pope|Pope, A.]] |section=Book&nbsp;II}}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|at=line 160}}<br/>"Assemble all the united bands of Troy; / In just array let every leader call / The foreign troops: this day demands them all."<ref name=Pope-Illiad-II/>{{rp|style=ama|at=lines 974–976}} }} The city itself is described as sitting on a steep hill, protected by enormous sloping stone walls, rectangular towers, and massive gates whose wooden doors can be bolted shut. According to [[Dares Phrygius]], there were 6 of such gates – the Antenorean, the Dardanian, the Ilian, the Scaean, the Thymbraean, and the Trojan.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Phrygius |first=Dares |title=4 |url=https://www.theoi.com/Text/DaresPhrygius.html |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=www.theoi.com}}</ref> The city's streets are broad and well-planned. At the top of the hill is the Temple of Athena as well as King Priam's palace, an enormous structure with numerous rooms around an inner courtyard.<ref name=Bryce-2005>{{cite book |author=Bryce, T. |author-link=Trevor Bryce |year=2005 |title=The Trojans and their Neighbours |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-34959-8}}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 59–61}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Ilium |editor=Smith, William |year=2020 |orig-year=1854 |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography |publisher=Perseus Digital Library |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DI%3Aentry+group%3D3%3Aentry%3Dilium-geo}}</ref>

In the ''Iliad'', the [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaeans]] set up their camp near the mouth of the [[Karamenderes River|Scamander]] river,<ref name="ShopesHamilton2008">{{cite book |last1=Cenker |first1=Işil Cerem |last2=Thys-Şenocak |first2=Lucienne |year=2008 |editor=Shopes, Linda |editor2=Hamilton, Paula |title=Oral History and Public Memories |publisher=Temple University Press |location=Philadelphia, PA |isbn=978-1-59213-141-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oralhistorypubli00hami/page/n94 76] |url=https://archive.org/details/oralhistorypubli00hami |url-access=limited }}</ref> where they beached their ships. The city itself stood on a hill across the plain of Scamander, where much of the fighting takes place.

Besides the ''Iliad'', there are references to Troy in the other major work attributed to Homer, the ''[[Odyssey]]'', as well as in other ancient Greek literature (such as [[Aeschylus]]'s [[The Oresteia|''Oresteia'']]). The Homeric legend of Troy was elaborated by the Roman poet [[Virgil]] in his ''[[Aeneid]]''. The fall of Troy with the story of the [[Trojan Horse]] and the sacrifice of [[Polyxena]], Priam's youngest daughter, is the subject of a later Greek epic by [[Quintus Smyrnaeus]] ("Quintus of Smyrna").

The Greeks and Romans took for a fact the [[Historicity of the Iliad|historicity of the Trojan War]] and the identity of Homeric Troy with a site in Anatolia on a peninsula called the [[Troad]] ([[Biga Peninsula]]). [[Alexander the Great]], for example, visited the site in 334&nbsp;BC and there made sacrifices at tombs associated with the Homeric heroes [[Achilles]] and [[Patroclus]].<ref name=Bryce-2005/>{{rp|style=ama|pp=158,191}}<ref name=Jablonka-2011-Steadman-McMahon/>{{rp|style=ama|p=724}}