Editing Trojan War (section)

==Historical basis==

{{See also|Historicity of the Iliad}}

[[File:Map Hittite rule en.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|Map showing the [[Hittite Empire]], Ahhiyawa (possibly the Achaeans (Homer)) and Wilusa (Troy)]]

The historicity of the Trojan War, including whether it occurred at all and where Troy was located if it ever existed, is still subject to debate. Most classical Greeks thought that the war was a historical event, but many believed that the Homeric poems had exaggerated the events to suit the demands of poetry. For instance, the historian [[Thucydides]], who is known for being critical, considers it a true event but doubts that 1,186 ships were sent to Troy. [[Euripides]] started changing Greek myths at will, including those of the Trojan War. Near AD 100, [[Dio Chrysostom]] argued that while the war was historical, it ended with the Trojans winning, and the Greeks attempted to hide that fact.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dio_Chrysostom/Discourses/11*.html|title=LacusCurtius • Dio Chrysostom – Discourse 11|website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref> Around 1870 it was generally agreed in Western Europe that the Trojan War had never happened and Troy never existed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history/content/transcripts/transcript2-the-dark-ages|title=Yale University: Introduction to Ancient Greek History: Lecture 2|access-date=2011-07-29|archive-date=2011-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205034537/http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history/content/transcripts/transcript2-the-dark-ages|url-status=dead}}</ref> Then [[Heinrich Schliemann]] popularised his excavations at Hisarlık, [[Çanakkale]], which he and others believed to be Troy, and of the Mycenaean cities of Greece. Today many scholars agree that the Trojan War is based on a historical core of a Greek expedition against the city of Troy, but few would argue that the Homeric poems faithfully represent the actual events of the war.
[[File:Heinrich Schliemann (HeidICON 28763) (cropped).jpg|thumb|239x239px|[[Heinrich Schliemann|Schliemann]] was the first man to locate Troy at the mound known as Hisarlık  ]]
In November 2001, geologist John C. Kraft and classicist [[John V. Luce]] presented the results of investigations into the [[geology]] of the region that had started in 1977.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1130/0091-7613(2003)031<0163:HAAATS>2.0.CO;2| title = Harbor areas at ancient Troy: Sedimentology and geomorphology complement Homer's Iliad| journal = [[Geology (journal)|Geology]]| volume = 31| issue = 2| pages = 163| year = 2003| last1 = Kraft | first1 = J. C.| last2 = Rapp | first2 = G. (Rip)| last3 = Kayan | first3 = I.| last4 = Luce | first4 = J. V.| bibcode = 2003Geo....31..163K}}</ref><ref name = "nature">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nature.com/nsu/nsu_pf/030127/030127-4.html |title=Geologists show Homer got it right |access-date=9 February 2008 |archive-date=2 April 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030402105033/http://www.nature.com/nsu/nsu_pf/030127/030127-4.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name = "Discovery">[http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20030203/iliad.html ''Iliad''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041207222436/http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20030203/iliad.html |date=7 December 2004 }}, Discovery.</ref> The geologists compared the present geology with the landscapes and coastal features described in the ''Iliad'' and other classical sources, notably [[Strabo]]'s ''[[Geographica]]''. Their conclusion was that there is regularly a consistency between the location of Troy as identified by Schliemann (and other locations such as the Greek camp), the geological evidence, and descriptions of the [[topography]] and accounts of the battle in the ''Iliad'', although of course this could be a coincidence.
[[File:Walls of Troy (2).jpg|thumb|The walls of late Bronze Age [[Troy]] ]]
Since the twentieth century, scholars have attempted to draw conclusions based on Hittite and [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] texts that date to the time of the Trojan War. While they give a general description of the political situation in the region at the time, their information on whether this particular conflict took place is limited. Andrew Dalby notes that while the Trojan War most likely did take place in some form and is therefore grounded in history, its true nature is unknown.<ref>Wilson, Emily. [http://www.slate.com/id/2155360/pagenum/all/#page_start Was The Iliad written by a woman?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012131345/http://slate.com/id/2155360/pagenum/all/#page_start |date=12 October 2007 }}, ''Slate Magazine'', 12 December 2006. Accessed 30 June 2008.</ref> The [[Tawagalawa letter]] mentions a kingdom of ''Ahhiyawa'' (Achaea, or Greece) that lies beyond the sea (that would be the Aegean) and controls Milliwanda, which is identified with Miletus. Also mentioned in this and other letters is the [[Assuwa]] confederation made of 22 cities and countries which included the city of ''[[Wilusa]]'' (Ilios or Ilium). The [[Milawata letter]] implies this city lies on the north of the Assuwa confederation, beyond the [[Seha]] river. While the identification of Wilusa with Ilium (that is, Troy) is always controversial, in the 1990s it gained majority acceptance. In the [[Alaksandu]] treaty ({{Circa|1280 BC}}) the king of the city is named Alaksandu, and Paris's name in the ''Iliad'' (among other works) is Alexander. The Tawagalawa letter (dated {{Circa|1250 BC}}) which is addressed to the king of Ahhiyawa actually says: "Now as we have reached agreement on the matter of Wilusa over which we went to war-..."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bryce |first=Trevor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NrGBAgAAQBAJ |title=Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East: The Royal Correspondence of the Late Bronze Age |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-57586-2 |pages=198 |language=en |access-date=1 April 2023 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405102230/https://books.google.com/books?id=NrGBAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Formerly under the Hittites, the Assuwa confederation defected after the [[battle of Kadesh]] between Egypt and the Hittites ({{Circa|1274 BC}}). In 1230 BC Hittite king [[Tudhaliya IV]] ({{Circa|1240}}–1210 BC) campaigned against this federation. Under [[Arnuwanda III]] ({{Circa|1210}}–1205 BC) the [[History of the Hittites|Hittites]] were forced to abandon the lands they controlled in the coast of the Aegean. It is possible that the Trojan War was a conflict between the king of Ahhiyawa and the Assuwa confederation. This view has been supported in that the entire war includes the landing in Mysia (and Telephus' wounding), Achilles's campaigns in the North Aegean and Telamonian Ajax's campaigns in Thrace and Phrygia. Most of these regions were part of Assuwa.<ref name="Karykas"/><ref>Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους (History of the Greek Nation) Volume A. Athens: Ekdotiki Athinon, 1968.</ref> That most Achaean heroes did not return to their homes and founded colonies elsewhere was interpreted by Thucydides as being due to their long absence.<ref>Thucydides. ''The Peloponnesian War'', 1.12.2.</ref> Nowadays the interpretation followed by most scholars is that the Achaean leaders driven out of their lands by the turmoil at the end of the Mycenaean era preferred to claim descent from exiles of the Trojan War.<ref>Graves, Robert. ''The Greek Myths'', "The Returns".</ref>