The Trojan Truth

Homer's Tall Tales

By Todd Layton

(If you don't know the story of the Trojan War, CLICK HERE)

Most of us know the story of the Trojan War, how Paris of Troy kidnapped Helen, the most beautiful woman on earth, and how a massive war, complete with divine intervention, ensued. But how close is this story to reality? Was there really a woman whose beauty could start a war? Some think that this wasn't far from the truth. Around the time of the Trojan War, honor was very important, and some people would do anything to restore it if broken.

Others, however, are unsatisfied with this explanation. They think that the story is too close to a fairy tale, with its romantic quality of damsels in distress and noble saviors. They believe that the Trojan War is pure fiction.

Though I don't think that the Trojan War happened exactly as Homer described it, I do believe that the story has historical roots. In 1870, a man named Heinrich Schliemann found what is thought to be Troy. Though some of his work was faked, it was generally agreed that he had found the famous city of Troy.

What Schliemann found did not look like the ruins of a great city. He found a patch of rubble barely 200 x 150 meters large. However, it was made of nine cities, placed progressively on the remains of one another. The seventh of these, destroyed around 1250 BC, appeared to be the legendary city of Troy and, with it, a Trojan War.

So, if Troy was real, was Helen? Some experts believe that the Greeks were fighting to gain control of the Dardanelles, a water passage from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. This passage went near Troy, which at the time had control of it and placed heavy taxes on all ships passing through. Other experts believe that there may have truly been a woman named Helen. During this time period, people took their pride very seriously, and a strong king could probably start a war over marriage disputes. We may never know, for the story has been lost in the folds of time and culture.