Episode #15 – Was There a Real Trojan War? (Part I)

The story of the Trojan War is one of humanity’s oldest tales of armed conflict. For the Ancient Greeks the war represented the bloody end of an historical epoch. The fall of the city marked the end of the so-called “Age of Heroes”, and heralded a new era where superhuman demi-gods would no longer walk the earth. But is the Trojan War just a myth, or was there a real conflict that provided the inspiration for the story? It’s going to take three whole episodes to find out— so strap in! Tune in and find out how Oceans 11, heroes in drag, and divine bribery all play a role in the story!

Works Cited

Alexander, Caroline. The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of the Iliad. London: Faber and Faber, 2011. Print.

Allen, Susan Heuck. Finding the Walls of Troy: Frank Calvert and Heinrich Schliemann at Hisarlík. Berkeley, CA: U of California, 2010. Print.

Cline, Eric H. The Modern Scholar: Archaeology and the Iliad: The Trojan War in Homer and History. Recorded Books, 2008. Audiobook.

Cline, Eric H. The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford UP, 2013. Print.

Easton, D. F. “Heinrich Schliemann: Hero or Fraud?” The Classical World 91.5 (1998): 335. Print.

Homer, A. T. Murray, and William F. Wyatt. Iliad. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2003. Print.

Latacz, Joachim. Troy and Homer: Towards a Solution of an Old Mystery. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.

Traill, David A. Schliemann of Troy: Treasure and Deceit. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1997. Print.