What Are the Origins of the Trojan War? Myths & Archaeology

While Helen may have had the face that launched a thousand ships, the origins of the Trojan War are much more complex than an ill-thought-out love affair in the surviving sources for the mythological Greek battle. While it is still unclear whether the Trojan War was a real historical event, it was a pivotal moment in the conception of Mediterranean history linked to far-reaching consequences. This article examines the origins and consequences of the Trojan War in both Greek mythology and surviving archaeology.

Something that makes the Trojan War particularly interesting is that it was a massive event caused by something relatively simple. Famously, it resulted from Paris, a prince of Troy, running off with Helen, a princess of Sparta. Sources differ as to whether or not Helen was a willing participant in this. However, most sources (including Homer’s Iliad) do present her as falling in love with Paris and willingly going with him.

Paris had gone to Sparta supposedly on a diplomatic mission. While there, he fell in love with Helen. Behind the scenes, the goddess Aphrodite was working to make this love affair happen. This is because she had promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world if he would judge her as the most beautiful goddess. The problem was that Helen was already married to Menelaus, brother of King Agamemnon of Argos. Previously, all the many suitors of Helen from all over Greece had sworn an oath of loyalty to the victorious suitor if Helen were to ever be stolen from him. Due to this, when Paris took Helen back to Troy, essentially all of Greece was obliged to engage in war against Troy.

Adding complexity to the story, some sources suggest that Zeus had decided to start a great battle because he felt that the earth was overpopulated. Therefore, it was Zeus who orchestrated the events that led to the Judgment of Paris, specifically to start the Trojan War.

Historical Origins of the Trojan War

How closely does this mythological account reflect the historical reality of the Trojan War? Well, first of all, we need to recognize that there is no consensus that the legend of the Trojan War really is based on historical events. Some scholars believe that it was based on one or more historical conflicts that occurred in the Late Bronze Age. After all, we know that the Mycenaean Greeks were active in warfare in that area. However, other scholars see little if any influence from the Bronze Age in the Iliad, suggesting instead that it is based on more recent events, or is possibly just fictional.

Whatever the case, something that does have general agreement is that it is very unlikely that the Trojan War was fought over one woman. It is often thought more likely that it had to do with Troy’s strategic location. It was situated right by the entrance of the Dardanelles, also known as the Hellespont. This suggests that Troy may have controlled movement into and out of the Black Sea.

One reason why the Trojan War was such a major event in Greek mythology is that it involved essentially all the kingdoms of Greece. This was the first time in Greek legendary history that such a thing occurred. At the head of this alliance was Agamemnon, the king of Argos. As well as ruling Argos, Homer occasionally makes reference to Mycenae, referring to Agamemnon as being the king of that city too. Agamemnon’s brother Menelaus ruled over Lacedaemon, also called Sparta.

Another major figure in the Trojan War was Achilles. He features prominently in Homer’s Iliad and was said to have been responsible for the conquest of numerous cities in the territories of Troy’s allies. Another important figure in the Trojan War was Menestheus, the king of Athens. This city-state contributed 50 ships to the Trojan War. In total, all the Greek forces seem to have numbered approximately 100,000 men, with over 1,000 ships sent against Troy.

On the side of the Trojans, King Priam was the ruler of Troy. His eldest son and heir was Hector. Another important son was Paris, the one who was responsible for the war in the first place by taking Helen from Menelaus.

Despite modern notions of all the Greek forces marching towards the isolated city of Troy, this is not what the legends of the Trojan War describe. As noted above, the Greek hero Achilles is described as capturing numerous cities during the Trojan War. While the Greek forces do appear to have presented a united front in the first and tenth years of the war, most of the war looked very different. Troy was joined by allies from all over western Anatolia, such as the Phrygians and the Lydians. This led to the Greeks engaging in military campaigns against the territories of those allies. They were also compelled to loot for resources to keep their army sustained. Hence, the fighting took place over an enormous area.

What were the consequences of the Trojan War for the Greeks? Famously, the Greeks managed to defeat the Trojans only through using the deceit of the Trojan Horse. This massive wooden statue of a horse was secretly occupied by Greek warriors. After the Trojans took the horse inside their city, the Greek warriors climbed out during the night and led their people to victory. The Greek army, which arrived after the hidden group of warriors opened the gates to the city, completely destroyed Troy. They burned it to the ground and engaged in sacrilegious acts against the gods, particularly Athena, whose temple they ransacked.

This brought disastrous consequences for the Greeks. As a result of their profound disrespect, the gods sent punishments against the Greeks during their attempts to return home. This led to the Greeks being spread to various different lands in the immediate aftermath of the Trojan War, most of them being divinely impeded in their travels.

In the Archaic Era, starting around 750 or 700 BCE, the Greeks began extensively colonizing various areas in the Mediterranean. Some Greek colonies did already exist prior to this, but it was in this era that the colonization process picked up a significant pace. For instance, it was when the Greeks began significantly colonizing southern Italy. It appears that the myth of the gods punishing the Greeks after the Trojan War was designed to explain this extensive distribution of Greek settlements.

For example, Teucer, son of Telamon, is said to have been expelled from his home territory, leading to him founding Salamis, on Cyprus. Diomedes was the king of the city of Argos and is said to have traveled to numerous different locations after the Trojan War. According to Strabo, he ended up founding Canusium and Argyrippa in southern Italy. Menelaus, meanwhile, was said to have been blown south to Egypt, where he was forced to stay for some time due to unfavorable winds.

On the other hand, according to some stories, the Trojan hero Aeneas also survived the Trojan War and led the surviving Trojans on a roundabout journey to Italy where they settled. The city of Rome was later founded by either Aeneas, or one of his descendants, Romulus.

The most famous story about the aftermath of the Trojan War is, undoubtedly, the story of the Odyssey. Like the Iliad, this poem is attributed to Homer and was likely written in the 7th century BCE. It focuses on Odysseus, the king of Ithaca. He was the one who devised the deception of the Trojan Horse. Due to the anger of the gods, he was blown off course when rounding Cape Maleas in southern Greece. During his attempts to get back on course and continue his journey home, he experienced many mythological dangers. These include a ferocious Cyclops, the cannibalistic Laestrygonians, and the dangerous passage with Scylla and Charybdis on either side.

The Trojan War itself kept Odysseus away from his home in Ithaca for ten years. However, the punishment from the gods prevented him from returning home for an additional ten years. This led to a crisis back at Ithaca which almost resulted in him losing his throne and his wife.

The Trojan War in Greek Mythology

In conclusion, the Trojan War was one of the most famous and important conflicts in all of Greek mythology. Its immediate trigger was Paris taking Menelaus’ wife, Helen of Sparta, back to Troy. Strife between the gods was behind these events, according to the mythology. Assuming that the Trojan War might have been at least partially historical, historians speculate that the true cause of the war may have been the strategic location of Troy. On one side, Agamemnon of Argos led the Greek forces, while Priam was the leader of the Trojans. Menelaus and Achilles were also prominent on the side of the Greeks, while Hector was the powerful Trojan prince on the other side.

As a result of the Greeks’ actions during the final part of this conflict, the Greeks punished many of them by preventing them from being able to settle in their homes again. Many Greeks were spread around the Mediterranean, such as to Cyprus or southern Italy. It is likely that this was at least partially inspired by the historical age of colonization of the Greeks in the Archaic Era.