I meant to put story...anyway is the story truee, and if so, which parts are greatly exagerated?
Thanks fellas!
- Troy was a real place.
- Agamemnon was a real king.
- There was a Trojan War of some kind.
Beyond that, we don't really know much. We only have archaeological evidence to go by. The literary sources on Troy are all epics etc., rather than sources trying to uncover the truth of what occurred.
How much longer after the Trojan war were the epics written?
I'm not aware that Agamemnon was a real king, but there is evidence that there was a city of Troy (Iliad is the actual name) and there was evidently a Greek invasion on the city which is thought to most likely be over trade, not a woman.
I think that it is likely that the story of the Trojan war is much like a war movie like Saving Private Ryan, where the war and some of the stuff is true, but most of the characters are likely to be fictional.
I think that Homer composed the poem some 500-1000 years after the war or somewhere in that vicinity.
Agamemnon probably was real.
Mycenaean Greece was a collection of warlike city states fighting among themselves. The only thing they seem to have united on was an attack on Ilium (Troy). Trade and access to the Black Sea were probably the cause of the war, but this wouldn't have been the first war fought over a woman if that were the case--there's no way of knowing. The war itself was such a defining event that the epic poets imported heroes from other periods of Greek legend to populate the story. Thus Ajax, for example, is a much older hero, predating the war by centuries, judging from the description of his equipment. What is remarkable is the absolute consistency of the descriptions of the character, titles, equipment, epithets, etc. of each hero, all preserved for hundreds of years in oral tradition. We see similar things in areas that still have/had oral cultures in the last century, so we know it is possible to preserve remarkable amounts of detail this way.
There's lots more to say, but I'm kind of pressed for time right now. Hope that gives you something to go on, though.
Yours,
Glenn
It's interesting stuff. I've always loved Greek mythology and I have a background as an anthropologist.
What about the actual Greek/Trojan fighting styles? I paid attention to the footwork that Pitt and Bana used in the movie. Some of it looked similar to what you would see in Chinese arts, and some of it very unique as well. How much of that was historically correct vs. Hollywood-esque type fighting?
How much longer after the Trojan war were the epics written?Probably about 300-400 years for Homer. We don't know for certain. Epics about Troy continued to be written throughout Greek and Roman history.
is it a concensus that the Homer of the Iliad and Odyssey was a single poet, or is it considered more likely that the poems are compilations of many poets, marketed under one name?
is it a consensus that the Homer of the Iliad and Odyssey was a single poet, or is it considered more likely that the poems are compilations of many poets, marketed under one name?Basically, the poems are the product of a long oral tradition. They evolved over time, with bits being added or subtracted along the way.
However, that's not to say that there wasn't a Homer, who composed the versions which we have today.We don't actually know anything about Homer, however. People have argued throughout history about whether one guy wrote both poems, or for that matter whether he had access to writing at all (rather than composing them orally) etc.It's acceptable to talk about 'Homer', as a convenient term to refer to the author of the Homeric epics. But you can't go too far.For example, this would be acceptable:"In Homer wrestlers wear loincloths, unlike in..."However, you could not get away with saying something like this:"In the Iliad Homer said this. However, in the Odyssey he said this, which indicates that he might have changed his mind."