History › First civilizations › Bronze Age
Trojan War
c. 1200 BC (traditional); historicity uncertain· War· Europe
Legend & traditionA traditional account not confirmed by evidence.
In Greek legend, a ten-year war in which Greek armies besieged and finally sacked the city of Troy.
See it on the History map →What happened
As told in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey (composed about 750–700 BC) and later poems, Prince Paris of Troy carried off Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta, and the Greeks under Agamemnon sailed to win her back. Heroes such as Achilles and Hector fought, and Troy fell to the trick of the wooden horse. A real city, Troy (Hisarlik in northwest Turkey), was destroyed around 1180 BC. Whether a war like Homer's ever happened is unknown.
Why it matters
Homer's epics became the Greeks' shared founding story, a school text for a thousand years and a cornerstone of Western literature.
How we know
Heinrich Schliemann dug at Hisarlik from 1870; later digs found a large walled city with burn layers. Hittite letters mention 'Wilusa' (probably Troy) and 'Ahhiyawa' (probably Mycenaean Greeks).
Still debated
Whether a real war lies behind the legend, and which destruction layer at Troy, if any, matches it, is still argued.
Connections (2)
▸Trojan War is set at the end of Bronze AgeLegend & tradition
The connection
Homer's heroes fight with bronze swords and spears, ride chariots and serve kings in rich palaces, details that fit the late Bronze Age Mycenaean world of about 1600–1100 BC. Homer composed centuries later, in the Iron Age, so his poems mix genuine Bronze Age memories, such as the boar's-tusk helmet, with later customs.
When and how
Traditional date about 1184 BC (an ancient Greek calculation); Troy's destruction layers date about 1300–1180 BC; Homer composed about 750–700 BC.
How sure are we?
Boar's-tusk helmets described by Homer are found in Mycenaean graves; Hittite texts mention Wilusa and Ahhiyawa; but no text confirms the war itself.
Debates and open questions
How much real Bronze Age memory survived some 500 years of oral storytelling, and whether any actual war is remembered, is debated.
▸Trojan War became a founding legend of Ancient Greece: the city-statesLegend & tradition
The connection
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey became the Greeks' shared heritage: recited at festivals, taught in schools and quoted as moral guides. They gave hundreds of rival city-states a common past of heroes and gods, and inspired tragedies, vase paintings and even Alexander the Great, who kept a copy of the Iliad by his bed.
When and how
Across the Greek world from about 750 BC, especially Athens, where official recitals at the Panathenaic festival began in the 500s BC.
How sure are we?
The epics are quoted throughout Greek literature; Trojan scenes fill Greek pottery and temple sculpture; Plutarch records Alexander's copy of the Iliad.
Debates and open questions
How and when the oral poems were written down, and whether 'Homer' was one poet or many, is still debated.