Homer, The Iliad, Trojan Horse

Homer, The Iliad, Trojan Horse

The scene is illustrated in the style of the Middle Ages. The Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks to finally enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside. The Greeks pretended to sail away, and the Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night the Greek force crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under cover of night. The Greeks entered and destroyed the city of Troy, decisively ending the war. Ancient Greeks believed that the events Homer related were true and that Troy was located in the vicinity of the Dardanelles in what is now north-western Turkey. In 1870, German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann excavated a site in this area which he believed to be the site of Troy, and at least some archaeologists agree. There remains no evidence that Homer's Troy ever existed, or that any of the events of the Trojan War took place. Many historians believe that the Homeric stories are a fusion of sieges and expeditions by the Greeks of the Bronze Age or Mycenean period, and do not describe actual events. Those who think that the stories of the Trojan War derive from a specific historical conflict usually date it to between 1300 BC and 1200 BC.

Album / Science Source / New York Public Library

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3140 x 3751 px | 33.7 MB

26.6 x 31.8 cm | 10.5 x 12.5 in (300 dpi)