The Trojan War is one of our oldest and most debated traditions. The conflict’s historicity has become increasingly accepted, but its nature is poorly understood. This essay suggests one issue may be the approach to both literary and historical analyses, which generally assume a basic outline for the Trojan War that is “taken for granted.” Performing an all-source analysis of the literature in the context of history from the Late Bronze Age to the Archaic period, I suggest taking this outline for granted may be an impediment to understanding the Trojan War literature and the history of the war itself. Keep reading…
