ENG255 / HUM241

The Mycenaean Bronze Age is when the actual Trojan War may have taken place. There probably was a city of Troy on the coast of Asia Minor. Troy was destroyed many times, including once in the mid 1200s BCE, shortly before the collapse of Mycenaean Bronze Age civilization.

Perhaps a memory of this collapse became connected to the stories of the Fall of Troy, transforming this story of an ancient war into a powerful metaphor for the ending of civilization through lust and violence. Stories about the Fall of Troy were told orally for several hundred years before Homer composed his brilliant epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, about the Greek heroes who conquered Troy and the Trojan heroes who attempted to defend it.

ARCHAEOLOGY

• Akrotiri of Thera: Text and images about this important Bronze Age site in the Aegean.
• The Ancient Greek World: a wonderful virtual museum exhibit from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
• Anistoriton: An electronic magazine of History Archaeology and Art History; includes a number of articles about the Mycenaean Bronze Age, Classical Greece, etc.
• The Archaeological Museum of Nauplion: This homepage includes links to  images of several of their most important Bronze Age treasures.
• The Collapse of Mycenaean Palatial Civilization and the Coming of the Dorians: Lesson 28 of the  Dartmouth Bronze Age Archaeology course. It offers sophisticated, current information and analysis; rather technical. A few images are available for this lesson.
• Crete and the Trojan War: Going Beyond Homer and Sir Andrew Evans: A synopsis of current ideas on this topic by Professor Halford Haskell
• NASA: Satellite image of Troy
• Project Troia: The web site of Korfmann's excavations at Troy. It features all sorts of information about the current excavations at Troy as well as an interesting academic quarrel over Korfmann's excavation and interpretation of the Troy site. Worth a look 
• TAY: The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey; a chronological inventory of findings about the cultural heritage of Turkey.
• The Treasure at Troy: An uncritical but lively narrative about the fascinating story of Schliemann and his passion for excavation, which led him to Troy and other wonderful ancient sites, and of his discovery of what he claimed was the treasure of Troy.
• The Trojan Horse--an Earthquake? Don't blame the Trojan Horse: earthquakes toppled ancient cities, Stanford  geophysicist says. By Ellen Licking
• TROY in England: Yes, you read it correctly! This site argues in great detail that Troy was actually a Bronze Age city in England and that is where the Trojan War was fought. Personally, I'm not convinced, but it is an interesting alternative hypothesis.
• Troy VII and the Historicity of the Trojan War: This site discusses the archaeology of Troy VII, the one presumably involved in the Fall of Troy. This is Lesson 27 of a course in Bronze Age Archaeology from Dartmouth; very current in material and analysis; rather technical. Each lesson includes an excellent bibliography.
• TROY (TRUVA) - 4000 years old Ancient City: Information about the site of Troy, its history and archaeology, two pictures of the excavations, and some links to related material.
• Turkish Odyssey: Everything you ever wanted to know about Troy, its history,  traveling there, archaeology,  etc.
• Troy Model: Represents Troy about 2200 BCE. Scroll down to see the model.

• Bureaucrats and Barbarians: Minoans, Mycenaeans and the Greek Dark Ages; history and some images.
• The Historical World Behind the Trojan War: Wilfed E. Major offers detailed lectures and wonderful images about the Bronze Age world of the Trojan War. 
• The Trojan War: History, myth and Homer. Includes an annotated list of Troy books, linked to Amazon.com.
• Troy (Truva): Narration about the history of Troy  and its legends, with many hypertext links to more information. Part of a larger site on Turkey that even includes a section on Turkish food.
• Troy VI: A trading center and a commercial city?: An essay by Frank Kolb in the American Journal of Archaeology (2004). Kolb argues that Troy VI was not a major city; the journal issue includes a refutation by two other scholars.
• Was there a Trojan War?: An essay  by Manfred Korfmann in Archaeology magazine (2004). Korfmann was the director of the excavations at Troy when he wrote this article.
• Who were the Sea Peoples? An interesting essay about the mysterious, piratical invaders of the Eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Bronze Age; written by Eberhard Zangger.

IMAGES OF THE MYCENAEAN BRONZE AGE

•  Bronze Age Images: from Troy, Mycenae and elsewhere.
•  Professor Jean Braden's Troy Photos

MAP

• Mycenaean and Minoan Civilizations: c. 2000 BCE.

            POEM

• "On Hisarlik": A poem by Daniel del Valle Hernandez. The link goes to the Greek Mythology Link; scroll down to see the poem below the image of Heinrich Schliemann. Hisarlik in Turkey is quite likely the site of ancient Troy.

(c) Diane Thompson : 8/25/1998; updated:07/05/2006