The City of Troy is known for being the location of the famous Trojan war between the Greeks and Trojans. This war is described in Homer's Iliad, an Ancient Greek epic poem. But was Troy just a literary or mythological location or does it really exist to this day? If so, where is it?
The ruins of Troy are in Hisarlik, Turkey
In 1870, amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann started wide-scale excavations at Hisarlik which provided evidence that Troy existed there.
Hisarlik matches Homer's description of Troy
Most scholars agree that Hisarlik's setting matches Homer's description of Troy, and the evidence found during excavations of the site also seems to match Homer's narration.
Schliemann discovered 10 layers of archaeological sites that represented Troy over time. The large citadel was found in Troy VI, which existed during the Late Bronze Age.
Heinrich Schliemann used The Iliad as a reference to look for objects and treasures from Troy. He found a cache of gold and other artifacts that he said belonged to King Priam.
Homer wrote The Iliad hundreds of years after the Trojan War
The Troy that we know and are fascinated by largely comes from Homer's Iliad, yet Homer did not even exist during the time he's writing about. He lived hundreds of years later, meaning historical accuracy is hugely unlikely.
The ruins of Troy are in the Ancient Greek city of Pergamon
Author and historian John Crowe writes about this theory in his book 'The Troy Deception'.
Pergamon matches the description of the Plain of Troy
The Plain of Troy is where the Trojan war occurred in The Iliad, and we are given a much more extensive description of this land compared to the city itself.
John Crowe claims that Athenian rulers between 560 and 514 BCE helped rewrite and add sections of Homer's Iliad in order to make people believe that Troy's ruins were in Hisarlik. They did this with the aim to expand Athenian colonies.
