The Trojan War: A New History

Recorded in Homer’s epic poems, which are widely considered seminal in the canon of western literature, the Trojan War continues to enjoy mythic status within contemporary culture over two millennia later. In the light of new archaeological evidence, Barry Strauss re-examines the most fabled war in history in his 2006 text The Trojan War: A New History.

Strauss returns to the era when the war actually took place, some 500 years before Homer, and examines the epic poems in the context of Bronze Age (ca. 3000-1000 BCE) culture, customs and civilizations. Opening with an overview of Bronze Age warfare, Strauss delves into the subtext behind the famous story. Strauss begins by shedding light on the motivations that might have ignited the war, and reflects on Trojan-Greek tensions recorded in Hittite texts and other contemporaneous documents.

Drawing on such evidence as human remains and weather patterns within the Dardanelles, Strauss contextualizes Homer’s claims about the famous black ships and their voyage to Troy. Reflecting critically on early historians such as Thucydides, the Greeks’ landing and encampment on the plain of Troy is re-examined. A plethora of primary resources, including a newly-recovered papyrus fragment from the British Museum, lend credence to Homer’s representation of Bronze Age warfare.