Did you
know that Troy is located in Turkey?
In 2004, with the release of "Troy" in the
movie theaters, people begin to recall the legendary history of this
mysterious city. However, many people do not know that this city is
located in Turkish territory. Troy was identified at the end of the
XIX century by Heinrich Schliemann in the hill of Hissarlik, in Dardanelos,
northwest coast of Turkey. This area contains a succession of several
cities that were built over each other during centuries, one of these
cities is Troy. The legend of Troy is still a mystery with few possibilities
of being solved by archeologists, so do not fear
the romantic
enigma of Troy will not be destroyed. Today you can not see much at
the glory time of Troy, just some ruins of the city can be visited.
Troy
Horse in Turkey
Did the war in Troy really happened? The Troy war
is one of the most important episodes that have survived in
the mythology and from greek legends. Some events that caused
the war are known from the two great Homeric poems, the Illiad
and the Odyssey.The term "Illiad" comes from "Ilias",
that means "regarding Ilion", the name of a city
in the Asia Minor coast. In Illiad has 24 songs, with 15 thousand
verses. Although it tells Troyan war, it is not a complete
narration of what happened. The Illiad tells the second year
of the conflict, when a disagreement between Agamenon and
Achilles began. The wood troyan horse is considered to be
an idea of Ulisses, and the most courageous Greeks got inside
the horse. The troyans believed that if the horse never entered
Troy, the city would never be taken; and if it was left outside,
the Greeks would end up returning and would devastate the
city.
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Do you remember Paris, the one who was in
love with Helena ? Paris was son of Priamo, king of Troy. When Priamo's
wife Hecuba, was pregnant of Paris, she dreamed that she was giving
birth to a torch with serpents. After the baby was born, she gave
orders to a maid to take him to the Ida hill and kill him. The maid
did not kill him but left him at the hill to die. The child was
saved by shepherds. After some time, Paris
returned to Troy by chance, and his parents were impressed with
his ability in athletic competitions and his beautiful appearance.
His parents found out who he was and received him with pleasure.
Of course that you remember the beautiful Helena:
Helena was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. Helena married with Menelau,
king of Sparta, they had a daughter called Hermíone. At that
time Paris came to visit them. Menelau received Paris very well
in his house, but Paris paid his hospitality kidnapping Helena and
escaping with her from Troy. Helena's participation in this situation
is explained in several ways: she was kidnapped against her will,
or Aphrodite made her fall in love with Paris or she never went
to Troy, and because of a ghost the Greeks spent ten long years
in war.
Aereal
view of Troy, Turkey
To recover his wife Menelau,
husband of Helena called everybody to help him to set up an
expedition against Troy. The leader of the Greek force was Agamenon,
king of Micenas and older brother of Menelau. The Greek heroes
came to help to sail in the Aegean Sea to Troy. The leaders'
names and origins are listed in the ships' catalog of the Iliad.
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In the film "Troy" Brad Pitt it is Achilles.
The father of Achilles was reluctant in leaving his son to join
the expedition, because there was a predestination he would die
in Troy. In an attempt of avoid his destiny, they sent him to Ciros
dressed as a girl, where he joined the king's daughters, Licomedes.
During this stay he married Deidaméia, another daughter of
the king. They had a son called Neoptólemo. Ulisses found
out that the Greeks would never take over Troy without the help
of Achilles. So he went to Ciros to look for his help. Achilles
was persuaded to go with Ulisses back to Aulis, where the inland
waterway fleet was getting ready to sail.
An interesting detail: Achilles always knew that his destiny was
to die in Troy, where he really died. He ended killed by an arrow
shot, thrown by the arch of Paris. Tetis Achilles' mother wanted
to turn his son immortal, and when he was still a baby, she immersed
him in the waters of the river Estige; this made his body immune
to any wounds, except for his heel, where his mother hold him. Paris'
arrow shot his Achilles' heel. That is why we say "Achilles'
heel" meaning a weak point.
Agamenon is seen as the evil
character of the film "Troy". Agamenon was the brother
of Menelau, who was married with the beautiful Helena. Agamenon
made a terrible crime when, after a family fight, he served
his own brother Tiestes a plate prepared with part of his own
children's members.This action curse the house of Atreu, and
the destiny was waiting for Agamenon when he returned from Troy.
In his absence, for ten years the government of Micena was in
his wife's hands Clitemnestra and her lover Egisto, the only
surviving son of Tiestes. After returning to Troy, Agamenon
was killed violently with an axe by Clitemnestra. Her reasons
for such a brutal murder were complex, but it seems that it
was not so much due to her passion for Egisto and the desire
of revenge his brother, she killed him because she hated him.
Agamenon had murdered brutally Clitemnestra's first husband
and their children in front of her eyes; he had also sacrificed
her daughter Ifigenia to Aulis. She wanted revenge.
Jewelry Found in Troya |
I cannot forget to mention other important person
in this story: Heitor, king's Priamo oldest son. In Homeros'
Illiad, Heitor is the greatest warrior of Troy. Heitor is portrayed
like a good husband and a brave warrior. As the troyan commander,
he was responsible for resisting to the Greek army for nine years
and finally to force the Greeks to return to their ships. At the
end, Heitor was killed by Achilles to revenge his friend's death
Patroclo who was killed by Heitor. Achilles ignored Heitor's request
for a funeral after he killed him, he tied his body to a carriage,
dragging him around the city walls.
Another important person of this history is the king of Troy: Priamo.
He had 50 sons, and 50 daughters, one of his son was Heitor. After
his son Heitor was killed by the Greek hero Achilles, Priamo went
to the Greek camp to implore to have the body of his son back for
a decent funeral. Aquiles preserved the life of Priamo and gave
him Heitor's body to be buried. During the Troy attack, Priamo was
killed by the son of Achilles, Neoptolemo.
Among so many tragedies
if you still didn't go to see the
film, go! It is a good cultural amusement.
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