For centuries, Troy was thought to be pure legend. In the 1870s, Heinrich Schliemann dug into a mound called Hisarlik in Turkey and found a city, layer upon layer. Whether a war like Homer's ever happened there is still an open question.
Truth label: Debated. Serious people disagree. You get both sides.
Go deeper
The case for
Hittite records mention a place called Wilusa, which many scholars link to Ilios, Homer's other name for Troy. A treaty from about 1280 BCE names its ruler as Alaksandu, which sounds a lot like Alexander, another name for Paris.
The case against
Some historians, like Finley, argued none of the Iliad's events are historical. Others say the evidence is too thin to decide, and that the question may never be answerable.
Schliemann's mistake
The layer Schliemann thought was Homer's Troy turned out to be about a thousand years too old.
Learn
- Cities on cities. Hisarlik holds many settlements stacked on top of each other, built over thousands of years. Archaeologists still argue about which layer matches the story.
Test yourself
What is the name of the mound in Turkey identified as Troy?
Hisarlik. Hisarlik, in northwest Turkey, is the site Schliemann excavated.
Sources
Swipe more like this
CurioUS is a feed you steer. Pick what you're curious about and every swipe tunes what comes next.
Open this card in the appMore from Myths & Legends
- A self-taught printer found a flood story older than Noah's on a clay tablet.
- A Native American story may remember a volcano that exploded 7,700 years ago.
- The kraken was real. We just call it the giant squid.
- Did elephant skulls give the Greeks the idea of the Cyclops?
- Could the story of the Seven Sisters be 100,000 years old?
- For centuries, Europe's 'unicorn horns' were whale teeth.