Troja

Title

Troja

Description

Illustration der Belagerung der Stadt Troja.

ca. 1519

Artist

Anonymus

Historical Description

The historicity and localization of Troy is controversial . A widespread research opinion locates Troy on Hisarlık Tepe in the province of Çanakkale (Turkey). The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Greek poet Homer (8th century BC) is considered the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. In the Iliad, the Trojan War for the city of Ilios is described. It is prevailing opinion, taught in lesser part also in ancient studies, that Homer's Troy is identical with a settlement layer on the hill Hisarlık. In 1868, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, who until then had little experience, came to the plain of the Troad. He too was here in search of the legendary Troy and first suspected it, in accordance with Le Chevalier's thesis, under the hill Ballı Dağ. Schliemann and his five workers did not find it, he wanted to leave, missed his ship and happened to meet Frank Calvert, in whose house he stayed overnight. Calvert was now able to inspire Schliemann with his conviction that the ruins of Homeric Troy must be hidden under the hill of Hisarlık. Schliemann later did not conceal the fact that he had the decisive clue to the location of Troy from Calvert.