What problems have you identified in making connections between the world described in the Homeric poems and the archaeological evidence you have studied? How far do you think it is possible to resolve these problems?

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What problems have you identified in making connections between the world described in the Homeric poems and the archaeological evidence you have studied? How far do you think it is possible to resolve these problems?

In this essay I shall demonstrate that it is not currently possible to resolve the problems I have identified in making connections, between the world of the Homeric poems and the archaeological evidence I have studied.  This essay will deal with two specific areas, the first is that of the problems associated with the citadel of Troy while the second, will deal with the problems posed by, Homers descriptions of the armour and the weapons used by the hero’s of the Iliad.

In book six of the Iliad Homer mentions a series of features in relation to the citadel of Troy.  These range from the description of the hero’s houses, such as Hektor’s ‘well established dwelling’ in 370 and Paris’ ‘high house’ in 503, to the descriptions of the defences of the city as found in lines 327 where he mentions ‘the steep wall’, and in line 386 the ‘great bastions of Ilion’.   When looking at the archaeological evidence that remains at the site of Troy (known today as Hissarlik), we find that there are several related problems which make its interpretation and therefore its connection to the world described by Homer in the Iliad difficult.    The first problem relates to the history of the site in terms of its habitation. First settled in 3000BCE, evidence from archaeology suggests that there are a total of 50 settlement layers that makeup the mound on which the citadel was built, (These have subsequently been subdivided into nine sections i.e. Troy I to Troy IX for ease of reference).  This raises problems in that each successive settlement built upon the remains of the previous, re-using their materials. And in the case of the Romans (who built the settlement known as Troy IX), completely removing the top of the mound, and thus the centre of the 13th century BCE settlement known as Troy VI. This is a major problem as Troy VI is generally accepted as the settlement which corresponds to the period in which the Trojan war of the Iliad is set.  Another problem relating to the citadel is the damage that was caused to the site by Heinrich Schliemann, Troy’s first excavator.   Working on the assumption that Homers Troy lay at the bottom of the mound, Schliemann dug a series of trenches through the site, an action which resulted in the loss of a great deal of evidence.

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Despite these initial problems, some material evidence relating to Troy VI does survive on the site.  Such as parts of its defensive walls (the remains of which are fifteen feet high and six feet thick), and an eastern bastion, there are also just behind the walls the foundations of a number of large buildings.   The problems we face in relating these remains to the words of Homer is that, none of his references, including those referring to the steep walls and the bastion, despite the fact that they remain in situ can be related to, or prove a ...

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