Three heroes. A brief account of the Trojan War

The Trojan War, according to the ancient Greeks, was one of the most significant events in their history. Ancient historians believed that it occurred around the turn of the XIII-XII centuries. BC, and began with it a new "Trojan" era - the ascent of the tribes inhabiting Balkan Greece to a higher level of culture associated with life in cities. Numerous Greek myths were told about the campaign of the Greek Achaeans against the city of Troy, located in the northwestern part of the peninsula of Asia Minor - Troad, later combined into a cycle of legends - cyclic poems. The most authoritative for the Hellenes was the epic poem "Iliad", attributed to the great Greek poet Homer, who lived in the VIII century. BC e. It tells about one of the episodes of the final, tenth year of the siege of Troy-Ilion - this is the name of this Asia Minor city in the poem.

What do ancient legends tell about the Trojan War? It began by the will and fault of the gods. All the gods were invited to the wedding of the Thessalian hero Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis, except for Eris, the goddess of discord. The angry goddess decided to take revenge and threw a golden apple with the inscription: "To the most beautiful" to the feasting gods. Three Olympic goddesses - Hera, Athena and Aphrodite - argued which of them it was intended for. Zeus ordered the young Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam, to judge the goddesses. The goddesses appeared to Paris on Mount Ida, near Troy, where the prince was tending herds, and each tried to seduce him with gifts. Paris preferred the love offered to him by Aphrodite to Helen, the most beautiful of mortal women, and handed the golden apple to the goddess of love. Helena, daughter of Zeus and Leda, was the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus. Paris, who was a guest in the house of Menelaus, took advantage of his absence and, with the help of Aphrodite, convinced Helen to leave her husband and go with him to Troy. The fugitives took with them slaves and treasures of the royal house. About how Paris and Helen got to Troy, the myths tell in different ways. According to one version, three days later they arrived safely in the hometown of Paris. According to another, the goddess Hera, hostile to Paris, raised a storm on the sea, his ship skidded to the shores of Phoenicia, and only a long time later the fugitives finally arrived in Troy. There is another option: Zeus (or Hera) replaced Helen with a ghost, which Paris took away. Elena herself during the Trojan War was in Egypt under the protection of the wise old man Proteus. But this is a late version of the myth, the Homeric epic does not know it.

Achilles kills the Amazon queen. Fragment of painting of a Greek amphora. About 530 B.C.

The Trojan prince committed a serious crime - he violated the law of hospitality and thereby brought a terrible disaster to his native city. Offended, Menelaus, with the help of his brother, the powerful king of Mycenae Agamemnon, gathered a large army to return his unfaithful wife and stolen treasures. All the suitors who once wooed Elena and swore an oath to protect her honor came to the call of the brothers. The most famous Achaean heroes and kings - Odysseus, Diomedes, Protesilaus, Ajax Telamonides and Ajax Lacrius, Philoctetes, the wise old man Nestor and many others - brought their squads. Took part in the campaign and Achilles, the son of Peleus and Thetis, the most courageous and powerful of the heroes. According to the prediction of the gods, the Greeks could not conquer Troy without his help. Odysseus, as the most intelligent and cunning, managed to persuade Achilles to take part in the campaign, although it was predicted that he would die under the walls of Troy. Agamemnon was chosen as the leader of the entire army, as the ruler of the most powerful of the Achaean states.

The Greek fleet, numbering a thousand ships, assembled at Aulis, a harbor in Boeotia. To ensure the fleet's safe navigation to the shores of Asia Minor, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis. Having reached Troas, the Greeks tried to return Helen and the treasures by peaceful means. The tried diplomat Odysseus and the insulted husband Menelaus went as messengers to Troy. The Trojans refused them, and a long and tragic war began for both sides. The gods also took part in it. Hera and Athena helped the Achaeans, Aphrodite and Apollo helped the Trojans.

The Greeks could not immediately take Troy, surrounded by powerful fortifications. They built a fortified camp on the seashore near their ships, began to devastate the outskirts of the city and attack the allies of the Trojans. In the tenth year of the siege, a dramatic event occurred that resulted in serious setbacks for the Achaeans in battles with the defenders of Troy. Agamemnon insulted Achilles by taking away the captive Briseis from him, and he, angry, refused to enter the battlefield. No persuasion could convince Achilles to leave his anger and take up arms. The Trojans took advantage of the inaction of the most courageous and strong of their enemies and went on the offensive, led by the eldest son of King Priam, Hector. The king himself was old and could not take part in the war. The Trojans were also helped by the general fatigue of the Achaean army, which had been unsuccessfully besieging Troy for ten years. When Agamemnon, testing the morale of the warriors, pretended to offer to stop the war and return home, the Achaeans greeted the offer with enthusiasm and rushed to their ships. And only the decisive actions of Odysseus stopped the soldiers and saved the situation.

Neoptolemus kills King Priam, in the temple at the altar of Zeus

The Trojans broke into the Achaean camp and almost burned their ships. The closest friend of Achilles, Patroclus, begged the hero to give him his armor and chariot and rushed to help the Greek army. Patroclus stopped the onslaught of the Trojans, but he himself died at the hands of Hector. The death of a friend made Achilles forget about the offense. The thirst for revenge inspired him. The Trojan hero Hector died in a duel with Achilles. The Amazons came to the aid of the Trojans. Achilles killed their leader Penthesilea, but soon he himself died, as it was predicted, from the arrow of Paris, directed by the god Apollo. Achilles' mother Thetis, trying to make her son invulnerable, dipped him into the waters of the underground river Styx. She held Achilles by the heel, which remained the only vulnerable spot on his body. The god Apollo knew where to direct the arrow of Paris. It is to this episode of the poem that mankind owes the expression "Achilles' heel".

After the death of Achilles, a dispute begins among the Achaeans over the possession of his armor. They go to Odysseus, and, offended by this outcome, Ajax Telamonides commits suicide.

A decisive turning point in the war occurs after the arrival of the hero Philoctetes from the island of Lemnos and the son of Alhill Neoptolemus to the camp of the Achaeans. Philoctetes kills Paris, and Neoptolemus kills an ally of the Trojans, the Mysian Eurynil. Left without leaders, the Trojans no longer dare to go out to battle in the open field. But the powerful walls of Troy reliably protect its inhabitants. Then, at the suggestion of Odysseus, the Achaeans decide to take the city by cunning. A huge wooden horse was built, inside which a select detachment of warriors hid. The rest of the army, in order to convince the Trojans that the Achaeans are going home, burns their camp and sails on ships from the coast of Troad. In fact, the Achaean ships took refuge not far from the coast, near the island of Tenedos.

The Trojans roll the horse into the city

Surprised by the abandoned wooden monster, the Trojans gathered around him. Some began to offer to bring the horse into the city. Priest Laocoön, warning about the treachery of the enemy, exclaimed: "Beware of the Danaans (Greeks), who bring gifts!" (This phrase also became winged over time.) But the priest's speech did not convince his compatriots, and they brought a wooden horse into the city as a gift to the goddess Athena. At night, the warriors who had hidden in the belly of the horse came out and opened the gate. The secretly returned Achaeans broke into the city, and began to beat the inhabitants taken by surprise.

Golden funeral mask of Agamemnon

Menelaus with a sword in his hands was looking for an unfaithful wife, but when he saw the beautiful Elena, he was unable to kill her. The entire male population of Troy perished, with the exception of Aeneas, the son of Anchises and Aphrodite, who received orders from the gods to flee from the captured city and revive its glory elsewhere. His descendants Romulus and Remus became the founders of Ancient Rome. The women of Troy faced a no less sad fate: they all became captives and slaves of the jubilant victors. The city perished in a fire.

After the death of Troy, strife begins in the Achaean camp. Ajax of Lakria incurs the wrath of the goddess Athena on the Greek fleet, and she sends a terrible storm, during which many ships sink. Menelaus and Odysseus are carried by a storm to distant lands. The wanderings of Odysseus after the end of the Trojan War are sung in the second poem of Homer - "The Odyssey". It also tells about the return of Menelaus and Helen to Sparta. The epic treats this beautiful woman favorably, since everything that happened to her was the will of the gods, which she could not resist. The leader of the Achaeans, Agamemnon, after returning home, was killed along with his companions by his wife Clytemnestra, who did not forgive her husband for the death of her daughter Iphigenia. So, not at all triumphant, the campaign against Troy ended for the Achaeans.

The Trojan War is an important milestone in Greek mythology. Paris, son of the king of Troy, is invited to discuss the beauty of the three goddesses of Olympus. In return for his verdict, he is promised the most beautiful woman in the world. Since Helen was already married to the king of Sparta by that time, Paris kidnaps her in Troy.

The abduction of Helen the Beautiful gives rise to the ten-year Trojan War between the Greeks and the Trojans. In the end, it is not resolved by a battle, but by the trick of Odysseus: hidden in a wooden horse (“Trojan horse”), Greek soldiers fall into an enemy city and open the gates to their comrades at night. Thus, Troy was taken and destroyed.

The Trojan War is the central event of Greek mythology.

Divine controversy and the abduction of Helen the Beautiful

The reason for the Trojan War was the abduction of Helen the Beautiful by the son of the king of Troy, Paris.

All the Greek gods and goddesses were invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, except for Eris, the goddess of discord. In revenge, she comes uninvited and unleashes a dispute: in the middle of the holiday at the center of the divine society, she throws a golden apple on which is written "To the most beautiful" (hence the "Apple of Discord"). There is a fierce dispute about who is the most beautiful among the goddesses on Olympus - Hera, the wife of Zeus, the goddess of wisdom or Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

Zeus wants to end the argument. Therefore, he gives the right to judge Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam, to whom the apple should belong (this decision is the so-called "Judgement of Paris"). Paris rewards the goddess Aphrodite with an apple because he considers her the most beautiful woman in the world. However, Paris falls in love with Helen, who is already married to Menelaus, king of Sparta, and wants to redeem the title of beauty from Aphrodite. He does not succeed, and therefore Paris kidnaps Helen the Beautiful (Trojan).

Menelaus demands the return of his wife, but the Spartans refuse to return Helen. Then the powerful brother of Menelaus Agamemnon, who was the king of Mycenae, unites the Greek army and heads the high command. There were many brave heroes on the Greek side, of whom Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis, played the most important role.

On the Trojan side were, first of all, Hector, the son of King Priam, and Aeneas, the son of Aphrodite. The Greek gods also take sides: Athena supports the Greeks, Aphrodite and Apollo help the Trojans.

Wrath of Achilles

Troy is besieged for ten years, but the Greeks cannot capture the city. In the tenth year, a split occurs in the Greek army: Achilles was deprived by Agamemnon of his beloved slave Briseis. Achilles leaves out of anger. But when his best friend Patroclus is killed by Hector, Achilles wants revenge and returns to fight Troy. He was invulnerable, having plunged into the waters of the Styx in infancy - only the heel by which his mother held him remained vulnerable (hence the vulnerable point or weak point of a person is called the "Achilles heel").

Achilles defeated and killed Hector and dragged him around the tomb of Patroclus. King Priam asks for the body of his son from Achilles, and the funeral procession leaves. Achilles himself was killed by Paris, whose arrow was controlled by Apollo and hit Achilles' heel.

The end of the war and the conquest of Troy happened thanks to the trick of Odysseus: on his advice, the Greeks build a wooden horse (“Trojan Horse”), in whose stomach the most daring heroes hide. The horse was left at the gates of the city of Troy, the Greek ships retreated.

The Trojans believe that the Greeks abandoned the siege and left the horse as a gift to the Trojans. Despite Laocoön's warnings of danger, they drag the horse into the city to dedicate it to the goddess Athena. At night, the Greek soldiers secretly get out of the wooden horse, call the ships with fiery torches and open the gates for the Greek soldiers. Thus, Troy was finally conquered and destroyed.

Aeneas escape from Troy

The Trojan king Priam, his family and his warriors were killed or captured. But Aeneas escapes from the burning city, saving not only his father Anchises, whom he carries on his shoulders, but also his son Ascanius. After long wanderings, he arrives in Italy, where his descendants founded Rome. Thus, Troy is associated with the myths surrounding the founding of Rome.

Mythological sources

Homer, 8th century BC The Iliad only describes the decisive final phase of the Ten Years' War, from the episode "The Wrath of Achilles" until the death and burial of Hector. The background and the Trojan War itself (the divine dispute and the abduction of Helen) are quite vividly woven into the narrative. Similarly, the end of the war, the conquest and destruction of Troy are also indirectly described in the Odyssey.

Historicity of the Trojan War

They were written long before Homer and passed down orally from generation to generation until Homer put them into writing. The myth reflects traditional poetry and legend, the historically unproven past. The question of the historicity of the Trojan War remains controversial. Although the events of the war are not confirmed by archaeological findings, many scholars believe that the myth is based on real events during the period of the Mycenaean colonization in Asia Minor (in the 13th century BC).

Troy, a city whose existence was doubted for many centuries, considering it a figment of the imagination of myth-makers, was located on the banks of the Helespont, now called the Dardanelles. A wonderful legend, to which a lot of conjectures, conjectures, disputes, scientific research, archaeological excavations are devoted, was a few kilometers from the coast, and in its place is now an unremarkable Turkish town of Hisarlik. The common and ingrained opinion that the Trojan War broke out because of a woman, of course, has some basis, but historians suggest that there were quite a few reasons for such a war, and they had serious economic and political reasons.

The presence of a beautiful and imaginative legend, which was based on love and betrayal, is not the most plausible explanation of why the famous war broke out and why so many actors were drawn into it. And the divine providence, by which it is explained in myths, is nothing more than a fantasy of those who sincerely believed in their Pantheon of gods similar to people. Homer also contributed a lot to this point of view, whose immortal work became the basis for the view of the Trojan events. But, if it were not for the atmosphere of mystery and romantic haze around these events, world culture would be left without the outstanding works of great authors inspired by the Trojan War.

Cause and effect, more real

Troy was located at the junction of busy trade routes that passed through the Helespont, connecting the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Being on the coast of the peninsula of Asia Minor, in the immediate vicinity of the strait, Troy controlled all the routes leading past it, receiving considerable income from this. The Trojans interfered with the trade of the Greeks, among whom were the Achaeans, Danaans and Argives, who unleashed a war against it, uniting in a military alliance. Troy had its own, rather powerful allies, for example, the Lyceans, Anatolians from nearby territories and the Thracians, some of whom fought on the opposite side.

The Achaeans and Trojans were in fact supporters of various great empires that were constantly at war with each other - the Egyptians and the Hittites, and the fortified Troy, which controlled the trade routes, prevented the Achaeans, who saw that the city was turning from a peripheral Mycenaean territory into a powerful citadel, and a dangerous enemy. One of the good reasons for the war was military mobilization in Mycenae, whose lord, Agamemnon, was alarmed by the accumulation of armed people in his state, and found a use for them, unleashing a war with Troy. Agamemnon's brother, Menelaus, who inherited the throne in Sparta after marriage, and was the husband of that same Helen the Beautiful, whose bright face is considered the main reason for the ten-year strife. In fact, the abduction of Elena the Beautiful was just the impetus that led to the development of further events that involved so many participants.

Mythological coverage of the Trojan War

Divine intervention in the course of events was also far from ambiguous. The mortal Argonaut Peleus, who married the goddess of the sea Thetis (the result of this marriage was the birth of the famous hero of the Trojan War, Achilles), did not invite the goddess of discord to the wedding, and she, furious with this fact, threw an apple with the inscription "most beautiful". Athena, Aphrodite and Hera took part in the dispute over the possession of this apple, and Paris resolved this dispute, whom Hermes, at the suggestion of Zeus, appointed as a judge. He gave the apple to Aphrodite, who promised him the love of the most beautiful of women, and neglected dominion and glory.

The mother of Paris, Hecuba, during her pregnancy, had a prophetic dream that her son would become a flaming firebrand, from which Troy would burn. Therefore, he was thrown into the forest, where he was raised by shepherds. Aphrodite brought Paris to Sparta, where, in obedience to her promise, she awakened love for the handsome man in Elena. But he was not satisfied with adultery, but kidnapped someone else's wife, and the treasures of Menelaus, along with her. Hera intervened in the course of events, whom her wounded pride forced to incite the Greeks to stand up for Menelaus, and Athena, no less furious with the decision of Paris not in her favor. According to a deeper version, it was Zeus who threw the apple of discord on Eris, because he was tired of humanity, from which he decided to get rid of by unleashing this war. There is evidence that the King of Ithaca, Odysseus and Menelaus, came to Troy to pick up an unfaithful wife peacefully, but they simply did not open the gates, and Elena flatly refused to return to her husband.

Troy at that time was ruled by King Priam, the army was led by Hector, his son, brother of Paris. On the side of the Achaeans were numerous fiances of Helen, bound by an oath of revenge, and allied treaties, which obliged them to respond if necessary. Neither Agamemnon nor Menelaus had the strength with which to go to conquer Troy, since it was in a favorable location and was well fortified. The support of the other kings made it possible to assemble a 100,000-strong army and a fleet of 2,000 ships. The Achaean army included the greatest heroes of Greece, many of whom are mentioned in ancient Greek myths: Odysseus, Philoctetes, Ajax, Diomedes, Protesilaus, Sthenelus. Agamemnon was chosen as the leader, as the most powerful of the Achaean kings.

Siege of Troy and significant events

The siege of Troy lasted 9 years, and was completely unsuccessful. An interesting interpretation of the reasons for the siege of Troy by Helen's former suitors is that she terminated her marriage with Menelaus, leaving Sparta, and retained her rights to the royal throne, while her abandoned husband lost them. But she chose her new husband without proper ceremony, and they considered themselves offended by this fact. In the union, Agamemnon alone was not a former fiancé, but he was interested in keeping the throne for his brother Menelaus. As paradoxical as it sounds, the goal of the siege of Troy was the Spartan throne. And if we consider that in mythology there is no indication that Helen returned to Sparta, then the main goal of the siege was never achieved.

Most studies tend to date the Trojan War to 12-13 centuries BC. e. The first voyage was unsuccessful, the Greeks landed in Mysia, which was ruled by the son of Hercules, Teleph, and mistakenly entered into battle with the soldiers of their friendly king. On the way from Mysia to Troy, a terrible storm dispersed the ships, and the participants had to gather in Aulis. And only after Artemis, who was angry with them, almost sacrificed Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, whom Artemis saved and made her priestess, the Greek ships managed to achieve their goal. The Greek army was very numerous, but the Trojans were courageous and courageous, and defended their native lands, and allies from many countries came to their aid.

Since Troy was surrounded by a high jagged stone wall, the Achaeans did not dare to storm it, and camped nearby, placing the city in a state of siege. The fighting took place mainly between the camp and the fortress, the Trojans periodically launched combat sorties, trying to set fire to the Greek warships. The long-term siege did not bring any fruit, except for numerous skirmishes, during which the most worthy heroes on both sides were killed. The Greek Patroclus died at the hands of Hector, Hector himself was killed by Achilles,

who also killed the leader of the Amazons who came to the aid of the Trojans, Penthesilea, but he himself died from the arrow of Paris, which struck him in the heel, the only weak spot on the body. Apollo, who knew where to point the arrow, helped Paris in this, who was killed by Philoctetes, who arrived at the Achaean camp. A ten-year unsuccessful siege, which exhausted the Greeks, caused them to grumble, and almost went home when Agamemnon, to test their fighting spirit, suggested that they sail back. Only cunning helped the Greeks take Troy. They made a huge wooden horse, which they left on the shore, with a dedication to Athena, and they themselves pretended to lift the siege. Despite the warnings of the priest Laocoön, the Trojans dragged the wooden monster to their place outside the city gates. At night, the Greeks who hid inside the statue opened the gates, into which Greek soldiers who had returned secretly burst in. All the Trojans died, with the exception of Aeneas, the son of Anchises and Aphrodite, on whom the gods entrusted the mission of founding a city in another place. The inhabitants of Troy became captives or slaves, the city itself burned to the ground. The wooden horse, which to this day bears the name of the Trojan horse, has become a symbol of betrayal and betrayal, a dangerous and harmful traitorous gift.

The capture of Troy did not bring the Greeks anything good. Many of them died on the way home, internecine strife began in the camp of the recent winners, Menelaus and Odysseus were taken to long wanderings to distant lands, and the leader of the besiegers of Troy, Agamemnon, was killed by his wife Clytemnestra, who did not forgive him for the alleged death of Iphigenia. The ancient Greeks did not doubt the reality of the Trojan War, which was an absolutely real event for them, even though the gods participated in it on an equal footing with people. Today, thanks to Schliemann's excavations, no one has any reason to doubt that Troy really existed.

Monastery of Saint Dionysius

Starting your journey from the town of Litochoro and climbing up towards the peaks of Mount Olympus, at a distance of 18 km, at an altitude of 850 m above sea level, you suddenly see the historical Holy Monastery of St. not criminal gorge Enipeas, representing a monument of rare architecture and aesthetic beauty, which is under protection.

Athenian cemeteries and burial customs

Keramik, the district of potters, is also the territory of an ancient cemetery. It is located west of the Agora. Part of the ancient cemetery is occupied by excavations of German archaeologists. The first cemetery is the most interesting of those that emerged after the restoration of the independence of Athens. Both cemeteries contain the most touching pieces of art from that era. According to ancient Athenian custom, the dead were buried outside the city walls. The fallen in the war were usually buried where they died, but at the beginning of the 5th century BC. e. the dead began to be brought home and given a state funeral in a common cemetery outside the city walls, in Keramika

Monastery of the Holy Trinity

mediterranean diet

Greek salad

Greek salad has become known to the whole world for a long time, although no one thinks about it. His story is uncomplicated and very simple. Greek Salad Greeks around the world call it "country salad" because it includes fresh vegetables, ripe olives, feta cheese and a delicate olive oil dressing. You will have the opportunity to try Greek salad in its various variations during your next trip to Greece.

The Trojan War is one of the most famous wars of antiquity. After all, the interests of large states clashed in it, and many famous heroes of that time also participated. The Trojan War is presented to us in the form of myths and legends, which requires historians to painstakingly analyze to create a picture of those events.

Modern historians believe that the Trojan War took place between 1240 and 1230. BC. Although this date is very approximate. Myths say that the cause of the war was the abduction of Helen by Paris, who was married to the king of Sparta Menelaus. Also, Paris, except for Helen, took part of the wealth from the Spartan king. This fact prompted Menelaus to go to war against Troy. The rest of the Greeks joined him, because at the time of Elena's marriage, an agreement was drawn up that all applicants for her hand would protect Elena and her chosen one, and almost all the kings of Greece claimed her hand.

Another version of the beginning of the war sounds more plausible. Troy prevented the Greek peoples from trading with the rest of the world. She took a significant tax from their ships, and simply drowned the dissatisfied. The Greeks had to unite to protect their economic interests and go to war against Troy.

There were many disagreements between the Greeks, not everyone wanted to fight. The beginning of the war was very unfortunate. By mistake, instead of the coast of Troy, the Greeks landed in the region of Mysia, where Telephus, a friendly king, ruled. But not realizing this, they attacked his possessions. And only after a bloody battle was the mistake understood, and the army went further to the goal. But new problems awaited them along the way. The storm scattered their ships across the sea, which significantly delayed their arrival to the target.

1,186 ships and about 100 thousand people reached the shores of Troy. The Trojans bravely defended their land. In this they were helped by allies and mercenaries, of which there were a great many. Very little information has come down to us about the first nine years of the war. After all, these events were described in the poem "Cypriada", which, unfortunately, was lost. But from the myths and legends that have come down to us, it is known that during this period there were often conflicts between the Greeks, because some commanders wanted to leave this war and leave. Others wanted to continue. Old conflicts were also often recalled. During this period, Achilles played a leading role. He raided nearby cities, plundering them. Achilles destroyed about twenty cities near the coast and about eleven villages far from the coast.

During this period of time, a duel was held between Paris and Menelaus, in which Menelaus won. Defeated Paris had to give Helen and pay tribute. The war must be over. But the rest of the Greeks did not like it. They wanted to continue the war and destroy Troy.

The continuation of the war was very unsuccessful. The Greeks were often pushed back to their fortifications. Their ships were burned. And only thanks to a large number of soldiers, they held their positions. Many famous heroes of those times, such as Achilles, Patroclus and many others, died in battles.

All these failures forced the Greeks to go to the trick. Master Epey built a giant wooden horse. It was left nearby near the walls, and the best Greek warriors hid in it. At this time, the main Greek forces burned their camp and sailed out to sea, signaling that the war was over. The Trojans, having discovered a wooden horse, thought that these were gifts from the gods for their victory over the Greeks and dragged him into the city. In honor of the victory, they arranged a feast, the guards lost their vigilance. At midnight, the Greeks got out of their shelter, gave a signal to their ships and opened the gates.

The Greek army poured into the sleeping city like an avalanche, the defenders could not do anything to save the city. For about two days the Greeks plundered Troy. The inhabitants were killed or driven into slavery, and the city itself was burned to the ground.

Who today does not know the famous legend of the Trojan War? This myth is hard to believe, but the authenticity of the existence of Troy was confirmed during the excavations of the famous German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890). Modern archaeological research confirms the historicity of the tragic events that took place at the end of the 13th - beginning of the 12th centuries BC. e. More and more details are being revealed about the Trojan War and the circumstances associated with it.

To date, it is known that a major military clash between the union of the Achaean states and the city of Troy (Ilion), located on the shores of the Aegean Sea, occurred between 1190 and 1180 BC. e (according to other sources, around 1240 BC)

The first sources reporting this both legendary and terrible event were Homer's poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey". Later, the Trojan War was the subject of Virgil's Aeneid and other works in which history is also intertwined with fiction.

According to these works, the reason for the Trojan War was the abduction by Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam, of the beautiful Helen, the wife of the king of Sparta Menelaus. At the call of Menelaus, the suitors bound by an oath, famous Greek heroes, came to his aid. According to the Iliad, an army of Greeks, led by the Mycenaean king Agamemnon, the brother of Menelaus, set out to free the stolen woman.

An attempt to negotiate the return of Helen was unsuccessful, and then the Greeks began an exhausting siege of the city. The gods also took part in the war: Athena and Hera - on the side of the Greeks, Aphrodite, Artemis, Apollo and Ares - on the side of the Trojans. There were 10 times fewer Trojans, but Troy remained impregnable.

The only source for us can only be Homer's poem "The Iliad", but the author, as noted by the Greek historian Thucydides, exaggerated the significance of the war and embellished it, and therefore the poet's information should be treated with some caution. But we are primarily interested in the fighting and methods of warfare at that time, about which Homer spoke in great detail.

So, the city of Troy was located a few kilometers from the coast of the Hellespont (Dardanelles). Trade routes used by the Greek tribes passed through Troy. Apparently, the Trojans interfered with the trade of the Greeks, which forced the Greek tribes to unite and start a war with Troy, which was supported by numerous allies, because of which the war dragged on for many years.

Troy, on the site of which the Turkish town of Hisarlik is located today, was surrounded by a high stone wall with battlements. The Achaeans did not dare to storm the city and did not block it, because the fighting took place on a flat field between the city and the besiegers' camp, which was located on the banks of the Hellespont. The Trojans from time to time broke into the enemy camp, trying to set fire to the Greek ships that were pulled ashore.

Listing in detail the ships of the Achaeans, Homer counted 1186 ships, on which a hundred thousandth army was transported. Without a doubt, the number of ships and warriors is exaggerated. In addition, it should be noted that these ships were simply large boats, because they could easily be pulled ashore and launched fairly quickly. Such a ship could not lift 100 people.

Most likely, the Achaeans had several thousand soldiers. They were headed by Agamemnon, the king of the “multi-golden Mycenae”. And at the head of the warriors of each tribe stood its leader.

Homer called the Achaeans “spear-boring”, therefore there is no doubt that the main weapon of the Greek warriors was a spear with a copper tip. The warrior had a copper sword and good defensive weapons: leggings, a shell on his chest, a helmet with a horse's mane and a large shield bound with copper. Tribal leaders fought on war chariots or dismounted. The warriors of the lower hierarchies were armed worse: they had spears, slings, "double-edged axes", axes, bows and arrows, shields and were a support for their leaders, who themselves entered into single combat with the best warriors of Troy. From the description of Homer it is possible to imagine the environment in which the combat took place. It happened like this.

Opponents were located close to each other. War chariots were lined up; the warriors took off their armor and folded it next to the chariots, then sat down on the ground and watched the single combat of their leaders. Martial artists first threw spears, then fought with swords (copper), which soon became useless. Having lost the sword, the fighter took refuge in the ranks of his tribe, or he was given a new weapon to continue the fight. The victor removed the armor from the slain and took away his weapons.

The war chariots were the first to enter the battle, then "continuously, one after another, the phalanxes of the Achaeans moved into battle against the Trojans", "they marched in silence, fearing their leaders." The infantry delivered the first blows with spears, and then cut with swords. The infantry fought against war chariots with the help of spears. Archers also took part in the battle, but the arrow was not considered a reliable tool even in the hands of an excellent archer.

It is not surprising that in such conditions, the outcome of the struggle was decided by physical strength and the art of owning weapons, which often failed: the copper tips of the spears bent, and the swords broke. The maneuver on the battlefield has not yet been used, but the rudiments of organizing the interaction of war chariots and foot soldiers have already begun to appear.

This battle lasted until nightfall. If an agreement was reached at night, then the corpses were burned. If there was no agreement, the opponents put up guards, organizing the protection of the troops in the field and defensive structures (the fortress wall and camp fortifications - a moat, pointed stakes and a wall with towers). The guard, which usually consisted of several detachments, was behind the moat. At night, reconnaissance was sent to the camp of the enemy in order to capture prisoners and clarify the intentions of the enemy, meetings of tribal leaders were held, at which the issue of further actions was decided. In the morning the battle resumed.

Approximately so the endless battles between the Achaeans and the Trojans proceeded. According to Homer, the main events began to unfold only in the 10th (!) year of the war.

Once the Trojans, having achieved success in a night sortie, threw the enemy back to his fortified camp, surrounded by a moat. Having crossed the moat, the Trojans began to storm the wall with towers, but were soon driven back.

Later, they still managed to smash the gates with stones and break into the Achaean camp. A bloody battle ensued for the ships. Homer explains this success of the Trojans by the fact that the best warrior of the besiegers, the invincible Achilles, who quarreled with Agamemnon, did not participate in the battle.

Seeing that the Achaeans were retreating, Achilles' friend Patroclus persuaded Achilles to allow him to join the battle and give him his armor. Encouraged by Patroclus, the Achaeans rallied, as a result of which the Trojans met with fresh enemy forces near the ships. It was a dense formation of closed shields "a peak near a peak, a shield at the shield, going under the next one." The warriors lined up in several ranks and repelled the attack of the Trojans, and with a counterattack - “strikes of sharp swords and a peak of two-pointed ones” - they were able to push them back.

Finally, the attack was repulsed. But Patroclus himself died at the hands of Hector, son of Priam, king of Troy. So the armor of Achilles went to the enemy. Later, Hephaestus forged new armor and weapons for Achilles, after which Achilles, furious at the death of his friend, again entered the battle. Later, he killed Hector in a duel, tied his body to a chariot and rushed to his camp. The Trojan king Priam came to Achilles with rich gifts, begged him to return the body of his son and buried him with dignity.

This concludes Homer's Iliad.

According to later myths, later the Trojans were aided by Penfisilea and the king of the Ethiopians Memnon. But soon they died at the hands of Achilles. And soon Achilles himself died from the arrows of Paris directed by Apollo. One arrow hit the only vulnerable spot - the heel of Achilles, the other - in the chest. His armor and weapons went to Odysseus, recognized as the bravest of the Achaeans.

After the death of Achilles, the Greeks were predicted that without the bow and arrows of Hercules, who were at Philoctetes, and Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, they would not be able to take Troy. An embassy was sent for these heroes, and they hurried to the aid of their compatriots. Philoctetes, with the arrow of Hercules, mortally wounded the Trojan prince Paris. Odysseus and Diomedes killed the Thracian king Res, who was hurrying to the aid of the Trojans, and took away his magic horses, which, according to prophecy, once in the city, would make it impregnable.

And then the cunning Odysseus came up with an extraordinary military trick ...

For a long time, secretly from others, he talked with a certain Epeus, the best carpenter in the Achaean camp. By evening, all the Achaean leaders gathered in the tent of Agamemnon for a military council, where Odysseus told his adventurous plan, according to which it was necessary to build a huge wooden horse. The most skillful and courageous warriors should fit in his womb. All the rest of the army must board the ships, move away from the Trojan coast and hide behind the island of Tendos.

As soon as the Trojans see that the Achaeans have left the coast, they will think that the siege of Troy has been lifted. The Trojans will surely drag the wooden horse to Troy. At night, the Achaean ships will return, and the soldiers who have taken refuge in a wooden horse will come out of it and open the fortress gates. And then - the last assault on the hated city!

For three days, axes were clattering in the carefully fenced-off part of the ship's parking lot, and mysterious work was in full swing for three days.

On the morning of the fourth day, the Trojans were surprised to find the Achaean camp empty. In the haze of the sea, the sails of the Achaean ships melted, and on the coastal sand, where only yesterday the tents and tents of the enemy were full of tents, there was a huge wooden horse.

The jubilant Trojans left the city and wandered curiously along the deserted shore. They surrounded with surprise a huge wooden horse, towering over the bushes of coastal willows. Someone began to advise throwing a horse into the sea, someone to burn it, but many insisted on dragging it into the city and placing it on the main square of Troy as a memory of the bloody battle of the peoples.

In the midst of a dispute, the priest of Apollo, Laocoön, and his two sons approached the wooden horse. "Fear the Danes who bring gifts!" he shouted and, snatching a sharp spear from the hands of the Trojan warrior, threw it at the wooden belly of the horse. The thrusting spear trembled, and a barely audible brass ringing was heard from the horse's belly. However, no one listened to Laocoön. All the attention of the crowd was attracted by the appearance of young men leading a captive Achaean. He was brought to King Priam, who was surrounded by court nobility next to a wooden horse. The prisoner called himself Sinon and explained that he himself had fled from the Achaeans, who were supposed to sacrifice him to the gods - this was a condition for a safe return home.

Sinon convinced the Trojans that the horse was a gift to Athena, who could unleash her wrath on Troy if the Trojans destroyed the horse. And if you put it in the city in front of the temple of Athena, then Troy will become indestructible. At the same time, Sinon emphasized that this is why the Achaeans built the horse so huge that the Trojans could not drag it through the fortress gates ...

As soon as Sinon said those words, a terrified cry was heard from the sea. Two huge snakes crawled out of the sea and entwined the priest Laocoon, as well as his two sons, with deadly rings of their smooth and sticky bodies. In an instant, the unfortunates gave up their spirit.

Now, no one doubted that Sinon was telling the truth. Therefore, you should quickly install this wooden horse next to the temple of Athena.

Having built a low platform on wheels, the Trojans mounted a wooden horse on it and took it to the city. In order for the horse to pass through the Skeian Gate, the Trojans had to dismantle part of the fortress wall. The horse was placed in the appointed place.

While the Trojans, intoxicated with success, were celebrating their victory, at night the Achaean scouts quietly got off their horse and opened the gates. By that time, the Greek army, at the signal of Sinon, quietly returned back and now captured the city.

As a result, Troy was plundered and destroyed.

But why did the horse become the cause of the death of Troy?

This question has been asked since ancient times. Many ancient authors tried to find a reasonable explanation for the legend. Various assumptions were made: for example, that the Achaeans had a battle tower on wheels, made in the shape of a horse and upholstered in horse skins; or that the Greeks were able to enter the city through an underground passage, on the door of which a horse was painted; or that the horse was a sign by which the Achaeans in the dark distinguished each other from the enemy ... Now it is generally accepted that the Trojan horse is an allegory of some kind of military trick used by the Achaeans in the capture of Troy.

Under the walls of the city, almost all the heroes, both Achaeans and Trojans, perish. And of those who survived the war, many will die on the way home. Someone, like King Agamemnon, upon returning home, will find death at the hands of loved ones, someone will be expelled and spend his life wandering. In fact, this is the end of the heroic age. Under the walls of Troy there are no winners and no losers, the heroes are fading into the past, and the time for ordinary people is coming.

Curiously, the horse is also symbolically associated with birth and death. A horse made of spruce wood, carrying something in its womb, symbolizes the birth of a new one, and a Trojan horse is made just from spruce boards, and armed warriors sit in its hollow belly. It turns out that the Trojan horse brings death to the defenders of the fortress, but at the same time means the birth of something new.

The results of recent archaeological expeditions do not yet make it possible to convincingly reconstruct the scenario of the Trojan War. But their results do not deny that behind the Trojan epic there is a story of Greek expansion against a major power that was on the western coast of Asia Minor and prevented the Greeks from gaining power over this region. It remains to be hoped that the true history of the Trojan War will still be written someday.