Did Homer's Trojan War Exist?

The Trojan War, the event depicted in Homer's Iliad, was the most popular subject in Greek drama and told its story elaborately to next generations. According to Homer, the war started because Helen, the most beautiful Greek woman and wife of a Greek king, Menelaus, decided to leave her husband and ran away with a Trojan Prince, Paris. This angered the Greeks so they sailed to Troy and fought for Helen's return. As the war continued on, the Greeks were forced to plan a new strategy to attack Troy since the city had very strong walls and the Greeks began to realize they were unable to defeat the Trojans. The plan was to build a huge, hollow, wooden horse that was filled with Greeks soldiers. It led the Trojans to believe that the horse was left to thank Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and the Greeks burned their camps and sailed as if they had given up. The Trojans found the horse and the ashes of the camp and dragged the horse into the city to celebrate their victory. At midnight, the Greek soldiers jumped down from the horse and opened the gate for the rest of the army to come in. None of the Trojan males were left alive and the Greeks brought Troy to the end by burning it.

Some experts believe that the Trojan War described in the Iliad never occur, while many others are convinced that the epic is based on real historical events. Because Homer's story is a rare mixture of gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, many people believe that it is nothing but a fictional story. Not only the war, but the city of Troy itself is also questioned for its existence. However, by works from many famous archaeologists, for example, Manfred Korfmann and Heinrich Schliemann, the Homeric Tale may not remain only as a legend as there are many arguments and evidences that could prove the existence of such event.

The Trojan War, according to Homer, lasted about 10 years, and the city of Troy appears to have been destroyed around twelfth century B.C. Old ruins of cities were found