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The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction

Eric H. Cline

30 May 2013

ISBN: 9780199760275

152 pages
Paperback
175x111mm

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Very Short Introductions

Price: £8.99

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Description

Using a combination of archaeological data, textual analysis, and ancient documents, this Very Short Introduction to the Trojan War investigates whether or not the war actually took place, whether archaeologists have correctly identified and been excavating the ancient site of Troy, and what has been found there.

  • Brings together all of the evidence available from archaeology, Hittite texts, and Greek legend to investigate the question of whether the Trojan War was a real historical event and whether the site of ancient Troy has been found
  • Challenges the assumption that Helen's abduction was the cause of the war
  • Offers a concise yet original perspective on a timeless epic of love and war, rivalry and greed, heroes and cowards

About the Author(s)

Eric H. Cline, Chair and Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, George Washington University

Chair, Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations; professor of classics, Anthropology, and History; director, Capitol Archaeological Institute, The George Washington University. Author, Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2009), winner of the 2011 Biblical Aracheology Society Publication Award for the Best Popular Book on Archaeology; editor, The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean (forthcoming) et al.

Table of Contents

    List of illustrations
    Acknowledgments
    Introduction
    Part I. The Trojan War
    1 The story according to the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Epic Cycle
    2 The war in historical context: Mycenaeans, Hittites, Trojans, and Sea Peoples
    Part II. Investigating the Literary Evidence
    3 Homeric questions: Did Homer exist and is the Iliad accurate?
    4 The Hittite texts: Assuwa, Ahhiyawa, and Alaksandu of Wilusa
    Part III. Investigating the archaeological evidence
    5 Early excavators: Heinrich Schliemann and Wilhelm Dörpfeld
    6 Returning to Hisarlik: Carl Blegen and Manfred Korfmann
    Epilogue
    Glossary: Characters and Places
    References
    Further reading
    Index

Reviews

"The author's writing is so clear and his arguments so well structured and complete that this book will appeal to both interested amateurs and those familiar with the extensive literature on this subject ... Highly recommended." - D.A. Slane, CHOICE

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