The Role of Myth in the Trojan War

The Role of Myth in the Trojan War

1. Valid religious belief

   • Mark Cartwright
     • ‘religion was personal, direct and present in all areas of life’
     • explicit moral messages
   • mythology explained creation, the existence of mankind and all human affairs.
   • re-tell historical events so that people could maintain contact with their ancestors, the wars they fought, and the places they explored.

2. Homer's Iliad/literature of the time

   • - homer’s work conforms to greek mythology, matching the literature of the time
   • Manfred Korfmann
     • ‘Homer should be taken seriously... based on a memory of historical events‘
     • 'nothing in the archaeological record to contradict the assertion that Troy and the surrounding countryside formed the setting for Homer's Iliad in 700 B.C.'

3. Physical evidence

   • manfred korfmman
     • 'my response as an archaeologist working at Troy would be: Why not?'
   • Henrich Schliemann
   • topography
   • Bryce R. Trevor
     • the remains of a large stronghold fit the description of a watchtower described in the Iliad. (VI level)
   • pottery and ceramic evidence

4. Unsure of fourth argument

5. ‘Myth and history are a close kin inasmuch as both explain how things got to be the way they are by telling of some sort of story’ - William H. McNeill