The Trojan War in Archaeology, Homer and the Epic Cycle

Pre-requisites for enrolment

No previous knowledge of the subject is assumed.

Content of Course

1. Bronze Age Archaeology and the Homeric Question.

Introduction to: the tradition of the Trojan War in literature, Bronze Age culture, and the genesis, performance context, and historicity of the Homeric, Hesiodic, and Cyclical epics (when were they composed, how – written or dictated – and by whom, and how reliable are they, having been composed centuries after the Trojan war?).

2. The Fall of Troy: Mythical and Historical Explanations.

Explanations for the Fall of Troy will necessarily have to consider the rise of Troy in the Eastern Mediterranean: Troy’s strategic and economic position brought the city into contact with neighbouring cultures such as the Greeks. Mythical accounts explain the destruction of Troy as the result of personal spite (between humans, the gods or both). Historically, it seems to have been part of the mysterious Bronze Age collapse, which caused civilizations all around the Mediterranean to crash to a halt.

3. Bronze Age Warfare.

A wonderful example of the ‘layered’ nature of the Homeric and Cyclic epics is found in the weapons, armour, and strategies used in battle, which seemingly blends together authentic knowledge of how the Trojan war (ca. 1180 BC) itself may have been fought and more modern tactics dating from the period in which the poems were composed (in the 7^th cent. BC). Here we are also in the fortunate position to compare the epics with archaeological remains.

4. Song and Writing (?): Communication in the Bronze Age.

Although it is generally supposed that the Homeric epics (and quite possibly the poems of Hesiod and the Epic Cycle also) were composed at a time that knowledge of writing had been lost, the Iliad does contain a number of references to what seems an early stage of writing. Moreover, we do know that writing was in use at the time of the Trojan war. How does the oral transmission of the epics fit into this? We shall compare passages from the Iliad to archaeological remains such as the famous Nestor’s Cup (8^th cent. BC) and also look at musical performance in the 8^th-6^th centuries BC.

5. Aftermaths: Late-Bronze Age Archaeology and Beyond.

We know more about the late-Bronze Age than we do about the earlier periods, and more still about the Archaic and Classical period in Greece. What can later evidence tell us about the Trojan war? Extant pottery regularly depicts scenes from the war but these more often than not do not accord with the stories preserved in Homer and the Epic Cycle. What does this mean for the way we read those epics and for our understanding of Bronze Age Greece?

Teaching method(s)

Discussion-based classes, with an introductory lecture in every session. In preparation for each class students will read extracts from the Homeric and Cyclical epics arranged around that week’s theme. Each class will begin with a brief lecture to place these themes into their archaeological, literary, and/or (art)historical context, followed by discussion of the archaeological and literary evidence.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Display an awareness of intercultural, ‘international’ relationships between the Greeks and the Hittites;

• Demonstrate understanding of the Bronze Age as a formative period in western history;

• Recognize and interpret archaeological artefacts and their functions within Bronze Age culture;

• Assess the varied, layered texture of the Homeric, Hesiodic, and Cyclic epics as reflections of middle- and late-Bronze Age culture (ca. 15^th-14^th and the 7^th centuries BC respectively) and as archaeological source material.

• Read and appreciate the Homeric, Hesiodic, and Cyclic epics with understanding of the archaeological and historical context.

Sources

Core Readings

Essential:

• A syllabus with essential extracts from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Hesiod’s Catalogue of Women, and the Cyclical epics will be provided.

Recommended:

• Cline, Eric H. 2013. The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford.

• Finkelberg, Margolit. 2011. The Homer Encyclopedia. Chichester.

• Wood, Michael. 1998². In Search of the Trojan War. Berkeley, CA. [see also under ‘Web sources’]

Web Sources

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22in+search+of+the+trojan+war%22

Michael Wood’s six-part documentary In Search of the Trojan War (after the book of the same name).

http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/Eli/Troy/BbVersion/resources/homer.html

Resources on Homer and the Trojan war.

Class Handouts

Class handouts will be provided, along with the texts to be read in preparation.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.