The Trojan War: A New History

by Barry S. Strauss

Book Overview

The Trojan War is one of history's most famous conflicts, a ten-year-long war waged over the beautiful Helen. For more than two thousand years this story has been a source of artistic inspiration. But... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 074326441X
• ISBN13: 9780743264419
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 258 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.6" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Walks the line between history and myth

As other reviews mention, the author treats the characters of the Iliad as real historical figures. This is part of a general policy of taking Homer at face value whenever what Homer describes is possible, even if it is very implausible, and it gets a bit ridiculous at times. It also leads to some passages which are simply retellings of snippets of the Iliad, and I think you're better off going straight to the source if that's what you want. Nonetheless, the book offers good context by providing interesting parallels with Hittites and Egyptians as well as observations on Late Bronze Age international relations, Trojan geography and its military significance, and the naval raiding culture of the Mycenaean Greeks. It's not a pure history (and certainly not a definitive scholarly work), but it does give a less nationalized and Greek-centric perspective than pure myth provides. If you're interested in more scholarly work about the subject, the end of the book contains an extensive list of further reading, including books, journal articles, and websites.

The Truth behind the Legend

Humans like their stories, always have, always will. It was said in the movie the man who shot Liberty Valance, "When people are given the choice of the truth or the legend and they talk about the legend, print the legend." Nowhere has a story in history grabbed the imagination then the legend of Troy, from legends in the oral history of it to the silver screen. But then there are books that examine the cultures of Troy and Greece namely this volume, that explores both the legend and the truth. Such as how Greece the immerging nation was desperate for not just resources but also slaves and because of education and skill Anatolians were the most sought after. Of how disease was a major factor that took a toll on them and how Mycenean Greece ended because so many of the veterans of the war were left with virtually nothing because of the arrogant, greedy, indifferent kings. Leaving us with just the legend and what pieces we can get from the remains of Troy and Mycenean Greece. A thought provoking and interesting volume everyone should read.

Fact vs Fiction

First off, I would like to say that this is one of the best accounts of the Trojan War I have ever read. Strauss provides maps in the front of several different maps of Greece, and also shows the geographic location of Troy and a rough layout of the city and its infamous walls. Pictures are provided, primarily by the author, to show examples of ancient Greek potter, items, and architecture recovered from archeological digs. All this, however, is not the strong points of the book. The best thing about this book is Strauss's ability to tell a story of a happening that took place over two thousand years ago. Using Homer's account from the Iliad as his base, Strauss tells the story of the Trojan War, the causes of it, and the aftermath. He does so by using Homer's characters to tell the story and at the same time compares legend with fact and what we know to be true. Dozens of times does Strauss tell us the legend and then compares it to archeological findings and other historical accounts (primarily Liner Tablet B and Herodotus.) Strauss also goes into detail of the "thousand ships" that sailed to Troy, how they were made, how they were operated, where the wood came from, and even a rough estimate on exactly how many actually set sail. Strauss also shows his knowledge of the story when he explains the culture and society of Sparta, Troy, the Hittites, and other Greek city states surrounding the area. References to ancient Egypt and even some present day events are used to back up possible explanations when separating fact from fiction. Another thing I loved about this book was the Glossary of characters mentioned in the back of the book. 3 pages full of characters names that Strauss had mentioned throughout the text. He even has a timeline of major events leading up to the war and events happening after the war. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a history of the Trojan War and who really wants to know more about Greece during that time period.

For the Iliad bedside reader

i have always thought the Trojans were the stupidest people that ever lived and the Greek conquest was the best thing for them. I mean who would drag a gigantic horse inside their city without looking inside it? Pictures of this event show guys with ladders climbing out from obviuos seams (whole battalions)? I decided early that i was going to give the Trojans some credit and had formed an early opinion that the horse was real small and maybe one really small guy,a contortionist to be exact was so concealed in the horse that noone would suspect,at night he crept out and stole a key or something.Strauss pretty much clears all this up and you'll have the most logical explanation of the Trojan horse complete with readable archaeological research. I had previously read that the main target of Viking raids was other Viking settlements so I always thought Troy was a Greek colony that "got too big for it's britches" and was taken down by their main Aegean rival.This question was never answered in the book,"Were the Trojans rival Greeks or were they more under the influence of the eastern Hittite empire"?Strauss presents the evidence and let's you decide,that's what I enjoyed about this book.Particularly there is reference to obscure ancient texts such as the "Little Iliad",a lesser known but important writing as well as other antiquarian sources that add to Strauss' interpretations.i concluded from the book that there is probably alot of sources that were lost on the Trojan War over the last 3000 years,so a final picture will never emerge.Before there was the bible there was the Iliad,a ray of hope and optimism for the human condition,that is asking"what values are really important to us"

Absolutely Gripping and Highly Informative

According to the author, the past twenty years have yielded much in the way of archaeological evidence about the ancient city of Troy, the Trojan War and the Late Bronze Age. This he makes clear in the introductory sections of this wonderful book. Using this new archaeological information, as well as ancient literary sources, especially Homer's Iliad, he reconstructs the story of the Trojan War - from beginning to end. Along the way, he points out which events are now known to have happened, which ones are plausible and could have happened and which ones are not likely to have happened. In some cases, he treats certain ancient descriptions of events that seem unlikely (if not impossible) if taken literally, as being plausible if one re-interprets the ancient texts using expert knowledge of the way ancient authors expressed themselves, e.g., a war lasting "ten years" may simply have meant a war that lasted "a long time". At the end of the book is a section entitled "A Note on Sources". This is an extensive twenty-one page bibliographical essay (i.e., with the author's commentary) that is priceless for someone wanting to read further. The writing style is clear, friendly, authoritative and quite gripping. To paraphrase the author, the more one learns about ancient Troy, Mycenae and the Late Bronze Age and the more one finds through archaeological excavations, the more one realizes that there is more truth and accuracy in Homer's writings than was thought in the past. I recommend this book to anyone, but especially to ancient history buffs.

Interesting--But Very Speculative

Barry Strauss examines the Trojan War in terms of what our contemporary knowledge might tell us in illuminating this sanguinary contest between Greeks and Trojans. The underlying conceit to this book is to assume that Homer's listing of actors is a useful starting point. Thus, he speaks of Paris, Helen, Achilles, Menelaus, Agamemnon, Odysseus, Ajax, Hector, Priam, and others as if they were actual historical figures. As Strauss notes (page 11), ". . .this book will refer to Homer's characters as real-life individuals. The reader should keep in mind that their existence is plausible but unproven." If the reader accept this, then the book is interesting reading. If not, then the book will be most unconvincing. The volume uses historical information, archaeological findings, and texts (such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey) to create a narrative addressing what might have happened at Troy. Issues addressed include the gathering of the Greek army and navy to attack Troy after Paris' abduction of Helen (Menelaus' wife), the amphibious landing of the Greek forces before the city of Troy, the network of alliances among both Greeks and Trojans, the tactics and strategy of warfare at this time in the Bronze Age, various scenarios as to how Troy was defeated, and so on. This short book (189 pages of text) will not convince those who want concrete evidence. For those who are interested in a sense of what might have occurred at an historical Trojan War, there is much here to think about. Useful features of the book, for those able to move beyond the premise, include some very nice maps at the start of the volume and photographs of the geography and artifacts of the era. All in all, a thought provoking work. If the reader can accept the conceit, then this is a volume that gets one thinking about what might have been at 1180-1210 BC at Troy. If one does not accept that conceit, then this will likely be a frustrating work to confront.

The Face That Launched a Thousand Books

Over the years, I've read quite a few books and articles about the Trojan War, but this one really hits the mark. For one thing, Strauss doesn't dwell on the oft-repeated story of Heinrich Schliemann's discovery of the "Mound at Hisarlik," which most archaeologists now agree was the site of ancient Troy. Instead, Strauss dives straight into the narrative in the Iliad and related but lesser-known works, treating Homer's probably fictional heroes as real characters and using them to illuminate the nuances of Greek and Anatolian culture during the Bronze Age. In this narrative, Troy is a prosperous client state of the Hittite Empire and the Greeks are the Vikings of the Mediterranean. The Trojan War may or may not have been about the abduction of a Spartan queen named Helen, but it could easily have been about Mycenaean raids to capture booty and Trojan women. And while today's reader is skeptical of the active participation of gods in battle, Strauss makes it clear that the gods of the Iliad were an integral part of the thinking of Bronze Age warriors, not just a poetic device. To top it all off, Strauss is simply a good writer. There are other good books about the Trojan War (Rodney Castelden's recent "The Attack on Troy" and Michael Wood's classic "In Search of the Trojan War" come to mind), but Strauss does the best job of integrating the powerful narrative of the Homeric epic cycle with our current knowledge of the Bronze Age world. "The Trojan War" is a fast and compelling read.