Excerpt
Introduction: The Legend of Troy
Troy was a city like no other. It wasn’t just a place where people lived, traded, and built their homes—it was a city wrapped in legend, a place that sparked one of the most famous stories ever told. For centuries, people debated whether it was real or just a tale told by poets. The name “Troy” brings to mind warriors in gleaming armor, towering stone walls, and a giant wooden horse that may or may not have existed. But before we get to all that, let’s talk about what Troy really was.
Troy was an ancient city located in what is now modern-day Turkey. It sat near the coast, close to the Dardanelles, a narrow waterway that connects the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea. That might not sound important, but for people thousands of years ago, controlling that passage meant controlling trade, power, and wealth. Ships carrying goods from different lands had to pass through, making Troy a place where cultures mixed, merchants made fortunes, and kings kept a close eye on who was coming and going.
People often think of Troy as just a battlefield, but long before the war that made it famous, it was a thriving city. Archaeologists have discovered layers of ruins, one built on top of the other, showing that Troy existed for thousands of years. That’s right—there wasn’t just one Troy, but many versions of the city, each built after the one before it was destroyed or abandoned. The Troy that appears in The Iliad, the story of the Trojan War, is believed to be one of these layers, but the real city was much more than just a backdrop for battles.
Troy had massive stone walls, built to protect the people inside. These walls weren’t just tall—they were thick and strong, designed to keep invaders out. Some of the remains still stand today, giving us a glimpse of how impressive the city must have been. Inside those walls, there were homes, temples, and palaces. The people of Troy worshiped gods, traded with other cities, and worked as farmers, craftsmen, and merchants. They lived their daily lives without knowing that their city would one day be famous for a war that may or may not have happened exactly as the stories say.
Speaking of stories, The Iliad describes Troy as a place of wealth and beauty, ruled by King Priam. His palace was said to be magnificent, with gold and treasures beyond imagination. His son, Paris, is the one who supposedly started the war by taking Helen from Sparta, and his other son, Hector, became one of the greatest warriors in the battle. While we don’t have proof of a king named Priam or a prince named Hector, the ruins of Troy tell us that it was, without a doubt, an important city that saw its fair share of battles.
The mystery of Troy’s existence fascinated people for centuries. Many believed it was just a myth, a place that only existed in poems. It wasn’t until the 19th century that an archaeologist named Heinrich Schliemann set out to prove that Troy was real. Using clues from ancient texts, he led an excavation at a site called Hisarlik in Turkey, where he uncovered the remains of an ancient city. He was convinced that he had found the Troy of legend, though later discoveries showed that the truth was more complicated. There wasn’t just one city—there were multiple layers, each from different periods in history. Some were small villages, others were mighty fortresses.
Why is it called “The Lost City”?
Troy wasn’t always lost. There was a time when it was alive with people, with streets full of merchants selling goods, soldiers guarding the massive gates, and families living inside its towering walls. But something happened. The city disappeared from maps, from records, from memory. Centuries passed, and no one knew exactly where it had been. It became more of a legend than a real place, a story passed down through poems and myths. People called it “The Lost City” because, for the longest time, no one could find it.
There are many reasons why a city can become lost. Some vanish because they are destroyed in war. Others are abandoned when people move away. Some get buried by time, their buildings crumbling and sinking into the earth. Troy, it seems, experienced a little of all these things.
The first reason it was lost is simple: time moves forward, and history doesn’t always keep perfect records. When Troy fell—whether from war, disaster, or slow decline—the people who once lived there were gone. Without people to keep it standing, nature began to take over. Winds blew dirt and dust over its ruins, plants grew over crumbled buildings, and little by little, Troy faded into the landscape. Other cities rose and fell, new kingdoms formed, and Troy became just another name in old stories.
Another reason is that many people thought Troy wasn’t real. For centuries, the only record of the city came from The Iliad and The Odyssey, two epic poems written by the Greek poet Homer. His stories described a great city with unbreakable walls, a war fought by powerful warriors, and a trick with a wooden horse that led to its downfall. It all sounded dramatic—too dramatic to be real. Historians and scholars debated whether Troy had ever existed or if it was just a legend, like Atlantis or the city of El Dorado. If people didn’t believe it was real, they weren’t exactly searching for it.
Maps from ancient times didn’t help either. Unlike today, where satellite images can capture every detail of the Earth, ancient maps were based on what people knew—or what they thought they knew. Some maps placed Troy in the wrong location. Others didn’t mention it at all. Over time, without clear directions to where it had been, Troy faded from knowledge. Even if people wanted to find it, they wouldn’t know where to start.
Troy was also lost because it had been built, destroyed, and rebuilt multiple times. When archaeologists finally did uncover the ruins, they found not just one Troy, but many, stacked like layers of a cake. Each version of Troy had been built on top of the ruins of the one before it. This made things confusing. Which layer was the Troy from The Iliad? If an explorer in ancient times stumbled upon the ruins, would they even recognize it? Some might have seen the remains of one Troy and thought it wasn’t the right place. Others may have walked right past, not realizing that buried beneath their feet was a city from legend.
Wars and invasions played their part, too. Even after the famous Trojan War—if it really happened the way the stories say—Troy continued to be a place of conflict. Different groups fought over the land, and eventually, the city was abandoned. Without people to take care of it, the buildings crumbled, the walls fell, and the roads disappeared. A city left alone for long enough can become unrecognizable, blending into the land around it.
One of the biggest reasons Troy became lost is that history has a way of rewriting itself. When one civilization takes over another, they don’t always keep records of the past. Sometimes they erase it. The Romans, who came long after the Trojans, believed in the legend of Troy but didn’t know exactly where it had been. The Greeks, who also told the story, focused more on the heroes of the war than on the location of the battle. Without people carefully preserving its memory, Troy became a mystery.
The mystery of Troy lasted for thousands of years. Many believed it would never be solved, that Troy was nothing more than a myth. But then something changed. A man named Heinrich Schliemann believed in the legend. More importantly, he believed that Troy wasn’t just a story—it was a real place waiting to be found. Using ancient texts as his guide, he started digging in a site called Hisarlik in modern-day Turkey.
What he uncovered shocked the world. Layer after layer of ruins, ancient walls, and treasures buried beneath the earth. He declared that he had found Troy, though later studies showed that the truth was even more complicated. There wasn’t just one Troy, but many. Even now, archaeologists are still studying the site, still trying to answer questions about which layer matches the city from the story.
Troy was a city like no other. It wasn’t just a place where people lived, traded, and built their homes—it was a city wrapped in legend, a place that sparked one of the most famous stories ever told. For centuries, people debated whether it was real or just a tale told by poets. The name “Troy” brings to mind warriors in gleaming armor, towering stone walls, and a giant wooden horse that may or may not have existed. But before we get to all that, let’s talk about what Troy really was.
Troy was an ancient city located in what is now modern-day Turkey. It sat near the coast, close to the Dardanelles, a narrow waterway that connects the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea. That might not sound important, but for people thousands of years ago, controlling that passage meant controlling trade, power, and wealth. Ships carrying goods from different lands had to pass through, making Troy a place where cultures mixed, merchants made fortunes, and kings kept a close eye on who was coming and going.
People often think of Troy as just a battlefield, but long before the war that made it famous, it was a thriving city. Archaeologists have discovered layers of ruins, one built on top of the other, showing that Troy existed for thousands of years. That’s right—there wasn’t just one Troy, but many versions of the city, each built after the one before it was destroyed or abandoned. The Troy that appears in The Iliad, the story of the Trojan War, is believed to be one of these layers, but the real city was much more than just a backdrop for battles.
Troy had massive stone walls, built to protect the people inside. These walls weren’t just tall—they were thick and strong, designed to keep invaders out. Some of the remains still stand today, giving us a glimpse of how impressive the city must have been. Inside those walls, there were homes, temples, and palaces. The people of Troy worshiped gods, traded with other cities, and worked as farmers, craftsmen, and merchants. They lived their daily lives without knowing that their city would one day be famous for a war that may or may not have happened exactly as the stories say.
Speaking of stories, The Iliad describes Troy as a place of wealth and beauty, ruled by King Priam. His palace was said to be magnificent, with gold and treasures beyond imagination. His son, Paris, is the one who supposedly started the war by taking Helen from Sparta, and his other son, Hector, became one of the greatest warriors in the battle. While we don’t have proof of a king named Priam or a prince named Hector, the ruins of Troy tell us that it was, without a doubt, an important city that saw its fair share of battles.
The mystery of Troy’s existence fascinated people for centuries. Many believed it was just a myth, a place that only existed in poems. It wasn’t until the 19th century that an archaeologist named Heinrich Schliemann set out to prove that Troy was real. Using clues from ancient texts, he led an excavation at a site called Hisarlik in Turkey, where he uncovered the remains of an ancient city. He was convinced that he had found the Troy of legend, though later discoveries showed that the truth was more complicated. There wasn’t just one city—there were multiple layers, each from different periods in history. Some were small villages, others were mighty fortresses.
Why is it called “The Lost City”?
Troy wasn’t always lost. There was a time when it was alive with people, with streets full of merchants selling goods, soldiers guarding the massive gates, and families living inside its towering walls. But something happened. The city disappeared from maps, from records, from memory. Centuries passed, and no one knew exactly where it had been. It became more of a legend than a real place, a story passed down through poems and myths. People called it “The Lost City” because, for the longest time, no one could find it.
There are many reasons why a city can become lost. Some vanish because they are destroyed in war. Others are abandoned when people move away. Some get buried by time, their buildings crumbling and sinking into the earth. Troy, it seems, experienced a little of all these things.
The first reason it was lost is simple: time moves forward, and history doesn’t always keep perfect records. When Troy fell—whether from war, disaster, or slow decline—the people who once lived there were gone. Without people to keep it standing, nature began to take over. Winds blew dirt and dust over its ruins, plants grew over crumbled buildings, and little by little, Troy faded into the landscape. Other cities rose and fell, new kingdoms formed, and Troy became just another name in old stories.
Another reason is that many people thought Troy wasn’t real. For centuries, the only record of the city came from The Iliad and The Odyssey, two epic poems written by the Greek poet Homer. His stories described a great city with unbreakable walls, a war fought by powerful warriors, and a trick with a wooden horse that led to its downfall. It all sounded dramatic—too dramatic to be real. Historians and scholars debated whether Troy had ever existed or if it was just a legend, like Atlantis or the city of El Dorado. If people didn’t believe it was real, they weren’t exactly searching for it.
Maps from ancient times didn’t help either. Unlike today, where satellite images can capture every detail of the Earth, ancient maps were based on what people knew—or what they thought they knew. Some maps placed Troy in the wrong location. Others didn’t mention it at all. Over time, without clear directions to where it had been, Troy faded from knowledge. Even if people wanted to find it, they wouldn’t know where to start.
Troy was also lost because it had been built, destroyed, and rebuilt multiple times. When archaeologists finally did uncover the ruins, they found not just one Troy, but many, stacked like layers of a cake. Each version of Troy had been built on top of the ruins of the one before it. This made things confusing. Which layer was the Troy from The Iliad? If an explorer in ancient times stumbled upon the ruins, would they even recognize it? Some might have seen the remains of one Troy and thought it wasn’t the right place. Others may have walked right past, not realizing that buried beneath their feet was a city from legend.
Wars and invasions played their part, too. Even after the famous Trojan War—if it really happened the way the stories say—Troy continued to be a place of conflict. Different groups fought over the land, and eventually, the city was abandoned. Without people to take care of it, the buildings crumbled, the walls fell, and the roads disappeared. A city left alone for long enough can become unrecognizable, blending into the land around it.
One of the biggest reasons Troy became lost is that history has a way of rewriting itself. When one civilization takes over another, they don’t always keep records of the past. Sometimes they erase it. The Romans, who came long after the Trojans, believed in the legend of Troy but didn’t know exactly where it had been. The Greeks, who also told the story, focused more on the heroes of the war than on the location of the battle. Without people carefully preserving its memory, Troy became a mystery.
The mystery of Troy lasted for thousands of years. Many believed it would never be solved, that Troy was nothing more than a myth. But then something changed. A man named Heinrich Schliemann believed in the legend. More importantly, he believed that Troy wasn’t just a story—it was a real place waiting to be found. Using ancient texts as his guide, he started digging in a site called Hisarlik in modern-day Turkey.
What he uncovered shocked the world. Layer after layer of ruins, ancient walls, and treasures buried beneath the earth. He declared that he had found Troy, though later studies showed that the truth was even more complicated. There wasn’t just one Troy, but many. Even now, archaeologists are still studying the site, still trying to answer questions about which layer matches the city from the story.