The Destruction of Troy
- The geographic and historical context of the destruction of the Troy, evidence of different layers of Troy throughout the ancient past, including Anotalian (Troy I-V) Bronze Age (Troy VI and VII), and ancient civilisations linked to Troy: Bronze Age Greece, the Myceneans and Hittite Empire in 13th Century BC, King Hattusili and the Ahhiyawa Kingdom
The nature of the sources most relevant to the representations portrayed, for example the Homer’s Iliad; archaeological evidence from Mycenae; Hissarlik/Troy and the foreign office records of the Hittites including the Manapu-Tarhunda letter and Tawagalawa Letter; the discoveries at Troy by Schliemann, Dörpfeld, Blegen; the significance of the sources in the reconstruction of the Trojan War; and the evidence that Wilusa is Troy
The differing representations and interpretations of the destruction of Troy (from the ancient past, to the more recent past, to today), including the tradition of the ‘Trojan War’; the role of Paris and Helen in the Trojan War; and that Troy was destroyed by earthquake and fire (Dörpfeld’s reinterpretation of Troy II and VI)
- The historical context of the representations and interpretations of the destruction of Troy and why these have changed over time, for example maritime archaeology; the importance of the discovery of the Hittite foreign office records at Hattusa; excavations by Dörpfeld, Blegen and Korfmann
The reliability and contestable nature of the representations of the destruction of Troy and the historicity of the Trojan War, including the significance of gaps in evidence, source selection, omission and emphasis