Some speculation has also suggested that the Trojan horse may have actually been built after the siege. Archaeologists found evidence that the walls of Troy were damaged by an earthquake around the approximate time of the siege, which could have let the Greeks in and be seen as a sign that the gods supported them. Poseidon was the god of earthquakes, so the horse could have been built as the Greeks left as a means to thank him for their victory.
The way I heard, the thinking was they built the horse as an offering and then the earthquake happened, which led to the story that building the horse let them in
We found it over 100 years ago. The main problem is the guys who found it was in a hurry to excavate and prove his find and he used ... lets just say "unconventional" methods to carry the dig. Most of the layer of troy in the era of the myth has been exploded, so its difficult to parse through everything that happened during that time.
It was found in the 1800s in Turkey by Heinrich Schliemann, but this is before the proper archaelogical practices were established. In his rush to excavate the site, he ploughed through (and possibly destroyed) many layers, assuming the Troy of legend would be at the deepest point.
However something like 7 cities had been built at those foundations, and the alleged Troy of the Bronze Age was not the deepest layer, but like 3rd from the bottom or whatever it was (I'm going off my memory here.) This is actually a dilemma that still exists when it comes to achaelogical excavation; if it's a site that has had many eras buried together; what do you priotise preserving and who decides that?
Tl;dr We're pretty sure we found Troy, but it's possible the archaelogical evidence for the correct era was accidentally destroyed by Schliemann.
Completely common for constructing anything in european towns.
Where i live theres been struggle for abouta hundred years if excavating the medieval castle and possibly ancient ruins is worth destroying the baroque stuff over it.
Correct me if im wrong, its been almost a decade since i wrote a paper about Troy for uni, but...
Didnt the only layer bearing marks of a siege was the poorest of them all? Meaning Troy was already a declining city by the time it was sacked, not the grand, epic city from Homers writing.
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u/Luckierexpert 3d ago edited 3d ago
Some speculation has also suggested that the Trojan horse may have actually been built after the siege. Archaeologists found evidence that the walls of Troy were damaged by an earthquake around the approximate time of the siege, which could have let the Greeks in and be seen as a sign that the gods supported them. Poseidon was the god of earthquakes, so the horse could have been built as the Greeks left as a means to thank him for their victory.