CHIEF EDITORS Jorrit Kelder, Günay Uslu, Ömer Faruk Şerifoğlu
EDITORIAL TEAM René van Beek, Floris van den Eijnde, Gert Jan van Wijngaarden
WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY Willem J. Aerts, Rüstem Aslan, Mithat Atabay, Beşir Ayvazoğlu, Mathieu de Bakker, Pim den Boer, Diederik Burgersdijk, Christiaan Caspers, Hein van Eekert, Floris van den Eijnde, Laurien de Gelder, Rudolph Glitz, Irene J.F. de Jong, Jorrit Kelder, Alwin Kloekhorst, Jacqueline Klooster, Marco Poelwijk, Winfred van de Put, Wendy Rigter, David Rijser, Ömer Faruk Şerifoğlu, Ali Sönmez, Şükrü Tül, Günay Uslu, Herbert Verreth, Willemijn Waal, Gert Jan van Wijngaarden
COORDINATION Paulien Retèl CONTENTS
FOREWORD Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey – O. Murat Süslü Embassy of the Republic of Turkey to the Netherlands – Uğur Doğan Allard Pierson Museum and Sezer Tansuğ Sanat Vaki – Wim Hupperetz, Ömer Taşdelen
1 THE STORY OF TROY . Homer: poet, poetry and the promise of eternal renown – Irene J.F. de Jong . he origins of the Trojan cycle – Jorrit Kelder Iron in the Bronze Age – Jorrit Kelder An Anatolian Iliad? – Willemijn Waal . A broader perspective: an overview of the East – Willemijn Waal
2 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF TROY . he archaeology of Troy in Prehistory – Gert Jan van Wijngaarden . Troy VI and VIIa in the Late Bronze Age – Wendy Rigter and Gert Jan van Wijngaarden he archaeology of everyday life: the pottery of Troy VI and VII – Wendy Rigter . From Achilles to Alexander – Floris van den Eijnde
3 TROY AND ITS NEIGHBOURS . he Hittites – Willemijn Waal Alakšandu of Wiluša – Willemijn Waal . he language of Troy – Alwin Kloekhorst . he Mycenaean Greeks – Jorrit Kelder Mycenaean Greek – Marco Poelwijk
4 HOMER AND TROY . Troy and the war: archaeology, documentary sources and epic – Jorrit Kelder A war over Troy in the Tawagalawa letter? – Willemijn Waal . he world of Homer – Floris van den Eijnde Creation and transmission of the Homeric epic – Mathieu de Bakker and Floris van den Eijnde . Homer and the eternalising of transient Troy – Mathieu de Bakker
5 TROY IN THE GRAECO-ROMAN WORLD . ‘he very ruins have been destroyed’. Troy in Graeco-Roman literatur – Christiaan Caspers . Troy in Greek art – more than illustrations to Homer – Winfred van de Put . he Troy Game: the Trojan heritage in the Julio-Claudian house – Diederik Burgersdijk . Troy in Byzantium – Willem J. Aerts
6 THE RENAISSANCE OF TROY . he second round: the battle for Troy in the Renaissance – David Rijser Mehmed II and Troy – Günay Uslu . Homer and Troy: from European to disputable lieux de mémoire – Pim den Boer . Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida – Rudolph Glitz . Troy in the opera – Hein van Eekert
7 SCHLIEMANN AND THE REDISCOVERY OF TROY . Heinrich Schliemann, scientist and romantic? – Gert Jan van Wijngaarden Schliemann’s excavations – Gert Jan van Wijngaarden . Schliemann and the Ottoman Turks – Günay Uslu Schliemann’s excavation permit – Günay Uslu . he discovery and smuggling of ‘Priam’s Treasure’ – Rüstem Aslan and Ali Sönmez Dating ‘Priam’s Treasure’ – Rüstem Aslan and Ali Sönmez
8 HOMER AND TROY IN MODERN TURKEY . Homer and Troy in th century Ottoman Turkish literature – Günay Uslu . Neo-Hellenism in Turkey – Beşir Ayvazoğlu . Atatürk in Troy – Rüstem Aslan and Mithat Atabay . he Blue Anatolians – Ömer Faruk Şerifoğlu . Homer and Smyrna (Izmir) – Şükrü Tül
9 ETERNAL TROY . he excavations in Troy from past to present: the discoveries, discussions and results – Rüstem Aslan Is it Troia, Truva or Troy? – Rüstem Aslan . Troy as displayed in museums – Laurien de Gelder . Troy as comic strip – Herbert Verreth . he Iliad in the th century – Jacqueline Klooster
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TEXT CREDITS
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
PRODUCTION CREDITS TROY CITY, HOMER AND TURKEY
THE ORIGINS OF THE TROJAN CYCLE
JORRIT KELDER
Homer’s Iliad is without doubt one of the most inluential is not mentioned in the Iliad and there is only a brief reference literary works in the history of Western civilisation. Homer de- to it in the Odyssey (Book VIII). We know of the wooden horse scribes only a brief episode, a number of days in the th (and and many other episodes from the -year siege of the city from last) year of the siege of Troy. His tale its into a much broader a wide range of later compositions, such as the famous Aeneïd cycle of stories about Troy and the Trojan war, which includes of the Roman poet Vergil (see .), or the Posthomerica of the another work that is attributed to Homer: the Odyssey – the th century poet Quintus of Smyrna. It is likely that many of story of the arduous return voyage of one of the Greek heroes, these later authors based their work on earlier texts, such as the Odysseus, after Troy has fallen to the Greeks. Since their com- Ilioupersis (he Sack of Troy) by Arctinus of Miletus, that are position in (probably) the early th century bc, the Iliad and now lost, but there are also indications that new story lines and the Odyssey have been read, sung, reworked, adapted and stud- elements were added – in the mediaeval period in particular – ied by numerous scholars, poets and artists. Despite the early by both western and Byzantine authors (see .). fame of these Epics, however, much is uncertain about their author, Homer. We believe that he probably lived in the early ORIGINS th century bc and created the Iliad at that time. But whether he Iliad enjoyed a special status as early as the classical period Homer truly created the Iliad, or whether he was the talented that may perhaps best be compared with the status of the Bible heir to a long tradition of stories about the Trojan War, remains in later times. On account of this special position in Greek uncertain. His origins are also unknown. Various cities in the - and later Roman – culture, the Iliad was subjected to critical world of the ancient Greeks have laid claim to being the birth- analysis at a relatively early stage. One of these early debates, place of the great poet, including the city of Smyrna, now Izmir which already raged during the Classical period, concerned the in western Turkey, and the island of Chios, which is Greek to exact date for the war for Troy. Most ancient Greek ‘scholars’ this day. Although various later ‘biographies’ of Homer – the argued for a date in the early th century bc. Regardless of the aimed to be (to a large extent) self-suficient. Given that iron so-called vitae indicate that all of these cities played a promi- exact date, the historicity of the War was never questioned. nent role in Homer’s life, it remains unclear where, exactly, the Recent research has demonstrated that the Iliad is the prod- great poet was born and where he composed his great works. uct of a long oral – that is to say spoken – tradition. Stories objects for daily use. The irst larger objects that were used Little is known of the broader story of Troy and the origins about the Trojan War must literally have been sung long before of the tale of ‘the’ war. he famous Trojan horse, for example, Homer’s time. It now seems that, as late as the th century Odysseus’ ruse by means of which Troy was ultimately taken, bc, these various stories were uniied into a single work of
Fresco of a lyre player on the wall of the throne room in the palace at Pylos, Greece. Although elements from the Iliad and the Odyssey originate from later periods, it is possible that (early versions of) both epics were already known in the Mycenaean period. Possibly an ‘ur-Iliad’ was being recited in the Mycenaean courts to the accompaniment of a lyre. The singer in this fresco is playing a magniicent instrument em- bellished with ducks heads.
16 The landscape around Pylos where Homer’s Iliad locates the palace of Nestor, the mythological old king. The ruins of a IRON IN THE BRONZE AGE Mycenaean palace have in fact been found at Pylos. The period following the ‘Bronze Age’ is generally known as the ‘Iron Age’. These terms are slightly deceptive, for recent genius, the Iliad, that focused on ‘Achilles’ baneful wrath that research has shown that iron was already worked in the late imposed ininite sorrows on the Greeks’. It is doubtful that the Bronze Age, even if only sporadically. The use of iron increased Iliad was put down in writing as early as this stage. here are following the collapse of the ‘Bronze Age World System’, with indications that this took place only in the th century, on the all kinds of specialists, including smiths, tanners and writers that were funded by the palaces, and the rise of a system orders of the Athenian tyrant Peisistratus. It is extremely likely based on the oikos (household), in which each household that the person responsible for ultimately committing the Iliad aimed to be (to a large extent) self-suficient. Given that iron to the written word had motives of his own. A number of con- ore is relatively abundant, the step was soon taken to manu- spicuous references to Athens – the house of Erechteus, king of facture an increasing number of items from iron, in particular Athens – and to Ionian cities – with which Athens had close objects for daily use. The irst larger objects that were used links as the ‘metropolis’ of the Ionian colonies – lend force to for everyday purposes, such as a large (22 cm) iron sickle the conjecture that the Iliad was in fact put down in writing in from 12th century BC Tiryns (in the Peloponnese), appear fairly soon after the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces. Athens, or in a centre linked to this city. he fact that the Iliad’s ultimate form owes more than a little to relations within the Greek world of the day is scarcely a surprise. he same may be assumed for earlier variations of he question is when the irst stories about Troy and the story. For example, it has been noted that the iron objects the Greek war against Troy began to appear. Linguistic re- mentioned in the Iliad, such as the iron weight that Achilles search by, amongst others, the renowned Amsterdam scholar puts up as prize in the games to commemorate the death of Cornelis Ruijgh (-) has shown that a signiicant part his fallen comrade-in-arms, Patroclus, does not it well into the of the vocabulary that was used by Homer does not belong to Bronze Age context of the story (see box ‘Iron in the Bronze the th century, but rather to a much earlier period; that of Age’). References to alien peoples, such as the Phoenicians from the Mycenaean palaces (roughly to bc). Greek was north-west Syria, also betray Iron Age inluence. It has also been already being spoken by then, but in a very early, Mycenaean, suggested that Achilles’ famous shield, with its manifold elabo- form that difered considerably from later Greek dialects, such rate and realistic scenes from everyday life, is a relection of as Ionic and Doric. For example, the Mycenaeans still used the precious Phoenician bowls of gold and silver that also showed digamma (also known as the ‘wau’ and nowadays often writ- singer in this fresco is playing a magniicent instrument em scenes of this kind and would certainly have been known in the ten as a sort of ‘F’): this sound disappeared from the Greek Greece of the th and th centuries bc. language during the Iron Age. Certain ‘gaps’ in the metrum
17 TROY CITY, HOMER AND TURKEY of the Iliad are best explained by the disappearance of this This could be the opening sentence of a Luwian epic about digamma. A well-known example of the disappearance of the Wilusa (= Troy), the more so as the line can be read as two digamma is the Homeric word anax for prince (or king), which verses of seven partially alliterative groups of letters: in Mycenaean is wanax (spelled wa-na-ka in Linear B). ahha=ta=tta alati Archaeology also suggests that signiicant elements in the awita wilusati Iliad originate in the Mycenaean period. he geography of Greece, for example, as described by Homer in Book II of the Unfortunately the meaning of the sentence is not entirely Iliad (the famous Catalogue of Ships) corresponds relatively clear. The word ‘alati’ appears only in this text and the transla- well to the situation in the Mycenaean period, but not to the tion ‘steep’ is tentative. In addition, only the opening verse has Iron Age (when several of the important cities of the Iliad were been preserved. For this reason, some caution is certainly ad- deserted). Moreover, a number of objects that are described vised. One line of course does not make an Anatolian Iliad, but who knows the second line may turn up one day. in the Iliad, such as the ‘boar’s tusk helmet’, clearly indicate Bronze Age origins. he picture of political unity between Willemijn Waal the various Mycenaean kingdoms, with Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, as supreme leader does not it well into either the Iron Age or the Classical Period, but it is an entirely plausible relection of the situation in the late Bronze Age. On the ba- sis of all these considerations, it seems reasonable to assume that the origins of the Iliad should be sought in the Mycenaean period. Naturally this is not to say that actual events form the basis of the stories in the Iliad, although this can certainly not be ex- cluded. What is certain is that the Iliad – and all its precursors – were always in the irst instance a work of art performed for entertainment – and instruction. It can safely be assumed that this occurred as early as the Mycenaean period: the court cul- ture of the great palaces of Mycenaean Greece does certainly of- fer a perfect background for Mycenaean bards, reciting epic po- ems during drinking bouts. An image on the wall of the throne room of the palace at Pylos seems to show a Mycenaean bard like this, complete with ingeniously shaped lyre. It is by no means surprising that the Mycenaean aristocracy liked heroic stories. Elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean region, such as with the Hittites of Anatolia or in pharaonic Egypt, feasts were given added lustre by recitals from celebrated bards who sang of heroic exploits in a legendary past.
AN ANATOLIAN ILIAD?
It is possible that there was not only a Greek, but also an Anatolian epic tradition centred on the Trojan War. A descrip- tion of a ritual, recorded on a clay tablet that has been found in the Hittite capital of Hattusa and which dates to the 13th century BC, cites the opening line of a Luwian (a Bronze Age Anatolian language) song to be performed at a libation to the goddess Šuwašuna. The opening line runs as follows: ahhatata alati awita wilusati When they came from steep(?) Troy.
18