Professor Peter Hunt, University of Colorado: Was there a Trojan War?
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
7 pm
Canyon Theatre, Boulder Public Library
1001 Arapahoe, Boulder Colorado
In the late nineteenth century, Heinrich Schliemann excavated the city of Troy and claimed that he had confirmed the historical basis for Homer’s Iliad. Controversy persisted: Homer was obviously ignorant of basic aspects of Bronze Age society; archaeological evidence for a sack of Troy during the right time period has not been found. New excavations of Troy during the last decades have taught us a great deal about the city of Troy and have in general strengthened the case for the believers. In addition, Hittite diplomatic records now allow us to reconstruct a plausible context for the war. Nevertheless, central parts of Homer’s story of the Trojan War remain unconfirmed and the Iliad cannot yet be considered an independent source of information for the Bronze Age.
This free public lecture is presented by the Department of Classics at the University of Colorado and supported by a generous contribution by Mary E.V. McClanahan.
7 pm
Canyon Theatre, Boulder Public Library
1001 Arapahoe, Boulder Colorado
In the late nineteenth century, Heinrich Schliemann excavated the city of Troy and claimed that he had confirmed the historical basis for Homer’s Iliad. Controversy persisted: Homer was obviously ignorant of basic aspects of Bronze Age society; archaeological evidence for a sack of Troy during the right time period has not been found. New excavations of Troy during the last decades have taught us a great deal about the city of Troy and have in general strengthened the case for the believers. In addition, Hittite diplomatic records now allow us to reconstruct a plausible context for the war. Nevertheless, central parts of Homer’s story of the Trojan War remain unconfirmed and the Iliad cannot yet be considered an independent source of information for the Bronze Age.
This free public lecture is presented by the Department of Classics at the University of Colorado and supported by a generous contribution by Mary E.V. McClanahan.
posted by Classics Department
