History of the Trojan war

The Spartans fought in a formation called the Hoplite Phalanx. The Hoplite Phalanx is a highly organized fighting formation where Spartans are lined up side by side with overlapping shields. The goal of the Hoplite Phalanx is to protect the person to your left and right. When one person in the front line of the Phalanx is injured or killed someone behind them takes their place. The Hoplite Phalanx was very effective and it helped Spartans win battles where they were heavily outnumbered. The fighting formation that the Spartans used in the film included a variation of unorganized infantry lines, chaotic hand-to-hand combat, and a technique that they used which consisted of them laying down on the ground to let Persian horses jump over them as they approached. The hand-to-hand combat showed Spartans fighting by themselves with no teamwork from their fellow soldiers to help them battle the Persians. This fighting style would have never happened. The reason that Spartans were so successful in battle was because they fought as a team and kept to the Hoplite Phalanx. In “Herodotus, The Histories” Demaratus says, “so it is with the Spartans; fighting singly, they

The great Athenian general Miltiades came up with a shrewd battle plan. He decided to thin out the ranks in the center of the phalanx to strengthen the wings. During the battle, the Greek wings crushed the Persian wings and forced them to retreat. At the same time, the Persians in the middle managed to break through the weakened center of the phalanx. Instead of pursuing the retreating Persian wings, the Greek wings moved backward to attack the Persians that had broken through the Greek defenses. The Greek center then turned around so that they had the Persians surrounded. The Persians were slaughtered (5). According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Persians lost 6400 men while te Greeks lost only 192 (4).

The Greek forces won the Trojan War. The story of the war is a cornerstone of Greek legend, and pervaded Greek literature and culture. Though the evidence for the Trojan War as historical fact is scarce, it was a formative event in Greek cultural memory, producing some of the classical world’s most famous heroes and narratives. The War was won, Helen was retrieved from Paris, whose violation of ξενία was redressed, the heroes attained the κλέος that many of them fought for – and yet the positive outcomes of the Trojan War are difficult to grasp. For the victims of the Trojan War, the tragedy is obvious; the War ended in genocide and total cultural destruction. But such a war, burnt into legend, should have left the victors far better off; and yet, the Greek heroes only suffer because of it. They die tragic, dishonourable deaths; their households are left in ruin; their families are torn apart. From both modern and classical perspectives, the Trojan War is a tragedy, a “harrowing destruction of life” (Euripides, Andromache, 291). The victory is pyrrhic, the loss of life is horrific, the reparations non-existent.

Hence, the tactics and the paramount strategy devised by Miltiades in the Battle of Marathon as well as the unification of the Greek forces, both effectively crushed the Persian onslaught and significantly increased the confidence of the Greeks to incline themselves in a common cause if the Persians attacked again.

Barry Strauss organizes his summary of the Trojan War by referencing Homer 's the Iliad and the Odyssey and compares it to the historical contexts of what he thinks happened. Most scholars agree that the Trojan War dates back around 1200 B.C. during the Bronze Age. The most popular tale of how the Trojan War starts is when Paris, Prince of Troy, goes to visit Sparta to mend relations. In Sparta, Paris is welcomed by Menelaus, King of Sparta and his beautiful wife Helen. According to ancient sources, Menelaus went to Crete for business and foolishly left Helen all alone with Paris (Strauss, 15). Afterward, Helen is seduced by Paris and flees Sparta to accompany him back to Troy, along with bountiful treasures.

The soldiers would enter the battle in chariots, launching javelins into the enemy formations, then dismount for hand-to-hand combat with more javelin throwing, rock throwing, and hand to hand sword and shield fighting. In the Iliad Homer also mentions the use of the phalanx formation being used by the Greeks. The phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, or similar weapons . Scholars suggest that the Greeks would have used this tactic because the alignment of shields minimises the chances of projectiles hitting the men, and the men can move as one, strong unit.

The Hoplite orthology says that critical changes happened in the in the Greek Warfare around 700 B.C. that is a major influence in today's society. ¨Prior to that “revolution” in arms, armor, and tactics, the aristocrats dominated in war and took part in military actions. They fought at long range with missiles and in close combat as individual “heroic” champions with swords. The main equipment they used included the short throwing spear, an open-face helmet, a round single-grip

As most know, Greek Mythology is a very complex concept that is free for interpretation and is shown in multiple ways. Many believe Greek Mythology is fiction, whereas some believe that it is nonfiction. As seen in Barry Strauss’s The Trojan War: A New History, the author argues that the Trojan War was significant and then shows evidence from as of late that supports the concept of the Trojan War actually occurring. Throughout his book he explains and gives insight into what happened during the Trojan War and how it developed based off of Homer’s writing. Strauss’s sole purpose is to inspect what was previously said about the Trojan War and evaluate it enough to the point where he is able to make logical reasoning to determine the

An important contributing factor to an army's success is armor for defense. An army can have skilled soldiers, but cannot be successful without the right armor. Roman and Greek armies wore similar types of armor. The Roman and Greek foot soldiers wore a square breastplate on their torso. While the Romans only wore one greave on their left leg, Greeks wore greaves on both legs. A greave was a sheet of metal worn to protect the legs (Horsepower: Harnessed…). Soldiers wear greaves even in current day. Recently, the greaves have been upgraded to protect the legs from ‘Improvised explosive devices,’ such as those in Iraq (Frost, Quad Guard). Roman soldiers wore a helmet that protected the neck, and came around to protect their face. The Greek’s helmets were more full and protective than the Roman helmets. Greek helmets covered their entire head and only left small

In addition to good leadership the greeks developed and employed successful battle tactics, which they were able to adapt to the topography, thus allowing them to sustain afight despite being grossly outnumbered (C). The most important tactic was the Hoplite Phalax, which was a wall of Greek infantry men with shields and long spears. This was effective for the Greeks because the advancing Persians had to travel through a very narrow path along the Malian Gulf to

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The Trojan War is described as one of histories most legendary battles. This battle is told to have lasted ten years, resulting in the eventual collapse of Troy, under the siege of Greek forces. Modern knowledge of the Trojan War has survived mainly through the account given in Homer’s Illiad, and while having proved to be a rich source of inspiration for other writers, artists, and even filmmakers in recent history, much speculation still exists surrounding his account. I will analyze modern interpretations of the Trojan War and examine both speculation and support for Homer’s account. Concluding with sufficient evidence that has been collected surrounding this epic battle, proving Homer’s account of a massive battle between these two powerful city states to not be just a tale of myth and legend, but actual history.

The Persian army waited four days after their arrival on the Greek shore before actually engaging the Spartans in combat. On the fifth day Xerxes launched an assault on Leonidas’ position. To begin the attack the Persians fired a huge barrage of arrows at the Spartans. About 5,000 arrows were launched at the Spartans with no effect. The large bronze shields and helmets used by the Spartans proved to be too much for the Persian arrows. King Xerxes then ordered 10,000 troops forward to take the Spartans prisoners (Robinson). The wave of Persians moved forward and soon found themselves in a full frontal assault with a wall of spears and shields. The Spartan phalanx stretched from each side of the pass. The phalanx formation put each man shoulder to shoulder with their large shields forming a wall of bronze. Each man was armed with a spear that would protrude from the wall making it almost impossible for the Persian soldiers, with much smaller and weaker swards and shields, to penetrate their defense. The Spartan phalanx was positioned right behind the stone wall they had constructed as well.

The Trojan War was during the Bronze Age in the 12th or 13th century BC. It was between Greece and Troy. The Trojan War mainly started when the Greeks brought a wooden horse over to Troy as a sign of “peace.” However, it was used to take over Troy since there were many armed men in the horse. A downfall the Trojans had that led up to this point in time was that they were foolish, “Four times did the Horse halt as they dragged it, before it passed through the gate, and each time their might have been heard a great clashing of arms within” (Church 9). In the Horse, there were sounds being made but the Trojans did not pay attention to these signs and Troy suffered as a result. Overall, the Trojan War was created due to many gods fighting over Helen and because of this Troy was taken over by Greece and Aeneas and his crew had to relocate and find a new safe place to live with the help of Venus and Apollo by their side.

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