How long was the Trojan war?

Answer 1

The war began 1193 BC.

The war went on for 9 years without much change but the ninth year Achilles nearly threw faith in the Trojans.

The war finished in the tenth year; 1203 BC.

BCE (BC) time counts down. if the year began in 1193, it should have ended in 1183, not 1203....

are your dates accurate?

Thanks

MrJ: His starting year is close enough to what I have heard and yes the ending year is in the wrong direction. But Barry Strauss, a military historian at Cornell has said that nine years might not mean that, had it started in 1194 BCE, Homer would have picked up the story in 1183 BCE. He says that in Greek society of the time Homer (whoever/whatever he was), somewhere around the 8th C. BCE, to say something had been going on for nine years meant that it had been going on for a long time. I think this sounds much better given the number of men that went with them was not very many for a 10 year siege (70-130,000, which sounds like a lot, but if Thucydides can be trusted, the Greeks left without much supply, intending to live off the lands they raided and essentially settled while they besieged Troy). EDIT 4-2-12: This isn't to say that Strauss is right, but it is an interesting thought and anytime numbers are involved in myth, there is typically a reason for the number other than accuracy. Numerology has always been a big thing in most societies.

Are you sure?

O RLY?