Books
Phase
Trojan War Epic Tradition
Mythic Bronze Age tradition
The Trojan War tradition gathers stories about Achilles, Hector, Helen, Agamemnon, Odysseus, Aeneas and the fall of Troy. It preserves mythic memories of heroic warfare rather than a straightforward historical record.
The tradition matters because Greek tragedy, lyric poetry and Roman epic repeatedly returned to Troy as a source of grief, glory, revenge and political origin stories. Roman writers made Aeneas and Troy central to Roman identity.
Readers encounter this history in the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Heroides, Greek tragedy and later historical or mythological novels centred on Troy and its aftermath.
