The Trojan War
comic strip
Thousands of years ago during the 1200s B.C., the
Mycenaeans fought in a famous battle against the
Trojans. This battle was famous for its devastation and
destruction, but also because of the mystery
surrounding it. The Trojan War is documented in history
by only one source: in an epic poem called The Illiad,
written by Homer five hundred years after the battle
took place.
According to Homer, the Trojan War was fought over a
woman. A young man named Paris, who was the
prince of Troy, fell in love with Helen, the wife of the
Mycenaean king. Paris took Helen back to Troy with
him, and in her husband’s anger, the Mycenaean king
formed an army and sailed after them.
However, the city of Troy was well defended and the
Mycenaeans could not get into the city. They camped
outside the city walls for ten years waiting to capture
the city and return Helen home.
Then, Odysseus came up with a plan to trick the
Trojans. He had his soldiers build a huge wooden horse
– the symbol of the Trojans – and he had his best
soldiers hid inside the horse while the rest of the army
boarded their ships and sailed away.
The Trojans saw the horse as a peace offering, and
when they saw the ships sailing away, they thought they
had won the war. They tied ropes to the horse and
pulled it into the center of the city for all to see.
After dark, the Mycenaean soldiers hidden inside the
horse came out. They opened the city gates and let the
rest of the Mycenaean army inside. The Mycenaeans
killed the king of Troy and burned the city to the
ground. Then, they returned back to Greece with
Helen.
Despite the Mycenaeans’ victory over the Trojans, the
soldiers returned home to darkness and devastation. A
series of civil wars broke out among the citizens, and
within a hundred years, almost all of the Mycenaean
fortress-palaces had been destroyed. With the
Mycenaeans busy fighting amongst themselves, the
Dorians were able to invade Greece and conquer the
Mycenaeans.
After the civil wars and the Dorian invasion, the Aegean
world fell into a dark age. Oversees trade stopped and
skills and culture of the Mycenaeans disappeared.
But over time, the Aegean world began to rebuild. Local
rulers gained control of small communities and called
themselves kings. The people began calling themselves
“Greeks” and they worked hard to redevelop their skills
and culture.