1. Aegean Civilizations continued…

2. I. The Trojan Wars (1300BC – 1250BC) 1. Hellenes conquer Crete a. End of Minoan civilization 2. Hellenes try to expand North a. Black Sea b. City of Troy -Controlled by Trojans

3. I. The Trojan Wars continued… 3. True Cause a. Trojans charge high tax to enter Black Sea b. Hellenes don’t want to pay it 4. Legendary cause a. Homer’s The Iliad -Trojans kidnap Helen -Hellenes come to the rescue b. Homer’s The Odyssey -Odysseus’ journey home

4. I. The Trojan Wars continued… 5. Heinrich Schliemann a. Excavated ruins of Troy b. Major finding: -Troy existed as Homer described it

5. II. Decline of Aegean Civilizations 1. Fall of Troy a. Trojan Wars weaken Trojans and Hellenes 2. Loss of political control a. Greece “up for grabs” b. Dorians take control Did the Trojan War take place? We have little reason to doubt it, but we have little more to believe that it was the greatest conflict ever to have occurred. The Greeks however, thought that it was: before telling the story of the Peloponnesian War the historian Thucydides felt the need to establish a parallel between it and the Trojan War to emphasize the importance of his subject. With the passage of time these heroic exploits had entered the realm of legend, people were convinced that the gods had taken part, and history became myth. The Trojan War glows with a dark fire at the dawn of time as the unsurpassable model for all the wars that were to come.