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Troy and Homer: Towards a Solution of an Old Mystery 1st Edition

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Joachim Latacz (Author)
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Joachim Latacz (Author), Kevin Windle (Translator), Rosh Ireland (Translator)
4.4 out of 5 stars 14 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0199263080
ISBN-10: 0199263086
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 362 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (February 3, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0199263086
  • ISBN-13: 978-0199263080
  • Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 1.1 x 5.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,665,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsThe Historicity of the Trojan War
By William Walderman on April 11, 2005
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
This book marshalls all of the arguments in favor of the view that the Trojan War, as reflected in the Homeric Iliad, was a real historical event. It presents both the most up-to-date archaeological developments in Anatolia, Greece and Egypt and the philological arguments based on studies of the Homeric poems that support this view. It is accessible to the general reader as well as the specialist.

Prof. Latacz's conclusion is that, in light of recent developments, it is now quite plausible that the Trojan War was a real historical event and that the Iliad preserves some memory of that event, even if this has not yet been proven.

The philological arguments purportedly show that, based on studies of the language and metrics of the Homeric poems, the oral tradition underlying the Homeric poems can be traced back to Mycenean times, i.e., the time period in which the Trojan War is supposed to have taken place, and that the oral tradition would be capable of preserving some factual material about the Trojan War if it did occur. I have some familiarity with these arguments and I have reservations about the certainty Prof. Latacz ascribes to them. Some of them are still controversial and have not achieved the scholarly consensus that Prof. Latacz suggests they enjoy. Prof. Latacz presents these technical arguments in a manner that is accessible to non-specialists.

I am not in a position to assess the validity of the archaeological evidence. The claim put forth in this book is that the late Prof. Korfmann's recent excavations at the site in northwest Turkey that has traditionally been identified as "Troy" have shown that this site was a much more important community than had previously been thought.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe historical Troy emerges from the mythic mists
By Bruce Trinque VINE VOICE on July 3, 2005
Format: Hardcover
Joachim Latacz's "Troy and Homer" is based in significant part on the archaeological work conducted at Troy in recent years under the leadership of Manfred Korfmann, work which has proven -- to anyone with an open mind, I believe -- that the site of Hisarlik in northwestern Turkey, originally investigated in the nineteenth century by Heinrich Schliemann and Frank Calvert, is not only the location of the city of Troy but also that this ancient Troy was a far larger, more important city than the archaeological record had previously revealed. No comprehensive, popular account of Korfmann's work has yet been published in English, but Latacz's book at least presents some of the discoveries and conclusions. I should note that "Troy and Homer" is not primarily an archaeology book, bur rather one that seeks to establish a relationship between Homer's "iliad" and whatever historical reality lies behind it, and draws not only from archaeological work at Hisarlik but also uses to great effect the study of Hittite inscriptions and tablets found elsewhere in Asia Minor and together with linguistic investigations into the roots of Homer's work and archaeological surveys in Greece. Latacz leaves, in my opinion, little doubt that at least in a broad sense Homer's "Iliad" speaks of real historical events, that the Greeks of circa 1300 or 1200 BCE indeed contend with the rulers of ancient Troy.

Latcz's argument for the historical basis of Homer's poem is detailed and often closely-reasoned, so the reader must be prepared to follow the author through a wide range of evidence of various natures. But I found it to be a journey well worth taking.
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4.0 out of 5 starsExcellent, but not that excellent
By Garrett Fagan on December 2, 2005
Format: Hardcover
This is an excellent, readable and well-organized argument in favor of the historicity of the Trojan War. Latacz draws together the information to be gleaned from archaeology (including the recent, and controversial excavations at Troy by the late Manfred Korfmann), philology, Greek poetic metrics, Hittite textual sources, and much more besides. Written for the educated general reader, the text reads like a detective story. From all of these perspectives, it is excellent stuff.

But I am not convinced. The basic issue, as "Biblical archaeology" has long demonstrated, is that legends, myths, and folktales are not subject to "proof" in the academic, scholarly sense. They float like spirits over the landscape of rational inquiry, ethereal and always elusive.

When you look at the evidence at the base of many of the claims so boldly made by Latacz, matters become fuzzy. Troy was a royal city of the Hittite Empire -- on the basis of single inscribed seal. That's a big claim from a tiny, single (and thus far unique) object found at the site. Troy was the center of a trade network extending into the Black Sea -- but the evidence for that network is non-existent. It's a possibility, but not quite the fact presented here. And so the case is built up, with questionable or disputed elements knit into the fabric without comment or argument. Little mention here of the devastating criticisms levelled by Frank Kolb, a German ancient historian, on the whole notion of a greater Troy, linchpin of Aegean trade in the Late Bronze Age. Such things deserve discussion. But Latacz walks on by, as he hastens to his firm conclusions.

For all that, I'd have no hesitation whatsoever recommending this book to an interested reader. It is useable in classrooms, as it is bound to spark discussion.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsThe Trojan war

Did Troy exist? Did the Trojan horse take place? The answer. says Latacz, is yes, and it takes him 260 pages to come to that conclusion. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Renato Baserga
5.0 out of 5 starsA must have for anyone taking a serious look at the story of the...

This little book makes a fitting heir to the work of Manfred Korfmann, who died rather suddenly before being able to see his theories become more widely accepted. Read more

Published 19 months ago by Andorrac
3.0 out of 5 starsHard Going Ancient History

I have just finished reading Latacz's book. It was tough going, yet for the persistant, some really interesting insights. Read more

Published on August 10, 2012 by W. C. HAKE
5.0 out of 5 starsTroy and Homer

My husband is a great fan of Homer and of Troy. This book is a wonderful combination of both. Factual yet written interestingly and with ferver. Read more

Published on August 1, 2008 by Yvette Frazier
5.0 out of 5 starsA first-rate text!

The fascinating feature of the archeology essentially resides in the continuous mobility of its nature; where every single day you may find out an evidence that destroys a whole... Read more

Published on May 3, 2007 by Hiram Gòmez Pardo Venezuela
4.0 out of 5 starsA handy update on the affairs of Troy (with annoying quirks)

The whole of my reaction to this book is divided into three parts.

First, this book is a convenient source of information on the preliminary results of the excavations... Read more

Published on November 7, 2006 by L. E. Cantrell
3.0 out of 5 starsScholarly intent rules here.

Latacz's intent is to update scholarship for those with an interest in Troy (particularly researchers in interdisciplinary areas related to such study) and to do so by means of... Read more

Published on August 24, 2006 by James Hercules Sutton
3.0 out of 5 starsI have to dissent from the favorable reviews ...

but this is barely readable.

The translators have struggled earnestly, but what can you really do with a sentence like this, from the preface? Read more

Published on May 10, 2006 by Richard Careaga
5.0 out of 5 starsA few comments

I really enjoyed reading it. My comments can be summarized in a question: since Ephesus (Apasa) and Miletus (Millawanda) were cities under Hittite influence, how much of the Greek... Read more

Published on February 25, 2006 by Francisco A. Doria
5.0 out of 5 starsSorting Out What Happened at Troy

One of the enduring mysteries in archaeology (or history) is whether there really was a Trojan War. A second question has been whether The Illiad was just a story, or whether it... Read more

Published on January 29, 2006 by K. Bretthauer

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