Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer

An epic poem is a long narrative poem, normally having to do with a serious subject while covering heroic deeds and events important for a culture or nation. Homer, the author of Iliad and the Odyssey, is perhaps the most famous and notable writer of epics. Inspired directly from the stories that had been passed down orally over the centuries, Homer wrote these epic poems retelling the stories of the last year of the Trojan War and Odysseus’s journey home after the Trojan War. These epics are filled with supernatural events such as gods lending their power to a hero, allowing him to slay row after row of troops and gods going directly onto the battlefield to help turn the tide in a battle. The grandeur of these events are indicative of fictional superhero stories rather than fact. However, if you compare the events depicted in the Iliad to historical facts known from Ancient Greece and current scientific evidence, Homer’s Iliad may have a basis in actual history. Homer’s description of the geography of Ancient Greece, his depiction of godly interference, his depiction of war, and the use of technology can be supported and show that the Trojan War and many of the events that take place in the Iliad were actual historical events or can be justified.
The Iliad tells the story of the final weeks of the last year of the Trojan War, after nine long years of fighting between the Trojans and Achaeans (Greeks). The fighting first started with Paris of Troy taking Helen, the most beautiful women in the world, back to Troy and away from her husband King Menelaus of Sparta. Outraged, King Menelaus gathered the kings and armies of Greece, and set sail towards Troy, to wage war and take back Helen. Although the Greeks had brought massive forc...

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...there is little evidence of direct trade between the Mycenaeans and the Hittites, large quantities of both Mycenaean and Hititte goods have been found at Hissarlik.
While the archaeological evidence found at Troy seems to imply mostly peaceful relationships with both the Hittites and the Mycenaeans, Hittite records found at the Hittite capital of Hattusa seems to reveal more warlike relationships. The first probable mention of Troy actually came from the records of a military expedition led by the Hittite King Tudhaliya I. This expedition was against the Confederacy of Assuwa during the 15th century BCE. Two of the listed towns belonging to the confederacy were Taurisa and Wilusiya. The region of Assuwa is identified as Asia, known as the northwest province of Anatolia in the Greco-Roman times. Wilusiya, or Wilusa, is known from later Hititte texts and is thought