Did the Trojan War actually happen? In what form does historical and archaeological evidence suggest that it happened? How do you explain the discrepancies between the way Homer describes the war, and the evidences found through other sources?

In regards to the sources
-3 class readings and 3 outside sources
-class readings include the Illiad, trans by Stanley Lambardo 1997 and The Essential Odyssey, Homer translated by Stanley Lambar 2007
select readings from Cambridge Companion to Homer, by Robert Fowler, 2004

There are also other prompts which you can choose from
Who was Homer? Did he/(she?) exist? What evidence do we have from the texts to suggest his character and identity? What do outside sources suggest?
How was the Trojan War (and Homer’s telling of it) used for political ends by other cultures (like the Classical Greeks, Romans, etc.)? How did it inform the identity of the culture(s) you’ve chosen to examine?
How has the style, story, and language of Homer’s epics informed later writers (like Virgil, Dante, Milton, etc.)? How and why do those writers modify Homer’s style to achieve their own goals and agendas?

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