''In Search of the Trojan War'' is a six-part BBC TV

documentary series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

written and presented by Michael Wood, first broadcast in 1985 on BBC2. It examines the extent to which historical and archeological evidence matches the tale of the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...

as recounted by

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

in ''

The Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Ody ...

''.

In Search of... Helen of Troy

''In Search of the Trojan War'' was the first follow-up series to Michael Wood's initial major broadcasting success, the documentary series ''

In Search of the Dark Ages ''In Search of the Dark Ages'' is a BBC television documentary series, written and presented by historian Michael Wood, first shown between 1979 and 1981. It comprises eight short films across two series, each focusing on a particular character ...

'', which the BBC had aired between 1979 and 1981. The essence of the new series was to expand the successful format of the eight programmes of the earlier series, such that instead of searching for a single historical character in each programme, all six programmes would search for the true story behind a single historical figure, Helen of Troy. Wood compares to what extent the historical and archeological evidence matches with the tale of the Trojan War. Many cities have come and gone, bearing the name Troy, in the historical record of

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. Michael Wood seeks the evidence for each of them, and analyses whether the details match Homer's account of the city. Michael Wood's motivation was to seek a legend: a character as deeply embedded in the collective memory of his audience as King Arthur had been in the earlier series; he sought Helen, ''the face that launched a thousand ships'', although, as he himself remarks, romance is something which leaves no traces in the archaeological record.

Episodes

*1985-02-24 : Episode 1: The Age of the Heroes - outlines the story of the Trojan War and introduces the work of

Heinrich Schliemann Johann Ludwig Heinrich Julius Schliemann (; 6 January 1822 – 26 December 1890) was a German businessman and pioneer in the field of archaeology. He was an advocate of the historicity of places mentioned in the works of Homer and an archaeolog ...

*1985-03-03 : Episode 2: The Legend Under Siege - explores the work of those who followed Schliemann such as

Wilhelm Dörpfeld Wilhelm Dörpfeld (26 December 1853 – 25 April 1940) was a German architect and archaeologist, a pioneer of stratigraphic excavation and precise graphical documentation of archaeological projects. He is famous for his work on Bronze Age site ...

Arthur Evans Sir Arthur John Evans (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age. He is most famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos on the Greek island of Crete. Based on ...

and

Carl Blegen Carl William Blegen (January 27, 1887 – August 24, 1971) was an American archaeologist who worked at the site of Pylos in Greece and Troy in modern-day Turkey. He directed the University of Cincinnati excavations of the mound of Hisarlik ...

*1985-03-10 : Episode 3: The Singer of Tales - discusses

and the bardic tradition *1985-03-17 : Episode 4: The Women of Troy *1985-03-24 : Episode 5: Empire of the Hittites *1985-03-31 : Episode 6: The Fall of Troy

Book

Wood also wrote a book based on the series.

C. Brian Rose Charles Brian Rose is an American archaeologist, classical scholar, and author. He is the James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania in the Classical Studies Department and the Graduate Group in the Art and Archa ...

considered the 1996 edition "the best overall treatment in English of the evidence for the Trojan War." The 1998 edition includes a new final chapter to take into account more recent developments in the search for Troy.Wood, Michael. ''In Search of the Trojan War'', Updated edition, University of California Press, 1998

References

External links

* {{Iliad navbox 1985 British television series debuts 1985 British television series endings 1980s British documentary television series BBC television documentaries 1980s British television miniseries English-language television shows Iliad Homeric scholarship Cultural depictions of the Trojan War Documentary television series about war