The Carians: Mercenaries and Allies of Troy

The Trojan Horse: Myth, Symbol, and Ancient Siege Craft

In Episode 165 of The Trojan War: Myth, Reality, or Both?, Lucas and Luna explore the most iconic symbol of the Trojan War: the Trojan Horse. They disentangle the Homeric account from later Roman embellishments, examine the practical feasibility of a giant wooden horse as a siege tactic, and compare it to historical stratagems like the use of battering rams and sappers at Hisarlik. They also discuss the earliest artistic depictions, the possible Luwian or Hittite parallels, and how the horse became a metaphor for deception. Drawing on recent archaeological insights from Troy VI and VIIa, they ask: could the Horse be a memory of an actual engine of war, or is it pure myth? This episode offers a fresh perspective on a tale we think we know. #TrojanHorse #Odyssey #Aeneid #Homer #Virgil #Hisarlik #TroyVI #TroyVIIa #Luwian #Hittite #WoodenHorse #SiegeCraft #BatteringRam #Sappers #Doloneia #GreekMythology #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Troy's Walls: How Teichorupaxis Shaped the War

Episode 164 of The Trojan War series takes a fresh look at the most iconic feature of Troy: its walls. Lucas and Luna explore the concept of 'teichorupaxis' (wall-breaking) and how the city's fortifications dictated the entire strategy of the war. Drawing on both Homeric epic and Hittite diplomatic correspondence, they discuss the walls of Troy VI and VIIa as revealed by archaeology at Hisarlik, the Hittite term 'hekur' (fortress), and the surprising parallels with the Indian Aśvamedha ritual. The episode also touches on the Luwian language and what it tells us about Troy's Anatolian identity. Lightly tied to the topic, the hosts reflect on listener support via buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and then dive into how the walls were not just stone and mudbrick but a symbol of power that the Greeks had to breach through cunning rather than force. #TrojanWar #Teichorupaxis #TroyWalls #Hittite #Hisarlik #TroyVI #TroyVIIa #Hekur #Aśvamedha #Luwian #BronzeAge #Anatolia #Homer #Iliad #Archaeology #Fortifications #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Lost City of Troy: Luwian Evidence at Hisarlik

This episode digs into the Luwian language inscriptions found at Hisarlik (Troy) and their implications for understanding Trojan identity. Lucas and Luna explore the Luwian name for Troy — Wilusa — and how Hittite diplomatic texts mention a king named Alaksandu, possibly the historical Alexander (Paris). They discuss the Luwian origins of key Trojan figures like Hector and Paris, the role of Luwian as an Anatolian lingua franca, and the archaeological evidence for a Luwian-speaking population at Troy during the Late Bronze Age. The conversation connects the dots between Hittite records, Luwian hieroglyphs, and Homeric names, offering listeners a deeper look at the Anatolian reality behind the Greek myth. No prior Luwian knowledge needed. #Luwian #Wilusa #Troy #Hisarlik #Hittite #Alaksandu #Anatolia #BronzeAge #Iliad #Homer #Lydia #Carian #Hector #Paris #Archaeology #Mycenaean #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Trojan War: What Archaeology Found at Hisarlik

This episode digs into the archaeological layers of Hisarlik, the site long identified as Troy, from Troy I through Troy IX. Lucas and Luna explore what each stratum reveals about the historical reality behind Homer's epic — the fortifications, the fire destruction, the foreign pottery, and the Hittite diplomatic correspondence that names a 'Wilusa' in conflict with Ahhiyawa. They discuss the Schliemann excavations and their flaws, the Korfmann dig that found a lower city, and the current consensus on which layer best corresponds to a war around 1200 BCE. They also consider the unresolved question: Was there a historical Trojan War, or did Homer conflate centuries of conflict into one story? #Hisarlik #Troy #TrojanWar #HeinrichSchliemann #ManfredKorfmann #TroyVI #TroyVIIa #Wilusa #Ahhiyawa #Hittite #BronzeAge #Archaeology #Homer #Iliad #Anatolia #Dardanelles #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Trojan War: Did Helen Really Go to Troy?

In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore one of the most enduring controversies of the Trojan War: was Helen of Troy actually in Troy at all? Drawing on ancient sources like Homer's Iliad, Stesichorus, Herodotus, and Euripides, they unpack the 'phantom Helen' tradition — the idea that Helen spent the war in Egypt while a lookalike (an eidolon) went to Troy. They discuss Stesichorus' Palinode, the rationalizing historian Hecataeus of Miletus, the Egyptian king Proteus, and the cult of Helen at Sparta and Therapne. The episode also touches on the supposed visit of Helen and Menelaus to Egypt as recorded in Homer's Odyssey and Herodotus' Histories. A fascinating look at how myths were questioned even in antiquity. #TrojanWar #HelenOfTroy #Eidolon #Stesichorus #Herodotus #Homer #Iliad #Odyssey #Egypt #Proteus #Palinode #Hecataeus #Therapne #Sparta #Menelaus #AncientGreece #Mythology #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]