High-Towered Troy

For over 3000 years the Iliad, Homer’s epic tale of the Trojan War, has inspired poets, artists, playwrights, archaeologists, composers and film-makers as can be seen in Troy: myth and reality, a fascinating new exhibition at the British Museum

The tale of the Trojan War is one of the world’s greatest stories, told and retold by generations for some 3000 years. Its setting was the city of Troy – thought to be long-lost but rediscovered in Turkey in the 19th century. The archaeology of Troy continues to fascinate, not least because it holds out the hope of finding the historical truth behind the ancient myth: did the Trojan War actually happen? But perhaps more compelling truths can be found in the story itself and its characters. Beautiful Helen, swift Achilles (1), clever Odysseus, who devised the fateful ruse of the Trojan Horse (2): they are as alive for us today as they were for the ancients and have inspired poets and artists from Rubens to Cy Twombly. The story of Troy, with its universal themes of violence and destruction, love, despair and hope, continues to speak to people across cultures and through time.

The ancient Greeks told an epic story about the heroes of a bygone age, who fought and won a long and bitter war against the powerful city of Troy. After a 10-year siege, a clever stratagem brought the Greeks victory. They built a huge wooden horse, large enough for armed warriors to hide inside, and tricked the Trojans into pulling it into their city. Troy fell, and its people were killed, enslaved or forced to flee.

To this day, the Trojan Horse is proverbial, having been used over the centuries as a metaphor for any clever deception successfully carried out. It has appeared in art from ancient times, when Greeks first told the story of Troy in images, through the Middle Ages, when the city became a fantasy setting for knights and ladies, up to the present day, as artists and their audiences have made Troy their own in a dialogue of art and ideas.