Historically accurate to what? The era it might have been written in? The era it might have been set in? We don’t know if the Odyssey was really written by Homer and when he would have lived (ca. 8th century BC, possibly earlier?) nor do we know if and when the Trojan War really happened (14th to 12th century BC?).
What we do know is that the Iliad and Odyssey are not accurate historical accounts but fantasy stories that are loosely based on events that may or may not have happened centuries before they were written down.
It’s usually a choice you have to make to decide if you consider a historical Trojan war to be in the Iron Age or Late Bronze Age, but by default, it should be the Late Bronze Age - until you want to make armors that movie-goers will recognize and understand, in which case it has to be Iron Age. But anyone talking about historical accuracy for the Trojan war would be by default the Late Bronze Age since that’s when Homer said it happened, even if he tossed in descriptions of things that were definitely Iron Age - he was wrong. Like medieval Arthurian legends describing medieval castles instead of post-Roman Britain, they just don’t know better, and that’s okay. You can fill in the stuff you don’t know with what you know.
If you’re writing today a story about Julius Caesar, talking about historical accuracy would obviously be Roman Republic time, not modern day.
And it’s pretty sure that there was a Trojan war. Like, 3 or 4 of them, too, but especially 2, did happen. Obviously none of them involved a thousand ships sent for one face, and especially none of them involved Athena or Apollo butting in, but there were a few conflicts where the Acheans tried to stir shit up in the Troiades and the Hittites sent forces to defend Wilusa, and then it collapsed twice. There’s no one single war that matches what Homer described, it’s a whole era, but it happened.
Historically accurate to what? The era it might have been written in? The era it might have been set in? We don’t know if the Odyssey was really written by Homer and when he would have lived (ca. 8th century BC, possibly earlier?) nor do we know if and when the Trojan War really happened (14th to 12th century BC?).
What we do know is that the Iliad and Odyssey are not accurate historical accounts but fantasy stories that are loosely based on events that may or may not have happened centuries before they were written down.
Didn’t someone actually discover the ruins of the city of Troy?
It’s usually a choice you have to make to decide if you consider a historical Trojan war to be in the Iron Age or Late Bronze Age, but by default, it should be the Late Bronze Age - until you want to make armors that movie-goers will recognize and understand, in which case it has to be Iron Age. But anyone talking about historical accuracy for the Trojan war would be by default the Late Bronze Age since that’s when Homer said it happened, even if he tossed in descriptions of things that were definitely Iron Age - he was wrong. Like medieval Arthurian legends describing medieval castles instead of post-Roman Britain, they just don’t know better, and that’s okay. You can fill in the stuff you don’t know with what you know.
If you’re writing today a story about Julius Caesar, talking about historical accuracy would obviously be Roman Republic time, not modern day.
And it’s pretty sure that there was a Trojan war. Like, 3 or 4 of them, too, but especially 2, did happen. Obviously none of them involved a thousand ships sent for one face, and especially none of them involved Athena or Apollo butting in, but there were a few conflicts where the Acheans tried to stir shit up in the Troiades and the Hittites sent forces to defend Wilusa, and then it collapsed twice. There’s no one single war that matches what Homer described, it’s a whole era, but it happened.