Has anybody considered that Helen of Troy was not a real person but rather a religion?

by [deleted]
eighthgear

The Trojan Wars are mythical. There might have been some sort of real conflict that served as the basis for the myth, but whether that was or wasn't doesn't really matter - the Trojan War as depicted in works such as the Iliad is a work of mythology, and as such, is open to interpretation. Historians don't see Helen of Troy as a "real person," they see her as a mythological character.

Also, the Greeks thought that the Trojan Wars occurred sometime around the 13th or 12th century BC. We do at least know that the city of Troy existed at that time (Troy VII). We don't know if Carthage or a city on the site of what would become Carthage was around at that time.

Randally2

As a matter of politic I’d never flatly say “no” to any question, but I think there are a lot of things you should look at regarding the conflict with the Trojans:

First, are there any similar cases of an entire religion being personified in such a manner, but specifically in the Homeric tradition? I really don’t think there are, but why would they choose to use Helen of Troy as a proxy anyway? Much later, Thucydides doesn’t use anything like that, describing the Peloponnesian Wars in purely political terms.

Another question of comparative lit here, why aren’t the Trojans in Homer’s Iliad described in Punic terms? Hector and Paris certainly don’t seem to match any contemporary descriptions of Phoenicians/Carthaginians.

The biggest problem is with dating here. The Trojan War is believed to have taken place somewhere around 1240-1260 B.C.E., whereas the historical founding of Carthage took place roughly 650 B.C.E. That alone makes what you’re saying very improbable.

Lastly, the settlement considered to be Troy, found by Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s, lies in Asia Minor, fitting more tightly with the Homeric narrative than North Africa. Furthermore, proceeding archeological work sustains the fact.

So, this is as close to a flat “no” as I’m gonna get.

Aerandir

Please remember we have a rule against soapboxing. Submissions can only be legitimate questions, not prompts for users to review your own views on history.