Assess the evidence that suggests that there was a war at ‘Troy’ in the Late Bronze age and discuss the likelihood the ‘Helen’ was the cause of that war. What provides doubt as to the authenticity of the events described in Homer’s epic poem The Iliad is the author’s supposed bardic profession. It would have been more likely than not for bards such as Homer to have favoured fiction over fact when attempting to entertain their upper class audience with a compelling story. While some aspects of Homer’s story do appear to be in the realm of fantasy, an ever increasing pool of evidence supports the idea that there was indeed a war at Troy (referred to by Homer as Achaia) during the Late Bronze Age. Since its 19thcentury discovery, there have been archaeological finds at the ancient citadel (Layer VI) as well at the Greek City of Mycenae that heavily suggest this.
The First Punic War took place in 264 BCE as a result of hostilities in Sicily. In 289 BCE, the Greek city of Messana, located in Northern Sicily, was seized by Campanian mercenaries. By 264 BCE, the Greek tyrant of Syracuse attempted to drive the mercenaries out of the island. In response, the Campanians looked to the Carthaginians, who had a colony located in western Sicily, for naval support. After the siege was lifted, the Carthaginians kept their navy in the harbor of Messana.
The involvement of Athens and Eretria in the Ionian revolt according to Ehrenberg “put Athens into the center of the unfolding story of the Persian wars”. Herodotus agrees, stating that the dispatch of the ships from Athens and Eretria was “the beginning of the evil for both Greeks and barbarians.” The conflict brought about strong feelings from Athens toward Persia that were carried into future battles. Herodotus records that “the whole episode was probably most important for the later attitudes which it engendered.” The Greeks were motivated into defending their land from the Persians after seeing the fate of the Greeks in Ionia. They knew that if they were conquered according to Ehrenberg that “the freedom of the Greek states would be lost.” Public support in Athens against Persia was gained due to the fate of Miletus. Many Athenians felt that more help should have been provided to protect the cities destruction.
At the beginning of the period of interest, that is, the beginning of the 5th century Athens is one of the most powerful Greek city states attempting to gain support of other States. Through the Persian Wars they build up their reputation as a protector of the Greek states until near the end of the period where the Athenian empire is formed with allies becoming subjects to the more powerful Athens. Throughout this period Athens built alliances made enemies that led to Athens eventual downfall. The Ionian revolt in 499 BC can be seen as a first attempt by Athens to gain support from Greeks in Asia Minor as Athens provided assistance to the Ionian Greeks in liberating them from Persian occupation therefore allowing them to gain their autonomy back. At this time the Greek states were continually at war with one another and there was no unity between them.
The Peloponnesian War erupted from 431-404 BCE between the Spartans and the empire of the Athenians. Prior to this war the two enemies were allies against the Persians, but turned on each other. Reasons for this war were, power, greed, and treason between the two armies. Both of these powers wanted to be the most powerful and this caused a conflict amongst themselves. Athenians had been in previous wars and as time progressed it was clear that Athens had to be rebuilt, as the reconstruction process proceeded the Athenian empire began to dominate their allies politically and economically.
To what extent has textual form shaped your understanding of conflicting perspectives? In any text, conflicting perspectives of events, characters and situations create interest and textual complexities. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is an example of a text that is built heavily upon conflicting perspectives, using Caesar’s historic assassination as a catalyst for the exploration of the qualities of leadership and strength. Through a number of monologues and speeches, Shakespeare constructs varied perceptions of a number of important characters and events which highlight the complexities of human nature. Through these conflicting perspectives, the textual form of Julius Caesar creates greater interaction with the audience.
The Peloponnesian War What was the Peloponnesian war you ask? The Peloponnesian War took place in Greece 431-404 B.C. the war was between two of Greece's top city states, Athens and Sparta. Though this was a twenty-seven year war, during the first ten years the battle took place in mainland Greece. So, how did the war start?
The 1st Punic War is both powers growing and expanding while the 2nd Punic War is one man’s fight Hannibal against Rome and Carthage’s hatred towards Rome. Hannibal will forever be known as Rome’s greatest enemy. Since the East is off limits because of they’re power and Rome has taken it’s islands this pushes Carthage further west to take most of Spain led by Hamilcar. Remembered as one of Carthage’s greatest military leaders. After Hamilcar’s death Hasdrubal takes over which is the son of Hamilcar and takes over Spain for Carthage.
The Spanish American War and the current ongoing War on Terror (Afghanistan and Iraq) have drawn many parallels from each other. The biggest comparison of the two time periods involves the publicity originated from the slogans “9/11 We Will Never Forget” and “Remember the Maine!”. Although these examples are both tragic events from the explosion of the USS Maine and the destruction of the Twin Towers, both are considered prominent examples of the American media’s role in the wars. By using large misleading headlines and over dramatic story lines, the truth could be altered into propaganda to spark war tension. The more dramatic a story was, the more attention and money it would gain.
A true war story is hard imposed challenge by the one who tells it, the reason for this is because many factors come into action that could affect the stories credibility. In the book “The Things They Carried” the author, Tim O’Brien, writes in ones of the chapters how a true war story should be done and all the things that could affect how it goes. In example how emotions could get in the way of changing the path that a story takes. Imagination, invention, wartime conditions, and emotions affect a war story and in could turn one from true to a made up one. When someone is in war or comeback from war some of their stories about it are probably going to be exaggerated or partially made up.