In Search of the Trojan War

Did You Know?

• C. Brian Rose considered the 1996 edition 'the best overall treatment in English of the evidence for the Trojan War.'
• The 1998 edition includes a new final chapter to take into account more recent developments in the search for Troy.

Outline

Following his earlier BBC series In Search of the Dark Ages, which aired from 1979 to 1981, Michael Wood created In Search of the Trojan War as his next major documentary project. While the earlier show devoted each episode to a different historical figure, this new six-part series focused all its episodes on a single person: Helen of Troy. Wood’s aim was to test how well the historical and archaeological evidence aligns with the story of the Trojan War.

He consulted a range of specialists, including Elizabeth French, George E. Mylonas, Colin Renfrew, and Donald F. Easton. The historical record of Asia Minor contains many cities that have been called Troy over time. Wood examines the evidence for each of these sites and compares them to Homer’s description of the city. His driving motivation was to investigate a legend, a character as deeply rooted in popular memory as King Arthur had been in his earlier series.

He sought Helen, the woman said to have launched a thousand ships. Yet Wood himself notes that romance leaves no trace in the archaeological record.