World at War  /  Conflicts  /  Greek Mythology
Wars of the Olympians

Trojan War

1194–1184 BC Troad Status: ended Casualties: Troy razed; nearly all heroes of the age

Ten-year siege of Troy after Paris took Helen from Sparta. The wrath of Achilles, the fall of Hector, the death of Achilles by Paris's arrow, the wooden horse of Odysseus, the night sack of the city. Homer, Iliad; Virgil, Aeneid; Epic Cycle.

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Belligerents

  • Achaeans (Agamemnon, Achilles, Odysseus)
  • Trojans (Priam, Hector, Paris) & allies

Casualties

Troy razed; nearly all heroes of the age

Key events

  • Judgment of Paris
  • Sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis
  • Wrath of Achilles; death of Patroclus, Hector
  • Death of Achilles; the Wooden Horse
  • Sack of Troy on a moonlit night

Aftermath

The Nostoi — homecomings — became the Odyssey and Aeneid; Greek heroic age judged to end with the war's last survivors.

Weapons & matériel

  • Bronze spears, ash-shafted
  • Achilles's armour forged by Hephaestus
  • The wooden horse

Sources

  • Homer Iliad, Odyssey
  • Epic Cycle (Cypria, Aethiopis, Iliupersis, Nostoi)
  • Virgil Aeneid
From World at War, an interactive atlas by Jairus Pereira. Figures are approximate, drawn from Wikipedia, UCDP, ACLED and academic sources — a design artefact, not an authoritative register. Contact.