The Trojan War stands at the intersection of history and mythology in a way that makes it perpetually fascinating: there is enough archaeological and textual evidence to suggest it has some historical foundation, and enough mythological elaboration to make that foundation essentially unreachable.

The site of Troy (Hisarlik in modern Turkey) was identified by Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s, though his excavation methods were destructive and he initially misidentified the Homeric Troy. Subsequent excavation, particularly by Manfred Korfmann in the 1990s-2000s, has revealed a substantial city with nine main occupation levels. Troy VIIa (approximately 1200 BC) shows destruction by fire and possible violence, making it the most plausible candidate for a historical Trojan War.

The Linear B tablets from Mycenaean sites mention places in western Anatolia that correspond to locations in the Iliad. A land called 'Wilusa' (possibly Ilios/Troy) appears in Hittite records in a context of diplomatic dispute with Ahhiyawa (possibly Achaea/Mycenae). The presence of Greek mercenaries or traders in Late Bronze Age Anatolia is well-documented.

The Homeric poems themselves were composed centuries after any historical events they might reflect. The Iliad's world is a mixture of Late Bronze Age memories (bronze weapons, Mycenaean political geography), early Iron Age elements (iron tools mentioned as existing), and 8th-century BC Greek concerns. Using the Iliad as history requires constant awareness of this layered temporal structure.