This week we'll finish looking at the end of the Bronze Age, including the story of the Trojan War, the various legends about the homecomings of the Greeks at Troy, and the Return of the Descendants of Heracles. Then we'll take a look at what the poems of Homer can tell us about military life in the 'Dark Age'.

1. Required readings:

Read the section "The Return of the Heraclidae" in your course packet.

Read Hdt. 1.56

Keep in mind that the 'Dorian Invasion' is alleged to have taken place in the late 12th century B.C. The sources we are looking at are at best over 600 years later. Note that although Diodorus (1st century B.C.) and Apollodorus (1st or 2nd century A.D.) are much later than Herodotus, but had available to them sources that were much closer to Herodotus' day.

If you haven't had the chance yet, be sure to read Sage pp. 1-18. Continue on in Sage to p. 24.

2. Recommended reading:

Burn 61-82

Homer, Iliad

I doubt anyone is going to want to read this work in its entirety, though it's certainly something everyone should do at some point in their lives. Book 2 is not particularly exciting, but we'll talk a little about the 'Catalogue of Ships' that it contains. Books 5, 13, 16, 19 and 22 are partcularly rich in combat scenes; have a look if you care to.

Other works of ancient literature about the aftermath of the Trojan War include Homer's Odyssey and Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy of plays (especially his Agamemnon). I'll be summarizing the legends in class, though, so there's really no great need for you to read them unless you're especially interested.

3. Suggestions for further study:

R. Drews, The End of the Bronze Age (Princeton 1993).

M. Wood, In Search of the Trojan War (New York 1985).

M. I. Finley, The World of Odysseus (Harmondsworth 1978)

A. J. B. Wace and F. H. Stubbings, edd., A Companion to Homer (New York 1962)

H. L. Lorimer, Homer and the Monuments (London 1950)