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Troy

By N.S. Gill, About.com

Definition: Troy was a prosperous trading center from the third millennium B.C. It is thought to be on the mound of Hissarlik on the Aegean coast of Turkey. Heinrich Schliemann started excavating there in 1870 and found a site that he believed was Homer's Troy. Later, archaeologists Wilhelm Dörpfeld and Carl Blegen uncovered other levels which they believed more probable locations for Homer's Troy.

Troy was the site of the Trojan War. This was the legendary battle fought by the Achaeans (Greeks) against the Trojans as a result of the theft of Helen of Sparta by the Trojan prince Paris (Alexandros), and described in the epic poems attributed to Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey, as well as other poems of the epic cycle.

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Also Known As: Ilium, Ilion, Troia

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