Günay Uslu – författare

Homer's stories of Troy are part of the foundations of Western culture. What's less well known is that they also inspired Ottoman-Turkish cultural traditions. Yet even with all the historical and archaeological research into Homer and Troy, most scholars today rely heavily on Western sources, giving Ottoman work in the field short shrift. This book helps right that balance, exploring Ottoman-Turkish involvement and interest in the subject between 1870, when Heinrich Schliemann began his excavations in search of Troy on Ottoman soil, and the battle of Gallipoli in 1915, which gave the Turks their own version of the heroic epic of Troy.

There is no city in history more evocative than Troy. Since the famous poet Homer wrote his Iliad and Odyssey in the 8th century BC, many others have studied, reinterpreted, sung about and laid claim for themselves to the city, the war between the Greeks and the Trojans, and the famous Wooden Horse. Troy became a legendary lieu de memoire, and thus a city of poetry, painting, opera and film. But Troy actually existed as well: in 1871 the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found the remains of the city while excavating in Turkey. Archaeologists have exposed the city's history since the end of the 19th century. Troy. City, Homer and Turkey presents the latest insights and discoveries relating to both the historical and the legendary Troy.