Professor separates fact and fiction surrounding Trojan War

By now, a relatively large part of the population has heard of the movie "Troy" with Brad Pitt, but did Troy, and all of the personalities involved, actually exist?

UM-St. Louis Professor Michael Cosmopoulos discussed this issue in "Searching for the Kings of Trojan War," a lecture held on Saturday at the St. Louis County Library Headquarters.

Cosmopoulos is Hellenic Government-Karakas Family Foundation Professor in Greek Studies and Professor of Anthropology at the University.

The lecture was accompanied by slides, opening with the movie poster for "Troy" featuring Brad Pitt.

Cosmopoulos began with a joke for the audience, saying "Helen of Troy is the reason for Brad Pitt."

Cosmopoulos moved on to the archaeology of the Trojan War. He mentioned Heinrich Schliemann, giving the crowd a brief bio of the "Father of Bronze Age Archaeology." There was also mention of St. Louisian George E. Mylonas, a professor at Washington University , who excavated the ancient Greek city of Mycenae for years.

In getting into details of Greek mythology, Cosmopoulos started with Troy. He said that Troy was actually a very small city, and that the story of the famous Trojan Horse was actually a myth. He said that Troy was probably destroyed by an earthquake.

Poseidon, god of earthquakes, was symbolized by the horse, leading to the connection of the Trojan Horse.

The city of Mycenae was mentioned as the city that produced most of the Greek myths and heroes. Cosmopoulous brought up the idea that the mask of Agamemnon was actually the mask of Perseus, who slayed Medusa.

After thirty-five minutes of lecture, Cosmopoulos spoke about the UM-St. Louis summer course on archaeology in Greece, which can be taken for academic credit. During past trips, 45,000 artifacts have been uncovered. Cosmopoulos said the trip is not just hands-on field work, as it also involves working in museums and attending lectures on Greek art, archaeology, literature, culture and history.

Information can be found at www.greekstudies.org, or at www.iklaina.org.