01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 14, 2004

BY CATHY SCHULTZ
Special to the Journal

For an historian, the new film Troy presents a dilemma. The oldest and most detailed source about the Trojan War is Homer's Iliad. That 2,600-year-old classic interweaves realistic (and gory) descriptions of Greeks and Trojans in deadly combat with scenes of gods squabbling on Mount Olympus, intervening in the conflict, and engaging in cat fights with one another.

You see the problem.

Sticking faithfully to Homer, then, doesn't necessarily ensure historical accuracy. And although devotees of Homer may be appalled, director Wolfgang Petersen clearly aimed more for the latter when he dumped the meddling gods from his tale. His Troy is a very human story, with those basic themes from which history and myth derive their power -- love, hate, revenge, redemption.

And as befitting a classic tragedy, there are deaths. Lots and lots of deaths. Death by sword, death by spear, death by arrow, death by flaming fireball-- you get the idea.

But how close is Troy to actual history? Here's a guide to help viewers decide.

Was the Trojan War a real event?

It was regarded as a myth for years, but in the 19th century, inspired by the new science of archeology, Heinrich Schliemann began to excavate in northwest Turkey, at the ancient site of Hisarlik, long believed to be Troy.

In the 140 years since Schliemann's first dig, four major excavations there have uncovered compelling evidence that Troy, a sophisticated and powerful city with an extensive trading network, was indeed attacked by Mycenaeans (today's Greeks), resulting in its destruction around 1250 B.C.

So, did Helen, the "face that launched a thousand ships" really cause the war?

The myth (and the film) give that famous explanation for the cause. The beautiful Helen leaves her older husband Menelaus to run off with the hot young Prince Paris of Troy. Furious, Menelaus persuades his brother, King Agamemnon, to rally other Greek kings and heroes to attack Troy and win back the fair Helen.

But did Helen even exist? No one knows, but if she did, she might just have been a convenient excuse for the war. As the film shows, a more probable motive than Helen the golden girl was just plain gold. Troy was rich, and the Mycenaeans wanted to plunder its wealth and control its strategic trade location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.

Speaking of Helen, how did all those blondes get to ancient Greece?

Incongruous blue eyes and blond hair are everywhere among these Greeks, exemplified by the lovely Helen (Diane Kruger) and the equally lovely Achilles (Brad Pitt). Certainly the blondes in this Troy reflect modern Hollywood rather than historical accuracy.

But, interestingly, Homer does mention blond Greeks. The Iliad describes Achilles as yellow-haired, and other heroes and gods are described likewise. The goddess of love herself, Aphrodite, was always depicted with abundant golden hair.

Aphrodite's blond allure, in fact, encouraged some ancient Greeks to find creative ways to dye their dark locks blond. (Saffron and yellow mud were used; smelly but effective.) On the question, though, of whether Achilles was a natural or a dyed blond, Homer is silent.

Did Achilles' love interest, Briseis, exist?

She does in Homer. But in the Iliad she's not from Troy, but was captured in an earlier raid and given to Achilles.

Whether she ever actually existed, her presence in the story illustrates the fate of women in warring societies. When a city was sacked, the men were killed but the women were enslaved. Ancient Greek records reveal countless female slaves from conquered territories, who were forced to do manual labor for their conquerors and to service them in bed.

Didn't ancient Greek soldiers fight naked?

Uh, no. That was the Greek athletes in the Olympic games. But although these soldiers fight clothed, the film takes every opportunity to show off goodly amounts of masculine skin.

How about the Trojan horse? Is that myth or history?

Some scholars have speculated that the horse was actually a siege machine designed to break down the walls. But there's an intriguing new theory as well. Archaeologists have found evidence that a powerful earthquake occurred in ancient Troy, seemingly coinciding with its attack and destruction by the Mycenaeans. Perhaps Troy was rocked by an earthquake while under siege, which damaged its famously strong walls enough to be breached. The Greeks seized the opportunity and conquered the city. Then in gratitude to Poseidon, the god of earthquakes, the Greeks left him an offering in the shape of a huge horse, the symbol most associated with that god.

But while new theories continue to emerge, there's still much we may never know about the Trojan War, primarily because it occurred so long ago. Consider that when Alexander the Great made a pilgrimage to the ruins of Troy in 330 B.C., he was honoring an event already close to 1,000 years in the past.

What's a good source for more information?

Check out The Search for the Trojan War by Michael Wood.

Dr. Cathy Schultz teaches history at the University of St. Francis, in Illinois, and writes a syndicated column on historical films.