Abstract:

According to Homer, ancient ruins were still visible in the Trojan plain at the time of the famous war, and were considered vestiges of an older world. This essay—which is part of an ongoing investigation into the various strata of the past that interact within the Iliad—focuses on two of these ruins. Its aim is not to discuss historical or archaeological issues, but to analyse some of the legends that scholiasts and mythographers relate to these remains. I seek to contribute to a better understanding of how certain tales, to which the Iliad refers without explaining them in any detail, resonated in the earliest Homeric performances.