Troy
The legendary city in Asia Minor besieged by the Greeks for ten years in the Trojan War. Troy's fall — achieved through the deception of the wooden horse — is one of myth's defining moments.
The Story of Troy
Troy was a wealthy, well-fortified city near the entrance to the Dardanelles in what is now northwestern Turkey. Its walls, said to have been built by Poseidon and Apollo, were considered impregnable. Under King Priam, Troy was one of the greatest cities of the ancient world.
The Trojan War began when Paris, a Trojan prince, eloped with Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world and wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. The Greeks assembled the greatest military expedition the world had seen — over a thousand ships — and laid siege to Troy.
For ten years, the war raged without decisive victory for either side. The siege was finally broken by Odysseus's stratagem of the Trojan Horse: a hollow wooden horse left as a supposed offering, filled with Greek soldiers. The Trojans brought it inside their walls, and that night the Greeks emerged, opened the gates, and destroyed the city. Troy's fall became a symbol of the devastation of war.
Symbols
Fun Fact
In computing, a "Trojan horse" or "Trojan" is malware disguised as legitimate software — named after the deception that ended the war.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Ilium
🏛 placeGeography
The citadel of Troy, site of the legendary ten-year siege by the Greek forces
Corinth
🏛 placeCity of Sisyphus and Medea
Corinth was a wealthy trading city on the narrow isthmus connecting mainland Greece to the Peloponnese, associated with Sisyphus, Medea, Bellerophon, and Pegasus.
Abydos
🏛 placeGeography
An ancient city on the Hellespont famous as the launching point of Xerxes' bridge and the home of Leander
Mycenae
🏛 placeCitadel of Agamemnon
Mycenae was the great Bronze Age citadel in the Argolid, seat of King Agamemnon who led the Greek expedition against Troy — its Lion Gate still stands after 3,200 years.
Sicyon
🏛 placeGeography
An ancient city near Corinth claiming to be one of the oldest in Greece and site of Prometheus's sacrifice trick
Tyre
🏛 placeGeography
The great Phoenician island-city whose princess Europa was abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull
Argos
🏛 placecity-state, Peloponnese
One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and a major power in the Peloponnese, closely associated with the goddess Hera.
Thebes
🏛 placeCity of Cadmus and Oedipus
Thebes was the great city of Boeotia, founded by Cadmus who sowed dragon teeth, and the setting for the tragedies of Oedipus, Antigone, and the Seven Against Thebes.
Orchomenus
🏛 placecity, Boeotia
An ancient Boeotian city that was one of the wealthiest in Bronze Age Greece, rivalling Thebes and associated with the Minyans.
Salamis
🏛 placeGeography
An island in the Saronic Gulf where the Greeks won a decisive naval victory over Persia and where Ajax was king
Lycia
🏛 placekingdom, Anatolia
A mountainous region in southwestern Anatolia whose warriors fought for Troy and whose hero Bellerophon slew the Chimera.
Arene
🏛 placegeography
A city in Messenia associated with the Dioscuri and site of the twin heroes' early adventures.