Troy

🚧 Work in Progress 🚧

## Setting / Design

The city of Troy is a location within the Burnt City. It comprises a town square with an Italian-style cafe, a high-end clothing boutique and several other shops, plus the entrance to the Palladium.

## History

The ancient city of Troy is thought to have been located near Hasarlik in modern-day Turkey. It is the setting of Homer's epic poem, the Iliad, which tells the story of the Trojan War. The war is said to have taken place around the 12th century BCE. The war was fought between the Greeks and the Trojans over the abduction of Helen, the wife of the Greek king Menelaus, by the Trojan prince Paris. The Greeks besieged the city of Troy for ten years before finally defeating the Trojans and sacking the city. However, it is still a matter of debate among scholars whether the events described in the poem are based on historical fact or are purely mythical.

The city of Troy was a major center of trade and commerce during the Bronze Age. It was located on the northwest coast of modern-day Turkey, near the entrance to the Dardanelles, a strategic waterway that connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. It was strategically located on a hill overlooking the surrounding plains, which made it a natural defensive position. The city was protected by a series of walls and gates, which were rebuilt and expanded over time.

The city of Troy was destroyed and rebuilt many times throughout its history. The layers of the city that have been excavated by archaeologists reveal evidence of multiple destructions and reconstructions, including one that may have been caused by an earthquake in the 12th century BCE.

It was first systematically excavated in Heinrich Schliemann, a wealthy German amateur archaeologist, in 1870. The excavation of Troy was one of the most famous archaeological projects of the 20th century. Schliemann believed that the city described in the Iliad was a real place and set out to find it. He conducted several excavations at the site, including one in which he claimed to have discovered the "Treasure of Priam," a collection of gold and silver artifacts that he believed belonged to the Trojan king.

Schliemann's methods were criticized by some archaeologists of his time, and his excavation techniques were not always careful or precise. However, he was successful in uncovering several layers of the city, which were identified as Troy I through Troy IX. Troy VI and VII are the most likely candidates for the Troy described in the Iliad.

In the 20th century, the site was excavated by a team led by Carl Blegen from the University of Cincinnati. Blegen's team used more scientific and systematic methods, which helped to clarify some of the confusion created by Schliemann's excavations.

## Interpretation in the show

Within the context of Troy, various references to the underworld can be found, including the presence of Hades and Persephone and locations described in the format XXX, which allude to the levels of the underworld as described in "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri. Additionally, Ciacco (The Cafe) is another reference to "The Devine Comedy" and Alighieri's department store is a reference to the poet himself.

The "Inferno" section of the "Divine Comedy" describes the nine circles of Hell, each corresponding to a different level of sin and punishment. Similarly, the city of Troy was constructed and demolished several times, with each layer signifying a different historical epoch and civilization. These layers were labelled Troy I through Troy IX by Heinrich Schliemann during his excavation.

The city of Troy, which was discovered to be built in layers by archaeologists, could be a metaphor for the levels of the underworld in the production. Also the cyclical nature of the destruction and rebuilding of Troy fit with the looping structure of the show and relates to the themes of death, rebirth, and the passage of time.