Most scholars agree that the ancient city of Troy was located at today’s Hisarlik in northwestern Anatolia. However, some researchers have argued that the true location of Troy may have actually been at Pergamon, further south along Anatolia’s coast. According to this theory, the true location of Troy was hidden by the ancient Greeks, specifically those from the city-state of Athens (Athenians). What is the evidence for this theory, and does it stand up to scrutiny?
Issues with Hisarlik as the location of Troy
The main proponent of this theory is John Crowe, an independent researcher and author of The Troy Deception. He asserts that the original Troy was at Pergamon, not Hisarlik. Along with providing evidence in favour of his suggested site of Pergamon, Crowe supports his theory by highlighting issues with placing Troy at Hisarlik.
One of the main issues is that Homer describes a hot and a cold spring in the vicinity of Troy. While there are springs at Hisarlik, none of them are thermal. In fact, even ancient historians noted this issue. They observed that Ilium (the Troy of Classical Greece, at Hisarlik) did not have a hot spring. The general assumption was that it had disappeared through natural means.
Another issue is the supposed fact that there is no plain between Hisarlik and the beach, where the Greek forces would have camped. The coastline was much closer to Hisarlik in antiquity than it is today, placing Hisarlik beside the beach. This is a problem, since Homer clearly describes the Greek and Trojan forces fighting in the plain of Troy.
Furthermore, Crowe points out that Homer describes Troy as having a steep acropolis. In contrast, he claims that Hisarlik has no such acropolis. Another supposed issue is that Hisarlik is much too small to be Homer’s Troy.
Additionally, the Trojans were sometimes referred to as Teucrians. This appears to have been a name for the inhabitants of Teuthrania, near Pergamon, approximately 150km south of Hisarlik. Since Hisarlik is nowhere near Teuthrania, this argues against Hisarlik as being the true site of Troy.
Arguments in favour of Pergamon as Troy
Aside from highlighting evidence for why Hisarlik cannot be Homer’s Troy, John Crowe has also found evidence that supposedly points to a specific location elsewhere. According to Crowe, the real Troy was Pergamon in the ancient region of Mysia. This city is about 150km south of Hisarlik.
One of the primary pieces of evidence supporting this argument comes from a seventh-century BCE tale about the Trojan War, the Cypria. According to this account, the Greeks initially arrived at Teuthrania in Mysia, mistook it for Troy, and attacked it. They are then said to have returned home, although a storm scattered the fleet.
Eventually, the Greek forces rendezvoused at the port town of Aulis on mainland Greece. From there, they set off again to attack Troy, this time arriving at the correct place.
John Crowe argues that this is merely a false repetition of the story of the Trojan War. He notes that Homer does not appear to hint at the idea of the Greeks first attacking a city in Mysia by mistake. Therefore, he argues that Teuthrania, or a different nearby city, was the real, original Troy.
Furthermore, Homer refers to a part of the city of Troy as Pergamos. It is the name that he gives to Troy’s citadel. Based on this, Crowe argues that Pergamon was the real Troy. He also suggests that numerous features described by Homer can be seen in the vicinity of this city, unlike at Hisarlik.
How the Athenians hid the real location of Troy
Despite these arguments, Crowe cannot refute the fact that Homer’s Iliad definitely relies on Troy being at Hisarlik or a nearby location. Various details make that clear. One obvious fact is that the Scamander River supposedly flowed just past Troy. This matches Hisarlik, but not Pergamon.
However, Crowe gets around this problem by arguing that the Athenians altered Homer’s Iliad in the 6th century BCE. This is not outside the realms of plausibility, given that the Athenians had indeed standardized the Iliad’s text at that time. Therefore, they had the means and the opportunity. However, did they have a motive?
In the sixth century BCE, the Athenians were engaged in a dispute over the land of Sigeion. This was in the Troad, just next to Hisarlik. To support their claim that the land was rightfully theirs, they supposedly pointed to the fact that they had participated in the Trojan War, while their combatants, the Mytilenaeans, had not.
Hence, they altered the Iliad to place the land of Troy at Hisarlik, thus giving them the right over that land.
Issues with this theory
There are numerous problems with this theory under examination. For instance, many, if not all, of the objections levelled against Hisarlik do not really stand up to scrutiny.
Hisarlik was indeed very close to the coast in the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. However, there is no reason to believe that the Greeks had to have encamped right next to the city. In fact, common sense would argue against this. Scholars generally place the Greek camp to the west, at the base of Cape Sigeion.
With this in mind, there would indeed have been a large plain between the Greek camp and Hisarlik. As for the Acropolis, Crowe himself notes the following:
“Hisarlik is perched on the edge of a plateau overlooking the plain of the Mendere River. From the plain, it appears to be perched on the edge of a cliff.”
This certainly matches Homer’s description of a steep acropolis. Regarding Troy’s size, archaeologists have been aware of a vast lower city attached to the citadel of Hisarlik for years. What about the Trojans being alternatively known as Teucrians? This comes from the fact that Teucer was the dynasty of Troy’s legendary ancestor, for which reason the land was originally known as Teucria. It has nothing to do with the city of Teuthrania near Pergamon.
While the Athenians could potentially have altered the text of Homer’s Iliad, it is unthinkable that they could have erased all trace of Troy’s supposed true location from oral tradition and non-Homeric records.
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