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TED-Ed

TED-Ed

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Did ancient Troy really exist? - Einav Zamir Dembin

Video Overview & Insights

If you enjoy this lesson, we highly recommend reading "Fallen Glory: The Lives and Deaths of History's Greatest Buildings." Discounted e-book versions available here: https://amzn.to/2LL50Zk

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View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/did-ancient-troy-really-exist-einav-zamir-dembin

No, it did not

— @richarddecredico6098

When Homer’s Iliad was first written down in the eighth century BCE, the story of the Trojan war was already an old one. From existing oral tradition, audiences knew the tales of the long siege, the duels outside the city walls, and the trick that finally won the war. In the end, the city was burned to the ground, never to rise again. But had it ever existed? Einav Zamir Dembin investigates.

Lesson by Einav Zamir Dembin, directed by Cabong Studios.

Anyone here in 2026 july after watching the Odyssey

— @melvinemanuall2455

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More User Perspectives

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It's like Solo Leveling did happen

@ClowReedx
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Na I reckon it’s just fiction from homers books

@taraishot100
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odisey ajggg wkwkwkkw

@fauzanrizky6144
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Why didn't they use lydar

@ThomasBecht-w7y
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Cool

@vikalptrivedi1218
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Since Jr. High school I've found it unlikely that Priam would've fallen for such an obvious trick. A wooden horse big enough to hide even a small group of soldiers would not have been taken inside the city. It's not like it's a Qatari bribe, I mean gift to our glorious president.

@noamchoseed9665
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Who’s watching this after watching “The Odyssey”? 😂

@spacejosh20
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The way that sounds is that they said, “it may not be, but we can’t prove it either way, so close enough, let’s just say we found it”

@ADEpoch
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Its literally a unesco site. Of course it exists

@neilg981
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0:41 say it again...

@trojanhorse1247
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Just watched Odessey, and now I just discovered the fort city actually existed, now that makes me wonder whether the kingdoms and islands of other ancient epics also exist! Like the ones in Indian epic like Ramayan and Mahabharat!😅

@mrinmoybanik5598
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@fasdert3250
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Every mythology is based on real communities and locations but the stories are ofc fictional

@_sayandas
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Who is here after watching Odyessey

@9025ram
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Who is here after watching Odysseus?

@diode7863
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Anyone else got this recommended after watching The Odyssey?

@zmoly7
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No one knew the site of Troy or where Alexander was buried, but some people managed to find a passport of a terrorist at ground zero!

@SpiderC-666
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Çıplak

@travistatman
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Yes, Im norwegian and a large portion of scandinavians believe they are trojan descent from king priam, as snorri sturluson wrote. Vidar is who romans called Aeneas , the half brother of Thor and he went on to found Rome instead

@queenmirandaX
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Homer told us

@scanningtheworldhistory
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The simple answer is yes.

@ellie8721
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I've been to troy.. worth the visit.

@stephensmith1794
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NO

@JetEngine85
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If I saw Achilles calling out my name I’d be apologising from the top of city wall

@Jonsnow-gy8vm
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Did ancient Troy really exist? - Einav Zamir Dembin

@almaisaks
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Bc/Ad

@kevindashid
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Troy exists, not a myth anymore. There are tons of artifacts, walls, houses etc found. Search in google

@joeshar.
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What’s with this ai stuff ?

@somersfamily
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It’s also a question of whether Odysseus was a real person. Or atleast based on a real person.

@Azaelris
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My dad gave me crazzy lore aprintly he read both epics HOW

@Vivienne_nighthawk
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What if Troy wasn’t just a city… but a recurring pattern in human history — where myth, pride, and power always collide?

@AIChroniclesEchoesoftheLos
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King Priam Lucifer's Pet

@trazyntheinfinite1961
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Ofcourse it did, wake up to yourselves

@anthonyb-65
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we have never found troy

@taylortrash
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3:00 turn on subtitles

@Rhodizites
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It would be absolutely bonkers if they unearthed a preserved giant wooden horse one day (let me dream) in one of the other mounds...I feel like if any part of it was true, the soldiers-in-a-big-a$$-horse-trick would have been far too fantastical and crazy to have been made up lol

@mmsizzlak
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I believe Troy is Existed

@artistttam
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It was definitely a real place but it wasnt in the Mediterranean "where troy once stood" makes a very nice case for the actual location being Britain.

@laszlokiss483
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Thank you ❤

@pinatajuju4471
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H

@collt091
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Yes

@twitchfindergeneral2958
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I'm addicted to this channel

@akankshyanayak9045
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this was 6 years ago, since then I have heard that the higher, upper layers, reflected a sort of historical recreation to essentially recreate the battle, over and over, a sort of Disney World in ancient times. One with chariots with actors portraying Hector and Achillies, and big wooden horses filled with actors. This ran for maybe 200 years or so, they say that Constantine halted the business, because it was Pagan in nature, as was Troy itself. But people apparently would go and see where their ancestors fought, and perhaps they knew details, like where his boat was drawn up, and what part of the wall they fought near? Sort of how people visit Gettysburg or even Waterloo today. Wonder if they may reopen it now that they know more???? They know Priam existed due to a treaty he signed.....what about Hector, Paris, Helen, Achillies, Ulyesses, Agamemnon, which ones were fables and which ones were real? Some people above have been called, "Demi-Gods". The plot thickens....

@brianuphoff8945
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Relaxing

@vampy681
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Fail from the first 5 second. The illiad is believed to composed in the 8th BC and it was sang orally.
It was first written down in the 6th 5bc.

Thats TED ed for you. A bunch of pretentious idiots pretending to educate us while they don't know anything themselves.
They only use what they can find on Wikipedia and they dont even read that carefully 😂

@nikifora.738