I really enjoyed how in class yesterday, we all seemed to be on the same side, for the first time EVER.
On the question of the Turkish site of Troy, and whether or not it's ok to display it in a certain way (i.e.- the Troy of Homer's Iliad, as opposed to what it may have actually been), I was amazed with myself that I found it ok. As I heard Dr. Greene mention how it's infectious to want to get into the fake Trojan horse, and how people bring their books and walk around assuming that certain events happened in certain places, I found myself thinking about my favourite books, and how I would probably do and feel the same way. When I had the chance to go to England, I was thrilled to visit the actual sites of my favourite author, Jane Austen. I went to the house she used to live, I visited her grave. I was thrilled by this, but if I had been in England a little longer, I would have loved to visit Bath and Lyme and all those other marvelous counties where her works take place, just so that I could imagine my fictitious characters running around these towns. In my case, it's also partly that I would get to see the places that my dearest author loved so much.
The difference with Homer's Troy, to me, is that I wonder what he actually knew of the city Troy, if anything at all. He probably never went there, but we'll never know. For these reasons, it's not ideal to allow for this depiction of the site, as it does a great injustice to the people that actually lived there at the time, what their homes were like, etc. Having never been at the site, I cannot honestly say how much of the "truth" is visible, but I think that the representation of Homer's Troy can do little harm, as people know (or should know) that events did not transpire in the exact way that Homer depicts.
In the end, for me, as long as people know truth versus fiction, it's ok to use this site in a particular way.
On the question of the Turkish site of Troy, and whether or not it's ok to display it in a certain way (i.e.- the Troy of Homer's Iliad, as opposed to what it may have actually been), I was amazed with myself that I found it ok. As I heard Dr. Greene mention how it's infectious to want to get into the fake Trojan horse, and how people bring their books and walk around assuming that certain events happened in certain places, I found myself thinking about my favourite books, and how I would probably do and feel the same way. When I had the chance to go to England, I was thrilled to visit the actual sites of my favourite author, Jane Austen. I went to the house she used to live, I visited her grave. I was thrilled by this, but if I had been in England a little longer, I would have loved to visit Bath and Lyme and all those other marvelous counties where her works take place, just so that I could imagine my fictitious characters running around these towns. In my case, it's also partly that I would get to see the places that my dearest author loved so much.
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| Reconstruction of Troy |
In the end, for me, as long as people know truth versus fiction, it's ok to use this site in a particular way.
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