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There were pretty extensive trading networks in the late Bronze Age[1]. I'm not sure what the accepted timeframe for the Trojan War is now, whether it is in tha
by douche 10y ago
There were pretty extensive trading networks in the late Bronze Age[1]. I'm not sure what the accepted timeframe for the Trojan War is now, whether it is in that late bronze age period or has been pushed up into the following dark age, but it does increasingly seem that voyages around Greece and the greater Mediterranean as in Homer would not be that unusual.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/1177-B-C-Civilization-Collapsed-Turning/dp/0691168385 https://www.amazon.com/1177-B-C-Civilization-Collapsed-Turni...
- tuomosipola 10y agoSea travel would have been the fastest and possibly safest way in any case.
- macintux 10y agoOdysseus' crew would beg to differ.
- trgn 10y agoSea faring is front and center in the Odyssey, and mentions the more mundane reasons why people would travel by boat; trading, pilgrimages, family reunions, ... It must have been dangerous for sure, but common experience as well.
- logfromblammo 10y agoAnd in that particular case, the sea travel took 10 years, rather than weeks or months. With favorable winds or strong oarsmen, a vessel can transit from the port on one island in the Aegean to another in days. With diesel engines, cruise ships can make those same trips overnight, while the passengers are sleeping. Seafaring ships and river boats were the highest-throughput way to transport soldiers and cargo for thousands of years, until one empire or another built an overland road and maintained it. Sea travelers had to deal with adverse weather and piracy. Land travelers had to deal with inconvenient terrain, adverse weather, taxes or tolls, banditry, and blisters.