Author’s Note 2

In writing this series, my goal was to take a holistic approach in retelling the Trojan War–to incorporate historical data, cutting-edge archaeological research, and classical sources like Homer and Virgil. By blending those elements with an understanding of human nature, I plan to tell the personal story of the people who lived so long ago, the people who inspired the myths. In Heroes of the Trojan War, the Gods don’t walk the earth, but the people who prayed to them do. Hopefully, my readers will experience the ancient world from a grounded, fact-influenced perspective that closely reflects the experience of our Bronze Age ancestors.

Homer’s “Illiad” was more than mythology. It was a recanting, albeit fantastical, of an actual historical event. Since no piece of history stands in isolation, to fully depict the significance of the Trojan War, it is crucial to explore the greater, international world of the Late Bronze Age–not just Mycenae and Homer’s “Grecified” version of Troy. I had to consider the influence of the other “Super Powers” of that time, among which Egypt was certainly a major player.

Fortunately, for the purposes of this novel, more of Egyptian culture has been preserved than possibly any other ancient society. By studying Egyptian history, I learned that in 1200 BC, the entire world–not just Greece and Troy–was on the brink of war. Rameses II, whom biblical lore often paints as the weak Pharaoh who unwilling set free his Hebrew slaves, was in fact one of the greatest rulers of Egypt. His wars of conquest capped several hundred years of Egyptian domination into the Near East. With his death, came a vacuum of power… where mercenaries, drought, famine, and civil war wrecked havoc in Egypt, ultimately ending the powerful 18th Dynasty–a period of time that coincides with the Grecian invasion at Troy.

It should not be surprising, then, that the people of the Nile left us their own version of the Trojan War, of the impact of the “Egyptian Aphrodite” who visited their shores, and of Egypt’s role in that international incident. Herodotus, the first Western historian who lived circa 600 BC (some 200 years after Homer), discovered those tales, and they told a different version of Helen and Paris’ fateful journey, one that deeply conflicts the mythology told by the Greeks. Those accounts greatly inspired “The Princess of Prophecy”.

As I continue to write the series, I look forward to highlighting other ancient cultures of the Late Bronze Age: of the nomadic Israelite clans across Canaan, of the fearsome warriors of the Hittite Empire, of the rebel coalition members of the Anatolian Assuwa League, and–of course–of the mysterious Sea Peoples, whose war-path unmade the ancient world. The Golden Era of Grecian Heroes has a place amongst a larger story, and I am excited to explore it. Hopefully, with passionate characters and intense drama, this series will shed an intimate light on one of the most pivotal moments in human history.

I am indebted to my many mentors and professors at Berkeley, to my time excavating at Tel Dor–an actual settlement for people displaced by the Trojan War–and the vast network of scholarly work available for public review. In particular, I’d like to highlight the work of Eric H. Cline, whose publications have been tremendously insightful, and to Vangelis Pantazis, who has dared to challenge assumptions held by the academic community. For any budding historians, I highly recommend checking out the publications at academia.edu.

Thank you for your interest, and I hope you enjoy the book!