Historical Troy was in Eupatoria near the Amazon city of Themyscira on the Black Sea southern coast

 Historical Troy was in Eupatoria near the Amazon city of Themyscira on the Black Sea southern coast by Eulalio Diocson Eguia Jr.

This is the transcript to my Youtube video published on April 1, 2024.

The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology between the Achaean Greeks against the city of Troy. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology, and it has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. The core of the Iliad (Books II – XXIII) describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy. 

The historicity of the Trojan War, including whether it occurred at all and where Troy was located if it ever existed, is still subject to debate. Most classical Greeks thought that the war was a historical event. Around 1870 AD it was generally agreed in Western Europe that the Trojan War never happened and Troy never existed. Then Heinrich Schliemann popularized his excavations at Hisarlik, Çanakkale, which he and others believed to be Troy. As a result, today many scholars agree that the Trojan War is based on a historical core of a Greek expedition against the city of Troy. 

I am one of those who believe the Trojan war was a historic event, and that not just the location, but even all its main characters were historical. I will make a series of videos about the historicity of the Trojan war, and in this video, I will identify the location of Troy using Homer’s description of it as my guide. 

Penthesilea was an Amazon queen in Greek mythology, she assisted Troy in the Trojan War during which she was killed by Achilles. Because the Amazons were the allies of the Trojans during the war, I would like to believe that Amazon was located near Troy and that the Amazons thought that by defending Troy they would be defending their own homeland from the Greek invaders. Thus for me, the key to locating Troy is by first locating Amazon.

The ancient Greeks never had any doubts that the Amazons were, or had been, real. The Poet Bacchylides (6th century BC) and the historian Herodotus (5th century BC) located the Amazon homeland in Pontus at the southern shores of the Black Sea, and the capital Themyscira at the banks of the Thermodon (modern Terme river), by the modern city of Terme. And on this I agree, thus, I concluded that Troy must be located near the southern shores of the Black Sea and quite close to the Amazon capital Themyscira.

The Scamander River was the river that surrounded Troy. The Achaeans, according to Homer, had set up their camp near its mouth, and their battles with the Trojans were fought on the plain of Scamander. In Iliad Book 22 (lines  145-155), Homer states that the river had two springs: one produced warm water, the other yielded cold water, regardless of the season, and that near these springs the Trojan women used to wash their clothes. Homer further describes the Scamander as a large and deep river, and states that the Simoeis flowed into the Scamander, which after the junction still retained the name of Scamander. In other words, the Simoeis river is a tributary of the main river Scamander.

From these descriptions of Homer, I concluded that the city of Troy must be located near the conjunction of the two rivers Scamander and Simoeis, so that the Trojan women can easily and safely wash their clothes there without going too far from the city gates. Now is there an ancient city near the junction of two rivers that is located near Themyscira, the capital of the Amazons?

Eupatoria was a Hellenistic city in the Kingdom of Pontus just south of where the Lycus river flows into the Iris river, and also at the west end of the fertile valley of Phanaroea. It was the crossing-point of two great roads through the Pontus. This city is believed to be founded by Mithridates VI Eupator circa 120-63 BC. However, I believe he laid the foundation of his city on top of the ruins of a much more ancient city of Troy. Furthermore, Eupatoria, which is located near the junction of the Iris and the Lycus rivers, is only 65 kilometers from Themyscira, the capital of the Amazons.

The Lycus river is currently known as the Kelkit river. It is the longest tributary of the Iris river which is currently known as the Yeşilırmak river. And based on Homer’s description, the Lycus river was the Homeric Simoeis river and the tributary to the much bigger Iris river which was the Homeric Scamander river. The Lycus river rises in Gümüşhane Province which is surrounded by high mountains including the Zigana Mountain which has a ski center on it and is a well known touristic place for winter sports. 

The Lycus river, coming from the highest mountain of Gümüşhane Province, namely, the Abdal Musa Peak (with an elevation of 3331 meters), was the river that produced cold water all year round near the city of Troy. Gümüşhane Province is located at 40°23′17″N, and with this latitude the elevation of the snowline that produces a year round of snow on mountains in the northern hemisphere with moist weather, is just 2,400 meters high, or way lower than the 3331 meters elevation of Abdal Musa Peak.

Amasya is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. Amasya stands in the mountains above the Black Sea coast, set apart from the rest of Anatolia in a narrow valley along the banks of the Iris or Yeşilırmak River. There are 4 thermal springs in this city, namely the Terziköy, Gözlek, Hamamözü, and Ilısu thermal springs. These thermal springs are likely heated by volcanism which also explains the volcanic rocks found in Amasya. 

Because Amasya is located near a valley along the banks of the Iris river, if there was a canal or tunnel in the ancient past that redirected and connected these thermal springs to the Iris river,  it would explain why one of the rivers near Troy produces hot water all year round. A classic tale of oriental folklore is held to have taken place in Amasya about the nearby mountain Ferhat named for Farhad, the hero of the legend, who for love of the princess Shirin tried to win her father's favor and permission by tunneling through the mountain to bring spring water to his palace. Although it was not mentioned in the tale, it is more likely that this spring water was a thermal hot spring which Amasya is famous for.

The presence of a volcano near Troy explains the darkness covering the Sun that occurred near Troy contrasted to the brightness of the Sun near where the ships of the Achaeans were moored. This means also, that the city of Troy is located some distance away from the shoreline where the battles were fought. According to Homer, there was darkness when the Trojans and the Achaeans were fighting near the city over the dead body of Patroclus (the son of Menoetius), but brightness near the ships. And for me, only an ash cloud produced by a volcanic eruption near the city but far from the shoreline could explain this. The following is what the Iliad said about this incident. Note that the words in brackets are mine which I added for clarification:

Iliad Book 17 lines 366-375 & 395: Thus did they fight as it were a flaming fire; it seemed as though it had gone hard even with the sun and moon, for they were hidden over all that part where the bravest heroes were fighting about the dead son of Menoetius [near the city], whereas the other Danaans and Achaeans [near the shoreline] fought at their ease in full daylight with brilliant sunshine all around them, and there was not a cloud to be seen neither on plain nor mountain. 

These last moreover would rest for a while and leave off fighting, for they were some distance apart and beyond the range of one another’s weapons, whereas those who were in the thick of the fray suffered both from battle and darkness... The two sides tug the dead body hither and thither within the compass of but a little space—the Trojans steadfastly set on dragging it into Ilius [or Troy], while the Achaeans were no less so on taking it to their ships; 

Now if you look at where the Iris and the Lycus rivers join and where I also believe the city of Troy was built, it is 56.65 kilometers away from the nearest shoreline, where the mouth of the Iris river discharges its water into the Black Sea. If you still recall, the mouth of the Scamander river (which I believe to be the Iris river) was where the battle was fought between the Trojans and the Greeks, according to Homer. 

Furthermore, this long distance separating where the Greeks stationed themselves near the shore line from the city gates of Troy would explain how the Greeks were able to build the Trojan horse filled with warriors inside without being noticed by the guards of Troy’s city gates. Note also that the beach front which was used as the battleground of the Trojan war, has about 1,000 square kilometers of total land area, and this is big enough for the opposing warriors to be “beyond the range of one another’s weapons” according to Homer. This expansive beachfront may have been an important trade center in the past, and the Achaeans blocking access to it caused a severe economic pressure on the Trojans forcing them to battle the Achaeans far away from their city gates with the hope of repelling the Greek invaders.

Wine-dark sea is a traditional English translation of oînops póntos, from oînos ("wine") and óps ("eye; face"), a Homeric epithet used in the Iliad (see Book 1 line 345). A literal translation is "wine-face sea". In contrast to wine, water has a slight blue tint to it. However, if too much iron is present, even your drinking water can have a brown hue. Now as wines age, they can become oxidized, and when the pigmentation in wine gets exposed to oxygen, it turns brown just like drinking water with too much iron in it. Thus for me, Homer’s term “wine-dark sea” in describing the sea near Troy alludes to the dark brown color of the south side of the Black Sea, similar to aged wine, and caused by too much iron in the Black Sea.

The use of iron-bearing sands such as those of the Black Sea has often been thought of as an early source of iron ore by archaeo-metallurgists. The black sands of the south side of the Black Sea (where I believe Troy and the Amazon were located) are very extensive. They are also highly magnetic and quite a high proportion can be picked up with the aid of a small permanent magnet. The iron sands in the south side of the Black Sea causes its waters to turn brown like aged wine, which also explains why the Black sea is considered darker than the Mediterranean Sea.