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Sunday, June 10: Troy and the Crossing of the Dardanelles

Paul believed that the gospel of Jesus Christ was good news both for Israel and for the Greeks (Acts 14:1; 19:10; Rom 1:14-16; 1 Cor 1:22-24).  As an apostle to the nations from Israel, Paul engaged his Greek audience with the biblical narrative of the living God and his saving plan for humanity in Christ.  Paul’s preaching about Christ confronted a powerful, competing, cultural narrative in the minds of his Greek audience.  Today we will visit key sites that will help us to understand the audience that Paul addresses when presenting the gospel to the Greeks.  We will discover some surprisingly relevant dynamics for our own lives and ministries today.

We will set out from the coastal city of Çanakkale and journey north to the site of ancient Troy, a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Archaeologists have uncovered nine different levels at Troy, the earliest dating from the early Bronze Age (2920-2350 BC).  Troy VI (1300-1100 BC) is the city of Homer’s epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Iliad recounts the story of Priam, Helen, Paris, Achilles, and Agamemnon at the climax of the Trojan War.  The Odyssey presents the wanderings of the Greek hero Odysseus during his ten-year journey home after the successful completion of the Trojan War by his clever ruse of the Trojan horse.  For the Romans, Vergil’s national epic, the Aeneid, centers on the Trojan warrior Aeneas who escapes from burning Troy and after a long wandering journey eventually founds the city of Rome.

These literary works shaped the ancient Greek world and the history of Western civilization.  They elevate the heroic deeds of Achilles and Odysseus in the context of war.  They present the highest forms of cultural achievement are heroic battles, athletic competition, and exhilarating entertainment in the theater and stadium. These epic poems reveal a complex mythology of unpredictable and immoral gods who are to be feared, appeased, and honored with countless images and temples.

The site of ancient Troy has hosted many famous visitors long before our group arrives.  In 334 BC, Alexander the Great visited Troy after crossing the Hellespont with thirty thousand soldiers and five thousand cavalry. He hurled his spear on land and then offered sacrifices and danced around the tomb of Achilles, the hero of the Trojan War.  Alexander saw himself as a new Achilles and slept with a copy of Homer’s Iliad under his head throughout his campaign.  The Romans, especially the Julio-Claudian emperors also traced their ancestry to Troy and its hero Aeneas.  Caesar Augustus visited Troy in 20 BC and restored the temple of Athena.  The emperor Hadrian visited Troy in 124 AD and rebuilt the tomb of the hero Ajax.  Ancient Troy later captured the imagination of the pioneering German archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, who spent vast sums of his own money uncovering the treasures of Troy.  We will see a replica of the Trojan horse and climb inside for an epic view of the world.

Later in the day, we will cross the Dardanelles strait (known in antiquity as the Hellespont) by ferry.  This is the location of the famous crossing of the Persian king Xerxes. Ten years after the battle of Marathon, Xerxes (486-465 BC) vows to avenge his father Darius’ defeat. He conscripts the largest army ever assembled, with contingents from forty-six subject nations.  His naval forces number more than four thousand ships.  Before attempting to cross the dangerous waters of the Hellespont, Xerxes visits Troy and offers one thousand cattle to Athena.  As his massive force approaches the narrow waters that divide Asia and Europe, he orders two floating bridges to be built so that his army might walk across the sea. When a sudden storm breaks up the bridges and the powerful currents wash them away, an enraged Xerxes orders his commanders to lash the sea three hundred times with a whip for not obeying him. He drops iron shackles into the water for not yielding to his glory. He promptly beheads the builders and demands new bridges be made.  The Greek historian Herodotus records that it took seven days for the army to cross the strait.  Xerxes’ massive force would be decisively defeated at sea in the battle of Salamis and on land at the battle of Platea.

Paul and his missionary companions later crossed this very same cultural barrier into Europe in response to God’s call (Acts 16:10-11).  Unlike Xerxes centuries before, they do not cross at the head of an army forcibly recruited for the glory of man. They come with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ who willingly died to redeem all nations for the glory of God.
 
Key sites: Troy and the crossing of the Dardanelles

Key Scripture Reference:
Acts 16:1-11

Key Readings:
Peter Walker, In the Steps of Paul, chapter 7
Mark Wilson, Biblical Turkey, 384-387
David Palmer, CASKET EMPTY: God’s Plan of Redemption through History New Testament Study Guide, Pentecost part 2

Videos: 
2018 is the year of Troy
Brief introduction to ancient Troy

Michael Wood, a British author, has produced two award-winning documentaries that relate to our sites and topics of the day:
In Search of the Trojan War 
In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great


Ancient Troy

Walls of Troy

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