When was the end of the Trojan War?

In our first column (see here), we have proven that Odysseus returned to his beloved Ithaka on the 30th October 1207 BC. Because it has taken Odysseus ten years to return home, the ten year long Trojan War must have raged from roughly 1227 BC until 1217 BC. But can we date the end of the Trojan War even more specific?

Can we find corroboration elsewhere in the works of Homer? Stavros Papamarinopoulos and his team think they can[1]. Homer’s Iliad recounts 52 days during the final year of the ten-year conflict.

[Mourners by the corpse of Patroclus]

The night before Patroclus’ death, the Trojans were compelled to make many fires in order to be able to observe the Achaeans’ possible manoeuvrers better because the night was pitch-black. That could signify a moonless night, because of a possible new moon, which is a prerequisite for a solar eclipse. Moreover, Diomedes and Odysseus heard the cry of a heron. Herons arrive to the northern Aegean Sea in the spring and stay there until the summer’s end.

Homer describes the battle, indicated that the time has reached at noon, as connecting it with the time in which the woodman has his meal. During this period, Patroclus was engaged in fighting with Sarpedon whom he eventually killed. Zeus then covered the battlefield by a destructive night, and Patroclus himself is slain by Hector.

[NASA's computers forgot there's no year 0]

The only possible partial solar eclipse was the one that happened on the 6th of June 1218 BC and that started at 14.10 local time. This means that indeed a slight kind of darkness is occurred characterized, by Homer, as 'night' (νύκτα) at noon.

But Achilles needs time to create a new shield and to be killed by an arrow to his only weak spot, his ankle, shot by Paris and guided by Apollo. Then the fabled Trojan horse must be made and implemented. These episodes must have taken a few weeks.

The end of the Trojan War can now be definitely set at the end of June 1218 BC. This date corresponds perfectly with the return of Odysseus to Ithaca on 4 November 1207 BC.

Part 1 of this series 'When was the Trojan War' can be read here.
Part 3 of this series 'The Trojan War and the Exodus' can be read here.

[1] Papamarinopoulos et al: A New Astronommical Dating of the Trojan War's End in Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry - 2014. See here.