The Trojan War story has inspired archaeological discovery and artistic adaptation across nearly three thousand years.

The myth of Troy and its wooden horse has proven remarkably durable. It inspired Heinrich Schliemann to excavate Hisarlık in 1870, leading to the birth of modern Troy archaeology. The story has been retold in Virgil's Aeneid, Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, Berlioz's opera Les Troyens, the 2004 film Troy, and countless other works. Whether literal truth or pure fiction, the narrative has shaped how Western civilization tells stories about war, deception, and hubris.