Until 1300 BC about the Mycenaeans had succeeded in creating an empire, having under their control the trade of the Mediterranean. But then (around 1274 BC) an event of world-historical importance happened, the battle of Cades. Egyptians and Hittites clashed in this battle. The battle ultimately ended rather evenly, with many casualties for both combatants. Tactically the Hittites prevailed, but strategically the Egyptians were victorious, who managed to stop the Hittite expansion into Syria.
At the same time the failure began to cause tremors in the multinational Hittite Empire. The Hittite state was gradually confined to the central highlands of Asia Minor and Armenia, until it completely succumbed to the Assyrians a few centuries later. At the western end of Asia Minor, two state formations were created, that of Assuwa in the North and that of Arzawa in the South. Having escaped from the "guardianship" of the Hittites, these two states or confederations of states, developed and evolved into powerful naval forces in the Eastern Mediterranean area, challenging the primacy of the Achaeans in the Aegean.
Gradually the northern state of Assuba became the center of the western Asia Minor confederation. Its capital was not recognized as Troy, the Homeric Ilion. From its position, Troy controlled some of the most important trade routes of the time, and as a result it quickly became a powerful metropolis of the Greeks of Asia Minor. Gradually its influence extended to the European coast. The Cycones and Paeones – Thracian races – appear in the Epics as allies of the Trojans.
In fact, Herodotus in his seventh book mentions, comparing the campaign of Xerxes with that of the Trojans, that the latter had not only extended their influence in Europe, but had also brought under their control the whole of Thrace and Macedonia and had arrived as the Ionian Sea. In this way the Achaeans were even excluded from the land trade routes to the North and threatened with economic suffocation. It is easy to see that such a situation could not be tolerated by the powerful Mycenaean Empire. The Mycenaean anaktes – local governors in fact – sided with the emperor Agamemnon and attacked their own sex. One of the longest and bloodiest civil wars was just beginning.
Mycenae and Troy, the two great rival cities, like Athens and Sparta, lived parallel lives. Both were for a time considered mythological places, existing only in Homer's imagination. The persistence of some romantics, however, brought them to light again, resurrected them in the great book of History. The two cities were built around the same time, with Troy appearing slightly older. According to the famous archaeologist Blegen, Troy was founded in 3200 BC. All the archaeological evidence supports the acceptance of the opinion that it was founded by Lemnian settlers, from the famous Poliochni. Accordingly, Mycenae, the traces of the first habitation in which date back to around 3000 BC.
Deciphering the legend
After the abduction of Helen by Paris, which apparently indicates the Trojan naval raid against Laconia and the well-known events that followed, the Achaeans marched against Troy. They assembled their fleet and army at Aulis, opposite Euboia, and from there set out for Priam's castle. The legend says nothing about the plou, apart from the episode of Philoctetes. Then the Achaeans reached the Trojan shores, and with Protesilaus first (the first of the "people," i.e., of the army?), landed ashore. According to the prophecy, the first Achaean to set foot in Troas would fall dead.
Protesilaus knew the prophecy, but nevertheless he landed first and was killed first, by the Trojans, who were expecting the Achaeans, alerted by their outposts on the surrounding mountains. These are exactly what are mentioned in the pre-Iliad Cypriot Epics. All of the above, however, is nothing more than a "lyrical" rendering of reality. The abduction of Helen certainly indicates the naval raid of the Trojans against southern Greece, in the context of a general war, which was already underway, or simply the carrying out of a pirate raid which was the occasion, the last straw of the wrath of the Achaean.
Herodotus in his 7th book compares the campaign of Xerxes with a corresponding one of the Trojans, who came to control all of Thrace, Macedonia and perhaps the northern and central Aegean. The economically suffocating Achaeans, you should take for granted that they reacted to this expansion of their economic enemies – after all, all wars hide an economic motive behind them. The first battles of the war, perhaps undeclared until then, were certainly fought at sea.
It could not have been otherwise, since both rival coalitions had powerful navies. The Trojans, in this preparatory phase, would probably attempt to blockade their opponents on the Greek mainland, while the Achaeans in turn would attempt to break the blockade, engage their opponents by sea, and exploit an eventual victory by limiting them the Trojans in the Asia Minor peninsula and transferring the war to the "headquarters" of the opponent.
The Mycenaeans seem to have indeed emerged victorious from the naval conflicts and to have managed to regain operational control of the Aegean, but not of the Hellespont straits. Both Abydos and Sestos were, according to ancient sources, supply centers for the forces of Troy, through which supplies and reinforcements - Thracian allied detachments - reached the city.
The above conclusion is drawn, with relative certainty, from the fact that the Trojans, although they are said to possess a powerful navy, nevertheless did not do the least to intercept the Achaean armada outside their coasts. Even their chief architect, Phereclus, appears in the Iliad fighting and falling as a mere footman. But Hector also appears from Homer, in several passages of the Epic, reminiscing about the good old days when Trojan ships crossed the seas.
"...So you are like that, with endless stories that you sailed to the point gathering faithful partners, and mingling with foreigners you brought a wise woman from a distant land, the bride of spearmen..." (C 46-49, mtf K. Doukas). Also indicative of the siege is the passage where Hector complains about the prolongation of the war, which resulted in the sale of valuable objects:"For before Priam the city was called by mortal men multi-gold and multi-copper. Now many relics have been lost from the buildings, and many went to Phrygia and beautiful Maionia to be sold..." (S 288-292, mtf. K. Doukas)
This is what the great Hector exclaims to his cowardly brother Pari, when the latter was afraid to face Menelaus and Polydamatas. The Trojans therefore did not attempt to intercept the Achaean armada because in all probability their fleet had been destroyed before. It is also impressive that neither in the Catalog of Ships, nor anywhere else, are passages from the Cyclades or the other islands of the Aegean - except for Crete and the Dodecanese - mentioned. This element leads to two possible conclusions.
Either that the Aegean islands had allied themselves with the Trojans, and their armies and fleets were destroyed by the Achaeans, before their invasion of Troad, or that some at least of these islands were under the control of Crete, or of other Achaeans retriever. The fact that operations preceded the landing in Troas, even in Asia Minor, is now clear. Both the Cypriot Epics and passages of the Iliad speak of them. There the campaign of the Achaeans in Teuthrania (Mysia) is mentioned, before the Trojans, as well as Achilles' reference to the pre-campaign events - "With the ships and castles twelve I set foot on, and eleven I say on foot, passing through the fruitful Troas" (G 328-329 mtf. Kazantzakis – Kakridis).
Other parts of the epics speak of the capture of Lemnos, Tenedos and Imbros by the Achaeans. In Tenedos, Philoctetes was bitten by a snake, and in Lemnos, the advanced logistics base of the Achaeans, he was abandoned. At Tenedos the Mycenaean fleet was also covered after its feigned departure from Troy. Lesbos was also captured by the Achaeans before landing in Troad. This is confirmed by another passage of the Iliad, where Agamemnon offered Achilles "seven beautiful captive Lesvides" (I 128-130). After regaining naval dominance in the Aegean, the Achaeans had enough time at their disposal to prepare and move for Troy. The Trojans with their fleet destroyed could only wait for them.