Troy is best known for the war that took place there, which is described in the ancient Greek epic poem The Iliad, written by Homer.

The Iliad was probably written in the 8th or 9th century BC. There are also references to Troy in another of Homer's works, The Odyssey. The legend was also used by the Roman poet Virgil in his epic poem The Aeneid, published in 17 BC. The Trojan story was also the leitmotif of the modern Polish drama Odprawa posłów greckich, written by Jan Kochanowski in 1577.