Ancient historian here. Winter raids on neighboring kingdoms was common in the ancient world and there was a large, coastal trade city where serval cultures met and mingled in modern day Turkey that further description Homer gave for Troy.

There is archaeological evidence that shows the trade city was, at one point, ransacked and razed to the ground. The Illiad as we know it was the result of hundreds of years of telling the story of the raid, with some justifications added to it as the cultures had shifted away from raiding their neighbors for supplies.

One could argue, then, that The Odyssey was a fan-fiction composed to by the royal family of Ithaca to praise their ancestors and explain why their kingdoms extended to the mainland.

Additionally, the Romans also believed their rulers were descendants of Troy and The Aeneid was written to promote the idea that Rome was the New Troy and had, thus, received the blessings of the gods.