Heinrich Schliemann
Ancient Greek Mythology, Religion, Art
« Back to Last Page | Photos: Mythology, Religion, Art in Troy »
The Greek Bronze Age lasted from about 3000 BCE through 1000 BCE. As late as the 19th century CE little to nothing was known about this era except what was written in ancient legends, for example the Illiad by Homer. Scholars, however, tended to attribute little in the way of credibility to such tales. A few Cyclopean Walls at couple of locations had been identified, but almost no one thought that they had anything to offer historically.
Today, however, all that is different. Current scholarship recognizes that a significant amount of what can be found in Homer might have a basis in fact, and all of that is due to the obsessive work of one German amateur archaeologist: Heinrich Schliemann.
Born to the family of a poor German parson, Schliemann made his fortune in commerce - first through buying and selling during the California Gold Rush and then during the Crimean War. Being a merchant, however, was not his goal - finding Troy was. Schliemann believed that the stories in Homer were true and was convinced that he could prove it, so he used his fortune to finance expeditions to ancient sites in order to dig out the past.
Schliemann and his wife uncovered several ancient cities, including Troy and Mycenae. No one believed them until they actually made their discoveries - unfortunately, they didn't quite do everything they had intended. In Troy, for example, Schliemann drilled down through several cities built during different eras. The one he finally settled on, the oldest, was actually older than the Homeric city which he missed.
At other sites Schliemann's lack of proper training was made evident by the lack of proper records and failure to distinguish between older and newer artifacts. He damaged as much as he found and, had a proper excavation been done under modern standards, we might know even more now than we do. Still, the degree to which he advanced our knowledge and appreciation of the ancient world cannot be denied or dismissed, whatever his faults and errors.
« Back to Last Page | Photos: Mythology, Religion, Art in Troy »
