One of Schliemann’s earliest

Schliemann was the son of a disgraced Protestant pastor. Family circumstances necessitated he take a job as a day labourer in a grocery store but this ended when he burst a blood vessel in his back while lifting a heavy barrel. Reduced to poverty, he decided to migrate to Venezuela, but the ship that was to carry him there capsized in rough seas off the coast of the Netherlands. 70 people perished in the accident. Schliemann was one of the few survivors. He was transported back to Amsterdam where he began to work as a clerk for B.H. Schroeder and Co. He quickly rose through the ranks thanks, in part, to his facility with languages. At the age of 24 or 25 Schliemann was posted to St. Petersburgh. Several years later, he traveled to California where he made a small fortune buying and selling gold dust from prospectors. He was forced to make a speedy departure when he was accused of improper dealing. Back in Russia, he married a rich merchants daughter with him he had three children. He continued his business activities, becoming the supplier of raw ingredients for gun powder to the Russian army during the Crimean War. But even as he engaged in various business ventures, his thoughts were turning towards something entirely different – ancient Troy.

Since boyhood he had been fascinated by the stories in Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey, so much so that he learned to read them in the original Greek. Since then, his interest turned towards archaeology, which was only then beginning to come into its own as a discipline. His first taste of archaeology came from several days of digging in the Roman city of Pompeii, the first ancient site to be excavated in the modern era. Was it possible, Schliemann wondered, that Troy was also lying hidden waiting to be rediscovered, just as Pompeii had been? These were not the idle musings of an academic. Schliemann intended to find Troy, and he was willing to spend his considerable fortune in pursuit of it. He was now in his mid-forties, wealthy and independent. As a first step, Schliemann made the remarkable decision of enrolling at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he studied everything he could find about the ancient Greeks.

His search for Troy culminated in a meeting with the English diplomat, Frank Calvert, who had lived for many years in ‘the Troad’ and, what more importantly, knew where to find ancient Troy. Calvert’s theory on Troy’s whereabouts differed from that of the concensus, which placed Troy at another site named Pinaberasi. … The only problem was that this mound did not bear any resemblance to the descriptions of Troy.

Most scholars at that time were not bothered by the lack of archaeological evidence since they viewed the Homeric tales as works of pure fiction.

He placed it at Hissarlik. The only problem is that

es utilised, and the breathtaking variety and ingenuity with which these techniques were employed.  Gold wire is frequently used… The complicated techniuqe of granulation is seen, used to remarkable effect on some of the beautiful earrings from Troy a

“the head of an owl decorating a number of figures, sometimes with a ‘kind of helmet’ on its head. 

Owl goddess ‘must necessarily be the tutelary goddess of Troy, the Ilian Athena’, and that this fitted perfectly with Homer’s many references to ‘the glaukopis Athene’, the goddess Athena with the owl’s face.  Kinship between Trojans and Athene-worshipping Athenians. 

One of Schliemann’s earliest

Schliemann was the son of a disgraced Protestant pastor. Family circumstances necessitated he take a job as a day labourer in a grocery store but this ended when he burst a blood vessel in his back while lifting a heavy barrel. Reduced to poverty, he decided to migrate to Venezuela, but the ship that was to carry him there capsized in rough seas off the coast of the Netherlands. 70 people perished in the accident. Schliemann was one of the few survivors. He was transported back to Amsterdam where he began to work as a clerk for B.H. Schroeder and Co. He quickly rose through the ranks thanks, in part, to his facility with languages. At the age of 24 or 25 Schliemann was posted to St. Petersburgh. Several years later, he traveled to California where he made a small fortune buying and selling gold dust from prospectors. He was forced to make a speedy departure when he was accused of improper dealing. Back in Russia, he married a rich merchants daughter with him he had three children. He continued his business activities, becoming the supplier of raw ingredients for gun powder to the Russian army during the Crimean War. But even as he engaged in various business ventures, his thoughts were turning towards something entirely different – ancient Troy.

Since boyhood he had been fascinated by the stories in Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey, so much so that he learned to read them in the original Greek. Since then, his interest turned towards archaeology, which was only then beginning to come into its own as a discipline. His first taste of archaeology came from several days of digging in the Roman city of Pompeii, the first ancient site to be excavated in the modern era. Was it possible, Schliemann wondered, that Troy was also lying hidden waiting to be rediscovered, just as Pompeii had been? These were not the idle musings of an academic. Schliemann intended to find Troy, and he was willing to spend his considerable fortune in pursuit of it. He was now in his mid-forties, wealthy and independent. As a first step, Schliemann made the remarkable decision of enrolling at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he studied everything he could find about the ancient Greeks.

His search for Troy culminated in a meeting with the English diplomat, Frank Calvert, who had lived for many years in ‘the Troad’ and, what more importantly, knew where to find ancient Troy. Calvert’s theory on Troy’s whereabouts differed from that of the concensus, which placed Troy at another site named Pinaberasi. … The only problem was that this mound did not bear any resemblance to the descriptions of Troy.

Most scholars at that time were not bothered by the lack of archaeological evidence since they viewed the Homeric tales as works of pure fiction.

He placed it at Hissarlik. The only problem is that

es utilised, and the breathtaking variety and ingenuity with which these techniques were employed.  Gold wire is frequently used… The complicated techniuqe of granulation is seen, used to remarkable effect on some of the beautiful earrings from Troy a

“the head of an owl decorating a number of figures, sometimes with a ‘kind of helmet’ on its head. 

Owl goddess ‘must necessarily be the tutelary goddess of Troy, the Ilian Athena’, and that this fitted perfectly with Homer’s many references to ‘the glaukopis Athene’, the goddess Athena with the owl’s face.  Kinship between Trojans and Athene-worshipping Athenians.