When Heinrich Schliemann emerged from Turkey in June of 1873 with a hoard of treasure, the whole world took note. He claimed to have found the ruins of ancient Troy. Schliemann had rejected the prevailing scholarly doctrine that Homer was a mythmaker, not a historian or scholar. Even today, some people argue that the actual ruins of the historical city of Troy are in Croatia, not Hisarlik, Turkey, as Schliemann claimed. This position is outdated now, just as it was when Schliemann first made his great archaeological discovery. Evidence clearly shows that the majority of our present knowledge of the famous ancient city of Troy comes of Homer's writing and from Heinrich Schliemann's archaeological discoveries. In my opinion, Homer should be accepted as a legitimate source of historical reference and, therefore, so should Schliemann. Regardless of conflicting beliefs, the remains of Troy must, in fact, be at Hisarlik since Schliemann was guided to this site by Homer's descriptions in The Iliad.

While the Greek people remained steadfast in their strong traditional heritage, most of the non-Greek world at Schliemann's time asserted that the events set in Troy w

ere figments of a great imagination, and were intended only to entertain. Nevertheless,

Regardless of much criticism of Schliemann's personal life, his business ethics, and his methods of excavation, he is often regarded as the "father of archaeology." In this field, few are better known than of Heinrich Schliemann. This assessment comes from the impact of his excavations. Spanning a period of twenty years, he initiated the study of a completely new period in world history; the Bronze Age Aegean, stretching from ca. 3500 to ca. 1050 BC. Having never studied archaeology formally, this achievement was particularly remarkable (Bloedow, 1).

Schliemann's own personal journals and letters confirm and justify much of the criticism he has received. Blatant deceit surfaced often throughout his career as an amateur archaeologist, in his family life, and in his earlier career as a ruthless international merchant. Although much valuable information was destroyed in his excavation, one must consider the nature of archaeology prior to his study of Troy. Virtually non-existent as a science, archaeology existed in the form of treasuring hunting. Most supported Jacob Bryant's statement in the book In Search of Trojan War, "I would as soon as go in quest of Utopia, or of the Carib Island of Robinson Crusoe, and his cabin; and I should return with equal emolument." The fact remains that Schliemann was a true pioneer in the science of archaeology. By today's standards, his methods would be unacceptable, however, at that time, practices were advanced.

"Among Homer's most famous characteristics as a poet are his lack of ornamentation, sentimentality, and romanticism, and his complete objectivity... Homer understood that some things are best left to the imagination of the audience because too much detail can be a limitation rather than an asset and can constrain the thoughts of the individual reader or hearer" (Milch, 20).

There is no reason to doubt the historical accuracy of these epics and songs, considering the high regard with which they were upheld in their society. Since the events generally outlined in these long poems were already famil

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Approximate Word count = 1456
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)