Heinrich Schliemann:
Heros & Mythos
by Wellington King

Index

A Note on the Endnotes: If you click a superscripted endnote number within the text you will be taken to the proper endnote automatically. Once there, if you click the endote number in front of the explanatory note you will be able to return to the paragraph to which the endnote refers. 

In the Beginning...

The life of Johann Ludwig Heinrich Julius Schliemann began on January 6, 1822 in the small town of Neu-Bukow, in the County (Landkreis) of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in Germany. He was the son of an adulterous pastor, Ernst Schliemann, and his wife Luise Therese Sophie Schliemann. Although Heinrich Schliemann later claimed to have no childhood education, he was able by the age of eleven to write an essay about Odysseus and Agamemnon in Latin and briefly attended the Carolinum Gymnasium, a classical preparatory school in Neustrelitz. He had to leave the Gymnasium, because his father quickly squandered the sum of money that he had been received, when removed from his position as pastor for alleged misappropriation of Church funds. It was here at the Gymnasium that Heinrich first learned about the opportunities for earning wealth in St. Petersburg, Russia.1.

Early Interest in Troy and Archaeology?

It is difficult to tell, when Heinrich Schliemann's interest in archaeology and his obsession with finding Troy and proving the existence of the Trojan War began. He claimed to have been born with a "natural disposition for the mysterious and the marvelous,"2. but he frequently lied about his life, and even lied in his personal diaries. David Traill, one of the world's leading experts on Schliemann, has accused him of being a "pathological liar." Although this conclusion is highly controversial, scientific evidence has been presented to show he was a psychopath.3. Additionally, it was a common practice during his lifetime for people to embellish stories of their childhood, and adults are most likely to remember those childhood dreams and aspirations which actually came true. Having said this, I shall now present his account of how his interest in archaeology and Troy was spawned in his early childhood.

According to Schliemann, his interests in Troy began shortly before his eighth birthday with a Christmas gift from his father of Georg Ludwig Jerrer's Weltgeschichte (The title of this book literally means "world history", but it is called "Universal History" in some works.) This book captured his imagination with its many accounts of Greek and Roman myths and legends. He was especially fascinated by this illustration of Pius Aeneas, fleeing Troy with his father Anchises and his son Ascanius, and by Jerrer's account of the events. He claims that he was convinced that Jerrer must have witnessed Troy in flames himself and decided that he should one day excavate the city of Troy. Schliemann claimed his interest in Troy and archaeology remained constant. It is questionable whether he actually received the book that Christmas or later. Handwriting experts have certified that an adult produced the writing on the book's flyleaf.4.

Schliemann also recounts that only one other child in the village shared his interest in the past, a girl named Minna Meincke. He says the two of them used to conduct "archaeological excavations" at the local churchyard and would spend time in the ruins of a local castle. Years later, he would write, "We could imagine nothing pleasanter than to spend all of our lives digging for relics of the past." He claims that they made plans to marry, and he preserved his hope of marrying her for many years. When he found out years later that she had married someone else he was heart broken. Thus in Schliemann's accounts of his own life his first love was connected to his obsession for archaeology.

The Path that Lead Toward St. Petersburg

Following his early childhood and time at the Gymnasium, he attended a free Realschule, a type of vocational school. He received an apprentice ship to a grocer in Fürstenberg at the age of 14. In the grocer's shop, where he worked, he heard Hermann Niederhoffer recite passages of Homeric verse in the original from memory. Hearing Homer appears to have deeply affected Schliemann, for he was to later write, "From that moment, I never ceased to pray to God that by His grace I might yet have the happiness of learning Greek."

A workplace injury forced him to leave his job at the shop, he took employment as a cabin boy. while en route from Hamburg to Venezuela, the ship crashed along the Dutch shores. Schliemann then took employment as a store clerk in Amsterdam. He had already begun to master foreign languages, something for which he exhibited a tremendous gift. This gift was to become an invaluable aid in all his endeavors. He was too learn many languages fluently and write correspondence in them frequently. He clearly became fluent in German, Dutch, English, French, Russian, Ancient and Modern Greek, as well as several other languages. His employers quickly realized his skills and were especially pleased by his ability to converse with clients in their native languages. They promoted to higher and higher positions. Eventually they decided to send him to St. Petersburg as an indigo trader.

Life in St. Petersburg

On January 30, 1846, he arrived in St. Petersburg. In Russia he proved incredibly successful as an indigo trader for his company. Soon he began to deal in other goods as well, such as Rhine wines, saltpeter, sugar, tea, and coffee. He soon was secretly working for several other firms in addition to his work for the firm that had sent him to Russia. While working in Russia, he was able to visit much of the world. In 1850, he visited America for the first time. He traveled to California, where he opened a banking house and sold $1,350,000 worth of gold dust between October 19,1851 and April 5, 1852. He left California under the suspicion that he had been involved in underhanded business practices and reached St. Petersburg again in August of 1852.

In October of the same year he married Katerina Petrovna Lyshina. Their marriage went poorly form the beginning. Traill records, "it was soon obvious that Katerina had little love for her husband. She seems to have despised his preoccupation with business and refused categorically to leave Russia with him, whether on a trip or, as he later proposed, to take up residence abroad."5. In 1855, his wife gave birth to a son, Segrue. After this, his wife became reluctant to share their bed, but in 1858 they had another child, a daughter named Natalia. Three years later his wife had another daughter Nadezhda. His marriage grew worse as his business prospered. He was frequently able to exploit business opportunities others missed but was incapable of doing anything to improve his marriage. He was already quite rich, when the Crimean War began, but from the war he reaped extraordinary wealth. It was this wealth that made it possible for him to travel more extensively, as he did after 1867, and to become an archaeologist.

An Alternative Genesis of Schliemann's Interest in Troy

Many writers have noted that we have no evidence that Schliemann was interested in archaeology or in finding Troy early in his life.6. In Schliemann of Troy, Traill suggests that Schliemann's interest in Classics and archaeology arose out of his failed marriage. According to Traill, Schliemann's "cultural activities were designed to meet with Katerina's approval," therefore "it seems likely that his sudden interest in cultural improvement in 1856 [i.e. starting to learn Classical Greek and his growing fascination with all things Greek] was also intended to please her." He then tells us that "if [this is] so, then the crucial conversion from merchant to archaeologist that was effected between 1856 and 1870 may have found its original impetus in the impossible task of pleasing a woman who despised him."7.

Traill suggestion here might seem far fetched to some readers, but it is certainly no less credible than Schliemann's story that Jerrer's book provided an interest in Troy that did not wane over the years. In exmining Traill's suggestion one should consider, how difficult the marriage was for Schliemann. Moorehead tells us in her book that Katerina came "to hate almost everything about him, even the great pleasure he took in foreign languages."8. She even wrote him telling him, "I would sooner die than live together with you in a foreign country." 9. One of the chief reasons Schliemann returned to the United States in 1869 and applied for American citizenship was to receive a divorce. Indeed the sole reason he moved to Indianapolis, lied about his length of residency, and had others life for him also was to obtain a divorce.

Another possibility to be considered is that Traill simply began his study of Classical Greek as a diversion from his failed marriage. It provided something to distract him from the cold realities of his relationship with his wife. Indeed his fascination for Greek things and Greek antiquity grew as his first marriage collapsed and never diminished during his lifetime. Instead this fascination continued to grow, and immediately following the completion of his divorce he sought to marry a Greek woman and made the necessary arrangements to find one. This second marriage to a Greek woman named Sophia proved successful. As for the question of turning his attentions to the question of Troy. That his thoughts would turn to Homer and thus toward Troy is a predictable development. His interest in Greek culture began with learning the Classical language and thé pinnacle of Greek literature is Homer. In learning Greek, he even memorized passages from Homer, which certainly would have sparked his curiosity about whether or not the Trojan War occurred.

His Great Contribution to Archaeology and Its Inherent Weakness

In all of Heinrich Schliemann's archaeological efforts, he worked to prove the historicity of the Trojan War. Although it is unclear, at what point in his life he came to believe the Trojan War was an historic and at what point he decided to prove this, he stood by this conclusion and diligently perseveread in his efforts to prove it until his death. Although he did not conclusively prove whether or not the Trojan War was a real event, and Historians and Archaeologists still have not resolved the question, his great contribution can be seen in his own words regarding his work:

Here in these few words he summarizes his great contribution to archaeology, his approach. He approached archaeology as a science in which one forms hypotheses and then tests them, as one does in other sciences. This went against the standard practice of archaeology of his time, which amounted to little more than treasure hunting and collection assembling. In this respect alone Schliemann has aided the cause of archaeology. Traill, who is perhaps the greatest critic of Schliemann in our times, admits that this to be "a comparatively advanced view of the role of the archaeologist in 1875."11.

It was this "comparatively advanced view of the role of the archaeologist" that lead him to excavate Hissarlik (1871-1872) and prove, at the very least, that Hissarlik was more likely Troy than Pinarbarsi (or Bunarbashi), lead him to excavate Mycenae in 1876 and discover the previously unknown Mycenaen civilization, and lead him to perfom a second more refined set of excavations at Hissarlik between 1878 and 1879. However Schliemann's great desire to affirm his hypotheses, to provide the evidence for the answers he created, is also his greatest weakness and short-coming. he frequently seems to have been misled by his overly literal interpretations of Homer. In his zeal, he often conducted his archaeological work in a highly unethical manner, and a manner that could even compromise the archaeological integrity of his finds. One often suspects that Schliemann tampered with the integrity of finds to make them support the Homeric epics even more strongly.

The Accusations against Schliemann's Work

Schliemann often receives unfair criticism for how he conducted his first excavations at Troy between 1871 and 1872. Although it is true that he simply bulldozed through the layers of cities, covering his "Homeric" Troy, and he undoubtedly destroyed a great deal of archaeological data that will forever be lost, his techniques were not greatly different from those employed by other "treasure-hunters" and "archaeologists" of his day. As Edmund Boedlow has mentioned, "It [the destructive Schliemann] is essentially the Schliemann of 1874, i.e., Schliemann at the very beginning of his career, not the Schliemann who by the time of his death, after 20 years of experience, had greatly matured in respect of his methods and interpretation of the evidence."12.

These unfair criticisms of the early Schliemann not only waste time mourning what can never be recovered, they also turn our attention away from more serious issues which directly effect the validity of the evidence that we still have. It is a well known fact that Heinrich Schliemann repeatedly lied to the Ottoman authorities and falsified dates, in order to take King Priam's gold, the large cache of gold items found at Hissarlik, out of the country. Schliemann eventually donated this treasure to a museum in Berlin, from which it was stolen by the Soviets during World War II and brought to Russia. As a result of Schliemann's deception and theft, Turkey, Germany, Russia, and even Greece all dispute ownership of the gold.13.

There is good reason to believe that Schliemann not only deceived and cheated the Ottoman government out of Priam's treasure, but he may have taken some of the treasure from the eastern half of the Hisarlik mound, which belong to Frank Calvert, a British field archaeologist and diplomat. Calvert was not kept informed of all of the finds and their locations. Donald F. Easton British archaeologist who has studied Schliemann's diaries is convinced the collection of treasure Schliemann labeled "Treasure L" was found on Calvert's land in 1890. As a result, Calvert's descendants, in addition to the four disputing nations, claim that they are entitled to a certain share of Priam's gold, and the archaeological evidence Schliemann collected at Hisarlik may be severely corrupted because of uncertainty of their context when found.14.
 

David Traill frequently makes insinuations about Schliemann in his book, Schliemann of Troy. Here often charges Schliemann with bringing together artifacts from different finds, as if they came from the same location, and even that he planted artifacts. Perhaps the most interesting are his suggestions about the Mask of Agamemnon and the other two masks found at Mycenae. This has a way of capturing the imagination with its uniqueness and is the image most commonly associated with the site at Mycenae. Nothing like these masks has been found anywhere else in Greece. He suggests that the masks, especially the Mask of Agamemnon are fakes. He points to the superior aesthetic quality of the mask, when compared to the other two. Its uniqueness in being the only one with a mustache and beard. Traill suggests that the mustache has a strangely nineteenth century character about it. Traill leaves us with three possibilities for the Mask of Agamemnon: it might be genuine, it could be a fake, or it could be ancient but have been altered after its discovery. Interestingly enough scholars and scientists are usually reluctant to suspect forgery. The Encyclopedia Britanica once showed a forged bronze horse as an example of Etruscan art and indeed still uncritically accepts Schliemann's claims concerning his childhood and the inspiration he received from Jerrer's book. The Piltdown Man, a simple hoax, deceived anthropologists for years, and a Latin inscription often considered to be the oldest extant one probably dates from the nineteenth century. Is the Mask of Agamemnon also the work of nineteenth century hands? We may never know.15.

The Death of Schliemann and His Memory

A Closer View of Schliemann's Mausoleum

I feel one must recognize another motivation for Schliemann's endeavors. Schliemann certainly had a great desire to be famous and to be remembered. He wanted to leave his mark on history and to become immortal, as are the heroes of his Troy, whose existence he tried so hard to proove. The mausoleum, that he had build for himself upon an Athenian hill and in which he was to be buried sometime after his death on December 26,1890, testifies to this. "Schliemann's grave is the grave of a king," declared a German newspaper.16. This however fails justice to the mausoleum or its intention. It is the grave of a hero, as the inscription above the entrance declares, with the words "For the hero Schliemann."

At the front of his masoleum, his bust sits directly above the image of the King Proitos, directing Cyclopes to build the walls tower of Tiryns. The intention is quite clear. We are to draw a parallel between the builder of Tiryns, the future birth place of Hercules, and Schliemann, who directed the excavation of Troy and Mycenae. Proitos's plans could not be carried out by mere men but required the strength of Cyclopes. Schliemann's great achievements went beyond what mortals can normally achieve. Proitos's Tiryns was to be the birth place of Troy. Schliemann's discovery of Mycenian civilization was to give birth to a whole new understanding of Greek prehistory.17. (Click on the mausoleum for a closer view.)
A Closer View of The Scene with Proitos 

As he wished, many today chose remember him as his hero. The Heinrich-Schliemann-Oberschule's page on Heinrich Schliemann promotes this interpretation of his life. What this web page is can only be described as ein echt im Internet lebendes Herosdenkmal.18. Here "Held," the mere German word for hero, is not used to describe Schliemann, but instead the word "Heros," which the Duden, thé authority on the German language, defines as "a hero [of antiquity], who is half God by birth, or is honoured as a demigod on account of his deeds (especially in ancient Greece)."19. Here he is called "the founder of modern archaeology," pride is taken in the fact that the school teaches one third of the languages he learned between 1842 and 1857, and he is held up as a role model.20.

More than one hundred years after his death the true Heinrich Schliemann alludes us. Carvalho has said of him "...the more of voluminous material left by Schliemann one knows about, the less easy it is to make definitive statements about Schliemann as a person."21. He has earned himself a place in history and legend. His account of his life and his early motivation still capture the minds and hearts of modern readers. His life like those of the Homeric heros, shall never be forgotten. His name will be forever connected with Troy. Regardless of its veracity, the Schliemann mythos will continue to be told.

Go to Wellington King's Archaeology Page, Wellington King's Homepage, or Wellington King's Archaeology Class.

Feel free to e-mail Wellington King (welli-king-p@mail.utexas.edu) with any comments or questions. 

Endnotes

1. pp. 14-17, Moorehead, Caroline, The Lost Treasures of Troy. London, UK: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1994. Bibliography.

2. p. 14, Moorehead, Caroline, The Lost Treasures of Troy. London, UK: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1994. Bibliography.

3. Chapter 9, Traill, David A., Excavating Schliemann: Collected Papers on Schliemann. Atlanta, GA, USA: Scholars Press, 1993. Bibliography.

In this chapter, Traill examines how Schliemann acts considering, how well he passes 16 diagnostic tests for psychopathy. The tests come from the following source:

Cleckley, H., The Mask of Sanity. St. Louis 1982.

Elizabeth Carvalho, in a review of Excavating Schliemann, says of Traill's statement that "'Schliemann's character was tinged with psychopathy' (p. 124), this judgement is not only extremely prejudicial but also rests on the use of slight and, in some cases, incomplete or selective information."

4. p. 14, Moorehead, Caroline, The Lost Treasures of Troy. London, UK: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1994. Bibliography.

5. p. 28, Traill, David A., Schliemann of Troy: Treasure and Deceit. New York, NY, USA:, St. Martin's Press, 1995. Bibliography.

Edmund F. Bloedow, in a review of Schliemann of Troy, points out that "No sources are cited for these views." However, it should be noted that similar views are expressed by Caroline Moorehead in The Lost Treasures of Troy.

"Ekaterina shows no signs of having loved or even liked [Schliemann];...", p. 44

6. p. 69, Moorehead, Caroline, The Lost Treasures of Troy. London, UK: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1994.
Bibliography. p. 38, Steiner, George, "Letters from Lyons," Opera News. August 1995 v60 pp. 38-39 Bibliography.

7. pp. 30-31, Traill, David A., Schliemann of Troy: Treasure and Deceit. New York, NY, USA:, St. Martin's Press, 1995. Bibliography.

8. p. 44, Moorehead, Caroline, The Lost Treasures of Troy. London, UK: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1994. Bibliography.

9. p. 44, Moorehead, Caroline, The Lost Treasures of Troy. London, UK: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1994. Bibliography.

This statement is Schliemann's "translation" into English of his wife's words in Russian. Bibliography.

10. From a letter by Heinrich Schliemann to Safvet Pasha, the Minister of Public Instruction. This passage can be found in Edmund F. Bloedow's review of David Traill's Schliemann of Troy. Bibliography.

11. pp. 139, Traill, David A., Schliemann of Troy: Treasure and Deceit. New York, NY, USA: St. Martin's Press, 1995. Bibliography.

However it should be noted that Traill adds the following condition, "I suspect Schliemann had learned [it] from Beule or perhaps from Burnouf himself."

12. Bloedow, Edmund F. This quote is taken from a criticism of Justus Cobet's essay "Troia, Jericho und die historische Kritik" (pp. 117-135) in his review of Archäologie und historische Erinnerung: Nach 100 Jahren Heinrich Schliemann, an anthology of essays edited by Justus Cobet and Barbara Patzek. Bibliography.

13. pp. 78-80, Lemonick, Michael D., "Troy's Lost Treasure," Time. April 22, 1996, v. 147, n. 17. Bibliography.

This article provides general background information on the history of the Priam's gold and the nature of the conflict among the four nations. Additionally, the article has many good illustrations, including, photographs of Heinrich and Sophia Schliemann, including detailed photos of the gold objects, and an illustration labeling of the layers of Troy.

14."Calvert's Heirs Claim Schliemann Treasure," ARCHAEOLOGY. Jan./Feb. 1996, v. 49, n.1, Archaeological Institute of America. Bibliography.

15. pp. 16-17, Jenkyns, Richard, "But is it True?" The New York Review. Dec 19, 1996, v. 43, n. 20. Bibliography.

16. "Schliemanns Grab ist eines Königs Grab." Illustrirte Zeitung

p. 35, Hammer-Schenk, Harold, "Dem Heros," p. 31-50, Archäologie und historische Erinnerung: Nach 100 Jahren Heinrich Schliemann, ed. Justus Cobet & Barbara Patzek. Essen, Germany: Klartext-Verlag, 1992. Bibliography.

17. p. 37, Hammer-Schenk, Harold, "Dem Heros," p. 31-50, Archäologie und historische Erinnerung: Nach 100 Jahren Heinrich Schliemann, ed. Justus Cobet Barbara Patzek. Essen, Germany: Klartext-Verlag, 1992. Bibliography.

18. For those of you who do not know enough German to understand the phrase, "ein echt im Internet lebendes Herosdenkmal," I feel compelled to say that is a real shame.

19. p. 271, Fremdwörterbuch, volume 5 of Der Große Duden in 10 Bänden Mannheim, Germany: Bibliographisches Institut AG, 1966. Bibliography.

20. "Heinrich Schliemann: 06.01.1822 - 26.12.1890" on the Heinrich-Schliemann-Oberschule (Gymnasium) site. Bibliography.

21. Carvalho, Elizabeth in a review of Excavating Schliemann. Bibliography.

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Bibliography

"Calvert's Heirs Claim Schliemann Treasure," ARCHAEOLOGY. Jan./Feb. 1996, v. 49, n.1, Archaeological Institute of America.

This article is one ARCHAEOLOGY magazine's news briefs. It briefly describes the nature of the claim to Schliemann's treasure that Calvert's descendants.

Cobet, Justus & Barbara Patzek, Archäologie und historische Erinnerung: Nach 100 Jahren Heinrich Schliemann, ed. Justus Cobet Barbara Patzek. Essen, Germany: Klartext-Verlag, 1992.

This work is an anthology of essays containing essays contributed in conjunction with two exhibitions: Bilder und Bücher um Homer und Troia von der Ilias Ambrosiana zu Heinrich Schliemann in the Archäologisches Museum Altenessen and Heinrich Schliemanns Trojanischer Altertümer in the Essenner Ruhrlandmuseum. There are nine contributions by seven authors. It has many cool pictures and photographs.

 

Fremdwörterbuch, volume 5 of Der Große Duden in 10 Bänden Mannheim, Germany: Bibliographisches Institut AG, 1966.

The Fremdwörterbuch is simply the dictionary for word of foreign origin in the ten volume set of dictionaries known as Der Große Duden in 10 Bänden. The Duden is considered the most respected authority in answering the question, what is good German.

Hammer-Schenk, Harold, "Dem Heros," p. 31-50, Archäologie und historische Erinnerung: Nach 100 Jahren Heinrich Schliemann, ed. Justus Cobet & Barbara Patzek. Essen, Germany: Klartext-Verlag, 1992.

This essay deals with Heinrich Schliemann's mausoleum. It is highly descriptive and records many details. It can seem tedius at times. It contains some architectural terms which might not be known by the ordinary reader. It has many cool photographs and pictures. It might seem like tedius reading to some readers.

Heinrich Schliemann: 06.01.1822 - 26.12.1890," a German language web page about Heinrich Schliemann on the Heinrich-Schliemann-Oberschule (Gymnasium) site.

It contains a brief biography of Schliemann and praises him as a role model for realizing his dreams. It also has the Greek inscription from over the entrance to Schliemann's mausoleum and another brief Greek text.

Lemonick, Michael D., "Troy's Lost Treasure," Time. April 22, 1996, v. 147, n. 17.

This article provides general background information on the history of the Priam's gold and the nature of the conflict among the four nations. Additionally, the article has many good illustrations, including, photographs of Heinrich and Sophia Schliemann, including detailed photos of the gold objects, and an illustration labeling of the layers of Troy.

Moorehead, Caroline, The Lost Treasures of Troy. London, UK: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1994.

This book paints a fairly conservative portrait of Schliemann. She does not display the iconclasm of Traill but manages to steer clear of uncritically accepting Heinrich Schliemann's word.

Traill, David A., Excavating Schliemann: Collected Papers on Schliemann. Atlanta, GA, USA: Scholars Press, 1993.

This book was published earlier than Traill's Schliemann of Troy. It contains a number of essays writen by Traill over a number of years, as a result there is some repetition of content within the book. He is always critical of Schliemann.

Steiner, George, "Letters from Lyons," Opera News. August 1995 v60 pp. 38-39

This articel is a review of Letters from Lyons, an opera that deals with the life of Heinrich Schliemann. He does give a very brief sketch of Schliemann and then proceeds to talk about the opera in greater detail.

Traill, David A., Schliemann of Troy: Treasure and Deceit. New York, NY, USA: St. Martin's Press, 1995.

This is Traill's biography of the life of Heinrich Schliemann. In this book, Traill repeatedly questions assumptions about Schliemann and raise many allegations against Schliemann. He is always critical of Schliemann.

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