Troy essays

Troy essays World Civilization to 1500 Research Paper 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 This position is outdated now, just as it was when Schliemann first made his great archaeological discovery.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 Homers writing and from Heinrich Schliemanns 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 In my opinion, Homer should be accepted as a legitimate source of historical reference and, therefore, so should Schliemann.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 Homers description s in The Iliad. While the Greek people remained steadfast in their strong traditional heritage, most of the non-Greek world at Schliemanns time asserted that the events set in Troy were figments of a great imagination, and were intended only to entertain. Nevertheless, Schliemann began to question these accepted beliefs regarding the existence of a real Troy at a very young age. Heinrichs father had given him a history book, and intrigued by its illustrations of the mythical city, he began his lifelong obsession to find the lost city. He learned the Greek language and studied Homer's epics extensively. Considering geographical descriptions, Schliemann began to believe that he would find the city around Hisarlik, Turkey. In 1870, he and one hundred workers set out to prove his theory (Time-Life, 10). In doing so, he took The Iliad as literally as if it were an eyewitness acco...