Meta Description: Dive deep into the life of Heinrich Schliemann with Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle. From grocer’s apprentice to the “discoverer” of Troy, we explore the scandals, the gold, the Mask of Agamemnon, and whether Schliemann was a genius or a grave robber.
Introduction: The Indiana Jones of the 19th Century?
Welcome back to the “Vomitorium,” listeners! In Episode 6 of the Ad Navseam Podcast, hosts Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle turn their attention to one of the most polarizing figures in the history of classical studies: Heinrich Schliemann.
If you were to cast a movie about a rugged archaeologist traveling the world, dodging bullets, smuggling gold, and uncovering lost civilizations, you wouldn’t need to invent Indiana Jones. You could just read the biography of Heinrich Schliemann.
However, unlike Indy, Schliemann didn’t just belong in a museum. He belonged in a courtroom, a tabloid, and arguably, a psychiatric evaluation. He was a con man, a war profiteer, a polyglot genius, and the man who proved to the world that Troy (Ilium) was real.
As Dr. Winkle puts it, Schliemann is the “patron saint” of the podcast—a man obsessed with the classics to the point of nausea. But was he a hero of science or a villain of history? Let’s dig in.
Part I: The Grocer’s Apprentice and the Christmas Gift
Schliemann’s story begins in 1822 in Mecklenburg, Germany. He was not born into wealth. His father was a poor Lutheran pastor (and a bit of a scoundrel) who was eventually defrocked for embezzling church funds and having affairs.
Despite the family chaos, a pivotal moment occurred when Heinrich was seven years old. His father gave him a book for Christmas: Jerrer’s Universal History.
The book contained an illustration of Aeneas fleeing the burning city of Troy, holding his son Ascanius and carrying his father Anchises.
Young Heinrich asked his father, “Did this really happen?”
His father replied, “It’s just a legend. It’s a myth.”
Heinrich looked at the massive walls in the picture and said, “If walls like that ever existed, they couldn’t just disappear. I will find them.”
This childhood vow became the engine of his life. But first, he had to survive. He worked as a grocer’s apprentice, grinding potatoes and selling herring for five years until a physical injury (bursting a blood vessel) forced him to quit. He then signed on as a cabin boy on a ship bound for Venezuela, only to be shipwrecked off the coast of Holland. He washed ashore in Amsterdam, shivering and penniless, but alive.
Part II: The Schliemann Method (Language Hacking 101)
Stuck in Amsterdam with a boring job as a bookkeeper, Schliemann decided to improve his station by learning languages. He didn’t just learn them; he devoured them.
Schliemann developed a method that would make modern language hackers jealous. He claimed he could learn a language in six weeks.
The Method:
- Read Aloud: He read texts loudly to get the rhythm.
- No Translation: He didn’t translate into German; he learned to think in the target language.
- Write Essays: He wrote essays on subjects of interest daily.
- Correction: He hired a native speaker to correct the essays.
- Memorization: He memorized the corrected essays word-for-word and recited them.
Using this method, he mastered English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. Later, he learned Russian (which made him his fortune), Ancient and Modern Greek, and Arabic. By the end of his life, he could speak and write in at least 13 languages.
Latin Tip: This is the ultimate Autodidact (self-taught) method. For those studying Lingua Latina, Schliemann’s focus on voce (voice) and memoria (memory) is still valid today.
Part III: Gold, Indigo, and Gunpowder
Before he could find Troy, Schliemann needed money. Lots of it.
He went to St. Petersburg and cornered the market on indigo dye. He then went to California during the Gold Rush (1850s), arriving just as California was becoming a state. He opened a bank in Sacramento and made a killing buying gold dust from miners.
During the Crimean War (1853-1856), he cornered the market on saltpeter (essential for gunpowder) and brimstone. He sold these materials to the Russian government, becoming a war profiteer of the highest order.
By the age of 36, he was retired and fabulously wealthy. Now, he could finally turn his attention to the childhood dream: finding Troy.
Part IV: The Discovery of Troy (and the Destruction of It)
In 1868, Schliemann traveled to the Troad (northwest Turkey). Most scholars at the time believed Troy was at a site called Bunarbashi. Schliemann, armed with his copy of Homer, disagreed. He thought the springs didn’t match the description in the Iliad.
He met an amateur archaeologist named Frank Calvert, who owned part of a hill called Hissarlik. Calvert suggested Hissarlik was Troy. Schliemann agreed, bought the land, and began to dig.
The Great Trench:
Schliemann wasn’t a careful excavator. He was a man in a hurry. He hired hundreds of workmen and dug a massive trench straight down through the hill, slicing through thousands of years of history.
He was looking for the “City of Priam.” In his haste, he dug past the Troy of the Trojan War (Troy VI or VIIa) and went all the way down to Troy II (Early Bronze Age, c. 2500 BC). He essentially destroyed the city he was looking for to find the one underneath it.
Priam’s Treasure:
In 1873, Schliemann hit paydirt. He found a cache of gold: diadems, necklaces, cups, and earrings. He famously sent his workmen to “lunch” (even though it wasn’t lunchtime) so he could excavate the gold himself, allegedly with his second wife, Sophia, catching the treasures in her red shawl.
The Scandal:
- Sophia wasn’t actually there; she was in Athens burying her father.
- The “Jewels of Helen” (which he famously photographed Sophia wearing) were from a period 1,000 years before Helen of Troy would have lived.
- He smuggled the gold out of Turkey to Berlin, infuriating the Ottoman government.
Part V: Mycenae Rich in Gold (Mycenae Polychrysos)
Not content with Troy, Schliemann went to Greece to prove the Iliad right again. He targeted Mycenae, the home of Agamemnon.
Pausanias, the ancient travel writer, had described the graves of Agamemnon and his followers as being inside the citadel walls. Modern scholars thought he meant outside. Schliemann trusted the ancient text. He dug inside the famous Lion Gate (Porta Leonum) and found Grave Circle A.
The Mask of Agamemnon:
Inside the shaft graves, he found skeletons covered in gold—gold masks, gold breastplates, gold cups.
The most famous find was a funeral mask with a distinct, handlebar mustache. Schliemann telegraphed the King of Greece:
“I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon.”
The Controversy:
Dr. Noe and Dr. Winkle discuss the “authenticity” of the mask. The style is unlike the other Mycenaean masks found nearby. The mustache looks suspiciously like… Heinrich Schliemann’s mustache. Some scholars suggest Schliemann might have had a local goldsmith forge it and plant it in the grave to ensure his find was the “best” one. While most scholars today accept it as genuine (though dating to c. 1550 BC, centuries before the Trojan War), the shadow of Schliemann’s dishonesty lingers.
Part VI: The Final Act and the Mausoleum
Schliemann died as dramatically as he lived. On Christmas Day, 1890, he collapsed in a plaza in Naples, Italy. He lost his ability to speak (aphasia) but remained conscious. When police found him, they thought he was a vagrant because of his shabby clothes. Then they found a pouch of gold in his pocket.
His body was transported to Athens, where he was buried in the First Cemetery of Athens.
The Tomb: Schliemann’s tomb is a destination for any classicist. It sits on a hill near the entrance, designed to look like a Greek temple.
- The Frieze: Running around the top is a frieze depicting scenes from the Iliad… and scenes of Heinrich and Sophia excavating! You can see Schliemann reading Homer to his workmen.
- The Inscription: Above the door is a bust of Schliemann and an inscription in Homeric hexameter:“I, the tomb, cover Heinrich Schliemann of great fame. Imitate him, for he undertook many labors for mortals.”.
It is the ultimate act of ego—placing himself in the pantheon of Greek heroes.
Latin Language Spotlight
For the students of the classics, here are the key terms from this episode to furnish your mental treasury:
- Archaeologia (Archaeology): The study of ancient things.
- Ilium: The Latin name for Troy (hence, the Iliad).
- Hexameter: The meter of epic poetry (and Schliemann’s epitaph).
- Thesaurus: A treasury or storehouse (what Schliemann thought he found).
- Larva: A ghost or a mask (like the Mask of Agamemnon).
- Autodidact: One who is self-taught.
- Pecunia non olet: “Money doesn’t stink” (a relevant maxim for Schliemann’s profiteering).
Sponsors
This excavation of history was brought to you by:
- LatinPe Diem: Dig up your own linguistic treasures with daily Latin lessons. Visit latinperdiem.com.
- The Moss Method: Learn Greek so you can read the inscription on Schliemann’s tomb yourself. Visit mossmethod.com.
The Gustatory Parting Shot
We leave you with a quote from Orson Welles, a man who, like Schliemann, knew a thing or two about drama and excess:
“My doctor told me I had to stop throwing intimate dinners for four… unless there are three other people.”
Valete!
