Memoirs of Heinrich Schliemann: A documentary portrait drawn from his autobiographical writings, letters, and excavation reports

Subtitled: A documentary report of the controversial nineteenth-century archaeologist who discovered ancient treasures at Troy and Mycenae - drawn from his autobiographical notes, letters and excavation reports.

A host of legends surround the enigmatic personality of Heinrich Schliemann, the self-made millionaire who, in middle age, retired from commerce and devoted himself to excavating ancient sites in Greece and Asia Minor. His discovery of the fabulous golden treasures of Troy and Mycenae brought him world-wide celebrity - but also embroiled him in heated debates that persist even today. Who was this man? Was he the founder of modern archaeology, who single-handedly revolutionized our knowledge of preclassical antiquity, or a greedy gold-seeker whose careless methods devastated ancient sites? Was he a dedicated investigator of the Homeric traditions that inspired him, or a tireless self-promoter whose theories verged on the absurd? Was he a giant of the Victorian Age, or a vulgar upstart - a romantic genius or a mountebank?