The Gold of Troy: The Story of Heinrich Schliemann and the Buried Cities of Ancient Greece

Towards the end of last century, a shabbily dressed old scholar was to be seen wandering over an obscure mound in Asia Minor. In his coat pocket he always carried copies of the Iliad or the Odyssey. He had discovered ancient Troy. Most unscientific of archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann nevertheless founded the modern science of archeology.Schliemann had made four fortunes. He had traveled half the world, sired three children by a Russian wife, and learned a dozen languages. Perseverance had turned this penniless grocer clerk into the successful businessman personified. Yet for many years his wealth had tasted like ashes. He still did not know what he wanted. Then, while studying philology at the Sorbonne in his 46th year, he remembered the stories of the ancient Greek heroes--and set out to uncover buried Troy. his search was quickened by a fierce hunger for gold. Instinctively he chose his spots and ordered the workmen to dig. twice he discovered great treasures of gold. Then he secured a divorce and asked a Greek bishop to find him a new wife who was good, beautiful and an enthusiast for Homer.With the lovely seventeen-year old Sophia, whom he hose from a photograph, he began his most successful archaeological excavations. Against hope, against all the evidence, this strange man discovered the walls of Troy, King Priam's palace and enough antiquities to furnish a whole museum.