Schliemann of Troy: Treasure and Deceit

Rating:
Summary: Too Much Archaeology, Not Enough Schliemann
Review: According to Traill, Schliemann was not only a generally unpleasant character, but a liar and a cheat as well. Traill wants to dislike Schliemann, and he succeeds. Is the author biased, as a previous reviewer believes, or was Schliemann really such a rat? It's hard to trust this writer.

It was a struggle to get through this book. I wanted a life of Schliemann without so much about the technicalities of archaeology, which I found confusing and uninteresting. Only brief glimpses of Schliemann the human being appear.

Rating:
Summary: The Case Against Schliemann
Review: David Traill investigates the Schliemann biographies (largely based unquestioningly upon Schliemann's own writings and statements) and finds that most of Schliemann's story is fiction. In the process, Traill reveals Schliemann to be an enigmatic figure as bizarre as any fictional character. Phenomenally ambitious and extremely intelligent, he was also completely unscrupulous when it came to getting what he wanted. In his pursuit of fame, Schliemann reinvented himself a number of times, from county to country (he spoke several foreign languages with complete fluency and perfect pronunciation), business to business, marriage to marriage. Through his business dealings he became wealthy enough to devote all his time to his archeological interests. Archeology was a young science then and Schliemann was not a professional. The way Traill paints Schliemann, we are fortunate that the bulldozer had not been invented then. In his zeal to excavate Homer's Troy, he virtually demolished it. Traill builds a convincing case that Schliemann "salted" his diggings with fake artifacts both at Troy and Mycenae. The "Mask of Agamemnon" is probably a fake.

The story of the marriage to the final Mrs. Schliemann is a fascinating one in itself. He virtually bought her from her parents in an arranged marriage when he was over 40 years of age. He molded her into the wife he wanted, forcing her to study night and day to become as fluent in languages as he was, converting a naïve girl into his helpmate and intellectual companion as well as his fellow archeologist.

Traill probably goes overboard in his zeal to discredit Schliemann. He wants to make his case so strongly that he goes for overkill. There were times when I wanted to say to the author, "Yes, he was an S.O.B., but you said that already! Now get on with it!" As a result this book was not an easy reading experience for me. However, I feel that this book is essential reading for anyone who has an interest in archeology. It certainly reveals the importance of questioning evidence and investigating the sources. There are more balanced accounts of Schliemann available, but Traille's book gives a good context to place them in.

Rating:
Summary: The Case Against Schliemann
Review: David Traill investigates the Schliemann biographies (largely based unquestioningly upon Schliemann's own writings and statements) and finds that most of Schliemann's story is fiction. In the process, Traill reveals Schliemann to be an enigmatic figure as bizarre as any fictional character. Phenomenally ambitious and extremely intelligent, he was also completely unscrupulous when it came to getting what he wanted. In his pursuit of fame, Schliemann reinvented himself a number of times, from county to country (he spoke several foreign languages with complete fluency and perfect pronunciation), business to business, marriage to marriage. Through his business dealings he became wealthy enough to devote all his time to his archeological interests. Archeology was a young science then and Schliemann was not a professional. The way Traill paints Schliemann, we are fortunate that the bulldozer had not been invented then. In his zeal to excavate Homer's Troy, he virtually demolished it. Traill builds a convincing case that Schliemann "salted" his diggings with fake artifacts both at Troy and Mycenae. The "Mask of Agamemnon" is probably a fake.

The story of the marriage to the final Mrs. Schliemann is a fascinating one in itself. He virtually bought her from her parents in an arranged marriage when he was over 40 years of age. He molded her into the wife he wanted, forcing her to study night and day to become as fluent in languages as he was, converting a naïve girl into his helpmate and intellectual companion as well as his fellow archeologist.

Traill probably goes overboard in his zeal to discredit Schliemann. He wants to make his case so strongly that he goes for overkill. There were times when I wanted to say to the author, "Yes, he was an S.O.B., but you said that already! Now get on with it!" As a result this book was not an easy reading experience for me. However, I feel that this book is essential reading for anyone who has an interest in archeology. It certainly reveals the importance of questioning evidence and investigating the sources. There are more balanced accounts of Schliemann available, but Traille's book gives a good context to place them in.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible bias
Review: Rarely have I had the misfortune of coming across such an unmitagated biased piece of "scholarly" writing. The book is no doubt scholarly in Traill's coverage of Schliemann's letters and diaries, unfortunately the author seeks only those passages which he can twist to suit his own often stupifying arguments. My advice is to only read this book if you want the view of an anti-Schliemann extremist, but to instead read Heinrich Schliemann's own publications and an assessment of his contribution from a trained archaeologist instead of a historian who cannot suitably comprehend (or in this instance decides to ignore) his contribution to the development of excavation and post-excavation analysis such as the pathological study of skeletal remains. Schliemann was far from perfect but neither were his contemporaries, nor did he ever claim to be a "scholar" although he aspired to reach scholarly status. It appears that certain sections of the academic community continue to attack this upstart amateur in the same way as some historians of the time did. But those in the archaeology community are aware of Schliemann's contribution and would rightfully produce a much more balanced assessment than given by Traill, which lets face it would not be difficult.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible bias
Review: Rarely have I had the misfortune of coming across such an unmitagated biased piece of "scholarly" writing. The book is no doubt scholarly in Traill's coverage of Schliemann's letters and diaries, unfortunately the author seeks only those passages which he can twist to suit his own often stupifying arguments. My advice is to only read this book if you want the view of an anti-Schliemann extremist, but to instead read Heinrich Schliemann's own publications and an assessment of his contribution from a trained archaeologist instead of a historian who cannot suitably comprehend (or in this instance decides to ignore) his contribution to the development of excavation and post-excavation analysis such as the pathological study of skeletal remains. Schliemann was far from perfect but neither were his contemporaries, nor did he ever claim to be a "scholar" although he aspired to reach scholarly status. It appears that certain sections of the academic community continue to attack this upstart amateur in the same way as some historians of the time did. But those in the archaeology community are aware of Schliemann's contribution and would rightfully produce a much more balanced assessment than given by Traill, which lets face it would not be difficult.

Rating:
Summary: A Student's View
Review: This biography proposes an alternate characterization for one of history's most prominent scholars. Heinrich Schliemann, the father of modern archaeology, excavated the ancient lost city of Troy, unearthed Priam's Treasure and at Mycenae, the legendary mask of Agamemnon. He definitely has vecome a legend of sorts. However, his recent leap into the public eye deals with his demythification. Apparently, though intelligent, he was also a cheat, a fraud, reckless, had a disregard for laws, was manipulative, a social climber and pathological liar--no small accusation! David A. Trail convinces the reader with this new book that Schliemann was not exactly on the high end of the morality scale. In lieu of confining the book to, for the most part, "just the facts", rather than reading like a novel or story Schliemann of Troy appears as a really long essay, primarily comparing and contrasting the evidence condemning the archaeologist. This is not to say, however, that this book is boring. It is far from that actually. There is however, way too much information for anyone who does not have at least a slight inclination towards the study of classics or archaeology. It contains the unique features of an in-depth essay complete with a lengthy bibliography, index and source reference. It also contains illustrations of maps, sketches of artifacts and photographs of important people places and things. I found that parts of the book, particularly the descriptions of the sites, were bogged down by too much detail and kind of lost me. Even though there were occaisional humourous anecdotes interspearsed throughout, and as amusing as it is to see an unfortunate getting his reputation torn to shreds, I don't think I would ever recommend this book as one for entertainment purposes. As a reference source I would definitely give this book 5 stars. It teaches the reader and represents years of extremely dedicated work by David A. Trail. It is comforting, in a way, to know that not everything is written based solely on entertainment value, but that there is some material out there that can enrich the mind and enlighten towards insightfulness. Honest biographies are always a welcome change from the typical fictitious ones.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, the horror!
Review: This book is easy to put down and never pick up again. Yet, it's disturbing enough that you'll never forget it. Anyone with the slightest interest in archeology will forever cringe when encountering the name "Schliemann." He destroyed so much while searching in all the right places. But hindsight, perhaps, has been unfair to him. Still, this book isn't that interesting of a read.