She tells the story in such a wonderful and personal way. She may not have liked Schliemann but I think most viewers would feel like they'd enjoy working with Lesley Fitton.
Seconded! She’s obviously very well educated and enthusiastic about her subject. It’s like listening to one of those really great professors go on a tangent during a lecture.
I absolutely love these. If every teacher in school was passionate about their teaching as she was history wouldn't be boring. I hope that these never stop.
So true. I first became aware of and vaguely interested in archaeology aged 6 or 7 when one of my favourite teachers, a Miss Heddon, had gone on holiday to Egypt. An unheard of adventure in 1950s everyday society when a trip to the seaside was an extravagance. She told us about what she had seen and showed us a little alabaster container that she had bought as a souvenir and talked about how ancient Egyptians would have used similar things. People like these curators remind me of that wonderful lady.
Curators who are anything less than wonderful in all ways inevitably find themselves scheduled for night duty. They are then permanently "retired" by some of the more vicious exhibits which come to life and roam the museum after hours.
@@Sharklops I think you are mistaken. All trainee curators start on the night shift and only the survivors become permanent staff. Unless they damaged the objects they chose to use against the night creatures. Then they are obviously not curator material.
I enjoyed Lesley Fitton's talk on Heinrich Schliemann enourmously, she gives a wonderful description of both the businessman and archaeologist which her lovely voice made it even more pleasant to listen to. Thank you Lesley, I hope to be able to meet you one day when I come to the museum. Needless to say that I saw the exhibition of Troy and absolutely loved every little bit of it, especially the jewelry naturally!
Please write a book about Schliemann one day Ms. Fitton! I've read his story elsewhere, but not in much detail. Who wouldn't love his romantic (if sometimes self-romanticized) story? The woman wearing the treasure is Schliemann's much-younger second wife, Sophia. They had two children, named Andromache and Agamemnon (of course), and according to Wiki: "he reluctantly allowed them to be baptized, but solemnized the ceremony in his own way by placing a copy of the Iliad on the children's heads and reciting 100 hexameters."
J. L. Fitton, The Discovery of the Greek Bronze Age (London, British Museum Press, 1995). J. L. Fitton, 'Charles Newton and the Discovery of the Greek Bronze Age' Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Supplement, (63), 1995 73-78 J. L. Fitton, Heinrich Schliemann and the British Museum (British Museum Occasional Paper 83, London, British Museum, 1991).
Lesley, when I was young, I had an anthology that included the discovery of Troy. I have an intense memory of an illustration that showed a man in a hole with an dangerous looking outcrop above him. The illustrator added some falling debris for effect. The man, in what I understood at the time as old fashionec clothes, was handing what looked like a necklace to a lady holding out a shawl. She was dressed in the same manner. This memory came back to me recently while watching videos of Egyptian excavation. I could not for the life of me, put the two together...until now. When you read the excerpt from Scheilman's book (please forgive my gross misspelling) the picture and story fell into place. The illustrator was depicting Heinrich and his wife. I am so glad I watched your video today. Thank you so much.
The lie about his wife is kind of sweet though: she had to leave because of something horrible happening, and in a time when stuffy old men probably thought she shouldn't have been abroad let alone engaging in archaeology, he says some of the important things were actually found by her before she left. Unscientific to be sure, but sweet
There was no one else there when he supposedly dug it out. No one. Yet he had teams of local people doing the hard work. So why would he have suddenly decided to start digging by himself? It doesn't add up. I've always figured he bought them from local people who had found them. I have always disliked Schliemann for digging a huge ditch through the middle of Troy and destroying all that archeology. Then lying about it. He was not a "great man". The man who told him about the place told him to go slowly with it, layer by layer. Instead, Schliemann did what he wanted and ruined it. Once that's done, you can't put it back. The archeology is destroyed.
@@ellen4956 Yes this is my opinion as well. I was always curious though, would they honestly not have found anything in the rubble? What happened to the trench? Was it just filled back up or has someone since excavated the entire area? If so, surely they would have found some surviving items dated to Troy in its prime?
@@alessaapathy Yes, many archeologists have since gone in and cleaned that area up and excavated the surrounding area, and that's really where Troy was. The part that Schliemann destroyed was just one piece of the puzzle. No doubt he destroyed a lot of valuable information, but they have discovered a lot more since those days. Archeology is not about finding the sparkly treasures, it's about discovering how the people lived at the time, and learn as much as we can about their lives. How much of the story of the Trojan war was real? The story of the wooden horse was not a wooden horse - it was a ship! That's an important discovery and makes a lot more sense. I read that recently someone figured that out. They gave a ship as a gift - the men hid inside the ship. It's unfortunate that some archeologists destroy things in an effort to find treasure and miss the real treasure, which is the true story of the people who lived and died there. It's true of so many places.
@@ellen4956 Exactly. I’m a big history buff, but Troy is not a topic I’m well versed on. All I remember is how angry my history teacher was with Schliemann 😂 Yes and by finding artefacts I simply meant for the story they had to tell, to inspect the reality of homers Iliad. I’ll do some more research on it, thank you!
i love this channel, the level of knowledge and passion form the presenters is fantastic.. more from Lesley Fitton please ... more from you all in general
This was truly excellent, thank you! So colourful a story. And of course, being a businessman, selling things that people didn't need, he would have been inclined to adding some fluff to his story. As you say, though, Schliemann truly did contribute a great deal to archaeology as it was in that time - and certainly to the ultimate realisation that Troy was, in fact, a real place and not merely a fiction. Cheers!
Is there a reason you nearly didn't watch it? We're doing a bit of a rehaul on titles and thumbnails, would be interested to know if you don't mind sharing
For those wanting more Schliemann, more Lesley (or both!) Lesley's written a blog about his search for Troy. Find it here: blog.britishmuseum.org/the-search-for-the-lost-city-of-troy/
Yes, he may have destroyed future opportunities for later archaeological discoveries with his crude methods, but they were, after all, the methods of the day and as mentioned, he or even other archaeologists, didn't know better...Yes, he lied and exaggerated, but his finds are more than enough to forgive these human traits...He could have retired to the comfortable life of the idle rich, but his constant curiosity and thirst for knowledge kept him busy to the end of his days...As his fellow German, friend and colleague Wilhelm Dörpfeld ended his eulogy, at Schliemann's funeral in Athens on 4 January 1891: "...Rest in Peace...you have done enough!..."
Schliemann at his "worst" sounds like a man who loved his wife dearly and concocted a completely harmless fib to encourage her at a time in her life when she must have been terribly bereft with grief at the loss of her father. I see nothing terribly awful about that.
No one is perfect; Schliemann was no different, he wasn't a Saint, neither is anyone else; and he began something that continues today with Manfred Kaufmann. After reading a biography of Schliemann I have to say I'm very impressed by his character and wouldn't mind meeting him and having a draft at a pub in London with him. Maybe in the next life.
Really enjoyed this tale of Schliemann and his "porky pies" so charmingly told. Frankly, I've always been a bit horrified with the idea of Schliemann dynamiting the side of the hill at Hisarlik. But it is impossible to ignore his bravado in proving that Troy was truly real.
I'm astonished that Lesley has been worked there since the 1980's... she must have been very young indeed at that time! Again, what a wonderful video, thank you!
Thank you for a more balanced appraisal of this complex man than those I have heard before. It you get the opportunity, I would like to hear about what we *do* know of the upper layers of the Troy dig. Whenever I have heard it spoken of, it seems that Schliemann and his team dug through the upper layers with a callous disregard for them. But surely there was still a lot of information gleaned, and even more from areas not dug in those early efforts?
@@rachelhenderson2688 Yes Rachel, and he assigned almost everything he found interesting to that one period of Troy's history, ignoring what did not seem to fit. It has been a long time since I studied Troy, and that was not in detail, but I seem to recall that the level that was Troy of legend was layer 9! That implies a lot of history that Schiemann paid scant attention to.
Hello Mrs. Fitter, I really liked your video on youtube, so much so that I bought the book Troy Mith and Reality. I can't go there to see the BM exhibition, but my soul will be there. Obrigado!
Marvellous enthusiasm and storytelling, great fun. But missing is the fact that Schliemann dug right through what was Homeric Troy, and discarded it as a spoil heap. Surely it is for that gross vandalism that he is most to be upbraided?
19th century archaeologists didn't use the same meticulous methods as their modern counterparts...they were really little better then treasure hunters.
There's a reason the old timey diggers are called Antiquarians rather than Archaeologists. They frequently caused untold damage, no records taken, and stealing the finds for private collections. But then, every discipline has to start somewhere.
I think we'd do better to acknowledge that theft, destruction, appropriation, disregard for/othering of Indigenous Peoples, and so on are part of the living legacy of archaeology.
Every science was like that, even mathematics. 18th century writers brought rigour to what Newton and Leibniz had discovered, and nit-picking Victorians sharpened analysis even more. But without the 17th century pioneers, who knows where we would be now?
You talking about Troy and then mentioning the 80s makes me think of how much my friend and I enjoyed Michael Wood's "In Search of The Trojan War" in the early days of Channel 4 and makes me wonder if you were watching it too.
I agree with you in admiring the man but he was of his time and the more you learn about him and his spectacular finds the more I find in him the traits of P.T. Barnum in his showmanship anb dramatic presentation
Thank you for this video. I have followed this story since the PBS ran the documentary about Troy many years ago. Finding out about the private letters of Schliemann was terrific. I also had no idea of what an interesting life Schliemann had had. I wonder if there is enough new insights into Troy available today to justify a new documentary. I know that I would be very interested in a new documentary focused on Troy created by Ms. Fitton. She said without equivocation that the Schliemann site was Troy. Is this so much of the mainstream view today that it is fair to just accept this as fact or do the naysayers deserve a mention?
I thank him😂 because he at least had a childhood version to find history. And from that he found something later on. And the stories how became what he became is a great hard working man. Who went back to his childhood theory on finding troy
he was a war profiteer in the American Civil War too! such an insane life this guy had. My only qualm here is he wasn't so much helped by Calvert as he straight up intellectually robbed the dude, physically robbed the Turks, then decimated Calvert into the annals of history and very publicly slandered him. Still really hard not to respect his drive and love of language, but he was also absolutely vicious. All in all an extremely complex man.
We tend to forget that science wasn't always what it is today. Many practices in all scientific fields, even as late as the early 20th century, would be considered quite un-scientific by contemporary standards. When it comes to early archeologists, even the most honest and well meaning ones would seem little more than looters to the eyes of theit 21st century coleagues. So let's not be so hard on poor Schlieman. After all he had the insight to look for the facts behind the myth when no one else would... And yes, he was self made.What's wrong with that?
I've always thought a movie about Schliemann should be made... a total Hollywood blockbuster along Indiana Jones style with hero's and villain's and treasure.
Schliemann was a mega-linguist. he could learn a language in months. he said his technique was to have conversations with himself, out loud, in the target language.
One of my favorite facts about Schliemann is that he moved to Indiana in 1869 because it was legal at the time for someone to divorce their spouse without them being present or even knowing that they are getting divorced.
Oh that's so funny! He lied to get his wife back. He admits it! Thanks, that was really interesting :) I remember reading about this treasure years ago. Lovely!
2:33 One of the things that shockingly this video doesn't mention (probably because this woman is a fan of Schliemann), is that not only did he "dig" a huge trench, he used TNT and explosives to "dig" it. This part of the reason why Schliemann is so controvertial because he used explosives to dig all the way down through the site and most definitely destroyed lots of archeological evidence and treasures that are now lost because of what he did. Although she does mention that it was chaotic and that people didn't know better at the time.
You could say that Schliemann was a scoundrel, but so what, men (even fictional) like Han Solo have been called a scoundrel and we don't even bat an eye at that. (Edit) Heinrich Schliemann is to archaeology what Bob Kane was to comics.
The Greek hero Aeneas, son of Anchises, a cousin of King Priam, was made by Vergil into the ancestor of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. Nennius has Brutus, a descendant of Aeneas, become the founder of pre-Roman Britain. The Franks also have stories in which their tribe was founded by Trojans.
Love your videos one thing I'd like to ask, a little off topic, kmow this is a long shot but I distinctly remember a video on the method of repousse where a curator made a tiny byzantine style hand on a piece of bronze. I cant find the video anymore.
She tells the story in such a wonderful and personal way. She may not have liked Schliemann but I think most viewers would feel like they'd enjoy working with Lesley Fitton.
Can we have more from Lesley Fitton, please? She is superb in her enthusiasm and realism.
Acleron Yes, I found her as amazing as you did! Her youthful enthusiasm makes it all large and real.
Seconded! She’s obviously very well educated and enthusiastic about her subject. It’s like listening to one of those really great professors go on a tangent during a lecture.
I like her earnestness, it's like you're sat in front of her having a chat about this incredible subject.
the great thief Schliemann
I am reading the 1959 biography “The Gold of Troy” by Robert Payne and I appreciate your fair description and treatment of Schliemann - great video!
I absolutely love these. If every teacher in school was passionate about their teaching as she was history wouldn't be boring. I hope that these never stop.
So true. I first became aware of and vaguely interested in archaeology aged 6 or 7 when one of my favourite teachers, a Miss Heddon, had gone on holiday to Egypt. An unheard of adventure in 1950s everyday society when a trip to the seaside was an extravagance. She told us about what she had seen and showed us a little alabaster container that she had bought as a souvenir and talked about how ancient Egyptians would have used similar things. People like these curators remind me of that wonderful lady.
Why do I get the idea that there are only great people at the British Museum?...
Thank you for a wonderful story!
Curators who are anything less than wonderful in all ways inevitably find themselves scheduled for night duty. They are then permanently "retired" by some of the more vicious exhibits which come to life and roam the museum after hours.
@@Sharklops I think you are mistaken. All trainee curators start on the night shift and only the survivors become permanent staff. Unless they damaged the objects they chose to use against the night creatures. Then they are obviously not curator material.
the great thief Schliemann
Everyone, young and old, is a jewel!
Curators corner is one of the best series on UA-cam. Thanks for enlightening us.
I enjoyed Lesley Fitton's talk on Heinrich Schliemann enourmously, she gives a wonderful description of both the businessman and archaeologist which her lovely voice made it even more pleasant to listen to. Thank you Lesley, I hope to be able to meet you one day when I come to the museum. Needless to say that I saw the exhibition of Troy and absolutely loved every little bit of it, especially the jewelry naturally!
I hope to use the term 'Porky pie' in my regular life from now on. Fascinating story, lovingly told
It's Cockney rhyming slang.
Please write a book about Schliemann one day Ms. Fitton! I've read his story elsewhere, but not in much detail. Who wouldn't love his romantic (if sometimes self-romanticized) story?
The woman wearing the treasure is Schliemann's much-younger second wife, Sophia. They had two children, named Andromache and Agamemnon (of course), and according to Wiki: "he reluctantly allowed them to be baptized, but solemnized the ceremony in his own way by placing a copy of the Iliad on the children's heads and reciting 100 hexameters."
J. L. Fitton, The Discovery of the Greek Bronze Age (London, British Museum Press, 1995).
J. L. Fitton, 'Charles Newton and the Discovery of the Greek Bronze Age' Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Supplement, (63), 1995 73-78
J. L. Fitton, Heinrich Schliemann and the British Museum (British Museum Occasional Paper 83, London, British Museum, 1991).
I true Ilias fan boy
there are some very good ones out there but yes we could use more
I'd think his story would make a great film
Lesley, when I was young, I had an anthology that included the discovery of Troy. I have an intense memory of an illustration that showed a man in a hole with an dangerous looking outcrop above him. The illustrator added some falling debris for effect. The man, in what I understood at the time as old fashionec clothes, was handing what looked like a necklace to a lady holding out a shawl. She was dressed in the same manner. This memory came back to me recently while watching videos of Egyptian excavation. I could not for the life of me, put the two together...until now. When you read the excerpt from Scheilman's book (please forgive my gross misspelling) the picture and story fell into place. The illustrator was depicting Heinrich and his wife. I am so glad I watched your video today. Thank you so much.
I _love_ the way Fitton discusses her favorite subject.
The lie about his wife is kind of sweet though: she had to leave because of something horrible happening, and in a time when stuffy old men probably thought she shouldn't have been abroad let alone engaging in archaeology, he says some of the important things were actually found by her before she left. Unscientific to be sure, but sweet
There was no one else there when he supposedly dug it out. No one. Yet he had teams of local people doing the hard work. So why would he have suddenly decided to start digging by himself? It doesn't add up. I've always figured he bought them from local people who had found them. I have always disliked Schliemann for digging a huge ditch through the middle of Troy and destroying all that archeology. Then lying about it. He was not a "great man". The man who told him about the place told him to go slowly with it, layer by layer. Instead, Schliemann did what he wanted and ruined it. Once that's done, you can't put it back. The archeology is destroyed.
@@ellen4956 Yes this is my opinion as well. I was always curious though, would they honestly not have found anything in the rubble? What happened to the trench? Was it just filled back up or has someone since excavated the entire area? If so, surely they would have found some surviving items dated to Troy in its prime?
@@alessaapathy Yes, many archeologists have since gone in and cleaned that area up and excavated the surrounding area, and that's really where Troy was. The part that Schliemann destroyed was just one piece of the puzzle. No doubt he destroyed a lot of valuable information, but they have discovered a lot more since those days. Archeology is not about finding the sparkly treasures, it's about discovering how the people lived at the time, and learn as much as we can about their lives. How much of the story of the Trojan war was real?
The story of the wooden horse was not a wooden horse - it was a ship! That's an important discovery and makes a lot more sense. I read that recently someone figured that out. They gave a ship as a gift - the men hid inside the ship. It's unfortunate that some archeologists destroy things in an effort to find treasure and miss the real treasure, which is the true story of the people who lived and died there. It's true of so many places.
@@ellen4956 Exactly. I’m a big history buff, but Troy is not a topic I’m well versed on. All I remember is how angry my history teacher was with Schliemann 😂 Yes and by finding artefacts I simply meant for the story they had to tell, to inspect the reality of homers Iliad. I’ll do some more research on it, thank you!
@@ellen4956 You need to get off your soapbox and get over yourself as well.
i love this channel, the level of knowledge and passion form the presenters is fantastic.. more from Lesley Fitton please ... more from you all in general
This was truly excellent, thank you! So colourful a story. And of course, being a businessman, selling things that people didn't need, he would have been inclined to adding some fluff to his story. As you say, though, Schliemann truly did contribute a great deal to archaeology as it was in that time - and certainly to the ultimate realisation that Troy was, in fact, a real place and not merely a fiction. Cheers!
The best British Museum upload yet I very nearly didn’t watch it so glad I did fantastic please make more and more loved it
Is there a reason you nearly didn't watch it? We're doing a bit of a rehaul on titles and thumbnails, would be interested to know if you don't mind sharing
The British Museum the picture is a bit busy IMO with orange text on a complex background
I agree with Sam the picture is a bit easy and uninspiring but again I must say a great podcast and she is a fantastic story teller thank you again
thief and smuggler schliemann and betrayal,
the great thief Schliemann
For those wanting more Schliemann, more Lesley (or both!) Lesley's written a blog about his search for Troy. Find it here: blog.britishmuseum.org/the-search-for-the-lost-city-of-troy/
Just finished reading Irving Stone's "The Greek Treasure". This video helped answer a few of my questions. Thanks!
"I'm a bit obsessed with him"
...
We can tell, Lesley. We can tell.
the great thief Schliemann
Love your enthusiasm. Story told with such warmth.
The great thief Schliemann
Lesley is absolutely brilliant, she should have her own channel.
An absolutely fascinating narrative, really well presented. Thank you so much!
This is absolutely wonderful. Humane, scholarly, funny and interesting. More Lesley Fitton!!!
Such an enjoyable presentation! You have certainly done your homework in combining facts with some most interesting observations!
Curator Fitton, thank you for this so much! really helpful for research paper I'm writing.
What enthusiasm from Miss Fitton. And an interesting and informative presentation.
This person is such an interesting story teller! I’d love to hear more from her.
Yes, he may have destroyed future opportunities for later archaeological discoveries with his crude methods, but they were, after all, the methods of the day and as mentioned, he or even other archaeologists, didn't know better...Yes, he lied and exaggerated, but his finds are more than enough to forgive these human traits...He could have retired to the comfortable life of the idle rich, but his constant curiosity and thirst for knowledge kept him busy to the end of his days...As his fellow German, friend and colleague Wilhelm Dörpfeld ended his eulogy, at Schliemann's funeral in Athens on 4 January 1891: "...Rest in Peace...you have done enough!..."
Fascinating, and brilliantly told. Thank you!
Schliemann at his "worst" sounds like a man who loved his wife dearly and concocted a completely harmless fib to encourage her at a time in her life when she must have been terribly bereft with grief at the loss of her father. I see nothing terribly awful about that.
No one is perfect; Schliemann was no different, he wasn't a Saint, neither is anyone else; and he began something that continues today with Manfred Kaufmann. After reading a biography of Schliemann I have to say I'm very impressed by his character and wouldn't mind meeting him and having a draft at a pub in London with him. Maybe in the next life.
….. and she is truly grat. loved her way of presenting Schliemann as a person
How is there not already a movie about this guy? This is the stuff of legend.
Really enjoyed your story, and the way you told it!
Lovely story telling and information
the great thief Schliemann
Really enjoyed this tale of Schliemann and his "porky pies" so charmingly told. Frankly, I've always been a bit horrified with the idea of Schliemann dynamiting the side of the hill at Hisarlik. But it is impossible to ignore his bravado in proving that Troy was truly real.
Loved every second of this brief lesson. It isn’t easy to tell something new about this topic, and you did in the most interesting way. Thank you
I'm astonished that Lesley has been worked there since the 1980's... she must have been very young indeed at that time! Again, what a wonderful video, thank you!
the great thief Schliemann
watched lot of these, this is one of the best for sure
One of my very favourite books - a keeper - is Irving Stone's "The Greek Treasure" .....fascinating! Thank you for this study!!
Great enthusiasm and passion, not so common among historians today Great video, thank you.
Great video. The enthusiasm shows👍
Absolutely excited about visiting this exhibition next week!
Jasps 65 did you make it?
Thank you for a more balanced appraisal of this complex man than those I have heard before.
It you get the opportunity, I would like to hear about what we *do* know of the upper layers of the Troy dig. Whenever I have heard it spoken of, it seems that Schliemann and his team dug through the upper layers with a callous disregard for them. But surely there was still a lot of information gleaned, and even more from areas not dug in those early efforts?
Don't forget that he was looking for proof that Troy was real, not carrying out a scientific archaeological dig!
@@rachelhenderson2688 Yes Rachel, and he assigned almost everything he found interesting to that one period of Troy's history, ignoring what did not seem to fit.
It has been a long time since I studied Troy, and that was not in detail, but I seem to recall that the level that was Troy of legend was layer 9! That implies a lot of history that Schiemann paid scant attention to.
How fascinating! And brilliantly delivered.
Thank you very enjoyable and informative.
Wow, he was a real character.
Hello Mrs. Fitter, I really liked your video on youtube, so much so that I bought the book Troy Mith and Reality. I can't go there to see the BM exhibition, but my soul will be there. Obrigado!
I believe in his subsequent work after Troy he redeemed himself and really became a very good archaeologist.
Marvellous enthusiasm and storytelling, great fun. But missing is the fact that Schliemann dug right through what was Homeric Troy, and discarded it as a spoil heap. Surely it is for that gross vandalism that he is most to be upbraided?
19th century archaeologists didn't use the same meticulous methods as their modern counterparts...they were really little better then treasure hunters.
Yeah, archeology has come a long way since the 1800s or so. Back in the early days, you’re lucky if they kept records at all.
@@sarahgray430 does not that depend on the archeologist? Sir Flanders petrie, for example was very meticulous and very careful....
Schliemann was the quintessential Victorian Romanticist
I enjoyed this tale of the old archaeologist /fibber. I love your globe with missing Antarctic continent. Thank you..
Interesting and Different plus Lovely way of Presentation! Fancy being my Gran? Smiles including Cheers¥ Xxx
You are a true storyteller!🙏🙏🙏I want more!!
Wow, Lesley, you really present this one very well and I'm now quite interested in Troy.
Lesley Fitton is great! more please! :)
I could listen to her go on and on! More please.
There's a reason the old timey diggers are called Antiquarians rather than Archaeologists. They frequently caused untold damage, no records taken, and stealing the finds for private collections. But then, every discipline has to start somewhere.
I think we'd do better to acknowledge that theft, destruction, appropriation, disregard for/othering of Indigenous Peoples, and so on are part of the living legacy of archaeology.
@Col. George S. Patton, Sr. Yes and it's a bitch we can do something about.
Every science was like that, even mathematics. 18th century writers brought rigour to what Newton and Leibniz had discovered, and nit-picking Victorians sharpened analysis even more. But without the 17th century pioneers, who knows where we would be now?
You talking about Troy and then mentioning the 80s makes me think of how much my friend and I enjoyed Michael Wood's "In Search of The Trojan War" in the early days of Channel 4 and makes me wonder if you were watching it too.
Thanks for this great video 👍
MORE! Positively delightful!
You folks have some cool corners
Excellent account.
Give my great,great, great uncle a break, he lived an extremely fascinating life and spoke around 14 languages!
I agree with you in admiring the man but he was of his time and the more you learn about him and his spectacular finds the more I find in him the traits of P.T. Barnum in his showmanship anb dramatic presentation
You are a fantastic woman! Many thanks!
Mr schlemmen was a romantic who loved his wife while it is a tad unprofessional and that cannot be denied it is heartbreaking and beautiful.
Thank you for this video. I have followed this story since the PBS ran the documentary about Troy many years ago. Finding out about the private letters of Schliemann was terrific. I also had no idea of what an interesting life Schliemann had had. I wonder if there is enough new insights into Troy available today to justify a new documentary. I know that I would be very interested in a new documentary focused on Troy created by Ms. Fitton.
She said without equivocation that the Schliemann site was Troy. Is this so much of the mainstream view today that it is fair to just accept this as fact or do the naysayers deserve a mention?
I thank him😂 because he at least had a childhood version to find history. And from that he found something later on. And the stories how became what he became is a great hard working man. Who went back to his childhood theory on finding troy
Very engagingly told!
fascinating!!
Actually the ship that Schliemann took and sunk was not heading for Colombia as she stated but to Venice
Let's see Charles Newton's replies appear on the Royal Society's channel!
he was a war profiteer in the American Civil War too! such an insane life this guy had. My only qualm here is he wasn't so much helped by Calvert as he straight up intellectually robbed the dude, physically robbed the Turks, then decimated Calvert into the annals of history and very publicly slandered him. Still really hard not to respect his drive and love of language, but he was also absolutely vicious. All in all an extremely complex man.
Love the labrys pendant.
ironically Calvert went to the British Museum first and they wanted nothing to do with his claims of Troy
We tend to forget that science wasn't always what it is today.
Many practices in all scientific fields, even as late as the early 20th century, would be considered quite un-scientific by contemporary standards.
When it comes to early archeologists, even the most honest and well meaning ones would seem little more than looters to the eyes of theit 21st century coleagues.
So let's not be so hard on poor Schlieman. After all he had the insight to look for the facts behind the myth when no one else would...
And yes, he was self made.What's wrong with that?
11:05 my god the things i would do for that book lol. looks like an ooooold edition too
I've always thought a movie about Schliemann should be made... a total Hollywood blockbuster along Indiana Jones style with hero's and villain's and treasure.
Sure, only british archeologists clean and pure.
love it!!!!
Schliemann was a mega-linguist. he could learn a language in months.
he said his technique was to have conversations with himself,
out loud, in the target language.
One of my favorite facts about Schliemann is that he moved to Indiana in 1869 because it was legal at the time for someone to divorce their spouse without them being present or even knowing that they are getting divorced.
Excellent--thank you.
Oh that's so funny! He lied to get his wife back. He admits it! Thanks, that was really interesting :) I remember reading about this treasure years ago. Lovely!
wonderful.
Thank you!🌹
Sign me on to the Curator Lesley Fitton Fan Club. She is a
She is a delight! (The end of my previous statement disappeared. :)
Thank you for a fascinating video. Just for a laugh, you might check out how YoiTube closed captions dealt with this discussion......
beautiful
2:33 One of the things that shockingly this video doesn't mention (probably because this woman is a fan of Schliemann), is that not only did he "dig" a huge trench, he used TNT and explosives to "dig" it. This part of the reason why Schliemann is so controvertial because he used explosives to dig all the way down through the site and most definitely destroyed lots of archeological evidence and treasures that are now lost because of what he did. Although she does mention that it was chaotic and that people didn't know better at the time.
You could say that Schliemann was a scoundrel, but so what, men (even fictional) like Han Solo have been called a scoundrel and we don't even bat an eye at that.
(Edit)
Heinrich Schliemann is to archaeology what Bob Kane was to comics.
Her struggle with Schliemann
St Augustine, in “The City of God” says the Trojans are the ancestors of the Romans.
The Greek hero Aeneas, son of Anchises, a cousin of King Priam, was made by Vergil into the ancestor of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. Nennius has Brutus, a descendant of Aeneas, become the founder of pre-Roman Britain. The Franks also have stories in which their tribe was founded by Trojans.
I got confused by the missing "i" - just because this leaving out is repeated in the info-text, I thought I ask - isn't it Heinrich?
Love your videos one thing I'd like to ask, a little off topic, kmow this is a long shot but I distinctly remember a video on the method of repousse where a curator made a tiny byzantine style hand on a piece of bronze. I cant find the video anymore.
I read the old book long ago.
Karl O.Müller :
" The more intelligence enters the history of Greece, the more attention will be drawn to the Pelasgian element "Sacrificed" so far ".
Schliemann, my old nemesis...
Didn't Schliemann actually destroy much of the Troy of the Iliad by digging down to the bottom so hastily?
Someone get a monitor for her PC.