author
Heinrich Schliemann
1822–1890
Driven by a lifelong fascination with Homer, this self-made businessman turned excavator helped bring Troy and Mycenae into the modern imagination. His discoveries made him famous, even as his methods and claims continue to spark debate.
2 Audiobooks
Mycenæ: a narrative of researches and discoveries at Mycenæ and Tiryns
by Heinrich Schliemann
About the author
Born in Germany in 1822, Heinrich Schliemann first built his fortune in business before devoting himself to the ancient world that had captivated him since childhood. He became internationally known for excavations at Hisarlik, which he identified with Troy, and at Mycenae and Tiryns, where his finds helped draw wide attention to Bronze Age Greece.
Schliemann is often remembered as a pioneering figure in archaeology, but his reputation is complicated. Later scholars have pointed out that he sometimes shaped his own legend and that his excavation methods could be destructive by modern standards. Even so, his energy, ambition, and dramatic discoveries played a major role in popularizing the search for the world behind Homer.
He died in 1890, leaving behind a legacy that is both celebrated and contested: part adventurous treasure hunter, part early archaeologist, and a key figure in the story of how prehistoric Greece entered public view.