Heinrich Schliemann

Born in 1822 in what is now Germany, Heinrich Schliemann began life far from the world of classical ruins. He worked as a merchant, became wealthy through international trade, and taught himself languages with unusual intensity. That financial success eventually gave him the freedom to chase a lifelong passion for the stories of Homer.

Schliemann is best remembered for excavations at Troy in northwestern Turkey and at Mycenae in Greece. He believed that places described in ancient epic could be tied to real historical sites, and his discoveries helped draw worldwide attention to the Bronze Age Aegean.

His reputation is complicated. Schliemann played a major role in popularizing archaeology, but later scholars have also criticized aspects of his methods and some of his claims. Even so, his work had a lasting impact on how the ancient Greek world was imagined and studied.