Lecture 5 Trojan Realities Schliemann Korfmann Herodotus from Asia Minor writes about early 5th century Writes hist in highly extensive way about traumatic event in 5th century the invasion of Greece by Persia Talks about sources of rivalry bet East West Helen as one of the sources of struggles across Aegean Striking that he feels need to orient tale of Persian War in context of mythology etc Thucydides writes end of 5th century Peloponnesian War bet Athens Sparta Agamemnon is dominant leader b c he leads more men Source The Iliad Later on talking about 10 yr siege at Troy Why did it take so long Speaking from his own experience w sieges deduces that they must not have had enough resources It must have been too small a force etc The Trojan Legend Did any of this really happen Homeric poems are folk hist historicity is doubtful Some material evidence found in record though Does it matter if it did Brings us to questions Who Owns the Past What is the Past Good For Img marble plaque that was once of the Temple of Athena in Athens i e the Parthenon Brit diplomat Lord Elgian removed all such art from the walls of the Temple Then he ran into financial trouble tried to sell them to the Brit gov t Brit state didn t know the value Didn t know how if would improve culture sophistication of life in the present Very immediate aesthetic debate Contemporary value at time was as ART not as HIST Img 1840s Austin Henry Layert Excavated culture of Asyrians in Mesopotamia Excavated capital city of Nimrod Figures of winged bulls with the king s head were found embedded in palace walls Figures were dug out sent to museums Imperialist element to it Pwr to supersede pwrs of antiquity those of native ppls THE POWER OF AESTHETICS THE AESTHETICS OF POWER So what was the Homeric World Mid 19th century Grote was 1st great hist of Greece in English Didn t see Homeric World as a real place Schliemann curious man not very well edu rich when growing up father was a clergyman Talent for langs travelled a lot as an adult Decided to write his diary in lang of whichever country he was in Other great talent talent to make usu by less than legal schemes scams 1851 Set up business in Sac CA to buy gold dust used modified scales 1854 Europe during Crimean War cornered market on dyes needed for military uniforms by late 1860s tired wanted more out of life conceived a passion for Greek antiquity 1870 Travelling around area traditionally assoc w Troy 1870 Troad 1871 3 Hisarlik I 1876 Mycenae 1878 9 Hisarlik II Made extraordinary discoveries that changed the nature of the debates about Troy Mound at Hisarlik 225yds L x 125yds W x 104ft H Original site assoc w Troy Burnabashi found no evidence though so tried Hisarlik instead Hisarlik 1st 50ft limestone 2nd 50ft remains of human habitation 41 separate layers of human habitation which indicates at least 1000s of yrs of habitation Blasted huge trench in mound Eager to get to bottom to find Troy 9 significant layers of habitation in Troy Not always easy to identify Problem when a city is inhabited by a new group of ppl they tend to flatten the city that was already there push it off to the side off the mound Therefore layers aren t exactly in order newer stuff could end up being pushed below older stuff etc Img Troy VI or VII are likely Priam s Troy or the Troy of the Tojan War On the German map red areas are Troy VII Priam s Treasure Schliemann loved headlines wanted to be famous Saved materials bit by bit then claimed he found them together in a treasure trove Named things after Homeric poems to increase excitement etc Decked out his wife Sofia in jewelry from his finds Problem didn t find any written material verifying that it was Priam s Troy not even calendars etc Schliemann s Contributions to Archaeology 1 Test ideas by physical inspection 2 Importance of stratigraphy layers are of diff importance determine what goes together what is separate 3 Importance of pottery shards better for info about ppls daily lives dating time period than gold idols etc 4 Importance of reaching bedrock go through ALL layers 5 Concept of team got top scientists from a number of diff fields to all work together 6 Ability to revise his ideas Troy after Schliemann After Schliemann Wilhelm Dorpfeld 1893 1894 Architect engineer Carl Bleger 1932 1938 American Manfred Korfmann 1988 2002 German Not a classical archaeologist focused on Anatolia Near East Had diff perspective on Troy Troy Levels of Habituation Troy I III 2920 2300 Maritime Troia Troy IV V 2200 1750 Anatolian Troia Troy VI VII 1700 1180 High Troia Korfmann s Model of Troy Walled citadel w walled city around it Defense mechanisms against chariots Homer actually had no clue how chariots were used in battle Clear evidence that chariots WERE a military threat not just taxis for warriors Also chariots were one of the most inventoried items lots of wheels b c they broke a lot Evidence of armor but not to Homeric stories in most cases Est that by 8th century BCE when Homer wrote walls of Troy VII might still have been visible Schliemann went to Mycenae found some extraordinary things Ppl knew where Mycenae was for sure not as subject to controversy as Troy