Introducing: History Daily

Hidden History with Dr. Harini Bhat

This episode of History Daily explores the fraudulent discovery of Troy by archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in 1873, revealing how his obse

Key takeaways

• Heinrich Schliemann's passion for finding Troy was rooted in a childhood dream sparked by an illustrated book on the Trojan War.
• Schliemann ignored proper archaeological methods, secretly removing valuable artifacts from his dig site to claim credit and fame.

Main topics

• The myth of Troy and its cultural significance
• Heinrich Schliemann's controversial archaeological methods

Notable quotes

"If it ever really existed, the city of Troy has been lost to history." – Heinrich Schliemann's father, setting the stage for his lifelong obsession.

Conclusion

Heinrich Schliemann's quest to find Troy exemplifies how ambition and obsession can distort

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:02) Are you the type to fall down an internet rabbit hole and not come up for hours? You'll love Crimes of Reddit, a new Crime House original with Sabrina Deanna Roga and Alexis Linklater. Every week, one host brings real true crime stories from Reddit while the other reacts completely blind. No prep, no spoilers, then they swap. It's a feeling of sending your group chat a thread at 2 a.m. that starts with, you have to see this. Except Sabrina and Alexis are in the chat with you. Follow Crimes of Reddit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify or subscribe at Crimes of Reddit Pod on YouTube. Speaker 2 (0:37) Hi, listeners. I'm sharing another history podcast with you today that I think you'll enjoy. It's called History Daily, and it tells a story of what happened on Speaker 1 (0:45) this day in history. New Speaker 2 (0:47) episodes come out every weekday, and everyone runs under 20 minutes. The whole idea is that history is human, and that's a philosophy I share. I have a full episode for you right now about the fraudulent discovery of Troy in 1873. If you like what you hear, follow History Daily wherever you listen to podcasts. Speaker 1 (1:16) It's the morning of June 15th, 1873, at an archaeological dig in northwestern Turkey. Leaning on his cane, Heinrich Schliemann snaps at his crew to work faster. The sun is barely up, but he can already feel the heat gathering in the air, chasing away the last of the night's chill. All around him, men haul down tents and roll up canvas. They nail crates shut and load them onto a half of a dozen waiting carts. A hundred workers have spent months digging through this ancient mound in search of a mythical lost city. Now they're packing up and preparing to leave. But there's still one job to be done before Heinrich can take his finds away. As part of his excavation permit, all his discoveries have to be split with the Turkish government. So an official inspector is carefully listing everything that goes into the crates, making sure that the government gets its share. As the last one is sealed shut, the inspector shoots Heinrich a suspicious look. After a whole season of digging, these shards of pottery seem a disappointing result. Heinrich just shrugs, but underneath his controlled expression, he can barely contain himself. Because the government inspector does not know Heinrich's secret, that he's found far, far more than he's letting on, a king's ransom of gold jewelry, copper shields, and silver vases. And this treasure will never go to the Turkish government, because it's already been whisked away without anyone being the wiser. Speaker 1 (2:51) Heinrich Schliemann is convinced that he has found Troy, the legendary city that was besieged for ten years before it fell. And with this discovery, he believes he will soon win himself immortal fame and glory, just like the heroes of the ancient stories. Except Heinrich is no hero, and his discovery is not what he thinks it is. Other scholars will try to make him see the truth, but he will ignore and belittle them. and instead double down on his belief that he found Troy and its treasures during his first excavations in Turkey, which came to an end on June 15, 1873. From Noiser and Airship, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is History Daily. History is made every day. On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is June 15, 1873, the fraudulent discovery of Troy. Speaker 1 (4:10) It's Christmas Eve, 1829, in Mecklenburg, Germany, more than 40 years before Heinrich Schliemann starts digging for the lost city of Troy. In the cramped living room of a poor minister's home, seven-year-old Heinrich and his siblings gather around a tree decorated with flickering candles and candied fruit. The air smells of pine and tallow and something sweet baking in the kitchen. Most of the time, the Schliemanns don't have much money to spare. Heinrich's father is a Lutheran pastor who has to stretch every coin he earns. But the holidays are different. Every Christmas, each child in the family receives a gift, and tonight the room buzzes with the energy of children who are trying very hard to be patient. Heinrich waits his turn until finally his father places a wrapped package in his hands. Heinrich tears it open, and it's a book, the Illustrated History of the World. It's exactly what Heinrich wanted. He flips through the pages, his eyes lighting up with each illustration, until he lands on the section about the Trojan War. He pauses,