Part Two: Heinrich Schliemann: The Archaeologist Who Destroyed Troy

October 8, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Heinrich Schliemann, the self-made millionaire turned amateur archaeologist, did not discover Troy so much as bulldoze through it. When he arrived at the mound of Hisarlik in northwestern Turkey in 1870, he was convinced the ruins of Homer’s legendary city sat at the very bottom of the hill. He was right that Troy was there. But instead of excavating carefully, he armed his workers with pickaxes and ordered a massive trench carved straight through the center of the mound, tearing through thousands of years of layered history to reach what he assumed was the oldest level. In doing so, he destroyed large portions of the actual Troy he was looking for—a city that scholars now date to roughly the 13th century BC—and fixated instead on a much older settlement, Troy II, which had flourished around 2550 to 2300 BC, centuries before the Trojan War would have occurred.

A Man Who Bought His Way into Archaeology

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What you'll learn

1 (04:15) **Schliemann's First Dig: Odysseus's "Palace"** - After watching a slow excavation in Pompeii, Schliemann decides he can do archaeology faster and lazier, leading to his first disastrous dig on Mount Athos.
2 (06:56) **Schliemann's Racism and American Citizenship** - Schliemann's bigotry and his scheme to divorce his wife by becoming an American citizen are detailed.
3 (12:53) **The Search for a New Wife** - Now divorced, the 47-year-old Schliemann uses his wealth to find a new, much younger wife through a friend acting as a fixer.
4 (18:10) **The Plan to Find Troy** - Schliemann pivots to his main goal: finding Troy to achieve fame, using the knowledge of a real archaeologist, Frank Calvert.
5 (20:51) **The Illegal Dig at Hisarlik** - Schliemann arrives at Hisarlik and immediately begins a destructive, illegal excavation, ignoring all proper archaeological methods.
6 (22:55) **Savage and Brutal Methods** - Schliemann's excavation technique is described as "savage and brutal," destroying priceless artifacts and context.
7 (25:28) **The Fatal Mistake: Digging Too Deep** - Schliemann's obsession with reaching the bottom of the mound leads him to destroy the very Troy he was looking for.

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Show Notes

Robert concludes the thrilling story of how Heinrich Schlieman destroyed a crucial piece of our shared human heritage after purchasing a child bride.

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