Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-29

His Excavations ut NIum and Mycene and
Their importance.


His Excavations ut Nium and Mycene and
| Their importance.
In DR.. Settlements death the most brillian,
and industrious student Of Grecian archaeology
has passed away. His name will ever be Of
closely associated with nium as that Of Homer
Heinrich Schliemann was born in 1922 at
Aukershagen, q village of Mecklenburg.
Schwerin. Heinrich said of his early life: "As
soon as learned to speak my father related to
me the great deeds of the Homeric heroes.
loved the stories; they enchanted me, sic YER
setzten mich in hohe Bcgeisterung. The first
impressions which child receives abide with
him during his whole life, and though il was
my lot, at the age of fourteen, to be apprenticed
In a warehouse, instead Of following the scien-
| tlfc career for which felt an extraordinary
disposition, always retained the same love for
| the famous men Of antiquity which I had con-
ceived for them in my first childhood"
LIFE As GRocER's CLERK.
From fourteen to twenty he was at work
from in the morning till II at night, selling
herrings, butter, brandy, milk and salt by re-
tail, grinding potatoes for the still, sweeping
| the shop, &c.
MASTERING MODERN LANGUAGES.
At the end of his bondage in the shop he be-
gan to educate himself. He pursued a method
VI AcoAHiuS HOucEu BudEcs WHICH Has UCCu
practiced with great success; relying greatly on
the impression produced by the living voice,
when the learner reads passage repeatedly
aloud. Though Schliemanns memory was bad
through long want of practice he acquired q
sufficient practical knowledge of English in six
months and of French in another half wear.
With this practice and the improvement Of his
memory, Dutch, Spanish, italian and Portu-
guese took only six weeks each for IN to speak
and write fuently. He had obtained an i'm
proved situation before he learned Russian, and
this acquisition proved the foundation OF his
fortune.
In 1916 his employers sent him to st. Peters
burg, where he went into business on his own
account year later. But the new demand
upon his time suspended study for eight years
and it was not till 1854 that he found leisure to
learn Swedish and Polish.
THE STUDY OF GREEK.
Greek was reserved till he had secured a COM
petent fortune, lest the fascination of the
language should estrnnge him from his COM
mercial industry. At length he set vigorously
to work in January. 1856, and. with the help of
two Greek friends. he learned modern Greek in
six weeks. Three months more sufficed him to
learn enough Of classical Greek to understand
the ancient writer's. and especially Homer,
whom" says he. II read again and again with
the liveliest enthusiasm" In two years, devoted
to the exclusive study of the old Greek litera-
ture. he read nearly all the ancient writer's
curiously, and the ''Iliad" and Odyssey"
several times through. f'-Ff
enough to allow him to retire from business
and devote himself to his long-cherished pur-
poses He then devoted his time to the study
OF Greek history and geography.
TEE REMAINS OF TROY FOUND.
He finally settled at Athens as one of the
band of French and German scholars who have
made the capital Of Greece new center Of
archaeological study, and returned to Hissar-
Xix. in the Troad. in the spring of 1870 with his
wife, Greek lady and helpmeet for the work
before him. That work occupied the practical
Die seasons OF three years. from the autumn Of
1871 to the summer Of 1873. 1t was prosecuted
amidst difficulties from Turkish officialism and
Greek cunning, fevers storms and poisonous
vapors. added to the frequent danger Of being
crushed by the undermined masses of earth
and rubbish and from the carelessness and stu
pidity. the artfulness and jealousy of the work.
men and natives The result given to the
world in 1874 in the work entitled Troy and
Its Remains"
ExcAvATING NyCENE.
In February. 1874. DR.. Schliemann obtained
permission from the Greek government. to
excavate Mycena, where, three years later, he
discovered the five royal tombs which had been
pointed ont to Pausanias by local tradition as
those of Agamemnon and his companions who
were murdered by Hgisthus. In 1877 he pub
lished the result of these excavations in a work
entitled ''Mycene: Narrative of Researches
and Discoveries at Mycene and Tiryns" About
this time he paid q visit to England. where he
was received with great consideration. and Mr..
Gladstone wrote the preface to the work just
mentioned. DIR. Schliemann continued the
work of excavation and exploration up to the
time of his death. from time to time giving 10
the world the result Of his labors in fresh
volume.
HIS LATER YEARS.
He was elected corresponding member Of
the Academy of Sciences at Munich in 1882
and in the following year published "Troja,"
supplement and completion of the earlier
volume on Troy, while still another work,
.'Tiryns." published toward the close of 1885
stands in the same relation to his ''Mvcen@."
During the past four years he had been con-
Quoting excavations on the site of the cele-
brated oracle ut Lebadea in B1otia the pal
ace of Atrides at Mycena and the Temple of
Venus on the Island of kerigo (the ancient
kytheia).
About ten years ago DIR. Schliemann built for
himself in Athens an imposing marble palace,
which bears on its front above the door the in
| scription in letters of gold, Hall Of Ilium."
Here every other Thursday evening during the
winter he was accustomed to entertain hun
dred or more professors, journalists and states
men.
At the family table classic Greek alone was
spoken, and even the servants had classic
names-the gardener was Priam, the porter
BellerophOn and the two nurses Hecuba and
Polyxena.