Schliemann
decisive evidence of the fact that this had been the Ilion of the
Homeric poems. The treasure was named 'Priam's Treasure,' the largest
building, 'Priam's Palace,' and the gate, 'The Scaean Gate.' It
quickly became apparent, however, that the Second City could not
claim Homeric honours, but must be of yet more venerable antiquity.
The style, alike of the city buildings and of the articles found,
was much too primitive for the Homeric period, and pointed to a
date much earlier--probably, indeed, about a thousand years earlier
than that of the Trojan War. The great treasure, whose workmanship
seemed to militate against this conclusion, was suspected to have
somehow slipped down during the excavations from the level of the
Sixth City to that of the Second, as it seemed impossible that such
fine work could belong to the very early period of the Burnt City;
but subsequent discoveries, particularly those of Mr. Seager on the
little island of Mokhlos, off the coast of Crete, have paralleled
the splendour of the Trojan treasure with work which is undoubtedly
of the same early date as the Second City, so that Schliemann's
accuracy has been confirmed in this instance. The citadel itself
seemed far too small to fill the place which Troy occupies in Homer's
description, even allowing for poetic exaggeration.
Pages:
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57