In a landmark two-part series we set out to explore the legacy of one of the greatest names in archaeology, in search of the truth behind the most enduring legend of all time. It’s been 150 years since entrepreneur and businessman turned archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, published the results of his dig at a lonely Turkish hill known as Hissarlik.
He had, he claimed, discovered the fabled city where the Greeks and Trojans fought over Helen of Troy, and which met a dreadful fate when the Greeks hid a band of warriors inside a wooden horse to get inside the city walls.
It seemed as if, at one stroke, the Trojan War had been shifted from the world of myth into the pages of history. And if Troy were real, then what of all the other famous legends? After decades of new discoveries, it’s time to look at the latest findings and apply the kind of scientific techniques that researchers could only dream of just a few years ago to an age-old question…
We will bring a critical eye, scientific thinking and enthusiasm for the ancient past to a dynamic investigation into the greatest of all history mysteries. The work on Troy itself that Schliemann started has rarely paused for breath, and it has spawned entire fields of study that have been searching for answers everywhere from Greece to Israel, Syria to Turkey. In every generation, new finds have been made, fabulous treasures unearthed, reputations put on the line, and bitter disputes fought over how far each new piece of evidence can take us. All the while the legends have proved surprisingly, stubbornly resilient to all this scrutiny.
Episode 1: An Age of Heroes Past
Episode 2: The Fall of Troy and A Darkening Age
