Archaeology and Heinrich Schliemann 2012

Homer, Mycenae and Troy: Problems and Aspects 361Iliad, and the armour of Agamemnon described inbook XI. After the discovery of inlayed dagger-bladesin Mycenae, it was believed that Achilles’ shield reflectedMycenaean handcraft; however, Agamemnon’sarmour, which is described in quite a similar way, isa present from King Kinyras (a Semitic word) ofCyprus, and the Gorgon as shield sign points clearlytowards the Orient. 36Another anachronism refers to the Dorians andtheir division into three phyles consisting of Hylleans,Dymanes, and Pamphylians. It was repeatedlyassumed that they were a confederation from thetimes of the invasion of the seafaring tribes: Hylleanswere supposed to be Illyrians, Dymanes to be Doriansfrom northern Greece, and Pamphylians were regardedas the remaining Greeks of the Peloponnese. 37 TheDorians, thus divided into three groups, happen toappear surprisingly in Crete: in the nineteenth songof the Odyssey (19.177), Ulysses does not only tell ofthe Achaians, Eteocretans, Cydonians and Pelasgiansas inhabitants of Crete, but also of the ∆ωριέεςτριχά(F)ικες, the threefold living Dorians. This is, ofcourse, an anachronism because Dorians do not existduring the Bronze Age, the time during which thepoem is set. But the poet of the Iliad also knows aboutthe three tribes of the Dorians: in the catalogue ofships during the second song of the Iliad, in theinserted piece on the Dodecanese, the Rhodians aresaid to be divided into three cities - Lindos, Ialysos,Kameiros: τρίχα κοσµηθέντες. Later we will find thatthis means: τριχθά δέ ǚκηθεν καταφυλαδόν (“but theylived divided into three tribes”). 38 Clearly the settlingof the Dorians into three phyles (tribes) on Rhodes isdescribed herewith. Both anachronisms are only likelyin a time where the order of the phyles has becomea matter of course, which suggests the Geometric Age.A clear hint at the Geometric Age is also given inall descriptions of combat, which prove knowledge ofthe hand-to-hand fighting of the phalanxes, especiallywith the formulary verse àσπdς ôρ’ àσπίδ’ öρειδε, κόρυςκόρυν, àνέρα δ’ àνcρ: “Shield thrust against shield, helmetagainst helmet, warrior against warrior”. 39Parts of the later sections of the Iliad attempt togive a place of honour to the family of the Aeneadesin the Troad and the Glaucides in Caria. This meansthe whole so-called Aeneis (the twentieth song of theIliad) and the Glaucus-Diomedes episode in the sixthsong of the Iliad: here, finally, we see the poet atwork and his wish to honour his noble patrons. 40Moreover, the Glaucus-Diomedes episode in itselfcontains one further anachronism: the mention ofwriting in a context referring to oriental influences.The king of Tiryns, Proitus, has a wife, Anteia, whowants to seduce Bellerophon. The latter resists temptation,whereupon Anteia accuses him of an act ofindecency before Proitus. The parallel to this can beseen in Genesis 39. Then Proitus sends Bellerophon toLycia with a sealed diptychon, a writing-tablet withthe order to kill Bellerophon. This is the motive of theUriah letter, which we will find again in Samuel II, 11.The description of the letter (πόρεν δ’ ¬ γb σήµαταλυγρά/γράψας âν πίνακι πτυκτˇ΅ θυµοφθόρα πολλa “hegave him many signs on the way, dangerous and fatalto life, which he had written on a folded tablet”)proves without any doubt the knowledge of writing. 41The motive of the Uriah letter and the phenomenon ofwriting were so inseparably combined that the authorhad no means of preventing an anachronism: althoughdescribing an age without writing, the poethad to make Proitus literate. He did this during an erawhere the Greeks had themselves learned to write forthe second time, this time using the Phoenician alphabet.OutlookIt is clear that Homeric philology was repeatedlystimulated by outside research during the last hundredyears. The archaeological excavations of ManfredKorfmann in Bes,ik Bay, 9 km southwest ofTroy, 42 and in Troy itself and the immediate surroundingof the acropolis also promise to shed new light onHomeric studies.In Bes,ik Bay, Dörpfeld had already searched forthe harbour of the Greeks next to the Homeric Troy,while Schliemann wanted to localize the Homeric harbourin the Dardanelles, near the mouth of the Scamander.Jassi-Tepe hill is situated in the north of36. XVIII.468 ff.; XI.15 ff., Burkert 1984, 19-29, 82-84.37. Lehmann 1985, 64-66.38. ΙΙ.655, 668.39. XIII.131; XVI.215, dazu Latacz 1977, 63-65, 238-241.40. Heubeck 1984, 39--62.41. VI.168 f.; Heubeck 1979, 128-140.42. Korfmann 1984, 165-195; Korfmann 1985, 157-194; Korfmann1986, 303-330; Korfmann 1988, 391-404; Korfmann1989, 473-481.