Reply To: Myth Becomes History

[Celina Batchelder]

Several discoveries made by Evans and Schliemann seem to be misrepresented in cultural context in order to increase the market value of these claims. For example, Dr. Steven Hucker and Dr. Beth Harris discuss the Mask of Agamemnon on behalf of the Khan Academy, and it’s founder Schliemann, calling him “a businessman, and a kind of amateur archaeologist.” They go on to discuss the speculation of art historians behind the well preserved mask, suggesting that Schliemann may have over-restored it and made it appeal more to a nineteenth century agenda. While not a lot of written history is left behind regarding the Aegean world, like that of other cultures, we are left to piece the puzzle together by relying on found artifacts and architecture to put the history of this once extravagant culture to understanding. In scenarios such as this, observers and historians need to be cautious of manipulation or falsification for a discoverer’s own personal gain, in whatever fashion.