DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.959#0132
1871.] VILLAGE OF THE ILIANS.
situated directly before the site of " 'iXieW km/m/," and that
their position corresponds so exactly with the two springs
of hot and cold water which existed in front of ancient
Troy, and in which the Trojan women used to wash their
clothes, convinces Mr. Frederick Calvert that Demetrius
of Scepsis and Strabo were right, and that he possesses the
actual site of ancient Troy. In order to gain 240 acres
of rich land and to make the district more healthy, but
especially also in the interest of science, Mr. Calvert has
now caused the channels to be opened, and he believes, as
the incline is considerable, amounting at least to 53 feet,
and the distance from the Hellespont is three hours, that by
next summer the whole marsh will be dried up, and the
two springs, which are now 5 feet under water, will be
brought to light * I have in vain endeavoured to make
Mr. Calvert change his opinion, by seeking to convince
him that, according to the Iliad (II. 123-30),! Troy must
at least have had 50,000 inhabitants, whereas the site he
possesses is scarcely large enough for 10,000; further, that
the distance from the 'IXieW /cw/rq to the Hellespont directly
contradicts the statements of Homer, for we are told that
the Greek troops in one day twice forced their way fighting
from the camp to the town, and returned twice, fighting.
The distance of the town from the ships, therefore, in my
opinion, can at most have been that of one hour (about
3 miles). Mr. Calvert replies that the whole Plain of Troy
is alluvial land, and that at the time of the Trojan war its
site must have been nearer the Hellespont; but, three years
ago, in my work, ' Ithaca, the Peloponnesus, and Troy,' I
endeavoured to prove that the Plain of Troy is decidedly
not alluvial land.
This work has now been done. See ' Introduction,' p. 51,
+ The ' Introduction ' has already shown how Dr. Schliemann
changed his opinion as to the magnitude of Troy. Compare also
t-napter XXIII. It is hard to see how the vague poetic language of the
Passage cited furnishes any data for the computation in the text.—[Ed.]
situated directly before the site of " 'iXieW km/m/," and that
their position corresponds so exactly with the two springs
of hot and cold water which existed in front of ancient
Troy, and in which the Trojan women used to wash their
clothes, convinces Mr. Frederick Calvert that Demetrius
of Scepsis and Strabo were right, and that he possesses the
actual site of ancient Troy. In order to gain 240 acres
of rich land and to make the district more healthy, but
especially also in the interest of science, Mr. Calvert has
now caused the channels to be opened, and he believes, as
the incline is considerable, amounting at least to 53 feet,
and the distance from the Hellespont is three hours, that by
next summer the whole marsh will be dried up, and the
two springs, which are now 5 feet under water, will be
brought to light * I have in vain endeavoured to make
Mr. Calvert change his opinion, by seeking to convince
him that, according to the Iliad (II. 123-30),! Troy must
at least have had 50,000 inhabitants, whereas the site he
possesses is scarcely large enough for 10,000; further, that
the distance from the 'IXieW /cw/rq to the Hellespont directly
contradicts the statements of Homer, for we are told that
the Greek troops in one day twice forced their way fighting
from the camp to the town, and returned twice, fighting.
The distance of the town from the ships, therefore, in my
opinion, can at most have been that of one hour (about
3 miles). Mr. Calvert replies that the whole Plain of Troy
is alluvial land, and that at the time of the Trojan war its
site must have been nearer the Hellespont; but, three years
ago, in my work, ' Ithaca, the Peloponnesus, and Troy,' I
endeavoured to prove that the Plain of Troy is decidedly
not alluvial land.
This work has now been done. See ' Introduction,' p. 51,
+ The ' Introduction ' has already shown how Dr. Schliemann
changed his opinion as to the magnitude of Troy. Compare also
t-napter XXIII. It is hard to see how the vague poetic language of the
Passage cited furnishes any data for the computation in the text.—[Ed.]