Heinrich Achilles Mistakes

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The type of thinking that the majority of people have is that mistakes are always bad. This is true in the majority of cases, but there are a number of rare few incidents that argue otherwise. Are mistakes still bad if they sacrifice certain things but yield rewards perhaps greater? This is exactly what happened when Heinrich Schilemann dug deep into the Earth, searching for Troy. Because of his careless measurements, he dug too deep and ruined the city of Troy forever, but a large number of ancient axes, household items and jewels that may not have ever been found if Troy was discovered, were excavated. Were the rewards greater than the sacrifice? Many people argue their reasons if the mistake was truly good or bad in this situation. …show more content…

Ever since he was young, he was ambitious and aspired to discover the lost city of Troy. When he got older, he made a fortune in California during the gold rush. After this is when Heinrich used his money previously earned during the gold rush and began his second career of Archeology. He was a very intellectual man. It is said that he could speak 13 languages by the end of his life. However, his bad side was composed of lying and carelessness, often driven by the greed for money and fame. That same carelessness is what destroyed the ancient ruins of the city Troy forever, but was the number of ancient artifacts they excavated worth the price? It began when in 1868 Heinrich found out that a British Archeologist named Frank Calvert owned a site near the modern city Canakkale in Turkey. Frank believed that Troy was founded at that site. However, he did not have the funds to dig there. Heinrich then came along agreed to fund the work-the way he wanted to do it. In 1871, they started digging the site, Heinrich’s way. At this time he was completely convinced that he knew exactly how far to dig to reach Troy. However, his measurements were wrong, and they dug to a layer that modern archeologists believe was much lower below where Troy sat. But they found many ancient artifacts that proved Troy’s existence. Were the rewards worth the