PRESS RELEASE DETAIL 31

Experts.com proudly publishes the following press release issued by its Member and Dickinson Professor Dr. Christofilis Maggidis:

Dickinson Professor Part of History Channel's "The True Story of Troy"

The program, which will premiere on Sunday, May 16 at 8 p.m., asks the questions: Did Troy really exist? Was it the site of a Trojan War? Did Greek warriors build a Trojan Horse? Or was Troy a myth created by Homer and other poets?

The History Channel's documentary looks at the nearly invincible Achilles, valiant Hector, the beautiful Helen, and the king of kings Agamemnon. These individuals and their exploits are sources for Western thinking about topics such as courage in the face of death, the attributes of the ideal soldier, sexual passion, the vagaries of fate, what happens to the human soul when it engages in brutal combat, and the value of compassion.

Maggidis, who hails from Greece and the University of Athens as well as Penn, Brown and Harvard universities, teaches archaeology in the classroom and on digs at Mycenae, seat of mythical kings like Atreus and Agamemnon. A part of this settlement is Dickinson's own excavation site, known as Excavation Program & Archaeological Survey of Mycenae (D.E.P.A.S.). A portion of Maggidis' interview for the documentary was filmed at this site. Dickinson students who work with Maggidis are the only foreign undergraduates ever permitted to dig at this world-famous archaeological landmark. Further, Dickinson in Carlisle, Pa., is now the only college or university in the world that conducts research and excavation at Mycenae.

In the past, many scholars assumed that Troy and the Trojan War were mythic stories. More recently, however, some historians, archaeologists and literary detectives have come to believe that Troy was a Bronze-Age world trade center located in what is now Turkey.

"The Story of Troy": tracks the fascinating labor of modern scholars, who have gradually solved the mystery of Troy's existence by digging through fields, diving underwater to recover shards of ancient pottery, and pondering ancient script. Vivid 3-D animation, along with re-enactments of battles and exclusive film from sites of archaeological digs, bring the history of Troy to life. A private, national liberal arts college of 2,300 students, Dickinson is located in south central Pennsylvania and is known for its innovative curriculum and international education programs. In September 1783, six days after the Treaty of Paris was signed, Dickinson became the first college chartered in the newly recognized nation.

The History Channel Web site is located at www.HistoryChannel.com and Dickinson's archaeology program can be found at https://www.dickinson.edu/departments/arch.

To schedule interviews with Prof. Christofilis Maggidis: Contact Asst. Dir. of Media Relations Heidi Hormel, 717-245-1916 or hormelh@dickinson.edu.