Thursday, March 13, 2008

There is Salvation in Work

Peter Ackroyd’s novel, The Fall of Troy, concerns the marriage of German archaeologist, Heinrich Obermann, to Greek bride, Sophia Chrysanthis, whose knowledge of the works of Homer is an attractive asset in the quest to excavate the city of Hissarlik, which he thinks is Ancient Troy.

Commenting on her new life to a visitor to the archeological dig Sophia says:

‘There is salvation in work. In activity. As soon as I began to dig, I found a purpose. It is what my husband calls my destiny.”

Source: Peter Ackroyd, The Fall of Troy (London: Vintage Books, 2007), 92.

A review of the book, The Fall of Troy, can be found at Reviewing Books and Movies.

Dr. Geoff Pound

Image: “As soon as I began to dig, I found a purpose.”