Scotsman Samuel Greig so impressed his superiors at the Admiralty in London that he was sent as an adviser to the Russian Imperial Navy.
In 1698, Tsar Peter the Great visited England and gained such a healthy respect for the Royal Navy that in 1717 he brought Thomas Gordon, later Admiral Gordon, to St Petersburg. In 1763, when Empress Catherine wanted to accelerate the Imperial Navy’s growth, she too turned to London, and they sent her Samuel Greig.
During the Orlov Revolt of 1769, Greek islanders get their hands on a copy of Homer’s epic tale of Troy.
During the Greek Revolution of 1821-1829, against the Ottoman Empire, Irishman Edward Blaquière found his fund-raising in London hampered by doubts over whether today’s Greeks were worthy of their ancient forebears. Blaquiere showed them that the spirit of Achilles, wrathful hero of the Trojan War, lived on.