A concise guide to Mycenae & Tiryns

£A CONCISE QUIDE

TO

MYCENAE & TIRYNS

BY

PERICLES COLLAS

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Digitized by the Internet Archive

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http://www.archive.org/details/conciseguidetomyOOcolluoft

A CONCISE QUIDE TO

MYCENAE and TIRYNS

by
P. COLLAS

A CONCISE GUIDE
TO

MYCENAE & TIRYNS

by

PERICLES COLLAS

ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOQRAPHS

by

DIMITRIOS HARISSIADIS

C. CACOULIDES • BOOKSELLER AND PUBLISHER
39 EL. VENIZELOU STREET • ATHENS

7 wish to acknowledge my
indebtedness to the archaeologist
Miss Maria Tompropoulos for
her valuable help in checking
all the data used in this book
and for her share in the writing
of the text. P.C.

FROM ATHENS TO MYCENAE

The direct route from Athens to the plain of
Argos, in which Mycenae and Tiryns are situ-
ated, passes through various interesting places
which can be visited by the traveller if he has
the time. Both road and railway follow almost
the same course, in fact they often cross each
other until they reach the village of Fichtia, the
final station to Mycenae. However, tourist o*
ces often organize bus tr ps direct to the sites of
Mycenae and Tiryns,

From Athens the Sacred Road or Hiera Ho-
dos (today : Iera Odds) follows the line of the an-
cient road of this name leading to Eleusis. The
name was given to the road because it was that
followed by the sacred processions from Eleusis
to Athens.

After a little more than nine kilometers one
reaches the Monastery of Daphni dating from
the end of the nth century A.D, A visit will re-
ward the visitor with the view of some of the
most beautiful Byzantine mosaics in Greece. Two
km. from Daphni there is, on the right, a rock
with niches for offerings which marks the site
of an ancient precinct of Aphrodite.

On reaching the sea, the road turns north-
wards. There one can see the lake of Koumoun-
douros, which is the first of the two ancient
tarns called the Rhetoi, which were dedicated to
Demeter and Kore.

21 km. from Athens one comes to Eleusis.
It was the site of the mystic, religious ceremo-
nies (mysteries, festivals and processions) in hon-
our of Demeter and Persephone or Kore. The
local antiquities are of some interest (sacred pre-
cinct, museum and acropolis).

Megara. The modern town is built on the site
of ancient Megara of which traces only remain.
In classical times Megara was often an enemy
of Athens. The greatest historical significance of
the town is that it founded important colonies.

Skyron's Rocks, shortly after Megara, form
an impressive barrier of reddish rock, on the
right of the road which at this point passes near
the sea. This portion of the road is now named
Kaki Skala (Evil Stair or Harbour) and is
notorious from the ancient tale about the robber
Skyron who hurled his victims into the sea.

The Corinth Canal, which one crosses by
bridge or ferry boat, is 6 km. in length and cuts
across the isthmus of Corinth which joins the
Peloponnese to the mainland of Greece.

Modern Corinth lies about 5 km. from the
Canal, and another 5 km. further on one finds
the ruins of ancient Corinth, famous in clas-
sical times and also later for the important
role it played in the early history of Christian-

6

ity. The interesting castle of Acrocorinth and the
smaller one of Penteskoufi are near the ancient
city. The two castles can be seen to the right of
the road, shortly after Corinth.

Dervenakia. 28 km. from Corinth, a narrow
gorge opens at the point Agios Sostis. In 1822,
the Greeks under Kolokotronis achieved one of
the most important victories against the Otto-
mans, during the Greek Revolution. The pass
is known as the pass of Dervenakia. The ancient
road joining the Corinth area with the plain of
Argos crossed this pass.

Pichtia. The village and railway station of
Fichtia are 29 km. from Corinth. The carriage
road on the left leads to Harvati at a distance of
2 km.

Harvati. This village is near the archaeolog-
ical site of Mycenae. One can find comfortable
accommodation at the hotel "L,a Belle Helene"
and the Tourist Pavilion.

Fig. i. Gold mask, 26 cm. high, from one of the shaft
graves at Mycenae (No. 7).

MYCENAE

HISTORY AND LEGEND

Mycenae is among those sites whose attrac-
tions lie both in the legends born on their soil
and in their factual history. Indeed it was here
that a circle of tragic legends originated, legends

which inspired poets and writers, and gave the
first impetus to archaeological research on the
site. Even today these legends exercise the irre-
sistible charm of poetry on us, this apart from
the fact that the real interest of the site is that it
was here that the first Greek civilization was
born, the Mycenaean, from which the classical
Greek civilization later developed.

The Mycenaean civilization flourished, rough-
ly between the years 1650 and 1100 B.C., in
several parts of Greece where it left important
remains (Athens, Orchomenos, etc.), and reached
its pinnacle at Mycenae and the nearby Argive
plain ; it is here that its most impressive remains
have been found.

The fact is that, before the massive grandeur
of the Mycenaean ruins and the majestic beauty
of the scenery, the visitor can scarcely confine
his thoughts to the few facts we know about the
place, however important these may be. It is nat-
ural that his thoughts should also wander to the
local legends, even if we do not know whether
these have their origin in historical fact. More-
over, the archaeologists' spade has revealed clear
traces of fire and destruction, mute evidence of
unnamed wars and conquests, which undoubtedly
occurred but of which we do not possess, and
may never possess, any written historical con-
firmation.

10

THE HISTORY OF MYCENAE
IN OUTUNE

3000-2000 B. C. Mycenae was inhabited by a
non-Hellenic race which used instru-
ments of stone and copper. At the end of
this period bronze was introduced.

2000 1650 B. C. At the beginning of this era, in
about 1900, the first Greek peoples
entered the region of modern Greece,
probably coming from the north. It is
probable that the native population
formed the majority of the serfs, while
the invaders, partly intermingled with
the nobitily of the conquered, formed
the ruling class. The social structure
appears to have been feudal in type, i. e.
it consisted of an aristocracy that gover-
ned from fortified towns and castles and
was principally engaged in warfare,
hunting and sport, while the lower clas-
ses were engaged in agriculture and the
manual occupations. Fortified sites such
as Mycenae, Tiryns, Argos and Asine
were founded at this time. Towards the
end of the period the rulers of Mycenae
used to bury their dead in deep rectan-
gular graves, known as shaft graves.

1650-1500 B. C. The beginning of the Myce-
naean age is usually placed ca. 1650 and
its end ca. 1100 B. C. The name was

11

given because it was here, at Mycenae,
that the most characteristic evidence of
that civilization was found. The power of
Mycenae increased during the 150 years
from 1650 to 1500. The six graves in the
enclosure of the acropolis (high citadel)
of Mycenae (F g. 2, No. 7) belong to this
per od. The graves discovered recent-
ly (I952"I954) by Dr. J. Papadimitriou
(Fig. 2, No. 18) belong to roughly the
same period.

There is evidence of the influence of
the Cretan (also known as Minoan from
the Cretan king Minos) civilization on
the art and religion of the Mycenaeans, as
appears from the vases, statuettes, mu-
rals and other objects of the time found
at Mycenae and Tiryns. The character
of Mycenaean cilivization was strongly
influenced by the culture of the rich
lands of the Aegean, including the island
of Crete, with which relations of various
sorts must have been maintained. Lat-
er on, about 1470, we may regard it as
certain that Crete itself, the previous
centre of the great Minoan power, enter-
ed the circle of Mycenaen political and
cultural influence.

1500-1200 B.C. There is a tendency for more mon-
umental architecture. Chamber tombs
and beehive tombs were constructed

12

(Fig. 2, Nos. 1-3), as well as the great
circuit wall (No. 5).

c. a. 1180 B.C. The tragedy of the Atreidae
and the Trojan War. According to
legend, the founder of Mycenae was the
hero Perseus, son of the god Zeus and a
mortal woman, Danae. The spring at a
short distance to the east of the acropo-
lis, was named Perseia after him; he
was said to have made it gush out of
the earth with a blow of his sword. Per-
seus founded the first dynasty that
reigned here, the Perseidae. L,ater the
dynasty of the Atreidae ascended the
throne of Mycenae and its members
committed a long series of odious
crimes, improper marriages and acts of
brutal revenge. The founder of the dy-
nasty, Atreus, gave his brother Thyestes
cooked pieces of his (Thyestes9) children
to eat, and was finally murdered by
Thyestes' surviving son, Aegisthus.
Atreus* son, Agamemnon, was able to
stabilize his position on the throne and
became the most powerful and glorious
warrior king of his contemporary Greece.
At this time the Greeks (Achaeans, as
they were then called) undertook overseas
expeditions against the islands of the
Aegean and the mainland of Asia Minor.
The great expedition, known as the

13

Trojan War, described by the poet Ho-
mer in his epic poems the Iliad and
the O d d y sjs e y , is traditionally pla-
ced around the year 1180 B. C. The
cause of the war, which lasted ten whole
years, and in which all the Greeks par-
ticipated under the leadership of Aga-
memnon was, according to the legend,
the abduction of the most beautiful wo-
man of Greece, the queen of Sparta, Hel-
en, by a prince of Ilion (or Troy, hence
the adjective Trojan) in Asia Minor.
Because the gods would not grant a
favourable wind for the Greek fleet to
sail for the expedition, Agamemnon
sacrificed his own daughter Iphigenia
in order to placate them.

The king's wife, Clytemnestra, who
stayed behind at Mycenae, would not
forgive this act. During the ten year
absence of her husband, the queen lived
with his cousin Aegisthus and they ruled
together. The two lovers were united
not only by their mutual passion but
also by a common hatred of the absent
king. Aegisthus hated him because of
their family feuds ; Clytemnestra because
of the loss of her daughter. The guilty
couple had placed watchmen on the
height of the royal castle and the sur-
rounding hills so that they might notify
them of the king's possible return. Bven-

14

tually Agamemnon returned victorious
from the war, bringing with him a young
woman, the daughter of the vanquished
king Priam, Cassandra, who had already
borne Agamemnon two children.

From that moment the tragedy took
a swift and brutal course. During the
feast in honour of the victor the king
was slain by Aegisthus. Neither the
faithful followers of Agamemnon nor the
unfortunate Cassandra escaped death.
According to another version, Agamem-
non was murdered while taking his bath.

The story, which has inspired trage-
dians down to the present day, ends, as
is normal in ancient tragedy, with the
moral rehabilitation of the just and the
punishment of the guilty. Agamemnon's
son, Orestes, slew his mother and her
lover, and later discovered his sister
Iphigenia in a temple, where she had
lived by the miraculous intervention of
the goddess Artemis, and brought her
back home. Orestes, the last offspring
of a long line of ancestors who had lived
steeped in crime, was for a long time
tormented by his conscience for this mat-
ricide and wandered about foreign lands
until finally his sins were forgiven at
the sacred shrine of Delphi.

Thus the impact of Mycenae on the
visitor is twofold. In the first place

15

there is the evidence of a great civiliza-
tion which actually existed, and second-
ly he cannot escape the tragic atmo-
sphere created by the echoes of crimes
which, whether or not they were actual-
ly committed, were believed by so many
generations of men to have occurred

here.

* * *

During the following centuries the
use of iron was introduced in Greece ;
new centres of civilization appeared,
and Mycenae gradually declined. The
walls no longer protected the "gol-
den Mycenae", as the city was called by
the poets, and a town of secondary im-
portance grew up on the ruins of the
first Greek civilization. When in the be-
ginning of the 5th century B. C. almost
the whole of Greece armed against the
Persian invasion, Mycenae and Tiryns
sent a few hundred warriors to fight for
the common cause.

Much later, in the 2nd century A.D.,
when the famous tourist of ancient
times, Pausanias, visited Mycenae, the
area was sparsely inhabited by a rural
population who, after more than fifteen
centuries, still remembered the great
names of the past and thought they
knew the exact site of the graves of their
legendary ancestors.

16

DESCRIPTION OF MYCENAE AND
THE SURROUNDINQ AREA

Leaving the village of Harvati for Mycenae,
we follow the asphalt road leading to the east.
Then, as the road turns northwards, there ap-
pears a fairly wide gorge dominated by Mt. Zara
(600 m.). Ruins of various ages are scattered all
over the region showing that it has perhaps been
continuously inhabited since prehistoric times. In
the depths of the ravine one can see parts of char-
acteristic Mycenaean structures (usually half cov-
ered by the vegetation) of huge blocks of stone
whose construction the ancient Greeks ascribed
to the one-eyed giants, the Cyclopes, and hence
called "Cyclopean9*.

The big numbers refer to the same numbers
on Fig. 2.

1 & 2 Embedded in the hillside along the left of
the road there are two Chamber Tombs whose
entrances open on the road. This sort of tombs
belong to a period later than the middle of the
2nd millennium B. C. They are cut in the soft
rock, and consist of a passage leading into a
chamber where the royal dead were buried. There
is a small number of such tombs in the area.

3 At this point, before the bend in the road,
on our left, we meet a retaining wall built to sup-
port the terrace in front of the entrance passage

17

vx^\».^ ^\^\V\?

Fig. 2. Map of Mycenae.

18

to the most imposing of all Mycenaean tombs.
This is so-called Treasury of Atreus, though
this title is quite incorrect. In fact it is the tomb
of a great king of ca. 1350 B.C. and belongs to
the type called "beehive tombs", because of their
shape which resembles an old-fashioned dome-sha-
ped beehive. It is the best preserved specimen of
the tombs of this kind which were built between
1500 and 1200 B. C. to serve as burial places for
members of the ruling dynasties. There are nine
beehive tombs now visible in the Mycenae area
and they probably all housed the bodies of kings
and princes.

The building is remarkable for the huge di-
mensions of the stone blocks used in its construc-
tion and for the skillful workmanship. It is no less
remarkable for its austere beauty. The entrance
passage, called the dromos, 46 m. in length
and 6 m. wide, was covered in with earth after each
burial so that the tomb should not be broken into.
It should be noted that together with the bodies
there were placed in the tomb various objects
whose purpose was to be of service to the depar-
ted in their life beyond the grave. These objects
were mostly things used by the deceased while
alive — such as swords, ornaments, etc. Some
objects seem to have been used especially for the
burial and were of religious character, such as
vases of special form for libations or small effigies
of gods. These objects were mostly of great in-
trinsic and artistic value, and have always been
a temptation to robbers throughout the ages. Few

19

1

IN

* 8

So

CSS

so

tombs have escaped
profanation at the
hand of such thieves
who,at various epochs,
have stripped them of
everything of value.
The reason for filling
in the passage of such
tombs is therefore ob-
vious. Furthermore,
after it was filled in,
the passage was closed
up at its outer end by
a wall. For each new
burial this wall had to
be demolished and the
whole passage cleared
of the earth and rub-
ble.

The doorway of
the tomb, 5.40 m. in
height, narrows to-
wards the top. It was
ornamented by two
half columns of green-
ish stone on either
side of the entrance
and with a rich deco-
ration of coloured car-
ved marble and metal
ornaments. A remark-
able feature of the

20

door is its lintel, which consists of two colossal
stone blocks placed side by side, one towards the
exterior and the other towards the interior of the
tomb. The latter, whose inner
surface follows the curvature
of the vault, weighs about 120
tons and is 8 m. in length,
5 m. in depth and 1.20 m.
in height. These enormous
masses of stone, like those
often met with in Mycenaean
constructions, are supposed to
have been hauled to their final
position with the aid of rollers,
by men or animals, up inclined
planes, which were either
artificially constructed for that
purpose, or, more often, pro-
vided by the natural slope of
the hill declivity in which
most of the tombs were built.
Above the two lintel blocks
there is a space, called the
relieving triangle, whose ob-
ject was to shift the weight of
the structure above the lintel
from the latter to the jambs
or sides of the door. The
triangle was not visible as it is now ; it was
covered with carved stones.

The main chamber of the tomb is circular and
is over 14.50 m. high. Above a certain height the

Fig. 4. Hard metal
dagger, 18 cm. long,
with lilies of elec-
tron from the shaft
graves at No. 7.

21

walls were decorated with round metal (perhaps
gold or gilded) ornaments, the dowel holes of
which are still visible. A few paces to the right
of the entrance there is a doorway leading to a
second smaller chamber (8.50 by 6 m.) with a
quadrilateral burial pit (now filled in) dug approx-
imative^ in the middle of it. This second cham-
ber is simply hewn in the soft rock of the hill.
It is the main chamber that is built in the char-
acteristic shape of a dome-shaped beehive. The
curve of the domed roof ( t h o 1 o s in Greek ) is
formed by corbelled courses of stones laid hori-
zontally the one upon the other in such a way
that each succeeding course projects inwards
slightly. Thus the diameter of the dome steadily
narrows towards the top. Hence both the shape
and structure of the Mycenaean tholos differ from
those of the regular cupola. The top is covered
by a large stone. One cannot but admire the skill
with which this elegant structure was built, es-
pecially considering its early date.

The bodies of the dead must have been depos-
ited in both chambers, surrounded, as already
said, by valuable objects, of which almost no-
thing was found.

In prehistoric Mycenae there is no evidence

of cremation.

* * *

Leaving this imposing tomb we proceed north-
wards. All the area around is the site of that
part of the city of Mycenae which lay outside of
the acropolis. Here, excavations have brought to

22

light houses, shops, warehouses and graves of
both prehistoric and historical times. It appears
that in prehistoric times the city outside the acro-
polis was fairly densely populated. Of course the
ruler and the nobles lived inside the acropolis.
The prehistoric city outside the acropolis was not
enclosed by a wall, so that the inhabitants found
refuge, in time of danger, within the enclosure of
the acropolis. No traces having been found of a
prehistoric circuit wall protecting the outer city
it can be safely assumed that the latter was not
enclosed by a wall until the historical period. The
remains of such a wall, which can be seen in
various places in the area outside the acropolis,
belong to the 6th century B.C.

We are now in front of the acropolis which
rises grey, cold, almost inhospitable at a few me-
ters distance. We shall, for the time being, leave
various interesting points in the immediate vi-
cinity and enter the acropolis itself.

4: The uphill road leading to the acropolis ends
at the Lion Gate. A portion of the wall enclo-
sing the acropolis runs along the left side of the
road, before it ends in front of the gate. The bare
rock of the hill forms its base. On the right hand,
near the gateway, there is a bastion for the de-
fense of the gate. During the attacks against
the gate, the defenders could strike the attackers
on both sides with javelins, arrows and stones.

23

Ancient warriors held their shields in their left
hand while they wielded their weapons of attack
with their right, consequently those attacking
the gate were in difficulty, principally owing to
the missiles falling on their right side.

The Iyion Gate rises before us, in all the aus-
tere majesty characterizing the style of the age
in which it was built. The gate, together with
the greatest part of the wall now encircling the
acropolis, is of the 14th century B.C. Together
with the Treasury of Atreus (No. 3) they are the
work of what was perhaps a series of great rulers
and skilled engineers and architects who lived
around the year 1350 B.C.

The gateway is constructed of huge blocks of
limestone. Its height is 3.10 m. Its width is 3.07
m. at the bottom and 2.85 m. at the top, i. e. it
narrows slightly towards the top, just as is the
case with the entrance of the so-called Treasury
of Atreus. Above the lintel there are two stand-
ing lions, facing each other and leaning their
forepaws on the base of a column. The heads
which are missing were of another material, prob-
ably of stone of a different quality and colour.
The lions' faces were turned towards those ap-
proaching the gate, a fact which, together with
the other impressive features of the entrance, must
have made the approach to it a rather awe inspir-
ing experience. The pattern of two animals fac-
ing each other in a similar posture is also known
to us from small art objects, such as ring stones,
of Cretan and Mycenaean origin. The lions seem

24

to have symbolized the power of Mycenae. They
appear to be guarding the city or the royal palace
(on top of the acropolis) either of which may be
thought to be represented by the column. It seems
more probable however, to judge from other
occurrences of similar representations, that they
had a religious significance. Such works must
have been built during a golden age of Myce-
naean art and power. It is to be noted that, as
in the case of the Treasury of Atreus, there is a
relieving triangle (here covered by the lions' group)
above the lintel.

The pivot holes and bolt holes for the doors
are visible. The gateway which is 3 m. wide and
3.10 m. high, was closed by two doors on both
its inner and outer side. Traces left by the wheels
of the chariots used by the Mycenaeans for war
and the chase are visible.

On the left after entering, there is a small
chamber inside the wall, like a very narrow
porter's lodge.

5 The Circuit Wall enclosing the whole acro-
polis was originally built at about the end of the
14th century B.C., a time of great splendour at
Mycenae. The original citadel is supposed by
some authors to have been limited to the central
hill only of the present fortress, around the base
of which there must have been a wall of limited
length. Some archaeologists think they recognize
tenuous traces of this primitive wall circuit on
the west slope of the central hill.

25

At the summit of the hill there were the royal
palace, a sanctuary to some protective divinity
and undoubtedly a few buildings grouped toge-
ther for the use of a limited number of highly
placed persons. When the present circuit wall was
built, a much larger inhabited area was enclosed,
which thus formed a typical acropolis, i.e. a high
citadel, protected by its rocky heights and forti-
fications. It had steep narrow streets, a compact
agglomeration of houses built very close together,
a magnificent, multicoloured royal palace at the
top and spacious underground storehouses and
cisterns, which assured an ample supply of food
and water in case of a long siege.

A large part of the original circuit wall of the
14th century B. C. still stands, though some
parts of it to the south and southwest have fallen
down, and there are some later rebuildings, such
as the "polygonal" wall of the 3rd century B. C.
to the west (see No. 9). The average thickness
of the wall is 6 m., and its original height must
in many parts have been higher than it is now.

Some parts of the wall, especially to the north,
are built of huge, roughly hewn, irregular stone
blocks, often of colossal dimensions. They are
placed in irregular shapes, one on another, with
smaller stones and clay filling in the gaps be-
tween them. This sort of wall construction is the
most ancient and, as already said, belongs to the
14th century B.C. It is the style called Cyclopean
(see, beginning of the Description). There is a
somewhat later style, of about the end of the same

26

century, in which the stone blocks are better dres-
sed and fit more accurately to one another and
are placed so as to form roughly parallel courses.
This sort of walling is seen at the Lion Gate.
There is also the so-called "polygonal" style of
wall, in which the blocks are polygonal stones
exactly fitting together. These belong to about
the 3rd century B.C., as mentioned above. It
might seem strange that in such remote antiq-
uity it should have been considered necessary
to build such strong fortifications, which seem
quite out of proportion to the offensive power of
the attackers of those times. These huge works
were certainly due, to a great extent, to the desire
of the contemporary rulers to express their might
by building such gigantic structures.

The greatest length of the acropolis is 300 m.
and its greatest width 200 m.

6 Just after passing the gateway, there is a
building on the right, belonging to a later period
(ca. 1300 B.C.). The building is known as the
Granary because grains of wheat were found at
the spot during the excavations. It was a two-
storeyed building.

7 We are in front of a circular enclosure of a
26.50 m. diameter, around which there is a
double row of vertical slabs which in antiquity
were covered by a row of horizontal slabs. One
can see the sockets for the beams that held the

27

Fig. 5. Gold cup, 15 cm. high, from a shaft grave
at No. 7.

vertical slabs at regular distances from each
other.

The entrance to the enclosure was to the
north. Inside the enclosure there were six graves
undoubtedly belonging to members of a royal
family. They are not all of exactly the same
date; they were made from ca. 1600 B.C. on-
wards. They consist of rectangular burial pits.
The floors of the pits were strewn with small
stones, and they had a stone wall along each of
their long sides to hold the beams supporting the
slabs of the roof. Earth was heaped up on top
of this stone roof. With the passing of the years,

28

and owing to later rearrangements of the precinct,
this earth layer above the grave shafts reached
a thickness of 9-10 meters. The length of the
graves ranges from 3 to 640 m. and their width
from 2.15 to 4.40 m. Over each grave there stood
stone commemorative stelae (upright slabs) the
number of which presumably corresponded to the
number of persons buried in each grave. These
usually bore carved ornaments or representations
of warriors, but no inscriptions, as writing was
then unknown at Mycenae. Over the largest,
southwestern grave, there was once an altar
which probably served for the cult of the dead
princes below.

Nineteen bodies (9 men, 8 women and 2
babies) were found in these royal graves. The
bodies were adorned with rich ornaments (neck-
laces, diadems, earrings, masks) of gold and
semi -precious stones. At their sides there were
swords with beautiful inlay designs, vases and
various other articles of everyday use (see Figs. 1,
3, 4, 5, 6 & 8). All these objects, especially those
of gold, were of beautiful design and workmanship.
In shaft graves in general the bodies were buried
in various postures, i.e. either in a supine posture
with legs together and arms by the sides, or
sometimes with legs apart and arms outstretched,
or, finally, in a contracted position. In this grave
circle the dead had been deposited dressed in
luxurious garments and, as already stated, ac-
companied by objects connected with their social
status and occupations. No clear evidence for the

29

use of coffins was found. All the objects discovered
here are now in the archaeological museum of
Athens and constitute one of the richest collec-
tions of the kind.

The circular wall of slabs enclosing this
precinct is of a later period than the graves; it
is probably of the 14th century B.C., when the
walls of the acropolis were built. It was obviously
built with the object of forming a separate
protected enclosure dedicated to the memory and
worship of the illustrious dead buried below.

Five of the graves were discovered by the
German H. Schliemann in 1876, and the 6th, on
the north side, by the Greek Inspector of Ar-
chaeology, Stamatakis, in 1877.

It may interest the reader to know something
about the connection which was established by
Schliemann between the dead in these graves
and the heroes of the legend of Agamemnon's
murder by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus (see
History of Mycenae).

When Schliemann discovered the five graves
it was his unshakable belief that the bodies
found there were those of Agamemnon and his
slaughtered companions. He based his belief
chiefly on the description by the traveller Pau-
sanias. When Pausanias visited Mycenae, in
about the middle of the 2nd century A. D., the
inhabitants of the region, who were simple peas-
ants, showed him a group of graves inside the
acropolis as the graves of Agamemnon and his

30

companions, and they added that the murderers
Clytemnestra and Aegisthus were buried "out-
side" the wall (of the acropolis), as they were
considered "unworthy to be buried within".
Schliemann was perfectly sure that the graves
he had discovered, which are now before us, were
the very ones the Mycenaeans had shown to
Pausanias, so that he believed these bodies were
no others than those of the victims. His convic-
tion was based both on the really regal manner
of their burial and on certain sensational details
in the findings which seemed to confirm the
legend. Thus in one of the graves there were
found the skeletons of two babies of the same
age, wrapped in sheet of gold, together with the
remains of three women. It was natural for
Schliemann to infer that the women were Cassan-
dra and two attendants while the babies were
the twins she had borne to Agamemnon.

However the connection of the graves with
the legend could not be maintained in the light
of modern critical research. This, of course, does
not detract from the glory of Schliemann who
remains an inspired and inspiring figure, a great
pioneer of archaeology. His historical mistakes
and unavoidable technical inexperience are noth-
ing when compared to his achievements both
here and at Troy.

If the reader still wants to know why these
graves cannot be those of Agamemnon and his
followers (as sometimes visitors are told...), we
should say first that these graves were proved

31

to belong to an age (1600-1500 B.C., or a little
later) much earlier than the Trojan War (ca.
1 1 80 B.C.). Secondly, these graves were not used
for one simultaneous mass burial. It is certain
that it was a family burial place normally used
for a period of say two or three or even more
generations. The tradition mentioned by Pausa-
nias is true only in the sense that the enclosure
contained royal graves.

As to the term "outside the walls", which he
used when speaking of the graves of Clytemnes-
tra and Aegisthus, it is an anachronism, as the
walls in question (belonging to the 14th century
B.C.) did not exist when these graves (1600 B.C.,
onwards) were made.

There is a theory that great national sagas
are based on real events. It seems very probable
that a great king named Agamemnon did exist,
and that he was involved in wars and family
tragedies; it is certain that a Trojan war took
place, or rather more than one Trojan war. And
the dark massive ruins are there which, we
know, have often been witnesses of undated and
unnamed disasters. So it may be that the poets
have mixed up all these "facts" into one dread-
ful, perhaps anachronistic, but certainly beautiful
fiction. Or it may be (as often happens) that
there was nothing real behind this wholesale
creation of the rich national imagination, and
that these heroes who have inspired and moved
so many generations were only made "of such
stuff as dreams are made on...9'.

32

In any case these graves, as well as those in
enclosure No. i8, even if deprived of the thrill
of myth and tragedy, are nevertheless of tre-

Fig. 6. Gold diadem, 65 cm. long, from the No. 7
shaft graves.

mendous interest, because the bodies found there
belong to the race that created the first Greek
civilization.

8 Remains of houses near the walls, dating
from about 1600 to 1400 B.C., with small sections
of the Hellenistic period at point A (4th to 3rd
centuries B.C.).

Q A group of buildings forming a sort of pal-
ace, probably the dwelling of a functionary of
the 14th century B.C. The part of the wall south
of this small palace is a result of reconstructions
of the 3rd century B.C. It is built of regular
polygonal blocks. This sort of walling is called
the ''polygonal9' style; it is described under No. 5.
At other places on the acropolis there are scat-
tered ruins of houses of various periods, sizes and
shapes, especially on the southern and eastern
slopes of the acropolis.

33

lO From here we go up higher, following a
partly-paved road which led the chariots up to
staircase B of the royal palace. The road leads
up between the ruins of various buildings belong-
ing to different ages. Among the ruins some ar-
chaeologists believe they have recognized traces
of the primitive wall which encircled the central
hill of the acropolis before the time of the great
(present) circuit wall built in the 14th century B.C.
The propylaea, or state entrance, to the pal-
ace was at B. A stair of twenty two steps was
the grand staircase or state ascent to the pal-
ace. There was another state entrance at the
northwest corner of the palace compound.

In the restricted space at the top of the hill
stood the royal palace. Up here, even since
pre-Hellenic times, i.e. at a time before the Greeks
came to this country around the year 1900 B.C.,
there was a series of consecutive palaces and sanc-
tuaries, as has been shown by the discovery of
pre-Hellenic pottery dating from the third or the
beginning of the second millenium B.C. among
the existing ruins which belong to the royal
residence of the period 1400- 1 100 B.C. This
building is of the so-called megaron type. At B
there is a rather small room which, at the time
of the excavations, bore traces of painted stucco
on the floor and walls. It is supposed by some
authors to have been the throne room. A
spacious court H, 15 x12 m., led, through a
narrow porch of which the bases of two columns
remain, to a kind of anteroom I. Passing through

34

the two doors of the latter we enter the megaron
proper K, i. e. the main and more or less offi-
cial living room, 13x12 m. approximately, in
the middle of which was the hearth. Above it the
roof, which was probably flat or slightly slanting
towards the outside of the building, had a square
opening to let out the smoke. This opening was
supported by four wooden pillars of which the
three stone bases are still visible. A part of the
hearth still remains. A portion of it and the
whole southwest corner of the room with one
of the pillar bases fell long ago into the Chavos
ravine below. This was rebuilt quite recently.
There must have been a cover over the opening
in the roof to afford a measure of protection from
cold and rain without preventing the escape of
the smoke.

Because of its comparatively small dimensions
and the ravages suffered through the ages, the
royal palace, as seen today, cannot easily revive
in our imagination the magnificent aspect which
it offered when it was the residence of the great
warrior rulers of olden times. Some parts of the
palace were two-storeyed, and, with the annexed
buildings to the north and the fairly high struc-
ture of staircase "B*\ and the rich multicoloured
decoration covering the walls, ceilings and floors,
the palace compound must have given the im-
pression of royal power and wealth.

Here lived the pre-Hellenic rulers of the third
millennium B. C. whose language and ways of
life are lost to us in the dark past ; broken pieces

35

of primitive pottery and perhaps some founda-
tions of wall constitute our sole record of them.
Then came the great kings whose bodies were
found at the foot of the citadel, covered with gold,
and, later still, the line of mighty heroes who built
this palace and the Lion Gate and the Treasury
of Atreus. If there ever was an Agamemnon, a
Clytemnestra and the other mythical heroes, it
must have been here, among these weathered
stones, that they lived and hated, only at the end
to pay the penalty for their passions. Later, with
the passing of the centuries, everything was
changed, burnt, plundered, rebuilt again, and so
on, who knows how many times, until the time
when a few shepherds and farmers tried to carry on
their simple lives in huts built among the ruins.

Right on top of the hill, at M, at a height of
278 m., there are the ruins of a Doric Temple
of the 7th century B. C, partly built in the area
formerly occupied by the Mycenaean palace. It is
believed that at this point there was a sanctuary,
when the palace still existed, because fragments
of a prehistoric altar were found here.

THE VIEW

From the summit of the acropolis one has an
extended view of the Argive plain to the south
and down to the sea coast, where the town of
Nauplia is visible clearly outlined on the waters of
the gulf of Argos. In the plain and the surround-

36

ing country, during the Mycenaean age, there
were fortified cities and strongholds such as
Argos, Asine and Tiryns, and others whose an-
cient names are unknown to us.

The view from here is typically Greek, with
the absence of densely wooded areas, the richness
of the colours, particularly at sunset, the harmony
of the undulating curves of the mountainous sky-
line and the comparative facility with which one
can find one's bearings, both geographically and
historically, in a landscape which never exceeds
the measure of man — in spite of its grandeur.

Characteristic landmarks are Mt. Cyllene
(2,376 m.), the modern Kyllini or Ziria, on the
north, and the strikingly barren mass of Mt. Ar-
temision (1,772 m.), to the southwest.

Near the acropolis, to the northeast, rises Mt.
Agios (Saint) Elias (811 m.), while Mt. Zara
(about 150 m. lower) is a little nearer, to the
southeast.

From here we can understand Mycenae's po-
sition in the Peloponnesian landscape. It was built
on a naturally fortified site, where the north-south
and east-west routes crossed. The former ran from
the sea at the south to the gulf of Corinth in the
north, the latter from the Argolid (the name
given to the whole Argive plain and the sur-
rounding mountains) to the isthmus of Corinth
to the northeast. This last route to the Greek
mainland is not in use now, apart from some
mule tracks leading to the neighbouring districts
on the east.

37

11 Descending the eastern slope of the central
hill we pass the ruins of building's of Mycenaean
and later periods. At this point particularly, where
the wall forms a terrace facing the south, are
foundations of a large Mycenaean house, known
as the House of Columns, which was an impor-
tant dwelling house with a basement, an upper
floor, columns and a megaron room. There are
superstructures of the Hellenistic period (4th-2nd
century B.C.).

12 The eastern end of the acropolis forms
a separate section, divided from the rest of the
citadel by a wall N. This section, with postern
gate O on its southeast side, is a later extension
of the original acropolis area, probably of the
13th century B.C. The dividing wall is the origi-
nal Cyclopean wall of the middle of the 14th
century B.C.

13 Here is the beginning of a descent which
in antiquity was totally covered, leading down
through a subterranean passage to an under-
ground cistern. The descent includes, first a
passage of 18 steps through the Cyclopean wall,
then a turn to the left to the entrance of a second
descent of about 20 steps. This entrance was un-
seen from the outside of the acropolis ; it was
probably covered with masonry and earth. Then
the subterranean passage turns at an angle to the
northeast forming a straight steep descent of
60 steps. This passage and the cistern are cut deep

38

in the rocky soil ; an impressive work construc-
ted in order to provide the citadel with a con-
stant supply of water. The last part of the de-
scent is covered with a coating of cement like
plaster to make it watertight. The cistern is at
the end of the steps, considerably below ground
level (about 15 m. to the bottom). It was supplied
with water through terracotta pipes and a shaft
filled with stones (above the cistern chamber) for
filtering the water. The water came from a spring
in the ravine, at a distance of about 300 m. to
the east of the acropolis. The whole cistern struc-
ture is probably of the 13th century B. C.

The spring, which is worth visiting, is at a
distance of a quarter of an hour's walk in the
middle of a fertile and pleasant part of the ravine
dividing Mt. Agios Klias from Mt. Zara. It seems
to be the famous Perseia Spring, believed to
have been made to gush out of the earth by the
mythical hero Perseus with a blow of his sword.
Traces of an ancient (later than Mycenaean) con-
nection between the spring and the cistern have
been discovered.

14 Postern gate, east of the entrance to the
subterranean passage of No. 13, opening towards
the north.

15 Coming out of cistern No. 13, we follow the
outer circuit of the acropolis wall in a northwest-
erly direction, passing in front of the North

39

Gate. Its construction reminds one of the Lion
Gate.

16 A beehive tomb called the Lion Tomb,

because of its proximity to the Lion Gate. It
is smaller and much less impressive than the so-
called Treasury of Atreus. It dates from the
middle of the 15th century B. C.

In the area west and southwest of the Lion
Tomb, i.e. roughly west of the acropolis,

there are other beehive tombs, more or less
destroyed by time, and ruins of dwellings of the
Mycenaean period. During the recent (1 951-1954)
excavations, pottery and tools (some very similar
to modern ones) were discovered. The objects
found at Mycenae are kept for some time in the
local collections of the British and Greek ar-
chaeological missions, in order to be studied,
classified and repaired, before being sent to

Athens.

* * *

17 At this point there is an ancient foun-
tain building- (now waterless), whose channels
are visible, with superstructures of later ages
(probably 2nd century B. C). According to some
archaeologists, the fountain was supplied by the
above mentioned Perseia Spring, east of the acro-
polis, and may also have borne this name.

40

18 Here, there is an enclosure of graves which
is one of the most important recent discoveries.
The enclosure was found and excavated by the
Inspector of Archaeology Dr. John Papadimitriou,
with funds from the Athens Archaeological So-
ciety, in 1952-1954.

The diameter of the enclosure is about 27 m.
and it contains about 19 shaft graves most of
which belong to the period 1650 B. C. and on-
wards. Some are a little older than the graves in
enclosure No. 7. The site is enclosed by a circu-
lar wall built of large stone blocks, part of which
still stands. The northwest segment of the enclo-
sure lay partly buried under the modern road
leading to the acropolis, while an eastern section
of it had been overlapped by the vault of the
so-called Tomb of Clytemnestra No. 19.

In the graves, which were excavated with the
utmost skill and care, there were found bodies
buried with objects of gold, bronze, ivory and
rock crystal as well as vases. The floors of the
graves were strewn with small stones. At a low
height above the floor the shaft of the grave of-
ten widens to form a shelf to support the wooden
beams of the roof. In some graves the beams
were supported on walls built on the bottom along
the long sides of the pit. Not all the bodies in
each grave were of the same period. At least some
of the graves were used for successive burials and
at more or less widely different times. This is
the reason why, in some graves, the bones of one

41

body were found heaped on the side of the shaft,
evidently in order to make room for a body bur-
ied later. The magnificence with which some of
the bodies were buried convinces us that the en-
closure contained royal graves. Dr. Papadimitriou
believes that the graves served a dynasty approx-
imately contemporary, and possibly opposed, to
the dynasty buried in enclosure No. 7, and that
they probably belong to the group of tombs shown
to Pausanias by the peasants of the 2nd century
A.D. "outside the walls" of the acropolis as the
graves of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. A trace
of the existence of two antagonistic dynasties
may be found in the legends concerning the quar-
rels and struggles for power between Atreus and
Agamemnon on the one hand and Thyestes and
Aegisthus on the other.

It should be noted that the whole area west of
the acropolis, roughly between Nos. 7 and 18,
was used as a burial ground since prehistoric
times, i.e. even before the erection of the great
wall enclosure (No. 5) with the Lion Gate.

19 & 20 Two beehive tombs known respec-
tively as the Tomb of Clytemnestra and the
Tomb of Aegisthus, names which are quite
arbitrary and not founded on any evidence. The
former tomb belongs to the 13th century B.C.
and the latter to the 15th century B.C. In front
of the entrance of the Tomb of Clytemnestra a
theatre, some seats of which still remain, was

42

built in Hellenistic times (about the 2nd century
B. C).

21 At this point there are the ruins of a build-
ing of the 13th century B.C. known as the House
of the Oil Merchant. It was thus named from
the tall jars found in the basement which seem
to have contained olive oil. Some of the jars had
sealed covers guaranteeing the exact weight and
genuine quality of the liquid contained (olive
oil, wine, etc).

The most important of the discoveries made
here, are the famous clay tablets which apparent-
ly were the ledgers of the warehouse. These tab-
lets are inscribed in a script which, till recent-
ly, had not been deciphered, and it was also
thought that they were written in an unknown
language. Recent research, however, has made
it extremely probable that the language is an
early form of Greek, though the script in which
it is written has no connection with the archaic
Greek writing introduced at a later period.

This house and many other sites at Mycenae
were excavated by Prof. A. J. Wace, the great
British expert on Mycenaean civilization, to whom
much of our knowledge about Mycenae is due.

The ascent to the summit of Mt. Agios
Elias, which can be made on muleback in 2 %
hours, will reward the visitor with one of the most
beautiful views in the Peloponnese. The tiny

43

church on top was built in the ruins of a small
Mycenaean fort. Below, on the north and north-
east slopes, there are other remains of ancient
walls, some of them Mycenaean.

From the summit and towards the south one
can see Mt. Arachnaeon (1,199 m.), on whose
summit the last of the beacon fires was lit, relaying
the news of the fall of Troy to Clytemnestra and
Aegisthus, according to the tradition related by
the tragic poet Aeschylus in his Agamemnon. If
anything like this really happened we may imag-
ine that it was from this point on Agios Elias,
that the great event was finally transmitted to
the acropolis of Mycenae below.

44

T I R Y N S

A bus service joins the village of Harvati to
Argos, which is 12 kms. distant. This town
(about 12,000 inhabitants) with its two hills was
a fortified city during the Mycenaean age. During
the whole of historic antiquity the city played an
important role among the other city-states of
the Peloponnese.

Points of interest : A small museum, an an-
cient theatre, the L,arissa hill (300 m.) with Ve-
netian and Turkish fortifications.

From Argos to Tiryns, by the Nauplia bus,
the distance is about 7 kms.

THE ACROPOUS OF TIRYNS

Although, at first sight, and especially after
a visit to Mycenae, Tiryns does not make any
show of grandeur, it does impress the visitor
with an even greater display of the amazing
building capabilities of the Mycenaean peoples.

Unlike Mycenae, Tiryns rises only 18 m.
above the Argive plain, and 26.40 m. above the
level of the sea whose shore is considerably
further south than it was in the time the hill

45

-^TS^v

Fig. 7. Plan of Tiryns.

was first inhabited. The wall enclosure is 300 m.
long. In the Mycenaean age (1650- 11 00 B. C.) it
was a strong and imposing castle. However it
appears that in spite of the size and wealth of
its castle and the enclosed royal palace and
buildings, Tiryns was of secondary importance
compared with Argos and Mycenae.

Since as early as the third millennium B.C.,
i. e. much before the arrival of the Greeks, Tiryns
and its immediate vicinity were inhabited.

The settlement of the Mycenaean age was
east of the. acropolis. There are a few traces of it
at No. 1. In times of enemy invasions the inhab-
itants of the area took refuge in the large north
partition. The walls of Tiryns are higher and
built of larger blocks than those of Mycenae.
Some of the blocks are 3 m. long. The thickness
of the walls reaches 6 m., and their impressive
construction gives a striking example of the po-
tentialities and ability of these people who did
most of their work with stone tools, ropes and
wooden devices, because iron was still unknown
and copper and, later, bronze were too soft for
tools used in heavy work. This colossal enclosure
is of ca. 1400 B.C.

The ascent to the acropolis is by a ramp
No. 2, ending at the entrance No. 3. The
inner gate No. 4 is similar in character to
the Lion Gate of Mycenae. The gate as well as
the structure of the walls and other buildings
here clearly show the close connection which un-
doubtedly existed between the inhabitants of the

47

two citadels. From the corridor No. 5, which
was both a regular entrance and a very difficult
passage for an invador reaching this point, one
comes to No. 6 which was a sort of fore-court.
At Nos. 7 there were store chambers for food-
stuffs and water. A large propylon (portal) stood
at No. 8, through which one came to an inner
court No. 9. After the striking yet perhaps cold
impression made on the ancient visitor by what
he had seen up to this point, this inner court
gave a very different impression, with its multi-
coloured decoration, the columns around it and
the view of the beautiful and magnificent royal
palace rising at No. 10. The palace was similar
in size and architecture to the palace of the acro-
polis of Mycenae. The position of the entrance
with its two columns, the intervening hall and
the megaron proper with its hearth in the middle,
can be seen (cf. Mycenae, No. 10). Round the
palace there were annexed dependencies, i. e.
dwellings for the royal family, courtiers, retainers,
etc. The site of the royal bathroom is at No. 11.
A huge limestone monolith (4x3m.), with
grooves for draining on its surface, formed the
room's floor. The palace and dependencies belong
to ca. 1225 B.C.

There are specimens of the fine multicoloured
wall paintings from Tiryns in the Archaeological
Museum of Athens.

48

Fig. 8. Gold ornament, 6.7 cm. high, of a silver

needle, representing a Minoan goddess, from the

shaft graves No. 7 of Mycenae.

All plans and illustrations

in the text were especially drawn for this book by the artist

Mr. Bartholomew Papadantonakis.

NDEX

Achaeans 13

Aegean 12

Aegisthus 13, 14, 31, 32,

42, 44 ; Tomb of 42
Agamemnon 13-15, 30-32,

36, 42, 44, 48
Agios Elias Mt. 37, 39,

43, 44
Aphrodite temple 5
Arachnaeon Mt. 44
Argos, Argolis & Argive

Plain 10, 11, 37, 45,

47
Artemis 15
Artemision Mt. 37
Asia Minor 13, 14
Asine 11, 37
Athens 5, 10, 40, 48
Atreidae 13
Atreus 13, 42 ; Treasury

of 19-22

B

Bathroom 48

Beehive tombs 12, 19-22,

40
Bronze 11. 47

Cassandra 15, 31
Chamber tombs 12, 17
Chavos ravine 35
Cistern 38, 48
Clytemnestra 14, 31, 32,

36, 42, 44 ; Tomb of 42
Copper 11, 47
Corinth 6, 37
Crete & Cretan (or Mi-

noan) civilization 12
Cyclopes & Cyclopean

17, 26, 38
Cyllene Mt. 37

Danae 13
Daphni 5
Delphi 15
Dervenakia 7
Dromos 19

Eleusis 6

Fichtia 7
Fountain 40

50

Granary 27
Grand Staircase 34
Grave enclosure inside
acropolis of Mycenae
27-32 ; outside 41, 42

H

Harvati 7, 17, 45
Helen queen of Sparta 14
Hellenistic remains 33,

38,43
Homer 14

House of Columns 38
House of Oil Merchant 43

Ilion, see Troy
Iphigenia 14, 15
Iron 16, 47

Koumoundouros lake 6
Kyllini, see Cyllene

Larissa hill 45
Lion Gate 23, 47
Lion Tomb 40

M

Megara 6
Megaron 35, 38, 48
Minoan, see Crete

Museum, Argos 45 ; A-

thens 48
Mycenae & Mycenaean,

history & legend 9-16;

age & civilization 11,

12 ; description 17-44

N
North Gate 39, 40

O

Odyssey 14
Orchomenos 10
Orestes 15

Papadimitriou, J. 12, 41,

42
Pausanias 16, 30-32
Perseia Spring 13, 18, 39,

40
Perseus & Perseidae 13,

39
Persian invasion 16
Polygonal, see Walls
Postern gate 39
Priam 15
Propylaea 34
Propylon 48

Royal Palace, at Myce-
nae 34-36; at Tiryns 48

Sacred Road 5
Schliemann, H. 30,31

51

Shaft graves 11,12
Skyron.02 Rocks 6
Staircase, see Grand

Staircase
Stamatakis 30
Store chambers 48

Temple 36

Theatre 43,45

Tholos 22

Throne room 34

Thyestes 13,42

Tiryns 11, 16, 37 ; descrip-
tion 45-48

Troy & Trojan War 14,
31,32,44

View, from Mycenae
acropolis 36, 37 ; from
Mt. Agios Elias 43,44

W

Wace, AJ. 43

Walls, of Mycenae out-
side acropolis 23; of
Mycenae acropolis 25-
27 ; Cyclopean 17, 26 ;
polygonal 27, 33 ; of
Tiryns 47

Zara Mt. 17, 18, 37, 39
Ziria, see Cyllene

CORRECTIONS

Page 11 line 12 for nobitily read nobility
» 12 * 19 » cilivization read civilization
» 14 » 3 > Oddyssey read Odyssey

52

LLUSTRATIONS

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Treasury of Atreus (No. 31,
at Mycenae.

Doorway of the so-called Treasury
of Atreus.

Interior of the so-called Treasury of
Atreus, showing inner lintel block
and relieving triangle.

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Mt. Zara with part of southern
circuit wait of the acropolis.

The Grand Staircase (No. 10 J leading

to the Royal Palace on top of the

Mycenaean acropolis.

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Descent to Underground Cistern.

North Gate (No. 15! of the acropolis
of Mycenae.

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The entrance passage to the so-called
Tomb of Clytemnestra (No. 191,
showing portion of theatre
seat to the left.

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Entrance (No. 3) of the acropolis
of Tiryns.

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Underground store chamber (No. 1}
at Tiryns.

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A peasant woman from the Argive
countryside.

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Collas, Pericles.

A concise guide
Mycenae & Tiryns

to