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Mar 24, 1448
Cyriac of Ancona in search of Mycenae
"We search for ancient remains of Mycenae [...] Some parts of the ancient walls survive, together with traces of towers and gates. They are conspicuous because of the beautiful workmanship of the architecture and are well worthy of our attention." Maria Pretzler. Pausanias: travel writing in ancient Greece. 2007, p.131. Cyriac of Ancona, called a medieval Pausanias as well as the father of classical archaeology. Unfortunately for him it seems that the site he found was not actually Mycenae. -
Hercules and the French Revolution
Engraving "The French People Overwhelming the Hydra of Federalism" August 1793, from collection of the Musee Carnavalet. Hercules/Heracles was used as an icon to support the French Revolution. In Greek mythology, one of Heracles' enemies was the Mycenaean king Eurystheus, to whom he had to serve. It was Eurystheus who assigned him his twelve labors. This is perhaps one of the reasons why the French people used him as an icon for the revolution. -
Mycenaeans as great warriors.
"[...]they were a powerful people in the earliest periods of the heroic ages: they made war against Electryon king of Mycenae, and seem to have been victorious." pg. 60. Edward Dodwell. A Classical and Topographical Tour Through Greece: During the Years 1801, 1805, and 1806, Volume 1. Mycenaeans already had a reputation of being great warriors. Was this because of the legends? perhaps it was deduced by the walls or the defendable Lion Gate? -
William Gell in Mycenae in the early 19th century
"Pausanias mentions this edifice. '[...] and the subterraneous chambers of Atreus and his sons, in which treasuries their riches were deposited; [...]the supper with Agamemnon at his return from Troy.' " William Gell, The Itinerary of Greece, with a commentary on Pausanias and Strabo, (1810), p. 31. Gell uses ancient texts during his travels (interestingly Pausanias references Homer). Influecend by these texts he sometimes mentions the wealth of the Mycenaeans, difficult to see in his time. -
The naming of the Treasury of Atreus
"Pausanias mentions this edifice. 'Among the ruins of Mycenae is a fountain named Perseia, and the subterraneous chambers of Atreus and his sons, in which treasuries their riches were deposited; there is also the sepulchre of Atreus and of all those whom Aegisthus slew at the supper with Agamemnon at his return from Troy.' Corinthiaca, 59." p.31. Sir. William Gell. The Itinerary of Greece: With a Commentary on Pausanias and Strabo... 1810. -
The lion gate
"The lions, or more properly lionesses of Mycenae,are the only existing specimen of the sculpture of the heroic ages, and they are worthy of particular attention." p.36 One of the only things visible in Mycenae during this period of time, however regarded as something of interest. William Gell, The Itinerary of Greece, with a commentary on Pausanias and Strabo, (1810), p. 36. -
Homer as truth? Beginning of 19th century
“[K]ing of Mycenae, who is styled by Homer, King of many islands, and of all Argos […] implied the whole of Peloponnesus,” William Mitford, The History of Greece, Vol 1., (1829), 32. This passage shows how at least at the beginning of the nineteenth century, writers were still regarding Homeric stories as a source of some truth; this will change when George Grote publishes his work in the second part of the century, and later once more with Heinrich Schliemann. -
William Martin Leake in Mycenae
"...early colonies from Egypt, although they introduced some of the mythology of that country, did not transplant its arts in any great degree; for there is nothing at Mycenae bearing any resemblance to the monuments of Egypt." Commenting on possible (or in this case non-existent) Egyptian influence. William Martin Leake. Travels in the Morea: With a map and plans. 1830.p. 270. -
The real face of Agamemnon?
This is the mask that actually covered the face of the well-preserved corpse that Schliemann liked to think was Agamemnon. However, it was traded for the mask of another corpse because it was not dignified enough. J.Lesley Fitton. The Discovery of the Greek Bronze Age. 1996. p.91-93. -
The Mask of Agamemnon
On a telegram Schliemann sent to the Greek press he wrote: "This corpse very much resembles the image which my imagination formed long ago of wide-ruling Agamemnon." J.Lesley Fitton. The Discovery of the Greek Bronze Age. 1996. p.91. -
Schliemann's excavations
"The Mycenaean cow and the Troyan owl are two facts of the same order [...] relate to the same epoch of linguistic development in the religious symbolism of antiquity." Heinrich Schliemann, Mycenae, (1880), p.380. Scheliemann's quote of M. Burnouf, trying to link both of his sites, Mycenae and Troy. The cow idol represented Hera and the owl idol corresponded to Athena. However, one of the cow figurines was a LHIII B found in a LHI burial. Also his site at Troy was from the early Bronze Age. -
The Warrior Vase
Warrior Vase The Warrior Vase was found by Schliemann in one of the buildings close to Grave Shaft A. It was dated to LH III C period, around 12th BCE. It shows a woman waving goodbye to a group of soldiers, maybe marching to war: the little bag that is attached to their spears is most probably their comission or salary. Another finding that enforced the idea of Mycenae as a warlike society. -
Mycenae and the Nazis
The Nazis tried to establish a link with Mycenae. Here a Bronze age Mycenaean fertility doll, from the Louvre Museum, we can see the swastikas on her neck. Perhaps they saw the conflict between Mycenae and Troy as representing their own conflict against the Jews, or they wanted to claim they were great warriors. Origin and Diffusion of the Germans in Pre- and Earlier History by Gustaf Kossinna (1923), claimed that Mycenae had a Germanic origin. Hitler wrote the preface for a later edition. -
From Aryan warlord to Egyptian Princess
Agamemnon's brief sex-change. Professor George Mylonas, one of the excavators of Grave Circle B said: "It may even be suggested that the person whose body was embalmed was an Egyptian princess, who marrying and dying abroad, asked to be prepared for burial in accordance with the customs of her native land." Cathy Gere. The Tomb of Agamemnon. 2006. p.158-9. -
Henry Miller at Mycenae
"They call it Agamemnon's tomb. Well, possibly some one called Agamemnon was here laid to rest. What of it? Am I to stop there, gaping like an idiot? I do not. I refuse to rest on that too-too solid fact. I take flight here, not as poet, not as recreator, fabulist, mythologist, but as pure spirit. I say the whole world, fanning out in every direction from this spot, was once alive in a way that no man has ever dreamed of." Henry Miller. The Colossus of Maroussi. 1958, p.91.
