Agamemnon and Mycenae

As with most of Greece, there is a lot of myth mixed with history when it comes to Mycenae. Mycenae was supposedly founded by Perseus, the slayer of Medusa (the woman with snakes for hair that would turn a person to stone if they gazed upon her face). He married Andromeda (after freeing her from the rock to which she was chained after her mother ticked off Poseidon) and founded the Mycenaean dynasty. Its heyday was roughly from 1510 to 1250 BC but the entire period from 1600 to 1100 BC in Greek history is termed as Mycenaean.

We began our visit with a large, circular tomb known as the Treasury of Atreus.  Although named after Atreus (and sometimes even Agamemnon) the tomb dates back to an earlier age.

Atreus was the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Menelaus became the King of Sparta and husband of Helen of Troy. We all know about how Helen ran off with (or was kidnapped by) Paris and started the whole Trojan War. Agamemnon was King of Mycenae by that time and vowed to help his brother get his wife back.

After commanding the entire Greek forces against the Trojans, Agamemnon returned home to Mycenae only to be murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra’s lover. In the Mycenae Museum, we could see a replica of what has been referred to as the Mask of Agamemnon (the original was in Athens). It was found on the face of a body unearthed in one of the tombs surrounding Mycenae. The archeologist at the time figured it had to belong to Agamemnon. But more recently, it has been dated to about 300 years before the Trojan War, so too old to have belonged to Agamemnon. Several other artifacts from in and around Mycenae are also in the museum.

Once again, it was necessary to climb a mountain. In the photo I have of Mycenae from before I began to make my way up, you can see the tiny figures of the people who were snaking their way up switchback trails to the top. The main entrance (and you had to climb a ways to get to it) was the Lion Gate. It was erected in the 13^th century BC.

The area in front of the gate narrowed in order to limit the number of people who could enter at once. The gate was quite massive. The walls were referred to as “Cyclopean”. This was because the blocks of stone used to build them were so enormous that many felt only the race of giants known as the Cyclops could have built them.

Grave Circle A (which was discovered first) dates to the 16^th century BC, while Circle B is the older and dates to the 17^th – 16^th centuries. Both Grave Circles contained shaft graves. It was in Circle A that the mask originally believed to have been Agamemnon’s was discovered. The artifacts from Circle A showed a greater wealth than those from Circle B. After Circle A, the kings were buried in tholos (round) tombs like the Treasury of Atreus.

Although the tomb of Clytemnestra has been found, no tomb of Agamemnon has turned up as of yet. Since he was murdered by Clytemnestra’s lover at her behest, it could be that Agamemnon’s body was simply disposed of to get it out of the way. Could be a topic for “Expedition Unknown” to investigate.

The Palace was at the top of the acropolis. Not much was there, just the low remains of a few walls. I could tell, however, that it had been a pretty large building.

The view of the area below was quite commanding. The site has shown evidence of continuous occupation since roughly 5000 BC.

I sat down on a large boulder at the very top, caught my breath, drank some water, looked around and rested a while before starting down the other side. Everyone else shot past me and down the other side quickly. I seemed to be the only one interested in savoring the experience. Granted, it was a very hot day. But I had on my Tilley hat (the kind the archaeologists use) and loads of sun screen plus cotton (not synthetic) clothing. So I was fine.

A relatively short walk down from the Palace, I came across a cistern. This was enclosed within the citadel walls. I went part of the way down the ancient steps into the cistern. It was very cool and pleasant down there, but I was also totally alone, so not too interested in disappearing and not being discovered until the next archaeological dig.

I came back up and headed for the North Gate. This was the back door to the citadel. It once had a double wooden door with a sliding bolt to lock it. Shortly before taking a path back around to the Lion Gate, I came across the remains of what looked like had been a pretty large, wealthy home called the House of the Columns. I also came across smaller artist workshops.

The next location on our journey was the small town of Epidavros. It was believed to have been the birthplace of Apollo’s son, Askepios, who was a healer. It became the most celebrated healing center in the classical world.

We visited its largely intact 14,000 seat theatre. The acoustics were amazing. A match stuck center stage could be clearly heard from any seat in the theatre. The construction of the theatre in limestone (instead of the more frequently used marble) was thought to mute the murmur of the crowd (low-frequency sound) while amplifying the high-frequency sounds onstage. It is still used for theatrical performance and occasional acoustic concerts.

Heading back towards Athens, we crossed the Corinthian Canal. It was quite narrow.

That night we had an optional dinner with loads of Greek food, Greek music and Greek dancing. Then we had a few hours of sleep before heading for our cruise ship at Lavion.

The ship was a small one by usual cruise standards – 800 passengers. Mark, Maureen, Chris and I all had our rooms in a line. We had each gotten a single outside cabin with a lovely, large window. Barbara and Roberta were in a shared room not too far from the rest of us. We could easily meet up before heading off somewhere.

We had the early seating for dinner that night at 6:30pm. We were seated together. After dinner, we decided to try the show, so we went to the early seating of that too. It was much better than I had anticipated and we all had a good time. Afterwards, I fell into bed and slept like a baby.

Next time – cruising to Istanbul & Ephesus and an earthquake

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