DIRK HANDLEBAR: The Mycenaeans

Mycenaean Greece is a fascinating time, a time Classical Greeks thought of as an Age of Heroes. This is the setting for Agamemnon, Odysseus, Nestor, and Achilles. Although we can't prove these stories are 'true,' we still use their names and characteristics in describing this civilization that flourished from about 1500 to 1050 BC.

This is the citadel of Mycenae - the site from which modern humans have named this entire culture. According to Greek myth, the city was founded by Perseus, who had the Cyclopes build the huge walls (of course, no human could build walls this big). This is the legendary home of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Orestes, and Electra.

This is the famous 'Lion Gate' at the entrance to Mycenae. Notice the huge 'Cyclopean' walls, and the clever way the Mycenaeans constructed this entry. They always made sure that anyone approaching the citadel would be vulnerable from their right (unshielded) side. Since warriors carried their shields with their left arm, the right side of this entry originally provided extra security for the citadel's inhabitants.

Here's a close-up of the Lion's Gate. Originally, the lions would have had heads, possibly made of bronze. This is the oldest surviving sculpture from mainland Greece.

Hmmm . . . do I really need that bath right away? I just got home. Geez - Clytemnestra is really being sweet. I wonder what she's got up her sleeve. . .

When Heinrich Schliemann excavated Mycenae in the late 19th century, he expected to find the remnants of Agamemnon's city. This mask, commonly called "the mask of Agamemnon" was made too early to have really belonged to the Greek hero, but it's a pretty piece of art all the same. This death mask was discovered in a shaft tomb within the citadel walls.

Outside of the city, dozens of 'tholos' tombs were discovered. These huge structures required a good deal of money and power - and were (of course) thoroughly looted in antiquity.

This one is called the 'Treasury of Atreus' - although it was a tomb, not a treasury (Atreus was the father of Agamemnon). The idiots in this picture give you an idea of the immense scale of these constructions.

Mycenae was by no means the only Mycenaean site in the Peloponnese. There were several others, and we visited Tiryns and Pylos. Pylos was the the legendary home of Nestor, a character in the Iliad.

This is the "throne room" of 'Nestor's palace.' We clearly don't know for sure that it was a 'throne room' in the normal sense of a king holding court, but this was the heart of the citadel and evidently a spot of great importance. The structure on the citadel is called a megaron (means big). Megarons are essentially two adjoining open courtyard-type structures, with a circular hearth (like this large one) and a spot to the side where archaeologists think a chair was situated in the bigger room. The hearth would have been open to the sky, and the edges of the square covered. You can still see the hollow circle where wood columns would have supported the ceiling.

One thing I have to constantly remind myself is that these places were not originally mud-colored. It's easy to start thinking that everything in the past was brown. Can you imagine the interior decorator's job? Seems impossible - "Have you seen the swatches, Stan? Here's a nice beige to go with the brown."

In fact, the Greeks, Minoans, and Mycenaeans loved bright colors (still do). These beautiful white marble sculptures were usually brightly painted (you can sometimes still find traces of paint), and the walls of the Mycenaean palaces were often frescoed. So, in the interest of breaking the color barrier, here are some color samples from "Nestor's Palace" at Pylos, a Mycenaean site.