Archaeological Sites of Mycenae and Tiryns*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Greece
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, iv, vi
Reference	941
Region†	Europe and North America
Coordinates	37°43′51″N 22°45′22″E / 37.730833, 22.756111
Inscription history
Inscription	1999  (23rd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

"Lion Gate" redirects here. For other uses, see Lions' Gate (disambiguation).

Mycenae (Greek Μυκῆναι Mukênai), is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus ( Greek: Πελοπόννησος Pelopónnisos; see also List of Greek place names) is a large Peninsula Argos is 6 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north. Argos ( Greek: Ἄργος, Árgos ˈaɾɣos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor Corinth, or Korinth ( Greek Κόρινθος ( is a city in Greece. From the hill on which the palace was located one can see across the Argolid to the Saronic Gulf. Argolis (Αργολίδα Argolída, aɾɣo̞ˈliða Argolís in Ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the fifty-one Prefectures of The Saronic Gulf ( Greek: Σαρωνικός κόλπος Saronikós kólpos) or Gulf of Aegina in Greece forms part of the

In the second millennium BC Mycenae was one of the major centres of Greek civilization, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece. The period of Greek history from about 1600 BC to about 1100 BC is called Mycenaean in reference to Mycenae. The History of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically and the territory now composing the modern state of Mycenaean Greece is a cultural period of ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese

See also: Mycenaean civilization

Contents 1 Name 2 History 2.1 Neolithic 2.2 Early Bronze Age 2.3 Middle Bronze Age 2.4 Late Bronze Age 2.4.1 Late Helladic I 2.4.2 Late Helladic II 2.4.3 Late Helladic III 2.5 Decline 2.6 Revival and end 3 Mycenae and religion 4 Mycenae in Classical Greek mythology and legends 4.1 Perseid dynasty 4.2 Atreid dynasty 4.3 Atreids in Asia Minor? 5 Excavation 6 Tourism 7 References 8 See also 9 Notes 10 External links

Name

The reconstructed Mycenaean Greek name of the place is Mukanai (long a), which has the form of a plural, like Athanai. Mycenaean Greece is a cultural period of ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese Mycenaean is the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, spoken on the Greek mainland and on Crete in the 16th to 11th centuries BC, before the Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's The change of a to e is a development of later Attic-Ionic. Sound change includes any processes of Language change that affect pronunciation ( phonetic change) or sound system structures ( Phonological change Attic Greek is the Prestige dialect of Ancient Greece that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. Ionic Greek was a sub-dialect of the Attic-Ionic dialectal group of Ancient Greek (see Greek dialects)

Although the citadel was built by Greeks, the name is not thought to be Greek, but is rather one of the many pre-Greek place names inherited by the immigrant Hellenes. The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions John Chadwick said:

"Names such as . John Chadwick ( 21 May 1920 &ndash 24 November 1998) was an English linguist and classical scholar most . . Mukanai . . . are certainly derived from one or more unknown languages, previously spoken in Greece. "

The pre-Greek language remains unknown, but there is no evidence to rule out a member of the Indo-European superfamily. (See Pelasgian, Minyans)

History

Neolithic

Only scattered sherds from disturbed debris have been found datable to this period, prior to about 3500 BC. The name Pelasgians (from Ancient Greek grc Πελασγοί Pelasgoí, singular Πελασγός Pelasgós) was used by some ancient Greek According to Greek mythology, the Minyans ( Greek: Μινύες were an Autochthonous group inhabiting the Aegean region The site was inhabited but the stratigraphy has been destroyed by later construction.

Early Bronze Age

It is believed that Mycenae was settled by Indo-Europeans who practiced farming and herding, close to 2000 BC. Scattered sherds have been found from this period, 2100 BC to 1700 BC. At the same time, Minoan Crete developed a very complex civilization which interacted with Mycenae. The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete.

Middle Bronze Age

The first burials in pits or cist graves began to the west of the acropolis at about 1800-1700 BC. A cist (ˈkɪst or /ˈsɪst/ or kist (/ˈkɪst/ is a small stone-built coffin-like box or Ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. The acropolis was enclosed at least partially by the earliest circuit wall. Acropolis (Gr akros akron edge extremity + polis city pl acropoleis

Of the cist graves and the Middle Helladic Emily Vermeule said:

". Emily Dickinson Townsend Vermeule ( New York City August 11 1928 – Cambridge Massachusetts February 6 2001) was an . . there is nothing in the Middle Helladic world to prepare us for the furious splendor of the Shaft Graves. A shaft tomb or shaft grave is a type of burial structure formed from a deep and narrow shaft sunk into natural rock "

Late Bronze Age

The settlement pattern at Mycenae during the Bronze Age was a fortified hill surrounded by hamlets and estates. Acropolis (Gr akros akron edge extremity + polis city pl acropoleis Missing is the dense urbanity present on the coast (such as at Argos). Argos ( Greek: Ἄργος, Árgos ˈaɾɣos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor Since Mycenae was the capital of a state that ruled, or dominated, much of the eastern Mediterranean world, the rulers must have placed their stronghold in this less populated and more remote region for its defensive value. Since there are few documents on site with datable contents (such as an Egyptian scarab) and since no dendrochronology has yet been performed upon the remains here, the events are listed here according to Helladic period material culture. Dendrochronology (from Greek grc δένδρον dendron, "tree" grc χρόνος khronos, "time" and grc -λογία Helladic is a modern archaeological term meant to identify a sequence of periods characterizing the culture of mainland Ancient Greece during the Bronze Age.

Late Helladic I

Outside the partial circuit wall, Grave Circle B, named for its enclosing wall, contained ten cist graves in Middle Helladic style and four shaft graves, sunk more deeply, with interments resting in cists. Richer grave goods mark the burials as possibly regal. Mounds over the top contained broken drinking vessels and bones from a repast, testifying to a more than ordinary farewell. ^[1][2] Stelae surmounted the mounds. A stele (from Greek:, stēlē, ˈstiːli plural stelae,, stēlai, ˈstiːlaɪ also found Latinised singular stela

A walled enclosure, Grave Circle A, included six more shaft graves, with 9 female, 8 male, and two juvenile interments. Grave goods were wealthier than in Circle B. The presence of engraved and inlaid swords and daggers, with spear points and arrowheads, leave little doubt that warrior chieftains and their families were buried here. Bronze Age Swords appear from around the 17th century BC, evolving out of the Dagger. A dagger (from Vulgar Latin: 'daca' - a Dacian Knife) is a typically double-edged blade used for Stabbing or thrusting A paramount chief is the highest-level traditional (usually tribal chief or political leader in a regional or local polity or Country typically administered politically Some art objects obtained from the graves are the Silver Siege Rhyton, the Mask of Agamemnon, the Cup of Nestor, and weapons both votive and practical. The Silver Siege Rhyton is a silver vessel discovered in Shaft Grave IV of Grave Circle A at Mycenae and is dated to ca The Mask of Agamemnon is an artifact discovered at Mycenae in 1876 by Heinrich Schliemann. The term Cup of Nestor or Nestor's Cup can refer to A golden mixing cup described in Homer 's Iliad, belonging to Nestor, the king A votive deposit or votive offering is an object left in a Sacred place for Ritual purposes

Late Helladic II

Alan Wace divided the nine tholos tombs of Mycenae into three groups of three each based on architecture. Alan John Bayard Wace ( July 13, 1879 in Cambridge England – November 9, 1957, in Athens Greece was an English archaeologist and director As a generic term tholos tomb is an alternative name for a Beehive tomb from the late Bronze Age. His earliest - the Cyclopean Tomb, Epano Phournos, and the Tomb of Aegisthus - are dated to IIA.

Burial in tholoi is seen as replacing burial in shaft graves. The care taken to preserve the shaft graves testifies that they were by then part of the royal heritage, the tombs of the ancestral heroes. Being more visible, the tholoi all had been plundered either in antiquity, or in later historic times.

Late Helladic III

At a conventional date of 1350 BC the fortifications on the acropolis, and other surrounding hills, were rebuilt in a style known as cyclopean because the blocks of stone used were so massive that they were thought in later ages to be the work of the one-eyed giants known as the cyclopes (singular: Cyclops). Cyclopean masonry is a type of stonework found in Mycenaean architecture built with huge Limestone Boulders, roughly fitted together with minimal In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, a cyclops (ˈsaɪklɒps or kyklops ( Greek) is a member of a primordial race of Within these walls, much of which can still be seen, successive monumental palaces were built. The final palace, remains of which are currently visible on the acropolis of Mycenae dates to the start of LHIIIA:2. Earlier palaces must have existed, but they had been cleared away or built over. ^[3]

The construction of palaces at that time with a similar architecture was general throughout southern Greece. They all featured a megaron, or throne room, with a raised central hearth under an opening in the roof, which was supported by four columns in a square around the hearth. The megaron is the "great hall" of Mycenaean culture The rectangular hall fronted by an open two-columned porch and a more or less central hearth traditional A throne was placed against the center of a wall to the side of the hearth, allowing an unobstructed view of the ruler from the entrance. Frescos adorned the plaster walls and floor. Fresco (plural either frescos or frescoes) is any of several related Painting types done on Plaster on walls or ^[3]

The room was accessed from a courtyard with a columned portico. Clytemnestra (or Clytaemnestra (Eng /klaɪtəm'nɛstɹə/ Greek: Klytaimnéstra, "famed for her suitors" was the wife of Agamemnon, king A beehive tomb, also known as the tholos tomb (plural tholoi) is a burial structure characterised by its false Dome created by the superposition of Confronted-animals, where two animals face each other in a symmetrical pose is an ancient bilateral Motif in Art and Archaeology. A grand staircase led from a terrace below to the courtyard on the acropolis.

In the Temple built within the citadel, a scarab of Queen Tiye of Egypt, who was married to Amenhotep III, was placed in the Room of the Idols alongside at least one statue of either LHIIIA:2 or B:1 type. Tiye (c 1398 BC &ndash 1338 BC also spelled Taia, Tiy and Tiyi) was the daughter of Yuya and Tjuyu (also spelled Thuyu Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now Amenhotep III (sometimes read as Amenophis III meaning Amun is Satisfied was the ninth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. Amenhotep III's relations with m-w-k-i-n-u, *Mukana, have corroboration from the inscription at Kom al-Hetan - but Amenhotep's reign is thought to align with late LHIIIA:1. It is likely that Amenhotep's herald presented the scarab to an earlier generation, which then found the resources to rebuild the citadel as Cyclopean and then, to move the scarab here.

Wace’s second group of tholoi are dated between IIA and IIIB: Kato Phournos, Panagia Tholos, and the Lion Tomb. The final group, Group III: the Treasury of Atreus, the Tomb of Clytemnestra and the Tomb of the Genii, are dated to IIIB by a sherd under the threshold of the Treasury of Atreus^[3], the largest of the nine tombs. The Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon is an impressive " tholos " tomb at Mycenae, Greece (on the Panagitsa Hill Like the Treasury of Minyas at Orchomenos the tomb had been looted of its contents and its nature as funerary monument had been forgotten. The structure bore the traditional name of "Treasury".

The pottery phases on which the relative dating scheme is based (EH, MH, LH, etc. ) do not allow very precise dating, even augmented by the few existing C-14 dates due to the tolerance inherent in these. The sequence of further construction at Mycenae is approximately as follows. At the beginning of LHIIIB, around 1300 or so, the Cyclopean wall was extended to the south slope to include grave circle A. The main entrance through the circuit wall was made grand by the best known feature of Mycenae, the Lion Gate, through which passed a stepped ramp leading past circle A and up to the palace. The Lion Gate was built in the form of a 'Relieving Triangle' to support the weight of the stones. The ramp went past some houses, now considered to be workshops: the House of Shields, the House of the Oil Merchant, the House of the Sphinxes, and the West House. An undecorated postern gate also was constructed through the north wall.

Somewhat later, at the LHIIIB:1/2 border, around 1250 or so, another renovation project was undertaken. The wall was extended again on the west side, with a sally port and also a secret passage through and under the wall, of corbeled construction, leading downward by some 99 steps to a cistern carved out of rock 15 m below the surface. It was fed by a tunnel from a spring on more distant higher ground. The Treasury of Atreus was constructed at about this time.

Already in LHIIIA:1, Egypt knew *Mukana by name as a capital city on the level of Thebes and Knossos. During LHIIIB, Mycenae's political, military and economic influence likely extended as far as Crete, Pylos in the western Peloponnese, and to Athens and Thebes. Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the This article is about the Greek geographical feature and town Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Thebes ( Classic Greek Θῆβαι, Mod Θήβα) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range which divides Hellenic settlements already were being placed on the coast of Anatolia. A collision with the Hittite empire over their sometime dependency at a then strategic location, Troy, was to be expected. In folklore, the powerful Pelopid family ruled many Greek states, one branch of which was the Atreid dynasty at Mycenae.

Decline

By 1200 BC the power of Mycenae was declining; during the 12th century, Mycenaean dominance collapsed. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία

LHIIIB ends in a universal catastrophe. Within a short time around 1250 BC, all the palaces of southern Greece were burned, including the one at Mycenae. ^[3] This is traditionally attributed to a Dorian invasion of Greeks from the north, although some historians now doubt that such an invasion took place. The Dorian invasion is a concept devised by historians of Ancient Greece to explain the replacement of pre-classical dialects and traditions in southern Greece by As originally conceived, it certainly did not. No outsiders speaking Doric Greek entered Greece. Another theory postulates that some of the Mycenaean populace, who later came to speak the Doric dialect, turned on the weakened Mycenaean superstructure and razed it, settling in many regions formerly controlled by it. Displaced populations escaped to former colonies of the Mycenaeans in Anatolia and elsewhere, where they came to speak the Ionic dialect. Another circulating theory is that a drought caused the Mycenaean decline and that frustration with the powerful caused the burning of graineries and palaces. Another theory is that the destruction of the palaces is related to the Sea People who destroyed the Hittite Empire and attacked the 19th then the 20th dynasties of Egypt. The Sea Peoples is the term used for a confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, caused political Hittites is the conventional English-language term for an ancient people who spoke an Indo-European language and established a kingdom centered in Hattusa The evacuation of the area was also due to the drought; although there is no climatological evidence for it other than lack of evidence for an invasion. However, no conclusive evidence has been brought forward to confirm any theory of why the Mycenaean citadel and others around it fell at this time.

In the period, LHIIIC, also termed "submycenaean", Mycenae was no longer a power. Pottery and decorative styles were changing rapidly. Craftmanship and art declined. The citadel was abandoned at the end of the 12th century, as it was no longer a strategic location, but only a remote one.

Revival and end

During the early Classical period, Mycenae was once again inhabited, though it never regained its earlier importance. Mycenaeans fought at Thermopylae and Plataea during the Persian Wars. Thermopylae (θɚˈmɒpəli (Ancient and Katharevousa Greek, Demotic Θερμοπύλες: "hot gateway" is a location in Greece For the Geometer moth Genus, see Plataea (moth. Plataea or Plataeae was an ancient city located in Greece In 462 BC, however, troops from Argos captured Mycenae and expelled the inhabitants. Events By place Greece The Spartans try to conquer the mountain stronghold of Mt Ithome in Messenia, where a large Argos ( Greek: Ἄργος, Árgos ˈaɾɣos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor In Hellenistic and Roman times, the ruins at Mycenae were a tourist attraction (just as they are now). This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel A small town grew up to serve the tourist trade. By late Roman times, however, the site had been abandoned.

Mycenae and religion

Much of the Mycenean religion survived into classical Greece in their pantheon of Greek deities, but it is not known to what extent Greek religious belief is Mycenean, nor how much is a product of the Greek Dark Ages or later. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos In the context of the art architecture and culture of Ancient Greece, the classical period corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries A listing of Greek mythological beings Many of the gods and goddesses had Roman and Etruscan equivalents. The Dark Ages (ca 1150 BC–800 BC refers to Greek history from the presumed Dorian invasion and end of the Mycenaean civilization in the 11th century

There are several reasonable guesses that can be made, however. Mycenean religion was almost certainly polytheistic, and the Myceneans were actively syncretistic, adding foreign deities to their pantheon of deities with surprising ease. The Myceneans probably entered Greece with a pantheon of deities headed by some ruling sky-deity which linguists speculate might have been called *Dyeus in early Indo-European. In Greek, this deity would become Zeus. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology Among the Hindus, this sky-deity becomes "dyaus pitar" ("pitar" means "father"). A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical In Latin he becomes "deus pater" or Jupiter; we still encounter this word in the etymologies of the words "deity" and "divine. In Roman mythology, Jupiter was the king of the gods and the god of Sky and Thunder. "

At some point in their cultural history, the Myceneans adopted the Minoan goddesses and associated these goddesses with their sky-god; scholars believe that the Greek pantheon of deities does not reflect Mycenean religion except for the goddesses and Zeus. The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. Scholarly method &mdash or as it is more commonly called scholarship &mdash is the body of principles and practices used by scholars to make their claims about the world as These goddesses, however, are Minoan in origin. In general, later Greek religion distinguishes between two types of deities: the Olympian (including Zeus) or sky-deities (which are now commonly known in some form or another), and the early deities of the earth, or chthonic deities—these chthonic deities are almost all female. The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon ( Greek: Δωδεκάθεον The Greeks believed that the chthonic deities were older than the Olympians; this suggests that the original Greek religion may have been oriented around goddesses of the earth, but there is no evidence for this outside of reasonable speculation. The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions

Walter Burkert warns:

"To what extent one can and must differentiate between Minoan and Mycenaean religion is a question which has not yet found a conclusive answer"^[4]

and suggests that useful parallels will be found in the relations between Etruscan and Archaic Greek culture and religion, or between Roman and Hellenistic culture. Walter Burkert (born Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, February 2, 1931) a scholar of Greek mythology and cult, is an emeritus

Mycenean religion certainly involved offerings and sacrifices to the deities, and some have speculated that their ceremonies involved human sacrifice based on textual evidence and bones found outside tombs. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos In the Homeric poems, there seems to be a lingering cultural memory of human sacrifice in King Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter, Iphigenia; several of the stories of Trojan heroes involve tragic human sacrifice. In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (very resolute / ( ancient Greek:) is a hero, the son of King Atreus of Mycenae 112 Iphigenia is an Asteroid. Iphigeneia (Eng /ɪfədʒə'naɪə/, also Iphigenia This, however, is all speculation.

Beyond this speculation we can go no further. Somewhere in the shades of the centuries between the fall of the Mycenean civilization and the end of the Greek Dark Ages, the original Mycenean religion persisted and adapted until it finally emerged in the stories of human devotion, apostasy, and divine capriciousness that exists in the two great epic poems of Homer. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the

Mycenae in Classical Greek mythology and legends

Perseid dynasty

Classical Greek myths assert that Mycenae was founded by Perseus, grandson of king Acrisius of Argos, son of Acrisius' daughter, Danaë. Perseus, Perseos, or Perseas ( Greek: Περσεύς, Περσέως, Περσέας) the Legendary founder Acrisius ( Ancient Greek:) was a mythical king of Argos, and a son of Abas and Aglaea (or Ocalea, depending on the author Argos ( Greek: Ἄργος, Árgos ˈaɾɣos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor For other uses see Danae (plant and Danaë (painting In Greek mythology, Danaë (Δανάη English translation Having killed his grandfather by accident, Perseus could not, or would not, inherit the throne of Argos. Instead he arranged an exchange of realms with his half-brother, Megapenthes, and became king of Tiryns, Megapenthes taking Argos. For the Click beetle Genus, see Megapenthes (beetle. In Greek mythology Tiryns (in ancient Greek Τίρυνς and in modern Τίρυνθα is a Mycenaean Archaeological site in the Greek nomos of From there he founded Mycenae and ruled the kingdoms jointly from Mycenae.

Perseus married Andromeda and had many sons but in the course of time went to war with Argos and was slain by Megapenthes. Andromeda was a woman from Greek mythology who as divine punishment for her mother's bragging was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster His son, Electryon, became the second of the dynasty but the succession was disputed by the Taphians under Pterelaos, another Perseid, who assaulted Mycenae and losing retreated with the cattle. In Greek mythology, Electryon was the son of Perseus and Andromeda, and king of Mycenae. In Homeric Greece, the islands of Taphos (Τάφος lay in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Acarnania in northwestern Greece home of sea-going and In Greek mythology, Pterelaos (Πτερέλαος was king of the Thapians who was the son of Poseidon. The cattle were recovered by Amphitryon, a grandson of Perseus, but he killed his uncle by accident with a club in an unruly cattle incident and had to go into exile. Amphitryon, or Amphitrion, in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis.

The throne went to Sthenelus, third in the dynasty, a son of Perseus. In Greek mythology, Sthenelus was a name attributed to four different individuals He set the stage for future greatness by marrying Nicippe, a daughter of king Pelops of Elis, the most powerful state of the region and the times. Nicippe is a name attributed to two women in Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, Pelops ( Greek Πέλοψ, from pelios: dark and ops: face eye king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus was venerated Elis, or Eleia ( Greek, Modern Ήλιδα Ilida, Ancient Ēlis, Doric: Alis, Elean: Walis) is an ancient With her he had a son, Eurystheus the fourth and last of the Perseid dynasty. In Greek mythology, Eurystheus was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid: Sthenelus was his father When a son of Heracles, Hyllus, killed Sthenelus, Eurystheus became noted for his enmity to Heracles and for his ruthless persecution of the Heracleidae, the descendants of Heracles. In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles ("glory of Hera " or Hyllus is also a genus of Jumping spiders. In Greek mythology, Hyllus (also Hyllas or Hylles) was In Greek mythology, the Heracleidae or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles (Hercules especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants

This is the first we hear in legend of those noted sons, who became a symbol of the hated Dorians. The Dorians or Dorian Greeks ( Greek:, Dōrieis singular, Dōrieus were Heracles had been a Perseid. After his death Eurystheus determined to annihilate these rivals for the throne of Mycenae, but they took refuge in Athens, and in the course of war Eurystheus and all his sons were killed. The Perseid dynasty came to an end. The people of Mycenae placed Eurystheus' maternal uncle, Atreus, a Pelopid, on the throne. In Greek mythology, King Atreus ( Greek: Ατρεύς Atreús) (fearless of Mycenae was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia

Atreid dynasty

The people of Mycenae had received advice from an oracle that they should choose a new king from among the Pelopids. An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion an Infallible authority usually spiritual in nature The two contenders were Atreus and his brother, Thyestes. In Greek mythology, King Atreus ( Greek: Ατρεύς Atreús) (fearless of Mycenae was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia In Greek mythology, Thyestes (Θυέστης was the son of Pelops, King of Olympia, and Hippodamia and father of Pelopia and The latter was chosen at first. At this moment nature intervened. The sun appeared to reverse direction and set in the east. Because the sun had reversed direction, he argued, the election of Thyestes should be reversed. Atreus became king. His first move was to pursue Thyestes and all his family, but Thyestes managed to escape Mycenae.

In legend, Atreus had two sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, the Atreids. In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (very resolute / ( ancient Greek:) is a hero, the son of King Atreus of Mycenae In Greek mythology, Menelaus ( Ancient Greek:) was a king of Ancient Sparta, the husband of Helen, and a central figure in the Aegisthus, the son of Thyestes, killed Atreus and restored Thyestes to the throne. In Greek mythology, Aegisthus ( Ancient Greek:, " goat strength " &mdash also transliterated as Aegisthos With the help of King Tyndareus of Sparta, the Atreids drove Thyestes again into exile. In Greek mythology, Tyndareus Τυνδαρεύς (or Tyndareos Τυνδάρεως) was a Spartan king son of Oebalus The city of Sparta ( Doric Σπάρτα Attic Σπάρτη Tyndareus had two ill-starred daughters, Helen and Clytemnestra, whom Menelaus and Agamemnon married, respectively. This article is about the mythological figure Helen of Troy For other uses see Helen (disambiguation and Helen of Troy (disambiguation. Clytemnestra (or Clytaemnestra (Eng /klaɪtəm'nɛstɹə/ Greek: Klytaimnéstra, "famed for her suitors" was the wife of Agamemnon, king Agamemnon inherited Mycenae and Menelaus was regent in Sparta.

Helen eloped with Paris of Troy. See List of King Priam's children Paris ( Greek:; also known as Alexander or Alexandros, c Troy ( Greek: grc Τροία Troia, also, Ilion; Latin: Trōia, Īlium, Hittite: Wilusa or Agamemnon conducted a 10-year war against Troy to get her back for his brother. Because of lack of wind, the warships could not sail to Troy. Troy ( Greek: grc Τροία Troia, also, Ilion; Latin: Trōia, Īlium, Hittite: Wilusa or In order to please the gods so that they might make the winds start to blow, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia. In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (very resolute / ( ancient Greek:) is a hero, the son of King Atreus of Mycenae 112 Iphigenia is an Asteroid. Iphigeneia (Eng /ɪfədʒə'naɪə/, also Iphigenia Hunting goddess Artemis replaced her at the very last moment with a deer on the altar, and took Iphigenia to Tauris (See Iphigenia en Tauris by Euripides). In Greek mythology, Artemis language|Greek] ( Nominative), ( Genitive))] was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister A deer is a Ruminant Mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. 112 Iphigenia is an Asteroid. Iphigeneia (Eng /ɪfədʒə'naɪə/, also Iphigenia Euripides ( Ancient Greek:) (ca 480 BC–406 BC was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens (the other two being Aeschylus The deities having been satisfied by such a sacrifice, the winds started blowing and the warfaring fleet departed.

Legend tells us that the long and arduous Trojan War, although nominally a Greek victory, brought anarchy, piracy, and ruin. After the war, returning Agamemnon was greeted royally with a red carpet rolled out for him and then was slain in his bathtub by Clytemnestra, who hated him bitterly for having sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia. In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (very resolute / ( ancient Greek:) is a hero, the son of King Atreus of Mycenae Clytemnestra (or Clytaemnestra (Eng /klaɪtəm'nɛstɹə/ Greek: Klytaimnéstra, "famed for her suitors" was the wife of Agamemnon, king 112 Iphigenia is an Asteroid. Iphigeneia (Eng /ɪfədʒə'naɪə/, also Iphigenia Clytemnestra was aided in her crime by Aegistheus, who reigned subsequently, but Orestes, son of Agamemnon, was smuggled out to Phocis. In Greek mythology, Orestes (in English /ɔ'ɹɛstiːz/ and in Greek,) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon Phocis ( Greek, Modern: Φωκίδα foˈkiða Ancient / Katharevousa: Φωκίς foˈkis is an ancient district and a modern prefecture He returned as an adult to slay Clytemnestra and Aegistheus. He then fled to Sparta to evade justice and a matricide, and became insane for a time. Meanwhile, the throne of Mycenae went to Aletes, son of Aegistheus, but not for long. Recovering, Orestes returned to Mycenae to kill him and take the throne.

Orestes then built a larger state in the Peloponnesus, but he died in Arcadia from a snake bite. Arcadia or Arkadía ( Greek Αρκαδία is a region of Greece in the Peloponnesus. A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. His son, Tisamenus, the last of the Atreid dynasty, was killed by the Heracleidae on their return to the Peloponnesus. Tisamenus in Greek mythology, was a son of Orestes and Hermione. In Greek mythology, the Heracleidae or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles (Hercules especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus ( Greek: Πελοπόννησος Pelopónnisos; see also List of Greek place names) is a large Peninsula They claimed the right of the Perseids to inherit the various kingdoms of the Peloponnesus and cast lots for the dominion of them.

Atreids in Asia Minor?

In fact, there was a total eclipse of the sun in the Aegean on March 5, 1223 BC, which Atreus might have twisted into a setting of the sun in the east. Etymology In ancient times there were various explanations for the name Aegean. This date does not solve all the unknowns, however.

A late date is implied for the Trojan War, which would, in that case, have been against Troy VIIa after all. In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her Troy ( Greek: grc Τροία Troia, also, Ilion; Latin: Trōia, Īlium, Hittite: Wilusa or The Perseids would have been in power ca. 1380, the date of a statue base from Kom el-Heitan in Egypt recording the itinerary of an Egyptian embassy to the Aegean in the time of Amenophis III. Amenhotep III (sometimes read as Amenophis III meaning Amun is Satisfied was the ninth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. M-w-k-i-n-u (phonetic "Mukanuh"?) was one of the cities visited, a rare early document of the name of Mycenae. It was one of the cities of the tj-n3-jj ("Tinay"?)^[5], Homeric Danaans, named, in myth, after Danaë, which suggests that the Perseids were in fact in some sort of dominion. For other uses see Danae (plant and Danaë (painting In Greek mythology, Danaë (Δανάη English translation

Also in the 14th century BC the Ahhiya began to be troublesome to numerous kings of the Hittite Empire. Hittites is the conventional English-language term for an ancient people who spoke an Indo-European language and established a kingdom centered in Hattusa Ahhiyawa or Ahhiya, which occurs a few dozen times in Hittite tablets over the century, is probably Achaiwia, reconstructed Mycenaean Greek for Achaea. Achaea (Αχαΐα Achaïa, axaˈia in Polytonic orthography) is an ancient province and a present prefecture of Greece, on the northern The Hittites did not use Danaja as did the Egyptians, even though the first Ahhiya reference in "Indictment of Madduwatta"^[6] precedes the correspondence between Amenhotep III and one of Madduwatta's subsequent successors in Arzawa, Tarhunta-Radu. Madduwatta (sometimes given as Madduwattas) was a king of Arzawa, in Anatolia about 14th or 13th century BC Amenhotep III (sometimes read as Amenophis III meaning Amun is Satisfied was the ninth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. Madduwatta (sometimes given as Madduwattas) was a king of Arzawa, in Anatolia about 14th or 13th century BC Arzawa was the name of a region or kingdom in Western Anatolia, which later to be known as Lydia (Assyrian Luddu, Greek Λυδία in the post- Hittite The external LHIIIA:1-era sources do, however, agree in their omission of a great king or other unifying structure behind Tinay/Ahhiya.

For example, in the "Indictment of Madduwatta", Attarissiya, the "man of Ahhiya" (i. e. ruler), attacks Madduwatta and drives him from his land. He obtains refuge and military assistance from the Hittite Great King Tudhaliya. After the death of the latter and in the reign of his son, Arnuwanda, Madduwatta allies with Attarissiya and they, along with another ruler, raid Alasiya, i. e. Cyprus. Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía

This is the only known occurrence of a man named Attarissiya. Attempts to link this name to Atreus have not found wide support, nor is there any evidence of a powerful Pelopid named Atreus of those times.

During LHIIIA:2, Ahhiya, now known as Ahhiyawa, extended its influence over Miletus, settling on the coast of Anatolia, and competed with the Hittites for influence and control in western Anatolia. Miletus (mī lē' təs ( Ancient Greek: Μίλητος literally Transliterated Milētos, Latin Miletus) was an Ancient Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black For instance Uhha-Ziti's Arzawa and through him Manapa-Tarhunta's Seha River Land. Manapa-Tarhunta was a king in western Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age. While establishing the credibility of the Mycenaean Greeks as a historical power, these documents create as many problems as they solve.

Similarly, a Hittite king wrote the so-called Tawagalawa letter^[7] to the Great King of Ahhiyawa, concerning the depredations of the Luwiyan adventurer Piyama-Radu. The Tawagalawa letter ( CTH 181 was written by a Hittite king (generally accepted as Hattusili III) to a king of Ahhiyawa around 1250 BC Piyamaradu (also spelled Piyama-Radu, Piyama Radu, Piyamaradus, Piyamaraduš) was a warlike aristocratic personage whose name figures prominently Neither of the names of the great kings are stated; the Hittite king could be either Muwatalli II or his brother Hattusili III, which at least dates the letter to LHIIIB by Mycenaean standards. Muwatalli II ( m NIRGÁL) was a king of the New kingdom of the Hittite empire (ca Hattusili III ( Hittite: "from Hattusa" was a king of the Hittite empire (New Kingdom or Late Empire ca But neither the Atreus nor the Agamemnon of legend have any brothers named *Etewoclewes (Eteocles); this name, rather, is associated with Thebes, which during the preceding LHIIIA period Amenhotep III had viewed as equal to Mycenae.

Elsewhere, Muwatalli II (reg. Muwatalli II ( m NIRGÁL) was a king of the New kingdom of the Hittite empire (ca 1296–1272) makes a treaty with Alaksandu (possibly Alexander), king of Wilusa (Ilium); and another document has Wilusa swearing by Appaliuna (Apollo). But the Alaksandu of the treaty is too early to be king of a city assaulted by Agamemnon, and besides, Priam was king of that city. In Greek mythology, Priam ( Greek Πρίαμος Priamos) was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son

There is no satisfactory way to reconcile the Hittite tablets with later Greek legend.

Excavation

The first excavations at Mycenae were carried out by the Greek archaeologist Kyriakos Pittakis in 1841. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Kyriakos Pittakis (1798 - 1863 was a Greek archaeologist. While serving in the Greek Army against the Ottoman Empire, Pittakis was among the For the game see 1841 (board game. Year 1841 ( MDCCCXLI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link He found and restored the Lion Gate. In 1874 Heinrich Schliemann arrived at the site and undertook a complete excavation. Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Heinrich Schliemann (ˈʃliːman ( January 6 1822 in Neubukow Mecklenburg-Schwerin - December 26 1890, Naples) was a German Schliemann believed in the historical truth of the Homeric stories and interpreted the site accordingly. He found the ancient shaft graves with their royal skeletons and spectacular grave goods. A shaft tomb or shaft grave is a type of burial structure formed from a deep and narrow shaft sunk into natural rock In Biology, the skeleton is a strong and often a rigid framework that supports the body of an animal holding it upright and giving it shape and strength (Also skeletal Upon discovering a human skull beneath a gold death mask in one of the tombs, he declared: "I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon". Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 In Western cultures a death mask is a Wax or Plaster cast made of a person's face following Death.

Since Schliemann's day more scientific excavations have taken place at Mycenae, mainly by Greek archaeologists but also by the British School at Athens. The British School at Athens (BSA (Βρετανική Σχολή Αθηνών is one of the 17 Foreign Archaeological Institutes in Athens, Greece The acropolis was excavated in 1902, and the surrounding hills have been methodically investigated by subsequent excavations. Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting

Tourism

As one of the foundational sites of European civilization, Mycenae is a popular tourist destination less than two hours' drive from Athens. The culture of Europe might better be described as a series of overlapping cultures The site has been well-preserved, and the massive ruins of the cyclopaean walls and the palaces on the acropolis still arouse the admiration of visitors, particularly when it is remembered that they were built a thousand years before the monuments of Classical Greece.

References

See also

• Mycenaean Greece
• Aegean Civilization
• National Archaeological Museum of Athens
• Ancient Greece
• Agamemnon

Notes

• Elizabeth French, Mycenae: Agamemnon's Capital, Tempus, Stroud 2002, ISBN 07524 1951 X. Mycenaean Greece is a cultural period of ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age Civilizations of Greece and the Aegean. The National Archaeological Museum of Athens (Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (very resolute / ( ancient Greek:) is a hero, the son of King Atreus of Mycenae
• K. A. and Diana Wardle, Cities of Legend: The Mycenaean World, Bristol Classical Press 1997, 2000, ISBN 1-85399-355-7.
• W. D. Taylour, E. B. French, K. A. Wardle, Well Built Mycenae, Oxbow Books Oxford, 1983-2007.
• A. J. B. Wace, Mycenae: an archaeological history and guide, Princeton 1949 (reprinted 1964).
• John Chadwick, The Mycenaean World, Cambridge University Press, 1976, ISBN 0-521-21077-1 hardcover or ISBN 0-521-29037-6 paperback
• Emily Vermeule, Greece in the Bronze Age, the University of Chicago Press, 1964, LC 64-23427
• Martin P. Nilsson, The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology, 1932, reissued by the University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-01951-2 Cloth, ISBN 0-520-02163-0 Paper
• George E. Mylonas, Mycenae's Last Century of Greatness, Sydney University Press, 1968, SBN 424-05820-3
• George E. Mylonas, Mycenae Rich in Gold, Athens: Ekdotike Athenon, 1983.
• Leonard R. Palmer, Mycenaeans and Minoans, 1961, 2nd ed. 1965
• M. I. Finley, Early Greece, The Bronze and Archaic Ages, W. W. Norton & Company, 1981, ISBN 0-393-01569-6 Hard, ISBN 0-393-30051-X Paper
• Reid Bryson and Thomas J. Murray, "Climates of Hunger", University of Wiconsin Press, 1977, ISBN 0-299-07370-X

External links

• British School at Athens Mycenae page
• Excavation of Citadel House Area
• Objects from Grave Circle A, including votive weaponry
• Rowbotham, William (2002). Mycenae and the bronze age of Greece. Odyssey Adventures in Archaeology. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of
• Parada, Carlos (1997). Perseus 1. Greek Mythology Link. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of
• Jansen, Anton (1997). Bronze Age Highways at Mycenae. Classical Views. Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of
• Hooker, Richard (1996). Mycenean religion. Barbarians and bureaucrats. Washington State University. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of

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