HISTORY OF MYCENÆ AND THE FAMILY OF PELOPS.
THE SEPULCHRES OF AGAMEMNON AND HIS COMPANIONS.
Traditional foundation of Mycenæ by Perseus—His dynasty succeeded by the Pelopids—The legend of their crimes unknown to Homer and Hesiod—The Homeric story of Agamemnon's murder by Ægisthus and Clytemnestra, avenged by Orestes—Cycle of crimes devised by the later bards—Dominion of Agamemnon—End of the Dynasty at Mycenæ with Ægisthus—Orestes and his sons—The Dorian invasion—Part taken by Mycenæ in the Persian wars—The Argives besiege and take Mycenæ—The walls of the citadel preserved from religious reverence—Homeric epithets of Mycenæ—Its "abundance of gold" confirmed by Thucydides—The Treasuries of the Pelopids mentioned by Pausanias—Treasury at the Heræum, near Mycenæ—Probable existence of another Treasury at Mycenæ.
The Royal Sepulchres described by Pausanias—General misinterpretation of the passage—Experimental shafts sunk there in February, 1874—Excavations begun, August 7, 1876—Porter's lodge at the Lions' Gate—The later habitation of the city after 468 B.C.—No coins of Mycenæ known—Remains below this first stratum—Painted archaic vases, like those at Tiryns—The vases almost all made on the Potter's wheel—Female idols and cows of terra-cotta—Other idols and animals—Iron knives and curious keys of a later period—Bronze knives and arrow-heads—Stone implements and other objects—A little gold and much lead found—Fragments of a lyre and flute—Plates of ornamented terra-cotta for lining walls—Cyclopean house-walls—A remarkable water-conduit—Twelve tomb-like reservoirs—Two tombstones with bas-reliefs, probably of the same epoch as that over the Lions' Gate [52]
[CHAPTER IV.]
EXCAVATIONS IN THE CITADEL OF MYCENÆ—continued.
Wages and worth of labour at Mycenæ—The double circle of slabs—Two more sculptured stêlæ—Unsculptured stêlæ—Ashes and bones, probably of sacrifices—Fragments of other sculptured tombstones—The style of these stêlæ unique—Their probable age about 1500 B.C.—A Cyclopean house filled with ashes, bones, &c.—Objects found there and in the twelve reservoirs—Great significance of the tombstones found in the Acropolis—They mark the Royal Tombs, mentioned by Pausanias from tradition only—Excavation of the Treasury close to the Lions' Gate: about as large as that of Atreus—Antiquity of the covering-up proved by the ancient vases, idols, &c. in the débris above—Hera-idols, and others, found in the dromos, and in the Acropolis—Their vast abundance—Cow-heads on handles of vases, as at Troy—Moulds for earrings and other ornaments of gold and silver, and curious clay cones—Other ornaments of glazed clay, potstone, &c.—Numerous objects of bronze—Curious wheels—Necklace beads of various stones, with intaglios of animals, and similar objects of other shapes—Two-handled goblets; the δέπας ἀμϕικύπελλον of Homer—Depth of the débris—Breach in the great Cyclopean wall, repaired by an ancient wall of small stones—The quarry of Mycenæ [86]
[CHAPTER V.]
EXCAVATIONS IN AND NEAR THE ACROPOLIS—continued.
THE LIONS' GATE AND THE AGORA.
The Treasury excavated by Mrs. Schliemann—Older and less sumptuous than that of Atreus—The entrance, its ornaments—Archaic pottery found in the passage—Necklace beads—Fragment of a marble frieze—Threshold of the Lions' Gate—The great double row of parallel slabs, probably not of a remote antiquity—The Acropolis only partly accessible to chariots—The gateway double, like the Scæan Gate at Troy—Corridors of Cyclopean house-walls—Hera-idols and arrow-heads of bronze and iron—Door-keeper's lodge—Retaining walls—Tower of the Acropolis resting on a massive wall—The double circle of slabs formed the enclosure of the royal tombs and the Agora—Arguments in proof of this view—Objects of interest found there—A vast Cyclopean house with cisterns and water conduit, probably the ancient Royal Palace—The spring Perseia—No windows in the house—Objects of art and luxury found there—An onyx seal-ring—Vase-paintings of mail-clad warriors—Hand-made pottery in the Acropolis [118]
NOTE [138]