June 14
We left in the morning for Mycenae the great fortress of King Agamemnon with its gigantic cyclopean walls and imposing lions gate but first we stopped at the acropolis of Tiryns built with huge walls and considered the birthplace of Herakles in Greek myth.
The acropolis at Tiryns dates back to the Mycenaean period which ranged from 1,600 – 1,050 BC. The acropolis was fortified with walls made of huge stones. The stones were so big that later Greeks didn’t think it was possible for humans to move them and so said that they were built by cyclops which are giants with one eye and thus these types of walls received the name cyclopean walls. On top of the acropolis little more remains than the base of the various buildings that once stood there. We left the site by 10:00 am, but it was already very hot and everyone was feeling it.
We made one more stop before Mycenae at the treasury of Atreus. The treasury is a tholos tomb which means that it is basically a giant stone beehive shaped chamber buried underground. The treasury also has a small room off to the side of the main burial room. The treasury is attributed to belonging to Atreus who was the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus who were two important characters in the story of the Trojan war.
Finally we arrived at Mycenae with its daunting cyclopean walls and lions’ gate. Same as the acropolis of Tryns, Mycenae is from the Mycenaean period and was one of the most powerful cities in Greece during that time. The city was excavated in 1876 by Heinrich Schliemann who is infamous for the way he tore through sites to find treasure often destroying other artifacts in the process. There were also graves found inside the city walls which is unusual for the Greeks in this time period. There were also a number of houses and storerooms found in the city as well as a palace and a cistern. Although the walls and gate are pretty well intact most of the buildings are just the foundation and bottom of the walls surviving.
After we finished exploring the ruins of Mycenae we visited the small museum they had on site which included various pottery and figures as well as a replica of the mask of Agamemnon. The mask of Agamemnon was given that name when Heinrich Schliemann found it during his excavation of Mycenae and he said it was the death mask of Agamemnon, but we know now that it is not since Agamemnon is a legendary figure.
After Mycenae we went to the Argive Heraion which is the remains of a temple of Hera. While on site Dr. Dimitri Nakassis talked to us about his work and archaeological surveys. Archeological surveys allow for a much broader sweep of an area by searching the surface for large concentrations of old pottery and other artifacts instead of digging small trenches to try and find ruins. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and relaxed for the evening.
