Mycenae: The Land of Homer’s Heroes
- Site dates from the second millennium BC
- Inhabitants spoke earliest known dialect of the Greek language
- Famous sites include Treasury of Atreus and Grave Circles A/B
Mycenae is the oldest site that can be visited on the Biblical Greece tour, dating from the second millennium BC. Mycenaean Greeks were the oldest known speakers of Greek, yet this early culture was technologically advanced and had economic links with far-away locations in Europe. Visitors can see the famous Treasury of Atreus, along with Grave Circles A and B, all three of which are monumental tombs. Visitors also will visit the Citadel of the city, with its massive walls and famous Lion Gate.
Famous for being the mythical home of Agamemnon, as mentioned by Homer in the Iliad, Mycenae was the center of a vibrant civilization. As the first known group of Greek-speakers (documents in its Linear B writing system were proven to be a form of Greek when translated in the 1950s), it had already reached a high level of development by the 16th century BC, when graves found on the site with gold and weapons would suggest the presence of a city with a great deal of wealth. In the next few centuries, the Mycenaeans would expand their territory as far away as Athens and Thebes. Furthermore, Mycenaean influence is seen as far away as the island of Crete, and goods found at the site (such as ivory and amber) show trade links with Africa and the Baltic. Mycenaean civilization begins to decline in the 13th century, and by 1100 BC, the civilization had disappeared due to unknown circumstances. A small settlement would be refounded during Classical times, but the glory days of Mycenae had long ended centuries before.
Important sites at Mycenae include the Treasury of Atreus (actually a tomb), located along the road outside of the town. Named after the mythical Atreus, the father of Agamemnon, the Treasury is a monumental structure known as a tholos (the Greek word for beehive, named after its shape). Built into a hill, it is massive (the doorway alone is 5.5 meters high) and dates from c.1350BC. Two mass graves, known as Grave Circle A (located inside the citadel of Mycenae) and Grave Circle B (located just outside the citadel) contained large amounts of luxury goods. Because of these goods, including a gold mask, archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann believed it to be the tomb of Agamemnon. The Acropolis of the site, dating from 1350-1200BC, was built with Cyclopean masonry (so called because the blocks of the walls are so large that only the mythical Cyclopes could have moved them into place) and contains houses and a palace. It is entered through the Lion Gate, a famous doorway with two lionesses resting their paws on two altars.
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