World Heritage–listed Mycenae is synonymous with the names Homer and Schliemann. In the 9th century BC Homer told in his epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey , of ‘well-built Mycenae, rich in gold’. These poems were, until the 19th century, regarded as no more than gripping and beautiful legends. But in the 1870s the amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann (1822–90), despite derision from professional archaeologists, struck gold, first at Troy then at Mycenae. Highlights include the magnificent Lion Gate , Grave Circle A , where priceless golden treasures were excavated from the royal tombs, and the tombs of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra .
In Mycenae, myth and history are inextricably linked. According to Homer, the city of Mycenae was founded by Perseus, the son of Danae and Zeus. By Agamemnon’s time the Royal House of Atreus was the most powerful of the Achaeans (Homer’s name for the Greeks).
The historical facts are that Mycenae was first settled by Neolithic people in the 6th millennium BC. Between 2100 and 1900 BC, during the Bronze Age, Greece was invaded by people of Indo-European heritage who had crossed Anatolia via Troy to Greece. The invaders brought an advanced culture to then-primitive Mycenae and other mainland settlements. This new civilisation is now referred to as the Mycenaean, named after its most powerful kingdom. The other kingdoms included Pylos, Tiryns, Corinth and Argos, all in the Peloponnese. Evidence of Mycenaean civilisation has also been found at Thiva (Thebes) and Athens.
The city of Mycenae consisted of a fortified citadel and surrounding settlement. Due to the sheer size of the 'Cyclopean' walls (13m high and 7m thick), formed by stone blocks weighing 6 tonnes in places, legend has it that Perseus enlisted the help of a Cyclops, one of the one-eyed giants described in the Homer's epic poem the Odyssey , to build Mycenae.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the palaces of the Mycenaean kingdoms declined some time around 1200 BC and the palace itself was destroyed around 1100 BC, possibly by fire. Whether the destruction was the work of outsiders or due to internal division between the various Mycenaean kingdoms remains unresolved.
Agamemnon's fortress is entered through the dramatic Lion Gate , a solid construction of massive stone blocks over which rear two large lionesses. This motif is believed to have been the insignia of the Royal House of Atreus.
Once inside the citadel, Grave Circle A is on the right. This was the royal cemetery and contained six grave shafts. Five shafts were excavated by Schliemann between 1874 and 1876, uncovering one of the richest archaeological hauls ever to be found, including a well-preserved gold death mask. Schliemann sent a telegram to the Greek king stating, ‘I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon’, though the mask turned out to belong to an unknown king.
South of Grave Circle A are the remains of a group of houses . In one was discovered the famous Warrior Vase, regarded by Schliemann as one of his greatest discoveries because it offered a glimpse of what Mycenae’s legendary warriors looked like.
Follow the main path up to Agamemnon’s Palace , centred on the Great Court . The rooms to the north were private royal apartments where it is thought that Agamemnon was murdered. On the palace's southeastern side is the megaron (reception hall where the great hearth would have been), with the column bases remaining and, beyond this, the artisans' quarters.
Head down to the northeast extention, and you'll find the entrance to the secret cistern in the corner. You'll need a torch to descend the 100 or so steps into the subterranean gloom. The cistern itself was an ingenious piece of engineering, connected as it was to a spring, but the water has long run dry.
Follow the main path anti-clockwise and on the northern boundary of the citadel you'll come across the Postern Gate , through which, it is said, Orestes escaped after murdering his mother, Clytemnestra.
Until the late 15th century BC the Mycenaeans interred their royal dead in shaft graves; later they used a new form of burial – the beehive-shaped tholos tomb. Back outside the Lion Gate, head down to the tholos tombs of Aegisthus, with its collapsed roof, and Clytemnestra's tomb, with its dramatic entrance and restored dome roof.
Another Mycenae highlight, the Treasury of Atreus , also known as Agamemnon's Tomb , is found 500m down the road from the car park, beyond the main Mycenae site.
