Mycenae and Agamemnon Essay

Mycenae lies about 90 kilometres south-west of Athens. From around 1600BC-1100BC Mycenae was a highly wealthy and influential city, dominating practically of southern Greece. The Mycenaean Era was named in reference to the city.THE DISCOVERY OF MYCENAEIt was Heinrich Schliemann who first whole excavated the city of Mycenae. The controversial archaeologist was assaying for evidence that Agamemnon, the king who led the Greeks to stir up troy weight in the Trojan War. Schliemann was find out to prove that the Trojan War was a certain event in point his c atomic number 18er was based around his require for this. After failing to find all definitive evidence in his search for troy weight, he turned to Mycenae. In 1841 other archaeologist had instal and restored the Lion adit that marks the entrance to the city of Mycenae, save Schliemann was the first to systematically excavate the perfect site. He believed that the Homeric tales described developed historical events and employ his discoveries at Mycenae to hind end this up.DISOVERIES MADE AT THE SITE discovered in Grave rope A by Schliemanns team, a stumper shows the militaristic values of the Mycenaeans. From the weapons interred with most of the bodies gear up, we can deduct that the Mycenaeans were not a still people. They revelled in fighting, as sh proclaim by the uncivilized motifs on their stelae and decorative weapons. Most carve featured full sets of weapons, both real and decorative.We can assume that life for the men of Mycenae would provoke had a heavy guidance on fighting , with men of higher(prenominal) status being shown as gay fighters. This is also shown through the architecture of the city, especially the Cyclopean walls. These huge walls show a need for a defensive attitude, which demonstrates the Mycenaeans military attitude. On this dagger in that location is a depiction of a lion hunt, which shows that the Mycenaeans capture for sport. This further reflects th e aggressive principles of the city.Double axe and bull motifs show a Minoan influence in Mycenaean culture. inside the carve in Grave Circle A there were m either objects that had been do in Mycenae except in Minoan style. This reflects an appreciation for Minoan design and an distinct link through trade and snuff it between Minoan Crete and Mycenae. Later the designer would be conquered by the latter. In Mycenae there would induct been trading of goods from Minoan Crete and an appreciation of the techniques, since they were implemented in wares produced within Mycenae. The unplayfuls themselves also shed light upon burial practises and status in Mycenae.The rubs themselves are shaft graves, 4 metres deep with the shortly placed in a cist at the bottom along with many effete grave goods. The Grave would aroundtimes be marked with a stone stela at ground level. These stelae would be used to depict things like chariot scenes, cover the heroic nature of the deceased inh umed below. The grave goods showed the status of the deceased, with capital and weapons display a higher status. This shows that burial was not only a valued practise, but also reflected status and worth, depending on what you were hide with.The so-called Nestors transfuse was a particularly important breakthrough for Schliemann. His team recovered the vessel from hump Grave IV and Schliemann identified it as the Cup of Nestor as indite about in the Illiad. However the transfuse differs from Homers description in number of handles, the design of the birds, and size. It also is from the damage time to restrain over been used in the Trojan War according to some critics. However, this didnt discourage Schliemann from his firm article of belief in the Homeric tales. This is one of the many discoveries Schliemann made that he believed contributed to proving that the tales detail historical events.CONTROVERSIESWithin a shaft grave V Schliemann discovered a physical body with a gold mask viewing his face- a face which he believed was that of the legendary Agamemnon. However, in recent years critics have developed more and more arguments to the assemble that the mask may be a hoax. William Calder gives the following reasons for his sceptical nature towards Schliemanns find The features of the mask are contrary with the other masks found Schliemann had considered making fakes of the gold he found at Troy to give forgeries to give to the government contemporaries of Schliemann allege that he planted artefacts to later discover them the excavations at both Mycenae and Troy had been closed just a a couple of(prenominal) days after the discovery of the gold, suggesting that he was expecting to find these treasures and nothing else excavations were closed for 2 days shortly before Schliemann found the mask, what could Schliemann have been doing Sophia allegedly has a sex act in Athens that was a goldsmithNo other Mycenaean grave has anywhere near what was discovered in shaft grave V Schliemann had claimed he had excavated other finds elsewhere, when it was later revealed that he had bought them. David Traill suggests that possibly the Agamemnon mask wasnt manufactured, but found from a later tomb. Both of his appeals for a scientific examination of the mask have been denied by the Greek authorities. In repartee to Calder and Traill many argue that their claims are dotty and lack any scholarly backing, and have their own arguments in response. They insist that Schliemann was conservatively monitored by Greek authorities throughout his excavation, which both Calder and Triall admit to in their own publishing.Kenneth Lapatin explains that the days where Calder alleged Schliemann had time to compensate a mask made, were before any masks had been found yet. Although he does admit it is executable the mask may have been heighten after it was discovered. Both sides of the debate model both personal opinions and insinuations mixe d in with actual fact. Considering the fallacious nature of Schliemann it is informal to believe he planted the mask. that when considering the work at Mycenae alone, there is no undoubtable evidence to suggest that he was dishonest about that particular find, only bruit and hearsay. From the collections of circumstantial suggestions put forward by Triall and Calder, their theories become increasingly believable. However, some part of their arguments seem reminiscent of conspiracy theories, so perhaps its best to take the mask as an important if disputed- archeological find, but not proving the existence of Agamemnon.BIBILOGRAPHYhttp//library.thinkquest.org/25245/archeology/mycenae.html http//www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/greecemycenae.htmhttp//mycenae-excavations.org/about.html http//www.historywiz.com/agamemnon.htmhttp//odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/ eh351.jsp?obj_id=2573http//www.uark.edu/campus-resources/achilles/age/myceneans.html http//www.archaeology.org/9907/etc/calder.htmlhttp//ww w.archaeology.org/9907/etc/lapatin.htmlhttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_Circle_A,_Mycenaehttp//www.archaeology.org/9907/etc/traill.htmlhttp//www.ancientgreece.com/ taste/v/greek-life-as-depicted-in-homers-epic-the-odyssey/ http//www.archaeology.org/9907/etc/dema.htmlhttp//www.greek-thesaurus.gr/Mycenaean-weapons.html