Myccnæ

Myccnæ, a very ancient city in the north-eastern part of Argolis, in the Peloponnesus, built upon a craggy height, and said to have been founded by Perseus. It was the capital of Agamemnon's kingdom, and was at that time the principal city in Greece. About 468 B.C. it was destroyed by the inhabitants of Argos, and never rose again to anything like its former prosperity. In Strabo's time its ruins alone remained; these are still to be seen in the neighbourhood of Kharvati, and are noble specimens of Cyclopean architecture. The most celebrated are the 'Gate of Lions,' chief entrance to the ancient Acropolis, and the 'Treasury of Atreus.' Excavations prosecuted at Myccnæ by Dr Henry Schliemann brought to light in 1876 another subterranean treasury and several ancient tombs, containing, with architectural fragments, terra-cottas, vases, weapons, gold death-masks (see MASKS), and other ornaments of thin hammered gold. Good authorities say these objects show a type of art derived from Mesopotamia through Phœnicia and Asia Minor, with little or no trace of Greek tastes, beliefs, or usages. Their date seems to be about that of the Doric invasion (see GREECE, Vol. V. p. 386). See Schliemann's Myccnæ and Tiryns (trans. 1877); and The Myccnæan Age (1897) by Tsountas, Manatt, and others.