[1] Hor. A. P. 39.

[2] Since this Preface was put in type, the fragments of an ostrich egg, originally mistaken for an alabaster vase, have been tested and verified. This object seems to afford a new indication of prehistoric relations between Mycenæ and Egypt.

[3] In the remarkable Museum of the Royal Academy of Ireland are two swords referred to the Danish period, which were taken out of a bed of mud. After a repose of perhaps a thousand years, they do not exhibit corrosion to the common eye. But the case is considered exceptional, and probably due to some peculiar ingredient in the moisture.

[4] I do not think it proved that, as Schliemann seems to convey (p. 84), the chariot-box was removed and fastened on each occasion of using it. The passages in Il. XXIV. 190 and 267 refer to the peirins of the waggon. In Od. XV. 131, it is simply mentioned as a portion of the carriage, with no reference to detaching it.

[5] Ikmalios is mentioned in Od. XIX. 57 as the maker of a chair inlaid with ivory and silver. I cannot doubt that this was foreign, since it is marked as the work of a former age: ἥν ποτε τέκτων ποίης᾽ ᾽Ικμάλιος, "which erewhile Ikmalion with cunning hand had made" (Norgate). 'Erewhile' will not be found in Todd or Latham: but it is in Shakespeare, and the Dictionary of Worcester and Webster contains it.

[6] 'Homeric Synchronism,' pp. 171 seq. I do not here enter on the curious question what is the precise meaning of γυναῖα δῶρα.

[7] 'Troy and its Remains,' pp. 369, 371.

[8] 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 361. One of these had only about four per cent. of tin. Could this have been a native admixture?

[9] 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 335.

[10] I wish here to call attention to the fact that, as always (I believe) in the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments, the moon is on this ring also distinguished from the sun, not by its size, but by its being a crescent moon. In truth, the distinction of size, to the common eye, is variable; and is sometimes against the sun. Two full-formed globes of equal diameter would have presented a picture alike defective in composition and in meaning: and ancient art, not content with this, seized, more poetically as I think, upon the distinction of character in the two bodies respectively. Homer, as I contend, has exactly followed this form of representation in his σελήνην τε πλήθουσάν: and I venture to hope that the sense of growing, filling, waxing, or crescent moon will now be allowed to prevail over the more customary rendering of 'full' moon (Il. XVIII. 434).

[11] Juvenal, Sat. X. 147.

[12] See, e.g., the print in Manning's 'Land of the Pharaohs,' p. 129.

[13] Mr. Percy Gardner, in the Academy, April 21, 1877.

[14] 'Homeric Synchronism,' p. 240.

[15] These marks, I now learn from Dr. S., are universal.

[16] Hor. Od. II. 1. 8.

[17] 'Demi of Attica,' p. 125.

[18] Plutus, 720.

[19] IX., p. 397.

[20] II., 30, 8.

[21] P. 627.

[22] "Si parva licet componere magnis."

[23] See No. 126, in the upper row to the right and left, p. 76.

[24] Pages 76, 123.

[25] Theseus, 13.

[26] All the objects figured in the Illustrations to this Chapter, from and after No. 239, belong to the Third Sepulchre.

[27] No. 453 only belongs to Sepulchre V.

[28] Only Nos. 539-541 are not from this Tomb.

[29] See Plan A. and Plate I. The etymology of the name Tiryns (probably a Pelasgic word) is difficult to explain. It is very probable that the city was originally called Licymnia, for Strabo (VIII. p. 373) says that a citadel with that name is twelve stadia from Nauplia, and this distance perfectly agrees with that of Tiryns from the latter city. He does not distinctly say that he alludes to Tiryns; but this is very probable, because Pindar says (Olymp. 7, v. 47):

'Because he (Tlepolemus) killed in wrath with a stick of the hard olive-tree Alcmena's bastard brother Licymnius, who descended from Midea's nuptial chamber and was the builder of the city.' Apollodorus (II. 8, 2) confirms this, but says that he killed him accidentally: Τληπόλεμος οὖν, κτείνας οὐχ ἑκὼν Λικύμνιον τῇ βακτηρίᾳ γὰρ αὐτοῦ θεραπεύοντα πλήσσοντος ὑπέδραμε, 'Tlepolemus involuntarily killed Licymnios, who approached him when he was chastising his servant with a stick.'

Eustathius (ad loc.) says that the first name of Tiryns was Haliis or Haleis, fishermen having been the first settlers on the rock; this is also confirmed by Stephanus Byzantinus (s.v. Τίρυνς). Pausanias (II. 25, 8) says that the city received its name from the hero Tiryns, a son of Argos.

[30] Paus. II. 25, 8. Τὸ δὴ τεῖχος, ὃ δὴ μόνον τῶν ἐρειπίων λείπεται, κυκλώπων μέν ἐστιν ἔργον, πεποίηται δὲ ἀργῶν λίθων, μέγεθος ἔχων ἕκαστος λίθος ὡς ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν μηδ᾽ ἂν ἀρχὴν κινηθῆναι τὸν μικρότατον ὑπὸ ζεύγους ἡμιόνων· λίθια δὲ ενήρμοσται πάλαι ὡς μάλιστα αὐτῶν ἕκαστον ἁρμονίαν τοῖς μεγάλοις λίθοις εἶναι.

[31] γᾶ κυκλωπία (Euripides, Orestes, 965).

[32] Cf. Ch. II. p. 28. It should also be observed that these forms of construction do not invariably denote successive steps of antiquity and the art of building. Unhewn boulders, rough quarried stones, and those which had a polygonal cleavage due to their nature, were often used for convenience by builders who were quite able to work quadrangular blocks, as is proved by walls in which the former kinds are placed above the last. See Mr. E. H. Bunbury's "Cyclopean Remains in Central Italy," in the 'Classical Museum,' 1845, vol. ii. pp. 147. seqq., and the article MURUS in Dr. Smith's 'Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities.'

[33] See the margin of Plan A.

[34] Dodwell ('A Classical and Topographical Tour through Greece') and Prof. Ernst Curtius (Peloponnes) consider this gallery to be a second gate, which I think impossible, as it leads straight out into the plain.

[35] Colonel Leake states ('Travels in the Morea,' Vol. II. p. 351) that the principal entrance of Tiryns is on the south side, adjacent to the south-east angle. He is right if he speaks of the present day, for there has indeed been made at that point in modern times a zigzag roadway, leading up the steep slope; but there was most decidedly no gate or entrance whatever here in ancient times.

[36] Aristotle and Theophrastus, ap. Plin. H. N. VII. 56. Pliny says that the former of these authors attributes the building of towers to the Cyclopes, the latter to the Tirynthians.

[37] Paus. IX. 36.

[38] Iliad, II. 559:—Οἳ δ᾽ ῎Αργος τ᾽ εἶχον Τίρυνθά τε τειχιόοεσσαν.

[39] Pind. Ol. XI. 40; Ovid, Met. VII. 410; Virgil, Æn. VII. 662.

[40] Herodot. IX. 28.

[41] Herodot. VI. 83.

[42] Paus. II. 17, 5; VIII. 27, 1.

[43] VIII. p. 373.

[44] Il. 15, 9.

[45] Apud Athenæum, VI. 261.

[46] Theophrastus adds that, desirous to get rid of their propensity to laugh, the Tirynthians consulted the oracle at Delphi, and got the god's answer that, if they could sacrifice an ox to Poseidon and throw it into the sea, without laughing, the evil would at once cease. The Tirynthians, who feared to fail in the execution of the god's command, forbad the children to be present at the sacrifice. But one of them having heard this, and having mixed in the crowd, they cried out at him to drive him away, on which he exclaimed, "How, are you afraid that I shall upset your sacrifice?" This excited universal laughter, and they became convinced that the god intended to show them by experience that an inveterate evil custom cannot be remedied.

[47] Max Müller, 'Essays,' II. 79.

[48] Aristot. Meteorol. I. 14.

[49] The exact depths are indicated by the proportional numbers appended to the sectional plans of the excavations in the margin of Plan A.

[50] See Nos. 2-7, and the coloured Plate A, figs. a, b.

[51] See Nos. 8-11 on p. 12, and the coloured Plate A, fig. d.

[52] To these may be added the Syrian and Phœnician Ashtoreth.

[53] See note A.—"HERA BOÖPIS," at the end of this chapter.

[54] See Bunsen's 'Egypt,' Vol. I. p. 420 (Transl.).

[55] Il. III. 144.

[56] Il. VII. 10.

[57] Il. XVIII. 40.

[58] See the coloured Plate A, fig. c.

[59] Published by Dr. G. Hirschfeld ('Vasi Arcaici Ateniesi, estratto dagli Annali dell' Instituto di Corr. Archeol.,' 1872. Roma).

[60] Such as the goblet represented on p. 70, No. 83.

[61] To each object is attached a number denoting the exact depth in meters at which it was found; so e.g. 3½ M. means 3½ meters; each meter has about 3⅓ feet. I call particular attention to this. In order to retain the precision of these numbers, and to avoid the labour and chance of error in converting them into feet and inches, a comparative table of French and English measures is prefixed to the book.

[62] See p. 13, and the coloured Plate A, fig. c.

[63] These are exactly like the whorls found at Mycenæ. See No. 15.

[64] Professor Max Müller, in the 'Academy,' January 10, 1874.

[65] See 'Troy and its Remains,' p. 294.

[66] Ovid, Metam. V. 330.

[67] Mionnet, 'Descr. des Méd. Ant.' pl. lxi. 6.

[68] Millingen, 'Anc. Coins of Greek Cities,' tab. ii. 12.

[69] Pausanias, II. 22, 1, 2.

[70] Plut. Quæst. Conviv. III. 9, 2; Etym. Mag. 388, 56.

[71] Plut. Fr. Dædal. 3.

[72] Paus. II. 17, 1.

[73] Paus. II. 4, 7.

[74] Paus. IX. 3, 4; Hesych. s. v. ἄγαν χαλκεῖος.

[75] Herod. I. 31.

[76] Lucian, Θεῶν Διάλ. 3; Diod. Sic. I. 24, 25; Herod. II. 41.

[77] Æsch. Suppl. 299; Apollod. II. 1, 3—

[78] Creuzer, 'Symbolik,' II. 576.

[79] Prom. 573, seq. and Hygin. Fab. 145.

[80] Diod. Sic. I. 24, 25; Apollod. II. 1, 3; Hygin. 145.

[81] Herod. II. 41.

[82] Apollod. II. 1, 3; Æschyl. Prom., 585: πῶς δ'οὐ κλύω τῆς οὶστροδινήτου κόρης τῆς ᾽Ιναχείας.

[83] Paus. III. 18, 13.

[84] Eustath. ap. Dionys. Perieg. 92, 94, Ιὼ γὰρ ἡ σελήνη κατὰ τὴν τῶν ᾽Αργείων διάλεκτον, on which Heyne, ad Apollod. p. 100, says: "fuisse suspicor nomen hoc caputque feminæ cornutum symbolum Lunæ apud Argivos antiquissimum." See also Jablonsky, Panth. II. p. 4 ff.

[85] Apollod. II. 1, 1; Schol. Lykophr. 177; Schol. Apoll. Rhod. IV. 263; Steph. Byz.

[86] Euseb. Chron. Pars I. pp. 96, 127, 130, ed. Aucher; Augustin. de Civit. Dei, XVIII. 5.

[87] Diod. Sic. I. 11; Plut de Is. et Os. 52, compare c. 39; Macrob. Sat. I. 19; Ælian, Hist. Anim. X. 27.

[88] O. Müller, Dorier, I. 121; Steph. Byz. s.v. Βυζάντιον.

[89] Paus. IX. 19, 4.

[90] Ovid. Metam. I. 630

[91] Apollod. II. 1, 3.

[92] Panofka, 'Argos Panoptes,' tab. ii. 4; Cadalvène, 'Recueil de Méd. Gr.' Pl. III. 1; Müller, 'Denkmäler,' XXX. 132; Duc de Luynes, 'Études Numismat.' pp. 22-25.

[93] In the background is the second peak of Mount Eubœa, 2000 feet high, which rises immediately south of the Acropolis of Mycenæ.

[94] II. 18. See the Sketch Map on p. 1.

[95] V. 60.

[96] II. 25, 3.

[97] Κηϕισός. II. 15, 5; the lesser streams are not shown on the Sketch Map, p. 1.

[98] The accuracy of this name is confirmed by Pausanias, II. 17, § 2.

[99] Il. II. 287, III. 75 and 258, VI. 152, IX. 246, XV. 30, and XIX. 329. Comp. Horat. Carm. I. 7, 8, 9:—

[100] II. 15.

[101] Meteorol. i. 14.

[102] Soph. Electra, 4.

[103] Paus. II. 15, 5; comp. Plato, Timæus.

[104] Comp. Æschyl. Suppl. 250.

[105] Od. III. 263:—"μυχῷ ῎Αργεος ἱπποβότοιο."

[106] See the large Plate II. and Plan B of the Acropolis.

[107] See Émile Burnouf, 'La Ville et l'Acropole d'Athènes.'

[108] A good view of this wonderful wall is seen in the background of Plate VI., which represents the Ichnography of the tombs discovered in the Acropolis. (See Chap. V.)

[109] See Plan B., Plate III., and Nos. 21, 22 (p. 34)

[110] Soph. Electra, 1374.

[111] Schol. Eurip. Orest. 5; Apollod. iii. 5, 6; Soph. Antig. 818.

[112] Agam. 1259: λέοντος εὐγενοῖς ἀπουσίᾳ.

[113] Agam. 1258.

[114] For an account of the discovery of the ground plan of the Lions' Gate and its enormous threshold, see Chapter V.

[115] See Plan C, and the cut No. 23.

[116] To ῎Αργιον ὄρος. De Fluv. 18, 7.

[117] Troad. 1088, τείχη λάïνα κυκλώπια οὐράνια.

[118] Electra, 1158, κυκλώπεια οὐράνια τείχη.

[119] VIII. p. 377.

[120] Iliad, I. 29-31:

[121] Iliad, II. 108: πολλῇσιν νήσοισι καὶ ῎Αργεï παντὶ ἀνάσσειν.

[122] Iphigenia in Aulide, 152: κυκλώπων θυμέλαι.

[123] Ibid. 265: Μυκῆναι κυκλωπίαι.

[124] Ibid. 1500-1501:

[125] Iphig. Taur. 845:

[126] Electra, 710:

[127] Iphigenia in Aulide, 1498-1499:

[128] Orestes, 1246-1247:

[129] Hercules Furens, 974-944:

[130] See Plate II.

[131] Epistul. Mor. 66, 26.

[132] See Plan D.

[133] See No. 16, p. 23.

[134] All these Treasuries are indicated on Plan D.

[135] See Plate IV., "Treasury of Atreus."

[136] Thus we read in Homer (Od. VII. 84-87):

"Like the sun or the moon beam in bright splendour, so beamed the high palace of the magnanimous Alcinoüs; for the brazen walls extended from the threshold of the gate to the innermost part of the building; their entablature was of blue steel."

Further the palaces of the immortal gods on Olympus must have been thought to be also ornamented with brazen plates, because Homer says (Iliad, I. 426): Διὸς ποτὶ χαλκοβατὲς δῶ, "To the brazen house of Jove."

We also read in Pausanias (II. 23):

῎Αλλα δέ ἐστιν ᾽Αργείοις θέας ἄξια · κατάγαιον οἰκοδόμημα, ἐπ᾽ αὺτο δὲ ἦν ὁ χαλκοῦς θάλαμος, ὃν ᾽Ακρίσιός ποτε φρουρὰν τῆς θυγατρὸς ἐποίησεν. Περίλαος δὲ καθεῖλεν αὐτὸν τυραννήσας · τοῦτό τε οὖν τὸ οἰκοδόμημά ἐστι. "In Argos there are still other remarkable objects: a subterranean vault, over which was the brazen chamber which Acrisius made for his daughter (Danaë's) prison; it was destroyed under the dominion of Perilaüs, but the building still exists."

Further in Horace (Carm. III. 16):

"A bronze tower, solid doors, and the severe watch of the dogs, had been for the imprisoned Danaë a sufficiently strong protection against nocturnal lovers."

Another case is the temple of Athena Chalciœcus at Sparta, where King Pausanias was put to death. The name of this sanctuary can of course refer to nothing else than to the brazen plates with which the walls were decorated.

My esteemed friend, Mr. Chas. T. Newton, of the British Museum, calls my attention to Colonel Mure's article in the Rheinisches Museum, VIII. 272, in which the author states that General Gordon told him he had in his collection in Scotland fragments not only of the bronze nails, but also of the brazen plates of the Treasury of Atreus. At the same time Colonel Mure quotes the passage of Sophocles (Antigone, 944-947):

("The body also of Danaë endured to exchange the heavenly light against the darkness in the halls covered with brazen plates; hidden in a sepulchral chamber, she was fettered").