CLA 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Cyclopean Masonry, Grave Circle A, Mycenae, Lion Gate
25 Jan 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lecture 5: Late Bronze Age: The
Mycenaeans
Monday, January 23, 2017
Reading: C/F 36-47 + videos (see below)
Ζ ζ zeta is for Zeus
LBA mainland
- 1600-1200 BCE
- LH (Late Heladic)
- Heroic (Hesiod)
- Mycenaean
Mycenae: home of King Agamemnon
- 15km from sea
- Walls are up to 9ft thick (get thinner, the further away)
- Did not need except to impress people
-
Pausanias (quotation: C/F p. 39)
- Cyclopes: Capable of making the stone walls (not the Odysseus cyclopes)
- Cyclopean masonry: Huge stones that were placed without cement
- Pausanias: first travel writer
Lion Gate (C/F p. 36-7)
- relieving triangle
o Contains a sculpture that relieves weight from stone that holds up gateway
- Minoan influences
o Inverted pillars
o 2 headless lions with paws on alter (was first seen on a religious container)
- Symbolism
o Lions signified power
o Alter signified religion
o This palace was a powerful, religious home (possibly Agamemnon)
o Idea of lions from the middle east
Heinrich Schliemann
- Big fan of Homer
- Wanted to find Troy
- He was told from homer that Mycenae was full of gold
- First to excavate Mycenae
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Mycenae: Grave Circle A (C/F p. 41)
- shaft graves
o 6 graves (5 found my Schliemann)
o Lots of gold
- stele (C/F p. 45)
o Tomb Stone
o Lots of spirals
o An in chariot and horse who is fighting an enemy with spear
- Mask of Agamemnon (C/F p. 40)
o Mummified at the bottom of the shaft
o Death Mask
- rhyton (C/F p. 40) and other grave goods
o Gold cup with 2 dogs as handles
o Gold crown
o 19 bodies (children were wrapped in gold foil)
o Octopus that would be stitched onto clothing
o Ryton
o Jewelry
o Dagger (Lion and Minoan Males with two different shields and weapons)
What do the shaft graves tell us about the Mycenaeans?
- They were wealthy
- Dagger showed that they like to hunt and fight
- Must have had a wide trading network
- Influenced by the Minoans
Tholos tombs (C/F p. 42-3)
- Late Helladic
- Tholos= Round
- Dromos: pathway made of stone
- Tumulus: Mound of earth on top of grave
- Corbelling: Stone working technique with large stones at the bottom than become
smaller on the way up (like an igloo)
- Mycenae has 9 of the tombs
Uluburun Shipwreck (p. 47)
- Ship that went down near Turkey
-
Palace Sites
- common features
o Hilltop site
o Overlook pain
o Same basic plan
o Megalithic construction
o Fortifications
o Connecting roads
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Walls are up to 9ft thick (get thinner, the further away) Did not need except to impress people. Cyclopes: capable of making the stone walls (not the odysseus cyclopes) Cyclopean masonry: huge stones that were placed without cement. Relieving triangle: contains a sculpture that relieves weight from stone that holds up gateway. Minoan influences: inverted pillars, 2 headless lions with paws on alter (was first seen on a religious container) Lions signified power: alter signified religion, this palace was a powerful, religious home (possibly agamemnon, idea of lions from the middle east. He was told from homer that mycenae was full of gold. Dagger showed that they like to hunt and fight. Must have had a wide trading network. Tumulus: mound of earth on top of grave. Corbelling: stone working technique with large stones at the bottom than become smaller on the way up (like an igloo)
