Mycenaean Troy/The Mycenaean Age and the Homeric Poems

by Herbert Cushing Tolman and Gilbert Campbell Scoggin

 

 

THE MYCENAEAN AGE AND THE HOMERIC POEMS

The Mycenaean Age is a bronze age, and in a general way is similar to the bronze ages of Northern Europe. It offers many problems which have not yet been solved. Each year brings numerous and important discoveries. It is not our purpose to give even a superficial presentation of this civilization, but only to discuss its main characteristics, with reference to life as pictured in the Homeric poems.^[1]

36. Architecture.^[2]⁠We can classify under the head of the architecture of this age those mighty walls, usually designated Cyclopean, their massive gateways, and the walls which even at this time were constructed of uniformly fitted stones. Here, too, belong the palaces, with wooden columns resting on stone bases, and the so-called "beehive" tombs (fig. 33),

 

Fig. 33.⁠Beehive Tomb
So-Called Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae.

 

as well as the shaft-tombsFig. 34.⁠Inlaid Dagger-Blade from Mycenae (fig. 31) and the chamber-graves which were cut horizontally into the hillside.

37. Art.^[3] Under the head of art we can classify the archaic stone sculptures, such as the Lions' Gate at Mycenae (fig. 37), the engraved stones, and the inlaid and embossed work in metal. This work reached its perfection in the five inlaid dagger-blades (fig. 34) from the shaft-tombs at Mycenae, and the two embossed gold cups from the beehive tomb at Vaphio, near Sparta (fig. 38). While in these works may be seen some traces of Oriental influence, yet true originality and entire independence are shown in the decoration and painting of the Mycenaean pottery. Such pottery, together with the chamber-tombs and beehive tombs, constitutes the most certain and decisive marks of this civilization. The vases, with a glossy painting which exhibits every variety of shade from yellow to dark brown, show such uniformity in technique, form, and ornamentation that they must have had a common source, whence they were carried by traders to the most distant shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

Since this characteristic pottery (fig. 35), in addition to the monochrome vessels of Trojan work, was found in the VI Stratum at Hissarlik, we can conclude that this settlement must have come in touch with the Mycenaean world.

38. Writing.^[4]⁠There is no longer any doubt that a developed form of written characters existed in the Mycenaean age. A. J. Evans has shown from the rich finds which he has made in Crete that there are two different styles of writing, the older of which is pictographic and reminds us of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, while the later is linear and resembles somewhat the alphabets of Cyprus and Western Asia. Symbols have been found on the handles of an amphora and of a stone vessel from Mycenae,^[5] on two amphorae from the beehive tomb of Menidi, in Attica,^[6] on a three-handled vessel from Nauplia,^[7] and on a stone pestle

 

Fig. 35.⁠Pottery from VI Stratum

I, II, III are imported Mycenaean ware. IV, V are Mycenaean forms imitated in Trojan monochrome. VI is a different style of imported pottery resembling the island art of the pre-Mycenaean period. VII shows Mycenaean flower motive in Trojan technique. VIII, IX are native Trojan ware.

 

from Mycenae.^[8] The linear signs show a striking similarity to those found by Flinders Petrie on the fragments from Kahun and Gurob, in Egypt.^[9] Twenty out of thirty-two are exactly similar; about fifteen resemble the signs of the Cypriote syllabary. While the linear style of writing belongs to Mycenaean times, the pictographic signs are of much older origin, and are assigned by Evans to a date as early as the third millennium before Christ. With the introduction of the later style of writing the older did not disappear, but the two systems overlapped each other.

In the excavations of Schliemann in the year 1890 there was unearthed in the VI City a brown terracotta whorl,^[10] on which was an inscription that Professor Sayce pronounced to be "a splendid instance of Cypriote epigraphy." And even in the early period of the II City^[11] there are numerous seals and whorls (fig 36), with symbols which bear close resemblance to those found by Evans in Crete.

39. Who Were the Authors?^[12]⁠The question now arises: "Who were the bearers of this civilization?" The Iliad shows such a high development in language and verse that its composition must have been going on for a long period. It indicates that the Greeks,

 

Fig. 36.⁠Spindle Whorls

 

even at this time, were at the height or in the decadence of the Mycenaean civilization.^[13] Furthermore, the discoveries reveal the fact that Cyprus,^[14] before the beginning of the first millennium, had been settled by people bearing the Mycenaean culture.

If we assume that the civilization was foreign, then must the Greek hero-tales become unintelligible. When Homer speaks of Tiryns and Mycenae, "rich in gold" (γ, 305), of Amyclae (Β, 584), of Boeotian Orchomenos (Β, 511; λ, 284); when he mentions the tale of the Argonauts (μ, 79); when he brings Crete into touch with the royal house of Mycenae (Γ, 230; τ, 172); and when he has the blind bard Demodocus sing of the great events which occurred before the walls of Troy (θ, 44), the poet undoubtedly refers to Mycenaean times. It is altogether inconceivable that the singers of the Homeric times, in their recital of glorious deeds, would have magnified the achievements of barbarians. Rather is it true that the pride which everywhere appears in the Homeric epic extols the exploits of the ancestors of the Greeks.^[15]

The heroic age of the Homeric poems coincides essentially with the Mycenaean civilization, and the chief heroes were princes of people who possessed Mycenaean civilization. Thus we are led to infer that the bearers of this civilization, at least on the mainland, were largely Greeks.

Tsountas has shown that two strata of Mycenaean population are to be distinguished in Argolis, the older of which is the Danaans and the younger the Achaeans.^[16]

The Danaans are associated by tradition with Argos and the seacoast. Their ancestor, Danaüs, is closely connected with the hydrography of Argolis, as the myth of the Danaïdes illustrates.^[17] Probably the Danaans originally dwelt in pile villages and founded Tiryns, which was once surrounded by swamps. The Achaeans lived in and around Mycenae in the mountainous country to the north. These two people came into conflict with each other. A friendly settlement seems to have been reached, the Achaeans remaining masters of the upper country without expelling the Danaans.

According to legend, Mycenae was founded by Perseus, a descendant of Danaüs of Tiryns, and his descendants ruled in Mycenae until the time of Eurystheus; then the sovereignty passed to Atreus and Thyestes—i. e., to the Achaeans.

From the fact that the citadel at Mycenae shows two periods of construction—an older, in which the wall had an entrance similar to that of Tiryns, and a later, in which the citadel was extended and the Lions' Gate was built—Tsountas infers that the earlier period, to which must be assigned the shaft-graves in the so-called circle of graves on the acropolis, corresponded to the founding by Perseus, and that the later, with the beehive tombs situated outside the

 

Fig. 37.⁠The Lions' Gate at Mycenae

 

citadel, corresponded to the rule of the Atridae.^[18]

A people very closely related to the Danaans were the Minyans, who were bearers of Mycenaean civilization and were the founders of Orchomenos, on Lake Copaïs. The influence of this race is seen not only in Boeotia, but also in Laconia, on the island of Thera, and at Thoricus in Attica. Heinrich suggests that the names Minyas and Minos show something more than an accidental similarity. In that case the remains of Mycenaean civilization which have been found, as we have seen, in such great abundance in Crete would bring that island into the circle of countries inhabited by the Minyans.^[19]

The genuine Mycenaean citadel, Gha,^[20] on Lake Copaïs, is quite similar in construction to Tiryns which was originally surrounded by swamps. It stands in closest relation to the draining of Lake Copaïs by the Minyans, who converted the whole region into a fruitful and cultivated soil. In this Cyclopean structure some archaeologists recognize the Homeric Arne, mentioned in the Catalogue of the Ships (Β, 507). Only quite recently has an English stock company completed the work, begun by the French, of draining the lake. The results show the great system of drainage of this Minyan citadel. These ancient people turned the water of the lake, by means of three great stone canals which are partly preserved, into the

 

Fig. 38.⁠Gold Cups from Vaphio, near Sparta
(Athens, National Museum.)

 

natural conduits existing in the northeast. Such a work could not have been executed save by a people who had thousands of slaves under their direction. A line of Mycenaean fortifications on the northeast guarded the outlets, since any obstruction would have been disastrous.

There can be no doubt that the possessors of the Mycenaean culture were a seafaring people. This is shown by the prominent place given to marine plants and animals in Mycenaean ornamentation. The discoveries on the islands and coast of the eastern Mediterranean Sea have widely extended our view of Mycenaean civilization. This influence, as we have seen, spread to Troy, while in Crete have been found not only remarkable ruins of palaces and beehive tombs, but also bronze weapons, false-necked jars, stone vessels, intaglios, and other objects in great abundance. Mycenaean pottery has been discovered even in Egypt, at Gurob, dating probably from the time of Amenophis III (circa 1440 B.C.), at Tel-el-Amarna, dating from circa 1400 B.C., and at Kahun, dating from circa 1100 B.C. A fresco from the tomb of Rameses III (circa 1200 B.C. ) shows the familiar "false-necked" amphorae. On the other hand, at Mycenae have been found porcelains from Egypt, with the cartouche of Amenophis III, and a scarab of the same king, and another engraved with the name of his wife Thi, while at the Argive Heraeum were unearthed several scarabs of Thothmes III.^[21]

This rich civilization seems to have received a sudden check on the mainland of Greece. There is no further development in artistic form or technique, such as we admire in the gold cups from Vaphio, the gold dagger-blades from Mycenae, and the characteristic pottery. This interruption may be accounted for by the invasion of a northern tribe into the Peloponnesus. According to tradition, such an invasion was made by the Dorians about 1200 B.C.^[22] In Crete alone there is no evidence of this interruption, since that island could be but remotely affected by

Fig. 39.⁠Kyanos Frieze from Palace at Tiryns

such a movement.^[23] But the Mycenaean civilization did not disappear without extending its influence among the invaders.^[24]

The Homeric world stands in close relation to the Mycenaean age. Such a palace as that at Tiryns furnishes us a fair specimen of those princely abodes described in the Odyssey. Here we find the gates, the vestibules, the courts surrounded with columns, the men's hall, the women's apartment, and even the bath room. The cornice of blue glass paste, or kyanos, such as adorned the halls of Alcinoüs, is recognized in a similar ornamentation (fig. 39) in the palace at Tiryns. A gold cup (fig. 40) from Mycenae, with doves above the handles, reminds us of the golden cup of Nestor described in Λ, 632.

Fig. 40.⁠Gold Cup from Mycenae

40. Armor.^[25]⁠The discovery of swords and spear-points, as well as battle scenes and hunting scenes portrayed on Mycenaean objects, furnishes us a fair picture of the armor of Mycenaean times. The large Mycenaean shield (fig. 34 and fig. 41) extended from the neck to below the knees of the wearer. It was suspended by a strap (τελαμών, Β, 388; Ε, 796, etc.) from the left shoulder, and was managed partly by means of this strap and partly by means of the horizontal stay (κανών, Θ, 193; Ν, 407). Perpendicular to this stay, which ran crosswise from one edge to the other, was a second stay running lengthwise, which gave stability. The shield was covered with layers of oxhide. The center of gravity lay in its lower half, thus greatly facilitating its manipulation. The shield, when not in use, could be drawn behind the back by means

Fig. 41.⁠Shield-Model from Spata

of a thong. The hero with such heavy armor frequently used the war chariot to pass from one place to another on the battlefield.

This great shield we find pictured in the Homeric poems. It was "the man-encircling shield" (ἀσπὶς ἀμφιβρότη, Β, 389; Λ, 32; Μ, 402; Υ, 281), "the shield reaching to the feet" (ποδηνεκής, Ο, 646). Hector returning home from the battle carries it upon his back, and its edge strikes his neck and ankles (Ζ, 117). A Mycenaean shield of colossal size, like a tower, is borne by Telamonian Ajax (φέρων σάκος ἠύτε πύργον, Η, 219; Λ, 485; Ρ, 128).

Besides the long shield, there may have been a semi-cylindrical shield, as seen in fig. 42.

The use of the small round shield required the wearing of a breastplate, but with the large shield heavy armor would have been unnecessary.

The Homeric greaves (κνημῖδες) were gaiters of cloth or leather, worn around the leg in order to prevent

Fig. 42.⁠Gold Ring from Shaft-Grave IV at Mycenae

the chafing of the shin against the great shield. They were provided with metal guards, specimens of which have been found in the Mycenaean graves. The greaves which Hephaestus made for Achilles were constructed of tin.

The Mycenaean helmet (fig. 43) was of leather, overlaid with metal. It contained no visor, but was ornamented with a tuft of horsehair (λόφος), horn-like projections (φάλοι), and with knobs of metal (φάλαρα). Often the leather helmet was adorned with rows of boars' teeth, as in the case of Meriones (Κ, 263). A collection of such teeth has been found in the fourth grave at Mycenae.

The offensive weapons of Mycenaean times were of bronze. The Iliad, with the exception of Δ, 123, and Σ, 34, mentions only bronze swords, lances, and arrows.^[26] The representations on the Mycenaean ornaments exhibit a striking correspondence with the earliest portions of the Homeric poems.

41. Dress.^[27]⁠It is probable that in Homeric times

Fig. 43.⁠Warrior Vase from Mycenae

the undergarment of the men (zoma) corresponded to that worn by the hunters in fig. 34. The long chiton of white linen can be recognized in a Mycenaean vase of the so-called third style.^[28] Over this was thrown the woolen chlaina, generally fastened with a buckle.

The principal garment of the women was the long robe (πέπλος or ὲανός) fastened on the shoulder by a brooch (περόνη) like the Doric chiton, while about the waist was worn a girdle. But Mycenaean monuments (the two gold signets and the stone tablet from Mycenae, the engraved gem from Vaphio) show a dress tightly fitting the upper portion of the body (fig. 44) and trimmed below the waist with flounces. It is likely that the body of the garment was buttoned.^[29]

Fig. 44.⁠Gold Signet from Mycenae

Although Schliemann found no trace of brooches in the shaft-graves at Mycenae, yet the discovery by the Greek Archaeological Society of three kinds of brooches in the lower town may indicate that the transition from the older dress seen on the monuments to the garment fastened by the fibula occurred during Mycenaean times.

42. Disposition of the Dead.^[30]⁠In the Mycenaean age the dead were buried. This custom rested upon the primitive cultus of the dead. In Homer, on the other hand, the dead were burned on a funeral pile, and a mound erected in their honor, an insignificant mark of respect (γέρας θανόντων) compared with the Mycenaean method of burial. Traces of the divine regard in which the dead were held in Mycenaean times are surely manifest in the magnificent funeral celebration which Achilles prepared for Patroclus. The slaying of the twelve noble youths by Achilles at the funeral of his friend is based on the soul cultus of the past time. It seems likely that the bodies buried in the shaft-graves at Mycenae were embalmed in a sort of crude way. To this custom, apparently, points the expression ταρχύειν ("bury"), occurring three times in the Iliad, and probably, like ταριχεύειν, originally having reference to the preservation of the body.^[31]

43. The Homeric Troy.⁠In consequence of the clear connection between the earlier parts of the Homeric poems and Mycenaean times, it must be admitted that of all the settlements on Hissarlik, only that one which shows that it has come in touch with Mycenaean civilization can lay claim to the title of Homeric Troy. Such a city was our fortress with its huge walls, towers, gates, and inner buildings—a city which before its destruction had at least commercial relations with the people bearing the civilization which has been briefly described.

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1. Heinrich, Troja bei Homer und in der Wirklichkeit, pp. 13–14. Cf. Tsountas and Manatt, The Mycenaean Age, 1897; Frazer, Pausanias, Vol. III, pp. 144–160, 1898; Ridgeway, Early Age of Greece, Vol. I, 1901; Schuchhardt-Sellers, Schliemann's Excavations, 1891; Perrot et Chipiez, Hist? de l'art dans l'antiquité, tome VI (English edition, London and New York, 1894); Busolt, Griechische Gesehichte, Vol. I, pp. 3–126; Brunn, Griechische Kunstgeschichte, Vol. I, pp. 1–64; Reisch, Die mykenische Frage, Verhandhingen der 42 Versammlung deutsch. Philolugen, 1894, pp. 97–123; Τσοῦντας, Μυκῆναι καὶ Μυκηναῖος Πολιτισμός, pp. 173–264, 1893.
2. Heinrich, Troja bei Homer nnd in der Wirklichkeit, p. 14. Cf. Tsountas and Manatt, The Mycenaean Age, pp. 12–158; Frazer, Pausanias, Vol. III, pp. 98–144.
3. Heinrich, Troja bei Homer und in der Wirklichkeit, pp. 14–16. Cf. Furtwängler und Löschke, Mykenische Vasen, 1886; Tsountas and Manatt, The Mycenaean Age, pp. 217–267 Dumont et Chaplain, Les céramiques de la Grèce propre, pp. 3–66; Frazer, Pausanias, Vol. III, pp. 111–113; Ridgeway, Early Age of Greece, Vol. I, pp. 13–16.
4. Heinrioh, Troja bei Homer und in der Wirklichkeit, p. 16. Cf. Evans, Primitive Pictographs and a pre-Phoenician Script from Crete and the Peloponnese, Jonrnal of Hellenic Studies, 1894, pp. 270–373; Tsountas and Manatt, The Mycenaean Age, pp. 268–293.
5. Cf. Tsountas and Manatt, pp. 268–269.
6. Cf. Ibid., p. 268.
7. Cf. Δελτίον ἀρχαιολογικόν, 1892, p. 73.
8. Cf. Πρακτικὰ τῆς Ἀρχαιολ Ἐταιρίας, 1889, p. 9.
9. Cf. Petrie, Ten Years' Digging in Egypt.
10. Cf. Schliemann, Bericht über die Ausgrabungen in Troja im Jahre 1890, p. 25.
11. Cf. Schliemann, Ilios, p. 691.
12. Heinrich, Troja bei Homer und in der Wirklichkeit, pp. 17–22. Cf. Ridgeway, Early Age in Greece, Vol. I, pp. 80–393; Tsountas and Manatt, The Mycenaean Age, pp. 316–346; Frazer, Pausanias, Vol. III, pp. 148–158; Gardner, New Chapters in Greek History, pp. 70 ff.
13. Cf. Reisch, Die mykenische Frage, p. 117.
14. Cf. Reisch, op. cit., p. 109; Busolt, Griechischte Geschichte, Vol. I, p. 320.
15. Cf. Perrot et Chipiez, op. cit., p. 938.
16. Cf. Τσοῦντας, Μυκῆναι καὶ Μυκηναῖος Πολιτισμός, pp. 239–245; Tsountas and Manatt, pp. 341 ff.
17. Cf. Harrington and Tolman, Greek and Roman Mythology, p. 97.
18. This has already been noted by Perrot, Journal des Savants, 1892, p. 444.
19. Cf. Evans, op. cit., pp. 270 ff.
20. Cf. F. Noack, Mitth. Ath., 1894, pp. 405–485; Tsountas and Manatt, The Mycenean Age, Appendix B, pp. 374–382.
21. Cf. Frazer, Pausanias, Vol. III, pp. 148–149.
22. Cf. Busolt, Griechische Geschichte, Vol. I, p. 259.
23. Cf. Evans, op. cit., p. 359.
24. Cf. Furtwängler und Löschcke, op. cit., p. vii.
25. Heinrich, Troja bei Homer und in der Wirklichkeit, pp. 22–27. Cf. Reichel, Homerische Waffen, 1901; Ridgeway, Early Age of Greece, Vol. I, pp. 299–326; Tsountas and Manatt, The Mycenaean Age, pp. 191–216; Helbig, Das homerische Epos aus den Denkmälern erläutert, 1887; Max Müller, Asien und Europa nach altägyptischen Denkmälern, 1893, pp. 353 ff.
26. Professor Ridgeway (Early Age of Greece, Vol. I, pp. 294 ff.) goes so far as to maintain that the Homeric age was an iron age, and that the more frequent use of the word bronze (χαλκός) than the word iron (σιδηρος) is merely a reminiscence of an earlier use of that metal. Cf. Jevons, Iron in Homer, Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1803.
27. Heinrieh, Troja bei Homer und in der Wirklichkeit, p. 27. Cf. Tsountas and Manatt, The Mycenaean Age, pp. 159–190; Ridgeway, Early Age in Greece, Vol. I, pp. 297–299.
28. Cf. Furtwängler und Löschcke, op. cit. Plate XLI.
29. Tsountas (op. cit. p. 63.) suggests that several of the so-called spindle whorls on account of their small size and frequent occurence are to be regarded as buttons.
30. Heinrich, Troja bei Homer und in der Wirklichkeit, pp. 27–29. Cf. Tsountas and Manatt, The Mycenaean Age, pp. 95–96, 136–139, 364–365; Ridgeway, Early Age in Greece, Vol. I, pp. 338–339.
31. Professor Ridgeway (Early Age of Greece, Vol. I, pp. 337 ff.) has advanced the hypothesis that the Homeric Achaeans came from the north, and possessed a civilization to which the term Hallstatt has been applied, from that Alpine region where traces of this culture are still found; that these "fair-haired" people of the north pressed into the Peloponnesus and mingled with the Mycenaean race. In this way Professor Ridgeway endeavors to explain the blending of the two civilizations—the Mycenaean and the Achaean—which he believes appear in the Homeric poems.