Rich in Gold
Homer called Mycenae 'rich in gold,' and when archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann excavated the site in 1876, he proved the poet right. Behind the famous Lion Gate, Schliemann discovered shaft graves filled with gold death masks, jewelry, weapons, and artifacts of stunning craftsmanship. Upon finding one golden mask, he reportedly telegraphed the King of Greece: 'I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon.'
The mask likely predates Agamemnon by centuries, but the excitement was justified — Mycenae was every bit as magnificent as Homer described.
The Mythological City
In Greek mythology, Mycenae was founded by Perseus, who built the city's massive walls with the help of the Cyclopes — which is why the enormous stone blocks are called 'Cyclopean masonry.' No ordinary human, the Greeks reasoned, could have moved stones that large.
Agamemnon ruled Mycenae as the most powerful king in Greece, commanding the coalition that besieged Troy for ten years. The city's wealth funded the expedition, and its warriors formed the backbone of the Greek army.
The Cursed Throne
Mycenae's throne carried a terrible curse inherited from Tantalus. Atreus and Thyestes, sons of Pelops, fought over the kingdom with acts of escalating horror — Thyestes seduced Atreus's wife, and Atreus retaliated by killing Thyestes' sons and serving them to their father at a feast (echoing Tantalus's original crime).
This curse continued through Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Orestes, and Electra, making Mycenae the setting of some of Greek tragedy's darkest stories.
The Real Mycenae
The historical Mycenaean civilization (c. 1600–1100 BCE) was a genuine Bronze Age superpower that controlled much of Greece and traded across the Mediterranean. Their Linear B tablets reveal a complex bureaucratic society, and their warriors used bronze armor and chariots in warfare.
The civilization collapsed around 1100 BCE in the mysterious Bronze Age Collapse, along with the Hittite Empire and several other Mediterranean powers. Mycenae survived as a smaller settlement but never regained its former glory.