The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-12-21

immense national wealth.
DIR. HENRI SCHLIEMANN.
4Mvcenr, Norcmber 28, 1879.
IMPORTANCE or THE DISCOVERIES.
The highest scientific authorities in
London declare DR.. Schlicmann's diacov.
cries to be the most important vet made
in the history of archaeological invcsliga-
ton They go back to the Cyclopean era
in architecture and TO the time of the
destruction Of Troy or to the Greece of
almost 5000 years ago, when it was the
first city OF Hellenes.
NOT a MYTH.
Mycen@, the town OF which DR.. Schlie.
mann speaks in this letter, is one of the
most ancient in the world. Long before
the GrecS:s joined together to nvengc the
wrongs OF Menelaus and to recover the
beautiful Helen from her paramour Paris,
this city was l. great centre of govern
mcnt and civilization. Homer calls il
"populous" and 'broad-streetcd," and it
was its King Agamemnon-thc "King of
mcn"-who WAS chosen to command the
Grccian forces at Troy. DR.. Schliemann,
in digging up these relics and exposing
to view the tonbs Of these heroes Of long
departed ages, carries us back far beyond
historic times, and to great extent over
turns the theories OF several modern writ
ers on history. The stories which have
generally been considered almost myth
cal of the return Of Agamcmnon and bis
murder by his wife Clytemncstra and ncr
lover, Egisthus, are now almost con-
iirmed by the discovery of their tombs in
positions which tend to prove the truth
Of the legend.
This story is one of the most tIaglcal
that has been treated by the great poets
of the golden age Of Greek tragedy.
lEschylus il his ''Agamemnon," sopho.
cles in his Electra" and Euripides in
his "Orestcs" have each in turn drama
tized various phnscs Of this remarkable
story. The legend, or. as we may now
term it, history: relates how Aramemnon.
on his return from the siege OF Troy, waa
foully murdered in his own banqueting
hall, and how his wife and paramount
who had murdered him, afterwards in
termarried.
THE STORY OF AGAMEMNoN.
Agamemnon and Meneiaus were sons
of Plisthcnes, and grnnd-sons of Atreus,
King of Mycen@. They were brought
up, together with their cousin, Egisthus,
in the house Of Artcus. After the mur-
der Of Atreus by Egisthus and Thyestes,
the two brothers fed to Sparta, Of which
place Menelaus afterwnrd became King.
They married two sisters, the daughters
OF Tynds US, Agamemnon espousing Cly-
temnestra and Menelaus, the far.famed
Helen.
AT the conclusion Of the Trojan war,
whittier Agamemnoa had gone to assist
his brother in recovering his wife, he re.
turned to Mycen@. Before leaving Troy
he had obtained as his share in the spoils
Cassandra, the prophetic daughter of
Priam. She frequently foretold to him
the sad fate which awaited him should
he return; but, blind to fate, he insisted
OH fastening to his "much loved" Myce-
np. On his arrival there he found thai
his cousin Egiethus, whom he had left
rs the guardian of his kingdom and of
his wife, had basely betrayed his trust.
The guilty couple Immediately resolved
to add to their other crime by numbering
him, and took the opportunity of ban.
9uet given TO celebrate bis safe arrival.
1t is related that as he came from the
bath Clytemnestra gave him { tsnic with
the sleeves sewn up, and as he yainly at
tempted to put it on she felled him with
blows Of hatchet, while her lover,
Agisthus. assisted. At the same time
several Of his companions persisted, and
among hem Cassandra, who had warned
him of his fate.
This murder forms the plot of .ha
"Agamemnon" of Eschylus, the first of
the great dramatic tTisimvirate. Wills :hs
return of Orestes and the death of Civ
temne4tra at his hnnds firm thnsa of the
HElectraD md. uf0 raa;ea ),
THE SITE OF THE EXPLORATIONS.
Nycene, the scene of this terrible
tragedy, was an ancient town in Argolis,
about six miles tosthe northeast Of Argos.
and is situated on q little hin at the head
Of narrow valley. During the reign OF
AgamemDon it was considered the chief
city IN the Peloponnesus, but after the
Dorian invasion It ceased TO be a place of
much Importance. It continued, how
ever, to be an independent town until
the year 468 b. c., when it was attacked
by the Argives. who, having reduced the
inhabitants by famine, razed the town
level with the adjoining country. Strabo
states that the destruction of this famous
city Was 90 complete tnat NOT i. y5ssiis5 Va
it remained in his time. But Pausanius.
who lived after Strabo's time, relates that
the ancient walls and tomba still existed
in his tirne, and these are the relics of
antiquity which Dr. Schliemann has now,
after much patient research, succeeded in
unearthing. Pansanias states that when
he visited Myceng q Considerable part of
the wall still remained standing, and the
great gate, with its lions at either side, is
there up TO the present day. These works
wore attributed to the oyclopa, who are