The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1877-01-18


llerachlid9 and the occupation of
Argos by the Dorians, but it retained
its independence and Supported the ma
tlonal cause against the Persians; 80
Mycenians fought and died with the
little band of Spartans at rhermopyla
and 400 Mycenians and Tyrhenians took
share in The battle of Platne. The
Arglves, who remained neutral, envied
the honor which the Mycenians had ac-
quired by their part in these battles,
and, besides, feared lest, seeing the an
clent glory of their city, the Mycenians
would recover the hegomony of the
Argolide; for these reasons they laid
siege to Mycen@, took it and destroyed
it in 466 b G..
When Thucydides visited the city,
after the lapse cf a century, he found it
in ruins. Strabo says: "Mycena no
longer exists to-day" but he does not
appear to have ever been there himself,
for surely if he had he would have made
mention of its ruins and it's citadel.
When Pausanias visited Mycen3, nearly
five centuries and a half after ThucY-
dldes, he saw part of its fortress, the
gate with the two lions, the treasures
of Atreus and his son, the tombs of
Atreus, those of the companions of
Agamemnon, assassinated by Egisthus /;
those of Cassandra, of Agamemnon, of
the charioteer, ,Eurymedon; of the son of
Cassandra, of Electra, of Egisthus and
OF C1ytemnestra.
AS these last tombs were a "short
distance outside the walls, for they
(4Egisthus an Clytemnestra) were con-
sidered unworthy of being inferred in
the interior, where Agamemnon rest
ed, together with those assassinated
with him." we are obliged to conclude
that Pausanias saw all the mausoleums
in the Acropolis itself, and that those
of Egisthus and Clytemnestra were
without the inclosure of the citadel.
There now remains no vestige of any of
these funeral monuments, but there
can be no doubt but that they would be
found again if excavations were made
On the other hand, the Acropohs is
well preserved; and, in any case, it is
even to this day in much better condi-
ton than one would presume to hope
for, after the expression of Pausanias-
Meanwhile there are still some re-
mains Of the citadel, and, among others,
the gate above that of the lions" In
fact, all the walls of the e'aceG'ste of the
citadel still exist; they have a thick
ness of from 16 to % feet in many
places, and height according to the
nature of the ground of from 16 to SO
feet. In several places these walls are
built of immense blocks of stone, ir-
regular in shape, and having between
them spaces filled up with smaller ones.
But the greater part is built of polygonal
stones hewn artistically, so as to fit to-
gether, the extremities being perfectly
jointed for the purpose of giving a
smooth appearance to the masonry.
In some places, and notably in f. ,
neighborhood of the great gate, there
is third kind of wall, which is formed
of almost quadrangular stones of from
5 to Is feet long by 8 to feet high and
to in thickness.
APPEARANCE OF THE CITADEL.
The citadel is about 1,100 feet long
and forms an irregular triangle; it is
situated on small but steep hill, be-
tween two water-courses, and at the
foot of two mountains of about 1000
feet high each. Within the ground
rises from all sides towards the center
in the form of terraces, supported
equally on all sides by the Cyclopean
walls. 1 found there three cisterns and
l descended into the largest, but got
Out in hurry, as it was full of poison
GUS serpents. The great gate, of which
l have already spoken, is situated on
the northwest side, at the right extrem-
ity, where the neig hboring walls meet
The way up to this is by passage
about 4S feet long and 80 wide, formed
by this wall and another parallel one
on the outside, which seems to have
had no other purpose than the defense
of this passage. This same door is
about 10 feet high and wide. 1t is
formed of two stones set on end, each
3 feet wide and deep; across the top
is third Is feet long and deep. On
this last stone, which in its middle is 6
feet high, and which diminishes to-
wards the two ends, triangular stone
is placed, measuring II feet long, 8
high and II deep. On this two lions
are carved in low relief, standing on
their hind paws and resting on circu-
lar altar, which is placed between them
The altar is surmounted with a column
having capital formed of four circles
enclosed in parallel chaplets. Accord
ing to Muller this column is the COM
mon symbol of Apollo Aggieus, the pro-
tector of portals.
The bas reliefs of the lions are exc
cuted with great grace and finish, and
as they are the sole remains of the
plastic art of the heroic age of Greece,
they are of immense interest to
archaeology. In the Intel and threshold