The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1877-01-12
The Discoveries at Mycena.
WhatD schIiemnnn Has and Hin. M,
Discovered.

AS far as al genuine and ascertaned history
goes, our knowledge of Mycena is somewhat
vague. Perseus is said to have founded il. bnt
the evidence on which we are asked to believe
that he laid the foundations of the capital of
Argos is exactly equal in value to that which
accredits him with killing a big monster half
dolphin and half sea-serpent. After Perseus
came AgamemnoD, and Agamemnon led the
ten years siege of Troy. That the siege of
Troy actually took place cannot possibly be
questioned. Modern scepticism has been
pushed in these latter days to extreme lengths
We are asked to put Homer altogether aside az
an authority of no historical value or credit
whatever. The reasons given for this bold re-
quest are simply that, if we believe in Homer
as an historical authority, we are also bound tn
oelleve IN Achilles, Priam, Paris and Helen;
that II we believe In these we are also bonnd
to believe in Thetis, juno Minerva, Venus or
IL we are to be strict Gr9cists-Aphrodite
Anone, Leda Jupiter or Zeus and even the
swan itself. This, it is true, is a somewhat
large mopthiul to swallow, even for the largest
historical appetite. At the same time in days
when people believe in the "levitation' Of
heavy dning-room tables, it is a little hard "a
see why the cold frown OF scepticism shonld he
thrown upon all those other venerable charac-
tiers which the course of long and upinterrunted
tradition has imbued with such a su ubstantivs
reality that they are entities fully as mnch
matter OF established record as the coffin of
Mahomet, the skittle-pins of Gsrgantua. the
foot print OF Crusoe's savage and the club with
which Captain Cook was Drained
To put the matter seriously, Mycepae has M
history, IN the genuine sense of the term.
Properly speaking, Stonehenge has no history
King Arthur may have built tiff there ever
was hing Arthur at all-or he may not. It
is-from the purely critical and historical
point of view-a somewhat large demand nnon
our faith to insist that we are to accept Ten
nyson's "Idylls of the King" fron1 t:tle-page
to colophon, as sober and credible history. sim
ply because lot of big stones happen to be
standing on Salisbury Plain. Dr. Schliemann's
discoveries place all people who have any real
knowledge OF the kind of evidence upon which
ancient history is founded in a somewhat SINH
lar difficulty. We ought to extend to history
precisely the same rules which lawyers apply
rough stone ip the Land of Bashan: thev nrove
themselves, but they do not prove the existence
OF Og and his brethren. There are efiorescent
crystals OF foul smell and disgusting taste to be
Pickea up Dy the handful on the margin of the
heo sea, but we cannot reasonably accept them
as testimony TO the truth OF the traditional his
tory OF Sodom and Gomorrah For precisely
Ihe same reasons we are not bound, because DR..
Schllemann goes grubbing about in the neigh
oor1oou OF Mycep@ and comes upon a gold
oowi. at once TO admit that it is the very depas
Qlnpha6upeLon out of which Agamemnon drank
Troy. AVA
, On the other hand, even if we take Dr.
SchlIemann's discoveries simply for what they
are worth, it is difficult to over-sstimate their
value. Nebuhr used to boast that he had
personal faculty Of his own which led him
right In the investigation of historical problems
where everybody else went astray, DR. Schlie-
mann has an analogous genius for excavation.
Others dig and fud nothing, and 90 empty
away. DR.. Schliemann dgs-behold the
eartn at once teams with hidden treasure The
catalogue OF his 'fnd',-if we may SO call it
at Mycebse would fill a column He has
brought to light great bowls or ''crateres" caui-
drons-shall we say "pots?'-or '.lebetes," but
tons or spsngles-so DR.. Schliemann calls them
which are propably the golden heads OF the
IRON nails with which its covering of bulls
hide was fastened on to the circular wooden
shield OF the ancient Hellenic hero; septres
such as Agamemnon himself might have borne
or Ulysses might have used for the rdmistration
70 Ihersites Of timely thump; buckles,
sword handles, breast-plates, women's combs,
rings, necklaces, arrow-heads, daggers, drink
ing glasses, brooches, amber beads-Priam's
wnole treasure-house, in word could hardly
nave held more brave store than that which
this determined arch9ologst has rooted up ont
OF the undulatiDg turf where tradition declares
Mycenss to have stood. He has not, it is
true, yet succeeded in lighting upon the chari-
OF w wnch Agamemnon returned from Troy;
the tenpenny piece, or bonS negdS, with which,
according to E.chylus, his wife brlbed the
faithful sentry: the bath into which he was
persuaded to get, the net that was thrown over
him, or the axe with which he was slain. On
the other hand, he may console himself with
the renecton that nobody ever expected him
10 md these particular relics, nd that all
genuine students of ancient history are re-
Joiced that his researchs should have been as
successful M as they undoubtedly are.-London