Mandalynn’s Memoirs: Mycenae

After leaving Epidaurus, we headed over to ruins of Mycenae. The city of Mycenae is a mixture of facts and fractions of mythology. The wonderful thing about this city is that people don't really know where the facts end and the myths begin. As someone who loves mythology and is a bit fanciful, I loved this aspect and tend to believe that there's some truth to the mythology. So, here's what we do know . . .

Fact - Mycenae was a city that dominated southern Greece in the second millennium BC (that's right, over 3,000 years ago).
Fact - The time period from 1600 BC - 1100 BC is known as the Mycenaean Era after the city of Mycenae.
Fact - The Mycenaeans traveled, traded, and conquered around the Mediterranean. (And even beyond - Mycenaean artifacts have been found as far away as Ireland).
Fact - The Mycenaeans defeated the Minoans, ending the Minoan Era (Middle Minoan Era: 2200 BC - 1500 BC).
Fact - In 1874, archeologist Heinrich Schliemann began excavating Mycenae, believing it to be the city that defeated Troy in Homer's Illiad.

And here's a little mythology mixed in . . .

Myth (or is it?) - Mycenae was founded by Perseus (that's right, the slayer of Medusa). Several historians believe that Perseus was an actual historical figure who founded the city of Mycenae. Of course, he wasn't actually the son of Zeus and he didn't actually kill mythological creatures, like the Gorgon, Medusa, but some historians believe he was an actual person. The guide I talked to in Mycenae explained that the myths about Perseus were stories created by the Mycenaeans to glorify the founder of their city. She compared it to the story of George Washington cutting down the cherry tree.
Myth (or is it?) - The people of Mycenae later chose Atreus as their new king. Atreus had two sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus. Agamemnon would go on to inherit Mycenae, while Menelaus would rule Sparta. After Menelaus's wife, Helen, left him for Paris, the Prince of Troy, Menelaus and Agamemnon waged a 10-year war on the city of Troy, known as the Trojan War. Several historians and archeologists, including Heinrich Schliemann, believe that the tale of the Trojan War, as described in Homer's Illiad, is more fact than fiction. In fact, during the excavation of Mycenae, Schliemann found a gold burial mask in one of the tombs and declared, "I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon."
Myth (or is it?) - The city of Mycenae is surrounded by the Cyclopean Wall and the entrance is known as the Lion Gate. The Cyclopean Wall derives it's name from the fact that it was believed that the wall was so big that it could only have been built by a group of one-eyed giants called cyclopes. (Okay, Okay, this one is probably all myth).