Tiryns and Mycenae

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Tiryns was very impressive. The thought of the ancients wrestling those ancient stones into place, wow! The stones must weigh tonnes and the walls were 7-11 m thick and many meters tall. It was an amazing complex with casements and rooms and tunnels to underground cisterns. It was the sort of place that you wouldn't be surprised to find a strong guy like Hercules showing up at with his latest prize while King Eurystheus peered fearfully over the massive gates.

After Tiryns we went to the Argive Heraion and it was interesting to see the various levels of temples deposited down the hillside over time as if the next era was afraid of offending Hera by disturbing her old temple but wanting something new to demonstrate their faith in her. The middle level was a little curious, different from what we've seen before because the temple was on one side of an alleyway and a possible banquet hall was on the other.

We then went to Mycenae which was interesting as well. The lion gate was impressive and intimidating as befits a militant society like the Myceneans. The walls and stones were every bit as big as those at Tiryns but the puzzing thing was the proximity of the burial grounds to the palace complex. We saw the remains of the room where Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus, supposedly murdered Agamemnon. The museum was interesting as well with the 'mask of Agamemnon' which we now know is considerably older than Agamemnon and there was a gorgeous gold mask of a lion as well. There were also some bronze double axe heads that looked like something you would pick up in the local hardware store despite being over 3000 years old.

Our last stop was at a convent which still uses water from the spring where Hera bathed to renew her virginity (or youth). The present fountain dates from 1836 but the water was surprisingly clear, cool and tasty and didn't make me sick either.

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