DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.794#0006
No. II.
GENERAL VIEW OF TIRYNS, AND THE PLAIN OF ARGOS.
Tiryxs was situated in a plain, round its acropolis. No vestige of the town remains. The acropolis is a low oblong
rock, not thirty feet in height, and in some places scarcely making a protuberance above the plain. It stands north and
south. In the former direction it faces Nauplia, and in the other Mycenrc. The walls inclose a space of about two
hundred and forty-four yards in length, and fifty-four in breadth. They are constructed upon a straight line, without being
nicely accommodated to the sinuosities of the rock. So small a fortress appears unworthy of the Tirynthian hero; but
though the space it occupies is so inconsiderable, it exhibits dimensions that may not improperly be denominated Herculean.
Their general thickness is twenty-one feet, and in some places they are twenty-five. Their present height, in the most
perfect part, is forty-three feet.
The plain about Tiryns is nearly deserted, and we may say with Statius: *—
Rarus vacuis liabitntor in orvis
Monstrot, Cyclopum ductus sudoribus nrccs."
Towards the east of the ruins, some rocky eminences constituted the quarries which furnished the large and massy blocks
for the structure of the acropolis.
The present View was taken from this spot: it comprehends the plain of Argos, and a richly varied assemblage of
objects, with many localities associated with memorable circumstances, or over which classic writers have thrown an
imperishable charm. On the left-hand side of the View the rock Palamidi springs up in towering majesty from the sea,
that murmurs at its base. This rock commands the town of Nauplia, and is crowned with a fortress, which renders it one
of the strongest positions in Greece.
The Argolic Gulf is seen penetrating far inland, on the opposite side of which the site of Lake Serna is marked by
some trees at the foot of the pointed Mount Pontinus, that is dimly crested by the ruins of a modern fort
In the middle of the Picture the Tirynthian Acropolis rises from the plain, and presents the whole of its eastern side,
which is exhibited with minute fidelity in the foregoing View. More to the right, on the opposite side of the plain, the
city of Argos is descried occupying a level surface, while, above it, the acropolis rears its pointed summit, crowned with a
ruined fortress of Cyclopian architecture, combined with additions of more recent times, and decorated by an ancient
theatre at its base. The lofty mountain that attracts the eye to the left of Argos is Artemision, and the other on the right
is Cyllene: they exhibit the grandest features of Arcadian scenery. The three pointed hills at the left extremity of the
View form Mount Eubaa, which rises from the ruins of Mycenrc, the view of which it intercepts. The trees scattered
through the plain are mostly olives.—2d Vol. 6th Chap.
GENERAL VIEW OF TIRYNS, AND THE PLAIN OF ARGOS.
Tiryxs was situated in a plain, round its acropolis. No vestige of the town remains. The acropolis is a low oblong
rock, not thirty feet in height, and in some places scarcely making a protuberance above the plain. It stands north and
south. In the former direction it faces Nauplia, and in the other Mycenrc. The walls inclose a space of about two
hundred and forty-four yards in length, and fifty-four in breadth. They are constructed upon a straight line, without being
nicely accommodated to the sinuosities of the rock. So small a fortress appears unworthy of the Tirynthian hero; but
though the space it occupies is so inconsiderable, it exhibits dimensions that may not improperly be denominated Herculean.
Their general thickness is twenty-one feet, and in some places they are twenty-five. Their present height, in the most
perfect part, is forty-three feet.
The plain about Tiryns is nearly deserted, and we may say with Statius: *—
Rarus vacuis liabitntor in orvis
Monstrot, Cyclopum ductus sudoribus nrccs."
Towards the east of the ruins, some rocky eminences constituted the quarries which furnished the large and massy blocks
for the structure of the acropolis.
The present View was taken from this spot: it comprehends the plain of Argos, and a richly varied assemblage of
objects, with many localities associated with memorable circumstances, or over which classic writers have thrown an
imperishable charm. On the left-hand side of the View the rock Palamidi springs up in towering majesty from the sea,
that murmurs at its base. This rock commands the town of Nauplia, and is crowned with a fortress, which renders it one
of the strongest positions in Greece.
The Argolic Gulf is seen penetrating far inland, on the opposite side of which the site of Lake Serna is marked by
some trees at the foot of the pointed Mount Pontinus, that is dimly crested by the ruins of a modern fort
In the middle of the Picture the Tirynthian Acropolis rises from the plain, and presents the whole of its eastern side,
which is exhibited with minute fidelity in the foregoing View. More to the right, on the opposite side of the plain, the
city of Argos is descried occupying a level surface, while, above it, the acropolis rears its pointed summit, crowned with a
ruined fortress of Cyclopian architecture, combined with additions of more recent times, and decorated by an ancient
theatre at its base. The lofty mountain that attracts the eye to the left of Argos is Artemision, and the other on the right
is Cyllene: they exhibit the grandest features of Arcadian scenery. The three pointed hills at the left extremity of the
View form Mount Eubaa, which rises from the ruins of Mycenrc, the view of which it intercepts. The trees scattered
through the plain are mostly olives.—2d Vol. 6th Chap.