Gell, William: The itinerary of Greece: With a commentary on Pausanias and Strabo and an account of the monuments of antiquity at present existing in that country (London, 1810)

TIRYNS. 55

having any information on the subject of the existing ruins, asserts
that the plan of Tiryns was taken from the shape of the long ship of
Danaus, and in effect the place bears a strong resemblance to that
figure, the stern placed on the south toward Nauplia, and the head
toward the north.

There were three entrances, one on the east, another on the west,
and a third at the south eastern angle.

The entrance on the east is in tolerable preservation. A sloping
way 15 feet wide ascended from the plain along the eastern and
southern sides of a solid tower about 20 feet square, and 43 feet in
height, passing at the end of the second side under a gateway com-
posed of tremendous blocks of stone, the architrave being 10 feet six
inches in length.

It seems very probable that there was a triangular stone above the
architrave of this portal, for two pieces, making together a triangle of
about five feet four, by four feet seven, divided perpendicularly are
now lying near the spot. If they have ever been sculptured, one of
the pieces is ruined by time, and the other has the face downward.

The gate was hung upon a large pivot in the centre, which was let
into the architrave and the threshold, so that one of the sides opened
inwards, while the other advanced when a person entered, a convinc-
ing proof of remote antiquity, and the simplicity of the times in which
it was constructed. To the south of this portal is the best specimen