DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1021#0097
56 THE MYCENAEAN AGE
In its ground-plan the palace of Mycenae corresponds
generally with that of Tiryns, but -with considerable differ-
ences in detail, owing mainly to the very dissimilar site.
Approach to Thus the road from the Lions' Gate, instead of
Palace leading directly to the outer propylaeum of a great
court on the same plane with the palace, came to an end at
the foot of the rocky elevation which the palace crowned.
Instead of the imposing propylaeum, we find scant remains
of a gateway leading to a little court (N), with stone
benches along two of the walls,1 whence a great flight of
steps ascends to the principal court (P) of the palace. This
stairway is 7 feet 10 inches broad, and 22 of the steps are
still in place, — each with a rise of 4 to 5 inches, and a
tread of 14 to 18 inches, thus forming an ascent as easy as
it is ample. These steps are not single slabs, but each is
made up of three or four blocks of hewn poros set end to
end, yet so thickly coated with plaster as to hide the joints
and give the impression of solid work.
The court to which the stairway led is almost a square
(37 ft. 9 in.), and paved with concrete. On its east side
Men's ^es *ne mens quarter, composed, as at Tiryns, of
Quarter the vestibxue (Q), anteroom (R), and the Great
Hall (S). The vestibule, here paved with stone, presented
the usual front, — two wooden pillars between antae; and
over against these pillars is the entrance of the anteroom —
a single door (6 feet 5 inches wide) instead of three folding-
doors as at Tiryns. The concrete floor of this room has a
continuous border of flagstone over a yard wide. From
the anteroom we enter the megaron by a single doorway
which (as at Tiryns) was closed simply by a curtain. The
hall measures 27 feet 9 inches by 42 feet 5 inches, thus be-
ing considerably larger than its fellow at Tiryns, though
.1 Recalling the polished stones before Nestor's palace. — Odyssey, iii. 406-
In its ground-plan the palace of Mycenae corresponds
generally with that of Tiryns, but -with considerable differ-
ences in detail, owing mainly to the very dissimilar site.
Approach to Thus the road from the Lions' Gate, instead of
Palace leading directly to the outer propylaeum of a great
court on the same plane with the palace, came to an end at
the foot of the rocky elevation which the palace crowned.
Instead of the imposing propylaeum, we find scant remains
of a gateway leading to a little court (N), with stone
benches along two of the walls,1 whence a great flight of
steps ascends to the principal court (P) of the palace. This
stairway is 7 feet 10 inches broad, and 22 of the steps are
still in place, — each with a rise of 4 to 5 inches, and a
tread of 14 to 18 inches, thus forming an ascent as easy as
it is ample. These steps are not single slabs, but each is
made up of three or four blocks of hewn poros set end to
end, yet so thickly coated with plaster as to hide the joints
and give the impression of solid work.
The court to which the stairway led is almost a square
(37 ft. 9 in.), and paved with concrete. On its east side
Men's ^es *ne mens quarter, composed, as at Tiryns, of
Quarter the vestibxue (Q), anteroom (R), and the Great
Hall (S). The vestibule, here paved with stone, presented
the usual front, — two wooden pillars between antae; and
over against these pillars is the entrance of the anteroom —
a single door (6 feet 5 inches wide) instead of three folding-
doors as at Tiryns. The concrete floor of this room has a
continuous border of flagstone over a yard wide. From
the anteroom we enter the megaron by a single doorway
which (as at Tiryns) was closed simply by a curtain. The
hall measures 27 feet 9 inches by 42 feet 5 inches, thus be-
ing considerably larger than its fellow at Tiryns, though
.1 Recalling the polished stones before Nestor's palace. — Odyssey, iii. 406-