DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2532#0032
TOPOGRAPHY
11
phrase to irpbs Teas MvK7Jvai<;, in other respects, when dealing with the history of these
two centres of early history, he reverts to Argos as the historical protagonist and ignores
the historical importance of Tiryns and Midea.
We can understand then (see Note A) why we find no mention in Strabo of the rela-
tion which the Heraeum holds to Tiryns. The importance of tins remark will become
Fig. I!. — The Argive Plain with toe Second Temple in the foreground.
Argos and Larisa are at the upper right-hand corner, the Nauplian Gulf at the left.
clearer when we come to the history of the Heraeum and consider the archaeological
evidence which the excavations have yielded. But it is well to say at once, what will
require and receive fuller confirmation as we proceed, that three main periods are dis-
tinguishable in the history of the Heraeum: the first, the period of its construction,
and its connection with Tiryns; the second, the Mycenaean period; and the third, that
in which the Heraeum is directly under the influence of the city of Argos.
Though nearer in space to Mycenae and to Argos than to Tiryns and Midea, the
Heraeum is not so as regards natural connections. It is most improbable that the site
of the Heraeum would have been chosen as that of the sanctuary by the inhabitants of
either Mycenae or the city of Argos. For, as regards Mycenae, far up in a moun-
tainous corner at the northeast extremity of the Argive plain, it is not visible from the
Heraeum, nor could the Mycenaeans see their sanctuary from their citadel. And as
regards the city of Argos, the Heraeum is separated from it by the Inachus, which is at
times unfordable, and the two have, in so far, no immediate connection. The Inachus
divides the plain into halves, and, as we shall see, this division is recognized by the early
traditions of the Argive region. The district on the western bank is well defined, and
completely commanded by the heights which terminate in the Larisa or citadel of the
city of Argos, jutting out into the centre of this part of the plain. The wider eastern
11
phrase to irpbs Teas MvK7Jvai<;, in other respects, when dealing with the history of these
two centres of early history, he reverts to Argos as the historical protagonist and ignores
the historical importance of Tiryns and Midea.
We can understand then (see Note A) why we find no mention in Strabo of the rela-
tion which the Heraeum holds to Tiryns. The importance of tins remark will become
Fig. I!. — The Argive Plain with toe Second Temple in the foreground.
Argos and Larisa are at the upper right-hand corner, the Nauplian Gulf at the left.
clearer when we come to the history of the Heraeum and consider the archaeological
evidence which the excavations have yielded. But it is well to say at once, what will
require and receive fuller confirmation as we proceed, that three main periods are dis-
tinguishable in the history of the Heraeum: the first, the period of its construction,
and its connection with Tiryns; the second, the Mycenaean period; and the third, that
in which the Heraeum is directly under the influence of the city of Argos.
Though nearer in space to Mycenae and to Argos than to Tiryns and Midea, the
Heraeum is not so as regards natural connections. It is most improbable that the site
of the Heraeum would have been chosen as that of the sanctuary by the inhabitants of
either Mycenae or the city of Argos. For, as regards Mycenae, far up in a moun-
tainous corner at the northeast extremity of the Argive plain, it is not visible from the
Heraeum, nor could the Mycenaeans see their sanctuary from their citadel. And as
regards the city of Argos, the Heraeum is separated from it by the Inachus, which is at
times unfordable, and the two have, in so far, no immediate connection. The Inachus
divides the plain into halves, and, as we shall see, this division is recognized by the early
traditions of the Argive region. The district on the western bank is well defined, and
completely commanded by the heights which terminate in the Larisa or citadel of the
city of Argos, jutting out into the centre of this part of the plain. The wider eastern