Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/399

 ]IYCENAE. strength with elegance in the happiest proportions. The bellies of both are slender in comparison with the rest of the figure, especially of the one on the right of the beholder. The muscles, sinews, and joints, though httle detailed, are indicated with much spirit. The finish, both in a mechanical and artistical point of view, is excellent ; and in passing the hand over the surface, one is struck with tlie smooth and easy blending of the masses in every portion of the figure." (JIure, vol. ii. p. 171 .) Besides the great Gate of Lions, there was a smaller gate or postern on the northern side of the Acropolis, the approach to which was fortified in the same manner as that leading to the great gate. It is constructed of three great stones, and is 5 feet 4 inches wide at the top. Near the Gate of Lions the wall of the lower city may be traced, extending from N. to S. In the lower town are four subterraneous buildings, which are evidently the same as those described by Pausanias, in which the Atreidae deposited their treasures. Of these the largest, called by the learned the " Treasury of Atreus," and by the Greek ciceroni the " Grave of Agamemnon," is situated under the aqueduct which now conveys the water from the stream on the northern side of the Acropolis to the village of Kharvdti. (See Plan, C.) This building is in nearly a perfect state of preservation. It is approached by a passage now in ruins, and contains two chambers. The passage leads into a large chamber of a conical form, about 50 feet in width and 40 in height; and in this chamber there is a doorway leading into a small interior apartment. The ground-plan and a section of the building are figured in the Diet. ofAntiq. p. 1127. The doorway terminating the passage, which leads into the large chamber, is 8 feet 6 inches wide at the top, widen- ing a little from thence to the bottom. " On the outside before each door-post stood a semi-column, having a base and capital not unlike the Tuscan order in profile, but enriched with a very elegant sculptured ornament, chiefly in a zigzag form, which was continued in vertical compartments over the whole shaft. Those ornaments have not the smallest resemblance to anything else found in Greece, but they have some similitude to the Persepolitan style of sculpture." (Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 374.) There are remains of a second subterraneous building near the Gate of Lions (Plan, D) ; and those of the two others are lower down the hill towards the west. There has been considerable discussion among modern scholars respecting the purpose of those sub- terraneous buildings. The statement of Pausanias, that they were the treasuries of the Atreidae, was generally accepted, till Mure published an essay in the Rheinisches Museum for 1839 (vol. vi. p. 240), in which he endeavoured to establish that all such buildings were the family vaults of the ancient heroes by whom they were constructed. In the great edifice at Mycenae he supposes the inner apart- ment to have been the burial-place, and the outer vault the heroum or sanctuary of the deceased. This opinion has been adopted by most modem scholars, but has been combated by Leake, who adheres to the ancient doctrine. (Pefo^onwesM«ca, p. 256.) The two opinions may, however, be to some extent recon- ciled by supposing that the inner chamber was the burial-place, and that the outer contained the arms, jewels, and other ornaments most prized by the de- ceased. It was the practice among the Greeks in all ages for the dead to cany with them to their tombs MYGDONES. 383 a portion of their property; and in the heroic ages the burial-places of the powerful rulers of Mycenae may have been adorned with such splendour that the name of Treasuries was given to their tombs. There is^ indeed, good reason for believing, from the remains of brazen nails found in the large chamber of the " Treasury of Atreus," that the interior sur- face of the chamber was covered with brazen plates. At the foot of the lower town stands the modern village of Kharvdti. (Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 365, seq. ; Mure, Tour in Greece, vol. ii. p. 163, seq.; Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 400, seq.) MYCE'NI. [Maueet.^ia.] JIYCHUS. [BuLis.] MY'CONUS (Mvkovos: Etli. VIvk6vws: Myho- no), a small island in the Aegaean sea, lying E. of Delos, and N. of Naxos. Pliny says (iv. 12. s. 22) that it is 15 miles from Delos, which is much greater than the real distance; but Scylax (p. 55) more correctly describes it as 40 stadia from Eheneia, the island W. of Delos. Myconus is about 10 miles in length, and 6 in its greatest breadth. It is in most parts a barren rock, whence Ovid gives it the epithet oihumiUs {Met. vii. 463) ; and the inhabitants had in antiquity a bad reputation on account of their ava- rice and meanness (Athen. i. p. 7 ; hence the pro- verb MvKuvios ye'iTwv, Zenob. Prov. v. 21; Suidas, Hesch., Phot.). The rocks of Myconus are granite, and the summits of the hills are strewn with im- mense blocks of this stone. This circumstance probably gave rise to the fable that the giants sub- dued by Hercules lay under Myconus; whence came the proverb, " to put all things under Myconus," applied to those who ranged under one class things naturally separate. (Strab. x. p. 487; Steph. B. s. V.) The tomb of the Locrian Ajax was also shown at Myconus. (Tzetz. ad Lycophr. 401.) Of the history of the island we have no account, except the statement that it was colonised from Athens, by the Nelide Hippocles. (Zenob. v. 17; Schol. ad Dionys. Per. ap. Geogr. Min. vol. iv. p. 37, Hud- son.) Myconus is mentioned incidentally by Hero- dotus (vi. 118) and Thucydides (iii. 29). Ancient writers relate, as one of the peculiarities of ilyco- nus, that the inhabitants lost their hair at an early age. (Strab. I. c. ; Plin. xi. 37. s. 47; " Myconi calva omnis juventus," Donat. ad Ter. Eecyr. iii. 4. 19.) The highest mountain, which is in the northern part of the island, has a summit with two peaks, whence it is called Dimastus by Pliny (iv. 12. s. 22). The promontory of Phouiiia (^op§ia, Ptol. iii. 15. § 29) was probably on the eastern side of the island. Scylax mentions two cities (Mvkovos, oi/'tt; StiroXis, p. 22). Of these one called Myconus occupied the site of the modern town, which presents, however, scarcely any ancient remains. The name and position of the other town are imknown. The coins of Myconus are rare ; and in general very few remains of antiquity are found in any part of the island. (Ross, Reisen auf den Griechischen Imeln, vol. ii. p. 28, seq.) MY'GDONES {^v-yUvis), a tribe dwelling in Bithynia, about the river Odrysses and the coast of the Propontis, but extending into Mysia, where they occupied the district about Jlount Olympus and lake Dascylitis. They had immigrated into Asia Minor from Thrace, but were afterwards subdued or expelled by the Bithynians. (Strab. vii. p. 295, xii. pp. 564, 575.) The district inhabited by them was called Mygdonia. (Strab. xii. pp. 550, 558, 576; Plin. v. 41 ; Solin. 40, 42.) [L. S.]