Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/47

 26 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. respect. Are we to attribute to a whim on the workman's part the fact that the stelae — instead of being opposite to the main entrance, as might have been expected — are all turned to the west ? Did it not rather proceed from a notion which prevailed here, as it did in Egypt, of a supposed relation existing between the sombre abode which man would inhabit after breathing his last, and the region in the heavens where each evening the sun, after passing through the zenith on his course, slowly sank, and had its fires extinguished in the sea, or disappeared behind a thick curtain of bluish mountains ? ^ If the draughtsman has left out Cyclopaean constructions which lie between the Lions Gate and the slab-circle — duly set down on our map — it is because when he made his perspective view, the buildings in question were as yet uncovered. It is Steffen*s opinion, as well as that of other investigators, that the second construction of the Lions Gate and of the sanctuary were simultaneously planned. It is also possible that the en- closure was made to serve a double purpose, namely, a spot where sacrifices could be offered, and also a place of assembly or agora^ where the inhabitants of the citadel, the elders of the tribe (Sijjxoylpovre^), would gather together for council or judgment under the presidency of the king ; whilst hard by stood the graves from whose depths they might seem to hear the voices of their ancestors speaking and suggesting wise decisions. Throughout the classic age, several Greek cities had, or thought they had, the heroes whom they especially honoured, buried in their agora.^ As long as matters in this direction remained unchanged, free access was doubtless had to the sanctuary through the northern and southern passages ; these had not been enlarged that they might be immediately closed, nor had the slabs been furbished up to be masked by a brick or stone curtain. In the course of time, however, when the settlers, by reason of the security afforded them, waxed exceedingly, the business and movement of life migrated from the upper to the lower city. A new dynasty had arisen, which buried there its kings. It had no more difficulty in finding a space for the ^ For the like practices see History of Art ^ See texts collected by Schliemann, Mycencr, To his list of names may be added that of Hesiod, buried in the agora at Orchomenos ; see ante, Vol. T. p. 422, n. i.